Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls by the Golden Dawn Community

And the big news of the day is the announcement of the release of Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls. (Info here).

For those who do not know, the Flying Rolls were instructional papers circulated within the historical Golden Dawn. They mostly concern real magic, by real people who really experienced it. This edition contains not only an authoritative version of the rolls, but also a lovely and learned commentary  for each. These come from a range of folk right across the Golden Dawn community and shows how we all really get along and work together like good girls and boys Look at some of the names:

space

Frater A.M., Frater AR, Deanna Bonds, Christopher Bradford, Chic Cicero, Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Ian Cowburn, Morgan Drake Eckstein, Nick Farrell, Paola Farrell, Lauren Gardner, Jayne Gibson, Frater Goya, VH Frater IOV, Aaron Leitch, Liza Llewellyn, Joseph Max, Frater Philomancer, VH Soror QQDAM, Samuel Scarborough, Eric V. Sisco, Rachael Walker, Sam Webster, Harry Wendrich, Peregrin Wildoak, Frater Yechidah, Frater YShY

Woot woot and all that! I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy (release date 14 June 2013).

Too Pagan for all this ceremonial nonsense?! You’re wrong. Beloved  mother of Wicca, Doreen Valiente, learnt some magic from these rolls, and made her own notes  on them. So can you!

Well, that’s all

Read Full Post »

Again with the practical magic!

Another ‘gonzo’ post – straight from me brain to the keys to the ‘publish’ button. Please excuse the typos

Sometimes I like to jump on an interesting bandwagon as it goes past. In this case it’s practical, material-focused magic. Recently there have been lovely posts on the subject by folk I admire – look at the blogs of AL, MDK and DMK for some great discussions. (UPDATE: some more cool posts on the subject: Nick, Alex, Scott).

As I discuss in this post on ‘Manifestation‘ even if we do jag a positive result and our practical magic “works”, it is but a small part of a vast interconnected and interdependent rollercoaster of causes and conditions. DMK in his post says it straight:

Still another reason is a misunderstanding of finances leading to guilt. Specifically, some people look at finances as a zero sum situation. The idea behind the zero sum outlook is that the world’s finances are fixed and therefore limited; if you gain, someone else loses. If my slice of the pie gets bigger, your’s gets smaller. So if you do magick to become better off, someone else is going to suffer, and you’d feel guilty about making others suffer.

However the reality is not a zero sum situation. The reality is that if you increase your wealth, everyone’s wealth will increase. In order to get a bigger slice of the pie, the entire pie gets bigger, giving everyone a larger slice. This, of course, assumes fairness in the financial world, something that often doesn’t exist if governments don’t make and enforce rules, much the way that football would be total mayhem without governance and rules.” (Italics, mine).

A Nice Piece of the Pie

I find this very interesting. As a read the Zero Sum Game concept, it may apply to the insubstantial concepts of ‘wealth’ but it does not apply to the material reality of elements of production – minerals, foodstuffs, etc.  Many of DMK’s readership (I assume) are Pagan orientated and therefore have some ecological understanding. One of the central tenets of the modern environmental movement is that the world does indeed have limited resources and can only take so much battering. Now we can invoke space mining and exploration to get over that in our heads, to remove the concept of ‘zero sum’, but realistically that’s way off and (with current technology) will cause more environmental damage than we can poke at stick at.

With respect to DMK, I think the zero sum argument is valid in some circumstances. There are limited material resources and what we do with those resources matters; who controls them and who has access to them. Even sustainable resources are created on land, which is limited.

Look at the example I refer to in this post, of a new age bookshop owner who was trying to ‘manifest’ a life where she could go travelling (across the globe) six months of the year because she “deserved it”. If the zero sum argument is bollocks, “the pie”, as DMK puts it, can expand so we can ALL travel six months of the year. By aeroplane. Think about that. Really think about it. At any time three billion plus people are travelling around the planet. Thinking about the pollution alone from this shows the zero sum idea is valid, at least in some aspects. I am sure none of you reading this would be happy with such a world (even if it could exist)  Therefore we do not accept ALL negation of zero sum.

A less extreme case. Just imagine the pollution and resources needed to let EVERYONE on the planet live as well as a well paid professional in the USA – with cars, iPhones, flat screen TV, etc. That alone would spell disaster for the world, even if there was enough terrestrial raw materials to make all these consumer products.

