This person went from being Into "some random thing" then the person Joined the OTO and became extremely, religiously Thelemic (the kind of people who actually worship Horus) then when the 7pointed star neklace had just lost its shine, the person became interested in the Temple of Seth, After this there was a period of random magick, then I lost track, then the person, now in late twenties, went back to Uni, and actually, genuinely went to a Catholic priest and confessed and became a Catholic.... now, suddenly not even that is cutting the mustard and the person is now deciding to become a sensual atheist... right.
Needless to say, I saw this coming a mile off. You always can tell. Some folk are looking for something but they don't really know what it is they are looking for. The religions out there are odd, so they turn to something esoteric, but that requires thinking and work, so they make the esoteric teachings into something exoteric, then they go to the exact opposite of where they started, materialisst often trying Buddism and Spiritual people being all, "lets drink and have lots of sex" then, there is the moment of repentance when they return to their roots, and then, finally after years of flitting back and forth they end up doing nothing.
Thats the fun part because if they are lucky they will then continue with doing nothing, if not and they are truly unlucky they will forever feel the pull, but will never act on it and have simply confined their current incarnation to misery, or at least a very expensive and damaging midlife crisis.
There are many people who seek something, but are not sure what they are looking for, which is fine. I believe that if you knock then you shall find, but unless you come knocking to my door I'm not going to evangelize. Coming to this blog means you are interested in my thoughts so this doesn't count.
Also, there is nothing wrong in Exoteric religions, but then you are not a mystic, you are not a Gnostic, you are not searching for an esoteric understanding, then you are just very devout, or missguided. Or possibly wondering how Magick can be reconciled with your current religous practices.
Below follow a few points from an Esoteric point of view. Keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with using magick, whether you do it from an esoteric or exoteric point of view, in that case it doesn't matter, this is only relevant if you choose to work in a mystical spiritual manner as well-
1 Organised Religion is created by people who adher to the teachings of an enlighetened master without realising that these teachings are meant to guide you into realisation and not be taken literally. Parables and mystery is just that. You cannot logically or scientifically explain the mystery of the highest realisation.
2 There is no religion that will suit you if you are questioning your current one. You will either end up head over heels and become a scary convert (for a while), or you will find something that is wrong with that religion aswell. Get in line. No religion is perfect if taken literally. Especially if you're seeking things from an Esoteric point of view and then only looking at the Exoteric revelations.
3 As a searcher of truth you should and can ignore the rules of Organised Religion and stop searching for truth upon the map of a map. You cannot be catholic and not accept that the pope is right with everything. You cannot be a jew without being a monolatrist. At least not according to the Organised religious exoteric view. Yet there are so many initiates who parttake of the Exoteric element as part of their esoteric practice. As a good catholic, you are aware that you should not work with Raziel, right? Only Gabe, Raffe and Mike are accepted Saintly angels....
This is why magicians and mystics are outside of the pall of the societal aspects of religion. Try going up to a completeley fanatic Thelemite and expain to them that the book of the Law only applies to Crowley nobody else, he missunderstood a personal revelation as a Universal revelation due to ego issues, and then you will see what I mean...
4 It is possible to find peace in that God is there and loves you and that that is all that is needed.
If you feel the need to convert to Islam or Orthodox Christianity becasue of the way the Nicean creed is phrased then you need to get over yourself. Do you think the Godhead cares?
You need to ask yourself the question whether its a community you want or spirituality.
Do you need a priest to stand between you and your spirituality? Then you have no business being an esoteric/mystic.
Historically in xtian times many mystics were laymen who were harrassed by the organised church and most nuns and monks understandig of the religion was about as far away from the mainstream understanding of the same as vodou is from hoodoo. The priests were the scholared ones, The Monks were the ones who actually sat in a 2X2 cell and prayed day and night.
5 Try and avoid a childish inexperienced understanding of what enlightenment means, based on text based preconceptions and projections. This is a side note, based on several PhD thesis in a library 200m from me where real genuine academics studying theology actually discuss whether the Mass should be a remembrance ala protestantism or a Eucharist ala transfiguration. after reading several I realised that most peoples issues with the religous aspects of an esoteric path is due to identification with the child archetype. *yawn*
6 In case you did not know:
Mystics of all ages and all exoteric denomination state that "God" is not a person, he/she/it is not Jehova, Allah or Horus or Satan. The Godhead IS godhead. I cannot believe that India has had it right for so many thousands of years yet Westerners are stuck...
7 Most importanlty, Faith cannot be forced. Faith is certainty. If you do not have faith then outer systems will never give it to you.
