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Holy Heretics
Holy Heretics is the third and final volume in the Holy Daimon cycle. Blending occult philosophy, magic and mysticism, Frater Acher guides the reader through the centuries with a series of practical exercises and rites which ultimately restore the powerful Olympic spirits to their original magical context.
Frater Acher identifies certain techniques of mysticism as a prerequisite for the work of magic, as the often missing element in the development of a serious practice. The advanced magical rites Holy Heretics contains are built from the foundations of simple practical exercises. These are provided and carefully explained. When performed, these rites form a luminous chain for the student who wishes to attain to adepthood and the mastery of empty-handed magic.
Holy Heretics offers a challenge to magicians who have reactively rejected Christianity, and a challenge to Christians who are unaware of the heretical tensions that run throughout Christian mysticism. As Acher writes, ‘I am very aware that searching for such a path among the very people who for centuries tried to usurp and control or deform and kill the Western magical tradition is a big ask. On such an expedition to find the narrow path we’ll soon be crawling through the bones, blood and ashes of our ancestors. And yet, at the same time we’ll also encounter beauty and genuine practice, true grace and deep spiritual power.’ The mystic and magician is always a threat to spiritual orthodoxy, and Acher navigates us through that difficult space. As a guide, he approaches the Christian material fairly, is generous when appropriate, and unapologetic when describing its worst excesses. The work draws extensively from manuscript sources and texts that are not available in English, illuminating a hitherto neglected world. All is done with the aim of extracting the spiritual gold of our own heart prayer, rather than imbibing the poison of orthodoxy.
In Book I of Holy Heretics we are taken on a mystical tour de force, beginning with the Desert Fathers and the austerities forged in the wilderness. From Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite we discover mystical prayer as a method to bypass the cognitive mind, and then enter into the inner stillness of Hesychasm. We stand with Symeon the New Theologian at the edge of the Abyss, and witness the remarkable visions of Hildegard of Bingen. We watch the potential of the mustard seed unfold, and encounter the radical this-worldliness of the Theologia Germanica, a manifesto for the gnostic practitioner that threatens the supremacy of the Catholic Church itself by directing the individual to seek their own illumination.
In Book II, Frater Acher turns his attention to magic, as an art of symphonic harmonious co-creation. The nature of the magical call is described, and the use of the magical bell introduced with historical examples. Next Acher considers Paracelsus, giving a full English translation of his little known Arcanum arcanorum, a celestial rite to summon both one’s holy daimon and the seven Olympic spirits with such a bell. The rite is expertly deciphered, from its use of alchemical tincture to its astrological timing, by following clues across the Paracelsian and Pseudo-Paracelsian corpus. The work culminates with Frater Acher’s restored version of the Ritual of the Olympic Spirit, opening the gates of the seven spirits and uniting them into one greater Olympic Spirit. The final act thus draws on all the lessons that Holy Heretics has laid out and the flame burning in our hearts.
Frater Acher identifies certain techniques of mysticism as a prerequisite for the work of magic, as the often missing element in the development of a serious practice. The advanced magical rites Holy Heretics contains are built from the foundations of simple practical exercises. These are provided and carefully explained. When performed, these rites form a luminous chain for the student who wishes to attain to adepthood and the mastery of empty-handed magic.
Holy Heretics offers a challenge to magicians who have reactively rejected Christianity, and a challenge to Christians who are unaware of the heretical tensions that run throughout Christian mysticism. As Acher writes, ‘I am very aware that searching for such a path among the very people who for centuries tried to usurp and control or deform and kill the Western magical tradition is a big ask. On such an expedition to find the narrow path we’ll soon be crawling through the bones, blood and ashes of our ancestors. And yet, at the same time we’ll also encounter beauty and genuine practice, true grace and deep spiritual power.’ The mystic and magician is always a threat to spiritual orthodoxy, and Acher navigates us through that difficult space. As a guide, he approaches the Christian material fairly, is generous when appropriate, and unapologetic when describing its worst excesses. The work draws extensively from manuscript sources and texts that are not available in English, illuminating a hitherto neglected world. All is done with the aim of extracting the spiritual gold of our own heart prayer, rather than imbibing the poison of orthodoxy.
In Book I of Holy Heretics we are taken on a mystical tour de force, beginning with the Desert Fathers and the austerities forged in the wilderness. From Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite we discover mystical prayer as a method to bypass the cognitive mind, and then enter into the inner stillness of Hesychasm. We stand with Symeon the New Theologian at the edge of the Abyss, and witness the remarkable visions of Hildegard of Bingen. We watch the potential of the mustard seed unfold, and encounter the radical this-worldliness of the Theologia Germanica, a manifesto for the gnostic practitioner that threatens the supremacy of the Catholic Church itself by directing the individual to seek their own illumination.