I hope this is making sense.

Let’s look at a crucial line from DMK: “This, of course, assumes fairness in the financial world…”. This shows the interdependence I am talking of. Specifically, let’s take the case of African American magician in Tennessee in 1933 and in 2013. Magic for a better job, house, food, life will be more likely to ‘manifest’ in 2013 than 1933 due to the inherent and legal, structural racism in the 1930s. We cannot escape context. We cannot escape interdependence. And to be perfectly frank, I think African American magicians are better off today because of political struggles than magic.

The same with anything we are talking about. If we want to work as if the ‘zero sum’ principle is invalid or limited, it is better to work politically and socially to make the lives – jobs, cars, houses – we are trying to improve by magic available to us, and to all. Again, specifically, without the changes in western society that allow a diversity of religious thought, very few of us would be practicing magic anyway. Our success in magic owes more to the success of the Enlightenment than our own efforts.

Morgan makes a very interesting and accurate point on this blog:

…the documented record of Western magic is all about–weather magic, power magic, legal magic, treasure magic, health magic, love magic–all about fulfilling basic needs in a hostile wolf at the door world. Even alchemy was about the practical nine times out of ten. Yet we in the modern world are not allowed to have these needs or desires.

This is because magic was reframed in the mid-late 19th century as a spiritual art, largely due to the efforts of Eliphas Levi. Now of course there were always elements of spiritual development within historical western magic, but as Ronald Hutton puts it: “Traditional scholarly magic was at basis an elaborate way of ringing for room service”. This has now all changed. Heck, even evocation of spirits, mostly traditionally undertaken because the little buggers had a handy knack for helping fulfil one’s desire, is now seen by many as a complex form of spiritual adjustment.

Now, PERSONALLY, I am very happy that western learned magic was reframed into a more spiritual direction. It makes sense to me. I am also of the opinion that is was the main driving force behind the founders of the major modern western traditions, the two most influential of course being the Golden Dawn (RR et AC) and the Inner Light of Dion Fortune.

In the latter, the requirement for admission to the tradition is succinctly put into the initiate’s mouth: “I desire to know in order to serve”. And entry to the Greater Mysteries requires the “unreserved dedication” to the Higher for life. There was and is precious little practical magic in this tradition or in the writings of Dion herself – except when required to serve the Masters.

In the RR et AC (ever remembering that the GD is not a magical tradition) where magic was taught, we find the Adeptus Minor is required to oath themselves to some pretty interesting things. They are to lead “a pure and unselfish life”. Nor are they to “debase” the practical magic they learn in the Order for evil or “self-seeking” or “low material gain or pleasure”.  They also, and crucially, at the Tiphareth point swear to (from memory):

Apply themselves to the Great Work – to purify and exalt my Spiritual Nature so that with the Divine Aid I may at length attain to be more than human and thus gradually raise and unite myself to my higher and Divine Genius.

Okaay. Now this is dogs-balls obvious. And if it is not so, it is also really clear that the RR et AC is a ROSICRUCIAN order – and the Rosicrucians profess nothing save to heal the sick – and for free no less!

RR et AC Rose Cross

So the problem lies in the simple fact that the root of much (if not most) modern magic, the Golden Dawn and the Inner Light, have clear and direct spiritual aims, not material ones. Yet the techniques, symbols and methods within these traditions are so bloody awesome, everyone – even those who do not approach magic with spiritual and service ideals – wants to use them. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

There is thus a big tension inherent within modern magic itself. Now, as DMK says, there really need not be. Folk can take either take and practise both approaches or work within a framework that collapses the boundaries between material and spiritual magic, where an evocation of a spirit to make one more likely to find a sexual partner is seen as spiritual work in and by itself.

PERSONALLY this does not make sense to me. I think we should let the traditions speak on their own terms, and when we take an oath to apply ourselves spiritually and not to use Rosicrucian magic “material gain or pleasure” we should do just that. Or change the oath.

