How to get rich.
How do I manifest bricks of gold?
How do I get get X?
You work for it.*
I am seriously getting slightly perplexed by the current blogsphere obsession. What is wealth, how to have enough money?
My question is "How lazy are you"
Spend less. Earn more. If you live in the western world, in most cases you have nobody to blame but yourself. Is cooking at home such a chore? Is it simpler ordering food everyday?
One of my co-workers is struggling with money. I don't understand this as we are on exactly the same pay.
Holdon, I can understand it.
She buys breakfast on the way to work.
She buys 2-3 energy drinks.
she buys 1-2 bottles of water instead of using the water dispenser.
She either brings a ready meal from the local supermarket or buys something from the expensive canteen.
Then on the way home from work she buys food in the fastmarket rather than the supermarket that is a bit further away but has cheaper food. (same brand)
On my last count this means that she is 300-400 euro short every month compared to me.
Strange how her choices affect her life.
Some people want a free ride. I know someone who was so busy trying to get off the rat-race that he ended up failing college and dropping out. Now he has sold tiles for the past 5 years. Way to get off the rat-race, huh?
If you want to be self-employed you have to work towards that.
If you want to have a self sufficient farm you need to work to get there and be able to stay there.
Animals don't feed themselves you know.
You have to WORK for whatever you do. Action - consequence.
Your angel is NOT just going to show up. You will not be able to sit down and experience bliss without learning to meditate. You will stay fat unless you eat better and exercise.
You will not meet girls/boys unless you walk out your door and actually meet human beings.
There are ways you can get a ride. But it won't be free. Live off your parents or partner. Unless they are wealthy you are fucking them over. If they're wealthy now you'll be fucked if they die.
A lot of people in the esoteric community are simply unnable to deal with life. Whatever bullshit reasons they have for it... that is what it boils down to.
here are my three magickal secret techniques to help if you feel the world is a harsh place.
1
Learn to deal with life.
-Life tough and sometimes we have to struggle to put food on our table, other times we can buy friends an expensive lunch in a restaurant.
2
Learn to manifest.
-If you want something, do things towards that end!
3
Grow up.
-Nobody will take care of you but yourself.
Once this is done, most magick helping you to get a job, better paid jobs etc will come easier.
(People forget that Karma is real, in a way.
If you spend your money on champagne you won't have money to save up for a winter coat. If you never cook, you are choosing to spend money on restaurants. If you can barely survive, getting a child will be tough. etc)
It is impossible to escape the world and live in it at the same time.
Monks, hermits, etc do not live in the same world as we do. Its great to see the Shaivite eating corpses and havinig no care in the world. Do you really think he wants to hve a wife and an internet connection?
We can contemplate Buddas teachings as much as we want. Especially in our expensive extra room with imported statues designed just for contemplation - then we can have mental breakdowns because our job means we can't spend 2 hours meditating every day (read my sarcasm. feel my sarcasm)
It is fully possible to escape the material world by becominga recluse in an esoteric sense.
Monks/nuns and renounciates exist in all denominations. They can spend all their energy on the divine and usually ignore most of the material.
yey.
But thats not what you want.
You want to have the rockstar lifestyle. But not work for it..... odd.
You figure it out.
*the you in this context is a fictional persona created in order to allow the blog to shift from a lecture to a direct talk to the aspect of the reader that is brainwashed into the western mindset.
27 april 2010
20 april 2010
Hermetic Gods, Mysteries and magickal syncretism
In the ancient world magicians would travel to Egypt, or at least claim that they had done so, in order to learn the true mysteries. Most Hellenic-Era magical papyri are mixed with invocations to ADNI, Re, Helios, Apollo and company. Scholars claim that there was an enormous amount of syncretism going on. What was really going on? Were the mages of old so interested that they would have travelled to learn Zoroaster’s mystery or gain initiation into the cult of Re or the Elenusian Mysteries? Were the mages calling upon Ablanathanalba Sohou Phrehelios and Mikal at the same time doing what most modern untrained ceremonialists do (the 777approach) or were they initiates of multiple traditions and knew what they were doing?
Naturally we cannot answer that question. My educated guess would be: "a little bit of both". If you had a Practitioner who was initiated in several systems then of course they could have valid syncretism. In other cases it was probably a misunderstanding leading to the name(s) of a god being misunderstood as a name of a force. Maybe Simon 120 A.D. thought that Ptha was the Egyptian word for "Create" and he wasn't trying to call upon two separate gods at the same time?
The names of ancient gods were often epitaphs, adjectives, synonyms and words used in everyday life as well. Fear was the feeling you got when you were scared it was the word Phobos and the name of the god, son of Ares. our fictional mage Simon 120 A.D. could also have been engaging with Syncretism version 1, 2 or 3 and 4? (explained below)
We cannot know when we study a text whether the practitioner was calling upon one god, and merely listing attributes that happened to be names of other gods as well, if they merely believed that certain gods were given different names in different cultures but were, essentially, the same deity or purposefully syncretised some of them either in nature or for their function. We do know that Rome was a big importer of foreign cults and I have a hunch that Egyptian and Arabic magic would have had the same fascinating "pull" as we westerners felt to Hindu and Buddhist and Tantra related traditions in the 20s and that seems to be the case now with Afro-Caribbean magical systems and religions, Daoism, Tai Chi and so on. Today you will get people trying to mix traditions one of the following ways:
1 Without knowing what they are doing. This is harmless enough as often there is no real magick going on and psychological self induced states are the same no matter the name.
Example: calling upon Venus and Inanna for feminine empowerment
2 Same as 1 above but with actual magick happening by accident or if practitioner taps into something with an “automatized” egregore.
Example: Using the goetia with enochian invocation and charge as per Crowley’s version. Alternatively calling Exu when you want Eshu because you think he is Legba for a rite of a mercurial nature. This can be dangerous in some cases, but is mostly just sloppy magick, or bad mojo.*
------
Both above approaches can at times culturally appropriate names and ideas in a manner that is just plain rude. I’m sorry, But you're not a priest of X if you don't have the temple ordination or consecration to back it up, you are merely a Devotee. nothing wrong with that. A bit of an ego bruise but more realistic, no?
