The magister 9780987520678, 0987520679, 9780987520685, 0987520687

Table of contents :
The Magister Volume 0 Section 1 of 3
PREFACE
A STATEMENT OF TRADITION, LINEAGE AND AFFILIATION.
Introduction
THE WESTERN ESOTERIC INITIATORY SYSTEM
Chapter 1: STATE OF THE ART
THE ORDER OF REVELATION
The Order of Revelation (0)
The Light of the Labyrinth (1)
The Rainbow at Midnight (2)
The Prism of Light (3)
The Portal and the Veil (4)
The Angel in the Workshop (5)
The Sanctuary of Fire (6)
The Chapel of Devotion (7)
The Temple of Night (8)
The Quarry of Souls (9)
The Point of the Light (10)
THE HERALD OF EVERLASTING DAY
The Pyramid
The Salamander Vessel
The Millrinds
The Angels of Night and D ay
The Four Rivers
The Two Trees
The Tree of Knowledge (Eternal Night)
The Tree of Life (Everlasting Day)
THE AEONS
Manifestations of Maat
Chapter 2: Maat in Ancient Egyptian Cosmology
Chapter 3: Maat in the context of the Golden Dawn Magical Society
Chapter 4: Maat and the Aeons
Chapter 5: Soror Nema and Maat Magic
Chapter 6: Maat Magic Today
Chapter 7: Exercise: Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech
The Tree of Life and Kabbalah
THE INITIATORY JOURNEY
The Aim of the Initiatory Journey
Chapter 8: The Scale of the Journey
Chapter 9: The Method of the System
Chapter 10: Practices of the Curriculum
Chapter 11: Syllabus of Study
Apprenticeship and Teaching
Chapter 12: The Structure of the Tree, Sephiroth and Paths
Chapter 13: Signposts Along the Way
THE CLOUDS ASTONISHED: A HERMETIC AND GNOSTIC UNIVERSE
Chapter 14: Parable: The Discovery of Darkness
Chapter 15: Metanoia: The Recovery of the Soul through Initiation
Chapter 16: Traditions and Paths
Chapter 17: Gnosticism
Chapter 18: Neo-Platonism
Chapter 19: Hermeticism
Chapter 20: The Emerald Tablet
THE INITIATORY MAP OF THE MAJORS ON THE TWO TREES
The Tree of the Dawn
The Tree of the Sanctuary
A Map of the Spiritual Mountain in the Minors
Chapter 21: Meanwhile Back at the Beginning of the End
Chapter 22: The Spiritual Journey in the Wands
THE NATURE OF THE GRADES AND INITIATION
The S.R.I.A.
The Golden Dawn
The O.T.O. and the A∴ A∴
THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
A Student Case Study: Frater Maximus
Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley
THE TITLES OF THE GRADES
THE WORK OF THE GRADES
THE VISIONS OF THE GRADES
Conclusion Part One
The Magister Volume 0 Section 2 of 3
On Those Things Which Call Us to Awakening
Jerusalem’s Furnace
The Stages of the Journey
The Court Before the Tabernacle: Zelator (Malkuth)
The Sanctuary or Forward Area of the Tabernacle: Theoricus (Yesod)
Practicus (Hod)
Philosophus (Netzach)
The Holy of Holies: Adeptus Minor (Tiphareth)
The Mercy Seat and Solomon’s Throne: Adeptus Major (Geburah) and Adeptus Minor (Chesed)
After the Passing Over: Magister Templi (Binah), Magus (Chockmah) and Ipssisimus (Kether)
The Alchemical Amphitheatre
On Dreams and States of Consciousness
The Guardian on the Threshold and the Inner Guide
The Invisible College
On Initiation and Calcination
Vignette: The Mystical Explosion
Exercise: Examining the Zelator
The Secret Ladder
The Sound of the Trumpet
Historical Context
Authorship
The Fama
The Confessio
The Chymical Wedding
The Mirror of Wisdom
Symbology and Metaphor
Academic Study of the WEIS
The Nature of the Debate
Western Esotericism, Rituals and Knowledge
The Problem of Magic and the Occult
Treatments of the Magical Orders
The Teachings of Individual Esoteric Teachers and Followers
Conclusion
The Academic and Esoteric Encounter
The Birth of Academic Studies of Western Esotericism
The Dangers of Monolithic and Historic Analysis
The Insider/Outsider Problem
The Issue of Secret Knowledge
Definitions of Western Esotericism
The Contemporary Milieu
Conclusion
The Ascent Narrative
The Ascent Narrative in Christian Mysticism
The Ascent Narrative in Kabbalah
Curriculum Studies Applied to Western Esotericism
Introduction: Curriculum as Model
Methodology: Analysis of Curriculum
Analysis of Content
The Self in Education
Curricula as Content
Purposes
Content
Procedures
Evaluation
Differences Between Secular and Esoteric Curricula
Builders of the Adytum (BOTA): The Creation of a Curriculum
The Teachers: A Case Study of Florence Farr
The Aim and Structure of the Golden Dawn
Light Before the Dawn: The Sat B’Hai and the Gold and Rosy Cross
The Sat B’Hai and the August Order of Light
The Influence of the Gold and Rosy Cross
Westcott’s Western Mystery Doctrine
Mathers and the Book of Concealed Mystery
History
Foundations at 17 Fitzroy Street
A Society of Hermetic Students
The Devastating but Priceless Secret
The Construction of the Curriculum
The Knowledge Lectures and Flying Rolls
The Flying Rolls
List of Rolls and Authors
The Rituals
The Ladder and the Golden and Rosy Cross
Students of the Golden Dawn
Problems of Delivery of Material
Qualification of Knowledge
This is Reserved for a Higher Grade
The Failure of the Golden Dawn
Alumni of the Golden Dawn
The Strange Reward
Conclusion Part Two
The Magister Volume 0 Section 3 of 3
In the Shadow of the Bright Circle
Strange Prisoners
Naturphilosophie and Jung, the Development of the Unconscious
The Nancy School and the Technique of Suggestion
The Golden Dawn and the Development of the Self
Dion Fortune and Israel Regardie, Psychoanalysts and Magicians
Israel Regardie: The Sage of Sedona
Dion Fortune: Priestess of the Soul
Contemporary Syntheses of Psychology and Magic
The Oath of Harpocrates
Flying Roll XIII on Secrecy and Hermetic Love
Sermons Through Stones: The Secret Masters
No Man Hath Seen me Unveiled
Considerations on the Division of the Soul
Vignette: The Goddess of Sais
The Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel
The Sacred Magic of Abramelin
The Holy Guardian Angel
Vignette: 13 Dancing Girls on a Wednesday
The Angel and the Higher Self
On the Egregore
The Abyss
Vignette: The Cube of Undoing
The Fourth Way Work
The Kundabuffers
Watching for Kundabuffers
The Initiatory Tarot.
The Three Decks
The Mystery of the Monogram
The World
The Fool
The Blasted Tower
The High Priestess
Your Magical Journal and Dream Diary
Optional Journal Practices
The Dreaming Mind
Zosimos of Panopolis
The Vision of Zosimos
The Seven Steps Contemplation
Optional Dream Practices
The Fountain of Morpheus (An Initiated Method of Dream Recall)
Hand Observation for Lucid Dreaming
The Dream Journal: Liber Somniorum
The Magical Name
The Purpose and Nature of the Magickal Name
Salutations, Forms and Greetings
Formal Framing in the Order of Everlasting Day
Selected List of Magical Names and Mottos
The Rituals and Practices
Liber Resh (Solar Adoration)
Liber Resh vel Helios sub figura CC
Commentary & Practice
Vignette: Airport Adoration
Liber Qoph vel Lunae
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.
Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Visualisations.
The Self in Relationship (Middle Pillar)
Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice
The Middle Pillar Method
Circulation of the Light
The Peace Profound of the Rose Cross and Key
The Rose Cross Ritual
The Opening of the Golden Dawn into the Everlasting Day
The Opening of the Everlasting Day
The Rituals of the Sapphire Temple
1. Kether: The Ritual of the Altar and the Lamp.
2. Chockmah: The Ritual of the Circle and Candle.
3. Binah: The Ritual of the Temple and Triangle.
4. Chesed: The Ritual of the Square.
5. Geburah: The Ritual of the Incense and the Pentagram.
6. Tiphareth: The Ritual of the Pillars and the Rose.
7. Netzach: The Ritual of the Oath.
8. Hod: The Ritual of the Crystal.
9. Yesod: The Ritual of the Treasure-House.
10. Malkuth: The Ritual of Binding Together.
11. The Kingdom Ritual.
The Oath of the Tarot Majors
Conclusion
Frequently Asked Questions
Reading Outline
Part One: General Reading
Part Two: A Magical Curriculum
Bibliography

Citation preview

THE MAGISTER MAGICK IN HISTORY, THEORY & P RACTICE Volume 0: The Order of Revelation The Worker Enters the Workshop Part 1 of 3 parts on Kindle

O.E.D. Neophyte Grade Material Publication in Class B

FORGE PRESS

Keswick, Cumbria, 2016 www.westernesotericism.com Copyright © Frater V. (Marcus Katz) 2014, 2016. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the author. Tarosophy® and Western Esoteric Initiatory System® are registered trademarks. First paperback edition published 2015 by Salamander and Sons. This Kindle edition and all further print editions published by Forge Press, authorized by the author to whom all rights belong to this work. Edited by Paul Hardacre & Marcus Katz.

ALSO BY FRATER V. (MARCUS KATZ) The Path of the Seasons (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) The Magician’s Kabbalah (Forge Press, 2015) NLP Magick (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) Tarosophy: Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape It (Forge Press, 2016) After the Angel (Forge Press, 2011) The Alchemical Amphitheatre (Forge Press, 2008) The Zodiacal Rituals (Forge Press, 2008) With Tali Goodwin Tarot Edge: Tarot for Teens and Young Adults (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015) The English Lenormand (Forge Press, 2013) Tarot Life (in 12 books, Forge Press, 2013) Abiding in the Sanctuary (Forge Press, 2013) Learning Lenormand (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2013). Tarot Turn (in three volumes, Forge Press, 2012) Tarot Inspire (Forge Press, 2012) Tarot Face to Face (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012) Around the Tarot in 78 Days (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012) Tarot Twist (Forge Press, 2010) Tarot Flip (Forge Press, 2010)

Easy Lenormand (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015) I-Ching Counters (Forge Press/TGC, 2015) The Original Lenormand Deck (Forge Press/TGC, 2012) With Tali Goodwin, Sasha Graham (ed.), Giordano Berti, Mark McElroy, Riccardo Minetti & Barbara Moore. Tarot Fundamentals (Lo Scarabeo, 2015) With Derek Bain & Tali Goodwin A New Dawn for Tarot: The Original Tarot of the Golden Dawn (Forge Press, 2015) As Andrea Green (with Tali Goodwin) True Tarot Card Meanings (Kindle, 2014) Tarot for True Romance (Kindle, 2014) Kabbalah & Tarot: A Step-up Guide (Kindle, 2015) Visit Author Sites for Complete Bibliography & Details www.marcuskatz.com www.taligoodwin.com

Ded i cations To the students in the Crucible, those of the Order of Everlasting Day. To Frater C.V. for assisting with the first version of the Work. To Ashley Karstunen, because the world is instant. And as ever, and above all, this book is spiritually dedicated to Antistita Astri Argentei The Priestess of the Silver Star She whose light leads the way to the Arcanum Arcanorum, the Secret of Secrets Vos Vos Vos Vos Vos V.V.V.V.V. In Memorium Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (1953-2012), for opening the door another degree. We will teach on the avenues and in gardens more perfect than we can imagine when the walls of the world have long fallen.

Acknowledgements I would like to thank Stacy LaRosa, Freddie LaRosa and Sandra Mandaglio for translation from the Italian of the Joachim of Fiore material on the Ages/Aeons. Stacy LaRosa is the translator of the platinum-selling book in Slovakia, The Jewess, currently being published in English for American, Canadian and United Kingdom audiences. In arranging and translating into English for the first time the German of the Hauptpläne, a primary source of the initiation system corresponding to the kabbalah, we have the incomparable Steph Myriel Es-Tragon to thank. I would also like to thank Renko Geffarth for his patient assistance in guiding me beyond his research. The unique tarot images that grace this volume are provided by Janine Hall, whose production of the Tarot of Everlasting Day – a three-deck initiatory tarot – has been a miracle of realisation and vision. The Lodge of the Golden Apple provided invaluable primary source material and I acknowledge their kindness, assisted by the Staat-Archive of Berlin. Members of various Orders both public and private have been kind enough to discuss their work in comparison with my own, leading to refinements over the years.

The staff members of the Library and Museum of Freemasonry of the United Grand Lodge of England, and of the Warburg Institute, have been unfailingly courteous and helpful over the many years of my research. I also wish to acknowledge the staff of the Prints and Drawings Department of the British Museum, and of the Bibliotheca

Philosophica Hermetica

(Amsterdam). In pursuit of primary material, my quest took me to national museums and libraries from Scotland to Australia, where staff again assisted me patiently and precisely. My teachers over the past three decades, who guided me in my enthusiastic zeal and led me eventually to the mountain, I acknowledge; Daleth, who opened the Work of the Sun (which is now complete); Jasinth, who taught me the Mysteries of the Moon, Yeshe, for walking me to the Gate of Earth; and all those other stars whose orbits have swayed my gravity. In the academic approach to Western Esotericism, many have inspired and gently nudged me towards revelation and reception. My supervisors and mentors at the University of Exeter, including Professor Nicholas GoodrickClarke (dearly missed), Dr. Christopher McIntosh and Dr. Peter Forshaw, all attempted to keep me on the rails of Academia. Individual and brief conversations with luminaries such as Moshe Idel, Wouter Hanegraaff, Angela Voss, Antoine Faivre, Robert Gilbert, Henrik Bogdan, Joscelyn Goodwin, Marco Pasi, and other leading scholars in the field have inspired me in offering new eyes on the subject. Our thanks to language professional David Vine for the assistance with the translation of ‘Priestess of the Silver Star’ into Latin and elaborating on the fascinating results, particularly the three embedded T-crosses.

My wife Brina, family, friends and students have patiently waited 30 years for this project to commence, and I acknowledge their faith; the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Let us begin, then, as only we can, now and today.

This day, today Is the Royal Wedding day. For this thou wast born And chosen of God for joy Thou mayest go to the mountain Whereon three temples stand, And see there this affair. Keep watch Inspect thyself And shouldst thou not bathe thoroughly The Wedding may work thy bane. Bane comes to him who faileth here Let him beware who is too light. Christian Rosencreutz, The Hermetic Romance: or, The Chymical Wedding (1616)[1]

Victor Kemmings said, “The poster is torn.” “What?” she said. “We should have framed it,” he said. “We didn’t have sense enough to take care of it. Now it’s torn. And the artist is dead.” Philip K. Dick, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon[2]

Table of Contents PREFACE A STATEMENT OF TRADITION, LINEAGE AND A FFILIATION. Introduction THE WESTERN ESOTERIC INITIATORY SYSTEM Chapter 1: STATE OF THE ART

THE ORDER OF REVELATION The O r d e r of R e v e l ation (0) T h e L i g ht of t h e Laby r i n th (1) The Rainbow at M i d n i g ht (2) The P r i s m of L i g ht (3) T h e Portal and t h e Ve i l (4) The A n g e l i n t h e Wo r k shop (5) The S a n c t u a r y of Fire (6) The Chapel of D e v o t i o n ( 7 ) The Te m p l e of Night (8) T h e Quarry of S o uls (9) T h e P o i n t of t h e L i g ht (10)

THE HERALD OF EVERLASTING DAY The Pyramid T h e S a l amander Ve s s e l T h e Millrinds T h e A n gels of N i g ht and D ay

T h e F o ur Rivers The Two T r e e s T h e T r e e of K n owledge ( E t e r n a l N i g h t ) The T r e e of Life ( E v e r l as t i n g Da y )

THE AEONS M a n i f e stations of Maat Chapter 2: Maat in Ancient Egyptian Cosmology Chapter 3: Maat in the context of the Golden Dawn Magical Society Chapter 4: Maat a n d the A e o n s Chapter 5: Soror Nema and Maat Magic Chapter 6: Maat Magic Today Chapter 7: Exercise: Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech

The Tr e e of Life a n d Kabbalah THE INITIATORY JOURNEY The A i m of the Initiatory Jou r n e y Chapter 8: The Scale of the Journey Chapter 9: The Method of the System Chapter 10: Practices of the Curriculum Chapter 11: Syllabus of Study

Apprentices h i p a n d Tea c h i n g Chapter 12: The Structure of the Tree, Sephiroth and Paths Chapter 13: Signposts Along the Way

THE CLOUDS ASTONISHED: A HERMETIC AND GNOSTIC UNIVERSE Chapter 14: Parable: The Discovery of Darkness Chapter 15: M e tano i a : T h e R e c overy of t h e S o ul through I n i t i a t i o n Chapter 16: Traditions and Paths Chapter 17: Gnosticism Chapter 18: Neo-Platonism Chapter 19: Hermeticism Chapter 20: The Em e rald Ta b l e t

THE INITIATORY MAP OF THE MAJORS ON THE TWO TREES T h e Tree of t h e Da w n T h e T r e e of t h e S a n ctuary

A Map of the Spiritual Mountain in the M i n ors Chapter 21: M e anwhile Ba c k at t h e Begi n n i n g of t h e E n d Chapter 22: The Spiritual Journey in the Wands

THE NATURE OF THE GRADES AND INITIATION T h e S. R . I . A. T h e Golden Da w n T h e O.T.O. a n d t h e A

∴A∴

THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE A St u d e n t Case St u d y : Frater M a x i m us D i o n Fortune a n d Aleister Cr o w l e y

THE TITLES OF THE GRADES THE WORK OF THE GRADES THE VISIONS OF THE GRADES Conclusion Part One

‘The old beauty is no longer beautiful; the new truth is no longer true,’ is the eternal cry of a developing and really vitalised life. Our civilisation has passed through the First Empire of pagan sensualism; and the Second Empire of mistaken sacrifice, of giving up our own consciousness, our own power of judging, our own independence, our own courage. And the Third Empire is awaiting those of us who can see – that not only in Olympus, not only nailed to the Cross, – but in ourselves is God. For such of us, the bridge between flesh and spirit is built; for such among us hold the Keys of life and death. — Frater S.S.D.D., Flying Roll No. XIII, ‘Secrecy and Hermetic Love’[3]

PREFACE One by one, we take them out of this world.

This zero volume (in three parts on Kindle) is the introductory work to a series of volumes on what is hereafter termed the Western Esoteric Initiatory System (WEIS). This authentic and relevant spiritual system, comprising of models of elevated consciousness and graduated practices, is presented here in overview and in subsequent volumes in detail. The Magister proposes a comprehensive, consistent and congruent approach to Western spiritual practice derived from a synthetic tradition at least 300 years in development. Whilst cheerfully admitting that there is no monolithic, singular tradition – no one true path, no one right way – for the sake of brevity and expression, we here refer to ‘the’ tradition as we have found it over the course of 30 years or more of daily practice, research, discussion, and study. This series of volumes is to be considered the working manual of the Order of Everlasting Day (OED). It provides an overview of the initiatory schema, its history and practices, and avenues of discovery for initiates. It is not a manual of self-initiation, nor is it an academic treatise; readers are invited to enter the Order to unlock the work of this text, or use it as they may within their own work to comprehend their relationship to the universe.

Students of the OED are expected to have a comprehensive knowledge of the roots of our tradition and this first volume provides this essential background as a framework for their work. The remaining volumes provide much in the way of practical work for readers and initiates alike. We will cover the map first and only then start our journey proper into magical work – there are no short-cuts to wisdom. The esoteric and occult nature of this approach to spiritual work is to be found in its inexpressible and ultimately personal revelation, and should not be confused with most cultural and popular references to ‘the occult’ and conceptions of ‘esoteric’ or the practice of ‘magick’. The Magister represents a fundamental ‘ctrl+alt+del’ reset of Western occultism in its synthesis of academic assessment and contemporary practice. The path here given is one of an exhaustive nature that cannot be merely studied; it must be worked and lived. In that living – for all that lives, lives – the Sun can indeed be discovered at midnight, the stone of living water will grant you balm, and that which is dead will arise in the dawn of a new and truly everlasting day. In this and subsequent volumes we will cover the theory and practice of Western magick and mysticism in a contemporary manner, from both academic and practitioner perspectives. Our work will range across practices as varied as divination and invocation, astral travel and lucid dreaming, ritual and ceremonial magick; we will learn the language of Enochian and kabbalah, alchemy and astrology, Rosicrucian- ism and Gnosticism, Hermeticism and theosophy; we will encounter the secret masters and the dweller on the threshold, Thelema and Maat magick, paganism and shamanism, ancient Egypt and science fiction, mythology and symbolism, the New Age and the Golden Age, and walk the mystic stations of the cross, the rose and the key.

In aiming for a comprehensive coverage of the tradition, much will be missed. If nothing else, this first volume will introduce the reader to the depth of material and its vast scope. We will also open more questions than provide answers as we commence our journey. Once you have gained the scope of the tradition, each further volume will provide rituals, exercises, contemplations and other workings for your experience. However, we do hope also to provide original materials and first publishing of primary source material, from the archives of private and academic collections worldwide. The Magister may prove an unusual publication in bridging both practitioner experience and academic research, and this volume, whilst stand-alone, is a ‘zero’ volume which provides the context for the remainder of the series. If you read nothing onwards, this volume will provide all the bridge-heads you might seek for a lifetime of study and experience in the WEIS. It has been my personal privilege to be taught by so many diverse voices over the past three decades and I am honoured to be given the opportunity to present this work. I have often stated that I would exchange one moment of the magical life for a lifetime of a life without magick, and I trust that grace will be given for you to discover this singular secret – it is all true. In many ways this book (and those following) is a re-visioning rather than a re-making of Western esotericism. It attempts to put the spiritual ambition (if such could be the case) back into the traditional materials – in a contemporary manner. This sequence of books also provides the first publication of some of the working material of the private network of initiates known as the Order of Everlasting Day, who have developed this work over their own lifetimes.

We offer apprenticeship and levels of engagement with this Work to candidates who may apply to join us in the Crucible Club at: http://www.westernesotericism.com.

[ILLUS . The Herald of Everlasting Day – Nothing is Perfect]

A STATEMENT OF TRADITION, LINEAGE AND AFFILIATION. A tradition is only as old as when it was first invented, and innovation is only as new as what we have forgotten.

I am not a member of any magical order or organisation, other than the Order of Everlasting Day (OED), a network of initiates who make their enquiries in the workshop of life. Whilst over the past three decades I have worked and corresponded with many practitioners, authors, teachers, and academics, the work here presented is a personal amalgam of a multitude of influences. It is apparent from experience that an initiate will pass through phases of fraternity and solitude, and each is to be acknowledged and honoured.

