This is the first of several new releases from Andre Consciencia. He is a practitioner with a wealth of experience, the author of many informative and beautifully presented books as well as being one of our teachers here on Perseus Arcane Academy with his course Magical and Mystical Introspection. He is based in Portugal and has the ability to describe in beautiful details the essence of what we seek to accomplish in our magical journeys.
Those familiar with Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon then you will be well aware of the Soul Mirrors. The black and white mirrors on which we analyze our selves, making note of everything that makes up our character and organizing into the four elements then further organizing by positive and negative traits. This new book by Andre takes this as a basis for understanding each and every exercise in Initiaion into Hermetics.
From having an early view of this book the biggest thing for me was the uniqueness. It is written in a beautiful way as are all of Andres books. But this one really is on another level as he has been able to introduce things that most of us will be familiar with in a way that feels very personal, relatable and most importantly achievable without dropping the requirements needed for a solid foundation. It is hard to explain without ruining the surprise but with the permission of Falcon Books Publishing I am sharing what I can below of the interior of the book to give a feel for how special Andre’s writing is.
An Early Glimpse of the Introduction
Introduction
This book follows up on the trail of Franz Bardon’s Initiation Into Hermetics, applying his techniques used in the soul mirror training in Step 1 and I have further elaborated upon them.
The soul mirror is what distinguishes Bardon’s system of hermetic training from all other training systems of hermeticism or magic, for, having dominion over his own mind and soul, the magician is already a master in any exercise he might attempt. Introspection is an essential ingredient to the formula, for, without it, he hasn’t yet identified his mind or soul, to begin with. An Olympic champion cannot perform without perfect knowledge of his anatomy, for devoid of such knowledge, his anatomy will trick him into failing or else it will break in its own structure and destroy the athlete.
The practitioner is, thus, expected to have built his soul mirror, white and black, before proceeding with the work in hand. But, to start with, we will ask him to rearrange it into a second soul mirror category according to the most basic instincts whose credits humanity ignores when attributing the real causes of his actions. We think this is a key to the roots of not only many problems, but also solutions concerning the different virtues and faults, and connects the magician directly to the evolution of mankind as a whole so that, while he is working on his individuality, he is also working for the evolution of mankind. This structure is inspired by Nema’s table of correspondences for what she calls, ‘The Forgotten Ones ‘ (1) and suffers from the author’s own 1 adaptations.
It is expected, then, that the magician already holds Bardon’s Initiation Into Hermetics (“IIH”) in his hands, as this is something we want to make sure of. Through the Soul Mirror to the Sphere of the Sun is suitable even for those who have not done any exercises in IIH. However, it is important that the magician, male or female, is able to read from our source directly. This book is also appropriate for the mature adept. It doesn’t matter if he has completed IIH, The Practice of Magical Evocation, The Key to True Quabbalah or any system of magic foreign to Franz Bardon, as any may benefit greatly from it and take heed of the sphinx’s words,
Man, if you wish to know the Gods and the Universe, know thyself
As can be seen from the images in this post, the layout of the book is a labor of love to match the beauty of the content that Andre has created. I think it will really breathe fresh life into anyones practice as Andre is continuously pointing out things that seem so obvious now as I read them on a page but I had actually not considered things in that way previously. So you can certainly be an advanced practitioner of Franz Bardons system or indeed any other system and find immense value in what Andre offers,
I want to share another little sample of Andres perspective this time from an interview I did with him on the blog over at studentsoffranzbardon.com as in this interview he talks about a number universal things we all need to have in place regardless the system. This is what he had to say about cultivating an emptiness of mind (known as Vacancy of Mind amongst Bardon practitioners), called a multitude of things in various traditions.