Buddhist monks are ordained, protestant priests study at university and shamans serve as healers. Talking to your local genius loci does not make you into a pontifex maximus any more than catholic people are priests just because they have an altar with saints on it in their homes.
------
3 Doing Smart and appropriate magickal syncretism as an outsider.
Example: someone picking up the excellent book "Protocols for riding with the Lwa" and then starting to work with their ancestors as it is outlined therein, mixing this with the Greek orthodox veneration of modern canonised saints. If this approach is well researched and done with respect then you can do this even as an unbaptised heathen (*sarcasm* people J)
4 Doing smart magickal syncretism as an insider, someone who has become an initiate of the mysteries/ given licence to work with certain gods/forces/ AND learned some tech that allows you to do the same things as 4 above because you ACTUALLY understand the underlying principle.
Example: material presented in Strategic Sorcery. An initiate of the Golden Dawn tradition who is a catholic and has a tradition of ancestral shrines in their homes can easily understand the TECH behind using veve and interacting with Lwa and apply it to their relationship with the Godforms
And then of course the Ultimate Act of Syncretism
5
Creating a unique synthesis where the result is greater than its constituent part
Example: Mythological source I cannot find: Enlightened dude shows up in Tibet (Buddhist missionary) and converts all the evil spirits (native to local shamanistic religion) so the spirits become bodhisattvas/helpful. Synthesis: Tibetan Buddhism. I apologize for the butchered version of the story and mean no offense.
Example2: Christians mixing pre-Christian Gnostic ideas. Synthesis Christian Gnosticism
Example3: various beliefs from Africa meet in Haiti. Gods from different pantheons are mixed/divided syncretised. Synthesis: Haitian Vodoun.
It seems logical to assume that the ancients engaged in syncretism in the same ways we do today. I am of the persuasion that gods are separate entities. They are complex beings linked to a specific time and paradigm and tradition. If I wish to establish a relationship to a god I will do it on its own terms. I am not advocating reconstructionism or that once a culture is gone its gods are done, but maybe "dead" cultures still had a written language where we can get the "flavour" of the way the gods liked to be worshipped. A god that was constantly worshipped with animal sacrifice during the existence of the culture it belongs to should probably not be approached "through the medium of interpretive dance."
The same rules of syncretism mentioned above regarding gods is also valid for all techniques (tech) and aspects of tradition. As a white European I would be insane to think that following a book on Vodoun is in any way close to going to Vodoun fete every months and being raised in the context. I would be a bigger fool if I started questioning the way a Lwa is described by practitioners and I would be an idiot if I started combining the Veve of two different Lwa in a syncretic approach of Tantric Vooodoooooo (shudder).
However one could spend the time, live in Haiti for 4 months of the year and become Houngan Asogwe if the spirit moves one and still keep ones tantric practice since , lets say, one was also a Tibetan Dzogchen master. If after 10 years of perfecting these approaches one is confident that IT WOULD WORK to combine The veve and then allow possession to happen with the resulting deity and it works, well then, all the more kudos to that person! If this can then be formalised we end up with something on the level 6 of the scale. (awesome)
I believe that syncretistic approach 3-4 are preferable for normal work with 5 being the Holy Grail of Hermetic syncretism. It is for me at least. Personally I think that Syncretism is one of the Defining strengths of The hermetic approach when done on the 4th 5th and 6th levels of my proposed levels of syncretism. (hermeticism as the historical documents would allows us to think about it from Alexandrian times, not the revival of the renaissance)
The hermetic approach must, in a way, by syncretic for it to be alive.
The gods may have been used as simple names of power in some cases but my hunch is that this was in cases of level 1 and level 2 syncretism. There is a devotion present in the texts that has gone missing somewhere along the way. Maybe we need to rekindle the fire of prayer in as modern Hermeticists by injecting some original material into the fold.
Taking the tech of how to treat gods well from Vodoun and Santeria, reinserted into the various hermetic style possessions and spells calling on gods. Let’s look towards The tantric traditions for the ecstatic work. Look at how they work with the Exu and Pomba Gira entities and how this has been syncretised already by the creators of the tradition with the demons from the Grimorum Verum.
Instead of looking up 777 for correspondences for strength look at associations in the general mind and in culture, without it turning into an anything goes approach. There are rules for this. When needing calm you don’t use herbs and spices and incense that remind you of chilli. When you need to get your thumb out, you do not taking cooling baths and contemplate. Its common sense.
The ancients went to the Library of Alexandria. Today the internet is the library. We have libraries. We can buy our books. The ancients who wanted to work with Osiris went off to join his temple for a while. Today, we can read a Tantra formerly untranslated hidden away and shown to initiates only. But we still need to access the egregore the empowerment and the context needed t work it. So fly to Tibet. Find a local wandering Lama.
The ancients engaged in syncretism one way or another. They travelled and the experienced. Or at least they fantasized that they did.
We have the option to walk in their footsteps (real or imagined) so let’s do it.
* I don’t believe there is a "wrong way" of doing anything there is just the stupid way and the slightly less stupid way.
Naturally we cannot answer that question. My educated guess would be: "a little bit of both". If you had a Practitioner who was initiated in several systems then of course they could have valid syncretism. In other cases it was probably a misunderstanding leading to the name(s) of a god being misunderstood as a name of a force. Maybe Simon 120 A.D. thought that Ptha was the Egyptian word for "Create" and he wasn't trying to call upon two separate gods at the same time?
The names of ancient gods were often epitaphs, adjectives, synonyms and words used in everyday life as well. Fear was the feeling you got when you were scared it was the word Phobos and the name of the god, son of Ares. our fictional mage Simon 120 A.D. could also have been engaging with Syncretism version 1, 2 or 3 and 4? (explained below)
We cannot know when we study a text whether the practitioner was calling upon one god, and merely listing attributes that happened to be names of other gods as well, if they merely believed that certain gods were given different names in different cultures but were, essentially, the same deity or purposefully syncretised some of them either in nature or for their function. We do know that Rome was a big importer of foreign cults and I have a hunch that Egyptian and Arabic magic would have had the same fascinating "pull" as we westerners felt to Hindu and Buddhist and Tantra related traditions in the 20s and that seems to be the case now with Afro-Caribbean magical systems and religions, Daoism, Tai Chi and so on. Today you will get people trying to mix traditions one of the following ways:
1 Without knowing what they are doing. This is harmless enough as often there is no real magick going on and psychological self induced states are the same no matter the name.
