Routledge Library Editions: Occultism 9780367336028, 9780429343896, 9780367346652, 9780429327087, 1850630852

Table of contents :
Volume Cover
Volume 1
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Original Title
Original Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
1 The World of the Shaman
2 Shamanic Trance
3 Magical Symbols and Ceremonial
4 Techniques of Magical Trance
5 New Directions: From Atavistic Resurgence to the Inner Light
Postscript: Why the Shaman?
Appendix A: Shamanism, Magic and the Study of Consciousness
Appendix B: Major ‘Mythological Correspondence’ in Western Magic
Appendix C: Organisations and Groups
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Volume 2
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Original Title
Original Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Introduction
Part 1 Source Areas
ESP
Meditation and Biofeedback
Dreams
Reincarnation
The Origins of Magic
Supernatural and Occult Beings
Ritual Magic
Ritual Consciousness
Magical Equipment
The Golden Dawn
Magical Cosmology
The Qabalah
The Tarot
The Tattvas
Magical Attack
Sexual Magic
Aleister Crowley: Lord of the New Aeon
Hypnotism, Auto-suggestion and Relaxation
Trance Consciousness
Out-of-the-Body Consciousness
Drugs and Mystical Consciousness
Shamanistic Magic
Ghosts and Hauntings
Spiritualism
Possession
Exorcism
Faith Healing
Vampires
Traditional Witchcraft
Modern Witchcraft
Traditional Satanism
Modern Satanism
Voodoo
Eastern Mysticism
Eastern Influence on the Occult
Theosophy
I Ching
Astrology
Numerology
Palmistry
Lost Continents
Inner Space Rock Music
Occult Art
Part 2 Who's Who in the Occult
Index
Volume 3
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Original Title
Original Copyright
CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF TABLES
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1. OBSERVING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE CULTIC MILIEU
A Methodology of Participant Observation
Exploring the Cultic Milieu
Uncovering Networks of Occultists
Becoming a Member of the Esoteric Community
Analyzing and Interpreting Fieldwork Products
2. THE ESOTERIC SCENE IN AMERICA
A Theory of Esoteric Culture
Meanings and Sources of Esotericism
Early American Magics and Occultism
New Religious Movements
Oriental Lights, the Golden Dawn, and Scientific Anomalies
The Contemporary Esoteric Scene
3. THE ESOTERIC COMMUNITY IN THE VALLEY
Theorizing about Cults, Sects, and the Cultic Milieu
Esoteric Culture and the Cultic Milieu
The Esoteric Community
Assessing the Cultic Milieu
4. CONFEDERATED NETWORKS OF OCCULTISTS
The Hermetic Assembly
The Augur Alliance
The Metaphysic Affiliation
Psychic Fairs
Networks of Occultists in Perspective
5. BECOMING A TAROT DIVINER
Becoming the Phenomenon
Encountering the Tarot
Learning Divination
Reading the Cards
Membership in Perspective
6. THE OCCULT TAROT
Tarot Cards
A Hermeneutics of the Tarot
Occult Appropriation of the Cards
The Symbolic Key to Arcane Wisdom
Deliberating on the Occult Tarot
7. OCCULT THEOSOPHIES OF THE TAROT
Vocabularies of Occult Meaning
Grammars of Occult Meaning
Horizons of Occult Theosophy
8. INTERPRETING THE OCCULT TAROT
A Sociological Perspective on Occult Practices
Hermetic Study and Meditation
Tarot Divination
Deciphering Occult Claims to Knowledge
9. ESOTERIC CULTURE AND A POSTMODERN WORLD
Reflections on Methodology
Esoteric Culture and Modernization
The Social Organization of Esoteric Culture
The Future of Esoteric Culture
APPENDIX A: Esoteric Community Survey Form
APPENDIX B: Tarot Card Reader Interview Schedule
REFERENCES
INDEX

Citation preview

THE SHAMAN AND THE MAGICIAN Journeys Between the Worlds Nevill Drury

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: OCCULTISM

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: OCCULTISM

Volume 1

THE SHAMAN AND THE MAGICIAN

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group http://taylorandfrancis.com

THE SHAMAN AND THE MAGICIAN Journeys Between the Worlds

NEVILL DRURY

i~ ~ l Routledge

Taylor & Francis Grou p

LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published in 1982 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Inc. Paperback edition published in 1987 by ARK.ANA This edition first published in 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1982 Nevill Drury

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-367-33602-8 ISBN: 978-0-429-34389-6 ISBN: 978-0-367-34665-2 ISBN: 978-0-429-32708-7

(Set) (Set) (ebk) (Volume 1) (hbk) (Volume 1) (ebk)

Publisher's Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace. DOI: 10.4324/9780429327087

NEVILL DRURY

THE SHAMAN AND THE MAGICIAN JOURNEYS BETWEEN THE WORLDS

/IRKANk

LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published in 1982 ARKANA edition 1987 ARKANA PAPERBACKS is an imprint of Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Published in the USA by Routledge & Kegan Paul Inc. in association with Methuen Inc. 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Printed in Great Britain by The Guernsey Press Co. Ltd, Guernsey, Channel Islands. © Nevill Drury 1982 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism

ISBN 1-85063-085-2

For Susan, Rebecca and Megan

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group http://taylorandfrancis.com

Contents

Foreword by Michael Harner Preface and Acknowledgments 1 The World of the Shaman

ix xi 1

2 Shamanic Trance

17

3 Magical Symbols and Ceremonial

31

4 Techniques of Magical Trance

49

5 New Directions: From Atavistic Resurgence to the Inner Light

77

Postscript: Why the Shaman?

99

Appendix A Shamanism, Magic and the Study of Consciousness

101

Appendix B Major 'Mythological Correspondence' in Western Magic

122

Appendix C Organisations and Groups

123

Notes Bibliography Index

125 135 143

Illustrations

1 A Jivaro Shaman (Michael Harner)

xiv

2 Shamanic Transformations by Martin Carey ('The Woodstock Aquarian', New York)

15

3 The Symbols of Magic Sword, Wand, Disc and Cup by Eliphas Levi 30 4 Illustration from the alchemical and mystical works of Thomas Vaughan

48

5 Now For Reality by Austin Osman Spare (Stephen Skinner and Askin Press, London) 76

Foreword

I first met Nevill Drury at an international conference on Phillip Island in Australia in November of 1980. From his works, I already respected him as a sophisticated and prolific author, and expected to meet a man in at least late middle age. Much to my surprise, Nevill turned out to be only in his early thirties. In retrospect, perhaps I should have guessed as much from his books, for in them he is characteristically concerned with questions of consciousness, visionary experience, and the occult that are a legacy of the psychedelic sixties. Like many others of his generation, he found the works of Carlos Castaneda and the literature on shamanism and occultism relevant to the search for answers to these question. Indeed, one of Nevill Drury's books, 'Don Juan, Mescalito, and Modern Magic', addressed itself specifically to resemblances between the world-view of Castaneda's shaman, don Juan, and that of late nineteenth-and twentieth-century Western practitioners of occult magic. In the present book Nevill Drury continues his search for common denominators between shamanism and contemporary western occultism. In this exploration he brings to bear approximately a decade and a half of practical experience working within the framework of occult western magic and combines the experience with an anthropological knowledge of shamanism. The results are extremely interesting. Nevill Drury demonstrates, perhaps better than anyone has ever done before, that modern western occult magic sometimes has trance and visionary aspects that are unexpectedly similar to those of classic shamanism. By drawing on a thorough knowledge of a literature that is often as obscure as it is occult, he makes a strong case for the shamanic parallels of some of the modern magical cult

X

FOREWORD

practices. The 'rising in the planes' and 'path-workings' of the twentieth-century visionary magician, for example, are clearly partial analogues of the shaman's journey to the upper world and lower world. But there are also differences, as when the magician utilises Tarot archetypes, adopts ancient Egyptian or Dianic cosmology, or follows a leader's recitation into guided fantasy. Still, the similarities are greater than many would expect, and one wonders if the Inquisition did not do as thorough a job in eradicating 'witchcraft' (shamanism) from Europe as is commonly assumed. While it is true that the psychedelic ointments of late medieval and Renaissance times are not today part of western occult magic, it does seem likely that there was a slender thread of continutiy as represented, for example, by some of the practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn at the turn of the century. Of course, it is possible that the parallels between shamanism and western occult magic are mainly due to a rediscovery, through trial and error, of 'what works'. Whatever the ultimate reasons for the interesting similarities pointed out here by Nevill Drury, he has made a rare and fascinating contribution by bringing them to light. Michael Harner New York City 12 February 1981

Preface and Acknowledgments

There has been a revival of interest in the elusive figure of the shaman, who is both the medicine man and magician, the mystic and healer. The anthropological literature on shamanism is extensive and such scholars as Mircea Eliade, Michael Harner, Peter Furst, Erika Bourguignon, Agehananda Bharati, Joan Halifax, and A. F. Anisimov, among others, have made notable contributions to the subject. However, popular interest in the role of the shaman and his contribution to modern thought has undoubtedly been heightened by the international success of the works of Carlos Castaneda whose encounters with the shamansorcerer don Juan have become legendary. With some justification, Richard de Mille has highlighted inconsistencies of an anthropological and linguistic nature in the Castaneda writings and these have been included in de Mille's own works 'Castaneda's Journey' and 'The Don Juan Papers'. However, the fact remains that whether Castaneda's shamanic accounts are totally authentic or include fictional components, the essential themes and world-view presented remain consistent with the shamanic perspective. It is possible to speak of shamanism as a universal mode linking man with the cosmos by means of the magical journey since, as anthropologists have discovered, the essential themes of shamanism are remarkably similar whether in Siberia, Japan, Australia or the Americas. My interest in this material is twofold. My academic training is in anthropology but my personal spiritual orientation, if one can modestly call it that, is towards the western mystery tradition. Accordingly, the great themes which shamanism and western magic have in common have not been brought together here merely as an academic exercise, but to show that even

Xll

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

in a modern urban context the mythic approaches to human consciousness continue to play a vital role alongside scientific technology. We are talking essentially, of the possible alternative that the western mystery tradition of magic and mythology offers to the person who is not able physically to embark on a shamanic journey with a Jivaro or Huichol Indian. Since this book is intended for the general reader interested in shamanic and magical thought, I have isolated a more analytical chapter on states of consciousness as Appendix A. Such psychological perspectives are of academic interest but to some extent conflict with the essential poetry of shamanism and visionary magic which I hope will be apparent from the mythic journeys described in this book. I would like to thank the following people for kindly allowing me to reproduce copyright material: Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki for passages from 'Highways of the Mind', first published in 'Round Merlin's Table'; Catherine Colefax and Cheryl Weeks for the 'entry' and 'magical journey' to the Cosmic Dragon; Moses Aaron for his account of the magical encounter with Pan.

The Shaman and the Magician

1

A Jivaro shaman photographed by Michael Harner

CHAPTER 1

The World of the Shaman

In 1951 a legendary Iban healer named Manang Bungai performed a dramatic ritual which was believed to slay an incubus, or evil spirit, that had been blamed for the death of a seven-month-old baby girl. Bungai, clad in a loin cloth and carrying a spear, entered a darkened room and began summoning the incubus by means of various invocations and also by tempting it with food. His audience was unable to clearly perceive what was happening and was in a state of heightened suggestibility. Very soon there was a yelping sound and a noisy scuffle, after which Bungai emerged with a blood smeared spear claiming he had inflicted mortal wounds on the incubus. Several experienced Iban hunters were aware that Bungai had in fact been doing battle with a monkey and the anthropologist observing the event, Derek Freeman, was later able to verify this by means of blood tests. However the majority of the Iban present at the ceremony believed that their healing magician was engaged in a mystical encounter. The case of Bungai represents the shaman-who-is-not. True shamanism is characterised by access to other realms of consciousness. As Mircea Eliade notes: 'the shaman specializes in a trance during which his soul is believed to leave his body and ascend to the sky or descend to the underworld.'1 Indeed, the shaman is a master of spirit entities, a venturer on different cosmic planes. When the would-be Jivaro shaman ventures near the sacred waterfalls to seek the power of the arutam wakan, the soul force identified with the visionary DOI: 10.4324/9780429327087-1

2

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

experience, he takes natema, a hallucinogenic beverage made from the Banisteriopsis vine, which allows access to the spirit world. In his visions he may see rolling towards him a pair of giant mythic jaguars fighting viciously or alternatively two enormous writhing snakes, and it is his task to master the reality of the vision by running forward to touch it. Anthropologist Michael Harner who, himself experienced psychedelic initiation with the Indians, notes that for the Jivaro the supernatural is the real world, and in this sense confirms the idea of the shaman as a 'master of ecstasy'. But the shaman is also in a very real sense a 'traveller', a visionary who has access to other dimensions of experience. The remarkable case of Deguchi Onisaburo is one of the most extraordinary examples of this type of shamanism and gave rise to the Omoto religious movement in Japan. In 1898, Deguchi, who was by all accounts a frail youth, was beaten up by some gamblers and nearly died. A short while later he sank into a comatose sleep and on recovering consciousness declared that he had journeyed to a cave on Mt Takakuma and after fasting there had travelled through regions of Heaven and Hell. On his journey he had been granted occult powers such as clairvoyance and clairaudience and had seen back as far as the creation of the world. His visionary experiences included a meeting with the king of the underworld who in a moment was able to transform from a white-haired old man with a gentle face into a frightening demonic monarch with a bright red face, eyes like mirrors and a tongue of flame.2 Embodying a theme which recurs in shamanism — the transformation of the symbolic vision - we see from the account that time and again Deguchi is 'killed, split in half with a sharp blade like a pear, dashed to pieces on rocks, frozen, burnt, engulfed in avalanches of snow . . . turned into a goddess' and yet he still emerges from his journey victorious over the forces of apparent death. It is this power which gives the shaman his awesome standing among his fellows. It is his conquest of the dangers and pitfalls of the visionary journey, even through death and rebirth, that places the shaman among 'the elect'. The themes

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

3

of dismemberment, ascent to the sky, descent to the underworld are clearly initiatory. It is significant, then, that after his ordeal Deguchi eventually finds himself at the centre of the world, at the summit of the huge axial mountain, Sumeru. He is granted a vision of the creation of the world and then comes to a river beyond which lies paradise. Before him and standing on a vast lotus he finds a marvellous palace of gold, agate and jewels. All around him are blue mountains and the golden lapping waves of a lake. Golden doves fly above him in the air.3 Several aspects of Deguchi's journey are typical of shamanism in general. He is in a state of psychic dissociation caused by his near death; he gains visionary powers from the beings he encounters; he journeys upon a magic mountain, which in other cultures equates in significance with the Cosmic Tree, and eventually arrives at the 'centre of the world'; his enlightenment includes a vision of the world's origin; vistas of serene and majestic landscapes, and imposing temples. Despite Deguchi's traumatic encounters with powerful cosmic forces he is finally a transformed and 'reborn' figure. Initiation is central to shamanism in the same way that it is a vital component of modern magic, and specific initiations tend to arise as crises at different stages of the mythic journey. From culture to culture these patterns of transformation take different forms according to the way in which the mythic universe is perceived and the nature of the hierarchies of gods who dwell there. THE COSMOS AND ITS DENIZENS In the sense that the shaman acts as an intermediary between the sacred and profane worlds, between mankind and the realm of gods and spirits, he has special access to a defined cosmos. The actual cosmology, in terms of levels and hierarchies may be reasonably basic, as it is with the Australian Aborigines and many South and Central American tribes, or it may be complex and highly structured, as in the case of Siberian shamanism. For example the Jivaro believe that all knowledge pertaining

4

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

to tsentsak, or magical power, derives from the mythical first shaman, Tsuni, who is still alive today. He lives underwater in a house whose walls are formed like palm staves by upright anacondas and sits on a turtle, using it as a stool. He is said to be white skinned with long hair and he supplies privileged shamans with special quartz crystals {tsentsak) which are particularly deadly. No shamans are able to stand up to or overcome Tsuni.4 The sky god of the Wiradjeri medicine men of Western New South Wales has a comparable function. Known as Baiame, he is described as a Very great old man, with a long beard, sitting in his camp with his legs under him. Two great quartz crystals extend from his shoulders to the sky above him.'5 Baiame sometimes appears to the Aborigines in their dreams. He causes a sacred waterfall of liquid quartz to pour over their bodies absorbing them totally. They then grow wings replacing their arms. Later the dreamer learns to fly and Baiame sinks a piece of magical quartz into his forehead to enable him to see inside physical objects. Subsequently an inner flame and a heavenly cord are also incorporated into the body of the new shaman.6 The Mazatec Indians of Mexico, meanwhile, have been exposed to Christian influence and such elements have entered their cosmology while the indigenous component remains. The Mazatecs make use of psilocybe mushrooms and the female shamans use this altered state of consciousness to determine the causes of sickness. On a local level they believe that the groves and abysses are inhabited by the little people or dwarves known as the laa, but they have also assimilated into their belief systems Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Among the Mazatecs both the patient and the shaman take the sacred mushrooms, so that the sick person may hear the healing words which come from the spirit world and thereby share in the cure. Munn reports that as the shaman sinks deeper into trance she seems to go on a journey. She mutters: 'Let us go searching for the path, the tracks of her feet, the tracks of her nails. From the right side to the left side, let us look.' After several hours she appears to reach a peak:

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

5

There is the flesh of God, There is the flesh of Jesus Christ. There with the Virgin.7 But if such shamanic pronouncements seem reasonably orthodox they may often be infused with magic. Another Mazatec ceremony includes the following: The aurora of the dawn is coming and the light of day. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, by the sign of the Holy Cross, free us Our Lord from our enemies and all evil. . . . I am he who cures. I am he who speaks with the Lord of the World. I am happy. I speak with the mountains of peaks. I am he who speaks with Bald Mountain. I am the remedy and the medicine man, I am the mushroom. I am the fresh mushroom. I am the large mushroom. I am the fragrant mushroom. I am the mushroom of the spirit.8 Invariably the shamanic process entails direct contact and rapport with the gods and goddesses who provide their followers with first principles, with a sense of causality, balance, order and with it health and well-being. Especially among American Indians, for example the Desana group of the Eastern Colombian Tukano, we find a strong identification of the shaman's vision with the primal reality of the cosmos: On awakening from the trance, the individual remains convinced of the religious teachings. He has seen everything; he has seen Vai-mahse, master of the Game animals, and the daughter of the Sun, he has heard her voice; he has seen the Snake canoe float out through the rivers and he has seen the first men spring from it.9 The concept of a system of rivers or an ocean of being from which the Universe derives is also a common mythological element in several unconnected cosmologies in both simple and complex religions. Quite aside from shamanic accounts the idea also occurs, for example, in the creation myths of the Babylonians and in the Jewish Qabalistic mystery teachings.

6

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

Among the Evenks of Siberia the Universe is thought to have been born from a watery waste. Rivers feature predominantly in Evenk mythology and the shaman's helper spirits are often water birds like the duck or goldeneye.10 The Evenk universe is a characteristically shamanic one in the sense that it conforms to the normal Siberian pattern of being divided into three worlds, upper, middle and lower, vertically aligned around a central axis or World Tree. The Evenk lives in the middle world. His options are upwards towards the benevolent sky dwellers, or downwards to the world of the dead, the spirit ancestors and the mistress of the Underworld. This dualism is reinforced by the fact that the term for the upper world (uga buga) has a linguistic origin in a phrase meaning 'toward morning' while that of the lower world (khergu-ergu buga) means 'towards night'.11 The Evenks believe the sky dwellers in ugu buga live a life comparable to that found in the middle world except on a more exalted level. For example Amaka, who taught the first Evenks how to use fire and make tools, is thought to be a very old man, dressed in fur clothing and living among treasures, gold, copper and silver. Around him are large herds grazing in lush pastures.12 Other prominent Evenk deities include Eksheri, supreme master of animals, birds and fish and ruler of fate. Local spirit rulers of the hills, rivers and streams are subservient to him. He labours on behalf of the Evenks gathering heat for them and as Spring comes, his sons carry his bag and shake out the heat upon the middle world. Khergu-ergu buga, on the other hand, represents a world which is quite the reverse of man's. Living things become dead there, and the dead come alive.13 Animals and beings which were resident in the lower world become invisible if they transfer to the middle plane and accordingly shaman heroes who venture down into the underworld will be seen only by the shamans of that region. In the Evenk underworld dwell deceased kinsmen and the spirits of evil and illness. The deceased continue to lay their traps there, and to fish and hunt, but their bodies are cold and lack the life essence of the middle world. Meanwhile the ancestor

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

7

spirits who reside there are only half-human and are linked with totemic reincarnations. The possibility of a transfer of plane does exist however, and this is the shaman's role. The hole which leads into the heavenly vault is guarded by an old woman - the Mistress of the Universe - and she is sometimes visualised in an animal/human transformation with horns on her head. Her task at the entrance to heaven is to point the way to the dwelling of the ruler of the heavenly lights. A similar female deity also guards the animals of the clan lands below the earth. In order to ensure a satisfactory hunt, the shaman journeys down below the roots of the sacred tree to visit her. Aided by spirit guides who help him overcome various obstacles which impede his path, he encounters the Clan Mistress and begs her to release animals for the hunt. She may be witholding animals from the middle world because vital taboos have been breached. The shaman seeks to capture from her magical threads which he hides in his special drum. When he returns to the middle world, he shakes these forth from his drum indicating that these threads will in turn transform into real animals.14 The symbolic Tree is a vital pillar in the cosmology for it connects the three planes of reality. The crown of the Tree reaches into the heavens, the trunk sustains the middle world and the roots extend down into the underworld. The shaman's drum is often made from the wood of the Cosmic Tree and thus symbolises his journey upon it. The Chumikan and Upper Zeya Evenks specifically identify the Tree with the source of life: 'Man was born from a tree. There was a tree, it split in two. Two people came out. One was a man, the other a woman.'15 Mircea Eliade, meanwhile, identifies the Tree as a major motif within shamanism. The central practice', he writes, 'is to climb the axis of the world on an ecstatic journey to the Centre.'16 In this sense the Centre is the cause of all being, the origin and source of explanation for all that happens in the waking world. It is interesting that both the mistress of heaven and the clan mistress of the underworld resemble each other except with dualistic connotations, so that what is above and below are also, so to speak, twin sides of the coin.

5

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

While several anthropologists have sought to identify shamanism with hunting practices, Eliade notes that the essential nature of the shamanic cosmology is much more broadly based: Although the shamanic experience proper could be evaluated as a mystical experience by virtue of the cosmological concept of the three communicating zones, this cosmological concept does not belong exclusively to the ideology of Siberian and Central Asian shamanism, nor in fact to any other shamanism. It is an universally disseminated idea connected with the belief in the possibility of direct communication with the sky. The shaman transforms a cosmo-theological concept into a concrete mystical experience . . . only for the shaman is real communication among the three cosmic zones a possibility.17 SYMBOLIC REGALIA AND EQUIPMENT Since the shaman's role is to travel from one cosmic zone to another, it is not surprising that his entire function as a technician of the sacred should reflect the nature of the gods with whom he is dealing. The shaman characteristically seeks to act in a manner which is appropriate to the domain he is entering. Although he is often accompanied by animal-spirit guides, the shaman may, for example, transform into an animal on his journey. The Japanese shamans observed by Carmen Blacker characteristically wore a cap of eagle and owl feathers, their cloaks adorned with stuffed snakes. These 'all resolve into means whereby passage from one world to another is facilitated', 'the magic clothes and instruments, of which the drum is the most important, embody in their shape, in the materials of which they are made, in the patterns and figures engraved upon them, symbolic links with the other world.'18 Eliade similarly notes that by donning sacred costumes the shaman transcends profane space and prepares to enter into the sacred world.19 The Yakut shaman wears a Kaftan that bears a solar disc, which is sometimes thought to be the opening through

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

9

the earth which the shaman uses to enter the underworld. The coat of a Goldi shaman, meanwhile, bears motifs of the Cosmic Tree and animals like bears and leopards as well as a central Sun. Other costumes similarly reflect the prevailing mythology. The Buryat costume is heavily laden with iron ornaments which symbolise the iron bones of immortality while the bears and leopards, serpents and lizards which appear on it are the shaman's helping spirits.20 That the shaman should seek to identify strongly with the spirit realm is to be expected. His altered state of consciousness entails a transfer of awareness to a dimension where the ancestral myths become experiential realities in trance. The shaman's costume links him with the gods and identifies him as belonging with them as an appropriate intermediary. The shaman's drum deserves special mention. On a physical level, its rim is invariably made of wood from the world tree — the larch among the Evenks for example — and its skin is directly linked with the animal the shaman rides into the underworld. The anthropologist Potapov discovered that among the Al Itai the shaman's drum derives its name not from the animals whose skins are used in the manufacture (like the camel or dappled horse) but the domestic animals ridden by the shaman in the middle world. In many shamanic cultures the drum is the steed and the monotonous rhythm which emanates from it is suggestive of the galloping of a horse on a journey. On a contemplative level the sound of the drum thus acts as a focusing device for the shaman. It creates an atmosphere of concentration and resolve, enabling him to sink deep into trance as he shifts his attention to the inner journey of the spirit. Erika Bourguignon notes that drums, dance etc., shut out mundane matters and help the individual concentrate on what is expected of him or her. During Haitian vodou sessions the spirits are called by means of drum rhythms, songs, dances and ritual paraphernalia and given persons may respond to these cues by going into an altered state and acting out the appropriate spirit role.21

10

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

THE PSYCHEDELIC COMPONENT The use of psychedelics is a frequent but not essential aspect of shamanism. As Schultes points out, psychedelics 'act on the central nervous system to bring about a dream-like state marked by extreme alteration in the sphere of experience in perception of reality changes even of space and time and in consciousness of self.'22 It is of interest that the New World is very much richer in narcotic plants than the Old and that the New World boasts at least forty species of hallucinogenic or phantastic narcotics as opposed to half a dozen species native to the Old World. Among those drugs which have a shamanic base are the drug Banisteriopsis Caapi known variously in the Western Amazon as ayahuasca, caapi or yage; datura, which is identified with the American southwest and Mexico, as well as among tribes in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru: Mescal Beans, used in the Red Bean Dance of the Plains Indians, the Morning Glory or Ololiuqui used by curanderos in Oaxaca, the Peyote cactus used by Mexicans and North American Indians, and the Psilocybe Mexicana, an important narcotic mushroom used, once again, in Oaxaca.23 Michael Harner has pointed out that common themes emerge, for example, in a cross-cultural examination of South American yage experiences.24 The drug is capable of causing the sensation of aerial flight and dizziness, and visions of exquisite cities, parks, forests, and fantastic animals. It is common for the drug to suggest the flight of the soul in the participant. According to Harner the Jivaro actually refer to the soul flight as a 'trip' while among the Conibo-Shipibo Indians of eastern Peru the Ayahuasca experience allows the shaman to leave his body in the form of a bird, capable of killing a distant person at night. On other occasions these shamans also endeavour to recapture souls lost in sickness, from another shaman. The shaman among the Quijo is able to perceive magical darts thrown by other shamans and which cause illness and death and the Conibo, like the Jivaro, believe that Ayahuasca enables them to enter into

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

11

the supernatural realms of the world, where they will see demons in the air and other spirit entities.25 Reichel-Dolmatoff has described the inter-weaving of the hallucinogenic drug with a shamanic and mythic context. Among the Tukano, the yage plant was created in the mythical beginning of the world and, therefore, has sacred status. The shamanic function is to allow the participants in ritual to: return to the uterus, to the fons et origo of all things where the individual sees the tribal divinities, the creation of the universe and humanity, the first couple, the creation of the animals and the establishment of the social order. . . . According to the Tukano after a stage of undefined luminosity of moving forms and colours, the vision begins to clear up and significant details present themselves. The Milky Way appears and the distant reflection of the Sun. The first woman surges forth from the waters of the river, and the first pair of ancestors is formed. The supernatural Master of the Animals of the jungle is perceived, as are the gigantic prototypes of the game animals, the origins of plants - indeed, the origin of life itself. The origins of Evil also manifest themselves, jaguars and serpents, the representatives of illness, and the spirits of the jungle that lie in ambush for the solitary hunter. At the same time their voices are heard, the music of the mythic epoch is perceived and the ancestors are seen, dancing at the dawn of Creation.26 Gordon Wasson, who pioneered the anthropological study of mushrooms, has more recently studied Mazatec use of Ololiuqui seeds and Psilocybin mushrooms. He was intrigued to discover that in the merger of Christianity and native beliefs, the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation had a psychedelic reality. In an address to the Mycological Society of America in 1960 he said: The Aztecs before the Spaniards arrived called (the sacred mushrooms) Teonanacatl, God's flesh. I need hardly remind you of the disquieting parallel, the designation of

12

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

the Elements in our Eucharist: 'Take, eat, this is my Body' and again 'Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear son.' But there is one difference. The orthodox Christian must accept by faith the miracle of the conversion of the bread into God's flesh; that is what is meant by the Doctrine of Transubstantiation. By contrast the mushroom of the Aztecs carries its own conviction; every communicant will testify to the miracle that he has experienced Wasson, who is noted for his identification of Soma in the Indian 'Rig Veda' with the hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita muscaria, has published his views that the Eleusian mysteries similarly had a hallucinogenic component. Wasson was impressed by the fact that Plato had drunk the sacred potion in the Temple of Eleusis and had spent the night seeing the 'Great Vision'. Wasson proposed to investigate whether Plato's and other visionary experiences might not have been some form of shamanic exercise. Plato, for example, outlined in 'The Republic' his views on the Ideal world of Archetypes, where the original and true factors of life had their origin. Working in conjunction with Albert Hofmann, who first synthesised LSD, Wasson now believes that the visions at Eleusis were caused by the ergot fungus present in the wheat and barley crop. Demeter's Temple was located close to the extensive wheat and barley field of the Rarian plane, and the Mysteries express a spiritual rebirth cycle linked closely with Demeter's and Persephone's association with wheat and barley. The initiates assembled in the telestrion and experienced a visionary illumination. But Wasson believes that the archaeological remains suggest this was not a theatrical performance. 'What was witnessed there was no play by actors, but phasmata,27 ghostly apparitions, in particular the spirit of Persephone herself.'28 He notes that the poet Pindar and the tragedian Sophocles testified to the value of what was seen at Eleusis: There were physical symptoms, moreover, that accompanied the vision; fear and a trembling in the limbs,

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

13

vertigo, nausea, and a cold sweat. Then came a vision, a sight amidst an aura of brilliant light that suddenly flickered through the darkened chamber. . . . The division between earth and sky melted into a pillar of light. These are the symptomatic reactions not to a drama or ceremony, but to a mystical vision: and since the sight could be offered to thousands of initiates each year depending upon schedule, it seems obvious that a hallucinogen must have induced it.29 Using evidence based on the 'Homeric Hymn to Demeter', Wasson concludes that the sacred potion contained barley, water and a fragrant mint called blechon. Since this mint is not psychoactive, Wasson believes that the barley was the source of the psychotropic element, and therefore opts for ergot of barley as the vital ingredient.30 The shamanic flight in ancient Greece was not always precipitated by hallucinogens, however, but generally speaking such accounts retain comparable themes. This in itself suggests that hallucinogenic drugs as such are only catalysts for these experiences and do not in themselves produce the cosmological content in the shaman's altered state of consciousness. A detailed account of a non-hallucinogenic trance journey which survives from this period is that of Aristeas of Proconnesus, who is mentioned by various writers including Herodotus, Pliny, Suidas and Maximus of Tyre. Pliny's description is reminiscent of Central and South American shamans particularly and also Carlos Castaneda's vivid account of shaman-transformation into a bird form.31 Pliny writes: 'the soul of Aristeas was seen flying from his mouth . . . in the form of a raven.' Maximus confirms this in more detail: There was a man of Proconesus whose body would lie alive, yes, but with only the dimmest flicker of life and in a state very near to death; while his soul would issue from it and wander in the sky like a bird, surveying all beneath, land, sea, rivers, cities, nations of mankind and occurrences and creatures of all sorts. Then returning into and raising up its body, which it treated like an instrument it would

14

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

relate the various things it had seen and heard in various places. Aristeas's account of his trance wanderings are contained in his poem 'Arimaspea' which has come down to us in fragments. It details his trance journey beyond Scythia to the land of the Issedonians and then over the snow-clad mountain ranges towards a golden treasure guarded by griffins, sacred to Apollo, the sun god. The poem thus merges geographical components with mythological ones, and according to Maximus, Aristeas in his transcendental state had 'a much clearer view of heaven than from below on earth'. Aristeas is thus a classical Greek shaman who like the Siberian trance specialists was able to gain special knowledge from his visionary journey. Irrespective of individual cultural factors, then, the common component of shamanic experiences is the altered state of consciousness brought about by techniques causing some degree of psychic dissociation. In this sense it is vital to consider the various methods of trance inducement because they are an integral part of the shaman's journey towards self-transformation.

2

Shamanic Transformations by Martin Carey

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group http://taylorandfrancis.com

CHAPTER 2

Shamanic Trance

As the trance condition is induced there is a withdrawal of consciousness from the everyday world and a shift toward the inner world of reverie, thoughts and images. In the case of the shaman it is not just that trance is involved, for this condition is also common in the case of mediums, epileptics and schizophrenics. In the person of the shaman we have one who is able to control the trance dimension and who is able to explore the realms of the cosmos which his altered state of consciousness opens for him. By contrast with the spirit medium who in trance becomes possessed by inhabiting spirits and is often unable when recovering consciousness to recall anything that has transpired, the shaman awakes from the trance with conscious memory of the journey to the gods or ancestral spirits, and full knowledge of magical cures or healing procedures. As the anthropologist Horst Nachtigall has put it: An important characteristic of the shaman is his ability to shift his level of consciousness while he is in a trance. His normal consciousness is blocked and scenes from the mythology and religion of his people appear in his subconscious.1 Similarly, the Japanese shamans whom Carmen Blacker observed were subject either to a trance which involved violent shaking or a 'deep comatose state of suspended animation. This is the condition into which the ascetic's body must fall if his soul is to leave it in order to travel to other realms of the cosmos.'2

DOI: 10.4324/9780429327087-2

18

SHAMANIC TRANCE

Trance can be brought about by a number of techniques which have the effect of transferring consciousness from the outer sensory world to the inner, contemplative one. It can be brought about, for example, by sensory deprivation in which a lack of external stimuli results in an inner compensatory release of imagery; a condition of sleeplessness and fatigue, fasting and suspended-breathing techniques and through hallucinatory drugs. In themselves altered states of consciousness, including trance, are not confined to specific cultures. Erika Bourguignon undertook a five-year study of ASCs in the anthropological literature and came to the conclusion that 'in traditional societies at least some altered states are generally integrated into the system of sacred beliefs and into dealings with supernatural or superhuman agencies.' She also found that 'altered states of consciousness are universal phenomena which like other such universals are subject to a great deal of cultural patterning, stylization, ritualization and rationalising mythology.'3 The symbolic components of shamanism therefore vary widely in terms of comparative pantheons of gods and spirits, concepts of good and evil and so on, but the basic methods of trance control and the techniques for bringing trance about are relatively similar since they reflect physiological processes of mind and body. Siiger has reported a typical case of trance induction among the Kalash Kafirs of Pakistan, a non-Islamic group. The shaman or debar initially invokes the appropriate supernatural beings, kills a ceremonial animal and sprinkles its blood upon the altar and onto the fire. Attention then shifts to the debar himself: Facing the altar he stands immovable with his arms hanging slackly down along the sides of his body. Although he seems to be waiting for something in a relaxed posture, his entire attitude is that of tense expectation. His gaze is riveted on the altar, and the rigid expression of his eyes reveals that intense watchfulness has laid hold of his soul to the exclusion of everything else. (My emphasis) As the debar enters the trance state his body becomes rigid. There is

SHAMANIC TRANCE

19

a slight shivering or perhaps better vibratory movements noticable in some of the smaller muscles . . . by and by this shivering grows stronger until it is a real trembling that takes hold of his whole body . . . his facial expression changes considerably, he gets a wild look in his eyes, the muscles of his jaw jerk suddenly, often violently, and he begins to foam at the mouth . . . finally he begins to sway, losing consciousness . . . In due course the shaman awakens from his trance like a person who has just awakened from a deep sleep.4 Behaviour such as this has led some observers to link shamanism with epilepsy, the shamanic vocation being one which allows the sick person to 'rescue himself from his affliction'. George Devereux, for example, extends this even further in claiming 'there is no reason and no excuse for not considering the shaman as a severe neurotic and even a psychotic.' 5 The 'epileptic' hypothesis appears to be at odds with a great majority of shamanic situations where the shaman acts on behalf of others as well as himself to enquire about the origins of sickness or injury from spirits he encounters in his trance visions. Indeed the general pattern of reportage indicates that the shaman is not prone merely to self-analysis or cure but usually uses his powers to benefit either his social group collectively, or a particular client. Devereux's views on psychosis have similarly been rejected by other specialists on shamanism on the grounds that the shaman has to learn to control his altered state of consciousness. Eliade notes, 'It is not the fact that he is subject to epileptic attacks that the Eskimo or Indonesian shaman, for example, owes his power and prestige; it is to the fact that he can control his epilepsy.'6 Nadel similarly says that following his study of Sudanese shamanism he 'recorded no case of a shaman whose professional hysteria deteriorated into serious mental disorders.' 7 The key factor in the shaman's activity, as we have already noted, is his capacity to retain control of his vision. In contrast to a medium he directs his role to encountering the spirits and gods of his mythological pantheon and learning from them. His

20

SHAMANIC TRANCE

trance is essentially a dream of knowledge which leads in turn to enhanced prospects for the hunt, a cure for the sick or the return of a stolen soul. The trance technique in the shamanic context is thus undoubtedly integrative and not self-destructive. North American shamanic seances, for example, are characterised by the ecstasy of the participants, an experience which has been described as Total suggestive absorption in the object of belief, an absorption which reveals itself in a 'peculiar, strictly organised and intensely clear, consciousness and realistic visionary state of dream'. The visions in certain cases have an 'almost dazzling inner clarivoyance or illumination . . . with actual perceptions of light of a purely hallucinatory or physically sensuous nature'.8 Among the Iglulik Eskimos a similar phenomenon arises during the shamanic initiation. The master extracts the disciple's 'soul' from his eyes, brain and intestines 'so that the spirits may know what is best in him'. Enlightenment ('angakoq') follows. This consists of 'a mysterious light which the shaman suddenly feels in his body, inside his head, within the brain, an inexplicable searchlight, a luminous fire, which enables him to see in the dark, both literally and metaphorically speaking, for he can now, even with closed eyes, see through darkness, and perceive things which are hidden from others.'9 It is also significant that the beginning of an Iglulik soul journey is marked by conditions of sensory deprivation, breath control, meditative silence and then mantric chanting. All of these factors are classic components of the shamanic process: then men and women present must loosen all tight fastenings in their clothes, the lacings of their footgear, the waistbands of their breeches, and then sit down and remain still with closed eyes, all lamps being put out or allowed to burn only with so faint a flame that it is practically dark inside the house. The shaman sits for a while in silence, breathing deeply and then after some time has elapsed, he begins to call

SHAMANIC TRANCE

21

upon his helping spirits, repeating over and over again: The way is made for me, the way opens before me'.10 Nordland has similarly noted the role that sensory deprivation plays in the trance process and suggests that experiments conducted at McGill University by D. O. Webb on the psychological impact of sensory deprivation states may provide interesting insights into shamanism. In one series of experiments in which students wore EEG apparatus in a condition of sensory deprivation twenty-five out of twenty-nine reported hallucinations. Nordland goes on to say It appears to be clear that monotony is the basis of many forms of shamanism: monotonous song, drumming, music dance with rhythmic movements. At other times it can be the restriction of movement, staring into the flames, darkness, even masks with special effects for the eyes. If once a shaman has had such experiences he will forever be convinced of the justification of the religion he believes in and the legitimacy of the power he has.11 Clearly in dealing with the shaman we are not assessing whether what he believes to be taking place is true or false. What is more crucial is the nature of his experiential domain: what he perceives, how he relates to it, what he claims to learn from his experience. We have already noted that in trance the shaman, as it were, enters his belief system. What is quite crucial is the extent to which his belief system allows profound insights, transformations of consciousness and identity and a renewed sense of being within the world. The Eskimo shaman, as we have seen, works himself into a state of ecstasy by using a drum and invoking his helping spirits.12 His intention is to undertake a journey to the deities who control the fate of the animals. The Iglulik Eskimos believe for example that Sedna, the goddess of the sea, controls all the sea mammals who in turn provide food, fuel, and skins for clothing, as well as all the worst calamities that the Eskimos are likely to experience (storms, sickness and so on). The Iglulik shaman therefore undergoes his trance with the

22

SHAMANIC TRANCE

specific view in mind of encountering a goddess whose effects have a profound and direct bearing on his people. His dealings with her will hopefully restore order if taboos have been breached. The shaman encounters obstacles on his visionary journey; three large stones roll around on the ocean floor and he has to pass deftly between them. In due course he comes to the sea goddess's house, built of stone. He must overcome her dog snarling at the door and once inside declare that he is flesh and blood - a reminder that he has ventured from the land of the living. If the goddess declares that the Eskimo women have had secret miscarriages or boiled meat has been eaten - both taboo activities - the shaman must appease her wrath by combing her hair. She in turn releases animals into the sea, indicating that rich hunting and general abundance will ensue. 13 The trance shaman then returns to his people and he makes sounds almost as if he is returning to earth by a tube. The shaman's colleagues are awaiting him. They can hear him coming a long way off; the rush of his passage through the tube kept open for him by the spirits comes nearer and nearer and with a mighty 'Plu-a-he-he' he shoots up into his place behind the curtain: 'plu-Plu' like some creature of the sea, shooting up from the deep to take breath under the pressure of mighty lungs. 14 His triumphant journey embodies several important themes in shamanism: his trance venture to meet with a deity who represents a principle of causality (in this case whether more animals will be available for the hunt); obstacles and dangers which impede his progress; and the breakthrough in plane which enables the shaman to transcend the space-time dimension of his colleagues. MAGICAL ALLIES

Having brought his trance condition about through sensory deprivation, fasting, altered breathing patterns or some compar-

SHAMANIC TRANCE

23

able technique the shaman, as we have seen, begins his journey to the gods - a journey which is visually a fact-finding mission aimed at discovering the cause of sickness, injury, drought, famine and so on. It is essentially a 'dream of knowledge'. The magical journey is often characterised by the appearance of helper guides and spirits in either a human or animal form. The shaman journey of the Japanese priest Doken Shonin, which is contained in the 'Fuso Ryakki', includes references to helper guides: after several years of ascetic seclusion on Mount Kimpu and thirty-seven days of feasting, as the account goes, Doken Shonin suddenly found his body diffused with a parching inner heat. His breath stopped and his spirit rose out of his body, leaving the cave. In due course a priestly figure appeared who took his hand and carried him up the mountain where, from the peak, Doken was able to see the whole world stretched out before him in golden light. To the north lay a golden mountain and on its summit a throne made of seven jewels. His guide sat down upon the throne and said 'I am Zao Bosatsu, a transformation of the Buddha'. The priest advised Doken that he did not have much longer to live and Doken in turn asked for magic formulae with which to prolong his life.15 Although in this instance Doken's helper revealed himself to be of a very high order within the cosmological structure — a form of Buddha — helper spirits do not always have such exalted rank. Asen Balikci mentions that Iksivalitaq, a Netsilik Eskimo shaman, who died around 1940 and was regarded as a major shaman of his time, was said to have seven helper spirits or tunraqs, which assisted him on his soul journeys. These included a sea scorpion, a large killer whale, a black dog with no ears and the ghosts of three dead people. Eliade distinguishes between familiars and helper guides although both play a similar function once they appear: A shaman is a man who has immediate, concrete experience with gods and spirits, he sees them face to face, he talks with them, prays to them, implores them — but he does not 'control' more than a limited number of them;

24

SHAMANIC TRANCE

the pantheon of invoked gods, demi-gods and spirits are not at his instant disposition like familiars and usually have a more transcendental function.16 The Sym Evenk shamans of the Yenisey Basin have seven spirit helpers who live in the rivers along which the shaman passes. These spirits are fishes, birds or animals able to understand human speech and to speak themselves. The Sym Evenks in particular, it is interesting to note, have replaced the concept of a Cosmic Tree with a system of rivers and rapids upon which the shaman travels.17 The Vasyugan shaman has a similar number of helper spirits on his journey to the underworld, only in his case a bear is the most notable among his allies. Meanwhile, among the Nanay, the shaman is accompanied by an ermine and a mouse. The following is a description of the magical journey of a shaman to the lower world: As the trance wanderer walked along the shores of the underground sea he encountered a naked woman known as the Mistress of the Water. She took the shaman as her child and suckled him at her breast. She then took three fish from the sea and announced that fish would be sustenance for the world. The shaman meanwhile continued on his wanderings and at this stage the ermine and mouse appeared as his guides. He was shown a community of spirits responsible for sickness in the world and later came to a lake with a central island. He was told he would have a shaman drum fashioned from branches of the tree. The shaman flew to the top of the tree together with the young birds on the lakes. The spirit of the tree in human form showed itself out of the roots and said: 'I am the tree that makes all people capable of living'. The spirit gave him a branch with three offshoots for the construction of three drums: one for shamanising over women in childbirth, the second for the sick and the third for the dying The shaman returned to the middle world, to people, already as a being of supernatural qualities, capable of hearing and understanding even a conversation of the grass

SHAMANIC TRANCE

25

growing on a small knoll. The tree from which the drum was prepared was regarded as the shamanic tree of the middle of the world of the universe.18 While the shaman journeys towards 'the axis of the world on an ecstatic journey to the Centre'19 it is noteworthy that here the shaman is not only acting on behalf of his fellows, by acquiring a means to treat childbirth, sickness and dying patients, but he is also obtaining supernatural powers which assist his own perceptions. He gains 'supernatural' powers; he is to some degree a god among men, and he has a tangible link - in the form of the sacred branch - with the Tree of Life which sustains the entire universe. DISMEMBERMENT AND REBIRTH Coupled with the concept of the shaman's newly-found power is an initiatory dismemberment/rebirth theme which occurs in several forms of shamanism. A typical instance of dismemberment is found among the Avam Samoyed: a neophyte who wished to be a shaman was told that he would receive his 'gift' from the Lords of the Water. The neophyte was sick from smallpox at the time and 'the sickness troubled the water of the sea'. The candidate came out and climbed a mountain. There (as above with the Nanay) he met a naked woman and began to suckle at her breast. She said he was her child and introduced him to her husband, the Lord of the Underworld, who provided him with animal guides to escort him to the subterranean region. There he encountered the inhabitants of the underworld, the evil shamans, and the lords of epidemics, who instructed him in the nature of the diseases plaguing mankind. Having had his heart ritually torn out and thrown into a pot, the candidate now travelled to the land of shamanesses where his throat and voice were strengthened, and then on to an island where the Tree of the Lord of Earth rose into the sky. The Lord gave him certain powers, among them the ability to cure the sick. He then continued, encountering

26

SHAMANIC TRANCE

magical stones that could speak, women covered with hair like a reindeer's and a naked blacksmith, working the bellows over a huge fire in the bowels of the earth. Again the novice was ritually slain and boiled over the fire in a cauldron for 'three years'. The blacksmith then forged the candidate's head on one of three anvils ('the one on which the best shamans were forged') and told him how to 'read inside his head', how to see mystically without his normal eyes and how to understand the language of plants. Having mastered these secrets, and having had his body constituted anew after immolation, the shaman awoke 'resurrected' as a revivified being.20 Again, we find evidence in this Avam Samoyed account that the shaman has both a social and an individual role to play in his shamanising function. His trance experiences reveal to him the source of illness and disease which affect everyone but he also gains for himself, via a spiritual rebirth process, impressive supernatural powers. The shaman is intrinsically superior as a result of having been reconstituted by the god at the anvil; the shaman's gift of magical sight and communication are born of heaven and not of earth. Occasionally, in fact, the shaman demonstrates his on-going relationship with the heavenly domain by taking spirit wives from that dimension. The Buryat believe that the offspring born by such unions are semi-divine.21 The dismemberment-rebirth theme is not exclusively associated with Siberian shamanism and also occurs, for example, among Australian Aboriginal 'men of high degree'. In western South Australia for example the would-be shaman is put into a water-hole where a mythical snake swallows him and then ejects him in the form of a baby - a sign perhaps that the shaman is still 'new' to the spirit world. The head medicine man now recovers him but treats him as if he were a corpse, by ritually breaking his neck, wrists and joints. Into each mark and cut he inserts maban, a life-giving shell which is believed to cause rejuvenation and fill a person with power. In this way the formerly 'dead' Aborigine is reborn to the world of magical knowledge.22 Dr Petri who worked with the Aborigines of the Munja Cattle

SHAMANIC TRANCE

27

Station at Walcott Inlet discovered similar mmatory patterns there. Dreams would reveal to a would-be 'doctor man' that the high god Unggud wished him to become a banman or shaman. Unggud would 'kill' him near a water hole but his essence would rise up - visible only to medicine men. At the same time the Aborigine would observe a giant snake with arms, hands, and a crown of feathers. Unggud would now lead him to a subterranean cave where he would begin to transform him into a man of knowledge: Unggud gives him a new brain, puts in his body white quartz crystals which give secret strength, and reveals to him his future duties. He may remain unconscious for some time, but when he awakes he has a great feeling of inner light. He is certain of being equal to Unggud. Instruction, guidance and experience follow for many months, even years. 23 The shaman now has special magical eye he is able to see past and future send his ya-yari or dream familiar out information. According to the late Professor A. Aboriginal supernaturalism,

powers. With his inner events and also able to of his body in search of P. Elkin, a specialist in

The psychic element in these talents is clearly all pervasive. It is termed miriru and comes from Unggud. Fundamentally it is the capacity bestowed on the medicine man to go into a dream state or trance with its possibilities. Indeed, miriru makes him like a Wandjina, having the same abilities as the heroes of 'creation times' .24 One could be tempted to regard the death and rebirth theme in shamanism as being specific to particular cultures and characteristic of creation-myth archetypes. However, on occasion western investigators whose frameworks of reality derive from completely non-shamanic viewpoints have found themselves engaged in parallel processes. Although the controversial accounts of Carlos Castaneda's initiatory experiences with the Yaqui sorcerer, don Juan, provide the best known examples of

28

SHAMANIC TRANCE

the western-intellectual encounter with mystical shaman powers, there are other examples of similar occurrences in the literature. In 1976 American psychologist Stephen Larsen published details of an inner mythic journey undertaken by a 21-year-old Brooklyn poet named Joel with an aged Dogrib Indian shaman, near Great Slave Lake, in Canada. Joel discovered that the Indian, whose name was Adamie, used Amanita muscaria mushrooms as a sacrament and was skilled in employing the trance condition for shamanic journeys. In a similar manner to Castaneda, Joel went through a rigorous apprenticeship during which he was beaten and whipped by his master, presumably to strengthen his character and sense of resolve. During his second psychedelic experience with Adamie, Joel encountered animal spirits who tore him apart in the same manner as the native shamans described earlier. In like fashion, the initiation culminated in a renewed sense of strength and illumination: In trance I had a vision, I saw a bear. And the bear motioned for me to follow it. This was the spirit, the force I was to follow, to take my journey with. As I was following the bear it turned into a woman. And then there was a whole series of sexual imagery, buttocks, thighs, breasts, a whole swirl of sexuality, of flesh. I was swirling and whirling, and I felt like I was falling to the centre of the earth. And as I was going down there were creatures on all sides of me. And they would rip and tear, take pieces from me as I went down. After being subjected to this traumatic destructive process, Joel experienced inner mending, a coming together, My feelings were of high ecstasy, shock waves of energy travelling through me. I felt I could see through things, hearts, bones, souls. There was a sound and it was coming up from within me. I was singing a song, the song of my experience, and I felt the song gave me a new strength and power.25 Joel's account challenges the view that the shaman can experi-

SHAMANIC TRANCE

29

ence rebirth only within the familiar archetypes of his own culture — an issue which will be considered in a later chapter on western trance magic. However, in a general sense, it is clear that the mystical restructuring process leads to new visionary insights, powers and abilities which are normally expressed in terms of the familiar cultural context. The shaman becomes an intermediary between the physical and inner worlds and gains from the gods or spirit-beings privileged and sacred knowledge.

3

The Symbols of Magic: Sword, Wand, Disc and Cup by Eliphas Levi

CHAPTER 3

Magical Symbols and Ceremonial

Modern occultists who follow the Qabalistic system of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn enter a magical universe which in many ways resembles that of the classical shaman. Whereas the Aboriginal shaman encounters Baiame seated on a throne and upholding the sky, the western magician passes in the fullest sense through the cosmological levels of the Tree of Life and his visionary experiences reflect the symbolic nature of the beings whom he is invoking at each stage. It is necessary, however, to distinguish between ceremonial practices involving invocation of the gods in ritual and controlled out-of-the-body experiences along paths linking the so-called Sephiroth, or spheres, of the Tree. These inner journeys are referred to by occultists as 'path workings'. In the first technique,the magician feels himself caught up in a cosmic drama and experiences an influx of energy within his consciousness. He becomes the god in ritual by means of his identification with its form, be it Osiris, Ra, Zeus, or Hermes. His imagination is flooded with imagery which he associates with the deity and within the bounds of control inherent in his ritual invocation, he becomes possessed through the act of identification. In the second technique, the magician creates the symbolic locale within his own imagination. There are no sigils painted on the floor of his temple, no flowing ornamental robes, no ceremonial regalia and no physical magical weapons. These still have an important role but are created instead at an imagined level. The magician endeavours to enter a mythical context

DOI: 10.4324/9780429327087-3

32

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

created according to the requirements of the Tree of Life or a comparable magical system. He builds up imagery appropriate to the symbolic domain of Malkuth, The World, for example, and then tries through an act of will-power to transfer his consciousness to it, thus producing a dissociational state. His body lapses into deep trance and must not be disturbed. By an act of will the magician pursues his magical journey among the 'god-forms' of the Tree - which also represent his ancestral imagination - and then returns with an account of his visionary experience. Such a journey is then evaluated for its mythological 'purity' by his magical colleagues. The system of 'mythological correspondence' — a virtual 'god-chart' of the unconscious1 has traditionally provided some measure of reassurance that the trance magician has experienced a valid visionary journey and has travelled in specific areas upon the Tree. Though this magical technique is essentially an out-of-the-body one and produces ecstasy as in the case of the traditional shaman, the factor of mastery is crucial. If the magician, while wandering on the inner planes of the Tree of Life, in a dissociational state of mind, allows himself to be overwhelmed by any single image or symbolic being that should confront him, he risks the danger of being 'possessed' by that image. Regardless of which magical technique was used historically in the Golden Dawn the scope of magical activity upon the Tree was usually linked to the Sephiroth at the lower end of the Tree of Life since the loftier ones were of a more inaccessible, transcendental nature. Within the system of ceremonial grades the Neophyte was progressively initiated in symbolic experiences pertaining to Malkuth, Yesod, Hod and Netzach and was then ready for the spiritual rebirth ritual which would take him into Tiphareth, the level of consciousness associated with mystical renewal. Similar procedures operate in most magical groups today and the shamanic parallels remain. Like the shaman, the contemporary magician recognises the paramount role of ritual costume which identifies the practitioner with the reality of the mythological framework he is invoking within his consciousness. As will be seen subsequently it is more usual to employ such regalia when involved in ceremonial practices than when under-

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

33

taking 'path workings', which equate with the shaman's journey of the soul. Meditative techniques and the ritual chanting of sacred mantra-like god names have essentially the same effect as the sensory deprivation methods of the shaman, namely a channelling of the concentration towards a magical and cosmological goal. The magician within his ceremonial circle enters a sacred space and perceptually encounters the god-images of his invocation. Such chanting of god-names and concentration on the images and symbols of the gods have a profound emphasis on the creative imagination, stimulating the archetypes of the unconscious mind. As noted above, the contemporary magical approach involves a two-fold distinction. One either summons magical forces through invocation — which then comes to occupy the consciousness of the magician — or else the magician uses an out-of-thebody technique and 'rises on the planes' to encounter them. Both approaches allow comparisons with traditional shamanism. WESTERN MAGIC IN THE GOLDEN DAWN The history of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its derivatives has been well documented by such historians as Ellic Howe, Francis King and Ithell Colquhuon and there is no need to duplicate that material here. But essentially, the ritual magician, in following ceremonial practices based upon the symbolic stages of the Tree of Life, is regaining the inner, mystical cosmos stage by stage. In working from the lower manifestations of the Qabalistic universe through to the most elevated ones, from Malkuth, The World, to the transpersonal, visionary states high upon the Tree, the magician is essentially employing ritual to integrate the symbolic contents of the psyche. Like the traditional shaman with his paths of entry into the underworld or hole in the vault of the sky, the occultist endeavours to retrace the steps to the source of his own being. The

34

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

magician following the traditional Golden Dawn approach has therefore to imagine that he is partaking of the nature of each of the gods in turn and embody into his nature their very 'essence'. His rituals are designed to control all the circumstances which assist him in his journey through the unconscious mind and imagination. They embody all the symbols and colours of the god, the utterance of magical 'names of power', and the burning of incense or perfume appropriate to the deity concerned. Essentially the magician imagines that he has become the deity whose forms he imitates in ritual. The process of the gods ruling man is thus reversed so that the magician now controls the gods. Like the shaman he is a master of his visions. It is now the magician himself and not the gods of the creation drama who utters the sacred names which sustain the universe. The occultist invokes symbolic experiences in Malkuth which, like the cave of the shaman, signify a descent into the underworld of the unconscious mind and he proceeds eventually through levels which will take him through the lunar experiences of Yesod and eventually towards mystical rebirth in the solar vision of Tiphareth at the centre of the Tree. Some magicians take the most 'direct route' upon the tree by travelling from Malkuth to Yesod and then Tiphareth via the so-called Middle Pillar. They do not retrace the zig-zag path of the Sephiroth according to the Qabalistic creation process described in the 'Zohar', but concentrate on the harmonised middle way which is neither positive nor negative. Other occultists may choose to follow a more discursive path on the Tree which literally retraces the ten-fold division from Malkuth to Kether. Contemporary magicians believe this route reveals greater knowledge but is also fraught with more dangers, since the occultist leaves himself open to becoming unbalanced psychically on each side of the Tree. MAGIC AND THE SENSES Magicians have developed aids for the elevation of consciousness. These aids include symbolic gestures and expressions

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

35

which, together with certain implements, form the magical ritual. The ritual itself includes 'a deliberate exhilaration of the Will and the exhaltation of the Imagination, the end being the purification of the personality and the attainment of a spiritual state of consciousness.'2 Because the consciousness of the magician is to be transformed in its entirety, the ritual must enhance all the senses in fine degree. The way in which this is done can be summarised as follows: SIGHT The ritual robes, actions and implements are a visual representation relevant to the specific end which is sought. In this drama carefully chosen colours and symbols play a paramount role. SOUND This involves the vibration of god names, chants or mantras (predominantly derived from the Qabalah) whose auditory rhythms have a profound effect on the consciousness. TASTE This may take the form of a sacrament which relates symbolically to the nature of the god in the ritual. SMELL Incense and perfumes may be used to produce rapport with a specific deity or being from the magical cosmology. TOUCH This is developed at a level outside the physical organism since assimilation with god-forms takes place in the trance-state. The magician's 'soul body' performs functions parallel to those undertaken on the physical plane, although the range of perception is of a different order, and may be compared to the tactile universe experienced in an out-of-the-body state. THE POWER OF THE WORD In the western mystery tradition, sound and the power of the utterance have been traditionally emphasised as being most important.

36

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

According to the 'Zohar' the world was formed by the utterance of the Sacred Name of God, a forty-two letter extension of the Tetragrammaton Yahweh, or more exactly, YHVH (Yod, He, Vau, He). The World or Logos thus permeates the whole mystical act of Creation. The ritual magician takes a similar view. German occultist Franz Bardon writes: 'The divine names are symbolic designations of divine qualities and powers',3 and Eliphas Levi notes in his 'The Key of the Mysteries' that 'all Magic is in a word, and that word pronounced Qabalistically is stronger than all the powers of Heaven, Earth and Hell.'4 In many ancient traditions the name was regarded as the very essence of being. The Gnostic Ethiopians, in their sacred book 'Lefefa Sedek', argued that God had created Himself and the Universe through the utterance of his own name and therefore 'the Name of God was the Essence of God [and] . . . was not only the source of His power but also the seat of His very Life, and was to all intents and purposes His Soul.'5 In the apocryphal literature we even find the Virgin Mary beseeching Jesus for his secret names since, as a source of power, they are regarded as a protection for the deceased against all manner of harmful devils. Similarly in the 'Egyptian Book of the Dead' the newcomer to the Hall of Maati says to Osiris: 'I know thee. I know thy name. I know the names of the two-and-forty gods who are with thee.'6 For it follows that he who knows the secret name, strikes home at the heart of the matter; he is in control, the essence of the god is in his very grasp. According to Wallis Budge, in ancient Egypt, 'the knowledge of the name of a god enabled a man not only to free himself from the power of that god, but to use that name as a means of obtaining what he himself wanted without considering the god's will.'7 The Gnostics, who borrowed heavily from Egyptian sources and who have contributed strongly to occult thought, believed that a knowledge of the names of the intermediary deities and devils was essential if the soul were to return to its divine origin in the Great Aeon. An obvious characteristic of such esoteric tracts as the Tibetan, Egyptian and Ethiopian Books of the Dead and the Gnostic 'Pistis Sophia', is that the contents relate profoundly to the after-death state. However, the concepts of

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

37

the Body of Light, Initiation, and Rebirth refer to a state of out-of-the-body consciousness which occultists generally believe parallels the after death experience. Furthermore it is undoubtedly true that the name, per se, is one of the intrinsic qualities of the encountered deities. An extract from the Tistis Sophia', which names the rulers of the Twelve Dungeons of the Outer Darkness, provides us with a clue. Archaroch and Achrocar are rhythmically inverted (Temura-equivalents in the Qabalah)8 with Charachar and Archeoch as close parallels, and a similar relationship exists between the cosmic entities Luchar and Laroch. Clearly, the rhythmic vibratory patterns of the magical mantras themselves are related to the very nature of these devils on the visionary plane, for the utterance of such symbolic names is sufficient to dispel them. Returning to the nature of ritual we can say that it invariably involves the invocation of beings or forces through the spoken word. However, it also relates strongly to Will, which distinguishes magic from passive forms of mysticism. In ritual groups it has been normal for members to take a magical name. One of Aleister Crowley's appellations was Terdurabo' (I will endure to the end) and MacGregor Mathers's was the Gaelic 'S. Rhiogail Mo Dhream' (Royal is my tribe). And as Crowley himself said: 'Words should express will; hence the Mystic Name of the Probationer is the expression of his highest Will.'9 That is to say it epitomises the will of the magician to communicate with the Higher Self or Holy Guardian Angel, a level of mystical awareness associated with the transcendent levels of the Tree of Life. Dion Fortune, whose influence continues in post-Golden Dawn occultism, found the projection of her 'Body of Light' much easier when she was given her magical name. She writes: In my own experience of the operation, the utterance to myself of my Magical name led to the picturing of myself in an idealised form, not differing in type, but upon an altogether grander scale, superhuman in fact, but recognisable as myself, as a statue more than life-size may yet be a good likeness. Once perceived, I could re-picture this

38

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

idealised version of my body and personality at will, but I could not identify myself with it unless I uttered my Magical name. Upon my affirming it as my own, identification was immediate.10 Thus the higher vision of the Self supercedes the more limited scope of the ego and the process of spiritual transformation begins. 'Ultimately,' writes Crowley, 'the Magical Will so identifies itself with the [individual's] whole being that it becomes unconscious.'11 That is to say the Union is no longer an aim, but a reality. THE SYMBOLS OF MAGIC We turn now to the actual symbols of ritual magic whereby self-transformation is achieved. The first of these is the place of the Working itself, the Temple. The Temple contains all magical actions; it therefore represents the entire Universe and, by inference, the magician himself, because of the relationship of macrocosm to microcosm. Upon the floor of the Temple are certain inscriptions; the most important of which is the circle. The Circle incorporates many symbolic meanings but most importantly it represents the Infinite Godhead, the Alpha and Omega, the Divine Self-Knowledge which the magician aspires to. As a symbol of what he may become the Circle symbolises the process of invocation, a reaching towards a higher spiritual reality. By standing in the centre of the Circle, the magician is able to identify with the source of Creation, and consequently his Will ensures that the 'ego-devils' or his lesser self remain outside the 'sphere' of higher consciousness. The magician now takes on a role of authority in the sense that he intends to subject the invoked deity to his Will. The god-names, which have already been mentioned, are of vital importance in this respect.12 Inscribed around the periphery of the Circle, these holy names stipulate the exact nature of the symbolic working. In addition, the Circle may be circumscribed by an equal-sided geometrical figure whose

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

39

number of sides correspond with the Sephirah on the Tree appropriate to the God, for example, a hexagram in the case of Tiphareth (Osiris). The circle also contains a Tau which, as an assertive, masculine symbol balances the receptive, feminine role of the Circle itself, the two together providing an appropriate balance of opposites. The Tau is made up of ten squares, one for each Sephirah, and is usually vermilion in colour, as are the inscribed God names; the Circle area is complementary green. Nine equidistant pentagrams, each containing a small glowing lamp, surround the Circle, the tenth and most important lamp hanging above the centre. The Circle must, of course, be large enough for the ritual magician to move around. He must not leave it during invocation, otherwise its powers as a focus of the Will are destroyed. In terms of construction, where the Circle is not a permanent fixture of the Temple floor, it may be chalked in colour, or sewn or printed on cloth. Whenever the Circle is already in existence its sacred nature must be reaffirmed in the mind of the magician, for otherwise the Circle remains a purely profane 'external' symbol. The magician thus traces over its inscribed form with his ritual sword or outstretched hand at the same time considering carefully the symbolic meaning of his action. In the final instance, if conditions for a Temple working do not exist, the Circle may be inscribed upon the ground (in the case of outdoor workings) or held within the imagination, as in the case of the Banishing Ritual of the lesser Pentagram. The effectiveness of this latter type of Circle naturally depends upon the magician's powers of visualisation. The Triangle has an essentially opposite role. Unlike the Circle, which connotes the Infinite, the Triangle stands for finite manifestation, a focus for that which already exists. Symbolic of the triadic nature of creation and the union of astral, mental and physical levels, the Triangle represents evocation. Like the Circle, it must be carefully constructed or mentally reinforced to impress the mind of the magician. In like fashion, the Triangle must restrain the evoked entity, for otherwise the magician may lose control of the manifestation and may even find himself mentally conquered by it, that is to say, obsessed. The talisman

40

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

placed in the centre of the Triangle incorporates the seal, or sign of the spirit and provides the focus of the ritual. Returning to the nature of invocation, certain magical implements are employed by the magician within the Magic Circle. Most of these objects are placed upon the central Altar, which symbolises the foundation of the ritual, the Magical Will itself. Consisting of a double cube of wood — usually acacia or oak - the Altar has ten exposed faces, corresponding with the ten Sephiroth upon the Tree of Life. The lowest face is Malkuth, The World, which represents things as they are in the manifested universe. The upper face is Kether, the Crown, the First-Manifest, and Crowley recommends that it be plated with gold, the metal of perfection. Upon the sides of the Altar, he adds, should be written 'the sigils of the holy Elemental Kings'.13 Placed upon the Altar are certain symbolic implements designed to channel the imagination into a state of transcendence. These may be summarised as follows: THE HOLY OIL This golden fluid is ideally contained in a vessel of rock-crystal, and in using it, the magician anoints the Four Points of the Microcosm (Kether, Chesed, Geburah and Malkuth) upon his forehead, left and right shoulders and solar plexus respectively, at the same time reminding himself of the sacred nature of the task ahead. The holy ointment itself consists of the oils of the olive, myrrh, cinnamon and galangual, these representing in turn Chokmah (the Logos, Wisdom); Binah (Understanding); Tiphareth (Harmony, Spiritual Awakening) Kether-Malkuth (the Greater and Lesser Countenance, the Union of Being and Created). THE WAND This, like the altar, symbolises the pursuit of Higher Wisdom (Chokmah) achieved through the Will. Its tip is Kether, the ambivalent first Sephirah of the Tree of Life which contains the Union of opposites, the transcendence of duality in all its forms. In the Golden Dawn a Lotus Wand was used which was multi-coloured, with its upper end white and its lower,

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

41

black. In between were twelve bands of colour corresponding to the astrological divisions: White

Red Aries Red-orange Taurus Orange Gemini Amber Cancer Leo Lemon-yellow Yellow-green Virgo Emerald Libra Green-blue Scorpio Blue Sagittarius Indigo Capricorn Violet Aquarius Purple Pisces Black The lotus flower, with three whorls of petals, was placed upon the tip of the wand, the white end being used for invocation, the black end for banishing. Franz Bardon suggested a similar procedure except that he substituted, instead, bands of metal whose Qabalistic attributes aligned with the seven planets:

(White)

Silver Brass Copper Gold Iron/steel

Moon Mercury Venus

Yesod

Hod

Netzach Tiphareth Mars Geburah Tin Jupiter Chesed Lead Saturn Binah (Black) In Bardon's system the Wand is made of wood (especially ash, oak or acacia) or magnetised electro-steel (nickel-plated for protection). In the latter case, the North and South poles are identified and marked positive and negative. The magician may have different wands for varying magical purposes, and like all his other magical implements, they are insulated in silk cloth when not in use. Sun

42

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

The Wand represents the first letter, Yod, of the Tetra-grammator YHVH, and also the element Air. The ritual objects immediately following, the Cup, Sword and Pentacle complete this Sacred Name of God and represent the elements Water, Fire and Earth respectively. THE CUP As a feminine, receptive symbol, the Cup aligns with Binah, the Mother of Understanding. The magician believes he must fill his cup of consciousness with an understanding and knowledge of his Higher Self. As a symbol of containment rather than of Becoming, the Cup is not of practical importance in invocation, but is used in rituals of manifestation. THE SWORD Indicative of the magician's vital victory, or mastery over the invoked or evoked powers, the Sword (human force) parallels the Wand (divine power). Suggestive of control and therefore order, it implies Reason, the offspring of Wisdom and Understanding. It is therefore attributed to Tiphareth, the sphere of Harmony. The symmetry of the Sword is correspondingly appropriate. According to Aleister Crowley, the guard should consist of two moons waxing and waning, affixed back to back (Yesod); the blade should be made of steel (corresponding to Mars) and the hilt should be constructed of copper (symbolic of Venus) indicating that ultimately the Sword is subject to the all-encompassing principle of Love. When the Sword is placed representationally upon the Tree of Life, the pommel rests in Daath, gateway to the sacred Trinity; the points of the guard lie in Chesed and Geburah; and the tip in Malkuth. Crowley makes the observation that 'the Magician cannot wield the Sword unless the Crown is on his head.' That is to say, force and aspiration without inspiration are of no avail. THE PENTACLE (DISC) In the same way that the Sword corresponds to the Wand, the Pentacle parallels the Cup. Symbolic of Malkuth, the Heavenly Daughter and goddess of the manifest universe, the Pentacle or Disc, is said traditionally to 'induce awe' in the magician. Malkuth symbolises the first step of the mystical journey back to the Source of Being. The Pentacle is

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

43

thus the Body of the Magician, which he would wish to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and it also stands for his Karma, or actual nature prior to spiritual transformation. The magician himself wears upon his head The Crown, or headband, representative of Kether. Golden in colour, it is a symbol of aspiration to the Divine. Over his body falls The Robe whose function is to protect the magician from adverse 'astral' influences. For this reason the robed (and hooded) figure is recommended by occultists as the mental form of the Body of Light during projection. Normally black in colour the Robe symbolises anonymity and silence and is the dark vessel into which Light is poured. Attached or sewn to it across the chest is The Lamen, the 'breastplate', which protects the heart (Tiphareth). In the same way that Tiphareth is the focal point of all the Sephiroth, the Lamen has inscribed upon it symbols which relate to all aspects of the magical purpose. An active form of the passive Pentacle, the Lamen indicates strength. So too does the Magical Book which the magician holds in his hands. This contains the entire magical details of ritual aims and practice; it is in a sense, a history of the unfolding of the effects of his Magical Will. As such it constitutes a steadfast symbol of power and determination. In addition, the magician sometimes employs the use of a Bell worn on a chain around the neck. 'This Bell summons and alarms and it is also the Bell which sounds at the elevation of the Host.' Representative of alertness, it thus alludes to the sublime 'musical note' of the Higher Spheres, which sounds in the heart of the perfected man. In this respect the symbolism of the Bell parallels that of the Sacred Lamp which as 'the light of the pure soul' resides above the ritual implements and represents the descent of Spirit into Form, Light into Darkness, God into Man. It stands for all that is eternal and unchanging, the first swirlings of the Primal Energy ('Let there be Light'). It is 'the Lost Word, the dying music whose sevenfold echo is IAO and AUM. Without this Light,' says Crowley, 'the magician could not work at all; yet few indeed are the magicians that have known of it, and far fewer they that have beheld its brilliance.'14

44

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

CEREMONIAL As we noted, the ritual magician stimulates his imagination by surrounding himself with a number of sacred, symbolic objects, and by employing mythological principles as the basis of ceremonial. Facing towards the East, he engages upon his encounter with the gods. In the Eastern quarter stands the Censer containing red-hot coals and fuming incense, and which symbolises the manner in which the imperfect lower ego is to be sacrificed to the 'true' Higher Self. The Neophyte ritual stresses the beginning of the magical journey in an appropriate manner. When the Hierophant, or spiritual master of the ceremony addresses the gathering he says: My station is on the Throne of the East in the place where the Sun rises and I am the Master of the Hall, governing it according to the Laws of the Order, as He whose Image I am, is the Master of all who work for the Hidden Knowledge. My robe is red because of Uncreated Fire and Created Fire and I hold the Banner of the Morning Light which is the Banner of the East. I am called Power and Mercy and Light and Abundance, and I am the Expounder of the Mysteries.' In delineating the magical quest as a transition from darkness to light, the Hierophant adds on behalf of the Neophyte whom he is guiding, 4

I come in the Power of Light I come in the Light of Wisdom I come in the Mercy of the Light The Light hath Healing in its Wings.' Although there are several intermediary stages the immediate goal of the ritual magician is symbolic renewal. After passing through several grades over a lengthy period and preparing for this experience, the magician eventually undergoes a symbolic burial and emergence in the Tomb of the Adepti identifying with Christian Rosenkreutz, the Rose and Cross of the Immortal Christ, and the risen Osiris. The tomb has

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

45

seven sides representing the seven lower Sephiroth emanating beneath the Trinity which are also the seven 'Days' of Creation. The chamber is situated symbolically in the centre of the Earth just as Tiphareth resides in the centre of the Tree of Life. Spiritual rebirth occurs after 'one hundred and twenty years' which are the ten Sephiroth multiplied by the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and it follows ritually the form of the myth of Osiris whereby the body of the slain King of Egypt is magically revitalised. The magician lies clothed with the symbols of the embalmed Osiris: the symbol of the Rosy Cross also rests upon his breast. 'Eternal One . . . let the influence of Thy Divine Ones descend upon his head, and teach him the value of selfsacrifice so that he shrink not in the hour of trial, but that thus his name may be written on high and that his Genius may stand in the presence of the Holy Ones, in that hour when the Son of Man is invoked before the Lord of Spirits and His Name in the presence of the Ancient of Days. It is written: "If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross, and deny himself, and follow Me".' The magician extends his arms so that his body forms a cross, the ritual expression of rebirth. He experiences the ritual process as it is intoned over him: 'Buried with that Light in a mystical death, rising again in a mystical resurrection. . . . Quit then this Tomb, O Aspirant, [whose arms have been earlier] crossed upon thy breast, bearing in thy right hand the Crook of Mercy, and in thy left the Scourge of Severity, the emblems of those Eternal Forces betwixt which the equilibrium of the universe dependeth; those forces whose reconciliation is the Key of Life, whose separation is evil and death.' The magician, filled with light, now comes forth symbolically identifying with Christ and Osiris. The following passage combines Egyptian mythology with 'The Book of Revelations': 'And being turned, I saw Seven Golden Lightbearers, and

46

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

in the midst of the Lightbearers, One like unto the Ben Adam, clothed with a garment down to the feet, and girt with a Golden Girdle. His head and his hair were white as snow and His eyes as flaming fire; His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace. And His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand Seven Stars, and out of His mouth went the Sword of Flame, and his countenance was as the Sun in His Strength. 'I am the First and I am the Last. I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold! I am alive for evermore, and hold the Keys of Death and of Hell. . . . I am the purified. I have passed through the Gates of Darkness into Light. . . . 'I am the Sun in his rising. I have passed through the hour of cloud and of night. 'I am Amoun, the Concealed One, the Opener of the Day. I am Osiris Onnophris, the Justified One. 'I am the Lord of Life triumphant over Death.' Quite aside from the trance aspect of modern magic which will be discussed in the next chapter, clear parallels between the shaman's universe and that of the contemporary magician are apparent in these magical ceremonies. The occultist not only operates within the context of an ordered hierarchical universe, but his central reference point is the Tree of Life or Axis of the World which unites the world of godhead with the world of man. Encompassing the ten levels of the Tree are a vast pantheon of beings which according to the occult world-view constitute the mythological heritage of western man. In the same manner that the shaman encounters his gods and derives not only a sense of the sacred but also ultimate meaning from that encounter, the magician similarly believes that he is entering a domain of hidden and special knowledge. The Golden Dawn system of ritual magic introduces the Neophyte to a process which will bring him towards the light and kindle the inner vision, or 'fire', that Eliade believes is central to the shamanic process. It stresses the viewpoint that

MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL

47

causality stems from a mysterious and transcendental region of the Universe and that meaning or reality is discovered by contacting that source. Only through a cosmology based on the principle of emanations or hierarchy is any form of modern-day shamanism possible, for such a system provides a structure of paths, 'spheres' or in the ancient Judaic sense, thrones and chambers, through which the shaman may pass.15 We find in the ritual of the Neophyte, and also in the other ceremonial grades not summarised here, a blend of esoteric knowledge and 'emergence' symbolism so that by the time the candidate approaches the grade of Tiphareth at the centre of the Tree, he is prepared for mystical renewal. He undergoes symbolic burial in a chamber linked ritually with the Creation; he identifies with the resurrected Osiris and demonstrates in coming forth from his tomb that he has conquered death. All of these functions have shaman equivalents. The magician in this ritual also clearly identifies with the mythological, resurrected Christ - often linked with Osiris in occult literature not in a blasphemous manner but in a way which places strong emphasis on the cosmic role of Christ as a light-bringer.

SCHOL/E,

TYPVS.

Illustration from the alchemical and mystical works of Thomas Vaughan, also known as Eugenius Philalethes. Note the presence of the Sun and Moon, the central 'inner light3 and the coiled Cosmic Dragon. The magical mountain rises in the distance

CHAPTER 4

Techniques of Magical Trance

When occultists describe the inner journey of the psyche they commonly refer to such terms as 'astral projection', 'pathworkings' and 'the Body of Light'. Essentially the trance meditation technique involves a transfer of consciousness to the visionary world of symbols through an act of willed imagination. Trance in a contemporary occult context is brought about initially by a technique combining bodily relaxation with mental acuity, in which the magician focuses increasingly on his inner psychic processes. He may conjure specific images to mind, endeavour to activate energy centres in his spiritual body which are equivalent to the 'chakras' of yoga, but at the same time he relaxes his body and restricts his outer vision. Usually meditation takes place in the dark: most occultists believe it is easier to 'project' the astral body in the dark than in the light. In this sense the magician, like the traditional shaman, applies a technique of sensory deprivation by shifting attention away from outer visual stimuli to an inner perspective. He then attempts to develop and reinforce the sense of the 'alternative reality' provided by the mythological images or visionary landscapes which arise in his mind as a result of his willed concentration. The following summary is taken from the magical record of Frater Sub Spe (J. W. Brodie-Innes), a leading member of the Golden Dawn: Gradually the attention is withdrawn from all surrounding sights and sounds, a grey mist seems to swathe everything, on which, as though thrown from a magic lantern on

DOI: 10.4324/9780429327087-4

50

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

steam, the form of the symbol is projected. The Consciousness then seems to pass through the symbol to realms beyond . . . the sensation is as if one looked at a series of moving pictures. . . . When this sensitiveness of brain and power of perception is once established there seems to grow out of it a power of actually going to the scenes so visionary and seeing them as solid, indeed of actually doing things and producing effects there.1 The shaman's journey of the soul translates in occult terms as an astral projection upon the 'inner planes' and these in turn frequently relate to the levels of consciousness delineated upon the Tree of Life. Like the shaman, the occultist uses his cosmology to define his trance wanderings and the gods upon the Tree similarly represent higher causality and a return to the source of primal being and creation. Because the occultist believes, following the Hermetic axiom 'as above so below', that his inner body is a microcosm reflecting the macrocosm of the creation, his inner journey is potentially revelatory and may lead to the experience of spiritual rebirth. The exercise described below involves a magical world-view in which man is regarded as both the microcosm and the macrocosm. The trance-inducing technique known as the 'Middle Pillar' transposes the Qabalistic Tree onto the body of man. The magician equates the Axis of the World, as it were, with his own central nervous system, which he tries to activate by a western equivalent of yogic Kundalini arousal. The Middle Pillar exercise may be summarised as follows: The magician imagines radiant white light descending from above his head. This light equates with the first light of creation which manifests itself in the first Sephirah Kether upon the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The magician vibrates the sacred Hebrew god name Ehieh (pronounced EeeHeeYeh) as his magical formula. The light is now imagined coursing down the central nervous system in a similar fashion to the primal energy flash which descended through the Sephiroth in the creation process.

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

51

It descends to the throat and is imagined to radiate forth in the form of mauve light: (Sephirah: Daath, god-name Jehovah Elohim 'Ye-h-waa Eloheem'.) Descending further, it reaches the region of the heart and solar plexus. It now transforms to golden yellow light: (Sephirah: Tiphareth, god-name Jehovah Aloah Va Daath 'Ye-ho-waaa Aloaaa Vaaa Daaath'.) From the heart it descends to the region of the genitals and the colour of the imagined light changes from yellow into deep, radiant purple: (Sephirah: Yesod, god-name Shaddai El Chai 'Sha-DaiEl-Hai'.) Finally the light reaches the magician's feet and he visualises the colours of autumnal earth: russet, citrine, black and olive: (Sephirah: Malkuth, god-name Adonai Ha Aretz 'Aadohnaiii Haaa Aaaretz'). The magician now imagines white light streaming down his left side, beneath his feet and up his right side to the top of his head. He then visualises a similar band of light energy travelling from his head along his nose, down the chest, once again beneath his feet, and up past the back of his legs to the head. In his mind he had enclosed his body which may be lying horizontally or seated meditatively in a chair. His breathing is deep and regular. He imagines that the boundaries of light define a translucent container which is in reality his consciousness. It now seems to him that the container is filling up, perhaps with liquid, and that the amount of unoccupied space left in the container represents his extent of consciousness. At first his legs 'fill' and he is aware of his body only above the knees. Then the level rises and he remains 'aware' of only his chest. Soon the only conscious part of his body remaining is his head, for the rest has fallen into trance and is to all intents and purposes 'inert'. The occultist uses this techique and variants upon it to shift his range of visual alertness from his outer waking domain to an inner contemplative range of images. Within the magical

52

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

context he endeavours to combine the act of 'consciousness transfer' with the magical act of willing an image to appear. Usually this image is a form in which the magician will travel upon the inner planes. Frequently, it is a stylised form of the occultist himself, usually in a cloak, but as with traditional shamans, it may take animal and other forms appropriate to the plane of magical encounter. While the body of the occultist appears to have sunk into a deep trance, he wills his consciousness, as it were, to occupy an inner plane image or 'god-form'. The magician may simulate, for example, Horus's venture into the Egyptian underworld in search of Osiris, by imagining that he now occupies the body of Horus and to all intents and purposes acts, perceives and looks like him. Magical records indicate that such transfer techniques lead to visual experiences with a strong existential authenticity. They resemble the consciousness states enhanced by the techniques of 'active imagination' pioneered by psychotherapists like Desoille, Caslant and others, and also the hallucinatory experiences of subjects using such psychedelicia as LSD, Mescalin and Datura. The occultist believes that his perspective processes have been transferred to an area of the mind which would normally be unconscious, rather like entering a waking dream. Fantasy and mythological components which arise, as in the 'dream of the shaman', are existentially perceived as real and have the same perceptual status as 'normal' waking reality. Some magical projectionists claim that a silver cord can be seen connecting the physical and 'astral' bodies although according to both Dr Celia Green and Dr Peter Bicknell who have made extensive surveys of out-of-the-body subjects in Britain and Australia respectively, the appearance of a connecting cord is rarely reported.2 As in the case of the epileptic shaman, it is not merely the altered state of consciousness which confers magical status. The occultist has to make use of his dissociated mental state to travel along Tarot paths which he wills to appear before him, and which in turn lead him into archetypal and mythological regions. In the out-of-the-body state he thus visualises an entire Tree of Life extending above him and may choose which of the paths

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

53

he will explore. Invariably he will be guided by his knowledge of associated images which are likely to arise (mythological correspondences) and also the magical formulae and gestures which will dispel them if they present their hostile and aggressive aspect. It is unlikely that the out-of-the-body occultist will ever choose to travel on more than one path at a time although there are exceptions to this. As in the case of ceremonial grade workings the essential aim upon the Qabalistic Tree is to reach Tiphareth, the mythological domain of spiritual renewal and rebirth. Astral flights up the Middle Pillar beyond this level bring the occultist towards the Abyss, the region of the Tree which cosmologically divides the created universe from the Trinity. With the notable exception of Aleister Crowley, few magicians have claimed to cross the Abyss. This would - within the contemporary magical belief system - entail extraordinary spiritual purity and an extremely exalted level of spiritual consciousness. It is much more usual for occultists to explore more limited mythic domains while in a state of trance and magical records of these experiences show that the visual stimulus used to induce dissociation initially has a strong link with the contents of the visionary experience. GOLDEN DAWN TRANCE TECHNIQUES Several accounts of such trance wanderings are contained in a series of papers prepared by advanced occultists within the Order of the Golden Dawn. These papers were known as 'Flying Rolls' and have been republished in an anthology of magical documents.3 Several of these magical journeys involved a combination of the Tattva colour symbols, which constitute one of the few Eastern influences to enter into modern Hermetic magic and represent the five primal elements of Hindu mythology. In their basic form they are: Tejas, a red equilateral triangle Apas, a silver crescent Vayu, a blue circle

Fire Water Air

54

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

Prithivi, a yellow square Akasha, an indigo or violet egg

Earth Spirit

Golden Dawn Flying Roll XI describes a Tattva vision by Mrs Moina Mathers as she sat meditating in her ceremonial robes, contemplating a Tattva card combining Tejas and Akasha, a violet egg within a red triangle (Spirit within Fire). The symbol seemed to grow before her gaze 'filling the place [so] that she seemed to pass into it, or into a vast triangle of flame.' She felt herself to be in a harsh desert of sand. Vibrating the god-name 'Elohim' she perceived a small pyramid in the distance and drawing closer noticed a small door on each face. She then vibrated the formula 'SepharieP and a warrior appeared, leading behind him a procession of guards. After a series of tests involving ritual grade signs, the guards knelt before her and she passed in: dazzling light, as in a Temple. An altar in the midst — kneeling figures surround it, there is a dais beyond, and many figures upon it - they seem to be Elementals of a fiery nature. . . . She sees a pentagram, puts a Leo into it (i.e. a Fire sign), thanks the figure who conducts her wills to pass through the pyramid, finds herself out amid the sand. Wills her return — returns — perceiving her body in robes.4 In this account and others like it, it is clear that the visionary landscape derives specifically from the focusing symbol. The intangible aspect of the vision — Spirit — seems to be incorporated into the mysterious and sanctified nature of the inner temple, which in this case, the magician is privileged to enter. The beings she perceives, however, are fire elementals, which within the order of occult hierarchy are far beneath the level of the gods. From a magical viewpoint we can see that this experience, while interesting, provided no insights of a self-transforming nature. Tattva visions, often tend to be limiting, or containing, since by their nature they flow from a specific focusing motif. On another occasion Mrs Mathers made use of the Tattva combinations Water and Spirit. Her account shows not only the

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

55

link between the magical symbol and the visionary beings which appear, but also indicate the role of the controlled imagination. Like the shaman the occultist is required to be a master of visions: A wide expanse of water with many reflections of bright light, and occasionally glimpses of rainbow colours appearing. When divine and other names were pronounced, elementals of the mermaid and merman type [would] appear, but few of the other elemental forms. These water forms were extremely changeable, one moment appearing as solid mermaids and mermen, the next melting into foam. Raising myself by means of the highest symbol I had been taught, and vibrating the names of Water, I rose until the Water vanished, and instead I beheld a mighty world or globe, with its dimensions and divisions of Gods, Angels, elementals and demons — the whole Universe of Water. . . . I called on HCOMA and there appeared standing before me a mighty Archangel, with four wings, robed in glistening white and crowned. In one hand, the right, he held a species of trident, and in the left a Cup filled to the brim with an essence which he poured down below on either side.5 In this example the perception of a hierarchy of beings and symbols actually produces a change in consciousness. Mrs Mathers uses her range of magical names to invoke beyond the level of the focusing elements until the archangel himself appears. Also present in the account is a reference to a magical name HCOMA derived from the so-called Enochian language. Enochian patterns continue to be used by contemporary occultists to precipitate trance journeys, both in their pure form and in conjunction with the Tattvas. ENOCHIAN TRANCE The so-called Enochian system derives from the work of Elizabethan occultists John Dee and Edward Kelley, who met in 1581.

56

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

Dee had already established his reputation as a classical scholar at Cambridge and was also a noted astrologer; he was invited to calculate the most beneficial date for Queen Elizabeth Vs Coronation. Kelley possessed an alchemical manuscript which was of considerable interest to Dee and Kelley also claimed to be able to undertake journeys in the spirit vision. Dee and Kelley made use of wax tablets called almadels engraved with magical symbols, and also a large number of squares measuring 49 x 49 inches, filled with letters of the alphabet. Near by on his table Kelley had a large crystal stone upon which he would focus his concentration until he saw 'angels' appear. They would point to various letters on the squares in turn and these were written down by Dee as Kelley called them out. When these invocations were completely transcribed, Kelley would reverse their order for he believed that the angels communicated them backwards to avoid unleashing the magical power which they contained. Dee and Kelley considered that the communications formed the basis of a new language — Enochian — and these magical conjurations were subsequently incorporated into magical practice by the Golden Dawn magicians who used them as focusing stimuli to precipitate trance visions. Each square was ruled by an Enochian god-name and was bound by the four elements in different combinations. The technique of entry was to imagine the square as a three-dimensional truncated pyramid with the god-name super-imposed on top. The magician imagined himself rising through the pyramid on a beam of white light which streamed down through the apex.6 The Enochian square ruled by 'Amesheth' has a large elemental ingredient of water and fire. In the following magical vision, which the occultist Soror Fortiter Et Recte (Miss Annie Horniman) regarded as initiatory, a dominant figure appeared with characteristics pertaining to these two elements: an angel with a lunar crescent upon her head and carrying a cup (symbols of water) but with a fire pentagram upon her breast. In her hand were symbols of each element: I made the Signs and called on the Names and begged to be allowed to see the Angel. She appeared with a blue

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

57

lunar crescent on her head and brown hair which was very long. Her robe was pale blue with a black border, and a pentagram in red on her breast: her wings were blue also, and so was the Cup in her left hand, in her right hand she bore a red torch. Around her was a diamond of red yods.7 She told me her office was 'Change and purification through suffering such as spiritualises the material nature'. I told her that her pale face and blue eyes had a sad and tender expression as she spoke. . . . The elementals were like blue maids, bearing flames and their robes were black bordered. Some wore blue winged helmets and cloaks, red breastplates and Swords and black leg-armour. I was told that only through my Knowledge of Amesheth was all this shown unto me. The magician then perceived the links between visionary causality and her own context on the Earth. On this World the effect is that of the floods of water mingling with submarine volcanoes and so disturbing the Earth under the Sea. The animal life is that represented by thefishwho rest hidden among the rocks in warm climates. I seemed to see them, blue with black or red specks. The plants are water-lilies, a root in the black mud, the leaves resting on the surface of the water, living the Sun. In regard to minerals I saw a great blueish opal with red lights playing in it; it rested in a black marble basin, and from all sides radiated a lovely light. On man the effect of the Square is restlessness, like waves of the sea, carrying him on with enthusiasm to some completed work. I seemed to see a nervous [highly strung] person with a pale face, dark deep-set eyes, and thin white hands, making a great effort, willing to pass through fire to reach his goal, a solid black pedestal from which I knew that he could begin to rise to the Higher. But hot clouds of steam and great water tried to hinder him from even reaching the fire. The lesson seemed to me that severe criticism, social difficulties, and heredity must all be overcome before we can reach the purifying fire of Initiation

58

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

and, through that, the solid ground of spiritual knowledge.8 These visionary Enochian experiences were not confined to members of the Golden Dawn. Some time after breaking his link with the Order, Aleister Crowley and his disciple Victor Neuberg conducted a series of initiatory experiments which involved Enochian forms of magic. They made use specifically of a series of conjurations written by Dee and Kelley to invoke a series of thirty so-called 'Aethyrs' or 'Aires'. According to Israel Regardie, Crowley carried with him a large golden topaz set in a wooden cross decorated with ritual symbols.9 He recited the Enochian conjuration in a place of solitude and then used his topaz as a focusing glass to concentrate his attention. As a result of his meditations, Crowley had visionary experiences which were then transcribed by Neuberg who wrote down his trance utterances in sequence. Although Crowley had invoked two of the Aethyrs in Mexico in 1900 the bulk of his Enochian workings were made in 1909 in the isolation of the Algerian desert at locations such as Aumale, Ain El Hajel, Bou-Saada, Benshrur, Tolga and Biskra. Crowley's Enochian entries have pronounced shamanic characteristics. The Aethyr called NIA involves magical flight through the aeons in a chariot, a theme familiar in several ecstatic traditions as well as the early Ethiopian/Judaic apocalypse 'The Book of Enoch'. Another Aethyr, LIT, transports Crowley to a magical mountain beyond which is a sacred shrine where the worshippers of God are depicted. The following are excerpts from these records: [NIA (Aethyr 24)] An angel comes forward into the stone like a warrior clad in chain-armour. Upon his head are plumes of gray, spread out like the fan of a peacock. About his feet a great army of scorpions and dogs, lions, elephants, and many other wild beasts. He stretches forth his arms to heaven and cries: In the crackling of the lightning, in the rolling of the thunder, in the clashing of the swords and the hurling of the arrows: by thy name exalted!

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

59

Streams of fire come out of the heavens, a pale brilliant blue, like plumes. And they gather themselves and settle upon his lips. His lips are redder than roses, and the blue plumes gather themselves into a blue rose, and from beneath the petals of the rose come brightly coloured humming-birds, and dew falls from the rose - honeycoloured dew. I stand in the shower of it. And a voice proceeds from the rose: Come away! Our chariot is drawn by doves. Of mother-of-pearl and ivory is our chariot, and the reins thereof are the heart-strings of men. Every moment that we fly shall cover an aeon. And every place on which we rest shall be a young universe rejoicing in its strength; the meadows thereof shall be covered with flowers. There shall we rest but a night, and in the morning we shall flee away, comforted. Now, to myself, I have imagined the chariot of which thee spake, and I look to see who was with me in the chariot. It was an Angel of golden skin, whose eyes were bluer than the sea, whose mouth was redder than the fire, whose breath was ambrosial air. Finer than a spider's web were her robes. And they were of the seven colours.10 Crowley's vision of NIA has several symbolic components which are linked through the system of correspondence to the Tree of Life cosmology. The hurling of arrows is linked magically to the Path of Sagittarius (Tau) on the Middle Pillar, a path often identified with the magical act of 'rising on the planes'. The fan of a peacock Crowley understood as a reference to Juno and humming-birds and doves were traditionally sacred to Venus and recorded in the tables of Mythological Correspondence as such. Consequently, although the Aethyr refers to a warrior clad in armour, there are also decidely feminine components in his vision. It is characteristic that the warlike roles of the chariot is transmuted into a chariot drawn by doves; the rose angel proposes to take the magician to a paradise world of flower meadows and is herself identified with the seven colours of the rainbow.

60

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

In a later part of his visionary account Crowley describes the ecstatic nature of his trance: I see through those eyes, and the universe, like whirling sparks of gold, blown like a tempest. I seem to swell out again. . . . My consciousness fills the whole Aethyr, I hear the cry of NIA ringing again and again from within me. It sounds like infinite music, and behind the sound is the meaning of the Aethyr.11 Then his vision twists around and takes a more hostile form. It now resembles the ecstasy-death-re-emergence theme of traditional shamanism and also the Siberian myths of the blacksmith at his forge: All this time the whirling sparks of gold go on, and they are like blue sky, with a lot of rather thin white clouds in it, outside. And now I see mountains round, far blue mountains, purple mountains. And in the midst is a little green dell of moss which is all sparkling with dew that drips from the rose. And I am lying on that moss with my face upwards, drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking of the dew. I cannot describe to you the joy and the exhaustion of everything that was, and the energy of everything that is, for it is only a corpse that is lying on the moss. / am the soul of the Aethyr. Now it reverberates like the swords of archangels, clashing upon the armour of the damned; and there seem to be the blacksmiths of heaven beating the steel of the worlds upon the anvils of hell, to make a roof to the Aethyr.12 [LIT (Aethyr 5)] There is a shining pylon, above which is set the sigil of the eye, within the shining triangle. Light streams through the pylon from before the face of Isis-Hathor, for she weareth the lunar crown of cows' horns, with the disk in the centre; at her breast she beareth the child Horus.

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

61

And there is a voice: thou knowest not how the Seven was united with the Four; much less then canst thou understand the marriage of the Eight and the Three. Yet there is a word wherein these are made one, and therein is contained the Mystery that thou seekest, concerning the rending asunder of the veil of my Mother. Now there is an avenue of pylons [not one alone], steep after steep, carved from the solid rock of the mountain; and that rock is a substance harder than diamond, and brighter than light, and heavier than lead. In each pylon is seated a god. There seems an endless series of these pylons. And all the gods of all the nations of the earth are shown, for there are many avenues, all leading to the top of the mountain. Now I come to the top of the mountain, and the last pylon opens into a circular hall, with other pylons leading out of it, each of which is the last pylon of a great avenue; there seem to be nine such pylons. And in the centre is a shrine, a circular shrine, supported by marble figures of men and women, alternate white and black; they face upwards, and their buttocks are almost worn away by the kisses of those who have come to worship that supreme God, who is the single end to all those diverse religions. But the shrine itself is higher than a man may reach. But the Angel that was with me lifted me, and I saw that the edge of the altar, as I must call it, was surrounded by holy men. Each has in his right hand a weapon — one a sword, one a spear, one a thunderbolt, and so on but each with his left hand gives the sign of silence. I wish to see what is within their ring. One of them bends forward so that I may whisper the pass-word. The Angel prompts me to whisper: There is no god.' So they let me pass, and though there was indeed nothing visible therein, yet there was a very strange atmosphere, which I could not understand. Suspended in the air there is a silver star, and on the forehead of each of the guardians there is a silver star. It is a pentagram, - because, says the Angel, three and five

62

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

are eight; three and eight are eleven. [There is another numerical reason that I cannot hear.] And as I entered their ring, they bade me stand in their circle, and a weapon was given unto me. And the password that I had given seems to have been whispered round from one to the other, for each one nods gravely as if in solemn acquiescence, until the last one whispers the same words in my ears. But they have a different sense. I had taken them to be a denial of the existence of God, but the man who says them to me evidently means nothing of the sort: What he does mean I cannot tell at all. He slightly emphasised the word 'there'. And now all is suddenly blotted out, and instead appears the Angel of the Aethyr. He is all in black, burnished black scales, just edged with gold. He has vast wings, with terrible claws on the ends, and he has a fierce face, like a dragon's, and dreadful eyes that pierce one through and through. And he says: O thou that art so dull of understanding, when will thou begin to annihilate thyself in the mysteries of the Aethyrs? For all that thou thinkest is but thy thought; and as there is no god in the ultimate shrine, so there is no I in thine own Cosmos. They that have said this are of them that understood. And all men have misinterpreted it, even as thou didst misinterpret it. He says some more: I cannot catch it properly, but it seems to be the effect that the true God is equally in all the shrines, and the true I in all the parts of the body and the soul. He speaks with such a terrible roaring that it is impossible to hear the words: one catches a phrase here and there, or a glimpse of the idea. With every word he belches forth smoke, so that the whole Aethyr becomes full of it.13 In his vision of LIT Crowley perceives the magical symbol of the eye of the triangle, which is invariably identified as the eye of Horus. The triangle also links the source of light to the first three Sephiroth upon the Tree of Life which form the Triangle of

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

63

the Supernals. LIT thus begins with a reference to high spiritual authority. It also contains familiar cosmological motifs: pylons which reach up to the heavens and a mountain which is at the centre of the world: 'all the gods of all the nations of the earth are shown, for there are many avenues, all leading to the top of the mountain.'14 As in shamanic accounts the vision begins to acquire its revelatory nature at the top of the mountain. Initially the magician is told that there is no God but he later discovers that his own misconceptions have led him to a wrong conclusion. He discovers amidst a mighty roaring sound that God is present 'equally in all the shrines and the true I in all the parts of the body and the soul.' The magician thus finds the source of his connection with the cosmos. Later the supreme being reveals itself as 'the Great Dragon that eateth up the Universe'. In Hermetic magic the dragon with its tail in its mouth is a symbol of totality embracing the whole universe; in this context it also poses as a magical test: 'unless he pass by me, can no man come unto the perfections.'15 THE TAROT While the Tattva and Enochian systems of trance magic bring about highly specific visionary states a more complete transformational process is found in the use of the Major Tarot Arcana in conjunction with the Tree of Life. Like the Tattvas and Enochian squares they form the basis of an entry-stimulus to a visionary trance state, but because the essential mythology of the Tarot is much more developed hierarchically, the cosmological parallels with the shamanic process are more apparent. Although there are variant combinations the usual system of Tarot paths upon the Tree of Life is as given below. They follow a sequence from the lowest to the highest, in the same manner that a shaman would encounter them: The World Judgment

Malkuth-Yesod Malkuth-Hod

64

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

The Moon The Sun The Star The Tower The Devil Death Temperance The Hermit Justice The Hanged Man The Wheels of Fortune Strength The Chariot The Lovers The Hierophant The Emperor The Empress The High Priestess The Magus The Fool

Malkuth-Netzach Yesod-Hod Yesod-Netzach Hod-Netzach Hod-Tiphareth Netzach-Tiphareth Yesod-Tiphareth Tiphareth-Chesed Tiphareth-Geburah Hod-Geburah Netzach-Chesed Geburah-Chesed Geburah-Binah Tiphareth-Binah Chesed-Chokmah Tiphareth-Chokmah Binah-Chokmah Tiphareth-Kether Binah-Kether Chokmah-Kether

SYMBOLISM OF THE MAJOR TAROT ARCANA The World is usually identified by occultists as the main entry into the unconscious. Depicting a naked maiden dancing with a wheat wreath, this card is typically linked with the Greek myth of Persephone's descent into the underworld. Because in the underworld Persephone rules as queen of the night and the dead, she is also seen as a reflection of the lunar sphere Yesod which this card leads to. Judgment, in the same way that Persephone in Greek mythology represents both death and life (the full cycle of the wheat grain harvest), this card similarly has a rebirth theme. In the Waite pack, for example, figures are seen rising from coffins with their hands in the air. One of the Correspondences upon this path is Hephaestos, the blacksmith of Greek mythology,

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

65

and this figure also resembles the Siberian deity who forges a new identity for his candidates in trance. The Moon typically mirrors the symbolism of lunar Yesod and the crescent dominates the card. Two dogs are shown barking at the sky, one of them domesticated and the other untamed. The dog is sacred to the lunar goddess Hecate who is also linked with Persephone in her deathlike aspect. The card is symbolic of spiritual evolutionary principles and a lobster is seen emerging from the sea to reinforce this effect. In a magical sense water is equated with the flux and change of imagery in the 'lower', less transcendental, trance regions. The Sun in some degree reflects the light of Tiphareth which is positioned higher on the Tree of Life. Two naked children dance holding hands in the foreground but are separated by a wall from the cosmic mountain in the distance. A radiant sun shines in the sky. In an occult sense, the children are still young upon the inner journey and barriers still exist barring access to the more sacred regions of the Tree. The Star, like The Moon, is strongly lunar and dominated by the water element. The naked maiden who kneels in the stream is associated with love and intuition and these in turn are identified with Venus who within the system of Correspondences is linked to Netzach. The maiden on the card of The Star demonstrates the flow of energy down the Tree from a sacred and lofty source. She holds two flasks in her hand, one made of gold (the sun) and the other of silver (the moon). Reaching up towards a golden star in the sky she transmits its life energy down to the world below her. The Tower acts as a consolidation to the preceding experiences. Linking Hod and Netzach upon the Tree it unites the intellect and rational thought identified with Hod with the intuitive, subjective qualities of Netzach. The symbolism of the card itself is instructive. The tower reaches right to Kether — that is to say it embraces the entire universe. A lightning flash strikes its upper turrets causing it to crumble and figures are shown falling to their death. The Tower serves as a reminder that humility is required upon inner-path workings and is also symbolic of the body of man. According to Gareth Knight, the

66

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

influx of divine energy from the higher realms of the Tree produces a devastating effect upon the magician unless his personality is well balanced and has a solid foundation.16 Indian yogis similarly stress the need to purify and strengthen the body through physical Hatha Yoga exercises before arousing the inner Kundalini energy. Two cards follow which in a classical shamanic sense embody the death/rebirth theme. The Devil: on most versions of this Tarot card a man and a woman are depicted bound in chains at the feet of an hermaphroditic devil. The devil has goat's horns which symbolise bestiality and darkness. He also wears an inverted pentagram upon his brow which demonstrates a direction away from transcendence. Essentially for the trance magician he represents the last vestiges of a purely materialist viewpoint. Darkness is about to transform into the light of Tiphareth and the dominion of the devil is regarded as a predictable and illusory pitfall, comparable to the tests which the shaman has to overcome in reaching the higher gods. Similarly, Death symbolises transformation. A skeleton figure is shown wielding a scythe amidst a harvest of human heads and broken bodies. Beyond him, however, a river can be seen flowing into the sun. Contemporary occultists view this as a commentary on purity. Death cuts away the limitations of the earthly bound magician and allows him to travel in a refined spiritual form to the realm of the 'inner sun'. In a very real sense the occultist recognises a death and transformation process comparable to the dismemberment/rebirth themes characteristic of Siberian and Aboriginal shamanism. The process is an initiatory one because both The Devil and Death lead into Tiphareth. Mythological correspondence upon the Tree of Life link Tiphareth to reborn gods of light like Osiris, Christ and Helios-Apollo-Dionysus and these deities are in some measure god-men, intermediaries between the Infinite Godhead and man. Upon the Tree Temperance is the Tarot path which leads into Tiphareth upon the Middle Pillar (central axis) and the sense of shamanic revelation is most apparent with this card. In the same way that the would-be shaman is reconstituted magically the

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

67

central angel on Temperance (normally identified as Raphael) stands before a cauldron in which all the elements of man are mixed. He symbolises emergent balance and harmony because from his hands he pours water and fire while at his feet rests a lion (earth) and an eagle (air). Temperance is a vital card because it leads to the centre of the Tree of Life and thus is at the very core of the magical process. The Path of Tau, which is the arrow of Sagittarius linking Malkuth and Yesod, precedes it and gives it special impetus and it is one path frequently identified with the ecstatic process of 'rising on the planes', mentioned earlier. Tiphareth is also identified mythologically as the sphere of consciousness appropriate to the spiritual god-man, a central focus of Qabalistic magic. Beyond Tiphareth two paths lead up the Tree which symbolise the process of self-assessment and see a reduction of emphasis on the ego in place of the growth of a more universal phase of consciousness. The Hermit holds his lantern aloft as he scales the magical mountain, and this lantern is identified with man's inner light, or in Eliade's sense, his 'inner fire'. He wears a cloak - a symbol of anonymity - to demonstrate that he is not preoccupied with outer effects so much as inner ones. Also, his path is linked to the astrological sign Virgo showing that to some degree a measure of androgyny has been achieved. The concept of the fusion of sexual polarities in the magician appears to resemble a comparable pattern in shamanism recently noted by anthropologist Joan Halifax.17 Sexual balance, indicative of the conquest of opposites is a marked characteristic of the Tarot images on the higher reaches of the Tree of Life. Justice reveals the goddess Venus but in her harsh, judgmental aspect. She holds a set of scales and the sword of justice and has been compared by several occultists with Maat, the Egyptian goddess of Truth, who resided in the Osirian Hall of Judgment and weighed the heart of the deceased against a feather. Gareth Knight identifies this card with 'ruthless honesty, considerable powers of discernment, and not a little courage, but prolonged intention and aspiration.'18 On the outer pillars of the Tree are two very significant cards,

68

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

The Hanged Man and The Wheel of Fortune. The first of these was depicted in medieval Tarot decks as a villain hanging upside down upon a wooden edifice and was taken by some critics to be a parody of Christ, and proof of the heretical nature of the Tarot. From a magical viewpoint, however, it is significant that a radiant light shines from the head of the hanged man and his 'corresponding' element is water. He is upside down because he is a reflection, and acts as a vessel through which magical energies may be transmitted down the Tree from the Great Mother in Binah. In a shamanic sense this card reinforces the notion that links with the supreme god-energies are not only possible but vital, and the card to some extent resembles The Tower in stressing that the magician's body should be a pure vessel for light. The Wheel of Fortune, which links Netzach and Chesed on the side of the Tree headed by Chokmah is interesting because it reflects the mandala symbolism of Tiphareth. As Eliade has pointed out, shamanism is a flight to the 'Centre', and in yogic systems, mandalas portray totality, wholeness and unity. Paths radiate outwards to all reaches of the Tree from Tiphareth, which as we have indicated symbolises harmony, but The Wheel of Fortune lying diametrically opposite from Tiphareth mirrors this effect also. The wheel generates energy impulses through the universe and is surmounted by Egyptian gods. Paul Foster Case has endeavoured by means of word-play devices to claim an Egyptian origin for the Tarot, although this is certainly open to doubt. Case writes: 'The Wheel of Tarot speaks the Law of Hathor', thus finding significance in the fact that Tarot = Rota (a wheel) which is Ator (Hathor) spelt backwards. Hathor, of course, was a major mother goddess in ancient Egyptian mythology.19 While Case's linguisitc analysis is questionable, there is an interesting parallel between the symbolism of the Wheel and the Mandala as symbols of the 'Centre'. Linking Geburah and Chesed upon the Tree is Strength, a card which plays a consolidating role for the magician. Typically this card depicts a woman opening the jaws of a lion and it is interpreted to show the triumph of intuition over brute strength

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

69

(Venus conquering Leo). This sense of balance is later symbolised by androgyne images and serves to remind the magician that his essential aim is union with a neutral 'Source of Being' upon the Middle Pillar, a harmony which therefore belongs exclusively neither to positive nor negative, male nor female. Strength lies just below the so-called Abyss, the level of reality for the magician which separates him from the supernal Sephiroth, and the unchanging, causal factors in his universe. These lofty regions upon the Tree are thus of crucial importance within the magical cosmology. Several of the cards upon these paths tend to reflect either dominant male or female images, and in either a 'fruitful' or virginal state. Virginity is interpreted by the magician to symbolise a pure and refined state of consciousness and indicates supreme transcendence. Meanwhile, the androgyne fusion is also present on two cards, The Lovers and The Fool. An immediate duality surrounding the male archetype can be found in the cards The Chariot and The Hierophant. The first of these leads out of Geburah, a sphere linked to Mars, and characterises action. The god rides in a chariot through the cosmos, in image appropriate to ecstatic flight, and ruthlessly eliminates negative forms in the Universe which he perceives as if they were reflected in a mirror. By contrast The Hierophant is a more static figure, an entrenched symbol of spiritual authority resembling the 'merciful Father' image of Chesed which it adjoins as a path. A very similar role is played by The Emperor (Tiphareth-Chokmah) who sits enthroned upon a mountain. He overviews the manifested universe and is very much the architect of its fate. The Emperor may be compared to Zeus and other patriarchal deities, but he is also one half of an important union - with his wife and consort The Empress. The mountains surrounding the Emperor are barren but the fields in which the robed Empress sits are abundant with crops of the harvest. The Empress in linked to Venus, but also to Greek deities like Demeter and her daughter, Persephone. A lunar disc rests at her feet and the rivers of life flow through her pastures. In magical terms, she is the Great Mother (Binah). The fruitful union of the Empress and Emperor may be

70

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

mythologically contrasted to the Tarot Paths of The High Priestess and The Magus who represent the virginal female and virginal male respectively, and therefore have superior status upon the Tree by virtue of their purity. The High Priestess is depicted as transcendental and lofty, cold and pristine, somewhat in the manner of the Roman deity, Diana. Like The Magus, her path leads into Kether, the supreme point of light upon the Tree and a domain regarded by occultists as supremely pure. The Magus depicts a figure who is capable of transmitting magical force downwards through the Tree with his magical weapons (the four elements: the sword (fire), the wand (air), the cup (water) and the disc (earth)). As yet however he too has formed no union with his opposite half for this consolidation occurs lower down with the Empress and the Emperor. The figures of the Magus and High Priestess thus symbolise the transcendental male and female polarities above the Abyss. Finally two cards in this domain indicate that the magician is approaching the supreme neutrality of Kether and must learn to amalgamate both male and female polarities of his inner processes. This tendency is similarly mirrored in yoga where the female and male principles, Ida and Pingala, are thought to revolve around the central core column for Kundalini arousal, Sushumna. In both disciplines ecstatic flight up the 'Middle Pillar' entails a fusion of opposites. The Lovers depicts the twins (Gemini) standing in the Garden of Eden, and symbolises the regaining of innocence (purity). The path links the Mother (Binah) with her Son (Tiphareth) and brings together lunar and solar impulses upon the Tree. Finally, at the very peak, the card The Fool depicts a figure which is said to be androgynous and is clothed to hide its sexual characteristics. The Fool is stepping over the edge of a cliff, and is described magically as one who 'knows nothing'. This, of course, is a symbolic pun, for 'nothing' is the mysterious domain beyond manifestation in Kether and is thus totally beyond comprehension. The supreme reality in modern shamanic magic is thus a state of consciousness which is not anthropomorphised, is neither male nor female, and cannot be contained by the symbolism of an image.

