--- title: "Exploring Ceremonial Magic: From Ghostly Encounters to Soul Mirror Work" url: https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/post/exploring-ceremonial-magic-from-ghostly-encounters-to-soul-mirror-work/ date: 2024-11-09 modified: 2026-07-03 lang: en author: "Perseus Arcane Academy" description: "Introduction In this interview, we explore Alex's journey through the world of ceremonial magic and mystical practices. From a childhood surrounded by subtle spiritual influences to a deeper study of..." categories: - "Evocation" - "Franz Bardon" - "Interviews" - "Kabbalah" - "Meditation" - "Western Traditions" tags: - "Ceremonial Magic" - "Franz Bardon" - "Kabbalah" - "Magic" image: https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DALL·E-2024-11-09-20.58.13-A-mysterious-figure-walking-through-a-foggy-otherworldly-landscape-surrounded-by-symbols-from-various-mystical-traditions.-In-the-background-an-eth.webp word_count: 2033 --- # Exploring Ceremonial Magic: From Ghostly Encounters to Soul Mirror Work ## Introduction In this interview, we explore Alex's journey through the world of ceremonial magic and mystical practices. From a childhood surrounded by subtle spiritual influences to a deeper study of ritual magic and self-discovery, they share insights into their experiences, the traditions they’ve explored, and the personal transformations along the way. --- **PAA: Could you share some insights into your background and what initially drew you to magic and mystical practices?** I grew up with two parents who had a certain mystical background. On the surface they were very down to earth and ordinary people, but they had been part of a Magical circle which felt it was conducting spiritual warfare on the side of light. My Dad was a deep trance medium in the group and my Mum was an astral traveller. I had no idea about this background until I started to have certain unusual experiences as a teen and my Mum said "Talk to your father". As I grew up, I had several ghostly encounters and helped resolve a few hauntings. On one such occasion I watched in disbelief as scratches appeared out of nowhere on my Dad's skin as he attempted to 'move on' an unpleasant spirit. So although my upbringing was in most ways very normal, it was peppered with incidents that were totally bizarre. As I got older I read more and trained in various spiritual disciplines but never forgot my first lessons with my father. As an adult I was a fan of Grant Morrison and his works on Chaos Magic and sigils were my first exposure to ritual magic beyond the few things that my parents had taught me. Over time I scaled up my practise and started carrying out larger workings, drawing on sigils, ritual magic, long meditations, mantras, offerings and anything else I could think of. During the pandemic I was really struggling as my industry had been hit hard, so I called on a deity to help me get back on my feet. The rite lasted several days and one week after it was done I was approached by a company that actually had that same deity's symbol as its logo. That company offered me the best job I've ever had, completely transforming my life for the better and I worked with them for the next three years. I came to realise that magic could affect both the external and internal landscape of my life, and both "results" magic and internal alchemy have their place. **PAA: What are some of the magical paths and traditions you've explored along your journey, and how have these shaped your current practice?** I spent the longest time in the Eastern traditions. I was a half decent martial artist for most of my life and learned Qigong from a Shaolin master who had a big influence on me. I later spent some years involved with plant medicine and Ayahuasca in particular. This was highly transformative for me and gave me some incredible insights about the world and myself, but I felt it wasn't enough to simply take the medicine, there needed to be real action taken in tackling the problems that the medicine revealed. I ended up refocusing on practices that didn't require any external stimuli. Eventually I also noticed that in every group I was ever involved with, group dynamics became a problem and even in martial arts groups the familial structure can become cult-like. So, I resolved to be a solo practitioner which led me to self-initiation. **PAA: How did you discover Franz Bardon's work, and what aspects of his teachings have resonated with you the most?** I was part of Jason Louv's original "Adept Initiative" course which was my first structured exploration of magic. Jason was a big proponent of Bardon's Black and White Mirror practice and encouraged us to do this as part of the course. The idea of delving into one's psyche and facing up to every little grubby part of one's character and systematically uprooting it seemed pretty revolutionary to me. It also resonated with something I learned during an Ayahuasca ceremony, that there should be no part of your own mind where you're afraid to venture. There are hidden reserves of energy that are clogged up in that darkness, if we can only be brave enough to delve down into them. There is a certain sense of courage that comes with Bardon work which really appeals to me. **PAA: Mental wandering is a key exercise in Bardon's approach, requiring focus and self-control. How did you find this practice? Did it come naturally, or was it something you developed over time?