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Post by Gregory Peters on Nov 27, 2018 22:08:42 GMT
Well Bertiaux is unique, that's for sure I think (as a Thelemite) I find it easier to appreciate his work with the Choronzon Club more but the Voudon Gnostic Workbook is quite "out there" (in a good way). In occultism, we need more people like him and Kenneth Grant (both respectively with their own systems) rather than this politicising and pseudo-academic, pseudo-Jungian stuff you find published every year from mainstream "Thelemic" persons - Michael Bertiaux is very refreshing to read in comparison I love Bertiaux's work, it is so rich and varied and deep. That said I have not worked Bertiaux's system(s) as they are given, and other than reading the material I have no training in his systems with his various orders. For me the VGW and M7R material are inspiring for creating my own techniques and methodologies. Similar with Cosmic Meditation, its creative inspiration for jumpstarting my work with the Typhonian Order. His material opens doors and gets the astral light flowing!
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Post by The Double-Wanded One on Feb 16, 2022 5:50:01 GMT
Michael Bertiaux is an odd figure in terms of Thelemic history. Now he is incorporated into the Typhonian tradition via Kenneth Grant's books, several of them which cite him extensively. However Bertiaux himself had a complex relationship. He was somewhat rebellious against Thelema itself, rejecting Liber Legis itself (according to the Voudon Gnostic Workbook) and forming his own OTO which subsumed his prior iteration of the Choronzon Club.
Various particular Thelemic entities and concepts still have a presence in his work but his work tries to put them under the microscope: such as Aiwass, Choronzon, the Aeons, the Law and elements of some classic Thelemic rituals like Liber Resh. Bertiaux's experiments come out rather radical but at the same time his system is heavily a kind of Theosophized (Blavatsky) Voodoo.
In Kenneth Grant's books though he mentions several times that Crowley never taught the "Obeah and the Wanga" as Liber Legis says he would teach, so that is anothet added peculiarity.
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Post by merlin on Mar 15, 2022 20:21:14 GMT
Speaking about Bertiaux, anyone is familiar with his recent "Cagliostro" trilogy?
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Post by stephen on Mar 17, 2022 13:56:40 GMT
Not personally familiar at all Merlin, but here is the latest from Caduceus Books, England:
Cagliostro, The Secret Lives, Vol.III, Media Print Editore 2022. Edited and produced by Roberto Migliussi. Each copy hand numbered, Large format paperback (19cm x 27cm) 309pp 91 coloured illustrations of Bertiaux's occult art. Despite now being 86 years old, when most people are grateful just to collect a pension, the spirits are clearly assisting Michael Bertiaux achieve a vortex of creativity. He shares his vision of these spirits with us, in this work. They tend to be contacted by means of séances (often using the spirits of important departed spiritualists as intermediaries. Bertiaux magically identifies with and embodies disincarnate (and once incarnate) beings. Thus he becomes a vector in the occult life current, transcending time and place, exploring wisdom and gnosis. Spiritualism is here entirely integrated with gnostic occultism. This is the third and final volume of three which record his embodiment in modern Chicago of Alessandro Cagliostro, the kabbalist who founded Egyptian freemasonry, the overtly occult rite that was open to both men and women that developed into the rite of Memphis and Mizraim from whence the OTO was created. This volume, much larger than the previous two, reproduces numerous records of séances etc. with striking and enigmatic paintings of the beings encountered. These suggest a degree of automatic drawing whereby it is the act of artistic creation that incarnates the beings. One section of this book relates to the creation of a Golem, a magical servitor, to assist the practitioner in his or her endeavours. A grimoire of the Golem with sigils is given.
Chapter headings include:- The Explorations of Consciousness In and Out of magic and Gnosis The Cagliostro Researches The Historical Researches Cagiostro's Evidence, The Séance History of How I Do My Job as Alex Cagliostro History of My Work, QBLH Roots Rabbi Harry Waton G-L-M-System Foundation of Management G-L-M-Grimoire, Introduction of the Servitors of Alex Cagliostro The Golem Grimoire papers, Introductory Ontology Magical Diary….the Gnostic Construction of the Archetypal Tattwas The Ontology of My Secret Life Ontological Conclusions
Loosely enclosed Michael Bertiaux, Tattwas. 4pp leaflet. Presents four coloured illustrations recording Bertiaux' vision of the nature of the four elements Order Reference MB-01 £75.00
As the publisher is Italian, you might prefer to contact them directly, if interested.
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Post by merlin on Mar 17, 2022 20:36:03 GMT
Thank you for your feedback Stephen, the only problem is that I would like to know a personal opinion from someone who actually read at least one of these books. The third one is priced at 75 GBP plus postage, so it's not cheap. But you are right, I'll try to contact Mr. Migliussi who is the translator, although I still do not understand why, if this was translated into Italian, the titles of these Italian Editions are still in English. there is some mystery in these Cagliostro books indeed.
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