Example: calling upon Venus and Inanna for feminine empowerment
2 Same as 1 above but with actual magick happening by accident or if practitioner taps into something with an “automatized” egregore.
Example: Using the goetia with enochian invocation and charge as per Crowley’s version. Alternatively calling Exu when you want Eshu because you think he is Legba for a rite of a mercurial nature. This can be dangerous in some cases, but is mostly just sloppy magick, or bad mojo.*
------
Both above approaches can at times culturally appropriate names and ideas in a manner that is just plain rude. I’m sorry, But you're not a priest of X if you don't have the temple ordination or consecration to back it up, you are merely a Devotee. nothing wrong with that. A bit of an ego bruise but more realistic, no?
Buddhist monks are ordained, protestant priests study at university and shamans serve as healers. Talking to your local genius loci does not make you into a pontifex maximus any more than catholic people are priests just because they have an altar with saints on it in their homes.
------
3 Doing Smart and appropriate magickal syncretism as an outsider.
Example: someone picking up the excellent book "Protocols for riding with the Lwa" and then starting to work with their ancestors as it is outlined therein, mixing this with the Greek orthodox veneration of modern canonised saints. If this approach is well researched and done with respect then you can do this even as an unbaptised heathen (*sarcasm* people J)
4 Doing smart magickal syncretism as an insider, someone who has become an initiate of the mysteries/ given licence to work with certain gods/forces/ AND learned some tech that allows you to do the same things as 4 above because you ACTUALLY understand the underlying principle.
Example: material presented in Strategic Sorcery. An initiate of the Golden Dawn tradition who is a catholic and has a tradition of ancestral shrines in their homes can easily understand the TECH behind using veve and interacting with Lwa and apply it to their relationship with the Godforms
And then of course the Ultimate Act of Syncretism
5
Creating a unique synthesis where the result is greater than its constituent part
Example: Mythological source I cannot find: Enlightened dude shows up in Tibet (Buddhist missionary) and converts all the evil spirits (native to local shamanistic religion) so the spirits become bodhisattvas/helpful. Synthesis: Tibetan Buddhism. I apologize for the butchered version of the story and mean no offense.
Example2: Christians mixing pre-Christian Gnostic ideas. Synthesis Christian Gnosticism
Example3: various beliefs from Africa meet in Haiti. Gods from different pantheons are mixed/divided syncretised. Synthesis: Haitian Vodoun.
It seems logical to assume that the ancients engaged in syncretism in the same ways we do today. I am of the persuasion that gods are separate entities. They are complex beings linked to a specific time and paradigm and tradition. If I wish to establish a relationship to a god I will do it on its own terms. I am not advocating reconstructionism or that once a culture is gone its gods are done, but maybe "dead" cultures still had a written language where we can get the "flavour" of the way the gods liked to be worshipped. A god that was constantly worshipped with animal sacrifice during the existence of the culture it belongs to should probably not be approached "through the medium of interpretive dance."
The same rules of syncretism mentioned above regarding gods is also valid for all techniques (tech) and aspects of tradition. As a white European I would be insane to think that following a book on Vodoun is in any way close to going to Vodoun fete every months and being raised in the context. I would be a bigger fool if I started questioning the way a Lwa is described by practitioners and I would be an idiot if I started combining the Veve of two different Lwa in a syncretic approach of Tantric Vooodoooooo (shudder).
However one could spend the time, live in Haiti for 4 months of the year and become Houngan Asogwe if the spirit moves one and still keep ones tantric practice since , lets say, one was also a Tibetan Dzogchen master. If after 10 years of perfecting these approaches one is confident that IT WOULD WORK to combine The veve and then allow possession to happen with the resulting deity and it works, well then, all the more kudos to that person! If this can then be formalised we end up with something on the level 6 of the scale. (awesome)
I believe that syncretistic approach 3-4 are preferable for normal work with 5 being the Holy Grail of Hermetic syncretism. It is for me at least. Personally I think that Syncretism is one of the Defining strengths of The hermetic approach when done on the 4th 5th and 6th levels of my proposed levels of syncretism. (hermeticism as the historical documents would allows us to think about it from Alexandrian times, not the revival of the renaissance)
The hermetic approach must, in a way, by syncretic for it to be alive.
The gods may have been used as simple names of power in some cases but my hunch is that this was in cases of level 1 and level 2 syncretism. There is a devotion present in the texts that has gone missing somewhere along the way. Maybe we need to rekindle the fire of prayer in as modern Hermeticists by injecting some original material into the fold.
Taking the tech of how to treat gods well from Vodoun and Santeria, reinserted into the various hermetic style possessions and spells calling on gods. Let’s look towards The tantric traditions for the ecstatic work. Look at how they work with the Exu and Pomba Gira entities and how this has been syncretised already by the creators of the tradition with the demons from the Grimorum Verum.
Instead of looking up 777 for correspondences for strength look at associations in the general mind and in culture, without it turning into an anything goes approach. There are rules for this. When needing calm you don’t use herbs and spices and incense that remind you of chilli. When you need to get your thumb out, you do not taking cooling baths and contemplate. Its common sense.
The ancients went to the Library of Alexandria. Today the internet is the library. We have libraries. We can buy our books. The ancients who wanted to work with Osiris went off to join his temple for a while. Today, we can read a Tantra formerly untranslated hidden away and shown to initiates only. But we still need to access the egregore the empowerment and the context needed t work it. So fly to Tibet. Find a local wandering Lama.
The ancients engaged in syncretism one way or another. They travelled and the experienced. Or at least they fantasized that they did.
We have the option to walk in their footsteps (real or imagined) so let’s do it.
* I don’t believe there is a "wrong way" of doing anything there is just the stupid way and the slightly less stupid way.