I was initiated in 1983 into Gardnerian Witchcraft in the direct lineage of Gerald Gardner and Patricia Crowther, and worked with a High Priestess in that Craft for over a decade. I also practised and developed Golden Dawn ceremony in a fully constructed temple for many years. I was briefly a member of the Typhonian Order and corresponded with the late Kenneth Grant, who kindly gave me his patience and insight. I was also educated in correspondence and meeting with Chaos magicians such as Pete Carroll, and Maat magicians led by Soror Nema, and a host of other authors and teachers for many years whilst experimenting in intense practice. As the various versions of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) and the Golden Dawn consolidated over the last 20 years in particular, I was often involved in bystander incidents whilst never belonging to any group in a formal manner. Authors and teachers have been almost without fail amenable to my enquiries, and teach also by example, by living their work, whether it be tarot or ceremonial magick, Enochian ceremonial, Thelema, numerology, or astrology. I have come to realise that the magical path is radically explorative and if it does not open you to more perspectives, diversity, wildly exotic and quixotic adventure and travel, you are likely already doing it wrong. It should, on the whole, be mainly uncomfortable and challenging most of the time. In 2005 I became an academic student of Western Esotericism at the University of Exeter and was honoured to be the first student conferred with a Masters Degree in the subject.

A small part of my own experience of practical magical work and mystical practice such as the Abramelin Operation can be discovered in my published journal, After the Angel (Forge Press, 2011). Whilst many discuss the importance of operating a ‘fully contacted’ lodge or having ‘Inner Plane contacts’ or an ‘egregore’ – and we will discuss these concepts throughout The Magister – I prefer to go by the simpler route of “by their works shall they be known.”[4] Those truly in touch with such rarified beings can no doubt argue their own case, when they are not busy being under the tutelage of their masters. I am not interested herein in offering more wallpaper for your prison cell, distractions from the work, nor am I encouraging you to take the whole journey in only your imagination through endless pathworking and pretence or endless cacophonies of opinion. You have the internet and other people for that. What follows is a representation of something entirely different. Something real. Whilst this work comes to strip us of belief, some assumptions remain useful in directing our attention and activity. I do believe that if the Secret Chiefs/Hidden Masters do not exist, we would have to invent them anyway. I believe that there is a spiritual organisation transcendent of time and space whose members know each other through their work and do not need any other recognition. I believe each of us has a Holy Guardian Angel (blessed be they) who guides us from Rapture to Abyss. I believe, most of all, that this world is utterly and incredibly magical, and our time is short. Let us then herald in a new dawn, the dawn of an everlasting day.

Marcus Katz The Lake District, Summer Solstice, 2012. Re-formatted and updated for Kindle, Winter Solstice, 2015.

Introduction

THE WESTERN ESOTERIC INITIATORY SYSTEM “If only we could be a little bit more heroic. If only we could be a little bit more immortal. Then, and only then, might we realise more of what we dream.”[5] — Lord A., Vampire Ceremony, Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 2012

The eclectic and synthetic practice of the Western Esoteric Initiatory System (WEIS) will take you to many uncharted places. It is the intention of The Magister to guide you through those realms, which ultimately will be unique to your own path in the labyrinth of the mysteries. We will provide you with a map and a traveller’s description of the geography and culture of the land you are about to visit, although your own experience will be determined by a range of factors; the land is ever-changing, the people there have their own lives, and you will soon discover many routes that none before you have travelled.

The reason we offer this work is because since the Reformation in Europe, the path of a personal ascent narrative – one’s own gnosis and salvation – has been progressively excluded from mainstream Western spiritual practice. Once, words were magic, names were sacred mysteries, language was power.[6] Then came the mystery of architecture and space, the understanding of construction and the power of stone sealing a place.[7] Now the internet contains the mystery of communication beyond physicality – a world where the currency will be imagination, and the powerful those who are free to imagine new realms. So successful has this denial been that even when released from previous social constraints, it was to the East that we looked for ‘spiritual’ teaching; our own traditions had been rent asunder into two extremes of Christianity on one hand, and the ‘evil’ occult on the other. Religion, science and magic have become divorced, and yet in magic we find our soul, in science we discover mystery, and in religion we unveil spirituality. The WEIS marries these streams back together in a fourth way, a synthetic enquiry into life – as Crowley wrote, “the aim of religion, the method of science.” We will first introduce an overview of the architecture of the WEIS through personal experience, and then turn our attention to the magical orders which have carried this system to the present.

STATE OF THE ART “... assuming that irrefutable form of idealism which contents itself with the demonstration that, knowledge being a function of the mind, as the materialists not merely concede, but insist, the universe as we know it is equivalent to the contents of that mind; and assuming also that the mind contains a power able to control thought; then there is no absurdity in asserting that mind may be the master of matter. And the empirical rules laid down by the magicians of old may prove to some extent of use in practice.” — Aleister Crowley, The Revival of Magick and Other Essays[8]

In this first volume, we will lay out the general references for practitioners who may wish to get ahead on their reading list and studies, and provide an overview of the source material which is further opened in subsequent volumes. This section can be usefully read with the ‘reading list by grade’ offered as an appendix herein and the Bibliography, which will also be extended in the following 10 volumes. My own introduction to the WEIS came through such authors as Israel Regardie, Gareth Knight, William Butler, William G. Gray, and other practitioners.[9] The fiction of Dion Fortune, particularly The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic, helped me bridge between my pagan roots and Western esotericism; a spiritual dilemma that persisted for some two decades.[10] In The Magister we do not differentiate between witchcraft and the WEIS as both are deemed aspects of one Western approach. One might consider that we take a Renaissance revisionist approach to our pagan workings.[11] I was also enamoured of the adventures and magic of the notorious magician, Aleister Crowley, whose work encouraged me to travel to Egypt when I was just 19 years old, spending a month haunting the Cairo museum, pyramids, trekking across the Sinai, and generally being an English magician abroad.[12] At the time I did not realise that I would be spending the rest of my life reading and studying Crowley’s own notebooks from a century prior, detailing his magick, travels and experiences.

My early learning of kabbalah started with Dion Fortune, rapidly branching into studying with the late James Sturzaker, of the International School of Kabbalists.[13] The kabbalah that we teach in The Magister and within the OED, whilst unashamedly Hermetic, esoteric and Western, also draws from an appreciation of the work of contemporary scholars in the field and traditional kabbalistic practice.[14] One volume of The Magister is to explore kabbalah in depth, and its roots will be seen nourishing every volume. The kabbalah is our map, tarot our compass, alchemy our exercise, and ritual our path. Astrology is how we navigate when we are left to our own devices and our signposts are synchronicity. I created my own tarot deck when I was 13, from images of the Swiss IJJ deck in a Stuart Kaplan book, and started reading and studying tarot every day, a practice I have continued for three decades and across more than 10,000 face-to-face readings. We will expand on the corpus and application of tarot in engaging life throughout these volumes.[15] For me, and for many practitioners, the early attraction of the WEIS is in practical magick, ceremony and ritual, evocations and invocations. We recapitulate the history of the entire tradition in our own life; our roots are embedded in the grimoire tradition of magical practice, fostered in a Christian environment (hierarchies of angels, names of God, etc.) whilst at the same time rejecting the Church and forging our own direct communication with the divine.[16] So what is a magical life? The field is now more open to study than when I commenced. There are now autobiographies and biographies of contemporary magical practitioners available, including William G. Gray, Gareth Knight, Mark Hedsel, and David Conway.[17] Israel Regardie has provided a personal background of his encounter with the Golden Dawn teachings.[18]

Pagan practitioners have also come to provide their autobiographies and are themselves increasingly the subject of biographical treatment.[19] Other experiential accounts include Greek traditions,[20] Celtic and Egyptian work,[21] and immersion in the world of contemporary occult groups and witchcraft written by a handful of academics.[22] My world was turned inside-out by reading Robert Anton Wilson’s (with Robert Shea) Illuminatus! series, but more importantly his personal account, Cosmic Trigger, which brought the esoteric to a uniquely contemporary re-synthesis. [23] Other practitioners have also published biographical and semibiographical accounts of their lives in magick, such as Lon Milo DuQuette. [24] There are semi-fictional accounts,[25] and strange self- published workbooks such as one in which one can learn to create one’s own real life lightsabre, or Zauberstab, from Vril energy.[26] Earlier accounts include those of the well documented Crowley, and later practitioners such as followers of Dion Fortune; Charles Seymour and Christine Hartley, whose diaries span 1937-1939.[27] Prior to that we have other ‘survivor’ records of Crowley’s regime and magical lifestyle, including Jane Wolfe, whose Cefalu Diaries record the discipline required for magical practice whilst enduring the poverty-struck conditions of the ‘Abbey of Thelema’.[28] This theme of magical practice in the most mundane of situations, resulting in tensions and strange sequences of events is taken up by the account of ‘Frater Shiva’ whose account of the Solar Lodge in California during the 1960s and 1970s is salutatory reading. [29] The work and biographical detail of Crowley’s later followers has been published to some extent.[30]

Modern magicians have provided workbooks of practice, deriving in part from the work of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley or Dion Fortune. The works of Donald Michael Kraig, John Michael Greer, Frater U.D., Aaron Leitch, Josephine McCarthy, Christopher Penczak, Phillip Cooper, Peregrin Wildoak, and others represent a continuing formulation of magical practice. [31] Others have worked more explicitly within certain traditions, such as Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, whose work is in the lineage of Dion Fortune. [32] In a similar vein is the body of work by Marian Green, who was a huge influence on my own early studies, particularly her Magic for the Aquarian Age.[33] I once found myself talking to a woman after a presentation I had given at a Golden Dawn conference, talking on about my research, whilst the woman politely nodded and let me chatter. After I had enlightened her about the inner mysteries, and my vast experience, I thought I should deem to ask her name in case she might wish to be a student. Of course, she smiled, nodded politely again, and said, “Marion Green”. That singular lesson was worth every book I purchased and studied from her. Others have developed and re-presented Crowley’s Thelemic Magick, an ambitious undertaking in itself, so results have varied.[34] A later volume of The Magister will concentrate on Thelema in more detail. Whilst we will look then at Kenneth Grant’s work, we will also consider in our overview here of the ‘Aeons’ the post-Thelemic work of Maggie Ingalls.[35] Several orders have achieved a relatively stable longevity, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (in various forms), Servants of the Light (S.O.L.), and the Society of Inner Light being notable.[36]

Another cohort of authors have published works of less explicit lineage, including Alan Chapman[37] and David Goddard, whose Tower of Alchemy is an amalgam of Grail myth, alchemical visualisations and Kabbalah.[38] There are a range of synthetic systems drawing upon many streams, such as the ‘magic of light’ taught by the Society of the White Flame, drawing on Persian and Arabic literature.[39] Lesser known individuals have presented insights into the kabbalistic design of the initiatory system, such as Eldon Templar, whose pseudonymous works harbour a deep grasp of the impact of initiation modelled on the Tree of Life. [40] Individual systems have flourished in separate streams, notably the Fourth Way work of G.I. Gurdjieff – a subject for our second and third volumes – and those who have followed that way, such as Ouspensky, Bennett, Pogson, Nicoll, and more recently Colin Wilson, Charles Tart and E.J. Gold.[41] Later we will also survey the works of Blavatsky, Besant, Kingsford, Steiner and other schools both theosophical and anthroposophical.[42]

Many groups have claimed a Rosicrucian heritage – the history of which we will come to examine from its roots in three original pamphlets including the Chymical Wedding – and risen in popularity, such as the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC). The AMORC teachings span a curriculum of almost 19 years in length and these will be compared and contrasted to other systems including the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA), the Ancient Mystical Order of Seekers (AMOS) and various other ‘modern mystery schools’ of the past century.[43] Less well known authors have taken a Rosicrucian standpoint, such as Freeman B. Dowd and other teachers. [44] The Rosicrucian heritage is fundamental to the WEIS, and is seen as a ‘landmark’ in the life of the ‘Great School’ by Manly Palmer Hall, who also considers the movement in social and political aspects. [45] A number of Western practitioners pursue systems based upon Celtic or Arthurian myths, or have developed entirely new and novel systems, such as the Church of the Sub-Genius.[46] We will see how these reflect different grades and stages of the ascent narrative as a whole, tracing back to the structures of mystery schools and initiatory religions such as Mithraism.[47] A fundamental approach here is to consider these as a spectrum of perspectives, each useful at a particular step – until a new vantage point is gained and a new perspective gives a view to new horizons.

A number of other systems – both historical and contemporary – have been brought to light, which perhaps owe more or less to the main underground stream, such as Franz Bardon’s Hermetics, and the work of the Brotherhood of Luxor.[48] There are also papers and privately published works of smaller occult orders from which we can draw, including the Brotherhood of the Path, the Order of the Cubic Stone, the Brotherhood of Light (C.C. Zain), the Hermetic Order of Martinists (H.O.M.), A.S. Raleigh’s Hermetic Brotherhood, the Order of Secret Masters, the Gnostic Brotherhood of God (G.B.G.), the Martinists, the Elect Cohens, the Order of the Serpent, the Avalon Group, the Church of Light, the Astarians, the Ma’at Qabal, and many others in private collection.[49] Synthetic traditions have been published such as the work of the Merlin Temple of the Golden Dawn.[50] Individual authors have presented very specific approachs to the kabbalah and the path of Initiation, some better known than others, such as Julius Evolva, William Blystone, Samael Aun Weor, and Ophiel.[51] Still others have presented alternative models of the initiatory progression and the ascent narrative.[52] A few teachers have worked very much without publication and fanfare until their students have collected their teachings.[53] The work of magical lodges and schools has also received more public treatment, both from practitioners and academics.[54] We will also see in a later volume the overlaps between the WEIS and the arts, in the work of a wide range of artists, authors, poets, and directors.[55]

Throughout the course of The Magister, we will also draw upon periodicals and magazines across the last century – mainly published in the United Kingdom, but elsewhere too – such as Chaos International, The Lamp of Thoth, Cincinnati Journal of Ceremonial Magick, Occult Review, Thaneteros, The Occult Observer, The Gnostic, Azoth, The Occult Digest, The Occult Science Library, Quest, Probe, Talking Stick, Starfire, Ignator, The Qabalist’s I, Khephra, The Atlantean, Insight, Nox, Lightning Flash, Meridian, The Cosmic Connexion, Omni Vita, Sunpath, T.N.T., The Daath Papers, Formaos, and hundreds of others in collection.[56] As we cover witchcraft and paganism in later volumes, we will refer to periodicals in that realm, such as Inner Keltia, The Cauldron, Pentagram, Pagan Dawn, Pangaia, Moonshine, Medicine Ways, Pentacle, The Wiccan, and Pipes of Pan. Finally, we will survey magazines of the more mainstream variety, including Gnosis, Magical Blend, Fate and Fortune, Destiny, and a host of other professional magazines representing the WEIS in more popularist guises such as ‘a transformational journey’, ‘exploring the unknown’, ‘predicting your future’, and journaling the ‘Western inner traditions’.

It is through these magazines, pre-Internet, that much discussion and networking took place, giving glimpses of the WEIS in constant turmoil, diversification, and synthesis. Taking just one small press magazine at random we can read about the Order of the Pyramid and the Sphinx, who advertise themselves as a “special custodian of a hitherto unrevealed tradition which expounds the famous Enochian system of Dr. John Dee”; take lessons from (the now sadly departed) Alexander Sanders, “Lessons in Witchcraft, Sex Magick and Esoteric Mysticism”; and be perturbed at the approach and grammar of the Pagan Front asking for members with the express statement, “No time-wasters, trouble-makers, homosexuals or black magicians, etc.” We can also find the Fraternitas Lucifer next to a Hatha Yoga group, and letters from Israel Regardie and R.G. Torrens arguing the history of the Golden Dawn. Not bad for 4/6d (that is, four shillings and sixpence).[57]

I must admit too to a dabbling in the dark arts themselves, so we will cover these in the Zelator volume to follow. It is common for the newcomer in esotericism to immerse themselves in a range of occult practices, hopefully being enriched by, yet exhausting each approach – and the rebellious urge may initially gravitate them to such subjects as Satanism or the so-called Left Hand Path. My own trajectory between the ages of 16 and 19 took me to a Satanic group on a distant isle, strange practices and sexual experimentation, and eventually to a year-long experiment with mindaltering chemicals.[58] Whilst these years provided much material for later consideration, I was glad to enjoy them and just as glad to leave them. I do blame a steady diet of New England Library (NEL) books – such as Simon, King of the Witches (1971), featuring playboy witch, Simon Sinistari – with their garish covers and lurid language.[59] It was the more abstract and general writings of Pauwels and Bergier that geared me towards more profound shores – my first book with magic in the title, The Morning of the Magicians, although as a 13 year old I understood little of it.[60] Specific systems such as alchemy, astrology and tarot have received a range of treatments which we will survey and teach later.[61] They have also been contextualised within a Jungian framework, according them some measure of psychological gloss.[62] The strange reaches and profound mysteries of sexual magick will also receive a large part of a subsequent volume.[63] With this regard, we will also explore the gender differences in magical practice, tracing the nature of personal priesthood for both men and women through the ages into contemporary life.[64]

Of particular note is the work of the Aurum Solis, which came to light in the mid-1970s and claimed an older pedigree, dating back to 1897. Whilst I (and others) have been unable to gain proof of this claim, there is no doubt as to the power of the rituals and exercises provided by the authors Melita Denning (Vivian Godfrey) and Osborne Phillips (Leon Barcynski). They are based upon a Greek rather than ancient Egyptian framework, with more explicit reference to Hermeticism and poetic structure.[65] This ‘Ogdoadic Tradition’ continues to date. In recent years there has been a rise of grimoire-type books purporting to teach a ‘cunning craft’ and various arcane lore. These books have been of limited edition, circulated only in small numbers and already now fetch high prices in the occult book market.[66] Our Work here also includes the essential backdrop of mystical unfoldment in Christian mysticism and the ascent narrative, specifically in the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, Meister Eckhart, Bonaventure, John Climacus (The Ladder of Divine Ascent), St. John, and St. Teresa.[67] Lesser known writings, for example, the Book of the Nine Rocks by Rulman Merswin, also inform our graduated work into the mystical experience.[68] Christian and Jewish methodologies mapped to the initiatory structure will be considered in our practical sections, such as the art of constant prayer, the imitation of Christ, Lectio Divina, and other contemplative methods.[69] Contemporary Western practitioners of Eastern approaches can also be usefully mapped to the initiatory structure. In The Magister we will consider the works of Da Free John, Irina Tweedy and Bernadette Roberts, as well as Paul Brunton.[70] It is also here that our path becomes increasingly indistinct as the integration of ‘East and ‘West’ blurs both geographical and ideological borders.[71]

It is also essential we touch upon the structure, aims and ambitions of Freemasonry, from which orders such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.) and thence the Golden Dawn emerged.[72] More general appreciations of Western philosophy and its synthesis can also be married to our studies, presenting us a ‘perennial philosophy’ by which we may be accompanied on the journey.[73] During the past three decades, new paradigms have unfolded, most notably Chaos magick, about which – again – more later.[74] This movement perhaps owes much to the work of the artist-magician Austin Osman Spare, whose alphabet of desire and methodology will also be discussed later.[75] This approach to sorcery and state-change emerged during the mid-1970s, particularly with the publication of Liber Null by Peter J. Carroll. This present author worked with the syllabus of this title and contributed to the first issue of Chaos International in 1986.[76] Later authors have continued this modern approach to magick, notably Phil Hine, Julian Vayne and Ramsey Dukes.[77] The escalation of this ‘out of the box’ approach to magick, particularly in its realm of self-development or self-liberation, brought it ultimately to extreme forms such as willed psychopathic experimentation.[78] In fiction too we find less than flattering treatments of a life lived by occult principles. [79] Less extreme forms but nonetheless powerful exercises in state-change are to be found in the work of Robert Anton Wilson, notably the highly recommended Prometheus Rising workbook, itself a fundamental part of this present author’s early work.[80] The ‘Dice Man’ philosophy of Luke Rhinehart is also an encouraged practice in the early stages of the Order of Everlasting Day.[81]

The introduction of other systems of state-change and models of the mind brought neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) into magick through the works of Philip H. Farber and Jason Newcomb, whilst this was bridged into tarot with the present author’s work Tarosophy (2011).[82] The use of Jungian frameworks can also highlight facets of the initiatory work and without explicit reference to esotericism, a number of Jungian authors have provided graduated schema; “initiation as a series of levels or stages, and initiation as a cyclic experience. We might even describe it paradoxically as a series of developmental cycles.”[83] A similar treatment – again, focusing on alternative Western paths than esotericism – can be found in Mary WolffSalin’s account of initiation in both monastic and Jungian traditions.[84] Throughout The Magister we will examine cases of magical activity, spellcraft and ritual. We will consider how science, psychology and esoteric models comprehend the results of such work, which can be life-changing. [85] There are many useful parallels of the WEIS to be discovered in the notion of the mythic journey, and the concept of the archetypes, their symbols and function in the psyche.[86] As the initiate enters the ‘Treasure House of Images’ in the earliest explorations of their journey, perils abound, not least of which is the danger of the irruption of powerful archetypal energies into consciousness, which in severe cases can literally devour the personality-construct and lead to ego distortions of numerous types.[87]

A thorough grounding in the nature of symbols and their usage is an essential teaching to which we will return in subsequent volumes. The embodiment of significant stages of the initiatory system in the experiences of the ‘Dweller on the Threshold’, ‘Parting of the Veil’, the ‘Portal’, the ‘Holy Guardian Angel’, and the ‘Abyss’, will be outlined here and discussed in detail in relevant volumes as the sequence is unfolded in its order of revelation. The popularisation of esoteric ideas has continued across a number of media and the Internet. The magician Alan Moore’s graphic novel Promethea includes kabbalah, tarot, alchemy, and Hermetic ideas on every page.[88] One can view performances of rituals on YouTube and join special esoteric interest groups on Facebook.[89] This has perhaps accelerated the abasement of the Work, its constant rote repetition and insidious dilution, and a complete ejection (in some cases outright rejection) of its core ambition.

Most notably, the rise of faux magick that has become, for all intents and purposes, the only magick. The most strident critique of this state has been made by Alan Moore, in his 2002 piece, Fossil Angels, which should be read before continuing here.[90] In a sense, The Magister is a response to such critique, aiming to offer some consideration to the tradition as being more than ‘an opportunity for dressing up’. This tradition requires an appreciation of long term narrative and consequence, dedication, patience, discipline, and above all, unassailable faith – there are many who want to fly straight to heaven, but few willing to climb. The significant difference between The Magister and other approaches is that we utilise the experiences of esotericism to boot-strap ourselves into progressively rarified states of awareness in a constructive and deliberate manner to a defined goal, along a well-marked route. These states are fundamentally different from each other and all contain their own world – it is entirely possible to appear to make the whole journey in just one’s imagination, which is only one of the ten states we utilise. This is not armchair magick but living spirituality.[91] There are also many other avenues of Western exploration that it would be impossible to cover in full, even in an attempt at a comprehensive treatise. Every day brings a new ‘secret’ or ‘cosmic ordering’ system, a new ‘prophecy’ or popular self-help guide. How these bridge across to Western esotericism is a matter of argument that we will probably studiously consider and possibly avoid altogether.[92] We will, however, refer to the models of Spiral Dynamics and the approach of Ken Wilbur as useful parallels to the WEIS.[93]

The rise during the past 50 years of academic interest in the field of Western esotericism is without parallel and arguably dates to the publications of Frances A. Yates (her first book, in 1964, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, is groundbreaking) which brought the ‘Rosicrucian enlightenment’ argument into the academy.[94] The works of Antoine Faivre, Wouter J. Hanegraaff and Kocku von Stuckrad are preeminent in the field.[95] Similarly we will utilise academic appreciations of paganism and witchcraft in addition to practical experience.[96] We will also look at the useful concept of ‘signposts’ in the initiatory structure introduced by René Guénon.[97] A recent journal of the European Society of the Study of Western Esotericism lists a range of M.A. and PhD papers from ‘Occult War: The Legacy of Iranian Dualism and its continuing influence upon the Modern Occult Revival’ to ‘Esotericism and Quantum Theories, 1960-2010: A study of David Bohm’.[98] Whilst we will return to all these streams in following volumes, it is sufficient here to provide the backdrop and context in which the present work is written. The WEIS has many rivers but one source, and will always be a synthesis of practice bound together by models of varying scope and utility, whether that is alchemy, astrology, kabbalah, or any other system. The important thing is that this is a science of the soul, a spiritual path in real life, and a means of comprehending that which is incomprehendable. The scope and volume of the tradition is a reflection of the endless labyrinth of possibility which is your soul’s true relation to the universe. Nothing more. We will now present the scope of the 11 volumes of The Magister and open the Herald of the Everlasting Day, which is an emblem of the divine relationship and the true subject of our work to follow.