Magic for me is TRANSPERSONAL not personal, just as my Vajrayana and esoteric Christian practice are. This to me is the essence of modern magic. This does not, in any way, mean I condemn or look down upon those who see and practise differently. And while I not am in position to define what “is” or “is not” Rosicrucian magic, it does seem clear to me that the composers of the RR et AC and Inner Light corpora WERE clear themselves. Thanks

Read Full Post »

More Christian than you can poke a stick at

In response to some recent silly and strange claims on the net regarding the history of the Golden Dawn, I recently reposted to Facebook an old post, A Pagan Golden Dawn? People’s responses this time round have prompted this quick clarification.

What me, Christian?

Firstly, as I try to make clear in the original post, I am not proselytizing for Christianity. Nor am I saying GD folk need to be Christian. Or even that Christianity is ‘better’ than other religions. Those few who have accused me of these views should really read better.

Yes, I am confirmed in the Anglican church. However, I have also been initiated into the GD and other western traditions (long before my confirmation), and taken Refuge with the amazing Lama Zopa Rinpoche. I identify with none of these paths exclusively. I am not a Christian. I am not a Buddhist. I am not an Isian. In the end there is only the One, and where all is One there can be no separate names. And besides, I have written (passionately) far more on the Golden Dawn than Christianity, but no one accuses me of proselytizing for the GD

Christian but not Christian

But back to it… my points in the original post are, in my view, more than justified by a little comment in the original pledge form (application for initiation) of the historical Golden Dawn:

Belief in a Supreme Being, or Beings, is indispensable.  In addition, the Candidate, if not a Christian, should at least be prepared to take an interest in Christian Symbolism. (Gilbert, R.A. (1986)  The Golden Dawn Companion : a guide to the history, structure and workings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. p. 45.  Aquarian, Wellingborough.)

Modern Orders may have omitted this but I am talking of the traditional approach and the form I signed as a young lad. The reason why Christianity is singled out is because the Orders (GD and RR et AC) contain more symbols with a Christian basis or interpretation than any other religion. Mathers and Westcott (and perhaps Woodman) were clear that one needs to be ‘interested’ in these symbols to gain the most from the Golden Dawn experience.

Mystical and religious symbols are a path to the mysteries they represent. When we engage with symbols we enter the mystery and the mystery enters us, grounding through our individual unique lives, and thereby it becomes more established in the world. As with any mystery path, those in the GD and RR et AC, need to engage deeply with ALL the symbols of the tradition. We need to do this personally, not relying on second hand information and insights of others.

Therefore each GD initiate has to engage with and embody the mysteries behind a whole raft of Christian symbols, from the neophyte Red Cross (an ‘Image of Him Who was unfolded in the Light’) to the Cross of Suffering in the Vault (see this good essay by GH Fr SR on Cross symbolism in the Golden Dawn which more than adequately  explains the predominance of the Christian symbolism in the GD and RR et AC). This engagement means the initiate, and collectively the tradition, is working the mysteries through a Christian based lens more than any other lens. This is why I can describe the RR et AC as a ‘Christian’ tradition – yet having nothing whatever to do with personal faith or church membership.

Now, people may not like this because they do not like Christianity – though more often than not they actually do not like Churchianity – but this is the case. Empirically. Look it up – count the symbols within the GD Corpus that are Christian or Christian interpretations. Compare with those from other traditions.

People’s dislike or lack of fit with Christian symbolism often prompts them to want to modify and change the symbols and rituals (which are a way of embodying the mystery of the symbols). However, I think it very unwise to change any symbol until we know and are intimate with the mystery it represents. Otherwise we cannot know what exactly to ‘replace’ it with. And we cannot know the mystery represented by a symbol until we fully engage with it spiritually and magically. Therefore even if we want to change things, we still are required, if we are sensible, to engage deeply with Christian based symbols within a tradition that stems from a very Christian based tradition indeed -Rosicrucianism.

Rosicrucians – the tradition with no (identifiable) members

I am always amazed at the number of RR et AC adepts I correspond with who have only read, (or not even read!), the Rosicrucian manifestos  It is clearly stated within the Adeptus Minor initiation that the initiate becomes a Rosicrucian (and not to tell anyone about it ) Therefore the manifestos are, literally, the essence of our tradition. The power and transformation inherent in the RR et AC is Rosicrucian. Now there are any number of hermetic, alchemical and occult influences within the manifestos  but the overarching theme, current and religiosity is undeniably Christian. Every RR et AC adept will benefit from a deep engagement with these texts, as they are initiatory powers in their own right.