19 april 2010
LBRP part two – further Notes
Why you don’t need to use the LBRP unless you’re an initiate has already been discussed. Let’s look at some understandings of what some opinions are about why you should do it if you ARE an initiate:
Nick Farrell writes in his article (to be found at http://www.auroraaurea.com/?page_id=1988)
First you perform the Cabbalistic Cross. This draws down power from the crown to the feet. It balances and energises the sphere for more important work. It also opens the Tiphareth centre to control the operation.
Next you draw a pentagram between the pillars of the sphere of sensation in front of you. You vibrate the name YHVH, which means “I am what I am” – again aspirational. In other words, you are placing the symbol of the pentagram into your own future and energising it with your own will. In this instance you are looking towards your own portal ceremony where the completed pentagram is unveiled for the first time. The YHVH name is important because you are talking about integrating the elements under the power of spirit.
When we draw the pentagram on the right hand, we are making a statement of who we are ‘now’. The divine name here is Adonai, which means “Lord”. We are saying that we are rulers of ourselves.
Now the operator turns around again and is placing a pentagrams over their past and saying the name associated with YHVH, EHVH. This means “I am what I will be”. The operator is looking at their own past and saying “I am not trapped by my past, I am going to be something better”. You will note that this name is in this position because the operator at that moment has his or her back to the future.
The last pentagram is placed between the pillars of the left hand. This represents the gateway to the North which is connected to the Earth. But again it is also the now. The left hand gateway leads to the ‘now’ of the outside world, the right hand gateway leads to the inner kingdom.The divine name here is Agla (“Mighty art thou Lord of the Earth”).
What is being said here is that the operator is the ruler of the Earth. Not the planet, but our own personal Earth. Notice that the person has their back to the right handed pentagram where they are talking about being Lord of their own Inner Kingdom. Now they are claiming that what they see is a product of their own rulership.*
Well…. It is a very interesting concept and definitively a valid viewpoint. So, what do I think of this?
Well like any hermetic magician worth my weight in salt (or maybe copper, it’s a fucking expensive metal, however based on the price of smoked salt or Himalayan pink salt I think I would like to be paid in salt currency please),
I took this little theory out for a test flight because it was a way of looking at the ritual I hadn’t even considered the past 12 years.
What?!
You heard me, test flight. This is something really useful you can do when you have incorporated the teachings of the myths of ANY mystery school, religion or tradition, and have a subjective synthesis within its worldview/paradigm.
How do I do this?
Simple. Next time someone comes up with some wacky idea or explanation for any concept or ritual you try it out, on the same premises that they have themselves tried it. Swap the angels in LBRP outside in central Europe and see how that feels…. Draw a square instead of a circle after you studied and memorized the lineal figures flying roll.
This is why someone who is working within a specific Tradition will be able to check the validity of anyone claiming a specific effect by replicating the experiment.
--------------
(example(s) If someone claims that Freda has been misunderstood and claims that if you add a particular curl to the veve and then induce possession with Freda she stops saying kekekekekeke and is actually conversing deeply and wishes to be classed as a Rada Lwa instead of a Petwo Lwa….. Well at that point as a Houngan or mambo you yourself try this at the next fete an this is not the case you know the person was full of shit, however if it does work and all over the peristyles Freda starts talking and calms down we know we have something real. Bad example, fully fictional. Would not happen but illustrates my point)
Example two: hitting ctrl + alt +delete on a pc. Now try this on a Mac ;). They reach differently because their language/system paradigm is different but within one of the contexts everyone will get the same effect
---------------
So, I simply studied Nick’s text. I tried to understand it and did. Then I actually performed a LBRP with the understanding that it would be working on my sphere of sensation in the way he describes. I had the Intention, I had the awareness the understanding and visualizations. Having opened the hall of Neophytes enough times as presiding Hierophant I am very bloody well versed in the 5 pillar concept in my own sphere and others spheres. I am also quite good at opening up the poor candidate and using the entire temple space as a symbol and working –within- their spheres of sensation, so, tech wise no probes there.
But, alas, no joy. The LBRP does not do what Nick states.
My problems are these:
My own sphere usually turns wherever I turn. So by placing the pillars out in the corners you “fix” your own sphere. This seems useful for some form of self initiatory work. Fine. And is an awesome concept if you want to blow up your aura and fix parts. Kind of like healing yourself from the inside.
But,
Placing the pentagram in my sphere and saying the divine names, simply has not had the effect described and it did not feel like it should when having this intention. The pentagram just doesn’t mean what he says it does. The pentagram is a mars symbol, and it was thought out like that from the start. 1=10 symbol is the swastika. a symbol you get from the kamea of mars. The concepts were all related. It is a coherent system The classic GD might not be the BEST system but at least its coherent.
This is also baked into the symbolism. The lineal figures of the planet clearly place the pentagram in mars. It is also a symbol of the divine shin descending into the 4 elements. The symbol of the 5th element. Yadda Yadda Yadda. By placing these symbols into my sphere the way Nick describes I am not getting any feeling about my future present or past.
At all. Whatsoever.
This is a shame. It is a very nice theory. It is a workable model if tweaked. But it is not what the LBRP is designed to do and not the effect you get when doing it, not even with Nicks intention and added visualization and understanding of why you would do it like that or why it would have that effect.
The effect I did get was being a ruler of the elemental aspects of myself. Thus placing the pentagrams in my own sphere was a roundabout way of accomplishing what happens anyway during an LBRP. Empowerment through the holy symbol of the pentagram which in turn repelled stuff. Instead of repelling stuff in the first place,
Also, when turning to the south, following Nicks idea I had a white pillar to my left and a black pillar to my right, so when I was drawing the hexagram, aware of the pillars, the Earth pentagram had at its starting point Hod, which is odd.
It seems to me some Hermeticists and GD “scholars” sometimes forget that the hermetic science is not the science of studying man. It’s the science of nature. Not god, nature. Man is seen as partaking of this and God is seen as manifesting in nature. This is why in Ficino’s time they would surround themselves by flowers of natures opposite the forces of Saturn to fight melancholia.
Therefore it is counter intuitive to insert symbols in yourself. They are always already there, you simply stimulate them and awaken them.
Don’t forget the Alchemy, People. The LBRP creates a vessel with a specific nature and by being immersed in that sealed vessel you partake of certain qualities. (Like a ring in a jar with a lizard in it with its tail take off will assume the forces of healing**)
But I digress.
