My Experience in Jason Miller's Black School of St. Cyprian
I recently graduated from Jason Miller’s Black School of St. Cyprian. A 5 month course of study and practice that takes the aspirant on a journey through the heart of the Sorcerer Saint’s arcana; heavily emphasizing a balance between Sorcerer and Saint.
A little background: As many of you know I’m a practicing magician of over 30 years. I’ve been a Cyprianista for nearly 13 of those years.
I came to St. Cyprian by way of the Midnight Exu, who barrelled into my life unexpectedly over the course of a strange summer in 2010. Prior to my collision with Eshu and then Exu, I had neither experience nor interest in any of the religio-magical practices based on ATR.
I simply had no exposure and all my training was in Western traditions. As these things sometimes happen, Quimbanda came crashing into my life and turned some features of said life upside down.
Exu brought me to St. Cyprian (I believe) as a stabilizing agent in my time of turmoil in the work of Night and Fire. I maintained a dedicated practice involving Cyprian and developed a relationship of sorts, receiving guidance, instruction, and intercession.
On June 4th of 2022 I was in the midst of a spiritual crisis and I asked for advice at the altar of St. Cyprian. 30 minutes later I accidentally stumbled on the Black School website. I enrolled immediately and class began the following day.
I was immediately plunged into a world of Cypriana that was a shocking departure from the practices that I was used to. Furthermore, it was populated by spiritual themes and iconography I had avoided for my entire adult life. Quite purposefully.
In retrospect, this is amusing and curious to me. He is after all a Sorcerer-SAINT. But Cyprian wasn’t presented to me in that context and so I either overlooked or ignored that vitally important aspect of His Mysteries.
I could feel the exercise of the first lesson straining the years of trust I had developed for St. Cyprian’s guidance. I don’t know if I had actual doubts or more of a conditioned aversion, but I threw myself into that first lesson and I had a unique and meaningful magical experience (I have practiced those same foundational techniques every day since that day btw.). When you have been practicing magic as long as I have, surprises in the form of new experiences don’t come very often. I was hooked.
Each successive lesson builds upon the previous and the arrangement is inspired. The material is the work of a Master with input from an illustrious advisor.
By the 9th (second to last) lesson you have been on a full tour of both the empyrean and the infernal, and you have brought back with you the magic of both to use however you damn well please.
The final lesson weaves everything together like a symphony to empower you for a final initiation into the actual Black School of St. Cyprian (known throughout history by various names. Such as The Scholomance.).
In my final assessment, Jason Miller’s Black School of St. Cyprian was personally transformative.
I’m a better magician. I’m a more capable sorcerer. In a fundamental way, I’m also more “balanced” so to speak. And I’m not talking about some nebulous new-age bullshit. This is a quality that I can feel in me, as tangible as my heartbeat. The Black School empowers you to participate in a larger magical world where you learn directly from the spirits, and while I’ve been interacting with spiritual entities since childhood, those relationships are transformed, multiplied, and more useful (Baptize a demon and you will understand!). From a practical magic perspective, I find myself reaching for methods I learned in the Black School as my go-to in many circumstances.
The Black School is an initiation into the mysteries of St. Cyprian and an invitation to participate in an ongoing arcana that is sacred in the strict sense of that word.
Thank you, Jason Miller.
If you are ready to challenge your ideas about religion and spirituality, add meaning to your magic, and learn a ton of really useful sorcery along the way, I strongly recommend that you join me in the Black School of St. Cyprian.