Of Rosicrucianism, noted occult and Masonic historian R.A. Gilbert has the view that:

…once one moves away from the Trinitarian Christian approach to this ascent up the Tree of Life, it ceases to be Rosicrucian. (http://www.rosecircle.org/cms/node/36).

Now as much as argument by authority is a little lazy, I do think the views of Mr Gilbert are important – he really does know an awful lot In any case, the religious background of the Rosicrucian tradition speaks for itself.

Pagan Deities and Suchlike Things

During my recent discussions on this topic folk have pointed out that GD folk like the Mathers and others worked with a range of non-Christian, and therefore Pagan, deities and forms. This is undeniably true. However, I think it fair to say they were worked (in a GD context at least) within the overarching framework of Christianity. That is to say, pre-Christian myths and symbols were often (unconsciously) interpreted in the light and by the tenants of Christianity. That is to say, Pagan and Jewish religious concepts were seen through a Christian based lens. The beginnings of the Hermetic Qabalah show this approach clearly – look at folk like Pico della Mirandola and Marsilio Ficino.

The Victorian era occultism that produced the Golden Dawn was heavily interested in non-Christian traditions but rarely was able to interpret or approach these traditions on their own terms or without western, Christian and/or personal intellectual filters. Australian Pagan academic Caroline Tully has shown a little how this occurred in the case of Samuel Mathers and Florence Farr:

• Samuel Liddell MacGregor-Mathers and Isis, chapter 3, Ten Years of Triumph of the Moon.
• Florence and the Mummy in Women’s Voices in Magic edited by Brandy Williams.

J.G Frazer, a fine looking chap

Ironically the Victorian penchant for ethnological studies also contributed to this confusion and Christian filtering. Some ethnologists of this era were motivated by a quest to discredit Christianity. They attempted this by showing the similarities between Christianity and other non-Christian religions. If Christianity was just like all other religions, then it could claim no superior status. Nice. However, looking for Christian-like elements of a religion means we ignore the real, completely different ideas, world-views, and religious motifs inherent in these other religions.

A classic example of this ethnological tendency was James George Frazer, whose work influenced GD and other magicy folk hugely. Having no direct experience of ‘Pagan’ religions, occultists would often base their approach to them via these ethnological studies and thus get a Christian view of the religion, albeit unknowingly. When this method of obtaining knowledge was not used, altogether different approaches and rituals were created. Alex Sumner gives an example of this when discussing Florence Farr’s The Order of Great Osiris The Saviour.

Farr’s rituals bear little resemblance to those of the Golden Dawn. There is no “Egyptian magic as seen through a Victorian prism” of the GD, instead the symbolism is practically all ancient Egyptian (though unlike any discovered by archaeological means). (http://solascendans.com/2012/07/05/the-order-of-great-osiris-the-saviour/)

Farr of course though was not presenting ancient Egyptian magic or religion with any degree of accuracy, and most of the material can be assumed to be from inner sources. Again, see the wonderful article, Florence and the Mummy in Women’s Voices in Magic by Caroline Tully. Only recently have modern Neo-Pagans been able to approach ancient religions and mysteries on their own terms and re-construct something without Christian and modern western filters getting too much in the way.

Lashings and Lashings of Christianity

One of the commentators on my Facebook post mentioned above asked for more information concerning my statement that: “The GD and RR et AC are built layer upon layer of Christian based practice and symbolism and it is through our personal engagement with this practice and symbolism that we arrive at universal wisdom.” Specifically they wanted to know what these layers are and why it is essential they need to be Christian. Great questions.

To address the second question first: there is no reason they need to be Christian (based) – only that in the RR et AC they are. In other traditions they would not be, and those traditions are as worthy and as wonderful as the RR et AC. However, the RR et AC being Rosicrucian, has a Christian symbolism basis and bias. That simple. It’s how it was created. One can change it, sure, but I would be careful, as I discuss above, about changes without full entry into the mystery represented by the Christian symbolism.

Also, as I’ve mentioned in this post, there is a big difference between eclecticism and synthesis and to change the symbols of the RR et AC because some folk have a personal discomfort with Christianity may not be such a top idea. In short changes to traditions are best directed by a third higher power for transpersonal reasons.

