(AI was partly used in this post. It has been very accurate and useful in this regard.)
It would be nice to get a break from all the drama that comes with geopolitics, Ets, intervention, the Event, and (fill in the blank in this realm of focus), so I figured, why not gain a really solid knowledge base of metaphysics? The most overlooked knowledge came from occultists from the 1900s. Modern-day newagers and occultists discuss pieces of knowledge from this time period. For example:
"Guy Ballard (Godfre Ray King) – His early 1930s "I AM spiritual movement" is the first system to explicitly name the Violet Flame, Emerald Ray, and White Flame (White Fire of An). These spiritual tools were later popularized by Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet in the 1950s to 1970s.
Emeralds were suggested in Guy Ballard’s writings and in later teachings (Edna Ballard, Mark L. Prophet, Elizabeth Clare Prophet) to bring the mind and heart's focus on the Emerald Ray, which was said to act as a conductor of vibration and to serve as a symbolic amplifier of the ray’s qualities. Their idea was by holding, meditating on, or wearing an emerald, one can attune more easily to the Emerald Ray, just as violet crystals or amethyst are used for the Violet Flame." (This isn't stated to invalidate Cobra. It's just important that people know the history. And, regardless of how one regards Cobra and/or the Light Forces, these spiritual tools are very useful and powerful in their own right.)
Here are some (but certainly not all) major contributors from the 1900s for strongly increasing psychological and metaphysical knowledge and power:
Helena P. Blavatsky (1831–1891)
Set the cosmological template (planes, cycles, root races, occult history). Covers: Theosophy, Eastern-Western synthesis, esoteric historiography. Read: "Isis Unveiled, The Secret Doctrine"
Aleister Crowley (Controversial but still had major contributions, 1875–1947)
Operationalized magic as experiment and will-training. Covers: Ritual, yoga, sex magick, symbolic systems. Book example: "Magick in Theory and Practice"
Dion Fortune (1890–1946)
Clean psychological reframing of magical practice. Covers: Group mind, psychic hygiene, inner mechanics. Book example: "The Mystical Qabalah."
Israel Regardie (1907–1985)
Stripped ceremonial magic of superstition; made it psychologically legible. Covers: Golden Dawn praxis, psychotherapy overlap. Book example: "The Golden Dawn."
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)
Developmental model of consciousness and cognition. Covers: Spiritual science, epistemology, perception training. Book example: "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds."
G.I. Gurdjieff (1866–1949)
Introduced attention, self-remembering, and mechanical psychology. Covers: Consciousness states, inner friction, intentional suffering. Book example: "Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson" (slow, but foundational)
P.D. Ouspensky (1878–1947)
Made Gurdjieff usable and systematic. Covers: Structure of attention, levels of being. Book example: "In Search of the Miraculous"
Manly P. Hall (1901–1990)
Taught symbolic literacy at scale. Covers: Myth, alchemy, initiation symbolism. Book example: "The Secret Teachings of All Ages"
Franz Bardon (1909–1958)
Most methodical psycho-physical training system ever published. Covers: Concentration, elemental balance, will control. Book example: "Initiation Into Hermetics"
René Guénon (1886–1951)
Metaphysical rigor; exposes modern spiritual dilution. Covers: Tradition, metaphysics, initiation theory. Book example: "The Crisis of the Modern World"
Arthur Avalon (aka John Woodroffe, 1865–1936)
Legitimate transmission of Tantra and Kundalini concepts. Covers: Subtle anatomy, Shakti theory, chakras. Book example: "The Serpent Power"
Carl Jung (1875–1961)
Gave the psychological language occultism now depends on. Covers: Archetypes, alchemy as individuation, synchronicity. Book example: "Psychology and Alchemy"
Max Heindel (1865–1919)
Rosicrucian cosmology with karmic mechanics. Book example: "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception"
William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932)
Neo-Theosophy and New Thought; color, vibration, and mental influence concepts; precursor to modern energy work. Book example: "The Astral Plane"
What this list gives you
If you seriously read these authors, you will understand:
– The many different planes and subplanes
– Where chakras, planes, and archetypes actually came from
– Why energy work is largely attention control
– How ritual affects identity and perception
– Why most modern occult discourse is derivative
– How inner transformation was meant to work
(Note: It's interesting that Arthur Avalon had much information on Kundalini.)
Those who may be uncomfortable with this knowledge from believing it to be infiltrated by the dark forces could simply filter out what they disagree with (if anyone decides to really get into this of course). Many aspects may have changed with developments over the last few years, but still, much of the psychological and metaphysical structures these authors wrote about remains the same. (I haven't read most of their works myself, but am definitely inspired to do so.)