And for the record, I have tried The ritual with Nick’s theory several times but still, no luck. It just doesn’t actually function the way he thinks it does. Sorry.
I have done this with other people’s understandings of LBRP or other rites. In some cases they have been right and their insight or analysis or explanation has allowed me to penetrate into an understanding of the rite. I have in those cases experienced what lead me to state that within the context of this Tradition it is correct. In other cases , like in this one it is simply theoretical astral wanking that doesn’t stand up to in real life tests.
If you work in a tradition you should be able to put metaphysical theories to test within that same tradition. Like this you can have very interesting group workings. I think it was frater J.M. over at strategic sorcery who was using the example of a friend who did the “wrong Saturn hexagrams” but wanting to invoke Jupiter and feeling odd.
The crucifixion and solar consciousness is not something that will come about by working with the archangel of Venus. It’s a solar thing. Rufus opus solar class only works if you take on the Neo-Platonist approach. And within that if someone advanced can help someone newer. Getting Lucifer Michael or Jeheshua when working with the sun is ok. Getting an old man ever living obsessing with rules and laws and constraints that depresses you is NOT.
So try things out. Is the star ruby a banishing? Is it really?! If you put yourself in Crowley’s shoes and have a fully GD brainwashed tradition and then do the Star Ruby let's bet you won't be dong a "thelemic LBRP
Next time someone says something like this, try it out.
If Ghede and Erzulie don’t like to be in the same room and you don’t believe the person who says this, immerse yourself in the tradition so the symbols become alive and then TRY IT. See what happens.
Do Saturn hexagrams with the god name of Jupiter and intention of invoking Jupiter but drawing Saturn hexagrams, once you’ve memorised the god names and have worked with the system for 6 months and see what happens. This is why tradition is so goddamned useful because you can prove or Disprove people by doing exactly what they did. You’ll either get 70% the same results in which case they’re right or you get 70% the wrong result and you’ll know they’re wrong.
There is no such thing as “in my world opinion or subjective experience” when it comes to working in a tradition where you have made the systems alive as you are not working with subjective things you’re working with universal symbols the moment you and someone else agrees on things.
-------------------------------
Example from linguistics:
Fuck OFF means just that if you understand English culture and language. Fish and Chips means the dish and you always say it like fish and chips. You CAN say chips and fish and people will know what you mean, but you will not sound right. If you’re learning English and someone instructs you that Wanker can be used in a friendly way even though it is a demeaning word meaning a masturbator you, as a foreigner won’t actually know this soliloquy until you try it out.
----------------------------------
The moment we are initiated into a set f symbols that we awaken, whether it’s a tradition language or culture, or computer program it becomes internally cohesive. This is the strength of traditions and pre-made symbol systems because you can try things out.***
*as per all academic laws and regulations on copyright its OK to quote this much material as I need it to illustrate my purpose. Please consult for instance the MHRA style guide for further information.
**Agrippa, 3 books, can’t be bothered with edition and page reference
*** of course in the end it still doesn’t prove anything. It just proves that if we both agree that X means I like you and Y means I disliked you then XY will mean (_____fill in the blank and prove my point___ )
;)
Nick Farrell writes in his article (to be found at http://www.auroraaurea.com/?page_id=1988)
First you perform the Cabbalistic Cross. This draws down power from the crown to the feet. It balances and energises the sphere for more important work. It also opens the Tiphareth centre to control the operation.
Next you draw a pentagram between the pillars of the sphere of sensation in front of you. You vibrate the name YHVH, which means “I am what I am” – again aspirational. In other words, you are placing the symbol of the pentagram into your own future and energising it with your own will. In this instance you are looking towards your own portal ceremony where the completed pentagram is unveiled for the first time. The YHVH name is important because you are talking about integrating the elements under the power of spirit.
When we draw the pentagram on the right hand, we are making a statement of who we are ‘now’. The divine name here is Adonai, which means “Lord”. We are saying that we are rulers of ourselves.
Now the operator turns around again and is placing a pentagrams over their past and saying the name associated with YHVH, EHVH. This means “I am what I will be”. The operator is looking at their own past and saying “I am not trapped by my past, I am going to be something better”. You will note that this name is in this position because the operator at that moment has his or her back to the future.
The last pentagram is placed between the pillars of the left hand. This represents the gateway to the North which is connected to the Earth. But again it is also the now. The left hand gateway leads to the ‘now’ of the outside world, the right hand gateway leads to the inner kingdom.The divine name here is Agla (“Mighty art thou Lord of the Earth”).
What is being said here is that the operator is the ruler of the Earth. Not the planet, but our own personal Earth. Notice that the person has their back to the right handed pentagram where they are talking about being Lord of their own Inner Kingdom. Now they are claiming that what they see is a product of their own rulership.*
Well…. It is a very interesting concept and definitively a valid viewpoint. So, what do I think of this?
Well like any hermetic magician worth my weight in salt (or maybe copper, it’s a fucking expensive metal, however based on the price of smoked salt or Himalayan pink salt I think I would like to be paid in salt currency please),
I took this little theory out for a test flight because it was a way of looking at the ritual I hadn’t even considered the past 12 years.
What?!
You heard me, test flight. This is something really useful you can do when you have incorporated the teachings of the myths of ANY mystery school, religion or tradition, and have a subjective synthesis within its worldview/paradigm.
How do I do this?
Simple. Next time someone comes up with some wacky idea or explanation for any concept or ritual you try it out, on the same premises that they have themselves tried it. Swap the angels in LBRP outside in central Europe and see how that feels…. Draw a square instead of a circle after you studied and memorized the lineal figures flying roll.
This is why someone who is working within a specific Tradition will be able to check the validity of anyone claiming a specific effect by replicating the experiment.