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

71

'RISING IN THE PLANES' As we have seen, the twenty-two Tarot paths upon the Tree of Life provide an important framework for the contemporary trance magician. Like the shaman he had a clearly delineated cosmology and this serves to distinguish order from chaos. While the magician in trance or through meditation is exploring the Tarot paths there are additional factors which arise beyond visualising the reality of the symbolic doorways. Since occultists stress the will and regard trance as a domain where the willed imagination actually produces perceptual effects, the technique of willing oneself to rise from one level to another is crucial. In Flying Roll XI, Frater Deo Duce Comite Ferro (MacGregor Mathers) notes that this effect can be produced by a willed aspiration to a higher symbolic level upon the Tree: Rising in the Planes is a spiritual process after spiritual conceptions and higher aims; by concentration and contemplation of the Divine, you formulate a Tree of Life passing from you to the spiritual realms above and beyond you. Picture to yourself that you stand in Malkuth — then by use of the Divine Names and aspirations you strive upward by the Path of Tau towards Yesod, neglecting the crossing rays which attract you as you pass up. Look upwards to the Divine Light shining down from Kether upon you. From Yesod leads up the Path of Temperance, Samekh, the arrow cleaving upward leads the way to Tiphareth, the Great Central Sun of Sacred Power.20 In this statement of practical advice from a leading occultist to his colleagues a clear transcendental direction is perceived, and the ecstasy of union with Tiphareth is brought about by visualising oneself coursing like an arrow to a higher dimension. Mathers delineates the technique of passage from Malkuth through Yesod to Tiphareth, making it clearly into a Middle Pillar ascension upon the cental axis of the Tree of Life. This technique provides one of the clearest parallels between shamanism and modern western magic.

72

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

Inherent in the technique are other factors, also. The Names of Power, the god-names appropriate to each Sephirah, constitute a protection device and also reinforce the shamanic purpose. In this sense willed concentration not only provides the means for altering one's state of consciousness to enter trance but it continues to provide direction once the magician finds himself operating on that level. Mathers further notes that the magician can incorporate Hebrew letters of the alphabet (each of which were ascribed to the Tarot Major Arcana) as a means of intensifying and authenticating trance visions: There are three special tendencies to error and illusion which assail the Adept in these studies. They are, Memory, Imagination and actual Sight. These elements of doubt are to be avoided, by the Vibration of Divine Names, and by the Letters and Titles of the 'Lords Who Wander' - the Planetary Forces, represented by the Seven double letters of the Hebrew alphabet. If the Memory entice thee astray, apply for help to Saturn whose Tarot Title is the 'Great One of the Night of Time'. Formulate the Hebrew letter Tau in Whiteness. If the Vision change or disappear, your memory has falsified your efforts. If Imagination cheat thee, use the Hebrew letter Kaph for the Forces of Jupiter, named 'Lord of the Forces of Life'. If the Deception be of Lying intellectual untruth, appeal to the Force of Mercury by the Hebrew letter Beth. If the trouble be of Wavering of Mind, use the Hebrew letter Gimel for the Moon. If the enticement of pleasure be the error, then use the Hebrew letter Daleth as an aid.21 A complete trance vision recorded in November 1892 by Soror Sapientia Sapienti Dona Data (Mrs F. Emery) and Soror Fidelis (Miss Elaine Simpson, later the mistress of Aleister Crowley) survives in Flying Roll IV. It is particularly interesting because it indicates the trance magician's direct sense of encounter with the deities upon the Tree of Life. A blend of Christian and Egyptian elements is apparent, the Grail Mother is seen as an

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

73

aspect of Isis, and a ritual gesture appropriate to (Roman) Venus is also included, indicative of the eclectic blending of cosmologies found in modern magical practice: The Tarot Trump, The Empress was taken; placed before the persons and contemplated upon, spiritualised, heightened in colouring, purified in design and idealised. In vibratory manner pronounced Daleth. Then, in spirit, saw a greenish blue distant landscape, suggestive of medieval tapestry. Effort to ascend was then made; rising on the planes; seemed to pass up through clouds and then appeared a pale green landscape and in its midst a Gothic Temple of ghostly outlines marked with light. Approached it and found the temple gained in definiteness and was concrete, and seemed a solid structure. Giving the signs of the Netzach Grade [because of Venus] was able to enter; giving also Portal signs and 5° = 6° signs in thought form.22 Opposite the entrance perceived a Cross with three bars and a dove upon it; and besides this, were steps leading downwards into the dark, by a dark passage. Here was met a beautiful green dragon, who moved aside, meaning no harm, and the spirit vision passed on. Turning a corner and still passing on in the dark emerged from darkness on to a marble terrace brilliantly white, and a garden beyond, with flowers, whose foliage was of delicate green kind and the leaves seemed to have a white velvety surface beneath. Here, there appeared a woman of heroic proportions, clothed in green with a jewelled girdle, a crown of stars on her head, in her hand a sceptre of gold, having at one apex a lustrously white closed lotus flower; in her left hand an orb bearing a cross. She smiled proudly, and as the human spirit sought her name, replied: 'I am the mighty Mother Isis; most powerful of all the world, I am she who fights not, but is always victorious, I am that Sleeping Beauty who men have sought, for all time; and the paths which lead to my castle are beset with dangers and illusions. Such as fail to find me sleep; — or may ever rush after the Fata Morgana leading astray all who feel that illusory influence - I am lifted up on high,

74

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

and do draw men unto me, I am the world's desire, but few there be who find me. When my secret is told, it is the secret of the Holy Grail.' Asking to learn it, [she] replied: 'Come with me, but first clothe in white garments, put on your insignia, and with bared feet follow where I shall lead.' Arriving at length at a Marble Wall, pressed a secret spring, and entered a small compartment, where the spirit seemed to ascend through a dense vapour, and emerged upon a turret of a building. Perceived some object in the midst of the place, but was forbidden to look at it until permission was accorded. Stretched out the arms and bowed the head to the Sun which was rising a golden orb in the East. Then turning, knelt with the face towards the centre, and being permitted to raise the eyes beheld a cup with a heart and the sun shining upon these; there seemed a clear ruby coloured fluid in the cup. Then Lady Venus said 'This is love, I have plucked out my heart and have given it to the world; that is my strength. Love is the mother of the Man-God, giving the Quintessence of her life to save mankind from destruction, and to show forth the path to life eternal. Love is the mother of the Christ-Spirit, and this Christ is the highest love — Christ is the heart of love, the heart of the Great Mother Isis — the Isis of Nature. He is the expression of her power — she is the Holy Grail, and He is the life blood of spirit, that is found in this cup.' After this, being told that man's hope lay in following her example, we solemnly gave our hearts to the keeping of the Grail; then, instead of feeling death, as our human imagination led us to expect, we felt an influx of the highest courage and power, for our own hearts were to be henceforth in touch with hers — the strongest force in all the world. So then we went away, feeling glad that we had learned that 'He who gives away his life, will gain it'. For that love which is

TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

75

power, is given unto him - who hath given away his all for the good of others.'23

5

Now For Reality by Austin Osman Spare

CHAPTER 5

New Directions: From Atavistic Resurgence to the Inner Light Since the days of the Golden Dawn several occultists have developed trance and 'active imagination' approaches to magic which in many ways resemble the techniques of traditional shamanism. Since magic stimulates imagery from the deep mythic resource of the unconscious, it is not surprising that the new approaches to trance consciousness have produced encounters with specific archetypes from the western pantheons: The Wise Man (Merlin), The Universal Woman (Aphrodite), Diana, Pan, Abraxas and so on. And like the psychotherapeutic techniques of Caslant, Desoille and others, contemporary 'inner space' magicians have developed ways of combining the will and the imagination in order to bring about a new range of 'alternative' realities. AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE: ATAVISTIC RESURGENCE While the Golden Dawn society was fragmenting amid schisms and dissent just prior to World War I a unique system of magic was manifesting in the person of Austin Osman Spare (1888-1956) who at one time was affiliated with Aleister Crowley's group the Argenteum Astrum.1 Spare, who was both a remarkable graphic artist and also a spontaneous trance occultist given to automatic drawing and sigil alphabets, produced a cosmology which was totally shamanic in its structure and technique. He postulated a primal and universal source of Being which he termed 'Kia' and argued that the human body, 'Zos',

DOI: 10.4324/9780429327087-5

78

NEW DIRECTIONS

was an appropriate vehicle through which to manifest the spiritual and occult energies of the unconscious. Spare regarded this level of the mind to be 'an epitome of all experience and wisdom, past incarnations as men, animals, birds, vegetable life . . . everything that exists, has and ever will exist.'2 His technique of arousing these primal images, an approach he named 'atavistic resurgence', involved focusing the will on sigils, or symbols, which he developed to represent instructions to the unconscious. Spare would condense an instruction like, 'This is my wish: to obtain the strength of a tiger' into a single graphic anagram and concentrate his will upon it. The effect was dramatic, 'Almost immediately he sensed an inner response. He then felt a tremendous upsurge of energy sweep through his body. For a moment he felt like a sapling bent by the onslaught of a mighty wind. With a great effort of will, he steadied himself and directed the force to its proper object.'3 Spare visited Egypt during World War I and was impressed by the magnetic presence of the classical gods depicted in monumental sculpture. He considered the ancient Egyptians to have been a nation of people who understood very thoroughly the complex mythology of the unconscious: They symbolised this knowledge in one great symbol, the Sphinx, which is pictorially man evolving from animal existence. Their numerous Gods, all partly Animal, Bird, Fish . . . prove the completeness of that knowledge. . . . The cosmogony of their Gods is proof of their knowledge of the order of evolution, its complex processes from the one simple organism'. For Spare, impressions from earlier incarnations and all mythic impulses could be reawakened from the unconscious. The Gods themselves could be regarded as a form of internal impetus: 'All Gods have lived [being ourselves] on earth', he wrote, 'and when dead, their experience of Karma governs our actions in degree.'4 Austin Spare learnt his technique of atavistic resurgence, or trance activation, from a witch named Mrs Paterson who claimed a psychic link with the witches of the Salem cult. Spare also began to produce automatic drawings in the trance state

NEW DIRECTIONS

79

through the mediumship of an occult entity known as Black Eagle, who took the form of an American Indian. Spare claimed to see him several times and, in general, lived in a perceptual universe in which the everyday world and the images of trance and hallucination seemed intermingled. On one occasion, for example, while Spare was riding in a double-decker bus he found himself surrounded by imaginary passengers - an assembly of witches bound for the sabbath! His attraction to the ageing Mrs Paterson was paradoxical but understandable. According to Spare, she was able to transform herself in his vision from being a 'wizened old crone' to appearing quite suddenly as a ravishing siren.5 And for Spare, the universal woman was the central image in his mythology of the unconscious. In his definitive magical credo, The Book of Pleasure', he noted: Nor is she to be limited as any particular 'goddess' such as Astarte, Isis, Cybele, Kali, Nuit, for to limit her is to turn away from the path and to idealize a concept, which, as such, is false because incomplete, unreal because temporal.6 Like the classic shaman, Spare employed a technique of ecstasy which, in his case, combined active imagination and will with the climax of sexual orgasm. Spare believed that the sigil representing the act of conscious will could be planted like a seed in the unconsciousness during such ecstasy since at this special moment the personal ego and the universal spirit blended together. 'At this moment, which is the moment of generation of the Great Wish,' wrote the magician, 'inspiration flows from the source of sex, from the primordial Goddess who exists at the heart of Matter . . . inspiration is always at a void moment.'7 Several of Spare's drawings depict the Divine Maiden leading the artist into the labyrinthine magical world. One of his most central works, 'The Ascension of the Ego from Ecstasy to Ecstasy', shows the Goddess welcoming Spare himself, who in this occasion appropriately has wings issuing forth from his head. Spare's 'ego', or identity is shown merging with an earlier animal incarnation and the two forms transcend each other in

80

NEW DIRECTIONS

the form of a primal skull. Spare clearly believed that he could retrace his earlier incarnations to the universal 'One-ness of Creation', which, within his cosmology, he termed 'Kia'. According to Kenneth Grant, Austin Spare had derived his formula of atavistic resurgence from Mrs Paterson: She would visualize certain animal forms and - the language of the subconsciousness being pictographic not verbal — each form represented a corresponding power in the hidden world of causes. It was necessary only to 'plant' an appropriate sigil in the proper manner for it to awaken its counterpart in the psyche. Resurging from the depths it then emerged, sometimes masked in that form to do the sorcerer's bidding.'8 Undoubtedly one of Spare's major objectives in using the trance state was to tap energies which he believed were the source of genius. According to the artist, 'ecstasy, inspiration, intuition and dream . . . each state taps the latent memories and presents them in the imagery of their respective languages.'9 Genius itself is 'a directly resurgent atavism' experienced during the ecstasy of the Fire Snake or Kundalini (i.e. sexual arousal). And yet, for all Spared transcendental intent of 'stealing the fire from heaven' his retrograde exploration through primal images in the unconscious took him into dark and sometimes unfathomable spaces. On occasion he seemed to be wading through a base level of earthly Karma; and many of his visions were intensely negative. One such encounter plunged him into 'a phosphorescent morass crowded with restless abortions of humanity, and creatures — like struggling mud worms, aimless and blind: an immense swamp of dissatisfaction.'10 On another inner journey he came upon 'an endless ruin of cities. The streets were a chaos of debris - the air heavy with the stale stench of damp charred wood . . . the sky dead and breathless.'11 Spare's finesse as a graphic artist had earned him widespread praise from Augustus John, George Bernard Shaw and John Sargent while he was still young and his best work illustrates his magical grimoire 'The Book of Pleasure' first published in 1913 when the artist was only twenty-five. However Spare's

NEW DIRECTIONS

81

preoccupation with trance sexuality and the origins of witchcraft plunged him repeatedly into a mire of atavistic imagery which increasingly blurred his artistic vision. It may be that he had uncovered so many mythic impulses from his unconscious that he was unable to assimilate them all. In the final analysis Spare was swamped by his cosmology and his work exhibited elements of chaos quite outside his original magical intent. Nevertheless, Spare had laid the groundwork for a modern visionary approach. Occultists using 'path-workings' and active imagination techniques in more recent years have been noticeably more restrained in their approach. While Spare was inclined to trust his fate to the gods of his unconscious, contemporary magicians have been inclined to adopt the practice of erecting symbolic signposts to guide them in a more orderly manner on the inner journey. EDWIN STEINBRECHER: THE GUIDE MEDITATION A cautionary but undoubtedly effective system of contacting the 'inner gods' has been developed in recent years by Edwin Steinbrecher of the DOME Foundation in Santa Fe, an organisation whose initials derive from the latin expression 'Dei Omnes Munda Edunt': All the Gods bring forth the Worlds. Steinbrecher's approach derives from Jung's view, given in 'Mysterium Coniunctionis', that internal mental images can be animated by concentrating attention upon them. The Guide Meditation incorporates both Tarot symbols, which 'correspond to realitycreating images within all of us' and astrology which 'provides a map of the inner and outer worlds' but the essence of the system is inner contact with a 'Guide' similar to the ally called by the shaman. In 1969 Steinbrecher undertook Jungian analysis in Los Angeles which included using active imagination techniques and 'reworking and finishing' incomplete dreams. He had been reading 'The Secret of the Golden Flower' and decided that the 'secret' was to force mental energy back along the same channels through which they had originally manifested. Accord-

82

NEW DIRECTIONS

ingly he began to use his skills in active imagination to conjure into his consciousness specific images: I attempted to do this by inventing a staircase in my imagination that would take me within to those archetypal images I was seeking. And it worked! I reached a 'room' at the bottom of my stairway, thought of the High Priestess, and she was there, a living presence in that inner world, different from the picture on the Tarot card, but without a doubt the High Priestess as a reality in me.12 Following this initial attempt, Steinbrecher began to summon other archetypes from the Tarot mythology but had a frightening experience with the fifteenth trump, The Devil, who blocked his pathway and was menacing for some time until overcome by a sustained act of will. After this unfortunate encounter Steinbrecher resolved not to venture on the inner journey without an appropriate guide. The DOME Meditation favours a relaxed bodily position with the back straight and both feet flat on the floor. The hands rest on the thighs, the palms face upwards and the eyes are closed. The meditator imagines himself entering a cave and tries through an act of will to enhance the sense of its being moist or dry, dark or light. Steinbrecher insists that the meditator should retain the sense of being consciously within the body rather than watching an external body image, and in this respect the DOME method resembles identically the shamanic and magical concepts of transferring perceptual consciousness to an inner-plane event. Like the shaman, Steinbrecher has found it valuable to call for an animal ally who will in turn lead the meditator to the appropriate Guide. On various occasions such animals as deer, lions, dogs and cats have appeared and have led the way to the Guide who, in Steinbrecher's experience, has initially always taken a male form. Steinbrecher warns against false guides but believes they can be distinguished by asking the figure to point 'to where the Sun is, in the sky of the inner world'. A false guide, he notes, 'will generally balk, change the subject, try to divert your attention in some way, hedge or will simply vanish.'13

NEW DIRECTIONS

83

Like Spare, Steinbrecher regards the Guides as entities who lived on earth in a former time but who have now entered a psychic plane and have become 'humanity's lost teachers'. While Spare was inclined to run counter to the evolutionary process in tracking the origin of consciousness backwards through time to its abstract source, the DOME method advocates focusing on and summoning the transcendent inner sun, which is the 'archetype of the self — 'the inner life-centre'. The basic intent is to 'place spiritual authority back within the individual . . . its true and holy place.' 14 Specifically, Steinbrecher regards the Guide Meditation as a series of controlled encounters with the archetypal gods and like the shaman, the occultist must retain control of all aspects of this situation. Steinbrecher notes that the Guides do not necessarily volunteer information and must be specifically asked; accordingly, all archetypal beings should be made to answer if their responses are elusive. Following the Tarot archetypes in sequence, Steinbrecher makes the important observation that the inner god-images are able to bestow magical powers of gifts, very much in the same way that a shaman may treasure a power-object like a quartz crystal, or a sacred song given during initiation: the Major Arcana of the Tarot, in this sense, provides 'at least 22 symbolic gifts or powers in object form scattered throughout your body. A crystal may be in the centre of your forehead, an apple in the heart, a stick of green wood in the right hand, pearls around the neck.' These are gifts to be used in the outer, physical world: If the Tarot Empress has given you a copper rod which she explained would do healing, think of a sick plant in your environment and ask your Guide to bring it to where you and the Tarot Empress are in the inner realm. Ask her to show you how to heal the plant with the rod and follow her instructions . . . these tools are for use in our everyday lives, not just on the inner planes.15 In the Guide Meditation system, astrology is combined with the Tarot in order to identify dominating and conflicting archetypes within the self, so that the encounter process becomes a form

84

NEW DIRECTIONS

of therapy. For example, Aries equates with the Emperor and Mercury with the Magician, Venus with the Empress, Gemini with the Lovers and Aquarius with the Star. According to Steinbrecher, we are able to analyse the horoscope in order to identify the 'high energy' areas via squares, oppositions and opposing zodiacal fields; 'unions', or harmonising forces, via the conjunctions, sextiles parallels and quincunxes, and basic archetypes via the Sun sign and ruler of the Ascendant. The horoscope is thus a chart and symbolic guide to the individual cosmos of each meditator. In the final analysis, the Guide Meditation strives for the same kind of inner rebirth harmonising found in both initiatory shamanism and Qabalistic magic. The aim is self-integration, individuation, a broadened perspective. Steinbrecher writes: Outer world perceptions become acute, and the world literally becomes new. The creative energy wells up from within and a knowledge of a oneness with all becomes a fact of being.16 THE 'INNER LIGHT' TRADITION Dion Fortune had belonged to both the Golden Dawn and the Theosophical Society prior to founding the Fraternity of the Inner Light in London in 1922. As one fascinated by symbolic polarities, especially as exemplified in the black and white forms of Isis and also the goddesses of other pantheons, Dion Fortune developed a sensitive attunement to the inner mythology underlying magic. Her two novels The Sea Priestess' and 'Moon Magic' contain long extracts from what amounts to a complete Rite of Isis, a richly evocative tract honouring the universal goddess: Those who adore the Isis of Nature adore her as Hathor with the horns upon her brow, but those who adore the celestial Isis know her as Levanah, the Moon. She is also the great Deep whence life arose. She is all ancient and forgotten things wherein our roots are cast. Upon earth

NEW DIRECTIONS

85

she is ever-fecund: in heaven she is ever-virgin. She is the mistress of the tides that flow and ebb and flow, and never cease. Keen to reverse the male-dominated, solar-oriented tradition of Golden Dawn ritual she incorporated the magical power of the feminine principle into her invocation: In the heavens our Lady Isis is the Moon, and the moonpowers are hers. She is also priestess of the silver star that rises from the twilight sea. Hers are the magnetic moontides ruling the hearts of men. In the inner she is all-potent. She is the queen of the kingdoms of sleep. All the visible workings are hers and she rules all things ere they come to birth. Even as through Osiris her mate the earth grows green, so the mind of man conceives through her power. Having studied psychoanalysis at the University of London, Dion Fortune became a lay psychoanalyst in 1918 and was strongly influenced by the theories of Adler, Freud and Jung. In Jung's thought, particularly, she found correlations between the archetypes of the unconscious and the dominant mythological images summoned by occultists during rituals and inner 'pathworkings'. The Fraternity of the Inner Light developed the experimental work on meditative and magical journeys that had been explored in the Golden Dawn. An important paper titled The Old Religion' written by a member of Dion Fortune's group confirms that the Inner Light members believed that path-workings through the imagery of the unconscious mind could arouse impressions ('ancient cult memories') from previous incarnations.17 The archetype of the Great Mother was regarded by this meditation group as an anthropomorphic representation of the 'World Memory' a concept paralleled by the Theosophical concept of the 'Akashic Record'. The Inner Light magician believed that the Great Mother could reveal, through the medium of external universal memory, different facets of earlier individual lives on Earth. The author of the paper notes:

86

NEW DIRECTIONS

Most of the members of these groups have, in the past, served at the altars of Pagan Religions and have met, face to face, the Shining Ones of the forests and the mountains, of the lakes and the seas. . . . In the course of these experiments it was discovered that if anyone of the members of a group had in the past a strong contact with a particular cult at a certain period, that individual could communicate these memories to others, and could link them with cult memories that still lie within the Earth memories of Isis as the Lady of Nature.18 As with traditional shamanism the means of access to the mythic domain was through a gateway leading to the under-world. In this case the Inner Light borrowed the concept of the Cumaean Gates which were located, according to Roman legend, near Naples and guarded by the Sibyl attending the Temple of Apollo. It was through these gates that Aeneas passed, after deciphering the labyrinth symbol inscribed on them. Like a shaman, Aeneas sought safe passage in the mythic world by obtaining a powerobject — the golden bough — which was to be given as a gift to Proserpine. He also encountered evil spirits, supernatural monsters and lost colleagues, numbered among the dead. Then, having been reunited with his father Anchises he perceived the 'great vision', a panorama of past and future Roman history and mysterious secrets of the universe. Again, like the transformed shaman, Aeneas emerged from his mythic journey a renewed man, stronger in his faith and convictions. The shamanic aspect aside, the Inner Light group highlighted the role of the feminine archetype in much the same way as Austin Spare had done: it is the woman that holds the keys of the inner planes for a man. If you want to pass the Cumaean Gates you must become as a little child and a woman must lead you. . . . It was Deiphobe, daughter of Glaucus, priestess of Phoebus, and of the Goddess Three-wayed who, for King Aeneas opened the keyless door and drew the veil that hides life from death and death from life.19

NEW DIRECTIONS

87

The Inner Light developed a series of guided meditations which, for each member, heightened the imagery of the mythic environment and made possible an internal 'transfer of consciousness' to the locale concerned. 'The Old Religion' describes a series of inner journeys, 'The By-Road to the Cave in the Mountain', 'At the Ford of the Moon', 'The High Place of the Moon', and 'The Hosting of the Sidhe'. The culminating experience is a merging with the ethereal Isis in her 'green' aspect as Queen of Nature. The account is given from the viewpoint of a male occultist who is initiated by the feminine archetype: As he watched, the green of the beech-leaves and the faint silver colour of the bole seemed to merge in a form that was not the tree, and yet it was like the tree. He was no longer seeing the tree with his eyes - he was feeling it. He was once again in his inner, subtler, moon-body, and with it he saw and felt the moon-body of the tree. Then appeared the tree spirit, the deva, the shining one who lives through the trunk and branches and leaves of the beech tree as a man lives through his torso, limbs and hair. That beech was very friendly and moon-body to moonbody they met, and as his moon-body merged into that of the lady of the beech tree the sensation of the nature of the season, of the caress of the sunlight, of the stimulation of the bright increase of the waxing moon, and of the sleep-time that comes with the decrease of the waning moon were his. 'You can merge thus into all life,' he was told; and then he saw, as the fairy sees, the flowers, the waterfalls, the rivers, and the brightly coloured holy mountain of Derrybawn, which means the home of the Shining Ones. He merged himself into the roaring life that was at the summit of that great and sacred mountain - and in so doing he took the initiation of the lady of Nature - the Green Isis — in her temple on the heather-clad hill-top that is above the deep ravine.20 The traditions of The Fraternity of the Inner Light have been continued by a contemporary magical order, Servants of the

88

NEW DIRECTIONS

Light (SOL) whose headquarters are located in St Helier on the island of Jersey. Dion Fortune trained the well-known occultist W.E. Butler who, like her, assimilated a vast knowledge of Qabalah, mythology and esoteric symbolism into a practical system of magic. In his later years, Butler passed the leadership of the SOL on to the present Director of the Order, Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki who has recently issued a collection of pathworkings under the title 'Highways of the Mind'. The Initial exercise, a meditative phantasy journey embracing the four elements, resembles the psychotherapeutic techniques of active imagination. The following is an extract for the element Air: Look up at the sky; above you are the clouds and the warm sun. Deep inside you there is a pull upwards. Yield to it, and let the power of the sun draw you up to the clouds. Let yourself be made part of the clouds. There the winds dry you and make you part of the kingdom of the Air. Beside you are a throng of fellow sylphs; together you race across the ocean you have just left towards a range of high mountains capped with snow. Up, up and over them you go, revelling in the snow flurries that blow constantly from their summits. Rush down into the valleys, sweeping through the forests and making the branches sing in thin, high voices. . . . Ride on the backs of birds nestled among the wing feathers, looking down on the earth below.21 Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki differentiates two types of pathworkings, the first which proceeds between fixed and known points and which involves familiar symbols ('active' method) and the second which uses a familiar symbol of entry such as a Tarot card or Tattva but which allows unfamiliar images to present themselves ('passive' method). The first is advocated as a safer method for occultists relatively unfamiliar with magicaljourney techniques since the second approach allows for unknown and potentially frightening symbols from the unconscious to present themselves. One is reminded of don Juan's advice to the aspiring magical apprentice Carlos Castaneda:

NEW DIRECTIONS

89

For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must assume responsibility for being here in this marvellous world, in this marvellous desert, in this marvellous time. In the final analysis, there comes a time when the magician must venture into new realms of the mythic universe and trust his sense of personal integrity and concentrated will. Such experiences are sometimes referred to by occultists as semi-or unstructured-path-workings and within the SOL system are regarded as appropriate only for advanced practitioners. Examples of such workings which derive from the SOL tradition will be discussed subsequently. In the final path-working of her 'Highways' series, which belong to the 'active' category rather than the 'passive', Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki builds the imagery of an appealing woodlands scene which heightens the personal sense of well-being and peace with nature. Nestling in a clearing is a small stone chapel where a sacred transformation will occur: When you feel ready, close your eyes and build in the mind's eye a door in the wall facing you. It is made of heavy dark oak with iron hinges and a massive lock. Study it carefully noting the iron handle. Now, move from your chair and walk towards the door. Put out your hand and turn the key, feeling the effort needed for it is large and ancient and a little rusty. Now take hold of the handle, turn it and open the door. Before going through, study the scene before you. It is a wood in early springtime, a beaten track obviously much used leads from the door into the heart of the wood. The air is warm and soft as if after a shower, the scent of damp earth and moss all around you. Step through the door and walk a few paces forward then turn and look behind you. The door is half open, the room beyond is dim and hazy. Above the door is carved your name in letters of gold. You are clad in a long cloak of grey wool with a hood that is thrown back and fastened at the throat with circular

90

NEW DIRECTIONS

clasp which, when closed brings together an equal armed cross engraved within it. Take the path and walk through the wood, try and record the scents and sounds around you. Birds singing very clearly as they do after rain, the feel of wet branches and leaves as they brush against your face and hair. The softness of damp earth beneath your feet. The whole wood is carpeted with wild flowers, see if you can name them. On the branches there are tight green buds just beginning to form. As you walk another sound comes to the ear, the chime of bells. Follow it and the track leads you to a large clearing in which stands a small chapel of grey stone. The bells fall silent and you wait. To the door of the chapel comes a friar clad in a white robe. The face is neither young nor old, austere yet with untold compassion and understanding in the eyes. He opens the door wide and gestures to you to come into the chapel. Inside all is light and the full glory of the stained glass is visible. It is sparsely furnished, no pews, just a high backed chair facing the altar with a small wooden bench in front of it. On the Altar all is ready and waiting. Take your place in the chair and make your own prayer. On the Altar there is a silver chalice, small and plain and in a covered dish the Holy Water. The Eastern Window is in shades of Rose and Gold with touches of Blue and Green. The Central theme is a child holding a dove in His hands. The priest comes from behind you carrying what seems to be another chalice, but covered with white silk. This he places with great care on the Altar, the cover is constantly stirring as if in a gentle breeze, the scent of roses fills the chapel and though no-one else is present there is an unheard song of praise that fills the inner ear. Kneel now at the bench and prepare yourself to become a receiver. Empty yourself as completely as you can, leaving the mind, not blank but 'ready'. The priest comes to you with the communion which you take. He then

NEW DIRECTIONS

91

departs from the chapel taking the small chalice and the plate with him. Take your seat again and fix your eyes on the covered object on the altar. Now, in this state, already on a higher level than the physical, go into a meditation thus passing into the next level. Let the covered chalice be your doorway. It becomes larger until it fills your vision, its shape shining through the cloth. Let 'It' fill your mind, which you have emptied ready for whatever may come. Try and grasp what is being impressed on your highered state of consciousness. Gradually the Grail returns to its former size and the chapel becomes visible around you once more. Hold on to whatever it is that has been passed to you. Make your thanks and go to the door, pause there and look back. All the light within the chapel is coming from the covered Grail and a low musical humming sound fills the air. Outside all is quiet and peaceful, just a lovely wood full of flowers. Retrace your steps until you come to the door, go through it closing and locking it behind you. Sit down in the chair. Feel the physical body close around you and when you are ready open your eyes. Record your 'Grail message' at once before you forget. This may take time and tire you a bit for you are passing through the astral to the mental plane using one as a stepping stone to the other, but a short rest should be enough to restore you.22 Since the Servants of Light operates a system of magical training through correspondence it has extended its direct international influence further than the Golden Dawn, which had Temples only in Britain and France, and affiliated Orders in the United States. The SOL currently has practising members in the United States, Germany, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Ethiopia, Britain and Australia. Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki has been able to maintain the core structure of SOL magical procedure by periodically visiting the main centres of occult activity. In Sydney a group of SOL trained occultists, including 'Magus' editors Catherine Colefax and Cheryl Weeks, and

92

NEW DIRECTIONS

psycho-mythologist Moses Aaron began a series of more complex magical path-workings based on specific cosmic archetypes. All three had worked extensively in communicating with different aspects of the Goddess. Catherine Colefax and Cheryl Weeks had developed Dion Fortune's 'Rite of Isis' to embrace path-workings invoking images of Demeter, Persephone, Diana, Aphrodite and the Black Isis, and Moses Aaron had had extensive inner plane magical contact with a number of magical entities including the venerable Merlin and the Minotaurguardian of the Labyrinth. The approach of the 'Magus' phantasy group was collectively to prepare 'entry meditations' which would summon appropriate archetypal images to mind and establish a point of contact with the mythic plane. One member of the group would read the entry aloud, much in the same fashion as Robert Masters's and Jean Houston's 'mind game' technique, while the others would build the inner sensation of the alternative, symbolic reality as a locale for transferring consciousness. In some cases the entry sequences were reasonably brief, in other instances complex and detailed. However, having entered the mythic space, one then had to complete the journey unaided, recalling contact with the archetypes in as much detail as possible so that the magical encounters could be systematically recorded immediately afterwards. These journeys thus belonged to the second order of path-workings, which did not lead between specific symbolic points of entry and departure, but included spontaneous intangibles. The entry for an early phantasy journey, invoking Pan, was reasonably brief: Go through the doorway. You are on a rocky landscape - flat and black rock. You come to a wide abyss. As you stand there you hear the sound of a flute. The sounds become golden circles of light that make stepping-stones across the abyss. If you wish, cross the abyss on the golden stepping-stones and go in search of the one who makes the music. For Moses Aaron, this entry produced a remarkable mythic contact in which he was able to converse on a person to person

NEW DIRECTIONS

93

basis with Pan. An interesting aspect of the encounter is Pan's music - a type of 'soundless sound'; reminiscent of Zen: I cross and come to Pan (Golden bottom half, top half white with golden hair and beard), 'Lord of the Dance, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, I would see you if it is permitted.' 'Then come and kneel before me' (I kneel), 'Now look up' I see Pan and embrace him. 'Lord I would be comforted by you.' (He picks me up like a child on his left arm) 'Lord I would kiss you' (I kiss him on the mouth feeling incredibly joyful being held by him). 'It is time to go.' 'Lord I would be held a little longer by you. When I am in your arms I am comforted and do not fear.' 'What is your fear?' 'Lord I do not know, but in your arms I am protected from all fear.' 'In that you are wrong little one. I can protect you perhaps from all the outer fear but the true fear that is inside you, not I nor any being can protect you from, except your star — now it is time to go.' 'Lord Piper if it is permitted, play your pipe for me.' (He plays it) 'Little one, what did you hear?' 'I heard nothing Lord.' 'The sweetest music is that which is unheard.' 'Lord that sounds like a vile paradox.' ' — or an inexpressible truth. Which is it for you?' 'Lord I don't know. Play your pipe again.' (Again I hear nothing.) 'Now it is time to go.' (He puts me down. I hold his hand and we walk back to the abyss.) 'Lord can you walk on the golden discs?' 'I can but I have no need.' (He picks me up and holding me in his arms he leaps across the abyss - and puts me down on the other side.)

94

NEW DIRECTIONS

'Lord I would visit you again if it is permitted.' 'It is certainly permitted. Till then, good listening, little one.' Some of the original semi-structured magical journeys of the 'Magus' group included encounters with Diana, the Guardian of the Ring Stones (modelled on Stonehenge, but featuring twelve stones for each sign of the Zodiac, each vibrating a musical note) and a mythic quest for buried treasure (the 'inner gold'). During this time I had been involved with more structured path-workings involving the initiatory archetypes of the Tarot. I had prepared a series of 'mind game' voyages embracing the 22 Major Arcana and leading from The World through to the paradoxical card of The Fool, and this had been included in an earlier book 'Don Juan, Mescalito and Modern Magic'. By experimenting with synthesiser music I had arranged a series of meditation tapes which double-tracked the Tarot path-workings over the evocative textural 'inner space' music of such instrumentalists as Klaus Schulze, Edgar Froese, Brian Eno, Manuel Gottsching and others, most of whom belonged to the German electronic-music genre, or had been influenced by it. Appreciating the potentially far-reaching nature of semi-structured magical path-workings, I joined the 'Magus' phantasy group from their fourth journey onwards. With the Tarot material I had been running the risk, within John Lilly's terminology, of confining my range of perceptions to my own belief system — in other words, imposing unnecessary limitations. The 'Magus' path-workings since that time have been more far reaching and have included more diverse content. Building on the Goddess-orientation of the three other participants, a magical entry was prepared for an encounter with The Empress, an archetypal Goddess who, of course, is present in the Tarot but is universally represented in mythology as the Mother of the Universe. Optional sequences were included within the path-working to allow each person to individualise the contact with the Goddess: We enter a cave door and descend by a flight of ancient

NEW DIRECTIONS

95

stone steps to the palace of the Empress. At the bottom of the steps we come to a magnificent door encrusted with silver discs and beautiful sea-blue gemstones. The door swings in and we enter the ante-chamber. The floor is pearly and translucent and the walls of the chamber shimmer shimmer like starlit mirrors. A young maiden presents herself as mistress of the starchamber and we tell her we would like to meet the Empress. The maiden says that she may allow us to enter one of three doorways and that she will give us a gift to enable us to be effective in the goddess's domain. The gifts are: a scythe with which to harvest wheat a silver goblet from which to drink a luminous crystal to guide us beneath a lake We see symbols of these on doorways before us and take our gifts to enter. We are told that as a summation of our experience we will meet the Empress and should account for ourselves, telling her in what manner we have travelled in her domain and what we have learnt. And now we step forward. My own journey included certain features which resembled the Guide Meditation. A travelling companion (a coiled dragon) appeared who led me past potential adversaries. As with the Guide Meditation, I was given a gift by the Goddess: In the ante-chamber the gift I nominated from the maiden was the goblet from which to drink. Almost immediately I was aware that I was in a different domain. I was travelling on a precipitous mountain track which climbed perilously above me on a very vertical incline. I had a guide — a youth with a beautifully proportioned body and superb golden hair - who carried a fiery torch. The glow lit the landscape and it was craggy, with bluish green colouring and potentially very hard to climb. I seemed to follow the light rather than watch where my feet were. Then I was aware of a coiled dragon above me but

96

NEW DIRECTIONS

curved round the central axis of the mountain. A warrior slew the dragon and then his own head was cut off. I didn't see how this occurred but a sense of self-sacrifice was implied. I passed by and came towards the great Empress, seated on her throne. She had long flowing golden hair but I found it difficult to focus on her face as if her eyes were in many places at once. She held out another flask for me to drink from — indeed I was not aware of actually having taken the goblet from the maiden in the first place and maybe the sacred drink was the goal - not a gift given initially. I drank, and as the fluid poured into me I felt I was expanding and could almost float away. It was a very liberating, expansive feeling and it seemed that something precious had been given to me. Exploratory path-workings in the group have since included journeys involving the dualism of the Tao used as a doorway, a new Minotaur entry and a phantasy journey to the domain of Abraxas, the Gnostic high god who contained the polar opposites and was also god of Time. While this work is still continuing and it is perhaps inappropriate to analyse the visionary journeys too deeply at this stage our feeling is that the semi-structured path-working allows spontaneous manifestations of unconscious mythology to arise within a creative and meaningful context. On occasion the experiences have shown considerable parallels with the primal myths of the shamans; Cheryl Weeks's journey resulting from an encounter with the Cosmic Dragon is reminiscent of the South American shamanic experiences reported by Michael Harner. The Dragon introduces the meditator to elemental processes in the universe which exhibit extraordinary beauty: [The entry was as follows]: Relax slowly until your body grows heavier and heavier, and you lose awareness of it with the exception of the centre of the forehead. Here a pinpoint of light begins to form. . . . It gradually expands till it covers you and the space around you, and it seems as though you float in this

NEW DIRECTIONS

97

light for an eternity. Then suddenly it focuses into a beam that extends about twenty feet in front of you; you concentrate on its tip and as you do, the beam itself vanishes, and the point you are watching is all that remains. It is dark all around you and it is hard at first to see your surroundings. But you become aware that this point of light is the pupil of a huge golden eye. As you begin to see more clearly you see the shape of an enormous body stretching into the depths of the cavern you now find yourself in. And finally, as your eyes complete their adjustment you see that this enormous shape is a gigantic dragon, who is lying about twenty feet from where you stand. Its wings, which are half unfurled, are incredibly beautiful - a mosaic of living colours: vermilion, deep rich blues, azure, flaming gold, interlaced with many vibrant hues. His enormous body is scaled with bronze metallic patterns that are woven shapes that seem to writhe and dance as he breathes, and along his spine are crystal spikes that catch the light that explodes from time to time from the back of the cavern. He stares unwinkingly with his huge eyes and you are trapped in his gaze. Your limbs freeze; he watches but does not show any interest in your paralysis. The silence around you is a tangible sound: you wait, and then slowly he begins to move towards you. And still you cannot move, your gaze is locked to his, for you did not know that to look into a dragon's eyes puts you under his spell. He looks deep within you, further than you yourself have been, and then far beyond. There is something alien and incredibly ancient about his gaze, and you feel your transience compared to his ancient lineage. He stops about ten feet in front of you. You find you are at last able to move. And if you wish, . you can choose to leave. All you have to do is close your eyes and activate the point of light in your forehead, build it outwards to encompass you, float for a while, then open your eyes and you will be back in familiar surroundings. He awaits your decision. It's up to you.

98

NEW DIRECTIONS

[The journey itself]: I sang to the dragon - a song of evenings in Spring with the full moon gracefully rising and the gentle wind bending with flower filled grass. And as I sang the images formed so that we were experiencing them. Then the dragon sang, in a rumbling hum, and he sang of primeval forests and flaming volcanos and the hot breath of the wind over an orange sea. And these too we experienced. Again the dragon sang, a new song, and a woman began to form. I joined his singing. And he sang her a dress of lustrous silver, and I sang her flowing silver hair, and when we had finished she stood very beautiful, a little like a silver fish in the cling of her shining dress. Then I felt she must have a mate, so I began to sing again and the dragon joined me. And we sang a man of golden beauty, his hair a halo of shimmering sun. We watched and they moved together. They became two pillars, shining gold and lustrous silver. And they became molten and intertwined, then blended and vanished, fountaining upward and fading away. The dragon, as I stood beside him, breathed searing flames and clouds of smoke. They remained, and formed a lotus of fire with smoke wreaths of leaves at its base. The lotus opened to reveal a child, who held out his hand in which was a large shining pearl. Then this vision too fountained upwards and dissolved. I knelt on the floor and dug into the black earth. I mixed it with water and anointed my whole body. It became like an oil which stained my skin. I said 'I am black, my lord'. I commenced to spin until I lost consciousness and awoke.

POSTSCRIPT

Why the Shaman?

The essential aim of this book has been to show some of the interesting parallels that occur between traditional shamanism and the more visionary aspects of magic in modern western society. It is probably appropriate for me to explain why I undertook such a comparative study in the first place. As Michael Harner notes in his exemplary work, 'The Way of the Shaman', we have been content in our contemporary scientific world to pass over the folk-wisdom of shamanic cultures, ostensibly because the societies from which these beliefs flow are unsophisticated and technologically simple. In the same way that western doctors have only recently had to confront the Taoist belief system underlying Chinese acupuncture — since for surgical anaesthesia the technique itself obviously works — so too shamanism has provided an alternative body of knowledge pertaining to altered states of consciousness. Our society does not normally operate in such an 'altered state': indeed the fabric of technology, management planning and industrial production would collapse if shamans rather than scientists, engineers and operations controllers were running things! However, our technological strength in modern society has been our mythological undoing. Deus is now firmly within the machine, rather than ex machina. Our dominant frameworks of knowledge have been those postulated by philosophers and scientists drawing on the latest advances in chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics. Anything smacking vaguely of 'prescience' has been firmly relegated to the domain of superstition and wrong thinking. Indeed, two pre-eminent figures in the

DOI: 10.4324/9780429327087-6

100

POSTSCRIPT

history of twentieth-century thought, Sigmund Freud and Jacob Bronowski, were both most anxious to denounce occult and metaphysical approaches and remove them as thoroughly as possible from any incursion into contemporary systems of knowledge. The revival of modern western magic and the renewed interest in 'native' cosmologies and shamanism as found among the Amer-indian cultures, for example, show that a 'mythic backlash' has taken place. It has proven to be unsatisfactory, and indeed possibly pathological, to attempt to repress the vestiges of mythological thought in modern man in the vain hope of eliminating 'superstition' with the advance of science. Clearly we humans require domains of mystery; we need to know where the sacred aspects of life may be found and how to understand the intuitive, infinite and profoundly meaningful visionary moments which arise in all of us at different times. And yet our dominant western culture is hardly supportive in this regard. We are surrounded by an urban technology which has done its best to demystify the world. Stanley Hopper has written, appropriately, of the 'impoverishment of symbols' from which we have all been suffering and notes that in our consumer culture, mythological traditions have been so inverted that Ahura Mazda is known today as an electric light bulb, the spirit Mercury is the name of an automobile and Pegasus, splendid in the antique sky, though recognised almost everywhere today is recognised nevertheless in the diminished guise of the Flying Red Horse - trademark for a gasoline.1 By contrast both shamanism and magic offer techniques of approaching the visionary sources of our culture. Both systems of thought structure the universe in ways that are deeply and symbolically meaningful and which fully accommodate enlarged horizons of human consciousness. We learn how to transform the profane world and be reborn in the cosmos. Why shamanism? Why magic? We need them both.

APPENDIX A

Shamanism, Magic and the Study of Consciousness

Shamanism and modern trance magic are multi-faceted phenomena and consequently it is necessary to draw on a wide range of source areas to throw light on the processes involved. Anthropologists Reinhard and Bourguignon have appropriately introduced the notion of altered states of consciousness into the discussion of shamanism and such states also involve consideration of right and left brain-hemisphere research, electroencephalograph monitorings of brain wave functions (EEGs) and the effect of sensory deprivation on consciousness. Several shamans report dissociational effects comparable to those found in the so-called, out-of-the-body experience (OOBE), and these have been recently studied by a number of psychologists who variously describe them as perceptual extensions of consciousness or schizophrenic aberrations. Several depth psychologists have also made a study of mythological and symbolic states of mind which clearly pertain to the shamanic process. Some of these findings have been adapted into techniques of 'active imagination' in psychotherapy and acquire aspects of the more traditional trance journey. While contemporary magicians are likely to refer to Jungian frameworks of archetypal psychology as their basis for analysis, recent work on 'programmes of belief in the unconscious mind are also vitally relevant. Such studies emphasise the scope that a given belief system provides for the expansion of consciousness and visionary perspectives.

102

APPENDIX A

PHYSIOLOGY AND MYSTICISM An immediate consideration is whether shamans and trance magicians fall into the broad category of mystics. Mysticism has been defined by J. H. Leuba as 'an experience taken by the experiencer to be an immediate contact or union of the self with the "larger-than-self" be it called the World Spirit, God the Absolute or whatever,'1 and Evelyn Underhill in her definitive work 'Mysticism' describes the phenomenon as 'establishing one's conscious relation with the Absolute'.2 We have already indicated that the shaman operates within a defined cosmos and encounters as an existential reality the deities and Spirit beings who for him have supreme meaning in his culture. Frequently, the gods of the shaman are those who uphold life, who hold the keys to prosperity and the antidotes for disease and evil. In this sense it is appropriate to regard the shamanic journey as a quest involving contact with the absolute. Ehrenwald has even described the out-of-the-body experience which is an integral part of shamanism as 'an expression of man's perennial quest for immortality . . . a faltering attempt to assert the reality and autonomous existence of the "soul" - a deliberate challenge to the threat of extinction.'3 Clearly such processes are involved. The shaman as in intermediary between mankind and the gods has access to planes of existence not normally accessible to the living and he frequently demonstrates through the 'death and reemergence' process that he is capable of transcending mortality. Harriet Whitehead similarly concludes that the mystic and magician share many features in common and that their activities lie on a continuum: The mystic experience carries with it, in the words of William James, 'states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect'. The magician's passion is for knowledge; super-sensible knowledge but at the same time practical knowledge; For him the two need not be contradictory.4 Charles Tart, meanwhile, has subsumed mystical and magical states of mind within the categories of 'altered states' (ASC)

APPENDIX A

103

which he differentiates from discrete ordinary states of consciousness that arise within the so-called 'consensus reality'. The latter is described as the domain of everyday communication and is supported by mutually agreed-upon concepts which underlie language and social behaviour. Tart's view of a state of consciousness implies 'an overall active organisation of consciousness, an interacting system of structures activated by attention/awareness energy.'5 Part of the shamanic process, as we have seen, involves a shifting of awareness away from the everyday context to an inner mental domain which acquires dominant reality as the shaman's consciousness pays increasing attention to symbolic images which arise. Tart's work involves an analysis of 'events in experiential space' and the range of activity between high rationality and high imagining ability. Normally in mystical states the latter is pronounced and the former is diminished. However, Tart has identified particular EEG patterns for outof-the-body experiences which distinguish them from dream and mystical states, and has focused special attention on the socalled 'lucid dream'. In the lucid dream, the subject retains a degree of will and consciousness: One feels as rational and in control of one's mental state as in an ordinary state of consciousness, but one is still experientially located within the dream world. Here we have a range of rationality at a very high level and a range of ability to image also at a very high level.6 This category of altered states seems to fit closer than any other the phenomenon of shamanism. The shaman has vivid memory recall as a result of his visions. He is able to act purposively within his trance condition and is thus clearly distinguishable from the possessed medium who does not retain control of the altered state and frequently has no recollection of what has occurred. The shaman is also encountering a range of images which equate more closely with dream content than with the mystical practices of Zen and Yoga for which physiological tests have been made. In these cases the philosophical goal is a fusion with an undefined Absolute which transcends form and content.

104

APPENDIX A

Not surprisingly a distinctive EEG pattern has been found for this condition; it is dominated by the alpha-wave cycle associated with relaxation and meditation and which produces high amplitudes of 8-13 cycles per second.7 However such primary thought processes are not exclusively linked to alpha states and can also embrace dream states and highly emotional mental states ranging from very high to very low levels of cortical arousal.8 Although a complete range of tests has not been carried out, we would clearly expect a different EEG result from a Zen mystic meditating on the Void and a shaman undergoing a dismemberment/rebirth process. The variance in belief systems and the corresponding dissimilarities in perceptual content appear to relate to different modes of consciousness, a point raised by John Lilly, and which will be discussed subsequently. Akira Kasamatsu and Tomai Hirai have reported the results of an EEG study on Zen practitioners of the Soto and Rinzai sects. It was found that during a Zen sitting (Zazen) alpha waves were observed on the EEG monitoring equipment attached to the scalps of the meditators after only fifty seconds. The amplitude of these alpha waves continued and were subsequently joined by a rhythmical theta train sometimes associated with the hypnotic state. According to Kasamatsu and Hirai These . . . stages of EEG changes were parallel with the disciples' mental states which were evaluated by a Zen master.'9 Persistent alpha-wave activity was also reported by B. K. Anand and his colleagues in their study of Yogis during samadhi (meditative union) and also before and after meditation. It was evident that two of the yogis with high pain thresholds were able to retain high alpha even when their hands were exposed to icy water (4° Centigrade) for up to fifty-five minutes. Two others were able to actively eliminate the external bombardment of strong light, loud auditory stimuli, vibration and heat, without any influence on the alpha pattern.10 While these findings have no direct bearing on shamanism per se they indicate the extent to which mystical practitioners can shift their mode of attention and perceptual consciousness from an external to an internal domain. In Tart's terminology they transfer their consciousness energy from one experiential locale

APPENDIX A

105

to another. However, it is clear that aside from indicating such factors as alpha increase, EEG monitorings can tell us very little about the specific mental content of an altered state and nothing at all about such factors as symbolic transformation and archetypal journeys, which are quite crucial to the shamanic process. In the case of the shaman we are confronted with a trance phenomenon which as Ronald Shor indicates 'makes the distinction between reality and imagination progressively less relevant.'11 This aspect notwithstanding, interesting work on the left and right hemispheres of the brain has been undertaken by researchers like Robert Ornstein and David Galin. Ornstein identifies different functional qualities in the left and right hemispheres of typical right-handed persons.12 Among the aspects pertaining to the left hemisphere are: intellect, time and action, and explicit, analytic, propositional, lineal, sequential and verbal patterns. Among those pertaining to the right are the following: sensuous, timeless, receptive, tacit, gestalt, appositional, non-lineal, simultaneous and spatial qualities. Ornstein notes that meditation refers to a set of techniques which relate to what he calls 'personal' rather than 'intellectual' knowledge. As such, the exercises are designed to produce an alteration in consciousness - a shift away from the receptive and quiescent mode and visually a shift from an external focus of attention to an internal one . . . he attempts to keep all external sources of stimulation to a minimum to avoid being distracted from his object of meditation.13 Ornstein subsequently makes the point that on a comparative cultural basis, chanting, prayer, breath control and visualisation of symbols all play their part in meditation in helping shift the range of awareness.14 It is significant that traditional mysticism, shamanism and contemporary trance magic share all of these aspects in common. Alpha rhythms in the occipital cortex represent a state of decreased visual attention to the external environment and as we have seen are also found in Zen and Yogic meditation. This has led Ornstein to define meditation as a high-alpha state.

106

APPENDIX A

However he also notes that 'the esoteric psychologies' (which would include modern magical philosophy) seek a balance of intellectuality and intuition and 'the exercises usually stress the development of the receptive holistic mode'.15 It follows that irrespective of whether mysticism equates with high alpha in the sense that the mystic and magician alike are seeking union with a greater defined reality, they are indeed activating a holistic mode of consciousness, identified with the right hemisphere.16 It is interesting however that several Golden Dawn members, among them the noted writers W.B. Yeats, Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood, found ritual magic a stimulus to the creative imagination. Yeats in particular accommodated a number of his Tarot trance meditations into his poems and the Tiphareth rebirth ritual into the recollections of Michael Robartes in 'Rosa Alchemica'.17 The Tree of Life symbol in modern western magic is often interpreted so that Hod (intellect) is counterposed against Netzach (emotion, intuition) and the aim of the magician is to achieve a balanced rapport with the energies of his mythological unconscious. David Galin emphasises that the analytic and holistic modes are complementary; each provides a dimension which the other lacks. Artists, scientists, mathematicians, writing about their own creativity, all report that their work is based on a smooth integration of both modes.18 Consequently while mysticism is linked to right hemisphere activity it is likely that shamanism and trance magic - which brings purposeful activity to the altered state, as in the lucid dream - may combine right- and left-hemisphere activity. MYTHOLOGICAL AND SYMBOLIC DOMAINS The initial impetus in psychological research linking mythological symbols with the unconscious mind came from Carl Jung. Whereas Freud took the view that the unconscious contained and manifested infantile tendencies which had been

APPENDIX A

107

repressed as 'incompatible', Jung regarded the unconscious psyche as embracing a much wider range of imagery. While for Freud the study of dreams was an important means of revealing neuroses, Jung regarded such dreams as a form of communication between the conscious and unconscious, expressing 'something specific that the unconscious was trying to say'.19 He also noted that it was not appropriate to identify specific sexual motifs like the phallus or breast in dreams but to ask why specific images presented themselves. In this sense images came to have metaphysical meaning for him: A man may dream of inserting a key in a lock, of wielding a heavy stick, or of breaking down a door with a battering ram. Each of these can be regarded as a sexual allegory. But the fact that his unconscious, for its own purpose, has chosen one of these specific images — it may be the key, the stick or the battering ram — is also of major significance. The real task is to understand why the key has been preferred to the stick or the stick to the ram. And sometimes this might even lead one to discover that it is not the sexual act at all that is represented but some quite different point.20 Jung's study led him to the conclusion that such dreams were compensating for aspects of the personality which were unbalanced. He also believed that certain motifs derived from a level of the psyche which was universal, rather than derived from the individual ego. It was in the 'collective unconscious' that he discerned what he believed to be mythological processes. These were revealed in the form of 'religious images, their origin so far buried in the mystery of the past that they seem to have no human source.' He saw them as 'collective manifestations' emanating from primeval dreams and creative phantasies. 'As such,' he wrote, 'these images are involuntary spontaneous manifestations and by no means intentional inventions.'21 He also provided an example of how such a primordial image, or 'archetype' was formed: One of the commonest and at the same time most

108

APPENDIX A

impressive experiences is the apparent movement of the sun every day. We certainly cannot discover anything of the kind in the unconscious, so far as known physical process is concerned. What we do find, on the other hand, is the myth of the sun hero in all its countless modifications. 22 Jung was also impressed by the fact that in dreams and visionary states the archetype appeared to act independently of the beholder: The act of autonomy is such that psychologically, the spirit manifests itself as a personal being, sometimes with visionary clarity ... in its strongest and most immediate manifestations it displays a peculiar life of its own which is felt as an independent being. 23 While such views led many of Jung's colleagues to believe that his study had passed from psychology into the realms of mysticism, it is not surprising that such occultists as Dion Fortune, Israel Regardie and W.E. Butler should have been influenced by his approach. Jung's framework of unconscious archetypes gave strength to the notion that the frameworks of the Tree of Life presented a structure of archetypal deities which could be influential in helping the magician harmonise and balance his interior psychic processes. It also reinforced the concept that such archetypes could take on individual status in meditation and in the out-of-the-body or trance state, when occultists undertook magical journeys and encountered godimages direct. The magicians and Jung were agreed on the impact that such an encounter could have. The latter wrote that the archetype 'seizes hold of the psyche with a kind of primeval force'. 24 The sheer impact of such a visionary experience was regarded by the occultists of the Golden Dawn as initiatory, and the sun hero referred to earlier as an example in Jung's writings, was specifically the magician's goal in Tiphareth at the centre of the Tree of Life: the visionary experience of spiritual renewal associated mythologically with gods of life and light. Several scholars influenced by Jung and writing from both

APPENDIX A

109

anthropological and psychological perspectives have further highlighted the links between mythology and consciousness. As we have noted, in the case of both the shaman, and the trance occultist following the symbolic paths of the Tarot upon the Tree of Life, the encountered mythological entities are seen as real and tangible in their presence. Indeed as James Hillman says, the images act upon the subject, bringing about a transformation: We learn from the alchemical psychologists to let the images work upon the experimenter; we learn to become the object of the work - even an object, or objectified image, of the imagination.25 In this sense the magician is moulded by the archetypal symbols of the psyche and is caught up in the ancestral drama which they present. The links between the dream state and mythic consciousness have been delineated by Ira Progoff, James Hillman and Stanislav Grof, among others. Progoff, a depth psychologist with a marked Jungian orientation, believes that mythic states are best understood as belonging to the transpersonal level, that is to say, levels of consciousness beyond the usual domain of the ego. He writes: In general, dreams are that aspect of the symbolic dimension that is experienced in personal terms. When the symbolic dimension is perceived in transpersonal terms, in terms that pertain to more than the subjective experience of the individual reaching to what is universal in man, whether the experience is in sleeping or waking, myth is involved. It is myth because it touches what is ultimate in man and in his life, expresses it symbolically, and provides an inner perspective by which the mysteries of human existence are felt and entered into.26 Progoff rejects Freud's view that the unconscious contains only the repressed contents of the psyche and he has moved closer to Jung's model of the collective unconscious with its range of deep and universal archetypal images. However he also regards

110

APPENDIX A

the unconscious as containing evolutionary potential for growth. As the 'seed of the personality' it contains 'the possibilities for future experience'.27 The transpersonal domain also offers insights which only subsequently impinge upon the intellect. Progoff's views show pronounced parallels with contemporary magical views of the psyche. As we have already indicated, occultists like Dion Fortune, W.E. Butler and Israel Regardie regard the magical journey as one which leads into the universally creative areas of the psyche, the very source of genius. The magician has before him, in terms of the Tree of Life framework, a complete matrix of mythological images which he can encounter in trance and incorporate into consciousness by means of magical identification. Contemporary ceremonial magic, with its emphasis on Tiphareth initiation, contains within its methodology an implicit aim to produce in each practitioner the god-man. Aleister Crowley wrote in 'Magick in Theory and Practice', The true God is man. In man are all things hidden.'28 Both Progoff and Hillman stress that the transpersonal state which this implies transcends the function of intellect and precedes it. Hillman notes that we do not take intellect to the image: 'We sin against imagination whenever we ask our image for its meaning, requiring that images be translated into concepts.' By contrast, he notes 'Vision cannot be enacted unless archetypal persons strike us as utterly real'.29 In taking this position, Hillman is adopting essentially the same approach as the trance magician and shaman. The shift of awareness to the transpersonal, mythological domain produces a sequence of imaginal experiences which in a phenomenological sense are perceptually valid and totally convincing. Stanislav Grof's 'Realms of the Human Unconscious' summarises his views of the unconscious mind as a result of seventeen years' research on LSD and other psychedelic drugs. As with Progoff, Grof pays special attention to transpersonal levels of consciousness which he divides into two divisions, those operating within the limits of 'objective reality' and those extending beyond it. Within the first category (which embraces time/space exten-

APPENDIX A

111

sions) Grof includes the out-of-the-body experience, which frequently occurs in LSD sessions: Some individuals have experienced themselves completely detached from their physical bodies, hovering above them or watching them from another part of the room. Occasionally the subject can also lose the awareness of the physical setting of the session and his consciousness moves into various experiential realms and subjective realities that appear to be entirely independent of material reality.30 However the physical perspective is capable of transforming into a mythological one. Grof gives as an illustration a subject who spent the first three hours of an LSD session experiencing a fantastic battle between the forces of light and darkness in the form of the confrontation of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman in the ancient Persian Zend Avesta. The subject later wrote: It was fought on all conceivable levels — in the cells and tissues of my body, on the surface of our planet throughout history, in the cosmos space and on a metaphysical, transcendental level.'31 Grof categorises such transpersonal experiences involving mythological and archetypal content as those 'beyond the framework of objective reality' and archetypal encounters are common during psychedelic sessions. An LSD subject can, for example, experience full identification with the archetypes of the Martyr, Fugitive, Outcast, Enlightened Ruler, Tyrant, Fool, Good Samaritan, Wise Old Man, Vicious Spoiler, Ascetic or Hermit. . . . In some of the most universal archetypes, the subject can identify with the roles of the Mother, Father, Child, Woman, Man or Lover. Many highly universalized roles are felt as sacred, as exemplified by the archetypes of the Great Mother, the Terrible Mother, the Earth Mother, Mother Nature, the Great Hermaphrodite or Cosmic Man. 32 It is of considerable interest that several of these images are also present in the mythology of the Tarot, notably the Martyr (The

112

APPENDIX A

Hanged Man), The Enlightened Ruler (The Hierophant), The Tyrant (The Charioteer, Death, The Devil), The Fool (The Fool), The Wise Old Man (The Emperor), The Hermit (The Hermit), The Great Mother (The Empress), The Terrible Mother (Justice), The Earth Mother (Strength), and The Great Hermaphrodite (The Fool, The Devil). It is appropriate to regard these as a series of mythological encounters which the contemporary magician experiences in his trance journey upon the Tree of Life. Grof notes that several of his subjects have gravitated towards mystical frameworks following their LSD sessions: some . . . have developed insights into entire systems of esoteric thought. Thus individuals unfamiliar with the Qabalah have had experiences described in the Zahar and Sepher Yetzirah and have demonstrated a surprising familiarity with Qabalistic symbols. Others spontaneously played with the transcendental meaning of numbers and came to conclusions that were parallel with Pythagorean algebra or numerology. Subjects who had previously ridiculed astrology and had a condescending attitude toward alchemy discovered deeper meaning in these systems and gained a deep appreciation of their metaphysical relevance.33 Quite aside from these observations on symbolic aspects of the unconscious, we also find marked shamanic parallels in some of the techniques of modern psychotherapy. Consequently it is likely that some of the approaches currently employed in the field of 'active imagination' will continue to throw light on the perceptual universe of the shaman. The skrying technique employed by the Golden Dawn magicians and also the medieval occultist Edward Kelley seems to resemble the half-dream state already referred to as the 'waking' or 'lucid' dream. The following account from an early Freudian researcher is reminiscent of the observations of the Tarot and Tattva meditators: In a dark room with eyes closed a definite scene will appear before me in apparently as bright an illumination as

APPENDIX A

113

daylight. I seem to be looking through my closed eyelids. The scene is apparently as real, as vivid, as detailed as an actual landscape. . . . Once the scene was a tropical landscape, with palm trees and a body of water. It was clear and detailed and appeared so real that I was surprised to find it unchanged by winking.34 The pioneering European psychotherapists evolved techniques of active imagination so that patients could visualise themselves in imaginal locations for therapeutic purposes. The psychotherapist learned how to train the patient to relax, to separate his consciousness from its usual contents, to turn his awareness towards the movements of the imaginal; how to help him learn to enter into his imaginary body, to insert himself into the imaginary scene, to move within it, to encounter threatening images and to allow affect to rise, how to recognise and work with resistances; how or whether to interpret and analyse the waking dream; how to see the patient's experience in the imaginal realm in relaxation to other aspects of his existence.35 Relaxation of the body and willed imagination involving a shift of consciousness to a distinct visualised form are basic magical techniques for producing the out-of-the-body condition known by occultists as astral projection. When this dissociational state is linked to a meditative symbol the trance domain acquires distinctive mythological qualities, as in the case of the visionary Tattva and Tarot projections that have already been discussed. Interestingly, some psychotherapists have employed techniques of active imagination which resemble shamanic descent and ascent. Eugene Caslant in a darkened consulting room taught his patients to ascend and descend from one imaginary level to another by evoking such images as the ladder, the staircase and the flying chariot. The subject imagined himself placed on and venturing into interior imaginary space: ascension not only brought about an inner feeling of elev-

114

APPENDIX A

ation but also markedly affected the nature of the vision . . . higher levels were usually associated with more pleasant affect than lower ones.36 Robert Desoille, a student of Caslant's, used to encourage his patients to enter imaginary archetypal locations (an ocean, cave or encounter with a mythical beast and so on) until the anxiety aroused by the images in these situations simply drained away. He believed, with Caslant, that ascension was associated with warmth, slower respiration and heartbeat, sensations of light and euphoria, and more 'positive' imagery. In a comparable manner the trance magicians' ascent upon the Tree of Life or journeys to archetypal domains tend to produce transcendental images of a pure and integrative nature. Descent indicates a mythological aspiration towards a lower evolutionary stage than man (e.g. the animal man) and the visions of such magicians tend to have a retrogressive quality. As we have noted, the occult artist, Austin Spare, evolved a unique technique of inducing the trance state by means of concentrating on magical sigils and believed that in trance he could enter animal forms which had been his own earlier incarnations. By retracing this succession of 'personalities' Spare thought he could arrive at his 'first form' and then leap into the undifferentiated void of universal consciousness which he named Kia. His visionary style of graphic art became increasingly dominated by half-human and half-animal forms (satyrs, horned beings) and distinctly atavistic in nature.37 Leuner's technique of psychotherapy, by comparison, was not far removed from Spare's perspective but lacked the obsessive and retrogressive direction of the trance artist. Leuner's process involved confronting the symbolic vision and any antagonistic forms like the snake or bear which might arise: The patient is encouraged neither to escape nor to struggle. Instead he is instructed to stay put and watch, for example, the animal. He should notice and describe any detail. By staring at the animal the patient's feelings not only become neutralized but there is an opportunity created by which to discover the message or meaning which the creature's

APPENDIX A

115

existence conveys. The frightening animal may become weaker and smaller and it may sooner or later be transformed into another creature - a less frightening and often a benign one. Psychoanalytically, the end result of successful confrontation is a strengthening of the ego. The ego confronts the imagination and in a variety of ways is taught to overcome it.38 In both traditional shamanic accounts and also in records of occult trance journeys, as we have seen, transformatory images and the presence of hostile creatures or situations are common. The shaman often expects to undergo ritual ordeals and ward off potentially hostile influences before he reaches the domain of the deity he is seeking. Similarly images in the Tarot mythology such as Death and The Devil are distinctly illusory and challenge the magician's sense of certainty. The technique of the magician or shaman is invariably to allow himself to undergo the transformational process which frequently involves dismemberment and renewal, and not to panic when confronted with an experiential crisis. Wolfgang Kretschmer's techniques of psychotherapy also have pronounced shamanic aspects. Kretschmer's approach has been to take his patient through symbolic imaginal situations which relate to specific functions within the psyche. In meditation the patient journeys: (a) through a meadow covered with fresh grass and flowers (b) slowly up the side of a mountain (c) through a grove into a chapel. Kretschmer notes that when the subject reaches a state of deep meditation these locales move from an 'everyday' aspect into a symbolic context: As the meditator returns to the meadow he does not experience things as he would in the ordinary world. Rather the meadow provides a symbol of the hypnotic level of consciousness and stimulates the emotions on this level. The individual takes an ordinary situation as the

116

APPENDIX A

means of experiencing the primordial content of the symbol of the meadow. This in turn may lead to an experience of the meadow as Mother Nature or the 'blossoming of life', and can be contrasted with the obverse image of a forest inhabited by demons. Kretschmer believes that the way in which the subject visualises his meadow demonstrates aspects of his psychic condition.39 The meditation based on ascent up the side of a mountain is of special interest. Not only does it mirror a major shamanic theme but the same experience is symbolised in the Tarot path of The Hermit, in which the magician journeys in isolation slowly upwards to the loftier reaches of the Tree of Life. As in the case of the shaman, Kretschmer notes that in climbing the mountain the meditator will generally symbolise some obstacle in his way so that he must prove himself . . . climbing is a symbol of a movement during which man demonstrates his capacity to develop toward the goal of psychic freedom, the peak of human being. The passage through the forest on the way up the mountain gives the meditator the opportunity to reconcile himself with the dark, fearful side of nature.40 Kretschmer's symbol of the chapel, meanwhile, has an apparent parallel in the shaman's cave or the magician's temple; it is the location of the sacred mystery itself. As detailed earlier, in the initiation of Tiphareth, the Hermetic magician comes forth from the tomb of Christian Rosenkreuz and the theme of spiritual renewal is inherent. During the meditation, according to Kretschmer, 'sublimations' may occur. By this he means 'transformation, spiritualization or humanization',41 and once again we find a comparable situation with the shaman who gains new magical powers and self-esteem after his journey or the trance occultist who is 'initiated' as a result of his contact with transpersonal archetypes.

APPENDIX A

117

EXPLANATIONS OF MYSTICAL STATES

Two main theories have evolved to account for mystical experiences. The first of these, formulated by Raymond Prince, takes the position that such experiences are 'regressions in the service of the ego'. The second, associated with the work of Arthur Deikman, describes them as 'deautomatizations of ego functions'. Prince's regression theory holds that mystical states occur when an individual or group is confronted with a problem which would normally be insoluble by normal means. The individual's ego regresses in order to discover a simple solution to a complex situation. Prince finds a parallel here with mystical claims of union with the cosmos, and the sense of well-being. He regards such mystical experience 'as a flash-back to the time when the self and other are not differentiated, a reunification with the mother's breast.'42 Deikman, on the other hand, takes the view that the mystic's process of meditation invests attention energy in activities which have become automatic and thus returns them to awareness. New perceptions therefore have increased sensory intensity and richness. The quality of the mystical experience hinges on the nature of the focusing stimulus: The control of the mystic experience reflects not only its unusual mode of consciousness but also the particular stimuli being processed through that mode. The mystic experience can be beatific, satanic, revelatory or psychotic, depending on the stimuli predominant in each case. . . . The available scientific evidence tends to support the view that the mystic experience is one of internal perception, an experience that can be ecstatic, profound, or therapeutic for purely internal reasons.43 Deikman's theory would seem to throw more light on the shamanic experience than Prince's. Prince emphasises devotional forms of mysticism in which love and contemplation are foremost within the belief structure and the resulting sensation of 'one-ness' is invariably described by believers in subjective and

118

APPENDIX A

simplistic terms which in some measure justify his conclusion. However, there is very much less security in the shaman's mystical quest. He faces dismemberment and transformation and gains magical powers only after ritual ordeals. In the case of the trance occultist using the Tarot mythology as his framework, the ultimate experience at the top of the Tree is represented by the image of the Hermaphrodite (symbolising the union of sexual polarity) who steps from the peak of the mountain into the Void of total dissolution. The image of the Great Mother, on the other hand, is represented lower on the Tree in the form of The Empress. Deikman's theory is supported by the fact that trance occultists have visionary experiences which derive explicitly from the symbol they focus on, whether it is a Tattva, Tarot card, Enochian square, or some comparable path-working symbol. As Deikman indicates, the experience can take a variety of forms and these reflect the inner psychic condition of the person concerned. Interesting additional material is outlined by Ronald Siegel in a recent article on hallucinations.44 He notes that hallucinations 'may be induced by emotional and other factors such as drugs, alcohol and stress, and may occur in any of the senses.' Heinrich Kluver undertook a series of experiments at the University of Chicago in 1926 with the peyote cactus Lophophora Williamsii, which is also associated with shamanic practice among the Huichols and Tarahumares. The psychedelic imagery reported included grating/lattice/fretwork patterns; cobwebs, tunnels, funnels and alleys, and also spirals. Siegel notes, 'During the peak hallucinatory periods the subjects frequently described themselves as having become part of the imagery. At such times they stopped using similes in their reports and asserted that the images were real. . . .' The subjects frequently reported feeling dissociated from their bodies. Siegel comes to the same conclusion as Deikman, namely that the experiences are the result of internal processes: 'Hallucinations are stored images in the brain.'45 We have already found the themes of dissociation and alternative experiential realities in both shamanism and modern trance

APPENDIX A

119

magic. As Deikman, Ornstein, Hillman, Tart and Grof have indicated, the crucial factor seems to be the way in which attention is brought to bear in the altered state of consciousness. Shamanism seems to involve techniques of channelling consciousness towards profoundly transpersonal regions of the psyche and the visionary experiences which result are shaped by cultural factors; these also provide the context and the 'stimulus' for the trance journey in the first instance. An important consideration then is the degree to which the given belief system of the trance magician operates in the altered state. Interesting insights into this process are provided by the well-known neurophysiologist John Lilly who undertook a series of sensory deprivation experiments in a specially prepared tank at the Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland.46 Floating with a special breathing apparatus in water at body temperature, and in an environment of solitude and darkness, Lilly experienced gravity-free effects and heightened inner awareness. He writes: I went through dream-like states, trance-like states, mystical states. In all of these states I was totally intact.47 Lilly also took LSD—25 in a supportive environment with a colleague and discovered that the religious conditioning of his youth manifested itself in a visionary form. He experienced the ecstatic flight of the soul, saw angelic beings and encountered an aged, patriarchal God seated in his throne: I moved with the music into Heaven. I saw God on a tall throne as a giant, wise, ancient Man. He was surrounded by angel choruses, cherubim, and seraphim, the saints were moving by his throne in a stately procession. I was there in Heaven, worshipping God, worshipping the angels, worshipping the saints in full and complete transport of religious ecstasy.48 In Lilly's view, visionary experiences of this kind are a direct manifestation of belief-programming fed as a result of cultural patterns into 'the human biocomputer'. Beliefs can be inhibiting in the altered state or they can be revelatorv.

120

APPENDIX A

Between 1970-1 John Lilly studied with Oscar Ichazo, a Chilean mystic based in Arica, Chile, and evolved a structure which he believed expressed the consciousness levels of some of the major religions. Following Ichazo's system which in turn derived from the Russian teacher George Gurdjieff, Lilly divided potential human consciousness into vibrational levels, ranging from the deeply depressed and 'evil' state to a transcendental state of union with 'universal mind'. He also identified the more positive levels with the Hindu chakras, or inner energy centres aligned vertically in the body. 'Christ-consciousness' he located over the heart, identifying it with love and grace within a social and physical context, while Buddha consciousness was located in the head and identified with mystical clairvoyant faculties. Lilly described the supreme mental state as 'classical Sartori' fusion with God/mind/energy and the Void. What Lilly outlined in this framework was very comparable to what magicians have traditionally portrayed in their macrocosmic/microcosmic models, namely that man in a metaphorical sense contains the whole universe. Full mystical realisation produces total man, the archetype known to Qabalists as Adam Kadmon. The god-man, represented here by Christ is identified with the central but 'halfway' stage of the heart, while full cosmic consciousness has no symbolic correlates and is a totally ineffable state of transcendental, spiritual knowledge. Lilly's views constitute in some respects yet another brand of mysticism, and accordingly would seem to fall outside the domain of empirical enquiry. However, it is of considerable interest that the Zen and Yogic practitioners whose EEG readings were taken during meditation sessions were endeavouring to attain Sartori/Samadhi states of awareness. Thus, to some degree, we are now able to correlate mystical levels of consciousness with physiological brain-wave patterns; we are not solely dependent on subjective reports of the visionary experience. Also, Lilly's framework develops the idea that different religious beliefs produce different 'consciousness effects' in their devotees and implies that culturally related symbolic levels of religious perception are more significant than Jung's quest for inherent archetypes. Lilly stresses the ingredients within a 'programme

APPENDIX A

121

of belief since these will actually manifest as real in the altered state of consciousness. If the content of belief, such as the shamanic expectation of transformation is culturally reinforced it becomes an experiential reality in the trance state. Lilly's position complements Deikman's point that the stimulus (or belief input) has a direct bearing on the quality and impact of the mystical experience. Claude Levi-Strauss also emphasises the interrelation of belief and consciousness, and the cultural framework from which they derive: myths signify the mind that evolves them by making use of the world of which it is itself a part. Thus there is a simultaneous production of the myths themselves by the mind that generates them and, by the myths, of an image of the world which is already inherent in the structure of the mind.49

APPENDIX B

Major 'Mythological Correspondence' in Western Magic Major 'Mythological Correspondences' in Western Magic

Origen

QABALAH

GREEK

ROMAN

EGYPTIAN

Kether (Eheieh)

Kronos

Saturn

Ptah (Memphis) Atum-Ra (Heliopolis) Amon (Thebes)

Rhea

Rhea

Zeus (Hera, Demeter) Poseidon (Amphritrite)

Jupiter Ra (Juno) Neptune (Amphitrite)

Ares

Mars

Herus (Warrior)

Tiphareth (Jehovah Helios-Apollo, Aloah Va Daath) Dionysus

Apollo

Osiris

Netzach (Jehovah Tzabaoth)

Aphrodite

Venus

Hathor

Hod (Elohim Tzabaoth)

Hermes

Mercury

Anubis

Yesod (Shaddai El Chai)

Hecate, Artemis Diana

Bast

Malkuth (Adonai Ha-Aretz)

Persephone

Geb

Father

Chokmah (Jehovah)

Mother

Binah (Jehovah, Elohim)

Demiurge Chesed (El) (Intermediary God-Figure) Geburah (Elohim Gebor) Son

Daughter

Thoth

Proserpine

Isis

APPENDIX C

Organisations and Groups

The following are contact addresses for groups mentioned in this book, specialising in magical or shamanic activity: MAGIC The DOME Foundation: 217 W. San Francisco, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA. Servants of the Light (SOL): PO Box 215, St Helier, Jersey, The Channel Islands. Magus Phantasy Group: PO Box 321, GPO Sydney, 2001 Australia. SHAMANISM The Center for Shamanic Studies: Box 673, Belden Station, Norwalk, Connecticut 06852, USA.

124

APPENDIX C

Human Dimensions West Institute: PO Box 5037, Ojai, California, USA.

Notes

CHAPTER 1 THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13

M. Eliade, 'Shamanism', p. 5. C. Blacker, The Catalpa Bow', p. 204. Ibid., p. 207. M. Harner, The Jivaro', p. 154. A. P. Elkin, 'Aboriginal Men of High Degree' (2nd edn), p. 82. Ibid., pp. 84-5. Henry Munn, in M. Harner (ed.), 'Hallucinogens and Shamanism', p. 100. It is evident that for the Mazatecs the Christian pantheon has been included so that Jesus and the Virgin Mary have magical healing power. Shamanic appeals to this power may therefore be expected to prove efficacious. A similar pattern is found in the Coptic codex translated by occultist Florence Farr under the heading 'Egyptian Magic'. The Ethiopian Gnostics regarded Jesus as a magical authority having access to the supreme and most profound domains of the cosmos. Accordingly they sought his secret initiatory names so that they might have access to his source of spiritual power. See also N. Drury, The Path of the Chameleon'. G. Reichel-Dolmatoff in M. Harner (ed.), 'Hallucinogens and Shamanism', p. 166. G. Vasilevich, Early concepts about the universe among the Evenks, in H. N. Michael (ed.), 'Studies in Siberian Shamnism', p. 74. Ibid., p. 72. A. F. Anisimov, Cosmological concepts of the people of the north, in H. N. Michael (ed.), op. cit., p. 161. Ibid., p. 161.

126

NOTES

14 It is important to note that such conjurings should not be considered merely delusory. They are regarded as a tangible manifestation of intangible causality. A. P. Elkin notes that even when sleight of hand occurs in an Aboriginal healing session it seems to be necessary to show physically that a magical cure has been effected (Ekin, op. cit., p. 7). 15 Vasilevich, op. cit., p. 59. 16 Eliade, op. cit., p. 120. 17 Ibid., p. 265. 18 Blacker, op. cit. p. 23. 19 Eliade, op. cit., p. 147. 20 S. Larsen, 'The Shaman's Doorway', p. 70. 21 B. M. Du Toit (ed.), 'Drugs, Rituals and Altered States of Consciousness', p. 19. The spirit world of the voudou becomes a very real one. A. Metraux, 'Voodoo in Haiti', p. 215, provides details of a marriage certificate recording the mystical union of a woman and her spirit. 22 G. M. Weil (ed.), 'The Psychedelic Reader', p. 90. 23 The following is a brief summary of the main effects of these hallucinogens: Banisteriopsis The common ingredient of yage, caapi and ayahuasca is Banisteriopsis, which in turn contains the alkaloids harmine, harmaline and d-tetrahydroharmine. 'Typically, Banisteriopsis is taken by South American Indian shamans of the tropical forest in order to perceive the supernatural world and to contact and to affect the behaviour of supernatural entities . . .' (Harner, op. cit., p. 5). He also summarises as the main themes associated with the drug culturally: (a) the sensation of separation of the 'soul' and the physical body, (b) visions of predatory animals, (c) contact with the supernatural and heaven and hell states, (d) visions of distant locations and persons and (e) explanatory visions of events such as thefts and mysterious homicides (pp. 172-3). However, several of these may be linked. The so-called-out-of-the-body experience is associated with the sensation of flight, but can also produce visionary and symbolic experiences (see R. Monroe, 'Journeys Out of the Body' and related literature listed in the Bibliography).

NOTES

127

Datura Datura is a solanaceous genus with two main herbaceous species D. meteloides and D. inoxia, both of which are associated with magical use. Usually the pulverised seeds of Datura are dropped into native beers and consumed in this fashion. The intoxication is frequently followed by a deep sleep during which vivid hallucinations arise. Shamans, for example among the Jivaro, use the experience to diagnose disease and to divine theft. In Mexico the Datura species are collectively known as Toloache and in the American south west, D. meteloides is referred to as Jimson Weed. The primary active substance in the plant is scopolamine, a drug in the same class of chemicals as cocaine and atropine although its effects are different. Scopolamine dries out the mucous membrane areas in the nose, mouth and throat and in moderate to large intakes may produce hallucinations lasting up to three days. These hallucinations are auditory as often as visual and may often result in the subject holding conversations with imaginary beings. Mescal beans Unrelated to the 'mescal button' of the peyote cactus (Lophophora Williamsii), so called mescal beans, are the dark red seeds of the shrub Sophora secundiflora, and their hallucinatory effects derive from cytisine, a highly poisonous crystalline alkaloid which can produce nausea and death from respiratory failure. It was used extensively by the Plains Indians to induce initiatory visions in the 'Red Bean Dance', and also had a divinatory function, but its cultural use has diminished in recent times. It is still present among the Kiowa and Comanche Indians, but only in a ceremonial capacity. Mescal beans were to a large extent replaced as a narcotic by the more spectacular but less dangerous peyote cactus. Morning Glory Morning Glory, or Ololiuhqui as it is known in Mexico, is the seed of a vine, which for some time was confused with Datura. It is now known that only two of the numerous species of Morning Glory are hallucinogenically active: Rivea corymbosa (with a blue/violet flower). If the seeds are swallowed, they produce no effect on the body, but if crushed or powdered may produce hallucinations similar to those associated with LSD, but of a

128

NOTES shorter duration. Bright colours and patterns may be observed and also the sense of perceiving objects from a distance. In 1960 Albert Hofmann identified the active constituents as the amides of lysergic acid and of d-lysergic acid, chanoclavine and clymoclavine, substances also found in the ergot fungus (Claviceps purpurea) and thus directly linked to chemically synthesised LSD. Peyete cactus Known as Lophophora Williamsii, Peyote is especially associated with the Huichol Indians, who conduct a ritual hunt for this sacred plant after the rainy season in the early spring. In Peyote ceremonies Indians would normally consume between four and twenty 'buttons', invariably during the night time and not by day. Initially the Peyote causes nausea and vomiting, but around an hour later, exhilarating effects occur. Colour and sound are intensified, and there are sensory hallucinations and also heightened awareness and perception. After 3-4 hours, the sense of visual excitement is usually replaced by inner retrospection and after 8-10 hours, the subject becomes very tired and invariably falls asleep. According to Schultes, Peyote is not addictive (R. E. Schultes, Botanical sources of New World narcotics, in Weil, op. cit., p. 101). It contains eight isoquinoline alkaloids, one of which — Mescalin — produces vivid hallucinations. Psilocybe Mexicana A major narcotic mushroom especially found in Oaxaca, Psilocybe Mexicana was investigated by Albert Hofmann and R. G. Wasson, who discovered it being used for spiritual healing by a Mazatec curandera named Maria Sabina. The mushroom is also used by Mazatec sorcerers and according to Henry Munn (M. Harner (ed.), 'Hallucinogens and Shamanism', p. 88) produces inspired language in those who consume it. The mushroom intoxication produces heightened awareness of supernatural entities such as the 'laa' (Mazatec fairies), but also vivid and colourful hallucinations. Initial muscular relaxation may be followed by hilarity and then hallucinations - which may be both visual and auditory - ensue. The subject may feel isolated and indifferent to his environment, which becomes increasingly unreal to him. His visionary state presents, on the other hand, a more captivating 'reality'. Psilocybine was synthesised from the mushroom by Hofmann and is

NOTES

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

31

32

129

now being clinically analysed as a possible aid to psychiatry and therapy. Harner, 'Hallucinogens and Shamanism', p. 155. Ibid., p. 167. P. Furst (ed.), 'Flesh of Gods', p. 93. Ibid., p. 103. The word 'phasmata' is used by Plato in 'Phaedrus'. R. G. Wasson, T h e Road to Eleusis', p. 37. Ibid., p. 37. Ibid., p. 47. In a recent article, ergotism has also been proposed as a possible factor in the Salem witchcraft crisis of 1692 (Linda R. Caporael, Ergotism: the Satan loosed in Salem?, in 'Science', vol. 192): several subjects who may have been victims of ergot poisoning in rye, experienced symptoms linked to convulsive ergotism, in particular the experience of hallucinations and visions of spectral beings. One victim reported an encounter with an entity whose features resembled a monkey with a cock's feet but with the face of a man ('the thing spoke to me . . . ' ) . Others reported witch-like familiars. Accounts of perceptual disturbances, tingling sensations in the skin, convulsions and muscular contractions were widespread at the trials. Caporael indicates that environmental factors undoubtedly influenced the nature of the hallucinations. What is of special interest in comparing the Salem witchcraft incidents with Eleusian mysteries is that the spectres enountered in the hallucinatory state were apparently regarded in both instances as totally real. In his first book, 'The Teachings of Don Juan', Carlos Castaneda describes spectacular transformation into bird form under hallucinogenic influence. Having smoked a dried mushroom mixture (Psilocybe Mexicana), he was able to transform his perceptions so that his head became the body of a crow. Legs extended from his chin and wings emerged from his cheeks. He experienced the weightlessness of aerial flight often associated with traditional shamanism (ibid., p. 189). This experience is remarkably similar to that of the Greek shaman, Aristeas of Proconnesus, although as far as we are aware, hallucinogens were not involved in the latter case. Drury, 'The Path of the Chameleon', p. 113.

130

NOTES CHAPTER 2 SHAMANIC TRANCE

1 A. Bharati (ed.), 'The Realm of the Extra-Human', p. 316. 2 C. Blacker, 'The Catalpa Bow', p. 23. 3 B. M. Du Toit (ed.), 'Drugs, Rituals and Altered States of Consciousness', p. 9. 4 C. M. Edsman (ed.), 'Studies in Shamanism', p. 76. 5 I. Lewis, 'Ecstatic Reigion', p. 180. 6 M. Eliade, 'Shamanism', p. 29. 7 Quoted in Eliade, op. cit., p. 31. 8 E. Arbman, 'Ecstasy or Religious Trance', p. 297. 9 Eliade, op. cit., p. 29. 10 E. De Martino, 'Magic, Primitive and Modern', p. 132. quoting Rasmussen's diaries: K. Rasmussen, A shaman's journey to the sea spirit, in W. Lessa and E. Vogt (eds), 'Reader in Comparative Religion'. 11 Edsman, op. cit., p. 174. 12 Ibid., p. 26. 13 Rasmussen, op. cit., in Lessa and Vogt (eds), op. cit., p. 390. 14 Lessa and Vogt (eds), op. cit., p. 390. 15 Blacker, op. cit., p. 195. 16 Eliade, op. cit., p. 88. 17 G. Vasilevich, Early concepts about the universe among the Evenks, in H. N. Michael (ed.), 'Studies in Siberian Shamanism', p. 58. 18 A. F. Anisimov, Cosmological concepts of the people of the north, in H. N. Michael, op. cit., p. 186. 19 Eliade, op. cit., p. 120. 20 Ibid., p. 40. 21 Ibid., p. 88. 22 A. P. Elkin, 'Aboriginal Men of High Degree' (2nd edn), p. 20. 23 Ibid., pp. 142-3. 24 Ibid., p. 143. 25 S. Larsen, 'The Shaman's Doorway', p. 195. CHAPTER 3 MAGICAL SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL 1 See Appendix B for examples of correspondences. 2 I. Regardie, 'The Tree of Life', p. 106.

these

mythological

NOTES 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

131

F. Bardon, 'The Practice of Magical Evocation', p. 20. E. Levi, T h e Key of the mysteries', p. 174. E. A. Wallis Budge (ed.), T h e Bandlet of Righteousness', p. 3. Ibid., p. 4. Ibid., p. 5. Temura is a traditional Qabalistic technique of changing the position of letters in a word to create a new word which relates in symbolic meaning to the original. It was often used to veil secret Qabalistic names, particularly those related to God. God names that are Temura equivalents show different aspects of the same transcendental reality. A. Crowley, 'Book Four', p. 42. D. Fortune, 'Applied Magic', pp. 5 6 - 7 . Crowley, 'Book Four', p. 46. For examples see the list of Jewish god-names in Appendix B. Crowley, 'Book Four', p. 23. Ibid., p. 122. T h e Book of Enoch' and early forms of Merkabah mysticism provide a cosmology based on thrones and a series of mystical emanations from the godhead. See Gershom Scholem, 'Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism'. CHAPTER 4 TECHNIQUES OF MAGICAL TRANCE

1 2

F. King (ed.), 'Astral projection, magic and alchemy', pp. 73-4. Celia Green reports in her survey, 'Out of the Body Experiences', that the existence of a cord, perceived as connecting the 'astral body' and the physical one, was not often reported by subjects claiming projection. Only 3.5 per cent felt connected in this way (p. 122). In an Australian survey of 200 subjects, Peter Bicknell found only 1 per cent making this claim (N. Drury and G. G. Tillett, 'Other Temples, Other Gods', p. 161). 3 King, op. cit. 4 Ibid., p. 69. 5 N. Drury, 'Don Juan, Mescalito and Modern Magic', p. 37. 6 King, op. cit., p. 82. 7 Yod is the sacred first letter of the Qabalistic Name of God JHVH. 8 King, op. cit., pp. 82-4. 9 See Israel Regardie's introduction to Aleister Crowley's T h e Vision and the Voice'. 10 Crowley, 'The Vision and the Voice', pp. 57—8.

132 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

NOTES Ibid., p - 6 1 . Ibid., pp. 61-2. Ibid., pp. 199-201. Ibid., p. 199. Ibid., p. 201. G. Knight, 'A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism', vol. 2, pp. 66-7. See Joan Halifax, 'Shamanic Voices'. Knight, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 115. P. Case, 'The Tarot', p. 123. King, op. cit., p. 66. Ibid., p. 67. Specific allusions to Golden Dawn 'inner plane' orders of ritual attainment. King, op. cit., pp. 58-9. CHAPTER 5 NEW DIRECTIONS: FROM ATAVISTIC RESURGENCE TO THE INNER LIGHT

1 According to Kenneth Grant, Spare joined the Argenteum Astrum on 10 July 1910 (K. Grant, 'Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare', p. 7). 2 A. Spare, 'The Book of Pleasure', p. 47. 3 K. Grant, quoted in N. Drury and S. Skinner, 'The Search for Abraxas', p. 66. 4 Spare, 'The Book of Pleasure', p. 53. 5 K. Grant, 'The Magical Revival', p. 188. 6 K. Grant, 'Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare', p. 73. 7 Grant, 'The Magical Revival', p. 201. 8 Grant, 'Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare', p. 33. 9 Ibid., p. 44. 10 A. Spare, 'Focus on Life', p. 35. 11 Ibid. 12 E. Steinbrecher, 'The Guide Meditation', p. 30. 13 Ibid., p. 48. 14 Ibid., p. 69. 15 Ibid., pp. 54-5. 16 Ibid., p. 58. 17 'F.P.D.', 'The Old Religion', in Basil Wilby (ed.), 'New Dimensions Red Book'. 18 Ibdl8 Ibid., p. 47.

NOTES 19 20 21 22

133

Ibid., p. 49. Ibid., p. 78. D. Ashcroft-Nowicki, Highways of the mind, in 'Round Merlin's Table', no. 50, pp. 14-15. 'Round Merlin's Table', no. 53, pp. 5-6. POSTSCRIPT: WHY THE SHAMAN?

1

J. Campbell (ed.), 'Myths, Dreams and Religion', p. 114. APPENDIX: SHAMANISM, MAGIC AND THE STUDY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

1 J. H. Leuba, 'Psychology of Religious Mysticism', p. 1. 2 E. Underhiil, 'Mysticism', p. 97. 3 J. Ehrenwald, 'The ESP Experience', p. 159. 4 H. Whitehead, Reasonably fantastic: some perspectives on Scientology, science fiction, and occultism, in I. Zaretsky and M. Leone (eds), 'Religious Movements in Contemporary America', p. 564. 5 P. Lee, 'Symposium on Consciousness', p. 91. 6 Ibid., p. 114. 7 The normally accepted division of brain activity is as follows: Alpha waves have a frequency around 8—13 cycles per second and indicate a state of deep concentration. Beta waves occur in alert, waking consciousness and measure around 13 cycles per second. Theta waves are associated with drowsiness and the state immediately preceding sleep. They measure around 4 - 7 cycles per second. Delta waves are produced in deep sleep and measure around 0 - 4 cycles per second. Some psychologists, among them R. E. Ornstein, have linked mystical mediation closely to the alpha range. 8 C. Martindale, What makes creative people different, in P. Whitten, 'Being Human Today - Psychological Perspectives', p. 46. 9 C. Tart (ed.), 'Altered States of Consciousness', p. 501. 10 Ibid., pp. 503-4. 11 Ibid., p. 248. 12 R. E. Ornstein, 'The Psychology of Consciousness', p. 47.

134 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49

NOTES Ibid., pp. 123-4. Ibid., p. 139. Ibid., p. 165. Lee, op. cit., p. 23. W. Yeats, 'Mythologies', p. 288. Lee, op. cit., p. 40. C. Jung, 'Man and His Symbols', p. 12. Ibid., p. 13. Ibid., pp. 41-2. C. Jung, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology', p. 68. See C. Jung, 'Spirit and life' (1926), reprinted in The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche'. Jung, Two Essays', pp. 65-6. J. Hillman, 'Revisioning Psychology', p. 40. J. Campbell (ed.), 'Myths, Dreams and Religion', p. 177. Ibid., p. 181. A. Crowley, 'Magick in Theory and Practice', p. 153. Hillman, op. cit., pp. 39, 42. S. Grof, 'Realms of Unconscious', p. 186. Ibid., p. 187. Ibid., p. 198. Ibid., p. 201. M. Watkins, 'Waking Dreams', p. 52. Ibid. Ibid., p. 58. N. Drury and S. Skinner, The Search for Abraxas', pp. 49-71. Watkins, op. cit., p. 66. Tart, 'Altered States of Consciousness', p. 221. Ibid., p. 222. Ibid. I. Zaretsky and M. Leone (eds), op. cit., p. 257. Tart, 'Altered States of Consciousness', p. 43. R. Siegel, Hallucinations, 'Scientific American', October 1977, pp. 132, 140. Ibid., p. 140. J. Lilly, The Centre of the Cyclone', p. 75. Ibid., 1 pp. 52-3. Ibid., p. 25. C. Levi-Strauss, 'The Raw and the Cooked', p. 341.

Bibliography

Aaronson, B. and Osmond, H. (eds), 'Psychedelics', Doubleday/Anchor, New York, 1970. Anand, B. K., Some aspects of electroencephalograph studies in Yogis, in C. Tart (ed.), 'Altered States of Consciousness', Wiley, New York, 1969. Arban, E., 'Ecstasy or Religious Trance', vol. 1, Uppsala, 1963. Balikci, A., Shamanistic behaviour among the Netsilik Eskimos, in J. Middleton (ed.), 'Magic, Witchcraft and Curing', The Natural History Press, New York, 1967. Bardon, F., 'Initiation into Hermetics', Osiros Verlag, Koblenz, 1962. Bardon, F., 'The Practice of Magical Evocation', Rudolf Pravica, Graz, 1967. Barron, F., Hallucinogenic Drugs, in J. L. M. McGaugh (ed.), 'Psychology: Readings From Scientific American', 19. Basilov, V., Shamanism in Central Asia, in A. Bharati (ed.), 'The Realm of Extra-Human', Mouton, The Hague, 1976. Belo, J., 'Trance in Bali', Greenwood Press, 1977. Bharati, A. (ed.), 'The Realm of the Extra-Human', Mouton, The Hague, 1976. Blacker, C, 'The Catalpa Bow', Allen &c Unwin, London, 1975. Bourguignon, E., Cross-cultural perspectives on the religious uses of altered states of consciousness, in I. Zaretsky and M. Leone (eds), 'Religious Movements in Contemporary America', Princeton University Press, 1974. Bourguignon, E., 'Possession', Chandler 6c Sharp, San Francisco, 1976. Budge Wallis, E. A. (ed.), 'The Bandlet of Righteousness' (Lefefa Sedek), Luzac, London, 1929. Butler, W., 'Magic, its Ritual Power and Purpose', Aquarian Press, London, 1952.

136

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Butler, W., 'The Magician, his Training and Work', Aquarian Press, London, 1959. Butler, W., 'Magic and the Qabalah', Aquarian Press, London, 1964. Campbell, J. (ed.), 'Myths, Dreams and Religion', Dutton, New York, 1970. Case, P., 'The Tarot', Macoy Publishing Co., New York, 1948. Case, P., 'The Book of Tokens' (8th edn), The Builders of the Adytum, Los Angeles, 1974. Casteneda, C, 'The Teachings of Don Juan', University of California Press, Berkeley, 1968; reissued jointly with Simon 6c Schuster, 1973. Casteneda, C, 'A Separate Reality', Simon & Schuster, New York, 1971. Casteneda, C, 'Journey to Ixtlan', Simon &c Schuster, New York, 1972. Casteneda, C, 'Tales of Power', Simon & Schuster, New York, 1974. Casteneda, C, 'The Second Ring of Power', Simon 8c Schuster, London, 1976. Chevalier, G., 'The Sacred Magician', Paladin, London, 1976. Colquhuon, I., 'Sword of Wisdom', Neville Spearman, London, 1975. Crowley, A., 'Magick in Theory and Practice', privately published, Paris, 1929; reissued by Castle Books, New York (no date) and Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973. Crowley, A., 'The Book of Thoth', Weiser, New York, 1969. Crowley, A., 'Book Four', Sangreal Foundation, Dallas, 1972. Crowley, A., 'The Vision and the Voice', Sangreal Foundation, Dallas, 1972. De Martino, E., 'Magic, Primitive and Modern', Bay Books, Sydney, 1972. De Mille, R., 'Casteneda's Journey', Capra Press, Sant Barbara, 1976. De Mille, R., 'The Don Juan Papers', Ross-Erikson, Santa Barbara, 1980. Deikman, A., Deautomatization and the mystic experience, in C. Tart (ed.), 'Altered States of Consciousness', Wiley, New York, 1969. Deren, M., 'Divine Horsemen: Voodoo Gods of Haiti', Thames & Hudson, London, 1953. Drury, N., 'The Path of the Chameleon', Neville Spearman, London, 1973. Drury, N., 'Don Juan, Mescalito and Modern Magic', Routledge &c Kegan Paul, 1978. Drury, N., 'Inner Visions: Explorations in Magical Consciousness', Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1979.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

137

Drury, N. and Skinner, S., 'The Search for Abraxas', Neville Spearman, London, 1972. Drury, N. and Tillett, G., 'Other Temples, Other Gods', Methuen, Sydney, 1980. Du Toit, B. M. (ed.), 'Drugs, Rituals and Altered States of Consciousness', A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1977. Edsman, C. M. (ed.), 'Studies in Shamanism', Almquist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1967. Ehrenwald, J., 'The ESP Experience', Basic Books, New York, 1978. Eliade, M., 'Shamanism', Princeton University Press, 1972. Elkin, A. P., 'Aboriginal Men of High Degree', (2nd edn), University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1977. Farr, F., 'Egyptian Magic' (including extracts from the Leyden and Bruce papyri), Theosophical Publishing Company, London, 1896. Fortune, D., 'Applied Magic', Aquarian Press, London, 1962. Fortune, 'The Mystical Qabalah', Benn, London, 1966. Fox, O., 'Astral Projection', University Books, New York, 1962. Freeman, D., Shaman and Incubus, vol. 4, 'Psychoanalytic Study of Society', 1964. Fry, P. and Long, M., 'Behind the Mechanical Mind', Australian Broadcasting Commission, Sydney, 1977. Fuller, J., 'The Magical Dilemma of Victor Neuburg', W. H. Allen, London, 1965. Galin, D., The Two Modes of Consciousness and the Two Halves of the Brain, in P. R. Lee et al., 'Symposium on Consciousness*, Penguin, New York, 1977. Ginsburg, C , 'The Kabbalah', Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1956. Glock, D. and Bellah, R. (eds), 'The New Religious Consciousness', University of California Press, Berkeley, 1976. Goodman, F., Shaman and priest in Yucatan pentacostalism, in A. Bharati (ed.), 'The Realm of the Extra-Human', Mouton, The Hague, 1976. Grant, K., 'The Magical Revival', Muller, London, 1972. Grant, K., 'Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God', Muller, London, 1973. Grant, K., 'Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare', Muller, London, 1975. Green, C , 'Lucid Dreams', Hamish Hamilton, London, 1968. Green, C , 'Out of the Body Experiences', Ballantine, New York, 1973. Grof, S., 'Realms of the Human Unconscious', Dutton, New York, 1976.