THE ORDER OF REVELATION This is the world you’re in and this is where ours begins A borderless nation of thoughts to replace your walled-in existence in space. — ‘Force Feedback’ from ‘A View from the End of the World’, Machinae Supremacy.[99]

This present volume provides an overview and structure of the WEIS, which subsequent volumes will treat in detail. Here follows an overview for the following volumes, which represents in brief the likely coverage of the entirety of The Magister.

The O r d e r of Revelation (0) The Worker Enters the Workshop [Neophyte] An overview of the WEIS, its history, syllabus and practice.

In this first book (in three sections on Kindle) I will present the history of the system starting from unique access and study of the Golden Dawn source materials, Aleister Crowley documents, PhD level research, and three decades of practical experience. We will trace the system back over a century prior to the Golden Dawn revival, and reference material previously only published in scarce German academic literature. I will present the syllabus and its aim to provide a graduated spiritual ascent narrative. I will introduce Neo-Platonic, Hermetic, kabbalistic, and Gnostic themes, showing how the Western system is firmly rooted in these philosophical and religious roots, whilst branching into its own parallel practice – a practice almost relegated to the minority of occult literature. A section will focus on anamnesis and metanoia as essential concepts in the tradition. The nature of the synthetic approach will be explored so that we can avoid ‘spiritual supermarket shopping’ and see the power of this generally Western attitude to spiritual practice. We will then move onto the nature of correspondence and its import in the system, and present an introduction to alchemy in this context, sufficient to provide a description of the grade system in alchemical terminology. We will then demonstrate how this system was originally couched in the terms of the kabbalah and provide an initiatory map based upon the Tree of Life. This will set the structure for the following ten volumes. I will use work by Aleister Crowley and other innovative material to describe this map, as a valid system for Western esoteric spirituality.

I will briefly introduce key components which will be explored in following titles, such as the Dweller on the Threshold, Holy Guardian Angel (HGA) and the Crossing of the Abyss. The tarot will be used to illustrate this map and further describe it – a subject to which I will return in greater depth in the following books. I will also provide the names of the grades and a new explanation of their titles and nature of work which fits into the context I have previously delineated and sets the scene for the following practical section. There will be a brief bridging section on the practice of journaling, with extracts from the magical journals of a number of occultists, including my own. This will provide the first practical work and is in response to the most common questions I am asked in my own teaching, regarding how to maintain a journal, what to put in it, etc. The nature of dream-work will be examined with box-in exercises for lucid dreaming practice, astral travel and so forth. These will be placed within the whole context of the system. The final section of the book will be purely practical and will offer an explanation of initiation and ritual. I will provide four rituals, namely the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, Liber Resh, the Middle Pillar, and the Rose Cross, with a unique explanation of why these rituals are given, and their relationship to the practitioner’s sense of space, time and self. I believe this will be the first account of these in the context of far later experience which shines a new light upon their importance and practice. Volume 0 will provide a comprehensive bibliography and annotated reading list by grade. This will update the reading list provided by Aleister Crowley in Magick in Theory and Practice and demonstrate the scope of the entire series.

The Light of the Labyrinth (1) The Worker is Hidden in the Workshop [Zelator/Malkuth] By Our Work We Are Changed In this second volume, we will look at the various cosmologies and maps that inform the journey of the tradition. We will further explore the way in which we can utilise such models – particularly tarot – in our own life and as part of the functional aspects of the system. We will also begin to open up core texts and explanatory material, such as the vision of Zosimos, the Emerald Tablet, the Chymical Wedding, etc. We will trace commonalities in these accounts and use them to illustrate the core components of the system, such as grades, changes of state and initiation. We will also see how they describe a journey with many challenges and opportunities at each grade, so the practitioner can assess their own state. I will present a full chapter on the Dweller on the Threshold and its role in the tradition and the personal experience of the practitioner. We will explore the Inner Guide Meditation (IGM) work and pathworking in general, with many examples from more than 1,000 workings recorded by hundreds of students and workshop participants over the past three decades. The nature of alchemy will be further explored in the practical section of this second book, as will many other exercises such as sigil creation. This book provides practical hands-on experience to the practitioner, suitable to the grade of Zelator. I will discuss the nature of purification, consecration, evocation, and invocation. Most importantly, the book places all practice in its wider context. Volume 1 will feature a do-it-yourself (DIY) ‘build a ritual’ template.

The Rainbow at M i d n i g ht (2) The Worker Watches the Workshop [Theoricus/Yesod] By Our Work We Are Awakened In this third volume of the series, we will meet the dramatis personae of the tradition, and I will show their major contributions in a flow-chart of the ‘currents’ of the system. This will include Levi, Crowley, the founders of the Golden Dawn, Florence Farr, the alchemists, Dion Fortune, Austin Osman Spare, etc. We will examine their lives in order to demonstrate the process of initiation and the map of the system, in their own words. I will present the psychological aspects of the tradition, particularly Jungian thinking and show how that relates to alchemy and, perhaps more importantly, initiation – the latter a relationship that has not been touched upon by other authors. I will concentrate on Dion Fortune’s early work in psychology and how this has developed into a large strand of contemporary practice. We will introduce the work of G.I. Gurdjieff into the system, and demonstrate how the Fourth Way provides an essential component in the syllabus. A chapter will demonstrate the role and import of secrecy in the Work and its psychological implications. We will provide exercises for inner meditation and contemplation, and look at various forms of yoga within the context of Western practice, particularly from the work of Paul Brunton. Volume 2 will feature a flow-chart of the occult currents and annotated character list.

[ILLUS. GD 2-1-2 p165v Bornless Ritual Original Golden Dawn Manuscript]

The P r i s m of Light (3) The Worker is the Workshop [Practicus/Hod] By Our Work We Are Worked In this fourth title we turn our attention to the ‘mental’ developmental areas of the system, such as the concept of Will in Crowley’s Thelema. I will use this to compare with other teachers such as Gurdjieff, Bennett, Orage, and Steiner, showing how mental exercises are intrinsic to the syllabus. In this book I will also bring in the work of contemporary Chaos Magick, as a hook to an analysis of modern science, cosmology and mathematics where that work has informed modern magick. I will look specifically at how initiation can be modelled with Catastrophe Theory, and how fluid dynamics provides a picture of kabbalah of use to the magician. In terms of context I will show how the ‘New Thought’ movement provided a precursor to magick, and then its later upsurge as the ‘New Age’ movement. The work of NLP will be shown to be of relevance to the Gnostic aspects of contemporary magick, which I will illustrate with a range of modern films and books. The nature of the oaths of each grade will be explored in one chapter. I will also provide practical exercises to work with time and fit these into the context of Liber Resh and ritual generally, from the prior titles, and as a foundation for work in following the titles. In Volume 3 we will cover time-work and retro-temporal engineering in magick.

The Portal and the Veil (4) The Workshop is Hidden in the Worker [Philosophus]

By Our Work We Are Taught In this fifth title, ahead of our major work to follow in the sixth (which deals with the Holy Guardian Angel, or HGA), we will conclude our laying out of the initiatory schema with a detailed breakdown of the system of the

∴ ∴

A A , Crowley’s ‘self-initiatory’ order. I will also list the ‘powers’ of each grade in a modern format, and the dangers at each stage – the first time that this will have been presented in a contemporary and accessible (i.e. practical and down-to-earth) manner. A chapter will cover the nature of the ‘Portal’, the ‘Veil of Paroketh’ and how these feature in the initiatory progress of the Adept. The practice of prayer will be taught, particularly the constant prayer method. This will be contextualised with regard to the tradition and other systems such as mantra practice. Volume 4 will cover teachings on active contemplative work.

The Angel in the Workshop (5) The Angel Enters the Workshop [Adeptus Minor] By Our Work We Are Converted This sixth title will bring together all that has been presented in the preceding titles and change the context for the following books. It will describe the work known as the Abramelin Operation and the nature of the HGA. It will contextualise this work in terms of the other great ‘crises’ of the tradition, namely the ‘Dweller on the Threshold’ (addressed in Volume 2) and the ‘Crossing of the Abyss’ (in Volume 9).

I will bridge from my published journal of the operation, After the Angel, and provide more material and context for the HGA, particularly exploring questions that have arisen from that work, such as the difference between the ‘Higher Self’, the ‘Augoeodies’ and the HGA. At least two chapters will cover my teachings on Enochian magic. In the practical section of this book, a new version of Liber Resh will be given (i.e. the Hymnodia) and the Bornless Ritual fully explained. Volume 5 will present for the first time new Enochian work and angelic teaching.

The Sanctuary of Fire (6) The Workshop is the Teacher [Adeptus Major] By Our Work We Are Completed In a wide-ranging survey, we will see how various authors have attempted to create their own ‘reality’ based upon their experiences, and how such a task is perfectly fitted to the initiatory scheme at this grade. We will look at how we can learn from working to such a model. I will work from a multitude of sources ranging from Philip K. Dick’s Exegesis to John Fowles’ The Aristos, William Butler Yeats’ Vision, Crowley’s Magick in Theory and Practice, Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Bokonism’ in Cat’s Cradle, etc. We will also look in more detail at the nature of the Aeons as a practical cosmology for society and the individual. This will show how the Aeons were brought into contemporary practice through Levi, then Crowley, based upon even earlier (Christian) models. I will also cover the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.[100] Volume 6 will explore further the Aeons.

The Chapel of Devotion (7) The Worker Leaves the Workshop [Adeptus Exemptus] By Our Work We Are Devoted In this book I will cover the nature of the Secret Masters and use this to present the work of H.P. Blavatsky. We will also return to the work of those followers of Dion Fortune who advanced the idea of ‘fully contacted’ magical societies.

I will explore the idea of magical societies, their structure and relevance to contemporary practice. This will include a large and comprehensive overview of many lesser known magical groups including the Aurum Solis, the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor and so forth – deriving from my research. In the practical section of this title we will cover devotional rituals such as Liber Astarte and examine the relationship of the practitioner to the divine. I will also present for the first time a ritual entitled ‘The Rebel in the Soul’ and at least two chapters on Ancient Egyptian belief and practice and its role in Western magickal practice. Volume 7 will provide researchers and practitioners a large catalogue of esoteric orders and their practices.

The Tem p l e of Night (8) The Workshop is No More [Master of the Temple] By Our Work We Are Removed In this book we will examine the spiritual/religious aspects of the tradition, working with the lives of St. Bonaventure, St. John, St. Theresa, Rushwin Mershwin, etc. We will also look at Western practitioners who have embraced Eastern practices such as Da Free John, Irina Tweedie and Paul Brunton. We will also introduce the work of Bernadette Roberts, which will be concluded in the eleventh book. We will deal with the ‘passage’ of the ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ as the ‘Crossing of the Abyss’ in the tradition. I will present a chapter on Chronozon, the ‘demon of the Abyss’ and the work of Kenneth Grant. In Volume 8 we will compare Western mysticism and magick.

The Quarry of Souls (9) The Worker Builds the Workshop [Magus] By Our Work We Are Created

In this penultimate work we will return to magical practice and I will present the ‘initiated’ view of magick, investigating why The Secret doesn’t work, the nature of ‘energised enthusiasm’, sex magick, and working without ‘lust of result’. We will also return to the concept of the Secret Masters and see them for the first time in a totally new light. I will give a chapter on a-temporal magick and how this accords with recent scientific discoveries on the nature of time and reverse engineering the past. I will illustrate this section with real practical examples from my own work and return to the very first ‘spell’ I performed, mentioned in Volume 1. In Volume 9 we will demonstrate how to build your universe.

The P o i n t of the Light (10) The Workshop is the Worker [Ipsissimus] By Our Work We Are In this final title we will present the tradition as a valid and comprehensive spiritual path for contemporary Western society. We will see how it leads to the self-same experiences and realisations as any of the major movements and how it is specifically geared to Western life. I will conclude my presentation of Bernadette Roberts and other Western spiritual teachers particularly dealing with the transcendent experience. As much as possible, I will compare and contrast these with Eastern teachings, using the work of Ken Wilbur and others. In particular, we will look at the spiritual poetry of Aleister Crowley and ‘The Man of Understanding’ by Da Free John as statements of the completion of the path offered by this tradition. The eleventh volume serves as a conclusion which sets this tradition in the context of contemporary spiritual practice.

We will now look at the Herald which opens the mysteries of The Magister.

THE HERALD OF EVERLASTING DAY After the Golden Dawn comes the Everlasting Day.

This series of The Magister is in part homage to The Equinox, an epic journal created by the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley in the early 1900s. Before we begin, we will reveal some of the mysteries in the symbolic Herald which accompanies The Magister. This explanation can be skipped by those who wish to enter straight through into the first hall of the work without pausing to view the decorative entrance. Although, as with many such features of the mystery school teachings, you may miss something of great import, even in your first step, only to later have to return in order to gain an essential key.

When Aleister Crowley published the first volume of The Equinox in March 1909, the upper cover was illustrated – as was the frontispiece of the deluxe subscriber’s edition – with a coat of arms design. Whilst we appear to have no record of the artist, the symbolism of this illustration is precise and could only have come from Crowley him- self. In it the theme of The Equinox is graphically illustrated; Crowley later wrote, in 1943, some 34 years later, that The Equinox was to be a “Rosetta Stone” in which he was tasked by the Masters to “preserve the Sacred Tradition” against a “planet-wide catastrophe” as the “New Aeon” superseded the old.[101] This was the essential message Crowley had received in Cairo, in 1904, five years prior to the publication of The Equinox and 10 years before the first of the two world wars that brought about such a catastrophe. That catastrophe – if we assume an average lifespan of 52 years in 1914, an average age of a soldier of 26, and an estimated 16 million dead during conflict – robbed our species of 416 million years of human life, in four short years, not counting the lost potential offspring of those whom perished. Crowley had seen himself as a herald of the new age, as in his private notebook, ‘Invocation of Hoor’, he wrote in 1904, “G.D. to be destroyed, i.e. publish its history and its papers.”[102] This was an allusion to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, at that time the repository of a vast synthesis of esoteric knowledge, in which Crowley had been immersed.

The Golden Dawn had a tradition of changing ‘stations’ at the equinox, with a ritual marking a new (or renewed) Hierophant and a changing of role holders in the temple.[103] We will see later how this derived from ‘Eastern’inspired fringe Freemasonic orders such as the Sat B’hai. A key element of this administrative changeover (which the ritual discloses has higher echoes in the upper worlds) is the change of password – the Hierophant asks the Kerux to “proclaim the EQUINOX and announce that the pass-word is abrogated.”[104] It was this tradition which Crowley usurped with his publication.

[ILLUS. Equinox Herald]

It is also this word abrogated (meaning to repeal by authority a law that has been previously established) that provides the nature of the usurpation, for Crowley wrote in Liber Al, The Book of the Law, “Abrogate are all rituals, all ordeals, all words and signs. Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods.”[105] The notion of the magician finding a ‘higher authority’ or ‘inner planes contact’ was one taken across from theosophy and the bridge-head from which many occult wars were – and to this day, still – fought. Crowley had gone to Egypt (ostensibly on honeymoon) to find his own inner planes contact, trumping the more sedentary members of the Golden Dawn. This re-statement of authority was carried into the heraldic device of The Equinox which depicts a shield on which are a Sun and rose cross. These symbolise the Golden Dawn and the Rosy Cross, the outer and inner orders. The shield is then topped with a crest composed of the eye in the triangle, the symbol of Crowley’s own inner order, the A or silver star).

∴ A ∴ (Argenteum Astrum

The central motifs are flanked as columns by the red ram of Aries and the green robed lady of Libra, bearing scales and sword. These symbolise the Spring and Autumn equinox. The motto (technically, in heraldry, in the Scottish position) is “THE METHOD OF SCIENCE” with a banner below completing “THE AIM OF RELIGION.” In the title piece, the herald is surrounded by the text “The Official Organ of the A Illuminism.”

∴ A ∴ ” and “The Review of Scientific

Crowley provides in this key image his statement of revolution. The Aeons themselves are changing, time is accelerating and the old order is dead – not just the magical order of the Golden Dawn, but the previous order of humanity itself, moving in 2,000 year cycles. This image, stark and simple, is a

powerful metaphor of total change – through usurpation, individuation, through war and horror.

In the case of The Magister, representing the Order of Everlasting Day, we chose to re-vision the heraldic device in a contemporary manner whilst retaining much of the layout of The Equinox version. We also chose to centre the design on the nature of the initiatory work itself rather than the orders into which that work is organised. Furthermore, we decided to bridge from Christian – and recognisable – tropes such as the Garden of Eden and the Angelic forms. As these have much earlier precedents, it is to be hoped that viewers will connect to the antiquity of the traditional devices. The first point of note in the Herald of Everlasting Day is that the whole is under the aegis of Maat.[106] This ancient Egyptian goddess bears the ostrich feather, as she is representative of divine order and measurement. Rather than judgement, we fall under the rule of universal order, which weighs everything in its scales.[107] It is to this divine order that even the gods must fall, and is ultimately the ordering of the light and the field in which the Sun arises.[108] The Hall of Maat is our interior representation of the universe, “entering which one comes directly before that which nourishes the divine in oneself. To the extent that one has transformed one’s nature so that it is brought into alignment with the essential divine core of oneself, becoming conscious of having entered the presence of Maat must feel like a homecoming.”[109]

We will return to Maat when we discuss the Aeons in this volume. It should also be seen that Maat is the ‘distant goddess’ whose emissary is Thoth, lord of magick and bearer of the word of creation. It is magick – Thoth - which mediates the divine harmony – Maat – in the universe.[110]

[ILLUS . The Herald of Everlasting Day – symbolic version]

The Pyramid The pyramid has been used to denote the antiquity of the initiatory mystery systems for many centuries and through the 1700s we have writings attesting to their mystical grandeur and function as temples for “the Being who filled the universe full of light.” This Egyptomania, of which there have been a number of waves, informed much of the Rosicrucian, Freemasonic and theosophical teachings, leading to their synthesis in the Golden Dawn. [111] Here, in the Herald of the Everlasting Day, it represents tradition and memory, and the mystery of time. The pyramid of fire also plays an important role in the symbolism of the Tarot of the Secret Dawn. Finally, it is also an acknowledgement of the kitsch marketing value of Egyptian relics, as in this poster for the Order of the Magi by Olney H. Richmond, c. 1892.[112]

[ILLUS . ORDER OF THE MAGI, POSTER FOR OLNEY H. RICHMOND (1844-1920)]

The Salamander Vessel

In the centre of the Herald we have the shield, upon which is emblazoned what we term the ‘Alembic of the Salamander and His Son’. The Alembic “represents a conscious, purposeful, contained activity”[113] and presents us the Magnum Opus, the ‘Great Work’ in symbolic form. It is the shield which identifies us in the warfare for our soul and our storming of the gates of heaven. We see the salamander as the dry male and red seed of the work, the part of the soul which burns and is “conceived by fire, nursed by fire and perfected by fire.”[114] It is the primary seed which we put through the process of calcination which is covered by the following volume of this present work. Above the salamander – who gives birth to a son through the fiery purgation – arises a single white rose, aflame with pale light. It bears two leaves and six outer petals, symbolising Tiphareth, the centre of the Tree of Life, upon which the rose burns. It is an image to which we will return in The Fool card of the Union Deck of the Tarot of Everlasting Day. Above the rose, sealing the vessel, which is a “soul, with no leak at the seams,” is a crown.[115] The crown – which is a triple crown – signifies Kether, the top of the Tree. It bears a single pearl in its apex, the ‘pearl of great price’. As a whole, the Alembic of the Salamander and His Son announces the nature of the initiatory work, as a process of fiery creation and activity, from which arises the rose of perfect simplicity, forming in the stillness and quietness of secrecy.[116]

The Millrinds

The three millrind symbols on the shield are known as fer de molines. In a variety of shapes, these are common charges for European heraldry.[117] They represent ‘divination’ and are an iron support which holds the weight of a runner stone (the upper stone) in a mill wheel. This brings to mind the grinding process of the initiatory system, where the grains of belief are ground into increasingly finer particles before being blown away like chaff in the Abyss.[118]

The Angels of Night and D ay The supporters of the Heraldic device are two angels, a common motif in blazonry, such as that used in the arms of Nuremberg engraved by Durer in 1521.[119] The angels are of the Sun and Moon – day and night – and we see that the solar angel presents a joyful aspect whilst the lunar angel is contemplative, even sombre. This denotes that the divine is present at all times and in all states.

The Four Rivers The four rivers which flow from the Herald, from between the trees, represent the four elements, the four quarters of the universe, and the four rivers which were said to flow out of Eden: Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold ... The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. — Genesis 2: 10-14.

This river, divided into four heads, is said by the Golden Dawn to be “the River of the Apocalypse, the Waters of Life, clear as a crystal proceeding from the Throne, on either side of the Tree of Life, bearing all manner of Fruit.”[120] In the Herald is signifies that there are many paths back to the source, and that same source nourishes the whole of eternity and the everlasting day.

The Two Tre e s In a sense, the most significant yet enigmatic symbols of the Herald are the two trees. These appear in other illustrations of the Order such as The Fool and The World in the Union Deck, and The Lovers in the Outer Deck of the Tarot of Everlasting Day. They symbolise the Tree of All Knowledge (Good and Evil / Night) and the Tree of Life (Everlasting / Day) and are both fruitbearing. The Tree of Knowledge, which is to the right of the Herald (as viewed) contains the sparks of holiness in each fruit. The eating of this fruit and the subsequent ‘fall’ (descent into matter) expulses the Shekinah (divine presence / feminine) from the Garden. This allegory is depicted in The Lovers card as ‘choice and consequence’. As it has been said, “It will end, as it began, in a garden.”[121] The fall causes the process of beirurim, which is the ‘sifting’ of Good and Evil, to redeem the sparks of holiness trapped within fallen matter. At its simplest level, this is the seeing of good in all things.