--------------
(example(s) If someone claims that Freda has been misunderstood and claims that if you add a particular curl to the veve and then induce possession with Freda she stops saying kekekekekeke and is actually conversing deeply and wishes to be classed as a Rada Lwa instead of a Petwo Lwa….. Well at that point as a Houngan or mambo you yourself try this at the next fete an this is not the case you know the person was full of shit, however if it does work and all over the peristyles Freda starts talking and calms down we know we have something real. Bad example, fully fictional. Would not happen but illustrates my point)
Example two: hitting ctrl + alt +delete on a pc. Now try this on a Mac ;). They reach differently because their language/system paradigm is different but within one of the contexts everyone will get the same effect
---------------
So, I simply studied Nick’s text. I tried to understand it and did. Then I actually performed a LBRP with the understanding that it would be working on my sphere of sensation in the way he describes. I had the Intention, I had the awareness the understanding and visualizations. Having opened the hall of Neophytes enough times as presiding Hierophant I am very bloody well versed in the 5 pillar concept in my own sphere and others spheres. I am also quite good at opening up the poor candidate and using the entire temple space as a symbol and working –within- their spheres of sensation, so, tech wise no probes there.
But, alas, no joy. The LBRP does not do what Nick states.
My problems are these:
My own sphere usually turns wherever I turn. So by placing the pillars out in the corners you “fix” your own sphere. This seems useful for some form of self initiatory work. Fine. And is an awesome concept if you want to blow up your aura and fix parts. Kind of like healing yourself from the inside.
But,
Placing the pentagram in my sphere and saying the divine names, simply has not had the effect described and it did not feel like it should when having this intention. The pentagram just doesn’t mean what he says it does. The pentagram is a mars symbol, and it was thought out like that from the start. 1=10 symbol is the swastika. a symbol you get from the kamea of mars. The concepts were all related. It is a coherent system The classic GD might not be the BEST system but at least its coherent.
This is also baked into the symbolism. The lineal figures of the planet clearly place the pentagram in mars. It is also a symbol of the divine shin descending into the 4 elements. The symbol of the 5th element. Yadda Yadda Yadda. By placing these symbols into my sphere the way Nick describes I am not getting any feeling about my future present or past.
At all. Whatsoever.
This is a shame. It is a very nice theory. It is a workable model if tweaked. But it is not what the LBRP is designed to do and not the effect you get when doing it, not even with Nicks intention and added visualization and understanding of why you would do it like that or why it would have that effect.
The effect I did get was being a ruler of the elemental aspects of myself. Thus placing the pentagrams in my own sphere was a roundabout way of accomplishing what happens anyway during an LBRP. Empowerment through the holy symbol of the pentagram which in turn repelled stuff. Instead of repelling stuff in the first place,
Also, when turning to the south, following Nicks idea I had a white pillar to my left and a black pillar to my right, so when I was drawing the hexagram, aware of the pillars, the Earth pentagram had at its starting point Hod, which is odd.
It seems to me some Hermeticists and GD “scholars” sometimes forget that the hermetic science is not the science of studying man. It’s the science of nature. Not god, nature. Man is seen as partaking of this and God is seen as manifesting in nature. This is why in Ficino’s time they would surround themselves by flowers of natures opposite the forces of Saturn to fight melancholia.
Therefore it is counter intuitive to insert symbols in yourself. They are always already there, you simply stimulate them and awaken them.
Don’t forget the Alchemy, People. The LBRP creates a vessel with a specific nature and by being immersed in that sealed vessel you partake of certain qualities. (Like a ring in a jar with a lizard in it with its tail take off will assume the forces of healing**)
But I digress.
And for the record, I have tried The ritual with Nick’s theory several times but still, no luck. It just doesn’t actually function the way he thinks it does. Sorry.
I have done this with other people’s understandings of LBRP or other rites. In some cases they have been right and their insight or analysis or explanation has allowed me to penetrate into an understanding of the rite. I have in those cases experienced what lead me to state that within the context of this Tradition it is correct. In other cases , like in this one it is simply theoretical astral wanking that doesn’t stand up to in real life tests.
If you work in a tradition you should be able to put metaphysical theories to test within that same tradition. Like this you can have very interesting group workings. I think it was frater J.M. over at strategic sorcery who was using the example of a friend who did the “wrong Saturn hexagrams” but wanting to invoke Jupiter and feeling odd.
The crucifixion and solar consciousness is not something that will come about by working with the archangel of Venus. It’s a solar thing. Rufus opus solar class only works if you take on the Neo-Platonist approach. And within that if someone advanced can help someone newer. Getting Lucifer Michael or Jeheshua when working with the sun is ok. Getting an old man ever living obsessing with rules and laws and constraints that depresses you is NOT.
So try things out. Is the star ruby a banishing? Is it really?! If you put yourself in Crowley’s shoes and have a fully GD brainwashed tradition and then do the Star Ruby let's bet you won't be dong a "thelemic LBRP
Next time someone says something like this, try it out.
If Ghede and Erzulie don’t like to be in the same room and you don’t believe the person who says this, immerse yourself in the tradition so the symbols become alive and then TRY IT. See what happens.
Do Saturn hexagrams with the god name of Jupiter and intention of invoking Jupiter but drawing Saturn hexagrams, once you’ve memorised the god names and have worked with the system for 6 months and see what happens. This is why tradition is so goddamned useful because you can prove or Disprove people by doing exactly what they did. You’ll either get 70% the same results in which case they’re right or you get 70% the wrong result and you’ll know they’re wrong.
There is no such thing as “in my world opinion or subjective experience” when it comes to working in a tradition where you have made the systems alive as you are not working with subjective things you’re working with universal symbols the moment you and someone else agrees on things.
-------------------------------
Example from linguistics:
Fuck OFF means just that if you understand English culture and language. Fish and Chips means the dish and you always say it like fish and chips. You CAN say chips and fish and people will know what you mean, but you will not sound right. If you’re learning English and someone instructs you that Wanker can be used in a friendly way even though it is a demeaning word meaning a masturbator you, as a foreigner won’t actually know this soliloquy until you try it out.
----------------------------------
The moment we are initiated into a set f symbols that we awaken, whether it’s a tradition language or culture, or computer program it becomes internally cohesive. This is the strength of traditions and pre-made symbol systems because you can try things out.***
*as per all academic laws and regulations on copyright its OK to quote this much material as I need it to illustrate my purpose. Please consult for instance the MHRA style guide for further information.
**Agrippa, 3 books, can’t be bothered with edition and page reference
*** of course in the end it still doesn’t prove anything. It just proves that if we both agree that X means I like you and Y means I disliked you then XY will mean (_____fill in the blank and prove my point___ )
;)
16 april 2010
review - Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age
Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age (Paperback)
I cringed.