138

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Halifax, J., 'Shamanic Voices', Dutton, New York, 1979. Harner, M., The Jivaro', Robert Hale, London, 1972. Harner, M. (ed.), 'Hallucinogens and Shamanism', Oxford University Press, New York, 1973. Harner, M., The Way of the Shaman', Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1980. Heffern, R., 'Secrets of the Mind Altering Plants of Mexico', Pyramid, New York, 1974. Hillman, J., 'Revisioning Psychology', Harper &: Row, New York, 1975. Hitchcock, J. and Jones, R., 'Spirit Possession in the Nepal Himalayas', Aris & Phillips, Warminster, 1975. Hopper, S., Myth, Dream and Imagination, in J. Campbell (ed.), 'Myths, Dreams and Religion', Dutton, New York, 1970. Howe, E., The Magicians of the Golden Dawn', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972. Hultkrantz, A., Spirit Lodge, a North American shamanistic seance, in C. M. Edsman (ed.), 'Studies in Shamanism', Almquist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1967. Jung, C , Two Essays on Analytical Psychology', Routledge 8t Kegan Paul, London, 1953. Jung, C, 'Man and his Symbols', Dell, New York, 1968. Kasamatus, A. and Hirai, T., An electroencephalograph study on the Zen meditation (Zazen), in C. Tart (ed.), 'Altered States of Consciousness', Wiley, New York, 1969. Kiev, A., Spirit possession in Haiti, 'American Journal of Psychology', vol. 118, 1961. Kiev, A. (ed.), 'Magic, Faith and Healing', Free Press, New York, 1964. King, F. (ed.), 'Astral Projection, Magic and Alchemy', Neville Spearman, London, 1971. King, F., 'Ritual Magic in England', Neville Spearman, London, 1971. King, F. and Skinner, S., Techniques of High magic', C. W. Daniel, London, 1976. Knight, G., 'A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism', vols 1 and 2, Helios, Cheltenham, 1965. Kretschmer, W., Meditative techniques in psychotherapy, in C. Tart (ed.), 'Altered States of Consciousness', Wiley, New York, 1969. La Barre, W., Hallucinogens and the shamanic origins of religion, in P. Furst (ed.), 'Flesh of the Gods', Allen & Unwin, London, 1972. La Vey, A., The Satanic Bible', Avon, New York, 1969. La Vey, A., 'Satanic Rituals', Avon, New York, 1972.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

139

Larsen, S., The Shaman's Doorway', Harper 6c Row, New York, 1976. Laurence, R. (ed.), 'The Book of Enoch', Kegan Paul Trench Co., London, 1883. Lee, P. R. et al., 'Symposium on Consciousness', Penguin, New York, 1977. Lessa, W. and Vogt, E. (eds), 'Reader in Comparative Religion (3rd edn), Harper 6c Row, New York, 1972. Leuba, J. H., 'Psychology of Religious Mysticism', Harcourt Brace, New York, 1929. 1929. Levi, E., 'The Key of the Mysteries', Rider, London, 1959. Levi-Strauss, C , The Sorcerer and his magic, in J. Middleton, 'Magic, Witchcraft and Curing', The Natural History Press, New York, 1967. Levi-Strauss, C , 'The Raw and the Cooked', Harper 8c Row, New York, 1969. Lewis, I. M., 'Ecstatic Religion', Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1971. Lex, B., Altered states of consciousness in northern Iroquoian ritual, in A. Bharati (ed.), 'The Realm of the Extra-Human', Mouton, The Hague, 1976. Lilly, J., 'The Centre of the Cyclone', Calder 6c Boyars, London, 1972. Lilly, J., 'Simulations of God', Bantam, New York, 1975. Macintosh, C , 'Eliphas Levi and the French Occult Revival', Rider, London, 1972. Mathers, S. L., 'The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage', De Laurence, Chicago, 1948. Mathers, S. L., 'The Kabbalah Unveiled', George Redway, London, 1887; subsequent editions, Routledge 6c Kegan Paul. Mead, G. R. (ed.), 'Pistis Sophia', John M. Watkins, London, 1963. Metraux, A., 'Voodoo in Haiti', Andre Deutsch, London, 1959. Michael, H. N. (ed.), 'Studies in Siberian Shamanism', University of Toronto Press, 1963. Nachtigall, H., The cultural historical origin of shamanism, in A. Bharati (ed.), 'The Realm of the Extra-Human', Mouton, The Hague, 1976. Nadel, S., A study of shamanism in the Nuba mountains, 'Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute', 76, pp. 25-37. Noel, D. (ed.), 'Seeing Castaneda', Putnam, New York, 1976. Nordland, O., Shamanism as an experience of the 'unreal', in C. M. Edsman (ed.), 'Studies of Shamanism', Almquist 6c Wiksell, Stockholm, 1967. Oesterreich, T., 'Possession', University Books, New York, 1966.

140

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ornstein, R., 'The Psychology of Consciousness', Penguin, London & New York, 1977. Potapov, L., Certain aspects of the study of Siberian shamanism, in J. Hitchcock and R. Jones, 'Spirit Possession in the Nepal Himalayas', Aris & Phillips, Warminster, 1975. Prince, R., Cocoon work: an interpretation of the concern of contemporary youth with the mystical, in I. Zaretsky and M. Leone (eds), 'Religious Movements in Contemporary America', Princeton University Press, 1974. Reichel-Dolmatoff, G., The cultural context of an Aboriginal hallucinogen: Banisteriopsis Caapi, in P. Furst (ed.), 'Flesh of the Gods', Allen & Unwin, London, 1972. Reinhard, J., Shamanism and spirit possession, in J. Hitchcock and R. Jones, 'Spirit Possession in the Nepal Himalayas', Aris & Phillips, Warminster, 1975. Regardie, I., 'The Art and Meaning of Magic', Helios, Cheltenham, 1964. Regardie, I., 'The Garden of Pomegranates' (2nd edn), Llewellyn, St Paul, Minnesota, 1970. Robinson, R. (ed.), 'The Nag Hammadi Library', Harper &c Row, San Francisco, 1977. Roszak, T., 'Unfinished Animal', Harper & Row, New York, 1975. Roszak, T., Myth, magic and mystery, in P. Fry and M. Long, 'Behind the Mechanical Mind', Australian Broadcasting Commission, Sydney, 1977. Sargent, W., 'The Mind Possessed', Heinemann, London, 1973; Pan, London, 1976. Schaya, L., 'The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah', University Books, New Jersey, 1971. Scholem, G., 'Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism', Schocken, New York, 1961. Shirokogoroff, S., 'The Psychomental Complex of the Tungus', Rouledge &: Kegan Paul, London, 1935. Shor, R., Three dimensions of hypnotic depth, in C. Tart (ed.), 'Altered States of Consciousness', Wiley, New York, 1969. Siegal, R., Hallucinations, 'Scientific American', October 1977. Siiger, H., Shamanistic ecstasy and supernatural beings, in C. M. Edsman (ed.), 'Studies in Shamanism', Almquist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1967. Spare, A., 'The Book of Pleasure', London, 1913; reprinted by Publishing 93, Montreal, 1975.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

141

Spare, A., 'Focus on Life', London, 1921; reprinted by Askin Press, London, 1976. Steinbrecher, E., The Guide Meditation', DOME Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1977. Stone, D., The Human Potential Movement, in C. Glock and R. Bellah (eds), 'The New Religious Consciousness', University of California Press, Berkeley, 1976. Suzuki, M., The shamanistic element in Taiwanese folk religion, in A. Bharati (ed.), 'The Realm of the Extra-Human', Mouton, The Hague, 1976. Symonds, J., 'The Great Beast: The Life and Magic of Aleister Crowley', Mayflower, London, 1973. Symonds, J. and Grant, K. (eds), 'The Magical Record of the Beast 666\ Duckworth, London, 1972. Symonds, J. and Grant, K. (eds), 'The Confessions of Aleister Crowley', Hill & Wang, New York, 1973. Tart, C. (ed.), 'Altered States of Consciousness', Wiley, New York, 1969. Tart, C, Introduction to Robert Monroe's 'Journey out of the Body', Doubleday, New York, 1973. Tart, C, 'States of Consciousness', Dutton, New York, 1975. Tart, C , Discrete states of consciousness, in P. Lee et al., 'Symposium on Consciousness', Penguin, New York, 1977. Ten Houten, W. and Kaplan, C , 'Science and its Mirror Image', Harper & Row, New York, 1973. Truzzi, M., Towards a sociology of the occult: notes on modern witchcraft, in I. Zaretsky and M. Leone (eds), 'Religious Movements in Contemporary America', Princeton University Press, 1974. Underhill, E., 'Mysticism', Methuen, London, 1912. Waite, A., 'The Secret Doctrine in Israel', OMTBC, Boston, 1914. Wallace, A., 'Culture and Personality' (2nd edn), Random House, New York, 1970. Wasson, R. G., The hallucinogenic fungi of Mexico, in G. M. Weil (ed.), 'The Psychedelic Reader', Citadel Press, New York, 1971. Wasson, R. G., 'The Road to Eleusis', Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1978. Watkins, M., 'Waking Dreams', Gordon & Breach, New York, 1976. Weakland, J., Shamans, schizophrenia and scientific unity, 'American Anthropologist', vol. 70, 1968. Weil, G. M. (ed.), 'The Psychedelic Reader', Citadel Press, New York, 1971.

142

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Whitehead, H., Reasonably fantastic: some perspective on Scientology, science fiction and occultism, in I. Zaretsky and M. Leone (eds. 'Religious Movements in Contemporary America', Princeton University Press, 1974. Whitten, P., 'Being Human Today - Psychological Perspectives', Canfield Press/Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1977. Wilby, B. (ed.), 'New Dimensions Red Book', Helios, Cheltenham, 1968. Yeats, W., 'Mythologies', Macmillan, London, 1959. Zaretsky, I. and Leone, M. (eds), 'Religious Movements in Contemporary America', Princeton University Press, 1974.

Index Aaron, Moses, 92 Aborigines, 3, 4, 26, 27 Aeneas, 86 Aethers, 58-60 after-death state, 36, 37 allies, animal, 82; magical, 22-5 altered states of consciousness, 102-3 alternative reality, 49 Amaka, 6 Amanita muscaria, 12 Anand, B. K., 104

aratum wakan, 1 Aristea, 14 Ashcroft-Nowicki, Dolores, 88-9, 91 astral projection, 49-50, 113 Avam Samored, 25-6 Ayahuasca, 10 Babylonians, 5 Baiame, 4 Balikci, Asen, 23 Banisteriopsis Caapi, 10 Bardon, Franz, 36, 41 Bicknell, Dr Peter, 52 Blacker, Carmen, 8, 17 blechon, 13 Book, Magical, 43 Bourguignon, Erika, 9, 18, 100 Bronowski, Jacob, 100 Budge, E. A. Waliis, 36 Bungai, Manang, 1

Buryat, 26 Butler, W. E., 88, 110 Case, Paul Foster, 68 Caslant, Eugene, 113-14 Castaneda, Carlos, 13, 27-8, 88 Ceremonial, 44—7 Christ, 47 Circle, The, 38-40 Colefax, Catherine, 91 Consciousness, study of, 101-21; transfer, 52 consensus reality, 103 Cosmic Dragon, 96—8 Crowley, Aleister, 37-8, 42-3, 53,58-60, 62, 72, 77, 110 Cup, The, 42 Datura, 52 Dee, John, 55-6, 58 Deikman, Arthur, 117-19 Desoille, Robert, 114 Devereaux, George, 19 Dismemberment and Rebirth, 25-9 Doken Shonin, 23 DOME meditation, 81-3 dream symbolism, 109 drum, shaman, 9, 24, 25 Eastern Colombian Tukano, 5 EEG patterns, 103-5 ego, 79, 115

144

INDEX

Ehrenwald, 102 Eksheri, 6 Eleusis, 12 Eliade, Mircea, 1, 7, 8, 46 Elkin, A. P., 27 Emery, F., 72 Enlightenment, 20 Enochian Trance, 55—63 epilepsy, 19 ergot, 12, 13 Evenks, 6—7, 9 feminine principle, 85 Flying Rolls, 53 Fortune, Dion, 84-8, 110 Freeman, Derek, 2 Freud, Sigmund, 100, 106-7, 109 Galin, David, 105-6 Gnostics, 36 Golden Dawn, 32-4, 40, 46, 49, 56, 58, 84-5, 91, 106, 108, 112; trace techniques, 53—5 Green, Dr Celia, 52 Grof, Stanislav, 109-12, 119 Guide Meditation system, 83-4, 95 Gurdjieff, George, 126 Halifax, John, 67 hallucinations, 118 Harner, Michael, 2, 10, 96, 99 Hillman, James, 109 Hirai, Tomai, 104 Hofmann, Albert, 12 Holy Oil, 40 Hopper, Stanley, 100 Horniman, Annie, 56 Iaa, 4

Ichazo, Oscar, 120 Iglulik Eskimos, 20-1 Iksivalitag, 23 incubus, 1 Inner Light tradition, 84-98 James, William, 102 Jesus Christ, 4, 5, 36 Jewish Qabalistic mystery teachings, 5 Jivaro, 3, 10 Juan, don, 27, 88 Jung, Carl, 106-9 Kalash Kafirs, 18 Kasamatsu, Akira, 104 Kelly, Edward, 55-8, 112 Khergu-ergu buga, 6

Klurer, Heinrich, 118 Knight, Gareth, 65, 61 Kretschmer, Wolfgang, 115-16

Lamen, 43 Larsen, Stephen, 28 Leuba, J. H., 102 Leuner, 114 Levi, Eliphas, 36 Lilly, John, 119-20 LIT, 62-3 Lophora Williamsii, 118 LSD, 12,52, 110-12, 119 maban, 26 magic, western, 33-4; Qabalistic, 84 Malkuth, 32-4, 42, 71 Masters, Robert, 92 Mather, Macgregor, 37 Mathers, Moina, 54—5, 72 Mazatec Indians, 4-5, 11 Mescal Beans, 10

INDEX

Mescaiin, 52 Middle Pillar, 50, 53, 59, 69, 70-1 mirira, 27 Morning Glory, 10 mystical states, 117-21 mythic consciousness, 109 Nachtigall, Horst, 17 name, magical, 37—8 narcotics, 10 natema, 2 neophyte, 25, 32, 47 Neuberg, Victor, 58 Ololiuqui seeds, 11 Omoto religious movement, 2 Onisaburo, Deguchi, 2-3 Ornstein, Robert, 105, 119 out-of-the-body experiences, 31, 33 Paterson, Mrs, 78-80 path-workings, 31, 49, 85, 88-9, 92, 96 Pentacle, 42-3 Persephone, 64-5 Petrie, Dr, 26 Peyote cactus, 10 Physiology and Mysticism, 102-6 Pistis Sophia, 37 Plato, 12 Potapov, 9 Prince, Raymond, 117 Progroff, Ira, 109-10 psilocybe, 4 Psilocybe Mexicana, 10 Psilocybin mushrooms, 11 Psychedelic component, 10—14 psychotherapy, 112—13

145

Qabalistic symbols, 112 Qabalistic system, 81 rebirth, 45 Regardie, Israel, 58, 110 Reichel-Dolmatoff, 11 reincarnations, 7 Reinhard, 100 ritual, magical, 35, 37 Robe, 43 Salem cult, 78 Schultes, 10 senses, magic and, 34-5 sensory deprivation, 18, 21-2, 33,49, 100, 119 Servants of the Light, 87-91 shaman, aboriginal, 31, 66; epileptic, 52; Nanay, 24; Vasyugan, 24; World of, 1-14 shamanism, Siberian, 3, 6-7, 26, 66 shamans, Japanese, 8, 17; Sym Evenk, 24 Shonin, Doken, 23 Shor, Ronald, 105 Siegal, Ronald, 118 Simpson, Elaine, 72 Spare, Austin Osman, 77-81, 83, 86, 114 spirit helpers, 24 spiritual rebirth, 26 Steinbrecher, Edwin, 81-4 Sword, 42 Symbolic Regalia and Equipment, 8-10 Symbolism of the Major Tarot Arcana, 64-71 Symbols, Magical, 31-47 Tao, 96, 102-3, 119 Tarot, 63-4

146

INDEX

Tart, 104 Tattva, 54 Temple, 38 Tetragrammaton Yahweh, 36 Tiphareth, 34, 53, 66, 68, 116 trance: techniques of magical, 49-75; Shamanic, 17-22 transpersonal experiences, 111 transubstantiation, 11 Tree, Cosmic, 24—5 Tree of Life, 31-3, 37, 40, 42, 45-6, 50, 52, 59, 62-3, 65-7, 106, 108, 114, 116 Tree, Qabalistic, 53; symbolic, 7 Triangle, 39 tsentsak, 4 Tsuni, 4 Tukano, 11 uga buga, 6 Underhill, Evelyn, 102

Unggud, 27 Vai-mahse, 5 Virgin Mary, 4, 5, 36 virginity, 69 Wand, 40-2 Wasson, Gordon, 11—13 Webb, D. O., 21 Weeks, Cheryl, 9, 96 Whitehead, Harriet, 102 Will, Magical, 37-8, 40, 43 Wiradjeri medicine men, 4 Word, power of, 35-8 Yeats, W. B., 106 Yoga, 103 Yogic meditation, 105 Zen, 93, 103-5, 126 Zohar, 35

THE OCCULT SOURCEBOOK Nevill Drury and Gregory Tillett

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: OCCULTISM

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: OCCULTISM

Volume 2

THE OCCULT SOURCEBOOK

THE OCCULT SOURCEBOOK

NEVILL DRURY AND GREGORY TILLETT Illustrated by ELIZABETH TRAFFORD SMITH

First published in 1978 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd This edition first published in 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1978 Nevill Drury and Gregory Tillett All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: ISBN: ISBN: ISBN:

978-0-367-33602-8 978-0-429-34389-6 978-0-367-34913-4 978-0-429-32868-8

(Set) (Set) (ebk) (Volume 2) (hbk) (Volume 2) (ebk)

Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace. DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688

THE

OCCULT SOURCEBOOK NEVILL DRURY and GREGORY TILLETT Illustrated by Elizabeth Trafford Smith

ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL London, Boston and.Henley

First published in igj8 by Routledge C Kegan Paul Ltd 3g Store Street, London WCiE 7DD, Broadway House, Newtown Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RGg iEN and 9 Park Street, Boston, Mass. 02108, USA Reprinted in ig8o Set in 11 on ijpt Ehrhardt by HBM Typesetting Ltd, Chorley, Lanes. and printed in Great Britain by Unwin Bros Ltd The Gresham Press, Old Woking, Surrey © Nevill Drury and Gregory Tillett igj8 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Drury, Nevill The occult sourcebook, 1. Occult sciences I. Title II. Tillett, Gregory 138 BF1411 78~4°393 ISBN o 7100 oog6 o (c) ISBN o 7100 8875 2 (p)

for Colin Wilson . . . from two Outsiders

Contents

Part

1 1

Introduction

ix

Source Areas

1

ESP

3

Meditation and Biofeedback

12

Dreams

16

Reincarnation

21

The Origins of Magic

26

Supernatural and Occult Beings

28

Ritual Magic

33

Ritual Consciousness

38

Magical Equipment

43

The Golden Dawn

48

Magical Cosmology

52

The Qabalah

57

The Tarot

63

The Tattvas

72

Magical Attack

75

Sexual Magic

77

Vll

CONTENTS

Part

2

Aleister Crowley: Lord of the New Aeon

82

Hypnotism, Auto-suggestion and Relaxation

88

Trance Consciousness

9i

Out-of-the-Body Consciousness

95

Drugs and Mystical Consciousness

100

Shamanistic Magic

106

Ghosts and Hauntings

in

Spiritualism

"5

Possession

121

Exorcism

126

Faith Healing

129

Vampires

136

Traditional Witchcraft

139

Modern Witchcraft

143

Traditional Satanism

149

Modern Satanism

152

Voodoo

156

Eastern Mysticism

158

Eastern Influence on the Occult

162

Theosophy

165

I Ching

169

Astrology

172

Numerology

176

Palmistry

179

Lost Continents

182

Inner Space Rock Music

184

Occult Art

189

Who's Who in the Occult

195

Index

233

viii

Introduction

The occult is no longer what it used to be. Only a few years ago, especially around the time of the Satanic film Rosemarys Baby, the term 'occult' would have been reserved for obscure, demonic and vaguely diabolical practices alone. In San Francisco at this time Anton Szandor La Vey, who starred as the devil in the above film, was establishing his Satanic Church; Charles Manson was incarnating the Devil and Christ simultaneously; Bishop Pike was endeavouring to communicate with his suicide son through a medium; and witchcraft was thriving. These days, we believe, the occult has a wider connotation. The Exorcist notwithstanding, the term 'occult' today includes ESP, Kirlian photography, reincarnation, palmistry, astrology, faith healing, white magic, Tarot, and even out-of-the-body experiences. The occult, too, is no longer disreputable. Scientists at Stanford investigate psychic Uri Geller; in California Professor Charles Tart carries out laboratory tests on Robert Monroe, a subject who can astral-travel at will; Arthur Koestler, previously doubtful about the powers of yogis, comes forth with a scientific rationale of the paranormal in his Roots of Coincidence•; Colin Wilson meanwhile coins the term 'Faculty X' to describe the psychic potential of man which he believes marks the next phase of man's evolution. In short, the occult is about man's hidden potential. Much of this, of course, relates to how he thinks and how he perceives. Many aspects of the occult dealt with in this book show how man can enlarge his consciousness. This sourcebook was compiled with the idea in mind that many people are for the first time becoming engrossed by the possibilities underlying the occult. It seemed a reasonable idea to produce a series of articles on key areas with specially chosen references for further reading. Each of these articles, we hope, may be a 'leaping off point' to a more detailed study in ix

INTRODUCTION

those areas which the reader finds most interesting or useful. Finally we have incorporated a lengthy 'Who's Who of the occult' to provide pocketsize biographies of some of the more amazing figures who have already travelled down the mystic path. Some of these were inspired, some of them were charlatans, but all those who have been included are important in one way or another. The occult has now moved out of the realm of superstition into the area dealing with what man can become. This is its relevance. It may also explain why, for many, the occult has replaced orthodox institutional religion as the pathway for man in the Age of Aquarius. Nevill Drury and Gregory Tillett

Part

1 Source flreas

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-1

ESP

Extrasensory perception is the ability to transmit and receive information by means other than the recognized senses. People often surprise themselves by simultaneously referring to obscure thoughts in conversation, or perhaps a person acts upon an intuition about an unforeseeable course of action which later proves to be correct. Another will dream of, or foresee, an event before it occurs or perhaps is able to receive 'mental impressions' from a friend while concentrating. All of these occurrences could be cited as examples of extrasensory perception, which is normally divided into three areas: clairvoyance', the extrasensory perception of events; telepathy', the direct 'transmission' of ideas; and precognition, the perception of future events. Although such phenomena have always had a mystic tinge about them, and have been regarded traditionally as the faculties of soothsayers and oracles, the serious, scientific study of ESP occurrences is less than a century old. In Victorian times, ESP was considered to be a possible 'sixth sense' and was researched by a number of important scientists, including Sir William Crookes, Sir Oliver Lodge and Alfred Wallace. In 1882 the famous Society for Psychical Research was founded at Cambridge University with Henry Sidgwick as its first president. It has to be admitted, that like a number of spiritualist and occult phenomena, for every possible genuine occurrence there are countless falsifications and the SPR got off to a bad start. In July 1882 Sidgwick prematurely announced that he had found conclusive evidence for ESP in a clergyman, Reverend Creery, his five daughters, and their servant. Later, embarrassingly, it was discovered that they had been using a code to trick the researchers. Another such case followed hard on its heels: that of Messrs Smith and Blackburn. Smith would hold Blackburn's hands, and concentrate, and seem to read his thoughts as Blackburn imagined them. Sidgwick and two

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-2

ESP

of his colleagues, Edmund Gurney and Frederic Myers, with whom he was later to share fame as a spiritualist researcher, investigated the case. Myers derived a test whereby he would make a detailed picture and show it to Blackburn who would in turn attempt to 'transmit' it into the mind of Smith, behind whom he stood. Smith, who was shrouded in a blanket, was able to reproduce the pictures fairly accurately, and Myers and his colleagues had to admit they were convinced. Accordingly, the SPR recorded the case in its annals as genuine. Years later, in 1908, Blackburn made the sensational admission that he had cheated during the sessions. He had hurriedly copied the drawing onto a cigarette paper and concealed it inside a propelling pencil which he managed to pass to his partner unseen. Since Smith had been concealed beneath a blanket for secrecy purposes, he was able to rummage for the picture in the pencil. There was sufficient light for him to reproduce a reasonable 'telepathic' copy. The test conditions in the early investigations were very poor, and the SPR decided to try to improve and regulate its experimental procedures. From this time onwards, research into ESP took the form of experimental testing whereby subjects had to attempt to record above-chance odds in telepathic guessing sessions. In England, G. N. M. Tyrrell constructed a device made up of five boxes each containing a light bulb. The circuitry was designed so that a certain bulb would light up when the lid of its box was lifted. Basically, the experiment tested possible telepathic communication between the subject and the experimenter, who decided which light would come on, on each occasion. One of TyrrelFs subjects, a Miss Johnson, gained some high scores using this device. However, a colleague of TyrrelPs, G. W. Fisk, claimed that the experiment could only be valid if the selection of the lights was completely random. He said, quite rightly, that a person would tend not to choose a box which has just 'lit up'. In the case of random numbers, however, a given number will follow itself about half the time. When Tyrrell introduced a 'randomizer' into his device, Miss Johnson scored at only the normal chance rate. Meanwhile in the 1930s serious research into ESP was well under way in the United States under the auspices of Dr Joseph Rhine and his wife Louisa at Duke University. Earlier experiments had been carried out by Professor John Coover at Stanford and Professor William McDougall at Harvard, but Rhine's work was to be the most far-reaching. In 1932 he had some good results while using Zener cards with thirty-two subjects in a clairvoyance experiment. The cards had been designed by a colleague, K. E. Zener, and incorporated five distinct symbols: a square, a circle, a cross, three wavy lines and a star. Rhine's subjects scored 207 successes

ESP

out of 800 tries while chance would have expected only 160. The odds against were in excess of a million to one. Rhine gradually sifted out his most gifted subjects and continued to test them with Zener card experiments, which were basically experimentally controlled card-guessing sessions. He soon began to discover that his subjects performed best under certain conditions and in his book ExtraSensory Perception (1934) he stressed that for best results, subjects should be open-minded, be allowed an informal atmosphere rather than a restrictive one, and should be neither extravagantly praised nor discouraged in their results. Rhine also found that subjects tended to improve after the first hundred test runs, and that married people or friends often demonstrated a better 'psychic' rapport. Rhine's work at Duke gained considerable attention in the 1930s and several sceptical psychologists, including W. S. Cox at Princeton and J. H. Heinlein at Johns Hopkins, were unable to duplicate Rhine's findings. After Rhine's cards were produced commercially in the United States, some critics also argued that it was easy to see through the cards or detect the imprint on the back surface of each card. Rhine insisted, however, that his results had been derived using thick opaque cards, and that subjects had not been allowed to touch the cards in any way. Another psychologist of the period, J. L. Kennedy, suggested in 1938 that future ESP experiments should attempt to minimize all sensory cues between experimenters - whether visual, auditory or 'subliminal' - and should eliminate all types of preferences or non-randomness. He also considered that at least two people should keep records of scores and results. In 1940 the Duke researchers published a book entitled Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years. Professor Rhine and his colleagues considered a test held in October 1938 and February 1939 to be one of their best ESP trials because of its 'advances in experimental precaution'. There were two experimenters, J. L. Woodruff and J. G. Pratt, together with the subject. Pratt acted as 'observer'. Meanwhile, Woodruff sat at one end of a table and a screen 18" high separated him from the subject who was seated at the other end. The screen had a one-way aperture which allowed the experimenter to observe a pointer held in the subject's hand. The subject had to guess the top card in the experimenter's hand by pointing with a pencil to one of five optional ESP symbols on his side of the screen. Since the experimenter's pack consisted of twenty-five cards, this was the number of trials in each series. The 'observer' carefully recorded the symbol sequences by himself as an extra check. Woodruff and Pratt held over 2,000 runs of twenty-five trials in this manner.

ESP

The result was not dramatic in an obvious sense. Thirty-two subjects scored 12,489 successful hits out of 60,000 when they could have expected 12,000 by chance alone. Nevertheless, the odds against the additional 489 hits occurring by chance were more than a million to one. One of Rhine's staunchest critics, Professor C. E. M. Hansel, has admitted that there are 'clear indications that something other than guesswork or experimental error was involved in this experiment and also that its effects were by no means negligible in the case of at least one subject' (ESP: A Scientific Evaluation^ p. 89). However, Hansel felt that the experiment could be invalidated unless the cards were shuffled between runs, and we only have Pratt's word for it that this was done. Hansel thus believes that the case is not conclusive (p. 103). In England, Dr S. G. Soal, a leading parapsychologist, attempted to duplicate the Rhine experiments, at first without success. However, Soal noticed that two of his subjects achieved significantly above-chance scores for both the card ahead and the one behind. One of these subjects, Basil Shackleton, was tested for ESP by Soal and Mrs K. M. Goldney between 1941 and 1943. Shackleton had to guess the identity of cards with drawings of certain animals on them. He sat in one room while the experimenter sat in another, calling out when Shackleton should guess. They could not see each other. Meanwhile, the experimenter would show a random number to another person in his room (the 'agent') who would glance at a corresponding card. The test was to see whether Shackleton could telepathically predict which card would come next. On one occasion, Shackleton managed to obtain scores of the ' + 1' type, that is, he guessed one card ahead. In 3,789 trials he was successful 1,101 times when he should have scored only 776 by chance. In fact, he managed to achieve high scores on several occasions, and the tests were regarded by Rhine and by Professor Hutchinson of Yale as among the best ever made. NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ESP Most of the pioneering ESP research was based on documented cardguessing sessions and correspondingly, most of the criticisms that arose were an attack on the 'tightness' of the laboratory testing procedures. Professor Hansel, for example, was especially critical of the fact that a number of the Duke experiments could be fabricated by trickery and cheating, without inferring, of course, that they necessarily were. In recent years, however, ESP research has taken on wider horizons. The Apollo 14 moon astronauts undertook an ESP experiment with colleagues on the earth and produced an above-chance test result, and

ESP

Dr Eugene Konecci of NASA told an international astronautical conference in Paris in 1963 that the United States was now pursuing ESP research more seriously since it was apparent that the Russians were investigating it as a means of communication in outer space. In their book Psychic Discoveries Behind The Iron Curtain, Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder described Russian attempts to 'catch the tracks of telepathy as it arrived in the brain'. Dr Lutsia Pavlova of the University of Leningrad, and Dr Genady Sergeyev, a well-known mathematician, harnessed one of their best telepathic subjects, Karl Nikolaiev, in an electroencephelograph apparatus. His respiration, heartbeat, eye movements and brain wave patterns were all recorded. Meanwhile, his friend, Yuri Kamensky, a biophysicist, was to attempt to communicate telepathically with him from Moscow. Kamensky began to concentrate and, three seconds later, Nikolaiev's brain waves changed drastically on the monitoring devices at Leningrad University! (p. 22) Dr Pavlova says that following further EEG documentation of both subjects, it is clear that when telepathic rapport is achieved 'the brain activation quickly becomes specific and switches to the rear, afferent regions of the brain' (p. 23). This focusing of force field waves has also been noted in the EEG registration of another remarkable subject, Nelya Mikhailova, who is able telepathically to order objects to move, and under laboratory conditions also willed the white and the yolk of an egg to separate. Dr Sergeyev says that while most people generate three or four times more electrical voltage in the back of their brains than in the front, Mrs Mikhailova generates fifty times the amount! He has concluded that measuring the voltage there is thus a good indicator of ESP potential. Interesting EEG research has also been done in the West by the Maimonodes dream-state researchers in New York. Basically, the testing has been for psi-phenomena in the dream-state. Researchers Montague Ullman, Stanley Krippner and Alan Vaughan wanted to establish whether, under laboratory conditions, a psychic person could influence by will the images occurring in the dreams of another person, perhaps situated miles away. Rapid eye movements (REM) indicate when a person is dreaming, so the Maimonodes team argued that the best period of dream recall would be just after this phase of sleep. Meanwhile, they selected certain images for telepathic transmission and these included detailed and distinctive paintings by Henri Rousseau, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall and other artists. A subject would try to 'beam' the picture to a given recipient who was being monitored under laboratory conditions elsewhere, and who would

ESP

be wakened after the REM period of sleep for dream recall. A panel of judges would scrutinize the imagery content of the dream and decide on objective criteria as to whether there was sufficient parallel to warrant claiming an above-chance 'psychic transmission'. Their results were generally quite impressive. One example involved the English parapsychologist Malcolm Bessent and the rock group, the Grateful Dead. In early 1971 the group gave six concerts in Port Chester, New York. During these sessions large-scale slides were thrown up on the screen and the rock group asked the audience to try mentally to transmit their content into the dreams of Bessent who was located forty-five miles away at the Maimonodes Dream Laboratory in Brooklyn. Bessent was to go to sleep at 11.30 during the second concert. The target slide was a picture called the Seven Spinal Chakras by Scralian, which shows a man in the lotus position practising yogic meditation. The seven chakras, or spiritual centres of the nervous column, are depicted as bright orbs of energy in the painting. Forty-Five miles away, Malcolm Bessent dreamed the following: I was very interested in . . . using natural energy . . . I was talking to this guy who said he'd invented a way of using solar energy and he showed me this box . . . to catch the light from the sun which was all we needed to generate and store the energy . . . I was thinking about rocket ships . . . I'm remembering a dream I had about an energy box . . . and a spinal column. . . . The dream is suggestive, and there are certain overlaps, particularly if we remember that the mind operates symbolically. The human frame in yogic terms, is indeed a box for storing energy, and the spinal column is the vital causeway up which the Kundalini energy is raised. At this stage, the experiments in dream telepathy are still being refined, but the work of the Maimonodes team has been praised by leading psychologists Sir Cyril Burt and Dr John Beloff. What is most important in all the new research, both in the USSR and in the West, is that there is a new positive attitude among scientists to researching ESP, which did not exist on a large scale even a few years ago. And the new direction attempts to take ESP away from the spiritualist fringe into an area of systematic knowledge, so that it may complement what is already known about the functioning and potential of the brain. SOURCEBOOKS j . B. RHINE ET AL. : Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years, Bruce Humphries, Houston, first published 1940, new edn 1966. 10

ESP

A classic account of all the major pioneering experiments conducted at Duke University, compiled by Rhine, J. G. Pratt and other members of the Parapsychological Laboratory. It is especially useful for its critical comments on testing procedures. c. E. M. HANSEL: ESP: A Scientific Evaluation, MacGibbon & Kee, London and Scribners, New York, 1966. An important work criticizing the early experimental methods of testing for ESP, but nevertheless, presenting a good coverage of the subject up to around i960. Hansel tends to be pessimistic about the chances of proving ESP under laboratory conditions. His book contains some details of the work of Professor Leonard Vasiliev at Leningrad, but none of the more important later developments of Dr Pavlova and Dr Sergeyev. He continues to be the staunchest critic of ESP research. SHEILA OSTRANDER and LYNN SCHROEDER: Psychic Discoveries Behind The Iron Curtain, Bantam Books, New York, 1971 and Abacus, London, 1973. An exciting, journalistic account of new developments for ESP testing in the Eastern bloc countries including full accounts of the abilities of Mrs Nelya Mikhailova and Wolf Messing, a telepathic subject who impressed Freud and Einstein, and also details of the Nikolaiev-Kamensky tests. MONTAGUE ULLMANN, STANLEY KRIPPNER a n d ALAN VAUGHAN:

Dream

Telepathy, Turnstone Books, London, 1973. The first full account of the Maimonodes dream-testing research, with documented descriptions of telepathic dream-recall occurrences.

11

Meditation and Biofeedbach

In recent years there has been increased interest in Yoga, Zen Buddhism and Maharaji Mahesh's Transcendental Meditation exercises. It seems that the direction has been from activity in the outer world back toward the inner world of meditation and contemplation. Basically, meditation involves the practice of enhancing the quality of inner peace, through what may be termed 'alert relaxation'. A person meditating is not drowsy, but his thought train changes so that instead of observing all the details of external reality, he is more involved with the source of thought itself, and the underlying one-ness of manifestation. Meditation is a key practice in the Zen sects, and in Raja Yoga. In the West it also plays a significant part in magical practice and Roman Catholicism, especially the Cistercian and Carthusian traditions. William Johnston, a Western theologian with a specialized interest in Eastern mysticism, has pointed out that just as Zen uses paradoxical koans, or tales that force the meditator to transcend rational thinking, and just as yogis use the mandala in meditation, Christianity also has certain related practices. He believes that meditation resembles Christian 'contemplation', and notes that recently a Zen practitioner demonstrated to a group of Christians that the cross could be used as a type of koan symbol. It seems clear, then, that meditation itself is a mental process not necessarily bound to any particular religious or mystical school. Edward Maupin has described it as 'deep passivity, combined with awareness'. In yoga and other Eastern meditative disciplines, the practitioner sits cross-legged, often in the 'full lotus' position so that the right foot rests on the left thigh, and the left foot rests on the right thigh. In yoga, the meditator is allowed to close his eyes, but Zen, which is more oriented to the 'here and now' requires that the eyes are open. The gaze is cast downwards about a metre in front of the knees. 12

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-3

MEDITATION AND BIOFEEDBACK

Until recently, it was difficult to assess what types of mental activity were occurring in yogis and mystics as they meditated. However, analytical science has now enabled specific tabulation of their brain wave activity under laboratory conditions. Basically, the meditators have been wired to an EEG machine and all brain wave functions have been meticulously recorded. The existence of brain waves was first established by a German scientist named Hans Berger, shortly after World War I. Berger attached two electrodes to the scalp of a young mental patient, and with the help of an indicator, noted that there was an electronic response. Berger considered that there were two main types of brain wave patterns; alpha, connected with passivity, and beta, associated with concentration and problemsolving. It has since been found that there are four main types of brain wave activity: (1) Alpha: This has a frequency around 8-12 cycles per second and produces a focusing on inner states of awareness, including mystical consciousness. Most people who close their eyes produce some alpha waves, but it is harder to produce with the eyes open. High level alpha activity indicates a state of deep concentration. (2) Beta: This occurs in alert, waking consciousness, and measures around 13 cycles per second. Whereas alpha relates to the inner world of thought, beta, is more a part of the external world of action. (3) Theta: This is linked to the mental state of drowsiness, and the condition immediately preceding sleep. It measures around 4-7 cycles per second. (4) Delta: Delta rhythms are produced in deep sleep and measure 0-4 cycles per second. Experiments have been conducted in Japan and in the United States to identify which of these brain wave patterns occurred during meditation. Drs Akira Kasamatsu and Tomio Hirai of Tokyo University, employed the services of forty-eight Zen Buddhist monks and recorded their EEGs during meditation. Some of the 'masters' produced alpha waves after only 50 seconds and the electrodes did not appear to interfere with the meditation. It was noted that if a clicking noise was made, this blocked the production of alpha waves for 3-5 seconds, by interfering with the concentration. (This was not the case in another study, made of Raja yogis, who were totally oblivious of any movement or noise in the environment.) Kasamatsu and Hirai noted that their Zen subjects sometimes passed from

MEDITATION AND BIOFEEDBACK

the alpha state into theta. By contrast, in the Raja Yoga study of Anand, Chhina and Singh (i961) the meditators produced persistent alpha waves, which were heightened during samadhi (deep concentration). In 1958 Dr Joe Kamiya of the University of Chicago was researching the brain wave activity registered during the sleep state and, in particular, the spasmodic traces of alpha. He wired a subject up to record his EEGs and asked him to guess the state of mind he was in. At first the subject guessed correctly at only the normal rate of 50 per cent but by the fourth day he guessed his mental activity correctly 400 times in a row! This was an amazing discovery because it showed that a person could, with practice, learn to identify his mental state. Kamiya later discovered also that it was possible for a person to learn to sustain a given state, such as alpha, and the modern technique of biofeedback was about to be born. The next step was to concoct a machine which would transmit the presence of alpha waves as measured by the EEG into an audible sound which could be heard by the meditator, thus showing his progress. The biofeedback device thus developed as an aid to maintaining a positive and contemplative state of mind. Further devices have since been invented which allow a person to recognize all of his brain wave activity, and in some cases the signal is a light rather than an audible tone. Biofeedback has become especially popular in the United States, where it has been hailed in some circles as a 'short cut to mystical enlightenment'. Several commentators, including William Johnston, have been keen to point out that while contemplative states contain alpha, alpha in itself does not equate with mystical consciousness per se. In fact, theta waves may be just as important. Many artists and writers gain inspiration from the theta dream state, and it is generally associated with creativity. Marvin Karlins and Lewis Andrews have also pointed out that each of the mental states has its place and the pursuit of alpha for its own sake is not necessarily a good idea. Some subjects have found the transition from beta to alpha 'a source of anxiety and apprehension', not the state of well-being and passivity that is usually claimed, and they go on to say that 'some alpha experiences are strictly a function of the subject's expectations.' Nevertheless, biofeedback has undoubtedly put mystical states of consciousness on the scientific map. We can now charter meditation and be surer of its positive effects. Through EEG recordings we can tell how deep a state of contemplation is, and through biofeedback, ordinary urban people, who may not have had the opportunity of joining a Zen monastery can nowr regulate their meditative development by means of an indicator machine.

MEDITATION AND BIOFEEDBACK

SOURCEBOOKS and LEWIS ANDREWS: Biofeedback, Garnstone Press, London, 1973A lucid, popular account of the history and background of biofeedback and the study of altered states of awareness. The authors also consider the relationship of biofeedback training to ESP ability and mind over matter. Their book contains an excellent, annotated bibliography. CHARLES TART (ed.): Altered States of Consciousness, John Wiley, New York, 1969Already a virtual classic in its field, Tart's book is one of the most complete anthologies of key articles in the area of documented states of consciousness. Included are accounts by Drs Kasamatsu and Tomio; Anand, Chhina and Singh; Dr Joe Kamiya; and Edward Maupin. There are also important related articles on the hallucinogens, hypnosis and dreaming. WILLIAM JOHNSTON: Silent Music: The Science of Meditation, Collins, London, 1974A readable account of meditation practice and altered states of consciousness by a Christian theologian who nevertheless has extensive personal knowledge of Zen training. Johnston believes that meditation and biofeedback techniques may revolutionize religions generally, and ground them more solidly in experience. MARVIN KARLINS

Dreams

Throughout history, man has regarded the dream state as something awesome and mysterious, in which strange supernatural omens could be revealed, or perhaps new courses of action and behaviour demonstrated. In the Bible we find the account of Joseph, who dreamed that one day his whole family would bow to him. His dream did not show the members of his family in the literal sense, but used the language of symbols: 'Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and behold the sun and the moon, and the eleven stars made obeisance before me. . . .' In this instance, Joseph's dream followed the mythological symbolism of representing his father as the sun, his mother as the moon and his brothers as companion stars. A quite different culture, that of the Iroquois Indians, also paid special attention to the symbolism of dreams. An early Jesuit missionary among the Iroquois, Father Fremin, wrote that they had substituted the dream for a divinity; in other words, they had made dreams their god. In 1642 a Huron man (the Hurons were one of the Iroquois tribes) dreamed that a non-Huron Iroquois had captured him and burned him alive. When he awoke, a council of chiefs was held to discuss the portents of the dream. The chiefs decided that the events of the dream must not come to pass, so several Indians procured firebrands and tried to trap the dreamer and burn him to death. Realizing the extreme danger he was in, the Indian grabbed a small dog and paraded around with it over his shoulders, begging that it be sacrificed instead of him. Finally, the dog was clubbed to death and roasted in flames, as an offering to the demon of war 'begging him to accept this semblance instead of the reality of the dream . . .'. Dreams have indeed exercised a special fascination in both ancient times and in the present. The Egyptian pharaohs believed that dreams were messages from the gods, and Hippocrates, the 'father of Medicine' wrote a lengthy treatise on dreams. The classical Chinese Taoists were interested in speculating on whether dreams were more real than everyday life, and 16

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-4

DREAMS

many native societies, including the Fiji islanders, believed dreams represented the wanderings of the soul. In modern times Frederich Kekule, the organic chemist, pondered on the structure of the benzene molecule, and then had a dream which revealed its formation, and included the symbolism of a snake eating its tail, which is also a symbol from alchemical mythology. One of the most famous predictive dreams is Abraham Lincoln's dream of his own assassination, and another dreamer, J. W. Dunne, formulated the philosophy of'serial time' on the basis of his dreams. He had developed the particular faculty of predictive dreaming, and on one occasion dreamed that the Flying Scotsman steam train would crash near Forth Bridge several months before it did, in April 1914. Dunne speculated that the universe consisted of parallel bands or spectra of events and that events occurred at one level before another. In this way, he thought, the dreamer or claivoyant may have access to a plane of reality before the events 'manifested' in the everyday world. Dreams thus revealed a different dimension of causality. How have dreams influenced the occult and what special role do they play? Apart from their elusive and mysterious quality, dreams are also regarded by modern-day occultists as significant for two major reasons. First, Jung's analysis of dreams has provided us with several important concepts - like the Collective Unconscious and the theory of Archetypes which are the basis of modern magical thinking. Second, the dream may be used as part of a technique for 'astral travelling'. While it is true that Freud first showed that dreams relate to the dreamer, rather than being portents from external deities, Jung discovered that the religious side of dreaming could be explained by potent, mystical energies deep in the psyche itself. Originally, Freud had thought that dreams were most relevant to a person's conscious thoughts. He soon discovered, however, that when a patient was encouraged to discuss his dreams, he would uncover unconscious elements as well. These often revealed neuroses and, thus, if the patient could recognize the symptoms, he could benefit therapeutically from the analysis of his dreams. Freud tended to analyse dreams from the viewpoint of their having certain motifs whose meaning was constant. The following is a typically Freudian dream analysis, and is made by a particularly fervent follower of Freud, Angel Garma, Spanish psychoanalyst: Dream: CA Lion was pursuing me and I wanted to escape. I was shut up in a room and I could not find the door to get out. I felt terribly anxious. . . .' Garma^s explanation: 'Dreams such as this are frequent in women who have not yet started a normal heterosexual life. An unmarried woman often has the above dream. The lion, like wild animals, monsters, or 17

DREAMS

abnormal or bad people, represent a sexually excited man pursuing her. She cannot escape because of her own desires . . . ' (p. 115). Another, more questionable analysis was the following: Dream: 'My father tells me that if I do not pass my B.A. examination I shall not be able to marry George. . . .' Explanation: 'A woman dreamed this shortly before her marriage. She doubted her instinctual capacity, which appears as anxiety about her B.A. exam. The father is her super-ego, or psycho-analyst, telling her that she cannot marry unless her genital response is normal' (p. 118). Whereas Freud and his school have tended to uncover sexual motifs in dreams, Jung was anxious to discover why certain symbols rather than others had occurred in the dream. For example, the key in a lock, the wielding of a heavy stick or the battering ram, may all occur in dreams as sexual motifs. Jung writes: 'The real task is to understand why the key has been preferred to the stick or the stick to the ram. And sometimes this might even lead one to discover that it is not the sexual act at all that is represented but some quite different psychological point' {Man and His Symbols, p. 13). Jung further made the vital discovery that not all contents of a dream relate to personal memories or neuroses, and this is extremely relevant to magical theory. 'There are many symbols', he wrote, 'that are not individual but collective in their nature and origin . . .'. These were images that Jung called the Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, and in effect they represent a body of mythological images which recur throughout the psychic history of mankind, in all his creative functions: in art, in music, in legends, in poetry. Jung believed that because man had experienced certain 'constants' in his environment, like the sun, the moon, the stars, the ocean, changes of season etc. he began to formulate these as basic images in his psyche. However, they were not impressed upon man in ail abstract way, but as deities of nature so that all these forces of nature became gods. Jung claimed as a result of thousands of analyses of dreams from this level of the mind that what was revealed was the myth or symbol, the archetype rather than the process or event itself. The mind tended to formulate these experiences in an anthropomorphic way. The sun is an especially significant archetype and has long been an object of veneration because of its eternal nature, and because it is the source of life and light. Sun gods are found in many religions - Apollo Helios in Greece; Ohrmazd in ancient Persia, Osiris in ancient Egypt and Christ in our own culture. Invariably they represent life, rebirth, light and purity. What Jung is saying is that they are relevant to our psyches because they represent symbols of inner harmony and integration and Jung believed 18

DREAMS

one of the main functions of the psychoanalysis of dreams, was to come to terms with what dreams were trying to say. In other words, one has to recognize both the personal and archetypal contents and try to learn the lesson of their symbolism. Most practitioners of modern magic accept the Jungian view that the gods of mythology, which may be revealed in dreams or in visions, trances and ritual, represent inner processes which are normally subconscious. By using the Tree of Life, which relates these gods as symbols of the mind, the magician comes to know and integrate the more transcendental processes of his mind. The second major function of dreams in the occult, as mentioned above, is their use as a method of astral projection (or out-of-the-body experience). Celia Green has noted in her book Lucid Dreams that we can now separate, as a special category, those dreams where the dreamer knows he is dreaming. He finds himself conscious within the dream, and sometimes able to direct his dream and his actions within it. When this occurs, the dreamer may experience the very remarkable process of finding himself 'outside his body'. It is as if he has entered a new time-space location which is populated not by the objects of the real world but rather of his thoughts, his imaginings and perhaps the symbols of his unconscious mind. The magician recognizes in this phenomenon an extraordinary new dimension of life and being. He finds new access to his creative energies and sources of inspiration; he finds himself in weird and surreal mythological landscapes; he discovers that he can move without the limitations of his physical body, to any location where he wills himself to go. Because of this strange application of the dream state, the psychical researcher Sylvan Muldoon decided to formulate an exercise of dreaming which meant that one willed oneself to dream a certain way. The person had to try to retain his consciousness in the dream state, and could will certain images to appear in a certain sequence by 'programming' his dream. Out-of-the-body experiences are related to dreams of flying and floating and so Muldoon suggested that if a person willed himself to dream these sequences he could find himself astral travelling into new dimensions of the mind. Dreams are thus valuable not only for an analysis of sexual, and other, neuroses, but they may also be used as a technique for acquiring magical consciousness. The dream, on the one hand, is a sequence of visual events which demands to be understood. But it is also the realm of ideas and thought processes which allows the magician to impose his will and to use the dream to increase the range of his perception. 19

DREAMS

SOURCEBOOKS (Preference is given here to books on dreams and related areas which are relevant to the occult.) The Meaning of Dreams, Castle Books, New York. A useful treatment of both the historical sources for dream divination and prophecy and also different frameworks of explanation. De Becker, who has also written an important work on homosexuality, was a pupil of Carl Jung.

RAYMOND DE BECKER:

CARL JUNG: Man and His Symbols, Dell, New York, 1968.

CARL JUNG : The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1959. These are both classic works of Jungian psychology, but are especially interesting for their relevance to inner psychical processes. Jung relates the archetypes to all forms of creativity. The first of the above-mentioned works also contains articles by M. L. von Franz Joseph, Joseph Henderson, Jolande Jacobi and Aniela Jaffe, all of whom are distinguished analysts in the Jungian school. ANGEL GARMA: The Psychoanalysis of Dreams, Pall Mall, London, 1966. An interesting volume on dream analysis from the Freudian viewpoint with a large section on genital symbolism in dreams. The book contains some fascinating illustrations from both classical and modern sources, wrhich are included for their symbolic content. GAY GAER LUCE and JULIUS SEGAL: Sleep; Heinemann, London, 1967. Gay Luce is a prize-winning popular writer on scientific themes, and she prepared a review of sleep research for the National Institute of Mental Health in America. Dr Segal is a psychologist and also works for the Institute. This book is one of the best general accounts of sleep and dreaming and contains sections on both the bodily mechanisms of sleep and also the meaning of dream symbolism. CELIA GREEN: Lucid Dreams, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1968. The companion volume to Out-of-the-Body Experiences by the Director of the Institute of Psychophysical Research in Oxford. Special attention is given to the accounts by the astral projectionist Oliver Fox, but the work is a valuable and scholarly comparative source. SYLVAN MULDOON and HEREWARD CARRINGTON: The Projection of the Astral Body, Rider, London, 3rd impression 1971. Muldoon developed a special technique of using dreams to initiate out-of-the-body experiences, and this book contains a full account of both his 'floating' imagery sequences and his favourite controlled dream, which was to will himself to rise upwards in an elevator, then leave it at the 'top floor'.

20

Reincarnation Reincarnation, or the belief that the human soul or consciousness continues to be reborn through a series of lifetimes, is one of the most widespread religious beliefs. Its most prominent representation is in Hinduism and Buddhism. In the Bhagavad Gita we find a dialogue between Krishna, the noble and wise spiritual mentor, and his disciple Arjuna. Krishna explains that it is only the spiritually illumined who know of their former incarnations: 'Both I and thou have passed through many births. Mine are known to me, but thou knowest not of thine. . . . I incarnate from age to age for the preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked and the establishment of righteousness. . . .' Krishna also goes on to say that according to our deeds in one life, so we find ourselves incarnating into a family appropriate to our spiritual attainment: 'The man whose devotion has been broken off by death goeth to the regions of the righteous, where he dwells for an immensity of years and is then born again on earth in a pure and fortunate family; or even in a family of those who are spiritually illuminated. . . .' The Tibetan Buddhists believe that the highest Lamas continue to be reborn as spiritual leaders of their community. When a Dalai Lama has died, it becomes necessary to search through the kingdom to find the valid successor. In his book Meditation, the Inward Art, Bradford Smith describes how this was done: When the previous Dalai Lama died, wise men had gone forth to seek the newr holy one, and had found a little boy who recognized things that had belonged to his predecessor and could pick them out unerringly from among similar objects. . . . [This is an example, he continues] of the universal religious impulse and of the way man seeks to represent the cycle of death and rebirth that runs through 21

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-5

REINCARNATION

all of nature. In Tibetan Buddhism, with its firm faith in the rebirth of the soul, not only of Dalai Lamas but of all, and of a progress based upon behaviour during past lives, this impulse is dramatically present. . . It seems certain that the ancient Egyptian followers of Amen-Ra, who also believed in reincarnation, derived their belief from observing nature. It was clear to them that the sun sank or 'died', each evening in the West, and was 'reborn' with each dawn. The sun was also a vital symbol of life, and so the Egyptian who threw in his lot with the sun god could be assured of continuing and everlasting well-being. He too would follow the cycles of birth and rebirth. Perhaps as a result of the Egyptian influence in ancient Greece, a number of prominent philosophers continued the idea of reincarnation. Pythagoras (582-507 BC) believed that he had once been a man named Aethalides and later Euphorbus, slain at the siege of Troy. Mercury, the messenger of the gods, had granted him the special faculty of being able to remember his previous lives. Socrates and Plato also believed that the soul passed through many lifetimes. Reincarnation continues to be a popular idea today, and many people feel instinctively drawn to it as a more realistic after-death belief than the Last Judgement. A few years ago a London Sunday newspaper, read mostly by English working people, asked its readers whether they believed in: heaven and hell, reincarnation, or simply did not know. The editor was very surprised that a considerably greater number of readers believed in reincarnation than in heaven and hell. Reincarnation is after all, a rather appealing belief. It offers all of us a chance to continue our lives beyond the apparent finality of death, and it is something tangible. Heavens and hells are somewhat remote by comparison, and less easy to visualize than another life in the world we know. In 1956, in both Britain and the United States, popular interest in reincarnation gained special impetus from the publication of The Search for Bridey Murphy. A Colorado businessman named Morey Bernstein had hypnotized a young woman, Virginia Tighe, into a past existence. Under hypnosis, Mrs Tighe became an Irish girl named Bridey Murphy. She remembered that she was the daughter of an Irish barrister, and that she had lived between the years 1798 and 1864. She was able to recall minute details of her incarnation in Cork and it appeared that there was a strong case for linking the two personalities. It was subsequently discovered, however, that Virginia Tighe had grown up in a house resembling Bridey's; one of her neighbours had the name of Bridie Murphy (only a 22

REINCARNATION

slightly different spelling), and that there was a parallel in the backgrounds of the two people. More impressive cases have, however, reared their heads from time to time. Some of the most impressive come from the files of British researcher, Arnall Bloxham, who with his wife Dulcie, uses retrogressive hypnosis to uncover previous incarnations. The Bloxham's first case was Ann Ockenden, a girl who easily entered a state of trance. During a two-hour hypnotic session in 1956, she remembered vivid previous existences in prehistoric times. Another of the Bloxham's sitters entered an incarnation as a British gunner during the Napoleonic War. He described the sea battle, and then during the session, screamed agonizingly when he was wounded seriously in the leg. Bloxham's tape contained so much detailed historical data that it was shown to Lord Mountbatten, who played it to a number of experts on naval history. Some of the most stringently tested cases have been those investigated by Dr Ian Stevenson. Stevenson is the Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry at the Medical School, University of West Virginia. His 1961 essay on selected reincarnation cases won the William James prize, and Stevenson's documented case histories have earned him world-wide respect in his field. His preference, from the analytical point of view, is for reincarnation cases involving small children, who could not have learned of other social contexts. Among his best cited evidence are the cases of Shanti Devi and Eduardo Esplugus-Cabrera. Shanti Devi, who was born in Delhi in 1926, began from the age of three to recall and detail incidents from a previous life at Muttra, eighty miles away. She told her parents that she had been called Lugdi, and had died giving birth to a son. Her husband's name had been Kedar Nath Chaubey. When she was nine, and after Shanti continued to press her claims, her parents wrote to a relative of the dead woman, and were surprised when a letter returned confirming all that Shanti had claimed. Shanti went subsequently to Muttra, and was able to recognize relatives of Kedar Nath Chaubey in a large crowd. She correctly led a carriage through the streets of the town to her old house, which she recognized even though it had been painted a different colour. Shanti was able correctly to answer questions relating to the arrangement of rooms and objects in the house, and also correctly claimed that a sum of money had been buried beneath the floor in her father-in-law's house. Shanti Devi remains one of Stevenson's best cases. In all, Shanti made twenty-four substantiated statements about her earlier life, and there were no instances of error. 2

3

REINCARNATION

Cuban Eduardo Esplugus-Cabrera was only four when he told his parents of a previous life in Havana. He gave the name of a number of relatives and described his mother in detail. She had a 'clear complexion, black hair, and made hats . . .'. Eduardo said that in his previous life he had been known as Pancho. Stevenson says that the parents were sure Eduardo had not visited the location of his 'earlier existence'. The boy was unfamiliar with the route to the house when taken there, but identified the specific house immediately. Eduardo did not recognize the inhabitants of the dwelling but enquiries were made concerning the previous occupants. A family whose names had been given by Eduardo, did indeed live in that house, and had moved out shortly after the death of Pancho. All data given by Eduardo proved to be correct, except for his father's Christian name. Stevenson began his researches as a sceptic, and was keen to test a number of hypotheses of explanation rather than assume reincarnation. He considered possibilities like fraud, 'racial memory', and extrasensory perception as alternative frameworks, but he has nevertheless come to believe that reincarnation is the most likely answer. Noted medical authority Dr Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has also stated recently that she regards reincarnation as a 'fact'. Cases such as those mentioned above could never be said to prove the universality of reincarnation, but they suggest that it may occur in some cases. Together with the out-of-the-body documentation of Dr Robert Crookall and Celia Green, such cases suggest that the faculty of consciousness (and memory) may not be dependent on the physical organism, and may in fact survive bodily death. SOURCEBOOKS JOSEPH HEAD and s. L. CRANSTON: Reincarnation in World Thought, Julian Press, New York, 1967, reissued by Causeway Books, New York, 1970. Possibly the most complete study of reincarnation beliefs ever compiled, this book is a complementary volume to the authors' earlier and shorter, Reincarnation, an East-West Anthology. Reincarnation references in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are detailed from textual sources. The views of prominent writers, philosophers and scientists on the subject of rebirth are also provided. IAN STEVENSON: The Evidence for Survival from Claimed Memories of Former Incarnations, Peto Publications, 16 Kingswood Road, Tadworth, Surrey, England, 1961. IAN STEVENSON : Twenty Cases Suggestive ofReincarnation, American Society for Psychical Research, New York, 1966. The first of these is Stevenson's William James Memorial Essay, and it provides a concise summary of some of the main cases for analysis together 24

REINCARNATION

with an assessment of different hypotheses for explaining reincarnation occurrences. Stevenson went on to a more penetrating analysis of cases from India, Ceylon, Brazil, Alaska, and Lebanon in his second book which remains one of the most authoritative in the field. MARTIN EBON (ed.): Reincarnation in the Twentieth Century, Signet Books, New York, 1970. Ebon is a member of the New School for Social Research and has previously edited volumes on ESP, hauntings and prophecy. This volume is a general account of some of the more famous cases, including the Shanti Devi and Bridey Murphy incidents. One of the book's most valuable features is an account by Lee Markham of Buddhist organizations which document reincarnation cases and try to explain physical abnormalities in terms of previous karma. Case Studies MOREY BERNSTEIN:

The Search for Bridey Murphy, Doubleday, New York,

DULCIE BLOXHAM:

Who Was Ann Ockenden?, Neville Spearman, London,

1956.

1958.

The Cathars and Reincarnations, Neville Spearman, London, 1970. The author believes he lived formerly at the time of the Cathars, a medieval heretical sect in France, dating from around the middle of the thirteenth century. British occult author Colin Wilson regards it as one of the best documented reincarnation accounts.

ARTHUR GUIRDHAM.

Che Origins of Magic

The origins of magic lie at the very beginnings of human history when man first appeared and was faced with a strange, often hostile, environment and a mysterious, almost inexplicable, existence. Vast forces moved around him, upon which he was totally dependent, and yet which were completely outside his control - the sun, the moon, the forces of nature, the movement of the animals, the growth of the plants. And in his own life man was faced with mysterious, powerful forces - birth, death, sickness, hunger. It was in search of an explanation for, and the ability to exercise some control over these powers, that man developed magic. What he couldn't control physically - the movement of the seasons, the fertility of the herds - he tried to manipulate symbolically in rituals. He developed myths to explain what things were, and how they came to be. And in the course of these explorations he also stumbled onto some rudiments of science, and thereby began astronomy (at first as astrology), chemistry and medicine (in herbalism, and later alchemy) and other disciplines. Most importantly, he began to explore his own nature, developing an elementary psychology. Indeed, one author has described magic as 'a system of archaic psychology'. As his adaptation to and control of the environment increased, and his dependence on the forces of nature lessened, magic became more speculative, and less concerned with the everyday needs of survival. Great controversy has raged over the differences between magic and religion, yet it seems certain that in the beginning there was no distinction, and that it was only with the passage of time and the increasing specialization of activities within human communities that distinctions developed. A religious system developed to provide a mythology for the general populace, while magic remained the domain of a few, to whom the rest turned in times of need. As science and technology relieved the more urgent needs of man, and 26

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-6

THE ORIGINS OF MAGIC

made the hostile world less hostile, magic turned inward to become a science of mind, and developed away from the search for control of the physical environment. In the West this development led to the emergence of an 'intellectual' magic, while in other non-Western societies the original, so-called primitive, tradition has continued. Wre consider many of these developments in subsequent chapters. SOURCEBOOKS c. A. BURLAND: The Magical Arts, Arthur Barker, London, 1966. By one of the greatest authorities in this area, the best basic introduction to the origins of magic. E. o. JAMES: Prehistoric Religion, Thames & Hudson, London, 1957. Contains important material on prehistorical magic. Although rather detailed and academic this is an important sourcebook. ERNEST DE MARTINO: Magic Primitive and Modern, Bay Books, Sydney, 1972. An excellent basic survey, focusing on non-Western societies and the origins of magic. JAMES FRAZER: The Golden Bough (in various editions, from the 22-volume set to various small paperback abridgments). The classic work in this area, this was the first serious attempt to correlate and analyse material on magic and religion. Frazer was, unfortunately, getting material at second, third or fourth hand (he never left England) and accordingly many of his theories are based upon incorrect evidence. RICHARD CAVENDISH: The Black Arts, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1967. For the origins and development of more traditional magic, this is a valuable sourcebook.

27

Supernatural and Occult Beings All religions and mythologies describe a vast array of supernatural beings that guide man, trick him, offer him enlightenment or occult secrets. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism has described how the angel Moroni appeared in a blazing vision and showed him certain sacred tablets. Madame Blavatsky, the famous Theosophist, used to claim to her followers that she had constant mystical rapport with certain spiritual 'Masters' including one Koot Hoomi who lived in a mysterious region of the Himalayas. MacGregor Mathers, co-founder of the Order of the Golden Dawn similarly claimed that he had contacted beings he called 'Secret Chiefs' and Aleister Crowley believed that he received an occult revelation from Aiwass, a mysterious Egyptian entity. Of course, if we look further back into Christianity, Judaism and other religions we find accounts of angels appearing to the prophets, and other types of strange entities such as the Kerubim of the 'Book of Revelations'. The world of the occult is one in which the entire universe is filled with mysterious personages and beings. Some of these the occultist can beseech for help in his quest for greater knowledge. Others - some of which he may meet on the astral planes - are horrendous and frightening and to be avoided at all costs. The ancient Gnostics, whose magical universe was rather similar to that of modern magicians, have described some of these beings. One of them was Paraplex, 'a ruler with a woman's shape whose hair reacheth down to her feet under whose authority stand five and twenty archdemons which rule over a multitude of other demons. It is those demons which enter into men and seduce them, raging and cursing and slandering; it is they which carry off hence and in ravishment, the souls and dispatch them through their dark smoke. . . .' The Gnostics, in a way rather similar to the medieval hell-fire Christians, conceived of grotesque Hells, and in particular twelve dungeons of 'Outer Darkness'. 28

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-7

SUPERNATURAL AND OCCULT BEINGS

These accounts of strange, supernatural beings are not confined to the West. The Tibetan Buddhists believe that when a person dies he is confronted by a vast array of entities which are really a reflection of the good and evil tendencies inherent in a person's mind. One of the so-called 'wrathful deities' is an awesome being known as The Great Glorious Buddha-Heruka, said to appear on the eighth day after death: Dark brown of colour it had three heads, six hands and four feet firmly postured, the right face being white, the left red, the central dark brown; the body emitting flames of radiance, the nine eyes widely opened in a terrifying gaze; the eyebrows quivering like lightning. . . . Of course, not all such supernatural encounters are horrific or demonic. We recall St John's apocalyptic revelation: And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [I saw] one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire. And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters . . . (Revelations I: 13-15). Magicians and occultists believe that they have access to the far reaches of the mind, and they hold, like Carl Jung, that these beings are a reflection of different levels of consciousness. A person who has opened his mind to its spiritual, regenerative side will have visions of God, or Christ, or Buddha; a person besieged with doubts, worries, hatred or greed will perhaps be tormented by devils essentially of his own making. The practice of magic, at least in its ritual form, is to invoke and evoke supernatural beings representative of the whole of the manifested universe. A white magician invokes angels and other spiritual beings because he believes that they will bestow knowledge and grace upon him; a black magician is seeking to enhance the more hedonistic, animal side of his nature, and he thus evokes elementals and familiar spirits of a lower order than himself. In a sense he is moving in a counter-evolutionary way, for he is seeking to revitalize all his basically animal drives and instincts. In the Qabalah, the basis of modern magic, each of the ten levels of consciousness on the Tree of Life has an archangel associated with it, and also angels and planetary ascriptions. The names of these beings, which are the most exalted individual entities for each level, are as follows: 30

SUPERNATURAL AND OCCULT BEINGS I 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Metatron Raziel Tzaphquiel Tzadquiel Kamael Raphael Haniel Michael Gabriel Sandalphon

— — — — — — — — — —

Primum Mobile (beginnings of the Cosmos) The Zodiac Saturn

Jupiter

Mars The Sun Venus Mercury The Moon Earth (four elements)

According to occultist Franz Bardon, there are also spirit beings for every degree of the planetary zodiac. For example, Ecdulon, a spirit of the zodiac sign Aries, 'can initiate the magician into the magic of love. If desired by the magician, he can change hostility into friendship and secure for the magician the favour of very important persons . . .'. But there are other supernatural beings in the magical universe. Sometimes they are human, but not always! Ancient myths and legends refer to several fabulous beasts, that were often 'combination animals'. For example, the mantichora was a Persian beast with a lion's body and a human head. It could shoot poisonous barbs from its tail, and had a voice like a trumpet. The Hydra, against which Hercules pitted his strength, was a dragon with seven or nine heads. Each of the heads was immortal and if any were cut off, newr ones would spring up in their place. The beast called a Hippocampus was halfhorse and half-fish, and drew Poseidon's chariot, and the Harpies were aggressive vultures with female heads and breasts. Meanwhile the Chimera, 2L creature described by Homer, was a combination of a lion, a serpent and a goat. Such fanciful creatures are regarded by most of us as figments of the imagination, but for the magician venturing onto the astral planes, it is quite a different matter. Such beings can confront him as if they are real, since he is really journeying into the 'mythological' areas of the mind. One of the most positive and far-reaching contributions of the magician Aleister Crowley was to relate the Tree of Life levels of consciousness to the gods of different religions. He also correlated the Tarot paths on the Tree with other mythological visions, such as those of imaginary animals. For example, according to Crowley Path 25 of the Tree, represented by the Tarot card Temperance, is a location where one might see a centaur or a hippogriff. A centaur, of course, is the famous half-man, half-horse and is none other than Sagittarius who fires his arrow upwards towards the 31

SUPERNATURAL AND OCCULT BEINGS

sun. The centaur occurs here because the card Temperance leads to a mystical vision of the sun and sun-gods, when used for meditative purposes. The hippogriff is a variation of a griffin and this creature was sacred to the sun-god Apollo. We can see, then, that magic regards all supernatural entities as being at least in one sense, real. Even if they are only figments of the creative imagination, they are real at that level. And as the magician expands his consciousness and moves further into the mind, he has to learn to expect almost anything! SOURCEBOOKS The Qabalah of Aleister Crowley, Weiser, New York, 1973. Contains Crowley's book JJJ which includes full and detailed tables correlating the Tree of Life levels of consciousness with the deities of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Indian religion. Also full listings of supernatural animals located on the Tree of Life. JORGE LUIS BORGES: The Book of Imaginary Beings, Avon, New York, 1970 and Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1973. RICHARD BARBER and ANNE RICHES: A Dictionary of Fabulous Beasts, Walker, New York, 1971. Both rather similar in treatment, but both invaluable handbook guides for tracking down imaginary beasts of legend and folklore. The Barber/ Riches volume is well illustrated with black and white line drawings. GUSTAV DAVIDSON: A Dictionary of Angels, Free Press, New York, 1971. The most complete reference book on angels with full alphabetical listings. FRANZ BARDON: The Practice of Magical Evocation, Rudolf Pravica, Graz, Austria, 1967. A detailed account of the planetary and other spirits that populate the magical universe, and the ritual means for contacting them. Full descriptions are given of the spirits for each of the signs of the zodiac. W. Y. EVANS-WENTZ (ed.): The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Oxford University Press, New York, i960. G.R.s. MEAD (ed.): Pistis Sophia, Watkins, London, 4th impression 1963. Two volumes among many dealing with after-death worlds and the supernatural beings that inhabit them. The first Tibetan, the second Gnostic.

ALEISTER CROWLEY:

Ritual Magic

From the very beginning of his awareness of magic and religion man has employed ritual as a means of expressing his involvement with the powers of the universe, and as a means of gaining contact with those powers, and causing them to manifest to him. The earliest evidence of religion in human history is that of the ancient cave dwellers who left remains of their rituals, essentially cults of the dead, the hunt, and the great mother. Ritual implements have been uncovered dating back to the very beginnings of man - statues of the earth mother; skeletons painted in red ochre to symbolize the blood of new life, and buried in a foetal position within the womb of the earth; paintings of man disguised as an animal, performing rituals designed to ensure the success of the hunt; evidence of offerings being made to the earth to ensure the fertility of the plants which provided man with some of his food. As he became increasingly less dependent on the hunt and the nomadic life of his early ancestors so man developed a different approach to magic and ritual. Early man had been surrounded by a world of frightening phenomena which he was largely powerless to control - flood, famine, darkness, death, sickness, fire, all the forces of the natural environment on which his precarious existence was so much dependent had to be symbolized and controlled ritually, for actual control was beyond his limited technology. When he became a cultivator of crops, his interest became even more centred on the cycles of nature, on which he was dependent for the success of his harvest. He was intimately involved in the cycle of life and death and rebirth which is at the very heart of the cultivator - the seeds which contain the germ of life, yet appear dead, and are planted in the soil to burst forth with life, the heavens which give rain and sunshine, the earth which gives warmth and nourishment. As his technology improved, man became less dependent upon nature for his basic survival, and his approach to religion changed. But it remained 33

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-8

RITUAL MAGIC

a ritual involvement; there was only a limited amount of expressly theoretical teaching, for the masses could not read, nor did they have the time to devote to speculative religion. In the rituals, however, which communicated the teachings which could not be put into words, but were contained in experiences, they could both participate and learn. Gradually, with the separation of magic and religion, and the establishment of the church as the most powerful influence on the culture, ritual magic largely disappeared; certainly, it existed in small enclaves and amongst individuals, but the church was most diligent in her persecution of those who participated in practices outside her scheme of belief. Amongst such groups as the alchemists, the Rosicrucians and, later, the Freemasons, some of the traditions of ritual magic were continued. Within the church herself the old methods of teaching by ritual involvement were continued - for those who could neither read nor write, and had insufficient education to understand the basic concepts of the faith, let alone the sublime mysteries contained within the Catholic religion, the dramas of the Sacraments and the annual cycle of the church year continued to communicate the doctrines of the Christian religion. But at the same time there existed other traditions - some specifically non-Christian, some within the Christian tradition - which employed ritual for magical purposes. Various groups developed to perpetuate particular traditions of ritual magic, and, with the declining power of the Church, these occasionally emerged into the open. Unlike the traditions of ritual magic in the distant past, these were specifically for the educated and the learned, who sought power, knowledge and experience through the techniques of ritual magic. Freemasons, Rosicrucians, alchemists, Templars - a whole range of traditions developed, and numerous individuals worked alone in the practice. Names like Paracelsus, John Dee and others recall that the traditions continued, albeit often hidden from the world. It was not until the nineteenth century that the traditions of ritual magic really emerged again. In 1801 Francis Barrett published The Magus (an almost unreadable and extremely complex volume) and thereby began what has proved to be a long line of works on this subject. His influence was small, compared to that of Eliphas L£vi, whose book The Dogma and Ritual of High Magic was published in 1856, and who has achieved a largely undeserved reputation as a great authority on the subject. The latter half of the nineteenth century saw also the development of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn which, more than any other group, has profoundly influenced the course of ritual magic and made it known to the general public. Deriving from this Order, a number 34

RITUAL MAGIC

of other groups (The Order of the Cubic Stone, the Fraternity of the Inner Light and others) have emerged to perpetuate, in varying forms, the traditions of magic. Today, these traditions are continued by a variety of occult groups, and by individual ritual magicians who work alone in the pursuit of this ancient path. Many of the schools which once followed the magical tradition have now ceased to do so, although continuing to exist in an altered form; foremost amongst this group are the Freemasons who, although once a genuine school of ritual occultism, now de-emphasize this aspect of their work. Ritual magic is that approach to magic which employs ritual, symbols and ceremonial as a means of representing and communicating with forces underlying the universe and man. Ritual is a process of dramatizing what is being expressed, so that the whole man - body, emotions and mind - are employed in causing a total experience. Ritual makes use of all the senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch - and uses all the methods of drama and all the techniques of religion. Ritual magic centres on symbols, those keys to the subconscious by which it is possible to communicate concepts and ideals beyond words or intellectual understanding. The aim of ritual magic is a transcendental experience - an experience beyond the limitations of the mind, an experience of the reality of being, of the realms of what might be called the 'superconscious', but an experience in a controlled, balanced and integrated way. Ritual magic thus aims at the same end as many other techniques - that of the mystic and that of the drug taker. But unlike the mystic, the ritual magician works through action rather than through contemplation, through the externalization of inner realities, rather than through introspection. And unlike the drug taker, the ritual magician strives for a consciously controlled and directed journey inwards, relying not upon synthetic or chemical experience, but upon the utilization of the natural faculties which he possesses, but rarely uses. All the equipment of magic, all its ceremony and ritual, all the words and symbols are designed to focus and to direct the will of the magician, and to 'turn him on' to inner realities. The ultimate end of ritual magic is not the causing of spectacular and apparently supernatural effects, but the transformation of the individual from a limited mortal, into what can only be described as a 'superman', fully alive and totally free. There are, as Eliphas Levi noted, three basic laws of ritual magic: (i) the law ofwill - t h e power of man's will is a real power which, when correctly stimulated and harnessed, is as potent as any physical force; but this will is quite different to the vague, ill-defined 'wishing' with which most people confuse it. The will must be cultivated, disciplined and controlled. 35

RITUAL MAGIC

(2) the law of astral light - all things consist of one basic substance which is known by various names, but which, once understood, can be used by the magician and moulded by his will. (3) the law of correspondence - this is the ancient doctrine of the microcosm and the macrocosm, according to which 'that which is above is like that which is below'; man is a model of the universe, and the universe is a greater expression of those same principles embodied in man. A knowledge of these correspondences between man and the universe enables the magician to summon up within himself any of the powers of the universe. But, although principles can be codified and expounded, the only real teaching of ritual magic comes from individual experience, and involves disciplined self-development and the laborious transformation of the self. SOURCEBOOKS Not because his books embody any greatly practical or important information, but because they are historically important, the works of Eliphas Levi are key sources: Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual (reprinted, Rider, London, 1962). History of Magic (reprinted, Rider, London, 1968). The Key of the Mysteries (reprinted, Rider, London, 1968). More important and more practical information is given in the writings of contemporary ritual magicians: w. E. BUTLER : Magic, Its Ritual, Purpose and Power, Aquarian Press, London, I9S2. w. E. BUTLER : The Magician, His Training and Work, Aquarian Press, London, 1959. Excellent introductions to the nature and principles of ritual magic, without the usual jargon and unnecessarily complicated phraseology. w. GRAY: Magical Ritual Methods, Helios, Cheltenham, 1969. w. GRAY: The Inner Traditions of Magic, Aquarian, London, 1971. Practical studies of the subject by a practising ritual magician who offers very valuable hints to the student. w. B. CROW: A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult, Aquarian, London, 1968. For coverage of the history of magic in general, with valuable material on ritual magical traditions. FRANCIS KING: Ritual Magic in England, Spearman, London, 1970.

The classic study on the traditions of Western magic in Britain, this covers the period of the Golden Dawn, j . H. BRENNAN: Astral Doorways, Aquarian, London, 1971. j . H. BRENNAN: Experimental Magic, Aquarian, London, 1972. Two very practical introductory books, with valuable material for the student on the basic theory and practice of magic. 36

RITUAL MAGIC ISRAEL REGARDIE: ISRAEL REGARDIE:

The Middle Pillar, Llewellyn, St Paul, Minnesota, 1970. The Tree of Life: A Study of Magic, Weiser, New York,

I971More advanced studies, contemporary classics in the field. Regardie successfully integrates the basic teachings of ritual magic and the occult with the principles of analytical psychology; his own background derives from the Stella Matutina and Aleister Crowley.

37

Ritual Consciousness

A ritual, in effect, is an act of imitation. In primitive societies, native shamans mirror in their actions the movements of the animals, birds and fish that they wish to ensnare. When rain is required, a ceremony may be conducted in which the fall of rain upon the earth is symbolized by a fluttering movement of the arms of the performers, or the pouring of liquids upon the ground or some similar, appropriate action. In the world of the occult, rituals similarly play a paramount role. Just as rituals of fertility beseech the gods to shower abundance, so too can rituals incorporate the opposite intentions. There are, for example, certain occult rituals which practise a type of scapegoating effect. In Francis Barrett's famous compendium The Magus published in 1801 we see that certain witch rituals transferred illness and pain to an unfortunately victimized creature: Take the eyes of a frog, which must be extracted before sunrise, and bind them to the breasts of a woman who be ill. Then let the frog go blind into the water again and as he goes so will the woman be rid of her pains. . . . Removing the eyes of the frog clearly asserted man's will over the frog since it could no longer leap to freedom. The breasts, with their lifegiving milk, were regarded as symbolic of health, and the casting of the frog into the purifying waters was clearly a ritual act of cleansing the body of evil and pain. Often in ritual, the contact between the ritual object and the person who will benefit is crucial. A rather similar ritual to the above states that one cure for fever was for a naked woman to take the heart of any animal and bind it to the patient. The disease would then depart. In this instance the fever is equated with the death of the sacrificed animal. The heart is its

38

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-9

RITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS

very life force, and this is virtually exchanged for the perilous illness . . . at the animal's expense! Witchcraft and primitive magic frequently dwrelt on the afflictions imposed by nature upon man, or by enemies or hostile gods. Man was subject to a barrage of external forces - wind, fire, drought, flood, storms - and his rituals were a form of protection. The only way man knew of protecting himself was by imitating the gods whose forces raged all around him. In ancient Egypt, which saw the rise of one of the most profound early cosmologies, it became clear that one of the most enduring phenomena in the observable universe was the sun. No one had ever seen it go out. No one had ever seen it fail to rise with the new dawn each day. It was appropriate then, that the sun became a symbol of the Egyptian's destiny, for by imitating its motion, and by identifying and following the sun god, a man could find new life. It is from the Egyptians that we have the earliest representation of resurrection as a doctrine, although this was mirrored by other religious groups in a reincarnation teaching. In some instances the two went side by side. Osiris, the god slain by his brother Set and miraculously reborn, symbolized resurrection. After death his followers would travel down the river of the Underworld to the Elysian fields, passing on the way through dungeons representing the hours of the night. In the fields they would be sustained ritually by eating barley cakes and by drinking ale, symbolic of the body and life of Osiris himself. On the other hand the followers of Amen-Ra had noted that the sun constantly reappeared daily, and they assumed, again in an act of ritual identification, that man too, in the company of the sun god, must be perpetually reborn. In their after-death belief it was said that man travelled in the train of the sun god, and took part in the continuing battle of (sun)light over darkness. We see in the above, the beginnings of rituals designed to transform man himself. Egyptian mythology had a major influence on the ritual magic practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (see pages 48-51). The aim of this Order, which practised white or beneficial magic rather than black or destructive magic, was to use ritual to illuminate the mind. Israel Regardie writes in his Tree of Life: There are hierarchies of consciousness which are celestial and there are those which are terrestrial; some divine, other demonic, and still others including the highest Gods and Universal Essences . . . the wrhole Universe is permeated by One Life, and that Life in manifestation is represented by hosts of mighty Gods, divine beings, cosmic spirits or intelligences . . . (p. 57). 39

RITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Unlike primitive societies, modern occult groups tend to regard the gods as symbols of the positive and negative energies of the mind. White magic thus entails enhancing the spiritual side of man's nature, whereas black magic or satanism tends to arouse the sexual or animal side of man. In the Golden Dawn the rituals were designed to provide the initiate with the feeling that he was travelling among the gods. These, of course, were represented by members of the Order dressed in appropriate mythological regalia. However, for many the rituals were emotionally and intellectually inspiring. The poet W. B. Yeats, who at one time headed the Golden Dawn, and who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923, found ritual particularly illuminating: 'There is traced within the evil triangle the rescuing symbol of the Golden Cross united to the Rose of seven times seven petals . . .' he wrote, in describing one of the key rituals. For him, with his poetic imagination inflamed by ritual, each petal seemed to be transformed 'into the likeness of Living Beings of extraordinary beauty . . .'. When turning to the pillars of Horus in the ritual it seemed that each one had become a 'column of confused shapes, divinities . . . of the wind, who in a whirling dance of more than human vehemence, rose playing upon pipes and cymbals . . .'. According to modern occultism, the gods are alive in the minds of us all, and it is up to us to open the channels of inspiration. In this wray, white magic is very similar to Kundalini Yoga for it too demonstrates the opening of channels of energy and illumination. In ritual magic it is essential that all the senses should be heightened, and so the ritual itself has to appeal to all of them, in unison. It does this as follows: Sight All of the ritual clothing and symbolic colours focus the consciousness in a certain way. For example the colours of life are gold and yellow, in imitation of the sun. Red is the colour of aggression, symbolizing blood spilt in war. Sound Magic draws upon a vast repertoire of chants, mantras and invocations which have a powerful effect on the mind and the creative imagination. Taste This may take the form of a sacrament like wine, or in some instances, like the Mysteries of Eleusis, a hallucinatory drink. Smell Incense and perfumes are frequently used to provide a sensory atmosphere suitable for the ritual. Touch Throughout the ritual the initiate has contact with sacred objects. Perhaps it is the glass from which he drinks the life-giving fluid, or the 40

RITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS

sword with which he holds at bay the demons (of his mind) who are hostile to his task of enlarging consciousness. We see from the above that ritual magic especially is designed to allow man to transcend himself. He does this by using symbols and mythology to help himself imagine that once again he walks among the gods, and in fact, has become one himself. In so doing he gains access to Cosmic Consciousness. SOURCEBOOKS For medieval magical and witchcraft rituals see the following: A. E. WAITE: The Book of Ceremonial Magic, University Books, New York, 1961.

The Secret Lore of Magic, Abacus, London, 1972. The above include important primary references such as selections from The Key of Solomon the King, the Almadel, the Grimorium Verum, the Grimoire of Honorius, and details of occult spells and evocations. Shah's book contains an interesting section on conjurations of spirits and demons with the appropriate hours and times for magical practices.

IDRIES SHAH:

For complete facsimile translations of key ritual works see: s. L. MACGREGOR MATHERS (ed.): The Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage, De Laurence, Chicago, 1938, 3rd impression 1948. s. L. MACGREGOR MATHERS (ed.): The Greater Key of Solomon, De Laurence, Chicago, 1914. L. w. DE LAURANCE (ed.): The Lesser Key of Solomon: Goetia, the Book of Evil Spirits, De Laurence, Chicago, 1916. The above works are available through Wehman Publishers, Hackensack, New Jersey, and represent key manuscripts relating to descriptions of spirits and their ritual conjuration. Of the three, the first is considered by modern occultists to be the most important, and it was held by Aleister Crowley to be one of the most powerful works of ceremonial magic, hampered only by the fact that the rituals took a total of six months to perform! All in all, however, the Abremelin rituals (allegedly written in 1468) allowed the magician the services of 316 spirit advisors. The rituals were also said to allow one to communicate with one's own Holy Guardian Angel, or higher spiritual self. Two important works relating to the spells and rituals of witchcraft and satanism respectively are: PETER HAINING: The Warlock's Book, University Books, New York, n.d. and ANTON SZANDOR LA VEY: The Satanic Rituals, Avon, New York, 1972. Haining's book contains sections on sexual magical rituals and love potions, the Black Sabbat and witchcraft rituals, based on the Sloane, Harleian and Lansdowne MSS in the British Museum. Attention is also given to the hallucinogens employed by witches, including henbane, thornapple and mandrake. La Vey's work, which describes satanic rituals performed in the author's San Francisco Church of Satan, represents the companion volume to The Satanic Bible (Avon, 1969). Some of the rituals

RITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS are in Enochian, the angelic language first transcribed by Dr John Dee, Elizabeth Fs astrologer. Among the most relevant sourcebooks dealing with contemporary magical ritual are the following: ISRAEL REGARDIE: The Golden Dawn, Aries, Chicago 1937-41. Reissued in one volume, Llewellyn, St Paul, Minnesota, 1974. R. G. TORRENS: The Secret Rituals of the Golden Dawn, Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northants, 1972. ALEISTER CROWLEY: Book Four, Sangreal Foundation, Dallas, Texas, 1972. FRANZ BARDON: The Practice of Magical Evocation, Pravica, Graz-Puntigam, Austria, 1967. Regardie, at one time Aleister Crowley's personal secretary, first discarded the tradition of secrecy in the Golden Dawn and Stella Matutina occult societies by publishing their rituals in full. His compilation represents the most significant single magical source of modern Kabbalistic ritual. Torren's shorter version, which purports to come from an alternative manuscript source, omits the important mystical rituals which lead to the experience of spiritual rebirth in the Kabbalistic level of consciousness known as Tiphareth. However in some respects it is more accessible than Regardie's larger work. Crowley's Book Four details all of the magical implements that were used in the Golden Dawn and in his own Argentinum Astrum Society (the Order of the Silver Star), and also explains the symbolism of the magical triangle (evocation) and circle (invocation). Franz Bardon's works, while outside the Golden Dawn ritual tradition, are highly respected and carry their own signs of authenticity. Like Crowley's book, Bardon details the magical 'weapons' and then proceeds with a number of remarkable descriptions of the elemental spirits, for example: Mentfil... a mighty king of gnomes in the kingdom under the earth . . . This ruler can inform the magician about all medicinal herbs . . . Apart from this, Mentfil is a master in alchemical work and reveals to the magician how the prima materia can be transformed into the philosopher's stone . . . ' etc. All in all, Bardon includes ritual sigil diagrams for all the spirits of the 360 0 of the Zodiac. The mythological sources of modern ritual magic are examined in: ISRAEL REGARDIE: The Tree of Life, Rider, London, 1932; Weiser, New York, I97I

\ This book describes the comparative pantheons of deities which have been included in modern magic, and also describes the Tattvas or Hindu symbols of the elements, used in meditation and trance magic. For anthropological frameworks the following may be useful: GUY SWANSON: The Birth of the Gods, University of Michigan, 1964. A. F. c. WALLACE: Religion, An Anthropological View, Random House, New York, 1966. VICTOR TURNER: The Ritual Process, Aldine Press, Chicago, 1969; Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1974. 42

Magical Equipment

Popular fiction, films and television - from Rosemarfs Baby to the whole series of Dracula films and Dennis Wheatley novels - have made the public familiar with the traditional equipment of the magician and the witch, often in a highly dramatic and not altogether accurate manner. Traditionally, magicians worked in a room set aside and consecrated for the purpose (temple, or lodge), within a defined area usually marked on the floor (magical circle}, upon an altar, wearing robes specially prepared for the occasion, and using specific tools (typically, a chalice, pentacle, sword, wand). Additionally they burnt incense in a thurible, sometimes used daggers and Staffs, and usually worked by the light of candles. All this equipment was traditionally prepared very carefully, in the strictest traditions, by the magician himself, and solemnly consecrated for work. The old grimoires (books of magical rituals) include elaborate directions for the making and use of magical equipment, although most of their instructions are beyond the abilities of contemporary magicians (e.g. to make a sword, iron had to be mined by the magician, who refined and smelted it, and beat it into the sword), who have limited time and money to devote to their art. If the magician is unable to make his equipment, then he should at least search carefully for the best possible, and be prepared to pay high prices for the right things; all equipment is traditionally consecrated during a special ritual, and thereafter kept from all common usage, and away from other people. Certainly, it is never used for any purpose other than magical work, or its potency will be lost. The equipment should always be kept clean, wrapped in silk, and treated with reverence; the psychological power of the objects derives from this devotion with which they are treated. (i) The Temple (lodge, chapel, oratory, shrine, laboratory) - this should be a room in which only magical working is carried out, and to which

43

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-10

MAGICAL EQUIPMENT

outsiders have no access. After being scrupulously cleansed it is consecrated for use and the ritual objects are placed within it. Traditionally it should lie east-west. At the door are two pillars, symbolizing the doorway to the inner world, through which the magician passes when entering his temple. In the centre is the altar, surrounded by the circle within which the magician works. In some workings, the altar is placed in the east, symbolic direction of the rising sun. At each of the four cardinal points (north, south, east, west) are placed objects or symbols representing the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) and the four archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Auriel, Raphael). (2) The Circle represents the actual working space of the magician, and he should never step outside it during a ritual. Traditionally, to do so was believed to place him in terrible danger since the powers which he had summoned would destroy him if he left the protection of the circle. The circle was usually traced in chalk on the floor, or laid out in pieces of material, with symbols inscribed around its circumference. (3) The Altar was usually a double cube, black on the bottom (symbolizing earth) and white on the top half (spirit); only magical equipment was ever placed upon the altar, which usually had one or more white cloths upon it, and in some cases a perpetual lamp burning, symbolizing the divine presence. All magical working was done within the circle upon the altar. (4) The Robes included the outer and inner robes, sandals and, in some traditions, a stole and a head-dress. The inner robe was usually a monasticstyle garment in white (although some traditions employ black to symbolize, not darkness, but the unregenerated man), with a hood. The outer garment varied in colour and was usually a sleeveless cloak-style coat. While sandals were generally worn, some traditions advocate that the feet should be bare. The stole symbolized the power of the magician, and was simply a strip of material, usually decorated with symbols, hanging around his neck, down to his knees. Head-dresses varied in form from elaborate ones looking like Bishops' mitres, to Egyptian styles, or simply skull caps. They were worn usually because tradition (deriving from the Old Testament) taught that man's head should be covered when approaching the divine. (5) The Tools - each of these represented a natural element, the cup (water), the pentacle or plate (earth), the sword (air) and the wand (fire). Additionally, candles burnt upon the altar, and sometimes other vessels were used (for example, for storing oil or water). Traditionally, the tools should be of metal, engraved with sacred symbols, and specially consecrated for the work. 44

MAGICAL EQUIPMENT

(6) Incense was burned both to purify the air and drive away evil spirits, and also to give a pleasant atmosphere and attract good spirits. A thurible (incense container on a chain) was used to hold burning charcoal, upon which granulated gum was placed (usually derived from Arabia, taken from trees, and usually olibanum and benzoin mixed together). Sometimes additional herbs were added (e.g. rosemary, cinnamon) to increase the fragrance, or drugs added to affect the mind. Incense sticks and cones tend to be unacceptable because they derive from virtually unknown origins, and may contain all manner of odd substances. Pure gum, with sandalwood dust, and natural herbs, spices and oils are best, and should be blessed when placed upon the charcoal. Obviously, the equipment was modified according to the needs of the magician and the ritual he was performing. Egyptian-style equipment would not be used in a ceremony invoking Roman gods, nor would statues of Buddha stay in a room devoted to the Christian tradition. The magician had to be an interior decorator in part, co-ordinating and integrating his material resources to create the most conducive atmosphere for his wrork. He did not collect odds and ends, but wras a specialist craftsman. With the contemporary revival of interest in magic, a large-scale business had been established in the selling of allegedly genuine magical equipment - robes, tools, incenses, oils. This is completely contrary to the traditions of magic, and great care should be exercised in purchasing any object for magical use. The burning of mail-order incense and oils is especially unhealthy; their constituents remain unknown, their makers of dubious intent and their effects unpredictable. SOURCEBOOKS The Practice of Ritual Magic, Helios, Cheltenham, 1967. An excellent small handbook on the essentials of ritual magic and the equipment it uses. w. G. GRAY: Magical Ritual Methods, Helios, Cheltenham, 1969. w. G. GRAY: The Inner Traditions of Magic, Aquarian, London, 1970. Both of these books contain detailed studies of the symbolism and meaning of ritual implements. ALEISTER CROWLEY: Book 4, Sangreal, Dallas, 1969. Most of this work is devoted to an analysis of magical equipment which, although written from Crowley's rather specialist position, is valuable. DAVID CONWAY: Magic: An Occult Primer, Mayflower, London, 1974. An interesting practical approach to magic, containing considerable material on magical equipment, rituals and herbs. GARETH KNIGHT:

46

MAGICAL EQUIPMENT w. B. CROW: The Occult Properties of Herbs, Aquarian, London, 1969. A concise handbook by a great authority on the biology of the occult. ERIC MAPLE: The Magic of Perfume, Aquarian, London, 1973. A study of aromatics and their esoteric significance.

47

Che Golden Damn

The present occult revival owes much of its direction to the important Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888) which first gathered together the workings of a fully developed magical system. A number of important writers all belonged to the Order - MacGregor Mathers, translator of the Zohar; A. E. Waite, an authority on the Qabalah, the Rosicrucians and the Holy Grail legends; W. B. Yeats, the poet; and the fantasy novelists Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood. So too did Aleister Crowley, famous and perhaps unjustly maligned as 'The Great Beast'. In any occult bookshop today one will see Waite's Tarot deck in a position of prominence, and perhaps Crowley's spectacular, visionary cards also. Most contemporary occult groups practising magic as a type of Western Yoga, acknowledge their debt to the Golden Dawn. The rituals of the Order were based originally on five masonic grades discovered in the papers of a deceased English Rosicrucian. Dr Wynn Westcott, a London coroner and Freemason, asked Samuel (later 'MacGregor') Mathers to expand the material so that it could form the basis of instruction for a new occult society. This group would nevertheless claim an ancient lineage and would compete, in a sense, with the esoteric section of the Theosophical Society, which had become rather obscurely fashionable in London in the 1880s. The rituals themselves were not merely artificial or theatrical. They were intended to symbolize certain stages of enlightenment or mystical consciousness upon a certain cosmic pathway called the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life in itself is a key motif in the Qabalah, or Jewish mystery tradition, and represents ten levels of consciousness between man and Godhead. Beginning from the lowest levels upon the Tree there are four major levels of consciousness, representing in simple terminology: our perception of the environment (Malkuth); the sexual instincts (Yesod); the 48

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-11

THE GOLDEN DAWN

rational intellect (Hod)', and the capacity for love and zmoX\on(Netzach). Mathers and Westcott aligned these and an initial Neophyte grade with the five Rosicrucian rituals, and these later became the Golden Dawn rituals per se. The next level of consciousness upon the Tree (and it has to be remembered that the aim of white magic is to trace the mystical stages back to Godhead) was called Tiphareth, and this represented the mystical level of the god-man. It was in itself a very profound spiritual experience in which the magician felt the power of the God energy living within him, and experienced 'rebirth'. Mathers and Westcott devised a type of'occult society within a society' now, designating this level, and the next two stages upon the Tree, the Second Order. Its existence was kept a secret for the beginners in the Golden Dawn grades. It was also given the grandiose title of the Rosae Rubae et Aurea Crucis (the Red Rose and the Cross of Gold), linking the Order with the Rosicrucians. Westcott, Mathers and another member, Woodford, appointed themselves as figureheads of this exalted level of consciousness. Above them, on the Tree, remained three levels of consciousness, the Trinity, consisting of Kether, the Crown; Hokmah, Wisdom; and Binah, Understanding. Mathers, in particular, insisted before members of lower rank that he had sole access to these lofty realms of inspiration. The first Golden Dawn Temple, that of Isis-Urania, was opened in London in 1888, and by 1896 there were Temples of Osiris in WestonSuper-Mare, Horus in Bradford, Amen-Ra in Edinburgh and Ahathoor in Paris. We can see from the names of these temples that apart from the Rosicrucian symbolism of the mystical grade of Tiphareth, the predominating influence was that of ancient Egypt. The Egyptian gods had been well illustrated in mural motifs and papyri, and provided an elaborate pantheon of gods symbolizing the occult potential of man. It was appropriate that they should have been revived at this time. Mathers, who assumed increasing importance in the Order, eventually sealed its doom by his essentially autocratic manner. He was fond of chastising members like Annie Horniman, who criticized him for withdrawing into a state of elitist isolation. Mathers spent much of his time translating important occult texts, like the Magic of Abramelin, and he expected his colleagues tofinanceand maintain his sojourns in the British Museum and the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal in Paris. Finally Mather's claim to exclusive occult authority wore thin and schisms formed within the Order. Florence Farr mobilized her 'Sphere Group' around an astral Egyptian entity, and Dr Felkin formed the breakaway Stella Matutina around certain Sons of Fire who dwelt in the 49

THE GOLDEN DAWN

Arabian desert. With the death of Mathers in 1918, the original Golden Dawn fragmented completely, although Felkin's group continued to exert an influence which is still felt today in the form of the Fraternity of the Inner Light and its derivatives. There were certain occult knowledge lectures which the Golden Dawn members had to master and these in themselves brought together a lot of information on magic, the tarot, alchemy and astrology that is still of vital interest today. The grade of Malkuth included details of alchemy and the elemental spirits of earth, air, water and fire. Also included were the symbolic connections between the gods of different religions and the ten basic levels of consciousness upon the Tree of Life. (Aleister Crowley, who left the Order in 1904, compiled a detailed list of'correspondences' in his book 777, recently republished in the volume The Qabalah of Aleister Crowley (Weiser, New York, 1974).) At the stage of Yesod, the practitioners learnt the division of the soul or consciousness into Neschamah, the animal instincts. In Hod, they learnt in detail the connections between the twenty-two major cards of the Tarot and the levels of consciousness on the Tree, and in Netzach, the sacred names of the Gods. All of the magicians took part in rituals appropriate to their grade, and these were intended to impress upon the performers, a sense of awe and mystery (see pp. 38-42). Between 1937 and 1941 Israel Regardie published the full rituals of the Stella Matutina, as they derived from the Golden Dawn. R. G. Torrens's more condensed The Secret Rituals of the Golden Dawn presents a slight variation on these. Many contemporary occult groups in both the United States and Britain still base their grades on the Golden Dawn pattern, and ripples of influence continue also to find their way into the occult music and literature of the counterculture. SOURCEBOOKS ISRAEL REGARDIE :

The Golden Dawn (reissued in one volume), Llewellyn, St Paul, Minnesota, 1974.

R. G. TORRENS: The Secret Rituals of the Golden Dawn, Aquarian Books,

Wellingborough, Northants, 1972. The above contain authentic transcripts of the Golden Dawn rituals. Regardie's however is more meaningful because it also includes the important 'Knowledge Lectures' of the grades, and also a section on the rebirth grade of Tiphareth, which actually belonged to the so-called Second Order above the Golden Dawn. For a historical account of the Golden Dawn and its derivative offshoots, the following are recommended: 50

THE GOLDEN DAWN FRANCIS KING: Ritual Magic in England, Spearman, London, 1970.

ELLIC HOWE: The Magicians of the Golden Dawn, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1972. King's book contains valuable details on occult groups like the Astrum Argentinum, the OTO (a sexual magic group), the Cromlech Temple and the Fraternity of the Inner Light. Howe's work created something of a sensation when it was published because it showed very clearly that Dr Wynn Westcott, one of the founders of the Golden Dawn, fabricated a correspondence with a fictitious German Rosicrucian named Anna Sprengel, in order to claim links with an 'ancient Western tradition', in Europe. Israel Regardie has criticized Howe because he feels that he is undermining the authenticity of the Order. Nevertheless, Howe's work remains the definitive historical account of the Society. It is evident that historical factors are incidental to the value of the Golden Dawn system of magic as a means of consciousness development. w. E. BUTLER: The Magician, his Training and Work, Aquarian, London, 1959. w. E. BUTLER: Apprenticed to Magic, Aquarian, London, 1962. ISRAEL REGARDIE: The Middle Pillar, Llewellyn, St Paul, Minnesota, 1974. ISRAEL REGARDIE: The Art of True Healing, Helios, Cheltenham, 1966. WILLIAXM G. GRAY: The Ladder of Lights, Helios, Cheltenham, 1968. The above represent contemporary occult guidebooks, formulated within the Golden Dawn tradition. Butler and Regardie, in particular, demonstrate the occult use of colours in meditation, the use of mantras and visualization, and the relationship of the Tree of Life to the body of man. Regardie's Middle Pillar, which describes mental exercises based upon the central column of the Tree of Life, demonstrates a process of altering consciousness just as the yogis do. The Ladder of Lights written by a protege of Regardie's, describes the climbing-back-to-Godhead process, and details the cosmic-mythological imagery of the mind.

Magical Cosmology

Cosmology is the study of the universe as an orderly whole, and for the mystic and the magician the cosmos is indeed an awesome and vast ongoing process. Since earliest times, man has sought to rationalize his place in his environment. In Paleolithic times he realized that he must do battle with the elements to survive, and he conceived of gods in the wind and in the floods and storms. He imitated the animals he hunted to trick them into his lair, and perhaps he considered that by a similar method of imitation in ritual or in special offerings - he could similarly ensnare the gods, or at least appease them in their wrath. Throughout recorded history man has structured his universe. There have been regional gods - of mountains, streams and the earth - and there have been ineffable, transcendent gods far beyond the sky. Samuel MacGregor Mathers, one of the founders of the Order of the Golden Dawn (see pp. 48-50) was especially interested in cosmology and the study of ancient systems of mystical thought. He translated the medieval Zohar, the central books of the Qabalah, and other rare grimoires and magical writings. He was responsible too for writing some of the beautiful rituals of the higher Rosicrucian grades beyond the Golden Dawn, which were given only to advanced occultists. In writing these he assembled in a type of collage the sacred hymns, prayers and occult cosmologies of a number of ancient sources. Basically, he drew on those mystical religions which structured the universe. Magic basically asserts that man's psyche is the microcosm of the entire universe, and therefore the old religions which produced hierarchies of gods, are also useful symbolic frameworks for the expansion of consciousness. Mathers believed, as all occultists do, that gods and deities are symbols of both the personality and aspiration. The gods of ancient Greece often seemed very human in their exploits; they were jealous and proud. Set, in 52

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-12

MAGICAL COSMOLOGY

Egyptian mythology, successfully lured his brother Osiris to climb into a coffin, and he later scattered his body in pieces all over Egypt. Is this the way, we ask, that gods should act? A careful analysis of comparative mythology shows that gods embody both negative and positive qualities, and it is up to us to emulate or neglect their example. Mathers, in the Golden Dawn, was using the meditative structure called the Tree of Life (see pp. 57-60) as his magical focus because it enabled a detailed comparison of the gods of several major ancient religions to be made. Magic seeks to enlarge the consciousness step by step, in a particular way. For the magician to meditate upon the figure Mercury from the Roman pantheon, for example, would enhance the sense of lucidity and rational intellect. Luna and Diana, on the other hand, were changeable, emotive and instinctual, and symbolized quite a different facet of the personality! Mathers decided that since he was dealing with the Western mind, he should take Western gods. And since he wished that his magical procedures should be step by step, in grades, he had to choose cosmologies in which the gods, or levels of consciousness, were distinct. The cosmologies chosen as the basis of western magic were: The Egyptian, the Greek, and a special Neoplatonic mystical system called 'Chaldean' which grew up around AD 300. These he correlated with the Qabalah, which is described in a separate section of this book.