ANDRE: Vacancy of Mind is the cornerstone of IIH. Some might say it is working with the soul mirror, which I can understand. But from my experience, those who can’t master vacancy of mind will always get poor results while working with the soul mirror. If one truly masters VOM, all that stands in the way of our belief and determination can simply be erased. Yes, if one is able to fix one’s thoughts on a single thought, things that might distract him from this thought stop distracting him. It means such distracting thoughts are not on the front panel of the mind nor are they allowed to come in there, so to speak. But with VOM, there are no front and back panels, you get the whole view, and when thoughts stop coming, that is when you truly know you have control over anything, or better put, over the mind. For instance, when one doubts, and asks while pore breathing “is this true vitality or just my imagination of true vitality?” one is losing vitality. If he removes this thought of doubt entirely, instead of simply not being distracted by it, he immediately starts to build true vitality. To highlight the importance of VOM, especially in its relation to the Soul Mirror, I like to remember the story of the Three Little Pigs. The big bad wolf is made visible by the black soul mirror, it starts to visibly peek around for its three little pigs, wanting to consume body, soul and mind. Sensations are very unstable, the pig of the body builds his house on them. Feelings are less unstable but still fragile, the pig of the soul builds its house with them. The pig of the mind doesn’t build his house on thoughts, mere mental imitations of sensations and feelings, automatisms, he builds his house on vacancy, the stuff of the mind. The big bad wolf of vice sweeps over the house of sensation, it all goes to ashes, but what lived inside sensations survives in the house of feelings. Then it is time for the bad wolf to test the house of feelings, and the soul (that was living in the house of feelings) and consciousness (that was living in the house of sensations and then in the house of feelings) survive in the purity of mind (whose quantity is the vacancy of mind). Sure, in the story, the big bad wolf doesn’t give up when he sees he can’t bring down the house of the mind, he tries to enter it from above, and that is when the fire of the spirit hits him. I hope what I have told here can be understood. One can also bring his attention to the story of Hercules and the Hydra. Before beating Hydra, Hercules was just an heroic personality, he wasn’t yet a true initiate. Hydra is the beast of thoughts, Hercules cuts one and two grow back in its place. It is when Hercules lifts the Hydra from the floor that she loses power, and he is able to dominate her. This means to portray that thoughts are but reflections of feelings and sensations, separate the mind from feelings and sensations, and the mind will be silent. Instead of feelings you will find love, the unity of feelings. Instead of sensations, bliss, the unity of sensations.
You can go about Bardon all you like, without VOM, it will all be useless in the end except for the personality and its stimulus.
I have attained VOM through many different methods over time, as some students cannot seem to do it the way I first did it. The way I first did it was very simple, to forcefully expel all thoughts and persist, until only electrical impulses were left, and then stilling the electrical impulses. In the end, there would be void compressing and transbundant light, and once that dynamic state is achieved, it is the other way around, you have to use your will-power to come back. Once this was mastered, I started practicing VOM with my eyes open, and then even while going about my business and while having conversations. To many this first approach seems to be impossible, so, in my book the Way of Abrahadabra I use the greater capacity people apparently have of fixing their thoughts on a single subject or object. I start with simple thoughts and images, after which come complex images and thoughts, and then I begin to reduce the concepts that fit in the thoughts/images being used. Eventually, you are focusing on the thought and image of a single star in the void black sky. Then, you remove the star, and there is only vital vacancy.
What a description, anyone being told of the journey in such a way is surely going to be far more inspired to take that first step. In the coming months I hope to talk more with Andre about this and his many other books. So look out for an in-depth discussion with him, sooner rather than later. But I hope what I have shared here introduces you to some of his work and why I believe at least one of Andres books should be on your bookshelf.
If you do purchase this book then please do share your thoughts on the forum.
Purchase ‘Through the Soul Mirror to the Sphere of the Sun’
More from Andre
If you you would like to do a little more research on Andre before delving into his new release or commiting to his course then please have a look at the following interviews. He talks about a range of topics in great detail as well as sharing his own experiences in magic and how it all began for him. Really nice to hear his journey.
Interview with Falcon Books Publishing
Andres course – Magical and Mystical Introspection
1 Nema (Margaret C. Ingall) was the founder of the Horus-Maat Lodge in 12/03/78. These are 1 notes taken from her contemplations