As for the layers: again, the fact that the RR et AC is Rosicrucian is a crucial point. But further, the RR et AC is a tradition. It did not emerge fully formed out of Mathers’ creative brow. It draws on many layers, centuries old. And each of those layers carry with them the currents and egregore of the people and groups who created them. For example, the entire Enochian system came about via the work of a devout Christian, John Dee. It therefore was filtered by Dee’s Christianity and carries within it Christian concepts, currents and egregore. One layer.

In some RR et AC rituals elements of the Enochian are used alongside a mystical Christian name for Jesus, YHShVH. This, and the deep formula within the name was created by Christian renaissance occultists (it is not the Hebrew or Aramaic spelling at all). Another layer, and one which underpins the entire GD system: grades, rituals, meditations, the lot. Even when an adept assumes an Egyptian based godform, she will consecrate the space beforehand with the Pentagram ritual, which holds at its core the YHShVH formula, and thus the adept is empowered by it. She is therefore linked to this Christian based current.

Or take a look at image of the Higher and Divine Genius. This is taken from the work of another devout Christian, Albrecht Dürer, St John Beholding the Seven Golden Candlesticks. The image therefore carries with it the Christian egregore and currents. Another layer.

This is what I mean by layers of practice. A slow build, over the centuries, of a tradition, drawing on many themes, ideas and innovations, but the vast majority of them created by Christians within a Christian context. The egregore of the RR et AC is soaked through and through with these. Or take the Vault – the Adepti of a College literally draw their magic and links to the inner realms through this Vault and their initiation within it. And the Vault is the epitome of the Christian based Rosicrucian tradition.

Rounding Off

Of course, every adept knows what I am saying here at some (hopefully deep) level, when during their Adept initiation they declare:

I, (MOTTO), a member of the Body of Christ, do this day spiritually bind myself, even as I am now bound physically upon the Cross of Suffering.

These are not idle words, and being spoken at the Kether point of the Obligation they become the central hub around which the initiation, and life thereafter as Rosicrucian adept, revolves.

Now of course, people can do what they like – and they do Again, I am not suggesting anyone is ‘wrong’ or any religious tradition is ‘better’ than another. I am just pointing out how I was taught and what seems real and obvious to me. I am approaching 30 years within this wonderful tradition of ours, and over that time I have seen far too many folk go astray because there were precious few discussions and examination of things that seem obvious but are not. I hope at least these words give some folk a pause for thought. Responses naturally welcome – but don’t flame me, roast me or toast me Thanks.

Read Full Post »

Certainty and the Death of Magic

Ol’ Bishop Leadbeater – he knew a thing or two.

Every so often I come across something of interest in the dark recesses of my hard drive. Yesterday it was an old letter I wrote to Communion, the magazine of the Liberal Catholic Church (LCC) concerning the ‘debate’ over ordination of women to the priesthood. For those who do not know, the LCC is an ‘esoteric’ church founded in 1915 by Theosophical folk who wanted to have their cake (Christian rituals and hymns) and eat it too (participate in the new and exciting Theosophical movement). The LCC’s reasons for excluding women from the Priesthood are therefore a little different than those of the Catholic or Orthodox churches: women’s subtle bodies are simply not up to the job of standing in persona Christi. Nice.

And how does the LCC know this? Well, to quote meself:

These [reasons] ultimately stem from the clairvoyant investigations of Bishop Leadbeater. Cynics would say they originate with Leadbeater himself, his clairvoyance being a fraud at worse and a spurious self-delusion at best. Believers in the pre-eminence of Leadbeater as a great spiritual teacher either argue for his clairvoyant accuracy or simply accept it and do not bother arguing at all. In any case, no matter what position we take, the fact remains the clairvoyant data stems from Leadbeater himself.

I doubt anyone in the LCC (these days) views the late Bishop Leadbeater as infallible. Indeed, with so much of his fallibility having been presented to the pubic via the meticulous work of Fr Gregory Tillett, this would be an impossible position to hold. With all the recorded mistakes and inaccuracies in Leadbeater’s clairvoyance, it is quite conceivable that the occult reasons for excluding women, as they stem from Leadbeater, may be wrong or at least a little garbled.