THE EGYPTIAN COSMOLOGY The ancient Egyptians conceived of their world as being surrounded by a chain of mountains. The sun rose each day through a hole in the East, and sank each night in the West. The sun, whether he was Ra or Osiris or Khenti Amenti, was personified as a deity who travelled through the hours of both day and night, so that half his time was spent traversing the sky by day and the other half, in battling the forces of the under world - the twelve hours or 'dungeons' of night. The underworld was in fact a rather frightening place. Wallace Budge writes: 'In all the books of the otherworld we find pits of fire, abysses of darkness, murderous knives, streams of boiling water, foul stenches, fiery serpents, hideous animalheaded monsters and creatures, and cruel death-dealing beings of various shapes . . .' {The Egyptian Heaven and Hell, p. 88). The Egyptians noted to their satisfaction that the sun always rose with the new dawn, and so the sun became a symbol of the triumph of light over darkness and of good over evil. The sun god entered and passed 53

MAGICAL COSMOLOGY

through the regions of the underworld (which was called the Tuat) by means of sacred words of power called hekau, and these had been originally given by Thoth, the god of wisdom. Two of the most important Egyptian sacred books were the Am Tuat, compiled by the priests of Amen Ra at Thebes, and the Book of Gates, an Osirian work dating from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000 BC). The latter is supplemented by the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Egyptian cosmologies stressed the rebirth of the sun worshipper in reincarnation and by resurrection. In the first case, the follower of the sun god entered his boat after death and rode with him through the underworld to be reborn with him each day. In the second case, the deceased person travelled down to Osiris' Kingdom in the Elysian fields where the great god and his forty-two companion deities were in residence. To get there, the deceased person had to know the sacred names of power in the underworld, and the names of the forty-two gods of the fields. The essence of the person (his heart) would be weighed against truth (a feather) by Anubis in the Hall of Judgment, and Thoth would give his verdict. The deceased, if pure, would be allowed to stay in the Elysian fields. Meanwhile, a monster called Am-nut - a combination of crocodile, lion and hippopotamus - waited to devour the condemned . . . ! Application in magic

Modern white magic similarly offers its practitioners 'rebirth' or initiation. In the Qabalistic rituals, the 'sun-god' level of consciousness is represented by Tiphareth. The rituals of Tiphareth, the most important of all, were strongly influenced by the myths of Osiris, and the magician was dressed in ritual robes so that he could imagine he was Osiris reborn. Also, in modern magic, there is a strong emphasis on names of power. These are usually the sacred names of God in Hebrew, but the so-called Ritual of the Hexagram, which can be used as a type of exorcism, has a strong Egyptian content. It has to be remembered that the sacred name (invocation or 'spell') reflects the universal belief in the power of sound. In the Bible we are told: 'In the Beginning was the Word', and the same was true of the ancient Egyptians. In Hinduism and Yoga, we find a similar emphasis on sacred mantras which may be used in meditation, almost, as it were, to take the yogi back to the essence of creation. While the Egyptian religion has had most influence on modern magic, largely because of the diversity of its god images which are useful for ritual, the Greek and Chaldean religions were also important. 54

MAGICAL COSMOLOGY

GREEK COSMOLOGY One of the main concepts which influenced modern magic was the idea, developed by the Greeks, of an underworld which one could explore. The initiates of the Orphic mysteries were told that the body was like a tomb. On death (or in ecstasy) the spirit went into the heavenly regions and was then reborn until it eventually emerged as a pure spirit living in an Olympian heaven far beyond the sky. (It was only in the early cosmology that Olympus was a mountain.) As with the Egyptian religion, the mysteries of Eleusis also dealt with the cycles of nature which were linked symbolically with the fate of man. The lessons of Eleusis were centred upon Persephone and Demeter, symbolizing the corn and 'Mother Earth'. Initiates were told the legend of Persephone's abduction into the underworld at the hands of Aidoneus (Hades). Demeter, her mother and goddess of the harvest, sat in mourning and the crops failed, so Zeus sent Hermes into the Underworld to give Persephone the seed of life (a pomegranate). This allowed Persephone to spend half her time in the world of the living, but for the other half she was obliged to continue as queen of the Underworld. The Greeks (at Eleusis) were thus instructed that life comes out of death, and that rebirth is the natural order of things. Application in magic

Modern magic regards the Tree of Life diagram as a symbol of the mind and its potential. In most people this potential is unrealized so that the energies of the psyche are largely unconscious. The Underworld thus becomes an excellent symbol for man's unconscious thought processes. It is interesting to note that the first path on the Tree of Life is that of the twenty-second Tarot card, The World, which shows Persephone dancing in a wreath of wheat. Just as she was taken down through the earth, the lowest sphere on the Tree, Malkuth, (normal consciousness), is represented by the four elements, Persephone, as a symbol of the wheat grain, is undoubtedly an earth deity. We see here the idea that mythology represents the symbols of the mind. Other references may be found in Plato's myth of Er (in The Republic) and the Roman Aeneid of Vergil, which both deal with journeys in the Underworld. CHALDEAN COSMOLOGY This was the least important classical influence in the Golden Dawn magical society but represented a vestige of Persian religion and Mithraism. The so-called Chaldean Oracles were the work of three Neoplatonic 55

MAGICAL COSMOLOGY

philosophers: Julian the Chaldean; Julian the Magician (his son); and Iamblichus, who wrote the book Concerning the Mysteries. The Chaldean system was similar to the Tree of Life. Its cosmology incorporated a trinity consisting of Mystes, the Primordial Fire; the Great Mother \ and their Divine Son. There was also a fourth deity, the Daughter, whom the Chaldeans called Hecate, and she was said to be the goddess of nature and the moon. Like Diane, she was pure and virginal, but she also had an unpredictable, stormy side to her nature; her hair consisted of'snakes that terrified with fire'. According to the Chaldean system, a person's body was intrinsically impure, and the spirit had to be untainted if it had any hope of finding its way back to its divine source. The initiate learned that he had to perform special rituals to rid himself of the impurity of Hyle (earth), otherwise Hecate's demons would be unleashed upon him in revenge. Nevertheless, like the Egyptians, and also the Gnostics, who were contemporaries of Iamblichus, there was special emphasis on magical formulae. Illumination was said to result from gnosis, divine knowledge. A person who knew the names of the cosmic rulers could call them forth and be uplifted by them. Application in Magic Possibly from the Chaldean system more than any other source, modern magicians acquired the idea that one could invoke the gods in ritual for specific spiritual illumination. A number of Persian/Mithraic passages, of considerable poetic beauty, were used in the magical ritual of Taphthatharath, which was supposed to conjure a spirit of Hod (Intellect) into visible appearance. SOURCEBOOK For all the above traditions, see N. Drury: The Path of the Chameleon, Spearman, London, 1973.

Che Qabalah

Probably more than any other mystical philosophy, the Qabalah has exerted a profound influence on the occult. Like most forms of mysticism it describes the levels of consciousness and being between man and Godhead, but it is not for this reason that it has become the basis of modern magic. The Qabalah employs a complex symbol called the Tree of Life as its central motif, and it is because this Tree is such a pragmatic framework on which to base rituals and meditations that the Qabalah is relevant today. In the Qabalistic tradition - and the world QBLH means an oral or secret tradition - the whole of the manifested universe is said to have originated in Ain Soph, the hidden and infinite God-Energy which is without qualities or attributes. The Qabalists believed that as soon as one tried to ascribe qualities to Ain Soph, the sense of infinity and limitlessness would be lost. The Tree of Life in effect describes a type of crystallization process by which the Infinite gradually becomes Finite. And the latter is the world as we see it all around us. For the Qabalist, though, there are intermediary stages of being or mind, or energy or consciousness - call it what you will. The Ain Soph thus reveals aspects of its divinity to man and on the Tree of Life these are represented symbolically by ten major stages called sephiroth. In modern magical usage, whereby magic becomes rather similar to yoga, the sephiroth are best regarded as levels of consciousness. The magician begins with his present level of 'earth consciousness' and tries to retrace the sacred steps back to Godhead. The ten levels are designated as follows: KETHER HOKMAH BINAH

The Crown or peak of Creation Wisdom (The Father) Understanding (The Mother) 57

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-13

THE QABALAH

HESED GEBURAH TIPHARETH NETZACH HOD YESOD MALKUTH

Mercy Severity or Strength Beauty and Harmony (The Son) Victory Splendour The Foundation Kingdom or Earth (The Daughter)

One distinction which becomes immediately obvious is that some of the sephiroth have 'personal' attributes - the Father, Mother, Son and Daughter - while others mention only abstract attributes, e.g. Mercy. In fact, a closer analysis, particularly of the way in which the Tree has been incorporated into magic, shows that this is not really so. The magician takes considerable notice of the gods and goddesses of different world religions and he endeavours to compare and correlate them in terms of the attributes, sacred qualities and aspirations which they personify. He considers the gods to be symbols of what he himself may become^ and regards their mythology as a type of symbolic energy process deep in the spiritual areas of his mind. This is what Jung was implying in his theory of the Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, but for the magician it is a pragmatic reality. He knows the gods are inherent in his mind and he devises rituals and meditations as aids for encountering them. Returning to the Tree, it becomes apparent that each of the sephiroth levels of consciousness play an important harmonizing role. The Crown, Kether resides at the top of the Tree. It is a level which transcends duality and in this sense resembles the Buddhist state, Nirvana^ or infinite bliss. The next levels, Hokmah and Binah have sexual ascriptions, being the Great Father and Mother respectively. Together with Kether these form the Qabalistic Trinity. Hokmah is the outward dynamic creative force, and Binah is the womb of creation from which all is born. As such, she is the mother of us all. It is interesting to note that the Qabalists regarded their mystery teaching in part as a commentary on Genesis, and the remaining seven levels on the Tree were said to be the Seven Days of Creation. These seven also have mythological counterparts, and in fact to all extents and purposes, the Seven Days represent the total mystical Universe. The reason for this is that man was separated from Godhead by the Fall, and the gulf between the Trinity and the rest of the Tree is described as the Abyss. Magicians claim it is possible to cross the Abyss, but at this level of being, all notion of ego and self disappear. The finite transforms to the infinite. 58

THE QABALAH

In mythology, the levels represented by Hesed and Geburah refer to the Father of the world as we know it. Often, like Zeus, he is said to reside high up upon a mountain reaching into the infinite sky, and it is appropriate that Zeus' home was on lofty Olympus. Hesed represents the father-god in his merciful form and Geburah represents him at war. The Greeks called this form Aries, and the Romans, Mars. According to the Qabalah the universe is composed of a dynamic conflict between life and death building up and breaking down. Hesed maintains peace and order in the cosmos, Geburah breaks things down once their use is past. Below them, we come to Tiphareth, which resides in the centre of the Tree. As can be seen from its location, it is midway between man and Godhead, and thus represents the god-man or messiah. The aim of all spiritual philosophies is to allow man to become the child of the gods, and so Tiphareth is the Son. In different religions and mythologies, we find that Osiris, Apollo, Dionysus and Christ have a strikingly similar role as symbols of new life. Usually these figures are also sun gods, since the sun is always reborn from the 'death' of night time, with each dawn. The main aim of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, was to prepare its practitioners for the mystical experience of Tiphareth, and their rituals incorporated both Egyptian and Christian symbols. Descending now on the Tree, we come to Netzach, which represents love, art and the emotions. Opposite, we find Hod which counterbalances, with rational intellect and reason. Then we come to Yesod which in a sense represents the lower areas of the mind, if we realize that the Tree is in effect a symbolic diagram representing the mind-potential of man. In Yesod, which equates in psychology with the lower unconscious we find the basic sexual drives. The Qabalists referred to it as the Nephesch or animal soul, and mythologically it is represented by the moon. Just as the moon reflects the sun (true illumination), lunar worship tends to arouse the animal instincts rather than the spiritual ones. Witchcraft, in particular, with its lunar Sabbats, incorporated the worship of the Goat (beast) and the witches rode to Sabbats on their brooms (a symbol of the male phallus). Witchcraft was and is a sexual religion. The final sephirah is Malkuth, which represents our present consciousness. Our task is to find our way back into the occult areas of the mind, which are in fact the source of all inspiration and knowledge. In fairness to the classical Qabalists, it has to be admitted that the summary given above presents a modern, occult view of the Qabalah rather than an historical one. Judaism, of course, was monotheistic, and hence it was not appropriate to talk of 'the gods' so much as 'the One God'. However, it is probably true that the distinction between polytheism and 59

THE QABALAH

monotheism is overplayed academically when in reality it tends to be a symbolic division. Wallis Budge has mentioned that even in ancient Egypt, all the gods were said to come from one - Ra - although for practical purposes, the gods were represented as separate beings in their own right. Magicians and occultists use the Qabalah and the Tree of Life as a framework on which to pin the symbols of all Western (and Eastern) religions. They have thus expanded its use beyond its original Judaic confines. In recent times also (since the lifetime of Eliphas Levi a century ago) a connection has also been made between the major arcana of the Tarot, and the ten levels on the Tree. The Sephirah are the levels of consciousness as such, and the Tarot cards are the 'doorways' or 'paths' which lead to them. The Qabalah has thus become an intricate and profound 'modernized' cosmology. Its use is to allow man to harmonize all his mind processes and eventually to rediscover the spiritual illumination which lies within. SOURCEBOOKS Classical translations of the Qabalah and M. SIMON: The Zohar, Soncino Press, London, 1970. This is the most accessible complete translation of the medieval Zohar, the first Qabalistic treatises ensuing from the essentially oral tradition. It is thought that they are the work of Moses de Leon and date from around AD 1280, although the origins of the Qabalah as such are several centuries

H. SPERLING

BC.

The Kabbalah Unveiled, Redway, London, 1888; reprinted in several editions by Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. It is considerably embarrassing to modern Hebrew scholars that much of the recent interest in the Qabalah has come from occultists, and that it was MacGregor Mathers, co-founder of the Golden Dawn, who translated the Latin version of the Zohar into English. The book is a translation of the work Kabbala Denudata, by the medieval scholar Knorr Von Rosenroth.

MACGREGOR MATHERS:

Academic sources G. SCHOLEM : Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, Schocken Books, New York, 1961. Scholem is regarded as the major living authority on the Qabalah, and although he is the author of several books on the subject, this one, which includes a full treatment of the major Qabalistic schools of thought, is one of his best.

GERSHOM

60

THE QABALAH

A. E. WAITE: The Holy Kabbalah, University Books, New York, i960. Aleister Crowley used to refer to this writer as 'dead-Waite', referring to the heaviness of his style, and unfortunately this is true of most of Waite's scholarly works. Scholem has acknowledged Waite's contribution, however, and this was all the more remarkable when we consider that Waite was not fluent in Hebrew itself. This book is regarded as one of Waite's best. Apart from outlining the classical sources of the Qabalah, it also considers the related alchemical literature of the Middle Ages, and the ways in which the Qabalah influenced magic, astrology, Freemasonry and the tarot. CHRISTIAN GINSBURG: The Kabbalah, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1956 (1st edn 1863). ADOLPHE FRANCK: The Kabbalah, University Books, New York, 1967 (1st edn 1843). Two of the classic treatments of the Qabalah, both over a century old, Ginsburg's book tends to be rather dry in its treatment, while Franck's is simplistic, and has been overshadowed by more recent writers. CARLO SUARES: The Cipher of Genesis, Bantam Books, New York, 1973. One of the functions of the Qabalah was a symbolic commentary on Genesis, and this volume is the best treatment of the magical codes of the Old Testament. LEO SCHAYA: The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah, University Books, New

York; Allen & Unwin, London, 1971. Adam and the Kabbalistic Tree, Rider, London, 1974. These two recent books provide an excellent coverage of the cosmic side of the Qabalah. Schaya describes the 'heavenly' sephiroth and mantras admirably and several Jewish authorities have commended it as a lucid text. Halevi's volume, a successor to his less impressive Tree of Life relates the Qabalah to a study of Jung's psychology and theory of Archetypes. CHARLES PONCE: Kabbalah, Garnstone Press, London, 1974. Extremely easy to read, and superbly decorated with medieval etchings from the works of Jacob Boehme, this book is a valuable recent addition to the Qabalistic literature. Ponce also relates the Qabalah to Yoga and other Eastern philosophies.

Z'EV BE SHIMON HALEVI;

Books on the Qabalah written by occultists GARETH KNIGHT: A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism (two vols) Helios, Cheltenham, England, 1965. Divided into Part I, dealing with the sephiroth or spheres on the Tree of Life, and Part II, dealing with the Tarot Paths, this work is possibly the best modern treatment from the occult viewpoint. All of the sephiroth are discussed in detail, and the full symbolism of the Tarot is given. His work on the Qabalah is, however, based on Dion Fortune's earlier volume The Mystical Qabalah (Benn, London, 1957) which is also recommended. ISRAEL REGARDIE: The Garden of Pomegranates, Thorsons, London: Llewellyn, Minnesota, 1970. Written by the former secretary to Aleister Crowley and one of the most resourceful living authorities, this book is a reliable summary of the 61

THE QABALAH

modern application of the Qabalah. It is supplemented by his Tree of Life (Weiser, New York, 1971) which provides one of the best studies of the connection between mythology and modern magic. WILLIAM STIRLING: The Canon, Garnstone, London, 1974 (first edn 1897). Deals primarily with the symbolic, mystic relationship between numbers and words in the Qabalah. FRATER ACHAD: Q^.B.L., Weiser, New York, 1972. The key work by Aleister Crowley's 'magical heir' Frater Achad (Charles Stansfeld Jones). Achad is noted for his spurious attempt to reallocate the Tarot trumps on the Tree of Life and for his total adoration of his occult master. There are a number of references to the 'New Aeon' which Achad thought was heralded by Crowley.

62

the Carol

One of the most interesting and popular of all occult practices is the use of the Tarot cards. Most people know them as ancestors of the standard playing cards, and they are perhaps best known for their use in fortunetelling. They have also appeared as symbols in modern plays and musicals, and as large, colourful posters. Tarot cards are popularly held to have been handed down by the gypsies, and there is a certain veneer of superstition surrounding them. However, most of the legends concerning the Tarot cards are false. They were certainly not invented by the gypsies of medieval Europe since they are known to have been present in Italy a century before the gypsies arrived. Nor did the Tarot originate in ancient Egypt. This legend is part of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century romance of 'lost cultures'. People looked back to a golden age which had possessed a secret, esoteric wisdom and they transposed into all sorts of fictitious or symbolic locations like initiation chambers in the Great Pyramid, or Atlantis and the lost Lemuria. Antoine Court de Gebelin (1725-84), a French theologian and student of mythology, was responsible for some of the early, fanciful tales about the Tarot. In his book Le Monde Priniitif, Gebelin surmised, without any proof, that the Tarot was part of the Egyptian Book of Thoth - the book of divine wisdom - and that the cards symbolized in a pictorial form the arcane knowledge of the initiates of ancient Egypt. Particularly important was the number 7 - there are twenty-two major Tarot cards: 3 x 7 + 'The Fool', zero. Each of the four suits was composed of 2 x 7 cards. Gebelin also claimed that the word Tarot was derived from the Egyptian phrase meaning 'royal road of life', and he anticipated that the cards were an important occult tool for the transformation of man. Gebelin's speculation was continued by Alliette, a Parisian wig maker or professor of mathematics - according to different accounts. Alliette, who wrote under the pseudonym Etteilla (his own name reversed), 63

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-14

THE TAROT

declared that the Tarot originated 171 years after the Deluge and was produced by seventeen magicians. From his room in the Hotel de Crillon he used to offer pronouncements on the divinatory use of the Tarot including the fate of his fellow men in the French Revolution. The next major theorist of the Tarot, and one who has perhaps influenced modern occultism more than any other, was Eliphas Levi. Levi, was a priest of the Catholic Church, a graphic artist and a political satirist. He was fascinated by the Qabalah with its ten levels of consciousness, and he made the brilliant discovery that the twenty-two Major Tarot Trumps correlated symbolically, as the paths leading to these stages of consciousness. Likewise with the Tree of Life, there are 22 links between the 10 spheres or 'sephiroth'. The Tarot, therefore, was an important representation of the images of mystical consciousness. Levi's work was extended by Gerard Encausse ('Papus'), who similarly wrote commentaries on the relation between the Tarot and the Qabalah, and in particular, the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Levi also exercised a strong measure of influence on the Order of the Golden Dawn. A. E. Waite, whose Rider Pack is well known, translated a number of Levi's books including the Histoire de la Magie into English, and regarded him as the most significant magus of his age. Aleister Crowley even considered himself to be Levi's reincarnation, and drew on Levi's correlations in formulating his own work on the Tarot, The Book

ofThoth.

The Golden Dawn magicians used the Tarot cards as pathways into the mind, rather than as a means of divination, and the former is undoubtedly its most significant means of application. Each of the cards could be visualized as a doorway, through which the magician could imaginatively pass. He would then have symbolic and mystical visions related to the imagery of the Tree of Life. The most commonly agreed-upon correlation of the Tarot cards with the Hebrew Letters (that followed by A. E. Waite and Paul Foster Case) is as follows: 0 I 2

3 4 5 6 7

The The The The The The The The

Fool Magician High Priestess Empress Emperor Hierophant Lovers Chariot

— Aleph — Beth — Gimel — Daleth — Heh — Vau — Zain — Cheth

64

THE TAROT

8 Strength 9 10 II

12

13 14 i5 i6 i7 18 19 20 21

The Hermit The Wheel of Fortune Justice The Hanged Man Death Temperance The Devil The Tower The Star The Moon The Sun Judgement The World

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Teth Yod Kaph Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Peh Tzaddi Qpph Resh Shin Tau

The modern occultist, therefore, uses the Major arcana of the Tarot as his doorway to greater consciousness (the other 56 cards, which are divided into 4 suits: wands and swords (masculine), and cups and pentacles (feminine) - are of less significance). Each of the Major Trumps relates to a certain portion of the psyche, symbolized by the Tree of Life. The Tree is a living, vibrant thing, and each sephirahflowsinto another. The magician too, must flow along the tides of consciousness. Rather in the same manner as Jung's Archetypes of the Unconscious the Tarot images constitute a type of mythology of the mind. The magician meets the gods in his visions for they are in fact embodiments of different facets of his personality: his warring aspect for example being represented by Mars {The Chariot) and his more intuitive emotional side, by Venus {The Star). The Tarot card meditations help the occultist to balance his personality. The following are the brief meanings of the Tarot cards as incorporated in the Golden Dawn teaching (from S. L. MacGregor Mathers, The Tarot). 1 The Juggler or Magician Before a table covered with the appliances of his art stands the figure of a juggler, one hand upraised holding a wand (in some packs, a cup), the other pointing downwards. He wears a cap of maintenance like that of the kings, whose wide brim forms a sort of aureole round his head. His body and arms form the shape of the Hebrew letter Aleph, to which this card corresponds. He symbolizes Will. 2 The High Priestess, or Female Pope A woman crowned with a high mitre or tiara (her head encircled by a veil), a stole (or a solar cross) 65

THE TAROT

upon her breast, and the Book of Science open in her hand. She represents Science, Wisdom or Knowledge 3 The Empress A winged and crowned woman seated upon a throne, having in one hand a sceptre bearing a globe surmounted by a cross, while she rests the other upon a shield with an eagle blazoned therein on whose breast is the cross. She is the Symbol of Action, the result of the union of Science and Will. 4 The Emperor He is crowned (and, leaning against a throne, his legs form a cross, while beside him, beneath his left hand, is a shield blazoned with an eagle). In his right hand he bears a sceptre similar to that of the Empress. His body and arms form a triangle, of which his head is the apex, so that the whole figure represents a triangle above a cross. He represents Realisation. 5 The Hierophant or Pope He is crowned with the papal tiara, and seated between the two pillars of Hermes and Solomon, with his right hand he makes the sign of esoterism, and with his left he leans upon a staff surmounted by a triple cross. (Before him kneel two ministers). He is the symbol of Mercy and Beneficence. 6 The Lovers This is usually described as representing Man between Vice and Virtue, while a winged genius threatens Vice with his dart. But I am rather inclined to the opinion that it represents the Qabalistical Microprosopus between Binah and Malkuth (see my Kabbalah Unveiled), while the figure about shows the Influence descending from Kether. It is usually considered to mean Proof'or Trial; but I am inclined to suggest Wise Disposition as its signification. 7 The Chariot This is a most complicated and important symbol, which has been restored by Eliphas Levi. It represents a Conqueror crowned and bearing a sceptre, riding in a cubical chariot, surmounted by four columns and a canopy, and drawn by two horses, one of which looks straight forward, while the other turns his head towards him. (Two wheels are shown in the complete single-headed figure.) It represents Triumph, and Victory of Justice and Judgment. 8 Justice A woman crowned and seated on a throne (between two columns), holding in her right hand an upright sword, and in her left the scales. She symbolizes Equilibrium and Justice. 66

THE TAROT

9 The Hermit An old and bearded man wrapped in a mantle, and with his head covered with a cowl, bearing in his right hand the lantern of occult science, while in his left he holds his magic wand half hidden beneath his cloak. He is Prudence. 10 The Wheel of Fortune A wheel of seven spokes (the two halves of the double-headed cards make it eight spokes, which is incorrect) revolving (between two uprights). On the ascending side is an animal ascending, and on the descending side is a sort of monkey descending; both forms are bound to the wheel. Above it is the form of an angel (or a sphinx in some) holding a sword in one hand and a crown in the other. This very complicated symbol is much disfigured, and has been well restored by Levi. It symbolizes Fortune, good or bad. 11 Strength or Fortitude A woman crowned with crown and cap of maintenance, who calmly, and without effort, closes the jaws of a furious lion. She represents Strength. 12 The Hanged Man This extraordinary symbol is almost unintelligible in the double-headed cards. Properly, it represents a man hung head downwards from a sort of gibbet by one foot (his hands are bound behind his back in such a manner that his body forms a triangle with the point downwards), and his legs a cross above it. (Two sacks or weights are attached to his armpits.) He symbolises Sacrifice. 13 Death A skeleton armed with a scythe (wherewith he mows down heads in a meadow like grass). He signifies Transformation, or Change. 14 Temperance An angel with the sign of the Sun on her brow pouring liquid from one vessel into another. She represents Combination. 15 The Devil A horned and winged demon with eagle's claws (standing on an altar to which two smaller devils are bound by a collar and cord). In his left hand he bears a flame-headed sceptre. He is the image of Fate or Fatality, good or evil. 16 The Lightning-struck Tower A Tower whose upper part is like a crown, struck by a lightning-flash. (Two men fall headlong from it, one of whom is in such an attitude as to form a Hebrew letter Ayin.) Sparks and debris are falling. It shows Ruin, Disruption. 17 The Star A nude female figure pours water upon the earth from two vases. In the heavens above her shines the Blazing Star of the 67

THE TAROT

Magi (surrounded by seven others), trees and plants grow beneath her magic influence (and on one the butterfly of Psyche alights). She is the star of Hope. 18 The Moon The moon shining in the heavens, drops of dew falling, a wolf and a dog howling at the Moon, and halted at the foot of two towers, a path which loses itself in the horizon (and is sprinkled with drops of blood), a crayfish emblematic of the sign Cancer, ruled over by the Moon, crawls through water in the foreground towards the land. It symbolizes Twilight; Deception, and Error. 19 The Sun The Sun sending down his rays upon two children who suggest the sign Gemini. (Behind them is a low wall.) It signifies Earthly Happiness. 20 The Last Judgment An Angel in the heavens blowing a trumpet, to which a standard with a cross thereon is attached. The Dead rise from their tombs. It signifies Renewal, Result. o The Foolish Man A man with a fool's cap, dressed like a jester, with a stick and bundle over his shoulder. Before him is the butterfly of pleasure luring him on (while in some packs a tiger, in others a dog, attacks him from behind). It signifies Folly, Expiation. 21 The Universe Within a flowery wreath is a female figure nude save for a light scarf. She represents Nature and the Divine Presence therein. In each hand she should bear a wand. At the four Angles of the card are the four cherubic animals of the Apocalypse. Above, the Eagle and the Man; below the Lion and the Bull. It represents Completion, Reward. SOURCEBOOKS PAUL F. CASE: The Tarot, Macoy, New York, 1947.

A. E. WAITE: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Rider, London, 1910. Reprinted several times. Possibly the best accounts of the symbolism of the Tarot as it relates to magic and the Tree of Life. Waite at one time headed the Golden Dawn in England, and Case was his opposite number in the New York group, the Builders of the Adytum. Both writers employed female graphic artists to portray the cards, Waite drawing on the official symbolism of his Order. The designs in the Case book, drawn by Jessie Burns Parke, are more professional and in a practical sense, more useful than those of Pamela Coleman Smith in the Waite-Rider pack. The latter are sometimes depicted in rather garish colour which obscures the detail and also hinders 68

THE TAROT

the perception of the subtlety of the cards. Both versions however follow a similar sequence, and have been employed by later commentators like Eden Gray and Dr Louis Martello. GARETH KNIGHT: A Practical Guide to Qcibalistic Symbolism (vols I and 2, the second being explicitly on the Tarot), Helios, Cheltenham, England, 1965. Knight provides a detailed description of the mythological imagery associated with each of the Tarot Paths, and the magical effects on consciousness. He also adds helpful comparative notes on each of the major Tarot packs, and comments on their respective strengths and weaknesses. His book is illustrated, however, by the Grimaud pack which consists of simplistic wood-cut designs and is of little or no use for visualization purposes. ALEISTER CROWLEY: The Book o/Thoth, Weiser, New York, 1971. This book was Crowley's last major work, and it has been reprinted with mostly black and white illustrations of his spectacular Tarot pack. The cards themselves, which were painted by Lady Frieda Harris, have been re-issued in colour by Llewellyn, Minnesota. Crowley's book is not a good guide for the beginner since it includes elements biased strongly in favour of Crowley's own personal philosophy, e.g. in accordance with his formulation of a technique of sexual magic (in which he was the Great Beast 666, and his partner the Whore of Babylon) Crowley's representation of the card strength is called Lust and depicts his scarlet woman. Crowley also adopts the unorthodox procedure of placing The Emperor in the position of The Star, and vice versa. However, his cards are undoubtedly the most exciting pack visually and seem to contain a great deal of psychic energy. Their only rival from the graphic point of view is the modern Palladini Pack known also as the Aquarian Pack. This is in the Art Nouveau style and is extremely beautiful. It is however inaccurate in some of its colour treatments, a notable example being the confused colouring of lite High Priestess and The Empress.

Tarot Classic, Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1972; Robert Hale, London, 1974. A good general history of the Tarot, with several pages of representations of different packs, notably the Venetian Tarot, the Mantegna Tarocchi, the Italian Minchiate cards, the Marseilles Pack, the Burdel Tarot, the Grand Etteilla Pack, and the Waite Pack, among others. Kaplan's survey of the Major Arcana is fairly superficial, but his book covers the full development of the Tarot. Considerable attention is given to the theories of Court de Gebelin, who considered the Tarot to be of Egyptian origin. ALFRED DOUGLAS: The Tarot, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1973. Douglas favours the hypothesis that the Tarot conceals a mystical doctrine essentially in line with the Gnostic-Cathar-Albigensian worldview, and that because of this symbolism was heretical and remained a secret, underground tradition. A useful text, marred only by rather simplistic textual illustrations.

STUART R. KAPLAN:

Che tattoas

The Tattvas were one of the most notable Eastern elements in the ritual magic of the Golden Dawn, an all the more remarkable inclusion when we consider that this Order was based solidly on the occult inspiration of Western mythology. Nevertheless, the Tattvas were adopted from their original Hindu context as appropriate symbols of the elements. There are five basic symbols in the series: Tejas, a red equilateral triangle = Apas, a silver crescent = Vayu, a blue circle = Prithivi, a yellow square = Akasa, an indigo egg =

FIRE WATER AIR EARTH SPIRIT

W. E. Butler has alluded to the Tattvas as tides operating in the magnetic sphere of the Earth so that 'The Element of Akasa is strongest at sunrise, then it merges into the element of Vayu. This in turn merges into Tejas, and this into Apas, and finally Apas merges into Prithivi. . . .' However, the major function of these symbols is as doorways into the visionary recesses of the mind. The symbols may be used in isolation or with one superimposed upon the other. In a sense they act as a directive to the unconscious. The symbols become catalysts for releasing certain imagery, so that a magician who meditated on the red symbol Tejas, would begin to experience visions associated with the element fire. If he meditated upon Apas, representing water, he could expect visions of water and these may entail fantasy beings of Western mythology, for example, water spirits or mermaids. The method used by the magician is as follows. Having prepared a series of pictorial representations on white cardboard, he stares at the symbol until its after-image beings to appear. He then retains the latter in 72

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-15

THE TATTVAS

his mind as an image and meditates fixedly upon it. The next step is to imagine that the after-image has become a doorway through which one may pass. If the meditator is able to project his consciousness in this way, he then experiences visions appropriate to the element which he has selected. He is able to withdraw from the vision, rather in the manner of Hesse's magic theatre described in Steppenwolf, by returning through the doorway by which he entered. The technique of using the Tattvas as 'astral doorways' is not intended as an escapist diversion, but instead is supposed to show the practitioner that certain active energies are operative in his unconscious mind. These are rendered into a human form by the structuring processes of the mind itself and appear in visions as gnomes, elves, fairies, nature-spirits and so on. In its most profound form such meditation could lead to visions of angels and archangels because these too have a symbolic relationship with the elements. For example, Michael is the archangel of Fire, Raphael of Air, Uriel of Earth and Gabriel of Water. The vision takes the form whereby the magician is able to address the spirit beings and request certain information from them. In practical terms, he is addressing the repository of his unconscious mind, and bringing to the fore valuable, symbolic insights which may have been forever lost. It was also intended in the Golden Dawn that a magician could harmonize his personality by encountering those spirits which could counterbalance his weaknesses. A person with an 'airy', dreamy approach to life would benefit from a meeting with the goblins of the earth, for example, and a person with a somewhat 'watery' disposition could perhaps fortify his personality with fire! The following account of a short Tattvic vision recorded by Mrs Mathers in the Golden Dawn, provides an example of the form the experience can take. Her focusing symbol had been the Crescent of Water combined with the Indigo Egg of Spirit: a wide expanse of water with many reflections of bright light and occasionally glimpses of rainbow colours appearing. When divine and other names were pronounced, elementals of the mermaid and merman type [would] appear, but few of the other elemental forms. These water forms were extremely changeable, one moment appearing as solid mermaids and mermen, the next melting into foam. Raising myself by means of the highest symbols I had been taught, and vibrating the names of Water, I rose until the water vanished, and instead I beheld a mighty world or globe, with its dimensions and divisions of Gods, Angels, Elementals and demons . . . the whole Universe of Water . . . I called on HCOMA and there appeared 73

THE TATTVAS

standing before me a mighty Archangel, with four wings, robed in glistening white and crowned. In one hand, the right, he held a species of trident, and in the left a Cup filled to the brim with an essence which he poured down below on either side. . . . (Note: HCOMA, pronounced He-Co-Mah is a special magical word for water, based on the so-called Enochian language which was used extensively in the Golden Dawn.) SOURCEBOOKS (ed.): The Golden Damn, first published 1937-41, Aries Press, Chicago; new edition in one volume, Llewellyn, Minnesota, 1974. Volume 4 of the Golden Dawn material contains extensive notes on the Tattvas and the Enochian tablets, which derive from Dr John Dee, the Elizabethan astrologer. This is the best single source on the Tattvas, although J. H. Brennan's Astral Doorways (Aquarian Press, London, 1972) and W. E. Butler's The Magician, his Training and Work (Aquarian, London, 1959) are also useful books. For illustrations of elemental spirits see Geoffrey Hodson: The Kingdom of the Gods, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Madras, India, 1952, and Arthur Rackham's and Edmund Dulac's illustrations to Shakespeare's The Tempest and Grimm's Fairytales (various editions). ISRAEL REGARDIE

74

Magical flttack

If a magician has supernatural powers can they be used to attack his enemies ? Certainly there is a widespread tradition throughout history of spells and curses being used to injure or even kill people, either enemies of the magician or conjuror, or enemies of the clients who pay him to make the attack. But the concept of a 'magical attack' has come to have a special meaning drawn from the traditions of Western magic. Occasionally ritual magicians have come into conflict and have engaged in 'psychic warfare', each performing rituals designed to cause harm to the other. Sometimes such rituals are intended to do actual physical injury to the victim, causing him to become ill, or suffer pain. On other occasions the rituals are intended to invoke supernatural beings who will attack the victim, or terrorize him. When carrying out such an attack the magician is traditionally required to take precautions to protect himself, especially in cases where he invokes entities which may not only attack the victim, but also turn and attack the magician. In general cases of magical attack, where there is no actual battle underway, the victim may be completely unaware of what is happening, merely feeling unwell, restless, exhibiting various physiological and psychological symptoms and suffering various psychic manifestations. The outward symptoms will be very much the same as in the case of an individual who is suffering from some form of influence or obsession. The attack may be launched for a variety of reasons, but usually either to cause suffering to an enemy, or to force a person to conform to the will of the magician. The treatment of such an attack varies according to the symptoms and the source; usually the physical symptoms will have been treated medically, without success, before it is realized that they have a psychic origin. However, it must be emphasized that psychic or magical attacks are 75

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-16

MAGICAL ATTACK

comparatively rare (most would-be magicians have neither the knowledge nor the skill to initiate one). While there are very few accounts of magical attack written from a serious occult point of view, two rather outstanding instances have been documented. The first, and probably the best known, is that related by Dion Fortune in her book Psychic Self Defence, where she tells of an attack upon her by the leader of a magical fraternity. The symptoms were extremely unusual - innumerable large cats began appearing in the neighbourhood, and eventually an enormous phantom cat manifested. Fortune was also attacked astrally when she left her body to undertake some occult work, and it was there that the real battle took place, with the attacker and the victim engaged in combat while out of the body. When she returned to her physical body, Fortune found she was badly scratched as if by a cat - a physical symptom of the astral battle. However, having triumphed over the attacker, the cats disappeared and all symptoms vanished. The second account was given by the French novelist J-K Huysmans who was involved with an occult fraternity in Paris at the end of the nineteenth century, and who claimed to be the victim of magical attack by Stanislas de Guaita, the leader of a rival magical group. An account of this story is given by James Webb in his book The Flight from Reason (Macdonald, London, 1971). The outcome of Huysmans's claims led to a more physical attack, with the author being challenged to a duel by de Guaita!

SOURCEBOOKS There are no books specifically on the subject of magical attack, and few which refer to it. The classic work in this field is Psychic Self Defence by Dion Fortune (Aquarian, London, 1972) which contains considerable details on the causes, symptoms and treatment for such attacks. Various fictional works contain descriptions (often laughably and wildly, inaccurate) of the methodology of attacking; one of the most entertaining is Moonchild by Aleister Crowley (Sphere Books, London, and other modern editions) where the traditional pomposity of magicians launching such attacks is held up to ridicule; none the less the book is quite informative. The occult novels of Dennis Wheatley contain several descriptions, often in vivid details of magical attacks, both on the physical and the occult plane especially They Used Dark Forces, The Gates of Hell, To the Devil a Daughter, The Devil Rides Out. The occult encyclopedia, Man, Myth and Magic, contains a good summary article on magical attack. 76

Sexual Magic

From the very beginning of his awareness of sexual experience man has realized that it brought him more than simply physical pleasure; in some mysterious, almost magical way it intensified his consciousness, expanded his awareness and heightened the experience not only of the physical body, but of something else as well. This was not the only factor that led to man's association of sex and magic. Sex, because of its link with procreation - the closest man comes to being in the godlike position of creating life - also held mysterious, powerful connotations. Ancient legends linked the creation of the earth with the sexual activities of divine beings; other myths attributed to the gods various characteristics of sexual prowess and desire, and rituals almost inevitably employed sexual imagery and stimulation, though often carefully disguised, to arouse and direct this basic human energy. Often the gods and their worshippers in ancient Greece were portrayed in states of sexual excitement, as the pleasure and intensified consciousness of sexual stimulation was shown to be a part of the ecstasy of religious worship. Often, it was held that the faithful became possessed (with all its sexual overtones) by the gods during the acts of sexual intercourse - states of ecstasy, visions, voices and experiences of the supernatural often accompanied the heights of sexual excitement. In this experience, in which the physical body seemed to fuse with a higher existence, man believed he came closest to the divine, to the creative life processes of which sexuality is a manifestation. With the coming of Christianity, and the subsequent development of a strangely puritan approach to sexuality, this avenue of religious experience was forced to go underground, where it was rigorously persecuted by the church whenever and wherever it was found. Sexuality was linked with the devil, but its powers to heighten and intensify human consciousness and produce a variety of ecstatic effects was never denied; rather these were interpreted as powers given by the devil to his disciples. Hence, the 77

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-17

SEXUAL MAGIC

witchcraft persecutions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were based largely on evidence of sexual behaviour associated with devil worship, and psychologically can be seen to derive largely from the sexual frustrations and imbalances of men and women living under an abnormally repressive morality. Naked dancing, 'abnormal' sexual behaviour, intercourse with the devil, the use of stimulating drugs - these were characteristic of the evidence given against the accused. Various other movements from the early history of the Church onwards through the Middle Ages perpetuated the ancient traditions of sexual religious experience. It was often suggested, for example, that the Knights Templar engaged in sodomy, and that this was part of a magical ritual technique. The notorious Black Mass of traditional satanism was largely a sexual rite during which the celebrant had sexual relations with a prostitute who served as an altar, and in which a variety of forms of sexual stimulation were employed to arouse the congregation. Although many peoples and religious traditions had connected sexual behaviour with religious experience, there were only a few groups which actually came to use sex as a technique of gaining religious or magical power. In the Orient, the tantric traditions of Hinduism gave various techniques of sexual behaviour which were believed to elevate the consciousness and lead to religious attainment. The teachings of tantrism were traditionally kept secret, and passed only from a guru to a disciple. Similar tantric traditions developed amongst various schools of Buddhism. Tantrism became best known in the West through the activities of Aleister Crowley, the English magician, who practised a variety of sexual techniques expressly for the purpose of obtaining magical power and experience, ranging from ritual masturbation, to homosexual and heterosexual acts, bestiality, sadism and masochism. He derived his sexual magical teachings both from his own research and experimentation, and also from the traditions of the Ordo Templi Orientis, a magical fraternity of which he was a member. The OTO as it was known was an occult fraternity based upon sexual magic, and had been founded in Germany in 1906 by Theodor Reuss. It is still in existence today. From the traditions of Crowley a variety of subsequent approaches to sexual magic developed, largely through his disciples. The main groups of contemporary magicians perpetuating what they believe to be the traditions of sexual magic include: (1) Groups claiming to continue the traditions of the Ordo Templi Orientis, of which there are a variety throughout the world - in the USA, Scandinavia and Europe; 78

SEXUAL MAGIC

(2) Groups claiming to perpetuate the 'Thelemic' traditions of Aleister Crowley (often these are the same as 1) - these groups exist in the USA and Europe; (3) Some witchcraft groups practising deliberate sexual techniques for magical purposes; (4) Tantric yoga groups - principally in the USA, perpetuating teachings supposedly brought from India; (5) The GBG group of Louis Culling within the USA. (6) Some groups within the Church of Satan in the USA. With the increasing popular contemporary interest in both the occult and sex, there is a growing interest in the traditions of sexual magic, and many books are featuring themes which purport to convey its teachings Seduction through Witchcraft, Astrology for Lovers, Magic Power through Sexual Attainment. Sexual magic is based upon a number of principles: (1) Man possesses hidden powers (often identified with the subconscious mind) which give him greater perception, raise him to states of ecstasy, expand his consciousness, stimulate increased physical, emotional and mental powers; (2) These powers lie 'buried' beneath some 'barrier' which conscious control cannot penetrate, but which can be overcome through a variety of techniques, including to some extent drugs and alcohol; (3) This 'barrier' can be penetrated through heightening the physical, emotional and intellectual focus of the body by sexual stimulation, leading up to a 'break through' at the point of orgasm, at which energy is released; (4) This release of energy can be used for many purposes - the attainment of an ecstatic state of consciousness (a sense of liberation and union, usually the aim of tantric yoga), or for some magical purpose (e.g. the casting of a spell); (5) This energy can be focused and contained to some extent in various objects and substances - for example, in talismans upon which the sexual fluids have been poured, or in objects which are consecrated or 'charged' at the moment of orgasm, and these objects will remain as potent 'batteries' of power. Deriving from these principles, various techniques of sexual magic are employed : (1) Autosexual - techniques of masturbation have been widely used to heighten the consciousness of the magician and focus and stimulate his magical power, culminating in the release of energy in the orgasm, concentrated in the semen; this technique was advocated and practised by the 79

SEXUAL MAGIC

English magician, Austin Spare, who often employed a vessel of pottery as a mechanism with which to masturbate, and in which to concentrate and contain the magical energy thus obtained. (2) Heterosexual - techniques of intercourse for magical use vary, although heterosexual stimulation leading to orgasm for magical purposes need not result in intercourse; magical use has traditionally been made of the sexual fluids of both men and women, and much alchemical symbolism derives from the imagery of sexual intercourse for magical purposes. (3) Homosexual - various magical techniques have employed homosexual relations as their basis, both fellatio and anal intercourse; in some traditions of magic, these, being the 'inversions of the natural' expression of sexuality have been linked with devil worship and black magic. A number of magicians, notably Crowley, have employed homosexual activities, and the Knights Templar, are said to have used them for occult purposes according to some theorists. The techniques of sexual magic have centred on a number of physical and intellectual procedures: (1) The stimulation and excitation of the body, the emotions and the mind by every possible means, providing that conscious control is retained at all times - this may include moderate use of drugs, alcohol, food, the use of music, imagery, sensation; (2) The maintenance of this stimulation and excitement for a period of concentration, during which the individual will be aroused to a 'fever pitch' of energy and arousal; (3) The focusing of the conscious mind, and the whole of the individual's imagination onto the desired end of the act of magic - for example, if the act was directed towards the gaining of physical health, the image of the body must be seen as healthy, vibrant and energetic; the image must be carefully and accurately formed and held, throughout a period of stimulation, so that it is most completely structured and most 'tangible' at the point of orgasm. Where the consecration of a talisman is the object, the whole of the consciousness would be focused on the talisman, so that at the point of orgasm the whole of the aroused energy would be poured into it; (4) The release of all the stimulated energy into a previously prepared and structured channel, in which it can be focused into the specific will of the magician - either into an actual object, or intellectually towards a specific end; (5) A period of release and relaxation, during which the desired end should still be held in the mind, to 'firm' the image, and the body, the emotions and the mind allowed to relax and re-energize. 80

SEXUAL MAGIC

It is interesting to note that a number of modern psychologists and sexual counsellors have employed these very techniques in the treatment of a number of sexual problems (e.g. fetishism), where the patient is trained to use the aroused sexual energy gradually to redirect his sexual orientation. SOURCEBOOKS GORDON WELLESLEY: Sex and the Occult, Souvenir, London, 1973. Contains general background to the idea of sex as a magical force, with interesting comments on contemporary trends. BENJAMIN WALKER: Sex and the Supernatural, MacDonald, London, 1970. Another interesting general introduction to the field, which includes material on a wide range of traditions. FRANCIS KING: Sexuality, Magic and Perversion, Spearman, London, 1971. The best general study of magic and sexuality, both traditional, historical and contemporary. Covers a range from primitive fertility cults, to the Knights Templar and Aleister Crowley, and contemporary American groups. JOHN SYMONDS: The Magic of Aleister Crowley, Muller, London, 1958. JOHN SYMONDS (ed.): The Magical Record of the Beast 666, London,

Duckworth, 1972. Both of these books cover Crowley and his sexual magic. KENNETH GRANT: The Magical Revival, Muller, London, 1972. A survey of the subject from a distinctly Crowleyan viewpoint, this includes very interesting and significant material on Crowley, Austin Spare, Dion Fortune and witchcraft. LOUIS CULLING: A Manual of Sex Magick, Llewellyn, St Paul, 1971. Deriving from the traditions of the OTO, the GBG in the USA has its principles summarized in this book. The classic works on the Tantric tradition are those by 'Arthur Avalon' (Sir John Woodroffe), which include: The Great Liberation (1952); Principles ofTantra (1955); The Serpent Power (1958) - all published by Garesh, Madras. AGEHANANDA BHARATI : The Tantric Tradition, Rider, London, 1965. A more recent studv of Tantra.

81

flleister Crouiley: Lord of the I)eu> Reon Aleister Crowley, known variously as the Laird of Boleskine, The Great Beast 666 and 'the wickedest man who ever lived', is probably one of the most unjustly maligned figures in the history of the occult. It is true that Crowley had sadistic tendencies in his childhood - he once executed a cat in a number of ways to prove that it was really dead - and suffered undoubtedly from megalomania as shown by his efforts to surpass all rivals in the occult order of the Golden Dawn. But he was also a magician of considerable style and originality, and some of his concepts may well prove eventually to be significant in the history of psychology. As early as 1929, Crowley published in Paris, his work Magick in Theory and Practice', one part of which was devoted to a systematic tabling of subconscious imagery in the mind. From the beginning Crowley's life was full of contrasts. Born in 1875, he was raised in a strict Plymouth Brethren home, studied at Cambridge and meanwhile pursued interests as varied as mountain climbing, rowing and chess. He became a friend of Allan Bennett, and embroiled himself in a deep study of magic and mysticism. He was to become one of the most spectacular figures in the history of contemporary magic. Evicted from Cefalu in Sicily by Mussolini where he had established an Abbey for practising ritual magic, constantly involved in legal disputes over the publication of Hermetic secrets, famous for his escapades with women, Crowley became notorious after acclaiming himself the AntiChrist in 1904. Prior to this pronouncement, Crowley had pursued an orthodox training in the magical arts in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Introduced to the Society in 1898, Crowley soon grasped that those with the loftiest grades were able to wield profound spiritual authority over their minions, while claiming rapport with Secret Chiefs emanating from higher planes of being. In Magick he wrote 'Every man is more or less aware that 82

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-18

ALEISTER CROWLEY: LORD OF THE NEW AEON

his individuality comprises several orders of existence. . . .' Magick (Crowley spelt it with the additional ck') was a means of transforming the consciousness under will, to allow union with the supreme spiritual forces in the cosmos. Crowley was initiated as a Neophyte in the Golden Dawn on 18 November 1898. In December he took the grade of Zelator, and those of Theoricus and Practicus in the following two months. He was keen to ascend through the occult grades of the Tree of Life, as quickly as possible. Crowley was also the first magician to attempt the lengthy sixmonth Abramelin ritual which had been translated from the French by MacGregor Mathers, co-founder of the Golden Dawn. During the rituals, Crowley had visions of Christ, and then saw himself crucified. John Symonds writes: He stood within the Divine Light with a crown of twelve stars upon his head; the earth opened for him to enter into its very centre, where he climbed the peak of a high mountain. Many dragons sprang upon him as he approached the Secret Sanctuary, but he overcame all with a word. This was an alchemical vision of his success in the Great Work. Crowley realised that he was born with all the talents required for a great magician . . . (The Great Beast, 1973, P- 43)Certain events occurred in 1904, which suggested to Crowley that his genius and role in the world were even more far-reaching. Having failed to dislodge W. B. Yeats as head of the Golden Dawn in England, Crowley suddenly and impetuously embarked upon a series of travels through Mexico, the United States, Ceylon and India. He arrived finally in Cairo, which was to be a major milestone in the building of a new magical universe. On the 14 March 1904 in his room near the Boulak Museum in Cairo, Crowley performed a magical ceremony invoking the Egyptian deity Thoth, god of Wisdom. His wife appeared to be in a dazed state of mind, and four days later, while in a similar state of drowsiness, announced that Horus was 'waiting' for her husband. Crowley was not expecting any such announcement. He was even more surprised when she led him to a Museum he had not previously visited. Meanwhile she pointed to a statue of Horus in the form of Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Crowley was amazed to find that the exhibit was number 666, the number of the Great Beast in the book of Revelations. Crowley regarded this as a portent and returned to his hotel where he performed a ritual for Horus. His wife again fell into a state of trance and began to dictate a series of statements emanating 83

ALEISTER CROWLEY: LORD OF THE NEW AEON

from a semi-invisible Egyptian spirit named Aiwass. In the communication, to be known later as The Book of the Law, Crowley was instructed to drop the ceremonial magic he had been taught in the Golden Dawn, and to pursue sexual magic instead. In so doing, he had to discover the whereabouts of the Scarlet Whore of Babylon, as mentioned in the Book of Revelation for it had been confirmed that he was indeed the Anti-Christ to succeed Jesus. In fact he was to be the Lord of the new Aeon: 'Now ye shall know that the chosen priest and apostle of infinite space is the prince-priest the Beast,' proclaimed Aiwass, '. . . and in his woman called the Scarlet Woman is all power given . . .'. It seemed to be a curious parody on Christ and the Virgin Mary. Crowley realized that an event of the magnitude of his cosmic initiation only occurred every 2000 years, and constituted a new phase in the evolution of mankind. He would incarnate in the world the mystery of the sexual union of the great Egyptian gods Nuit and Hadit; he would be the god-child. He was the successor to Osiris, Christ and Mohammed: 'With my Hawk's head [i.e. Horus) I peck at the eyes of Jesus . . . I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed . . .'. His encounter and illumination at the hands of Aiwass conferred upon Crowley a new sense of authority. He had tapped the highest spiritual energies in the universe, and had done so in Egypt, the legendary home of magic. He wrote to Mathers to inform him that his ritual formulae were obsolete. Crowley notes, 'I did not expect or receive, a reply. . . .' Ever fond of structure and authority, Crowley decided to form his own occult Order, calling it the Argentinum Astrum or Silver Star. To begin with, its structure imitated that of the Golden Dawn, although after contact with the German Ordo Templi Orientis, he did include some sexual magic in his rites. The A.A., as the Society was known esoterically, initiated close to a hundred people. Among the most impressive were Norman Mudd, Professor of Mathematics at Bloemfontain; Victor Neuburg, who was a 'father-poet' to Dylan Thomas and Pamela Hansford-Johnson, and the visionary artist, Austin Spare. Crowley also inspired a series of sexual magic societies in the USA, namely the Choronzon Club (named after the demon of Chaos); Louis T. Culling's Great Brotherhood of God; the Californian OTO (which included L. Ron Hubbard - founder of Scientology, in its membership); and the Fellowship of Ma Ion, a blend of Catholicism and Crowley. Aleister Crowley died a confused man in December 1947. He had failed satisfactorily to locate the Whore of Babylon. He did however leave behind him a prodigious output of magical writing. His books included 84

ALEISTER CROWLEY: LORD OF THE NEW AEON

works on the Tarot, the Qabalah, the I Ching, Yoga, the Enochian calls of Dr Dee, and the symbolic meaning of ritual. He remains one of the most influential occultists of the century, and his works continue to be republished at a prodigious rate under the auspices of editors like Israel Regardie, Francis King and John Symonds. SOURCEBOOKS Works by Crowley Magick in Theory and Practice. Crowley's most important work, this volume contains all of the main points of reference in Crowley's magical philosophy, and in particular, his outline of magic as a means of changing consciousness by will. Included are summaries of the Banishing and Invoking Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram and an outline of astral projection rising on the planes techniques. One of the most important sections is an Appendix on the Principal Correspondences of the Qabalah, which outlines the relationship of the deities of different pantheons of gods to each other, and their 'position' on the Tree of Life. Also correlated are sacred animals, stones, plants, magical weapons, perfumes and Tarot symbols. A larger edition of this book, including Book Four, was published under the title Magick by Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1973. Book Four, Sangreal Foundation, Dallas, Texas 1972. Contains a detailed account of all the magical implements and their symbolic meaning in ritual. These implements include: the altar, the scourge dagger and chain, the holy oil, the wand, the book of rites, the bell, the lamen or breastplate, and the incense burner. There is also a short account of the relationship of yoga postures and exercises and magic. The Qabalah of Aleister Crowley, Weiser, New York, 1973. This volume supplements the above, and includes three of Crowley's essays: Gematria - the study of the interrelated meanings of words whose numerical totals are the same, Liber 777-an elaboration of Crowley's tables of correspondences in the magical universe, and Sepher Sephiroth, a short Qabalistic dictionary. The Vision and the Voice, Sangreal Foundation, Dallas, Texas, 1972. In 1909 Aleister Crowley and Victor Neuburg journeyed to the deserts of Algeria to attempt to invoke the thirty Aethyrs or spirits annotated by Dr John Dee. These entities had made their appearance originally manifest in a 'shewstone' or looking crystal and had communicated passages in a language known as 'Enochian'. Crowley wished to re-establish contact with them, and he used as his meditative equipment a large golden topaz set in an ornamented Rosy Cross. In certain locations he would concentrate upon the topaz, and Neuburg would write down any of Crowley's ritual "utterings. The documented Aethyrs include symbolic references to the Qabalah, Gnostic writings, the Mysteries of Eleusis, the Celts, the Scandinavians and other sources. The book is an invaluable compilation of magical influxes using a type of trance-method.

85

ALEISTER CROWLEY: LORD OF THE NEW AEON

The Book ofLies, Hay den Press, Ilfracombe, Devon, 1962. A book of condensed Qabalistic sayings with a paragraph by paragraph commentary. The book is fairly obscure but is of historical interest since it contains a sequence on The Star Sapphire which refers to the magic of sexual polarities disguised beneath the symbols of the rood (phallus) and the mystic rose (vagina). It is because this text purported to describe a sexual magic practice that Aleister Crowley was invited to join the OTO by Theodor Reuss. The Book ofThoth, Weiser, New York, 1969. First published in 1944, this book contains a detailed account of all of the Tarot trumps, that is to say, both the Major and Minor Arcana. Also included are the illustrations designed by Crowley and executed by Lady Frieda Harris, which constitute one of the most dramatic and visually impressive Tarot decks. The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, Hill & Wang, New York; Cape, London, 1969. The Magical Record of the Beast 666, Duckworth, London, 1972 - both edited by John Symonds and Kenneth Grant, these two books present valuable insights into the personality of Crowley. The latter is not as notable, as an account of magical experiences, as might be expected, and is useful mainly for its inclusion of the full text of The Book of the Law. Moonchild, Sphere, London. Diary of a Drug Fiend, Sphere, London. Crowley's novels are both amateurish in style but relate strongly to his own magical experiences. Moonchild incorporates parodies on a number of figures from the Golden Dawn including Edwin Arthwait, who is a thinly disguised personification of A. E. Waite. Crowley describes him in his novel as 'pedantically pious' and compares his mind with a 'rag and bone shop of worthless and disjointed medievalism'. There are also references to Victor Neuburg, MacGregor Mathers and W. B. Yeats, whose poetry Crowley was keen to emulate. Diary of a Drug Fiend is Crowley's novel of his drug practices and was first published in 1922. Crowley had especially difficult times with heroin and cocaine, but he discovered that ether, hashish, anhaolonium, opium and morphine had no habit-forming effect upon him whatever. A related work is Israel Regardie's Roll Away The Stone (Llewellyn, St Paul, Minnesota 1968, 1974) which includes Crowley's essay on 'The Herb Dangerous'. Works on Crowley by other writers John Symonds: The Great Beast, Mayflower, St Albans, 1973. The most interesting and complete biography of Crowley and also the most humorous. Unlike Kenneth Grant, with whom Symonds edited and reissued some of Crowley's writings, Symonds looks at Crowley as an interested but not always impressed bystander. The new edition enlarges upon the old, and incorporates The Magic of Aleister Crowley, previously issued as a separate volume (Muller, London, 1958). Israel Regardie: The Eye in the Triangle, Llewellyn, Minnesota, 1971. 86

ALEISTER CROWLEY: LORD OF THE NEW AEON

Kenneth Grant: Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God, Muller, London; Weiser, New York, 1973. In the face of criticism of Crowley as the latter gradually developed into a cult figure, writers have felt obliged to come to his defence. Consequently neither is as clear sighted or objective as John Symonds, although both present interesting background information. Kenneth Grant currently heads one branch of the OTO in England, although this has been challenged in terms of validity. Grant's main concern is the variety of sexual magic which Crowley developed after his illumination in Cairo in 1904. Francis King: Ritual Magic in England, Spearman, London, 1970. A readable and authentic account of the history of the Golden Dawn, Crowley's Argentinum Astrum, the Cromlech Temple, the Fraternity of the Inner Light and other recent occult groups.

hypnotism, flute-suggestion and Relaxation Hypnotism, as a device for inducing a sleep-like trance, is an age-old technique. In general it depends on the abilities of the hypnotist to relax his patient and allow him to enter a mental state where he becomes more suggestible to commands. In most cases a skilled practitioner can induce a hypnotic state in around ten minutes, and the effects can be startling. As an object of amusement post-hypnotic suggestion has often been used as a stage act. A person may, for example, be given an instruction while under hypnosis, that he should violently cough ten minutes after awakening. He returns to his seat as one of the audience, and then quite without knowing why begins to splutter and choke as commanded! There is however a more serious side to hypnotism, and this is a medical therapy. Dr Harvey Doney of the Toronto Rehabilitation Centre has used hypnotism to suggest to heart victims that clean fresh air was coursing into their lungs and rilling their bodies with oxygen and energy. Electrocardiograms have shown that after a six-month period, these patients were as healthy as another group who had to practise regular physical exercise. Hypnotism has also been successfully used as an anaesthetic in surgical operations, and by dentists. It has also been found that very difficult childbirths can be rendered painless by hypnosis. Dr George Newbold, a British gynaecologist stated: 'After witnessing many labours during which the patient is restless and distressed from pain and discomfort, the sight of one conducted under hypnosis may well seem to the onlooker to be something in the nature of a revelation' (Van Pelt (ed.), Medical Hypnosis). As an occult technique, hypnotism has not attracted as much attention as might be expected, mainly because it places the 'patient' in a state of passive helplessness. Currently, disciplines like yoga, and meditation, which stress that man has to achieve higher states of awareness by himself] have proved more relevant, and the same is true in the occult. 88

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-19

HYPNOTISM, AUTO-SUGGESTION AND RELAXATION

However, the technique of auto-suggestion, which is a form of selfhypnotism, does play a significant part, both as a relaxation exercise and also for visualization purposes. One of the best methods is a relaxation method used in modern-day Mind Dynamics training and in similar groups. It is also found in a related form in practical Gurdjieff training. We include it here because the meditator has to tell himself that certain things are becoming real to him, and that his consciousness is moving, as it were, into 'new areas'. The method is as follows: The person first informs himself that he is becoming drenched in beautiful red colours, and that as he relaxes each part of his body in turn, from his head down to his toes, he is becoming filled with 'redness'. Then he imagines that as he becomes more restful, his body is now filled with exquisite orange, and he gradually works his way downwards, passing through all the colours of the rainbow. He becomes increasingly relaxed in turn. According to the Mind Dynamics Organization, this produces an alpha state of mind which allows a much greater mystical awareness. They have established a visualization exercise in which the meditator 'builds' a 'workshop' in the yellow colours, in an imagined, peaceful environment called 'the passive scene in nature'. In this workshop, are placed timecontrol devices, special medicines and equipment and an inexhaustible library, all of which are 'imagined into reality'. They become useful mental aids for reaching into the subconscious and finding solutions to problems which perhaps could not be solved at all in the conscious, awakened state. Magic makes use of similar techniques of relaxation (see pp. 91-4). Once in the relaxed state, the magician has to imagine himself into a context which he wishes to enter. If he wants to 'balance' his personality with intellect, he may will himself to see the form of Michael, the Archangel of Fire (Intelligence), and to converse with him. He builds up a visual impression, calling him forth in a type of mental invocation. What is really occurring, is that the magician is asking a particular facet of his mind to appear in a visual form. He is bringing into consciousness certain faculties and energies that were hitherto unconscious. Again, by means of autosuggestion when in a relaxed state the magician may wish to explore his mind by travelling along the symbolic Tarot paths (see pp. 63-8). He has to tell himself that the imagery of say, The Star, or The Charioteer, is becoming increasingly real to him in all its detail. He visualizes the environment in the symbolic form as portrayed on the Tarot card. He then finds that his consciousness has uncovered new, mystical areas of his mind that he might never have suspected were there!

89

HYPNOTISM, AUTO-SUGGESTION AND RELAXATION

Thus, magic makes use only of hypnotic suggestion as an adjunct to visualization. It places the meditator in control, not another person. It operates with certain visual aids in mind, like the Tarot cards or images from mythology, and it is used primarily to achieve transcendental states of awareness. SOURCEBOOKS j . j . VAN PELT: Medical Hypnosis: New Hope for Mankind, Gollancz, London, 1953Contains interesting medical cases of hypnosis applied to relieving pain whether in child-birth, from migraines, or in surgical operations. R. E. L. MASTERS and JEAN HOUSTON: Mind Games, Turnstone Books, London, 1973An instruction book for group exercises designed to enlarge consciousness. The authors have researched relaxation and meditative techniques used in yoga, and also the altered states of awareness produced by hallucinogenic drugs. This book, however, deals with mental exercises alone. One person in the group takes the role of 'guide'. The authors started the New York Foundation for Mind Research in 1964.

90

trance Consciousness

The main viewpoint underlying trance methods in magic is that we all have a number of bodies of perception, not merely the one which we use in our daily living. If by some means we are able to put our physical body to sleep as it were, we than have open to us other optional realms of perception. Trance is a means of rendering the physical body inert so that the consciousness is then freed to go on a mystical journey. It is an area which is thus strongly related to both out-of-the-body experiences and shamanism. Trance consciousness has been traditionally more important in native societies, as in South America and also Indonesia, but it plays an important role in modern magic. It was the major method employed by two remarkable trance occultists, Austin Spare and Victor Angel, both of whom relied on trance inspiration for their painting (see pp. 192-3). The occult technique for entering the trance state is actually an extension of a gradual relaxation exercise in which the body is 'put to sleep' in stages. However, it is equally important that one should retain the full spectrum of consciousness even though the physical organism is gradually made inoperative. Occultists who use the Tree of Life symbol in their meditations regard the Tree, in one sense, as growing within them. It becomes a representation of the divine energies which dwell in all of us. For this reason, it is also connected with energy centres known in yoga as chakras. The occultist tries to activate his chakras, to allow him greater visionary activity, while at the same time his body sinks deep into trance-relaxation. The activation comes first. The 'magician' imagines white light descending from above his head and he vibrates to himself the mantra Eee-HeeYeh, a sacred name taken from the Qabalah. The light now descends to his throat and is imagined to radiate forth in the form of mauve light. This time the mantra is Ye-Ho-Waa-El-OhHim. . . . 91

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-20

TRANCE CONSCIOUSNESS

Descending further, it reaches the region of the heart and solar plexus. It has now transformed to golden yellow light, and the mantra is Ye-HoWaa, Al-Oaa, Vaaa Daath Now from the heart down to the region of the genitals . . . and the light changes from yellow into a rich, deep purple: Sha-Dai-El-Haiii. . . . Finally, the light reaches the feet and the colours of earth; russet, citrine, black and olive are visualized. The final mantra is Aaa-Doh-Naii, Haaa, Aaa-retz. . . . All of these mantras are the names of God in the Qabalah and they are used because of their uplifting, vibrationary qualities. Thus, the first stage of activation is completed. The magician now imagines white light streaming down his left side, beneath his feet, and up his right side to the top of his head. He then visualizes a similar band of light energy travelling from his head down along his nose to the chest and legs, once again beneath the feet and up past the back of the legs to the head. In his mind, he has thus enclosed his body, which may be lying horizontally or seated in meditation. His breathing is deep and regular. He imagines that the boundaries of light define a type of translucent container which is actually his 'consciousness'. The second, crucial stage, is to transfer the consciousness out of the body. The person meditating now has to imagine that his 'container' is filling up, perhaps with liquid, and that the remaining space inside his container, the 'air' if you like, represents the extent of his consciousness. As the liquid fills the body slowly that part relaxes and goes to sleep. At first, the legs fill and one is aware of the body only above the knees. Then the level rises and consciousness extends only to that part of the body above the chest. Soon, the only conscious part remaining is the head, for the rest has fallen into trance and is to all extents and purposes, 'inert'. It is at this last stage, when the consciousness or 'mind' is leaving the body that the act of astral projection occurs. As mentioned in the opening paragraph, occultists believe that if the external physical body becomes inactive, the next 'inner body' is awakened. All of the perceptive processes are now transferred to an area of the mind which would normally be unconscious. But to all extents and purposes it is like transferring one's perception into a living dream. One is no longer bound by the body, and can travel according to will. Sometimes, fantasy elements from the unconscious also appear, and these will seem to be equally as real as 'normal' reality. Meanwhile, the body remains in a state of trance. Some projectionists claim that a silver cord can be seen connecting the physical and 'astral' 92

TRANCE CONSCIOUSNESS

bodies, although according to Dr Celia Green, a prominent researcher into out-of-the-body experiences, this is not always the case. Magicians using the Qabalistic mantras usually find that this act in itself becomes a type of directive to the unconscious mind to unleash certain visionary experiences. It becomes possible at this stage to imagine oneself into locations which are totally subject to the will of the practitioner, and it is this faculty of creative imagination that is really what magic is all about. If the occultist is using the Tarot cards as his stepping stones he will try to imagine himself confronting the maiden of the 22nd Tarot card, The Universe. He can then travel by the paths represented by other cards in turn, until he gets deeper and deeper into the spiritual areas of his mind. Meanwhile, the person's physical body remains in a state of trance. Should the magician wish to return, he gradually eases himself back into his body and awakens. The controlled act of projection has led a number of writers to theorize that perhaps this trance technique resembles the act of dying. SOURCEBOOKS w. E. BUTLER: The Magician, His Training and Work, Aquarian Press, London, 1959 (several impressions). ISRAEL REGARDIE: llie Middle Pillar, Llewellyn, Minnesota, 1974 edn. W. E. Butler is the present head of the Servants of the Light, an occult group descended from the Stella Matutina, itself an off-shoot of the Golden Dawn. A number of relevant occult techniques, including the projection exercise, and other visualization methods, are described. Israel Regardie belonged to the Stella Matutina, and similarly stresses the importance of the projection technique and the activation of the chakras. The title of his book is a reference to the 'middle pillar' of man, which extends from the crown of his head down to his feet, and is the column on which certain important chakras lie.

94

Out*of-the-Body Consciousness In recent years the phenomenon originally known as 'astral projection' among occultists, has assumed a position of prominence in parapsychological circles. It is currently under special investigation by researchers like Professor Charles Tart of UCLA, Davis and Dr Celia Green, head of the Institute of Psychophysical Studies at Oxford. An out-of-the-body experience is one where the person feels he is observing his surroundings from a position away from his body. One of Celia Green's subjects suddenly felt himself floating high in the sky while riding a motorbike at speed through the countryside, but normally the body is more passive. Usually an out-of-the-body experience takes place during drowsiness, relaxation, sickness or bodily inertness. Electroencephelograph readings (EEGs) have revealed that these experiences share some characteristics with dreams but there is one important distinguishing feature: they seem to be subject to ZP/7/, unlike a dream which incorporates random images, and they are characterized by a perceptive quality as clear as normal waking consciousness. Ernest de Martino, an Italian ethnographer, believes that the out-ofthe-body experience in primitive societies has been documented in myths and legends as the 'wandering of the soul', and that the world-wide belief in an afterlife may also be a folk memory of this phenomenon. In Western society it is only in the present century that astral travelling has been documented in detail, although several references are found in classical literature. The three most noted modern pioneers of the out-of-the-body experience are Sylvan Muldoon, Oliver Fox (The pseudonym of Hugh Callaway) and recently, Robert A. Monroe, although other researchers like Ralph Shirley, former editor of the Occult Review, and 'Yram' (Marcel Fohan) have also made significant contributions. 95

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-21

OUT-OF-THE-BODY CONSCIOUSNESS

Sylvan Muldoon came from a family interested in spiritualist matters and it was while attending a Spiritualist meeting in Clinton, Iowa, at the age of twelve that he had his first out-of-the-body venture. He felt that he had fallen into what he called a 'silent, dark and feelingless condition' and then suddenly found that he could project a part of himself outside his body: 'I managed to turn around . . . There were two of me . . .!' Muldoon also describes a feature regarded by many as characteristic, and that is the silvery elastic chord which is said to join the astral body to the physical body. As Muldoon 'walked around in the air' this chord maintained a connection between his astral consciousness and his inert slumbering body. He had merely transferred his perception outside his normal frame of reference. Muldoon believed that the astral body was in a sense more real than the physical body, and in fact constituted the 'life' element. On death the astral body would sever the cord-link with the physical body and would not return. Russian parapsychologists have similarly formulated the idea of the 'bioplasmic body' - a type of energy prototype of the physical which like the DNA code, regulates and maintains the physical organism. (See S. Ostrander and L. Schroeder: Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain, Bantam Books, New York, 1971.) This view has also found support from the American researcher, Dr Stanley Krippner. Sylvan Muldoon, however, not only described his subsequent experiences in his important work The Projection of the Astral Body (1929), but he went on to describe means of achieving this state of consciousness. Anticipating Dr Tart, he evolved a technique of dream control whereby a person would try to will himself to dream a sequence of events which would involve the separation of the astral and physical bodies. One of these was to imagine oneself ascending in an elevator and alighting on the top floor. Another was to swim, fly, or ride in a balloon. Muldoon highlighted another important aspect of the out-of-the-body experience. Usually the surroundings perceived in an o-o-b-e are exactly similar to reality. Sometimes one may feel one has travelled to a friend's or relative's house and is observing current situations which can be subsequently verified for accuracy. The second major category of experience, however, entails phantasy elements from the subconscious mind. These were present in the accounts of both Oliver Fox and Robert Monroe. Oliver Fox's accounts of his experiences outside the body, first appeared in the Occult Review of 1920. Like Muldoon, there was a strong emphasis on dream control. Fox believed that the o-o-b-e occurred with the 'dream of knowledge', which occurred when one realized that one was dreaming 96

OUT-OF-THE-BODY CONSCIOUSNESS

and could then act within that framework. (This type of dream has recently been referred to by Celia Green as the 'lucid dream'.) The dreamer could now enter the realm which had hitherto been unconscious. He often found himself observing people shrouded in an aura of rich and dazzling colours. Similar descriptions of auras are given in Bishop Leadbeater's book on clairvoyance and the astral planes. Initially Fox considered that the 'dream of knowledge' was the only means available for attaining the out-of-the-body state. Later he realized that the relaxation of the body could produce a similar effect. During the relaxation one would feel oneself overcome autohypnotically by a sense of numbness. Then it was almost like escaping through a trap-door in the brain. Fox called it the 'Pineal Door' method. On one occasion Fox felt that he was falling down a long shaft, and as Celia Green indicates, the tunnel is a common motif in o-o-b-es. Fox was overcome with a sense of darkness and silence, and then noticed that he seemed to be naked and bleeding, as if from wounds. It occurred to him that he was dying. Then, as if he had suddenly entered the realm of Greek mythology, he heard a voice demanding: 'Say thou art Theseus. I am Oliver Fox.' Strange, mythological encounters and visions are commonly reported in the out-of-the-body state and lend some credence to the view of The Tibetan Book of the Dead that on death one's consciousness leaves the body and has visions of heavens and hells which are, in reality, states of harmony and disorder in the mind. Robert Monroe's account in his work Journeys out of the Body has stimulated renewed interest in projection phenomena, and Monroe himself has been assisting in parapsychological experiments with Charles Tart at UCLA. Monroe's o-o-b-es began suddenly in Spring 1958, during sessions while assimilating tape-recorded data during sleep. During his relaxed state he observed the same numbness that Fox had described, and says that it felt rather like being trapped in a vice. Meanwhile he had the strange sensation that he could extend his body in an elastic way, beyond its normal confines. He was able to feel things outside his normal reach. But another strange fact presented itself. His fingers were not feeling in the orthodox sense but were passing through physical objects! A number of recent subjects have similarly claimed that during o-o-b-es they have floated upwards through walls and ceilings and have observed with remarkable clarity, the night sky and surroundings, as if seen from a considerable height. Monroe subsequently discovered that he could travel to see his friends in the out-of-the-body state. On one occasion he observed a friend loading 97

OUT-OF-THE-BODY CONSCIOUSNESS

an unfamiliar mechanical device into the back of his car, and when discussing the incident later with him, he found that it was a Van de Graaf generator. Like Fox, however, Monroe also entered strange inner plane locations which he designated Locale II and Locale III. Locale I representing the more ordinary everyday imagery. He found himself on the former occasions, involved in time-warp phenomena, Hell-like scenery and on one occasion in a symbolic location similar to the details of the tarot card The Judgment. Some of his descriptions parallel those found in the literature of the hallucinogens and psychedelics. The basic characteristics of the out-of-the-body experience are as follows: (1) The consciousness component (mind, or 'soul') appears to leave the body, and the latter remains apparently inert, as if in a state of deep sleep or trance. (2) Sometimes, but not always, the person seems to have a second body, connected to the first by means of a silver chord. (3) It becomes possible in the astral state to travel through physical barriers, and to travel considerable distances 'at the speed of thought'. The will is an important feature since it determines the form which the experience will take, or the location one will visit. (4) Astral travelling can involve purely physical locations, or phantasy locations of the mind, including Heaven and Hell experiences, or episodes apparently taken from mythology. In such instances they become as real to the observer as reality in waking consciousness. SOURCEBOOKS and HEREWARD CARRINGTON: The Projection of the Astral Body, Rider, London, 1929, 3rd impression 1971. This work is more important than the author's companion volume The Phenomenon of Astral Projection and describes Muldoon's o-o-b-experiences and his techniques of dream control. A summary of the book and a comparison with other sources may be found in H. P. Prevost Batterby, Man Outside Himself University Books, New York, 1969.

SYLVAN MULDOON

OLIVER FOX: Astral Projection, A Record of Out of the Body Experiences,

University Books, New York, 1962. Contains details of both Fox's dream control and Pineal Door methods, and represents one of the earliest classical accounts of modern astral travel. ROBERT A. MONROE: Journeys Out Of the Body, Doubleday Anchor, New York, 1973Descriptions are given of Monroe's initial discovery of extended bodily sensations and his wanderings in Locales I, II and III. While similar laboratory work has been done with sensitives like Ingo Swann, Monroe is one of the most significant contemporary proponents undertaking

OUT-OF-THE-BODY CONSCIOUSNESS parapsychological testing, and was mentioned by Dr Charles Tart in an interview with Parapsychology Today. Related Sources Out of the Body Experiences and Lucid Dreams, both Hamish Hamilton, London, 1968. The first of these books provides analytical breakdowns of the conditions accompanying the o-o-b-e such as bodily relaxation, preference for darkness over light, and descriptions of subjects' feelings e.g. 'Like dying'. Professor Price called it a 'notable contribution to psychical research'. The second book deals primarily with dreams which include the faculty of consciousness and decision. It is clear from the accounts of Muldoon and Fox that this relates lucid dreams to the 0-0-b. RAYNOR c. JOHNSON: Watcher on the Hills, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1959Relates drug, mystical and religious experience to altered states of consciousness. One of the best general accounts. ROBERT CROOKALL: The Jung Jaffe View of Out of the Body Experiences, C.F.P.S.S., London, 1970. Carl Jung, found the o-o-b-e difficult to account for in terms of his own view of the unconscious mind. He attempted to describe the latter as possessing 'luminosities' which allowed the faculty of clarity or perceptiveness to arise in the unconscious state. He was particularly puzzled by subjects who observed their medical operations in an out-ofthe-body state while under an anaesthetic. Crookall proposes a standard astral-body viewpoint while relating it to the religious experience of heaven and hell. Crookall has devoted several books to documenting medical cases of o-o-b-e's. His other works include The Supreme Adventure, Intimations of Immortality, Techniques of Astral Projection and During Sleep. NEVILL DRURY: The Path of the Chameleon, Spearman, London, 1973. Contains a short account of the relationship of the out-of-the-body experience to the trance state and 'mythological consciousness'. Expecially relevant is the reference to Aristeas of Proconnesus, a Greek ecstatic from an island in the sea of Marmara, whose account is given by Pliny and Herodotus among others. Aristeas' long astral journey involved normal physical perception in the state of trance, and also phantastic elements relating to solar mythology. BENJAMIN WALKER: Beyond the Body, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1973. One of the best recent general works on out-of-the-body experiences and their connotations for the study of comparative religion and parapsychology. CELIA GREEN:

99

Drugs and Mystical Consciousness In Western countries psychedelic drugs, because of their dangerous random use have understandably been the cause of considerable controversy. However, they have been used in a number of native cultures (e.g. the Mazatecs and Jivaro of Central and South America) as a sacrament allowing the user special access to magical territory. According to anthropological accounts the shaman feels that his universe has become sacred and throngs with awesome beings and presences. Perhaps his 'soul' soars away from his body and he converses with the ancestor of the first dawn. Perhaps his hallucinatory state allows him to see another person as a collection of 'luminous fibres' as Don Juan, the Yaqui shaman told Carlos Castaneda. Hallucinatory drugs cause altered states of awareness, which in the shamanistic societies are often used for positive purposes like healing (see pp. 106-8). In modern Western society their main medical function has been in the treating of terminal cancer patients, where drugs like LSD may be used as an illuminant and pain killer. However, the incursion of the psychedelics - LSD, DMT, mescalin and marijuana has had a chequered history in America, Britain and other Western countries. One of the first contemporary drug-explorers was Aldous Huxley, the British novelist, who was later to be hailed by Timothy Leary as 'the father of the psychedelic revolution'. Huxley, of course, had been preceded by literary figures like Thomas de Quincey, Theophilus Gautier, Charles Baudelaire and other celebrated drug imbibers, but Huxley approached the subject from a different viewpoint. He had asked Dr Humphrey Osmond to overview a medically directed mescalin session in which quantities and effects were carefully gauged. For Huxley, the mescalin trip was like a mystical revelation: he began to discover a profound richness in the kaleidoscopic imagery unfolding before his eyes: 'Mosaics lighted from within, glowing, moving, changing. . .'. In the 100

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-22

DRUGS AND MYSTICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

latter part of his life, Huxley was interested in the correlation between the drug experience and the dying process, and he was especially drawn to the exposition of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which described the altered states of awareness in the after-death dream. Huxley was himself a Mahayana Buddhist, and he accepted the Buddhist view that there was an art to dying which would allow the spiritual rather than the demonic images of the mind to.take precedence as a pathway to liberation. On his deathbed, his wife gave him a dose of LSD to allow him to ride out his life on a wave of transcendental experience. The pioneers of what was to become the psychedelic revolution in the 1960s, regarded Huxley with awe. Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert, the triumvirate of Harvard PhDs who began to research the relationship of drugs to enlightenment, found themselves similarly adopting Hindu or Buddhist frameworks. Leary himself had had a profound religious experience when he ate seven sacred mushrooms in Cuernavaca in August i960. He found himself perceiving the motions of the universe at the atomic and subatomic levels. A new, pantheistic horizon had opened. Finite imagery had been left far behind. The experience was quintessentially religious. 'I came back a changed man,' he wrote '. . . you are never the same after you have had that one flash glimpse down the cellular time tunnel. You are never the same after you have had the veil drawn . . .!' Leary began to gather colleagues in his academic circles, who wrere interested in researching inner space, and through the autumn of i960 spent most of his spare time researching the hallucinogenic qualities of psychotropic mushrooms. With Metzner, one of his most outstanding students, he studied the effects of psilocybin on prison inmates and found that it promoted a feeling of l one-ness' among them, although the effects were not enduring. Meanwhile, Leary learned of LSD from an eccentric English writer and yoga practitioner named Michael Hollingshead. Leary was wary at first, regarding the drug as artificial by contrast with the mushrooms which were 'natural'. Hollingshead insisted, however, that LSD could produce mystical effects. Leary found himself experiencing the same primal energy processes that he had felt during the mushroom sessions, but there was also the sense of non-ego, and rebirth. Meanwhile, Leary explored other hallucinogens as a means of entry to these states of realization. He took D M T with Richard Alpert and discussed it with theologian Alan Watts, and with William Burroughs who had chronicled at length the effect of yage in the South American jungle. 101

DRUGS AND MYSTICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Meanwhile another of Leary's students, Walter Pahnke, proposed an experiment which was to become famous as a psychedelic test case. He wished to test the drug experience against a number of attributes drawn up by the scholar W. T. Stace as characteristics of mystical illumination. In brief, these attributes were: a sense of unity with the world and within oneself; feelings of joy and peace; transcendence of time and space; the feeling of sacredness and awe; the intrinsic sense of authority within the illumination; the conquest of paradox; the inadequacy of words in describing the sensations; transiency . . . illumination as a 'peak experience' ; and finally, lasting changes in temperament and personality. Pahnke gathered together twenty Christian theological students in a private chapel. Ten had been given the hallucinogenic agent psilocybin, the active principle in psychotropic mushrooms. The others were given nicotinic acid, a vitamin which causes 'transient feelings of warmth and tingling of the skin'. The participants listened to a 2\ hour religious service consisting of organ music, four solos, readings, prayers and personal meditation. During the weeks before the experiment, special care had been taken to reduce fear and maximize expectancy, and during the session none knew the nature of the substance he had taken. Pahnke collected data for up to six months afterwards, and each subject had prepared by this time an account of his own personal experiences. The following are Pahnke's statistics, which condensed as percentages are admittedly clinical. They do, however, prove a point: Of those who had taken psilocybin 70 per cent experienced inner unity and 30 per cent external, 84 per cent had a sense of transcendence of time and space, 57 per cent feelings of love and joy, 53 per cent sacredness, 63 per cent the sense of authority and objectivity, 61 per cent the element of paradox, 66 per cent the inability adequately to express their awe in words, 79 per cent transiency, and an average of 50 per cent were substantially changed in psychological attitude, along the lines of the Stace/Pahnke framework. The control group, that is, those who had not taken the hallucinogenic drug, for the most part had much less intense religious experiences. The most pronounced sentiment was the feeling of love (33 per cent). Otherwise the figures were: unity (7 per cent); time and space (6 per cent); joy (23 per cent); sacredness (28 per cent); objectivity and reality (18 per cent); paradox (13 per cent); ineffability (18 per cent); transiency (8 per cent) and pronounced psychological change (8 per cent). Pahnke's experiment thus went a long way in showing that hallucinogens can intensify what would normally have been only a mild and rare religious experience. He does not, of course, claim that all people who take such psychedelic drugs necessarily have mystical or religious experi102

DRUGS AND MYSTICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

ences. This, of course, is far from the case. Pahnke in fact claimed that appropriate aspirations and environment are crucial. Following on from the pioneering work of Leary, it is now generally conceded that hallucinogenic drugs can precipitate peak experiences of a mystical nature. A widely prevalent attitude among practitioners of Eastern religion and yoga since the psychedelic heyday is that while drugs can cause these effects, it is much better to get there without them. While there is considerable merit in an attitude which derides 'artificial' means of attaining enlightenment, there are certain biological objections to the new view7. For example, LSD-25, the most powerful hallucinogen known in terms of quality and effect, is structurally similar to the substance serotonin, which is stored in the pineal gland in the brain. The essence of transcendental mysticism is to activate the 'chakras' or energy centres of the nervous system and in so doing open the 'third eye' (or pineal gland). While the drug technique replaces serotonin with LSD in the brain, the method of disciplined deep breathing used in yoga alters the amount of oxygen in the blood. As with LSD, this also has a chemical effect on the brain and causes similar visionary effects. Fasting and sensory deprivation (which occurs when a meditator stares fixedly at an image of contemplation) are also ways of enhancing these hallucinatory effects. In summary, while psychedelic drugs are ostensibly 'artificial' they may be seen as biochemical agents in the brain which cause similar effects to those produced by 'natural' methods. The major argument against drugs from the mystical point of view (aside from arguments against the addictive qualities of drugs like heroin and opium, which cannot be discussed here) is that they produce effects of relatively short duration. Natural techniques of altering and expanding consciousness are likely to be more enduring. SOURCEBOOKS (Readers are referred to the books listed for shamanism which are of considerable relevance to this topic.)

ALDOUS HUXLEY: The Doors of Perception! Heaven and Hell; Penguin Books;

Harper & Row, several eds; first published 1954-6 as separate volumes. Familiar, and widely quoted, but one of the classic contemporary drug accounts and the best on mescalin. (Others include Colin Wilson's described in Beyond the Outsider and R. C. Zaehner's in Mysticism Sacred and Profane - Pan Books and Oxford University Press respectively.) Huxley's book is vital from the historical viewpoint, since it virtually precipitated the psychedelic-mystical enquiry. TIMOTHY LEARY: High Priest, College Notes and Texts Inc., New York, 1968. 103

DRUGS AND MYSTICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

et al.: The Psychedelic Experience, University Books, NewYork, 1964. Arguably, Leary's most important books. High Priest covers Leary's early formative years of experimentation from 1959 to 1962, including background to the Pahnke experiment and the meeting with Michael Hollingshead. It also lays the basis for Leary's view of the psychedelic drug as a sacrament. The Psychedelic Experience, written with the aid of Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert, relates the drug 'rebirth' experience, to the states of after-death consciousness as described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It is also intended as a manual for monitoring the drug experience for mystical effects. WALTER PAHNKE: The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death', Psychedelic Review, 4034, 20th Street, San Francisco, no. 11, Winter 1970-1. An important elaboration of the celebrated theological drug test which came to be known as 'The Good Friday Experiment'. Pahnke died prematurely in 1971. This is one of his major articles. BABA RAM DASS: Doing Your Own Being, Spearman, London, 1973. Ram Dass was formerly Dr Richard Alpert of Harvard and a colleague of Timothy Leary. Following his experiments with LSD he took his sacrament to India and showed it to a revered Indian yogi in the Himalayas. The latter consumed Alpert's entire stock - 900 micrograms and was unaffected! This convinced Alpert that he should take up Eastern methods of altering consciousness. This book is a transcript of two lectures given by Ram Dass under the auspices of the Menninger Foundation in Kansas. JOHN WHITE (ed.): The Highest State of Consciousness, Doubleday Anchor, New York, 1972. Possibly the best single anthology of source writings on mystical states of consciousness, achieved both with and without psychedelic drugs. It includes articles by Stanley Krippner, Aldous Huxley, Robert S. de Ropp, R. D. Laing, Alan Watts, Lama Govinda, Walter Pahnke, Charles Tart, Abraham Maslow and Richard Wilhelm, among others. DAVID EBIN (ed.): The Drug Experience, Grove Press, New York, 1961. Resembles the White book described above, except that its sources are major accounts of the drug experience. Writings by Gautier, Baudelaire, Bayard Taylor, de Quincey, Aleister Crowley, William Burroughs, R. C. Zaehner, Allen Ginsburg and Havelock Ellis are included. SIDNEY COHEN: Drugs of Hallucination, Paladin, London, 1970. One of the most lucid and also one of the fairest accounts of psychedelics. Interesting for its references to LSD and terminal cancer patients. JOHN c. LILLY: The Centre of the Cyclone, Calder & Boyars and Paladin Books, London, 1973; Julian Press, New York, 1972. The most relevant book by the famous neurophysiologist. Lilly underwent extensive sensory deprivation testing both with and without hallucinogens and he describes the resultant mystical consciousness. Trained in computer analysis, Lilly is also noted for his theory of religious doctrines as 'programmes' of the subconscious mind. By this he means that

TIMOTHY LEARY

104

DRUGS AND MYSTICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

a belief system can be fed gradually into the mind and under sensory deprivation states, and in moods of contemplation, may be re-manifested in the form of illumination and symbolic visions. Lilly has correlated the LSD programme with Buddhist and Gurdjieff gradients of consciousness.

105

Shamanistic Magic

Shamanism is the magic of ecstasy, of leaving the body and soaring to great heights of mystical illumination. Mircea Eliade, the famous scholar of comparative religion calls the shaman 'the technician of the sacred'. He is a person who is able to move by an act of will from one plane of existence to another. In the strict anthropological sense, shamanism is best represented in Siberia and in South and Central America among the native Indian tribes. Usually a shaman is a magician or healer who claims to contact the deities and spirits sacred to his people. His world is alive with aweinspiring and often terrifying supernatural beings, and it is up to the shaman to encounter these entities and learn their mysterious secrets. These will, in turn, confer upon him a profound respect for the 'sacred things', and in the case of healing, a divinely revealed remedy for the sickness or disease. Shamans frequently use hallucinogenic sacraments like datura, psilocybin or peyote, and in this state of altered consciousness they claim to perceive the vital processes or energy body of the person whom they are treating. Sometimes in shamanistic accounts the magician claims that the body seems to become transparent and he can look inside. If a magical object - a power stone or dart - has been sent by a sorcerer to cause illness in the body of the victim, it is the shaman's function to discover and suck forth the offensive object from its harmful position. And if the patient has lost his 'soul', the shaman must follow it on a visionary journey and bring it back to safety where it cannot be endangered. Perhaps the most impressive role of the shaman, however, is his ecstatic flight into the world of his native mythology. He is lifted up, perhaps on a winged horse or eagle, and journeys to the land of the ancestors who live in the heights of the universe. For him, his gods are entities whom he can visit and converse with, and they in turn can bestow supernatural powers. In the remarkable books of Carlos Castaneda we find one of the best 106

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-23

SHAMANISTIC MAGIC

contemporary accounts of the world of the native shaman. Castaneda spent ten years attempting to grasp the magical concepts of the Mexican shaman Don Juan Matus, whom he had originally met on an anthropological field trip to Arizona. Don Juan used a number of hallucinogens to encounter his supernatural allies, and such a spirit helper was one with 'a power capable of carrying a man beyond the boundaries of himself. Don Juan reserved special reverence for peyote, and in particular its associated deity Mescalito, Castaneda describes his mystical encounter with this nature-being: 'His eyes were of the water I had just seen. They had the same enormous volume, the sparkling of gold and black. . . . Except for the pointed shape his head was exactly like the surface of the peyote plant ' Another anthropologist, Michael Harner studied the Jivaro Indians of Eastern Ecuador. When he partook of their hallucinogenic drink natetna he found himself encountering their tribal gods: 'I met bird-headed people as well as dragon-like creatures who explained that they were the true gods of the World. I enlisted the services of other spirit helpers in attempting to fly through the far reaches of the Galaxy. . . .' Superficially the world of the native shaman may seem to be of little relevance to the occult and the modern magician, but this is not the case. It is an interesting coincidence that the shamans of Siberia refer to the Cosmic Tree where all the deities live. The Qabalah, which is the main reference of all modern contemporary magicians also has its Tree - the Tree of Life. And just as the shaman journeys upwards to meet his gods, so too does the occultist perform rituals and meditative trance exercises which will help him scale the heavens of inner space. In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, most of the practical magical work was of a ritual nature in which the members dressed and performed like gods, mostly of ancient Egypt, and tried imaginatively to become inspired by acting in their place. But there was also a shamanistic type of magic, which like the native variety, involved leaving the body in trance, and encountering the spirits and deities of the Tree of Life. One of the most impressive modern 'astral journeys' is that of Aleister Crowley's vision of Jupiter, which was first published in his occult magazine The Equinox: I perceived other suns rising around me, one in the North, and one in the South, and one in the West. And the one in the North was as a great bull blowing blood and flame from its nostrils; and the one in the South was as an eagle plucking forth the entrails of a 107

SHAMANISTIC MAGIC

Nubian slave; and the one in the West was as a man swallowing an ocean. And whilst I watched these suns rising around me, behold, though I knew it not, a fifth sun had risen beneath where I was standing, and it was as a great wheel of revolving lightnings. And gazing at the Wonder that flamed at my feet, I partook of the glory and became brilliantly golden, and great wings of flame descended upon me, and as they enrolled me I grew thirty cubits in height perhaps more. Then the sun upon which I was standing rose above the four other suns, and as it did so, I found myself standing before an ancient man with a snow-white beard, whose countenance was afired with benevolence. And as I looked upon him, a great desire possessed me to stretch forth my hand and touch his beard; and as the desire grew strong, a voice said unto me: 'Touch, it is granted thee. . . .' I would have lingered, but I was dismissed, for the four other suns had risen to a height equal to mine own. And seeing this I stretched out my wings and flew, sinking through innumerable sheets of binding silver. And presently I opened my eyes, and all around me was as a dense fog; thus I returned to my body . . . . Occultists use different methods for attaining these visions. Usually they relax the body and enter a state of trance. At the same time, they will themselves to enter the mind through different pathways. One of the most appropriate means is to use the Tarot cards as doorways . . . since these lead to different levels of consciousness on the Tree of Life. It was also common in the Golden Dawn for the magicians to use the Tattvas, or symbols of the elements (see pp. 72-4). The basic assertion of the shaman or trance magician is that by encountering the gods of our minds in this way, we in fact discover ourselves. All of us have a vast, cosmic potential, which is for the most part untapped. The shaman offers a technique for discovering this sacred inner knowledge, and the gods once again come forth to life. SOURCEBOOKS CARLOS CASTANEDA: The Teachings of Don Juan (1968); A Separate Reality (1971); Journey to Ixtlan (1972); Tales of Power (1974); The Second Ring of

Power (1977); all published by Simon & Schuster, New York. First four available also in Penguin books. The Castaneda/Don Juan material is a unique encounter between the rational and to some extent narrow reasoning of the Westerner, and the awesome magical world of the Mexican brujo, or sorcerer. Don Juan, a 108

SHAMANISTIC MAGIC

Yaqui Indian, is both a shaman and a warrior, who sees his magical techniques and 'allies' as aids towards becoming a 'Man of Knowledge'. MICHAEL j . HARNER (ed.): Hallucinogens and Shamanism, Oxford University Press, London and New York, 1973. PETER T. FURST (ed.): Flesh of the Gods, Praeger, New York; Allen & Unwin, London, 1972. Both of these volumes are anthologies containing some of the best available anthropological accounts of shamanism. Harner's volume also contains a chapter on hallucinogens in witchcraft, and he shows how the flight on the broomstick was actually a sexual out-of-the-body phantasy aided by psychedelic drugs. MIRCEA ELIADE : Shamanism, Bollingen Press, Princeton University, and Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1972. The most complete treatment of shamanism on a world-wide basis, and an invaluable reference book.

NEVILL DRURY : Don Juan, Mescalito and Modern Magic: The Mythology of

Inner Space, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and Boston, 1978. A detailed comparative analysis of Don Juan's magical trance techniques, and their relationship to the recent psychedelic movement (Timothy Leary, Baba Ram Dass et al.), contemporary magic and the Tarot.

no

Ghosts and huntings

Human history has been consistent in its fear of the unknown - especially when the unknown has to do with death. Every society has speculated on the fate of those who die, and most have believed it possible for some, if not all, the dead to return, usually in non-physical form, to haunt the living. Most societies have taken some precautions to prevent this, generally believing that the dead were dangerous - funeral rituals to drive the spirit away, or gifts to appease it, or tombs to trap it, all constituted part of the process of protection against the wandering dead. It was generally assumed that the dead, if restless and returned from the grave, would be attracted to either relatives or people with whom they had some close association during life, or to places which had special meaning for them. Therefore the relatives had to be especially careful, but so did anyone moving into a house in which a man had died. Some societies even forbade the mention of a dead man's name (echoed today in modern society's injunctions against 'speaking ill of the dead'), and shifted location to avoid their return. In general terms, what are popularly known as ghosts, can be divided into several categories. (1) Influences - the vague sort of 'feelings' that adhere to places (or occasionally objects), often unpleasantly, but which manifest in no more tangible form. (2) Poltergeists - the noisy ghosts popularized in films, rather destructive outbursts of energy which cause physical manifestations of various types, usually involving the destruction of household objects, loud noises, etc. Research (for example, that of Harry Price and Carl Jung) tends to suggest these are not ghosts in the traditional sense, but psychic energy associated with adolescents. (3) Apparitions - the traditional ghosts of popular fiction, the shadowy in

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-24

GHOSTS AND HAUNTINGS

figures which appear and disappear, usually in the semi-dark, and which are usually associated with historical locations. (4) Hauntings - in which the characteristics of apparitions and poltergeists are combined to constitute psychic phenomena of alarming degree, with various manifestations. Modern parapsychological research has investigated some ghosts in depth, and a number of scientifically based theories have been advanced as to the nature and functioning of these shadowy figures. The term 'ghost' usually creates an image of the spirit of someone who has died, although some apparitions have been of the living. Apparitions can be classified into: (1) 'Ghosts' - that is, appearances of persons who have died, and who are either: (a) associated with the person to whom they appear (for example the appearance of a relative to give a message from 'beyond the grave'); (b) associated with the place in which they appear (for example, the almost classic theme of a murder victim haunting the house in which he was murdered). (2) 'Phantasms of the living', that is, apparitions of persons who are still alive, but who appear in one place whilst their physical body remains in another; such apparitions usually indicate: (a) a person who is on the point of death and who manifests to someone closely involved with him; (b) a person who is conveying some message or urgency (for example, the mother who appears to warn her son of impending danger); (c) a person who is asleep at the time and projects the astral body accidentally or intentionally. (3) Apparitions of animals or objects, for example, ghost ships, phantom animals and mysteriously appearing and disappearing objects. Although popular films and novels have characterized the ghost as a white, etheric figure drifting around terrifying spectators, ghosts are not necessarily visible, frightening, or indeed etheric. Many have been mistaken for solid, physical individuals. And ghosts can be perceived in a variety of ways, often visible only to psychics, while non-psychics merely 'feel' the presence. Perception of ghosts can be by: (1) vision - that is, the ghost appears physically in one form or another; (2) sound - there are noises, voices, music or other sounds which suggest the presence of supernatural phenomena; (3) intuition - the 'feeling' that someone/something is present; (4) other sensory perception - for example, perception of temperature (often said to fall in the presence of ghosts), movement (often breezes are said to occur in otherwise still rooms), touch (invisible fingers running through the hair or across the face); 112

GHOSTS AND HAUNTINGS

(5) psychic perception - where an individual possesses some psychic faculties he may perceive the ghost either in vision (clairvoyance), sound (clairaudience), feeling (clairsentience); (6) indirectly by physical phenomena - as in the case of a poltergeist, the ghost may manifest in the movement of objects (psychokinesis or telekinesis), levitation of objects, mysterious appearance of writing, appearance of apports, or through any of the means employed in spiritualism. Regardless of the question as to whether the individual actually perceives someone or something, there are questions as to what and how he perceives. Generally, theories of ghosts have employed one or more of the following premises: (1) the discarnate personalities of individuals can remain in contact with the physical world after death (the spiritualist hypothesis); (2) some type of energy mass can exist in association with places or objects or people which gives rise to various phenomena, but which is not human, although it may have been stimulated by human action (e.g. a murderer's anger and hatred remain once his crime is committed and may manifest in various phenomena) (this is one of the more frequent scientific explanations); (3) events leave indelible prints on the total substance of the environment, and may manifest in various ways (a variation on (2)); (4) there is always a rational explanation for any such manifestations (the ultimate rationalist explanation); (5) such manifestations have no existence in reality but are caused by psychic influences on the individuals who claim to perceive them.

SOURCEBOOKS G. N. M. TYRRELL: Apparitions, reprint, Macmillan, London, 1970. The classic work on the subject, and the one which more than any other stimulated continuing research. DENNIS BARDENS: Ghosts and Hauntings, Fontana, London, 1967. T. c. LETHBRIDGE: Ghost and Ghoul, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1961. An interesting study, based on historical material, and written by one of the best authorities in the general field of occultism. ERIC MAPLE: The Realm of Ghosts, Pan, London, 1964. DOUGLAS HILL: Return from the Dead, MacDonald, London, 1970. Includes material on ghosts, vampires, werewolves and poltergeists.

"3

GHOSTS AND HAUNTINGS H. CARRINGTON and N. FODOR: The Poltergeist Down The Ages, Rider, London, 1953The most important work on poltergeists. Interesting collections of accounts of ghosts and hauntings are readily available.

114

Spiritualism

Every known society has held that, under certain circumstances, it is possible to communicate with those who have died. Opinions have varied as to whether this is good or bad, harmful or beneficial, either to the dead or to the one communicating with them. In some societies formalized institutions have been established to enable regular communication to take place - mediums, shamans and other psychics have important places in many cultures. Basically, spiritualism involves: (1) A belief in the continuity of the personality after death - that is, the person is more or less the same after he has given up the physical body, can communicate in words, remembers events and people, is capable of conversation. (2) The concept that contact with the dead is possible - the dead exist in some dimension not totally separate from our own and can be contacted there, or, alternatively, can come into our dimension to contact us. (3) People (usually known as mediums) with specific psychic gifts which facilitate communication with the dead by a variety of means automatic writing, going into a trance, direct voice, etc. (4) The idea that there is a valid purpose in taking advantage of the possibility of contact with the dead - usually justified on the grounds that they know more, are more enlightened, or, conversely, that they need help to adjust to their new state. Spiritualism can be considered as: (1) Philosophy - it offers a particular view of life and death, and offers a system of beliefs about the universe, which includes the possibility and the validity of contact with dead. (2) Methodology - various techniques are employed to make contact with the dead. (3) Results - what is achieved by supposed contact with the dead ? The "5

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-25

SPIRITUALISM

results are usually verbal, and frequently of a poor standard; occasionally physical manifestations occur. (4) Evidence - what evidence is there to support the thesis that the results derive from communication with the dead ? Modern spiritualism differs from spiritualism in primitive societies in its emphasis on evidence that is, on its claims that scientific research can and will validate its premises. The questions that need to be answered are: (1) Can it be demonstrated that the results are achieved by means which are not explicable in non-supernatural terms ? For example, by conscious or unconscious fraud on the part of those involved, by natural phenomena of various kinds, or by the workings of the mind especially in its little known aspects (e.g. telepathy). There is considerable scientific evidence to support the thesis that at least some 'spiritualist' phenomena occur outside the realm of natural phenomena as presently understood by science. This involves such faculties as telepathy, psychokinesis (see pp. 3-11). (2) Assuming it can be demonstrated that the results are supernatural, can it be shown that they result from communication with the dead rather than simply being the psychic powers of the living ? This is the most difficult area for spiritualists, since it is difficult to find evidence to support the hypothesis that it is communication with the dead, which cannot also be explained in simpler terms as deriving from the 'non-dead'. Spiritualism, in its modern manifestation, began in the USA in the second half of the nineteenth century, and rapidly expanded throughout England and Europe. The impact of wars - with large-scale loss of life and hence a preoccupation with death and the fate of the dead - increased its influence, and eventually churches specifically proclaiming a spiritualist philosophy developed. Some of these are Christian in orientation, others non - or even anti-Christian. With the current emphasis on life rather than death, spiritualism seems destined to fade away, especially as the manifestations which once astonished and amazed are now no longer its exclusive domain but are accepted, to a large extent, as phenomena for scientific study. Spiritualism usually centres on some form of communication with the spirits of the dead - either though a seance (a meeting specifically for that purpose, usually in semi-darkness, with a number of people sitting in a circle, invoking the spirits), through a ouija board (a board with the letters of the alphabet and various basic words written on it, over which a glass is moved, theoretically by the spirits), a planchette (pencil holder on wheels, which, if lightly held in the hand is said to be moved by the spirits who 116

SPIRITUALISM

will use it to write), automatic writing (a pencil lightly held in the hand of the medium is supposed to move at the direction of the spirits), spirit photography (an unexposed photographic film when developed shows a picture or a message), clairvoyance (where the psychic power of seeing spirits is possessed by the medium), clairaudience (where the medium hears things not audible to ordinary people) or clairsentience ('feelings' or intuitions). At a seance a variety of phenomena occur - generally the medium goes into a trance during which he (or more frequently she) is possessed by the spirit of a departed person, or usually by a spirit guide (a teacher, or advanced spirit who assists and protects the medium) who may speak using the vocal cords of the medium, whose voice may change. Sometimes materializations (the physical appearance in the seance room of a deceased person), apports (the manifestation of material objects with no natural explanation - e.g. stones falling onto the table), rappings (the spirits knocking on the table to communicate in code) and lights may appear in the room. Rarely, ectoplasm (said to be a primal semi-spiritual matter) pours from the medium's mouth or extends from beneath his clothing. Occasionally, trumpets (a speaking trumpet through which the spirit is supposed to communicate) will be used. Psychokinesis (the movement of objects without a natural explanation) sometimes occurs, with objects floating around the seance room. Levitation (the lifting of the body of the medium, or a member of the seance, into the air) is rare. Traditionally seances are held in darkness, since the presence of light is said to weaken the power whereby the spirits manifest. Spiritualist groups also practise healing, usually claiming to work as the agents of spirit guides with a particular interest in medical work - both the laying on of hands and various forms of massage are used. THE EVIDENCE FOR SPIRITUALISM Although spiritualism has to some extent been scientifically investigated its religious overtones and tendency to require conditions that make scientific assessment difficult, if not impossible, have precluded this. However, extensive studies have been made of numbers of famous mediums, especially during the early years of spiritualism in England. Mediums are generally classified according to the type of phenomena with which they most often work - mental mediums give information about what they see or hear, or are channels through which the spirits communicate by impressions; physical mediums are those who are actually possessed by the spirits, and who precipitate various physical phenomena. Among the most notable mediums in the history of spiritualism were: Mrs Leonora Piper (1857-1950); Mrs Gladys Leonard (1882-1968); 117

SPIRITUALISM

Miss Geraldine Cummins (d. 1968); Mrs Eileen Garrett (1893-1970); Mr D. D. Home (1833-86); Mrs Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918); Mr Rudi Schneider (1908-57). THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITUALISM The philosophy and theology of spiritualism has been derived through the teachings of the spirits communicated through mediums, and accordingly different teachings given through different mediums tend to be different not only in emphasis but in information. Therefore various schools of spiritualism exist, centring on the teachings of different mediums. For example, most French spiritualists and those in South America (who usually call themselves 'spiritists') follow the teachings of Allan Kardec, which included reincarnation. The majority of English spiritualists follow the philosophy of W. Stainton Moses (1839-92) expressed in his book Spirit Teachings, or the more recent and very popular writings of J. Arthur Findlay (cf. his On the Edge of the Etheric Rider, London, 1931). In general terms all these philosophies diverge in detail but share certain common characteristics: (1) The soul is a duplicate of the body and resides in its natural state in a world which is similar to, although better than, this physical world with houses, trees, rivers, etc. (2) The soul is occupied by the spirit, the life-principle. (3) There are a variety of 'worlds' coexisting in a hierarchical series differing according to 'vibration' and the aim of life is to progress from the lower to the higher worlds; often it is taught that these worlds exist in concentric spheres around the earth. (4) After death the soul is drawn to that world for which it is suited by its vibrations - i.e. an evil man will be drawn to an unpleasant world. (5) Either souls reincarnate until they attain perfection (as the spiritists, following Kardec say), or else there is continued progression in other worlds (as the English spiritualists say). (6) God is not as central as in Christian theology. This philosophy and cosmology draws heavily upon the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg and has some relation to certain teachings of the Neo-Platonists. While some spiritualist groups are expressly Christian, others are not. The Spiritualists National Union (Great Britain) summarizes its philosophy into a creed that is the basis for many spiritualist groups throughout the world, with some variation: (1) The Fatherhood of God (2) The Brotherhood of Man 118

SPIRITUALISM

(3) (4) (5) (6)

The communion of spirits and the ministry of angels The continuous existence of the human soul Personal responsibility for individual action Compensation and retribution hereafter for all good and evil deeds done on earth (7) Eternal progress open to every human soul. Most spiritualist groups, as distinct from formally organized churches, have vague and undefined philosophies deriving from the teachings received through the medium leading the group. SPIRITUALISM TODAY With the increasing revival of interest in the occult and the modern interest of science in psychic phenomena, there has been a decreasing interest in spiritualism. Essentially a phenomena of man's concern with death and the hereafter, it has little place in a world essentially concerned with the present and with life. Spiritualist groups have become characterized by a predominance of elderly, widowed ladies and the absence of the young. A widespread awareness of psychic phenomena means that the seance room no longer offers the excitement and the wonder it once did. SOURCEBOOKS The literature of and about spiritualism is enormous, ranging from large volumes of communications received from the spirits, to vigorous denunciations of the whole thing as fraud or the work of the devil, to heavy scientific tomes reporting investigations of mediums. One of the best general surveys of spiritualism is: GEORGESS MCHARGUE: Facts, Frauds and Phantasms, Doubleday, New York, 1972.

