The Magic of Naha Armády and 22 Teachings
Unveiling the Mysteries: Naha Armády on Hermetic Wisdom, Prague's Magic, and the Art of Being a Magician
For anyone in Los Angeles who moves in occult or occult-adjacent circles, the name 22 Teachings is certainly familiar. It’s the School of Hermetic Science and Magical Arts, founded by Naha Armády.
While I have personally only attended a handful of gatherings, the school has been an integral part of my LA experience. One of my very first memories after moving to California is standing in my friend’s kitchen in Tujunga, awkwardly performing the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram into a computer screen. My dear friend, who I’m pretty sure cares very little for magic, thought this would be a fun activity. I didn’t have fun because I never have fun. I did, however, find the experience moving—and the teacher captivating.
After I started organizing the monthly Los Angeles Astro Salon, it seemed that every other person I encountered had a connection to 22 Teachings—they had either taken a class or were actively enrolled in the school. Everyone who studied with Naha spoke about her in the highest regard. These were people I admired, with unique magical practices and voices, all of whom cited Naha as being hugely influential.
When I reached out to her for an interview, I was nervous. This is someone who, by way of her disciples, I had come to admire. To my surprise, she was unreasonably gracious, inviting me into her home for conversation.
Naha is more kind and brilliant than the vast reputation that precedes her.
Which is why I’m all sorts of excited to share that she is a speaker at the upcoming LA Astro Fest, happening June 23rd-28th in Los Angeles, along with a roster of my favorite astrologers and storytellers including Blair Bogin of Planets, Planets, Planets, Michelle Tea, Gemini Brett & more!
Tickets are now on sale for this intimate gathering, and if you’ve read this far, lucky you! Use code VIVIAOTZ for a 10% discount on all LA Astro Fest tickets – even VIP.
VIP tickets grant you access to the entire festival, plus the pre-fest event at PRS with Dr. Ali A. Olomi, and the kickoff party featuring Planets, Planets, Planets. On top of all that, your VIP ticket includes a year’s membership to my monthly program, Club Astro, giving you weekly office hours with me, a mini-reading, and a host of other perks and discounts!
Below is an excerpt from my podcast recording with Naha. We talk about a lot of things but, mostly, this is a conversation about what it means to be a magician.
(The following interview has been edited and condensed.)
Vivi Henriette: What drew you to Prague, and why do you keep going back?
Naha Armády: There’s an old Jewish cemetery there, and in the Jewish cemetery is the gravestone of Rabbi Loew, or Rabbi Lev in Czech. He was the one who the origin story of the Golem originates from. Creating a figure out of clay, breathing life into it. It’s the origin of the Frankenstein story. But the legend is that Rabbi Loew created the Golem to protect Prague. So the original synagogue is still there. The cemetery with his gravestone is still there. And people have different opinions on the legend — that’s the thing about legends, right? How much of it is historical, how much of it is fictional.
To be able to go there and stand before that gravestone and have that experience took everything that I was learning and made it evocative and made it real and just planted a seed that has had me going back to Prague ever since. The last trip, that was my fourth time there, and that’s when I took my students. So 40 of us went, and we traveled throughout the Czech countryside and we went to some castles, into the forest. Long story long, Prague is the most magical city.
Vh: How did that first experience shape your teaching style?
NA: I really try to convey reverence for the mysteries. A lot of times these trips turn into these kinds of tourist selfie moments. I was like, come on you guys, let’s elevate the opportunity to actually have a spiritual experience here. When you’re reverent, you’re also operating in your own self-respect. It’s not like you’re just bowing before something else. You are showing up as your best self as well. I think that’s one of the biggest things that I try to convey through my teachings.
Vh: When did you first know magic was real?
NA: Finding magic finally gave me the answers to the questions I wasn’t asking. At this point, nothing doesn’t qualify as magic. Nothing is chance. Nothing is luck. Nothing is just accidental coincidence. But I didn’t start seriously studying magic until I was in my Saturn return. That would’ve been when I finally had that word to give it.
Vh: Why does your school have prerequisites?
NA: There’s two reasons why I have prerequisites, and it doesn’t really have to do with the students, funny enough. It has to do with the work, and it has to do with making my life easier as a teacher. If I know that everybody in the class has already done a certain level of training, then I don’t have to hold hands. We can just jump right in. And then the other part of it is reverence for the work itself. I’m working with a particular tradition that is an initiatory tradition, so by having prerequisites it is a way of honoring the mysteries — there are some hoops to jump through before everything is just given to you.
Vh: Do your students have a responsibility to use their wisdom for a greater world purpose?
NA: Focus on your immediate community. Focus on the people that are right around you. Don’t worry so much about the world. Be wary of the “we” because the “we” can actually be very exclusionary. And be wary of anyone who says this is the one true way. The best thing I can do is work upon myself and those people that I’m literally interacting with, like the guy at the coffee shop. Those are the little ways that we make the world more conscientious, more present, more self-aware.
“Wherever you go, the light is the light.”
If you’re looking for a group of likeminded astro seekers, Club Astro is your place!
We meet weekly to explore the sky in real time and make sense of what is unfolding in our lives and in the collective. This is your chance to ask me questions about your chart, share stories, and connect with a cohort of fellow astrologers.
Club Astro members also get exclusive perks:
Discounted astrological readings & mentorship
Secret invites
Discounted tickets to the Los Angeles Astro Salon and the LA Astro Fest.
Our next gathering is Thursday, May 28th, at 7pm EDT / 4pm PDT.
About Naha
Naha Armády resides in Los Angeles where she has been a reader, healer and teacher for 16 years. She is the founder and head of faculty of 22 Teachings School of Hermetic Science and Magical Arts, where she teaches alongside her mentor of over 20 years, William Kiesel of Ouroboros Press. In addition, she serves as officiant of the Arboretum Mysticum, an occult Lodge in the Western Mystery Tradition since 2017. As both a scholar of Hermetic Qabalah and a practitioner of ceremonial magic, Naha has established an extensive curriculum and teaches students around the world.
About Vivi
Vivi Henriette is an LA-based astrologer and tarot reader whose practice centers on storytelling, mythology, and collaborative divination. She creates a space for clients to reclaim their personal narratives through the lens of ancient archetypes. Vivi produces LA Astro Fest, hosts the Los Angeles Astro Salon, and is the creator of the podcast TalkTalkTalk. You can find her weekly writing on ritual and meaning right here on ART of the ZODIAC.
Wow, thank you. I especially love the idea of just helping the people in your actual life. And the wariness of "we" and understanding how "we" can be exclusionary is real wisdom.