Occult Tibet: Secret Practices of Himalayan Magic [Paperback]

J. H. Brennan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2002

Today, as Tibetan spirituality spreads across the world, the practices of Tibetan magic have scarcely been investigated by Western occultists. Occult Tibet presents this body of techniques, based partly on Buddhist practice and partly on shamanic Bon (the aboriginal religion of Tibet). With many of its aspects linking seamlessly with Tibetan mysticism, Tibetan magic has a great deal to teach the esoteric community of the West.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Intimations of esoteric spiritual practices swirl around Tibet like clouds over Everest. True to form, this book features alluring and moving images of enduring profound cold by raising body temperatures (tumo), extending the dying process into rich realms of visions and reincarnations and lucid dreaming (wherein the dreamer recognizes the dream state and actively manipulates it). These are just a few of the metaphysical realms explored by the well-seasoned Irish author Brennan (The Magical I Ching, Magick for Beginners and Time Travel). He takes pains to give Western parallel documentation to the fantastic forms he describes, but most interested readers will not need this support to explore these topics. The reason for this is Brennan's sound reliance on Tibetan energy theories, such as the chakras and their rtsa (energy courses), rlung (energies themselves) and thig-li (pervading essences). He claims, probably rightly, that "it is the manipulation of the energy system that underlies almost every spiritual and magical marvel Tibet has ever produced." Brennan repeatedly points to the rigorous exercises of breathing, poses, chants and physical challenges that may give rise to such feats in highly disciplined people, but perhaps only over years or lifetimes of study. For adepts of mystical practices or the legions of readers fascinated with all things Tibetan, Brennan provides a highly interesting, accessible, even somewhat practical guide to elusive aspects of a unique culture arising out of a high place of thin, cold air.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

J. H. Brennan (Ireland) is the acclaimed author of over 90 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including Forbidden Truth, The Alien’s Handbook, and The Spy’s Handbook (all published by Faber & Faber), Death: The Great Mystery of Life (Carroll & Graf), Martian Genesis and The Atlantis Enigma (both published by Dell), The Magical I Ching and Time Travel (both published by Llewellyn), and the popular Book of Wizardry (Llewellyn) under the alias Cornelius Rumstuckle. His works have appeared in more than fifty countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Australia.

Brennan is best known for his young adult fiction series, Herbie Brennan’s Faerie Wars (Bloomsbury) with combined sales exceeding 7.5 million. The creator of several role-playing books, his solo fantasy gamebook series GrailQuest (Dell) has sold over 6.5 million copies.

He resides in County Carlow, Ireland with his wife and ten cats.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (April 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738700673
• ISBN-13: 978-0738700670
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,080,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but uneven in its accessibility., July 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Occult Tibet: Secret Practices of Himalayan Magic (Paperback)

I must first state that I have only completed an initial reading of this book, and I have not yet attempted to practice any of the exercises. At times, I found this work to be profoundly informative and engrossing. However, it seemed to me that the author did not keep a steady focus on the identity of his audience. Too many of the relatively few pages of this book were written in an effort to convince a skeptic of the powers of, say, visualization or the existence of past lives. I think these were wasted pages as Mr. Brennan could have easily assumed that his reader needed no convincing. Further, a few too many pages strayed from the Tibetan systems of mystical practice to detail Western techniques and practices, which are widely available elsewhere and detracted from the focus of the book. My final criticism is that a lot of the material is somewhat inaccessible. While Tibetan mysticism may well lay largely beyond the grasp of the Western mind, there are simple things the author could have done to ameliorate this somewhat. For example, in the section about Tumo, he could have suggested a course of study similar stating when you should move on from one exercise to another. I have no idea whether I should complete all of the preliminary exercises in one sitting or seperately, and whether they need to be practiced in conjunction with the remaining exercises each time, or whether they can be perfected and then replaced with the advanced exercises. In addition, perhaps he could suggest alternatives to visualizing complex Tibetan letters, which I doubt have any inherent power other than the cultural significance attributed to them over time, which most Western readers will lack. I plan to draw the letters over and over while meditating on their alleged significance before attempting any of these visualizations. The value of this book would have been augmented had Mr. Brennan suggested similar techniques for making the visualizations meaningful and accessible.

That said, this book contained very interesting information about karma, Tibetan mystical practice, and the history of Tibet. The segments on sound and the Tibeten understanding of the body's subtle energy systems and chakras were particularly informative. I also found the summation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead to be succinct and informative.

In all, I was not dazzled by this book, but it contains a lot of potentially useful information, provided you have the skill, time, and perseverence to find ways to make it accessible to you personally.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasent blend of theory and practicality, but too short!, June 23, 2002

By 

John Yost (Effingham, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Occult Tibet: Secret Practices of Himalayan Magic (Paperback)

Though we may harvest for paper all the Earth's trees, and on them print every known datum of Tibetan spiritual systems, the ultimate cavernous depths remain secluded. Even having the procedures of the ancient rituals written in detail gains us nothing without the ability to properly digest and experience the wisdom internally. J.H. Brennan knew well these barriers, yet he proceeds to offer a functional glimpse into, and a taste of the Tibetan spiritual experience within the pages of Occult Tibet: Secret Practices of Himalayan Magic. In this work, Brennan unfolds the history, philosophy, and mindscapes of the humans that grew upon the icy, wind whipped rocks of the Tibetan plateau.

Much of the book consists of a brief, concise overview of the historical and philosophical aspects of the intricate Tibetan magical protocols. Brennan goes the extra mile to offer correlations between ancient paranormal rituals and modern scientific experimentation. I particularly enjoyed his musings on the physical power of sonic energy and have applied much of his theory in my own use of ritual harmonics. Brennan even supplies the reader with several basic, yet powerful, protocols which allow direct experience of Himalayan Magic. I found the procedure for raising basal body temperature, known as "Tumo," effective even in the abbreviated form that Brennan offers within this short book. Also, in the chapter on reincarnation, the author offers effective suggestions for initiating and structuring past life regressions. The book also touches on methods of lucid dreaming, and dream yoga, and methods to employ Tibetan meditative symbology.

I have added to my own personal grimoire several of the magical exercises presented in this work. This book allows a surprisingly deep philosophical and experiential understanding of Tibetan magical systems. Brennan's ability to weave a skillful pattern of theory and practice makes the spirituality of this book easily digestible, and therefore, ultimately, useful. Due to this balance of philosophy and protocol I consider this book an important and functional part of my library of magical systems. I have only one complaint: I wish Brennan had written two or three thousand pages of theory and exercises instead of just under two hundred. Otherwise, I consider Occult Tibet an important and worthwhile read.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Read, Not a Book for Practising Magic, October 24, 2002

By 

Brian Cheong (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Occult Tibet: Secret Practices of Himalayan Magic (Paperback)

The information provided is rather skimpy but the "light" treatment makes it an entertaining read for those who have no idea at all of Tibetan magic. If you want a better exposure of the practices, look for books on the Six Yogas of Naropa and also books written by Alexandra David-Neel.