Covers the entire history of spiritualism from the time of shamans to the case of Bishop Pike, and includes a glossary of terms and a bibliography. There are several 'classics' in this field which will never really be outdated and which, although often rather pedantic and heavy-going, are essential reading. These include: NANDOR FODOR: An Encyclopedia of Psychic Science, reprinted by University Books, New York, 1966. Containing information on almost everything in the field of spiritualism and psychic research. FRANK PODMORE: Mediums of the Nineteenth Century, reprinted by University Books, New York, 1963. The 'classic' study of mediums, centred on those who really established spiritualism, and were the first to be investigated with any degree of scientific method, in the great 'age' of mediums. 119

SPIRITUALISM

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: The History of Spiritualism, Doran, New York, 1926. An examination by a firm believer, who was one of the 'key figures' in the development of spiritualism. Additionally, there are a number of more recent general surveys which provide useful background: G. K. NELSON: Spiritualism and Society, Schocken, New York, 1969. General survey in sociological terms. DOUGLAS HILL: Return from the Dead, Macdonald, London, 1970. General survey of beliefs regarding the possibility of contact with the dead. There are numerous books by mediums or about them, some of which provide interesting material on what they do, and what they believe. These include: TREVOR H. HALL: The Spiritualists: The Story of Florence Cook and William Crookes, Duckworth, London, 1962. A detailed study of one of the great figures in the beginnings of scientific investigation on spiritualism, and the medium he examined. EILEEN GARRETT: Many Voices: The Autobiography of a Medium, Putnams, New York, 1968. The autobiography of a woman who was described as a great medium, and subjected to considerable investigation. JAMES PIKE and DIANNE KENNEDY: The Other Side, Doubleday, New York, 1968. The account of Bishop Pike's search for contact with his son, Jim, who committed suicide, and the sittings with Arthur Ford. w. STAINTON MOSES: Spirit Teachings, reprinted by Spiritualist Press, London, 1962. One of the first books written to convey the philosophy and beliefs of spiritualism. On the subject of survival after death generally, the great 'classic' work is: F. w. H. MYERS: Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death, reprinted by University Books, New York, 1961. A massive study on the basis of the author's investigation of spiritualism. H. HART: The Enigma of Survival, Rider, London, 1959. Also deals with this subject.

120

Possession

Throughout history and across a wide range of cultures and societies, various states of consciousness, specifically those associated with ecstasy poetic and artistic inspiration, religious fervour, madness, epilepsy, drunkenness, sexual frenzy, trance and other states outside the usual range of ordinary experience - have often been classified as resulting from the influence upon the individual of forces, powers or beings outside his own personality. The cause of such influence has been given a variety of explanations - devils, gods, spirits, the dead, elementals, nature spirits, angels, ghosts, but inevitably it has led to the idea that man can be taken over by an external force which operates through the individual, without his conscious co-operation and against his will. This remains in popular exclamations like 'He is not himself today', or 'Something has got into him', implying that the individual can be, and is, sometimes literally 'not himself. Possession is neither a new concept, nor a specifically Christian one. Throughout history, virtually all societies have recognized that it was possible for a man to be 'taken over' by an influence, or entity, outside himself. Two types of possession have been universally recognized: (1) Voluntary possession - when the individual allows himself to be possessed by an entity, as do spiritualist mediums, to enable the entity to manifest when it could not ordinarily do so: this includes possession by the spirits of the dead, by spirits of nature, and by the gods, especially for the purposes of prophecy, but also the type of possession found amongst Christian Pentecostalists. (2) Involuntary possession - when the individual does not freely allow himself to be possessed but is taken over involuntarily by an external force which is generally evil and destructive to the individual. In popular terminology the word 'possession' covers a wide range of 121

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-26

POSSESSION

phenomena, but in more precise usage it ought only to be used for one category of a number of types. Individuals can be influenced by external forces in a variety of ways: (1) Influence - the individual is aware of an influence, of varying degrees of power, which affects his thought or behaviour, and which does not originate within him; in some methods of divination the individual allows himself to be influenced by external forces. At its simplest level, influence includes the sorts of'feelings' that many individuals get in certain localities and about certain people. (2) Obsession - the individual is aware of an influence affecting his thought and behaviour to a more marked degree than simply 'influence', and is unable to liberate himself from the influence - it has, so to speak, become attached to him, but remains 'outside' him; (3) Possession - where the individual's personality is displaced by another entity which thus gains control, to varying degrees, of the individual's body; the individual need not necessarily be aware that anything is happening, or have any memories after the possession is over since he was not 'there' at the time. Individuals come under the influence of external entities in a variety of ways, sometimes quite accidentally (e.g. shifting into a house in which a restless entity exists), sometimes due to their own action (e.g. playing with occult rituals), and the actual degree of influence varies in every case. Whether or not individuals can actually be possessed by external entities remains a matter of speculation; nevertheless, there have been innumerable cases where it appears that they were, and where exorcism proved successful as a therapy. The psychologically unbalanced, particularly those suffering from specific types of disorder (e.g. paranoia, schizophrenia) may believe that they are being persecuted by someone or something external to themselves, or even attacked from within by various forces. Individuals suffering from compulsive thoughts or desires may interpret these as originating from outside, being 'planted' in their minds by enemies or evil spirits and it certainly appears to the individuals so affected that they are being 'made' to do things against their will by someone or something else. A wide range of influences can cause the experience of believing oneself to be obsessed or possessed. Certainly sexual frustration or imbalance is influential in causing an upwelling of psychic energy seeking, unsuccessfully, an outlet, and therefore introverting and causing a variety of conflicts within the individual. This is especially evident in cases where devoutly religious and highly puritanical individuals suffer from what they interpret as obsession or possession, characterized by 'impure' thoughts 122

POSSESSION

and desires. It must be recognized that the majority of cases in which possession, or obsession, or even influence are alleged, can be explained in much simpler, psychological terms, and the terms relating to possession should be reserved only for cases in which all alternative explanations fail. These would be characterized by: (1) Symptoms which do not respond to the usual methods of treatment, either medical or psychological. (2) Cases in which the individual is otherwise healthy and wellbalanced and exhibits no indications of being mentally disturbed apart from the actual symptoms of the possession or obsession. (3) Cases in which there is an indication that unorthodox (from a psychological point of view) treatment - in the traditions of exorcism will cause a response and an improvement. Whether or not they are accepted as cases of possession or obsession in the traditional sense, there are cases in which these conditions are fulfilled, and which respond to exorcism, but not to traditional medical or psychiatric techniques. There are many case studies in the field, although some of them can be explained in terms other than those involving possession or obsession. Examples may help to clarify the concepts: (1) Possession - a young boy, after a period of showing signs of disturbance and restlessness, nightmares, loss of appetite, uncontrolled aggression and loss of concentration, suddenly begins lapsing into states of violent anger during which his body is thrown into uncontrolled frenzy and he screams and shouts. In the course of these 'fits' he converses with onlookers, almost as though he is 'someone else'; when he returns to his normal state he is unable to remember anything that happened, but suffers nevertheless as a consequence of the contortions of his body. His physical condition endangers his health. Extensive medical and psychiatric diagnosis reveals that the symptoms are not caused by any physical illness (e.g. epilepsy, brain damage), and that the boy, in his normal state, is quite healthy psychologically. However he continues to manifest a secondary personality of a violent, destructive nature. Eventually, a rite of exorcism is performed, and after several repetitions the symptoms completely disappear. A case in which conventional medical and psychiatric treatment had no effect, and in which possession can be advanced as a reasonable explanation. (2) Obsession - a woman begins to have thoughts intrude into her consciousness, encouraging her to go and live with an aunt she dislikes. The thoughts eventually manifest as voices, audible to the woman but not to anyone else. She is consciously aware that they are not her own thoughts, 123

POSSESSION

but is unable to prevent them, or put them out of her mind; it is as though someone is actually talking to her. She begins to 'see' the aunt in her mind, and the image becomes annoying because of its frequent occurrence. She undertakes all types of activities, physical and intellectual, to distract herself from the obsession, but cannot do so. A physician determines that her health is good, but being undermined by this problem. She consults a psychiatrist who can locate no immediate cause of the problem; she has no guilt feelings about the aunt, and presents herself as a well-balanced, healthy woman. Despite both medication and psychiatric treatment, the problem continues. The woman eventually consults an occultist, who tells her that the aunt is involved in witchcraft, and has been employing an obsessing entity, created by some form of ritual magic, to try to get her to live with her. The occultist performs a magical exorcism, and all symptoms cease. (3) Influence - a man consults a spiritualist medium, and thereafter feels he is being followed by a vague undefined figure, neither hostile or friendly, but simply annoying. There is no feeling of obsessive influence, the figure simply follows him, and this in itself is disturbing. Believing it to be a problem within himself, rather than an external reality (possibly relating to the fact that he, because of his Roman Catholic background, feels guilty about attending the seance) he consults a psychologist. After treatment for some time the figure remains. The psychologist refers him to a minister, who performs an exorcism. The figure disappears and never returns. These three instances, simplified from the original cases, give clear-cut examples of types of possession; in detail, actual cases are rarely as straightforward, or as easily resolved. Actual cases of possession, obsession and influence are exceptional; most alleged instances having alternative explanations. Unfortunately, with the modern revival of an often uninformed interest in the occult, there is a tendency to accept at face value every claim to be possessed, and to offer exorcism as an immediate and practical solution. It should be remembered that exorcism itself, when performed in cases where there is no possession or obsession, can be a factor in causing the individual to be opened to all manner of undesirable influences. SOURCEBOOKS Since possession is virtually inseparable from exorcism, all the books in the exorcism category will also be appropriate. T. K. OESTERREICH: Possession, Demoniacal and Other, University Books, New York, 1961. 124

POSSESSION

The classic study of possession. I. M. LEWIS: Ecstatic Religion, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1971. Considers the whole concept of possession in religion and includes material on Christian Pentecostalism. WILLIAM SARGANT: The Mind Possessed, Heinemann, London, 1973. The most significant psychiatric study which includes material on hynosis, sex, drugs and possession. ALDOUS HUXLEY: The Devils of Loudon, Harper & Row, New York, 1953. A major source of material on traditional Christian concepts of possession and exorcism.

125

Exorcism

Any belief systems that allow for possession, or obsession, or for the influencing of individuals or places by evil forces necessarily includes provision for the destruction of the evil forces. Exorcism - the casting out of evil forces, or devils - has been a part of human history ever since man first personified the forces of nature, and divided the powers around him into good and evil. Every society which recognizes possession, recognizes, and makes provision for, some form of exorcism in which a superior power or skill is brought in to combat the evil. Essentially, exorcism refers to people, but it can also refer to the casting out of evil influences from places (e.g. haunted houses). Traditionally, exorcism has worked on several basic principles: (1) make things unpleasant enough for the possessing entity and it will go away; (2) use reason to trap the entity into doing something rash and thus force it to go away; (3) summon a greater power and invoke it to force the entity to leave. Several primitive societies burn leaves, whip the possessed individual, create large amounts of noise in expectation of frightening the entity away; or they try to trick it away from the body by placing tempting objects - food, or sometimes animals - around; or, finally, they summon the gods to banish the entity. Christian exorcism, although working on the basis of a different world view, employs traditionally the same procedures. Incense, holy water and bells may be used to discomfort the entity; interrogation, challenging and threats are applied to persuade the entity to leave; and, finally, God or the Holy Spirit is invoked to drive it away. It is almost everywhere assumed that possession is accompanied by physical symptoms - including extreme loss of energy, nausea, pain, bleeding - and may give rise to supernatural powers on the part of the 126

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-27

EXORCISM

possessed (e.g. speaking in unknown tongues, levitation). Most societies also recognize that not all men can exorcize - some do so by virtue of their natural skills (a charismatic ministry), others by virtue of authority given to them (e.g. the priesthood). Either way, the exorcist is in very real danger. The methods actually employed vary from tradition to tradition, and are usually chosen to suit the beliefs of the possessed person. With the resurgence of interest in things occult, psychiatry is taking a fresh look at possession and exorcism - not so much as an explanation, but as a technique which, even if founded upon non-scientific premises - tends to work. Exorcisms, in general, tend to operate on the basis of a standard formula: (1) the invocation of powers believed to be greater than those possessing the individual; (2) the invocation of the possessing entity and an attempt to discover who or what it is, while being protected by the power previously invoked; (3) the direction of the exorcist's power to drive out the entity. The exorcist also casts around the possessed individual a 'protective field1 to prevent the entity re-entering. Exorcism works on the basis of a belief in the existence of various powers in the universe, possessing varying degrees of strength, and engaged in a struggle for existence in this world, through the agency of man, who is thus caught in the midst of a cosmic battle. It is in the individual who is possessed and receiving exorcism that this battle is most clearly manifested - the struggle between darkness and light, good and evil, God and the Devil, life and death. Exorcism is not necessarily a Christian phenomenon, and there are a wide variety of techniques and traditions by which it can be carried out. These can be basically classified as: (1) Christian - deriving essentially from the power of Jesus Christ, and based upon the scriptural account of authority to cast out devils being given by him to his disciples; this in turn divides into: (a) Catholic - the traditions of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, where the power and authority to exorcize is given to the individual by virtue of his ordination to the priesthood, and in which exorcism is performed sacramentally, in a ceremonial form, according to a carefully defined formula, with set rules and procedures; (b) Protestant - where the power to exorcize is taken as having been given to all Christians by Christ, but which is believed to manifest especially through individuals who have received that particular gift of the Holy Spirit and thereby exercise a charismatic ministry; the exorcism tends not to have a prescribed formula, but will vary according to the 127

EXORCISM

wishes of the exorcist, and will generally not be ceremonial in form, or follow any specifically defined procedure. (2) Ritual magic - the authority here derives from knowledge, as the magician works not by virtue of authority given to him, but by virtue of power he has acquired through self-preparation and learning; the exorcism will usually be ritual in character, making use of ceremonial forms and symbols, and often the invocation of powers, and leading ultimately to a confrontation between the entity possessing, and the will of the magician. In some magical traditions, the magician may invoke the aid of the particular Order or school to which he belongs. (Cf. More Things in Heaven by Walter Owen, Dakers, London, 1947.) (3) Witchcraft - here the underlying principles are similar to those for ritual magic, although the emphasis is more explicitly a religious one, with the exorcist invoking the gods and powers of his religion, to drive out the possessing entity, and employing a range of traditional witchcraft rituals. Other religious traditions - Judaism, Islam, Buddhism - have in various of their approaches provisions for exorcism, although they are not central to the concepts of the religions. SOURCEBOOKS Casting out Devils, Aquarian, London, 1972. One of the best introductions to the subject, covering a wide range of traditions from orthodox Catholic to contemporary witchcraft. JOHN RICHARDS: But Deliver Us From Evil, Darton, Longman & Todd, London, 1974. Specifically Christian in approach and, indeed, designed for those working in the pastoral ministry. A useful source for material on exorcism in the modern church. DOM ROBERT PETITPIERRE: Exorcism, SPCK, London, 1974. A briefer summary of this area is contained in this report of the controversial commission convened by the Bishop of Exeter in England. MARTIN EBON (ed.): Exorcism: Fact not Fiction, Signet, New York, 1974. An interesting general collection of material on exorcism including a wide range of diverse cases. This includes the case upon which the book The Exorcist was based. The book by William Peter Blatty, as distinct from the film based upon it, presents an interesting, although not altogether accurate, portrayal of a contemporary exorcism. FRANCOISE STRACHAN:

128

Faith Sealing

The term 'faith healing' is widely used to describe a range of healing methods many of which have nothing to do with either the faith of the healer, or the faith of the patient, but which employ methods which are either unorthodox, or presuppose some form of supernatural intervention in the healing process. They exclude such natural healing methods as naturopathy, osteopathy and homeopathy which employ something chemical or natural - which may be described as 'medicine' and presuppose a physical origin and a physical cure for illness. There are exceptions and the Philippines healers, for example, could be classified into either category, since they employ physical, but supposedly supernatural, methods in their healing. Disregarding the rather inaccurate phrase, 'faith healing', one can look at a tradition of healing from earliest times to which this term can be applied. In primitive societies shamans and magicians are called upon to drive out evil spirits which are believed to be causing illness; they were regarded traditionally as diviners, who could diagnose the nature of the sickness (usually a curse applied by another magician, the malevolence of any enemy or the invasion of an evil spirit) and then successfully cure it. These primitive faith healers used a variety of techniques, often characterized by exorcism, and sometimes gave natural remedies (such as herbs), or provided spells or rituals for healing. But faith healing is characterized by its emphasis on the mind - or, in some approaches, the soul or the spirit - as distinct from the body. The source of the power which healed through faith healing was believed to derive from a variety of sources, from God or gods, from spirits, from natural forces, or simply from the power of suggestion which the healer held over his patient. Usually, however, it was believed to originate outside the healer, who was thus merely a vehicle through wrhich it functioned. Persons with natural gifts of healing were originally a part of society, 129

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-28

FAITH HEALING

but with the increasing power of the Church they tended to disappear, principally because their gifts were inevitably interpreted as powers of the devil, and they as witches. The Church, holding to herself the power of healing through the sacraments, declined to recognize that such gifts existed outside her, except through the agency of Satan. There were individuals within the Church, including many of the great saints, to whom gifts of healing were attributed, or to whose remains or relics people flocked in search of healing. The miraculous - or allegedly miraculous - cures associated with places like Lourdes provide examples of faith healing within the context of the Church, but outside the established domain of the clergy. It was Franz Mesmer who really began the fashion of faith healing in modern times. Mesmer, an Austrian living in the eighteenth century, claimed to cure his patients by placing them in contact with sources of 'magnetism' which he believed was the vital life force, the absence or depletion of which causes illness. His patients sat around tubs filled with iron filings into which metal rods were stuck, and these rods, held by the patients, were said to convey the magnetism into the patients' bodies. Convulsions, trances and comas were common among Mesmer's patients, and many of them afterwards reported their illness cured or significantly improved. Mesmer claimed that his cures were based on natural scientific principles, not on anything miraculous or on divine intervention. His disciples continued to employ his techniques, but eventually much of the paraphernalia of mesmerism, as it became known, disappeared and it became a purely mental process, without iron rods or tubs of filings. In America it was continued by Phineas Quimby and later developed into Christian Science by his student, Mary Baker Eddy, who came eventually to deny the existence of matter, illness or death, believing them to be 'errors' of the 'mortal mind'. With the development of spiritualism, a variety of healing techniques associated with it emerged, depending largely on mediums through whom various healers were said to manifest, some giving diagnoses and prescribing treatment, others actually giving treatment, such as massage and the laying on of hands. An increasing interest in healing in the early years of the twentieth century stimulated a variety of approaches, and the Church also began to consider the restoration of the healing ministry which in primitive times had been so much a part of its work. The greatest interest amongst the churches came in the Church of England, but other churches, orthodox and unorthodox, began to undertake healing. And the revival of interest in witchcraft led to the emergence in that movement of healing techniques as well. 130

FAITH HEALING

The techniques of faith healing can be classified into: (1) the laying on of hands - this is traditionally the Christian method, and is used by a variety of churches in conjunction with prayer; (2) sacramental healing - used in the churches of the Catholic tradition, involving anointing with holy oil and the laying on of hands, and known as Holy Unction; (3) prayer - some groups use no physical actions at all, but simply pray, either silently or out loud, for those who are to be healed; (4) ritual massage - this technique, which involves running the hands over the body, is not intended to affect the physical body in the same way as, for example, physiotherapy, but is believed to affect invisible forces and radiate healing power from the healers' hands; (5) ritual techniques - as employed in witchcraft groups and by magicians, utilizing various symbols and ceremonies for the healing of the patient; (6) persuasion - groups of the New Thought and Christian Science line employ nothing more than the intellectual method of persuading the patient that illness either does not exist, or is not a natural state, and therefore the mind is capable of overcoming it by right thinking; (7) psychic surgery - used by some groups and healers, especially in the Philippines and South America, where the healer is alleged actually to open parts of the patient's body and remove diseased material physically. There are a wide range of groups employing various methods of faith healing today. They include: (1) Church groups - especially in the Church of England and other Protestant bodies, where prayer and the laying on of hands is practised. Various associations of healers, such as the Order of St Luke, have been formed as oecumenical groups in which healers from different churches can work. (2) Christian Science and allied traditions, including New Thought, which have a decided emphasis in their teaching and work on the ministry of healing, which they endeavour to accomplish through an emphasis on thought and right thinking; (3) Spiritualism - where the healing ministry is accomplished largely through mediums with spirit guides who have been physicians or healers. (4) Witchcraft - where spells are cast and rituals performed for the healing of the sick. Additionally, there are a number of individuals who claim gifts of healing around whom organizations have been established. Does faith healing work? There are certainly sufficient instances of individuals who claim to have been cured of a variety of illnesses to suggest that it does. But there are a number of possible explanations:

FAITH HEALING

(1) faith healing does not work at all - either those who claim to be healed were never sick, or else their healing was accomplished by quite natural processes unrelated to the healing; (2) faith healing does not work in the sense of curing physical illness, but it is the applied effect of suggestion on the individual that leads to the cure, especially since many of the illnesses cured by faith healing are psychosomatic rather than 'organic' in origin; (3) faith healing employs natural techniques of utilizing forces which are presently unknown to orthodox science but which are gradually being recognized as science advances (e.g. the Kirlian photographs); (4) faith healing is dependent upon supernatural intervention by forces outside man, and is therefore outside the domain of natural law. The scientific evidence, based on intensive studies of a wide range of faith healing techniques suggests that: (1) there are some cases in which faith healing achieves the healing of disease; (2) the majority of cures affected by faith healing are of diseases which are psychosomatic in origin, and not organic; (3) there still remain a very few cases in which an organic disease, properly diagnosed medically, is cured by faith healing, contrary to the expectations of medical science. (4) in the vast majority of cases of alleged healing there has been no adequate diagnosis before the healing, and claims of cures for all manner of terrible diseases are unsubstantiated because it cannot be established that the patient ever suffered from them. Ultimately, it would be very difficult to prove a cure. First, the patient would have to be suffering from an organic disease of a serious nature, which would not cure itself by natural remission, and which had been accurately diagnosed by a number of physicians independently and, preferably recorded in some way (e.g. X-ray). This disease would not have responded to any medical treatment, and the patient would not have received medical treatment in any period sufficiently close to the alleged healing for the healing to be the result of the treatment. The healing would have to be total, complete and immediate - that is, the disease would simply disappear at the time of healing. And the patient would then be again examined extensively, and diagnosed free of the disease. Obviously, such cases are virtually unknown. And, as the purpose of healing is not the converting of the sceptical, but the relief of the patient, few healers would be interested in engaging in such scientific experiments. 132

FAITH HEALING

SOURCEBOOKS LESLIE WEATHERHEAD : Psychology,

Religion and Healing, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1963. An excellent general summary of the field, from a psychological and religious viewpoint. L. ROSE: Faith Healing, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1971. Another valuable introduction. HARRY EDWARDS: Spirit Healing, Jenkins, London, 1963. HARRY EDWARDS: The Power of Spiritual Healing, Jenkins, London, 1963. The spiritualist view of healing is summarized by one of England's leading spiritualist healers in both of these books. HAROLD SHERMAN: Wonder Healers of the Philippines, reprinted in a number of editions. The Philippine faith healers and their South American counterparts are dealt with in a number of books, usually with credulity and little objectivity, but this is perhaps the best known.

133

Uampires

Although the vampire has been a figure of popular mythology in many countries throughout history, it was not until the publication of Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula in 1897 that the mythology of the vampire became firmly established. Stoker consolidated widely varying traditions about the vampire into the popular figure recognized today, portrayed in hundreds of novels and innumerable films, of whose characteristics most people are aware, and who still manages to inspire some strange fear. Stoker based his novel on legends of blood-sucking ghosts, returning from the grave to cling to life by drawing vitality from the living, who, in turn would probably die and come back to haunt yet another generation. But Stoker's vampire was not simply a ghost, it was an un-dead, one who has died, been buried and risen from the grave in the physical body to walk abroad seeking the fresh blood which was necessary for his life. In Stoker's account, the vampire was a creature of the night, destroyed by the rays of the sun, unable to cross moving water, terrified of crucifixes and possessed of incredible occult powers. It is this figure - powerful, striking, sinister - that constitutes the vampire of modern myth. But there are a wide variety of other, lesser known traditions, from central Europe, through the Americas to Australia. And an obsession with drinking blood is not unknown to psychiatrists, suggesting that at least in some cases, historical vampires have been the demented and the insane, especially in societies where blood was given a sacred value and seen as the embodiment of the powers of life. In simple terms, a vampire is a man (or woman) who has died, yet who rises from the grave, to become one of the un-dead, needing regular supplies of fresh human blood in order to remain undead. The causes of vampirism are uncertain: some traditions trace it to possession, to heredity, or to some action of the individual himself; most trace it to contamination by another who was already a vampire. Being bitten by a 136

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-29

VAMPIRES

vampire is almost certain to infect the victim who then becomes a vampire. By day the vampire sleeps in his grave, rising only when the sun has set to stalk his victims, employing strange hypnotic powers to fascinate and ensnare. The vampire can only be destroyed - in Stoker's tradition - by having a stake thrust through his heart; following this, the body should be burned if it doesn't, as in the best horror films, crumble to dust. In the coffin, the body of a vampire is characterized by the freshness and the suppleness of the skin, enhanced by the trickle of blood on the lips. In addition to the physical vampire, many occultists have talked of 'psychic vampires', that is, of people who vampirize the vitality and energy of others, sometimes unintentionally, sometimes consciously. Garlic, crucifixes, holy water - such things are said to be effective against both the psychic and the physical vampire. But ultimately, he must be destroyed! SOURCEBOOKS BRAM STOKER: Dracula, (1897).

BRAM STOKER: Dracula'S Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914).

The classic vampire story, and that which has, more than anything, shaped the popular mythology of the vampire. RAYMOND T. MCNALLY and RADU FLORESCU: In Search of Dracula, Warner, New York, 1974. The best modern study of vampires, beginning with the Dracula traditions, and moving from there into an exploration of the historical figure on whom Stoker based his novel (Vlad the Impaler, 1431-76). They conclude with an investigation of the vampire in fiction and films, including an excellent bibliography and 'filmography'. RAYMOND T. MCNALLY and RADU FLORESCU: Dracula: A Biography, Robert Hale, London, 1974. A detailed historical account of the historical figure of Vlad the Impaler. BASIL COOPER : The Vampire in Legend, Fact and Art, Robert Hale, London, 1973-

A basic and comprehensive survey of the subject covering legend, literature, film and theatre and fact. In the latter sections of the book the characters of several notorious murderers (including John Haigh) are considered. GABRIEL RONAY: The Dracula Myth, W. H. Allen, London, 1972. The links between historical figures and the myth of the vampire are further pursued. Several cases of extreme cruelty and sadism are examined in relation to vampirism. ORNELLA VOLTA: The Vampire, Tandem, London, 1965.

The sexual overtones of the vampire figure have long been recognized; an examination of the subject from an erotic viewpoint where the links between blood, sexuality and death are explored.

VAMPIRES

The Vampire: His Kith and Kin, Routledge, London, 1928 and The Vampire in Europe, Routledge, London, 1899 by Montague Summers suffer, as all his works tend to do, from his credulity, his failure to distinguish between significant and insignificant detail and his rather ponderous style. In their day they were pioneering works; today they have been superseded by more accurate and authoritative writings.

138

traditional Witchcraft

It is often assumed that witchcraft traditionally constituted some sort of underground religion, usually identified with the worship of the devil and a cult of evil, which existed throughout England and Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This popular view identifies the witch with the old crone of legend and cinema, possessed of certain psychic powers, with a knowledge of herbalism and of an evil disposition, who met with other witches on dark nights to worship the devil. This view has been perpetuated in the literature and cinema, and been given support by several academics, notably Dr Margaret Murray. But the reality of history is far less exotic than the popular myth; there is no evidence to prove the existence of a religious movement in the Middle Ages which existed underground, or involved worship of the devil. And certainly the modern theorists like Gerald Gardner who claim that witchcraft existed as the continuation of a stone-age fertility religion are merely fantasizing. There are several principal theories regarding European withcraft in the Middle Ages: (1) Witchcraft as a religion of devil-worship actually existed, and the Church undertook to oppose it, through the witchcraft persecutions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; this theory assumes the existence of a devil and of the possibility of men and women worshipping him and entering into agreements (the traditional pacts) with him. The principal exponent of this view was Montague Summers who wrote extensively on the subject. (2) Witchcraft was a continuation of an ancient fertility religion which had been the original religion of mankind, forced underground with the coming to power of established Christianity. This theory, basing its conclusions largely on the evidence of the witch trials and the documentation of the Church, accepts that this religion was widespread, organized and fairly consistent in its beliefs and practices. The principal exponent of 139

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-30

TRADITIONAL WITCHCRAFT

this line of argument was the English anthropologist, Margaret Murray, who wrote the basic textbooks for followers of this theory. Most modern witches advocate her view of witchcraft, and many have written in support of it, using the evidence she presented. (3) Witchcraft was all hysteria and madness, and the trials and persecutions were simply a reflection of a widespread social delusion. This theory was first put forward in the sixteenth century by Reginald Scot in his Discovery of Witchcraft. (4) The theory accepted by most modern authorities is that witchcraft, while not constituting an organized cult of the devil, was an amalgam of survivals of traditional folk religion and mythology, practised by individuals within societies throughout Europe, some in isolation, some collectively. It included such elements as herbalism, fortune-telling, simple folk superstitions, myths and legends, and remnants of older pagan religions which had been passed down through generations, becoming progressively less clear and more distorted with the passage of time. In an age of superstition and fear of the devil, anything outside the strict confines of orthodox Christianity was viewed as being supernatural and evil, and thus to be destroyed. Old women, herbalists, epileptics, those gifted with psychic powers, the strange, the deviant - all these were in real danger of being viewed as agents of the devil or witches. They were to be consigned to the inquisitors, and, ultimately, execution. Such social hysteria has not been confined to the Middle Ages, as purges, political, social and religious, in many nations throughout history, have demonstrated. Witchcraft as such is very often identified totally with the popular view of the phenomenon of the Middle Ages in Europe; but witchcraft is widespread throughout societies and throughout history. In primitive societies it was generally a system of magical practices and beliefs held and practised by a few individuals within a group. Often it was seen as evil and dangerous (and generally known as sorcery), although many cultures have viewed it merely as an alternative to the orthodox religious system, or, indeed, an integral part of that system. Thus, for example, in many African societies, witch doctors perform important functions, in casting spells, in healing and in divination. Their activities are part of the overall religious system and, while it is recognized that they possess the power to do evil, their work generally is believed to be good. But some individuals, possessed of similar powers, are recognized as evil, and are known as sorcerers. Witches in Europe were generally believed to be women (although men were involved), but in other countries the witch is almost inevitably male. 140

TRADITIONAL WITCHCRAFT

The word 'witch' derives from the Anglo-Saxon for 'wise' and implied a person possessed of supernatural abilities; in all societies such people have been recognized as constituting some sort of link between this world and another dimension, capable of influencing the present and of foretelling the future, capable of healing and of cursing. In many societies such gifts are believed to be hereditary, and the function of witch passes from generation to generation. In other societies it is believed that individuals singled out by various characteristics (many of which in modern society would be considered afflictions) possess these special powers - epileptics, homosexuals, the deformed, the insane. In all societies, from England through Africa and Asia to South America, witchcraft can be divided into three areas: (1) Philosophy - the beliefs behind the practice of witchcraft, the explanations given for how things came to be and the mythology of how the witch is able to fulfil his functions; this is usually some type of fertility religion, basing its beliefs on the cycles of nature and on a variety of myths handed down orally. It constitutes the world-view of the witch, and also the view of the witch held by members of the culture in which he lives. For example, in Europe of the Middle Ages, the world-view was largely Christian, and hence the witch was defined within that system as a devilworshipper; the witch, on the other hand, interpreted his position by adapting the traditional myths of the pre-Christian era to fit into the Christian system. (2) Technology - what the witch actually does, the casting of spells, the rituals of healing, the art of herbalism; such techniques are usually passed on, often in secret, from one generation to another. Various tools are used, chemicals are employed (both those with actual curative properties and also hallucinogenic drugs to stimulate visions of a supernatural dimension) and rituals are worked out. (3) Science - the explanation of how the technology works, within the framework of the philosophy. While scientists may violently reject the use of the term 'science' when applied to witchcraft, none the less most systems of magical practice are internally consistent, and given the basic premises upon which they work, quite logical. It is the basic premises and not the logic that science should challenge. For example, the technology may prescribe the rubbing of red ochre over the body of a dying child; the science explains this by the laws of similarity - blood is red, blood gives life; ochre is red, therefore ochre will communicate the same life as does blood. Witchcraft, in the traditional sense, continues to be practised in a few places today - principally in the remoter regions of the world, although in 141

TRADITIONAL WITCHCRAFT

some newly emerging societies (for example, the new nations of Africa) witches have emerged to take their places in the new order of society, setting up as professional consultants, and thereby meeting the old needs in a new context. SOURCEBOOKS The 'classic' works on traditional witchcraft are by Margaret Murray:

The Witch-cult in Western Europe (1921) and The God of the Witches (1933),

both published by Oxford University Press. She argues for the 'continuation of a primitive religion' line. Her evidence is very convincing, but needs to be examined carefully. It is thoroughly demolished by E. E. Rose: Razor for a Goat: A Discussion of Certain Problems in the History of Witchcraft and Diabolism,

University of Toronto, 1962, which should be read after Dr Murray's books. Montague Summer's vast number of books on the subject include: The History of Witchcraft and Demonology, Kegan Paul, London, 1926, Witchcraft and Black Magic, Rider, London, 1946, The Discovery of Witches, Cayme, London, 1928 - many of which are being reissued in modern editions. His scholarship is often suspect, and his prejudices intrude consistently into his work. But his influence on popular thinking about witchcraft has been immense. Detailed histories of the 'witchcraft craze' of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe, are found in: H. R. TREVOR-ROPER : The European Witch Craze of the 16th and iyth Centuries, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1969. H. c. LEA: Materials towards a History of Witchcraft (2 vols), Pennsylvania, 1939CHRISTINA HOLE: Witchcraft in England, Collier-Macmillan, London, 1957. PENNETHORNE HUGHES: Witchcraft, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1952.

A reasonable general introduction to witchcraft in its traditional sense is found in ERIC MAPLE: The Dark World of Witches, Pan, London, 1962. MAX MARWICK (ed.): Witchcraft and Sorcery, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1970. Witchcraft in a broader perspective is covered in this collection of readings which is an excellent introduction, and includes material from a wide range of cultural and historical settings. Two other cross-cultural introductions are: LUCY MAIR: Witchcraft, World University Library, 1969. GEOFFREY PARRINDER: Witchcraft, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1958. R. H. ROBBINS: Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology, Crown, London, 1959. A standard reference source, especially for material on European witchcraft. 142

Modern Witchcraft

The contemporary witchcraft movement constitutes one of the most widespread and active forces within the modern occult revival. Throughout England and the United States, Europe, South America and Australia increasing numbers of people are becoming involved in witchcraft in various forms, from the ritual magic of ceremonial robes and quite suburban ritual healings, to nude dancing, drug taking and animal sacrifice, as well as all possible variants between these extremes. Statistics are difficult to obtain, since most of the witchcraft groups are closed to outsiders; esimates of the size of the movement vary from scattered hundreds, to hundreds of thousands. Certainly there are many thousands of practising witches in England, Europe and the United States; there are few cities in the world today without witchcraft groups, and the movement continues to grow as it is increasingly widely publicized, and as it becomes more 'respectable'. Members of witchcraft groups, far from being the stereotypes of literature and mythology, range through all age groups, and include labourers, students, academics, doctors, lawyers, housewives and teachers. BELIEFS Although there is considerable variety in the beliefs of those calling themselves witches (and today that term is used for both male and female, with the traditional 'warlock' rarely in use), most subscribe to certain fundamental beliefs about the origins and nature of their religion: (i) Witches believe that their religion is a continuation of the original religion of mankind, a fertility cult centring on worship of the forces of nature, usually personified into a female (the earth mother, the great goddess, the fertility deity) and a male (the horned god) deity, with numerous lesser entities, including elementals, or spirits of nature; this religion is claimed to derive from ancient times, generally the Stone Age 143

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-31

MODERN WITCHCRAFT

when man was closer to nature and more aware of his environment and the powers hidden within it; (2) Witches believe that this primal religion continued unchanged throughout the centuries, some even trace its origins to the lost continent of Atlantis. With the coming of Christianity, and its enforcement as the official State religion, the 'old religion' as witchcraft is generally called, was forced underground, and obliged to continue as a secret tradition, generally within families. Modern witches cite the evidence of the witchcraft persecutions and trials of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as proof of the existence of this underground tradition; (3) Witches believe that this underground tradition perpetuated teachings and practices of the 'old religion' including an elementary knowledge of medicine, herbalism, healing, a traditional ritual calendar, and secret, sacred names of the gods and goddesses; this traditional knowledge, together with the initiation into the religion was transmitted in a succession passing from male to female, and female to male; (4) W'itches believe that, with the general decline in the influence of Christianity and the power of the Church (symbolized for many in the repeal of England's laws against witchcraft, in 1951) the 'old religion' could again emerge from secrecy and practise more or less openly; (5) Witches believe that their present-day religion is a continuation of this historic tradition, and represents a modern version of the faith of the medieval witches and the 'old religion' of mankind. Such beliefs are unsubstantiated by historical or anthropological evidence; however, the witches generally argue that it is their secret teachings, rituals and words which 'prove' their authenticity, and as these things are secret they cannot be made available to satisfy the scepticism of scientists. MODERN HISTORY Contemporary witchcraft is largely the result of the work of three people: (1) Margaret Murray, an English Egyptologist and scholar, who advanced the theory that a secret tradition of witchcraft had always existed, and continued up to present times in England; in her writings, the first of which was published in 1921, she 'reconstructed' the 'old religion', and her books have become sources for many followers of modern witchcraft, who see them as giving scientific validity to their faith. However, her theories have been virtually demolished by later, better informed scholars, and are now largely discredited. (2) Gerald Gardner, an Englishman who travelled widely in the Far East and was interested in folklore. He claimed he had been initiated into 144

MODERN WITCHCRAFT

a traditional witchcraft coven in the New Forest in 1939 and was authorized to revive the old religion; he established a number of covens in England, wrote several books on witchcraft, and was widely publicized - he may be said to be the 'Father' of modern witchcraft. (3) Alex Sanders, another Englishman, who claims to have been initiated by his grandmother when a young boy, thereby perpetuating an ancient family tradition; he went on to establish numerous covens throughout England, achieved considerable publicity, and proclaimed himself 'King of the Witches'. Despite some claims to independence, all modern witchcraft groups derive at least some of their teachings, ritual and tradition from these three sources. Other modern English witches who have achieved some notoriety include Cecil Williamson, Eleanor Bone, Patricia Crowther, Monique Wilson (all former disciples of Gerald Gardner) and Doreen Valiente; in the United States the movement is widespread, and includes many individuals who have achieved widespread publicity, amongst them Leo Martello, Raymond Buckland, Sybil Leek, Louise Huebner and Joseph Wilson. PRACTICES Modern witches meet regularly in groups, known as covens, usually consisting of between six and twenty members (the traditional number being thirteen). The meetings are open only to initiated members, and are held both regularly for worship, usually on nights of the full moon, when healing work is undertaken, spells cast and new candidates initiated, and also on the special festivals of the year relating to the cycles of nature in the Northern Hemisphere (for example, the summer solstice, the autumn equinox, May Eve). On these special occasions rituals relating to the festivals are performed. Some covens undertake their work in ceremonial robes, others in the nude, some covens employ techniques of sexual magic in their work, others are highly puritanical in such matters. While the majority of witchcraft groups would describe themselves as 'white' (that is, as using their knowledge for 'good' purposes), there are some which are explicitly 'black' (using their knowledge for 'evil' purposes - for example, curses, destroying enemies). And there are, naturally, some pseudowitchcraft groups which use the religion as a front to entice subjects for sexual activities, drug taking, and often blackmail. In the United States witchcraft groups are less secret and tend to advertise for potential members (for example, the periodical Gnostica News contains a large number of such advertisements and details of 145

MODERN WITCHCRAFT

contacts with covens); the movement in England tends towards greater secrecy, although magazines and newsletters specifically devoted to witchcraft are beginning to appear (for example, The New Broom). SOURCEBOOKS General Anatomy of Witchcraft, Souvenir, London, 1972. A good introduction to modern witchcraft, both 'white' and 'black', and including material on voodoo, American satanism, and the texts of a witchcraft initiation. FRANK SMYTH: Modern Witchcraft, Macdonald, London, 1970. A good introduction, with an emphasis on England, and with good background material on links between traditional and modern witchcraft. PETER HAINING:

ERIC MAPLE: Witchcraft, Octopus, London, 1973.

A large book, with numerous illustrations and colour plates, including material on traditional and modern witchcraft in modern and primitive societies, written by an outstanding scholar of witchcraft and the occult.

JOHN FRITSCHER: Popular Witchcraft, Citadel Press, New Jersey, 1973.

Specifically examining witchcraft in modern America, this book presents a view of witchcraft in the context of modern culture, 'the Age of Aquarius', and some interesting material on witchcraft and sex.

Margaret Murray The Witch Cult in Western Europe, Oxford University Press, London, 1921. Her first book in which she expounds her theories of traditional witchcraft and presents her 'reconstruction' of the religion. The God of the Witches, Daimon Press, Essex, 1962. A further examination of the 'horned god' and his religion. The Divine King of England, Faber, London, 1954. In which she advances a theory that the Kings of England were involved in witchcraft. E. E. ROSE: A Razor for a Goat: A Discussion of Certain Problems in the History of Witchcraft and Diabolism, University of Toronto, 1962. This book effectively demolishes the theories of Dr Murray and (in the process) of Gerald Gardner, carefully analysing the claims of modern witches in the light of historical and anthropological evidence. Gerald Gardner Witchcraft Today, Rider, London, 1954. His first book claiming to be a factual study of witchcraft, in which he advances his own theories and tells of his own experience; it rapidly became, together with Murray's The Witch Cult in Western Europe, the textbook of early contemporary witches. 146

MODERN WITCHCRAFT

The Meaning of Witchcraft, Aquarian, London, 1959. His final commentary on the craft, examining his theories of its history and ritual. High Magictfs Aid, Michael Hough ton, London, 1949. Gardner's first book, a novel, in which he advanced his theories - it was a failure at the time. JACK BRACELIN: Gerald Gardner, Witch, Octagon, London, i960. The biography of Gardner, written by one of his disciples. Alex Sanders JUNE JOHNS: King of the Witches, Peter Davies, London, 1969. A rather eulogistic biography of Sanders, including material on his teachings and rituals, and partial texts of his Book of Shadows and initiation rituals. STEWART FARRAR: What Witches Do, Peter Davies, London, 1971. Another eulogistic presentation of Sanders's teachings and rituals, with details of initiations. Witchcraft in England DOREEN VALIENTE: Where Witchcraft Lives, Aquarian, London. An account by a modern English witch, presenting the theory of Gardner. PATRICIA CROWTHER: Witch Blood, House of Collectibles, New York, 1974. The biography of one of England's leading witches, with an account of Gerald Gardner. Witchcraft in the United States EMILE SCHURMACHER: Witchcraft in America Today, New York, 1970. Includes a wide range of material on the movement in America, e.g. voodoo, satanism. American Indian witchcraft and possession - a very popular presentation, but interesting none the less. MARTIN EBON: Witchcraft Today, Tomorrow Publications, New York, 1963. A collection of articles on witchcraft and satanism from Salem to the present day. RAYMOND BUCKLAND: Ancient and Modern Witchcraft, H.C. Publishers, New York, 1970. RAYMOND BUCKLAND: Witchcraft From the Inside, Llewellyn, St Paul, 1971. Two books presenting a Gardnerian approach from an American witch, who is also an 'anthropologist'. LOUISE HUEBNER: Power Through Witchcraft, Bantam, New York, 1973. A collection of rather simplistic techniques representing the sort of magic practised by modern witches, fortune-telling, healing, herbalism and similar skills, by a well-known American witch. LEO MARTELLO: Weird Ways of Witchcraft, H. C. Publishers, New York, 1969. A rather eccentric and vehemently anti-Christian presentation of modern witchcraft by an American who claims to be a traditional Sicilian witch; it includes a lot of odd and irrelevant material, but represents one of the extremes in modern witchcraft.

MODERN WITCHCRAFT

The Witchcraft Report, Ace, New York, 1973. The New Pagan, Doubleday, New York, 1972. Together these two books contribute a comprehensive if somewhat shallow coverage of modern witchcraft in the USA, the groups and individuals involved.

HANS HOLZER: HANS HOLZER:

Numerous books have been, and are being published on witchcraft; virtually none of them say anything new, and almost all constitute variations on the themes of Murray and Gardner, with odds and ends of ceremonial magic and folklore thrown in; but they sell, and hence can be expected to continue to appear.

148

traditional Satanism

Traditionally, satanism has been interpreted as the worship of evil, a religion founded upon the very principles which Christianity rejects. As such, satanism exists only where Christianity exists, and can be understood only in the context of the Christian world-view. Things are, so to speak, reversed - the Christian devil becomes the satanist's God, Christian virtues become vices, and vices are turned into virtues. Life is interpreted as a constant battle between the powers of light and darkness, and the satanist fights on the side of darkness, believing that ultimately this will achieve victory. By this definition, there have been very few satanists throughout history. The Christian Church has often interpreted a wide range of nonChristian religions as satanism, and the activities of its own heretics as indicating adherence to satanism. This was especially true of the early Gnostics, whom many churchmen believed to be satanists, although they were not. Nevertheless, the idea and principles of the Gnostics have profoundly influenced later satanists especially through the dualistic philosophy (that is, the belief in two opposing forces - of light and darkness - interlocked in constant battle). The Church, in its persecution of heretics and others who refused to conform to its rigid doctrinal confines, created a synthetic image of what it supposed to be the typical satanist: he was a Christian who formally renounced the vows of his baptism, rejected the Church and dedicated himself to those things which Christ forbade; he did not, obviously, reject the Christian world-view, since his own philosophy had meaning only within that context. The Church pictured exotic and sacrilegious rituals in which men and women rejected their faith, entered into a pact with the devil and engaged in all manner of abominable and immoral acts. Central to such behaviour was the Black Mass, an inverted celebration of the central ritual of Catholicism, in which the Host (believed to be the 149

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-32

TRADITIONAL SATANISM

Body of Christ), stolen from a church, or consecrated by an unfrocked priest, was desecrated. In this ceremony, every action that the Church forbade was believed to occur - from a whole range of sexual perversions, to the sacrifice of unbaptized infants, and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer backwards. The whole ceremony was directed towards inverting the Christian symbolism (centred in the inverted cross which stood upon the satanist's altar) and raising up the devil. Although such images of satanism were largely the creation of the vividly imaginative Inquisitors, their practice actually developed, especially in France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when aristocrats engaged in an underground movement of satanism as a form of rejection of the values of society and, doubtless, as an excuse for unusually exciting self-indulgence. Generally, however, satanist groups have remained hidden - they have little to gain from publicity and much to lose, especially since many of the ingredients of their worship are intrinsically illegal (drugs, murder, violence, etc.), and are most positively unacceptable even in a fairly liberal society. Thus very little is known of the groups which have, throughout history, followed this path. Various accounts have been given of a widespread 'cult' of evil by such authors as Montague Summers, but these tend not to be grounded in fact. Groups have indeed existed, but most of them, far from being genuine satanists, have used the trappings of an anti-Christian religion for an exaggerated indulgence in hedonism (for example, the infamous English 'Hell Fire Clubs' - see reference to Francis Dashwood, p. 206). Throughout history individuals and groups have employed the rituals of satanism either as a means of searching for worldly power, or as a symbolic rejection of the established values of their society, and it was this latter group, rather than true satanists (in the sense of those who literally worshipped the devil as Christians worshipped their God) that left their mark on history. And many groups (including, for example, Freemasonry) were labelled as satanists by the Church in its attempts to suppress them. Since satanism is essentially a reaction to Christianity, it is not known, in any real sense, outside the Christian world, although it has been popularly assumed that some oriental religions (for example, the worship of Shiva in India) represented satanism. However in a naturally dualistic religion, the worship of either the creative or the destructive aspects of the deity can be equally acceptable. Many Western magicians (another category of people indiscriminately assumed by the Church to be satanists) approached the devil in this way, or saw him as a source of power which could be controlled and utilized for their own purposes without any connotations of actually worshipping him. 150

TRADITIONAL SATANISM

Such people were seen to be practising 'black magic' or the 'black arts although since the church condemned all magical and occult practices this had little meaning, and tended to mean also satanism and devil worship. However, the term satanism should be reserved for those who deliberately choose to worship and work with the power of evil, generally personified into an individual devil, known either as Satan or Lucifer, under whom many subordinate entities (paralleling the hosts of heaven) work. Those few who actually fitted within this definition evolved elaborate theologies of the devil to match the theologies of the church, especially concentrating on the names and natures of lesser devils over whom they could gain control, and through whom they could achieve their ends. It is, however, inappropriate to refer to the medieval magicians, whose grimoires popularly represent black magic, as satanists; they were not concerned with the devil so much as with forces of various kinds, personified into individual entities, with whom they undertook what virtually amounted to business relationships.

SOURCEBOOKS The Black Arts, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1967. A general reference book providing a good amount of background material, but one which appears to lump a wide range of subjects under the general heading of black magic. MONTAGUE SUMMERS: Witchcraft and Black Magic, Rider, London, 1946. A basic source for the popular (and mistaken) view of black magic and satanism. H. F. T. RHODES: The Satanic Mass, Arrow, London, 1965. The standard work on the Black Mass - an excellent survey of the subject, with a penetrating analysis. JULES MICHELET: Satanism and Witchcraft, Tandem, London, 1965. The standard work on French Satanism. Written in the vein of a particular prejudice which accepted the idea of a conspiracy of evil.

RICHARD CAVENDISH:

DANIEL MANNIX: The Hellfire Club, New English Library, London, 1961.

j.

An account of the English aristocratic 'satanists' of the eighteenth century, and R. VILLENEUVE: A Dictionary of Devils and Demons, Bay Books, Sydney, 1972. An excellent and concise sourcebook on Satanism containing a variety of entries on many related subjects.

TONDRIAU

Modern Satanism

With the general decline in the influence and authority of Christianity, traditional satanism - which had developed in opposition to that religion - also declined. But with the occult revival of this century there has been an upsurge of interest and involvement in satanism, and an increasing number of books and articles on the subject. Generally, however, contemporary satanists do not follow the traditional pattern of worshipping a devil in contrast to worshipping the God of the Christian religion; traditional satanism only held powrer where the Christian, and generally the Catholic, religion was accepted - it is difficult to commit blasphemy against the God, or violate the sacraments of a religion one does not believe in. Modern satanists fit into several categories, with some overlapping and a few groups which would claim to be outside any of these categories: (1) The traditional anti-Christian satanists who worship a devil in orthodox Christian terms, who celebrate the black mass, profane the sacrament, desecrate churches and graveyards, and who believe that the devil will ultimately triumph over the God of Christianity (for example, the Order of Satanic Templars in England); (2) A secular humanistic satanism, with neither a personal devil nor a personal god, which devotes itself to man and opposes the restrictions and inhibitions which Christian culture has imposed upon him, advocating, for example, the traditional Seven Deadly Sins as virtues, and using traditional satanic rituals as processes for liberating the individual from inhibitions (for example, the Church of Satan in California); (3) A paganistic satanism which worships the 'forces of darkness' in contrast to the 'forces of light', interpreting its worship in terms of old mythologies and religion (for example, Greek, Egyptian, Roman), but having especial interest in Christianity; these groups generally call themselves 'pagan' and view their activities as a newr religion, rather than the continuation of a traditional one (for example, Ophitic Gnostic Cultus).

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-33

MODERN SATANISM

(4) Satanic witchcraft which uses the traditions and rituals of modern witchcraft as a basis for a modified witchcraft tradition, in which the 'horned god' is seen as the devil of Christianity, a more powerful and more worth-while god to worship; they use the techniques of witchcraft (for example, cursing, casting spells) to practise what they interpret as a traditional, historic religion (for example, the Satanic Brotherhood). (5) A hedonistic satanism in which rituals, drugs and sexual techniques are used to gratify the senses, proclaiming a morality founded on pleasure; there are vague religious overtones, but such groups are not philosophical, and view their activities as gratifying (more so because they are 'evil' in the eyes of society) rather than worshipping. Such groups tend to be small, privately organized and rarely publicized; they are increasingly being catered for by popular pornography. BELIEFS Satanists generally recognize the existence of two forces in the world, traditionally referred to as 'black' and 'white', and in Christian terms as 'good' and 'evil'; seeing 'white' as the religion of the establishment, the satanists reject it, and choose its opposite - for example, preaching gratification of the senses rather than abstinence, self-centredness rather than self-sacrifice. They believe that the 'powers of darkness' (whether they are personified or not) are life-giving forces, of which the 'white' religion is afraid. Sex is important because of its repression by Christianity and because of the power, gratification and pleasure it provides. Satanists naturally believe that the powers of darkness will ultimately triumph, and view themselves as powerful, virile, strong individuals, contrasting with the weak, inhibited, frightened masses. They believe that if there are powers within man to heal and bless, he also possesses the power to kill and to curse, and should use these for his own advantage. They reject morality in any conventional sense, believing that survival and selffulfilment is the individual's most important aim, regardless of the cost to other people. Some satanist groups have evolved mythologies explaining their teachings, usually relating to the legendary fall of Satan from heaven, and his subsequent domination of the world, and future triumph and return to reign in heaven. They believe his power is gradually increasing, and work with him in the hope of rewards, both in the material sense here and now, and in some future life. MODERN HISTORY Satanists, rejecting the essential values and norms of behaviour in society, have always been obliged to maintain some degree of secrecy - the law and 153

MODERN SATANISM

social sanction is against them. Groups have tended to be small, underground and secret, and so their history is poorly documented, except where conflict with the law has occurred. In modern times groups have emerged in England and Europe, and particularly in the United States, wrhich, taking advantage of the permissiveness of modern society, have encouraged some publicity. The most famous of these has been the Church of Satan, founded in Los Angeles in 1966 by Anton La Vey, which currently has a membership of many thousands, and has established itself as a church throughout the United States. Several other groups in America have imitated it, and some groups have also been established as 'black witchcraft' covens. The Manson gang, in which a bizarre mixture of satanism and occultism was practised, gained a great deal of unfavourable publicity for satanism in America, but in fact this resulted in a greater public interest in the subject. With more people rejecting the traditional values of society, its religion and its morality, the satanist movement will inevitably have greater appeal.

PRACTICES Traditional satanists use inverted forms of orthodox Christian worship (for example, reciting the Lord's Prayer backwards, the Black Mass) to symbolize and focus their rejection of Christianity, and to invoke the powers of darkness. Other satanists use rituals based upon ancient mythology (usually Egyptian, Greek or Roman) to express their teachings, while the secular humanistic satanists like the Church of Satan view their rituals as psychological techniques for liberating the individual from his repressions, and enabling him to find freedom and pleasure. Traditionally, satanists have used ritual to gain material rewards, curse enemies and acquire power; such rituals are inevitably compounded of words and actions which invert the general values of their society (for example, 'perverted' sexual behaviour, use of excrement, inverted crosses) and symbolize the darkness they worship (using black vestments, black candles). To stimulate the senses drugs and sexual activities are employed, very often with some degree of sado-masochistic behaviour as well. Groups, usually called 'covens' or 'lodges' are strictly secret (with the notable exception of the Church of Satan where they are semi-secret), and admit only initiates who have been prepared over a long period of time. Some satanist groups follow traditional occult patterns in their ritual, holding ceremonies on nights of the full moon, and on the major festivals of the witchcraft calendar. 154

MODERN SATANISM

SOURCEBOOKS General ARTHUR LYONS: Satan Wants You, Granada, London, 1970. The best introduction to contemporary satanism, with historical background to its traditions, and details of its development in the United States, including the Church of Satan. c. H. WALLACE: Witchcraft in the World Today, Tandem, London, 1967. Although the author confuses witchcraft and satanism, he none the less presents a comprehensive coverage. Church of Satan ANTON LA VEY: The Satanic Bible, Avon, New York, 1969. 'The Bible' of the Church, a compilation of material from a wide range of sources, expressing the philosophy of La Vey. ANTON LA VEY: The Satanic Rituals, Avon, New York, 1969. A sequel to 'The Bible', containing the rituals of the Church. ANTON LA VEY: The Compleat Witch, Lancer, New York, 1971. A rather bizarre study of the powers of magical seduction and spell casting from a satanist point of view. Satanism in America The Devil is alive and well and Living in America Today, Award, New York, 1973. An account of satanism in the United States, informative and comprehensive.

JASON MICHAELS:

Satanism in Great Britain A. v. SELLWOOD and P. HAINING, Devil Worship in Britain, Corgi, London, 1964A popular journalistic account of satanism in contemporary Britain.

Uoodoo

Voodoo refers to the native religion of Haiti in the West Indies, stemming from traditional West African religions, brought to the West Indies by the slaves, and centring on an extensive pantheon of gods and goddesses, who take possession of devotees in religious ceremonies. This religion also spread with the slaves to some of the Southern States of the USA, to other parts of the Caribbean and to Brazil. Wherever the slaves went, they merged their traditional African religious beliefs with the local religion. Voodoo consists both of the traditional beliefs with their local variations, and also of various magical techniques employed to achieve certain ends, including the descent of the gods into individual worshippers to give oracles and to provide protection. These magical techniques are known as 'obeah'. Voodoo is popularly seen as a mass of frightening superstitions and black magical practices. Certainly to the outsider it may appear as such, depending for much of its power upon the inculcation of fear into its adherents. Voodoo does, however, have an elaborate and complicated theology and constitutes a complex metaphysical system of explanations of man and the universe. Only the priests know this belief system in full, receiving it as they do in their training, and through a series of initiations. They are the agents of the 'invisibles' or gods (loa), who can to some extent control and direct them, and when possessed by the loa act as oracles. The priests are expected to be able to use black and white magic equally, according to the needs of the occasion, and must be ever aware that the loa are both powerful and jealous, and quite capable of destroying those who serve them. In order to possess the supernatural powers he needs the priest must take the ultimate risk of becoming involved with forces that are not necessarily benevolent, and which can change their attitudes to their people with surprising frequency. The pantheon of gods of voodoo includes many of the traditional West African tribal deities, 156

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-34

VOODOO

together with some unexpected additions - many of the Catholic saints have been incorporated into the voodoo pantheon in areas where Catholicism is the dominant religion (or at least the religion of the respectable). Voodoo is never an exclusivist religion, and its method of dealing with other belief systems has been to fuse them into its own, so that a voodoo devotee can attend a Roman Catholic mass without any sense of alienation, simply interpreting the mass in a different way to other worshippers. The typical rituals of voodoo include an emphasis on music, especially the beating of drums which has an hypnotic effect on the worshippers, and energetic and rhythmic dancing leading to ecstasy and often to collapse, or to possession by one of the gods. Some of the ceremonies are open only to initiated members, who have been through complicated ritual processes during which they have been taught the philosophy of voodoo, the names of the gods and the ritual techniques. As with all initiations this involves a ritual death and rebirth. Although voodoo was originally the religion of the slaves, it has not died out with the disappearance of slavery, and continues to constitute a major religious movement in the Caribbean, especially in Haiti. The development of the Umbanda cult in Brazil emerged directly from the voodoo religion, and South American spiritism has been influenced by it. With the popular revival of interest in the occult there has been a revival of interest in voodoo, especially in the southern USA, where a number of contemporary voodoo groups (of varying degrees of authenticity) have been established, and shops set up to sell ingredients for the practice of voodoo. SOURCEBOOKS The three principal works on the subject, all of them detailed and scholarly, are: MAYA DEREN: Divine Horsemen, Thames & Hudson, London, 1953. FRANCIS HUXLEY: The Invisibles, Hart-Davis, London, 1966. A. METRAUX: Voodoo in Haiti, Deutsch, London, 1959. A more popular first-hand account is given in Inside Voodoo, New American Library, New York, 1952.

MARCUS BACH:

J

57

Eastern Mysticism

In recent years there has been an increasing interest by Westerners, especially young people, in the teachings and practices of Eastern mysticism, and a number of schools have emerged claiming to present these traditions, ranging from the brightly robed members of the Hare Krishna Movement, through Sikhs and Buddhists to self-proclaimed messiahs from India. This emergence of Eastern philosophy is not an entirely new phenomenon however; it began about the same time as the development of spiritualism, when Western scholars first began to consider that the East offered something more than barbarism and crude superstition. It was also at that time that the first material was made available for the general public on just what Eastern religions did teach and practise. This emergence of the East can be linked to two events - the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875, a n ^ the Columban Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The former, because of its interest in oriental philosophy and the emphasis placed by its founders on India and Tibet as sources of occult knowledge, promulgated many oriental ideas (for example, reincarnation) and encouraged investigation into Eastern scriptures which had previously been the almost exclusive domain of the scholar and the academic. The Columban Exposition included a world parliament of religions where a wide range of beliefs and approaches were given an opportunity for expression and dialogue. It was in the personality of Vivekananda, a Swami and disciple of Ramakrishna, an Indian mystic who died in 1836, that the first adaptation of the 'East for the West' was really made, and eventually the Vedanta Society of America was founded and quickly established throughout the country. It was the beginning of a missionary movement from the East to the West which in later years would have marked effects. As an alternative to the traditional philosophies of the West, Eastern mysticism has proved very popular, and the success of the initial move158

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-35

EASTERN MYSTICISM

ments inspired others, of varying degrees of authenticity and importance, to undertake missionary work in the West. Today this activity is reaching almost a fever pitch as a whole range of groups engage in proselytizing activity. On the superficial level this has encouraged an interest in meditation and vegetarianism, incense and beads, in chanting 'OM' and in reading oriental scriptures. Doubtless, it has also had a much more lasting effect on the few disciples who have penetrated these shallows, to the depths beneath. Amongst the groups and individuals claiming to follow the Eastern traditions, the following are important: The Vedanta Society - the original group founded by Vivekananda, which today continues giving lectures and classes, and which has monasteries and convents throughout the United States. The philosophy it espouses is based on the 'Vedas'. A'nanda Ma'rga - founded in 1955 by Shrii Shrii Anandamurtijii to spread the teachings of the ancient techniques of tantra and astanga yoga, and meditation. The movement has groups, communes and centres in many cities throughout the world. It also operates schools and engages in various forms of social work. Baha*i faith - followers of the teachings of Baha'U'llah who declared in 1863 that he wras the chosen manifestation of God for this age. The religion affirms the universality and validity of all religions and strives to establish a unified mankind, with one religion, one political and social order. The movement has a large membership and is spreading rapidly. (See All Things Made New by John Ferraby, Allen & Unwin, London, i960.) International Society for Krishna Consciousness - the Hare Krishna movement, dedicated to awakening the ecstatic state of 'Krishna Consciousness', whose disciples devote much of their time to chanting the mantra, 'Hare Krishna' and doing missionary work in the streets. The Society was founded in 1966 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who claims to be part of a long line of succession going back 500 years to Lord Caitanya, an incarnation of Krishna. (See Bhagavad Gita As It Is by the founder of the movement, and Freedom in Knowledge by Sri Isopanisad.) Krishnamurti - an Indian philosopher and mystic who, after leaving the Theosophical Society which had prepared him to become the vehicle for a manifestation of Christ (see p. 216), established himself as a teacher in his own right, and who travelled widely lecturing on his own highly individualist philosophy. He rejects all attempts to proclaim him as a teacher, in the sense that he believes truth is something for an individual to dis159

EASTERN MYSTICISM

cover for himself; he is opposed to all institutions and defined systems of belief. Meher Baba - an Indian who claimed to be the incarnation of God, both Krishna and Christ, come again to redeem man. He has disciples and groups throughout the world. Despite his claims to being immortal, he died; however, most of his disciples have coped with this apparent disaster. The groups teaching his philosophy continue to operate. Students' International Meditation Society - the group operated by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi which teaches 'transcendental Meditation', and which has spread rapidly throughout the world. The techniques taught by the Society have been favourably commented upon by those who have undertaken scientific assessments of their effects on individual efficiency and health. The system is based on an initiation at which a trained teacher, deriving ultimately from the Maharishi, gives the student a word upon which to meditate. A variety of scientists have written on the effects of the technique, and it has been approved for teaching in some schools and colleges in the United States. Divine Light Mission - centring on the person of Guru Maharaj Ji, a 16-year-old Indian who claims to be God's representative, and who heads a world-wide movement, which he says is based upon the Vedantic tradition. A split has recently occurred between the Guru and his Mother, who now claims that her son has become too fond of material comforts and is no longer the 'perfect master'. There is an increasing range of other Eastern teachers and traditions appearing in the West. These may be classified in general terms as fitting into one of the following categories: (1) Indian - deriving from the philosophical traditions of India; emphasizing meditation, and using the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas, and other similar scriptures; often these are centred on individual teachers who claim either to be divine or to be divinely inspired, and who claim the close master/disciple relationship with their students which characterizes Indian schools. (2) Yoga - this includes groups which practise a wide variety of yogic traditions from hatha (the physical) to raja (the intellectual) and everything in between; the major teachers recognize that such divisions are largely artificial, and that any system of development must be based on an integrated view of man. Hatha yoga has become increasingly popular in the West as an alternative to the frenzied activity which has characterized Western systems of physical culture. (3) Zen - Zen Buddhism has emerged from Japan as a system of some considerable interest to many people in the West, especially those who, 160

EASTERN MYSTICISM

tiring of the heavy emphasis most philosophical schools place on the intellect, find in the 'no-mind' approach of Zen a refreshing change. Various Zen communities, centres and teachers have been established in the West to perpetuate this tradition. (4) Tibetan Buddhism - Tibet has always been a place of mystery and fascination, from the beginning of contact with the West, and the claims of the Theosophical Society that it was the home of the Masters. Principally because it has been so inaccessible, and so little has been known about it, it has had an incredible appeal. Teachers offering the Tibetan traditions have ranged from such blatantly commercial 'Lamas' as Lobsang Rampa (see p. 223), to a number of legitimate Buddhist monks who have established centres in the West. (5) Buddhism - Buddhism in the West has formerly been largely the domain of the educated intellectuals who found in it a religious system without the traditional Western concept of the supernatural or God. The Buddhist Society in England is an old and highly respectable organization, and its members have included a number of eminent scholars like Christmas Humphries. Because of its basic beliefs, the Buddhist religion has tended not to proselytize or engage in any of the more exotic activities which have characterized other Eastern groups.

SOURCEBOOKS For general background on the Eastern tradition, the following books provide essential material: p. SEN: Hinduism, Penguin, Harmondsworth. c. HUMPHREYS: Buddhism, Penguin, Harmondsworth. PETER GRANT: Godmen of India, Penguin, Harmondsworth.

CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD: Vedanta for the Western World, Allen & Unwin. E. WOOD, Yoga, Penguin, Harmondsworth. And for Eastern scriptures: The Bhagavad Gita; Buddhist Scriptures; Upanishads - all in the Penguin Classics series. See also: PAGAL BABA: Temple of the Phallic King, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1973. j . NEEDLEMAN: The New Religions, Allen Lane, London, 1972. For a general coverage of the 'new' Eastern religions.

161

Eastern Influence on the Occult The present revival of interest in the occult is mirrored by its earlier upsurge in England a century ago. In many ways, the social and religious symptoms of the times are very similar. In the 1880s the debate between fundamentalist Christianity and science was taking place and those people who were unable to accept the total authority of science felt that they had to choose an alternative faith. Some turned to Mormonism and Christian Science while others felt that Theosophy offered a synthesis of scientific knowledge and comparative religion. In England, the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society studied the Hermetic sciences and writers like G. R. S. Mead, its leader, made a deep study of Gnostic literature. Meanwhile, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (see pp. 48-50) developed as a rival group and a person wishing to be instructed in the Western mysteries had to make his choice between one or the other! The Golden Dawn incorporated some Eastern elements into its magical practices, like / Ching divination and the Tattvas, or Hindu symbols for the elements (see pp. 72-4). However, the occult sciences also assumed basically Eastern concepts of man, the sources of his cosmic energy, and his method for spiritual advancement. Concept of Man In the same way that Hindus and Buddhists accept that man's consciousness is a drop in the ocean of Brahman or Nirvana, contemporary occultists and magicians accept the view that man has upon his own shoulders the task of universalizing his consciousness. In his book Magick in Theory and Practice', Aleister Crowley wrote: 'every man and woman is a star. . . .' And like the Tantrics of India, Crowley believed that the harmonized man was one in whom both sexual polarities were apparent. For this reason, Crowley incorporated a homosexual degree in the occult rituals of the Ordo Templi Orientis. Victor Neuburg, poet and disciple of Crowley, 162

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-36

EASTERN INFLUENCE ON THE OCCULT

noted that he laid special emphasis on the Divine Androgyne - the being who transcends duality and limitation. Unlike Christianity which has tended to stress compassion and faith, and unlike Islam which has stressed man's inadequacy before Allah, modern magic followed Buddhism's precept that the root of all suffering is ignorance. Consequently, magic stresses that man has to know himself, and also make himself familiar with the more profound levels of consciousness open to him through meditation and similar methods.

SOURCE OF COSMIC ENERGY Magic adopts the microcosm/macrocosm distinction found also in yoga and which postulates the raising of the Kundalini energy through the central nervous column until it reaches the crown (universal consciousness). The Qabalah, upon which modern magic is built, may have inherited some of its Eastern concepts as a result of trade-route inroads into the Holy Land centuries before Christ. Whether or not this is so, as a teaching it proposes a similar type of mystical framework. Adam Kadmon is the archetypal man and in his body are all levels of consciousness. The task is similarly for the mystic or magician to raise his consciousness to the point of Kether, the chakra transcending all duality (and equating with Nirvana). What the yogis call the Sushumna, the central nervous column with its polar energies Ida (male) and Pingala (female) has a magical equivalent in what is known as the Middle Pillar. In an occult sense, this represents all the harmonized or 'neutral' levels of consciousness found in alignment in the middle of the Tree of Life. These levels are: Malkuth (ground or 'earth' level); Yesod (sexuality); Tiphareth (harmony, love, compassion) Daath (knowledge) and Kether (cosmic consciousness). Magic uses either ritual or meditation as its main methods for attaining these levels (see PP- 33-7)Magic similarly uses the essentially Eastern concepts of posture and mantra. In yoga, the postures adopted by the chela to purify his body and develop muscular control are called the asanas. Whereas hatha yoga has a wider range of asanas than the West, magic still makes use of them. The main difference is that magic is based upon a ritual imitation of Western gods and mythology, particularly that of ancient Egypt. Consequently, in its rituals, magic uses the posture shown by the gods depicted in Egyptian sculpture and usually they are seated on a throne. By contrast, the ideal yogic asana is the 'full lotus' position in which the yogi sits on the ground, rather than in a seat. The buttocks rather than the feet are the point of contact with the ground.

EASTERN INFLUENCE ON THE OCCULT

Nevertheless, just as the yogi recites mantras like Om Mani Padme Hum, magic similarly uses the sacred power of sound. The mantras of magic are the so-called god names of the Qabalah. Mantras like 'Elohim', 'Shaddai', 'Adonai' are all terms relating to God, but in magic they are used to focus the consciousness on a spiritual ideal. Finally, magic and occultism tend to adopt the Eastern concept of reincarnation rather than the specifically Western doctrine of the resurrection. Reincarnation suggests that man lives in order to learn certain spiritual lessons. He gradually evolves to the extent where subsequent physical incarnation is unnecessary. Magic teaches that man, in a sense, is in charge of his own mental and spiritual development. It is up to him to purify his life, and he is eventually responsible for all his acts, be they good or bad (karma). Rather than rely on an act of grace from God, the magician feels obliged actively to pursue greater levels of spiritual understanding. Like the yogi, he believes that the path is inward; he does not look to external gods or saviours for support. Some claimed reincarnations carry with them an overtone of wishful thinking, and it is interesting that Aleister Crowley claimed to be a reincarnation of the occultist Eliphas Levi, and the Elizabethan trance medium Edward Kelley, both of whom influenced him extensively. Modern magic is, for the most part however, pragmatic and reincarnation is regarded more as a working hypothesis than a fact. As with the Buddha, the emphasis is on testing all precepts by personal experience (as in meditation) rather than accepting them as literal dogma. SOURCEBOOKS RALPH METZNER: Maps of Consciousness, Collier, New York, 1971. BABA RAM DASS: Seed, Lama Foundation-Crown Books, New York,

1973. Metzner and Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) are both former colleagues of Timothy Leary. Metzner's important volume contains long, but lucid, essays on I Ching, Tantra, Tarot, Alchemy, Astrology and a branch of Yoga called Actualism. The book is an invaluable source for comparing the meditative paths of East and West. Ram Dass's volume continues the direction set by Be Here Now (1970) and includes a section on the Qabalah and the Tree of Life.

164

Eheosophy

In popular usage the term 'Theosophy' usually refers to the philosophy popularized by the Theosophical Society. In fact it is of much more ancient origin - the word derives from the Greek, theos (god) and sophia (wisdom) and was used by some of the ancient Greek philosophers, and later in the West. It was used to mean a special knowledge of the divine, similar to that which the Gnostics claimed. Gradually there emerged the idea that a tradition of secret knowledge had been transmitted throughout the ages, constituting an esoteric, or inner, philosophy - known as 'the ancient wisdom' or 'theosophy'. This concept was popularized in the late nineteenth century by a Russian noblewoman, Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, whose writings aroused considerable interest and controversy. Her monumental and voluminous Secret Doctrine constitutes the source of most of the teachings of the Theosophical Society. Together with Henry Steele Olcott, Madame Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875. The society was to prove one of the major catalysts of the occult revival which occurred in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and was largely responsible for popularizing Eastern religion and philosophy in the West; its influence was considerable. The Society, although in theory free from doctrinal foundations, soon established a specific teaching which it promulgated. These doctrines, principally deriving from eastern, and specifically Indian philosophy, were said to constitute an 'ancient wisdom', deriving both from the historic tradition, but also from living authorities - of Masters - men who had attained perfection and now guided and taught others. In the early years of the society frequent contact with the Masters was claimed, including the alleged manifestation of mysterious letters said to have been written by the Masters. Caught up in the occult revival, the Society expanded rapidly and spread throughout the world. Its headquarters were eventually established 165

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-37

THEOSOPHY

at Adyar, India, where they remain today. The Society began its extensive publishing activities, and groups (known as 'Lodges') were established in most countries. Within the Society there developed an inner group, known as the 'Eastern School' or the 'Esoteric Section' to which only select members were admitted and in which secret teachings were promulgated. After the death of Madame Blavatsky, the leadership of the Society was taken over by Dr Annie Besant, and the emphasis on Eastern philosophy became more marked. In the United States there were several breakaway groups. Today the Society appears to be in a period of decline, probably due to the lack of charismatic leadership of the nature of Blavatsky, Besant and Leadbeater. The Society was further disrupted by its involvement in a messianic movement centring on Jiddu Krishnamurti; after he renounced claims to messiahship many members left the Society in disillusionment. One major defection at this time was the German occultist, Dr Rudolph Steiner, who subsequently formed his own organization, the Anthroposophical Society. SOURCEBOOKS While the works of Madame Blavatsky may seem like essential source material, they tend to be both lengthy and complex and are difficult reading. Her principal works are: his Unveiled (1877). The Secret Doctrine (1888). The Key to Theosophy (1889). These are all available in various editions published by the Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar. The Secret Doctrine is probably best approached through an edited and annotated edition in one volume: An Abridgement of the Secret Doctrine edited by Elizabeth Preston and Christmas Humphreys, TPH, Wheaton, 111. USA, 1968. This includes useful introductory material and a bibliography. Simpler introductory material on theosophy is found in: C w. LEADBEATER: An Outline of Theosophy, TPH, Adyar, 1963. c. w. LEADBEATER: A Textbook of Theosophy, TPH, Adyar, 1971. An excellent synopsis of the history of the Theosophical Society, together with an introduction to its philosophy. HUGH SHEARMAN: Modern Theosophy, TPH, Adyar, 1954. JOSEPHINE RANSOM: A Short History of the Theosophical Society iS/^-igjy, TPH, Adyar, 1938. A detailed account of the early history of the Society. Compiled from official records. The TPH publishes a considerable range of extremely cheap books on Theosophy, including the works of its most eminent teachers - Madam Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Charles Leadbeater, Geoffrey Hodson and others. 168

1 Ching

The IC/iing or Book of Change, is one of the oldest books in the world, and originated in China at least 1,000 years BC. Confucius and the Taoist sages thought very highly of it, treating it reverently as a sacred book and prizing its powers of divination. With the upsurge of interest in prediction and prophecy as part of the occult revival, it is not surprising that the / Ching has come to be included among popular counter-cultural pastimes. At the superficial level this is an undoubted injustice to the / Ching since it was intended to provide a serious and penetrating guide to life, and not merely a source of venting idle curiosity or providing fortunes. Several commentators, among them the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung, and the well-known translator of Buddhist and Taoist texts, John Blofeld, have remarked that the I Ching seems to work infallibly. They add, however, that the Oracle seems to 'answer' in terms of the seriousness of the question, and the response - expressed symbolically as one of the meanings given in the Book of Change itself- needs to be interpreted with sensitivity and intuition. Basically the / Ching is structured on the philosophy of alternating polarities of Yin and Yang in the universe. Yin represents the earth, and is regarded as passive, feminine, yielding, weak and dark. Overall, it is said to be negative. Yang represents Heaven, and is also active, masculine, firm, strong and light. Thus it can be said to be clearly positive. Other relevant concepts in the / Ching philosophy are T\ii Chi, meaning the centre of things - a type of Absolute and Divine Stillness - and Tao, meaning the may. The / Ching offers us the way for right action. Commentators skilled in its use say that what really occurs is that the question asked, and the spirit in which it is made, bring to light an intuitive response which in turn responds to the tides of change, of ebb and flow, in the world. Thus the future is not something static, but something which 169

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-38

I CHING

results from the here and now. John Blofeld says that the Oracle allows man to perceive the functioning of the Tao in him so that the serious and well-intended question about how one should act provides in return a symbolically expressed answer in tune with the most spiritual side of man's potential. Thus, the / Ching does not 'predict' in the crude sense of the word, but offers the seeker an appropriate course of action for the future based on the cosmic tides of positive and negative that shape our destinies. To consult the / Ching a method of dividing small heaps of sticks or of throwing coins is used. In the first instance fifty short and long yarrow stalks are systematically divided in heaps until a resulting combination of stalks provides a combination which can be identified as one of the lines in a 'Hexagram'. The Hexagram is a combination of six lines, some representing Yin and some Yang, and the completed Hexagram spells the answer to the question asked at the time of the division of stalks, or fall of coins. In the latter case, three coins are thrown, and the side of the coin representing its value is taken to be its positive face. The coins are dropped from cupped hands spontaneously and their fall produces varying combinations of positive and negative. In each method, the procedure must be applied six times, and the lines built up from the bottom to the top (from earth to heaven as it were). After the throws have been made, the specific meanings are found in the / Ching itself. There are sixty-four Hexagrams in all, but the variety of intuitive meanings far exceeds this number. As a means of divination in the occult, perhaps Aleister Crowley more than any other Western magician, made most use of the I Ching. Crowley was noted for his keenness to adapt Eastern methods of posture (yogic asanas) and breathing to modern occult techniques and according to his Magical Record, he also consulted the Oracle regularly. However, when one looks through his account of his day-to-day activities, it is clear that much of his intuition was self-oriented rather than emanating from the Book of Change itself. Crowley became notorious for his 'sex-abbey' at Cefalu in Sicily and the following extract from his diaries shows how he consulted the / Ching before deciding whether or not to buy: 'Shall we buy real estate in Cefalu ?'

= Fang) Fire of Sun 170

I CHING

Large, abundant! What should be its physical characteristics ? Water of Lingam. Leah says: in a high place. I say: water around it, and Phallus, a Pinnacle. This fits the Caldura like a glove; its promontory is washed by the sea for at least two thirds of it, and it has a magnificently phallic rock. (p. 227) On another occasion, in 1921, Crowley asked the ICking for a symbolic prediction of his magical work in the world (he had become Lord of the New Aeon in 1904). The answer was: 'Sudden rise to fame, though starting slowly . . .', which was probably true since Crowley's sexual magic and experimental drug-taking soon earned him notoriety in the British press. More recently, the / Ching, along with Transcendental Meditation, Yoga and other forms of Eastern mystical philosophy, has been popular as a symbol of the rock culture. While she was Mick Jagger's special consort, singer and actress Marianne Faithfull frequently employed the / Ching for divination. At one stage she was particularly worried about the fortune of Brian Jones, the leading musician in the Rolling Stones. He had become alienated from his friends and was heavily dependent on drugs. Whenever she threw the coins with him in mind, the I Ching would suggest water and evil. 'Where the water is. A pit, a perilous cavity. There will be evil, it says', she told Jagger. In July 1969, the prediction came true. Jones, a Piscean by birth, drowned in a swimming pool. SOURCEBOOKS R. WILHELM: / Ching, Routledge & Kegan Paul (several editions), j . BLOFELD: The Book of Change, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1971. The above are the classic texts in the field.

171

Hstrology

From his very first perception of the universe around him, man has been overawed by the vastness of space, and the wonders of the sun and moon, the planets and the stars. Even today, when his scientific skill penetrates the depths of space, the wonders of the universe remain mysterious and powerful. In his personalizing of the universe, man attributed to the stars and planets relationships with and influences over his own life. Astrology is the study of the relationships between the heavens and the earth, between man and the planets, and as such is one of the oldest studies known, having played an important role in every highly developed civilization of the past from Egypt and Babylonia to India, China and South America. Astrological study of the heavens eventually led to the emergence of the scientific discipline of astronomy, and the rules, methods and principles of astrology have emerged over thousands of years of usage. Astrology works upon the basis that the planets exert influences on the earth which affect individuals, as well as groups. Individuals are especially affected by the cosmic situation existing at the time of their births, and the qualities inherent in the individual can to a large degree be determined by such a situation. In the light of knowledge about the influences of cosmic radiation upon earth, the theories of astrology are not so fantastic, although it can be argued that the important time as far as the individual is concerned is the moment of conception (at which the influence of the cosmic radiation begins) and not the moment of birth. Astrology attributes different influences to different planets and conjunctions of planets. A 'Map' of the heavens at the moment of birth is drawn up to determine the planetary influences upon an individual; this is known as a horoscope and its accuracy depends very much on an accurate knowledge of the location and exact time of birth. In general terms, individuals can be placed under the influence of the twelve signs of the zodiac according to the date of their birth, but the more subtle influences of planets and conjunctions mean that 172

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-39

ASTROLOGY

these basic types are subject to wide variation. The popular newspapercolumn astrology presents only a rather crude parody of the science; scientific astrology is a mathematically precise technology, involving detailed analysis of astronomical data which is in every individual case unique (unless two individuals were born at exactly the same time at exactly the same place). There are two main types of astrology: (1) Mundane - which concerns itself with large-scale phenomena, such as wars, natural disasters, political and social trends; this is based upon the premise that cosmic influences affect large groups of people, and in fact the physical structure of the earth. Horoscopes can be drawn up for nations, societies or even races, but these are necessarily far less accurate than those for individuals. (2) Horary Astrology - is based upon the premise that a chart can be drawn up, not only for an individual born at a specific moment in a specific place, but indeed for anything to be 'born', or inaugurated at that place at that time. Hence horoscopes can be used to determine the advisability or otherwise of undertaking particularly activities at particular times. Astrology being by its own claims an exact science, it is difficult either to support or condemn its premises in simple terms, and it should not be judged on the basis either of newspaper columns or the popular astrologers. The basic premise upon which astrology is founded is that the universe is not a fragmented collection of individual pieces, but a unified, organic whole, in which every part is dependent upon and in some way connected with every other part. The universe is seen to be coherent, meaningful and ordered; it has pattern and rhythm and is to a large extent predictable. Man first gained this feeling of order and rhythm by his close relationship with the cycles of nature and his observance of the movement of the planets and the stars. Gradually he also came to the conclusion that these patterns could be interpreted and understood, and could be anticipated. It has often been said that the reasoning behind astrology is therefore analogical, rather than logical- it works on the ancient occult theorem, 'as above, so below'. This idea has gained increasing support as a result of modern research into the nature and working of cosmic influences on the earth, and on human behaviour. As science investigates the effects of cosmic radiation - not only the obvious things like sunspots, but more subtle emanations from outer space - the premises of astrology are receiving more and more support. Even the old story that the moon affects sanity has received some measure of support from modern research into the influence of that body on human behaviour. Astrology works on the assumption that the earth is the centre of the 173

ASTROLOGY

solar system and the universe - and for all practical purposes this is a valid assumption. As far as man is concerned, the universe does revolve around him. Astrology pictures the earth as the centre of a series of concentric circles, the paths of the planets and the signs of the zodiac. The zodiac is a hypothetical sphere around the earth, divided into twelve signs - the popularly known signs of the zodiac. Each of the signs is classified as being either positive or negative, and is attributed to one of the base elements of traditional occultism (earth, air, fire and water). The sun appears to move around this zodiac, passing through the various signs, and the sign against which it appears to rise on the day of an individual's birth dictates the sign under which he is said to be born. Thus a man born on 4 November will be a Scorpio because the sun is in the sign of Scorpio at that time. And the sun, representing the powerful energetic, creative principle, is seen as the most important factor in the horoscope. But the earth also revolves on its own axis, and so there is also a rising sign (that is, the sign against the eastern horizon at the moment of birth), and this is said to be the second most important factor. The actual sunrise point is called the ascendent, and this determines a further classification into twelve houses, equal to the twelve constellations. For example, a man born with Scorpio as his sun sign, and also with his ascendent in Scorpio would be very different in personality from a man born at a similar time but with a different ascendent; in the former case all the characteristics of Scorpio w7ould tend to be emphasized and reinforced. After these basic influences, astrology looks to the influence of the moon (the second most important 'planet') and the other planets. Not only the positions of the planets at the time of birth, but also their relationships to each other must be taken into account to establish a whole 'plan' of the universe at the moment. Different planets in different positions, and planets in various combinations will give different influences and differing degrees of influence. For such subtle and complex interpretations a fair degree of mathematical skill and accuracy is necessary, and a properly drawn horoscope involves considerable knowledge and ability. The very complexity of such analysis also means that popular accounts of the zodiacal types can never be more than very general statements about a whole category of people all of whom have probably more differences than similarities. All Scorpios are not necessarily alike, since there are important, subtle influences which only a detailed analysis will reveal. There is quite an amount of modern scientific evidence supporting at least some of the basic assumptions of astrology, and giving a new view of man's place within the universe, and the influence of the universe on man and the world. Investigations into solar and lunar rhythms, the pheno174

ASTROLOGY

menon of sunspots and the effect of the moon on natural cycles on earth all these are leading to the possibility that the essential claims of astrology (as distinguished from the exaggerated pretensions of popular astrology) will be validated scientifically. SOURCEBOOKS One of the best complete guides to astrology, in a simple, practical form is by Marc Edmund Jones: Astrology: How and Why it Works. A classic in its field, this book was first published in 1945, reissued by Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977. Its author is one of the leading scientific astrologers in the United States. Paralleling this study is another introduction to the premises behind astrology, giving a detailed background to modern scientific evidence in support of it: j . A. WEST and j . G. TOONDER: The Case for Astrology, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1973. A history of astrology and astrologers is given in E. HOWE: Urania's Children: the Strange World of the Astrologer's, Kimber,

London, 1967. MCINTOSH: The Astrologers and Their Creed, Hutchinson, London, 1969. Both of these books are readable and informative. R. GLEADOW: The Origins of the Zodiac, Cape, London, 1968. A more detailed study of the origins of astrology. C

The range of material on the subject is almost limitless, and includes innumerable books by astrologers and 'do-it-yourself texts.

175

numerology

From earliest times man has been fascinated by the symbolism of numbers, and we find for example the numbers 7 and 12 occurring in many cultures as combinations of sacred significance. Modern numerology draws much of its inspiration from the sixthcentury philosopher Pythagoras, who believed that numbers represent the essence and qualities of things. Hence, an analysis of a person's name will reveal what sort of person he is inherently. Pythagoras' views on numbers were expanded by the medieval Qabalist Cornelius Agrippa in his book Occult Philosophy, first published in 1533. According to Agrippa, numbers have the following qualities: 1 The origin of all things, God. The Central Intelligence in the Universe. The Sun. The Philosopher's Stone. 2 Marriage and communion. Also, alternately, the number of division and evil. 3 Trinity. Fulfilment and sacred wisdom. 4 Solidity, permanence, foundation. There are four elements, four seasons and four cardinal points. Associated with the earth. 5 Justice. In medieval Europe this was interpreted to be Christian justice, there being five wounds in His body; man observed the world also through five senses. 6 Creation. The world was fashioned in six days, God resting on the seventh. According to Agrippa, it also represents labour and service. However, six is the perfect number. 7 Life. Seven is made up of six (perfection) and one (unity and God). In the medieval conception, life is made up of the body (spirit, flesh, bone and humour) and soul (passions, desire and reason) - a total of seven. 8 Fullness. The number eight is remarkably even, for it can be divided twice and still retain the balance of all things. Also associated with infinity (a horizontal 8). 176

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-40

NUMEROLOGY

9 The number of the spheres. Cosmic significance. 10 Completeness. One cannot go beyond 10 without including other numbers. Agrippa was a Qabalist and according to this philosophy the world came to be through a divine process of ten stages. According to modern numerologists, the two most vital aspects of a person's life and character are his birth date and his used name. The latter is said to be the name which most closely defines the identity (or 'essence') of a person. THE BIRTHDATE The birthdate is not written as a succession of numbers but is plotted onto a diagram which shows the positions as follows:— Mind Level Emotional Level

3

6 9

2

5 8

I 4 7 Physical Level Numerologists believe that the above represents a three-fold division of man and that the aim of all mystical teachings is perfection. Consequently, the perfect man would have all these numbers in his make-up. The writer was born on 1.10.1947, which would be diagrammatically represented as:

in 4 7 (note: 0 is not included) This analysis shows a lack of functioning on the emotional level, and this would be an area clearly in need of improvement! Thus, numbers show us to what extent we are unbalanced and what qualities of character are needed for harmonized personality development. Another method using the birthdate is the concept of the Ruling Number. The numbers in the above diagram total 23, which reduces to 2 + 3 = 5. The fact that 5 is the number of Justice and also that the writer is a Libran (Libra: The Scales = Balance) offers some sort of compensation for the above! ANALYSIS OF THE NAME The most popular method used for reducing one's name to a number is to take the name used by a person (this would not normally include the middle name), and then to apply a number value to each letter. A is 1, B is 177

NUMEROLOGY

2 and so on until we arrive at I, which is 9. Since there is no zero, and ten = one, J becomes 1 and K, 2 and so on through the alphabet. The full sequence is as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q ^ R S T U V W X Y Z It is usually claimed that the birthdate - the beginning of life - is more important than the name, partly because the name is given by the parents. On the other hand, the birthdate is an inherent quality of the person, and is therefore a more reliable guide. However, it is also recognized that a person grows up, develops and responds, as one who has a name, and that in this sense the name comes to symbolize the personality and also in a very limited sense 'predicts' it. Some names are hard and aggressive, others soft and poetic, so that it is little wonder that numerologists stress vibrationary qualities of the name. A person may find the number value of his name by totalling the sum of its letters. If it comes to a total exceeding 10, it is 'reduced', as with the Ruling Number, above. This number may then be slotted on the birth diagram as a further clue to the personality. As with astrology, numerology offers an analysis of what a person is, rather than what he may become. During the person's lifetime as his free will comes into play he makes certain decisions as he develops accordingly. Numerology merely offers a framework for what a person may become if he follows a natural tendency; it does not make any claim to prophecy. SOURCEBOOKS There are many different approaches and 'schools' in numerology, and hence most books will adopt one approach to the exclusion of others, and, unlike astrology, there are few basic principles which remain consistent throughout all approaches. A good basic introduction is found in the article on 'Numerology' in: RICHARD CAVENDISH (ed) An Encyclopedia of the Unexplained, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1974, and the bibliography refers to other, more detailed, studies. V. LOPEZ: Numerology, Citadel, New York, 1961, is a useful introduction also. More detailed material will be found in two fairly early volumes, less popular in their approach: E. T. BELL: The Magic of Numbers, McGraw Hill, New York, 1946 and c. w. CHEARLEY: Numerology, Rider, London, 1926. Details on the symbology of numbers can be found in: c. BUTLER: Number Symbolism, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1970. 178

Palmistry

In its simplest form palmistry is the fortune-telling technique of reading hands popularized by gypsies in side-shows. This, of course, is but a poor imitation of the discipline which today more than ever lays claim to scientific foundations. Palmistry is concerned with the analysis of the hands, not simply the lines on the palms, but their combinations and conjunctions, together with other minute details of the hands and fingers. The features of the hand are, in palmistry, linked with aspects of personality and character and with features of the individual, both physical and psychological. The scientific palmist does not postulate simple correlations between this feature of the hand and that psychological characteristic; rather he looks for significant aspects, their combinations and relationships. He looks for an overall pattern which will be unique in every individual case. The palm of a human being develops its characteristic lines and patterns from the time of birth (and beginning before that time), and these develop and change throughout the years, and may, in their changes, indicate further mutations in the individual's life and personality. But palmistry is not a fatalistic technology; the lines on the palms reflect aspects of personality, they do not cause them. Therefore, palmistry is an analytical science rather than a predictive one - although the skilled palmist, observing tendencies and interrelationships on the hand can postulate likely trends in future. Palmistry has developed from rather shady origins as a fortune-teller's art to being a realm of legitimate scientific investigation; the side-show gypsy may well be replaced by the laboratory scientist. The origins of palmistry are extremely ancient, and reference to this method of divination date back some 3000 years in the ancient writings of India and China. Certainly, it was referred to by Aristotle, who, it is said, derived it from ancient Egypt. It was, however, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that palmistry, along with other forms of divination 179

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-41

PALMISTRY

by analysing the body (e.g. phrenology, or reading lumps on the head), became systematized. It was during this period that the macrocosm/microcosm theory (that is, 'as above so below', meaning that man was linked with the cosmos, and an analysis of his nature revealed the wider universe) was expanded. Textbooks of handreading became popular; most of these were far from scientific, and often worked on the basis of laws of correspondence. In the nineteenth century the first attempts to make palmistry (or 'chirology' as it was often known) respectable were initiated. One of the most important works of this time was Laws of Scientific Hand Reading by the American William G. Benham. It wras at this time that the famous palmist 'Cheiro' (pseudonym for Count Louis Harmon) brought the study to the height of its popularity. Gradually the interest in scientific palmistry, as distinct from the more popular fortune-telling, has expanded, and a number of scientists, especially psychologists, have taken an interest in correlations between personality characteristics and lines on the hand. Many psychologists and palmists believe that in statistical correlations such as these some support is being given to the ancient premises of hand reading, especially in relationships between mental disorders and hand characteristics. Certainly, as more serious scientific consideration is being given to the study of the significance of lines on the hand, more information will become available on this ancient technique of character divination. The traditional palmist, in his analysis of hands, looks for a number of features: (1) the size and shape of the hands - this includes the size of the palms, the size and shape of the fingers, thickness, width; (2) the flexibility or stiffness of the hand and the fingers; (3) the characteristics of the fingers - this includes traditional correlations between the fingers and different aspects of personality; (4) some palmists also examine the fingerprints; (5) the mounts - the 'hills' on the hand, with different mounts relating to different aspects of personality; (6) the lines - traditionally it has been popularly assumed that these were the only things of concern to the palmist, however they are only a part of the whole pattern of the hand, and must be seen in a total context. Different lines are related to different aspects of the individual - the most important being the head, heart and life lines. Some palmists prefer to read directly from the hand, others prefer to take prints and analyse these in depths; similarly, some palmists state that the hands are merely a point of contact with the person, and say they 180

PALMISTRY

employ some form of psychic perception for the actual character analysis, while others reject all non-scientific methods of palmistry. SOURCEBOOKS The Book of the Hand, Hamlyn, London, 1965. An excellent introduction to the subject, by one of the world's leading authorities, Gettings explains clearly, and with numerous illustrations, the theory and practice of palmistry. Gettings is also the author of a wide range of more detailed technical books on palmistry.

FRED GETTINGS:

The 'classic work' in the English language (despite its lack of scientific approach) is by 'CHEIRO' (Count Louis Harmon): Language of the Hand, reprinted by Corgi, London, 1967. Cheiro was probably the most popular and well-known palmist of all time, and his numerous works are still widely consulted. An important work, showing the scientific uses of palmistry is: j . SPIER: The Hands of Children, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1955, where a German psychologist employs palmistry as a diagnostic technique.

181

Lost Continents

Throughout history man has tended to look backwards towards an age of perfection, a time when human achievements were greater, human life happier and the world a better place. In religious terms this has usually meant a time when the gods were upon earth; in secular terms it has led to theories of pre-historical civilizations exceeding, or at least equalling modern technology. Because none of these early civilizations appear to have left visible remains, the theories concerning them have had to explain their almost total disappearance, and have tended to do so by locating them on continents which subsequently sank beneath the oceans, never to be found again. The vastness of the oceans encouraged the idea that such space should not have been wasted, and that, at some time there must have been land occupying it. So the theory of the lost continents runs: (1) Continents existed in the now empty oceans of the world - the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian. (2) Civilizations developed on these continents, and a high degree of scientific, cultural and technological achievement was attained - perhaps even higher than known today. (3) Eventually the continents and the civilizations were destroyed either by natural disasters (earthquakes, movements in the crust of the earth) or by man-made means (e.g. some theories suggest that these civilizations developed nuclear power and were destroyed in a nuclear explosion). (4) Virtually all trace of the civilizations and the continents were therefore removed from the face of the earth. (5) However some small traces remain - e.g. alleged similarities in culture between two peoples on different sides of an ocean are cited as evidence that they derive from the same source; the legends of a 'golden age' are cited as racial memories of the lost continents. 182

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-42

LOST CONTINENTS

Speculation and investigation into the supposed lost continents has ranged from genuine scientific and archaeological research, through the whole range of pseudo-sciences into the occult. Many occult traditions claim their origins in the religious traditions of the lost continents. But at present, there is little historic and scientific evidence to give a sound basis to speculation that lost continents did exist; this is not to deny their existence, but merely to place them in the realm of theory, rather than fact. The principal lost continents of the past were: (1) Atlantis - located in the Atlantic Ocean; speculation about this continent developed from the reference by the Greek philosopher Plato to it as an advanced civilization, destroyed for its evil. A number of authors, especially during the Victorian period, wrote extensively on the subject, and it became involved in many religious, occult and anthropological theories. Modern scientific research suggests historical references to Atlantis may have derived from a civilization on the Mediterranean destroyed by a volcanic erruption. (2) Lemuria - was located by some theorists in the Indian Ocean, and by others in the Pacific. Life on Lemuria was generally held to be of a low form and did not reach the advanced civilization of Atlantis. (3) Mu - was located in the Pacific Ocean, and supposedly was the original Garden of Eden, with a highly advanced civilization. A slightly different set of theories places lost civilizations inside the earth, which is said to be hollow, with openings at the ends. SOURCEBOOKS The best introduction to the idea of lost continents is by L. Sprague de Camp: Lost Continents, Dover, New York, 1970, which covers the whole field in detail. This is also done, in lesser detail by M. Gardner: Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, Dover, New York, 1957.

The classic work on Atlantis, and the one which originally stimulated most interest in the subject, is by I. Donnelly and E. Sykes: Atlantis, revised edn, Steiner, New York, 1970. This is one in a series of books by Donnelly. A consideration of the scientific evidence is found in J. V. Luce: The End of Atlantis, Thames & Hudson, London, 1969. Both Atlantis and Lemuria are considered, mainly from an occult viewpoint, in a classic work by W. Scott-Elliot: The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria, TPH, London, reprinted 1962. And the continent of Mu is dealt with in great detail in a series of books by J. Churchward, the simplest of which is The Lost Continent of Mu, Paperback Library, New York, 1968. Modern interest in these old theories has led to the reprinting of many of the classic works, most of which are now available in paperback. The hollow earth theory is dealt with in Martin Gardner's book {op. cit.). 183

Inner Space Rock Music

Pop music in the halcyon days of the 1950s was exciting, rhythmic, emotionally naive and structurally rather simplistic. Much of it owed its musical origin to twelve-bar blues, and performers like Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis adapted these frameworks in the new frenzy ofrock'n roll. Pop then went through its big ballads and strings phase at the hands of Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves and Ray Charles, who had converted to orchestrated country and western. And then the gospel side raised its head in the United States, and the first wave of poignant 'soul music' poured forth. Aretha Franklin preached a pentecostal fervour in her songs and Otis Redding had a heart-rending hesitancy in his voice on numbers like 'I've Been Loving You Too Long To Stop Now'. Around 1967 (and some say, with the Beatles' milestone album Sergeant Peppers) the mainstream suddenly changed. Pop music began to venture inward. The music became more complex, more searching. It had more texture and fewer structural limitations. Electronic techniques were used to give the vocals a surreal, mystic effect, and more and more the lyrics began to speak of the inner journey of the mind. It was predictable that this change would occur, and it is to their credit that the Beatles foresaw and rode with the change. In the United States and the Beatles had been playing solidly to American audiences since they first stormed the singles chart in 1964 - there had been some interesting things going on. In particular the drug culture was about to blossom. At Harvard University, Dr Timothy Leary had been experimenting with hallucinogens, and some opponents in the media were beginning to accuse him of using students as 'human guinea pigs'. In 1963 Leary had told a gathering of psychologists in Philadelphia how in i960 he had eaten the sacred mushrooms of the Aztecs. For five hours Leary had been whirled through an experience which he said was the 'deepest religious experience' of his life. 184

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-43

INNER SPACE ROCK MUSIC

Leary soon began to anger the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant authorities by his suggestion that psilocybin and LSD were sacraments which could add a new dimension to one's social existence, and perhaps take one to the core meaning of the inner Universe itself. It was too direct, and suspiciously 'easy' - worse than that, it was potentially a tool of anarchy. Leary attracted a vast following in the counterculture but his days were obviously numbered from the establishment point of view. While this eventually proved to be so, a new genre of rock music meanwhile sprouted up as a consequence of this new impetus - Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead all came together when new universes of the mind and sensory experience were being explored. Suddenly pop lyrics began to reflect spiritual Eastern imagery. Rock discovered the sitar and the sarod. The Beatles had audience with Maharaji Mahesh Yogi and the occult began to filter in. The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's featured the face of the notorious magician Aleister Crowley. The rock group Steppenwolf took their name from a novel by Hermann Hesse who was being rediscovered as a fine writer of mystical themes. His novel, Siddhartha, set in the times of Buddha had an especially strong appeal. Santana named an album Abraxas after a deity mentioned in his novel Demian. In the late 1960s this mystical tendency in rock continued to develop, lyrics became even more eclectic and, at the hands of Bob Dylan, apocryphal. The new renaissance pushed forward towards a universal expression of mystical reality. In their song 'Maya' (illusion) The Incredible String Band asked their audience to universalize their vision: The great ship of the world, Long time sailing . . . A l l . . . in one boat together, Troubled voyage in calm weather, Maya, Maya, All this world is but a play, Be thou the joyful player. . . . The most recent manifestation of the new consciousness in rock music has been in the more complex, electronic-transcendental music popularly known as Cosmic Rock. Much of this music has come from England and Germany. Pink Floyd, Yes, Jade Warrior and King Crimson have been among the most important progressive influences from Britain, and groups like Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel (who recorded with Timothy Leary) and the solo performer Klaus Schulze have developed the genre in Germany. 185

INNER SPACE ROCK MUSIC

Cosmic Rock is elusive - it floats and weaves. It transforms, re­ interprets, redefines.Often it has incorporated classical themes alongside a kaleidoscopic collage of moog, keyboards and choral accompaniments.At the end of Pink Floyd's 'Echoes', which is a long, intricate track with a watery, flaccid texture, comes a soaring, uplifting sequence which seems to lead to another dimension of time and space.Tangerine Dream, a remark­ able group from Berlin seek similarly to wrap their listeners in the very texture of electronic sound, and their superb album Phaedra, with its waves of undulating synthesizer, is a fine example of this. Cosmic Rock seems always to have an implied occult basis in its formula­ tion as a pathway into the mind. The textures, the sequences, the lyrics, produce a transformation in the listener.Robert Fripp, who plays guitar, mellotron and 'devices' for King Crimson, once stated that the aim of his music was to have a sonic, healing effect as it permeated the fibres of those who listened. He also went on to say: 'It is a very important tool in that if you can bring everybody together on one vibration you can create a one­ ness and an energy without parallel. Playing before an audience is a magical rite....' Cosmic Rock is the music of meditation and inner space, and it is not surprising that Fripp's colleague Pete Sinfield began to explore mythology and fantasy legends as a related source of ideas. Magic and yoga both offer man self-realization and the goal of cosmic consciousness. For Sinfield, it was clear that rock music and mythology both promoted the quest for the super-man: Still I wonder if I passed some time ago, As a bird, or stream or a tree ? To mount up high you must first sink down low, Like the changeable tides of the Caesars and the Pharaohs, prophets and heroes ...[from the album Still]. Meanwhile in 1973 Bo Hansson, a formerly obscure Swedish keyboards player produced a haunting, reflective interpretation of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. We are reminded again that mythology is an expression of the journey into the fantasy land of the subconscious. Evans-Wentz, the translator of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which had such a profound influence on Timothy Leary and the drug culture, once suggested that the mythology of fairies and goblins was evidence of a continuing psychic ability among 'simple folk' and it is not surprising that Cosmic Rock endeavours to move towards an inner magical reality. In recent years the German groups like Tangerine Dream have gained an ascendancy, perhaps as a result of their newly found simplicity of essence.Albums like T.D.'s

186

INNER SPACE ROCK MUSIC

Zeit and Alpha Centauri, Schulze's Black Dance and Ash Ra Tempel's Join Inn, develop variations along a single ethereal, core theme, and their direction is more abstract, towards the edge of time and space. The following selective discography lists the titles of some of the more mystical albums which could be included in the 'inner space' genre. Since many of them have been issued internationally, specific number references have been excluded. In some instances the titles will appear on alternative labels to those referred to, according to the country of distribution. England: Pink Floyd

Jade Warrior Pete Sinfield King Crimson Yes Mike Oldfield Hawkwind

Wish You Were Here (Harvest) The Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest) Meddle (Harvest) Atom Heart Mother (Harvest) Floating World (Island) Still (Manticore) Larks Tongue in Aspic (Island) Islands (Island) Yessongs (Atlantic) Tales of Topographic Oceans (Atlantic) Tubular Bells (Island) In Search of Space (United Artists)

Germany: Tangerine Dream

Stratospheres (Virgin) Rubyeon (Virgin) Phaedra (Virgin) Zeit (Ohr) Alpha Centauri (Ohr) Edgar Froese Aqua (Virgin) Epsilon in Malaysian Pale (Virgin) Klaus Schulze Blackdance (Brain Metronome) Timewind (Virgin) Body Love (Virgin) Cyborg (Ohr) Irrlicht (Ohr) Ash Ra Tempel Join Inn (Ohr) (with Timothy Leary) Seven Up (Ohr) Walter Wegmuller Tarot (Metronome) Ashra New Age of Earth (Virgin) 187

INNER SPACE ROCK MUSIC

Australia: MacKenzie Theory

Out of the Blue (Mushroom)

Sweden: Bo Hansson

Lord of the Rings (Charisma)

Italy: Premiata Forneria Marconi

Photos of Ghosts (Manticore)

USA:

Santana Les McCann Paul Horn Chic Corea Miles Davis Morton Subotnik

Caravanserai (CBS) Layers (Atlantic) Inside (Epic) Return to Forever (ECM/CBS) In A Silent Way (CBS) Silver Apples of the Moon (Nonesuch)

The American material as a source is the least integrated. Les McCann, Chic Corea and Miles Davis are internationally recognized as jazz artists but the albums specified have a mystical orientation. Paul Horn's Inside is an album of flute recorded inside the dome of the Taj Mahal, and has a pantheistic quality which is impossible to categorize. Morton Subotnik's work is experimental electronic music and is included because of its surreal textures.