The Tre e of Knowledge (Eternal Night)

Whilst it is not clear what specific trees the biblical authors had in mind for the two trees in Eden, the Book of Enoch describes the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge as tamarind. Others suggest the fruit as grapes, figs or even wheat. The commonly held notion of the apple being the fruit is perhaps because of a Latin pun on malum, being both ‘apple’ and ‘evil’. The four fruits at the base of the Tree of Knowledge symbolise four experiences of knowledge: Grapes: Ecstasy (Bacchanalian, divine ecstasy, etc.); Figs: Redemption / Grace (as the story of the withered fig tree, etc. in Biblical accounts); Wheat: Nature (Both pagan and Christian, nature as exemplar); Apples: Science (thought, dualistic mind, fall into consciousness). The Tree itself has fruit (tamarind) which becomes an amalgam of all knowledge. It is drawn on the Herald as a typical bushy growth usual to the tamarind, as the other Tree is more slender.

[ILLUS. GD 1-7 p380 Tree of Life After the Fall from Original Golden Dawn Manuscripts]

The Tre e of Life (Everlasting Day) We have used for the Tree of Life the lesser known moringa tree, particularly as it is known as the ‘tree of life’ or ‘miracle tree’. It is a very ancient tree and its dried seeds also look as if they are dark husks (klippoth) in which light may reside. The Tree of Life is depicted as having these black seeds, shells, husks, and pomegranates at its base, the latter recalling the myth of Persephone. Exercise: Contemplating the Herald of Everlasting Day Contemplate the image and reflect upon what pains and pleasures have burnt you in your life and consider too where you find the perfect peace. How do the fire and the rose find their relationship and union in the crucible of your life? The fruit of the Tree of Life bears white flowers of light, with darkness on their inside, in contrast with those of the Tree of Knowledge, which glow from the inside. There are ten flowers on the Tree of Life, representing the sephiroth of the kabbalah, and 12 fruit on the Tree of Knowledge representing the 12 tribes, signs of the zodiac, months of a year, hours in a half day. The Tree of Life holds the secrets of the divine; the Tree of Knowledge, of time. In between them, our Work is done. This Herald will be revisited in Volumes 5 and 10 of The Magister where we will see it with totally different eyes.

It is to the central mystery of time that we will first turn to contextualise our work. All of the rituals and works of the WEIS have a cumulative impact upon our being and relationship to the world – none more so than our relationship to time, space and our sense of self. We will begin with time.

THE AEONS “That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.” — H.P. Lovecraft, The Nameless City (1921) [122]

In our magical practices for the first grade of work, the Neophyte, the newcomer to magick is given four rituals: Liber Resh, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, the Middle Pillar, and the Rose Cross. Whilst not stated explicitly in any publication, these rituals are designed to re-orientate the individual respectively to time, space, self, and relationship. This has a fundamental effect on the Neophyte in addition to the overt nature of these rituals, which are ostensibly given to provide a daily observation, a protection ritual, a mystical means of self-development, and a meditation practice. As the initiatory work commences, through study and practice, experiences arise which fundamentally destroy these constructs – hence, we build artificial scaffolding to sup- port us later in the journey. Ultimately, the scaffolding is then taken away, leaving nothing.

Thro’ many a birth in existence wandered I, Seeking, but not finding, the builder of this house. Sorrowful is repeated birth. O housebuilder, thou art seen. Thou shalt build no house again. All thy rafters are broken. Thy ridge-pole is shattered. Mind attains the Unconditioned. Achieved is the End of Craving.

— The first utterances of the Buddha

The practice of the initiatory system is retro-engineered from its ultimate goal, and as it is said, the Neophyte ritual of the Golden Dawn contains the essential teachings of the later grades to Adeptus Minor. The first practice we provide in this volume, Liber Resh, can be found in the brief practical section of the book, and is an observational and semi-devotional practice to the passage of the Sun. One of the central mysteries of our experience is time, and in most mystical literature, the transcendence of time is a common feature.[123] Time may even be considered the alchemical stone of great price. In the Herald of Everlasting Day, the feather of Maat can be seen as representing time as the writing of our lifespan, and is shown as the highest point of the whole image – even slightly above the pyramid, in whose centre is the eye of Maat herself. This re-visions the earlier ‘illuminati’-associated ‘eye in the triangle’ with the eye of Maat rather than of Horus or Osiris.[124] We build from our practice of Liber Resh to consider the passage of time as it applies to culture and consciousness, and hence our magick. The experience of time is fundamental to our consciousness, and yet most people do not consider this at all, other than notice how ‘a watched kettle never boils’ or ‘time passes quickly when you’re having fun’.[125] These temporal associations, held in awareness, are indicative of a far deeper phenomenon: a truly magical one.

When the father who had engendered it [the universe] saw it in motion and alive, a shrine brought into being for the everlasting gods, he rejoiced and, being well pleased, he conceived the idea of making it more like its model. Accordingly, as that model is the ever-existent Living Being, he set about making the universe also like it, as far as possible, in that respect. Now the nature of that living Being was eternal, a character with which it was impossible fully to endow a generated thing. But he planned as it were a moving likeness of eternity; and, at the same time that he set in order the Heaven, he made, of eternity that abides in unity, an ever-flowing likeness moving according to number – that to which we have given the name Time.[126] — Plato, Timaeus, 37 c-d

The most commonly known esoteric division of time in terms of culture and consciousness is that of the zodiacal ages. Many in our society would know that it is presently the ‘Age of Aquarius’ and some- how associate that with the 1960s ‘cultural revolution’. They might be somewhat more tentatively aware that the previous ‘age’ was that of Pisces – and perhaps be bemused that the symbol of Pisces, and the earliest symbol of one of the world’s most dominant religions over that period of approximately 2,000 years, in both cases is a fish.[127] However, some Western esotericists have maintained another model of the passing of large-scale time, which we will now examine. This is perhaps a more relevant model than the current ‘in-vogue’ model of Mayan time, although it is also an interesting exercise to overlap these various models.[128] The model we will examine is that of the Aeons. The word Aeon comes from the means ‘age’, ‘forever’ or ‘for eternity’. It is a Latin transliteration from the koine Greek word ὁ α ἰ ών (aion). It was used to describe periods of time, but also in Gnostic writings the Aeons were spiritual entities and planes of being, with their own characteristics such as ‘power’ and ‘charity’. This idea of emanations in time is fundamental to both our magick and our working model of kabbalah, which shares this central concept.

Whilst the Order of the Golden Dawn celebrated the passing of time on a global level with the equinox rituals, the more strident proponent of Aeons was Aleister Crowley, who developed the model to incorporate the Egyptian deities, particularly Horus, the warrior God whose Age Crowley saw himself as prophesying. The full model has been revised and argued since Crowley, but a general perspective would be as the table below, starting with the Nameless Aeon and moving through periods of approximately 2,000 years to the yet future Aeon of Maat and beyond.

Aeon Name (Egyptian)

Aeon Title/Nature

Bes Isis

Nameless (Primitive) The Goddess (Agriculture, Tribal) The Dying God (Industry, Science, Religion)[129] The Child (Psychology, the Self, Individualism) Global Consciousness Transcendent, Wordless[130]

Osiris Horus Maat Harpocrates

Time Period

?-1904 1904-?

However, Crowley was not the first esotericist to divide the ages in such a way – in fact he was building on a lesser known stream of Christian theology, influenced by Eliphas Lévi (1810-1875). Lévi used the Joachite teaching that there were three ages corresponding to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost: the Age of the Nettle (Law), Rose (Gospel) and Lily (Spirit); Father, Son and Holy Ghost. These were based upon the teachings of Joachim of Fiorre (1135- 1202).[131] In the following diagram we can see that Joachim taught that the three ages overlapped, and this is an essential part of our Western esoteric concept of the Aeons or the ages – that there are substantial periods of overlap in transition between each Aeon. The signing of the American Declaration of Independence comes at the central point of the overlap between the Age of Pisces and Aquarius, for example. In the illustration, we commence with Adamo (Adam) and the text reads: “Anyone who wants to be saved must first hold strong to their Catholic faith and those who are saved are whole and inviolate / pure and must banish all doubt into forever / eternally.” We see that the purpose of modelling time is to offer some transcendence of it. Above the circles we read: “The darkness was upon us like an abyss, it was an ‘occult’ trial from the realm of death when the time between Adam to Moses was dark. It could not be removed ... therefore it was the darkness of ignorance.” The phrase “Io sono ...” means “I am the Alpha and the Omega” and again shows the divine world as the beginning and end of all time. In fact, the illustration is not just about the passage of time but the “Primo / second / terzo stati ...” – the three states of man. This is the important thing about Aeons: they are recapitulated (played out) in our own personal lives – and the lives of organisations, cultures and social groups. An understanding of this fundamental pattern in the structure of our relationship to time allows the initiate to understand the deeper patterns at work in everyday experience. Ultimately, the continued and long term understanding and observation of those patterns frees the initiate from time itself.

To the right of the circles, we read: “In order for these five ways to be understood, although it is a solo process, it will bring you into communion with all living creatures and the trinity of F, S and HG [Father, Son and Holy Ghost].” The process is seen to be modelling a way of life as well as a cosmic scale of time.

[ILLUS. Joachim Three Trinitarian Circles]

At the far right of Adam, following the circles, we have “fine del mondo” – the “end of the world.” This is the world as it is perceived by the initiate, not the end of the world itself. The text goes on to say: “... with these 7 modes, we are defined as people of God, and we are not alone, but three together in communion.” The modes of comprehending time ultimately lead us to a meta-mind or group consciousness, a theme often seen in many Western esoteric works. Here is how Joachim characterised these ages and gave timeframes: The Age of the Father, corresponding to the Old Testament, characterised by obedience of mankind to the Rules of God. The Age of the Son, between the advent of Christ and 1260, represented by the New Testament, when Man became the son of God. The Age of the Holy Spirit, impending (in 1260), when mankind was to come in direct contact with God, reaching the total freedom preached by the Christian message. The Kingdom of the Holy Spirit, a new dispensation of universal love, would proceed from the Gospel of Christ, but transcend the letter of it. In this new Age the ecclesiastical organisation would be replaced and the Order of the Just would rule the Church. In a commentary on Fiore’s works, the Islamist scholar Corbin remarks, “The three Ages of which Joachim de Flore speaks [of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit] are not successive periods of historical time ... (and Berdiaev observes this in a profound remark ...) ... the three Ages represent unities of existential time, interior time ... The succession of these Ages plays itself out in the interior of souls, in the mystery of each soul ... In historical time in fact these Ages coexist.”[132] This is a most important observation that the Aeons co-exist, and all are accessible to the consciousness of the initiate – including those of the future.

Teilhard de Chardin speaks of the passage of time in similar scales: “... under the commonplace envelope of things and of all our purified and salvaged efforts, a new earth is slowly being engendered.”[133] Each age reaches towards an ultimate parousia, a Greek word for the imminent physical presence of a person – in its common usage, the second coming of Christ. This is worded differently by Terence McKenna in Re-Evolution: Human history represents such a radical break with the natural systems of biological organisation that preceded it, that it must be the response to a kind of attractor, or dwell point that lies ahead in the temporal dimension. Persistently Western religions have integrated into their theologies the notion of a kind of end of the world, and I think that a lot of psychedelic experimentation sort of confirms this intuition, I mean, it isn’t going to happen according to any of the scenarios of orthodox religion, but the basic intuition, that the universe seeks closure in a kind of omega point of transcendence, is confirmed, it’s almost as though this object in hyperspace, glittering in hyper-space, throws off reflections of itself, which actually ricochet into the past, illuminating this mystic, inspiring that saint or visionary, and that out of these fragmentary glimpses of eternity we can build a kind of map, of not only the past of the universe, and the evolutionary egression into novelty, but a kind of map of the future ...[134] In the initiatory work, this same concept is also taken on a personal spiritual level; that we aspire to integrate the Aeons and rise through them, ultimately culminating in our own parousia, when we meet ourselves coming back along the way. As the mystic poet A.E. Waite wrote: I carried the star; that star led me: The paths I’ve taken, of most forsaken, Do surely lead to an open sea: As a clamour of voices heard in sleep, Come shouts through the dark on the shrouded deep. Now it is noon; in the hush prevailing Pipes, harps and horns into flute-notes fall; The sea, conceding my star’s true leading, In tongues sublime at the end of all Gives resonant utterance far and near:“Cast away fear; Be of good cheer; He is here, Is here!”[135]

Having laid out some of the groundwork for understanding the concept of the Aeons, as passages of time and of the soul’s experience, we will now look more particularly at the next Aeon – the Aeon of Maat – to discern what awaits us further along our journey.

Exercise: The Unfinished Universe

Whilst the praxis and techne work in the Neophyte grade of the Crucible Club are most definitely inwardfocused, we also look outwards to the universe in our theoria assignments. In particular, we contemplate the notion of time, and share here one such practice outside the Club. The representation of time is so fundamental to our experience that it is no surprise it features in our magical work almost from the first practice. We attend to a daily practice at a particular time sometimes that practice is to make observations of the Sun, a fundamental marker of time itself. Whilst later work begins to question the other two aspects of the triad of our being – namely self-image, and values and beliefs - we should begin early to question our notion of time. In fact, the successful working of a ritual or divination will have already questioned the basic understanding of how time works, and how events are actually interrelated. We saw with Plato’s conceptualisation of time, that we see a ‘like-ness’ or image of time, spatially moving, in accord with number. Our mind perceives time in terms of space. We talk of looking forwards to a brighter future, or putting the past behind us. It is more interesting too that time – as spatially represented – has what are called modalities or qualities (in NLP), and that these can be changed in our mind. Whilst the future may look dim or it may be bright – these are qualities that are only representations, they are not reality. The most significant modality of space is movement. Here is an exercise: Sit for a moment. Notice that at the present moment, you are present. So is the room. Everything you can sense is here with you now. So is outside. You can extend this outwards in your imagination – the Moon is here with you now, in this present moment, a physical object out there in space. So is the Sun and all the planets, and the galaxy in which we are located and all the galaxies that exist out into the deep field of space. Now consider this, as a moment passes. Where did they all go? As they existed in that space – where are they now? Consider this for a few moments. Start to think about a minute from now. There are things in that space of that minute ahead that exist, will exist, with you in that moment ahead. Now wait for that moment to arrive and acknowledge that you are there, present with those things. Now do the same, but this time, as you wait, consider – and check – this one fact ... do you feel/sense that moment ahead moving towards you as you wait, or are you moving towards it? This simple sensation – this unconscious representation – is almost so fundamental to our sense of reality that it goes unremarked, to my knowledge. And yet it is so powerful when you change it. Whatever way you perceive it automatically (and in my experience, it’s about 50/50 for most people I’ve checked this with), try taking a few moments each day imagining that it is the other way and see how that changes you. You may also be surprised how it filters out into other changes in your behaviour and even actions over the course of a month practising it.

Manifestations of Maat It is evident that Crowley developed his teaching of the Aeons from both Lévi (who took it from Joachim of Fiore) and the Golden Dawn. In fact, in a Golden Dawn original manuscript of The Last Judgement tarot card, we see these Aeonic deities being labelled clearly – which would have no doubt impacted upon Crowley as a young man entering the Order.[136] We will extend this into looking specifically at the Aeon of Maat, and the concept of Maat as it was presented through the Golden Dawn. We will then look at Crowley’s few references to Maat, and her revival in the work of contemporary magicians such as Maggie Ingalls (Soror Nema).

Maat in Ancient Egyptian Cosmology The Goddess Maat, sometimes described as the counterpart of Thoth (God of Scribes and Knowledge), had as her hieroglyph a symbol which represented the straightness of a plinth supporting a throne. From the earliest texts mentioning Maat, where the word is used to denote a concept rather than a personification, the ideas of straightness, uprightness and justness predominated, in the context of morality and natural justice. The goddess Maat is hence a personification of this idea of universal balance. The plinth which is her hieroglyph is also seen as the primeval mound from which the Creator-God emerged, thus indicating that balance pre-existed creation in some manner. Maat, according to Wallis Budge, assisted the Creator-God in the work which was ordered by Thoth, the divine intelligence. In Chapter XV of the Book of Coming Forth by Day, Maat is described as “everlasting and never-changing,” and in symbolic terms, she and Thoth set the course of the Solar Boat of Ra, which is in turn piloted by Horus, Ra’s son. Sometimes Thoth is described as setting forth the boat in the east, whilst Maat receives it in the west; in other texts they both stand either side of Horus on the ‘Holy Barque’ itself. This information may be suitably embodied in rituals and workings of Maat, and can also be used to demonstrate the progression of the Aeons.

Maat’s emblem is the ostrich feather, against which the heart of the deceased is weighed in the Judgement Scene. Cirlot notes that as a determinative sign in hieroglyphic script, the feather enters into such words as ‘emptiness’, ‘dryness’, ‘lightness’, ‘height’, and ‘flight’.[137] The feather as a quill is taken as a symbol of the creative word, which in Ancient Egyptian cosmology was uttered by Thoth, and in Christian terms is the Logos. Often other gods or goddesses were depicted as holding the feather, to symbolise their adherence to Maat. In later texts, Maat was seen as the daughter of Ra, the solar god. Often she, as a feather, was presented to ‘them that love her’, or, as in the Vignette of Chapter XCVII, presented to a god by the deceased, or by another god on behalf of the deceased. This again was in order to represent the petitioner’s adherence to Maat.

Maat in the context of the Golden Dawn Magical Society Maat, as the Goddess of Truth, appears in the rituals of the Golden Dawn. The founders of the Order utilised many aspects of Egyptian cosmology in their teachings and rites from 1888 onwards, although Egyptology as a science was still in its infancy – the great find of Tut-ankhamen’s tomb did not occur until 1922, for example.[138] The Hall of the Neophytes is called (in the Golden Dawn docu- ment Z1), the “Hall of the Dual Manifestation of Truth,” which is a variation on the original translation of “The Hall of Two Truths.” It is here, then, that the Goddess Maat presides, with particular focus through the role of the Hegemon, who is the “presider of equilibrium,” and “reconciler between the light and the darkness.” It is also stated directly that the Hegemon is the “representative of the Goddess of Truth and Justice,” in the form of the name Thmaa-Est. During the initiation ritual itself, the Hegemon – whose name means ‘leader’ – acts as a guide, prompter and answerer for the candidate, and the office is described as being analogous to the higher soul of the candidate. The late Israel Regardie wrote, “the aspiring, sensitive, and the intuitive consciousness, the Neschamah, is represented by the Hegemon who ever seeks the rising of the light.” The Hegemon also carries a sceptre which is a symbol of religion, but not the religion of the masses – rather the religion of one who seeks to align himself to Maat.

This idea of ‘two truths’ can be explained as follows. In Z2, Thoth is invoked as the archetype of the initiation process, and Maat is seen as the expression of that truth in one’s outward dealing with the world. As Soror Nema states, “Magickal Currents and Formulae express the various facets of the eternal truth – each true in its purity, but none encompassing all facets. The whole of truth may be comprehended only when one has transcended particular formulae in one’s world-view ... the eternal truth must be spoken anew for each generation.” Thus, the Ordo Rosae Rubae et Aureae Crucis (‘Order of the Red Rose and Gold Cross’), whilst using essentially the same symbolism as their outer order, the Golden Dawn, would have seen its significance from a substantially different viewpoint. It is here that we can also identify the difference between mysticism and religion – the goal of all mysticism is the magical grade of Ipsissimus; the goal of all religion is to convey that mystical truth in a more tangible form suitable to the time. The ‘word’ of the Maat current is IPSOS (‘self ’), which conveys the idea of a progressive union at an individual level between the paths of religion and mysticism – which all too often are seen as disparate and antagonistic concepts.

Maat and the Aeons Although the word Aeon has many meanings, it is here used to denote the periods of time and types of magical current designated by Aleister Crowley in the early part of the 20th century. This system divides history into approximately 2,000 year blocks. These blocks are assigned the names of Egyptian gods and goddesses which relate to the general magical approaches taken during that time. For example, the Aeon of Isis was matriarchal and based in agriculture, whereas the Aeon of Osiris which followed has been dominated by a number of father gods. Crowley predicted, through his reception of The Book of the Law in 1904, that an Aeon of Horus was starting, which would be the age of the “crowned and conquering child.” This age would be preceded by a phase of destruction and war, and the old concepts of previous generations would be entirely overturned: “... the rituals of the old time are black.”[139] Horus is, like Mars, a God of War and Vengeance, and this was seen by Crowley as fitting for an Aeon of the “Law of the Battle of Conquest.” Crowley made only a few mentions of the Aeon following Horus, for example in a diary entry of 1923, where he refers to a “wordless Aeon,” and in a commentary to The Book of the Law where he states that an Aeon of Maat would follow that of Horus.

However, in 1936 Crowley wrote a letter to Charles Stanfield Jones, a magical student known as Frater Achad, where he admitted the possibility of an Aeon of Maat arriving simultaneously with the Aeon of Horus. It is Frater Achad who first claimed that the Aeon of the Daughter commenced in 1948, and would run parallel to the Aeon of Horus. This is known as the ‘twin current’. He explained this apparent overlap by viewing the cycles of time as running in spirals, so each Aeon runs above and below the others at any given time. However, it was not until the publication of Outside the Circles of Time by Kenneth Grant (1924-2011), another of Crowley’s students, that the idea began to receive wider attention.[140] Indeed, Grant, when writing the earlier Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God (1973), makes no mention of this view – see the chapter, ‘The Angel and the Aeon’ – but saw the Aeon of Maat as an age of synthesis and reintegration following the age of analysis and disintegration presided over by Horus.[141] By 1980, though, in Outside the Circles of Time, the case was being made for a ‘double current’. Although this book is convoluted and obscured by difficult concepts such as the ‘dark side’ of the Tree of Life, and the gematria of the qlippoth, it does serve as a vehicle for the work of Soror Nema, who at that time was a member of the O.T.O. working in the United States. Before moving onto more recent approaches, Aeons then can be summarised as the manifestation of characteristics portrayed by Egyptian deities, and while these archetypal forces are active at all times in human development – past, present or future – at sometimes one or more will predominate either as a reflection of human development at that point, or as a potential avenue for further development.

