>>5027
Thanks anyways but I think I'm just going to stick with the training methodology in Initiation Into Hermetics. The exercises are specific enough and your progress is easily measurable and not a placebo effect.

For example. One of the first mental training exercises is basically the Dharana limb of yoga. You have to train to concentrate on a single thought for atleast 10 minutes without any mental interruptions.

I can easily measure my progress with a timer. But if I feel a tingle in my hand whilst doing this magic 101 exercise there is no way for me to know it's not just something biological, a placebo (psychological), or actual progress.

For example, the phenomenon you described with the tension and tingling that comes with the breath holding exercise just sounds like a biological phenomenon to me.

The feeling of an orgasm as great and "different" as it feels in comparison to regular existence is still just a biological phenomenon.

There's just too much room for doubt, the exercise isn't specific or measurable enough. A lot of these things are too vague because "energy" is too vague, someone can feel warmth, or cold, or a small muscle spasm and call it "energy".

But I'm still interested because I always check out all sources. Do you know of any other occult books that focus on practical exercises rather than just theory. Maybe I'll find something useful in one of them.