53 ratings (4.62 avg)
1 review

Grant

Add friend

Grant’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (151)
currently-reading‎ (3)
read‎ (54)

own‎ (56)
gnostic-angels‎ (5)
various‎ (4)

film‎ (3)
meher-baba‎ (2)
art‎ (1)

Stats | More…

Grant is Currently Reading

Grant is currently reading

The Great God Pan and Other Horror Stories

by Arthur Machen

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 23, 2019 11:21AM

Grant is currently reading

The Abyss (A Thelemic Journey through The Abyss and the Myths of Descent)

by Leo Holmes (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: own, currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Grant said: " Within, Holmes provides an integrated approach to better equip oneself for the trials of the Thelemic 'Ordeal X'. Writing as a Gnostic Christian, the crossing of the Abyss is essentially what Jesus accomplished as the Christ, the Chrysos, or Spirit o Within, Holmes provides an integrated approach to better equip oneself for the trials of the Thelemic 'Ordeal X'. Writing as a Gnostic Christian, the crossing of the Abyss is essentially what Jesus accomplished as the Christ, the Chrysos, or Spirit of Gold. The crossing and Choronzon is what every pilgrim must face once he or she has, once and for all, completely dis-identified with illusory phenomena, for, bless our hearts, the true Gold can only be found deep within. Speaking honestly, my efforts at renunciation are still very lukewarm, but this book is embedded in my subconscious and has helped me take on some of the ascetic practices recommended throughout. There is a chapter where the bestiary and it's Shadow is related to numerous 'night-side' creatures and particular psychological characteristics they embody, which I found to be very unique.

Choronzon is Blake's invisible worm, the one who brings about the weeping and gnashing of teeth found in the Bible, a Dweller on the Threshold, and can also be symbolized as the Cerberus or Hound of Hell in Greek mythology. As stated in the introduction, Choronzon is the paradoxical gatekeeper of the Abyss/Chaos par excellence. Paradoxical in the sense that his station is to hinder and be overcome.

Don't expect talk of self-deification nor self-annihilation, as this is not what the text is asking the reader to pursue, but simply a necessary and painful process of liberation. The author is assisting one's entry into the Great White Brotherhood through practical means. All else is bondage and black magic, tending to dispersion, as Crowley would say. The true nature of Reality and ourselves is not found in some abstract transcendent realm such as 'the divine' or 'the absolute'. Those who restrict themselves to these limited delusions, or the mundane ego and its paraphernalia, can be labeled Black Brothers (fundamentalists, strict materialists) and inevitably become Choronzon's food. These are the 'damned and dead', as spoken of by Aiwass in Liber Al. The slaves who perish and choose not to do their Will. It is now easier to better grasp the true meaning of Jesus' statement 'Let the dead bury their dead'.

One needn't be a magician or strict LHP initiate to gather much from the book. Holmes writes for solitary and exiled souls yearning for the Stellar Light of Gnosis, suffering alone, who possess a spark of vital force and still take their existence (or subsistence) seriously. Charting the abyss is vital for us as a species, in whatever path or fashion one prefers, otherwise Choronzon will remain victorious.

333 ...more "

Nov 29, 2019 04:18PM · see review

Grant is currently reading

Simulacra and Simulation

by Jean Baudrillard

bookshelves: own, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Aug 07, 2017 05:01PM

Grant’s Quotes

“I know in a way I never knew before that there is nowhere for me to go, nothing for me to do, and no one for me to know. The voice in my head keeps reciting these old principles of mine. The voice is his voice, and the voice is also my voice. And there are other voices, voices I have never heard before, voices that seem to be either dead or dying in a great moonlit darkness. More than ever, some sort of new arrangement seems in order, some dramatic and unknown arrangement -- anything to find release from this heartbreaking sadness I suffer every minute of the day (and night), this killing sadness that feels as if it will never leave me no matter where I go or what I do or whom I may ever know.”
― Thomas Ligotti, The Nightmare Factory

tags: loneliness, sadness

54 likes

“Living is a horizontal fall.”
― Jean Cocteau, Opium: The Illustrated Diary of His Cure

924 likes

“What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?”
― Ursula K. LeGuin

844 likes

“There is one domain in which untruth is insupportable, that field of the human soul's endeavor of which Truth is the very substance and being, - religion”
― Alvin Boyd Kuhn, The Lost Light: An Interpretation of Ancient Scriptures

5 likes

“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.”
― Jean Cocteau

tags: cats, home

705 likes

More of Grant’s quotes…