Soror Nema and Maat Magic On 14 January 1975, Soror Nema (then known as Soror Andahadna) received – in much the same way that Crowley received The Book of the Law – a text entitled Liber Pennae Praenumbra, or The Book of the forthshadowing of the Feather. She writes, “As I began an entry in my diary, Liber PP began writing itself non-stop.” Later, she received what she calls “an unquestionable directive” to forward a copy of Liber PP to Kenneth Grant, with whom she had not previously had contact. Further work led to much of the material found in Outside the Circles of Time, which makes the plea that humankind awakens to Maat through an evolutionary crisis point, ensuring the manifestation of N’aton, a being composed of our global consciousness. [142] This move to a new, racial consciousness is one of the central themes of Maat magic.[143] The social structure of humanity is presented as taking on a new form, bearing similarity with hives, where local communities work together in a self-sustaining framework. This has since been developed to take advantage of network paradigms, and the Internet itself can be seen as such a movement towards global awareness and mutual ‘telempathic’ union. An earlier precedent can be found in the alchemical writings of Sendivogius, talking of the coming of a “fourth age” when “mercy and truth will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from heaven. There will be one shepherd and one fold, and knowledge will be the common property of all without envy. I look forward to all this with longing.”[144]

Meshikan is the name given by Soror Nema to the single city which ‘travels’ in her vision of the future. This is examined in more detail later, but Nema sees that “It [the future species] consists of a planetful of individuals who participate in a gestalt-consciousness which expresses a super-persona, whose name was given as N’Aton.”[145] Of Meshikan, she writes: “Individuals dwell in small enclaves, or Hives, whose populations range from a few hundred to about a thousand. There is but one true city on the planet, Meshikan. It is mounted upon a platform and travels from continent to continent. Its function is to serve as the administrative and archival centre of the Race. In our time, there is no desire to crowd together in cities. We are en-rapport through individual participation in the gestalt. The Hive Temple functions as a centre for religious gathering, artistic display (as a museum/theatre of creative and performing arts), and other local administrative functions.”[146] The name Meshikan may also have a Biblical source: “the second half of the book of Exodus is devoted to a description of the Mishkan. The English translation of this word, ‘tabernacle’, is somewhat archaic and hardly serves to convey a clear meaning, so I will use the Hebrew. ‘Mishkan’ derives from a root meaning ‘to dwell’. It was the focus of spiritual life which enabled God’s presence to dwell amongst the children of Israel in the wilderness, and it became the pattern on which the Temple in Jerusalem was later built. The Mishkan was the transportable tent of meeting between God and the Children of Israel.”[147] This vision is not unique; a member of a group called the Illuminated Congregation of Melchizedek (ICOM) wrote that in the early 1970s he had a series of vivid and related visions and dreams, one of which matches Nema’s description rather perfectly:

In another vision I was a teenager living in France, in a small village, and one day something special happened ... There was a buzz of excitement in the village. The Floating City was coming! I knew this was my opportunity; I was stifled by the village atmosphere and, although I didn’t want to stay on the Floating City, I knew that, if I could get aboard, I would be able to find out about – whatever it was that I was looking for! I did get aboard – but I snapped out of the vision before anything else became clear. There was a lot of other stuff, but it was more emotions and ‘background knowledge’ than events I can describe. While these things were happening to me, my ‘future self ’ was taking stuff for granted that, after I ‘came to’ were incomprehensible. Anyway, I was left with a pile of stuff, that seemed to be clearly about the future, and was coherent in itself, but bore no clear relation to anything that I had read or had been thinking about. I had read a lot of Science Fiction, but even where similar things had happened in books, this had a different quality about it – less real than my ordinary life, but much more real than anything I had imagined while reading – and the whole didn’t fit into any single idea that I had read about. The ‘Floating City’ had no conceivable ancestors except in Gulliver’s Travels – but it wasn’t like my mental image from that book. I didn’t know what to do with the impressions and images, but I couldn’t forget about them, so I just stored them in my head and got on with my life.”[148]

An early article by Soror Nema stressed that “on the individual level, Maat magic is a philosophy of self-discovery through meditation, ritual, experimentation, art and communication. The principles of Maat can and should be applied to every act, from the most rare and exalted to the most mundane.”

Maat Magic Today Maat magic is still developing. Soror Nema published two books, Maat Magic: A Guide to Self-Initiation and The Way of Mystery, in 2003. A number of books have been written that echo the Maat philosophy of social change based upon magical principles. The work covers such authors as the Christian philosopher, Teilhard de Chardin, and futurologists such as Alvin Toffler and Barbara Hubbard. The world of science fiction is also a rich seam, beginning with A.C. Clark’s Childhood’s End. So we can see that from the magical perspective we rise above immediate fads and attachments in contemplation of the movement of humanity through vast Aeons of time. Whether these are characterized by signs of the zodiac, Egyptian deities or plants of the field and garden is useful but secondary. The primary purpose for dwelling and developing these models is to make a state-change in ourselves to put ourselves in the true perspective – that we are here for such a brief moment, and whilst the Aeons pass, every second counts. We will now look at applying the Aeons to real life events at a political level. It is useful to apply the concept of Aeons and their nature to all largescale cultural, artistic, political, and scientific events to see them in a larger perspective and ourselves in a true one in time. We will also introduce and develop the concept of ‘magical currents’.

Whilst Crowley saw the passage of the Aeon of Osiris (the Christian and patriarchal God, the central concepts of sin, sacrifice and salvation) into the Aeon of Horus, he also briefly admitted the possibility of seeing ahead into the Aeon of Maat. It was Crowley’s students and followers, notably Charles Stansfield Jones (Frater Achad) who took this idea and developed it further. In fact, Jones claimed to be the prophet of the incoming Aeon of Maat, and other contemporary writers as we have described, such as Soror Nema, have claimed to be in receipt of ‘communication’ from the future Aeon.[149] These are referred to as magical ‘currents’, both incoming and outgoing, like tides or waves of general change or consensus bound together by common themes, such as the warrior nature of Horus. Some esotericists also believe that the Aeons are ‘parallel’ or ‘dual’ or even multidimensional so that they all exist – in a sense – at the same time. The idea of the ‘dual current’ of Horus and Maat is one that we will apply. On a basic level, the primary difference between the nature of Horus and Maat is that Horus refers to the individual and Maat to the group. Horus is seen as a warrior – fighting for the individual right and even revenge, and Maat is seen as the whole, the measure, by which all stand and are judged. The energy or current of Horus is to be found in both the entrepreneur but also the dictator. The current of Maat is to be found in both the United Nations and crowd hysteria. The development of the Internet is a typical product of the overlap of both currents.[150] You may wish to explore the ancient Egyptian concepts of both Horus and Maat before proceeding to the exercise below.

Exercise: Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech We will now look at the first half of President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech, given on 20 January 2009. You may wish to go through this text with two different coloured highlighter pens, highlighting aspects of the speech that you might consider to be pertaining to the Aeon of Horus and, in another colour, those pertaining to the Aeon of Maat. In both cases you may find both positive and negative aspects of these currents being addressed. For example, the Aeon of Horus may contain the references to strong individualism, but also singular dictators. My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights. Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom. For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished.

But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the Sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do. Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions – who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

The Tree of Life and Kabbalah It is necessary before we commence a description of the initiatory schema to introduce the Tree of Life and kabbalah. As these are the most useful maps of the schema, some knowledge is required for their appreciation. It is not necessary – nor likely – to fully understand kabbalah, which in itself is a lifetime study, even under the tutelage of authentic teachers and scholars, for our work here. It is one of several ways to hold together our thinking and map our experience throughout the initiatory work, and the one we chose to present here first as the most useful. The kabbalah (a Hebrew word meaning ‘handed down’ or ‘oral tradition’) is the term used to denote a general set of esoteric or mystical teachings originally held within Judaism, but later promulgated to a wider audience in the 12th century onwards through centres of learning such as Spain. It consists of a body of teachings and analysis dealing with the nature of the universe, the aspects of divinity and the method of Creation. From this set of teachings is derived the role of man in the revealed scheme of things. The Tree of Life is a common diagram (in variant formats) illustrating the central concepts of kabbalah.

The history of the kabbalah is difficult to fix to dates and linear sequences of succession due to its nature as oral, traditional teachings. Long before printing presses, the kabbalistic teachings were passed from teacher to pupil as oral teachings and collections of manuscripts, which in turn may have been copies of other sets being used by other teachers. The original impulse of kabbalah, however, emerged from a 1st century school of Jewish mysticism termed ‘Merkabah’, meaning ‘chariot’. These mystics utilised secret methods of ‘spiritual ascent’ in order to attain mystical experience. These experiences can be recognised as those common to any modern Adept following the occult initiatory system. For example: “the world changed into purity around me, and my heart felt as if I had entered a new world.” The teachings of the Merkabah mystics became part of the ‘Heikhalot’ school, whose name means ‘palace’, referring to the spiritual planes through which the mystics ascended. The description of these journeys seems to bear similarities to the journey of the soul into the Underworld depicted in the Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Day, with magical words or appropriate names of the gods to be spoken before each door is passed and each palace entered. Three classical texts formulate the basic structure of traditional kabbalah: The Sefer-ha-Zohar, or Book of Splendour – first printed 1558- 1560 and 1559-1560; The Sefer Yetzirah, or Book of Formation – first printed in Mantua, 1562; The Sefer-ha-Bahir, or Book of Light – first printed in Amsterdam, 1651.

The Zohar was written around 1280-86 by Moses b. Shem Tov de Leon in Guadalajara, north-east of Madrid, Spain, where there was a lot of kabbalistic activity at the time. Many of the later kabbalistic schools are formed about these books, finding in them interpretation and meanings revealing the work of God and Creation. The school formed at Safed during the 16th century produced many of the leading thinkers of kabbalah, particularly Rabbi Isaac Luria, called the Ari (1534-1572), and Rabbi Moshe Cordevero, the Ramak (15221570). The former is responsible for much of the current structure and cosmology of kabbalah, as the ‘Lurianic’ school of thought provided answers to many of the more complex issues of kabbalistic thought, particularly relating to the ‘breaking of the vessels’. The next major historical development of kabbalah came with the formation of the Hasidic movement in the mid-1700s, based around the Rabbi Israel, more commonly known as the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760), which means ‘master of the word’, a high mark of respect in kabbalism. Having briefly examined the development of kabbalah within the Judaic mystical tradition, we must now attempt to sketch some of the significant points at which it passed through to the occult tradition, particularly in Europe, and thence to the modern magician.

The kabbalah and its teachings passed across into the magical philosophy primarily by transition through medieval Christian thinkers who saw in kabbalah a model and validation for their own tradition. From the late 15th century Jewish converts to Christianity brought kabbalistic views to the attention of other theologians. A Platonic Academy in Florence, founded by Giovanni Mirandola (1463-1494), furthered research and discussion of kabbalah amongst the philosophers of the time. The later (1516) publication of the Shaarey Orah ‘Gates of Light’ in Latin – brought further interest in the teachings of the Bahir and the fundamental plan of the Tree of Life. The prime source for the precursors of the occult revival were without question Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), a German Jesuit whose Oedipus Ægyptiacus (1652) detailed kabbalah amongst its study of Egyptian mysteries and hieroglyphics, and Cornelius Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia (1533). Other works, such as those from alchemists including Khunrath, Fludd and Vaughan indicated that the kabbalah had become the convenient meta-map for early Hermetic thinkers. Christian mystics began to utilise its structure for an explanation of their revelations, the most notable being Jacob Boehme (1575-1624). However, the most notable event in terms of our line of examination is undoubtedly the publication of Christian Knorr von Rosenroth’s (1636-89) Kabbala Denudata in Latin in 1677 and 1684, which provided translations from The Zohar and extracts from the works of Issac Luria.

It was this work which, when translated into English by S.L. MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918) in 1887 as The Kabbalah Unveiled, alongside already existing translations of The Sepher Yetzirah, provided the kabbalistic backbone of the Golden Dawn Society, from which issued many of the more recent occult kabbalists, such as Dion Fortune (1891-1946) – who summarised the sephiroth in her Mystical Kabbalah (1935) – and Aleister Crowley (1898-1947). The Christian occultist and Golden Dawn member A.E. Waite also produced many works examining the secret tradition of kabbalah. Of these occultists, Gershom Scholem says that they relied more upon their imagination than their knowledge of kabbalah, which he sees as ‘infinitesimal’. Another stream stemming from von Rosenroth’s work came through Eliphas Lévi (1810-75), who became familiar with cabalistic Martinism through Józef Maria Hoene-Wroński (1776-1853), and had read both Boehme and von Rosenroth amongst many others. He also became a student of tarot through the writings of Antoine Court de Gébelin (1725-84), who ascribed to the tarot an ancient Egyptian origin. From de Gébelin and von Rosenroth, Lévi synthesised a scheme of attribution of the tarot cards to the 22 paths of the Tree of Life, a significant development in that it provided a synthetic model of processes to be later modified and used by the Golden Dawn as mapping the initiation system of psychological, occult and spiritual development. Lévi wrote: “Qabalah ... might be called the mathematics of human thought.” Aleister Crowley continued Lévi’s work to some extent in his seminal work on the tarot, The Book of Thoth.

In summary, the kabbalah passed from Judaic tradition through to Christian tradition, and through other flowerings such as the Polish Jewry kabbalistic revival in the 18th century. Many of the early Hermetic scholars and Neo-Platonic thinkers began to merge kabbalah with other doctrines such as alchemy, and later occultists utilised it as a grand plan of spiritual ascent, bringing it full circle to its origins in the chariot riding of the mystics from which the tradition stemmed. It is said by traditional kabbalists and kabbalistic scholars that the occultist has an imperfect knowledge of the Tree, and hence the work of such is corrupt. It appears to me that the kabbalah is a basic device whose keys are infinite, and that any serious approach to its basic meta- system will reveal some relevance if tested in the world about us, no matter how it may be phrased. The first kabbalists cannot be said to have had an imperfect knowledge because they did not understand or utilise information systems theory or understand modern cosmology. Indeed, their examination of themselves and the universe revealed such knowledge many hundreds of years before science formalised it, in the same way that current occult thinking may be rediscovered in some new science 100 or 1,000 years hence. The body of teaching has various traditions and groupings of belief, but most hold as their central model a diagram generally composed of 10 circles joined by 22 lines, entitled the Otz Ch’im or ‘Tree of Life’.

These circles represent the 10 concepts called ‘sephiroth’, a Hebrew word meaning ‘numerical emanations’, and are said to represent every aspect of existence. The lines connecting the sephiroth are termed ‘paths’ and are taken to represent the nature of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which – unlike the letters of English and similar languages – are also concepts and numbers equally. The sephiroth are also seen as paths, and hence the full Tree has 32 paths. To this basic diagram have been attributed various other systems and attributions of elements from other systems. Therefore, the 22 tarot cards have been linked (in various formats) to the paths, the planets, elements, stages of alchemy, and other aspects of esoteric teachings have been linked to the sephiroth. The majority of these attributions are derivations and permutations of those developed by medieval Hermeticists, who painstakingly produced pseudo-scientific tables of every angelic hierarchy, every grade of demon and even the occult connections between rocks and stars. The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer (1801) of Francis Barrett[151] is an example of these tables of correspondence and the occult dictionary 777 by Crowley[152] provides a synopsis of the major systems of magical correspondence (i.e. deities, zodiacal signs, planets, perfumes, colours, numbers, mythical animals, etc.). Such tables were also to be found as early as 1533 in Book II of Agrippa’s Occult Philosophy.[153]

[ILLUS. Tree of Life]

Rather than examining any of these many elements in detail, we will sketch a number of basic concepts that apply throughout any examination of the multiple facets of this meta-system, specifically where recent advances in information technology and related systems have provided new conceptual models and terms for utilising this highly advanced esoteric and mystical framework.

One of the prime tenets of occult belief is the law of correspondence, or ‘like affects like’. This states that due to the inherent unity of all things, certain items and concepts have a type of mutual sympathy, association or relationship. A primal application of this law is seen in the action of the witchdoctor or sorcerer who gains an item belonging to that of the individual he wishes to influence, be it for healing or cursing, or with or without the individual’s knowledge.

[ILLUS. Tree of Life with transliterated Hebrew Letters]

Other more esoteric correspondences are seen across sets of items, for example, numbers, planets, scents, and colours. An example is that the colour green, the number seven and the emotion of love are associated with each and the planet Venus, also viewed as the Greek Goddess of Love. A magician attempting to invoke the influence of this goddess is likely to surround himself with items which resonate with her. This occult idea has a psychological parallel in colour theory, which has demonstrated that certain colours produce changes in our internal physical and psychological states. A biological theory of morphic resonance has recently been postulated as detailing a non-local field which determines the manifestation of living things, and this relies upon a similar basic view of occult interconnectiveness.[154] Although many traditional kabbalists abhor magical systems of correspondence, it is evident that early kabbalists utilised this law in apportioning letters of the Hebrew alphabet to certain aspects of God.

THE INITIATORY JOURNEY “We are in the best possible position because everywhere, below the surface, we do not know; we shall never know why; we shall never know tomorrow; we shall never know a god or if there is a god; we shall never even know ourselves. This mysterious wall round our world and our perception of it is not there to frustrate us but to train us back to the now, to life, to our time being.”[155] — John Fowles, The Aristos

In this section we will introduce the aim, scale and method of the initiatory journey, some of the processes and practices you will undertake, and the nature of the experiences on the way. Most importantly we will discuss the order of revelation, the necessary structure and the signposts with which we navigate. In doing so, we refer to kabbalah and tarot as our map and language, for it is these systems that provide an illustration and description of the journey in the WEIS, particularly that as taught within the OED.

As with all such information, only experience can enliven you and teach you in this Work. We are each our own crucible and alchemical vessel, and our work must be hermetically sealed (with secrecy and silence) in order to accomplish any substantial progress. Our souls must have no leak at the seams.

The Aim of the Initiatory Journey “Initiation refers to the transformation of man into something greater than he was before, an acquisition of new meaning through the realisation that he is more than dust and shadow.” — Nevill Drury, The Path of the Chameleon[156]

The aim of the journey is simply to experience existence as it actually is, prior to all interpretation, as an ongoing state of awareness. It is the culmination of all forms of enquiry, and is the end of all seeking. This is indicated by the god-name which is attributed to the highest sephirah on the Tree of Life, Kether, which is Eheih, meaning ‘I am that I am’ or ‘Existence is Existence’. Crowley put the nature of this experience in his most succinct manner in The Book of the Law: Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and are done; but there is that which remains. (II.9) The experience of this state is best depicted in the late Da Free John’s short piece, ‘The Man of Understanding’. He writes:

The man of understanding is not entranced. He is not elsewhere. He is not having an experience. He is not passionless and inoffensive. He is awake. He is present. He knows no obstruction in the form of mind, identity, differentiation and desire. He uses mind, identity, differentiation and desire. He is passionate. His quality is an offense to those who are entranced, elsewhere, contained in the mechanics of experience, asleep, living as various forms of identity, separation and dependence. He is acceptable only to those who understand. He may appear no different from any other man. How could he appear otherwise? There is nothing by which to appear except the qualities of life ...[157] The accomplishment of this aim – which is also called samadhi, the utmost experience of reality, the knowing of truth, or oneness with the divine – is not the ephemeral experience brought about by peak experiences, drugs or numinous events and epiphanies occurring in life (although these may foreshadow the accomplishment itself). Again, Crowley warns, in his writing on the tarot card of The High Priestess, that: It is important for high initiation to regard Light not as the perfect manifestation of the Eternal Spirit, but rather as the veil which hides that Spirit.[158] Whilst his footnote to this point references ‘Hindu mysticism’ as also stating “[t]he final obstacle to full enlightenment is exactly this vision of Formless Effulgence,” there are parallels earlier in the Western Hermetic tradition:

Thence the human being rushes up through the cosmic framework, at the first zone surrendering the energy of increase and decrease; at the second evil machination, a device now inactive; at the third the illusion of longing, now inactive; at the fourth the ruler’s arrogance, now freed of excess; at the fifth unholy presumption and daring recklessness; at the sixth the evil impulses that come from wealth, now inactive; and the seventh zone the deceit that lies in ambush.[159] Here we see a clear depiction of a way of exhaustion; as each zone or grade is attained, the psychic devices of the ‘earthborn man’ (‘child of earth’ in the Golden Dawn Neophyte initiation) are disabled, in order that the next grade can be attained, and ultimately entry into the ‘Ogdoadic region’ is attained. The aim of the journey is enlightenment, but there are many grades in that spectrum of light.

The Scale of the Journey

Vignette: Frater Ash’s Money Spell When Frater Ash had first started his occult practice at the age of 16, he used a spell from a somewhat tawdry book called Winning With Witchcraft.[160] This was one of the first practical books he had purchased, and it contained a money spell in which the reader was asked to wave a silver coin at the Moon and chant something like “money, money come to me ...” or similar. Frater Ash duly took a 5p coin and shook it that night at the Moon, chanting very earnestly. The following morning at breakfast, his father said to him, “You know, last night when I was out, taking your grandfather to his meeting, he gave me this £5 note for the travel. I said I wouldn’t take it but he insisted. Here, you have it.” And the thing that went through the young spellcasters head was not “It worked!” but rather, “What would have happened if I had waved a 10p coin?”

The journey is the task of your lifetime and has no set periods of time, although some stages are more predictable than others as to their likely duration. Some stages are dependent upon your background and others depend on grace. We will see that the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn offered grades to students within several months of the preceding grade, although placed a nine-month minimum on the Portal grade – a significant grade between the Outer and Inner Order. In practice, it is my experience that in most cases, several years may be required between grades. In a work of this scope, the normal process of ageing is a key component of the spiritual work. The everyday experience of life provides more opportunities to learn and grow in wisdom and understanding (on the Tree of Life: Malkuth, experience; Chockmah, wisdom; Binah, understanding), and growth comes from this constant teaching. The contemporary mystic Bernadette Roberts, in her Experience of No-Self and Path to No-Self, writes of the mystical path being undertaken naturally as we age, if we are open to it.[161] Inevitably, physical birth is a primary initiation, and death a sacrifice of the self. We have no choice in this matter. The patience required to make progress is phenomenal and this is in part why the first grades are extremely slow and require discipline and dedication. To some extent, these train the faith of the candidate. We must remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. One of my teachers once said, “Hope is waiting for the bus because you are at a bus station and have read the bus timetable. Faith is getting on the bus.”

The Method of the System Gradibus ascendimus, ‘ascending by degree’. The method of the initiatory system is both synthetic and analytic, in constant application. It brings ideas and experiences together and it breaks them apart, repeating and recycling. This is indicated by the lower paths of the Tree of Life, corresponding to the tarot trumps The Last Judgement (analysis and action), The Universe/The World (synthesis) and The Moon (cyclic patterns). This is the secret formula known as Quesheth, ‘the Rainbow’, in the teachings of the Order of the Golden Dawn, based upon the corresponding three Hebrew letters of Qoph (The Moon), Shin (The Last Judgement) and Tau (The Universe/The World) spelling the Hebrew word for bridge or rainbow. The founders of the Golden Dawn said that this was one of their most important secrets, although they never indicated exactly why it was so. As a result of this approach, the method of the system is one of exhaustion. I term it a via exhaustio, a “’way of exhaustion’. It is not a straight and direct path, but more of a labyrinth with many turns, unclear journeys and returns. On the positive side, it often has sudden revelations, experiences of being closer to the centre even when not, and the knowledge of those who are returning from dead ends to assist you towards not wasting your own time. The initiatory experience is best mapped by the revolutionary conceptual model of Catastrophe Theory, first brought to the initiatory scheme by Pete Carroll in Psychonaut.[162] This shows how the ‘slopes of stability’ can suddenly (yet predictably) be breached by total collapse and state-change. [163]

In the tarot, The Hierophant and The Hanged Man are the most appropriate cards for depicting the method; the former, a revealer of the sacred mysteries, and the latter, the sacrifice that must be made in order to receive those mysteries. One is the teacher, who must interface with the divine and maintain position as a bridge, the other is the candidate or initiate, whose world must be turned upside down.

Practices of the Curriculum The practices of the curriculum vary from order to order and individual to individual. They may be given in order or simultaneously, and some may be seen as mandatory and some optional. The very nature of the grades means that some practices may have different impact dependent upon the timing of the practice within the initiatory journey. It is this latter fact that means that the curriculum remains secret even if every part of it is made available. There are basic ritual practices, such as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and more complex versions such as the Ritual of the Hexagram. Without understanding correspondence – truly the greatest and yet most obvious secret of the WEIS – these rituals are merely empty formulations and activities. Yet without ritual, the learning of correspondences becomes mental drivel, and worse, becomes a driver away from the simple truth, not towards it. There are observations, such as that of the Sun, Liber Resh (or the Hymnodia, the Hermetic version adopted by the Aurum Solis Order) and of the Moon, Liber Lunae. There are also meditative and constant practices to be observed at various times, such as the Liber Jugorum practice, which is a form of yoga applied to the body, mind and habits. These practices build cumulatively. They build mainly in the lower grades to fit the person to perform the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, the six month working which (by grace) accomplishes the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel (HGA). At that point, and thereafter – if the preliminary work has been performed the curriculum becomes self-evident.

