Beyond Duality: The Art of Transcendence (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The teacher brought the student to a flight of stairs and bade him ascend the staircase..." (more)
Key Phrases: The Way of Power, The Triangle of Manifestation, Serpent Lightning Rod (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Laurence Galian has the delightful ability to take the abstruse language and dense imagery of traditional Hermetic ideas and transform them into something fresh and immediately accessible. Beyond Duality shows that Hermeticism does not have to be hidden, but can help people in living their lives. -- Rachel Pollack, author of 78 Degrees of Wisdom

Laurence Galian has the delightful ability to take the abstruse language and dense imagery of traditional Hermetic ideas and transform them into something fresh and immediately accessible. Beyond Duality shows that Hermeticism does not have to be hidden, but can help people in living their lives. --Rachel Pollack, author of 78 Degrees of Wisdom

Product Description

This is a book of magick. It contains many buried treasures that have long lain hidden or unappreciated. It this book you will find the arts and techniques of utilizing magickal equilibrium for spiritual growth, personal power, and success. In part it is directed toward those practitioners of the Western Mystery Traditions, Qabalah, Chaos Magick, Ceremonial Magick, Wicca and Shamanism who want to expand their knowledge of the field. But it is particularly directed to everyone who wishes to bring balance and unity to their lives.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 159 pages
• Publisher: New Falcon Publications; 1st Falcon Ed edition (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561840769
• ISBN-13: 978-1561840762
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #508,543 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some profound insights in a compact package, October 6, 2003

By	Lleu Christopher "www.liminalworlds.com" (Hudson Valley, NY) - See all my reviews

Beyond Duality is a compact presentation of some very complex metaphysical topics. I recommend it mainly to people who have some background in metaphysics, the occult, magick or a similar path. Newcomers to the field can too easily pass right over some of the material without recognizing its value. Alas, it is all to easy for those with far more experience to do the same, as knowledge of this sort can only be partially transmitted by the written word. That is, of course, the meaning of the first paragraph of the Tao Teh Ching, which is usually translated, "The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao..." Although Galian refers to the Tao in Beyond Duality, his techniques are rooted in the Western occult tradition, especially Hermeticism. A good companion volume to this book is the Kybalion, by Three Initiates, which discusses in some detail the theory of duality and how to transcend it. Galian is more concerned with practice than theory in this book, and he gives some very useful and original techniques. He calls his system, "the way of power." It's quite likely that other systems have similiar, if not the same name (there being such a multitude of groups, schools and courses out there today), but names aren't very important. The most important technique Galian teaches is the Triangle of Manifestation, where he instructs readers on how to create something by making use of duality rather than having it work against you. As he puts it, "the secret of the Triangle of Manifestation is that we equilibrate our desired thought by thinking of its inherent contradiction." This is an extremely complex idea (dealt with by Aleister Crowley among others), and I wish he had gone into more detail with it. Still, it gives the reader a lot to think about and it forces you to come up with some of your own interpretations rather than relying entirely on the writer for answers. Perhaps this was his intent. Galian gives credit to a long list of people in the first chapter for having influenced him, and his approach to magick is quite eclectic. This is a good book for anyone interested in the problem of duality, perhaps the most basic philosophical question of all, and for those looking to enhance their ability to manifest what they want in their lives.

15 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where Was the "Beyond" Part?, February 26, 2000

By	Aldyth Beltane (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Beyond Duality was a very disappointing book for me, primarily because to me it seemed that the title itself was very misleading. I should have looked more closely at the cover photo, which expressed the actual content of the book far more eloquently, more closely. It depicts a fairly disenchanted looking woman and man on the cover, each eyeing the other with apparent non-comphrehension. Which is exactly what this book is about - rather than going *beyond* duality,it seems to embrace it. It is my understanding that to truly evolve we need to confront and transcend concepts as male, female, top, bottom, and instead realize that there are simply people with different traits, needs, and personalities. This book is too quick to fall back into excuses and cliches that sound more like metaphysical rhetoric for "it's a _______thing." The other exercises fall more into a just too obvious kind of catagory. Of course stairways go both up and down, and neither is better than the other (an actual example from the book.) I didn't find this insightful or useful. I suppose my disappointment in Beyond Duality stems from the fact that I expected transcendent, groundbreaking metaphysical ideas, and I got pop psychology of the "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" variety, and that was just the kind of outdated thinking I was trying to avoid. I prefer not to give negative reviews, but I also believe that people should have the opportunity to go into a book with a better knowledge of what they're getting. I hope this helps someone.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderful Book!, August 21, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Long Island, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This book is wonderful! Well written & well researched! There is a great deal of information in this book to transform your life! Not only is it interesting, direct & easy to understand,it is a remarkable work of art! The author is truly brilliant!! I hope he comes out with many more books! His talent for writing is truly amazing! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge in the spiritual realm & bring balance & harmony into their lives, this book is a must! The author teaches the reader how to heal, transform & bring balance & harmony to their lives through the buried treasures of magical traditions! You will learn about your arua, how to create "thought form" , how to raise energy/power, sigils & talsimans, as well as healing & balancing yourself & your desires into a higher state of dimension in your spiritual life!