188

Occult flrt

With the exception of phantasy painters like Hieronymous Bosch, Lucas Cranach and Peter Breughel, art before the 1880s was, in a broad sense, representational. The fashionable incursion of hallucinatory drugs and an interest in dreams and the occult among the Symbolists in Europe saw the emergence of visionary painters like Gustav Moreau, Jean Delville and Richard Dadd, but in effect, what may be termed occult art is very much a phenomenon of the present century. Of all the major movements of modern art, the most trenchantly occult has been Surrealism, with certain of its members being themselves trance or Satanic occultists. Surrealism developed in Paris between the Wars at a time which saw the total breakdown of society, and a type of mass alienation from all perspectives of 'normality'. In place of rational thinking, which appeared to have failed, the Surrealists proposed a new dimension of phantasy. In the First Surrealist Manifesto, issued by Andre Breton in 1924, he explained why he believed in the omnipotence of the dream. He considered that dreams were not only a reflection of life, but ultimately a valid visual representation of reality, since their structure was unimpeded by rational processes. They thus offered a newr freedom. They also constituted a commentary on man's inner being, which was felt increasingly to be more real than his outer social degradation. The Surrealists are not readily structured, although some preferred to give emphasis to abstract techniques of painting while others painted with the meticulous detail of the living dream. Wolfgang Paalen, an Austrian who lived for a time in Mexico and who invented a technique known as 'fumage', was one of these. He would hold canvases freshly coated with oil paint above a candle so that the smoke would trace eerie random patterns in the wet paint. He then overlaid these images with surreal, supranormal detail, as in his wrork 'Conflict of the 189

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-44

OCCULT ART

Principles of Darkness'. Paalen was very absorbed in the Tarot, and also fused animistic Mayen influences into his paintings. Max Ernst developed a similarly suggestive technique known as 'frottage'. He would rub lightly with a pencil upon sheets of paper placed on his floorboards, thus.allowing the uneven surface to come through on his paper as a texture. When Ernst looked carefully at his frottages he found a mystical process coming into play: 'When gazing at these drawings', he writes, 'I was surprised at the sudden intensification of my visionary faculties and at the hallucinatory succession of contradictory images being superimposed on each other. . . .' Within the more representational category we find the confessed black magician Felix Labisse, whose painted figures were often a macabre combination of animal, vegetable and human forms. But like all occultists, he knew the power of transformation and that on a subconscious level, anything which the magician could imagine, could happen. As an artist, he felt obliged to convey this opinion in his paintings. Similarly, Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte, while both employing imagery of a familiar kind, created a strange nightmarish quality by the counterbalancing of objects taken out of their normal context. Magritte overcomes reality by representing images in combinations which defy reality. A mermaid with the head of a fish and the legs of a woman lies hopelessly cast up upon a beach; a succulent green apple fills a room; plants which are also birds grow upon a rocky mountain top. The Surrealists offered a new means for observing the universe which allowed almost anything to occur. This in itself constituted a potentially occult basis on which ensuing art could build. Outside the mainstream of modern art, however, there have been some interesting offshoots. In at least three important instances, the relationship of art to trance, mysticism or the occult was even more developed. The first major English surrealist was Austin Osman Spare (i888-1956) - in fact his work precedes the European School by about a decade. Spare won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art when he was only sixteen, a sign of his remarkable draughtsmanship. His early illustrations, for books like Ethel Wheeler's Behind the Veil (1906) and a book on aphorisms entitled The Starlit Mire (1911) were fairly orthodox, but Spare meanwhile was training as an occultist as well as an artist. It is thought that around 1910 Spare joined Aleister Crowley's occult Order, the Argentinum Astrum, and he now sought a new mystical direction in his art. He came to see man as alienated from the cause of all Being, which he called Kia, and he considered that man's role was to learn how to open himself to its creative energies and life processes. In his remarkable work 190

OCCULT ART

The Book of Pleasure {Self Love): The Philosophy of Ecstasy (1913) there were some important new concepts. Spare, by now, had developed a theory of sigils which were symbols said to express the human will in a concentrated form. These sigils would express a command which Spare would make, in effect, to his subconscious while in a state of trance or ecstasy. He hoped, then, that he would have enhanced access to the subconscious with all its imagery, and that he would be able to open himself totally to its potential. Spare, like most occultists, believed in reincarnation, and he held that his earlier personalities were also lurking deep in his mind. In the trance state, which he interestingly called 'The Death Posture' he would try to summon these half-man, half-animal forms, and identify with them as earlier facets of his own existence. Spare felt that if he retrogressed far enough, he would rediscover all his personalities, and finally reach the Primal Cause of all. The work of Austin Spare is a forceful reminder that an occultist who totally surrenders himself tends to become obsessed by the imagery of his subconscious. Many of Spare's paintings contain swirling, atavistic imagery, and there is also an inherent animal sexuality in much of his work. Nevertheless, it does represent a merging of trance occultism and art. Australia offers two other blendings of art and the occult. The first of these is represented by the work of the self-confessed witch Rosaleen Norton, whose paintings continued the tradition of Norman Lindsay with a marked swing towards black magic imagery. Norton was familiar with the writings of the Surrealist occultist Kurt Seligmann, and also the magical theories of Dion Fortune (who called herself the Black Isis), Aleister Crowley and Eliphas Levi. In her work she detailed many of the so-called Qlippoth, the images of the 'black' or negative Tree of Life. Like Spare she appears to have sometimes used a tantric or sexual technique to attain visionary ecstasy for she says in the commentary to her monograph that 'Kundalini, who sometimes assumes the shape of a serpent, is my most powerful familiar . . .' (p. 74). For her, the power of the orgasm was an inroad to occult consciousness. The other Australian was Victor Angel, who began his career as a commercial artist. Angel had no especial talents and was responsible for some thoroughly mediocre landscapes. However, at the age of twenty-seven, he felt that he was becoming possessed by a spiritual force which urged him to adopt a new approach to his painting. Like Spare, Angel summoned the Presence by means of a sigil, or symbol, which he would hold in his mind. He then became able in a clairvoyant state to perceive remarkable mythological imagery hovering above his blank paper. Spare, who worked in gouache, claimed no credit for these works, for he said that he merely filled 192

OCCULT ART

in the detail that was made supernaturally available to him. Spare's visionary work resembles William Blake to some extent, although there are also Renaissance influences as well. In his case, the marked contrast between the artist's natural ability and his later occult sensitivity present an interesting and perhaps unique phenomenon. However, in addition, Angel's paintings reveal a pronounced Qabalistic content, and may be accurately correlated with the energies and symbolic colours of the Tree of Life. Angel himself had no knowledge of the Qabalah. One of his works he spontaneously titled The Tree of Life', while ignorant of the fact that this title was a central motif in the Jewish mysteries. More recently in the United States, particularly since the psychedelic phase when hallucinatory drugs provided new access into the occult regions of the mind, a new pattern of cosmic art has emerged. Especially interesting are the mandalas of Jose and Miriam Arguelles, Dion Wright and Roberto Matiello. The work of Abdul Mati Klarwein has also attracted considerable attention, partly because his psychedelic illustrations have appeared on the covers of several of xMiles Davis's jazz album covers. His work is vivid and tantric and like that of Spare shows both a Qabalistic leaning, and also a marked sexuality. SOURCEBOOKS JOHN MILNER: Symbolists and Decadents, Studio Vista, London, 1971. A short, concise account of the Symbolist school of art, popular in France, Germany, Austria and England in the 1880s. Contains interesting references to figures like Sar Peladan, the 'Rosicrucian' writer/art critic/ occultist, Eliphas Levi and other fashionables of the period. General books on Surrealism, and specific artists of the period, include:

SOREN ALEXANDRIAN: Surrealist Art, Thames & Hudson, London, 1970. MAURICE NADEAU: A History of Surrealism, Cape, London, 1968 and Penguin,

1973JOHN RUSSELL: Max Ernst, Thames & Hudson, London, and Abrams, New York, 1967. PATRICK WALDBERG: Surrealism, Thames & Hudson, London, 1965. DAVID LARKIN (ed.): The Fantastic Kingdom, Fantastic Art, Salvador Dali, Pan Books, London, and Ballantine, New York 1973-4. Larkin's books are strongly recommended as excellent visual surveys of the surrealist and phantasy elements in modern art and book illustration. KENNETH GRANT: Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare, Muller, London, 1974MULLER, The Magical Revival, London, 1972. Grant knew Spare personally, and became his literary executor on the artist's death in 1956. Grant is himself the head of the OTO in England, a tantric group, and he tends to overstress this aspect in his analysis. 193

OCCULT ART

Nevertheless, Grant is the undisputed authority on Spare, and has brought together all the diverse strands of Spare's curious genius, in his long-awaited new volume on the artist. AUSTIN o. SPARE: A Book ofAutomatic Drawings, Catalpa Press, London 1973 (limited edition 1000 copies). An anthology of Spare's free-form automatic drawings c. 1925. These show macabre occult elements, but already his draughtsmanship had been seriously eroded by his obsessive influences. Spare's best work is contained in his The Book of Pleasure, which has been republished by 93 Publishing Co., Montreal, 1975. NEVILL DRURY and STEPHEN SKINNER: The Search for Abraxas, Spearman, London, 1972. Includes a chapter on Austin Spare and his method of formulating 'sigils'. Also details of the relationship of surrealist painting to the Qabalistic Tree of Life. WALTER GLOVER: The Art ofRosaleen Norton, Sydney 1952 (limited edition 1000 copies). Scarce, but the only volume of Norton's work, with notes on some of the chief demonic influences, and poems by Gavin Greenlees. BARRIE NEVILLE: 'The Trance Art of Victor Angel', in N. Drury (ed.), Frontiers of Consciousness, Greenhouse Press, Melbourne, 1975. A major account of Angel's background, and a detailed analysis of the Qabalistic content of his trance paintings.

JOSE AND MIRIAM ARGUELLES: Mandala, Shambala, Berkeley and London, 1972.

Milk TV' Honey, Harmony Books, New York, 1973. God Jokes, Harmony Books, New York, 1977. The above volumes contain some of the most remarkable cosmic and psychedelic art yet to appear. PAUL WALDO-SCHWARTZ : Art ant the Occult, Braziller, New York, 1975, Allen & Unwin, London, 1975. An interesting overview of the fusion between occultism and modern art, including references to occultists like Aleister Crowley. Limited unfortunately by its omission of the contemporary phantasy illustrators and psychedelic artists. ABDUL MATI KLARWEIN: ABDUL MATI KLARWEIN:

NEVILL DRURY: The Textures of Vision: Explorations in Alagical Consciousness,

Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, forthcoming. A study of the major surrealists, psychedelic artists and phantasy illustrators including those with major mythological or magical impact such as Ernst, Magritte, Lam, Dali, Satty, Klarwein, Dean, Giger, Vandenberg and Johfra. Also includes a detailed analysis of the mythology of the Tarot.

194

Part

2 Who's (Uho in the Occult

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-45

Ulhos Ulho in the Occult

CORNELIUS AGRIPPA (1486—1535)

Henry Cornelius Agrippa Von Nettesheims was born of noble parentage in Cologne. From an early age he showed that he had a flair for languages and the classics. Agrippa became an attendant to Maximilian I and later entered the German secret service, spying on the French while studying at Paris University. But it was here that he also encountered mystics and Rosicrucians and became vitally interested in the Qabalah and Hermeticism. His famous work De Occulta Philosopha was very influential in its day as a key magical text and deals especially with divine names, natural magic and cosmology. Rumour has it that Agrippa possessed a magic mirror in which he could divine future events and his familiar, a large black dog, was said to follow him wherever he went. ROLLO AHMED

An Egyptian magician and author living in England, associated with Aleister Crowley (qv) and Dennis Wheatley (qv), he was raised in Guiana (West Indies) and became involved in black magic in England, eventually rejecting it and establishing himself as an authority on the occult. He is the author of The Black Art (John Long, London, 1936), which has been reprinted several times, and remains of considerable interest. Ahmed, who is especially interested in Raja Yoga, has travelled widely throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and South America studying religion and the occult. ALBERTUS MAGNUS ( 1 2 0 5 - 8 0 )

Albertus was born in the town of Larvigen on the Danube. Regarded by his contemporaries as a major alchemist and theologian, he attributed much of his vitality to visionary inspiration from the Virgin Mary. He became Bishop of Ratisbon, but was not an orthodox cleric. Some of his colleagues whispered among themselves that he communicated with the devil, and he 197

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328688-46

W H O ' S WHO I N THE OCCULT

himself claimed to have magic control over the weather. He is best known as an adept who discovered the Philosopher's Stone, and states in his work De Rebus Metallis et Miner alibus that he had conducted tests on alchemical gold. Several other books on magic, love philtres and curious superstitions have been wrongly ascribed to him. KENNETH ANGER

An American underground film-maker who was involved in the occult in the United States, and was inspired by his involvement to make the film Lord Shiva's Dream, an occult psychedelic spectacular, the initials of which form LSD. He was also involved in the original magical group run by Anton La Vey which eventually developed into the Church of Satan. Anger's films are bizarre, difficult to understand and embody a wide range of elements of sexuality, violence, magic and the occult, drugs, rock culture and all manner of obsessive images. At one stage Anger proclaimed himself a member of Crowley's Thelema cult. His films have included: Invocation for my Brother Demon, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Fireworks, Heatwave or Devil in Disguise. Anger was in part responsible for the uncovering of the erotic paintings in the Abbey of Thelema, in Sicily, remaining from the time of Crowley's occupation. GEORGE ARUNDALE (1878-1945)

An English theosophist and associate of Annie Besant (qv) and Charles Leadbeater (qv), Arundale joined the Theosophical Society in 1895, and in 1903 went to India as Professor of History at the Central Hindu College, being elected Principal in 1909. He resigned in 1913 to become tutor to Krishnamurti (qv). He returned to India in 1917 and supported Mrs Besant in her campaign for home rule. He rapidly rose in the ranks of the TS and eventually became President in 1934. SRI AUROBINDO (1872-1950)

An Indian mystic, philosopher and poet. His philosophy, known as 'integral yoga' is being followed by many converts throughout the world, and is said to be the beginning of a new world religion. He began his career with a classics degree from Cambridge, and returning to India became the leader of the extremist faction of the nationalists, advocating armed revolt, and was eventually jailed. Turning from politics to mysticism, he studied the traditional forms of yoga, and eventually synthesized them into his new philosophy of puma (integral) yoga. He developed a community of his disciples at Pondicherry, and after his death the community built a new city, Auroville, on the Bay of Bengal, which is intended to be a self198

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

sufficient city state based entirely on his principles. Mira Richard, the wife of a French diplomat who met Aurobindo in 1914, took over the leadership after his death, supervising the building of Auroville, and founding the Sri Aurobindo Society in i960. She died in 1974 at the age of ninety-five, but the community has continued to grow. MARCUS BACH

An American psychic researcher and author, and authority on comparative religion. He heads the Foundation for Spiritual Understanding and is a leader of the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship. He was previously a professor of comparative religion at the University of Iowa. He has written numerous books, including They Found a Faith, Will to Believe, Strange Altars and The Inner Ecstasy. ALICE BAILEY (1880-1949)

An English writer on theosophy and mysticism, who founded the 'Arcane School'. After a period of activity in the Theosophical Society, she left to pursue an independent course. Believing she had contacted several 'Masters' on the inner planes, Mrs Bailey was a prolific author, many of her books deriving their ideas, so she said, from these Masters. After her death in 1949 her organization was carried on by her husband. Today the twenty-four volumes of her writings are published by the Lucis Publishing Companies in the United States, England and Switzerland, and her teachings are perpetuated by The Arcane School which she founded in 1923, and which is conducted throughout the wrorld by correspondence. Several other organizations - including 'Triangles' and 'World Goodwill' exist to carry on various aspects of her wrork. Her Unfinished Autobiography was published in 1951. FRANZ BARDON

Little known outside specialist occult circles, Austrian writer and magician, Franz Bardon has authored three important books Initiation into Hermetics, The Practice of Magical Evocation, and The Key to the True Quabalah. Bar don's work has the same pragmatic stamp as Aleister Crowley's, and his second book contains the magical sigils and descriptions of the entire pantheon of spirits and elementals of the astral world. FRANCIS BARRETT

Apart from the possibility that Francis Barrett may have been connected with Bulwer-Lytton, who was himself an initiate and occultist, little is known of Barrett's life and magical interests. In 1801 he published The 199

WHO'S WHO IN THE OCCULT

Magus, complete with illustrations of devils like Theulus and Asmodeus, which was described as 'The Celestial Intelligencer', being a complete system of occult philosophy. His work encompasses the symbolism of magical stones, numerology, alchemy and Qabalistic magic. ALAN BENNETT (1872-1923)

Bennett, known in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn as Frater Iehi Aour, was none other than Aleister Crowley's tutor in the magical arts. Bennett was originally absorbed in ceremonial magic, and wrote the powerful evocation of Taphthartharath, used for manifesting a spirit of Mercury into visible appearance. He also compiled part of the exhaustive magical reference system y-jj which was later published by Crowley. Eventually Bennett tired of magic, and in 1900 he left England for Ceylon where he became a worshipper of Shiva, and assumed the title Bhikku Ananda Metteya. Later he joined a Buddhist monastery in Burma. PIERRE BERNARD

Known as 'Oom the Omnipotent', Bernard was probably the first person to introduce the teachings of Tantric sex magic to the West publicly. He began teaching Hatha Yoga in the USA in 1909 at his own 'New York Sanskrit College', where the first of a series of sexual charges was made against him by young girls under his tuition. After marrying a vaudeville dancer, he developed a system combining Hatha Yoga, dancing and Tantra Yoga, which he called a 'Tantric health system'. Bernard acquired a number of very wealthy disciples, founded the Sacred Order of Tantriks, and opened the 'Brae Burn Club', an occult college in New Jersey, where he performed a variety of strange rituals.

ANNIE BESANT (1847-1933)

An English Theosophist and social reformer, who became the second President of the Theosophical Society in 1891. She was actively involved in various social movements throughout her life, ranging from feminist causes and the advocacy of birth control, to the Fabian Society, Home Rule for India and the Boy Scout movement. Having been an outspoken atheist, she was converted to the Theosophical view by Madame Blavatsky (qv) in 1889, and rapidly rose in the Society, achieving a widespread reputation as a lecturer and author. She was closely associated with Charles Leadbeater (qv) in the sponsoring of Jiddu Krishnamurti (qv) as the new world teacher, and was involved in the Order of the Star in the East which propagated that claim. Dr Besant was also a leader of the Co-Masonic movement, a group of Freemasons originating in France and admitting 200

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

women as well as men. She wrote prolifically, her most important Theosophical work being The Ancient Wisdom (1897), a summary of Theosophy. She also wrote widely on other subjects, and published her Autobiography in 1893. Cf. The First Five Lives of Annie Besant and The Last Four Lives of Annie Besant, both by A. H. Nethercott. ALGERNON BLACKWOOD ( 1 8 6 9 - 1 9 5 9 )

Blackwood grew up in the Black Forest and later attended Edinburgh University. A one-time member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Blackwood was a journalist for the New York Times, and later wrote occult and mystical short stories with an authentic flair. Among his most significant magical anthologies zrejfohn Silence (1922); Selected Tales (1943) and Paris Garden (1914). HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY

(1831-91)

A Russian mystic and adventuress, who founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. After a life of adventure and travel, she claimed to have been contacted by 'Mahatmas', or 'Masters', who inspired her to found the Society, and to write several books laying the foundations of Theosophy. She also claimed these Masters helped her to perform supernatural events; others claimed these were the result of trickery. Her main works were his Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888), and she also wrote a series of smaller books. Probably more than any other figure, this enigmatical and mysterious woman has influenced contemporary occultism, albeit in indirect ways; there is no doubt that she wras a powerful medium, and possessed psychic powers. She sought to synthesize Eastern and Western philosophy and religion, and science and religion, but her rather ponderous style and the incredible detail of her two main books makes their analysis extremely difficult. Madame Blavatsky was involved in a number of other occult movements, including an unorthodox branch of Freemasonry. Cf. Madame Blavatsky: Medium and Magician by John Symonds. ELEANOR BONE

Together with Patricia Crowther (qv) and Monique Wilson, Mrs Bone was one of the heirs to the estate of Gerald Gardner (qv). She has obtained a considerable amount of press publicity, and claimed to be a spokesman for the witchcraft movement. Her husband, Raymond Bone, shares her witchcraft interests. ISAAC BONEWITS

Awarded a degree in magic from UCLA, Bonewits claims to be the first 201

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

'academically accredited magician'. He is the author of Real Magic, and the founder of the Aquarian Anti-Defamation League in the USA. He is currently the associate editor of the American occult magazine Gnostica News. RAYMOND BUCKLAND

An American witch, who operates a coven in Long Island with his wife, having joined the Gardnerian tradition of witchcraft after corresponding with Gerald Gardner (qv) and joining one of his covens. They now claim the leadership of eighteen American covens and operate a witchcraft museum. Buckland claims a degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and is often stated to be an anthropologist, although he reportedly works as a travel brochure editor for an airline. He is the author of a number of books on witchcraft, including Witchcraft from the Inside and Practical Candle Burning. EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON ( 1 8 0 3 - 7 3 )

Best known for his book The Last Days of Pompeii, the once popular Bulwer-Lytton considered his most significant books to be those with a strong occult theme. These included Zanoni, a novel modelled on the Comte de Saint Germain, and A Strange Story. He studied at Cambridge, and on several occasions entertained the French magician Eliphas Levi at Knebworth, his family residence. Bulwer-Lytton was at one time the honorary Grand Patron of the Societies Rosicruciana in Anglia, a predecessor of the Golden Dawn. It is said that he and Levi exchanged magical secrets, and Bishop Wedgwood of the Liberal Catholic Church believed that Bulwer-Lytton was one of a long line of Rosicrucian initiates. W. E. BUTLER

A leading English authority on magic and the occult, who trained as a member of Dion Fortune's (qv) 'Fraternity of the Inner Light', and also under the English psychic, Robert King. Butler has written extensively on the Western magical tradition, and acquired a reputation as a highly skilled lecturer and teacher. His books include: Magic, its ritual, purpose and power, The Magician, his training and work, Apprenticed to Magic, Magic and the Qabalah. He has established a magical school, 'The Servants of the Light' which offers an extremely good correspondence course in magic and the Qabalah. ALESSANDRO DI CAGLIOSTRO ( 1 7 4 3 - 9 5 )

Regarded by Carlyle as 'The Prince of Quacks', Cagliostro, whose real 202

W H O ' S W H O IN THE OCCULT

name was Guiseppe Balsamo, was a traveller and something of an occult poseur. One of Cagliostro's early trickeries was to dupe a superstitious goldsmith named Marano over some hidden treasures which could be located by ceremonial magic. He escaped to Messina, where he met a mysterious, eccentric occultist named Althotas, who claimed to be a magician of natural law and an alchemist. They travelled together to Alexandria and Rhodes and later pursued further alchemical experiments with Grand-master Pinto on Malta. Pinto's sponsorship allowed the Count Cagliostro, as he was now known, to live in wealth and, returning to Italy, he married Lorenza Feliciani, whose father was dazzled by Cagliostro's opulence. Their stormy marriage took them to Madrid, Lisbon, London, and eventually Paris. Cagliostro gained something of a reputation as an alchemist in the courts of Europe at a time when princes and kings were keen to keep extra gold in their coffers. He later returned to London and was initiated into Freemasonry, subsequently making the acquaintance of the legendary Comte de Saint Germain. Cagliostro was infatuated with the Egyptian origins of Freemasonry, however, and he continued travelling around Europe as an occultist and resident magician-cum-faith healer. He was quite often paid as much as ioo louis for his consultations. Subsequently Cagliostro became involved in the famous Diamond Necklace affair, and was eventually charged by Mme de Lamotte of conspiring to steal the necklace. He succeeded in enticing the judges with his eloquence and was discharged. But his luck ran out in Rome when he was arrested on the grounds that Masonry was a heresy. His life sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Pope in 1791, and Cagliostro spent the rest of his years in the Castle of San Leo near Montefeltro. ALEXANDER CANNON

A highly qualified physician and scientist who developed an interest in magic, the occult and psychic phenomena whilst travelling in India, and became an author and student of psychiatry and hypnosis. He produced a number of odd inventions, including a high power 400,000 volt static electricity machine for de-possessing people, a psychograph or thoughtreading machine and a 'Hypnoscope'. His books include The Invisible Influence and Powers that Be. PAUL FOSTER CASE (d. 1954)

An American occultist and magician who founded the 'Builders of the Adytum', centred in California and deriving from the traditions of the Order of the Golden Dawn, and which was centred largely on the Tarot Cards. Case was the author of several books on this subject including 203

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

Highlights of the Tarot; The Tarot and The Book of Tokens. He claimed to have been the head of the Order of the Golden Dawn for the United States and to have received personal revelations from the Masters who constituted the 'Inner School' of that Order. The BOTA has its Temple in Los Angeles and operates largely by correspondence lessons. Its present Head is Dr Ann Davies, who succeeded Case when, so the BOTA says, he 'graduated to the Inner School'. CARLOS CASTANEDA ( 1 9 2 5 -

)

While studying at the University of California, Carlos Castaneda made the acquaintance of an old Yaqui Indian named Don Juan Matus. Don Juan allowed Castaneda to become his pupil in shamanism and sorcery, and Castaneda's books are a remarkably lucid account of Don Juan's ritual practices and philosophy of perception. Castaneda's first book The Teachings of Don Juan (1968) attracted considerable attention among the American sub-culture, partly because of its vivid descriptions of hallucinogenic states of awareness. Castaneda describes how he transformed into a crow and flew through the air, in a manner reminiscent of the classical Greek shaman Aristeas of Proconnesus. Castaneda now regards his apprenticeship in sorcery as most significantly providing a new vision for perceiving the ordinary world. His other books include A Separate Reality, Journey to Ixtlan, Tales of Power and The Second Ring of Power. They represent perhaps one of the most significant encounters of alien intellects in the history of anthropology. RICHARD CAVENDISH (193O-

)

A leading authority on magic and witchcraft, Cavendish was educated at Oxford, and has written and lectured extensively. He is the author of The Black Arts, a study of black magic, and the editor of the encyclopedia Man, Myth and Magic. EDGAR CAYCE (1877-1945)

An American psychic and healer, born in Kentucky and the son of a farmer, Cayce received a limited education, but found later in his life he could go into a trance and diagnose other people's illness, and prescribe treatment. He also claimed to be able to describe former incarnations, and thus came to hold, contrary to his religious upbringing, the theory of reincarnation. His readings, given while in a trance, have been recorded and kept, and in 1931 the Association for Research and Enlightenment was formed to collate and utilize them. Although Cayce wrote comparatively little himself, numerous volumes have been written about him, and compiled from his readings. Cf. J. Millard, Edgar Cayce, Man of Miracles and J. Stearn, Edgar Cayce - The Sleeping Prophet. 204

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT 'CHEIRO'

Count Louis Harmon, one of the world's most famous palmists and occultists, who achieved a reputation amongst the rich and the notable who flocked to him for readings. His reputation was enhanced by his prolific writing, and his books include: You and Your Hand, Language of the Hand, and his memoirs, Confessions of a Modern Seer. R. SWINBURNE CLYMER

An American occultist who claimed to have succeeded P. B. Randolph (qv), and operated a number of allegedly Rosicrucian organizations in the USA. He headed a range of groups including 'The Sons of Isis and Osiris', T h e College of the Holy Grail', 'The Church of the Illumination' and 'The Rosicrucian Fraternity'. Clymer had a puritanical attitude towards sexual matters and fervently denied all claims that Randolph had taught sexual magic. His main books are The Philosophy of Fire, A Compendium of Occult Laws, Ancient Mystical Oriental Masonry and Mysteries of Osiris. ALEISTER CROWLEY ( 1 8 7 5 - 1 9 4 7 )

Probably the most famous occultist of the twentieth century, self-styled 'The Great Beast'. He was the author of numerous key works on magic, including Magick in Theory and Practice (1929) and The Book of Thoth (1944). See also pp. 82-7. PATRICIA CROWTHER

An English witch, who with Eleanor Bone (qv) and Monique Wilson, was heir to the estate of Gerald Gardner (qv). She has received a considerable amount of publicity as the result of her witchcraft activity. She published her autobiography, Witch bloodin 1974. LOUIS T. CULLING

An American magician, who was originally a member of the GBG (said to stand for various titles, including the 'Great Brotherhood of God'), led by C. F. Russell, a disciple of Crowley (qv), but who eventually left that body, of which he had become 'Neighbourhood Primate', for the San Diego Lodge (1937). Until his recent death. Culling continued to operate at least one lodge in the traditions of the GBG, practising a variety of sexual magic, somewhat in accordance with the traditions of the Ordo Templi Orientis and Crowley's own teachings. Culling has published a number of books, including The Complete Magickal Curriculum of the Secret Order G.B.G. (1969), The Incredible I Ching and A Manual of Sex Magick. 20 s

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT SIR FRANCIS DASHWOOD ( 1 7 0 8 - 8 1 )

Dashwood, one time Chancellor of the Exchequer, is best known for his notorious 'Hell-Fire' club, at Medmenham Abbey in Buckinghamshire. His monks and nuns travelled by boat to the abbey and made use of a series of underground passages beneath the Abbey that were supposed to imitate the entrance to Hell. Mostly the rituals were a sexual orgy combining drunken revelry with a parody of the Mass. Dashwood's 'Hell-Fire' caverns still exist and are open to the public. ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS ( 1 8 2 6 - 1 9 1 0 )

Known as the 'seer of Poughkeepsie' Davis was an American psychic and healer. He was heavily influenced both by Swedenborg and Mesmerism (qv), and wrote extensively on the basis of his clairvoyant visions, becoming one of the leading theorists of the young American spiritualist movement. His main work was The Principles of Nature (1847) in which he presented his peculiar cosmology, mixed with mysticism and socialist politics. DR JOHN DEE (1527-1608)

Classical scholar, philosopher, mathematician and astrologer, John Dee began his career as an academic at Cambridge and travelled widely in Europe. Following a meeting with one Jerome Cardan in England in 1552, he became interested in the conjuration of spirits, and when Elizabeth I came to the throne, he was invited to calculate the most beneficial astrological date for her coronation. Dee again travelled extensively on the Continent - visiting Antwerp, Zurich and Venice. His magical career really begins however, in 1581, when he met Edward Kelley, who was both a medium and a 'skryer', that is, one who can communicate with angels and spirits. Kelley, who is said to have had his ears cropped on account of committing forgery, possessed an alchemical manuscript and Dee was especially interested in Kelley's alchemical secrets. Dee and Kelley made use of wax tablets (called 'almadels') engraved with magical symbols and the sacred names of God. The tablet for a given invocation was to be laid between four candles, and it was then that an angel would appear. Eventually the angels began to dictate the types of magical equipment to be used, and in 1582 Edward Kelley began to receive messages in a new angelic language called Enochian. These Enochian communications were calls from the angels of the Thirty Aethyrs, and were later tested ceremonially by Aleister Crowley and Victor Neuburg with surprising results. A dictionary of Enochian was recently published in the United States by Israel Regardie. 206

W H O ' S W H O IN THE OCCULT JEANE DIXON

An American psychic who has achieved a great deal of publicity for her predictions regarding national and international events, she is a practising Catholic and a regular church attender. She claims to have predicted the assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy. While she has accurately predicted a number of worldwide events, and even more of importance in the United States she has made an even larger number of predictions which have simply never been fulfilled. In addition to simply 'feeling' events will occur, Mrs Dixon uses cards, a crystal ball, astrology and numerology as methods of divination. She has written of her own history in My Life and Prophecies (1970) and Ruth Montgomery has published a study of her, A Gift of Prophecy (1966). HARRY EDWARDS ( 1 8 9 3 -

)

A British Spiritualist and healer who has acquired world-wide fame in the course of many years healing work, beginning in the 1930s. He has claimed to cure even 'incurable' diseases, both through direct and absent healing, centred in his 'Sanctuary' at Shere, Surrey, England. He said this healing was accomplished through the controls of several Red Indians, Pasteur and Lord Lister. He has published a number of books on spiritualist healing, including Spirit Healing (i960) and The Power of Spiritual Healing (1963). FLORENCE FARR

Actress and mistress to George Bernard Shaw, Florence Farr was introduced to magic in the Isis-Urania Temple, by W. B. Yeats. She tired of MacGregor Mathers' autocratic tendencies with the Order of the Golden Dawn, and eventually formed her own group, 'The Sphere'. Her most significant contribution to magic was perhaps a volume entitled Egyptian Magic, which relates several key Egyptian texts and invocations to the modern magical tradition. J. ARTHUR FINDLAY ( 1 8 8 3 - 1 9 6 4 )

An English spiritualist and author, founder of the Glasgow Society for Psychic Research, and co-founder of Psychic Press Ltd, which publishes Psychic News. He spent many years investigating spiritualist phenomena and wrote widely on the subject. His best known book wras On the Edge of the Etheric, which ran into sixty editions. ARTHUR FORD (d. 1971)

A well-known American spiritualist and medium, member of the American Society for Psychical Research and an ordained minister of the Disciples of 207

W H O ' S WHO I N THE OCCULT

Christ since 1923. His psychic experiences began during World War I. Although he began his career through a meeting with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it was for his association with the controversial Episcopalian clergyman, Bishop Pike, that he attained much of his fame. The Bishop consulted Ford after the death of his son, Jim, and believed Ford made contact with the young man's spirit. Pike wrote a book, The Other Side, recounting his experiences with Ford. Ford was also involved in the notable 'Houdini case' in which he claimed to have contacted the conjurer's spirit and broken the secret code which Houdini had left to test proofs of survival. Charges of fraud were levelled against him as a result, and the whole matter eventually subsided after a great deal of unpleasant publicity. Ill-health forced Ford to retire, and he died in 1971. With M. H. Bro he wrote Nothing so Strange. DION FORTUNE (189I-I946)

Dion Fortune, whose real name was Violet Firth, was born in England and grew up in a household where the teachings of Christian Science were rigorously practised. Wrhen she was twenty, she suffered a serious nervous breakdown, and as she recovered she found herself motivated to study psychology and also the occult. She joined the Theosophical Society and meanwhile took courses in psychoanalysis at London University. In 1919 she became a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn and began to write occult fiction based on her understanding of magic and the astral world. Dion Fortune came into conflict with Mrs Mathers, wife of one of the co-founders of the Order, and claims that she was subject to 'magical attack'. In 1924 she established the Society of the Inner Light with her husband Penry Evans, himself both a doctor and an occultist. In her later years, Dion Fortune was flamboyant and exotic. Kenneth Grant recalls that she 'wore rich jewels beneath a flowing cloak, and on rare occasions when she went out, a broad-rimmed hat from which her sun-glinting hair sometimes strayed and fluffed about like a golden numbus.' She died shortly after W^orld War II, leaving behind a legacy of writings, most of which present a clear common-sense approach to the occult. Her book The Mystical Qabalah is regarded by many occultists as one of the best textbooks on magic ever written. OLIVER FOX

Oliver Fox was one of the first pioneers in the area of controlled out-ofthe-body experiences, or 'astral projection'. He considered one of the best methods of projection to be the 'Dream of Knowledge', by which he meant acquiring consciousness in the dream state. His personal account of these 208

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

practices was published in the English Occult Review in 1920, and in popular book form by University Books, New York, in 1962. Dr Here ward Carrington, one of the foremost experts in this occult field considered Fox's account to be 'the only detailed, scientific and first-hand account of a series of conscious and voluntarily controlled astral projections which I have ever come across . . .'. Fox's work on out-of-the-body experiences has done much to shape the current research of parapsychologists like Dr Charles Tart (qv) of UCLA, and Celia Green (qv) of Oxford. FULCANELLI

A mysterious and semi-legendary alchemist, Fulcanelli is said to be one of the only serious researchers to pursue the magnum opus, or Philosopher's Stone, this century. In the early 1920s a French student of alchemy named Eugene Canseliet was given a manuscript by his mentor, a man now referred to as Fulcanelli. The book, The Mystery of the Cathedrals caused a sensation in esoteric circles when it was first published in Paris in 1926. Basically it expounded the alchemical symbolism carved in the decorative motifs on the Gothic cathedrals in Bourges, Amiens and Paris. Fulcanelli suddenly disappeared and for many years appeared to have vanished without any trace whatever. Canseliet claims however that years later he saw him briefly when he should have been around n o years old and 'he looked not older than I was myself (around 50). Some consider that Fulcanelli found the great alchemical secret of eternal youth, and that like Comte de Saint Germain, age appeared to be no barrier to him. GERALD BROUSSEAU GARDNER ( 1 8 8 4 - 1 9 6 4 )

An Englishman who has become known as the 'Father of modern witchcraft', Gardner spent much of his life in the Far East as a rubber planter and customs official. He was especially interested in primitive religion, magic and mythology, and on his return to England claimed to have contacted a surviving witchcraft coven in the New Forest, which he joined, and for which he subsequently became a sort of public relations officer. His first book was High Magic&s Aid, a novel about witchcraft, and this was followed by two non-fiction works, Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959), in which he claims to have revealed many of the teachings of traditional witchcraft as continued in its modern successors. Gardner was characterized by his interest in the naked body, a taste for sado-masochism and marked voyeuristic tendencies; these also characterize the witchcraft groups which derive from him. He was also involved in the Ordo Templi Orientis, and is said to have employed 209

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

Crowley (qv) to write rituals for his witchcraft movement. Gardner laid claim to several academic degrees, and spoke of himself as an anthropologist. However there is no evidence to substantiate this. Cf. Gerald Gardner: Witch by Jack Bracelin (i960). URI GELLER

Uri Geller, the young Israeli psychic, has recently become famous for his strange faculty for bending forks and stopping watches under will. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and Stanford in the United States have found his apparently magnetic faculties difficult to account for. Geller is able to produce his effects both in the laboratory and in front of large TV audiences. Geller is not merely another psychic however; he claims that his power derives from an extraterrestrial source. According to Andrija Puharich, who compiled the first biography on Geller, the ESP power comes from nine UFO entities 'whose souls have transformed into computers'. These computer beings are said to be using him as a mouthpiece until they commence an invasion of the planet, and to select him they undertook a computer analysis of the whole of mankind. The case of Uri Geller appears to contain elements of both fact and fantasy. Geller's extrasensory abilities appear to be beyond reproach, but his extraterrestrial allies seem often to reflect Geller's own nationalistic fervour and wishful thinking. This part of his account at least, seems open to question. Cf. Uri by Andrija Puharich (1974). KARL GERMER ( 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 6 2 )

German-born Karl Germer became the head of the sex magic Ordo Templi Orientis following the death of Aleister Crowley in 1947. Germer was very much a follower of Crowley and accepted his mentor's claim to be the Lord of the New Aeon. He was responsible for the publication of some of Crowley's obscure works like Magick Without Tears. While in the OTO he took the magical name of Frater Saturnus. JOAN GRANT ( 1 9 0 7 -

)

An English authoress and writer on the subject of reincarnation, who claims to be able to recall her former incarnations, an ability she refers to as 'far memory'. She has written a series of semi-fictional works recounting in detail individual previous incarnations, from the Egyptian period through to the Middle Ages, and pre-Columban America. In conjunction with Dennis Kelsey, a psychiatrist, she developed techniques of employing 'far memory' as a psychiatric technique for the diagnosis and treatment of various psychological disorders. They also developed various theories to 210

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

explain these techniques and summarized them in their joint book Many Lifetimes (1968), a study of reincarnation and the origins of mental illness. Mrs Grant has written extensively, her best known works being: Winged Pharaoh, Life as Carola, Eyes of Horus, Lord of the Horizon, Return to Elysium and So Moses mas Born - all being accounts of previous incarnations. Her autobiographical works include Time out of Mind and A Lot to Remember. KENNETH GRANT (1924-

)

Following the death of Aleister Crowley, Kenneth Grant continued as a practising devotee of Crowley's Law of Thelema and in 1955 set up his own Isis Lodge in England. Grant follows the form of magic pursued by Crowley after the latter's Egyptian initiation in 1904. Crowley claimed to be the divine offspring of the Egyptian gods Nu and Hadit, and the successor to Jesus Christ. Much of Grant's interest has its focus in sex magic - the ritual union of opposites. He is also an authority on the great trance artist-magician Austin Spare and is the author of a definitive treatise on him titled Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare (1975). WILLIAM G. GRAY

A modern ritual magician and author, whose works include The Ladder of Lights, Inner Traditions of Magic and Seasonal Occult Rituals. He is considered by Israel Regardie (qv) to be the best modern author on occult matters. CELIA GREEN

The present Director of the Institute of Psychophysical Research, Oxford, Celia Green has been largely responsible for the revival of interest among British psychologists in out-of-the-body states of consciousness, and 'lucid dreams'. The documented evidence in her book Out of the Body Experiences continued the view of pioneers like Oliver Fox and Sylvan Muldoon, that 'astral projection' was a natural function of the mind, and could be achieved at will. STANISLAS DE GUAITA ( 1 8 6 1 - 9 7 )

De Guaita, born of a distinguished Lombardy family, was one of the main figures behind the fashionable Rosicrucian revival in the salons of Paris in the 1890s. Together with Sar Peladan he founded the 'Ordre de la RoseCroix Kaballistique'. De Guaita was a published poet and a student of law, but after reading the works of Eliphas Levi he devoted himself completely to ritual and the occult. 211

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT MANLY PALMER HALL

An American author and student of the occult, he founded the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles in 1936. He is a prolific author on virtually all aspects of occultism and the esoteric tradition. His books include: The Secret Teachings of All Ages, Man, the Grand Symbol of the Mysteries, Codex Rosae Crucis and Twelve World Teachers. In all he has written thirty-five books, hundreds of articles and delivered thousands of lectures. FRANZ HARTMANN ( 1 8 3 8 - 1 9 1 2 )

A German occultist, theosophist and physician who spent many years in the United States. His books include: Magic Black and White, Occult Science and Medicine, Life of Paracelsus, Life ofjehoshua. Hartmann was the founder of the 'Order of the Esoteric Rose Croix' and was connected with Engel's 'Order of the Illuminati', and with John Yarker's masonic group. He was also involved with Reuss (qv) and another German named Klein in an occult group which eventually developed into the Ordo Templi Orientis. MAX HEINDEL (d. 1919)

The name under which Max Grashof wrote. He was a member of that group of Theosophists in the United States led by Katherine Tingley, and was heavily influenced by Rudolf Steiner (qv) (whose personal student he had been). Heindel claimed he had been initiated into the traditional Rosicrucian Order in Germany, and as a result founded the Rosicrucian Fellowship in California, and published numerous books on Rosicrucian teachings, including The Rosicrucian Cosmo-conception. He was especially interested in astrology. After his death the Fellowship, in part torn by internal quarrels, was led by his wife, Augusta Foss Heindel, who died in 1938. ADOLPH HITLER ( 1 8 8 9 - 1 9 4 5 )

It is claimed by many theorists that Hitler was deeply involved in the occult, and could have been a 'front man' for an inner occult group which actually controlled the Nazi Party. Various authors have also suggested that Hitler's power over the German people was based at least in part on his possession of occult gifts and being capable of predicting the future. There were a number of occult and magical groups operating in Germany at the time - the Order of the New Templars, the Germanen Order, the Vril Society, the Thule Group - and links with Hitler and other high-ranking officials of the Party have been established. Even the use of 212

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

the swastika, traditionally the sign of the power of light, but reversed, as in Nazi usage, to symbolize the power of darkness, suggests an occult link. Cf. Occult Reich by J. H. Brennan (1974). Also The Spear of Destiny by T. Ravenscroft (1972) and Gods and Beasts by D. Sklar (1977). HANS HOLZER

An American author and psychic researcher who has written extensively on a wide range of occult and psychic phenomena and groups. Trained as a journalist, and educated at the Universities of Vienna and Columbia, he subsequently specialized in investigating and writing about psychic subjects, ESP and healing. Additionally, he has narrated several film documentaries. His best known books include ESP and You, The Truth about Witchcraft, Psychic Photography: Threshold of a New Science and The New Pagans. HARRY HOUDINI (1874-1926)

The famous stage magician and escape artist who, being highly critical of spiritualism, took part in a number of investigations of alleged 'phenomena'. Prior to his death he made a secret pact with his wife to try to return and communicate a message to her in code; she attended a number of seances in the hope of receiving the appropriate message, and in 1929 it was claimed she had received it via the mediumship of Arthur Ford (qv). This was followed by claims and counter-claims of fraud, and the matter was never satisfactorily resolved. It has been suggested that Houdini was unconsciously possessed of psychic powers and that some of the more difficult feats he managed on stage were thereby made possible. He, needless to say, fervently denied this. He wrote extensively on his exposures of spiritualists; see his Miracle Mongers and their Methods (1920). Cf. Houdini: The Untold Story by M. Christopher (1969). LAFAYETTE RONALD HUBBARD (19H-

)

The founder and leader of the Scientology movement and author of numerous books on that subject. Hubbard began his career as a science fiction author, but eventually discovered a technique which he called 'Dianetics', later developing an additional philosophy called 'Scientology', and establishing a movement, which eventually spread throughout the world, to propagate both. Hubbard claims to possess a wide range of extrasensory powers and through these says he gained the information used in dianetics and Scientology, including details of the reincarnational history of man, the 213

W H O ' S WHO I N THE OCCULT

nature of mental illness, its causes and treatment, and the development of vastly increased intellectual powers. Hubbard now says he has relinquished the leadership of Scientology, and continues his research cruising the world on his ship. Hubbard was involved with the Ordo Templi Orientis, and worked with one of Crowley's (qv) disciples, named Parsons, in 1945, and many of his techniques derive from those influences. Hubbard's books include: Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, History of Man, Creation of Human Ability, Axioms and Logic, Introduction to Scientology Ethics. For an inside, and critical view of Hubbard and Scientology, see The Mind Benders by C. Vosper (1971). LOUISE HUEBNER

An American witch who achieved widespread publicity as 'The Official Witch of Los Angeles County', a title she was given as part of a publicity campaign in which she cast a spell to increase the sexual vitality of Los Angeles. She claims to possess her witchcraft as an inheritance of six generations of witches. She does radio programmes on the subject, writes a weekly column for numerous newspapers, casts horoscopes and does psychic readings. Mrs Huebner has published a book Power through Witchcraft, and has made a long-playing record, Seduction through Witchcraft. J.-K. HUYSMANS

Decadent French novelist J.-K. Huysmans acquired an immediate reputation in Paris for his indulgent A Rebours, but he is best known in the occult for his later work La Bas, which contains a detailed account of a Black Mass. Huysmans was fascinated by the career of the French satanist Gilles de Rais who prior to his involvement in the black arts had been Marshal of France. De Rais committed some hideous crimes under satanic influence and much of Huysmans' novel is built around these events. Dr Johannes, another figure in La Bas, was based on Abbe Boullan, an unorthodox exorcist of evil spirits, who was at one time accused of child sacrifice. Huysmans came to know Boullan during a magical feud between the Abbe and Stanislas de Guaita. Consequently his writing is highly authentic in its description of the occult developments of the period. ALLEN KARDEK (1804-69)

The pseudonym of Hyppolyte Leon Denizard Rivail, a French spiritualist and physician, who has had great influence on the spiritualist movement (generally known as 'spiritism') in South America, where his books are used as textbooks for mediumistic and healing work. In Europe they have 214

W H O ' S W H O IN THE OCCULT

generally been ignored. Rivail chose the name 'Kardek' after being informed by a spirit messenger that in a previous incarnation he had been a Druid of that name. His books are: The Book of Mediums, The Book of the Spirits and The Gospels According to Spiritism. An account of his teachings and his influence on modern spiritism is given in Drum and Candle by D. St Clair (1971). KARL KELLNER

While travelling through India and the Middle East in 1896 Karl Kellner, a German business man, claimed to come into contact with three adepts, two of whom were Arabs and the other a Hindu. It was on the basis of the sexual-yogic techniques that he learnt from them, that he decided to establish an occult society. Kellner believed that the Knights Templar had been the guardians of secret sexual rights, and so he named his new society, the Order of the Oriental Templars, now known as the OTO. Later members of the OTO included Aleister Crowley and Kenneth Grant. FRANCIS KING

In recent years Francis King has taken over A. E. Waite's role of fifty years ago, namely to document the growth and development of the occult traditions in modern society. Whereas Waite dealt mostly with the Qabalistic, Rosicrucian and Masonic influences leading up to the Golden Dawn, King has specialized in the more contemporary groups like the OTO, the Order of the Cubical Stone and the Stella Matutina. His books include Ritual Magic in England, Crowley on Christ and The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. SEMYON DAVIDOVICH KIRLIAN

A Russian electrical technician who has developed the techniques now known as 'Kirlian photography' for photographing aura and energy fields, which are now being investigated at some of the Soviet Union's most advanced research centres. Kirlian is assisted by his wife, Valentina. Their researches confirm much of the traditional teaching of occultism concerning the aura. Cf. Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain by S. Ostrander and L. Schroder (1973). GARETH KNIGHT

The pseudonym of an English author and magician, whose works include A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism (2 volumes), Occult Exercises and Practices and The Practice of Ritual Magic. He was previously associated with W. E. Butler (qv) who was responsible for operating a correspondence course on the practical Qabalah, administered by the Helios Book Service 215

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

in England. He now operates a course of his own, entitled 'The Gareth Knight Course on Christian Qabalistic Magic'. Like Butler, he received his own training in the Fraternity of the Inner Light Operated by Dion Fortune (qv). JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI (1895—

)

An Indian mystic, philosopher and author, who first came into prominence when he was claimed to be the vehicle for the manifestation of a World Teacher by a number of Theosophists, including Annie Besant (qv) and Charles Leadbeater (qv). Dr Besant gained guardianship of the boy and his brother and they were both educated by Leadbeater, Arundale (qv) and herself. Krishnamurti's father launched an unsuccessful legal attempt to regain custody of his son, claiming that, because of alleged homosexual offences, Leadbeater was unfit to have guardianship. An organization, The Order of the Star in the East, was established to prepare for the forthcoming manifestation of the Christ in Krishnamurti. However, he eventually renounced such claims in 1929, and the Order was disbanded. The Theosophists lost thousands of members as a result of the failure of the manifestation to occur. Krishnamurti established himself as a philosopher and author in his own right, and has spent the rest of his career touring the world lecturing. He has published numerous books, and the texts of most of his addresses have been published verbatim. A Krishnamurti Foundation exists to administer his work. His books include: Commentaries on Living, The First and Last Freedom, The Impossible Question, You are the World and The Urgency of Change. ANTON SZANDOR LA VEY

The founder and leader of the Church of Satan in the United States, which now has some 9,000 members throughout the world. After a varied career, which included playing in an orchestra, working with a circus, assisting in hypnotism shows and being a police photographer, La Vey began holding an occult study group, which included Kenneth Anger (qv), the underground film-maker, amongst its members, and eventually began the Church of Satan in 1966. In addition to writing for the press, La Vey has been a technical adviser on several occult films, including Rosemary*s Baby and The Mephisto Waltz, and appeared on screen as the Devil, whose child Rosemary eventually bore. The Church of Satan being incorporated in California as a religion, carries out regular services of worship, in addition to marriages, funerals and a form of baptism. La Vey is the author of The Satanic Bible and the Satanic Rituals. 216

W H O ' S WHO IN THE OCCULT CHARLES WEBSTER LEADBEATER

An English Theosophist and author, who left the Church of England, in which he was a minister, to follow Madam Blavatsky (qv) in her Theosophical work, and eventually became the leading colleague of Annie Besant (qv), and one of the major influences on Krishnamurti (qv). He lectured and wrote extensively on Theosophy, and divided his time largely between Adyar, the TS Headquarters and Sydney, Australia, where he headed a commune of students of Theosophy. He became a Bishop in the Liberal Catholic Church, which he helped to found, and was its second Presiding Bishop. He also attained high rank in the Co-Masonic Order. Leadbeater was the subject of several scandals, and at one stage resigned from the TS for a time as the result of accusations of homosexual activities with young students. Although never formally charged by the police, he was the subject of a police investigation in Australia, and it has been alleged that the accusations were in general true. He appears to have been a paedophile, gaining sexual gratification from the company of young boys. There is no doubt that he possessed considerable psychic gifts, and wrote extensively on the basis of clairvoyant investigations. His numerous books include: The Masters and the Path, Alan Visible and Invisible, The Hidden Side of Things, The Science of the Sacraments. He also co-authored several books with Annie Besant. SYBIL LEEK

Probably the best known modern witch in America, Mrs Leek came to the USA from England in 1964, and claims to trace her witchcraft ancestry back to the twelfth century. She claims to have been initiated into the craft in France by her paternal aunt. In the USA Mrs Leek has achieved a widespread notoriety through press, radio and television publicity, has opened a restaurant ('Sybil Leek's Cauldron') and does a regular radio programme on witchcraft. Her books include Diary of a Witch, The Sybil Leek Book of Fortune Telling and Cast Your Own Spell. ELIPHAS LEVI (1810-75)

Baptized Alphonse-Louis Constant, Eliphas Levi was born in Paris, the son of a poor shoemaker. He studied for the seminary but was obliged to leave because of his sexual permissiveness, and his revolutionary political tendencies. Despite his limited abilities as a graphic artist, he contributed some political caricatures and moved for a time in select literary company. His marriage to Noemi Cadiot in 1846 when she was eighteen did not prove successful although it was not nullified for another nine years. Levi turned to magical philosophy and produced a succession of works 217

WHO'S WHO IN THE OCCULT

during his literary career, the most important being Le Dogme et Ritual de

la Haute Magie, Histoire de la Magie and La Cle des Grandes Mysteres. A. E. Waite, the occult authority who translated the first two of these, considered Levi's work to be historically important, but fraught with errors. Aleister Crowley, who produced the English edition of La Cle des Grandes Mysteres, however, considered himself to be Levi's reincarnation and admired him unreservedly. Levi's main contribution to modern occultism was his discovery that the twenty-two Major Tarot Trumps correlated exactly with the paths on the Tree of Life. They wrere thus an important key to magical consciousness. HOWARD PHILLIPS LOVECRAFT (189O-1917)

An American author of some fifty-three stories and assorted fragments and collaborations, all of which are based upon a bizarre and terrifying occult mythology. They were originally written for the cheap pulp horror magazines of his time, but have subsequently acquired a reputation for their powerful occult quality, and have resulted in Lovecraft becoming something of a cult figure. He developed a mythology centring on 'the dread Cthulu', concentrated evil and powers of darkness struggling to break through and control the world, knowledge of which is contained in a variety of evil books, especially the 'Necronomicon' - an imaginary book created by Lovecraft, but one which, after his invention of it, was spoken of as really existing by some subsequent authors. Lovecraft's life was an unhappy one, and he was plagued by frightening dreams and the presence of his own mythology. Kenneth Grant has drawn an interesting, and significant comparison between Lovecraft's mythology, and the occult teachings of Crowley (qv) in one chapter of his book, The Magical Revival. Lovecraft's stories have been collected into a number of volumes, including The Tomb, At the Mountains of Madness, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Haunter of the Dark, The Lurker at the Threshold and The Shuttered Room. His Collected Letters have also been published. ARTHUR MACHEN ( 1 8 6 3 - 1 9 4 7 )

Regarded as one of the finest Welsh mystical writers of the century, Arthur Machen grew7 up in Caerleon-On-Usk, a town with a legendary association with King Arthur. He studied to be a surgeon, and then worked for a publisher, George Redway, who was producing some notable books on the occult tradition at that time. Machen was a friend of Oscar Wilde, and W. B. Yeats, with whom he shared a love of Celtic lore and the Grail legends. In 1900 he joined the Order of the Golden Dawn - Yeats was at that time in command. But Machen was never a major figure in the world of ceremonial magic. 218

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

Most of his best stories have a hint of pantheistic mystery about them, and are far away from the theatre of ritual. His best books include The Great God Pan (1890), The Hill of Dreams (1895) and The Shining Pyramid (1923). CHARLES MANSON ( 1 9 3 4 -

)

Currently serving out a life-sentence for his part in the Sharon Tate murders in August 1969, Charles Manson was a self-proclaimed messiah figure for his cult. He proclaimed himself to be 'both God and Satan', and called his gang 'The Family'. In California at that time occultism was beginning to entrench itself as a major philosophy of the subculture and Manson's commune existed side by side with groups like the Process and the O.T.O. Solar Lodge. These and Manson share one common attribute: the ascendency of a spiritual leader over his followers. Manson came through the works of Aleister Crowley and L. Ron Hubbard with an expectancy that the time of the end of the world was near. He began to look for portents relating to Operation Helter Skelter, and found several on the Beatles' double album. 'Piggies' was a song about police, 'Blackbird' a warning about the negroes. Towards the date of the multiple murders Manson increased his Satanic desire to kill. Another song on the album was called 'Happiness is a warm gun'. Today, in San Quentin Prison, Manson's claim to messianic supremacy seems remote, and the immortality he hoped to gain through Scientology is a sour hope. For detailed studies of the gang and the murder see The Family by E. Sanders (1972) and Five to Die by Le Blanc and Barnes (1970). LEO LOUIS MARTELLO

An American witch and author, and Director of Witches International Craft Association (WICA), leader of the Witches Liberation Movement and founder of the Witches Encounter Bureau, Martello is also a hypnotist and graphologist. He writes extensively as a freelance author, contributing to many magazines and newspapers, and has published an extensive range of books of his own. He usually refers to himself as 'Dr' and says he is an ordained minister, and while it is not stated of what denomination, he has been a pastor of the Temple of Spiritual Guidance. Martello's books include: Weird Ways of Witchcraft, Ifs in the Stars, It's in the Cards and How to Prevent Psychic Blackmail. SAMUEL LIDDELL MACGREGOR MATHERS ( 1 8 5 4 - 1 9 1 8 )

Samuel Mathers was undoubtedly one of the key figures in the realm of 219

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

ritual magic and ceremonial, although he has not become a popular cult like his rival Aleister Crowley. Nevertheless, he helped to found the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn which Crowley later aspired to lead. In 1887 Dr Wynn Westcott (qv), who was a London coroner and Freemason, as well as a delver into the occult arts, showed some Rosicrucian papers to Mathers. Though written in cipher they could be interpreted, and they turned out to be a series of rituals. Westcott asked Mathers to modify and embellish these so that they could be the basis of a new magical Order. Mathers had a flair for this, and the rituals of the Golden Dawn, and the more esoteric Order of the Red Rose and Cross of Gold, have great poetic beauty. Soon, however, Mathers claimed to be obtaining his inspiration from exclusive, Secret Chiefs, and he began to wield autocratic authority over his fellow Order members. In particular he demanded financial support while translating key occult texts in Paris. It was here that he located and translated a medieval grimoire, The Sacred Magic 0} Abra-melin the Magey regarded by some as the most powerful magical document in the entire Western Tradition. Mathers loved ancient mythology and occult lore, and among his other translations are the alchemical book Splendor Solis by Solomon Trismosin, and The Kabbalah Unveiled. He also wrote a short book on the Tarot. ANTON MESMER (1734-1815)

Mesmer was at first headed for a career in the Church, but he had a strong inclination for mathematics and philosophy. He entered the School of Medicine at the University of Vienna and obtained his medical degree in 1875. Best known for his theory of natural magnetism, Mesmer believed that a magnetic fluid pervaded the Universe and also could be made to exercise a healing power on the mind and constitution of man. The 'force' could be transmitted to patients by touch. In one experiment, Mesmer established a type of group therapy. Patients sat around a tub of water containing iron filings. They were themselves linked together with ropes, and had access to the tub through metal rods. Mesmer would make gestures, and stroke each patient until one of them was overcome by convulsions. This was alleged to indicate a cure. Mesmer also experimented with cures for blindness and paralysis, and created considerable controversy among the medical profession in Vienna. Eventually a Commission found that his practices were fraudulent, and Mesmer left his country to experiment elsewhere. Some writers have compared his natural magnetic fluids with the force fields at play in acupuncture and in Kundalini Yoga. 220

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT VICTOR NEUBURG ( 1 8 8 3 - 1 9 4 0 )

Victor Neuburg was a poet, author, editor and magician. A literary inspiration to Pamela Hansford Johnson and Dylan Thomas, he was also a follower of Aleister Crowley in the days when the 'Great Beast' practised an obscure form of homosexual sex-magic. Neuburg accepted Crowley's claim that the perfect symbolic form of man was the heavenly androgyne - a figure containing both sexes - and he took part in the rites of the Argentinum Astrum as Crowley's magical partner. He also went with him to a mountain in Algeria, where Crowley wanted to summon the spirits of the thirty Aethyrs - a series of invocations based on the findings of Dr John Dee and Edward Kelley, the Elizabethan magicians. Choronzon, the demon of Chaos was summoned to appear, and during the events which followed, Crowley became possessed and, for a tense moment, Neuburg was in danger of losing his life. Neuburg avoided Crowley later in life, and moved away from the occult. Nevertheless, he is better known for his magic than his poetry, and was a key figure in some of ritual magic's more fascinating episodes. ROSALEEN NORTON ( 1 9 1 7 -

)

Probably Australia's most sensational occult artist, Rosaleen Norton worked as an artist's model, a nightclub assistant and a banana plantationhand while evolving a curious, demonic form of art. For many years she carried on private research into psychic phenomena, magic and psychology, while maintaining a somewhat misleading public image as Australia's leading witch. Her pictures bear some resemblance to Austin Spare's trance art and Norman Lindsay's exuberant nudes, but are said to have been inspired by The Qlippoth - the dark forces of the Qabalah. In 1949 she was acquitted of an obscenity charge, but her work continued to find its way into private collections rather than public galleries. A collection of some of her drawings was produced in book form in Sydney in 1952. NOSTRADAMUS ( 1 5 0 3 - 6 6 )

Nostradamus' real name was Michel de Nostre Dame, and he became Catherine de Medici's favourite astrologer. Conversant with French, Latin and Provenqal, he dabbled in magic while maintaining that he was inspired by God alone. His book The Centuries, which has appeared in numerous editions since 1555, when it was first published, purports to include prophecies for the world up to its 'end' in 1999. Some writers have been impressed by the apparent references in The Centuries to the French Revolution, which Nostradamus is said to have predicted some two 221

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

hundred years in advance. The main difficulty with Nostradamus is that his prophecies are heavily disguised beneath a veil of symbols in quatrains of poetry whose sequence is unclear. SAR PELADAN (1858-1918)

Astrologer, magician, art critic and novelist, Josephin Peladan became a fashionable dandy and aesthete in the Rosicrucian salons of Paris in the 1890s. Peladan took the title 'La Sar Merodack' after the King of Babylon, and he himself sported a full, Assyrian styled beard. He was fascinated by the symbol of the androgyne, and also contrived to establish decadence as a major art form. He produced a cycle of novels entitled La Decadence Latine, which he hoped would counter the materialistic tendencies of France in his day. Influenced by de Sade, he was also a good friend and tutor in the magical arts, to Stanislas de Guaita, with whom he revived the Rosicrucian Mysteries in the gaudiest way possible. PAPUS (1865-1916)

Papus was the nom de plume of Gerard Encausse, a Spanish-born occult writer, who trained originally for medicine. Influenced by Theosophy, he was impressed by the idea that all elements of the universe - mineral, vegetable and animal - evolve towards perfection in a sequence of struggles and sacrifice. He delved into hermetic and alchemical texts and found there a chemistry of the soul. Papus acquired a reputation as a necromancer, and was summoned to the Russian Imperial Palace, where it is said he evoked the ghost of Czar Alexander III into visible appearance. Papus wrote a large number of books on the occult and, like Eliphas Levi, was fascinated by the symbolic connections between the Tarot and Qabalah. His best known work is The Tarot of the Bohemians. PARACELSUS (1493-1541)

One of the most illustrious physicians and alchemists who ever sought the prima materia, the source of all life and virtue, Paracelsus was born Theophrast Bombast von Hohenheim, in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. He pursued medical studies under his father, who was a physician in Basle, and also delved into alchemy and occultism under the watchful care of Trimethius of Spanheim. Paracelsus travelled widely in Europe, seeking primarily a working basis on which to improve the poor medical standards of his day. While merciless in his criticism of errant chemists and doctors, he had faults himself, including a bad temper and a continuing state of drunkenness. His writings, however, reveal a deep love of Christian mysticism, tinged with the pantheistic spirit common in alchemy. 222

WHO'S WHO IN THE OCCULT

Paracelsus stressed the parallel between man, the microcosm, and the universe, or macrocosm, and considered that illness was a symptom of imbalance, nothing more. The three great principles of manifestation were sulphur (male), mercury (female) and salt (neutral), and the healthy man would combine these elements in harmony. For example he attributed the cause of fever to an excess of sulphur. He also believed in the magical creation of artificial creatures - Homunculi - a medieval precursor of testtube babies. Included in his alchemical and hermetic tracts are discourses on the planets, the elements and metals, and the relationship of alchemy to mysticism. His work marks the transition from alchemy as a crudely conceived pre-science for the transmutation of lead into gold, into a spiritual science of man. Paracelsus makes it quite clear that alchemy, the 'true' chemistry, relates to the inner man, and not to the workings of the laboratory. BISHOP JAMES PIKE (1913-69)

An Episcopalian Bishop in California who was the subject of accusations of heresy and resigned from his office to continue his writing career. He became involved in the occult when, after the death of his son by suicide, he endeavoured to contact him through various mediums, and eventually believed he had done so through the mediumship of Arthur Ford (qv). The Bishop wrote an account of this quest, and its outcome, in The Other Side. He eventually died in the desert in Israel while travelling.

HARRY PRICE (1881-1948)

A famous British psychic researcher, and one of the first people to establish the investigation of such phenomena on a scientific basis. From his background in stage conjuring, Price became an expert on detecting fraud, although in later years some of his own investigations came under criticism. He established a massive library of works on the occult, spiritualism and psychic phenomena, which eventually became the National Library of Psychical Research. He was the author of Fifty Years of

Psychical Research (1939), Poltergeist Over England (1945) and two studies

of the famous Borley Rectory haunting which he investigated, The Most

Haunted House in England (1940) and The End of Borley Rectory (1945). TUESDAY LOBSANG RAMPA

The pseudonym of Cyril Henry Hoskins, an Englishman and author of numerous books allegedly written by a Tibetan lama of high degree. The books range from The Third Eye, a basically factual account of the 223

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

childhood and training of a Tibetan lama, through a series of philosophical works claiming to convey the esoteric teachings of Tibetan Buddhism and its occult techniques. Hoskins claims that he is really a genuine lama, occupying the body of an Englishman, and despite several 'exposures', he continues to attract a wide readership, and now runs a business in the United States on the basis of his claims. PASCAL BEVERLEY RANDOLPH ( 1 8 2 5 - 7 1 )

An American occultist and the founder of numerous occult groups, few'of them of any significance. He had been a member of the Societas Rosicruciania in Anglia (a Masonic order), and claimed to have been initiated into a secret Syrian Order. He began his occult involvement as a medium in America, and eventually developed an especial interest in sexual magic, on which he published several books, some of which led to charges in court. He committed suicide in 1871. It is generally believed that he had taught Kellner (qv) the theory and techniques of sexual magic which were later to be expressed in the Ordo Templi Orientis, although his successor, Clymer (qv) denied all knowledge of such teachings. A French magical group continues to carry on Randolph's teachings. His principal works were: Ravalatte: The Rosicrucians* Story', Dealing with the Dead, Eulis: The History of Love. ISRAEL REGARDIE ( 1 9 0 7 -

)

Israel Regardie was born in England, but has lived most of his life in America where he practises as a Reichian psychotherapist. He is best known however as one of the major occult writers on magic, mythology and the rituals of the Golden Dawn. In 1928 he became Aleister Crowley's personal secretary, and in 1937 he published the first of four volumes providing full details of the magical rituals of the Golden Dawn and Stella Matutina occult societies. Many occultists felt that Regardie had broken an oath of secrecy but it is undoubtedly true that the collected 4-volumes of The Golden Dawn are a major source work, and are of great value. Regardie's best writing is probably that contained in The Tree of Life, which includes details of the mythology underlying modern magic, with special emphasis on Egyptian gods and the Hindu tattvas (elements) which are used for meditation. Among Regardie's other key books are The Middle Pillar, which relates magic to Kundalini Yoga, The Philosopher"s Stone, % study of alchemy and psychology, with a commentary on the Coelum Terrae of Thomas Vaughan, and Roll Away The Stone, which relates drugs to magic. As one of the last of a line of genuine occultists, Regardie has become 224

W H O ' S WHO IN THE OCCULT

much sought after by the new-consciousness converts to the counter culture. He is one of the greatest living authorities on the Qabalah and ceremonial magic. THEODOR REUSS (d. 1924)

Reuss succeeded Karl Kellner as head of the tantric magic group the Ordo Templi Or tenth in 1905. It was he who invited Aleister Crowley to join their organization - accelerating The Great Beast's direction away from ceremonial ritual into the shady areas of sexual magic. Crowley in fact set up his own variant on the OTO in England, calling it the Mysteria Mystica Maxima. Eventually, after a stroke, Reuss resigned from his post as head of the OTO in 1922 and handed over to Crowley, who endeavoured to incorporate his own brand of occult lore. The OTO was suppressed by the Nazis in 1947 although key Lodges still operate in England and California. JOSEPH B. RHINE ( 1 8 9 5 -

)

Dr Rhine and his wife Louisa have dominated the scientific research programmes into ESP for the last forty years. Rhine contacted William McDougall, professor of psychology at Harvard, after hearing a lecture on psychical research by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Both Rhine and McDougall later moved to Duke University, which has since become synonymous with research into telepathy, clairvoyance and psychokinesis. Rhine endeavoured in the 1930s to give ESP scientific respectability by producing laboratory reports of subjects who appeared to show ESP ability far greater than chance. Rhine worked in collaboration with the well-known psychologists K. E. Zener (famous for his 'Zener cards') and Dr J. G. Pratt, and produced evidence which he now regards as conclusive of an ESP function in man. Rhine's approach has been mostly statistical and his laboratory safeguards against fraudulence and error have been criticized by writers like Professor C. E. M. Hansel. While it is true that Rhine paved the way for serious academic study into ESP, it is probably also true to say that the more exciting breakthroughs have occurred since his heyday, especially with regard to the modern research into dream telepathy (Montague Ullman et al.) which eliminates laboratory error altogether. MOUNI SADHU

An occultist and author who, although deriving much of his background from French occult schools, was a follower of the Indian teacher, Sri Ramana Maharishi. He conducted an occult group in Melbourne, Australia, where he spent much of his life, but was in contact with similar 225

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

groups throughout the world. His books include: The Tarot (1962), Concentration (1959), Theurgy (1965), Ways of Self-Realization (1962), In Days of Great Peace, and Samadhi. COMTE DE SAINT-GERMAIN ( 1 7 1 0 - 8 0 )

Popularly known as an aristocratic Freemason and Rosicrucian 'who did not die', the Comte was said to be the son of Prince Rakoczy of Transylvania. He grew up under the care of the last of the Medici, Gian Gastone, and was educated at the University of Siena. The Comte seems to have had a desire to masquerade under grandiose titles and during his mysterious and elusive career passed under the names of Comte Bellamarre, the Marquis de Montferrat and Chevalier Schoening among others. A welcome visitor in many European Courts, the Comte was said to have spoken Italian, German, English, Spanish, French, Greek, Sanskrit, Arabic and Chinese. Madame de Pompadour writes that he 'had travelled the whole world over and the king lent a willing ear to the narratives of his voyages over Asia and Africa, and to his tales about the courts of Russia, Turkey and Austria.' The Comte enticed his audience with his extravagant claims, including the tale that he had received the magical wand of Moses from King Cyrus in Babylon, thus intimating that he was one of the ageless illuminati. But he was also a political envoy of great reputation, and held discourses with figures as diverse as the Shah of Persia, Horace Walpole, Clive of India and Frederick the Great. It is said that Saint-Germain acquired his wealth and immortality from his discovery of the Philosopher*s Stone, and that he demonstrated his alchemical prowess to The Marquis de Valbelle by transforming a silver coin into gold. Whatever the source of his knowledge and opulence, there is no doubt that Saint-Germain produced one of the most remarkable occult manuscripts ever in his Most Holy Trinosophia, a collection of alchemical/ mystical visions. This work has recently been reissued by Manly Palmer Hall in the United States and constitutes a complete framework for initiation. ALEX SANDERS

A contemporary English witch and leader of a worldwide movement in witchcraft, Sanders has received considerable publicity, in the press, on radio and television, especially for his claim that he is the 'king of the witches'. He has been the subject of several full length books and one film. Sanders claims he comes from a family in which witchcraft has been 226

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

traditional for generations, and that he was initiated at the age of seven when he accidentally stumbled onto his grandmother performing rituals in her living room. Sanders says his grandmother trained him for several years before her death, and that after this he turned to black magic, through which he acquired a considerable fortune. He turned away from the 'left hand path' after the death of his sister and thereafter established himself as a teacher of witchcraft, heading a number of covens throughout England. He married (according to the rituals of witchcraft) his present wife, Maxine, who assists him as his High Priestess. Sanders lives in London and conducts courses, both personally and by correspondence. He lays claim to a variety of titles and degrees. Cf. King of the Witches by June Johns, and also What Witches Do by Stewart Farrar, a study of the 'Alexandrian' school of witchcraft. KURT SELIGMANN ( 1 9 O I - 6 2 )

An evocative artist, and interested also in heraldic and esoteric symbolism, Kurt Seligmann was a key member of the Surrealist movement between 1934 and 1944. Like Wolfgang Paalen, Andre Breton and Max Ernst, he was absorbed by the relationship of magic to surrealist/dream consciousness, and published an important book The Mirror of Magic in 1956. It has recently been republished by Allen Lane, London. AUSTIN SPARE (1888-1956)

One of the most extraordinary artist/occultists who ever lived, Austin Osman Spare was hailed as a prodigy and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art when he was only sixteen. Soon he came into contact with magic, Egyptian mythology and the teachings of Aleister Crowley, and he began to incorporate his mystical philosophy into his art. Spare believed in reincarnation, and claimed that all of his former lives, whether as a human or animal, were deeply embedded in the subconscious. The mystical purpose of man was to retrace those existences back to their source, which he called Kia. Spare considered that this could be done in a state of trance, whereby one allowed oneself to be possessed by the atavisms of former lives. Spare developed an interesting system of magical 'sigils', which were symbols of meditation used for unleashing the potencies of the subconscious mind. He employed various techniques for supplementing this method of mind-focusing, including the so-called 'death posture' (or trance) and the sexual orgasm. He became fascinated by witchcraft, and his paintings took on an increasingly menacing air. Spare was undoubtedly one of England's finest illustrators, and some of his best work is contained in his Book of Pleasure, conceived when the 227

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

artist was only twenty-two. This book has been republished in Canada alongside a definitive study of Spare by his friend Kenneth Grant. Other details of the artist's work are contained in The Search for Abraxas by Nevill Drury and Stephen Skinner (1972). LEWIS SPENCE

An English scholar of the occult and author of a number of books on various of its aspects, including The History of Atlantis, An Encyclopedia ofOccultism, Myths of Mexico and Peru, The Problem of Atlantis, Atlantis in America and Will Europe Follow Atlantis ? RUDOLPH STEINER (1861-1925)

The German occultist, Theosophist and scholar who founded the Anthroposophical Society after breaking away from the Theosophical Society, largely over the issue of Krishnamurti (qv). Steiner acquired his Ph.D. for work on the German author Goethe, on whom he became an authority. Throughout his life he remained a scholar, as the rather academic tone of his writings attests. Steiner was a clairvoyant who built up a complex philosophy and cosmology on the basis of his clairvoyant investigations, developing theories about subjects as diverse as farming and organic gardening, Atlantis and Lemuria, the treatment of syphilis and cancer and the inner truths of Christianity. The Anthroposophical Society eventually spread throughout the world and eventually developed a sub-group known as the Christian Community, in which members, who sought a specifically Christian tradition could worship. Steiner's theories on education led to the development of 'Steiner schools' throughout the wrorld, where particular success has been achieved in the education of retarded children. Steiner was also connected with several other occult movements, including the Ordo Templi Orientis, Engel's 'Order of the Illuminati' and a group of Rosicrucians. An incredibly prolific author and lecturer (many of his books are lecture notes), he published an astonishing amount of literature, including Occult Science; an outline, Christianity as Mystical Fact, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its attainment. His autobiography is titled The Course of my Life. Cf. A Scientist of the Invisible by A. Shepherd and The Life and Work of Rudolf Steiner by G. Wachsmuth. MONTAGUE SUMMERS (1880-1948)

An English author of numerous books on satanism, demonology, witchcraft and black magic, the value of which is a matter of dispute. He also 228

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

translated a number of the 'classics' in the field, including the Malleus Maleficarum. He was a believer, almost to the point of fanaticism, in the reality of the powers of evil, and openly advocated the reintroduction of the death penalty for witchcraft. He was also an authority on the history of theatre. His books include: The History of Witchcraft and Demonology, The Physical Phenomenon of Mysticism, The Vampire in Europe, The Werewolf, The Geography of Witchcraft. Summers was generally known as 'The Reverend' or even 'Father' and usually dressed in elaborate clerical attire, although precisely what Holy Orders he possessed, or from where, remains a matter of conjecture. He also had an elaborately furnished chapel in his home, although the nature of ceremonies held there has been the subject of some speculation - not all of it charitable. He was an acquaintance of Aleister Crowley (qv) and various other eccentrics in the occult world of the time. JOHN SYMONDS

John Symonds is best known for his illuminating study of Aleister Crowley, The Great Beast, and his edited productions of several other books by the Master Therion, 666, as Crowley called himself. These include The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, Moonchild, White Stains and The Magical Record of the Beast. Symonds is also an author of note, and besides his novels, has written a lucid account of the life of Madame Blavatsky, In the Astral Light, and a work on the Shaker communes of America. CHARLES TART ( 1 9 3 7 -

)

Professor Tart has become well-known for his scientific research into trance, dreams, out-of-the-body experiences and ESP. At present he is continuing laboratory tests on the astral-projection state, with subjects like Ingo Swann and Robert Monroe, who claim to be able to produce it at will. Tart is a researcher in Experimental Psychology at UCLA, Davis, and is one of a new line of scientists (which also includes Claudio Naranjo Paul Ornstein and John Lilly) who are endeavouring to close the gulf between science and mysticism. Professor Tart's key work is his Altered States of Consciousness (1969). PAUL TWITCHELL

The American founder of the 'Eckankar' movements, which he led until his death. Twitchell claimed to have been taught the techniques of Eckankar by various masters, including the Tibetan 'Rebazar Tarzs', and 229

W H O ' S W H O I N THE OCCULT

to teach the techniques of out-of-the-body travelling. His books give details of his own astral travelling, and his disciples frequently reported seeing him while his physical body was elsewhere. Twitchell's biography, In My Soul I am Free, was written by Brad Steiger (1968). Twitchell's own books include The Far Country and Introduction to Eckankar. ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE ( 1 8 5 7 - C . 1 9 4 0 )

Towards the end of its day, the Golden Dawn magical society was headed by the learned Christian occult scholar, A. E. Waite. A reactionary against Theosophy, he detested the anti-Christian aspects of ritual magic and rewrote the ceremonial grades of the Order. His own view was that occult science could possibly provide an esoteric, mystery teaching which the orthodox Christian church had either forgotten or had never possessed. Waite could not read Hebrew but he produced three notable volumes on the Jewish Qabalah at a time when Jewish scholars themselves were neglecting this aspect of their tradition. The best of these was The Holy Kabbalah, which has since been republished. He wrote on nearly every aspect of the occult, and produced, with Pamela Coleman-Smith, a famous Tarot pack, now known as the 'Waite' or 'Rider' pack. His other works include The Occult Sciences, The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, The Mysteries of Magic (a digest of Eliphas Levi's teachings) and a fine mystical tract called Azoth. Waite also edited numerous alchemical and masonic works including the hermetic writings of Paracelsus. He was, however, surprisingly ignored by Carl Jung, whose researches into the visionary areas of the mind in many ways paralleled Waite's own endeavours. Waite was undoubtedly a scholar of genius but he took so much care to obliterate lesser writers when in error, that his own works tend to be long and heavy. Aleister Crowley referred to him scornfully as 'Dead-Waite'. These criticisms notwithstanding, Waite was the finest occult historian of his day, and many of his books are still standard references. WYNN WESTCOTT ( 1 8 4 8 - 1 9 2 5 )

Dr Westcott was a leading Freemason and coroner in London when a Rosicrucian manuscript in cipher came into his possession. MacGregor Mathers used the Rosicrucian rituals to form the basis of the Golden Dawn. After this, Westcott gradually lost significance in the Order, which he had hoped would rival the esoteric section of the Theosophical Society in London. Westcott installed himself as a spiritual master of the Order but his influence was only slight. He contributed a small volume on Qabalistic symbolism and edited an occult series for the Theosophical Publishing House in the 1890s. 230

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT DENNIS WHEATLEY

An English author who has written both novels with occult plots and also non-fiction books on magic and the occult. His books include The Devil and all his Works (a study of magic and the occult), The Devil Rides Out, The Gates of Hell, To the Devil - a Daughter, They Used Dark Powers and The Haunting ofTobyJfugg. Wheatley emphasizes in his introduction to most of his books that he has never taken part in any black magic or occult ceremonies, although he has investigated the subject extensively, and has been acquainted with many leading individuals in the occult world. COLIN WILSON (1931-

)

When The Outsider was first published in 1956, it attracted widespread acclaim in literary circles as a treatment of the existential 'loneliness' of visionaries, artists and creators. Wilson's view that such people have access to varying levels of inspiration and consciousness led him to compare two broad types of people: murderers and criminals, who have a type of negative intensity, and mystics, who could integrate these powerful, and sometimes transcendental, energies. Wilson's book The Occult was well received as an encyclopaedic treatment of the influences underlying modern magic: alchemists, magicians, adepts and imposters, freemasons and witches - all were included. Wilson also advanced the view that man has an innate 'magical capacity' which he called Faculty X. He argued that primitive man respected and applied this natural ability but that civilized man gradually repressed and lost it. Only now is he becoming aware of it again, as science probes the mysteries of ESP, and the occult emerges popularly as an 'alternative' to science, technology and orthodox religion. Wilson believes that man needs to rediscover Faculty X as part of the next phase of his evolution. His other books, on an occult theme, include the novels The Philosopher^ s Stone, The Mind Parasites and The God of the Labyrinth. He followed The Occult with Strange Powers, a volume which discussed the findings of Arthur Guirdham and other modern mystics. W. B. YEATS (1865-1939) As a disciple and follower of the Celtic mystery tradition, Yeats naturally gravitated towards the occult, and founded a small group in Dublin called the Hermetic Students. A friend of 'A.E.' the Irish mystic, Arthur Machen and MacGregor Mathers, he joined the Golden Dawn, and eventually became its leader at the turn of the century, after Mathers retired to Paris to translate occult manuscripts. Aleister Crowley, who was jealous of Yeats's poetic gifts, attempted to unseat Yeats as head of the 231

WHO S WHO IN THE OCCULT

Order, and visited him at midnight with a cloak and dagger, after being granted assurances by Mathers. Yeats became disillusioned with the Golden Dawn and left it, but magic continued to exercise an important influence on his poetry, and he often incorporated Tarot imagery from his visions into his verse. C. C. ZAIN

The pseudonym of Elbert Benjamin, the founder of the First Temple of Astrology in America. This eventually became the Church of Light, which conducts services and offers courses in a variety of occult subjects. Zain claims he was contacted by 'The Brotherhood of Light' in 1909, and became a member of that secret society, and was told to prepare a complete occult system for teaching the religion of astrology. This he did in a series of twenty-one volumes of lessons, which are still being sold throughout the world.

232

Index

Ahmed, R., 197 Albertus Magnus, 197 Alpert, R., 10.1 Amen-Ra, 22, 39 Anandamutijii, Srii, 159 Andrews, L., 14 Angel, V., 193 Anger, K., 198 Arguelles, J., 193 Arguelles, M., 193 Aristotle, 179 Arjuna, 21 Arundale, G., 198 Aurobindo, Sri, 198 Baba, M., 160 Bach, M., 199 Bah'U'llah, 159 Bailey, A., 199 Bardon, F., 31,199 Barrett, F., 34, 38,199 Baudelaire, C, 100 Beatles, 184 BeloffJ., 10 Benham,W. G., 180 Bennett, A., 82, 200 Berger, H., 13 Bernard, P., 200 Bernstein, M., 23 Besant, A., 168,200 Bessent, M., 10 Blackwood, A., 48, 201 Blake, W., 193 Blavatsky, H. P., 28,165, 166, 201 BlofeldJ., 169,170 Bloxham, A., 23 Bloxham, D., 23

Bone, E., 145,201 Bone wits, L, 201 Bosch, H., 189 Breton, A., 189 Breughel, P., 189 Buckland,R., 145,202 Buddha, Gautama, 30, 46,164,185 Budge, W., 57, 60 Bulwer-Lytton, E., 202 Burroughs, W., 101 Burt, C, 10 Butler, W. E., 50,72,202 Cagliostro, A di, 202-3 Cannon, A., 203 Carrington, H., 209 Case, P. F., 64, 203 Castaneda, C , 100,106,107, 205 Cavendish, R., 204 Cayce, E., 204 Chagall, M., 9 Chaubey, K. N., 23 Cheiro, 180, 205 Christ, 30, 59, 84, 127, 159, 160, 163 Clymer, S., 205 Confucius, 169 Coover, J., 4 Cornelius Agrippa, 176,197 Cox,W.S., 5 Cranach, L., 189 Creery,Rev.,3 Crookall, R., 24 Crookes, W., 3 Crowley, A., 28, 31, 48, 50, 64, 78, 79, 80, 82-5, 107, 162, 164, 170, 171, 185, 190, 192, 198, 200, 205, 206, 210, 221, 225, 231 233

INDEX Crowther, P., 145, 205 Culling, L.T., 79, 84,205 Cummins, G., 118 Dadd,R., 189 Dali, S., 9,190 Davis, A. J., 206 DeeJ.,34,85,206,221 DelvilleJ., 189 De Guaita, S., 76,211,222 DeMartino, E.,95 DeQuincey, T., 100 Devi, S., 23 DixonJ., 207 Doney, H., 88 Dunne, J. W., 17 Eddy, M.B., 130 Eliade, M., 106 Encausse, G., 64, 222 Ernst, M., 190 Esplugus-Cabrera, E., 23,24 Etteilla, 63 Evans-Wentz,W.Y., 186 Faithfull, M., 171 Farr, F., 49,207 Felkin,R.W.,49,5o Findlay, J. A., 118, 207 Fisk,G.W.,4 Ford, A., 207-8 Fortune, D., 76, 192, 208 Fremin, Father, 16 Freud, S., 17,18 Fripp, R., 186 Fulcanelli, 209 Gardner, G., 139,144,209 Garma, A., 17 Garrett, E., 118 Gautier, T., 100 Gebelin, C , 63 Geller, U.,ix, 210 Germer, K., 210 Goldney, K. M., 8 Grant, J., 210-11 Grant, K., 208, 211 Gray, W. G.,211 Green, C, 24,94,95,97,209, 211 Gurdjieff, G., 89 Gurney, E., 4

Hall, M. P., 212 Hansel, C. E. M., 8, 225 Hansford-Johnson, P., 84,221 Harmon, L., 180,205 Harner, M., 107 Hartmann, F., 212 Heindel, M.,212 Heinlein, J. H., 5 Hesse, H., 73,185 Hippocrates, 16 Hirai,T., 13 Hitler, A., 212 Hollingshead, M., 101 Holzer, H., 213 Home,D.D., 118 Homer, 31 Horniman, A., 49 Houdini, H.,213 Hubbard, L. R., 84,213-14 Huebner, L., 145,214 Humphries, C, 161 Huxley, A., 100,101 Huysmans, J-K., 76, 214 Iamblichus, 56 Incredible String Band, 185 Jagger,M., 171 Johnston, W., 12,14 Jones, B., 171 Julian the Chaldean, 56 Julian the Magician, 56 Jung, C. G., 17, 18, 19, 30, 58, 65, i n , 169 Kamensky, Y., 9 KamiyaJ., 14 Kardec, A., 118,214-15 Karlins, M., 14 Kasamatsu, A., 13 Kekule, F., 17 Kelley, E., 164, 206, 221 Kellner, K., 215 Kennedy, J., 5 King, F., 85, 215 Kirlian,S.D.,2i5 Knight, G., 215 Koestler, A.,ix Konecci, E., 9 Krippner, S., 9,96 Krishna, 21 Krishnamurti, J., 159,168,216 Kubler-Ross, E., 24 234

INDEX Labisse, F., 190 LaVey,A.,ix, 154,198,216 Leadbeater, C. W., 168,217 Leary,T., 100,101,102,184,185 Leek, S., 145,217 Leonard, G., 117 Levi, E., 34, 35, 60, 64, 66, 67, 164, 192, 202,217-18 Lincoln, A., 17 Lindsay, N., 192,221 Lodge, O., 3 Lovecraft, H. P., 218 McDougall, W., 4 Machen, A., 48,218-19 Maharaj Ji, Guru, 160 Mahesh, Maharaji, 12,160,185 Manson, C , ix, 154,219 Martello, L., 145,219 Mathers, M., 73, 208 Mathers, S. L., 28, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 65, 83, 84, 219-20 Matiello, R., 193 Maupin, E., 5 Mead, G.R.S., 162 Mesmer, A., 130,220 Metzner, R., 101 Mikhailova, N., 9 Monroe, R., ix, 95,96,97,98 Mountbatten, Lord, 23 Moreau, G., 189 Moses, S., 118 Mudd, S., 84 Muldoon, S.,95,96, 211 Murphy, B., 22 Murray, M., 139,140,144 Mussolini, B., 82 Myers, F., 4 Neuburg, V., 84,162,206,221 Newbold, G, 88 Nikolaiev, K., 9 Norton, R., 192,221 Nostradamus, 221-2 Ockenden, A., 23 Olcott, H. S., 165 Osiris, 39, 53, 54, 59,84 Osmond, H., 100* Ostrander, S., 9,96 Paalen,W., 189,190

Pahnke,W., 102 Palladino, E., 118 Papus, 64,222 Paracelsus, 34,222-3 Pavlova, L., 9 Peladan, S., 222 Pike, J., 223 Pink Floyd, 186 Piper, L., 117 Plato, 22,183

PrattJ.G.,5,8

Price, H., 111,223 Puharich, A., 210 Pythagoras, 22,176 Quimby, P., 130 Ramakrishna, 158 Rampa, T. L., 161, 223-4 Randolph, B. R., 224 Regardie, L, 39, 50, 85,206,224-5 Reuss, T., 78,225 Rhine, J., 4, 5, 8,225 Rhine, L., 4 Rousseau, H., 9 Sadhu, M., 225-6 Saint Germain, Comte de, 209,226 Sanders, A., 145,226-7 Schneider, R., 118 Schroeder, L., 9,96 Scot, R., 140 Scralian, 10 Seligmann, K., 192,227 Sergeyev, G., 9 Shackleton, B., 8 Shirley, R., 95 Sidgwick, H., 3 Sinfield,P., 186 Smith, B., 21 Smith, J., 28 Soal, S. G., 8 Socrates, 22 Spare, A., 80, 84,190,192,193,227-8 Spence, L., 228 Stace,W.T., 102 Steiner,R., 168,228 Stevenson, I., 23,24 Stoker, B., 136,137 Summers, M., 139,150,228-9 Swedenborg, E., 118 Symonds, J., 83,85,229

235

INDEX Tangerine Dream, 186 Tart, C , ix, 95,96,97,209,229 Thomas, D., 84,221 Tighe, V., 22 Torrens, R. G., 50 Twitchell, P., 229-30 Tyrrell, G , 4 Ullman, M., 9 Valiente,D., 145 Vaughan, A., 9 Vivekananda, 158,159 Waite, A. E., 48, 64, 215,230 Wallace, A., 3 Watts, A., 101

Webb, J., 76 Westcott, W., 48,49,230 Wheatley, D., 43,231 Wheeler, E., 190 Williamson, C , 145 Wilson, C.,ix, 231 Wilson, J., 145 Wilson, M., 145 Woodruff, J.L., 5 Wright, D., 193 Yeats, W. B., 40,48, 83, 231-2 Yram, 95 Zain, C. C , 232 Zener, K. E., 4, 225

236

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: OCCULTISM

Volume 3

THE ESOTERIC SCENE, CULTIC MILIEU, AND OCCULT TAROT

THE ESOTERIC SCENE, CULTIC MILIEU, AND OCCULT TAROT

DANNY L. JORGENSEN

R

Routledge Taylor & Francis Croup

LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published in 1992 by Garland Publishing, Inc. This edition first published in 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1992 Danny L. Jorgensen All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: ISBN: ISBN: ISBN:

978-0-367-33602-8 978-0-429-34389-6 978-0-367-34951-6 978-0-429-32896-1

(Set) (Set) (ebk) (Volume 3) (hbk) (Volume 3) (ebk)

Publisher's Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328961

THE ESOTERIC SCENE, CULTIC MILIEU, AND OCCULT TAROT DANNY L.JORGENSEN

GARLAND PUBLISHING, INC. New York & London 1992

1992 Danny L. Jorgensen All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jorgensen, Danny L. The esoteric scene, cultic milieu, and occult tarot / Danny L. Jorgensen. p. cm. — (Cults and nonconventional religious groups) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8153-0769-1 1. Occultism—United States. 2. Occultism—Social aspects—United States. 3. Tarot—United States. I. Title. II. Series BP1434.U6J67 1992 133_dc20 92-15862 CIP

Printed on acid-free, 250-year-life paper MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. OBSERVING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE CULTIC MILIEU A Methodology of Participant Observation Exploring the Cultic Milieu Uncovering Networks of Occultists Becoming a Member of the Esoteric Community Analyzing and Interpreting Fieldwork Products

3 4 5 9 13 22

2. THE ESOTERIC SCENE IN AMERICA A Theory of Esoteric Culture Meanings and Sources of Esotericism Early American Magics and Occultism New Religious Movements Oriental Lights, the Golden Dawn, and Scientific Anomalies The Contemporary Esoteric Scene

29 30 35 39 40 43 46

3. THE ESOTERIC COMMUNITY IN THE VALLEY Theorizing about Cults, Sects, and the Cultic Milieu Esoteric Culture and the Cultic Milieu The Esoteric Community Assessing the Cultic Milieu

53 54 56 61 74

4. CONFEDERATED NETWORKS OF OCCULTISTS The Hermetic Assembly The Augur Alliance The Metaphysic Affiliation Psychic Fairs Networks of Occultists in Perspective

77 79 82 87 90 100

VI

5. BECOMING A TAROT DIVINER Becoming the Phenomenon Encountering the Tarot Learning Divination Reading the Cards Membership in Perspective 6. THE OCCULT TAROT Tarot Cards A Hermeneutics of the Tarot Occult Appropriation of the Cards The Symbolic Key to Arcane Wisdom Deliberating on the Occult Tarot

7. OCCULT THEOSOPHIES OF THE TAROT Vocabularies of Occult Meaning Grammars of Occult Meaning Horizons of Occult Theosophy

8. INTERPRETING THE OCCULT TAROT A Sociological Perspective on Occult Practices Hermetic Study and Meditation Tarot Divination Deciphering Occult Claims to Knowledge 9. ESOTERIC CULTURE AND A POSTMODERN WORLD Reflections on Methodology Esoteric Culture and Modernization The Social Organization of Esoteric Culture The Future of Esoteric Culture APPENDIX A: Esoteric Community Survey Form APPENDIX B: Tarot Card Reader Interview Schedule REFERENCES INDEX ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1:

The Esoteric Scene in the Valley

58

Figure 2:

The Esoteric Community Networks of Social Relations

78

Figure 3:

The Physical Arrangement of a Psychic Fair

92

Figure 4:

The Tree of Life

191

Figure 5:

Past-Present-Future Spread

210

Figure 6:

Circular Spread-Forecast

210

Figure 7:

Horseshoe Spread

210

Figure 8:

Celtic Cross Spread

213

Figure 9:

Tree of Life Spread

213

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration

7

One:

Star, Gareth Knight Tarot Deck

Two:

Knight of Swords, New Tarot Deck

Three:

Temperance, Salvador Dali's Tarot

106

Four:

Queen of Pentacles, Yeager Meditation Tarot Deck

109

Five:

Two of Wands, Barbara Walker Tarot Deck

Six:

Eight of Swords, Three of Cups, Nine of Pentacles, Four of Wands, Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot Deck

Seven:

Eight:

World, Eight of Coins, Pierpont Morgan-BergamoVisconti-Sforza Tarocchi Deck

Ten: Eleven: Twelve:

116 132 137

Jupiter, La Lune, III of Deniers, IV of Batons, Swiss 1JJ Tarot Deck

Nine:

15

Gate of the Sanctuary, Iris-Urania, Cubic Stone, Master of the Arcanes, Egyptian Tarot Deck

140 143

Le Fou, La Papesse, IIII of Deniers, V of Epees, Oswald Wirth Tarot Deck

146

Emperor, Tower, Tens of Swords, Cups, Papus Tarot Deck

148

Magician, Chariot, Three of Swords, Nine of Pentacles, Rider-Waite Tarot Deck

150

x

List of Illustrations Thirteen: Fourteen: Fifteen: Sixteen:

Lust, Universe, Ace of Swords, Two of Cups-Love, Crowley's Thoth Tarot

153

Lovers, Judgment, Ace of Wands, II of Pentacles, Golden Dawn Tarot Deck

155

Empress, Emperor, One of Disks, Five of Wands, Brotherhood of Light Tarot Sorcerer, Xultun Tarot Deck

Seventeen: Fool, Magician, Sun, Rejuvenation, Tarot of the Cat People Deck Eighteen:

158 159 165

Princesses of Swords, Disks, Wands, Cups, Gareth Knight Tarot Deck

172

Nineteen:

Schwert-Konig, Zigeuner Tarot

206

Twenty:

Empress, Justice, Tens of Wands, Cups Salvador Dali's Tarot

233

LIST OF TABLES Table 1:

Categories of Membership in the Esoteric Community

65

Table 2:

Forms of Collectivities in the Esoteric Community

73

Table 3:

Membership Categories in the Hermetic Assembly

80

Table 4:

Membership Categories in the Augur Alliance

84

Table 5:

Membership Categories in the Metaphysical Affiliation

89

Table 6:

Categories of Participants at Psychic Fairs

94

Table 7:

Categories of Activity at Psychic Fairs

96

Table 8:

A Dictionary of Tarot Meanings for the Major Arcana

166

Table 9A:

A Dictionary of Tarot Meanings for the Minor Arcana-Wands

173

Table 9B:

A Dictionary of Tarot Meanings-Cups

175

Table 9C:

A Dictionary of Tarot Meanings-Swords

177

Table 9D:

A Dictionary of Tarot Meanings-Pentacles

179

Table 10:

Tarot Correspondences to Deities, Animals, Plants

185

Table 11:

Major Arcana Relations to Color, Sound, Qualities

186

Table 12:

Major Arcana Correspondences to Plants/Zodiac

187

Table 13:

Minor Arcana Correspondences to the Zodiac

189

xii

Table 14: Table 14:

List of Tables

Tarot Correspondences to the Tree of Life. Part I The Sephiroth

190

Tarot Correspondences to the Tree of Life. Part II The Twenty-two Paths

192

PREFACE This book deals with beliefs, practices, and activities described as mystical, psychical, magical, spiritual, metaphysical, theosophical, esoteric, occult, and/or pagan, among other possible labels, by their American disciples. I began observing and participating in believers' activities in 1975 while living in a metropolitan area of the northcentral United States. Through a methodology of participant observation (Jorgensen, 1989), as discussed in Chapter One, I experienced and described the meanings of these beliefs, practices, and activities from the perspectives of adherents. Later in the year I moved to an urban center in the southwestern United States referred to here as the "Valley." Field work, based primarily on participant observation, was conducted in the Valley between 1975 and 1978. In the course of this investigation I was labeled a "seeker." I subsequently performed other membership roles (Adler and Adler, 1987) as a "client" of divinatory practitioners, and as an initiate or "student" of the occult tarot. Eventually I became a "tarot card reader" and, thereby, a fully participating member of a geographically dispersed "esoteric community" in the Valley, as discussed in Chapter Five. Participant observation was supplemented by several other methods. I interviewed groups and practitioners in the Valley by telephone, and collected flyers, advertisements, and related documents. Indepth interviews with tarot diviners in the community were conducted primarily by Lin Jorgensen. I employed several assistants—Tina Walton, David Kurtz, Heidi Griffin, and Lin Jorgensen—for the purpose of gathering divinatory readings of the tarot. Before leaving the field in 19781 reviewed scholarly literature related to this topic for the purpose of analyzing, interpreting, and presenting findings in the form of a doctoral dissertation. This report, "Tarot Divination in the Valley of the Sun: An Existential Sociology of the Esoteric and Occult" (Jorgensen, 1979), was completed after moving to an urbanized area of the southeastern United States in 1978. Over the next five years these materials were analyzed and interpreted further, resulting in the publication of four additional reports. They focused specifically on the esoteric community and related cultic milieu in the Valley (Jorgensen, 1982), the social meanings of occultism as exemplified by members of the esoteric community (Jorgensen and Jorgensen, 1982), solidarity and networks of occultists in the commuxni

xiv

Preface

nity, partly as illustrated by psychic fairs (Jorgensen, 1983), and community members' use of the occult tarot for divination (Jorgensen, 1984). Since 19781 have continued to review pertinent scholarly literature, as well as esoteric and occult writings by way of library research. In 19851 made two trips to Chicago for the purpose of examining and collecting documents about esotericism and occultism from the archives of the Institute for the Study of American religion. This heretofore unpublished scholarship supports a more comprehensive theoretical interpretation of esoteric and occult knowledge.While living in the southeastern United States I have studied particular beliefs, practices, and groups, less formally and systematically, through media reports, casual observation, and the investigative reports of students. All of these researches are drawn together in this work. This book is based on my earlier studies and reports. However, it includes new findings, as well as a substantially different analysis and interpretation of my previous work. I describe, analyze, and interpret social rneaningsof "esoteric culture" as it is experienced, defined, distributed, structured, organized, and enacted by societal members. My analysis concentrates on members' definitions of esoteric knowledge, the manner in which they organize their activities socially, and the procedures they employ to achieve a sense of having accomplished occult knowledge. This interpretation informs and is facilitated by a "grounded" theory of esoteric culture (see Glazer and Strauss, 1967). Although the idea of "esoteric culture" derives from the work of Edward A. Tiryakian (1973,1974), my use of it differs substantially from his insightful formulation. Chapter Two presents this theory of esoteric culture, including the "cultic milieu" (Campbell, 1972), whereby it is sustained and organized socially. I discuss meanings and sources of esoteric knowledge in Western societies, focusing specifically on its manifestations, historically, in American society. Drawing on John Ir win's (1977) concept of a "social scene," I argue that esoteric culture and the related cultic milieu emerged to form an esoteric scene in the United States during the late 1960's. This concept is useful for subsequently distinguishing the esoteric community from other esoteric activities and organizations in the Valley. Although this scene has declined during the 1980's, esoteric culture remains visible in all large American cities today. Chapters Three and Four describe, analyze, and interpret the esoteric scene in the Valley. I focus on the social organization of members' activities by way of elaborate networks of social relationship among seekers, clients, practitioners, and cultic groups. Much of this activity is seen by members as constituting an esoteric community in the Valley. Within this community networks of social relationship are partitioned or segmented to constitute particular factions of groups and participants. These alliances reflect somewhat different social meanings and orientations to esoteric knowledge. In spite of tremendous diversity and factionalism, members of this community sustain a sense of solidarity by way of relations with a sometimes hostile exoteric society, an ethos and ethics, as well as shared activities, such as psychic fairs. Chapters Six, Seven, and Eight discuss the social construction of the occult tarot, related theosophies, and methods for interpreting the symbolic images represented by these unique cards. I examine the historical process whereby the

Preface

xv

tarot was appropriated by occultists and defined as the symbolic key to all arcane (secret, esoteric) wisdom. Occult interpretation of these cards resulted in the creation of elaborate theories of meaning, or theosophies whereby the tarot and its symbolic images were systemically interrelated with other bodies of esoteric knowledge. I argue that the occult tarot may be seen, interpretati vely, as a human text. This text constitutes an occult language composed of grammars and vocabularies of meaning. Interpreting the tarot involves reading this text. The theosophical language of the occult tarot is used for scholarly-like studies, meditation, divination, and sometimes ritual. I focus special attention on the manner in which the occult tarot is used by diviners and querents to achieve a sense that they have accomplished an extraordinary knowledge of reality. By way of conclusion, Chapter Nine explores the sociological significance of esoteric culture as a formulation of alternative sociocultural realities. Esoteric culture is viewed interpretatively as a product of human efforts to make life meaningful in an otherwise absurd world. This book aims to provide a sociological understanding of esoteric culture and the cultic milieu, particularly its contemporary manifestations as an esoteric scene in America. My focus on the occult tarot reflects a special concern for understanding/sociologically, how occult claims to knowledge are accomplished and enacted socially. What I am about here is reflected by the Prince of Swords. —Danny L. Jorgensen

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS John M. Johnson and David L. Altheide provided invaluable assistance and direction during my field work in the Valley: They also have supported me in countless other ways over the last fifteen years. They continue to share responsibility in this matter, but I no longer hold them responsible for this research or its products. Tina Walton, David Kurtz, Heidi Griffin, and Lin Jorgensen received divinatory readings of the tarot from members of the esoteric community in the Valley. I appreciate their willingness to collect these materials and share them with me. Val and Steve Crowley, Heidi Griffin, and Lin Jorgensen were very helpful in transcribing tarot card readings for analysis and interpretation. Lin Jorgensen participated fully as a co-worker in field research. Indepth interviews with tarot diviners in the Valley primarily were conducted by Lin. Her considerable skill with informal interviewing is opulently reflected in these materials. I benefitted tremendously from countless debriefing and brainstorming sessions with Lin during our fieldwork, and from many, many hours of subsequent analysis and interpretation of these materials. She also is hereby acknowledged as the co-author of a previous report based on this research that informs this book (Jorgensen and Jorgensen, 1982). My research in the Valley would have been impossible without the trust and cooperation of members of the esoteric community. In keeping with traditions of fieldwork I have not revealed the actual identities of any of the people or groups serving as the basis for this report. I regret being unable to acknowledge them by name, particularly several special friends and trusted informants. Participant observational research in the Valley served as the basis for my doctoral dissertation, Tarot Divination in the Valley of the Sun: An Existential Sociology ofthe Esoteric and Occult (The Ohio State University, 1979). I appreciate the assistance of my doctoral committee, Gisela and Roscoe Hinkle, Richard Lundman, and George Demko, with this project. Gia Hinkle, in particular, brilliantly framed the original analysis of tarot divination, and her many insights are apparent in my subsequent interpretations. J. Gordon Melton was a gracious host during two visits to the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Chicago during 1985. He suggested that I submit this OCVll

xviii

Acknowledgements

work to Garland Publishing. I appreciate his support of its publication as well as his helpful comments on the manuscript. The permission of Samuel Weiser, Incorported to quote from Aleister Crowley's The BookofThoth (York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1974), pp. 3-4,42, is gratefully acknowledged. I appreciate the permission of Taplinger Publishing Company, Incorporated to quote from Alfred Douglas' The Tarot (NY: Taplinger, 1972). AGMuller, The Church of Light, William J. Hurley, Lotus Light Publications, Naipes y Especialidades Graficas, S.A., and U.S. Games Systems, Incorporated, all very kindly granted me permission to reproduce tarot cards on which they hold copyrights. These materials are used here as illustrations only, and they in no way imply any endorsement for or against related beliefs, practices, or enterprises. I am solely responsible for the manner in which these illustrations are employed. I appreciate Jack Hurleys efforts to educate me about recent developments with the tarot. Late in this project he provided a wide variety of important information, much of which I have been unable to integrate with the existing analysis and interpretation. To my surprise, he has stimulated my interest in pursuing many of these issues in subsequent works. I am grateful to the University of South Florida's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences for a small research and travel grant that supported one of my visits to Chicago in 1985. Khaleah Bryant read and commented on drafts of this book. I very much appreciate her comments and editorial assistance. The final product, consequently, was greatly improved. Mike Wright provided various forms of assistance with the preparation of the manuscript, including construction of several figures and tables, as well as the transformation of basic format. This book is dedicated to Julie, Greta, Adrean, Eric, and now Mikkey, all of whom endured parts of its research and writing.