Syllabus of Study The books and reading material for the WEIS are drawn from a range of disciplines and some are given in the reading list at the end of this present volume. These have been generally graded by both subject matter and the grades of initiation. However, due to the nature of the curriculum, certain books have not been listed in order to ensure that they are made available at the most appropriate time for the student. Whilst many books (and book learning generally) will provide a flavour of the Work, some are better read whilst experiencing the subject matter, or in some cases as a seed for that experience at a later time. Some books will make no sense at all until long after a particular experience has been assimilated.

Apprenticeship and Teaching The concept of apprenticeship has almost vanished from Western society outside of specialist trades and certain professions. In our educational system, we are taught from the outside in, and the modes of learning are constrained within propositional knowledge and logico-deductive reasoning. We rarely learn how to be creative, intuitive, nor regarding the nature of belief, our place in the world, and the nature of awareness and our relationship to the universe. To find an authentic teacher requires that they be experienced in the journey. A wonderful demonstration of this journey and the role of the teacher (and the outcome) is to be found in the film, The Silent Flute (1978, also known as Circle of Iron). This was co-writtten by martial artist Bruce Lee, drawing upon Taoism, Zen and the teachings of Krishnamurti. Our resistance to a teacher is profound, for we are taught a lack of trust in our own early educational experience. The gifted C.S. Nott, a student of G.I. Gurdjieff, whilst talking about how Gurdjieff ’s teachings would often provoke friction, also writes:

In my childhood, and indeed later on in life, all sorts of persons, from my parents to my superior officers in the army, were constantly telling me what to think, feel and do. Outwardly I accepted their views, inwardly I doubted them: I doubted whether they were speaking from inner conviction due to direct experience. Now I had met a man who, I was convinced, was speaking from his own experience when he pointed out my faults and weaknesses. By his own efforts he had overcome these things, and he fully understood my needs. The older pupils also, when they answered my questions about the system, spoke only from their own direct experience. [164] The roles of teacher and student in the WEIS are complex and mutable. Whilst we have no formal mystery school or guild structure, the OED does operate according to a graduated system of teaching and this is paramount to the success of the Work. The nature of hierarchy and control is moot, in that any self-organising and natural process has an inevitable hierarchy of function.[165]

The Structure of the Tree, Sephiroth and Paths The most important thing to remember on the path of the Adept is that the journey is not simple nor is it linear. The idea of the Fool’s journey in the tarot is a relatively contemporary gloss, and somewhat reductionist when applied to the complexities of life and mystical experiences and progression. There are many people who have had one or more of the many varieties of mystical experience but have not performed particular rites, rituals, practices, or permutations to achieve such results. Sometimes one may try a particular practice and not gain any result, only to return to it sometime later and immediately achieve the goal. The map of progression modelled by the tarot on the Tree of Life is far more flexible and comprehensive for our particular requirements as practitioners of the Western esoteric path. We can use the map for locating ourselves and our experience, for formulating the next steps and for understanding where we have already travelled. This is paramount to a stable and progressive system, and one’s experience. Without a map, we may easily travel in circles or be unable to recognise a landmark as indicating our next route. So the Tree provides an indication of the grades of primary state awareness – the sephiroth – and the paths indicate the lessons that we must learn and the experiences we will encounter. As a predictive model, it also allows us to get a sense of what lies ahead of us, and to navigate towards those signposts.

As an example, we might look at the grade of Practicus on the Tree of Life, corresponding to the sephirah of Hod. This sephirah connects up the Tree to Geburah (via The Hanged Man) and Tiphhareth (via The Devil). It connects across to Netzach (via The Blasted Tower) and down to Yesod (via The Sun) and Malkuth (via The Last Judgement). So we read these cards as certain experiences, challenges and lessons which will correspond to this stage of the Great Work.

Signposts Along the Way Initiatory experiences are profound and incontestable. If you are unsure of the nature of what appears to be such an experience, it is likely that it is not initiatory. Whilst there are many experiences along the way, there are 10 significant signposts that have been identified within the WEIS, in accordance with the map provided by the Tree of Life, attested by experience and in comparison with any who have successfully navigated the journey in part or completion. These signposts are called the grades and relate to significant changes of state, with resultant change of attitude (asana) to the world, relationships and activity. These cascade down into every area of life, provoking change in behaviour and influencing the criteria by which all decisions are made. Often an initiatory experience requires considerable time and effort to be fully integrated into one’s life. Most significantly, these signposts are evident because they cause a fundamental shift in one’s own self-being, and relationship to the universe. They are significant because they lead to an increasingly comprehensive, consistent and congruent perspective – this latter word from the Latin, meaning to ‘see through’. The signposts, arrayed on the Tree of Life, can also be seen and experienced as shifts in dynamic – they are like breathing – we move from active/passive, in/out, self-willed/surrendered in a constant dance up the Tree. The nature of each grade also shifts between self-work and grace, all precisely mapped by the layout of the Tree itself.

In this kabbalistic diagram, we can see intimations of this journey, entirely independent of other common formulations as found in the Golden Dawn or a century earlier in the German Order of the Gold and Rosy Cross. It comes from an illustration in a Syriac Bible, dated around 1555.

[ILLUS. Syriac Bible Tree of Life]

In Malkuth, the grade of Zelator, we see the image of the Grail, the cup, being connected to the Heart of the Christ figure on the cross. This is symbolic of the heart of the Zelator, the enthusiasm being awakened – already from the Tiphareth centre which is also drawn to the same position on the Christ figure. The Golden Dawn stated that the lower grades in a sense “quitteth not Malkuth” and that in Tiphareth, the grades were subdivided into recapitulating each of the lower grades. Here we see that idea in diagrammatic form – indeed, there is a ladder with rungs in the grade of Tiphareth, as we see in this illustration. In Yesod, we see the grade of Theoricus. There is now a figure bearing the weight of the world upon his shoulders. This is the same world that we see below the Tree of Life in the illustration, lit by the fire which has now become the slow burning fire of calcination in the life of the Adept. The Theoricus has realised that the world is their own projection, and must exhaust this state before making any progress. The line is drawn to connect this sephirah to the genitals of the figure, indicating the generative nature of this grade as well as its primary attachment to sexuality. The remaining illustrations will be covered as we progress through describing each grade in their respective volumes. There are many reasons to follow teachings and experiences of the WEIS. The most of all is that even if the world is a material, non-spiritual and ‘entirely as it appears to be’ place, to which the ultimate end for all of us is simply termination, then those of us practising the WEIS will have more fun, more interest, more expansive experiences, higher highs, and lower lows than most. Then we’ll die just like everyone else.

THE CLOUDS ASTONISHED: A HERMETIC AND GNOSTIC UNIVERSE

There are other reasons to follow this path, and it is a path of historic tradition. We sometimes see something other than what appears to be happening in our everyday life – a glimpse of another reality, one infused with spiritual depth and a quality of life that has no equal in mundane experience. Although many shrug off these experiences and return to their normal state, for some of us these moments provide insight into a more desirable world – one in which we truly experience ourselves and Nature in unity and truth.

This experience and seeking is neither new nor ancient; references to such matters occur in the oldest texts of mankind and the latest popular films alike. Let us take an experience where time appears to stand still, and the mind begins to function in an almost godlike manner, transcending everyday experience and effecting superhuman change. We see this in the 1999 film, The Matrix, where the hero, Neo, achieves the ability to stop time and even halt bullets flying through space at the exact moment he accepts the nature of the reality in which he has been imprisoned. We also see this in an ancient Gnostic gospel (more on Gnosticism later) attributed to James: At the hour of the Nativity, as Joseph looked up into the air, ‘I saw’, he says, ‘the clouds astonished, and the fowls of the air stopping in the midst of their flight ... And I beheld the sheep dispersed ... and yet the sheep stood still; and I looked into a river, and saw the kids with their mouths close to the water, and touching it, but they did not drink. These moments lead to fundamental questions: what is real and what is going on? Who and what are you? Why are we here, and what – actually – is here? Where does time come from? Why are we unhappy? What is change and why does it hurt? These questions and all those others are what lead us at last to the Crucible – the place where we test ourselves and our apparent knowledge of the universe in which we have found ourselves. It is our profound wish that you test yourself and make your own historia – enquiry – into the nature of yourself and the universe. To this end we have provided this and subsequent volumes, combining teaching, practice and contemplation in order to assist your enquiry. On the Lo ss an d R e c ov ery of the Soul

We first learn two Greek words, which you will not often find in modern books on esotericism or magick, but which are fundamental to our initiatory tradition: ἀ νάμνησις (anamnesis) and μετάνοια (metanoia). These ideas are a touchstone and foundation to all later work and it is important that we learn them now for later reference as we progress. Anam n e s i s : T h e Loss of F orget f u l n ess of the Soul Anamnesis literally means ‘recollection’. It is a term used by Plato and by the later commentators on Plato, called the Neo-Platonists. In our context here, it signifies that the work in which we are engaged is to bring about a state which we already exist within – not a new state which must be created out of nothing. We aspire to a pre-existing state, not a new one. Therefore our work is one of subtraction, not addition. We do not – and must not – fall into the trap of doing more, thinking more, buying more, for its own sake. We aim to strip away the illusion (seek beyond the Veil of Isis, if you like), not to add more illusions on top of the present one. Thus, all rituals and practices are tools – steps on a ladder – and nothing more. Those who get trapped by their own ego are to be seen discussing the ‘correct’ way of performing rituals, or mired in the minutia of the performance, and never transcend the tool itself, which becomes another trap. Our process is one of exhaustion. We rule out the dead ends and blind alleys, until what is left is the inevitable and easily taken strait and narrow way. As the author Philip K. Dick put it, “The Exit Door Leads In.”[166] Here follows a parable of our intended work in the Crucible.

Parable: The Discovery of Darkness She had lived in this room since her eyes were opened and her voice gave forth words in which the room had found its description. It was a well-lit room, for which she was glad, and she made it so increasingly. There were many sources of light, it seemed, both within her control and not. There were globes that spun lazily out of reach, with their dark green hue and random glimmers; candles whose flames burnt straight as hot spearheads; lanterns and torches; bulbs that beckoned and beacons that bloomed; an array of incandescent shafts that cut through the still air. In such a room she came to be, and made her home. All in avoidance of shadows, which she feared and hated. Oftentimes, should a source of light give up its fragile hold, she would replace it with another. In this manner she came to understand that there could never be enough light in the room; once full, adding further light made no difference. In this there was revelation. And finally, she came to see that the sources of light were never exhausted. So slowly, fearfully, she put out the lights, one by one; some by a mere whisper of breath, and they fluttered out like bright butterflies, others took trials to reach and break. Others required subtle craft and trickery, puzzles in the making and breaking. Yet others went of their own accord, only to return later, renewed and resplendent.

So it came that there was only one solitary light left, one flame burning in the centre (perhaps, it was hard to tell in that final absence of other light) of the darkness. Surely she had made some mistake; the dark and the doubt assailed her. But she had come to a place of no choice; that light would surely not sustain her for long. So she reached out and placed her hand on the flame, killing it before remorse could claim her, or some other sudden emotion. And once that last light was extinguished, it seemed as if her very life had gone with it. In that darkness was seen a light; a crack around a door. A door leading out.

Metanoia: The Recovery of the Soul through Initiation Metanoia literally means ‘changing the mind’. Here it refers to the magical process of initiation – a word which means ‘to begin’. Throughout life, you may glimpse initiatory moments, where insight provides a sense of a new way of looking at the world. Initiations are the fundamental stages – steps and building blocks of magical progress – mapped in our tradition to the Tree of Life. In Christian theology, metanoia is often seen as a form of repentance, and in psychoanalysis it is viewed by Jung as a form of breakdown and recovery in the healing of the psyche.[167] In our context, it is a combination of both these levels, psychological and religious – the process of initiation restores a level of awareness that transcends previous states by being more consistent, comprehensive and congruent to the universe, albeit brought about by a breakdown of the previous psyche and a new viewpoint on the previous state. In each of our grade volumes we will look at an illustration of this process of change, referred to in our system as the ascent narrative. The most present symbol of this process and method is the ladder – which will we see in many forms. However, here we depict the pilgrim reaching out of the known world into the worlds beyond, in a woodcutting dated from around 1888 or earlier, called the Flammarion woodcut.

[ILLUS. The Pilgrim “Peering through the Cosmic Sphere,” from L'atmosphere: Meteorologie Populaire, Paris 1888, Camille Flammarion]

Traditions and Paths The WEIS comprises an evolutionary synthesis of many paths and traditions, some of which are, in turn, mutable and have many variations. This makes it difficult to precisely define what is commonly understood by Western esotericism. Does it include New Age ideas about dolphins and crystals, or Eastern ideas about chakras? Does it involve magic, and if so, what does that term mean? If I am initiated into one group, can I transfer my learning to another group? In the OED, we are not overly concerned with definitions; a broad experience will suffice for a while until we look for clearer signposts. However, we should note that the teachings stem from sources in the Western philosophical and religious systems, even if they were divorced from those systems over time and sidelined out of the mainstream. These systems include those denoted in general by the terms Gnostic (religious), Hermetic (magical) and Neo-Platonic (philosophical). It is in these wide currents of thought that Western esotericism runs, enabling us to form concepts such as ‘many worlds’, ‘initiation’ and ‘hierarchies’, and to make practices such as ‘ritual’, ‘divination’ and ‘visualisation’. We will very briefly point out a few of the concepts drawn from these three systems, which are covered in more detail in following volumes of the Magister.

Gnosticism Although there were no groups actually calling themselves Gnostic, there were a body of sects and groups around the time of Christ which developed an astonishing multitude of philosophies about the world. These systems, later labelled heretical and expunged from Christian belief, represent a more direct path of mystical experience, and have been grouped together as Gnostic on the basis of their stress upon the import of individual salvation through direct knowing – or gnosis. The Western esoteric tradition takes this more Gnostic approach by equally stressing that one must experience the world directly as an exemplar of the hidden reality – the true meaning of occult. Another common Gnostic idea which is shared by many of the variants of the Western esoteric tradition is that the world as it appears is an illusion or is not real. The Gnostics talked of a Demiurge – a ‘creator’ God who created the manifest world as a sin against the ‘true’ unmanifest God. Hence, the world as we live in it is a prison of the soul. This is an ancient idea that has been given a contemporary gloss by authors such as Philip K. Dick and films such as The Matrix.

Neo-Platonism The Neo-Platonic philosophers provide much of the groundwork and structure in which our thoughts in esotericism are placed. As mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) remarked, we are all, in our Western thinking, “footnotes of Plato.” The doctrines of Neo-Platonism provide us our occult ideas of hierarchies – and hence ‘realms’ (for angels or demons, devas or fairies), correspondence – and hence the rationale of much ritual, and the relationship of the soul to the universe.

Hermeticism The revival of teachings labelled ‘Hermetic’, ascribed to the ancient philosopher Hermes Trismegistus, was seen as so important during the Renaissance that one of the leading scholars was taken off a project translating Greek philosophy to translate the Hermetic writings that had been rediscovered at that time.[168] These writings are compiled in a work called the Hermetica, although the central teachings which have been taken into esoteric teaching are succinctly presented in a brief text called the Emerald Tablet. This work contains the source for the famous line “as above, so below” which appears in alchemical works and then later in most esoteric teachings. We present below the whole text of the Emerald Tablet for your study and contemplation.

The Emerald Tablet We provide below one translation of the Emerald Tablet, a short text which provides a summary of Hermetic teaching. It is an unusual text which has survived and permeated many works, whilst remaining ambiguous. It is certainly a text which should be contemplated rather than studied; reflected upon rather than analysed. If you take up this reflection, you may wish to record your responses in your journal.

The Emerald Tablet True, without falsehood, certain and most true, What is Below is like what is Above; and what is Above is like what is Below; for performing the miracles of the One Thing. And as all things were from the one, by the mediation of the one; so all things were born from this one thing by adaptation. Its Father is the Sun, its Mother is the Moon, the Wind carried it in its belly. Its Nurse is the Earth. It is the father of all the perfection of the whole world. Its power is Absolute. If it is turned into earth, you will separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, smoothly and with great cleverness. It ascends from earth into heaven, and again descends to earth, and receives the power of those things above and those below. In this way you will have the glory of the whole world!

Therefore all obscurity shall flee from you. It is the strong fortitude of all fortitude; because it will overcome every subtle thing and penetrate every solid. In this way the world was created. From it there will be wonderful adaptations, of which this is the method. And so I am called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the Philosophy of the whole world. What I have said concerning the operation of the Sun is completed. [169]

THE INITIATORY MAP OF THE MAJORS ON THE TWO TREES

In this section we will sketch out the map of the initiatory journey as depicted in its earliest stages of magical progress, and then alternatively from the viewpoint of mystical and spiritual experience. The two maps here are simply two views of the same journey – perhaps the latter is from a higher perspective, yet both provide useful models. They will both be examined in more detail in subsequent volumes, which might be considered 10 further vantage points from which we can pause and view the same landscape.

There are a multiplicity of arrangements of the 22 tarot Major cards and their positions on the 22 paths of the Tree of Life. It can be seen as an ‘ultimate secret’ that there is some ‘true’ or ‘initiated’ arrangement that will explain everything to everyone, an esoteric equivalent to a Grand Unified Field Theory or Theory of Everything. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case – there are as many arrangements of one map to another as one cares to construct. The question is their pattern and their utility; on what relationship are the correspondences created and what purpose do they serve? I covered this briefly in our work on the Waite-Trinick Tarot and wish to return to it here in more detail; presently two maps, one magical (the Golden Dawn arrangement) and one mystical (the Waite-Trinick).[170] The Golden Dawn ‘magical’ model is based upon a relationship of numerical attribution to the Tree of Life, layered with astrological and Hebrew letter correspondences, whereas the Waite-Trinick ‘mystical’ model is based upon correspondences to Waite’s version of Christian mysticism, allied with the kabbalistic mysticism of the Sepher Yetzirah, or Book of Formation. There is a third map I will come to consider – the ‘transcendent’ model – which we detail towards the final volume of The Magister. These maps provide a route plan for life lived according to their principles. As both a map and model they are predictive and can be used to formulate our route more effectively. They are also ‘self-generating’ maps in that our experience becomes a living feature of the map itself, and sometimes the map projects itself in a surreal fashion into our life.[171] Alternate versions of this map may be discovered in a number of works, including Charles Stansfeld Jones (Frater Achad) and William G. Gray, both of whom, amongst many others, have ‘restored’ the correspondences to their own particular mappings.[172]

Each of the three Trees of Life we will describe – the Tree of the Dawn (Golden Dawn/magical), the Tree of the Sanctuary (Fellowship of the Rosy Cross/mystical) and the Tree of Everlasting Day (OED/transcendent) – can be considered the scaffolding which supports the Work of the Worker, and then is dismantled when that work is complete. They provide a framework for the recognition of what is the important signal amongst the noise; that which must not be allowed to become part of the noise itself – for in that moment, all is lost.

The Tree of the Dawn At the portal of the mysteries, we stand in the Outer Courtyard, utterly unknowing of the journey ahead. We do not yet know of our illusionary perception of the world, we know not that what we are will be destroyed, and we have not yet heard the voice in the silence, or seen the Sun at midnight. These vague intimations seem like parables, metaphors, nonsensical or disconnected symbols – we have not even yet taken to believe that they are accurate descriptions of real events that will transpire within our very soul. Indeed, although our soul is constantly communing with the divine, and telling us, ‘it is love and it is true’, we do not yet know it. We are a child of Earth, and the “light shineth in the darkness but the darkness comprehendeth it not.”[173] Ahead of us stand three paths, and they are marked by the tarot symbols of The Last Judgement, The World and The Moon. As we are in the world (and must become ‘not of it’) we tread this path first, seeking the answers to our questions in the mundane and material, in the world of action and activity. At last, we come to exhaust these enquiries, and realise that this way has no end, no possibility for answers at all. The Work of the Zelator is completed by this constant activity and enquiry no matter its content. So we return, and try to renew ourselves; we pretend to be one thing after another – we take on roles and characters inside our heads and in The Last Judgement card we are seen to be reborn. We do stuff. Perhaps, too, we try to look deeply inside ourselves – The Moon path on the other side of the Tree, responding to the pillar of Force, by using every prompt from the outside as a question for our inner nature.

This great triad, corresponding in this Tree to the Hebrew letters QShTh, the Rainbow, generates the Veil (of Paroketh) in its inbalance, and The Blasted Tower (‘revelation’) path in its balance. We think we see, but only through a glass, darkly.[174] We must exhaust the outer and inner enquiries and work before returning to the world – and then we can make progress up that path. It is only in returning to our previous attempts that we can make progress, as nothing is by chance – every moment the door is open. So the grade of Zelator is one of constant enquiry and work, which appears to be constructing something but is rather destroying it; depicted by The Blasted Tower. We can use the map to recognise what is activity, and what is cyclic repetition (habit), and engage in activities that, whilst based in rote learning or repetition, are aligned to the grade. This is why so much early practice is relatively simple and demands constant discipline – we are usurpring the natural state of the Zelator by sneaking in new constructs into the existing patterns and mistaken processing. These constructs can then be utilised to deliver the next stage and then removed from practice.

The Zelator will complain that they are getting nowhere – their patience will be tested, and they will grow restless and bored. They will become frustrated, and this frustration is the very fuel which powers the engine of change, if it is timed correctly by their initiator. We see much in the alchemical process of calcination that depicts this grade.[175] It is recommended in the OED that students work with the Tree of the Dawn for several years, establishing its patterns in their awareness, so that when later experiences at the Adept grade upturn this model, the Tree of the Sanctuary opens itself up. In re-learning a new system of correspondences at that stage, the initiate maintains some congruency with their experience, without being lost. The maps relate to real (albeit magical or mystical) experience and their utility is not without cause.

The Tre e of the Sanctuary In what we here call the mystical Tree of the Sanctuary, originally developed by A.E. Waite for his Fellowship of the Rosy Cross (FRC), we see an alternate pattern of correspondences. Here the three lower paths are illustrated by The Tower, The World (as per the Tree of the Dawn) and The Star. In the mystical perspective, our journey is accompanied by the presence of the Shekinah, a term for the presence of God, usually denoted as feminine. Whilst this presence has no form, it is depicted here as the woman – and elsewhere in the Waite-Trinick Tarot images. The World is the feminine expression of the divine, to which is our primary relationship. In a sense, this path is that of the place of paganism in our system. Whilst appearing at the commencement of our journey, it is never relegated, constantly reminding us of our relationship to Nature herself as an exemplar of the divine. It is the relationship that supports the whole of the Tree of the Sanctuary. The path of The Tower shows that we realise we have built an entirely false construct to this point, as we step from the magical way to the mystical appreciation. The lightning flash destroys our attachments; our three false selves (sense of self, sense of other, sense of relationship) are removed from their pinnacle, and replaced with a new vision. That vision is depicted by The Star, whose waters bring the divine to Earth. In her light we now tread, using the ‘one star in sight’ as our primary beacon, guide, navigation, and measure. There becomes nothing else in life other than the service of this light.