However, the veracity or otherwise of the good Bish’ aside, the most interesting and most relevant aspect of the matter to what still occurs in today’s occult world is this:

By insisting that it has valid esoteric reasons for excluding women from the Priesthood the LCC has painted itself into a corner. If it were to say it excludes women on other reasons, such as following tradition, it could modify its stance at a later date, as several Churches have now done. However, to say that women’s subtle bodies are not suited to being the vehicle of Christ’s blessings, it has defined an unalterable truth, approved, we are assured by Bishop Leadbeater, by Christ himself (after a meeting on the inner planes).

Also, despite its seeming lack of dogma, such a position leads the LCC into a very dogmatic strait indeed. If it impossible for women to be Priests of Christ, then by definition the Anglicans (and others) have got it wrong (or at least are not operating on all four cylinders). If the LCC were ever to admit women to the Priesthood, it must postulate some amazing esoteric theory that the evolution of the world has reached such a level that Christ will suddenly change Himself to suit the subtle bodies of women priests (or all the women in the world have had their subtle bodies changed overnight).

As soon as ‘esoteric’ reasons, or reasons derived from inner plane activity, are used to make a decision concerning outer activity, membership or exclusion, we magic folk have to be very, very careful. We cannot make these decisions on an ultimate  basis – affecting all time, all space and all people – only on a relative basis. If we make them on a ultimate basis we are falling into the same trap as the religious fundamentalists we so dislike. And really, the magic is thereafter dead. We might as well pack up, go home and play computer games. Sure we can still do all the rituals and invocations and get some nice energy and astral buzz. But once we have closed our minds, the transformation will cease. And like the LCC, we may present a seemingly non-dogmatic front but have core, unspoken dogmas and fundamentalist ideas hidden within.

Look at the logic sequence:

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST

• Statement 1: Evolutionary theory, and all science based on it, is wrong.
• Statement 2: Our church is one of the few that truly represents the will of Christ.
• Proof: Personal interaction with and interpretations of words invested with authority (the Bible).
• Supported by: Members of the churches deigned to be ‘proper’ churches.

LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH

• Statement 1: Women cannot be priests because they do not have the correct subtle bodies.
• Statement 2: Our Church’s liturgy has the express approval of Christ himself following a personal (inner) meeting with a Bishop of the church.
• Proof: Personal interaction with and interpretations of words invested with authority (the writings of C.W. Leadbeater).
• Supported by: Members of the LCC and TS.

MAGICAL GROUP

• Statement 1: Our magic is better than that of other groups (it will transform you faster!)
• Statement 2: Unlike other groups, our group has the lineal descent of magic from the ancient world and/or Atlantis.
• Proof: Personal interaction with and interpretations of words of someone who says inner plane beings and/or other people told him so.
• Supported by: Members of the group and other groups deigned to ‘proper’ magical groups.

Take away the authority of scripture, and the magical group is behaving exactly like the fundamentalist church.

Order size DOES matter!

Unfortunately there seems to be a constant presence of groups like this, especially on the internet where one’s presence can be bloated up to make even the best puffer fish feel inadequate. To avoid making fundamentalist thought based decisions is why, traditionally, only those at the adept level could vote and influence the lodge’s course and policies. The theory being, of course, that adepts would know better and having experienced inner death (see the last post) would have more loose and open minds. Sadly however, history shows this is not always the case.

There are a number of ways around these problems, most of which can be found in any good book on group formation and leadership. Again, I recommend Starhawk’s Truth or Dare and Nick Farrell’s Gathering the Magic. However, in a nutshell the basic principles that keep me sane in all this are:

• Do not make ultimate decisions. Ever.
• We all have the potential to be fundamentalists.
• Magic attracts nutters. And it may be myself.
• Look for actual proof. Assertions and back up statements by unverified names or mottos on the internet is not proof.

And, finally, the wonderful Discordian Catma:

Convictions Cause Convicts

Read Full Post »

Death and the individual: or struggling over Maggie

The death of Margaret Thatcher has given me much pause for thought. More so in some ways than the death of Osama bin Laden, as detailed here.

Clement Attlee

In the political sphere Thatcher’s actions and social policies stand as one of the greatest tragedies within recent UK history (and by extension elsewhere). She oversaw and led a profound change in government orientation that damaged irrevocably the post war social transformation led by the great Clement Attlee. Her successive governments paved the way for the Labour jettisoning of its remaining socialist ideology and the rise of New Labour, which I personally loathe as much as any of Maggie’s policies.