I love books. I love well researched books. I even love books that present things I already know, or that contain things that have been published elsewhere as long as they entertain me or seem to serve some purpose, for example dumbing down something that would require the reader to read 10-20 books (yey for pop-psychology and Dissertations turned into books).
When I saw reviews for Postmodern Magic, my heart lit up. a Linguist? Magician? Wow this must be good. Maybe its filled with some Good NLP shit or even offers a new way of dealing with meme's egregore's and magickal langauges... in other words, I really wanted to enjoy this book. I really, really did. However it is a waste of money.
(Oh boy, start of rant)
I haven't bought any KaosMagick books for a long time, as they are, nowadays, mighty boring. This book wasn't an exception. Without insulting the author, (who comes across the pages of the book as a complete noob somewhere in learning the first mysteries of the path of Tav, but should be commended for saying the same thing anyone says after applying intellect to the Art) the book is almost a waste of the poor dead tree it was written on.
Aside from the classical overview of the Kaosmagicians toolbox :
-paradigms (spirit model, energy model, psychological model and holographic model)
-evocation and invocation, a general taxonomy of spirits
-magical tools
-etc and co
It also contains some information about magical groups and a random selection of exercises that, to be honest have been published before and here they are now rewritten from a Holographic paradigm perspective.
I am suprised the publisher even picked this one up. Sorry folks, Kaosmagick has been written to death and this wasn't entertaining enough to warrant a book. Think about it as something like a cross between a rpg supplement, a chaosmagick starter book from a holohgraphic perspective and the seeming personal collection of knowledge of the author, packaged for an audience who thinks that
Liber Kaos
Liber null
Psychonaut
Psychonomicon
by Carrol are tough reading and don't enjoy Phil's inane gay-flavoured lovely insanity.
Oh, Goddess Eris (or someone!). if this is whats out there I wish some of the more hidden and privately circulated Kaosmagick handbooks from the 80-s and 90s would be published.
I know. I'm going to Copy-Paste all Kaosmagick rites and rituals I find on the net and publish it as the Ultimate Postmodern K405M4Gick Grimoire.
(ok, end of rant)
13 april 2010
Misunderstood aspects of systems
A change in the occult community is the move away from the postmodern approach that Kaos Magickians were celebrating, use whatever if it works.
Cultural appropriation and even the appropriation of elements of a Tradition have become frowned upon more and more. My guess is that this is because people are actually becoming members of various traditions. This then shatters illusions
We hear stories of how inappropriate it is to Mix orishas with the LBRP and how one should avoid confusing Erzulie Freda and Kali and Isis.
When people culturally appropriate from Haitian Vodou or Santeria there is immediately a big reaction. However when a thelemite butchers the star ruby and claims that it is a Thelemic banishing ritual or better yet a thelemic LBRP, well... That’s when I get pissed off slightly.
Frater R.O. has an excellent post (http://headforred.blogspot.com/2010/04/if-youre-happy-with-lbrp.html) on the LBRP that I agree with 99%.
Why would anyone do a tradition specific ritual when they are not working in the paradigm?
Coming from a source that works with materials from the original Golden dawn and RR et AC and other orders and traditions predating (SRIA Memphis Mizraim, Gold Und Rozenkreutz Martinis and diverse apostolic) I can say that there is a point in the way the rituals are structured, in a very similar way as Frater R.O. argues I fully agree that doing the ritual outside of the initiatory structure is moronic, UNLESS you spend the time deconstructing the ritual(s) to try and understand what it does and then do them. Something that many of the so called GD adepts themselves have not taken the time to do. When studying the basic outlines of the rituals, diagrams and initiation rituals of for example the Golden Dawn system from a learned perspective for example using deconstruction or other theoretic approaches it becomes obvious that they are built around the idea of bringing the practitioner through to a lunar consciousness ( me <-> divine) where the practitioner works with the Albedo phase, if you will, or the "becoming a reflection of the divine" and then working through their way up through this until the Rubedo phase is reached and there is an identification with the solar consciousness. The Gold und Rozenkreutz the G.D. and its old and new derivatives are thus more akin to a Theurgic Mystery School where the forces used are aspects of the universe and the Rituals are used as an aid to reach a solar consciousness and Initiation into the spheres.
One of the reasons people bitch about the G.D. and other initiation – based or temple based traditions so much is because they have in many cases stopped being Genuine Theurgic Mystery Schools.
Mysteries are not revealed in books and even the initiations are merely initiations into the mysteries.
I bet you that if I got hold of a manual of some form of Tantric initiation series and then tried to perform them, they would not work very well because there is no oral tradition/link to the divine. There is nobody who can expound on the mysteries. If nobody ever tells you to analyse the LBRP, to think what the fuck you are doing when you are saying Unto thee be the kingdom the power and the glory, if you never even consider what your relationship is with the that higher force…then what exactly are you doing? You are no better then the guy next door who has started jerking off unto Kaosmagick rituals and truly believes he is practicing the O.T.O. 9* secret.
Or if I would start to call myself a Houngan Asogwe because I have served the lwa for 5 years and feel entitled to it.
A coherent worldview and an understanding of your relationship to the divine is essential for any work of a mystical, Theurgic or thaumaturgy nature. When done properly working with neophyte formula based Pentagram rituals for the zodiac and elements and then 5=6 (Adepts) formula based Hexagram rituals for the planets one becomes initiated into those levels of consciousness, whether one is working with their angelic aspects, enochian correspondences or the Egyptian Godforms M. Mathers assigned to each and every force.
Remember however that the same thing will happen as when you work through ANY system of initiation into higher spheres, be it using Planetary initiations from an old planetary Grimoire, Frater R.O,'s way of doing things or working through the planets in internal alchemy.