These are the three images that light the way for the mystical experience, illustrated by this version of the Tree. In subsequent volumes we will explore these paths in detail.

A Map of the Spiritual Mountain in the Minors When considering the spiritual levels of tarot, the rich tapestry of the Majors can provide all the archetypal fabric we require to describe any profound vista of the soul.[176] Toni Gilbert provides us a wonderful survey of the Majors for healing and spiritual growth in Messages from the Archetypes and briefly presents the Minor cards in two levels, an upper and a more ‘primitive’ enactment of their archetypal energies.[177] Madonna Compton deals exclusively with the Majors in her Archetypes on the Tree of Life: The Tarot as Pathwork.[178] So what of the Minors? What do they have to tell us about our spiritual path? From a Hermetic perspective, when arrayed on the Tree of Life, the Minor cards correspond with the four worlds and the 10 sephiroth - four levels of 10 descending (and ascending) energies. They run from the Ace down to the 10, in each number descending from the Wands, through the Cups, Swords and finally to the Pentacles. These are the four worlds of kabbalah, whose names are given here purely for reference: Wands

Atziuluth

World of Emanation

Cups

Briah

World of Creation

Swords

Yetzirah

World of Formation

Pentacles

Assiah

World of Action

Students of Tarosophy will recognize these four worlds as the four levels of tarot card interpretation: literal (Assiah), symbolic (Yetzirah), extended (Briah), and secret (Atziluth). We can also give the names of the sephiroth and their numbers which provide a key phrase together with the world (suit) in which that number sits, informing the nature of the card. This was expressly utilised in the tarot of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley. 10. Malkuth – Kingdom 9. Yesod – Foundation 8. Hod – Glory 7. Netzach – Splendor 6. Tiphareth – Beauty 5. Geburah – Strength 4. Chesed – Mercy 3. Binah – Understanding 2. Chockmah – Wisdom 1. Kether – Crown So this allows us to see, through correspondence, that the 6 of Pentacles is the ‘Beauty of Action’ which gives a far deeper interpretation of that card in a reading. In taking these higher meanings, we can more easily apply them to even the most mundane of situations which are their lower reflection. Another example might be the 3 of Swords, which here is now the ‘Understanding of Formation’, showing how that card depicts the painful realisation that whatever is formed, is separate.

You can now go through the 40 Minors yourself and see how this generates meaning for the cards from these key words. In this schema we commence with the Ace of Wands at the very highest level of divinity, descending all the way down through 40 gates to the 10 of Pentacles, the grossest matter. And here is the Hermetic mystery enshrined more than ever – that ‘as above, so below’. In kabbalah it is said that ‘Kether is in Malkuth, and Malkuth is in Kether’, and in alchemy, “the heaven is in the earth, but after an earthly manner; and that the earth is in the heaven, but after a heavenly manner.”[179] So the Ace of Wands is the ‘creative beginning’ of pure spirit and the 10 of Wands is the card of ‘great financial stability’ and final manifestation. [180] The 40 gates of the Minors are arrayed between these poles. Out of interest, in the extremes of this arrangement, when we see the upper world of the Wands in the lowest sephirah, the 10, there is “Ruin of all plans and projects. Complete disruption and failure.”[181] The highest Ace in the lowest world, Pentacles, is better dignified, for in it we see the “lilies of spiritual thought”[182] growing in its garden. Some suits (worlds) support a better dignity to different ranges of number (energy) in the context of this mapping.

In using this map of 40 gates, we can plot a spiritual path up the flanks of Mount Carmel (see The Interior Castle or The Mansions by St. Theresa, and The Mystical Doctrine of St. John of the Cross), commencing our ascent with the 10 of Pentacles and aiming our vision on the Ace of Wands. We will first sketch out some of the significant points of this path by looking at the four 10s as our starting position, and then take a more detailed trip up the entire Tree in the highest world, the Wands. Firstly, we will summarise the entire journey. 10 of Pentacles: It ends, as it began, in a garden. In our everyday experience, we are furtherest, yet closest to the light. As it is said, “The light shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not.” This card shows our sleeping state – and yet from this we can awaken, it is a full circle. The Gnostics say, “One by one, we are taken out of the world.” There is also a secret teaching embedded in this card as depicted by Waite and Colman-Smith. The young child looking back out at us is he who grows up to be The Fool. He clutches at the dog that will accompany him on his entire spiritual journey. It is his first (and last) attachment – faith.[183] Whether you have faith in your family, friends, material wealth, or wisdom, it is all the same in the Abyss – nothing. The child takes a white rose from this garden of matter in the 10 of Pentacles and at last gives it to heaven in the final card of the journey, The Fool. As Waite says in describing The Fool, this is a cyclic process: “The sun, which shines behind him, knows whence he came, whither he is going, and how he will return by another path after many days.”[184]

10 of Swords: Our next step is that of realisation of our intellectual attachments, and how these pin our body to the ground of matter. These too will have to be transcended in the Great Work. The card shows us how these inner voices fixate us and provide a mantra of attachment even in our most inner environment. There will be pain removing these inner voices, as many of them have been there for a long time. 10 of Cups: The illusion of happiness in attachment – we see here on closer examination that it is only a stage set; a fiction. Some day that curtain will be drawn up, and nothing will be saved. The Sufis say, “You only truly possess what you would not lose in a shipwreck.” It will take a great force of will to see through this façade. 10 of Wands: Here we see the highest expression of energy in the lowest world. We struggle constantly in a world of duality to meet our own expectations, values and standards. We are always working towards some goal or another, blindly and valiantly. Yet this is not the answer – the 10 must become the 1; those Wands must be pulled together and bound into one true thing, held not by ourselves but by the divine. Here is the short-cut of initiation and mystical insight; that all that we fight is our false sense of self and all that arises from that mistake. Only we can lay our own burden down and release ourselves. As Da Free John simply says, “Avoiding relationship?”[185] We will now provide key concepts for the remaining cards in the spiritual ascent journey, demonstrating how they show a progressive development of the soul. Again, we know not if this were intended, nor does it particularly matter – we read the design as it is read. Those who study the initiatory system through kabbalah will recognise the grade system experiences in these descriptions.

9 of Pentacles: The garden of security is now revealed. Do we take off and fly or live in the uncomfortable knowledge that there is simply more than this to our lives? 9 of Swords: The constant shocks of life cannot be

blanketed forever –

and even if so, they lead to our death. No matter how painful, we must face the truth of our lives. 9 of Cups: Then we begin to see our own smugness and ego games, and in doing so start to be removed from them. A quiet change begins in our awareness as we constantly observe our own emotional state. 9 of Wands: We begin to realise what is valuable to us, how our wounds have made us stronger, and how the world provides these opportunities constantly. We hold fast to an uncomfortable truth. 8 of Pentacles: The Worker is hidden in the Workshop. We begin to conduct inner work and test our enquiries into the universe and ourself, from a higher perspective. We may explore alternative spiritualities – the secret is to work, consistently, patiently, and without pause. This is a card of service, as Jasmine Sim, a tarot reader in Singapore says: “We continue to perfect the art and then we can share it with others.” 8 of Swords: Until ultimately this begins to reveal what we know and what we don’t know. We begin to see that all the traps and distractions were only of our own making – we have been playing a game which has become real, because it has been going on so long. 8 of Cups: So we walk away. Eventually we must act on our changing perspective of the world. The inner light eclipses the outer and we often find in this stage that we make major lifestyle changes, move home, career, relationships – it is always a difficult step.

8 of Wands: And a new energy comes – clean, fresh and rapid. A higher connection starts to move us, we feel enthusiastic about our course, borne aloft as if on the wings of angels. We may not at this stage know where we are going, but we know for sure that we are going. 7 of Pentacles: In Netzach now, we begin to pass into a phase of contemplation. We look at Nature as an exemplar and learn through Her teaching. The spell of the sensuous calls us to unity; a slow alchemy begins to take place in this long waiting game. 7 of Swords: Like a ‘thief in the night’ our old ideas are becoming obsolete. Without any effort, they are taken from us, leaving only what is congruent to our own personal experience. This is the Venusian Netzach undoing of the Mercurian Hod. 7 of Cups: There is an emotional upset at this stage for it feels like everything is possible and everything is permitted. When we are undone, what do we see – everything unravelled. However, as always, the secret is what transmutation is being wrought on our self – the only thing that we cannot see. Here (in the Waite-Smith image) we become a shadow, and there is much at this time to be drawn from that shadow. 7 of Wands: Ultimately, this stage leads to an inner resolution – a stand. A statement that cannot be argued, from within, that enough is enough. We take our place for our role in the universe and fill out the job description. Then we wait. 6 of Pentacles: And wait and wait. A new equilibrium takes centre stage and we begin to balance our own books – our resources, energies; we align to our highest vision. We seek only harmony, a divine balancing act, without knowing against what we are being judged nor what waits for us below or at the end of the rope.

6 of Swords: The only thing we can now do is take ourselves away from the world. It has nothing left to offer us, so we travel – literally or metaphysically – to new horizons. This is often inexplicable and unexplainable to others. It may begin to feel as if what we think we are is actually steering the course – and this is true. 6 of Cups: Through this middle stage, we are wed to our highest angel. It is like childhood, like widowhood, like a marriage, like death. It is the most significant stage of our spiritual progression and is called ‘the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel’. 6 of Wands: And after a long honeymoon, we make our way back to the city, back to the noise, back to the people and the places. However, we are fundamentally changed – we have been somewhere and make our return anew. 5 of Pentacles: What follows in the spiritual journey – as seen through the tarot and the initiatory system – is somewhat of a jolt. This is explained in my After the Angel: An Account of the Abramelin Working and many other mystical biographies. The 5 of Pentacles shows the banishment, the ejection, rejection, the excommunication of the self that is experienced at this stage following the ecstasy of the Angel. This is a dark night of the soul. 5 of Swords: Everything one thinks one knew is now stripped. Or flayed. “Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won’t let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they’re not punishing you, he said. They’re freeing your soul. So, if you’re frightened of dying and... and you’re holding on, you’ll see devils tearing your life away. But if you’ve made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.”[186]

5 of Cups: In the desolation of the Wastelands, only Chapel Perilous awaits across the bridge. It is time to decide what is real and what is not; to turn one’s back on the fictions of the former self and follow the current of Creation. This is the time of great despair. 5 of Wands: In one’s surrender to the Angel, and following from that event, values and spiritual concerns are utterly re-aligned, reformulated and reestablished on a new system – a system not of oneself. The edifice of the self and all its relationships – the grand façade – is destroyed utterly and a new pattern of being arises. This equates to the grade of Adeptus Major in the WEIS. 4 of Pentacles: Whilst this may seem the most mundane of material images, Waite says succinctly in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, “He holds to what he has.”[187] To the spiritual journeyer at this stage, this simple mantra embodies a whole mystical approach to life. It is one demonstration of how a sentence can be given which means nothing at one grade, yet at higher grades takes on a knowing significance. The whole of Dion Fortune’s Mystical Qabalah book is written in that same manner. 4 of Swords: The mental faculties now go into retreat and re-align themselves. The mystical quest alights in the sanctuary and reviews all that has arisen. There is a simple clarity, as of light passing through a stained glass window, a “veil of vibrating light” as Trinick calls it. In that window (in the Waite-Smith Tarot) is the word ‘PAX’. This refers to Chesed, the fourth sephirah and our present stage in the journey up the Tree, which means ‘Mercy’. 4 of Cups: All temptations are now refused and one becomes utterly divine-sufficient rather than self-sufficient. This is the last of the challenges before the Abyss. There is only the Trinity ahead.

4 of Wands: The Abyss. There is no self on the other side of that invitation. 3 of Pentacles: Now within the Holy Sanctuary, the Master of the Temple commences work under new management. 3 of Swords: After fulfilling that work, the mind (through that work, by which we are changed) becomes a tripartite form, with a heart that burns for the divine. 3 of Cups: The people must be celebrated and their causes uplifted to fulfill the spiritual duty. There is no self in this, only service. 3 of Wands: There is only a far horizon in sight, and all journeys now lead to divine service. In the clothing and head circlet of this figure (Waite-Smith Tarot) we see intimations of the Magician, who is the image of the archetype of spiritual service. We now take the step and commit ourselves to the light, whilst knowing even this is another journey, not the end. 2 of Pentacles: Again, in contrast to its usual mundane meanings, this card embodies in our spiritual light a far more profound teaching. It is significant of the action of Chockmah in the World of Assiah, the ‘Wisdom of Action’ which is the literal translation of those signposts. It is no more complex than that. This card signifies the ongoing wisdom- in-action of the Magus, the one who is existing in this eternal moment. As Crowley indicates, it is at this point that the Lord of Karma takes notice, and one’s books become audited and balanced in every moment. There is no cause-and-effect here – everything is connected now. 2 of Swords: In this upper silence, the mind is stilled and held in singular balance. Beyond meditation and beyond contemplation, the mind is blind unto itself.

The value of meditation for inner peace, sublime ecstasy and world-free self-absorption is immense. But its value for the quest of truth and reality unaided by philosophy is quite a different matter and demands searching investigation by sympathetic yet impartially critical minds possessed of a sense of proportion and philosophical acumen – qualities usually absent from a mystic’s make-up.[188] The tide draws out, the Sun is eclipsed; our emotional world is withdrawn and our awareness vanishes. There is a period of divine emptiness, a holy moment like no other – the house is now prepared for the master’s return. 2 of Cups: And as is – and always was – promised, with nothing more than a touch, a kiss, a gesture, like the opening of a palm, the filling of a cup, the Great Secret is revealed. All that exists arises from that moment, this cocreation of soul and silence, man and woman, human and divine. The spirit and the flesh; all dualities are known by the one to arise in a third – a red winged lion, perhaps, atop the wand of healing and wholeness. And that lion, that sacred revelation, devours and consumes us utterly. 2 of Wands: So it comes to pass, the journey is complete. Only the realm of the archetypes awaits; the Aeons, the realms and circles and zones and sephiroth as they are known only in creation. We stand inbetween the pillars with the world as it began, all possibilities unfolding, no attachment, no particular perspective. In many ways, this is the ultimate depiction of the spiritual journey in this card. This is the outward Fool card in right relation to the apparent World card. And the only outward sign of the journey is the rose and the lily entwined. It is done. Tetelestai. The Four Aces now can be seen to embody the seeds of what G.I. Gurdjieff called the Four Ways or paths of spiritual enlightenment:

Ace of Pentacles: The Way of the Fakir – the mastery of attention through asana, or physical work such as yoga, dance, trance-work, etc; Ace of Swords: The Way of the Yogi – the mastery of self through mental discipline; Ace of Cups: The Way of the Monk (or Nun) – who works with the affections and spiritualises the emotional worlds of faith and love as their path; Ace of Wands: The Way of Synthesis – perhaps this is the esoteric way, and was coined by Gurdjieff as his ‘Fourth Way’ teachings.[189]

Meanwhile Back at the Beginning of the End Having seen how the Minors map our spiritual journey, we will return to take a look at the starting positions of each world – the four 10s – in order to demonstrate how they reflect the four aspects of existence in four elements. This is the Zelator grade of the WEIS, where all work is done, and the beginning of the spiritual journey commences – by working through the lessons and transcending each of the attachments illustrated by these cards. We will also demonstrate how they each contain a trap and, at the same time, their highest principle is also evident – ‘as above, so below’. 10 of Pentacles: The unity of the 10 becomes at one between the 10 and the Ace of Pentacles. The aim is to get beyond the obstacles of the earthly pentacles thrown along the path – these will trip you up if you pause to want. The child in the 10 of Pentacles grows up at last to become the Fool in the pack. Earthly riches make the world go round, but you will be caught on that Wheel if you become attached or fall asleep in the Garden of Earthly Delight. 10 of Swords: Italo Calvino wrote, “This is what I mean when I say I would like to swim against the stream of time: I would like to erase the consequences of certain events and restore an initial condition. But every moment of my life brings with it an accumulation of new facts, and each of these new facts bring with it consequences; so the more I seek to return to the zero moment from which I set out, the further I move away from it ...”

As Da Free John also puts it, “It is always already too late” to commence the journey. The moment of thought that enquiries is a paradoxical separation from which no unity can follow. This attempt to return to the “zero moment” of The Fool is also part of the journey of the tarot. It may seem that we move further from it, but in actual fact we are moving circularly towards it in our journey, winding our way up the slopes of the mystical mountain of initiation. The 10 of Swords warns of the inertia that will inevitably arise from prolonged mental fatigue, when surrender is due. There is no more working out to do, the swords of emotional anguish do weigh heavily but your worst fears have materialised into reality. Acceptance is to be embraced and a still point resonates. There is now the prospect of a new start and relief that will come when all turns full cycle. The old wounds of the battle of the Swords from Ace to 10 are the very wounds that will heal and transform into the Ace of Swords. A transmutation can occur. The World spins and The Fool steps into existence again and so the cycle goes on – Hallelujah! In fact, in the Tarot of Everlasting Day, the Outer Deck Fool contains this word, for ‘Hallel’ in Hebrew means ‘somebody who acts madly’, and ‘Jah’ is ‘Creator’ therefore this uplift of The Fool is as Creator and the ‘madness’ that is actually the transcendence of the reason.[190] In summary of the 10 of Swords, to quote Einstein, “Logic can only take us from A to B, imagination can take us anywhere.” Both of these dualisms have their traps, but from each we do (Swords), can (Pentacles), must (Cups), and will (Wands) escape.

10 of Cups: The nature of the Cups is seen most evidently in the 3 of Cups: the mitwelt, that is a ‘co- world’, where two figures – male and female – are depicted, and a third entity that evolves, whether it is the creation of children, or the creation of Creation. Perhaps the images on the card can correspond to the mitwelt way of being, as it can personify many things; it is a growing, changing entity. The 3 of Cups may contain the ‘third entity’ with the manifestation of the below. All your wants, desires and hopes, and these find their completion in the 10 of Cups. Think about what you would like to have filling your 10 Cups. If you like, you may try shuffling the Major cards of the tarot, and choose 10 which can be read as filling the 10 Cups below. Ask what they symbolise for you, these archetypal energies in each of these 10 emotional and spiritual contexts. Thus, you might pull The Hanged Man for Cup Three, “love of survival through community / society.” This might suggest that you are tasked to work from a different perspective whilst remaining in mainstream society. The phrase “be in the world but not of it” might come to mind. Don’t leave anything out, be all-inclusive (4 of Cups). Don’t be afraid to let go of obsolete desires (5 of Cups). In doing so, you can honour your innocence and authenticity whilst maintaining a mature perspective (6 of Cups). Also, while selecting your 10 cards do not be distracted by passing fancies – only choose what has endured (7 of Cups). You will soon find yourself free of what has been and your past will rapidly be eclipsed by a future, and one worth walking towards (8 of Cups). And in this making your choice – walking in the path of your own Grail Quest – there is true satisfaction (9 of Cups).

And in the healing power of love, each of the 10 Cups contains a gift of divine exploration, as depicted by the previous Cup cards, from Ace to 10, all each within another: Cup One contains love of coming into existence; Cup Two contains love of the divine breath; Cup Three contains love of survival through society (culture); Cup Four contains love of your very own existence; Cup Five contains love of melancholy; Cup Six contains love of nostalgia; Cup Seven contains love of imagination; Cup Eight contains love of your worth; Cup Nine contains security; Cup Ten contains love of family. All 10 Cups contain all you may ever need. Perhaps this explains why the 10 of Cups is the most spiritually idyllic image of human existence; it is indeed the idealised and realised Lovers card, that archetypal image played out in the real world. We must absorb from the 10 of Cups; experience the osmosis effect of love and being loved. Exercise: The Indwelling of 10 Cups Here is an exercise you might like to try. By placing the 10 of Cups by your bedside with the Ace of Cups, be aware of your emotions through that following day; then on the second night change the Ace for the 2. Repeat this each night, until you have the 9 and the 10 of Cups together.

You may find this simple exercise opens your spiritual heart quest – it a way of connecting that flow of the Ace into the 10. The most powerful magic is when you invoke the highest into the very far reaches of what is below.[191] 10 of Wands: This is the highest level of energy dropped into the lowest world; it shows what Crowley called “the force detached from its spiritual sources.” For us in our quest to redeem our own spiritual dignity, this card shows the worst result of misunderstanding the spiritual path. As Crowley says, “The whole picture suggests oppression and repression. It is a stupid and obstinate cruelty from which there is no escape. It is a Will which has not understood anything beyond its dull purpose, its ‘lust of result’, and will devour itself in the conflagrations it has evoked.”[192] Where we see these characteristics in a person or a situation we know that it is far removed from spiritual dignity, which is ultimately characterised by the Ace of Wands.

The Spiritual Journey in the Wands So from each of the 10s we can commence our spiritual journey as we have seen through the entire 40 Minors. Let us finally work through the Wands as a more detailed example and each see how they re-connect us when we feel lost from our spiritual source. You can recreate this detailed mapping with each of the other suits to show the way out of any dilemma in any world from a spiritual point of view. If you constantly struggle with your relationships, family and emotions, examine this journey in the Cups; if your finances and material work, the Pentacles; and if your education and thinking, the Swords. 10 of Wands: We begin by observation of where we struggle to ‘be spiritual’. This is always our first signpost. The spiritual path is characterised by the wrestling with one’s own Angel. There is always something more which must be discovered, always something presently preventing us being in the moment. The 10 of Wands calls us to step away from the struggle. Where we have patterns in our life that constantly weigh us down, these are each a potential Ace of Wands, repeating time and again to awaken us. That person in the 10 of Wands is carrying 10 identical Aces, they just do not realise it. See Michal Conforti’s Field, Form and Fate for a fascinating exploration of how patterns in our life collaborate creatively to provide us opportunities for growth.[193]

9 of Wands: We begin with the burden of attachment, so we must let this go – it literally does not (is not) matter. We stop struggling and embrace our own wounds, as that is where we may become strong. We take it from the perspective that the process of scar formation and its lifelong legacy is a protective mechanism to heal and protect us after harm. However, after repair we are still ‘vulnerable’, as the replacement scar tissue is more fragile than our original tough skin; therefore, we need to be kind to ourselves and tread with care along the journey, and wisely choose who we entrust to help us to heal, whether it is friends, family, therapist, or foe! It is tempting in emulating the 9 of Wands to ‘tread carefully and carry a big stick’. From a Jungian perspective, the ‘wounded healer’ does not mean a ‘once wounded now recovered’ one, but one who is currently vulnerable as well (the Latin word ‘vulnus’ means ‘wound’). We continue with our battle scars and wash them in the Cave of Wounds at dawn – a phrase that can be ritualised in the practice of the Greek mystery rites. The 9 of Wands can illustrate the impact of childhood wounds on our adult self, which in turn affect the way in which we develop our own unique spiritual path. As one therapist said, “We cannot choose our garden, merely the way in which we work with it.” This aspect of the 9 of Wands can be explored in Strong at the Broken Places by Linda Sanford (1991). Whilst this book illustrates the quite rightfully sensitive aftermath of the effects of child abuse/neglect, it is written from the perspective of how the wounded (vulnerable) become empowered and it refutes the belief of some that the abused must become the abuser. It is an essential book for those working in any therapeutic modality. The 9 of Wands teaches us that it is possible to escape our past. Or in the present moment, “You do not have to attend every argument to which you are invited.”