8 If you do have faith, ask yourself whether you have belief in what other people say, or faith. is the bible really the word of God, or is it a small collection of texts from a formerly existing mystery tradition mixed with Mithraism, the cult of Saint Michael, a badly understood jewish influence and the mysteries of Isis and Osiris that were Oh so chic in Rome? One comes from within the other one means accepting someone elses word for it and just hoping that its true. (shaky use of words here but you get what I mean as you are smart)
9 Do never ever start to work with any mystial, or magickal system because you "have to" to or feel you "need it". This shit only works if you want to do it for joy and fun.
2 There is no religion that will suit you if you are questioning your current one. You will either end up head over heels and become a scary convert (for a while), or you will find something that is wrong with that religion aswell. Get in line. No religion is perfect if taken literally. Especially if you're seeking things from an Esoteric point of view and then only looking at the Exoteric revelations.
3 As a searcher of truth you should and can ignore the rules of Organised Religion and stop searching for truth upon the map of a map. You cannot be catholic and not accept that the pope is right with everything. You cannot be a jew without being a monolatrist. At least not according to the Organised religious exoteric view. Yet there are so many initiates who parttake of the Exoteric element as part of their esoteric practice. As a good catholic, you are aware that you should not work with Raziel, right? Only Gabe, Raffe and Mike are accepted Saintly angels....
This is why magicians and mystics are outside of the pall of the societal aspects of religion. Try going up to a completeley fanatic Thelemite and expain to them that the book of the Law only applies to Crowley nobody else, he missunderstood a personal revelation as a Universal revelation due to ego issues, and then you will see what I mean...
4 It is possible to find peace in that God is there and loves you and that that is all that is needed.
If you feel the need to convert to Islam or Orthodox Christianity becasue of the way the Nicean creed is phrased then you need to get over yourself. Do you think the Godhead cares?
You need to ask yourself the question whether its a community you want or spirituality.
Do you need a priest to stand between you and your spirituality? Then you have no business being an esoteric/mystic.
Historically in xtian times many mystics were laymen who were harrassed by the organised church and most nuns and monks understandig of the religion was about as far away from the mainstream understanding of the same as vodou is from hoodoo. The priests were the scholared ones, The Monks were the ones who actually sat in a 2X2 cell and prayed day and night.
5 Try and avoid a childish inexperienced understanding of what enlightenment means, based on text based preconceptions and projections. This is a side note, based on several PhD thesis in a library 200m from me where real genuine academics studying theology actually discuss whether the Mass should be a remembrance ala protestantism or a Eucharist ala transfiguration. after reading several I realised that most peoples issues with the religous aspects of an esoteric path is due to identification with the child archetype. *yawn*
6 In case you did not know:
Mystics of all ages and all exoteric denomination state that "God" is not a person, he/she/it is not Jehova, Allah or Horus or Satan. The Godhead IS godhead. I cannot believe that India has had it right for so many thousands of years yet Westerners are stuck...
7 Most importanlty, Faith cannot be forced. Faith is certainty. If you do not have faith then outer systems will never give it to you.
8 If you do have faith, ask yourself whether you have belief in what other people say, or faith. is the bible really the word of God, or is it a small collection of texts from a formerly existing mystery tradition mixed with Mithraism, the cult of Saint Michael, a badly understood jewish influence and the mysteries of Isis and Osiris that were Oh so chic in Rome? One comes from within the other one means accepting someone elses word for it and just hoping that its true. (shaky use of words here but you get what I mean as you are smart)
9 Do never ever start to work with any mystial, or magickal system because you "have to" to or feel you "need it". This shit only works if you want to do it for joy and fun.
----
Now put on Bjork and sing along:
"All is full of love
you will be taken care of
all is full of love"
Great post, Frater. You're gonna get some stank-eye from the Thelemites, though....haha
SvaraRaderaOn the Thelemic note: I don't care much for Crowley or Thelema as belief system, frankly. But have you ever checked out EQ11? There is some crazy voodoo shit going on the Book of the Law dude! Seriously, I think AIWAZ was messing with Crowley and just used it as code to get out EQ11... much as the Enochian angels were trans-dimensional entities tweaking Dee's nipples.
SvaraRaderaI love point #2. People get so caught up in the excitement of the "newness" that they end up hopping from religion to religion without ever extracting anything useful from it.
SvaraRaderaHehe, I sincerely doubt Aiwaz is on par with the enochian dictations >P
SvaraRaderaEQ11m is interesting, sure.
I don't have anything against thelema as a philosophy and as a manifestation of the eternal mystery, what I ave a lot againts is trying to claim that it says something that has not been said before, which would be false.
It would be like takng the Gospel of John and ignoring the old testament and the rest of the gospels.