I do not need to catalogue here the damage she caused.  Suffice to say many, many people did not like her at all, at all. They lost jobs, family members, houses, and community – all thanks to her policies. The glee surrounding her demise and death, mostly in the UK but also across the globe, was seen by many as entirely appropriate and well deserved. A not insignificant number of folk also cursed her spirit and wished her ill in the otherworld. The odd neo-Pagan even made an exception in Maggie’s case and  resorted to Christian concepts of eternal suffering.

The (de)merits of flexible theology aside, I am very uncomfortable in wishing any ill will to the dead, iron-hearted conservative politicians included. There are two simple reasons for this. Firstly, dying is not an easy thing. At all. We are stripped bare and our regular everyday ‘self’, accustomed as it is to embodied existence, can get in a right pickle. One of the aims of depth spiritual practice by ourselves before death, and by others on our behalf after death, is to help avoid the many pitfalls the recently dead are likely to stumble into. The dead need help, not abuse.

Not everyone hated Maggie

Secondly, and most importantly, when we die, we die. That is, the personality self, the lower identification of my being as ‘Peregrin Wildoak’ will cease to exist. It has been built upon, re-created and reinforced everyday by worldly activity and interaction with other folk. Yet it has no intrinsic existence. Heck, even a good spot of LSD or depth meditation will show this. Let alone not having a brain or a body or endocrines or people asking, “hey, Peregrin – how’s it going?”

Different post-mortem theologies posit a different time frame for this process, but all, apart from the exoteric religious traditions, assert it occurs in some fashion. (Oh, and apart from some death fearing esoteric folk who want to somehow live on forever as a personality and practice all sorts of rites in a vain effort to ensure this.)

So really, sending curses after someone has died is like trying to hit them in the gob with a pea-shooter from the pier as they sail away into the sunset. They can no longer be cursed as they no longer exist in the same form. Heaping abuse on the dead for how they were in their lives is missing the point and missing the target (which exists no more).

This process of personality death, the stripping away of all whom we are and have been, is why one reason death is so often referred to as the ‘great leveller’. In the case of Margaret Thatcher this idea is eloquently elucidated in this Guardian article by Giles Fraser, from which we quote:

He illustrated the point with reference to the funerals of Habsburg royalty. As the funeral procession approached the closed doors of the Imperial chapel in Vienna, a voice from inside would ask, “who is it?”. The grand chamberlain would read out a long list of grand titles. The voice from the church then replied: “We know him not.” The chamberlain would try again, with a shortened version, and received the same reply. Finally, the chamberlain knocks on the door. Again comes the question, “who is it?”, and this time, eschewing all pomp and ceremony, he answers: “A sinner in need of God’s mercy.” “Him we know; enter,” comes the reply.

Adepts of the RR et AC and other ceremonial magical folk will recognize the motif here, as the same essential process occurs ritually within a number of adept initiations. The personality self, with its identifications, pride and belief in its own existence, is refused entry into the higher states. It simply cannot enter and must undergo its own death. This ritual mimicry hopefully induces an authentic and corresponding inner experience, and the adept genuinely forever knows death:

There are two deaths by which men die, the greater and the lesser. The death of the body, and the death of initiation. And of these two, the death of the body is the lesser. – Dion Fortune.

In either case, the death process pares us back to the bare essentials and we cease to exist as before. Many (to me) unknown folk died on the same day as Margaret Thatcher. They, like her, will soon no longer exist as a personality, as a person. They, like her, will live on now only in memories – some good, and some bad. Their true essence, like Thatcher’s, is of one removed from ultimate union with the One, as we all are. And it is this essential quality, shared by both living and dead, which has the potential to unite us and span the worlds. Holding on to hate and anger limits this potential, as it is only actualised by the presence of love – not personal, endearment love, but universal love for the essence of the beloved dead. The death of Margaret Thatcher, seeing her now as all living humans will one day be, reduced to essence, devoid of herself and on the Dark Road, is an opportunity – as is everyone’s death – for us to realise that, as the Song of Solomon puts it, “love is a strong as death.” Thanks

Read Full Post »