E. A. Koetting - staticfly.net

WORKS OF
DARKNESS
has found him, leading him to these people and these topics. It is all so
overwhelming, dizzying, yet thrilling. The occult game that he had
been playing had vanished, and in its place stood a world of limitless
possibility.
Rather than heading for the New Age section of the bookstore, he
may now go straight to the clerk. He doesn't have the time or the
patience to waste on any more skimming. There is work to be done. An
Author Search, a Subject Search, anything that will lead him directly
to the works of those that Know.
This urgency typifies the stage of the Neophyte. He is an infant
whose vision is developing the acuity to see the world around him. His
mind is buzzing, and he can barely catch his breath.
He buries himself in his new books, written by the Masters of
Magick, often confused by their vocabulary yet still enthralled by their
meanings. He studies the rituals of the Pentagram and the Hexagram,
and learns the formulae of the Tetragrammaton, and knows without
reserve that all will be his in time.
It is here that the addiction becomes inexorable. The life he
knew before is left behind, and he knows there is no compromising. It is
here that the Magician chooses his Path; a choice which he will never
betray, try as he might.
PRACTITIONER
There is a great gulf between Magick in theory and Magick in
practice. The theory has been examined thoroughly. The name and
number of the Beast is known. All that remains is the discovery of His
essence.
The Practitioner of Magick gathers the notes which were made
as a Neophyte and prepares for his journey as a Black Magician.
Most often, his first step is the construction or acquisition of
ritual implements. Though this may have begun, however
capriciously, whilst a Dabbler, it is now seen to be incomplete and in
serious need of rectification.
The bowie knife is replaced by a black handled ritual dagger, the
cereal bowl makes way for an iron cauldron and the cardboard box
covered in candle wax is thrown out in favor for a solid oak altar. In
doing so, the Neophyte is discarded and the Practitioner is risen.
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