PREFACE
THIS BOOK WAS FORMERLY entitled Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlightment. Insofar as it was intended to be a manual delineating a course of practical study to extend over a period of at least twelve months, that title seems rather presumptuous. It had been my original intention to entitle it The One Year Manual. The title de- scribes the nature of the book without any pretensions, assumptions or exaggerated claims.
Several experiences wrankled in my mind not only about the title but by the Christian references which were really quite foreign to my outlook. The first blow came when a psychologist living in Florida corresponded with me about a couple of my other books. Then she chanced upon the Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlightenment. It so annoyed her that she wrote me most emphatically about her disapproval. There was nothing I could do honestly but to write back agreeing with her and admitting that I had no great liking for these Christian references either.
Sometime after that there was an editorial in a small British magazine Agape with whose editor there had been occasional correspondence. This editorial was most critical of both me and the book. It made me realize the enormity of my error and how far I had strayed from what was really acceptable to me.
There were several others that hammered home the point.
The error consisted simply of being too susceptible to the suggestions of well-meaning friends. It was their contention that the inclusion of Thelemic, Egyptian and other pagan allusions, might prove difficult to accept by some readers. Today it bothers me somewhat to admit that I was swayed by this specious argument. It was also suggested that if Christian items were to replace those mentioned above it would insure a wider circulation and sale of this book.
The outcome of all this is the revision of the book in the form originally intended before close and dear friends suggested modifications of one kind or another. Most of the material is identical with that in Twelve Steps. The slant, however, is totally different and may appeal to a different group of students. In its present form it adheres more closely to my original intention, and so is more to my own liking.
As previously stated, this manual delineates a course of practical study to extend over a period of at least twelve months. Theoretically, it is designed for the ideal student. Since, however, there is no such “ideal”, each student represents a different problem. Each is a unique personality with his own character-structure, his own idiosyncracies and his own way of solving problems in a certain amount of time. No two students are alike.
Under these circumstances, it must be self-evident that though designed for a twelve month period, it is more likely that the student may need to spend a good five years working with these simple methods. Some exercises may be completed and mastered in the month prescribed. Other procedures may require anywhere from three months to a year before any real mastery or noticeable result is achieved. It is important therefore to stress patience as a supreme necessity where this course of study is concerned. Some exercises have as a secondary gain the acquisition of a higher degree of patience.
These simple injunctions require little elaboration. Make haste slowly would be the ideal maxim for every student to adopt when starting to study and practice this scheme. It will pay optimal dividends in the end.
THIS BOOK WAS FORMERLY entitled Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlightment. Insofar as it was intended to be a manual delineating a course of practical study to extend over a period of at least twelve months, that title seems rather presumptuous. It had been my original intention to entitle it The One Year Manual. The title de- scribes the nature of the book without any pretensions, assumptions or exaggerated claims.
Several experiences wrankled in my mind not only about the title but by the Christian references which were really quite foreign to my outlook. The first blow came when a psychologist living in Florida corresponded with me about a couple of my other books. Then she chanced upon the Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlightenment. It so annoyed her that she wrote me most emphatically about her disapproval. There was nothing I could do honestly but to write back agreeing with her and admitting that I had no great liking for these Christian references either.
Sometime after that there was an editorial in a small British magazine Agape with whose editor there had been occasional correspondence. This editorial was most critical of both me and the book. It made me realize the enormity of my error and how far I had strayed from what was really acceptable to me.
There were several others that hammered home the point.
The error consisted simply of being too susceptible to the suggestions of well-meaning friends. It was their contention that the inclusion of Thelemic, Egyptian and other pagan allusions, might prove difficult to accept by some readers. Today it bothers me somewhat to admit that I was swayed by this specious argument. It was also suggested that if Christian items were to replace those mentioned above it would insure a wider circulation and sale of this book.
The outcome of all this is the revision of the book in the form originally intended before close and dear friends suggested modifications of one kind or another. Most of the material is identical with that in Twelve Steps. The slant, however, is totally different and may appeal to a different group of students. In its present form it adheres more closely to my original intention, and so is more to my own liking.
As previously stated, this manual delineates a course of practical study to extend over a period of at least twelve months. Theoretically, it is designed for the ideal student. Since, however, there is no such “ideal”, each student represents a different problem. Each is a unique personality with his own character-structure, his own idiosyncracies and his own way of solving problems in a certain amount of time. No two students are alike.
