Claude Levi-Strauss, RIP

News of another important death.

One of the greatest anthropologists and original thinkers of the 20th century died last week. Claude Levi-Strauss was one of the first westerners to challenge the notions of primitive societies and to really tackle and try to understand the role of myth in traditional and modern society. He was 100 years old and died on Halloween. Not a bad innings and a great day to go out

As a young university student I revelled in Levi-Strauss and was greatly encouraged by his approach to myth. His work was influential in so many ways and though his ideas are in some ways passe now, they can still vitalize when engaged with. I will be going home to re-read some pages from his classic ‘The Raw and the Cooked.’

RIP, Monsieur Levi-Strauss. May the mound keep you and bless you.

Rosicrucian Magic as Exegesis

One of the features of modern magic is its diversity. Take the Golden Dawn for instance. These days there are as many varieties of the Golden Dawn tradition as “cheap, really cheap” mobile phone plans. And like mobile phone plans, many are not quite what they appear and can cause no end of problems.

I have blogged before on the difference between the Golden Dawn as a continuing Order and the tradition that has grown in its wake. Both are valid, both are useful and both have their problems and drawbacks which I don’t really want to go into here.

The Golden Dawn tradition has largely grown up within a modern milieu that valorises the individual and without guidance and structure from a parental body. It has had to – most of the contemporary GD groups are not daughters of the Mother Order (often not any Mother Order) and most adepts have relied on public or semi-public sources of information. Not that’s there anything wrong with that. In many cases the lack of traditional structure, support and information has inspired new heights of creativity and genuine spiritual unfoldment.

Other modern magicians have a converse opinion and valorise the original Order(s) and members to a dizzying heights almost bordering on cultish worship. There is a problem when students of the tradition look backward to the historical Order and view the core documents almost as if they were Gospel. If something is not explicitly spelt out in an historical document or practice by default it is viewed as invalid.

Now I am a big one for tradition, probably far more than most, but I think this attitude misses an important point. Magic, or at least RR et AC magic is more akin to exegesis than a reading of the Gospel. The RR et AC is very clear; it provides basic formulae and the adept herself creates the rituals and processes from those to match the specific time, conditions and spiritual requirements of the group or adept. Magic is supposed to be creative. It is supposed to take us beyond the structures, rituals and procedures used by someone else. It is supposed engage our Genius. To quote no less an authority than myself (cos I can’t be bothered re-wording)

…the only way we can authentically practice Golden Dawn spirituality is by engaging in the same daring paradigm shifts that the original GD did, not by simply following a ‘tradition’. Indeed I would argue that the ‘true’ Golden Dawn tradition is more concerned with recreation and reinvention of the esoteric than any set path. This ‘perennial’ Golden Dawn is constantly re-birthing, remaking itself, directed not by the needs of individuals or individual Orders, but from the Inner Plane contacts and Masters that hold the unformed Order itself . (MOTO)

RR et AC Rose Cross

Now this is not to say tradition goes out the window or there are no ‘rules’ to follow. As an example I receive much practical teaching from Inner Plane sources. Like any good boy I always check these out. Many years ago I received some information which was claimed to be traditional RR et AC, as in from a paper that existed in shared space-time back in the 1900s. I naturally wanted to check this out before accepting it (though it was very good and made sense).

This was at the dawn of the Internet age and I was on one of the first GD forum-things. I cautiously posted a question to illicit any responses. What I received was a number of people giving me their ideas on the matter in question. Just what they, in direct response to my post, felt or thought about. This was not at all salubrious and quite a shock as several people decided they would do the processes they had just thought about – which they would not have, had I not posted. I have kept quiet on such matters ever since.

This example shows clearly the type of magical creativity to avoid; something stemming from the personal. Also, we need to remember a very important point: magic is an Inner Order activity. It was never and in all sensible and authentic Orders, is never practiced in the Outer Order. We need a high degree of personal development, compassion, service and removal of imbalance in order to practice magic. This is why it is an Adept’s art and why the Tipharethic consciousness, however nascent, is required to practice magic.

So RR et AC magicians are not actually practicing for themselves. Being connected through years of preparation and the most astonishing initiation imaginable, their spiritual endeavours are not theirs alone. Thus their magical processes are never created or influenced by a personal ‘feeling’ or ‘idea’. They endeavour to create only through the inspiration of the Genius. The difference is marked and wonderful.

Another crucial point is found in the comparison of magic with exegesis: the number one rule for exegesis in Judaism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism is that it, the exegesis should be compassionate and inspire greater depths of compassion in the exegetes and those who in read it. In magical terms: our personal magical processes and rituals need to be founded on love and compassion; they should grow our heart and love and that of any other participants. They should serve the world. If our magic does not do this, we have failed.