THE ESOTERIC SCENE, CULTIC MILIEU, AND OCCULT TAROT

Chapter 1 Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu In 1975 I began looking for Americans who were making extraordinary claims to knowledge on the basis of unconventional practices. Eventually, I encountered expansive networks of practitioners performing what they called "magic/' "clairvoyance/7 "divination/' "mediumship," "meditation," "witchcraft," and "healing," as well as other, rather extraordinary practices and rituals.1 They most commonly described their doctrines and beliefs as "psychic," "esoteric," "spiritual," and "religious"; but, they also employed the words "occult," "mystic," "magic," "metaphysical," "theosophical," "intuitive," "hermetic," "new age," "pagan," "scientific," and "philosophical," among others, in this way. Although these Americans were geographically dispersed throughout a large metropolitan center referred to here as "the Valley," they envisioned their activities in terms of a "esoteric," "psychic," or "spiritual community." Over the next three years I studied these peoples' beliefs and activities by way of a methodology of participant observation (see Jorgensen, 1989). The fundamental goals of this inquiry were to observe, experience, and describe this sociocul tural world in terms of the meanings ascribed to it by members, natives, or insiders. Since 1978 I have collected other pertinent information, and concentrated on analyzing and interpreting my findings. The results are reported in this book. It describes, analyzes, and interprets what Tiryakian (1973,1974) called "esoteric culture." This includes bodies of knowledge, especially theosophies, constructed and used by believers to define "reality" in ultimately meaningful ways, as well as practices, like meditation and divination, employed by practitioners to enact and accomplish their images of reality. Esoteric culture exists in marked contrast with the socially dominant exoteric culture, and it is distinguishable in terms of a lack of socially sanctioned legitimacy in Western societies. The occult tarot serves as a concrete illustration of a theosophically constituted body of esoteric knowledge, while its use by occultists for hermetic study, meditation, and divination exemplifies occult practices. Esoteric culture is distributed, structured, and

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328961-1

4

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

organized, I argue, in the form of what Campbell (1972) called the "cultic milieu." This social environment contains publics and collective behavioral audiences, as well as elaborate networks of seekers, practitioners, cults, sects, and collective movements.

A METHODOLOGY OF PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION The methodology of participant observation I employed consists of principles and strategies for describing, analyzing, and interpreting human existence (Jorgensen, 1989; also see Bruyn, 1966; Speier, 1973; Johnson, 1975; Douglas, 1976; Marcus and Fisher, 1986; Denzin, 1989a). It takes as the paramount reality to be studied the experiences, meanings, and interactions of members (insiders or natives) of concrete situations and settings as viewed from their perspectives (see Schutz, 1967; Berger and Luckmann, 1966; Blumer, 1969; Douglas and Johnson, 1977). Participant observational inquiry is loosely focused and guided by general theoretical interests, casual, open-ended questions, and perhaps suspicions that constantly are subject to modification and change based on fieldwork. Specific preconceptions, prejudices, operational measures, as well as formal, definitive concepts, hypotheses, and explanatory theories are avoided, deliberately. The researcher observes, interviews, and gathers rich, dense, highly detailed qualitative information in other ways, while cultivating trusting relationships, participating, and performing membership roles (see Adler and Adler, 1987; Geertz, 1973). Thick, descriptive interpretations, personal experiences, and other information, such as documents and artifacts, are recorded by way of fieldnotes, journals, analytic files, and other similar strategies. These materials are analyzed and interpreted constantly by way of an open-ended, dialectical process whereby study problems are defined, observed, analyzed, and interpreted repeatedly during fieldwork (Jorgensen, 1989; Denzin, 1989a). This hermeneutic process of discovery continues through the presentation of findings (see Agar, 1986; Becker, 1986; Geertz, 1988; Van Maanen, 1988). The ultimate goals of participant observational inquiry are to provide theoretical interpretations and understandings of human existence fully grounded in the experiences and meanings of societal members (see Glazer and Strauss, 1967; Douglas and Johnson, 1977). At the outset of this inquiry I was incredibly naive about what I only much later learned to identify as "esoteric culture" and the "cultic milieu" (see Jorgensen, 1979). My original aim was to join a cult, but efforts to locate such a group resulted in a series of perceivedly unsuccessful starts. Eventually, other participants in this cultic environment defined me as a "seeker" (see Straus, 1976). Spontaneous performance of this nominal membership role enabled me to observe and casually ask questions without being too obtrusive. As a seeker, in other words, I was able to observe the cultic milieu, casually question people, and participate like other members without announcing my identity as a researcher. My use of this covert research strategy was an attempt to avoid disrupting the ordinary course of members' activities. In this way I encountered a bewildering array of beliefs, practices, practitioners, and cultic groups. Perplexed by this diversity, I began

Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu

5

focusing attention on how these phenomena were related and organized socially. This initially practical fieldwork problem eventually was defined as a major theoretical issue worthy of systematic investigation. During early explorations of the cultic milieu I was introduced to the occult tarot, and the divinatory use of these unique, pictorial cards. I received several readings of the tarot, leading members to define me as a "client." Performance of this membership role empowered me to observe and participate in members' activities more extensively and intensively. It opened up and enabled me to see portions of the insiders' world theretofore obscured from the standpoint of a seeker. Becoming more deeply involved, I decided to become an apprenticed "student" of the tarot so as to gain even more direct experiential access to the activities of practitioners and groups in what insiders' called the "esoteric community." Through these participant observational activities the occult tarot and its divinatory use become another basic axis of study. Initiation to the occult tarot entitled me to become a "professional practitioner" of tarot divination in the community. This membership role provided a unique vantage point for experiencing and observing the insiders' world of meaning and interaction. I thereby was able to observe and experience the members' reality as a fully participating member. Performance of this role resulted in existential and self conflicts. I "became the phenomenon" of scholarly interest (Mehan and Wood, 1975), but I did not "go native" completely (as described more fully in Chapter Five). In performing the role of tarot card reader I passed as a member of the community, while sustaining a definition of myself as a sociologist, not an occultist. In 1978 I left the setting of this fieldwork and concentrated on analyzing, interpreting, and writing up the results of this research. I struggled to reconcile the results of my fieldwork with seemingly relevant scholarly literature, and I expanded my previous study of esoteric and occult writings. As I gained greater distance from the fieldwork experience, it became easier to interpret my experiences and observations from a sociological perspective. Yet, sociological interpretation tends to distort and reify what I observed and experienced. I am convinced that the relationship between subject and object, knower and known, methods and findings, experiences and interpretations are linked in highly complex and inextricable ways. A literal account of these connections is impossible; but I will attempt to display, analyze, and interpret them so that you will be in a better position to evaluate my reading of esoteric culture, the cultic milieu, and the occult tarot.

EXPLORING THE CULTIC MILIEU It is not insignificant that my intellectual interest in extraordinary claims to knowledge and socially marginal religious movements self-consciously derives in part from personal, biographical experiences (see Mills, 1959; Douglas and Johnson, 1977; Higgins and Johnson, 1988; Denzin, 1989a, 1989b). My ancestors were among the earliest converts to the new American religion formally instituted by Joseph Smith, Jr., in 183O.They participated inthe Mormon experience on the American frontier, enduring hardships, trials, and persecution. Some of them succumbed to

6

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

disease and the difficulties of frontier life, while others were murdered by intolerant American neighbors. With the assassination of their Prophet, they followed Brigham Young only to become bitterly divided by schismatic differences within this new religious movement (see Jorgensen, 1989,1990a,1990b, 1990c, 1991). As a participant in a variant of Mormonism I not infrequently experienced and observed "gifts of the spirit," such as "prophecies" and "healings" by ministerial laying on of hands. I sustained a cardinal identity as a "Josephite," at least until I converted to sociology in college.^ Even today, this biographical identity as a Josephite Mormon intrudes into my consciousness, influences my thoughts, feelings, and existence. Inexorably it is part of my social history and who I am (see Jorgensen, 1990a). At the outset of this inquiry my previous experiences were generalized as an interest in what I thought of as "extraordinary knowledge." What I had in mind was a study of some group in which people employed unconventional practices to claim knowledge of an extraordinary, non-empirical reality. I hoped to join such a group, participate in and observe the activities of its members. In this way I expected to focus attention on their accomplishment of extraordinary knowledge. Like other members of American culture I held stereotypical images of occultists based on movies, television, media reports, folklore, and exposure to scholarly literatures. Popular cultural images suggested irrational and mysterious beliefs, bizarre magical practices and rites, as well as odd and even deranged enthusiasts organized by way of highly secretive and sometimes criminal cults (see Shupe, 1981; Melton and Moore, 1982; Beckford, 1985). I suspected that these images distorted insiders' views of their activities, and I endeavored to suspend preconceptions about contemporary American occultists. I intended to experience and observe these beliefs, practices, and adherents' activities without hazardous prejudice about what I might find. My interest in extraordinary knowledge claims was kindled during the summer of 1975 by a friend, Lin, who played an audio tape recording for me of a "channeling session." This session involved a small collection of people who met on an irregular basis to receive messages from a "spirit," or "multi-dimensional personality," through a trance medium. The "medium," I discovered, goes into a hypnotic trance and assents to a "spirit" who is presumed to communicate a message through her. Trance mediumship, I learned from scholarly writings, is common in many cultures, and readily observable in American spiritualism as well as other social contexts (see Bourguignon, 1973; Evans-Pritchard, 1973; Zaretsky, 1974). It has become popular in recent years within small cultic groups throughout the United States, partly by way of the writings of Jane Roberts (1970) who has attributed several books to Seth, the spirit who communicates through her. With Lin's assistance I attempted to contact the informal leader of the spirit group, the chairperson of an academic department at the university. I had an opportunity to talk with the medium, a doctoral candidate at the university, later the next summer, but I was unable to arrange attendance at a channeling session as originally planned. While this group was not entirely covert, they were suspicious of outsiders. Not just anyone was invited to attend their activities. These experiences were informative. I was surprised that such well-educated people would be involved so deeply in something as seemingly "weird" as conversing with what they

XVII THE STAR ILLUSTRATION ONE: Star, Gareth Knight Tarot Deck. Reproduced by permission of

U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA/ Copyright © 1985 U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited.

8

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

believed were spirits. My failure to gain entree to the spirit group, however, demonstrated that this was a false start. In December of 1975,1 made a more solemn commitment to investigating the seemingly strange and obscure world of psychic phenomena, spirit entities, mysterious forces, magical practices, and hidden wisdoms. I was living in a large municipality in the northcentral United States and attending the University where I was a doctoral student in sociology. Since I had nearly completed my course work and planned on taking doctoral examinations during the summer, I was in search of a dissertation project. I therefore began looking for a group to study. I had little idea about where to find individuals or collectivities involved in these seemingly strange beliefs and practices. I started by searching public sources of information, particularly directories in newspapers, telephone books, and magazines, but I found little useful information. I also began making contacts with people who I thought might be knowledgeable in such matters by raising the topic whenever the occasion permitted and sometimes when it did not. This led to some interesting encounters with people who shared personal experiences with me. Many of the people I met expressed more than casual interest in extraordinary phenomenon; some of them told me fantastic stories about such experiences; and several of them devoted substantial portions of their free time to seeking enlightenment or developing "psychic" powers. None of them, however, practiced with an organized group. Since everyone knows that sociologists study "groups" rather than individuals, I labored under the idea that I needed to find an organized collection of people to study. During the 1970's there was a general, popular cultural perception that esoteric beliefs and groups abounded. I therefore found it more than a little disconcerting to be unable to locate even one cultic association suitable for study. Early in the spring of 19761 began searching more actively for such an organization. Through Lin I learned of a study fellowship that held weekly meetings referred to as "Fireside E.S.P." Literature provided by the group listed three different sets of activities: evening meetings, self-help (training) workshops, and a full-time clinic service. It seemed to be exactly what I had been hoping to find. During the next two months, I attended two evening meetings, talked with members, and collected literature about the group. The ESP fellowship consisted of four core members and an untold number of regular and semi-regular participants. The leaders, a married couple, supported themselves in part through group revenue, which included a two dollars per person "love offering" at weekly meetings, sixty-five dollars for a clinic treatment, and from forty to sixty dollars for special workshops. The predominant focus of all activities was summarized by the motto "making the able—more able." They subscribed to a baffling variety of esoteric doctrines concerning "vital energies, forces, and powers" to gain control of one's person. ESP was an obscure cult that no one had studied before, and it therefore met one of my consummate requirements for a study phenomenon. I was disappointed, however, with what I observed. The ESP fellowship was not involved with anything that seemed to me especially out of the ordinary, including several demonstrations identified by members as "extra-sensory powers, gifts, or abilities." One evening, for instance, we joined hands in a circle and

Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu

9

concentrated on generating a "psychic or spiritual force field" around the group. Later the leader rubbed his hands together, claimed to draw on psychic energies, and placed them on the bodies of willing members. They alleged feelings of physical relief, spiritual renewal, and psychic invigoration. His hands felt warm to me, but otherwise I did not even get a mild tingling sensation. On another occasion, we employed a prism for occult purposes. Members were told to focus their attention on this translucent crystal, concentrate deeply until they envisioned unusual sensations, particularly colors. They were instructed to merge with this heightened state of consciousness, close their eyes, and enjoy an unusual adventure. Members found this psychic exercise exhilarating, and talked about it endlessly. I saw a few strange colors, but nothing more. Subsequently I realized that these indeed were actual demonstrations of extraordinary experience, even though they seemed pretty ordinary to me. At the time I was unable to envision them as especially exceptional. On-going participation with the fellowship, it became clear, would require a considerable economic commitment. I also found this very disenchanting. My previous experiences suggested that spiritual enlightenment should not depend on dollars. I knew, of course, that more traditional religious organizations depended on the regular offerings of the membership. This situation, however, somehow seemed different. In the past, nobody ever charged me money for a prophecy, or a laying on of the hands, although I did tithe. In any case, I was not prepared to make the initial commitment of about one hundred dollars. I was planning on leaving this area within a few months anyway. Thinking I might go back sometime, I discontinued attending Fireside ESP. Almost unknowingly I had observed several significant features of the esoteric scene. My experiences with the group were summarized in a field report and filed for later reference. Afterward, during my research in the Valley, I came to recognize features of the ESP group as significant and persistent dimensions of the larger esoteric scene in America. At the time, however, I regarded this portion of fieldwork as a false start and mostly worthless. And I hoped to do better in another field setting. The process whereby I gradually became a participant in the esoteric scene and learned employ occult ideas and practices for making sense of my experiences is described by Luhrmann (1989: Chapter 21) as "interpretative drift"

UNCOVERING NETWORKS OF OCCULTISTS In August 1976 I moved to the Valley, a large metropolitan center in the southwestern United States. I had accepted a part-time lectureship at the University, and planned on working on my doctoral dissertation. More importantly, this move afforded me the opportunity to be with Lin, the friend with whom I had become involved romantically. I therefore did not select the Valley as a setting for study. I selected Lin and she happened to live in the Valley where I also was able to find meaningful employment. Since the Valley contained an astounding and baffling variety of nonconventional beliefs, practices, believers, and groups, it turned out to be a good

10

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

setting for this study. As a center of unconventional beliefs, practices, and groups in the United States, the Valley clearly is overshadowed by the West Coast, but it is not too dissimilar from several other regions of the country, such as the Southeast and East Coast. Insofar as there is greater esoteric and occult activity in the Valley than in other regions of the United States, it may not be typical or representative of the country as a whole. It was the wealth of esoteric and occult activities in this area, however, that made it an exceptionally good field setting for sociological study. In any case, I was primarily interested in the social meanings of esoteric culture, how it was organized socially, and how it was used by believers, not by how much of it existed or was distributed throughout the United States. Whether or not this setting somehow represented the entire country, I reasoned, simply could not be addressed until sometime later. Almost immediately I began searching the Valley for individuals and groups to serve as the basis for study. I again started by examining telephone books and other sources of public information. I was not interested, however, in studying groups like Scientology or other well known (and well researched) groups that were identifiable in this way. I eventually learned some of the categories of practitioners and practices necessary for making this a useful strategy, but at the time these public sources of information largely were unproductive. I also began making personal contacts with Valley residents. During the early phase of fieldwork in the Valley I entertained the possibility of focusing on mediumship and spirit communication. Several spiritualist meetings were listed in the telephone book. I attended spiritualist church meetings, undertook a preliminary analysis of spirit communication, and drafted a related proposal for my dissertation project. Once I read Zaretsky's (1974) excellent ethnography of spiritualism, however, I decided that I could contribute little new to this subject. The possibility of studying spiritualism, then, seemed to be another false start. It was, more or less, although I did encounter in this way some of the people and groups I would later recognize as part of the esoteric community. My search for informants yielded several people knowledgeable about esotericism, including one of my students, Dee, who identified herself as a "witch." I subsequently learned to recognize many people like Dee as part of the larger cultic milieu, and occasional participants but not members of the esoteric community in the Valley. Dee was a thirty-five year old undergraduate student when I met her. She supported herself and two teenaged children with grants, loans, assistance from her family, and irregular child support from an ex-husband, earning about five thousand dollars in 1977. She owned a home, secured through her divorce, in a working to middle class neighborhood near the university. Dee was raised by her mother and stepfathers, and she had lived in the Valley her entire life. She claimed to have learned witchcraft at an early age from an aunt. Her mother reportedly possessed "psychic" abilities, but since her mother was a practicing Mormon she denied that these abilities were in any way related to occultism. Dee viewed witchcraft as her religion, and she regarded herself as very religious, very strong in her convictions, and devout. She claimed to meet occasionally with other witches in an isolated rural area of the Valley, but I was never able to confirm this contention.

Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu

11

Dee regarded herself as politically liberal; she was reasonably well informed about social and political issues; and while she was not especially active in particular political causes, Dee frequently voiced extremely liberal opinions on marriage, gender, sexuality, family, and economics. She used tobacco, marijuana, "downs," and expressed a willingness to ingest most any substance for the purpose of getting high. Dee dated casually; she reported being sexually involved with several men; and during the period I knew her she had a sexual affair with one of her daughter's boyfriends. This initially created considerable conflict and tension between them, but Dee eventually convinced her daughter that there was nothing improper about both of them being sexually involved with the same man. By the standards of many Americans Dee's life style was radically nonconformist and deviant, even for the 1970's. Dee and her daughter both used witchcraft, including spells, incantations, potions, and various other forms of magic, to realize personal goals especially their romantic interests in men. They commonly attributed misfortunes and failures to fulfill personal goals to the evil deeds of others, their failure to employ witchcraft properly, or to assorted invisible forces and powers. In my discussions with Dee she frequently interpreted peoples' personalities and actions by reference to a folk astrology. She owned a few standard occult works on magic and witchcraft as well as several decks of tarot cards. Dee claimed to have learned tarot divination from her aunt. She used the tarot almost daily for making personal decisions; performed tarot divinations for family, friends, and acquaintances; and although she claimed to do tarot card readings for pay, I never observed her collecting money for these services. Another person who provided useful information during the early stages of my fieldwork in the Valley was Kitty. She was a friend of Lin'; they met at the preschool attended by their daughters. Kitty was twenty-eight years old, divorced, a high school graduate, and a long-time seeker of esoteric enlightenment who worked at low paying jobs while attending the university part-time. She was raised in an upper middle class home in an affluent section of the Valley, and reported being sexually abused and tramatized by her father as a child. Kitty used tobacco, drank alcohol mostly moderately, and occasionally smoked marijuana but otherwise avoided illegal drugs. She saw herself as politically liberal, regularly expressed feminist opinions, and lived a mostly, conventional life style. During the period I knew her, Kitty had several casual boyfriends and she eventually became involved in a long-term relationship but declined a proposal of marriage. While in high school Kitty embraced the hippie culture of the 1960's, and she eventually became interested in alternative forms of spirituality. She reported exploring various cultic groups in the Valley, and joined a local Hindu group as a casual participant for several years. She was knowledgeable about many of the central doctrines of Eastern religion, and she was especially cognizant about health, diet, and esoteric healing techniques. Several friends introduced her to Scientology, and she underwent auditing which eventuated in a conversion experience. After completing about a year of auditing she became an auditor and then enlisted in Scientology's Sea Organization. Kitty reportedly was assigned to L. Ron Hubbard's flag ship and briefly served as one of his personal attendants. In the Sea Organization, according to Kitty's account, she resented the lack of personal freedom, and she

22

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

was punished several times for infractions of the rules. Terribly unhappy, she secretly left the ship and returned to the Valley by airplane with money wired from her mother. After several months, however, Scientologists convinced her to return. She moved to Los Angeles where she was employed full-time by Scientology. Shortly thereafter she became pregnant, but declined to name or marry the baby's father; and once again she experienced disillusionment with Scientology. When she attempted to leave Kitty claimed that the Scientologists prohibited it and locked her in a room for several days until she agreed to stay. By her account, she covertly escaped, returned to the Valley, and had her baby. When I interacted with Kitty she had completely disassociated herself from Scientology, although she still maintained a strong belief in many of its basic teachings and practices. She casually participated in the cultic milieu, frequented occult book and supply stores, read esoteric literature, maintained contact with close friends who were members of Eastern religious groups, and sometimes went to a medical clinic which was part of the esoteric community. Lin and Kitty sometimes used the occult tarot for divining the future and making decisions. Dee, Kitty, and other people like them provided me with extensive information about their personal experiences as well as the activities of friends, associates, and acquaintances. Though interesting, this information was too anecdotal and unreliable for my purposes. My effort to follow up leads on groups and practitioners frequently produced wild chases and dead ends. Through these exploratory activities I learned of several esoteric and occult bookstores in the Valley. This turned out to be a major breakthrough in my early fieldwork. My "discovery" of these specialty shops provided the initial key to generating substantial information about esoteric practitioners and groups. Book titles and other objects for sale provided a preliminary indication of the diffuse array and range of topics included in this cultural domain, as well as some of the connections among them. What I did not see also provided an indication of what was not included. In book and supply stores I found bulletin boards and business cards advertising meetings, gatherings, special events, and the services of occult experts. I collected this information and asked store personnel about other activities. I began recording this intelligence in the form of a card index of people and groups encountered in this way. Consequently, I deliberately began to develop a sense of the nature and extent of esoteric and occult activities in the Valley. At the time my purpose in collecting this information was to find a particular group to study. It was not until later that I started to realize that the cultic milieu itself might be a worthy topic of research and reporting. In a relatively short period of time I found that my knowledge had increased to the extent that previous informants were unable to supply useful information about this concrete scene. I continued to use them as a source of communication, and to verify intelligence, including checking their reliability as informants; but it increasingly became apparent that I was able to generate more and better details through my own resources. I also had begun to identify several people, including a bookstore owner, as potential new informants. Retrospectively, I regarded this as a turning point in my fieldwork, a point of replacing previous informants with new and better ones, and becoming increasingly independent.

Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu

13

My most important "discovery" in Valley bookstores was a "spiritual" and a "psychic" directory of individuals and groups. The psychic directory was especially useful since it was published along with articles and other sources of information in a community bulletin, Psychic Magazine. Distributed locally, this periodical contained a host of titillating and worthwhile material. It incorporated brief articles on topics like astrology, numerology, psychic personali ties, happenings on the national and local scene, and predictions about the future. There were advertisements for a wide variety of books, supplies, and services ranging from international travel, places of special esoteric interest, and study groups to quaint healing preparations, lessons in the occult arts and sciences, and even esoteric birth control devices. More significantly, Psychic Magazine published a directory to about seventy groups in the Valley ranging from unorthodox religions, quasi-religious cults and study groups to esoteric medical clinics and an occult university. It listed future events and activities in the local area, a well as people offering "professional services" ranging from astrology, life, clairvoyant, psychic, and tarot readings to consciousness auditing, dream analysis, healing, hypnosis, and yoga. These lists of groups and practitioners were extremely consequential for my apprehension of this scene generally. They also provided addresses, telephone numbers, and identifying labels helpful for making subsequent contacts and indicating categories of meaning used by insiders. The idea of studying the cultic milieu and related networks of participants and groups more systematically thereby became increasingly attractive.

BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE ESOTERIC COMMUNITY The apparent renaissance of esotericism and occultism during the late 1960's and 1970's aroused an enormous response on the part of journalists, scholars, and various other experts. Shocked that modern Americans would be attracted to such antiquated and alien beliefs and practices, studies and reports of these phenomena proliferated. My efforts to grasp the insiders' worlds of meaning more fully led to an examination of frequently mentioned texts, literature in related specialty book stores, and successively the writings of journalists, historians, sociologists, and a host of other exoteric experts amd scholars (as discussed below). As I examined this literature casually while conducting fieldwork, I found that very few experts took Americans' esotericism and occultism seriously. They exhibited little sensitivity to adherents' convictions, and generally avoided researching the cultic milieu in depth. With rare exceptions the responses of experts remained ignorant of the considerable history of esotericism and occultism in Western culture generally, and American culture in particular. Experts' explanations of this revival frequently dismissed societal members' claims to knowledge and related activities, out of hand, as too ridiculous for serious study or examination. Efforts to examine them more seriously commonly explained members' claims and activities away from particular scientific standpoints. Popular images and the contentions of experts served as questions to be studied and ways of analyzing emergent fieldwork products. I was not attempting to confirm or refute their

14

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

arguments and views; yet I thought it would be useful to examine them critically. My principal aim and preoccupation was to experience the insiders' world of meaning directly. In Psychic Magazine I found an announcement for an upcoming "psychic fair." In late October 1976 I attended the first of many such fairs. This proved to be an excellent opportunity to observe a wide variety of Valley practitioners doing everything from metaphysical healing, astral travel, and psychic art to reading palms, the tarot, and tea leaves. At fairs I had opportunities to observe first hand and talk casually with many of the practitioners. These experiences, more than anything else, destroyed many of the stereotypical images I previously held about these people from watching movies and TV, listening to news reports of strange cults, and reading social scientific literature about socially deprived and psychically depraved members of socially marginal movements. By November 19761 had accumulated considerable information about collectivities in the Valley. The information I previously recorded on cards was supplemented by data from the directories. In this manner I constructed an extensive list of collectivities and practitioners. This knowledge, in turn, served as a starting point for my subsequent investigation of specific activities. In the course of assembling these lists I began to develop a sense of who was involved, their connections with particular collectivities, the activities of these groups, people performing leadership roles, and interconnections among groups. I eventually realized that part of what I had uncovered was what members called the "esoteric community." At the time, finding out exactly what members' meant by reference to the "esoteric community" became a basic study problem. Before my participation in fairs, I unintentionally performed a participant observational role as a "seeker." The seeker role, I later learned, is familiar to insiders and many outsiders (see Straus, 1976; Balch and Taylor, 1977a). To be a seeker one need only appear at esoteric gatherings, ask questions, engage in discussion, and most importantly demonstrate a serious and sincere interest in what is happening. Like the potential convert to exoteric religion, the seeker is welcome at most esoteric events, and a variety of special activities are designed especially for seekers. In salient ways, seeking is a generic feature of this scene. It is not unusual for someone to be labeled and identified as an adept by other members, if they are able to sustain such an identity socially. But it is considered pretentious from the standpoint of the ethos of esoteric culture to claim adepthood for oneself. Mastery of esoteric bodies of knowledge generally is accompanied by the realization of one's limitations. To claim adepthood is to risk the ridicule of the community, unless such a powerful knowledge can be demonstrated dramatically. Most scene participants are labeled and regarded as seekers of esoteric knowledge. My entree into the community and performance of the seeker role constituted a covert research strategy; that is, I deliberately did not tell people I was doing research. Although the ethics of covert participant observation sometimes are questioned (Gold, 1958), I strongly believe that it is a defensible approach under many circumstances (also see Douglas, 1976). None of the people or groups with whom I interacted were treated as "subjects" in the ordinary, social scientific sense

ILLUSTRATION TWO: Knight of Swords, New TarotDeck. Reproduced by permission of Taroco, Sausalito, CA 94965 USA. Copyright © 1974 William J. Hurley and J.A. Horler. Further reproduction prohibited.

16

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

of this word. I was sincerely interested in esoteric beliefs and activities, even though I also was gathering information for sociological purposes. Much of my observation and data collection occurred in public settings, like psychic fairs, and I conformed to the interactional rules established by participants in these situations. I, for example, paid for all of the tarot readings collected in the course of this inquiry. I did not manipulate the people with whom I interacted beyond the sort of manipulative exchanges that otherwise are a normal feature of everyday life and these situations. Indeed, many of the fronts presented and used by members were far more deceptive than any of the strategies I employed to penetrate them. There was no reason for me to suspect that any possible harm, including reputational damage, might come to the people or groups with whom I interacted. Even today it would be extremely difficult for anyone except for the core members of the community to concretely identify the specific people and groups reported herein. I was gradually and naturally accepted and identified by members of the community as a seeker. Unless social researchers are free to employ covert strategies, at least during preliminary stages of fteldwork in relatively unfamiliar territory, meaningful inquiry will be impossible. Its products, moreover, will hopelessly risk confusing private, backstage realities of social existence with public fronts and scenes (Douglas, 1976). Ultimately, the ethics of covert field work simply cannot be legislated beforehand by self-appointed individuals or bureaucratic committees of the academy or government. These decisions are too complex, too situational, and entirely dependent on the honesty, good will, and responsibility of people doing research (see Jorgensen, 1989). In short, then, the ethics of fieldwork are and must be an ongoing problem. Ethics, in other words, are part of the task and conduct of participant observational inquiry. Ethics necessarily depend on the ethos of the community of fieldwork practitioners (see Johnson and Altheide, 1990b). My participant observational role as a seeker in the community progressively was transformed. As a regular participant in the community who frequented particular practitioners and groups I came to be regarded by insiders as a particular kind of seeker: as a client and student of the tarot. These differences in my membership roles, the movement from seeker to client and from client to student, were subtle in many ways. Yet this transition involved noticeable changes in terms of how I was regarded and treated by natives. As a native seeker I was one of many different faces that come and go in the community. As a client and student people recognized and greeted me with familiarity. I thereby was able to develop emergent and ongoing interpersonal relationships with them. They no longer treated me as someone to whom even the most basic aspects of esoteric culture had to be explained. And, even more crucially, they came to see me and treat me as socially located in the context of familiar networks of relationship within the community. Participant observer roles of client and student afforded me a more penetrating look at the community. Yet they also limited the nature and kind of questions I could raise. Questions I asked as a seeker pertinent to sociological research could be justified, easily, as naive. As a client and student I was supposed to know more and consequently raising research issues sometimes provoked suspicion about my

Observing and Participating in the Cidtic Milieu

17

motives. As my relationships with members of the community became more intimate and in situations where I needed to ask pertinent research questions, I began, very selectively, to acknowledge and explain my investigation to them. Initially I feared that revealing myself in this way might led to a widespread knowledge of this study, thereby limiting what I could observe and who would talk candidly with me. This apprehension, interestingly, was unjustified. People talked about me, especially with reference to the activities in which I was engaged as a member. To the best of my knowledge, however, there was little discussion of this research project in the community. I see this as a reflection of my having established trusting relationships. Insofar as the people whom I selectively told of my research discussed it with other members, they apparently also did so discriminatingly and under conditions of trusting those whom were told. The importance of trust in fieldwork, as has been articulated so eloquently by Johnson (1975), seems to be a condition that commonly is passed from one relationship to subsequent relationships and interactions. During the early stages of this study of esotericism in the Valley I encountered the occult tarot for the first time. Lin became interested in these picturesque cards and purchased a pack in an occult bookstore. She located several manuals describing how to use tarot cards, particularly for divinatory purposes, and she began learning their arcane wisdom. Though highly skeptical of claims to portending the future, I was enamored with the symbolism and artistic renderings of the cards. Within a short period of time we added several more tarot packs to what would become a fattened collection. In February 19771 began seriously to consider following Lin's lead, and partly by reference to her experiences, making the tarot a focus of my research. In spite of Lin's encouragement and cogent arguments in favor of this, I was hesitant. To do an adequate study of the occult tarot appeared to involve an overwhelming task of learning its esoteric teachings, as well as techniques for interpreting the wisdom of the cards. Tarot divination usually is not a group activity, and I still labored under the belief that sociological research should concentrate on some form of an organized group. I eventually resolved this dilemma, though not without conflict and doubt, by convincing myself that the occult tarol was a worthy topic and a useful focal point for my study. Just because tarot activity did not conform to my expectations and original study plan—to become a member of a cult—did not seem sufficient to avoid it. Reflecting on the esoteric activities I had observed in the Valley, I realized that the tarot, a particular body of occult wisdom used for the purposes of divination, meditation, and study, was thoroughly characteristic of this scene. Edward Tiryakian (1974:18) observed that the occult tarot commonly has been viewed as a key to all arcane wisdom, "perhaps the synthesis of esoteric culture." Robert Ell wood and Harry Partin (1988), following Mircea Eliade (1964), argued that "shamanism," a more general label under which divinatory uses of the tarot might be grouped, is a principal feature of esoteric culture. As magic, the tarot might have been part of Max Weber's (1963) highly influential analysis of the role of charisma in religion. In short, then, the occult tarot gradually, doubtfully, and conflictually but defensibly became a focus of my inquiry.

18

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

During the winter of 1977, as will be discussed more fully in Chapter Five, I began learning the arcane wisdom of the occult tarot. I started by studying classic, and not so classic, literature on the topic. I practiced reading the cards or using them in a divinatory fashion. Eventually, I received instructions from tarot card readers whom I had observed using the cards for prognosticating. Learning the tarot placed me directly and intensively in contact with key figures in the esoteric community. Most importantly, it provided members with a means for accounting for my presence, and an indication that I was a sincere seeker of esoteric knowledge. Eventually, my use of the tarot lead me to participate in psychic fairs where I read the tarot for pay. Members of the esoteric community thereby defined and identified me as a diviner of the tarot, and a fully participating member of the community. In addition to participant observation, my fieldwork included a systematic survey of individuals and groups in the Valley. The largest portion of this inquiry was conducted by telephone. I attempted to contact all of the groups and individuals not otherwise known to me when I had intelligence about names, addresses, and phone numbers. Through these interviews I requested a brief description of beliefs and activities, as well as asked whether or not I was welcome at group functions. This information was recorded and filed, along with any other data I had collected on the group, such as advertisements, mailings, or literature. Appendix A illustrates the basic form of this survey of community groups. By the end of the study I was able to collect some information on approximately 100 groups or collectivities involving an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 people, as well as 125 practitioners (also see Jorgensen, 1982; Jorgensen and Jorgensen, 1982). Interestingly, less than one-half of these groups are included in the national directories used by Stark, Bainbridge, and Doyle (1979) in their quantitative study of cults. The reason for this is fairly simple. While most of groups missed by Stark, Bainbridge, and Doyle are public and visible locally, they are not readily discernible to outsiders without information about where to look for them. They generally are not listed under cults or other headings, in the yellow pages, and they generally are not included in national directories of psychic, occult, esoteric, or pagan organizations. Telephone interviews, like most survey research strategies, are of limited value unless accompanied by previous or subsequent relationships. They generally provide potentially significant but very superficial knowledge. My phone conversations provided important data. In this way I was able to determine where the group was located (when this was previously unknown); if the group even existed (some groups spring up and disappear almost overnight); who the key leaders and members were; basic beliefs and practices, as well as other details, such as interpersonal networks of relationship and related professional practitioners, about the group. In most cases people were very willing to talk with me by phone, and even though they usually were told of my research interests, they frequently treated me as a potential recruit. Their willingness to talk with me commonly derived in part from my familiarity with membership activities in the community, including mutual friends and acquaintances. In many instances people volunteered information about relationships with other individuals and groups in the community, sometimes candidly expressing prejudices and politics.

Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu

19

I endeavored to follow up telephone interviews at psychic fairs where I met and talked with the leaders and members of these groups. In some cases I listened to formal presentations by these people. Over the course of fieldwork in the Valley I attended the activities of more than twenty groups, not counting the bookstores which I frequented regularly. Supplementary knowledge about groups and individuals in the community was acquired through secondhand reports by students, friends, and members of the community. I was able to rely extensively on key informants, including several who were key figures in the community, such as the publisher of Psychic Magazine, for information about these people and activities. Collecting reliable and valid information from key informants was made possible by having previously established trusting relations with them. Lin and I, moreover, had become socially located and identified as tarot diviners. Even after my research interests were known, people in the community generally introduced and referred to us as tarot card readers, not sociological researchers. During the later portion of this investigation, we were married by a female minister in a group within the community. The importance of establishing social location and identity within the natural routine of the field setting cannot be overestimated. In addition to collecting details about groups and organizations in the community, I constructed a card index of people known as "professional practitioners." Many of the approximately 125 people in this category were not regular participants in the community, and it consequently proved impossible to gather data systematically on all of them. I was able to gather bits and pieces of information pertinent to about half of them. About 50 of these people used the tarot at some time as a service to other people, usually for pay. Lin and I talked informally with them or gathered information about all of them during our fieldwork. Formal, indepth interviews, several of which ran almost four hours, were conducted mostly by Lin with twenty tarot card readers (see Appendix B). The remaining readers were unreachable, unwilling to be interviewed formally, in transition from this area to other parts of the country, temporarily involved with other activities, or changing from tarot readings to another type of practice. From the fall of 1977 throughout the next year I continuously sustained close friendships with several leaders of the esoteric community. We frequently interacted in one ano ther s' homes. Social evenings provided excellent, largely unobtrusive situations for building further upon' these relationships and collecting a detailed knowledge of the community. In time friendship with some of these people became primary to research. Since most of these informants were highly supportive of this research I rarely experienced conflict over these dual purposes. During this period of fieldwork, the internal dynamics of the community were examined intensely. Differences between Lin's entree, roles, and experience of self and mine provide important insights into fieldwork and reflect on the materials collected. Although Lin, too, initially was a seeker, she quickly became a student and reader of the occult tarot. In acquiring the reader identity, she received the assistance of other tarot card readers. They served as teachers, people to whom she could refer in other interactions, and ultimately as sponsors of her community membership. My acceptance in the community was facilitated greatly by Lin's identity and membership. Many of my contacts were impersonal and businesslike, while Lin's were more

20

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

intimate and personal. While insiders viewed me as a potential member in a variety of different settings, Lin was identified and accepted as a tarot practitioner in specific interactional situations and settings. These different routes into the community involved substantially different experiences of selfhood. Lin's experience was highly authentic, and it resulted in little role or identity strain. My experience of an occult identity was conflictual, strained and less than unequivocal. I commonly was caught, existentially, between a dual commitment to becoming a member of the community and doing field work. I also came to detest the diviner role. By most indications I capably managed the performance of these roles. I also learned to manage the resulting tension, but it was a recurrent problem from the standpoint of my identity. This problem, though present, was much less pronounced for Lin, and she was more able to make a sincere commitment to learning the arcane wisdom of the tarot, and using it seriously. In turn, differences in these self commitments were reflected in conversations and interactions with members of the community. Part of my success in gaining access to the insiders' world of meaning was due to Lin's highly authentic commitment, and members' identification of us as a couple. In the course of fieldwork in the community I vaguely was aware of gender roles and their consequences. Seekers are more likely to be females than males. Unlike the exoteric society, women in the esoteric community tend to be regarded, more consensually and completely, as fully equal participants. Women are esteemed as among the very best professional practitioners, and they commonly perform critical leadership roles as ministers and leaders of particular groups. Partly because men are less likely to be seekers as well as clients and students, I suspect that my participation was perceived to be valuable by members of the community. We did not deliberately cultivate gender differences as strategies for conducting research. There were, however, at least several advantages to this team research method. Being socially identified as a couple meant that members were less likely to attach sexual implications to our interactions. Clearly, this simplified my interactions with female diviners and other male and female members of the community. Participating and observing as a couple also supplied us with important, but not uncommonly subtle differences in perspective, thereby providing a more balanced knowledge. At the time we did not focus or dwell on these gender differences specifically, but retrospectively I have come to see them as significant. The information the researcher is able to gather in the field depends on where she or he is located with respect to the phenomenon of interest (see Jorgensen, 1989). In some settings an investigator may be able to gain access to the insiders' world by being identified as a researcher. It may be possible to observe and even directly experience the phenomenon of interest from this standpoint (see Berger, 1981). In other settings, however, access to the insiders' world of meaning cannot be accomplished without direct experiential access to this world. And in these settings direct access may be denied to the researcher by self or others without a total commitment to membership (see Rambo, 1989). Membership in the esoteric community clearly enhanced my ability to observe and experience the insiders' world of meaning and action.

Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu

21

My capability of sustaining friendly relations with some people in the community became more problematic as Lin and I were identified as tarot card readers and thereby linked to particular people, segments, networks, and politics. Discussions with a spokesperson of a particular constellation of groups—their beliefs, practices, activities, and goals—on one occasion were followed by similar discussions with the leader of a rival segment of the community. I compounded this inherent problem by playing sources of information against one another. Though invaluable as a strategy of reliability checking, in so doing I risked revealing friendships with factional leaders and members, and alienating potential informants. As Lin and I became more and more intimately located within a particular segment of the community, it became increasingly difficult to sustain relations with rival factions and leaders. Ultimately, I was forced to choose between two rival segments in the community. The incident provoking this choice emerged when we were asked to read the tarot, on a voluntary, as opposed to a paid, basis for a minifair sponsored by a coalition of groups constituting a particular confederation in the community. The paramount issue separating these factions was the commercial aspects of the esoteric scene in the Valley. The affiliated networks of practitioners we were asked to read for opposed commercialism, believing the tarot to be a tool for spiritual and self enlightenment. Readers were supposed to be responsible for serving the needs of others without regard for financial arrangements. We agreed to read the tarot for free, and assumed the minister in charge would contact us with final arrangements, such as the time, place, hours, and so on. In the confusion of a busy weekend we did not remember our agreement until the event was almost over. Talking over the situation we decided that something must have come up and the church sponsoring the minifair had not required our services, since no one had contacted us. We forgot the matter until a week later when the minister called. Upon answering the phone I immediately sensed something was wrong. The minister proceeded to demand hostilely why we had not showed up as expected at the minifair. I explained that we had assumed that we were not needed. Lin also attempted to discuss the problem with him. With anger and resentment, the minister questioned our commitments and sense of responsibility. Prior to this incident the minister had visited our home several times and a period of growing friendship had followed. Even under the circumstance his behavior seemed out of the ordinary. Only later did we discover that he interpreted our behavior in the context of our participating in fairs for pay. He had come to identify us with the rival alliances in the community and assumed we missed his fair because we could not gain financially from it. This occurred toward the end of my fieldwork and it had little effect on subsequent data collection. It, however, did prevent me from directly collecting subsequent information from this assembly of groups and practitioners in the community. More importantly, it resulted in some emotional trauma, estrangement, and a loss of friendship.

22

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

ANALYZING AND INTERPRETING FIELDWORK PRODUCTS In the spring of 19781 accepted an academic position at a large state university in the southeastern United States. My fieldwork in the Valley, consequently, was drawn to a close. For a few years I maintained periodic contact with several of my best friends in the esoteric community. I missed them and our friendship. Although I found fieldwork exciting, challenging, and generally rewarding, I welcomed relief from the day to day stress and strain of conducting research. I had little difficulty in relinquishing my fieldwork identity as a diviner of the occult tarot. As will be discussed more fully in Chapter Five, I rarely enjoyed the tarot card reading role. It was for me an arduous, formidable, and anxiety producing situation. While I did not find reading the tarot as such to be unduly demanding, divining for someone in particular was vexatious and onerous for me. I worried constantly that people might take me too seriously; of worse yet actually make important existential decisions after consulting with me. After 1978 I casually inquired into the esoteric scene in the Southeast, and I was interested to find that in many ways it closely resembled what I had observed in the Valley. As part of university courses I teach on the esoteric scene, new religious movements, and the sociology of religion my students have conducted participant observational studies of multifarious beliefs, practices, and groups in the local area. 3 Some of these investigations inform this book. Although my direct participation in the esoteric scene did not continue, I have sustained an interest in esoteric and occult thought. Parts of this book therefore reflect this subsequent research, particularly my use of the archival materials of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Chicago during 1985. As I gained greater distance from the field, I found it easier and easier to bring an analytic, sociological perspective to what I had observed. While I was immersed in the members' world it was difficult to see clearly many of the issues which I subsequently identified as sociologically important. Fieldwork involved flipping in and out of observing, participating, describing, analyzing, and interpreting. During fieldwork my primary commitment was to observing, participating and describing. Analysis and interpretation were undertaken principally as a way of gaining sufficient clarity, sociologically, to engage in further observation, participation, and description. Analysis and interpretation are facilitated greatly by having co-workers to talk with, and especially by discussions with outsiders who are able to raise provocative sociological questions. Leaving the field, however, freed me from the primary tasks of fieldwork, and permitted me to concentrate on analyzing and interpreting. In my experience, gaining greater existential distance from the field enabled me to focus and concentrate on sociological issues and discern their relevancy to one another and some larger picture. Writing up findings fundamentally involves further analysis and interpretation, and it therefore greatly accelerates this process. The analyses and interpretations presented by writing also contain inherent dangers. Through this process the experiences and activities of insiders' are translated into matters of sociological concern, and these concerns are sometimes confused with what they describe. My treatment of categories of membership in the

Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu

23

esoteric community, for instance (see Chapter Three), ultimately depends on highly rationalistic, conceptual devices. Although grounded in members' words and meanings, it reflects a sociological interest in these phenomena, not necessarily the interests of insiders, and consequently it reifies them. Members might write a book about the esoteric community, but it probably would not be a sociology, and certainly it would not be this book. The categories and meanings derived from my field work are observable. The appropriateness of my distinctions was checked with members repeatedly, as well as by listening to their talk and observing their activities. Whenever possible I employ words and expressions used by insiders in the ways that they use them, but these people commonly use a variety of expressions to describe their experiences and activities, sometimes inconsistently. In some cases I use vocabulary rarely if ever used by members to convey distinctions they make. The point is that the experiences, symbolizations, and interactions of insiders transpire in an exceptionally complex, conceptually messy, oftentimes unclear and even confusing everyday life world. This world of lived experience and activity should not be confused with my efforts to present it, clearly, distinctly, and precisely as a matter of sociological interest. The theoretical framework underlying the presentation of these materials, as developed in the next chapter, is a sociology of culture and knowledge (see, especially, Berger, 1967; Berger and Luckmann, 1966; Blumer, 1969,1990; Cicourel, 1973; Denzin, 1989a; Douglas and Johnson, 1977; Garfinkel, 1967; Geertz, 1973; Goffman, 1959, 1974; McCall and Becker, 1990; Schutz, 1967). It takes as the fundamental reality to be described, analyzed, and interpreted whatever it is that people experience and define as reality and, thereby, claim to know. In this view, every description of reality is an interpretation of it from some perspective. There are no facts or objective realities apart from human interpretation of them. All interpretations, in this sense, are equally real, and they possess real human consequences. Interpretations are unique to and dependent on particular social, cultural, and historical perspectives and circumstances. This is not to say that all interpretations and perspectives are equally plausible or adequate. Sociological interpretations, like those of other human studies, are pertinent to a distinctive order of reality: They are interpretations of the interpretations of societal members; or, in other words, they are second order interpretations of first order interpretations (Schutz, 1967). The plausibility and adequacy of sociological interpretations therefore are evaluated in terms of how well they describe and display the members' interpretations of reality. While this is by no means a simple matter, there are several bases for these judgments. Descriptions based on direct experience with, participation in, and firsthand observation of societal members' beliefs, practices, and activities are better than ones derived in other ways. Descriptions expressed in the language of natives and displaying their voice are better than descriptions expressed in other ways. Richly detailed, thick descriptions are better than less detailed, thin descriptions. Descriptions that are recognizable to members as reflections of what they think, feel, and do generally are better than descriptions that members are unable to acknowledge in this way. Descriptions that enable an outsider to act like and pass as a member further suggest considerable plausibility and adequacy.

24

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

Sociological interpretations, however, generally aim to do more than describe reality as it is experienced and enacted by societal members. That is, they aim to present the members' reality in terms of some abstract, general model, perspective, or theory related to sociological traditions and communities. Theorizing, in turn, is expected to illuminate some portion of the human condition to enhance sociological understanding of it. Interpretative adequacy and plausibility therefore are evaluated further in terms of an ability to illuminate human affairs and enhance sociological understanding of existential conditions. Seen in this way, sociological interpretations are not substitutes for, corrective of, or superior to societal members' interpretations (see Garfinkel, 1967). During my fieldwork, as previously noted, I examined experts' efforts to interpret and explain esotericism and occultism. These writings were helpful; yet I found little agreement among experts, and in many ways their interpretations were as confounding as what they endeavored to explain. I found, for instance, little scholarly agreement over inclusive phenomena, similarities and differences among them, definitions, fundamental study problems, or relevant theoretical perspectives. Scholarly views, not uncommonly, grossly contradicted or otherwise failed to describe what I had experienced and observed in the cultic milieu. Prior to the late 196(ys, scholarly study of unconventional beliefs, practices, activities, and groups in contemporary Western societies was highly sporadic and it rarely was defined as a fundamental intellectual interest by more than a few people. Earlier philosophical, historical, and anthropological studies tended rigidly and sharply to distinguish the beliefs and practices of primitive, premodern peoples from those found in modern cultures. Social studies of beliefs overwhelmingly focused on socially conventional bodies of knowledge, such as religion as defined by orthodox churches. While new, nontraditional religions attracted attention it was because they were perceived as anomalies, and they generally were regarded as less than socially and culturally significant as anything else. Sociological investigations tended to treat unconventional religious or scientific beliefs of contemporary peoples in Western societies as extreme oddities and forms of deviance. The perception of a massive revival of esoteric and occult beliefs in Western societies during the late 1960's attracted attention precisely because it seemed so strange to scholarly experts. A powerful underlying theme of pertinent scholarship was amazement, surprise, and incredulity that contemporary Americans would subscribe seriously in apparently large numbers to what were regarded as highly unconventional, deviant, archaic, irrational, anti-scientific, nonsensical, or outright stupid beliefs and practices. This theme reflects the widespread assumption of scholars that through modernization American culture and society, including traditional religions, had become increasingly rational, secular, and scientific. Scholarly study of esotericism and occultism was motivated implicitly by an almost compulsive concern for explaining these phenomena away, and thereby defending vested interests in modernism, especially a scientific worldview. Scientists and other scholarly experts formed associations aimed at debunking esoteric and occult claims to knowledge (see, for instance, Grim, 1982). Psychiatrists and other experts frequently were among the leaders of the subsequent anticult movement (see Bromley and Shupe, 1981; Shupe, 1981; Melton and Moore, 1982;

Observing and Participating in the Cidtic Milieu

25

Beckford, 1985; Bromley and Hammon, 1987). Although these activities generally did not reflect serious efforts to study esotericism and occultism in a scholarly way, they reflected experts' views of these phenomena, and they reinforced and were reinforced by serious research. A considerable body of scholarly literature exhibited a scientific preoccupation with the validity of members' claims to knowledge. These claims were dismissed on many different grounds, as gullible, faddish, archaic, antiscientific, invalid scientifically, lacking collective support, or as instances of con artistry and trickery (see, for example, Bainbridge and Stark, 1979; Benassi et al., 1980; Felson and Gmelch, 1979; Fischler, 1974; Hyman, 1977; Stachnik and Stachnik, 1980; Stark and Bainbridge, 1979,1980; Tatro, 1974; Truzzi, 1972a, 1974,1975,1978; Weiman, 1982). The central points of this perspective on esotericism and occultism were that members' claims to knowledge are not grounded in any material reality known to science, much of it is not socially supported, and many of these claims are self-consciously fraudulent. Members' claims and activities thereby could be dismissed or easily explained away. There are fundamental problems with this general perspective as a sociological interpretation of esotericism and occultism. It fails to consider adequately the sometimes important role of popular culture and collective behavior in mass movements, their reflection of larger sociocultural processes, and their potential for sociocultural change. To reject unconventional beliefs and practices as non-scientific or unscientific is not very informative. Such an approach fails to consider that even if mistaken, these beliefs and practices hold important consequences for adherents, their activities, and possibly for the larger culture and society (see Blumer, 1969; Berger and Luckmann, 1966; Schutz, 1967; Thomas and Thomas, 1928). It also reflects an unjustified scientific arrogance regarding the superiority of scientific rationality and ontologies over and against other ways of knowing and other views of reality (see Altheide and Johnson, 1979; Cicourel, 1973; Douglas and Johnson, 1977; Garfinkel, 1967; Garfinkel et al., 1981; Livingston, 1982; Mehan and Wood, 1975; Pickering, 1984; Pinch, 1982a, 1982b; Winch, 1958,1964; Wittgenstein, 1968). A closely related, distinctively sociological perspective focused specific attention on social functional and structural conditions related to the emergence and development of unconventional beliefs and marginal movements, as well as social psychological processes whereby people are attracted to these beliefs and join groups or movements. This* perspective generally leads to the conclusion that socially unconventional beliefs, movements, and their adherents are a reflection of deviance, alienation, deprivation, or mental illness (see Adorno, 1974; Benyon, 1938; Catton, 1957; Dohrman, 1958; Eister, 1972; Festinger et al., 1956; Foranaro, 1973; Harder and Richardson, 1972; Johnson, 1963; Jones, 1981; Lofland and Stark, 1965; Lofland, 1966; Mauss and Petersen, 1973; Petersen and Mauss, 1973; Prince, 1974; Quarantelli and Wenger, 1973; Robbins, 1969,1973; Shepherd, 1972; Staude, 1970; Wilson, 1970; Wuthnow, 1978). Recent efforts to synthesize deprivation and social exchange (or rational choice) into a theory of religion (Stark and Bainbridge, 1980, 1985,1987) also falls within this general line of thought (see Chapter Three). This general theoretical perspective also is defective as an adequate sociological interpretation of esotericism. Most of these theoretical contentions are incorrigible propositions (Mehan and Wood, 1975). Social structural stress and change,

26

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

social deprivation, social exchanges, and the rest, are defined and manipulated in such a way as always to be discoverable. These supposedly scientific contentions therefore rarely are falsifiable. They simply label phenomena in a highly tau tological fashion. The model of the human actor underlying these perspectives reduce societal members to judgmental dopes (Garfinkel, 1967), and it fails to relate human actions adequately to social structural conditions. Whatever social actors do is mediated by largely a priori concepts of scientists about what it really means. What scientists see is not social meaning from the actors' perspective, but their own reflections. Along with popular cultural images, these theoretical perspectives generally are alien to the sociocultural world they attempt to explain. They consequently distort the beliefs and activities of practitioners in identifiable ways. In so doing, these perceptions serve the ambitions of publics, experts, and interest groups. Since popular and scholarly images are useful for these purposes, efforts to correct them are pointless and futile. They commonly are uninteresting as sociological interpretations of insiders' beliefs and activities, but these cultural- images are highly consequential, sociologically, as the reactions of outsiders. They sometimes are discussed in this way here. Some of these specific contentions also are discussed in subsequent chapters for the purpose of clearly distinguishing my arguments from other viewpoints and perspectives. Still another general theoretical perspective is evident in the writings of sociologists. It tends to exhibit greater sensitivity for members' beliefs and practices, as sociohistorical products, seeing them as efforts to make sense out of human existence. Members' activities, in this view, tend to be seen and interpreted as countercultural reactions to modern society, critiques or rejections of rationalization and secularization, sometimes leading to new social forms (see Collins, 1977; Eglin, 1974; Glock and Bellah, 1976; Greeley, 1975; Greeley and McCready, 1974; Nelson, 1975; O'Keefe, 1982; Scott, 1980; Tiryakian, 1974; Wedow, 1976; Whitehead, 1974). The specific content or meaning of these beliefs and practices is left open, however, to actual study. From a general theoretical standpoint, these views provide a more adequate bases for sociological interpretation. These sociological formulations provide a meaningful context for serious scholarly discussion. Within such a context it is possible to have earnest differences and debate. While I draw on these discussions, I also think that they raise certain problems and difficulties. Nelson's (1974) model, for instance, deals with the "psychic," thereby limiting its applicability and generality. Greeley's (1974) tendency to equate unconventional beliefs with the sacred is suspect empirically, and his presupposition that ultimate beliefs derive from a basic human need is reductionistic, dubious, and difficult to examine empirically. Tiryakian (1973) overestimates the role and importance of secrecy, confuses distinctions between belief and practice as well as the esoteric and occult, ascribes too much coherence to knowledge and culture, and draws mostly unsupported conclusions about the influence of countercultural sentiments and innovations (see O'Keefe, 1982). Like these thinkers, O'Keefe (1982) examines the consequences of magic from societal members' standpoints, but consistent with Durkheimian realism, he is certain that its underlying

Observing and Participating in the Cultic Milieu

27

reality is an illusion. Though stimulating, his general theory of magic is overly formalistic and while attending to history, it is only quasi-historical. In short, then, it seems to me that all sociological interpretations (including explanatory ones) must begin with deliberate, sensitive, and careful efforts to describe human meanings from the existential standpoint of their creators. To do otherwise, as is suggested by versions of sociological realism and positivism in the name of science, is fundamentally and hopelessly to confuse social reality with interpretations of it. Popular images of esoteric culture are interesting as interpretations of this scene by outsiders. The realist images created by sociologists and other exoteric experts should be accorded similar status. No interpretation fully represents or captures social reality. Or, to put the matter differently, all interpretations, inevitably, reify and otherwise distort the lived experience of human existence and its social meanings (realities) to some extent, including my interpretation. This is not to say, however, that all interpretations are equal, as is being argued by contemporary versions of post-structuralist and premodernist thought. This contention commonly leads social analysts to concoct in a highly speculative fashion, interpretations that have little, if any, relationship with social reality as it is experienced and enacted by societal members. In this way it is a form of solipsism. There is no absolute or definitive solution to this interpretative dilemma. I treat it reflexively by constantly displaying and examining the procedures employed to produce the interpretations presented. The theory of esoteric culture developed and delineated in the next chapter is a product of my efforts to generate an interpretative perspective on the products of my fieldwork and related research.

28

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

Notes 1

Throughout this book I have endeavored to use the terminologies employed by members. In some instances I have substituted labels consistent with their meanings. Except when it is not otherwise clear or as a matter of emphasis, I generally have not placed members' terminologies in quotation. 2

This group avoids use of the label Mormon. They are known officially as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 3

I routinely assign student to attend the activities of cultic groups and new religions in this area.

Chapter 2 The Esoteric Scene in America My fieldwork in the cultic milieu involved constant exposure to a perplexing diversity of beliefs and practices as well as terminologies, definitions, and meanings describing them. Observing everyday life practices it was difficult to discern coherent usages, patterns, and meanings. Members' meanings seemed to derive from a vast cultural reservoir, freely borrowed, arranged, and rearranged in complex and confounding ways. Although it was possible to determine the meanings attached to these symbols, particularly as they were used by some set of practitioners in concrete situations and settings, their use and meaning varied widely across situations, settings, and among adherents such that there was little consensus or preference for a particular idiom. For many of these people what mattered most was some application of knowledge to the mundane conditions of their existence, thereby acting toward themselves, other people, and the world of everyday life in a meaningful fashion. Some of them were concerned with arranging meanings systematically and abstractly; and they would refer to various authorities, texts, traditions, and bodies of knowledge. Scholarly efforts to resolve this problem, in the interest of conceptual clarity and precision, either by appropriating words and meanings, such as occult, magic, mysticism, metaphysical, and the like, or contributing notions like new religions (new religious movements), nonconventional beliefs, extraordinary groups, human potential movements, magical therapy cults, alternative realities, and so on, has resulted in little consensus (see, for instance, Eliade, 1976; Ellwood and Partin, 1988; Galbreath, 1972, 1983; Jorgensen and Jorgensen, 1982; Judah, 1967; Marty, 1970; Melton, 1978,1986; O'Keefe, 1982; Tiryakian, 1974; Truzzi, 1972b). The diversity of potentially inclusive phenomena, differences as well as similarities among them, and the eclectic, synthetic, and highly fluid character of beliefs, practices, and groups defy any easy or simple solution to this conceptual obstacle. In a sense there is no definitive solution to it. The lived realities of societal members always are richer and more complex than the capacity to contain them in abstract concepts and formula29

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328961-2

30

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

tions. This acknowledgement, however, provides little relief to one of the central dilemmas of sociological theorizing. Based on a sociology of culture and knowledge, I develop and present a theory of esoteric culture. It provides an interpretative framework and perspective for describing and analyzing multifarious beliefs, practices, and activities of contemporary Americans. It specifically focuses attention on: the social meanings of American esotericism as it is experienced and enacted by believers; the manner in which practitioners organize their beliefs and activities socially; and the procedures they employ to accomplish occult knowledge. Esoteric culture includes elaborate bodies of abstract and practical knowledge which characteristically are "theosophical" or "religiophilosophic," related rituals and practices, as well as collective activities. It is distinguished, historically, by a lack of legitimacy in Western societies. This culture is sustained and organized in the form of a. "cultic milieu." It contains publics and collective behavioral audiences, as well as elaborate networks of seekers, practitioners, cults, sects, and collective movements. Sources of esoteric knowledge derive from ancient, premodern philosophies, religions, and folklores. Contemporary meanings and sources of esoteric knowledge are a product of the Renaissance Humanists' appropriation and syncretization of these ideas as Hermetic-Kabalistic occultism. Occult traditions periodically have been revived and revitalized, and subsequent generations of occultists have added new sources of esoteric belief and practice. Esoteric folklores and traditions have influenced American culture since the colonial period. Americans have drawn on successive European revivals, and they have innovatively contributed to esoteric culture. These innovations have produced significant collective and religious movements, many of which have been exported throughout the world. During the late 1960's, I argue, esoteric culture and the cultic milieu formed an esoteric scene in the United States. The highly fluid esoteric scene in American has undergone constant change. It waned during the 1980's, but esoteric culture remains visible in American metropolises today.

A THEORY OF ESOTERIC CULTURE The theory of esoteric culture I develop and present is indebted to the groundbreaking work of Tiryakian (1973,1974). His formulation draws on a structuralfunctional perspective on culture, society and personality, as well as a related evolutionary theory of sociocultural change. Culture, in this view, consists of cognitive maps defining reality which provide a cognitive and moral paradigm used by people to interpret their experiences and generate social action. In the case of Western societies, Tiryakian argues, there are several cultural paradigms, one of which is institutionally dominant while the other is latent or covert. He (1974:264) refers to the socially dominant paradigm that is manifest in public institutions as "exoteric culture," and defines it as: "a set of cognitive and evaluative orientations publicly recognized and legitimated in the network of social institutions." He objects to the idea that modernization reflects a unitary line in the historical development of Western societies resulting in exoteric culture. Modernization

The Esoteric Scene in America

31

especially the rationalization of society by way of science, he contends, also produced a countercultural paradigm through the systematic exclusion of particular cultural elements (claims to and bodies of knowledge) from exoteric culture. Tiryakian (1974:264-265) calls this socially latent, marginal, underground paradigm "esoteric culture/' It is composed of beliefs and doctrines, empirically oriented practices, and social organizations. Esoteric culture, more specifically, refers to religiophilosophic belief systems: "the more comprehensive cognitive mappings of nature and the cosmos, the epistemological and ontological reflections of ultimate reality, which mappings constitute a stock of knowledge" (Tiryakian, 1974:265). Esoteric knowledge is based on mystical and intuitive epistemologies. It constitutes theosophies concerning a knowledge of reality that is mysterious, secret, internal, subjective, participatory, hidden, and concealed from the uninitiated. Esoteric knowledge, according to Tiryakian (1974:265) is enacted by way of "occult" practices. These intentional techniques or procedures draft hidden, concealed, nonempirical forces thought to reside in nature or the cosmos in order to achieve empirical results, such as a knowledge of events or altering the course of events through this intervention. Esoteric culture, in this view, is organized by way of hierarchically structured secret societies. Esoteric knowledge is acquired by way of an initiation to secrecy and apprenticeship to a master. It is a source of power since a very few, select people are initiated into its mysteries. Although esoteric culture represents a socially marginal, underground current in Western societies, Tiryakian (1974:268-275) argues that it periodically has influenced the socially dominant, exoteric culture, especially its artistic expressions. Tiryakian's perspective on esoteric culture is insightful and helpful, but the general theoretical framework in which this formulation is located suffers from serious defects. His Parsonian structural-functional evolutionism provides a sociologically inadequate model of culture, society, human interaction, and self-hood, the processes of sociocultural change and stability, as well as methodology. I see culture and society as much more fluid, dynamic, conflictual, precarious, emergent, historically situated, and dependent on human activity. Insofar as culture provides a cognitive and moral map, it is diffusely distributed and generally only partly available to the people who sustain and enact it. Culture and society, it seems to me, are continuous and discontinuous in human experience and activity, and they are not governed by universal laws, regularities, or properties. Since culture always is pregnant with possibilities, there is no need to talk about latency. There also are several problems with Tiryakian's specific formulation of esoteric culture. This culture, as he recognizes, has a lengthy history in Western societies. It therefore is more appropriately characterized as a current or tributary which has been neglected and excluded from the sociocultural mainstream than as a separate, underground stream. To equate the occult with the practical accomplishment of esoteric knowledge is entirely artificial and not at all useful analytically; it is inconsistent with the historical meanings of this word; and it unnecessarily excludes from sociological consideration an entire range of esoteric claims to knowledge (also see O'Keefe, 1982). Historically, esoteric culture is supported by secretive orders, and while certain characteristics of secrecy are important, Tiryakian overemphasizes the contemporary significance of secret societies.

32

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

My view of esotericism derives from a sociology of culture and knowledge (see, especially, Berger, 1967; Berger and Luckmann, 1966; Blumer, 1969, 1990; Cicourel, 1973; Denzin, 1989a; Douglas and Johnson, 1977; Garfinkel, 1967; Geertz, 1973; Goffman, 1959, 1974; McCall and Becker, 1990; Schutz, 1967).1 From this standpoint, "culture" is defined as the totality of human activity, including so-called "material" and "nonmaterial" products. It is created, reproduced, and enacted by human beings through an emergent, historically continuous process of symbolic interaction. It is externalized and objectified symbolically through language, and it is internalized and re-appropriated as subjectively meaningful by way of socialization. People use language to produce bodies of knowledge constituting claims, beliefs, and doctrines defining "reality" in humanly meaningful ways. They formulate and use procedures, practices, andritualsto enact and accomplish these visions of reality. They produce tools and artifacts to construct, manipulate, and symbolize what they hold to be real. People formulate designs and procedures whereby their knowledge of reality and related human activities are distributed, structured, connected, and organized socially. Through culture, human-beings define and identify themselves, thereby creating and enacting social selves. Through social interaction people continuously sustain and enact more or less standardized solutions to human existence which may be seen as constituting social institutions. These institutions structure and organize, socially, the human plausibility of culture. Recurrent, customary support of these arrangements historically results in certain traditions. By way of social power, cultural traditions and institutions are sanctioned and legitimated. In this way, particular versions and images of reality constitute traditions supported by communities of believers which become socially dominant historically. Rival images and versions of reality commonly are defined as illegitimate. They may be preserved as traditions, symbolically through artifacts and documents, and sometimes sustained by minority communities. Ideological minorities, however, are subject to more or less serious sanctions, repression, and even extermination by the more powerful ideological majority. This view of social reality is non-dualistic: Culture is ideal and material, subjective and objective, mentalistic and embodied, determined and determining (intentional and coercive), as well as nominalistic and realistic (see Douglas and Johnson, 1977). Put differently, these classic, dualistic concepts do not provide a sociologically adequate description of social reality. Sociocultural reality is all of them and none of them at the same time (see Murphy, 1989). Insofar as it is possible to talk about the "causes" of culture, its only cause is humanity itself. Human beings create it, enact it, and thereby sustain it through symbolic interaction (see Blumer, 1969; 1990). It does not exist except through human interaction in historically concrete social situations and settings. Since human beings interact creatively with one another in specific historical situations, culture is not regulated by any set of absolute, universal laws. Culture is dispersed and distributed differentially. While it may provide a cognitive map when viewed abstractly, its enactment commonly is based on vague designs and incomplete knowledge. The societal component of culture, like culture itself, is inherently precarious and unstable. Social cooperation, coordination, and organization, thereby, require ongoing human interaction to

The Esoteric Scene in America

33

sustain them. Through human definition and interaction social power and its use may be re-configured constantly. In the history of Western societies particular claims to knowledge have been defined and sanctioned by people in positions of power as legitimate over and against rival claims to knowledge. Since the Renaissance socially dominant claims to knowledge increasingly have been characterized by rationalism. The driving force, so to speak, behind this process of modernization has been a scientific world view, but this spirit of rationality also has infected orthodox Western religions to a large extent. Orthodox Science and Religion are predominant components of the exoteric culture of Western societies.2 Esoteric culture is composed of claims to and bodies of knowledge which have been excluded from the dominant, exoteric culture of Western societies, particularly from the domains of Religion and Science. There are important differences among esoteric bodies of knowledge as well as inclusive beliefs, practices, and supporting collectivities. What they all share in common is a lack of legitimacy from the standpoint of the human constituencies which sustain exoteric culture. This theoretical perspective on esoteric culture provides a way of conceptualizing similarities and differences among a seemingly disparate range of phenomena. It, consequently, provides a solution to the persistent difficulties scholars have encountered in dealing with matters which are described by labels like mystical, metaphysical, new age, occult, magic, paganism, witchcraft, theosophical, psychic, nonconventional religion, medicine, science, and so on. It recommends that these ideas and inclusive bodies of knowledge, belief, practice, traditions, and communities be examined concretely in their social, cultural, and historical contexts. The word "esoteric," according to the Oxford English Dictionary, derives from the Greek. It occurs first in Lucian (c. 160 A.D.) who attributed to Aristotle a classification of his works into esoteric and exoteric. The "esoteric" refers to an internal, intuitive, participatory, invisible, nonmaterial, subjective reality as opposed to an exoteric world that is outer, external, detached, visible, material, or objective. Esoteric knowledge is divine, pure, sacred, and True, while exoteric knowledge is vulgar, impure, profane, and false. From an esoteric standpoint the modern distinction between sacred (theology, religion) and secular (philosophy, science) knowledge and truth is nonsense. Esoteric knowledge rejects the sacred/ secular dualism, and it seeks to restore the premodern unity of True and Sacred Knowledge. It rests on mystical, intuitive, participatory insights and it is judged by aesthetic and spiritual values. Esoteric knowledge stands opposed to the modern doctrines of materialism, realism, empiricism, and positivism (see Faivre, 1989b). "Esoteric" was used by later writers, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, with reference to secret doctrines taught by Pythagoras to a few select disciples. It thereby came to refer to "philosophical doctrines, treatises, modes of speech, etc.," communicated by a master to a few chosen students. The acquisition of these secret, mysterious, sacred teachings required lengthy periods of study and special training available only from very exceptional, extraordinary masters. Esoteric knowledge was communicated orally, by way of handcopied texts, and it was not available to the uninitiated. This knowledge was thought to be powerful and, consequently, dangerous. Its use by the uninitiated was regarded as vulgar and profane, and

34

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

inappropriate or unskilled use of this knowledge was held to possess potentially injurious consequences. Being restricted to a privileged few disciples, esoteric knowledge was highly exclusive, and partly as a result it was seen as a source of tremendous personal power (see Tiryakian, 1973,1974). To be initiated into and become adept in these secret, sacred, and powerful teachings resulted in a radical, personal transformation from vulgarity, profanity, and ignorance, to enlightenment, knowledge, truth, and perhaps divinity. Esoteric knowledge is composed of "theosophies" or "religiophilosophical" theories and doctrines. Theosophies define and specify connections between perceivedly different orders of reality. These realms include: physical, material, natural, biological realities; worlds of human, social, cultural, and historical existence; and some ethereal, spiritual, divine, godly, supernatural, cosmic realm. Human existence thereby is defined comprehensively and ultimately in absolutely meaningful ways. Esoteric knowledge includes rituals, practices, and procedures. They may be manifest as incantations, magic, sorcery, prophesy, divination, meditation, possession, and trance, among other possibilities. Esoteric practices enable their users to achieve esoteric knowledge and enact these visions of reality in concrete ways. The occult, as discussed below, is a particular aspect of esoteric culture. It constitutes distinctive bodies of knowledge with an extensive history in Western culture. Practices whereby occult knowledge is acquired and enacted, such as divination, are highly consequential; but, contrary to Tiryakian's contention, it is not useful analytically or otherwise to single them out as the way in which esoteric knowledge is obtained and performed. Historically, there is an affinity between esoteric culture and secret societies. Since esoteric knowledge is sacred, powerful and dangerous it was deemed to require special, respectful care and protection from the uninitiated. Disciplines whose training and activities transpired in exclusive organizations therefore commonly took oaths of secrecy. Some of these collectivities, as Tiryakian (1973) observed, became hierarchically structured, characteristically in formal organizations. Yet, knowledge which is intuitive, mystical, and enigmatic, orally transmitted, and used creatively by a few adepts and masters, tends to be highly resistant to rationalization and formalization. It generally lacks a high degree of orthodoxy, and it tends to be characterized by an extreme "epistemological individualism" (Wallis, 1977). A master and other adepts consequently may use this knowledge without ever forming stable associations. When they do interact with one another it commonly is through loosely connected social networks, and by way of small, loosely structured, inherently unstable, and highly transitory collectivities. Groups of this sort characteristically are "cults." With the invention of printing, esoteric knowledge, historically, was no longer limited to oral traditions, a few handcopied texts, elite masters, or a few select students. It was easily spread by way of printed documents, and, eventually, through other forms of mass communication. Esoteric knowledge thereby became available in some sense to a much larger audience. It became possible for eager publics to consume, spread, and even innovatively generate new forms of esoteric knowledge. Popular consumption of esoteric knowledge generally is disdained by those who have been initiated into secretive cults. Partly it is because this knowl-

The Esoteric Scene in America

35

edge, or at least particular forms of it, no longer are the exclusive possession of these elites. Esoteric knowledge thereby may become a part of popular, mass culture. Contemporary esoteric culture sometimes is organized in the form of secret societies. Secretive groups occasionally are able to persist over lengthy periods of time and remain socially isolated. These groups, however, tend to be part of a larger "cultic milieu/' This social environment includes publics and audiences which consume esoteric culture, people seeking esoteric knowledge, students, practitioners, loosely connected networks of believers, and cultic groups, all of which may be interconnected to some extent. The cultic milieu provides potential recruits for particular groups. It serves as the basis for the development of common interests and activities. And it provides bases for sustaining and mutually supporting common interests and activities of individuals, as well as the activities and practices of collectivities. Cults sometimes develop into more stable, characteristically sectarian, social organizations. When this happens, however, they also become increasingly independent of the larger milieu. As a consequence, sectarian organizations tend to move out of the immediate nexus of the cultic milieu. When there is sufficient popular, mass interest in esoteric culture to raise it to an unusually high level of visibility within the larger society, it may emerge as a social scene (see Irwin, 1977).

MEANINGS AND SOURCES OF ESOTERICISM Contemporary esoteric culture derives from an odd assortment of beliefs and practices. It includes a variety of premodern bodies of knowledge: the religions of the ancient world, especially Egypt, Mesopo tamia and Persia (such as Zorastarianism); Hebrew cults, lore, and biblical traditions (like the Essenes, and Cabalistic mysticism); Greek philosophies and religions; Roman paganisms, mythologies and philosophies; and Christian gnosticism, cults, and heresies (Nestorianism, Catharism). It also includes: Eastern beliefs, practices, cults, and especially religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Hinduism; non-Western folklore, religions, and notably beliefs in magic, ghosts, spirits, witchcraft, trance and possession; and a host of Western paganisms, folklores, magics, witchcrafts, medicines, and healings (such as Celtic, Norse, and Arthurian elements, especially stories of the Holy Grail). A principal source of esoteric knowledge is derived from the occultism of the Renaissance. Older sources of esoteric culture were combined and new bodies of knowledge added from the 17th through the 20th centuries by successive European and American revivals (see Sullivan, 1989).^ These sources of esoteric knowledge, seen simply as ideas, are more dissimilar than they are similar. They derive from drastically and substantially different social, cultural, and historical contexts, and in many instances they constituted (or constitute) socially legitimate and even socially dominant traditions and worldviews within their native cultures. These bodies of knowledge, belief, and practice become esoteric by reference to modernism, its thought categories, and a predominant exoteric culture. Efforts to identify substantive similarities among disparate bodies of esoteric knowledge generally demand the imposition of alien concepts, as well as cultural and historical decontextualization.

36

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

O'Keefe's (1982:523-581) ability to discern similarities among some of these ideas, for instance, hinges on a distinction between rationality and irrationality, a peculiarly modern dichotomy. His talk about "the occult siege of the ancient world" (referring to Greek thought), and "Hinduism as a permanent occult revolution," depends entirely on a modernist viewpoint. Greek irrationalism becomes occult with its appropriation by Renaissance Occultism, while Hinduism becomes esoteric and perhaps occult when it is removed from its native context and relocated within modern Western thought. 4 O'Keefe's theorizing reflects an unwarranted ethnocentricism, universalism, and absolutism, and it results in conceptual confusion. Greek philosophy and religion, as well as Hinduism may be irrational from a modernist viewpoint, but they are esoteric within a Western cultural context because of a lack of social legitimacy, not because they are irrational. Contemporary meanings and sources of esoteric culture are indebted greatly to the Renaissance Hermeticists (Yates, 1964; Faivre, 1989c). Unlike the socially dominant modernist worldview with its ideology of progress, these Renaissance scholars romantically looked backward, not forward for inspiration and truth. This knowledge, they thought, was contained in the form of secret and mysterious writings of the Ancients (Yates, 1964). A collection of Gnostic writings from about the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. were translated and synthesized with Greek philosophies (particularly Neo-Platonicism). This literature, particularly in the form of the Asclepius and the Corpus Hertneticum, took the figure of Hermes Trismegistus (who was identified as the Egyptian god Thoth and the Roman god Mercury) as its central authority and source. To this mix Jewish mysticism (Cabala) was added, forming the Hermetic-Kabalistic tradition (Yates, 1964; also see O'Keefe, 1982; Faivre, 1989c). As O'Keefe (1982:551) concisely observes: 'The Renaissance outburst, basically, consists in the gradual recovery of much of the cosmopolitan occult knowledge assembled during the Graeco-Roman period—Hellenic, Roman, Persian, Chaldean, Egyptian, Hebraic magics then syncretized into occult sciences." Eliade (1976:48) has noticed that: "According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term 'occult was first used in 1545, meaning that which is not apprehended, or apprehensible by mind; beyond the range of understanding or of ordinary knowledge.'" In a later context, 1633, he (1976:48) continued: "the word received a supplementary significance, namely, 'the subject of those reputed sciences held to involve the knowledge or use of agencies of secret and mysterious nature (as magic, alchemy, astrology, theosophy).'" In contemporary usage the occult refers to bodies of knowledge and practice held to be secret, mysterious, hidden, or concealed from the uninitiated; outside the domain of ordinary knowledge and understanding; beyond apprehension by mind alone; the subject of arts and sciences, such as alchemy, astrology, magic, theosophy, divination, and so on (see Truzzi, 1972a; Galbreath, 1983; Faivre, 1989a). It sometimes is appropriate in describing an interest in secret, mysterious, or hidden truths or realities to refer to them as occult. Use of this word as an adjective should not be confused, as it is in O'Keefe's (1982) case, with its use as a noun to describe the emergence of occult knowledge, the Occult, as a historically situated tradition. I will use the term "occult" specifically as a reference to particular esoteric traditions, bodies of knowledge, practices, and related phenomena. This use of the

The Esoteric Scene in America

37

word is consistent with how it is used by members of the cultic milieu in the Valley, historical interpretations, and conventional definitions. The Hermetic-Kabalistic tradition flourished throughout Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. It constituted a massive literature and authorities such as Trithemius, Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, Ramon Lull (Raymond Lully), John Dee, Robert Fludd, and many others. It was entertained as a serious, scholarly philosophy, sometimes influencing leading figures of science. As a prominent philosophy it exerted influence with the Church and may have influenced the emergence of science (see Yates, 1964; Faivre, 1989c). The Hermetic-Kabalistic tradition, however, ran counter to the central ideas of what would become the socially dominant religions and sciences of Western culture. These occult traditions consequently were influenced by subsequent struggles for power to control definitions of "knowledge." They eventually are seen as rivals of Religion and Enlightenment rationality and science. The occult thereby came to be used as a reference to subjects and procedures excluded from the domain of exoteric culture, particularly Religion and Science. Astrology before the seventeenth century, was periodically embraced and tolerated by the Church. Even so, the relationship between the all-powerful Church and beliefs and practices that eventually would be perceived as "heresy" was at best uneasy. Leading Church authorities, such as Augustine, St. Thomas, and other lesser-known figures were sometimes used to support esoteric or occult philosophies; but they also were used against magic, astrology, divination, and many of the ideas that would later serve as the basis for sciences like astronomy. Witchcraft, perhaps the most publicly obvious occultism, clearly was a product of heresy. It no doubt existed throughout Europe in the form of folk and sometimes pagan practices, but the "witch" phenomenon was created by the Catholic response to heretics, like Reformists, Catharists, Amalricians, among other individuals and collectivities (Russel, 1974). The Protestant Reformation provided a sociointellectual context in which both Catholics (with the Counter-Reformation and its Inquisition) and Protestants sought to purge beliefs and practices thought to be superstitious, magical, and heretical. Occultism not only persisted but it attracted widespread support, especially among intellectuals and SQcial elites, during the 17th century. The "Rosicrucian Enlightenment," as this intellectual movement is referred to by Yates (1972), is seen as an intermediate cultural stage-between the Renaissance and a revolution producing science. It reflects continuity with the Hermetic-Kabalistic tradition featuring alchemy, as well as critiques of philosophies and theologies serving as the basis for Religion and Science. Paradoxically, many of these ideas were entertained by the creators of science. In a later context, namely the 18th century, this occult literature and lore (the mysterious pamphlets, Varna and Confessions, relating the story of a German Knight, Christian Rosencreutz), partly would inspire the organization of lodges of Rosicrucians, Freemasons, and Theosophists.5 By the late 17th and the 18th centuries, however, doctrines and practices, such as astrology, numerology, palmistry, alchemy, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, magic, demons, spirits, and gods, increasingly were perceived as an offense to both the Church and the new-found spirit of scientific rationality—the Enlightenment.

38

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

Fischler (1974:284), notices for instance that: "Stripped of legitimacy, astrology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (along with alchemy, palmistry, clairvoyance, and telepathy) encountered both legal and socio-cultural repression." By the Enlightenment, the occult arts and sciences were being forged into a socially marginal and perceivedly illegitimate current of Western culture through the systematic exclusion of these ideas and their adherents from both religious and scientific claims to knowledge and supporting communities. It sometimes has been assumed that occult disciplines represent the origins and primitive beginnings of science. Alchemy, for example, sometimes is seen as the predecessor of chemistry. Some of the men who became leaders of science also practiced the occult arts and sciences (see Kearney, 1971; OKeefe, 1982). The relationships between Hermetic philosophy and the ideas stimulating science, as noted above, remain in need of further research and interpretation. None of this, however, supports the tremendous leap that is necessary for arguing that occult disciplines were protosciences. This contention, as Eglin (1974:331) observed, easily is discredited: "When chemical phenomena ceased to be regarded alchemically, it was because a new intellectual/scientific ethos had appeared and banished its predecessor, not that, for example, Newton and Boyle had succeeded in their attempts to transform Alchemy into chemistry." The contention that the occult is protoscientific—reflecting a cumulative, evolutionary view of science—fails as a sociological and historical explanation (see Kuhn, 1970; O'Keefe, 1982). Since about the 18th century, subjects and procedures excluded from Religion and Science commonly have been labeled and treated as esoteric or occult. Interpretations of ancient and folk beliefs survived in the popular imagination, texts and literature, folk practices, and more formally by way of semi-secret and secretive societies and cults. From time to time esoteric and occult beliefs and rituals have reemerged and been the subject of popular cultural revival and revitalization. The ideas of Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), Comte de Saint-Germain (about 17101785), and Franz Aton Mesmer (1733-1815) stimulated popular interest, sometimes by exoteric scholars, but they eventually were defined as esoteric, and served as sources of subsequent esoteric cultural innovations. Significant revivals of eso tericism and occultism in France and England during the late 18th century and again in the 19th century greatly contributed to the revitalization of this culture. French and English occultism influenced one another, carried over into the 20th century, exerted influence on exoteric culture, and spread throughout the world. Each of these revivals added new sources of esoteric thought, new groups and movements, and contributed to combining and synthesizing old traditions into new systems of belief and practice. Contemporary esoteric culture tends to be highly eclectic and syncretic. Participants in these cultures mix and match esoteric and exoteric ideas in complex and confounding ways. Many of them are more interested in the uses of esoteric knowledge than with elaborating internally consistent, abstract bodies of thought. While many of the ideas prevalent within the contemporary esoteric milieu run counter to dominant, exoteric traditions in Western thought (as noted by Tiryakian, 1973), the extent to which they represent countercultural movements should not be overblown. Revolts against modernism, for instance, clearly are evident in socially

The Esoteric Scene in America

39

legitimate and even dominant artistic cultures and movements, reflecting the rarely examined influence of esotericism on exoteric culture. Similarly, exoteric critiques of modernism and especially positivism, which do not seem to be influenced by esoteric traditions directly, have emerged in recent years as broad-based intellectual movements (see, for instance, Loyotard, 1984; Murphy, 1989; Boyne, 1990; Brown, 1989; Kroker and Cook, 1987).

EARLY AMERICAN MAGICS AND OCCULTISMS The early American colonists brought with them pervasive traditions of English folk magic and occultism (Butler, 1979). Belief in witchcraft and the use of magical and occult means for treating illness were products of or co-existed with a socially and culturally dominant Christianity. Although Americans nominally were Christians, as Butler (1979:317) observes: "After 1650 even in New England only about one-third of all adults ever belonged to a church." Magic coexisted with and supplemented Christianity, serving as part of a "popular religion" of the masses, as is illustrated by the prominence of almanacs containing occult ideas (Butler, 1979; also see Quinn, 1987). Before the Revolution, American elites and intellectuals read occult literature and practiced astrology, alchemy, palmistry, and forms of magic (Butler, 1979; Kerr and Crow, 1983). German immigrants imported non-English varieties of esotericism and occultism (Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, mysticism, magic), constituted separate traditions, and influenced other Americans (Butler, 1979; also see Kerr and Crow, 1983). Quaker mysticism, for instance, illustrates such influences. After about 1720, American intellectuals and other elites, under the sway of Enlightenment philosophy and science, gradually abandoned and became increasingly critical of magic and the occult, especially in the form of astrology and alchemy (Butler, 1979,1983). These ideas persisted, however, in the general population and even among elites, throughout the 18th century (Leventhal, 1976). Belief in witchcraft remained popular, although American courts stopped convicting people of this crime after 1692 (Butler, 1979). During the early 18th century American religion experienced significant transformation by way of the Great Awakening. Evangelical Christianity, as Butler (1979:341-342) aptly notices, "paralleled" or transformed magic. The magic/client relationship resembled the clergyman/layperson relationship whereby everyday life apprehensions and predicaments were redefined as the need for salvation. Even so, esoteric beliefs and practices persisted; older ideas were defined as esoteric; new, imported ideas were added; and new religious movev ments, several of which reflected the influence of esotericism or came to be regarded as esoteric, emerged. Freemasonary (involving Rosicrucian occultism) was imported from Europe and became popular among the middle and upper classes. While the American variety was more a social club and less occult than i ts European relative, Freemasonary was an important source of occult symbolism, social structure, and ritual for Americans (Ellwood and Partin, 1988:48-50). Swedenborgianism and Mesmerism, both of them new contributions to American esotericism, resulted in cultic organi-

40

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

zations, subsequently influenced spiritualism, and in turn, harmonialism in the forms of Spiritualism, Christian Science, and New Thought. Magical and religious imports from Africa were intermingled with Christianity among American slaves after about 1760 (Butler, 1983). Occult in an American context, these ideas and practices exerted little influence on American esotericism, except perhaps in particular regional subcultures, but they provide a rich, if under utilized, source of socially marginal belief and practice. German immigrants of the 19th century reinforced previously transplanted occultisms, particularly medical remedies, mysticism, Rosicrucianism, as well as the use of divining rods and seer-stones (Butler, 1983; Taylor, 1986).

NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS The Second Great Awakening resulted in the emergence and proliferation of unorthodox spiritual movements in America during the early 19th century. Evangelicals, seekers, restorationists, holiness and perfectionists, pentecostals, millennialists, adventists, communitarians, transcendentalists and new thought, and a host of other groups and movements were reacting to socially dominant religions and philosophies, and their responses generally were envisioned as religion. Their innovations, however, commonly drew on and/or contributed to esoteric traditions. Though in some sense Christian, many of these movements stressed ecstatic gifts and manifestations of the spirit: speaking in tongues, healing, visions, dreams, prophecies, visitations of angels and Deity, and miracles. Once again, these phenomena paralleled magic, and many of them may be seen as religious transformation of what otherwise would have been (and sometimes were) regarded as occultism. Many Americans, including those who viewed themselves somehow as Christians, subscribed to popular beliefs in magic, astrology, divination, as well as witchcraft, and they employed related practices to manipulate human affairs and nature. Mormonism and Spiritualism provide exceptionally noteworthy examples of new and unorthodox religious movements stimulated by the spiritual awakening of the early to mid-19th century in the United States. Mormonism is an eminently provocative example of interconnections between American esotericism and new religions of the early 19th century. During his early teens, Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism, used popular occult tools, a divining rod and seer stones, to search for buried treasure near his home, a district of New York State repeatedly "burned over" by revival fever (Taylor, 1986; Quinn, 1987; also see Cross, 1944). Members of the Smith family apparently practiced folk magic, astrology, and more formal ritual or ceremonial magic (Quinn, 1987). Expressing confusion over rival sectarian claims, Joseph Smith reportedly prayed for guidance. Accounts of his subsequent experiences and activities vary (see Quinn, 1987). They also are interpretations based on later events, specifically that Smith would claim to be a modern-day Prophet of God, establish a church organization in 1830, and lead this much publicized and controversial new religious movement until his martyrdom in 1844.

The Esoteric Scene in America

41

Particularly interesting is Joseph Smith's repeated use of describably occult means in the creation and development of what he and his followers saw as the restoration of the Christian Church. His reported visions or dreams of visitations by angels and deities, and the use of a seer stone to recover and translate the golden plates that became the Book of Mormon, as Quinn (1987) carefully documents, contained significant magical and occult elements. Similarly, his fascination with the ancient world and languages (Egypt, Hebrew), and subsequent efforts to translate seemingly ancient documents and artifacts, reflect esoteric elements (Egyptology, Cabalism), as well as popular Christian themes. His most radical religious innovation, Temple Mormonism, with its secretive gestures, code names, endowments, rituals, and hierarchical orders of priesthood, while containing many significant Biblical articles also suggest the powerful influence of an occult Freemasonary (a topic in need of further study, but see Flanders, 1965). In short, then, the origins and major innovations of Mormonism were directly influenced by esoteric and occult ideas. Even so, Mormonism was closely related to restorationism, among other themes of the Second Great Awakening (see Wood, 1980). Though unorthodox, its adherents past- and present see themselves as Christian. Significantly, Mormonism is the most successful new religion in American history, a socially legitimated, influential and even dominant religion in parts of the western United States, and one of the fastest growing religions in the world today. O'Keefe's (1982:523-570) insistence that esoteric knowledge only has a limited potential for effecting exoteric culture apparently neglects the case of Mormonism. Unlike Spiritualism, the organizational success of Mormonism has enabled it to sustain social bases apart from the esoteric and cultic milieu. Spiritualism, an innovation of the mid-19th century, also emerged as an unconventional Christianity, but unlike Mormonism it became a persistent and influential feature of American esotericism and occultism. Beliefs in spirits and efforts to communicate with themby various means, through trance and mediumship, are widespread historically and crossculturally. Mediumship was hardly unknown in the United States, and Shakers of New York had engaged in efforts to communicate with spirits by making a rapping sound (Ellwood and Partin, 1987:57). Transcendentalism, Mesmerism, and Swedenborgianism contributed to a sociocultural environment in which a spiritualist movement could flourish. Mesmerism, for instance, popularized mentalistic healing, homeopathy, phrenology and phalanstery. Swedenborgian congregations had been established in all major American cities by the 1780's (Butler, 1983). Even so, the emergence of American spiritualism is connected directly with the 1848 activities of the young Fox sisters, Margaret and Kate (see Kerr, 1972; Isaacs, 1983; Melton, 1986). Margaret and Kate Fox, and later their sister Leah, claimed to communicate with spirits by making tapping sounds. These phenomena were interpreted as occult and by tradition the girls were labeled "mediums" (Isaac, 1983). They embarked on lifelong careers as mediums, reinforced by public demonstrations and investigations attesting to their occult abilities, thereby stimulating an extensive spiritualist movement (see Isaac, 1983). Andrew Jackson Davis, one of the most important mediums and leaders of this movement developed Spiritualism into a system of thought based on an unorthodox Christianity centered around mediumship

42

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

and spirit communication (Melton, 1986:82). The widespread popularity of Spiritualism attracted debunkers, leading to reports of fraudulent practices in the late 1850's, and an expose by Margaret Fox in the late 1880's. In spite of this, and ongoing difficulties in developing a strong organizational base for this diffuse movement, Spiritualism experienced slow and steady growth, developed several national organizations; and it has exerted considerable influence on esoteric and occult thought in the United States. Several other esoteric movements of the late 19th century, Christian Science, New Thought, and Theosophy, were connected loosely to Spiritualism, and the emergent esoteric and cultic milieu it stimulated. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science was a student of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, a mental healer (Melton, 1986). Claiming to have healed herself through Biblical Truth, Eddy embarked on a career as a teacher and writer. Dismissed from the Congregational Church, she formed the Christian Science Association in 1876, followed by the Church of Christ, Scientist in 1881. Christian Scientists see themselves as Christians, but their emphasis on physical healing by spiritual means and nonconformity to other points of orthodoxy are sources of contention from the standpoint of exoteric Christianity (Melton, 1986:25-28). Christian Science healing practices led to conflict with organized medicine, government and the courts. Friction within the movement contributed to the development of New Thought. In spite of these difficulties, Christian Science became a highly successful, fairly stable, and more or less respectable new American religion. Melton (1986:26) maintains that although there has been a slight decline in Christian Science membership and congregations in recent years, there are more than 400,000 members in over 3,000 branches, about two-thirds of which are located in the United States. Like Mormonism, Christian Science has been able to sustain itself apart from the esoteric, cultic milieu, although its reading centers contribute to this subcultural environment. The New Thought movement reflects the influence of American esoteric and occult traditions from Mesmerism, Swedenborgianism, and Spiritualism to Warren Felt Evans, Phineas P. Quimby, and Christian Science, among other "metaphysical" groups, thinkers, writers, and teachers (see Judah, 1967). It also has been linked with Hegel, German idealism, Emerson, transcendentalism, and William James. These seemingly related teachings were dubbed "harmonalism" by Ahlstrom (1972) to denote a collection of beliefs that focus on spiritual, physical, and economic wellbeing (positive thinking) as interrelated by one's personal affinity with the supernatural or cosmos (also see Gottschalk, 1988). More a set of teachings than a particular organization, New Thought served as a basis for an untold number of cultic groups as well as more stable organizations, such as the Church of Religious Science, Church of Divine Science, and the Unity School of Christianity. Since the 1880's New Thought has been a synthesis and repository of many strains of esotericism (see Melton, 1978:59-73). Theosophy, one of the most visible and influential esoteric movements of the late 19th century emerged from a cultic milieu prepared and dominated by spiritualism. Helen P. Blavatsky, Henry S. Olcott and William Q. Judge, the 1875 founders of the Theosophical Society in New York, all were interested in spiritualism (see Melton, 1986:87ff). Under the dominant influence of the mysterious and charismatic

The Esoteric Scene in America

43

Madame Blavatsky, the theosophists, including a Bohemian following, studied a full range of esoteric and occult ideas (see Ellwood and Partin, 1988:60-64). Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky's first book, published in 1877, was an impressive summary of Western occultism. In 1878 Blavatsky moved to India and over the next ten years combined Western esotericism and occultism with Eastern religions (Hinduism and Buddhism) and esotericism into a theosophical system. Before Blavatsky's death in 1891 the Theosophy Society, with principal chapters in India, the United States, and Britain, was plagued with organizational discord and the inability to sustain a stable, growing membership. Following her death, Theosophy continued to splinter. In addition to the numerous organizations using this name, there are a variety of cultic and occult groups constituting diffuse movements, such as the Arcane School, the I AM Religious Activity, the Liberal Catholic Church and the Rosicrucian Fellowship (Max Heindel)—all of which have produced additional schisms, that are based on Theosophy (Melton, 1978:135-176, 1986:92). The influence of Theosophy on American esotericism and occultism has been far greater than its ability to sustain equally powerful, cohesive movement organizations.

ORIENTAL LIGHTS, THE GOLDEN DAWN AND SCIENTIFIC ANOMALIES In the United States Eastern religions generally have not been accorded social legitimacy. Yet, ancient and Eastern religious ideas and practices have fascinated Westerners, produced endless theories and speculations, and influenced esoteric and occult traditions. Transcendentalism, according to Melton (1986:108) "was the first substantial religious movement in North America with a prominent Asian component." Transcendentalisms' mysticism influenced American esotericism, as reflected in Spiritualism, New Thought, Christian Science, and Theosophy. Through Theosophy formulations of Eastern ideas became part of Western esotericism and familiar to many Americans. The 1893 meeting of the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago generally is credited with introducing "oriental religion in explicit institutional form" (Ellwood and Partin, 1988:65; also see Galbreath, 1983). Several conference speakers, Soyen Shaku (a Japanese Zen monk), Anagarika Dharmapala (a Buddhist from Ceylon), and especially a disciple of the Hindu saint, Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, were able to stimulate consequential interest in Eastern religions in America (Ellwood and Partin, 1988:65-66). Vedanta Societies were established in the United States as a result of Vivekananda's efforts, while several of Soyen Shaku's students, notably D.T. Suzuki, later came to America and popularized Zen Buddhism. During the 1920's Paramahansa Yogananda founded the SelfRealization Fellowship in the United States (Ellwood and Partin, 1988: 66). After WWI, Krishnamutri, Rudolf Steiner, and G.I. Gurdjieff further popularized oriental religious ideas, and sparked organizations or subsequent movements (see Melton, 1978: 355-444). Since the Enlightenment esoteric and occult claims to knowledge periodically have been seen as scientific or pertinent to science as well as religion. There is a socially recurrent pattern to the confrontation between esoteric /occult claims and

44

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

those of orthodox science (see McClenon, 1984). Unconventional phenomena, sympathetically or critically, are entertained ontologically by science and subjected to its epistemologies and methodologies. Phenomena or procedures that met scientific criteria for truth are integrated into or subsumed by scientific theories or paradigms; those that do not are examined further or rejected, partly depending on the nature of the claims and accumulated evidence. Rejected claims and procedures tend to be regarded as esoteric or occult, and therefore are subject to the ridicule of scientists. Persistent esoteric or occult claims sometimes lead to the formation of organizations aimed at debunking. Such a pattern is evident with respect to astrology and alchemy in the United States after about 1720 (see Butler, 1979,1983), as well as the claims of Mesmerism, Spiritualism, and Christian Science during later periods. The resiliency of esoteric and occult claims, partly by way of reformulation, synthesis, revitalization, and innovation, along with the phenomena and claims introduced by science, constantly produces additional claims and phenomena— werewolves, fairies, mermaids, dragons, ghosts, meteorites and thunderstones, X and N rays, continental drift, behavioral bioassay, ball lightning, unidentified flying objects (UFO's), hypnosis, extrasensory perception (ESP) and psi, auras, pyramid energy, lost continents—and scientific responses (Truzzi, 1977; McClenon, 1984). In the United States since about the 1880's this situation has resulted in the formation of science-like communities and societies devoted to the study of extraordinary claims and phenomena. These organizations sometimes include exoteric scientists and skeptics, but unlike debunking organizations they commonly include believers and people dedicated to the verification of extraordinary knowledge. The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was founded in 1882; the American Society for Psychical Research was established in 1884; and during the 1930's J.B. Rhine instituted a research program in the Psychology Department at Duke defining "parapsychology" as a field (McClenon, 1984). By 1973 there were 15, mostly American, parapsychology organizations (most of which exist today), and 10 related periodicals, comprising what McClenon (1984) calls "deviant science" (also see White, 1973). The first half of the 20th century generally is not noted for esoteric or occult innovations or activities. Rather, it is seen as a period of renewed commitment to traditional religion, as reflected in the growth of the exoteric churches in the United States during the 1940's, 50's and early 60's. Such a view, it seems to me, is at least partly mistaken. Many of the esoteric and occult traditions of previous centuries persisted among the general population and within cultic milieus, even if they did not attract widespread public attention. The British occult revival and revitalization of the late 19th and early 20th centuries built on the French revival as well as earlier traditions, contributed to Theosophy (and was influenced by it), produced several important secretive societies, writers, literature, and charismatic leaders, and stimulated followers and groups world-wide. One of these groups, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn remains the preeminent occult secret society. The Golden Dawn was founded in London around 1887 as a Masonic organization. Many of its founding members belonged to the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (or Soc. Ros.), a "fringe-masonic"

The Esoteric Scene in America

45

group established in 1866 (Cavendish, 1975:33-39). Officially, it was founded by Rev. A.F.A. Woodford, Dr. Woodman, and Dr. Wynn Westcott, but a charismatic Scottish Freemason, Samuel Liddell Mathers (better known as MacGregor Mathers, and later as Le Comte de Glenstrae) was the "visible" head of the Golden Dawn at its zenith around 1890. Besides Mathers, who was the brother-in-law of the French philosopher Henri Bergson, its more prominent members included William Butler Yates, fiction writers Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Annie Horniman, the founder of Abbey Theatre, Dublin, the founder of the British Buddhist Society, Allan Bennett, and Charles Williams (see Cavendish, 1975). In addition to Mathers, Order members Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie, and Alfred Edward Waite became highly influential disseminators of Golden Dawn occultism. The theosophy of the Golden Dawn represented a grand synthesis of all manner of esotericism and occultism (see Chapter 6). About 1890 the original Golden Dawn schismed producing several organizations that remain influential to the present-day. The Great Beast, Aleister Crowley, founded the Argentinum Astrum (A.A., the Order of the Silver Star), and later headed the German Ordo Templarum (OTO). He transplanted several occult organizations, including the OTO, to the United States where additional groups, based on or heavily influenced by Crowley's teachings—including sex magik— have been established (see Melton, 1978:256-257). Paul Case, an initiate of the Order of the Golden Dawn in New York, founded the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) in 1920 (Melton, 1978:258-259). A host of other magical and occult groups were formed during the 1920's and 1930's, including the Brotherhood of the White Temple, Philosophical Research Society, Soulcraft, Inc. (or Silver Shirts), the Church of Light, the Lemurian Fellowship, and the Sabian Assembly (Melton, 1978:183-196). Rosicrucian fellowships established earlier (Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, 1858, Societas Rosicruciana in Ci vitatibus Foederatis or S.R.I.C.F., 1880) continued to function, and new organizations were added: the Societas Rosicruciana in America in 1907; and The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (A.M.O.R.C.) during the early ^(XTs (Melton, 1986:68-75). Witches commonly claim descent from ancient and family traditions, and related organizations traditionally have been secret or semi-secret. Yet, discernable organizations of witches, pagans, and neo-pagans seem to be recent (see Adler, 1986). The Long Island Church of Aphrodite, founded in 1938, is one of the first known neopagan groups in the United States (Adler, 1986:233). Though unrelated to witchcraft, Our Lady of Endor Coven, the Ophite Cultus Satanas, the oldest contemporary Satanist group in the United States, was established in 1948. By the 1930's astrology and related occultisms were entrenched in newspapers, as well as represented by assorted specialty magazines, and popular books (see Marty, 1970; Galbreath, 1983). Spiritualism, New Thought, and Christian Science experienced steady growth in the United Sates during most of this century (Melton, 1986). Theosophy produced new splinters: The Arcane School in New York was founded by Alice Baily in 1923; and Rudolf Steiner founded the Anthroposophical Society in 1912. The I AM of the Ballard family developed during the late 1930's. The Summit Lighthouse was instituted in 1958 by Mark L. Prophet, and the subsequent organization of the Church Universal and Triumphant, led by his widow, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, has

46

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

attracted considerable recent attention. Many, many other groups derived from these traditions of esotericism emerged during the first half of this century (see Melton, 1978:59-117). Most of the Eastern religious groups that became established early in the United States primarily served immigrant populations (see Melton, 1978:355-444). Among the general population, previous interest in oriental religion continued and attracted followings, especially the Beats of the 1940's and 1950's. Vedanta Societies were stable. Beginning in 1920, Yogananda spent thirty years establishing SelfRealization Fellowship Centers in the United States (Ellwood and Partin, 1988:189). The related, Self Revelation Church of Absolute Monism was established in 1927 (Melton, 1978:362). The Divine Life Society, based on the teachings of Sivananda, was founded in 1936. The Gedatsu Church of America, an eclectic Shinto Buddhist, Christian mixture, was incorporated in 1951 (Melton, 1978:406). Soka Gakkai arrived in America following WWII by way of men who had been stationed in Japan and their Japanese wives and girlfriends (Ellwood and Partin, 1988:246). The Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) was founded by the influential Edgar Cayce in 1932. Parapsychology also emerged and became established during the 1930's. UFO reports began during the late 1940's. Additional reports during the 1950's and 60's spawned numerous flying saucer clubs, a related literature, and assorted cults (Jacobs, 1983; Festinger, et al., 1956; Melton, 1978:198211). Related interest in scientific anomalies and science fiction constituted an elaborate milieu by at least the late 1940's. This is the milieu in which L. Ron Hubbard developed Dianetics and from which Scientology eventually would emerge (Wallis, 1977; also see Adler, 1979:266-267). Hence, although esotericism and occultism did not enjoy highly visible, extensive public support, attract massive media exposure, provoke controversy or produce dramatic innovations during the first half of the 20th century, there was considerable subcultural activity. These traditions, related networks as well as establishments facilitated subsequent events.