But, of course the purpose of Theurgic Mystery Schools (say the GD) is to bring about a realisation of the lesser and greater mysteries and then prepare you to for the One Mystery using the mythological and paradigmatic tools and symbol sets that you have been working through. In some paths/systems the instruction comes physically, as in laboratory alchemy, in others it is purely a mystical experience (Ignatius Loyola spiritual exercises, usually also leading to stigmata), in others it’s from spiritual guides say Michael. The classic Theurgic mystery schools usually combined these, and because they taught a coherent mystery paradigm that meant that initiate X and Y along with intermediary novice B and teacher P all understood that If the Angel Hanael says all life is Love and the dove is merely her symbol but is not the type of her as the Holy spirit is truly The Dove of Wisdom, they all agreed, and then when the initiate was shown a diagram showing the sun in the centre of all created forces after the initiate has been working in a circle invoking and evoking all forces they would realise that Oh shit I am the sun.
But I digress.
It is strange how people react when you try to work with Lwa or orisha outside of those traditions yet everyone peddles the LBRP as if it was a universal ritual workable by whoever whenever. Things only work if it is within an appropriate WORLDVIEW.
And you do not need the LBRP.
Instead of an L.B.R.P. just draw a circle.
Simple
Effective
Part of 85% of all paradigms available out there. What bro Miller calls "Tech"
The Tech in LBRP is simply the circle and the four angelic guards.
The rest is tradition specific and worldview specific that comes alive by being initiated and/or working through the zodiac elements and planets with the structure above mentioned to bring about the Albedo phase we all love so much.
Cultural appropriation and even the appropriation of elements of a Tradition have become frowned upon more and more. My guess is that this is because people are actually becoming members of various traditions. This then shatters illusions
We hear stories of how inappropriate it is to Mix orishas with the LBRP and how one should avoid confusing Erzulie Freda and Kali and Isis.
When people culturally appropriate from Haitian Vodou or Santeria there is immediately a big reaction. However when a thelemite butchers the star ruby and claims that it is a Thelemic banishing ritual or better yet a thelemic LBRP, well... That’s when I get pissed off slightly.
Frater R.O. has an excellent post (http://headforred.blogspot.com/2010/04/if-youre-happy-with-lbrp.html) on the LBRP that I agree with 99%.
Why would anyone do a tradition specific ritual when they are not working in the paradigm?
Coming from a source that works with materials from the original Golden dawn and RR et AC and other orders and traditions predating (SRIA Memphis Mizraim, Gold Und Rozenkreutz Martinis and diverse apostolic) I can say that there is a point in the way the rituals are structured, in a very similar way as Frater R.O. argues I fully agree that doing the ritual outside of the initiatory structure is moronic, UNLESS you spend the time deconstructing the ritual(s) to try and understand what it does and then do them. Something that many of the so called GD adepts themselves have not taken the time to do. When studying the basic outlines of the rituals, diagrams and initiation rituals of for example the Golden Dawn system from a learned perspective for example using deconstruction or other theoretic approaches it becomes obvious that they are built around the idea of bringing the practitioner through to a lunar consciousness ( me <-> divine) where the practitioner works with the Albedo phase, if you will, or the "becoming a reflection of the divine" and then working through their way up through this until the Rubedo phase is reached and there is an identification with the solar consciousness. The Gold und Rozenkreutz the G.D. and its old and new derivatives are thus more akin to a Theurgic Mystery School where the forces used are aspects of the universe and the Rituals are used as an aid to reach a solar consciousness and Initiation into the spheres.
One of the reasons people bitch about the G.D. and other initiation – based or temple based traditions so much is because they have in many cases stopped being Genuine Theurgic Mystery Schools.
Mysteries are not revealed in books and even the initiations are merely initiations into the mysteries.
I bet you that if I got hold of a manual of some form of Tantric initiation series and then tried to perform them, they would not work very well because there is no oral tradition/link to the divine. There is nobody who can expound on the mysteries. If nobody ever tells you to analyse the LBRP, to think what the fuck you are doing when you are saying Unto thee be the kingdom the power and the glory, if you never even consider what your relationship is with the that higher force…then what exactly are you doing? You are no better then the guy next door who has started jerking off unto Kaosmagick rituals and truly believes he is practicing the O.T.O. 9* secret.
Or if I would start to call myself a Houngan Asogwe because I have served the lwa for 5 years and feel entitled to it.
A coherent worldview and an understanding of your relationship to the divine is essential for any work of a mystical, Theurgic or thaumaturgy nature. When done properly working with neophyte formula based Pentagram rituals for the zodiac and elements and then 5=6 (Adepts) formula based Hexagram rituals for the planets one becomes initiated into those levels of consciousness, whether one is working with their angelic aspects, enochian correspondences or the Egyptian Godforms M. Mathers assigned to each and every force.
Remember however that the same thing will happen as when you work through ANY system of initiation into higher spheres, be it using Planetary initiations from an old planetary Grimoire, Frater R.O,'s way of doing things or working through the planets in internal alchemy.
But, of course the purpose of Theurgic Mystery Schools (say the GD) is to bring about a realisation of the lesser and greater mysteries and then prepare you to for the One Mystery using the mythological and paradigmatic tools and symbol sets that you have been working through. In some paths/systems the instruction comes physically, as in laboratory alchemy, in others it is purely a mystical experience (Ignatius Loyola spiritual exercises, usually also leading to stigmata), in others it’s from spiritual guides say Michael. The classic Theurgic mystery schools usually combined these, and because they taught a coherent mystery paradigm that meant that initiate X and Y along with intermediary novice B and teacher P all understood that If the Angel Hanael says all life is Love and the dove is merely her symbol but is not the type of her as the Holy spirit is truly The Dove of Wisdom, they all agreed, and then when the initiate was shown a diagram showing the sun in the centre of all created forces after the initiate has been working in a circle invoking and evoking all forces they would realise that Oh shit I am the sun.
But I digress.
It is strange how people react when you try to work with Lwa or orisha outside of those traditions yet everyone peddles the LBRP as if it was a universal ritual workable by whoever whenever. Things only work if it is within an appropriate WORLDVIEW.
And you do not need the LBRP.
Instead of an L.B.R.P. just draw a circle.
Simple
Effective
Part of 85% of all paradigms available out there. What bro Miller calls "Tech"
The Tech in LBRP is simply the circle and the four angelic guards.
The rest is tradition specific and worldview specific that comes alive by being initiated and/or working through the zodiac elements and planets with the structure above mentioned to bring about the Albedo phase we all love so much.
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