Book Review--Immersion Mastery (Zack Jezek)

Immersion Mastery by Zack Jezek was a hard book for me to finish. I abandoned it several times since starting to read it in November. I only finished it though sheer force of will.

One of my problems with the book is sheer amount of bragging that the author engages in; he is proud of the fact that he became a Reiki master and Mayan shaman at age ten, and that he is also a NLP master and a professional skate boarder. Jezek wrote this book at the ripe old age of nineteen. Yes, this book brought back flashbacks from earlier in my esoteric career, for I acquired a high degree far too young and said some damn stupid things earlier in my life believing that I actually knew what I was talking about. Maybe Jezek will be different, but I personally find my earliest writings as an esoteric leader and teacher to be almost physically painful to read.

While I agree with Jazek's opinion that his generation are the leaders of the future, I do not necessarily agree with him that his generation is any more unique than any previous generation. Sure, they have their own set of brand-new problems which young adults have never seen before, but a lot of generations have been able to say that statement.

So is there anything worthwhile in this book? And will it appeal to teen and twenty-somethings?

Yes, it will appeal to his own generation who will believe that they are somehow special and that their problems and disadvantages are actually assets and special abilities. And yes, I do believe that attention and compulsive disorders can be assets--history is full of famous people who today would be labeled ADHD/ADD and/or OCD. In fact, I would probably be labeled with an attention disorder if I would have went though high school five years later than I did (ADHD was just being a bad kid when I was in school)--not that I will ever be famous, yet these things are a daily part of my own life to a certain extent. But Jezek lays it on so thick, it is like a commercial to remain immature forever.

And maybe the book does have some worthwhile stuff in it. But it is buried deep in feel good talk aimed at making teen and twenty-somethings believe that they are perfectly ok just the way that they are. I am not sure Jezek is going to feel the same way when he is forty.

As for esoteric techniques talked about in this book (after all, I review esoteric and New Age books), there is a version of the "grounding as a tree" mediation, some game console based mental reprogramming techniques, a watered down version of the immersion method (my regular readers will know this better as magical boot camp or power week), and a hint of the chaos magic technique of interchangeable personalities. But they are all so caked in happy talk that quite honestly, I can't imagine anyone over the age of thirty being able to tolerate this book; or for that matter, any parent that has been exposed to the techniques in a different setting. And there are better sources for each and every one of the exercise and techniques, or at least better written ones (Jezek is far away from being a good writer).

I am giving this a weak two stars out of five.

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book though a Goodreads First Reads drawing.]

Discordianism on Polarities

Discordianism =On Occultism=

Magicians, especially since the Gnostic and Quabala influences, have sought higher consciousness through the assimiliation and control of universal opposites---good/evil, positive/negative, male/female, etc. But due to the steadfast pomposity of ritualism inherited from the ancient methods of the shaman, occultists have been blinded to what is perhaps the two most important pairs of apparent or earth-plane opposites: ORDER/DISORDER and SERIOUS/HUMOROUS.

Magicians, and their progeny the scientists, have always taken themselves and their subject in an orderly and sober manner, thereby disregarding an essential metaphysical balance. When magicians learn to approach philosophy as a malleable art instead of an immutable Truth, and learn to appreciate the absurdity of man's endeavors, then they will be able to pursue their art with a lighter heart and perhaps gain a clearer understanding of it, and therefore gain more effective magic. CHAOS is ENERGY.

This is an essential challange to the basic concepts of all western occult thought, and POEE is humbly pleased to offer the first major breakthrough in occultism since Solomon.

From Principia Discordia compiled by Malaclypse the Younger.

Godforms and gods and goddesses

Occasionally, I forget one of my self-imposed rules of behavior, those rules of thumb I have to make my life easier or at least less exciting.

One of these rules is to never respond to a posting by certain people. It is a waste of time to respond to some people on the forums; they are just there to prove their point and will use everything you say (or don't say) as proof that you are against them. Or so it seems.

One of the people I do not respond to is Steve Nichols.

Or at least, I try to resist the urge to respond to his postings. Unfortunately, I occasionally give into temptation and then end up regretting it.

The latest topic I responded to is his "Adopt a deity for a day" campaign. I read the post, and replied that the idea reminded me of a procedure that some Chaos magicians have done.

First, Steve asks me what my point was.

Honestly, I am not sure that I had a point. And I admitted that to everyone.

Then he decides that I am accusing him of lifting the idea from Chaos magic.

Oy Vey.

That is why I don't reply to his postings.

Well, that and I have no clue why anyone so hostile to Golden Dawn posts on the Golden Dawn forums. One of his pet projects has been to divorce Enochian Chess from any Golden Dawn influences. He claims that it predates Golden Dawn and that all one needs to become an Adept to play Enochian Chess.

Of course, that was before he decided that the Ancient Egyptian game of Senet could be used for that task.

Part of the problem between me and Steve is that I don't believe that it is that easy. Sometimes games are just games. I used to be a role playing geek and a Magic the Gathering player. I have never gained anything spiritual from the games of Senet that I have played.

And I find some of his ideas underdeveloped and not to the point at all; I admit that my reviews of his books on Enochian Chess were not nice.

The other problem is that he spends a lot of his time trying to tear down Golden Dawn. He has never been an initiate of the system, yet he believes that he understands the system.

I am a member of the THAM (Theoricus Adept Minor 5=6) subgrade, plus have access to higher Grade stuff due to my office of archive officer (complete with a much higher oath and Administrative Grade); I don't understand the system completely, and I have been a member and student of the system since March of 1992.

Another of his pet projects is to prove that the godforms that Golden Dawn uses are wrong. Unfortunately, he does not realize that the godforms and the ancient deities of Egypt are not the same things.

(By the way, I am an Egypt pagan/wiccan, besides having worked with other pantheons.)

The godforms that Golden Dawn use are function based. They use a modified form of a god or goddess (angel or myth), and a selected piece of its mythology. They serve a ritual and energetic function. They are NOT the entity who they are named after.

But no amount of reason will convince him of that. Better and more learned people than I have tried. Which is why I have to remember not to respond to his posts.

Place your bets on how long it is before the next time that he suckers me into answering some discussion.