Under these circumstances, it must be self-evident that though designed for a twelve month period, it is more likely that the student may need to spend a good five years working with these simple methods. Some exercises may be completed and mastered in the month prescribed. Other procedures may require anywhere from three months to a year before any real mastery or noticeable result is achieved. It is important therefore to stress patience as a supreme necessity where this course of study is concerned. Some exercises have as a secondary gain the acquisition of a higher degree of patience.
These simple injunctions require little elaboration. Make haste slowly would be the ideal maxim for every student to adopt when starting to study and practice this scheme. It will pay optimal dividends in the end.
It would be of infinite value if, while working these exercises, the student kept what I propose to call a Day Book. In accounting procedures, the Day Book is a journal in which are entered all the transactions of the day, regardless of what they are. In this Day Book, or Work Book, that we are considering, the student should keep a detailed record of every practice that he engages in. Immediately after performing every exercise, he should take a couple of minutes from his next task in order to make entries in this Day Book. He should record the date and time of the day, the particular exercise he practiced, how many minutes were devoted to it, what he felt about the manner in which he proceeded, any experiences that may have occurred, and finally his evaluation of the period itself. It might even be worthwhile recording some extraneous data, such as the kind of weather prevailing, the temperature within the room in which he is working and the general emotional mood, etc.
If this Day Book is scrupulously kept, at the expiration of a year, regardless of whether it is seen or examined by any other person, the student will eventually be able to look at his efforts with fair objectivity. It may come as a distinct surprise to read through some of his early comments on his first experiences and efforts. He may even perceive a psychological pattern running through all his exercises and whatever results accrue from them. No little insight can be obtained from this. The keeping of the Day Book, therefore, is a matter of prime importance. Meticulous attention should be given to it right from the start.
The occult student, at the outset of his studies, is besieged by hundreds of books describing dozens of practices of every kind. They promise, directly or otherwise, to bring him to the very heights of spiritual attainment, no matter how that attainment is defined. But by the very wealth of material is he overwhelmed. And the result is that, generally speaking, he does nothing except read. Reading does very little to bring one to any kind of realization of one's divine nature.
In this manual, it is proposed to burden the student with very little theory, but to outline a course of procedure which, persisted in for at least twelve months, will bring him a good way along the Path. This course of procedure will describe a certain number of classical practices which are calculated to produce certain types of results. There will be no attempt to dazzle him with startling but vague promises, with fantasies of great achievements, with misleading claims leading nowhere.
I will simply suggest that this practice or the other, when faithfully performed, should yield such and such result. The speed with which such results are achieved naturally must vary with each student. Each human being is different, though constructed more or less on the same anatomical, physiological, psychological and spiritual basis. But within these areas there is room for a variety of differences. Such differences will determine whether he can work quickly, concentratedly, dynamically, slowly, methodically, imaginatively, or without any real vision of where he is going. But if this program is followed, he is certain at the end of a year to find himself a changed person, with a vastly changed outlook upon life, an improved perception of himself, and capable of undergoing some kind of inner discipline which ultimately will take him along the trail where former spiritual giants have trod.
It may be that when that time comes he may find himself better able to appreciate the more complex systems of training described in two occult encyclopedias which I have edited. The first, and older one, is The Golden Dawn (Llewellyn Publications). A profound and most effective training system is there described at great length. With his newlyfound sensitivity and discipline, the student may discover this is no longer so mysterious or overwhelming as it may once have appeared. The more recent encyclopedia is Gems from the Equinox. This consists of the magical instructions beautifully written by Aleister Crowley for his own occult Order, the A.A. I have known many students throughout the years who, having read these instructions, have for one or more reasons been put off, finding them entirely too complicated or difficult or unintelligible. It is my belief that having completed the course of training described in this one year manual, the student may find himself far more prepared to embrace the disciplines that Crowley had recommended. In fact, I rather fancy that the Probationer of Crowley's A.A. could find this manual of the utmost value to prepare him for advancement to the Grade of Neophyte. Neither of these two Grades should pose any great problem or insuperable difficulty to the student who has first mastered the more simple disciplines outlined here. Israel Regardie