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?

Taking the horse to water

“If we call for the proof and we question the answers, only the doubt will grow.”
~ Alan Parsons Project

Though not quite like that memorable character, the Dude in The Big Lebowski, I am quite lazy. That is why instead of typing out the quote from Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God in my recent post, I searched for it to do a bit of old ‘cut and paste’. I found it on a blog by Stephen Law, an Oxford philosopher. His review of the book was quite amazing.

He typed in the part about religion means practice and that religion and its effects will remain opaque to those who do not practice. He then went ahead, without a life long spiritual practice and argued against the proof of God on the grounds that various non-religious events produce psychological effects similar to religious awareness. It’s kinda like a virgin reading a book that says, “there’s no point in discussing sex until you’ve had some” and then merrily writing about sex anyway ‘cos masturbation produces the same effects (orgasm) as a good fuck. In fact it’s worse because Mr Law has not even engaged in the extensive pyschological exercises he asserts produce the same effects as religious practice. It fairly does my head in that people just don’t get this simple fact.

Mr Law suggests that ‘all’ life-long spiritual practice does is alter our psychology. No where does Ms Armstrong suggest otherwise. Nor do the spiritual traditions. To alter our psychology is the biggest thing we can do, indeed it is the only thing we can do and is the only thing that will sustain our physical changes and compassion in the world. What the spiritual traditions do say however is that our ‘psychology’ is far more than what is taught in secular Universities, that we are intrinsically co-arisen and interdependent with all that was, is and ever shall be.

There were 113 comments to his post, mostly by intellectual men righteously denying God. Ho hum. I didn’t want to come over all weird and esoteric, so added only this muted comment:

“OK, look, really we all know that religion isn’t going to go away. No matter how many atheist buses and bestsellers there are. And unless it changes it will continue to infect our institutions with bogeys like ‘creation science’.

This book and all of Ms Armstrong’s work is to try and mature these religious views. It counters crap like ‘creation science’. If every pastor, priest and layperson thought like Ms Armstrong there would be no need for ‘new atheists’. You should be buying her a drink for this book.

And sorry, you seem to miss what Ms Armstrong says so clearly in the quotation you provide. There is no point discussing religion and pointing to psychological equivalents. It needs to be practiced. Ms Armstrong makes NO metaphysical claims that many of your commentators go on to attack.

What she DOES say is that religion provides an extra element to the experiences you infer can be achieved by secular/psychological means, and that is compassion. The ritual group mind of a football game lacks compassion and is based on competition. This alone is why it is not religious.

And please be clear – you are only inferring that the various examples you give produce the same results as traditional depth religion, as you have no life-long practice of the later.”

If I had more space and time I would have highlighted the theme of compassion. Religion and by extension esoteric  religion changes us within a compassionate milieu so we may become more compassionate. This is its key function, its key purpose. But it will only work if we practice.

The Sweat Lodge Deaths – who is responsible?

There are now three confirmed deaths from the recent sweat lodge tragedy in Sedona. Many more people were injured during this western styled lodge. When I first read the reports a number of thoughts occurred very quickly: ‘how did such a thing happen?’ and ‘how to prevent it happening again?’ were the obvious ones.

I have been part of a several sweat lodges conducted by westerners and they were all conducted with safety, grace, precision and respect. I have been very lucky and blessed. There are also other western sweat lodges where the physical conditions are essentially a hot sauna, which should pose minimal risks for the sensible. No doubt the ’causes’ for the deaths will be revealed shortly. One of the deceased was a vetran of the sweat lodge so naivety and inexperience cannot be blamed.

However, let us be clear – sticking a group of people (who have often fasted beforehand) in a small confined space in extreme heat and with little ventilation is dangerous. Unless the leaders know what their doing. And to a very large extent sweat lodge members place their safety in the hands of their leaders. For example, the sweats I have been part off where conducted in a traditional manner. Stones were heated until extremely hot and then brought into the lodge. Now certain stones under extreme heat will release toxic gases. Unless the leader is aware of these sorts of things, tragedies are bound to happen.

In Sedona, the sweat leader was James Arthur Ray, one of the most visible New Age leaders in America. The week long retreat which culminated in the deadly Sweat Lodge cost the dead and injured folk $9000 USD each. Mr Ray apparently had around 60 people in the Lodge, an amount well in excess of the traditional numbers involved which peak at 20. The overloading of the Lodge may be one of the contributing factors. We must wait and see what the police and coroner uncover. Another issue, which according to the news reports was present in the Sedona event – sometimes modern lodges are covered in plastic tarpaulins, which are certainly not traditional and would present additional difficulties for the leaders to ensure safety is maintained.

To be perfectly frank, I find Mr Ray’s ’spiritual’ philosophies like much of the New Age objectionable, shallow and nauseating. But that does not make him automatically culpable in these deaths, though he may be. However, his response to the deaths was to leave ship sharply, refuse to speak to the police, meditate for a day or two and continue working (and charging) as his work is “too important” for it to stop. He has chosen to “embrace the adversity” this tragedy has brought him. Maybe it’s just me, but I found his comments on the issue cold and lacking compassion. Read them for yourself here. He must of course be suffering great emotional distress as well, something I am trying to remember.

There are also reports of a conference call Mr Ray made to the survivors of the lodge (and I think we can call them that as 18 others were injured). During this call one of Mr Ray’s assistants made a typical unthinking, cold, New Age remark. The deceased she said, “left their bodies during the ceremony and had so much fun they chose not to come back, and that was their choice that they made”. I don’t think I can comment on this and stay calm, so I will leave it as it stands.

Many people are blaming this awful situation on the fact that it was lodge organised by a New Age westerner rather than as part of a traditional Native American spiritual undertaking. However, since the skills required to work the sweat lodge are not genetic, simply being a Native American does not guarantee a person knows how to run a sweat lodge safely and correctly. I was once at a Creation Spirituality dance ritual with a Caribbean gentleman. We were assigned the drums and he turned out to be even more jerky in his movements than I was. During a break he smiled, leaned over to me and ruefully exclaimed, “Man, I’m telling ya, it AIN’T in the blood.” Being in a culture where the sweat lodge is common would provide more opportunities to learn and be trained correctly, that is all. I am sure there are some lousy Native American sweat leaders, just as there are some wonderful western leaders.

The appropriation of the Sweat Lodge and other aspects of Native American tradition for New Age commercial gain is something else. Back in the early 90s I was editor of a Pagan newsletter, Green Spirit and was very happy to reproduce a statement deploring this trend by the American Indian Movement. Despite AIM’s campaign nothing seems to have changed. In fact, Western styled Sweats and other ‘Native American’ spiritualities are even more common, even more abused and used.

Whatever the ’causes’ of the deaths in Sedona, they would not have occured if western culture and western religion offered what these people were looking for. Very few people will pay $9000 and swallow unworkable New Age ideology on a whim. I am sure many of the participants have a deep, authentic need to experience the sacred and the eternal. A few may have been after the instant riches that Mr Ray implicitly promises in his work, but even that desire comes from spiritual misunderstanding and immaturity. Ultimately then, no matter what the coroner concludes, the fault for these deaths lies with our spiritually impoverished culture and religious institutions that force people to find sacred truth and beauty in dangerous places.