So, Rosicrucian magic is a creative, living art which inspires and creates love. We do not follow any set ritual or process but only the broader, deeper principles and formulae that I have previously called Metaorthopraxy (but I now think really should be Orthometapraxy). I know there is modern school of thought, exemplified by folk like Joseph Lisiewski who focus on the correct performance and practice (Orthopraxy) of Grimoire based rituals. But this is not Rosicrucian magic and is not held by our Master in Christ, CRC. Indeed, I have not seen much talk of love, service and compassion in this school of magic, which is a hallmark of Rosicrucian spirituality. Thanks for reading

Elizabeth Clare Prophet, RIP

I only just found out that Elizabeth Clare Prophet recently died. For those who don’t know her work, have a look at the link. Basically she led the Summit Lighthouse, an amazing, er … group .. religion… cult… depending on your point of view. Her work was guided by her connection with the Masters and she regularly made predictions based on what she received. I mean real, shared space-time predictions. A most unwise thing to do. Never trust the Inner Contacts on Outer stuff without a lot of reason and backed up signs. Dion Fortune used to demand at least two independent, objective signs.

Anyway, Ms Prophet predicted a nuclear war way back in 1991 or 1990 or thereabouts. I remember it well (the prediction, not the war ). She and hundreds of her followers went down into specially built fall-out shelters at the appointed time. And nothing happened. Zippo. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could recover from such a balls-up. I’d be too much in cognitive dissonance to continue. Let alone embarrassment. These people believed completely. There was no doubt in their minds. Or their bank accounts, which were much smaller to pay for the shelter.

Yet Ms Prophet strolled out of the fall-out shelter happily announcing a reprieve for humanity and continued leading her group for several more years, making more predictions and what all. Now that takes guts. Or something.

I read a lot of the Summit Lighthouse stuff when I was a young lad and while it never sang to me it obviously had something behind it all. I think the world will be a little poorer without Ms Prophet, no matter how barking mad she may have been at times. I hope her Masters are holding her in the Light.

On the Learning of Depth Spirituality

Now this is not an attack or criticism of any group, course or venture. Just a short comment on the subject itself. Ok? We got that. Ta.

I was fortunate yesterday to hear Robyn Archer give the annual Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address on contemporary music and its challenges in Australia. This is from her speech.

…arts training is a better fit inside institutions dedicated to training and the master/apprentice model.

In most cases, apprentices to the arts must rigorously acquire basic skills so as not to hurt themselves (bodies, voices, muscles) before they start to develop the individual creative voice.

…the kind of composition which emerges original and away from all that has gone before is perhaps most likely to come from someone who knows what has gone before – that is, has studied musical form and has the kind of mathematical ability to compose independently of the desire to be popular and to be loved by the masses. It is an elite activity which operates in the realm of ideas. It has, in fact, little to do with the way we normally think about ‘music’.

If we change ‘arts’ and ‘music’ to magic or spirituality we have a good description of the way depth spirituality was traditionally taught. Even within the collegiate experience of the Western Lodge, one-on-one training would often be offered by Adepts or Masters to balance the group lecture or study sessions. These days there are online courses, cyber-temples, correspondence courses, CD-ROM self-learning, videos, CDs and other means of imparting the wisdom traditions. The advantages of these approaches are many, particularly for the teaching adept but also for the student. There are I am sure countless students of the mysteries throughout the world who would be unable to access teaching via methods other than those highlighted. However, I do think the traditional approaches are being jettisoned more readily than they need, and with them a great deal of wisdom, beauty and depth.

Ms Archer highlights a few crucial issues. The Master-Apprentice model itself is a sacred institution. It mirrors and activates the relationship of the lower-astral self with the higher self. The occurs both in the student and in the Master; both benefit. The Master, through her kindness, skill, presence and wisdom allows the student to access their own higher consciousness and patiently avoids the inevitable projection from the student. This sacred holding and mirroring can never be simulated or replaced through any online or distant course or even by attending physical lectures once a month. As much as any discrete information that is passed to the student, or engendered in her, it is the relationship between Master and student that produces change and transformation.

The requirement to become Adept in the basic skills is crucial. In depth spirituality we may hurt things deeper than our bodies and muscles. Unwise and untimely exploration of the inner and outer non-physical worlds will often damage the self on many levels. While most courses will emphasize the need for this, the copying of college or university learning formats does not encourage the correct growth of these skills. Each student is different and preset curricula make little allowance for these differences. Further they may encourage the student to play down their difference since they do not ‘fit in’. Yet it is crucial in the spiritual traditions that each student be moved through their unique unfoldment in a personal manner not a weekly lesson based course. The majority of dysfunction in the magical community comes about from people practicing magic long before they should.

The traditional methods of teaching are almost extinct these days and for very good reasons: try finding a functional magical adept when you want one. Particularly if you live in Wagga Wagga or Nuneaton. However, I would like to think we can try and revive them a little and look for a more physical transmission of wisdom and currents. In these days of Facebook and Second Life I am probably barking up the wrong tree. But you never know …

The Lotus Wand, Dion and Consecration

One of the best parts of helping other folk learn this wonderful tradition of western esoteric spirituality is that I receive a lot more than I give. The One is so compassionate The other day a corresponding student playfully (I think, you can never tell in an email) took me to task for my valorization of Dion Fortune and the Golden Dawn at the same time. She listed, one after another, contradictions between Dion’s current and take on magic and that of the Golden Dawn. A few of these I readily agreed were real and Dion worked a different type of magic. So I had to explain how I reconciled the two in my own practice and service, and that was a great thing to do. So thanks Sr FD

Many apparent contradictions between the two systems are, in my opinion, not really there or based on Dion’s inadequate instruction by her GD superiors. An example I think worth discussing in public, is this statement from Dion, quoted by the brilliant Gareth Knight in his introduction to Dion’s ‘What is Occultism?’

