Samael Aun Weor, founder of the International Gnostic Movement and author of more than sixty books, lived for many years in close contact with the mysterious natives of the Sierra Nevada of South America. He and his wife Litelantes compiled and verified the knowledge they had been given by the priests and doctors of that region, and supplemented it with their own initiatic wisdom, resulting in this book Occult Medicine and Practical Magic. Herein one finds many explanations of the medical knowledge preserved by the Lamas of Tibet and the Mamas of the Sierra Nevada, demonstrating with undeniable force the limitations of modern medicine and indicating the way to return to ancient medical wisdom. This work features treatments for an incredible variety of illnesses and conditions, such as cancer, asthma, the common cold, and leprosy.
“While medical science is inventing certified medications which are changing as incessantly as women’s fashion, there exists a very ancient medical wisdom that has its origin based upon the first foundations of the world and that has never changed its formulae.
"Divine wisdom is preserved in Sanctuaries which are far away from this false, materialistic civilization. This medical wisdom is zealously guarded by the Masters of wisdom in secret places that are inaccessible to the “merchants of the Temple.”
"This archaic medical wisdom can cure (with exact formulae) all sicknesses, even the so-called incurable ones. Leprosy, syphilis and cancer become as insignificant as a child’s game before the tremendous power of the Gnostic doctor who commands life.
"Gnosis” is the name of this ancient medical wisdom, which from the dawn of creation has never changed its formulae, because these formulae are exact as the Pythagorean tablets. In these formulae, science, mysticism and royal art are in communion within a divine connubial.
"The distinct indigenous tribes of the whole world are the possessors of that archaic, ancient wisdom of the Green Snake.
“The occultism which is known in the cities is nothing else but a grotesque caricature of the ancient wisdom which is hidden within the subterranean Sanctuaries of the Andes, Bohemia, Tibet and in all the subterranean caverns of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, in the Alps and the sandy deserts of Asia and Africa.
"In reality, we truly have written this book for those individuals who are presently weary of the many pseudo-occultist and pseudo-esoteric theories. It is written for those who want to enter into the internal worlds immediately. It is written for those who now yearn to enter into the laboratorium of Nature.
"Certainly, it is very painful for us to see people wasting their time miserably.
"We want practical magicians, true occultists, and not simple charlatans. Authentic Gnostic physicians are needed, true magicians and botanists, practical people in medicine and magical matters.”
Originally published in Spanish as "Tratado de Medicina Oculta y Magia Practica" (1952; revised 1977).
By Samael Aun Weor 
