NOTES ON SANE OCCULTISM
These are brief observations on how to safely conduct spiritual/esoteric practices. They are neither exhaustive nor authoritative guidelines on safe esotericism, but hopefully they will enhance your good sense and put up a few useful warnings. Please meditate upon the notes in this page and always use your best judgment.
This list will always be under construction. Return here from time to time for updated content.
SAFETY OF THE PHYSICAL VEHICLE
(1) ALWAYS BE AWARE OF PERFORMANCE HAZARDS.
(a) FIRE HAZARD. Take care not to knock over candles and other lit flames while performing your rites. Do not put them on top of unstable objects. Choose non-flammable materials for your oratory implements whenever possible. Keep a handy source of water nearby to quickly put out small fires should they occur.
(b) RISK OF INJURIES. Prepare the area where you will perform your rites so as to guarantee that you will not slip or trip on any objects when moving around. Avoid touching objects that hold flames or are plugged into an electrical outlet during your rites. Be extra careful when handling glass objects or other easily breakable items, and always keep a broom nearby to sweep away any sharp bits that may fall onto the floor.
(2) CONTROL YOUR EXPENSES
(a) RELIABLE TOOLS OVER FLASHY ONES. Make your oratory and other material tools as nice and inspiring as you can, but do not go overboard. Hermetic practice is not supposed to ruin you financially or get you addicted to collecting mystical tchotchkes. Keep things simple (and inexpensive) on the material side. Keeping simple objects in good condition and handling them with respect is better than having fancy trinkets that are frequently neglected. Go for ease of up-keeping and durability over looks when it comes to magical implements.
(3) HEALTH PRECAUTIONS
(a) MODERATE MODERATION. If and when you incorporate potentially health-altering practices into your Hermetic journey, be careful not to take them to an extreme. Physical exercises, fasting, dieting, rhythmic breathing, all can have negative effects on your health if you are not moderate in their performance. Go see a doctor whenever you experience adverse effects or develop symptoms.
(b) NO DRUGS. There is no need for the use of drugs in the system described in this site. The internet is full of people indiscriminately advising others to take certain etheogens to "improve" or "unlock" their spiritual practices. This is a temerarious and irresponsible attitude. There are legitimate uses for etheogens within certain religious or magical traditions, but you should never use those substances unless you are an active part of a tradition that has successfully used them for a number of years. The IHC magical system has no use for etheogens. They will not further your advancement or development in any way. Do not do drugs—regardless of how natural they are presented as being. The health risks involved in taking etheogens as an outsider to their tried and true ritual use are not worth the small potential benefits to practitioners of this system.
SAFETY OF THE PSYCHIC VEHICLE
(1) CULTIVATE THE VIRTUES. This seems like a purely moralistic piece of advice, but it has very direct and practical effects. Magical practice needs safeguards to diminish the risk of damage to the psyche. When put to practice in a careless manner, any magical system has the potential to cause negative effects on the psyche—and some of them may be permanent. To avoid that, a few security measures will be put in place according to the system being adopted: the magic circle, the prayers for divine protection, the banishing rituals, etc. However, from a Hermetic point of view, these are never enough. Unless you actually start developing the ability to channel the Virtues of the Rulers, you will always be at risk of being damaged by the Vices of the Tormentors. You must be able to weaken the energies of the Zones, at least partially and temporarily, in order to safely operate magical rites. A simple banishing or protection ritual will not be enough. A great number of practitioners only perform those as a kind of formality, anyway. You will not make this mistake. Your greatest protection is to cultivate the Virtues.
(2) DO NOT BURY YOUR SCEPTICISM. A lot of aspirants to a spiritual way of life fall into the trap of trying to kill their ability to have doubts. They assume, at a very early point in their journey, that the more of a believer they are, the more spiritualized they are being. This attitude, more often than not, leads into much more ignorance than gnosis... Do not try to kill your scepticism: it will live for as long as you are alive. A mortal mind has and will have doubts. What many misguided spiritual seekers end up doing is burying their scepticism alive under a mountain of self-denial and gullible mindsets. And everything we keep buried inside becomes a monster and eventually starts to stalk us. Instead of trying to become a perfect believer, try to improve the ways in which you recognize your doubts and reconcile them with your beliefs. Also, be prepared to change your beliefs whenever necessary. Develop the ability to change your mind in between faith and scepticism. Build a healthy relationship with your capacity to doubt.
(3) CRITICAL VIEW. Do not make the mistake of using your esoteric beliefs as a set of criteria for what is real or not. An esoteric/mystical belief system is most useful and healthy when it serves you as a critical lens through which you can look at reality in a certain special way, while being aware that the lens is not reality itself. If you start wanting reality to conform to your beliefs, you will go down a spiral of self-delusion. You will be working for your belief system, instead of making the system work for you. I am sure you have met a good number of (religious, cultural or corporate) fanatics in your life to know how limited their understanding can be. Do not become a fanatic of your own definition of spirituality. Whatever it is, it does not hold all the answers.
AVOID JOINING EXPLOITATIVE CULTS
There are many groups and organizations out there that work to exploit people's income, time, attention, and/or labor. Such groups may present themselves as religious organizations, but not all of them do; there are plenty social, educational, political and corporate cults active at any given time. These groups exist to recruit and exploit individuals to their own ends. Their most common tools are misinformation, deception, psychological manipulation, aggressive sales tactics, and oppression via threats of punishment and/or blackmail.
It would be a mistake to believe yourself immune to the lure and retention power of exploitative cults. Cults are NOT ENTIRELY composed of stereotypically naive, gullible, or ignorant people. Intelligent people fall for cults as well, and YOU may find yourself involved with one someday. It is not always evident from the start that one is in a cult: such organizations thrive on their ability to disguise their exploitative nature. And you must admit that a whole organization, with its numerous members, procedures and sources of income, may very well find a way to deceive you, at least for some time.
You should study what exploitative cults are, how they operate, how you can avoid them, and how you can get out of one in case you fail to avoid it. I will post a few useful links below to get you started on your research. Remember that ANY organization may function as an exploitative cult: a church; an esoteric "order"; a fan club; an internet community; a brand of consumer products; the company you work for. Educate yourself and stay alert lest you be drawn into something you will find very hard to disentangle from.
Psychology Today. Understanding Cults: The Basics.
The New Yorker. What makes a cult a cult?
The Advanced Bonewits’ Cult Danger Evaluation Frame
YouTube. Atrocity Guide. The Enlightenment Fraud of Zen Master Rama.
A very interesting (and educational) documentary about a notorious New Age cult.
YouTube. PBS Otherwords. How cults use language to control.
A short documentary on how charismatic leaders may use language to exert control over their cults.
YouTube. Carey Burtt Films. Mind Control Made Easy.
This short film works both as a satire on exploitative cults and a very informative exposition of the manipulative tactics of cults.