Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If I had read the introduction to this book first, I would NOT have purchased it! When I first read the title: Smokeless Fire (SF), the first thing that came to mind was the burning bush that Moses beheld atop the famous mountain. The fire that didn't consume the tree because the tree was PURE. There being nothing impure to burn, there was no smoke. It was a Smokeless Fire. This book has absolutely nothing to do with this concept (purity). Simply, I was deceived by the title. See, not too long ago, I was seduced by magick because while living here in the U.S.A., it felt as if something critical was missing in the advanced Eastern traditions (i.e. Zen, Vedanta, Taoism, etc.). Like they had shunned the very piece of the puzzle that made the U.S. such a powerful magnet for so many people from all over the globe. Wealth, technological advancements, etc., all birthed by The Developing MIND. The East basically said, "forget the mind. Don't mind it 😊. It has only made you suffer. For the mind is what creates the illusion of duality. You must go beyond (trans-mental) it. Realize that you are the Source, Oneness, the Void, the Absolute, that which doesn't need, which is beyond wanting and desire." In Qabalist terms, "go straight to Kether and avoid the 9 other sefirot." Then, within the world of magick, I was drawn to the "forbidden" paths (LHP). The path of Lucifer. The Draconian path, etc. Partly because it is true that the forbidden has a potency that has always seduced man. But mostly because it made sense to me, from my studies in psychology, that INTEGRATION of the WHOLE being, both light and dark, makes for a healthy, balanced, more empowered psyche. For example, in dream therapy, you are instructed to walk towards and embrace the monsters, rather than to run away from them. As they are mere projected symbols of repressed energy/trauma. In shadow work, you objectify the shadow through awareness, etc. The LHPs seemed to be all about this. About integrating our dark side (the side that society conditioned us to repress), so that we can truly become whole beings. That is what I initially thought that this book, SF, was also aiming at. I WAS WRONG! This book is NOT about integrating our shadow, but about AMPLIFYING it! It is like steroids for a malignant tumor (hate), so that it can get bigger! See, in most magick, you call on spirits to help you find something that you've lost, to gain Wisdom that is behind the human veil, to gain strength in areas where you may be weak, like public speaking, dating, etc. SF is not about any of this at all. And the author, to his great credit, makes this clear in his introduction. This book is about projecting hate, rage, violence, anger from the darkest pits of the subconscious. Its sadomasochism at the psychological level. And this is why: Ultimately, it is true that you are Source, Oneness, the Absolute, Brahman, Kether--that there is no such thing as actual separation. So, if instead of INTEGRATING and resolving your hate internally/directly, you protect it outwardly onto a target, as this book instructs, you are really launching an attack on yourself. I like the way Poke Runyon put it in his wonderful book on Solomon's Magick. Imagine that you hate a target so much that you take a hand grenade and walk into a payphone booth. You shut the door behind you and dial the number of the person you hate. He picks up on the other end. You then pull the safety pin from the grenade and release the lever, causing it to explode. Sure, the target will hear the blast, but it will be you who experiences the full release of the grenade's energy. It can be said that this book is the antithesis of the late David Hawkins bestseller, Power v.s Force. In which Hawkins relates the difference in frequency gradations between genuine Power and ego reactive/resistant Force. Attributes like love, joy, enlightenment, etc., calibrate very high. Whereas rage, fear, hate, selfishness, violence, etc., calibrate at much lower frequencies. Looked at this way, SF aims at regressing one to a primitive time when our reptilian brain (Triune Brain Theory) had predominance. When animalistic impulsivity was our collective center of gravity. So, it isn't even really that this book is for the brave. It has more to do with neurosis, immaturity, and low self-esteem, than bravery. But if the Power it purports attracts you, you may certainly catalyze your own insanity in a very Powerful way. Just an honest, cordial warning, because I love you! And I love you because I am You! In the Ultimate sense, this is really Your Own Consciousness in reflection. This that is watching these very words appear upon this screen, and this that is reading them through these very beautiful eyes, right this very second, right in this eternal Now, is One and the same. So, Ultimately, even the nightmare of insanity cannot destroy you...that is, the Real You (Source). But from the level of the cartoon (maya/samsara), I CANNOT in good conscience, recommend this book.