** I had always been prone to experimenting with my mind and had developed certain techniques of my own that could be described as mental wandering. I would lie on my bed and focus on creating gateways in my mind that I would then mentally walk through. Those gates might be tattvas into the elemental realms (as described in the Golden Dawn curriculum) or simple doorways that I would draw a symbol on that represented the subject I wanted to investigate. Several years ago I became a qualified hypnotherapist and found many of the trance induction techniques could be applied to mental wandering. "The Staircase deepener" where you imagine yourself walking down a flight of stairs, doubling your sense of relaxation with each step, is one that I successfully adapted to mental wandering. In my case I substituted the stairs for a huge desert of colossal rolling sand-dunes that I would walk up and down, sending myself deep into trance. Bardon stresses the importance of using of all the senses, as did my hypnosis teacher, so I would focus on feeling the sinking sensations and the warmth of the sand on my feet and the blowing of the winds. I would draw symbols in the sands to represent the object of my investigation, then keep walking until that landscape started to shift and change. Just a couple of weeks ago I found good use for mental wandering when my partner complained about hearing a lot of spooky noises in an empty house where she was working. The owner of that house had also said they were starting to think it might be haunted. So one evening I built a mental double for myself and walked to the house in real time, making the world as real and vivid as I could. When I reached the house I began wandering around and asking if anyone was there. I began receiving answers in the form of symbols that guided me to a trapped spirit. I eventually found this strange, sad man ranting about something from his past. He gave me the feeling of being trapped in a sack that he was desperately trying to claw his way out of. I asked for help from the higher powers in assisting him and something light, white and comforting descended and wrapped itself around us. This was very similar to the kind of work I once watched my Dad carry out, although at the time I couldn't really see what he was doing. So I'm very glad to have learned to follow in his footsteps now that he's gone. **PAA: Approach to Soul Mirror- [MMI](https://courses.perseusarcaneacademy.com/b/pJtvd) and Andres '[Through the Soul Mirror to the Sphere of the Sun](https://courses.perseusarcaneacademy.com/b/through-the-soul-mirror-to-the-sphere-of-the-sun)' are much more in depth approaches to soul mirror work. Can you discuss some of the challenges and benefits that this brings with it?** Andre's focus on breaking things down into tiny details has been really powerful for me. The very first exercise of 'Thought Observation' in Bardon's IIH was something I never really paid much attention to until working with Andre. I thought I was already beyond that level and didn't need to bother. But Andre had me spend time watching my thoughts and actually speaking aloud anything I noticed, recording my findings into my phone. This was the first step in building the mirror of thoughts. This was unbelievable to experience and showed me how much I was missing. Speaking aloud became a kind of fishing-net that allowed me to capture so much more than I had previously been aware of. There were layers of thoughts, and thoughts of different types. Thoughts that were barely noticeable ripples of feeling on the surface of my mind, thoughts that were simple awareness, and then awareness of that awareness. And on and on it goes! After just a few sessions of this training, the thoughts weren't just coming from inside me but seemed to be coming from elsewhere. I would be listening back to my recordings and writing down all the mundane thoughts popping up, when suddenly my voice would change slightly and I would say something bizarre like "An owl with a crown!" or "A being of light!" or "A man with blue skin!" and would have no memory of saying that at all. This practise showed me how much we miss and how we really only detect the barest sliver of reality. We are transmitting and receiving, but we're mostly unaware of the difference. **PAA: Using Andre's approach what can you say about his bridging of the [Bardon Tradition and the Golden Dawn](https://courses.perseusarcaneacademy.com/b/ceremonial-magic-and-the-bardon-tradition-levels-1-to-3)?** I already had a sense that the Golden Dawn methods could be done in a much more in-depth way than was commonly practiced. I had been practicing the LBRP for some time and doing it exactly as Israel Regardie instructed and found it cleansing and grounding. Yet I also began to practice it in my astral temple in my mind, and amping up the theatrics as much as I could. In my mind I found I was able to boom the God names across the universe in ways my vocal cords could never achieve, and the pentagrams could expand to become the size of suns. When practicing physically I always felt good and clear headed at the end, yet when practicing internally I began to have actual visitations from the spirits I was calling out to. On one memorable occasion two beings turned up who looked so alien as to be terrifying. One had a burning pyramid for a head and the other had a flaming crater where its face should have been. So when I saw that Andre was teaching a method of practising the Golden Dawn rituals in the more granular, Bardon-like way, I had to jump at it. I am still working through the 'Grand Ritual of Purification' (which ties in with the Middle Pillar of Golden Dawn), as I'm determined not to rush through it, but the results have already been fascinating. Just the practise of colour oscillation, where you focus on varying colours of light has been incredible. I initially thought I was failing the practise as each colour was causing me to experience some quite distinct mental phenomena so I thought I was getting distracted, but Andre explained that I was actually connecting to the energy of the planets that the colours represented, and that these experiences were a sign of progress. **PAA: How important do you think it is to have a guide to work with on this material?** This is one of the great things with working with Andre. His courses feel more like a mentorship than simply running through a bunch of video recordings. He actually encourages you to email him regularly and he really takes the time to go through your reports and feedback. I've not had that before with other teachers as it's more common that they write back a single line response, if at all. The other benefit of having a personal tutor is that Andre has been actively tailoring the training to my needs. By reading my reports he was able to gauge my level and get a sense of what instruction I might need besides just having me follow the course material blindly. He's provided individual extra-curricular exercises to support me and my development, which I'm truly grateful for. **PAA: Thank you, Alex, for sharing your journey, I am sure these answers will inspire many in their practice. ** --- ## Further Information ##### Andres Teacher Page ##### Ceremonial Magick and the Bardon Tradition ##### Magical and Mystical Introspection ---