Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars doesnt cover it, Try more like 10
Review: If i were to start my entire magickal education over again I would buy this book and only this book. When you buy this book Franz Bardon is teaching you and you personally. His style is unmatched. His knoweldge of the Hermetic art is without rival. His caring and love of his fellow man is very very deep and great. All of this is reflected in the writing and publishing of this book. Initiation into hermetics is the greatest and most enriching book I have ever read in my life. Period.
Rating:
Summary: Simply The Best!!!
Review: If you are serious about becoming a Magus, and are willing to put the time and effort into accomplishing this goal; Then this book is the one for you. Bardon's books have been with me a for a long time, and I have found them to be most helpful in my own quest. Initiation Into Hermetics is really the only book on magick one would need. It is the only one I have ever found that offers a complete course of development. It will not be easy, and may take a lifetime to complete just a portion, but even in the early stages you will see a difference in yourself as your powers of concentration grow. I have found myself to have a much improved concentration, better memory and better cognitive function by practicing the early stages of Bardon's Instruction. My health also seems to be better. My suggestion is to read his work through to get an idea of what the ultimate goal is. Then go back to the beginning of Step 1 and start yourself on the path.
My Best to You,
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: If you are serious about learning how to practice real, effective magic. This book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: The gateway to the true initiation.
Review: It is one of its kind; the author emphasizes practice more than theory. He sacrifices rhetoric for simplicity and practicality. But the book is not without eloquence; it is compelling, real, convincing... but best of all, practical and workable. There is so much that can be said about it. This book is a gift to the sincere aspirant. HOWEVER, I definitely think that it is for *mature* people only. Ambitious readers eager for quick results will be wasting time. And a REAL warning: GREED is a hindrance to the progress you'll make!
Rating:
Summary: Like comparing an encyclopedia to the newspaper
Review: Only Germans can pack a book with this much useful detail. An extremely thorough book on the subject, better by far than anything else in the field.
Rating:
Summary: true magic
Review: other materials on magic cannot just match the level of practicality and simplicity of IIH. no questions about it.evocation, etc.. "magic" was the only thing that filled my interest before i found this book. but through reading mr. bardon's work, my interest in "magic" died. i found that i can instead use his methods to improve my intellectual abilities. i am a mathematician and it would be very helpful if i learn the abilities taught in IIH. yes, my interest in "magic" died because i learned what Magic truly means by reading his work. magic is one way to transform our self into better humans (not gods) knowing the frailties of humanity. and INDEED self-tranformation is the magic itself. and IIH teaches us how to use this self-tranformation to gradually transform humanity itself. be happy!
Rating:
Summary: YOU HAVE FOUND THE MOTHER LODE WITH THIS ONE
Review: Regardless of your level of development or knowledge, you could not be better served by any other tome than this one. Some of the language suffers in translation {at least in the earlier editions) but no matter. You cannot find more practical detailed exercises and information anywhere. Bardon, was a master, although he also had his own moral agenda--which some may find wonderful, some may not particularly care for. If you follow his instructions, you will achieve amazing results. This is not your newspaper horoscope, or the power of positive thinking, this is the real deal, this is a true Initiation Into Hermetics. Read all of Bardon's works. You'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: An astounding book
Review: Simply put, this is a very concise and complete book indeed. Ranking high in occult literature - Bardon offers practical step-by-step guidance to anybody who wishes to follow the hermetic path. Thankyou Jon for giving me it!
Rating:
Summary: True Hermetic Way
Review: The book is everything a mage in need of practice is looking for. It very clearly lays out what you need to do, step by step. It gives you just enough background information for you to know in order to operate the steps with full understanding, nothing more. It is very easy to grasp and execute. As long as you do what the book tells you to do, you are on the right path. One thing though, if you skip steps, or do not practice Mind, Body, Soul at once and at a balance and IF YOU READ AHEAD before getting done with a practice, you will fail. Suppress your urges, get disciplined and start working. This book will take you approximately 2 years to read because of its nature.
Rating:
Summary: This is an interesting book to say the least.
Review: The greatest, most supreme magick, is the ability to abide in perfect happiness, untainted bliss in every moment. Subsequently It is also the hardest to attain. Only infinte power can touch it.
If infinite power is ones focus, then this book is an early step in that direction(lessness). But it is not a direct path to it, it is more of a dead end side street. A worthy experince nonetheless, before one rejoins the main path again.
If the pure happiness that is brought about by enlightenment is an equivalent of a PhD then this book would be studied somewhere around junior school. And necessarily so, as the sense of an `I am' precedes that of an `I am not'.
The book in question is a course in the attempted mastery of duality, it's fundamental teaching requires and revolves around a `doer'. As the `doer' or `ego' advances it steadily accrues `power' in order to exercise `powerlessness'. This is akin to asking a child to sit all day long next to a candy bar without eating it.
It's job is to bring up a battle within oneself, the battle over right and wrong, good and bad etc, etc. Franz Bardon relates his own experience of this in `Frabato The Magician' where he recounts his life and death battle with a powerful `black lodge'. Now, remember it takes two to play at duality, the author is clearly unable to detach himself from it, unable to master it. The 'good'is trying to wipe out the 'bad' and vice versa. except that both sides see themselves as 'good' and the other as 'bad'.
If the level of goodies and baddies appeals to you, and one sees themself as a potentially powerful goody; then this book is for you and it will be of great help.
However if you are looking to exit the up's and down's of duality and your primary goal is to find peace and happiness one will need to move on to becoming powerless from a powerless place.
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