THE CONTEMPORARY ESOTERIC SCENE It is my contention that the esoteric, occult, and cultic milieu in the United States today constitutes what Irwin (1977) calls a social scene. It consists of common themes (esoteric and occult knowledge) and means (social networks, study groups, cults, sects, movement organizations, confederations, published literature) whereby participants structure and organize their experiences and activities. It provides bases for collective involvement and participation, opportunities for making interpersonal contacts and developing intimate relationships, sources of physical, sensual, and intellectual stimulation, and an element of reputational risk vis-a-vis the stigma sometimes attached to esoteric and occult belief. Through the esoteric scene people define and identify themselves socially, and they make sense out of their existence. Like other social scenes (Irwin, 1977), the recent esoteric scene in the United States may be read in terms of a natural history. During the late 1960's and early 1970's the esoteric scene emerged. Drawing on existing, underground esoteric and

The Esoteric Scene in America

47

occult traditions, it became visible and popular as an interest in unconventional beliefs and practices, and attracted a core of additional devotees. As the esoteric scene became more visible it elicited significant media attention and expanded. Exploitation by the media and mass involvement in this scene during the late 1970's led to "corruption" of its original meanings through their reinterpretation and use by new members. During the early 1980's the central activities of the esoteric scene increasingly came to be seen as routine and taken for granted. Particular ideas and groups also became less innovative and more accommodative to the larger society. Spontaneous public excitement about esotericism began to subside. The media labeled esoteric groups as cults, defined them as destructive, and an anti-cult movement developed. As the media became less attentive, the popularity of the esoteric scene waned, and it became less visible and increasingly stagnant. Although esotericism as a highly visible, public scene has paled, it has not disappeared, and its demise seems unlike in the near future. The overall level of participation by Americans in esotericism probably is as high as, if not higher than in the period prior to its recent revival. As in earlier periods of American history, it seems likely that esotericism will continue to comprise a sociocultural underground, and it most likely will be the source of subsequent revival and revitalization. Significant journalistic and scholarly attention to esotericism and occultism, beginning in the late 1960's, commonly was justified by citing evidence of massive public interest and revival. These reports noted that in the United States 1,200 of 1,750 daily newspapers publish horoscope columns, the zodiac business was a $200 million a year enterprise involving an estimated 40 million Americans, and 5 million people reportedly planned their lives according to astrological predictions (Freeland, 1972; Heenan, 1973). Furthermore, astrological and tarot readings were available by telephone in most American urban areas, and advertisements for the services of magicians, palmists, card readers, and other seers were visible in most cities as well as many smaller towns. Popular books, magazines, television programs, movies and songs dealing with topics ranging from mysterious creatures from outer space, lost continents, astrology, divination, magic, and Eastern religions to psychic healing, hypnotic regression, spirit communication, demonology, witchcraft, psychic powers, healing, and a host of related matters abounded. Many colleges and universities offered courses on meditation, yoga, Eastern religions and thought, psychic phenomena, as well as the occult arts and sciences. In most areas of the country paraphernalia ranging from toys, games, oils, and cards to posters, jewelry, incense, and even bank checks were readily available (see Marty, 1970;Staude, 1970; Shepherd, 1972;Truzzi, 1972a, 1972b, 1974,1975; Heenan, 1973; Quarantelli and Wenger, 1973; Tiryakian, 1974; Stupple, 1975). Public opinion surveys indicated that large numbers of Americans and other Western peoples accepted and subscribed to seemingly strange and irrational beliefs. Greeley (1975) reported that between 24 and 59 percent of the American population claimed to have had "psychic" experiences ranging from deja vu to clairvoyance, 35 percent claimed to have had "mystical" experiences, and 27 percent claimed some feeling of contact with the dead. A Gallup poll (1978) maintained that 57 percent of the people aware of UFO's believed in their existence, 54 percent of the

48

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

population believed in angels, 51 percent believed in ESP, 39 percent believed in devils, 29 percent believed in astrology, 11 percent believed in ghosts, and 10 percent believed in witches. Based on a French national sample Fischler (1974) reported that 30 percent of the population believed in astrology, and 12.5 percent consulted at least one fortune-teller, seer, or someone who predicted the future. Nelson (1975) observed that 10 percent of the population of English towns claimed some experience of "psychic" phenomena. Gallup (1978) maintained that 27 percent of his British sample believed in flying saucers, 20 percent believed in ghosts, and 7 percent said they had seen a ghost! Rowley (1970) estimated the combined population of the new religions (Indian and Eastern religions, native cults, and "avant garde" Christianity) at 2.5 million Americans. Melton (1978) identified over 1200 active, mostly unconventional religious groups in the United States. Wuthnow (1987) estimated that by the middle 1970's about 10 percent of the north American population had participated in a new religious movement. Stark and Bainbridge (1985) claimed that there were 2.3 cults per million people in the United States, and 3.2 cults per million inhabitants in Great Britain (but see Hervieu-Leger, 1986; Campiche, 1987; Wallis, 1984,1986, 1987; Wallis and Bruce, 1986). Enormous media attention was devoted to unorthodox movements like Jesus people, Scientology, Hare Krishna, the Unification Church, the Children of God, witches, and satanists. The tragic death of more than 900 members of the Peoples' Temple at Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978 was transformed into a media event and contributed greatly to the definition of an American cult problem (Jorgensen, 1980). The emergence of an anticult movement during the mid 1970's attracted extensive media coverage, thereby contributing to the perception that large numbers of brainwashed Americans are involved with cults (see Beckford and Cole, 1987; Shupe and Bromley, 1980; Harper, 1982; Shupe, 1985; Bromley and Shupe, 1987). Public interest in esoteric teachings, practices, and groups, according to some indicators, waned and declined during the 1980's. Wuthnow (1987) maintained that by about 1975 the growth of new cults and sects had stabilized and begun to decline. Memberships in several of the more controversial movements, like the Unification Church, Hare Krishna, Scientology, and the Divine Light Mission, apparently declined significantly (Appel, 1983; Rochford, 1985). This ostensible decline, however, may be in part an artifact of earlier perceptions and indicators of the revival. In many instances the number of people involved with unconventional beliefs and groups was grossly exaggerated (see, for instance, Balch, 1980). Beliefs and groups that looked to be new and bizarre during the earlier period seem much less so today (Robbins, 1988). Though well established, extraordinary religions did not radically transform American life (Marty, 1985). Strange beliefs and groups still are news, but media attention to them is less extensive and sensational (see Beckford, 1985; Harper, 1982; Kilbourne and Richardson, 1984; Robbins, 1988; Robbins et al., 1985; Shupe and Bromley, 1980,1985). Declining interest in popular beliefs, practices, and products of the 1970's seems to be most pronounced among those people for whom these matters were mostly entertainment and a casual diversion. The cultic milieu, even during the 1970's, was composed of large numbers of casual devotees, seekers and clients.

The Esoteric Scene in America

49

Public interest in esotericism is less visible and less intense today. It is noteworthy, however, that many of the beliefs and groups coming to public attention during the 1970's were not at all new (Melton, 1978). Interest in esotericism, as I have shown, has a long history in Western cultures, and it has been a persistent, recurrent, and periodically influential feature of American life. Americans' interest in esotericism did not emerge overnight, and when renewed interest was stimulated, pre-existing traditions, establishments, networks, groups, and organizations greatly facilitated its growth and expansion. Many of the smaller groups of the 1970's went unnoticed and uncounted (Jorgensen, 1982; Appel, 1983). Greeley (1989) reporting a repeat of the 1972 survey (mentioned above) again in 1985 found that Americans reporting ecstatic experiences had risen to 40 percent, with 7 percent reporting them often. Significantly, people reporting a feeling of being in contact with someone who had died went from 25 percent in 1972 to 42 percent in 1984, a 17 point increase (Greeley, 1989:59). Many different factors contributed to the emergence, expansion, and decline of the esoteric scene in America. Post WWII economic prosperity afforded more Americans, particularly a growing middle class, with increased leisure time to pursue entertainment and serious avocations, like esotericism. The sociocultural conflict, dissent, turmoil, critiques, and countercultures of the latter 1950's and especially the 60's (civil rights, youth movements, anti-war sentiments, riots, political demonstrations, women's and gay liberation movements) contributed to an environment in which esotericism might flourish. The role of youth movements, however, should not be overestimated. Contrary to OKeefe's (1982:564) exaggerated pronouncements, the emergence of the esoteric scene necessarily depended on existing traditions, establishments, and social networks involving older, long-time believers. While American youth were over-represented in some portions of this scene (Jesus movements, oriental religions, and some cults), contributing greatly to its vitality and visibility, it also involved countless numbers of older publics and extensive networks of groups and practitioners who were not describably young. Developments in mass communication, television, advertising, and publishing, contributed significantly to the visibility of the esoteric scene, images, and definitions of it, and the availability of esoteric entertainment, goods and services, including both exoteric and .esoteric • periodicals and books. Clearly, scholarly attention contributed to expansion of this scene and definitions of it. The role of publishing, once again contrary to O'Keefe's (1982:564) simplistic exaggerations and distortions of it, must be appreciated contextually. An occult publishing establishment (Marty, 1970) predated, even if it later facilitated, the emergence of this scene. Similarly, scholarly interest in magic, seemingly strange beliefs and practices, esotericism, occultism, nonconventionality, mass movements, and so on were well established long before the 1960's. Scholarly attention past and present surely contributed to the esoteric scene, yet the contention that recent scholarship was itself part of the occult revival distorts and otherwise neglects important features of this situation. As noted above, scholarly appraisals of the significance and magnitude of the esoteric scene both over- and under-estimated it. Much of the research conducted before the early 1980's failed to connect the esoteric scene with historical traditions, particularly in the United States. While some scholarship was

50

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

sympathetic to esoteric culture (Yates, Tiryakian), much of what was written, as discussed above, was highly critical, explained esotericism away, and exoteric experts actively were involved in the debunking and anti-cult movements. Other scholarship, such as Butler's, clearly demands a reinterpretation of American religious history, based it seems to me on sound arguments, and I do not detect in this work any romanticism. Insofar as the esoteric scene has paled, and I think it has, this seems to be partly a reflection of diminished media attention and redefinition. Experts looking for hot topics and quick publications have moved into other areas, and scholarship on this topic seems to have entered a more careful, deliberate, systematic, historically grounded phase. Coincidentally, the entertainment value of esotericism, like many fads and fashions, has diminished by way of over exposure, exploitation, and the limited attention span of publics. The media and general publics have been convinced that cults are dangerous, and people consequently are less inclined to find certain discredited movements, at least, attractive. The sociocultural climate has shifted in other ways. For a variety of complex reasons, Americans have become more politically moderate to conservative, more preoccupied with economic success, and more religiously conservative, as is vividly illustrated by popular support of evangelical and fundamentalist movements, not to mention media attention to them. Even so, Americans' interest in esotericism and occultism continues, and while the public scene may be diminished, it is unlikely to disappear. Many of the larger movement organizations seem to be stable. Some beliefs, such as witchcraft, paganism, neo-paganism, seem to be experiencing growth (see Lloyd, 1978; Scott, 1980; Adler, 1986; Luhrmann, 1989). And various refocused human potential and therapy movements continue to emerge and attract significant followings. The core of the esoteric community, as described in the Chapter Three, still exists.

The Esoteric Scene in America

51

Notes 1

These writings sometimes are referred to as social constructionism, symbolic interactionism, cognitive sociology, ethnomethodology, interpretative interactionism, existential sociology and interactionism, interpretative anthropology, dramaturgy, cultural studies, and phenomenology. My use of them supports the contention that they form a coherent sociology of culture and knowledge, but this claim will not be explicated further since it would detract unnecessarily from the specific problematics of this book. 2

Capitalization of such terms throughout this work serves as a way of emphasizing that certain bodies of knowledge have been socially defined, sanctioned, and legitimated over and against potentially rival claims to knowledge. Hence religion (Christianity) becomes Religion (Protestantism), science (empiricism or biology) becomes Science (Experimentalism or Evolutionism), and knowledge (what everyone knows) becomes Knowledge (the claims of Religion and Science). ^ This is at best a very rough, crude sketch of meanings and sources of esoteric knowledge. In spite of the publication of impressive historical studies of esoteric knowledge and its relationship with exoteric culture over about the last twenty years, the literature on this topic is far from definitive. Even within restricted areas, such as occult traditions, much work remains to be done. My purpose in this section is merely to introduce and arrange in a hintful way meanings and sources of esoteric culture to be examined later in this book. 4

O'Keefe's (1982:552) assertion that the works of Yates (1969,1972), Walker (1975), and French (1972), were "perhaps part of the twentieth century occult upsurge!" is even more bizarre and absurd. This literature may be sympathetic to the occultism, and occult thinkers may have used it, but it was produced by exoteric scholars and exoteric science, not occultism 5

The Fama is a reference to the Fama Fraternitaitis or The Fame of the Fraternity of the Meritorious Order of the Rosy Cross Addressed to the Learned in General and the Governors of Europe. The Confessions refers to a pamphlet entitled Confessions of the Rosicrucian Fraternity. These documents were claimed by subsequent generations of occultists as the basis for the organization of secret orders which were otherwise indebted to the Hermetic-Kabalistic tradition.

CHAPTER 3 The Esoteric Community in the Valley The "esoteric community" is a loose confederation of individuals and associations, geographically dispersed throughout the metropolitan Valley, which is organized by way of overlapping networks of social relationship. Its members include assorted leaders, seekers, students, and practitioners, as well as business enterprises, cultic groups, and cultic associations. The members of the esoteric community believe in and practice a full range of esoteric teachings. In spite of tremendous diversity in what they believe and practice, members more or less share in common an ethos of esotericism, channels of communication, definitions and images of themselves as well as their relationships with the exoteric society. They construct and enforce codes of ethical practice defining relations with clientele, and they define and enforce community boundaries. The esoteric community is part of the larger cultic milieu and esoteric scene in the Valley. This esoteric scene interfaces with exoteric culture by way of literature, other mass communications, and commercial products which express and convey popular cultural images of esoteric culture. Although the beliefs, practices, and activities of some minority groups and many of the new religious movements of the 19th century commonly are seen as esoteric from the standpoint of the exoteric culture, most of them are not connected socially with this scene in the Valley. Like many of the larger, more visible, recent new religions, they comprise socially separate spheres of activity. Some of the recent new religious movements are part of this esoteric scene. They depend on the supportive cultic milieu for recruits, and some of them are related in very limited ways to the esoteric community. A few of these groups overlap with the cultic milieu and the esoteric community within the larger esoteric scene in the Valley. The esoteric scene includes a host of seekers, clients, students, practitioners, and sometimes cultic groups that socially exist within the cultic environment but do not sustain persistent, stable connections with other participants or groups. This description, analysis, and interpretation of the esoteric scene and community in the Valley contributes to sociological theorizing about cults, sects, and the 53

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328961-3

54

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

cultic milieu. Although the idea of a cultic milieu has been discussed extensively within the scholarly literature, it very rarely has been concretely described and analyzed. This discussion provides a fairly detailed image of the cultic milieu as it existed in the Valley during the middle to late 1970's. While the character of esoteric knowledge encourages extreme individualism and mediates against the formation of stable, enduring groups and movement organizations, the cultic milieu serves to support socially the persistence of esoteric culture in America.

THEORIZING ABOUT CULTS, SECTS, AND THE CULTIC MILIEU One of the central sociological problems that emerged during my fieldwork in the Valley was to observe connections and relationships among beliefs, practices, and groups that seemed to share in common a lack of social legitimacy in the exoteric society. This problem generally has been treated theoretically, as something to be solved by conceptualizing types of unconventional beliefs or groups whereby similarities and differences among them are identified (see, for example, Glock and Bellah, 1976; Ellwood and Partin, 1988; Needleman, 1970; Zaretsky and Leone, 1974). Research has tended to focus on a specific type or types of nonconventional beliefs, practices, adherents, and groups, particularly in the form of cults and sects, sometimes with reference to larger but proximate historical, cultural, or social contexts. Much less research has concentrated on systematically observing and analyzing possible relationships among these phenomena. Campbell's (1972) notion of the "cultic milieu" rarely has been examined systematically and concretely. The idea of a cultic milieu (subculture, social world, social networks or related formulations) generally has been used as the largely unexamined context in which the activities of a particular cult or sect take place. In spite of this neglect, certain features of cultic milieus had been described more exactly by the late 1970's. Truzzi (1972,1974) sketched the multidimensional^ of American occultism, emphasizing its popular cultural attributes. Other studies (Balch and Taylor, 1977a; Lynch, 1977,1980; Wallis, 1977) observed more serious levels of participation and identified social networks of believers. Balch and Taylor (1977b; also see Balch, 1980) as well as Lynch (1977,1980) described the importance of networks within the cultic milieu for the conversion process. Studies of witches, pagans, astrologers, mystics, and assorted other practitioners of nonconventional doctrines provided further evidence of informal and formal networks, some of them crossing local, regional, and even national boundaries (Hartman, 1976; Adler, 1979; Scott, 1980). And I had reported on the esoteric community in the Valley (see Jorgensen and Jorgensen, 1977; Jorgensen, 1978,1978,1980). In a proposed synthesis of deprivation and social networks' models of recruitment to religious groups, Stark and Bainbridge (1980; also see Bainbridge and Stark, 1979, 1980) disputed the idea that American occultism was supported by social networks. The cultic milieu, they (1980:1392) argued, "resembles a mass audience more than a real subcultural phenomenon." I (1981:427-429) commented by noting that this assertion was not supported by a growing body of evidence,

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

55

including my own research. Problems with their contention derived from the use of a questionnaire, a preoccupation with quantification, a peculiarly narrow operational definition of the occult, and a sample of college students, the very people who are more likely to dabble in the occult than participate in social networks. Ironically, even Bainbridge's (1978) earlier study of a satanic cult contradicted their hypothesis about the lack of networks of occultists. In reply to my comment, Stark and Bainbridge (1981:430-433) referred to their previous distinction among "audience cults," "client cults," and "cult movements" (see Stark and Bainbridge, 1979; also see Bainbridge and Stark, 1979,1980a, 1980b, 1981; Stark, Bainbridge and Doyle, 1979). Yet, as I have argued elsewhere (see Jorgensen, 1982; Jorgensen and Jorgensen, 1982), this distinction begs the issue of networks and results in further confusion. Neither audiences or practitioner/client relations are "cults" in any ordinary sense. Stark's and Bainbridge's view of cults and sects, as Wallis' (1977) earlier work showed, empirically fails to distinguish between them and thereby limits observation and analysis of organizational transformations. Wallis' (1977) view of cults and sects, on the other hand, contributes to a theory of cult development and sectarianization; and it is invaluable for examining the cultic milieu. My observations in the midwestern, southwestern, and southeastern United States strongly suggests that "cults" are the most common form of organization within the contemporary milieu of esotericism (also see Scott, 1980). Viewed sociologically, cults characteristically are fairly small (most commonly involving less than 100 participants), loosely organized, nonexclusive collections of seekers, clients and devoutly believing members (see Campbell, 1972; Nelson, 1968; Buckner, 1965; Wallis, 1977). Cult beliefs characteristically are unconventional, but flexible, nonsectarian, eclectic, synthetic, and informal thereby lacking standardization, formalization, orthodoxy, or dogma (see Scott, 1980). Cult leadership may be centered around authoritative, charismatic personalities, but cult participation commonly is democratic, and not hierarchical to any large extent. Cult beliefs and participation tend to be highly individualistic, a condition Wallis (1977:14) calls "epistemological individualism." Membership in cults, consequently, fluctuates and these groups are precarious, short lived and highly transitory (Wallis, 1977). Cultic milieus reflect, the proliferation of these precarious, transitory groups, and sometimes constellations of related activity. Publics, audiences, and masses support this environment, and make it seem even more robust. Within such milieus seekers and clients move from group to group and, along with other cult members and assorted practitioners, forming multiple overlapping networks of social relationship. A charismatic leader (such as Joseph Smith, Mary Eddy Baker, L. Ron Hubbard) or unique circumstances (UFO's, tapping and rappings) may provide a catalyst for sustaining a mass movement, more stable organizations, or the persistence of some loose aggregation of publics and cultic groups, as illustrated by Spiritualism, New Thought, and Theosophy in the 19th century. Those relatively rare instances in which cults become more cohesively linked by networks or form more stable organizations led some thinkers (see Nelson, 1968,1969; Yinger, 1970) to speak of established cults or cultic movements.

56

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

Cults sometimes undergo ideological and organizational transformation, although these are not necessary conditions, nor is such a sequence unidimensional (Wallis, 1977:13). There may be several avenues whereby cults are transformed into less precarious, more enduring, stable organizations. A crucial dimension, however, is some transition from epistemological individualism toward greater "epistemological authoritarianism" (Wallis, 1977:17). Truth and knowledge, in other words, are defined more specifically, and concretely located in more centralized authorities, such as particular texts, documents, writings, or leaders. In the process, cults become more characteristically "sectarian" (see Wallis, 1975; Wilson, 1970). Sectarianization, then, is defined by greater doctrinal orthodoxy, definitions of and requirements for inclusive membership (and exclusivity), more exacting definitions and standards of conduct within the group, the specification of more standardized roles and functions, mechanisms for controlling collective life, organizational specialization and differentiation, hierarchy, and centralization (Wallis, 1977). Sects, unlike cults, consequently are more cohesive and stable organizations. Greater stability makes the group less dependent on the cultic milieu as well as more self-sufficient, and greater doctrinal orthodoxy leads it to reject cult-like beliefs. If sects are successful in attracting members, they of course grow and become increasingly powerful movement organizations. As they become larger and more powerful, sects are likely to be perceived as threatening to the exoteric society. Sectarian beliefs and organizations therefore are likely to be defined socially as not merely unconventional but deviant and even dangerous, leading to hostility and conflict between the group and the exoteric society. In order to grow, flourish, and perhaps even survive, sects must find ways of dealing with social conflict. Sects may emerge in other ways too, such as by way of schism within existing sects or denominations. For a variety of reasons (see, for instance, Johnson, 1957, 1971; Yinger, 1970; Wilson, 1961), sects over time tend to become more denominational in character, reflecting in part accommodation to the larger society and less conflict, tension and hostility between the group and the exoteric society. It is ironic that many of the groups disparagingly referred to as "cults" in America today are sects, sociologically, and some of these groups increasingly have become denominational in character in spite of the lingering stigma of their former, more pronounced sectarianism. Mormons and Christian Scientists, from the 19th century, and Scientologists in this century, seemed to have moved in these directions.

ESOTERIC CULTURE AND THE CULTIC MILIEU The Valley is a culturally pluralistic, urban social environment containing a perplexing variety of nonconventional, unorthodox, esoteric, and occult beliefs, practices, believers, and groups. This includes elements of exoteric culture, such as scholarly literature, journalism, movies, television programs, publics, audiences, as well as consumer goods and services reflecting popular cultural interests, nonwhite cultures and ethic subcultures, new religious movements of the 19th century, like Mormons, Christian Scientists, and Spiritualists; more recent new religions, such as Transcendental Meditation, Scientology, and Vedanta Societies; a cultic milieu

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

57

supporting an esoteric scene; and networks of seekers, clients, practitioners, and group comprising an esoteric community. In spite of similarities among these phenomena, some of them are not connected socially to the esoteric scene in the Valley; and while others contribute to a supportive climate of opinion, they are not directly part of it socially. The phenomena connected socially by the esoteric scene in the Valley constitute different centers and networks of human interaction (see Figure One, page 56). During my fieldwork in the Valley, as briefly discussed in Chapter One, I began assembling card indexes of practitioners and groups. Along with observation, participation, and informal interviewing, I eventually developed an extensive body of information about social connections and relationships among a host of nonconventional beliefs, practices, people, and groups. Once I developed a sense of what was included in the esoteric community, as discussed in detail below, it became possible to generate analytically a fairly detailed picture or map of the community, its connection to the larger esoteric scene, and thereby other inclusive or exclusive phenomena. Of about a million inhabitants of the Valley in 1975,1 crudely estimate that around 25,000 people may have been involved in the esoteric scene, not counting untold numbers of the general public who are entertained by esotericism or dabble individualistically in it. I collected information on 100 groups involving anywhere from 5,000 to 15,000 participants. Figure One (see page 56) depicts the esoteric scene in the Valley, and phenomena related and unrelated socially to it, within the context of the exoteric society in which it is located. This figure serves to illustrate the following discussion. Scholarly discussions of unconventional groups commonly include and even focus on new religious movements of the 19th century, such as the Mormons, Christian Scientists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists. In the Valley, participants in the cultic milieu sometimes mention these religions favorably, but none of them is part of this scene as envisioned by insiders. Neither did I get any indication that these religions see themselves as part of the esoteric scene. Unlike the cults forming this milieu, most of the new religions of the 19th century have undergone a sectarianization process. Insofar as they were at one time part of a cultic milieu, they have long since moved out of this environment, except perhaps in the mind of some publics, such as Christian fundamentalists. Some of these groups, such as Christian Science and Mormonism, developed more denominational organizations. The case of the Mormons is unique in that in this region of the United States they comprise a powerful minority, and in certain Valley municipalities, a politically dominant majority group. Mormons and Christian Scientists are shown in Figure One as autonomous religious organizations in the exoteric society. More recent new American religious movements, such as Scientology, the Children of God, and transplanted Eastern religious organizations (14 of which exist in the Valley) like the Vedanta Society (see Damrell, 1977), Hare Krishna (see Rochford, 1985) and Transcendental Meditation seemed to be undergoing a sectarianization process. Scientology, for instance, has been transformed dramatically by this process (see Wallis, 1977). Some of these groups advertise in the esoteric community, and depend on the cultic milieu of the esoteric scene for recruits, but they rarely participate directly in this scene or the community. Several of these

58

American Culture

Christian Scientists

Mormons

Media reports *

* ' * Popular Esotericism ; - % , Gypsies

Cultic Milieu

White Spiritualists

New Religious Movements

Professional Practitioners Black t' , Spiritualists

, New Age « New Thought

Esoteric Community

Seekers

Clients '

Native » American • Culture •

* - -

%

Pagans Witches

- . . Business , , Operations ,

Figure 1: The Esoteric Scene in the Valley

* Mexican American Culture

1

movies

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

59

groups (Scientology, Eastern Religions) are shown in Figure One to illustrate these relationships. Though not part of the scene, their boundaries touch the scene and overlap with a sphere (represented by the circle around the scene in the Valley) in which the exoteric society and esoteric scene intermesh or intermingle. These sectlike groups advertise in the esoteric community, and recruit from the related cultic milieu. I found, as a general principle, that the more a group had been transformed by sectarianization, the less likely it was to be identified, by the group or scene participants, as part of this scene or the community in the Valley. Conversely, organizations or movements that had not undergone sectarianization were more likely to be identified and/or participate to some extent in this scene and the community. The six New Age Christian churches in the Valley are linked socially by way of a local New Thought Alliance (as shown in Figure One). They identify with the esoteric scene, advertise in the community, and recruit from this cultic milieu, but they do not participate directly in the community. In Figure One they therefore are shown as a distinctive set of groups that overlap with the esoteric scene. The New Age churches and their members also sustain social relationships, apart from this scene, in the exoteric society, and consequently they are depicted as extending beyond the boundaries of the esoteric scene in the Valley. There are twenty or more spiritualist churches in the Valley, including several predominantly Black congregations. Many of these groups, including two Black churches, identify with and advertise in the community, as shown in Figure One. Some of the white spiritualists actively participate in this scene, and several of them are viewed by insiders as part of the community. Since the spiritualists also draw directly and even extensively from the larger population (people who are otherwise not connected to this scene), they are presented in Figure One as extending into the exoteric society. The spiritualist churches are shown as connected by belief (touching) but represented by separate constellations of organizations. Business organizations, based elsewhere, which marketed esoteric beliefs and practices periodically were visible as part of the local scene. Their sponsors manifest considerable knowledge of the local scene and community, recruit from the cultic milieu, and advertise in the community. Seekers and members of local groups sometimes purchase these goods and services, but none of these organizations are otherwise directly involved with the esoteric community. Since these business also aim to recruit from unconnected populations in the larger society, as shown in Figure One, they overlap the vague zone between the esoteric scene and the exoteric society. Gypsy fortunetellers (see Tatro, 1974), as presented in Figure One, also occupy this zone. These people, who engage in palmistry and card reading for pay, are highly visible in the Valley. They are perceived by outsiders as part of this scene and the community, but (as will be discussed in detail below), they are deliberately excluded by members from involvement in the esoteric community.1 The esoteric scene and community in the Valley included people who identify themselves as witches, magicians, and pagans. During my fieldwork in the Valley I earnestly attempted to locate groups organized on these bases. In all cases, however, members were unable to identify concretely specific groups of practitioners. Some of the cultic groups composing this scene and participating in the

60

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

community are not open to outsiders and see themselves as secret or secretive organizations. Persistent rumors of groups of witches and pagans suggest that they may exist, but I was unable to locate them. Pagans and witches, along with other secretive cults, are depicted in Figure One within the esoteric scene to reflect this possibility. More recent events suggest that witchcraft and paganism have become a part of the esoteric scene, but they seem to reflect a distinctive and largely autonomous sphere of activity within this sociocul tural arena (see Lloyd, 1978; Scott, 1980; Adler, 1986). In this respect the American scene differs considerably from the much more open, dense networks of British occultists, magicians, witches, and pagans described by Luhrmann (1989). Media reports, scholarly literature, exoteric bookstores and businesses selling esoteric goods, movies, TV programs, as well as publics and audiences consuming esoteric goods and services are located by Figure One in the zone between the esoteric scene and exoteric society. Although these phenomena generally are viewed with disdain by serious scene participants and members of the community, they contribute significantly to it (as described in Chapter Two). Popular images of esotericism are sustained by and transmitted through popular, mass culture. Even those people who eventually become devout insiders to the esoteric scene generally dabble in popular esotericism. Unlike sects which commonly insulate and isolate their members from the exoteric society, cult participants constantly interact with the larger society. The cultic milieu of the esoteric scene in the Valley during the mid-1970's, as presented in Figure One, involved a diverse and diffuse array of beliefs, adherents, practices, and cults. The esoteric community was one center of this activity (as shown in Figure One), but overlapping networks of social relationship suggest the possibility of other centers of activity, ones that I did not study in detail. In addition to beliefs and practices already mentioned, the esoteric scene included: occultism, alchemy, astrology, numerology, palmistry, magic, divination, the tarot, and other teachings and techniques associated with the Hermetic-Kabalistic tradition; psychic phenomena and research, psychic, psychical, or parapsychological research and phenomena referred to as psi, clairvoyance, telepathy, and the like; folk and esoteric medical practices, such as the use of herbs, tonics, potions, and other unconventional preparations, mentalistic or faith healing, reflexology, and so on; and an eclectic host of other, commonly syncretic beliefs, practices, and groups. Interestingly, there was little mention of satanism in the Valley during this period. This cultic milieu includes people who move from group to group in search of "enlightenment, friends, good health, or any number of equally elusive goals" (Balch and Taylor, 1977a:31); private practitioners who occasionally meet with groups, perform demonstrations, or do readings; small cultic study groups; business enterprises (clinics, book stores, publishers, educational or therapeutic institutes); quasi-religious (or spiritual) groups; and associations of psychic practitioners, astrologers, and researchers. Groups and individuals within this cultic milieu are loosely connected and interrelated. Interaction among and between groups is bounded by social networks.

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

61

THE ESOTERIC COMMUNITY The esoteric community is a very loose collection and network of seekers, clients, practitioners, groups, businesses, confederations of practitioners and groups, and a few central activities, such as psychic fairs, all of which are dispersed geographically throughout the Valley.2 It exists in the imagination (ideation) of its members, their symbolizations and talk, and their activities. In spite of tremendous diversity, it is sustained by their sense of community (mutual belonging), differences with the exoteric world, similar values, ethical and normative principles and worldviews, as well as their collective symbolizations, interactions, relationships, and other involvements. There is no comprehensive list of individuals or groups belonging to what insiders called the esoteric community. When I asked participants to identify inclusive individuals and groups they oftentimes referred me to lists of practitioners and groups contained in local publications. Yet, I knew that many of these people and groups had little, if any, connection to the activities in which I had participated and observed. Epistemological individualism, I found, was characteristic of the entire community. No one wanted to define membership, particularly if this meant excluding other people, their beliefs, or groups. The ethos of the esoteric community in the Valley very much resembled the "core beliefs" described by Scott (1980:Chapter Two) on the basis of a participant observational study of two esoteric groups in the San Francisco Bay area. She identifies the basic premises of esoteric beliefs as including: a unity of spiritual and material realities which include humanity, reflecting the Hermetic principle of "as above, so below"; some divine origin of all reality; multiple levels or planes of reality, and multiple paths to knowledge of reality; the possibility of communication with alternative, sometimes invisible realities, spirits, and forces; positive and negative, or good and evil powers, spirits, and forces; order, harmony, and balance in a purposeful universe; the possibility of human perfection by way of training and evolution; interaction with cosmic realities through ritual and practices involving magical procedures; and a respect for the power and danger of esoteric knowledge. All of these basic principles are manifest in some way as part of the ethos of the esoteric community in the Valley. Members of the esoteric community exhibit an openness and toleration for nearly every possible claim to knowledge and truth. Members eclectically mix esoteric teachings and intermingle them with borrowed exoteric elements. While exoteric thought tends to be interpreted esoterically, members live in and are part of the exoteric society. Cultic existence, unlike sectarian life, does not insulate and isolate members from the larger society. Their esotericism, consequently, sometimes is expressed in an idiom inconsistently and blaringly reflecting incomplete synthesis. Jay, the Editor of Psychic Magazine, speaking as a community leader, expresses the spirit of epistemological individualism partly in the language (objectivity) of exotericism:

62

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

[In] the areas of communication, education, and research, every idea and theory, religious and otherwise, is considered objectively. This is not a missionary endeavor whereby we are to con vert anyone into believing contrary to their natural instincts. We just happen to believe that there is much on this earth that is not dreamed of in our sciences and philosophies. It is considered a serious breach of community ethics for members to criticize one another's beliefs or practices, at least publicly. Refusal to acknowledge many paths to truth and enlightenment is perceived as dogmatic and intolerant. The epistemological individualism of the esoteric community is evident is cultic organizations and it is reflected in activities such as research, counseling, education, and particularly practitioner/client relationships. These activities reflect a preponderance of dyadic relationships, although some of the more spiritually oriented cults engage in collective ritual. Esotericism is concerned with the collective human condition, even though this commonly is expressed individualistically. Esoteric practitioners sincerely believe that they are on the vanguard of a spiritual revolution, the dawn of a new age of human awareness and understanding whereby the universe will be rediscovered through esoteric knowledge and related practices. Esotericism is for members an abiding preoccupation, and sometimes a full-time activity. In either case it is a way of life. The esoteric community, in this respect, is composed of like-minded people. My questions about the composition of the community not uncommonly provoked responses (blank stares, vagueness, flip answers, change of topics) suggesting that this knowledge (who did and did not belong) was part of the members' common stock of knowledge (Schutz, 1967; Garfinkel, 1967). Members knew who they were, recognized other members (and nonmembers), and took the matter for granted. Clearly, my questions reflected a sociological research problem, not an issue of concern to members. Using the card indexes I was constructing, I began noting and mapping observable connections in the form of friendships, mutual awareness or recognition, overlapping group memberships, and business relations. Once I was able to ask for specific information (Were Bill and John friends? Was Mary a member of this group?) informants were able to supply additional intelligence concerning these matters. The best indicator of inclusion in the community was, however, whether or not people and groups were involved in psychic fairs (as discussed in Chapter Four). In this way I was able to construct a tentative picture of the community. As I participated, observed, and talked with participants I was able to check and verify this emergent picture. This strategy enabled me to sort the card indexes into different categories: individuals and groups repeatedly observed as part of the community; others thought to be involved but not yet verified; individuals and groups about which I was uncertain; and still others which were not in any discernable way included. This process was repeated throughout my field work. In this way it became easier and easier to eliminate individuals and groups on my card indexes as not part of the esoteric community in the Valley, while having subsequent opportunities to verify these interpretations. I eventually identified about 300 people and 35 groups

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

63

as parts of what members called the esoteric community. Most members of the community are white. They predominantly are lowermiddle to upper-middle class: their incomes ranged from $5,000 to $30,000 a year per person; their dwellings generally reflect the upper ranges of these income levels (lower level income people commonly reside with a husband, wife, or other family members), as do the neighborhoods in which they are located; and their social status is confirmed by demeanor, talk, and dress. Community members tend to be middleaged. They range in age from 20 to 80 years, excepting members' children. A majority of them are between 35 and 55 years of age. They are about equally divided by gender, but there are many more females in positions of leadership and authority proportionately than in the exoteric society. Most of these people are high school graduates; many of them have college training; some of them have college degrees; and a few have graduate training or degrees. Members are employed in a wide variety of jobs and occupations, but they are over-represented in human services fields, such as social work, counseling, teaching, and health care. Politically, they tend to be moderate to liberal on most issues, although most of them are not active in political causes. These findings generally are collaborated by Scott's (1980) and Luhrmann's (1989) studies of substantially different settings. Peter, for example, is a twenty-two year old college graduate who regularly uses the occult tarot for meditation and scholarly-like studies. He earned about ten thousand dollars in 1977 while attending school. He has no religious preference and never attends church, but maintains he is religious minded. Politically he describes himself as very liberal. He uses tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, and occasionally marijuana. He was raised by both parents; he has never been married; and he has resided in the Valley for about eight years. Peter reportedly became involved with esotericism in the late 1960's through a girlfriend who claimed to be a witch. He subsequently read a great deal of occult literature and began experimenting with numerology, astrology, and water scrying, in addition to tarot cards. He uses the tarot seriously to make personal decisions and foresee the future. Peter uses the tarot and other occultisms as a topic of general conversation; he performs divinatory readings of the tarot for friends; and he reports that the tarot is especially useful for dealing with women. Peter frequents psychic fairs; sometimes attends public lectures; and periodically participates in a small, informal, cultic study group in the esoteric community. Cathy is a regular participant in a small cultic spiritual group in the community. She is fifty, widowed, and lives in a very nice home in an upperclass section of the Valley. All three of her children are grown, but one still lives at home and the others visit frequently. She has sustained a serious interest in occultism for more than twenty years; possesses an extensive knowledge of esoteric literature; and participated for several years in Scientology. She became interested in the tarot about 1972 through a friend; attended classes on the tarot offer by the minister of a spiritual group; and eventually became a regular participate in this cultic circle. Although she sometimes conducts divinatory readings of the tarot for herself, Cathy's principal interest in the tarot is as a form of meditation and study. Cathy regards herself as politically moderate, and does not admit to using any illegal drugs.

64

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

Delia is a twenty-three year old female. She moved to the Valley in 1975, after completing high school in the East, to live with a girlfriend. Delia has worked on several different, low paying jobs to earn sufficient money to support herself. She would like to attend college, but does not have sufficient funds to do so without also working full-time. Delia expresses little interest in politics or public affairs, and little experience with or interest in exoteric religion. She became seriously interested in tarot divination after visiting an occult book and supply store; she eventually enrolled in formal classes at the store; and she hopes to eventually read the cards for pay in the esoteric community. Delia has visited four or five cultic groups in the community, but reports that none of them seemed interesting enough to motivate her to join. Mark is the forty-nine year old minister of a spiritual group in the esoteric community. He was raised on the West Coast, completed high school, and attended college for several years while working in a department store. His parents were not religious, but he periodically attended a Unitarian Church. He married, started a family, and found a better paying job in sales. After eight years of marriage he was divorced. During this period of his life Mark reports changing jobs and moving several times. He embarking on a quest for spiritual meaning in his life. He drifted in and out of many different esoteric groups on the Coast, and eventually participated for several years with an occult order. As a member of the order he became familiar with the Hermetic-Kabalistic tradition, learned astrology, and studied mysticism. According to Mark conflicts within the order involving leadership and authority forced him to leave. A former member of the group introduced him to the leaders of another, more religious minded spiritual organization. After a brief period of intense participation with the local chapter, he reportedly was invited to the national organization for special training. Within about a year he became an ordained minister of the group, and shortly thereafter agreed to serve as the leader of the affiliated church in the Valley. As minister he earns little more than is necessary to support himself without other employment. Though impressionistic, these data are consistent with long term patterns of cult participation in the United States. Members of the community predominantly are middle-class, white, adult, urbanites. Their activities are adult, not child oriented, and reflect greater gender equality than is characteristic of the larger society. My materials do not support the frequent contention that cult participants and those attracted to esotericism during the 1970's predominantly were disillusioned American youth. As Stark and Bainbridge's (1979) data show, college age youth dabble in the occult, but they generally do not participate in its supporting cultic milieu. American youth are more likely to join more cohesive organizations of Eastern religion, nonconventional new American religions, and more sectarian organizations, such as Scientology, or the Children of God. I asked people how they became involved in esotericism, although I did not survey members of the community systematically. I heard a variety of different responses to this question. They expressed dissatisfaction with the solutions offered by orthodox religion or science, but rarely reported that this involved a particular life crisis. They talked about extraordinary experiences (clairvoyance, telepathy, astral projection, mentalistic healing, spirit communication) to explain why they

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

65

believed in esoteric teachings. Many of these people were relative newcomers to the esoteric scene, yet at least half of the members I talked with had been involved with esotericism for more than ten years. In most cases their involvements reportedly were stimulated by direct contact with a particular group, dynamic leader, or an extraordinary belief, practice, or experience during a seeking process. For many members of the community sincere interest in esoteric teachings was reinforced by receiving money for psychic readings or some other practice. The esoteric community is defined in part by relations with the exoteric society. Recognition that esoteric beliefs, practices, and groups lack social legitimacy in the exoteric society is a powerful source of solidarity and identity for members. They resent the perceived intolerance of the larger society toward them, and their social marginality. Forced to endure public incredulity and even hostility, community members transform their marginality into a badge of distinction to be worn pridefully. They disdain the perceived dogmaticism and orthodoxy of exoteric religion and science. Here too, social marginality is pridefully understood as a mark of superiority. The official, legal status of esoteric practices in the Valley, as will be discussed below, reinforces and underscores these feelings. Membership Roles By observing and participating within the community I gradually learned to see several seemingly basic categories of membership or roles performed by participants. These membership categories are presented in Table One. Table 1 Categories of Membership in the Esoteric Community Leaders Practitioners Seekers

Professionals Non-Professionals Students Clients

Belivers Non-Believers

They include: leaders, people who organize activities and direct the affairs of particular groups (see Chapter Four); practitioners, those who engage in particular esoteric or occult practices; and seekers, people who move from group to group or practitioner to practitioner looking for wisdom, enlightenment, and self-knowledge and thereby consume esoteric or occult goods and services. Practitioners are distinguished as: "professionals," people who engage in practice for pay, in public settings, and as a full-time activity or as a result of special expertise; and nonprofessionals, people who practice in private without receiving pay. Among seekers there are: students, people who engage in scholarly study; and clients, people consuming goods and services of practitioners or groups. Clients are distinguished further as:

66

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

believers, those people who are receptive to esoteric or occult teachings; and nonbelievers, people who resist esoteric or occult teachings, even though they sometimes consume goods and services. These categories cross-cut participation or membership in particular cultic groups in the community. A particular person may perform the role of nonprofessional reader as the member of a certain cult in some situations and also may be seen as a seeker in another context. Another person may be a client of a certain professional practitioner and also a member of one or more cultic study groups. In many ways activities, relationships, and social networks within the esoteric community revolve around the practitioner membership role. People perform these roles for pay and for free, as part of private practices, and within the contexts of cultic groups. Practitioners engage in a variety of esoteric and occult practices, including akashic life readings, astrology, biorhythms, psychic (clairvoyant) counseling, dream analysis, yoga, healing, numerology, palmistry, past-future life regressionsprogressions, psychic art, and hypnosis. Most of the people I observed and interviewed in the community, including many seekers, employ some kind of esoteric or occult practice from time totime.Many of these people, for instance, own a tarot and use it for amusement. Some of them occasionally read it for self-understanding, periodically draw on the occult wisdom of the cards for making important life decisions, or read the cards three times a day. Less than 125 members of the community engage in esoteric or occult practices for pay and claim special expertise. Nearly anyone may begin an occult practice and claim expertise. Many of these claims, however, go unacknowledged. To be accepted as a professional practitioner by the community, and to be successful, one must be listed in the various directories, gain access to community publications for advertising, develop a reputation, and be invited to participate at public events, especially psychic fairs. The length of time one has been involved in serious practice, as well as the character and quality of the performance (particularly if it seems very extraordinary) are signs of expertise, and they contribute to one's reputation. Such claims to expertise sometimes are advanced quite militantly, as in the case of a tarot card reader we interviewed. See, I'm kind-of a snob. 'Cause I hate these people who in 1965 all of a sudden decided to get involved in the occult. And, I had this experience last night where I really wanted to physically beat up on this girl. I happen to consider myself a professional, number one. Number two, she was batting out of her league. I just can't deal with these people that get into the tarot and they think they're in. I'm just above all that. Within the community claims to lengthy involvement are made by about one-half of the practitioners. About a third of these people, however, are relative newcomers to the scene. Newcomers to the community may attempt to gain recognition as a practitioner in several ways. If one moves to the Valley after establishing a reputation in

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

67

another area of the country, a claim to expertise may be made on the basis of longstanding commitment and practice. Claims of this sort are tested by gatekeepers (leaders) through observation and by discussion: Does the reader exhibit recognizable skills? Is the person able to give verifiable references? Newcomers who pass these preliminary tests generally are given an opportunity to practice (at a fair or to advertise) for a probationary period. Further observation is needed in most cases before the practitioner is granted full privileges of membership in the community as a practitioner. A novice practitioner faces greater obstacles. A beginner might attempt to become adept through self-study and then seek membership. More often, novices complete a period of study from a reputable group or member of the community, and if they are successful, they become sponsored. To become successful the novice must establish a reputation thereby passing further testing in the community. Professional practitioners see themselves as sincere and legitimate, and they borrow from exoteric counseling and ministry as models. They sustain identities as sincere and legitimate professionals by reference to "gypsies," people regarded as insincere and illegitimate. In esoteric lore, gypsies also are regarded as an ethic group from Eastern Europe who periodically have been carriers of these traditions. The Editor of the Spiritual Directory explicitly addresses this issue: The real question is: Who is a good reader? The [Valley] police department has warned us that 50 to 60 "gypsy7' families have moved into the city and have opened up numerous fortune-telling enterprises in the last few years. Being of gypsy origin does not automatically make one a crook, but these "gypsies" are not legitimate nor ethical in their operations—they may not even be real gypsies! They will lie and defraud their clients, cheating them of a lifetime's savings. The gypsy systems of fraud are too many to enumerate here, but be cautious of anyone not listed with the [Spiritual Directory]. Partly because of the commercial nature of readings for pay, practitioners are especially sensitive to being compared with gypsies. Members of the community appropriately observe that there are differences between themselves and people called "gypsies." Gypsies tend to advertise in exoteric publications, such as newspapers and telephone books, exclusively. They commonly perform a variety of divinatory services generally referred to as "fortunetelling," and make highly exaggerated, extraordinary claims. They are predominantly female and use titles like Sister, Madame, or Mrs. And, according to Tatro (1974), they hold a "deviant" self-image. Advertisements from a local newspaper are instructive.

68

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

Mrs. Silva. Psychic Tarot Card Reader. I have with God's miraculous power, healed people from evil spirits that have done damage to you and your loved one. I guarantee that once you contact Mrs. Silva, psychic spiritualist, beyond any doubt, who will put you on God's road to happiness, money, restore your nature, remove the pain from your mind and body of bad luck, and evil influences surrounding you. Names, dates, facts, lucky hands and lucky days. All readings $5 (with this coupon). 7 days a week [address and phone number deleted]. Sister Annette. Palm and Card Reader. Tells past, present, and future. Helps you with all problems: love, marriage, business, health, names, dates, facts. If you have any of these problems come and see her today. Special: $5 reading with this, ad [phone and address deleted] Madame Walker. Fortune Teller. Card Reader. Palm Reader. PastPresent-Future. Are you worried, troubled or in doubt? Do you want happiness, success and peace of mind? I can help you to overcome your obstacles, see me. I can and will help you. One-half Price Reading with this Coupon [phone number deleted]. Practitioners in the esoteric community rarely advertise in exoteric publications, generally refrain from making explicit promises, and rarely advertise expertise in more than one area. They are nearly as likely to be male as female. They use titles like Dr. and Rev., sometimes list esoteric or exoteric degrees, and sometimes refer to associations, like the National Association of Psychic Practitioners. They generally are ministers of groups in the community (as described below). And, they construct and enforce codes of ethics, as well as sustain nondeviant self-images. Several advertisements from Psychic Magazine are illustrative of practitioners in the community. Tarot Readings by Dawn. Appointment Only, [phone number deleted]. Tarot-Astrology. Will 1978 be your year? I can't promise that it will be, but why don't we get together and find out? [name deleted], [phone number deleted]. Member: National Association of Psychic Practitioners. Horoscopes make nice Christmas gifts! [The Cosmic Star Church of Spiritual Development] (non-denominational). Private Counseling and readings. Call Rev. [name deleted]. Check on classes starting soon—call [phone number deleted] and [address deleted].

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

69

What is most important, sociologically, about the gypsy stereotype is that it serves to distinguish absolutely the moral order of the esoteric community from practices thought to involve trickery, fraud, and con artistry. Occult practices are legally regulated in three cites in the Valley. In these locations laws require practitioners to pay a license fee. The amount of these fees varies. City ordinance in one town requires anyone engaged in "magic arts," defined as "palmistry, phrenology, astrology, fortunetelling, mind reading, clairvoyance, or any similar calling," for profit to obtain a license. The required fee of forty dollars a year is seen as reasonable by esoteric community members. This situation even is deemed beneficial since from the members' perspective it discourages gypsies. Members who reside and practice in this area fondly point out that in comparison with areas of the Valley perceived to have a lot of gypsy practitioners, their city is relative free of these undesirables. In another municipality, "Every palmist, astrologer, fortune-teller, or soothsayer shall obtain a license from the finance director or his authorized representative before carrying on such activity within the City." Town code requires a $150 nonrefundable fee for the license application, and upon acceptance an additional $100 a year. Practitioners are accessed another fifty dollars if they transfer this license to a different address. Esoteric community members see this fee as unreasonable and interpret it as an effort to discourage or eliminate their practices. A third municipality regulating occult practices clearly aims to eliminate them. By city ordinance: Every clairvoyant, astrologer, seer, palmist, soothsayer, fortune teller, spiritualist or spirit medium charging or receiving fees, rewards or anything of value, shall pay a license fee of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00) in advance, and the license shall be obtained at least thirty (30) days prior to its effective date. Such license may be revoked at any time for cause, by the Clerk, on the demand of the Chief of Police. Violation of the ordinance is defined as a misdemeanor, and punishable by a fine "not to exceed $300.00 or by imprisonment in the City Jail for a period not to exceed three (3) months, or both a fine and imprisonment" (Ordinance Number 1017). It seems to me more than coincidental that this municipality is controlled politically by Mormons. City ordinances pertinent to members' practices are almost never enforced. I know of several instances of community members practicing without a license. These laws seem to be designed primarily to discourage occult practices and to provide exoteric legal authorities with a means of dealing with undesirables, should this become necessary. Licensing requirements do define particular areas of the Valley as more or less desirable places to practice from the standpoint of community members. Members employ a rather simple mechanism they believe protects them from local ordinances. They define themselves and their businesses as nonprofit religious organizations and become ministers. Emergent cults commonly define themselves

70

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

as churches by purchasing a charter from a national, mail order organization, and individuals obtain ministerial certificates in this same way. I purchased a minister's license for five dollars from a mail order address-organization located in the southeastern United States during my fieldwork in the Valley. By getting two additional people to purchase a license, I became a "bishop." To the best of my knowledge, nothing else is required, and the mail order organization expects no further relationship with its ministers. Community members believe that by being ministers they are exempt from local ordinances, and almost without exception they are "ordained ministers." As clergy they do not charge for services, but offer them for a recommended or required donation. Likewise, churches in the community do not charge a fee for anything, but they do expect a donation. In this sense, then, virtually all of the cults and practitioners in the community are "religious." Although I observed few differences between readings performed for or without pay, the commercial (pay) reading creates a variety of special problems for practitioners. In the pay situation the practitioner feels constantly on trial. Unknowledgeable clients require instructions on where to sit, how to ask questions, what to expect, how to interpret information, and the theosophy of the practice (see Jorgensen and Jorgensen, 1977). Strangers may be skeptical, distrustful, or absolute nonbelievers. In the words of one practitioner in the community, reading for pay is "a whole different trip." I refuse to tell a client what they want to hear. I tell them what I see. I used to, when I first started. When I first started reading as a professional reader—accepting money. But, the money thing— 'cause the money thing is a whole different trip. Practitioners in the community, unlike exoteric experts, do not have an elaborate professional culture (or training) to draw from in dealing with clientele. Even so, they construct and enact norms of what they regard as professionalism. Esoteric knowledge derived from readings is seen by practitioners as awesome and even dangerous, thereby requiring skill, judgment, and responsibility. A tarot card reader, for instance, observed that: "When you're going into people's lives with the cards you become one with the person." This danger demands responsibility to self and clientele: "Sometimes I think people really get drunk with this power. It is a powerful thing, and it's a responsibility." Other practitioners in the community told us: A little bit of other people's garbage goes a hell of a long way. We all have a certain number of negative things in our own lives and problems we have to contend with. If you can help somebody else, great... but if you can't, you overload yourself. If s a tremendous responsibility and I didn't know if I wanted it. I think that the fact that people wanted it done and needed it done, was the thing that made the difference for me.

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

71

Altruism, as a norm of professionalism, is exhibited by some practitioners in the community: I do try to go out and help people if I can. Because I think I should. Because if you have anything or try to do anything, if you don't help people, then you lose it. You really do. A lot of people lose a lot of their inner good because they clutch it. Like exoteric service personnel, practitioners in the community have rationale for treating the potential conflict between professional altruism and accepting money. It's on an energy exchange basis, whatever the other person offers, usually between ten and twenty dollars. I just make it clear that if s an energy exchange, however we work it out. I believe that I was born with so many readings to give. I don't know how many I've got left and I don't know how many I've given. But, every time I do a reading there has to be a purpose behind it. I will never deny anyone a reading. I've read for people who not only could they afford it, but they didn't need it. Which, of course, came out through the reading. But I will never deny a person a reading. I will not take less. Like, let's say, F ve had someone say they couldn' t afford to pay me thirty dollars for a reading; and, I say, then you don't have to pay me anything. Practitioners commonly predict or foretell events. Predicting transverses the fine line between what members see as their divinatory (or reading) activities and gypsy fortune-telling. Practitioners have several ways of dealing with this situation. I deal with games that are going on in a person's life, and patterns. So it's not really predicting the future. But the patterns will repeat unless there's some intervention. So in that sense it's forecasting. It's a con, sure, but it's better to cori them that way [by letting them believe what they may about the magic of the cards] than to do what the gypsies do and say, "Hey! Somebody put a curse on your mother when you were two years old. I'll sell you $600 worth of candles to remove it." I probably predict, through the use of the tarot, in less than one out of fifteen readings. Sometimes I predict as a grabber. When I hear myself predicting a definite happening within a certain time frame, all right, it's so that it will hit them with the validity of what I'm saying in the entire reading. That's the only purpose that it's used for. Practitioners describe difficulties with getting clients to take responsibility for themselves. Most of these people subscribe to beliefs in freedom of human will, and they attempt to educate clientele to exercise their volition.

72

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

I think a lot of people feel that if they believe in the tarot cards, ifs going to happen no matter what. And they don't take into account the free will that they have. And the possibility that they might be able to change what is there. [The tarot] must be used with integrity toward the client. By that I mean that I don't think it's right to predict, to encourage the person to not take responsibility for being at cause in their life. My whole trip is to get people to begin taking more and more responsibility for what they're doing, rather than encouraging any kind of dependency. If I do my job right, you're going to learn you don't need me. fhafs what it's all about. Not fostering this dependency. That doesn't mean that I don't have continuing clientele, because I do. Practitioners feel that to get clients to reveal themselves may destroy the magical quality of a reading for the uninitiated. Yet they believe that it is important for the client to open up so they may be of greater assistance. Closed querents uniformly are regarded as the worse type, not because the reader will not be able to offer suggestions, but since successful divination depends on interaction (see Chapter Eight). A tarot card reader, for instance, told Lin: If you know a little bit about your client, it certainly helps you to know how the interpretation should go. Because we all run into things that are rather defiant in terms of being able to say this belongs with this or it has to do with this situation. And if you know a little bit about your client one way or another, sometimes I feel the reading is much more meaningful because you can tie it in properly. Practitioners rarely attempt to get clients to reveal themselves before a reading; they prefer people who actively participate. Esoteric practices are not seen as mechanical magic. Rather, the magic (self-discovery) results from a complex interaction among a sacred text or stimulus, an expert in the use of esoteric knowledge and its practice, and a seeker. Application of a model of professionalism to esoteric practice is especially evident in the several codes of ethics published in the community.3 The Spiritual Code, for example, reads: I will approach counseling with respect, reverence, and responsibility. I will seek higher guidance. I will keep the welfare of my client uppermost at all times. I will respect the trust of my client. I will strive for greater competence. My advertising will reflect my integrity. I will strive to give full value. I will respect all who adhere to this code.

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

73

Practitioners in the esoteric community express meaningful concern for the ethics of what they do, and they employ and enforce codes of conduct in presenting an image of professionalism to clientele and publics. Their strategies are not unlike those of other socially marginal occupational groups. Membership Associations Group-like organizations in the community overwhelmingly are cultic in character. Analytically, several basic types of cultic groups, as shown in Table Two, are identifiable. This includes cultic organizations, cultic groups, and businesses. TABLE 2 FORMS OF COLLECTIVITIES IN THE ESOTERIC COMMUNITY Cultic Organizations

churches institutes associations clinics study groups professional practitioners

Cultic Groups

churches study groups institutes book and supply stores clinics institutes professional practitioners

shidpnts

Business Esterprises

Cultic organizations generally are medium sized groups (with from twenty to one hundred or more members), with fairly strong, identifiable leaders and sometimes other more specialized roles (including acknowledged professional practitioners), more or less permanent locations (buildings), regular meetings (typically once, twice, or three times a week), and some general range of interests (psychic phenomena, healing, occultisms). A variety of smaller cultic groups may be directly derived from these organizations or loosely associated with them. Cultic organizations may be referred to as churches, institutes, associations, or not-forprofit groups. One or more cultic organizations may serve to anchor segmented networks of people within the community. Cultic groups, as shown in Table Two, are characteristically smaller than cult organizations (with perhaps as few as three core members). They generally lack clearly identifiable leaders, more specialized roles, or regular, public meetings. Cultic groups sometimes have permanent locations, but they more commonly use

74

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

the facilities of a cult organization, or move from location to location, such as by alternatively meeting in members' homes. These groups tend to form around members' specific interests (in astral travel, mediumship, anomalies, or an esoteric text), and their continued existence depends on that interest. Commonly they arise and disappear within weeks or months. They rarely persist for years, and in many of the cases where they seem to exist for more extended periods of time it commonly is by way of a constantly fluctuating membership. Cultic groups not uncommonly emerge, and they also tend to reproduce additional cults. Business enterprises, as shown in Table Two, typically are bookstores or groups selling books and assorted other goods and services. Some businesses primarily or exclusively offer healing or particular esoteric procedures. Businesses commonly are operated by a single proprietor or partnership. They sometimes encourage the development of related cultic study groups. In some cases a business may be operated as part of a cultic organization or it may be linked to cultic organizations by formal or informal networks and social arrangements.

ASSESSING THE CULTIC MILIEU Popular cultural images of what are called "cults" convey a stereotypical impression of coercive, authoritarian organizations, powerful deranged leaders, and mindless, youthful followings. These images no doubt serve the interests of certain publics, such as Christian Fundamentalists, deprogramming enterprises, and other portions of the anti-cult movement in America, but they fail to describe the people and activities I observed in the esoteric community. Insofar as such organizations exist, they characteristically are what sociologists define as "sects." Unlike sectarian organizations, cults are loosely organized, precarious, notoriously shortlived, more or less democratic collectivities based on flexible, eclectic, non-dogmatic beliefs and practices. Although cult leaders may be charismatic, they generally are not particularly authoritarian. Most of the members of cults in the esoteric community characteristically are middle-aged Americans. Stark's and Bainbridge's contention that American occultism is not supported by social networks is refuted by my description and analysis of the esoteric community in the Valley. The studies of Hartman (1973,1976), Lloyd (1978), Scott (1980), Adler (1979,1986), and Luhrmann (1989) reinforce these findings and further discredit Stark's and Bainbridge's claims. Though geographically dispersed throughout this urban center, the community includes leaders, seekers, students, and practitioners, as well as business organizations, cults, and associations of occult practitioners, all of which are interrelated and linked in complex ways through social networks of relationship. These collectivities and individuals share an ethos, forms of communication, collective images of themselves and the exoteric society, ethics, and a sense of community. In spite of factionalism within the community, as will be described in the next chapter, members participate in collective activities, especially psychic fairs. The esoteric community was described and analyzed here as part of the cultic milieu and the larger esoteric scene in the Valley. The notion of a cultic milieu

The Esoteric Community in the Valley

75

frequently has been discussed but it rarely has been described by sociologists. In addition to the esoteric community, the cultic milieu supporting the esoteric scene in the Valley includes multifarious seekers, students, practitioners, cults, businesses, and assorted collective organizations. By way of this esoteric scene and the cultic milieu, esoteric and exoteric cultures interface. While this milieu includes what Stark and Bainbridge call audience and client cults, neither audiences nor cults constitute "cults" in any sociologically meaningful sense of the term. In focusing on highly visible, larger movement organizations, Stark and his associates have missed much of the activity that is central to the cultic milieu and the esoteric scene in America today. Most of these organizations, including older and newer sectarian groups, sustain themselves independently of the cultic milieu. While some of them depend on this environment as a source of recruits, most of them maintain few other social relationships with the cultic milieu or the esoteric community. The cultic milieu is terribly important, sociologically, for the persistence of esoteric culture. Esoteric knowledge, fundamentally, is individualistic. When believers and practitioners form collectivities, their activities are most likely to be organized in a cultic fashion. Cults provide an exceptionally precarious social basis for esoteric culture. If esoteric culture were dependent entirely on particular cults, even a few successful ones, it generally would cease to exist with each generation or require reproduction constantly. This is unnecessary since the cultic milieu, quite unintentionally, facilitates the constant reproduction of small, loosely organized groups and, thereby, provides more or less continuous support for esoteric culture Notesin America.

76

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and the Occult Tarot

Notes 1

Native American and Mexican-American folk beliefs and practices sometimes are seen, mostly from an outsider's perspective, as related to this scene. Participants in this scene mention such beliefs and practices favorably, and sometimes draw on pertinent published literature, but I did not observe members of these cultures participating in the local scene or community. 2

My use of the term "esoteric" to describe this community is consistent with members' usage; however, they also describe it as "occult," "new age," "metaphysical," "psychic," and so on. 3

A very similar code is published in Psychic Magazine.

Chapter 4 Confederated Networks of Occultists The esoteric community in the Valley is composed of loosely interconnected networks of practitioners and collectivities which constitute particular factions, segments, or alliances. The people form what they define as a "community." In other words, they organize their activities socially by developing bonds of acquaintanceship, friendship, mutually satisfying and practical interests, as well as commercial and organizational relations. Their interactions with one another sometimes are organized socially by way of collectivities which generally are discernable as businesses, cultic groups, and cultic associations. Seekers, students, practitioners, and group members are linked by way of networks of relationships, and they circulate among the collectivities in the community. These individuals and collectivities, furthermore, relate with one another through the formation of more encompassing assemblies, alliances, affiliations, or confederations within what they envision as the community. Within the esoteric community in the Valley three principal confederated networks of individuals and collectivities are connected socially in this way. These factions or segments of the community are presented in Figure Two. Esoteric culture is defined and enacted socially by community members within these specialized spheres or domains of interaction. Each of these segments of the community is defined by somewhat unique, distinctive definitions and images of esotericism. One faction of the esoteric community in the Valley, which I call the hermetic assembly, exhibits a special interest in esoteric study and physical well-being, healing, or medicine. Another faction of the community, I labeled the augur alliance, is distinguished by a preoccupation with psychic powers, extrasensory perception (esp), anomalies, or what may be described as a more secular concern for esoteric and occult science. The third faction within the esoteric community, which I define as the metaphysic affiliation, is a loose association of "ministers" and "churches" which see themselves as fundamentally committed to spiritual concerns or esoteric religion.1 77

DOI: 10.4324/9780429328961-4

78

Esoteric Culture,, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

Hermetic Assembly

use

*%

-

Angur Alliance

ams

Metaphysical 0 * Affiliation *

Key: • direction

formal informal Figure 2: The Esoteric Community Networks of Social Relations

These distinctive orientations to esoteric culture, organized in terms of factions of the community, serve to differentiate among members and their activities. While these differences generally are not visible to outsiders, among the core participants in the community these variations serve as bases for powerful sentiments, tensions, conflicts, and politics. Publicly, leaders and members of particular factions generally sustain seemingly friendly, cordial, and cooperative relations with one another. Privately, among close friends and within particular cults, they sometimes express their differences openly and vigorously, defaming one another. Conflicts sometimes erupt publicly as quarrels among individuals and groups in the community, but these occasionally bitter disputes are more likely to be enacted out of the direct view of other members. Part of the culture of the community includes

Confederated Networks of Occultists

79

a common, more or less shared knowledge of the history of these confrontations, clashes, feuds, and skirmishes among competing individuals, collectivities, and factions. In spite of these sociocultural and personal differences members sustain a powerful sense of "community." Their sense of community is accomplished, in part, by way of the more or less shared ethos, ethics, values, and meanings described in Chapter Three. This culture of the community is created and enacted through social interaction. It is reinforced and re-created powerfully through common activities known as "psychic fairs." During my observation and participation, large community-wide fairs were held twice annually. Several smaller psychic fairs periodically were sponsored by multiple groups and factions in the community. Many other mini-fairs were organized by particular cults, usually churches, or confederations of practitioners and groups comprising factions of the community. These events, viewed sociologically, serve as critical bases for social solidarity among otherwise loosely organized networks and factions of the esoteric community in the Valley.

THE HERMETIC ASSEMBLY One set of social networks in the esoteric community, described as hermetic, reflects a scholarly-like concern for nonconventional teachings and knowledge, with an emphasis on physical well-being, healing, or esoteric medicine.^ The people composing this specific network of social relationships tend to be among the best educated. They usually work at exoteric occupations, are successful at them, and exhibit middle-class life styles. They devote non-work time to esotericism, and they are more inclined to engage other members of the community in discussions, than to join a particular cult. Sallie, for instance, is sixty-three year old, retired, widow. She and her husband, a department store manager, moved to the Valley around 1965 from Michigan, and purchased a home in an upper middle class neighborhood. They raised two children, and Sallie had worked periodically as a nurse's aid. While their children were at home they infrequently attended the Methodist Church. Sallie's husband was an avid reader of science fiction, and they both sustained an interest in UFO reports and psychic phenomena. After her children were grown, Sallie began going to a Christian Science reading center where she became interested in mentalistic healing. Her studies eventually included the works of Edgar Cayce and Jane Roberts. Friends from Michigan introduced them to the ESP organization (described below) shortly after they arrived in the Valley. They subscribed to the ESP newsletter and casually attended study group meetings of special interest. After her husband's death in 1975, Sallie began serving as a volunteer in the ESP bookstore. To the best of my knowledge, she is not a regular participant in any of the related cultic study groups; she reported attending one of the largest Spiritualist churches in the Valley occasionally. She seemed to live an entirely ordinary lifestyle. Several of her best friends also are volunteers with ESP, and this organization seemed to serve as the center of Sallie's social life. Her principal form of participation in the community is

80

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

through volunteer activities, reading esoteric literature, and practicing esoteric health and healing. Categories of membership in the hermetic healing segment of the community are shown in Table Three. They include: coordinators, or leaders who organize collective activities; volunteers who assist the leadership; practitioners, people who provide esoteric goods and services; and seekers, people who are in search of enlightenment, including ritual healing. Practitioners are distinguished further as professional or nonprofessional. Professional practitioners include: readers, people performing services like past life regressions, tarot divination, palmistry, and astrology, typically in terms of a practitioner/client relationship; teachers who direct classes or provide instruction on esoteric topics; and, medical practitioners, people who do healing or provide other esoteric medical services. There are two categories of seekers: students who attend classes or otherwise engage in scholarlylike studies; and clients who seek services from practitioners. TABLE 3 MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES IN THE HERMETIC ASSEMBLY

Coordinators Practitioners

Seekers

Non-Professional Professional Students Clients

Readers Teachers Medical

Within the hermetic healing faction of the community, networks of social relationship and activities tend to revolve around a cultic organization called ESP, as shown in Figure Two. Several study groups (ARES, ESPS), a book and supply store (ESP-B), and a medical clinic (AREC) are connected socially through ESP. A variety of other cultic study groups and practitioners are casually and loosely associated with ESP. This cultic organization, operated by a core of six members and an untold number of volunteers, functions as a clearing house for information. They maintain a suite of businesslike offices in a predominantly middle-class section of the Valley. For a fee of twenty dollars a year members are entitled to a regular monthly mailing of organizational activities, as well as miscellaneous benefits, such as discounts on items purchased in the affiliated book and supply store. The ESP bookstore, located in a small strip shopping center several miles from the main offices, is staffed by volunteers. It offers a wide range of esoteric books and supplies, with a better selection of medical, health, and healing materials than other similar stores in the Valley. Classes sponsored by ESP commonly are held in the back room of the bookstore. ESP is a legally non-profit organization that claims a paid membership of about 1,700 people. Over 3,000 people receive the monthly mailing without charge.

Confederated Networks of Occultists

81

The ESP calendar of events includes activities for every day of the month. These range from speakers, some of who have national reputations, films, and demonstrations, to classes in astrology, tarot, numerology, palmistry, and hypnosis. Unlike many of the cultic organizations in the community, ESP is not expected to support the people who run it. Speakers and teachers generally are hired from outside the organization, typically from among practitioners in the community. These arrangements solidify ESP's relationship to the larger community. ESP sponsors an untold number of cultic study groups that typically meet once a month to discuss esoteric topics. Once a study group is established, ESP may lose track of it unless participants continue to advertise in the organization's bulletin or otherwise maintain contact with coordinators. Since this cultic organization makes no serious attempt to exert control over study groups, even the organizers tend to be unaware of exactly how many groups are functioning at any given time. I, for instance, attended an ESP sponsored meeting on the topic of spirit communication. A guest speaker from the west coast, a student of Jane Roberts, was brought in to lead discussion. During the preliminary meeting of thirty-five to forty people, members explored the idea of forming a regular study group. It became clear during the meeting, however, that people's interests were widely divergent. A second meeting attracted about half as many people. At least two, or perhaps three, study groups were formed. One study group continued on the general topic of spirit communication and channeling but discontinued advertising in the ESP bulletin. Another study group formed around the guest speaker and focused on a highly stylized form of past life regression called "rebirthing," and they continued to advertise with ESP. I suspect that a third group of four or five people formed around a married couple without the knowledge of other members. ESP is closely related through overlapping friends and members with a fulltime medical clinic, AREC. It is operated by two physicians (M.D.'s), a married couple, with the assistance of a small staff of medical and "psychic" practitioners. From the standpoint of the exoteric society, this clinic, perhaps obviously, is one of the most culturally legitimate organizations in the esoteric community. With the important exception of the use of esoteric techniques along with exoteric medicine, the clinic resembles its exoteric counterparts. AREC hosts an annual conference of national accolade, and it supports an untold number of cultic study groups specializing in hermetic medicine and healing. The hermetic assembly, then, serves to define a distinctive faction of individuals and groups in the esoteric community. These people and collectivities exhibit a special concern for hermetic study and esoteric medicine. Their activities are coordinated through a particular organization, ESP, that thereby links otherwise discrete individuals and groups. ESP, its members, and other individuals and groups linked together in this way sustain a variety of complex connections with other individuals, groups, and factions in the esoteric community.

82

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

THE AUGUR ALLIANCE Social networks composing the augur faction of the esoteric community predominantly involve people and groups with a more secular focus on exploring the human mind, particularly hidden or concealed senses whereby occult knowledge is viewed as a path to personal power and success. Many of these people are devout occultists. They rarely use this word, however, especially when talking with outsiders, because of the less than favorable image it presumably projects to publics. Members of this psychic segment sometimes earn all or part of their income from the sale of esoteric goods and services. They come from working to middle class backgrounds; some of them have college educations; most of them had or have middle income occupations in social services, health care, education, business, and the like; and they tend to espouse moderate to liberal social and political values. Most of the cultic groups involved are officially non-profit, religious organizations, but their official status reflects legal relations with the exoteric society, not whether or not they engage in commerce or see themselves as particularly religious. Liz, for example, is a thirty-eight year old "psychic practitioner" who specialized in past-life regressions, a form of hypnosis through which the client is asked to recall what is regarded as a previous existence. Her parents moved to the Valley when she was a young girl; she graduated from a local high school; completed a college degree in psychology on the West Coast; married and had two children before being divorced. During college Liz became especially interested in psychic phenomena and studied related literatures on parapsychology. She worked as a case worker and counselor in a public welfare office until about four years before I met her. After about six years of marriage, Liz reported, she and her husband developed divergent interests and gradually drifted apart. About this time she became increasingly interested in esoteric studies and began interacting with members of the local community. A cousin was the leader of a therapeutic cult in the community; he eventually became a successful writer and lecturer; and before my arrival he developed a national reputation marketing esoteric training courses and therapy. Liz worked part-time for her cousin and quickly gained a local reputation as a psychic practitioner and counselor. Shortly after her divorce, Liz quit her welfare job and started a psychic counseling service with a partner, a man she knew from the therapeutic cult. They married a short time later. Liz and her husband successfully recruited a collection of about ten to twelve professional practitioners representing a variety of specialities as affiliates of their organization. It quickly became one of the more prestigious associations of this type within the community and both partners eventually were able to support themselves exclusively by way of group activities. They reside in an upper middle class section of the Valley, and they are among the most respected leaders in the esoteric community. Stella is another professional practitioner connected with the augur alliance. An accountant for an insurance company, she was thirty-four years old, the mother of a nine year old daughter, and divorced. Stella was born and raised on the East Coast by both parents; she was educated at Catholic schools, and still considers herself to be at least nominally Catholic. She was married shortly after graduating

Confederated Networks of Occultists

83

from college. Stella claimed to be a moderate to liberal Democrat, but I saw no indication that she was especially active politically. She uses tobacco and alcohol, but denied any involvement with illegal drugs. Outspoken almost to a fault, Stella seemed to live a commonplace professional lifestyle with the exception of her occultism. Stella reported that she frequently had unusual dreams and psychic experiences as a young girl, but failed to recognize them as extraordinary until she was a teenager. During high school, according to her account, Stella and several girlfriends began reading popular occult literature and experimenting with magic and astrology. She claimed to meet a psychic who became a mentor while in college. He taught her to read tarot cards, construct astrological charts, and instructed her in the use of various other forms of magic. According to Stella, she began providing these services to friends and acquaintances for free, and eventually started charging money for them, although the circumstances whereby she began collecting fees is unclear. She owned a modest occult library and was better informed about classic occult traditions than most of the professional practitioners I knew. Stella moved to the Valley after being divorced around 1970, and receiving a reportedly attractive job offer. She talked about a boyfriend, but I am very unclear about most of the details of her private life. In the esoteric community Stella practiced astrology, palmistry, and tarot. She conducted readings from her home, at psychic fairs, and in conjunction with several cultic groups. Stella also taught classes through groups in the augur alliance, and occasionally lectured publicly. Membership categories in the augur alliance of the community are represented in Table Four. They include: people who organize psychic fairs or otherwise provide leadership for collective activities; practitioners providing services; and seekers. Psychic practitioners tend to be specialized. In addition to the previously discussed distinctions between professionals and nonprofessionals, these categories encompass people with extensive expertise versus people without acknowledged specialized expertise. Professional practitioners, as shown in Table Four, also include: teachers who offer classes or direct studies of the esoteric and occult; researchers who engage in scientific-like studies of psychic, esoteric, or occult phenomena; and readers who provide services like astrological charts, numerology, palmistry, and tarot divination to clientele. Clients and students as seen by members are types of seekers..Clients are distinguished further as believers versus nonbelievers. While professional practitioners operate in all segments of the community, they are highly visible and the most active in this psychic segment. Their services include akashic life readings, astrology, biorhythrn charts, psychic (clairvoyant) counseling and readings, dream analysis, yoga, healing, numerology, palmistry, past-future life regression-progression, psychic art, hypnosis, and tarot readings. Most practitioners engage in private practices, but they sustain some affiliation with a cult or cultic organization. They actively compete for clientele and affiliation with community groups. Within the community professional practitioners are evaluated by reputation based on perceived competency. Of over 100 people engaged in esoteric or occult practice in the community, less than twenty are thought to be truly

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

84

TABLE 4 MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES IN THE AUGUR ALLIANCE Organizers Practitioners

Non-Professional Professional

Seekers

F.ypprte

Non-Experts Teachers Writers Researchers Readers

Clients Believers

Regulars Non-Regulars

outstanding, and there probably are no more than thirty or forty who are widely regarded and acknowledged as highly reputable and competent. These networks of practitioners exhibit a similar ideological orientation to esoteric or occult knowledge. They see it as useful for self-understanding and as a way of producing practical results. Such an orientation sometimes has been labeled "magic" and juxtaposed with "religion." Unfortunately such a distinction oversimplifies the complex view of reality in which occult practices are embedded. The tarot, for instance, from a psychic perspective is viewed as a tool for self-understanding and enlightenment: "I see the cards," one reader told us, "as triggers to intuition, rather than having specific meanings each time. I see them as a system we can use to dope out the future, as a fantastic tool for self-understanding." In this sense occultists are interested in attaining practical, instrumental, or magical results. Another reader, for instance, observed that: I'm finding out that so much of it works if we can bring it down to earth. I don't like to keep things super esoteric and way out. If metaphysics works, we ought to be able to bring it right down to earth, right now, and program the goodies on an everyday basis. I do think there is something magical about the cards. Mainly because they've been around for a long time and people have cranked a lot of energy into them. Magical interests sometimes derive from emphasizing the scientific pretensions (prediction, control) of occult knowledge, not from differences between magic and religion. Occultists, of course, recognize tensions between esoteric and exoteric science. A practitioner who uses the tarot as a therapeutic tool remarked that: "My intention with all of the occult studies is to make the intuition—the right side of the brain—as respectable as the left. I have professional credentials and background [an M.Ed.]. Hopefully that will bridge the gap someday." Later she told us that:

Confederated Netxvorks of Occultists

85

My Gestalt trainer would get really pissed: "Why are you doing this reading shit?" You know? He said, "it's all projecting anyway. It's the ultimate projection trip," he kept saying. And it really bothered me because I wanted to know the difference between projecting and coming up with information that I couldn't possibly have known about this person. Hence, the psychic orientation acknowledges the mysterious character of occult knowledge. The augur alliance, as pictured in Figure Two, is the largest, most complex, and most active faction of relationships in the esoteric community. APRA, an association of psychic practitioners, anchors these relations and activities, and it is the most central cultic organization in the community. Its founders, a married couple, devote themselves full-time to APRA, the related publication of Psychic Magazine, production of psychic fairs, promotion of two-day and week-long seminars (focusing on hypnosis) held throughout the country, and private practice. The membership of APRA consists of about forty professional practitioners. Like ESP, they host some kind of activity for every day of the month. This includes private counseling or readings (palmistry, astrology, tarot, clairvoyance, hypnosis, and especially past-life regressions); classes on these topics; lectures and demonstrations; and psychic research projects. Unlike ESP, APRA is expected to make a profit. This cultic organization leases a large suite of offices in an upper-middle class section of the Valley. APRA, as shown in Figure Two, is connected socially to other commercial enterprises (MBS, SE, CG), several bookstores (AY, AB, PA), research associations (PVPA, AR), and various religious cults (UL, MAC, TC, HC, CCT, CHSC). They are linked to APRA through advertising and other contributions to Psychic Magazine, participation in psychic fairs, business relations, and a very complex array of overlapping social (friendship) relations. Commercial cults, presumably, are what Stark and Bainbridge (1980a) call "client cults," and some of the activities of cultic organizations, like APRA, are what is meant by "audience cults." Neither clients or audiences are cults, however, unless these people become members of related groups. Clients and audiences/alone, do not constitute cults. The commercial cults described here do have small memberships, including leaders who organize activities, core memberships supporting these activities, and affiliated professional practitioners. These cults, furthermore, are linked by complex networks of social relationship with other groups and organizations within the cultic milieu of the esoteric community and its various factions. Esoteric bookstores sustain business relations with many of the cultic groups in the psychically oriented segment of the community. Besides providing books and supplies, they serve as centers of information, a place where interested parties meet unceremoniously in public, and as the sponsors of classes on tarot, astrology, hypnosis, numerology, and palmistry that appeal to the public. Store owners sometimes serve as instructors (teachers), but bookstores more commonly hire teachers from among professional practitioners in the esoteric community. Owners

86

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

and practitioners split fees for classes with approximately ten to twenty-five percent of the fee remaining in the store. Commercial cults operate in much the same fashion. They tend to emphasize some aspect of mental and /or physical well-being with some groups specializing in service-therapy and other groups in education-instruction. Basic types of service are: private readings or counseling; special workshops, usually offered on a weekend; and extensive therapy or education, typically involving weekly meetings for 6 months. The cost of these services varies among cultic businesses, and by the reputation of the professional practitioners, the type of training or therapy, and where the service is performed. For instance, palmistry is less expensive than hypnosis, while private readings are more expensive than public readings at fairs. In spite of efforts to standardize fee structures, prices generally are fixed (and adjusted) on the basis of professionals' perception of the market. Private readings cost from five to fifty dollars, short-term workshops run from thirty to sixty dollars, and a full course of study or therapy varies from $200 to $400. Extensive programs of study or therapy generally are divided into beginning and advanced sessions. Completion of a full course of study in hypnosis or mind and body science might run as high as $3,000 or $5,000. Commercially oriented groups employ similar methods for recruiting clientele. They advertise in esoteric and sometimes exoteric publications. One business, for instance, periodically runs a local TV advertisement. The favored way of attracting clients and members is through mailing lists. Every commercial cult has a list of potential students obtained by registration of people at psychic fairs as well as having members name friends. Some of these groups have existed for more than 10 years (a very long time for cults), and consequently rather extensive and tested mailing lists exist. The publisher of Psychic Magazine, for example, maintains a mailing list of more than thirteen thousand people. A subdivision of this list includes the names of approximately five thousand people known to have consumed community goods or services at some time. Mailing lists are exchanged among friends and sometimes sold to other people or cults. They, however, are not available to just anyone. A bitter conflict ensued when the leader of the psychic segment refused to sell one of his lists to an organization judged to be fraudulent. The augur alliance, in short, is the largest faction in the esoteric community. It members specialize in psychic, esoteric, and occult practices viewed as in some sense "scientific." Their practices and activities are intended to produce money. Their commercialism is disdained by other community members, particularly those composing the metaphysic faction. Psychic practitioners see their money making activities as a form of professionalism. They thereby define themselves as being like exoteric professional experts and specialists. By way of its activities, APRA, is one of the central organizations within the esoteric community. Through it multifarious individuals, groups, and factions within the community are tied together socially.

Confederated Networks of Occultists

87

METAPHYSIC AFFILIATION The metaphysic (spiritual) faction of the esoteric community primarily consists of religious (or quasi-religious) cults. The word "spiritual" denotes an emphasis on the religious and moral condition of humanity. Members composing these segmented networks tend to be concerned with salvation, liberation, and enlightenment. They see their mission as service to humanity, and they stand opposed to the perceived "materialism" of people in the psychic (augur) segment of the community. Members of the metaphysic faction of the community generally are from lower to working class backgrounds; few of them are college educated; most of them work at low to moderate income jobs; they frequently have been seekers for lengthy periods of time, and commonly have been involved in many different esoteric groups. Harold, for instance, is a forty-four year old minister of a cultic group and the operator of a book and supply store. He grew up in the Valley, graduated from a local high school, and had a lengthy and highly varied career in the esoteric community. His mother and aunt were regular attenders of a Spiritualist church which provided Harold with an introduction to esotericism at an early age. By his early teenaged years he was conversant with much of the classic literature on occultism and a practitioner of many forms of magic. He apparently took little interest in exoteric education, although he reported graduating from high school, and I strongly suspect that he was perceived as somewhat strange by his teachers and peers. Harold, according to others' accounts, had been married numerous times. His current spouse reportedly was a eighteen year old women whom he met when she joined his cult. Community lore indicated that Harold had been involved with numerous cultic groups over the years. He apparently participated in the formation of several groups which later dissolved as a result of disputes among the members as well as conflicts over leadership and authority. It is unclear to me as to whether he owned the book store (or the occult section of it), or if he simply operated it as partnership with someone else. As the operator of the book store he sustained contact with many of the other groups in the community. As minister of a cultic group he also energetically participated with other ministers composing the metaphysic faction of the esoteric community. I was unable to collect any kind of direct information about his cultic group. It was rumored to be a secretive occult order patterned after the Golden Dawn, and community members insinuated to me that Harold was a devotee of Crowley and, perhaps, thereby sex magic and witchcraft. He tended to be aloof and somewhat arrogant regarding his own expertise and activities. My questions about these matters sometimes were treated with the disdain of a master for an ignorant outsider who asked stupid questions. Even so, Harold very freely offered information about the community, its members, and activities with which he was familiar. Although the book store regularly offered classes in various occult arts and sciences, to the best of my knowledge Harold never taught them, nor did I ever know him to engage in any form of professional practice as a service to the general public. Unlike Harold, many of the other ministers in the metaphysic faction of the community do engage in professional practices.

88

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

Sara, a professional practitioner in her early fifties, provides a contrasting example to Harold. She is a warm, friendly, quiet, soft-spoken woman who people seem to trust almost immediately. She teaches part-time in a private school, but it seems likely that she has other sources of income. A widow, she lives with her elderly mother in a middle class neighborhood, and they are very devout Catholics. Sara became interested in astrology, tarot, and related occultisms as a mature adult through a friend who is a member of a spiritual group in the community. She is not a member of any of the nontraditional spiritual groups in the metaphysic segment of the community, but she sometimes teaches classes and frequently provides tarot card readings through one of the spiritual churches. Sara's occultism serves as a supplement to an otherwise conventional religiosity. By all indications she lives a rather conservative life-style. Spiritually (or metaphysically) oriented tarot card readers see this occult text as a sacred body of knowledge and its di vinatory application as a means of revealing relationships between humankind and the cosmos. Divination thereby differs from "fortunetelling." One spiritual reader, for instance, remarked that: Every time I would get into an oral reading, I would get into these esoteric things. My tarot reading is a very esoteric type of reading, a very spiritual reading. But I found that that's the kind of people that come to me. If they want to know about the tall dark handsome man they're going to meet next Tuesday, they go see the gypsy down the street. Even metaphysically oriented occultists recognize that their "spirituality" oftentimes is incomprehensible to outsiders. Referring to her mother, a tarot reader in her fifties noted that: I think that the psychic things really bother her. More in the sense that she can't make the connection that I make between the psychic and spiritual. I have no problem in working my spiritual life and my occult life and astrological work together in a nice blend for me. In some cases occult spirituality is integrated with even more orthodox ideas about the supernatural. One devotee observed that: 'Tarot readings, astrology, or anything, if you put it in the hands of the Father, it comes." And another spiritually oriented occultist explained that: To me the occult in true essence is trying to understand God in that which is not usually taught and given. It is hidden because you don't understand; you can't relate to where there's more answers. And, if you search for them, you're really doing occult searching. The occult, in this way, may be reconciled with more traditional religiosity. Membership categories in the spiritually oriented segment of the community (pictured in Table Five), though similar to other factions, take on a distinctive

89

Confederated Networks of Occultists

character. These roles include: ministers, usually people who are associated full or part time as ordained officials of a cultic group; members who are recognized by others as active participants in particular cults; and seekers. Three ministerial roles are identifiable: the principal leaders of groups; teachers who perform this special function; and counselors, ministers who offer services like tarot card readings, astrology, palmistry, and hypnosis. Members may be identified further as the staff of a cult who assist in group work (most of whom are wives, husbands or close friends of the minister), and regulars, people who can be depended upon to attend group functions and support its activities. Seekers are distinguished as clients, students, and visitors. Clients and visitors may be identified further as believers and disbelievers. TABLE 5 MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES IN THE METAPHYSICAL AFFILIATION

Ministers Members Seekers

Staff

Clients Visitors

Disbelievers Believers RPIJPVPPS

Membership in cultic, spiritual groups is relatively small, generally ranging from five to fifty people per group, transitory, and lower-middle class. Cults commonly are organized around a charismatic leader or several dynamic personalities. Female leadership is very common. The continued existence of these groups depends on regular contributions from members, and visitors (seekers) who move from cult to cult. Ministers not uncommonly are indebted to an anonymous wealthy backer. They sometimes receive economic support from a parent or charter organization, typically located on the west coast of the United States. Ministers and members sometimes offer a variety of professional services, like tarot readings, for a fee or recommended donation. Cult ministers regularly participate in psychic fairs. During the 1970's a popular money making strategy was to sponsor a mini-fair. Two or three cults in the spiritual segment of the community sometimes jointly produce a fair for one group, and later exchange the favor. Spiritual, metaphysical networks in the community in some ways are the most loosely organized, and yet social ties among groups and members tend to be very strong. The principal coordinating organization is SAC. A number of cults, as shown in Figure Two, are linked together by SAC. This organization is composed of minister-leaders from each cultic group who meet and discuss matters of mutual

SO

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

interest once a month. Through a local bookstore owner, who leads a spin tual group, SAC publishes the Spiritual Directory. Otherwise SAC is not especially active. This metaphysic affiliation was intended to solidify the spiritual faction of the community and provide a basis for intergroup activities outside the domain of the augur alliance. Its members, however, found it difficult to agree on goals and joint activities. The metaphysic affiliation, though the smallest faction of the esoteric community, is based on strong social bonds among participants. These people exhibit a spiritual or religious orientation to esoteric culture. Their images of esotericism stand opposed to the commercial, professional emphasis of the augur alliance. Unable to organize a viable alternative to this powerful psychic faction of the community, these spiritually oriented occultists are dependent on the augur alliance and its members. While the beliefs and practices of these people are esoteric and thereby culturally marginal, otherwise theyvery much resemble more conventional religious groups in the exoteric society.

PSYCHIC FAIRS In the Valley psychic fairs are organized by members of the esoteric community around professional practices such as readings or treatments (see Jorgensen, 1979,1983). Ostensibly, fairs are designed to make money in support of practitioners, organizers, or cultic groups. More importantly, psychic fairs provide the esoteric scene and community in the Valley with focal activities. They provide a setting for direct contact between this scene and the exoteric society. Through fairs community members meet publics, seekers, clients, and fellow members, make money, as well as present and manage public images of esotericism. Fairs provide a setting and situations for interaction among disparate practitioners and members of particular cultic churches, study groups, associations, organizations, business enterprises, and bookstores. In this setting members create, negotiate, and sustain a sense of community, linking overlapping but segmented networks within the cultic milieu. These activities and social relationships mitigate against the anonymity and casual, secondary group characteristic of urban existence, and serve as bases for intimacy, identity, and social solidarity. During my field work in the Valley large psychic fairs were held twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall or early winter. Many smaller fairs were held throughout the year. Producing A Fair Larger psychic fairs are elaborate productions that attract consequential (1,000 to 3,000 or more people), heterogeneous audiences to a public site (commonly a motel convention center) where community members and groups selling esoteric goods and services are assembled. Small fairs are less elaborate productions that attract smaller (one hundred to maybe three or four hundred people), more homogeneous audiences to an affair sponsored by a cultic group or groups in the

Confederated Networks of Occultists

91

community, most often at the facilities of one of these group. Large or small, a principal objective of psychic fairs is to generate money in support of community members and cults. Small fairs are designed to generate economic support for a particular group or groups in some segment of the esoteric community. Overhead expenses are minimized by using facilities owned or rented by a cultic group and employing the services of practitioner-members or unpaid volunteers. Visitors to a mini-fair typically pay a two to three dollar cover charge which sometimes includes several readings or other services. In some cases visitors may buy a ticket for around three to five dollars to cover several readings or services. Even with extensive advertising, an unlikely possibility due to the expense, mini-fairs generally attract modest audiences, mostly composed of friends, seekers, regular clientele of guest readers, and a sprinkling of students, explorers, and perhaps a few denouncers. Audiences tend to resemble cult members in terms of such characteristics as age, education, employment, income, beliefs, and general social backgrounds. Insofar as members of these cultic groups are middle-aged, somewhat disproportionately female, and working to lower-middle class folks, for instance, they tend to attract audiences resembling themselves. Mini-fairs oftentimes do not fulfill sponsors' expectations as revenue generating enterprises. Yet, if they attract a few potential cult recruits, and they usually do, they are defined as successful. Larger psychic fairs are expected to produce sizable profits for the organizer or cultic sponsor, as well as the professional practitioners and groups who participate. Unlike mini-fairs, they incur considerable overhead expenses. The fair producer may find the facilities of a cultic organization an adequate setting, but it is commonplace to rent convention accommodations of a resort motel complex. It is expensive to advertise and promote a large fair. The sponsor generally advertises in community publications, including the several magazines and assorted newsletters, depends on mailing lists, and uses exoteric outlets such as shopping guides, radio, and sometimes television. While exoteric newspaper advertisements are used in many regions of the United States for this purpose, they are almost never used in the Valley. The major Valley newspaper declines to accept advertising from the esoteric community, especially psychic fair advertising. The official reason given for this is the paper's inability to ensure the ethics of esoteric practitioners. Community members see this as a pretense, since the paper accepts advertisements of highly dubious exoteric businesses, and they take it as a reflection of tensions with the exoteric society. A psychic fair must mobilize a wide variety of professional practitioners and experts, readers, lecturers, demonstrators, cultic groups, so as to appeal to the widest possible audience. To sell esoteric goods and services, fair participants are required to purchase a booth from the sponsor. Booth fees vary from $15 to $50 per person (or per booth) a day, depending in part on the anticipated size of the audience. Potential fair participants express concern about their ability to make money based on these circumstances, carefully calculate costs and benefits, and they demand assurances about profits from the sponsor. The sponsor commonly determines participants' booth fees by figuring basic expenses, facilities, advertising, and any other overhead. Booth fees are expected to

92

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot Main Entrance

Refreshments

Admission Table

Exhibit 1

Booth 20

Long tables serve as the base for the exhibits

Booth 19

Booth 1

Exhibit 2

Booth 18

Booth 2

Exhibit 3

Booth 17

Booth 3

Exhibit 4

Booth 16

Booth 4

Exhibit 5

Booth 15

Booth 5

One or two tables and accompanying chairs are located in each booth

Booth 14

To Lectunssand/or ations -» LJemonstr

Booth 13

Booth 6 Booth 7

Booth 8

Booth 9

Booth 10

Booth 11

Booth 12

Figure 3: The Physical Arrangement of a Psychic Fair

cover these expenses with the sponsor's profit deriving from an admission fee, usually two to three dollars per person (or the reverse). Visitors know or discover that there are additional charges for the various goods on display and a variety of readings or treatments. The sponsor checks with selected professionals, particularly the ones with prestigious reputations in the community, regularly throughout the fair in order to gauge profits. If the most reputable professional practitioners are not making money, in most instances portions of the booth fees are refunded to all of the participants at the close of the fair. Under these circumstances it is not uncommon for less eminent professionals to lose money or earn modest profits, while the more acclaimed practitioners earn sizable sums of money. The organizer of a psychic fair

Confederated Networks of Occultists

93

sometimes observes booth traffic systematically to gauge how well practitioners are doing, or bases these judgments on more impressionistic observation. It is taken for granted by the sponsor and participants that self-reports of revenue always err conservatively. The physical layout of a psychic fair partly depends on the particular facilities, but most fairs share certain features in common, as illustrated by Figure Three. Large and small, fairs generally are located in a room where partitions are used to divide the spaces along the perimeter into semi-private booths. Space permitting, exhibits of books and supplies usually occupy the center of the room. Smaller rooms off of the central meeting place sometimes are used for private readings, and such rooms are used for any lectures or demonstrations held at the fair. Lectures and demonstrations frequently are included in the price of admission, and they are used strategically to attract a large audience. Lecturers and demonstrators sometimes are paid by the organizer for their services. Most psychic fairs, particularly larger fairs, have a refreshment booth operated by the producer where soft drinks and snacks may be purchased. Refreshments are provided as a convenience to the public and as a source of additional revenue. Unlike many public events, alcoholic beverages are not sold at psychic fairs in deference to the feelings of some community members. A producer who attempted to sell alcohol on one occasion faced a rebellion from the spiritually oriented faction of the community as well many of the people devoted to physical health. The potential profit from sponsorship of fairs, particularly large psychic fairs, might be expected to attract competitive organizers. This is not the case. During my fieldwork only one person, the leader of APRA (and publisher of Psychic Magazine), was able to organize and produce a successful large fair. In conjunction with his leadership of the psychic faction of the community, his ability to produce large fairs makes him one of the most powerful members of the esoteric community. The less than successful effort on the part of the local university to produce a psychic fair illustrates this situation. The APRA leader offered to organize the university fair, but the student government declined the offer in hopes of making a larger profit. Student government leaders did not have contacts inside the community and they were unable to attract an extensive variety of reputable professionals. They mistakenly presumed that occult practitioners were motivated by a desire to help, not by money. And they misunderstood the target populations and the need for advertising. Student leaders assumed the topic of occultism was of interest among students generally. It was not, but instead attracted mostly older students (many of whom were not on campus during the psychic fair), and university staff. They failed to advertise beyond the university community. Consequently, the fair was a financial failure, and student leaders ended up refunding most of the booth fees to the few angry professionals who did participate. The leader of APRA strategically used this situation to point out his skill in organizing successful fairs, and community members agreed. There are important differences between large psychic fairs and mini-fairs; size and nature of the audience, types and range of professionals, fee and economic structure. Generally speaking, however, these are differences of degree, not kind. Large fairs are a highly public form of presenting the occult. Since professional

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

94

participants are engaged in money-making before general audiences, their public performances are more polished, less intimate, and involve more show than the same activities performed in less formal settings. My discussion of fairs is most pertinent to large productions, but it also applies within the parameters noted to mini-fairs as well as related activities in other settings. Fair Participants Participants at psychic fairs, as illustrated by Table Six, principally are insiders or outsiders to the esoteric community. Outsiders include exoteric publics or visitors as well as seekers and clients, many of whom are drawn from the larger cultic milieu of the esoteric scene. Community members recognize several types of visitors. Some of them are viewed as students who engage in casual study of esotericism. Other visitors are viewed as explorers (seekers) who move from group to group and teaching to teaching investigating and seeking personal truths and identity. Every psychic fair produces a few denouncers recognizable by their extreme skepticism and passion for debunking members' beliefs and practices. TABLE 6 CATEGORIES OF PARTICIPANTS AT PSYCHIC FAIRS Insiders

Outsiders

Organizers Organizational Staff Professional Readers Practitioners Lecturers Groups Seekers

Clients Visitors

Commercial Non-Commercial Believers Regulars Non-Regulars Non-Believers Students Explorers Denouncers

The public setting of fairs and the heterogeneity of audiences blurs community members' ability to distinguish among visitors and seekers. While many seekers are recognizable as scene participants, in the case of believing regular clientele, many of them are not. Many people who resemble clientele are not recognizable as regulars; some of them are seen as nonbelievers. Students as well as explorers may or may not be people who otherwise frequent the esoteric scene or community.

Confederated Networks of Occultists

95

I did not formally gather information from seekers or visitors at psychic fairs, but I did have many opportunities to observe them. Indicators such as style and mode of dress and speech, conversations about their backgrounds, and information gleaned from reading for clients and discussing clients with other readers enable me to describe these people, if only impressionistically. The location of semiannual psychic fairs at a resort motel in an upper-middle class suburban area of the Valley and the fair fees tend to exclude people from the lower socioeconomic strata of the population, except perhaps for a few regular clientele of particular readers or groups. Seekers and visitors otherwise tend to be middle to upper-middle class, as indicated by occupation, education, and income. People of retirement age are disproportionately attracted to this area of the Valley, especially during the winter, and show up in large numbers at psychic fairs. People who attend large psychic fairs only rarely are under thirty years of age, and most of them are between thirty-five and sixty-five years old. Women outnumber men by about three to one, especially in terms of people who purchase goods and services. Visitors and seekers come to fairs with particular problems: love, marriage, family, life changes, physical problems, and so on; but I did not observe anything more than a usual range or degree of life's troubles. I never encountered, in other words, a person who might be regarded as seriously mentally ill. These people tend to be at least nominally religious in a traditional sense, and moderate to conservative politically. In most respects, then, they reflect the general characteristic of the larger population of this suburban area of the southwestern United States. Participants at psychic fairs who are insiders to the esoteric scene and community, as shown in Table Six, include the organizer (producer) and his staff, as well as cult representatives and professional practitioners (some of whom generally do represent cultic groups or organizations as well). The sponsor's staff arrange booth and exhibit facilities, collect admissions, sell refreshments, organize lectures and demonstrations, trouble-shoot, gather information for the producer, and listen to complaints from visitors and professional participants. The basic activities at a psychic fair, as pictured in Table Seven, include lectures or demonstrations, readings, treatments, exhibits, and a dinner party. Lecturers and demonstrators are local experts or people of national prominence in the esoteric scene. They discuss and sometimes demonstrate magic, astrology, hypnosis, as well as a host of other esoteric topics, such as pyramids, Atlantis, astral projection, reincarnation, and UFO's. Lectures and demonstrations generally aim to win believers, and sometimes gain converts to a cult. Representatives of cultic groups recruit members, and they serve as readers and professional practitioners. Many of these cultic groups demonstrate occult practices, display and exhibit esoteric knowledge, and offer particular goods, such as art works, books, jewelry, oils, incense, and the like, for sale. Exhibits sometimes are primarily or even exclusively commercial operations, as in the case of some bookstores, and occasionally the maker of esoteric charms and jewelry. Professional practitioners engage in divinatory activity of some sort, and/or provide treatments to the public for a fee. Divinatory readings offered for sale, as shown in Table Seven, include tarot, playing cards, astrology, numerology, palmistry, sand paintings, runestones, I Ching, tea leaves, hand-writing, psychic art,

96 TABLE 7 CATEGORIES OF ACTIVITY AT PSYCHIC FAIRS Readings

Tarot Playing Cards Astrology Numerology Palmistry Sand Rune Stones I Ching Tea Leaf Handwriting Psychic Art Psychic (clairvoyant) Psychometric Pendulums Scrying Auras Hypnosis

Treatments

Psychic Healing Chiropractic Yoga Reflexology Biorhythms

Lectures/Demonstrations

Pyramids Atlantis Astral Projections Reincarnation UFCXs Magic

Exhibits

Commercial

Art Books Supplies (trinkets) Educational Therapeutic

Noncommercial

Research Religious (spiritual) Professional Associations

Dinner/Party

Confederated Networks of Occultists

97

clairvoyance-telepathy, psychometrics, pendulums, scrying, auras, and hypnosis. Treatments are a somewhat different kind of activity. Unlike divinatory readings which tend to resemble counseling, treatments tend to emphasize physical wellbeing. Treatments, as depicted in Table Seven, take a number of specific forms. Psychic healing attempts to remedy a client's physical problems either by requesting the client to concentrate on them and/or by the psychic practitioner mentally concentrating on these physical ills. Esoteric chiropractic treatments resemble their exoteric counterparts, but they sometimes incorporate mentalistic or psychic healing practices. Yoga, reflexology, and biorhythms also deal with various aspects of a client's bodily existence. Professional practitioners generally are identified by the primary activity in which they are engaged, even though many of them perform more than one activity or service. Hence, they are known as tarot card readers, psychics, astrologers, and so on. A dinner party for insiders usually is held on the first or last evening of the psychic fair. It specifically aims to provide an occasion for insiders to make new friends, renew old friendships, exchange ideas, and engage in shop talk. Parties held at the opening of a fair result in discussions of what practitioners will be doing, new techniques, recent events in their lives, speculation about the success of the fair, and perhaps agreements as to prices to be charged for particular services. Parties held toward the end of a fair produce talk about successes and failures, problematic clientele, and future events in the community. Fair parties are greatly anticipated by members and sometimes viewed as of sufficient importance as to off-set the lack of financial success at a fair. Doing Fairs The culture of the esoteric community includes principles and understandings about the definition and organization of activities at psychic fairs. Participation at a fair in principle is open to all insiders. In practice, however, the inclusion of professional participants and cultic groups is selective. Initially, the fair producer contacts prospective participants in the community, oftentimes previous performers, prior to any public announcement of the fair. Potential participants not in regular contact with the producer thereby are excluded from the beginning. The selection of participants is guided by several criteria. Organizers attempt to attract the widest possible variety of topics, readings, treatments, and exhibits, and to seek out people with established reputations and experience. In addition to reputational prestige ratings informally acknowledged within the community, a hierarchy of specialities is discernable. During the 1970's past-life regressions and future life progressions, highly stylized forms of hypnosis increasingly attracted large folio wings and gained in prestige. Astrology is highly attractive while card readings are less prestigious, even though there is a regular market for these services. Psychic readings, especially when performed by esteemed practitioners are highly valued. Less honored, but still attractive are numerology, sand readings, hand-writing analysis, psychic art, aura reading, and other practices commonly performed by a very few experts. Divination by playing cards, palmistry, tea leaves, and scrying are less highly valued. Highly prestigious practices, like

98

Esoteric Culture, the Cultic Milieu, and The Occult Tarot

hypnosis, commonly are incorporated into elaborate professional performances and demonstrations designed especially for the public at a psychic fair. Professional reputation cross-cuts this fluid hierarchy of practices, such that an accomplished tarot card reader is valued over a hypnotist of questionable competency and reputation. Fair organizers are expected to gatekeep. Community members presume that gypsies, anyone using gypsy-like practices, and professionals without established reputations will be excluded from fair participation. Novice practitioners attempting to break into fairs encounter serious difficulties. They typically are told that all booths have been sold. This rarely is the case, since organizers almost always can make room for one or two additional booths, and they do when famed practitioners apply late. Organizers have been known to set up a new booth on the day of the fair, even after turning half-a-dozen applicants away Producers of psychic fairs occasionally take a chance on an unknown expert or novice. This usually requires sponsorship. A sponsor commonly is a former teacher, a reader with whom one has developed a trusting relationship, or someone in another community known to the gatekeepers. Fair participation is a special case of professional practice and it is judged in much the same way as previously described (see Chapter 3). There usually is a period of probation. If the reader exhibits recognizable skills, attracts clients, and does not get negative reviews from clients or other readers, they generally are accepted. However, if new professional practitioners are perceived to behave in a gypsy-like fashion, or if negative reports about them circulate, they are excluded from psychic fairs and from the esoteric community. During my field research several readers were excluded from fairs and otherwise stigmatized in the community because of perceptions of illegitimate practices or unethical conduct. Booth assignments also depend on reputation and relations with fair producers. Experts with national reputations and established locals receive the best locations. "Best" is determined by high visibility and accessibility to clientele. Practitioners with lesser reputati