I have never found it satisfactory to work with incompatible forces at the same time, and this, I think, is a weakness in the “Golden Dawn” method;it is all together too ecletic and synthetic. I have dismal recollections of consecrating the Lotus Wand to all Twelve Signs of the Zodiac in a single operation. They kept on neutralising each other, and at the end of the operation one felt like the Irishman who tried to take his pigs to the market, each tied to a separate string. People to who magic is a vain observance may be contended with such methods, but for my part I never saw that Lotus Wand again, and never wanted to.

If Dion attempted to consecrate the Lotus Wand using basically the same instructions as those in the Regardie compilation (without oral guidance from a superior) I can see her point. A correct consecration would not have involved the cancelling out of the Zodiacal forces at all. The instructions say to have ready the Ritual of the Pentagram. This however should not have been given to Dion without the Pentagram lecture and diagram outlined in this post. Further oral instruction on the meaning of the diagram and its methods of use should have been given. This would have resulted in the skills required to complete the task successfully.

One of the key mysteries that working with the diagram brings to us, to put it in limiting words, is the unfoldment of the pentagram in all its forms (elemental, Sephriotic, Zodiacal) from the Ain Sof. Correctly understood and practiced this allows the consecrator to produce twelve separate but simultaneously connected invocations of the Twelve Powers. This connection and separation at the same time is held by another oral instruction given to the RR et AC adept; the correspondence of the 12 Apostles to the 12 Signs and 12 Pentagrams. Just as the 12 are separate, even to the point of betrayal, yet are part of Christ’s mission and work, so too are the 12 Signs and the 12 Consecrations apart and united.

Of importance as well is the understanding and practice of the type of consecration being asked for here. They are many types of consecration and several classification systems to explain them, but briefly we can class most consecrations as one or more of the following:

1. Psychological or Suggestive Consecration. You think and act as if the bread is the Body of Christ.
2. Bringing Forth the Natural Qualities of the Item Consecrated. You expand the qualities of ‘bread’, its creation and function into the etheric-astral-mental component of the bread.
3. Charging the Item. You invoke the presence of Christ into the etheric-astral-mental component of the bread.
4. Charging and Linking and Item. You invoke the presence of Christ into the etheric-astral-mental component of the bread and keep the link open, so it may be drawn upon later – e.g., when the Communicant receives the bread so that their own openness to Christ draws Him further into the bread as they Commune.
5. Birthing an Etheric-Astral-Mental Component of the Item Into Objective Life and Existence. A new etheric-astral-mental structure is created to hold the presence of Christ within the bread’s etheric-astral-mental structure so it will always be there, even centuries after the consecration. Hence those alive statues in the British Museum
6. Changing the Essence of the Item. The ‘essence’ of the bread is changed into the ‘essence’ of the Body of Jesus Christ. This is full transubstantiation and really is done by the One, not the Priest or magician.

In the consecration of the Lotus Wand, like in the consecration of many of the RR et AC and GD temple tools, the type of consecration is a particular form of fourth type, charging and linking. Here the emphasis though is on the linking. If the wand is consecrated in any other way it will not function correctly.

The various powers of the Zodiac are invoked into 12 connected but separate mental level ‘forms’. Each of these forms is linked to  one of the 12 bands of the wand on the mental level alone. The link is the key here, not the charging on the astral-etheric level. The links provide a doorway to the 12 powers but these 12 are not immediately present within the etheric-astral presence of the wand, until they are called upon. When a wand is inactive on the altar it is not pumping full of zodiacal force – indeed as Dion suggests, having all 12 powers at once  on these levels would be rather chaotic

The wand is rather a Malkuth means to quickly ‘earth’ the particular powers the magician wishes to call upon. The placement of the thumb on the band of the sign in question links the physical and etheric. The formulation inwardly of the appropriate imagery completes the astral level. The inward recitation of the correct Sacred Word activates the mental ’structure’ in question. Once done, when the magician performs the Pentagram or whatever ritual, the macrocosmic forces are easily able to be attracted to and move through the mental structure created at the consecration and from their into the lower spheres through the sphere of the magician.

This is a different approach to consecration than often conceived in today’s magical and pagan communities where people like to get their tools buzzing and glowing on the astral like the teeth of tele-evangelists. The Lotus Wand is created simply and beautifully as a doorway. It has no power until it is activated. This is like the Hierophant’s Sceptre in the Outer Order – completely inert until the start of the ceremony when, through the correct keys at the hands of an installed Hierophant, it becomes literally the focal and directing point of nearly all the blessings of the ceremony. I just don’t think Dion was told this or given the inner keys to make it happen. Which is hardly surprising as they are still not out there much. Nuff said?