In Book II, Frater Acher turns his attention to magic, as an art of symphonic harmonious co-creation. The nature of the magical call is described, and the use of the magical bell introduced with historical examples. Next Acher considers Paracelsus, giving a full English translation of his little known Arcanum arcanorum, a celestial rite to summon both one’s holy daimon and the seven Olympic spirits with such a bell. The rite is expertly deciphered, from its use of alchemical tincture to its astrological timing, by following clues across the Paracelsian and Pseudo-Paracelsian corpus. The work culminates with Frater Acher’s restored version of the Ritual of the Olympic Spirit, opening the gates of the seven spirits and uniting them into one greater Olympic Spirit. The final act thus draws on all the lessons that Holy Heretics has laid out and the flame burning in our hearts.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 20, 2022
18 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Frater Acher
17 books71 followersFrater Acher is the author of theomagica.com as well as a friend and collaborator of Quareia Magical Training. He holds an MA in Communications Science, Intercultural Communications and Psychology as well as certifications in Systemic Coaching and Gestalt Therapy. He has studied Western Ritual Magic in theory and practice at I.M.B.O.L.C. (magieausbildung.de) and has been actively involved in magic as a lone practitioner for more than twenty years. Frater Acher is a German national, and after several years of living abroad, he is now resident in Munich, Germany. Previous publications include 'Cyprian of Antioch: A Mage of Many Faces' (Quareia Press 2017) and 'Speculum Terræ' (Hadean Press 2018).
The Holy Daimon online project is a resource dedicated to research into, and the translation of ritual manuscripts from the 15th to 18th century with a focus on texts of daimonic theurgy.
The Holy Daimon online project is a resource dedicated to research into, and the translation of ritual manuscripts from the 15th to 18th century with a focus on texts of daimonic theurgy.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 31, 2023
Frater Acher has certainly become one of the most important authors in the "serious" occult community, first through his blog, later in the last years through his books. Again, as with the other two installments in the trilogy "holy Heretics" comprises the last part of, his voice is gentle but of an analytical clarity and precision which runs in a most pleasurable way against the often obfuscating nature of much occult scripture. His work is that of enlightening, scrutinizing sources, demonstrating their relevance and making them workable in a contemporary context without watering down. the book is structured in two main parts, the first being "Mysticism", the second "Magic" with accompanying analysis and practice. If you know his other works or maybe McCarthies "Quareia"-course you broadly know, what to expect here.
Note: I am quite sure, Hildegard from Bingen wouldn't share his interpretation of her works, at the same time I'm much more with Acher on the subject of balance, so I don't hold that against this book.
Note: I am quite sure, Hildegard from Bingen wouldn't share his interpretation of her works, at the same time I'm much more with Acher on the subject of balance, so I don't hold that against this book.
April 12, 2023
Artillery
I'm going to keep reading until this stuff is second nature.because this stuff really works.... I can't say it enough....if I started as a non believer; believe me I'm one now and forever more....
I'm going to keep reading until this stuff is second nature.because this stuff really works.... I can't say it enough....if I started as a non believer; believe me I'm one now and forever more....
February 25, 2024
Frater Acher’s magical mind-space is a vast mountain, its slope reaching millennia into the past, its peaks high into the stratosphere... Holy Heretics is therefore, not surprisingly, a trail for truly experienced hikers (with an incredible ascent at the start), but the mysterious voice of Frater Acher, hovering mostly far ahead, sometimes besides the reader, is knowledgeable, humble and so, so generous. At the end of every leg of the journey, as the camp fire crackles and the eyes are at rest in the dark, a practical exercise is described that will transfuse the knowledge into the reader’s soul.
April 2, 2023
An interesting book that covers the historical thread of Christian Mysticism from the early Christian desert fathers of late antiquity Grecco-Egypt to the medieval Germanic practitioners Meister Eckhart and Paracelsus, to reclaim the European meditational-mystical tradition for those that do not ascribe to orthodox Christianity. I really enjoyed examining the historical trajectory of these evolving practices through Europe, despite finding some of his interpretations regarding them less compelling.
March 5, 2025
Wonderful research with examples and rituals. Completely fresh approach from anything else written on the subject.
March 27, 2024
A great read for those interested in the Olympic Spirits
Frater Acher provides some brilliant insights with this book. The only complaint I have is that it isn't longer! The exercises are "simple" but far from "easy" and it has given me a lot to tgink about in my long term study of the Arbatel.
Frater Acher provides some brilliant insights with this book. The only complaint I have is that it isn't longer! The exercises are "simple" but far from "easy" and it has given me a lot to tgink about in my long term study of the Arbatel.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews