From: rmr@acsu.buffalo.edu (Richard M. Romanowski)
Subject: For Frater QBL and other Newbie-Seekers, even the Shamans
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 13:43:49 GMT

	Of course I am not an occultist, but I have been around long
enough to pick up the humblest basics of the Great Art --
theoretically, of course, I'd never practice this stuff myself.
Magic, ho ho.  How ... bohemian.

	The beloved Frater QBL posted a lovely piece, giving us an
example of what alt.magick should be.  Therefore I give him and his
cohorts a synopsis of Practical Occultism.

1. Determine your goals and desires.  They can be as big as you like,
but you must know precisely what they are.  They must be specific
enough to be written down as a single purpose.  If the prospect is
long-term, focus on the first step.  Keep Silent about your purpose:
don't blather about it.

2. Your subconscious mind is the gateway which your desires must take
to reach fulfillment.  Therefore, present your desire -- your one-
pointed goal -- to your subconscious mind, and resolve to apply all
the power within yourself to that goal.  Do this daily, or twice
daily.  Waking up and going to sleep are convenient times.

3. See to it that your conscious, mundane life does not obstruct the
Work.  If you are trying to heal yourself of lung cancer, you must
give up smoking -- occult force can heal it, but it can't make
progress if your conscious mind works against it.

4. See to it that your conscious, mundane life is clean, orderly, and
accomplishes useful work, both to sustain itself and to advance the
Goal in some respect.

5. Visualize your goal in perfect exhaustive detail with all five
senses.  Know everything about your goal.

6. Relax your physical body, thus drawing nerve force from the muscles
which would otherwise use it to be tense.  Channel the nerve force
into your single, undistracted, perfectly clear visualization of your
goal.

7. Learn the technical aspect of occult symbology.

	If any experienced occultists are out there, most particularly
brothers and sisters of any group which teaches Seven Steps to
Practical Occultism, I would appreciate feedback on this post from
you.  Thanks.

	(There.  I've given away the Secret of the Rosicrucians, now
the Men in Black will be knocking the foor down any minute now...)

LVX
rmr