8 of Wands: At this point, escaping from our own past, we must not stop. This card tells us to keep going, to ride the energy from whatever source it is conjured. Think of the power of lightning and the strength that it wields. As Eco says, “Initiation is learning not to stop.”[194] 7 of Wands: Once we have begun on our journey, we must learn to use a spiritual system or map to maintain equilibrium. 6 of Wands: In engaging with a system, exploring it fully and deeply, dynamic energy brings new victories of understanding, taking one forward into new situations and states of being. We must be careful here for ‘pride cometh before a fall’. 5 of Wands: At the next point, the inner work must be transformed into outer work. We exert great effort in a group to create and construct what is new and innovative. The way of the 5 of Wands is ‘just do it, go on, get on with it NOW’. Alterations can be made later; this stage is a production in progress. It is characterised in our spiritual life by constant change, challenge and growth, constant success and disappointment; a rapid realignment of one’s values from moment to moment. It can lead to a new cohesive pattern or a complete breakdown. 4 of Wands: At last we achieve a form of stable inner Sanctuary, a place where you can consolidate your efforts so far, put down tools for a while and reward yourself for your endeavours. This is also the stage in our quest termed by Robert Anton Wilson ‘Chapel Perilous’, a phrase that originally occurs in Sir Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. It is the point in our spiritual journey where we have to decide whether we are being accompanied by a presence external to ourselves or choose to believe that it is all in our imagination. This card calls for an act to faith from which there is no return.

Those that make the wrong choice here – for choice it is – through fear (an incomplete initiation of their previous stage, the 5 of Wands) become what Crowley refers to as “Black Brothers.”[195] Whilst an admitted overdramatisation, this can be seen in anyone whose modus operandi is to cast doubt, confusion or dismay, to sow seeds of despair, to attract others to their cause. It is characterised by constant implicit calls for self-validation and ultimately – for its fault is to not be creative beyond its own delusion – implodes, taking those who have been attracted to its apparent delights with it. 3 of Wands: Having escaped the perils of the previous stages in our spiritual quest, the 3 of Wands awaits. This is the stage where we have to think about where we are going next. We have turned our back on the past and look to the future; we cannot afford to be held back by restless yearning for old ties, and the new world is where the future of change lies. Do not find yourself left behind while others progress; avoid isolation. We have to pass on the baton. At its highest level this card signifies the trinity, generation, creation, progression/procession, all unified in one creative act. This is best put by Maria Prophetissa, a 3rd century alchemist: “One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth.” 2 of Wands: The journey now nears its terminus with this Minor card combination of the upper level archetype cards of The World and The Magician. This signifies that the act of spiritual transformation is now out of our hands – whilst at the very same time we feel that all is within us. This is the ‘final ambush’ that lies in wait for the journeyer in the spiritual realms, as we saw in the earlier quote from the Hermetica.

We have to discard all that might accumulate on this way, which is a via exhaustion – a ‘way of exhaustion’. As A. E. Waite writes in The Other Way: We tried all paths, nor found a road in one, Sought many things beneath the wintry sun Which shines alone on this dim earth of ours, But when the barren strife at length was done Grace comes free, handed, with unlooked for dowers And shew’d the true way strewn with deathless flowers. Ace of Wands: At last we come to the aim of our spiritual journey in the Wands. The value system of our whole being is taken in the hand of the divine. Compare this to where we commenced, with those 10 rods on our own back, and we perceive the total exchange carried out in the journey. We have done nothing more than returned to the singular truth of the matter. We were never ourselves to begin with.[196] As A.E. Waite again put it, “The atmosphere of the divine secret consists in a great disinterest.”[197]

THE NATURE OF THE GRADES AND INITIATION “There is one true charge, however, which can be laid at the door of the Guardians of the Secret Wisdom. Have they made sufficient provision for the preaching in the market-place, for the training in the Outer Court of the Temple?” Dion Fortune – Sane Occultism[198]

We will now briefly survey the nature and structure of the hierarchy of the WEIS, particularly that given by the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley through the O.T.O. and the A A occult groups with which he was involved. These systems are the bedrock of mapping magical progress and spiritual advancement in the Western system, and whilst appearing complex, are worth extensive study and utilisation.

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Vignette: Esoteric Exposure of a Newcomer Frater F.P. once took a friend to a Chaos magick conference, wondering what would happen if a complete newcomer to the esoteric was exposed to dramatic and challenging experience. The friend was bombarded all day by talks and discussions on radical state-change, breaking all taboos, and that reality was merely a fictional prison. In the evening, he was taken into a hall with about 60 other participants – mainly men, mainly dressed in black leather. For a further hour he was instructed to hyperventilate and chant loudly the vowel sounds of A,E,I,O, and U. This was done until the floor and the air vibrated in the now rapidly warming room. The participants were then moved into a circle and an invocation of the godform of Baphomet was perfomed, with images being shown of the androgyne goat-like figure, usually associated with Satanism. At this point Frater F.P. was becoming increasingly concerned about his friend’s mental state. The priest into whom Baphomet had been invoked now circled the hall, proferring a large goblet with an unidentified red liquid in it, at which point Frater F.P.’s friend balked. Standing back from the circle, he was then witness to a ‘banishment by laughter’ in which the participants smacked each other on the back whilst laughing out loud very deliberately until it became hysterical, spreading rapidly throughout the whole crowd. Frater F.P.’s friend was very silent the entire trip home and never again returned to work esoterically. We must wonder how best to initiate newcomers into this world. We will look at two secret orders that have been rarely written about in public, and see how the Golden Dawn system derived from sources at least a century prior to their founding in 1888. This work is unique to the Crucible and I hope that you will find it particularly fascinating in widening your awareness of our Western esoteric tradition.

The subject of grades is often criticised as leading to elitism and overbearing structure. The nature of the qualifications required to gain a grade and their relevance are often questioned. In a contemporary article on grades and hierarchies within the occult corpus, Phil Hine (1999), himself a practitioner of the more eclectic Chaos magick, comments on such qualifications. He writes that although there “is a general unwillingness to explicitly examine grades and roles” within the practitioner community itself: It must be recognised that each grade that the magician attains implies not only a recognition of various degrees of ability and accountability, but also that there is a specific task, or ‘work’ associated with the fulfillment of that grade.[199] These grades – often divided into 10 which correspond to the Tree of Life diagram – are found in many occult orders. It is usually accepted that the Golden Dawn was the main source of these grades, but it is less well known that in fact, the grades were being used at least a century prior to the Golden Dawn by a little-studied (in English) German group, the Golden and Rosy Cross (G&RC). Whilst their work was alchemical in nature, they used the names for each grade later utilised by the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.) and then the Golden Dawn. We will trace some examples of what you would be expected to learn in such groups, so that within the Crucible you can begin to grasp the scope of later studies should you chose to progress your work in this tradition.

The S.R. I . A.

Much of the Golden Dawn structure is pre-existent in the S.R.I.A., of which Mathers, Westcott and Woodman (the founders of the Golden Dawn) were all members. In a 1953 reprint of the S.R.I.A. grade documents, it is indicated that there are three orders: First Order: Student Second Order: Teacher Third Order: Master The teaching syllabus for these Orders is eclectic; indeed, the lecture in the fourth grade of Philosophus is on religion and philosophy, including Judaism to existentialism. The specific teaching for the grades is given below: Grade 1: Zelator - Numerology, the symbol of the jewel Grade 2: Theoricus - Elements, composition of man, worlds Grade 3: Practicus - Symbolism of the cross, alchemy Grade 4: Philosophus - Religions and philosophies of the world Grade 5: Adeptus Minor - Teacher, tetractys[200] The presence of qualification is seen clearly within these pamphlets, rituals and writings. Therefore, the Philosophus would be asked: Frater [----] your attainments in the practice of Alchymy have been approved ... do you now earnestly desire to be received into the grade of Philosophus?

Within the Second Order, it is stated that a year must elapse before a candidate can be accepted into the grade of Adeptus Major. This is the only grade division marked temporally; signalling the different transition between the Orders. The work of the Adeptus Major is also of a marked difference – now internally focused rather than externally, the Adeptus Major is to work upon the “importance of contemplation,” and the issues of “selfdevelopment.” The aim is that: The life of the Adept [is] well spent in thought, word and deed should be a fitting preparation for a calm repose. Beyond this grade in the S.R.I.A., the Adeptus Exemptus was to receive the “guide studies of the Philosophi” and engage in “preparation for death.” The teachings of the syllabus were supplemented, in a precursor to the Golden Dawn ‘Flying Rolls’, by the Clavicula Rosicruciana, covering a diverse range of supplementary material, written by Woodman and Mathers, including: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The Certificate and Seal; The Four Ancients; The 10 sephiroth; Beraisheth; The Four Pillars and I.N.R.I.

We therefore see that the Golden Dawn was a practical extension of the S.R.I.A. curriculum writ large, and that within both groups, the material was both expected to be learnt – aimed at an overall and progressive transformation – and tested before progress was attained.

[ILLUS. SRIA MEMBERS including A. E. Waite (front left to viewer)]

The Golden Dawn So what is it that a Golden Dawn initiate would be required to learn from the curriculum? A paper of 1897 given by McGregor Mathers (1854-1918) to the members of the Second Order in Caledonia indicates the regulations for progression through the grades of the Order. However, it also demonstrates important aspects of the political use of the curriculum in controlling the membership and in positioning the Order versus other groups: Members of the Second Order in Caledonia are requested not to arrange privately for Second order teaching with private members in Anglia or elsewhere ... The Chief Adept – the G.H. Frater D.D.C.F [MacGregorMathers] – is now the source of all official instruction. […] The works of the Lake Harris school are better avoided. The H.B. of L. is condemned, as of course are Luciferian or Palladistic teachings. The socalled Rose Croix of Sor Peladan is considered as an ignorant perversion of the Name, containing no true knowledge and not even worthy of the title of an occult order. The Black Mass is naturally by its own confession of the evil magic school. The Martinists, as long as they adhere to the teachings of their Founder, should not be out of harmony with the R.R. et A.C.

Moving on from this positioning, the document goes on to summarise the work of the Grades between Neophyte Adeptus Minor and Theoricus Adeptus Minor. These items of work relate to an attached catalogue of manuscripts and Flying Rolls – additional papers of instruction. Thus, in the Second Stage of Zelator Adeptus Minor: 11. Receive and study Flying Rolls 11, 12, 14, 20, 21, 26, 28, 29, 30, and may now pass C, G, and E examinations. These Flying Rolls enumerated include instruction on clairvoyance, telesmatic images, talismans, perspectives on the psychic constitution of man, planets and tattwas, and skrying rules. They also included a paper on administration and the use of the ritual implements. That the curriculum was open to variation is intimated: By permission of the Chief Adept, 6, 7, and 8 may be taken immediately after 3. Then 4 and 5. The work required in these instructions is varied, ranging from some items which are to be committed to memory, and others which are “to be attentively studied though not learned by heart.” Rituals were received, and implements, such as the Rose Cross, were to be constructed and consecrated. After receiving Ritual G, the Neophyte Adeptus Minor would be expected to make and consecrate the five implements: the magical sword and the four elemental weapons, being the wand (Fire), dagger (Air), cup (Water), and pentacle (Earth).

It is apparent that many members constructed such implements for their magical working. The poet W.B. Yeats (1865-1939), who was initiated into the Golden Dawn in 1890, describes not only how “we copied out everything we could borrow or find that bore upon our subject, including the Jewish Schemahamphorasch with its seventy- two names of God in Hebrew characters ...” but also constructed the four elemental weapons and the Lotus Wand, his pentacle bearing his motto ‘Demon est Deus Inversus’. A plate in Gilbert’s Golden Dawn Scrapbook shows a similar item of regalia, the Rose-Croix lamen, as created by another member, Benjamin Cox. It was Yeats who strongly defended the magical curriculum and the grade system. He wrote in a pamphlet, ‘Is the Order of the R.R. and A.C. to Remain a Magical Order?’ (March 1901),[201] in defence of the system of examinations that Waite was looking to abolish: The passing by their means from one degree to another is an evocation of the Supreme Life, a treading of a symbolic path, a passage through a symbolic gate, a climbing towards the light which it is the essence of our system to believe flows continually from the lowest of the invisible Degrees to the highest of the Degrees that are known to us. Here Yeats echoes the sentiment that the examinations and grades are based on the “essence of our system” and not, as he continued later in the same document, “the multiplication of petty formulae.”

Howe (1972)[202] gives an even more advanced curriculum for the grade of Practicus Adeptus Minor, which was issued by Mathers and Westcott in 1896-1897 but was unlikely implemented. It clearly demonstrates the practical nature of the work expected of the candidate for the “rigid examination,” some examples of which include: 2. Development of the sense of Clairaudience in the Spirit Vision. 4. The method of bringing the Divine White Brilliance into Action by a certain Ritual of Ascent and Descent. 12. Tarot Divination translated into Magical action. We see here the translation of theoretical or passive skills, such as divination and visualisation, into active skills such as invocation and using tarot for ‘magical action’.

The O.T.O. and the A

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Without doubt, the prolific work of Aleister Crowley following his expulsion from the Golden Dawn, his involvement with the German O.T.O., and his development of his own order, the A A , is fundamental to modern magick. We cannot survey the entire corpus of work in this volume,

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so we will examine Crowley’s description of the lower grades. Although warning that “these Grades are not necessarily attained fully, and in strict consecution, or manifested wholly on all planes,” he does append a more detailed account, as well as a summary, of the training plan, the first part of which includes the following expectations: Student. His business is to acquire a general intellectual knowledge of all systems of attainment, as declared in the prescribed books. Probationer. His principal business is to begin such practices as he may prefer, and to write a careful record of the same for one year. Neophyte. Has to acquire perfect control of the Astral Plane. Zelator. His main work is to achieve complete success in Asana and Pranayama. He also begins to study the formula of the Rosy Cross. Practicus. Is expected to complete his intellectual training, and in particular to study the Qabalah. Philosophus. Is expected to complete his moral training. He is tested in Devotion to the Order.[203]

The Crucible Club itself represents the Probationer grade in this system a year’s worth of study. These brief outlines contain a depth of description as to the likely challenges, experience, work, and insight offered by each progressive grade – the testing of devotion that occurs at Philosophus, whilst unique to every individual who goes through it, is surprisingly predictable for that grade and for all who encounter it.

THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Potential students of the Western esoteric corpus were likely to approach a number of groups for their occult education. A private letter from Dr. S.W. Brathwaite to Gerald Yorke in 1932, whilst expressing an interest in the A A , also lists the student’s active and inactive membership of many other groups:

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Active – University of the Mystic Brotherhood; Chronzon [sic] Club; Unity’s Practical Christianity; Member of the Great White Brotherhood; Hatha and Raja Yoga; Coffman School of Numerology; Inactive – Rosicrucian Fellowship; Clymer’s Works.[204]

This type of curriculum esoterica vitae appears to demonstrate – other than the eclectic nature of such associations – an unwavering search for a source of ‘real’ esoteric knowledge. It is as if the student is suggesting that they have not found what they are searching for elsewhere, or have been left unsatisfied, and now believe that in the group to which they are applying is indeed the ‘true secret knowledge’ which they seek. This suggestion is made more explicit in some applications than others. It demonstrates that the drive of a student to locate the esoteric teaching is undiminished by disappointment in any one group or failure to learn what might have been taught. A student would often move from one group to another, perhaps on the presumption that surely one of them held the secret teaching or perhaps wondering if the disappointment was perhaps a test or occult ‘blind’ to the hidden teachings. This peripatetic activity caused a problem to groups whose singular capital was their teaching material, in avoiding that material being disseminated to other groups, leading to various attempts at oaths, secrecy and outright banning of individuals joining where an affiliation to another group was known. My personal favourite is the document which stated it was personally and specifically ‘magnetised’ to the individual and its words would not have the same impact if read by someone to whom it was not thus magnetised.

The response by Crowley to such enquiries during this time was to request a diary or journal be submitted, suggest the first topics of study and, in this case, provide an examination paper to be completed and returned. [205] The areas of study for the initial grades were that the Probationer should maintain a diary, a Neophyte should seek to gain “complete control of the Astral Plane” and the Zelator should master pranayama – the yoga of breath – and asana – the yoga of physical posture – in addition to discovering the “Formula of the Rosy Cross.”[206] The examination paper given to Dr. Brathwaite was typical: Give the principle correspondences of the letter Teth, and your comments. Explain the real value of Yoga practice for anyone attempting to make spiritual progress. What do you know of the psychology of Buddhism? How would you set to work to produce a magical thunder-storm, or to acquire by means of a magical ceremony a book of which you were in need? Set up a geomantic figure for the result of the presidential election in November, and forecast the consequences to the U.S.A. Give an account of the Rosicrucian philosophy, laying stress on the true meaning of the symbol of the Rosy Cross.[207]

Whether there was a particular rationale or intent behind this selection of questions, or the manner in which the student response would be assessed, is undocumented and unclear. The six questions range between the subject areas of kabbalah, correspondence, yoga, Buddhism, grimoire magic, geomancy, and Rosicrucianism. The answers to these questions also range from the easily assessed – there are established correspondences to the letter Teth, so ‘Virgo’ would be incorrect but ‘Leo’ would be correct – to the entirely subjective interpretation of a geomantic figure – a task which also involves a practical exercise of casting the geomantic oracle. The nature of these questions, particularly those regarding the Rosy Cross and the Rosicrucians, may have rather served a dual purpose of implying that the group demanded a prescribed and high level of knowledge prior to joining, i.e. was selective and hierarchical, but more importantly, held the answer to these questions. For those searching for the ‘real’ Rosicrucians, being asked prior to joining what was meant by the ‘true meaning’ of the symbol of that group would no doubt pique the curiosity of the earnest student. Where also would the erstwhile applicant have located the answers to these questions, if it were intended that such answers be available rather than merely setting up an implied statement of knowledge on behalf of those setting the questions?

A Student Case Study: Frater Maximus The trajectory of a Western esoteric student encountering the path of a wellknown teacher is no better illustrated than the barely known Sidney French (?-?) whose place in the story of Aleister Crowley is relegated to a single line in Kaczynski’s biography of Crowley, Perdurabo, (2002) and then that likely mis-referenced as a Mrs. French.[208] As particularly notable with Crowley, a teacher often left in their wake a great deal of flotsam and jetsam in the form of disappointed students wondering where their teacher – and often, their cash – had gone to. Sidney French was a chiropractor in New York with an eclectic range of studies. A series of letters between him and Gerald Yorke, during 1932, which were passed by Crowley for comment, recounts a typical first year of distance studentship. In this case, a rather unsatisfactory one, for Yorke and Crowley were in the midst of business arguments, culminating in Crowley filing for damages against Yorke in September 1932.[209]

French enquired about studentship in January 1932. Acting as Crowley’s secretary, Yorke requested that French submit a magical diary – a journal of his existing practices – in March. This was followed in April by a more succinct list of tasks to be practiced by a Probationer to the A A .

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It is unfortunate that we do not possess a full record of French’s journal – it is possible that Yorke passed these records with those of another Probationer he was supervising to Kerman when he and Crowley fell out. [210] However, we see that within a few days, French was welcomed into the A A as a Probationer, taking on the ambitious magical name, Frater Maximus, ‘the greatest’.[211]

∴ ∴

In the initial flurry of correspondence granted to a new Probationer – perhaps provoked by the possibility of a new stream of income – whilst suggesting that French contact Dorothy Olsen (1892?-), Yorke also sets out the learning agenda more explicitly. He asks that French practices the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (a standard ritual form taking about ten minutes to perform, with the intention of providing an area of protection and stability about the student, and a protection against adverse influences), the Assumption of Harpocrates (a god-form assumption, that is, placing the body in the represented form of a deity – typically Ancient Egyptian – in order to access the qualities embodied by that deity). These are referenced to ‘Liber O’, a short series of notes which Crowley described as: ... given for elementary study of the Qabalah, Assumption of God forms, Vibration of Divine Names, the Rituals of Pentagram and Hexagram, and their uses in protection and invocation, a method of attaining astral visions so-called, and an instruction in the practice called Rising on the Planes.[212]

It is this short list of techniques that provides the closest to a ‘beginner’s curriculum’ that we possess for this time. In fact, it is Crowley’s synthesis and simplification of the Golden Dawn teachings, which now came to represent the outer order work of his own teachings. In this curriculum Crowley talks of the advantages for the student pursuing these techniques, being chiefly “a widening of the horizon of the mind” and “an improvement of the control of the mind.”[213] He also alludes to the consequences of success, where the student will be “confronted by things (ideas or beings) too glorious or too dreadful to be described.”[214] The encounter with these “ideas or beings” is certainly a key attraction to the student, as exemplified by French. A few months after receiving ‘Liber O’, French replied at length to Yorke, with reference to an article in The Equinox magazine, Volume III.[215] Although he had yet to master the points of the pentagram and their correspondences in the Lesser Banishing Ritual, a ‘rote-drill’ method for the beginner, he was already concerned about far more profound matters. He wished to find out more “about the problems attending the ‘Brothers of the Shadow’ and their relation to that black horror [actually, “blind horror” as given in The Equinox article] whose name is Choronzon.”[216] Crowley’s response, which was added to Yorke’s reply, was to return French to the basic drills. Crowley commented: Diary kept in correct form from 31/5/32 onwards. It is important to keep a steady breathing cycle, and notice the relationship to thought. The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram should be done first in the physical and then in the astral.[217]

However, by now, the working relationship between Yorke and Crowley had broken down, and as often happened, the student was left floundering in their wake. There is no more mention of French – although it is possible that his journal was passed to Kerman in September[218] – until a final short letter from him to Yorke in November 1932, asking for feedback as he had not heard from Yorke for “several months.”[219]

D i o n Fortune and Aleister Crowley That those who were to become teachers of Western esotericism made contact with each other is of course no surprise, as throughout the last century it has been a small market, albeit highly stratified.[220] In this brief case study, I will focus upon a brief but unpublished correspondence between Dion Fortune (originally Violet Firth, 1890-1946) and Gerald Yorke, with reference to Aleister Crowley, dated 1928. It is unsurprising that this letter and explicit quotations have not yet been incorporated into studies of Fortune’s relationship to Crowley, as the letter is misfiled under Fortune’s original name, in a stack of far more anonymous letters simply labelled “Letters from Disciples.”[221]

[ILLUS. Photo of 2 sheets letter from Violet Firth to Gerald Yorke].

[ILLUS. Photo of 2 sheets letter from Violet Firth to Gerald Yorke].

We see that Fortune was interested in the specifics of the “ritual of Thoth,” namely the correspondences. She requested clarification of the colour of robes, the significance of the scales of colour, and whether they were utilised in ritual. She asks about the timing of the ritual and enquires as to whether Thoth belongs to a “fiery or airy triplicity” (in terms of zodiacal correspondences). Fortune was aged 38 when this letter was written, so it perhaps may seem somewhat surprising as to the elementary nature of the questions. However, this was still ten years prior to Fortune’s more mature work in fiction, such as The Sea Priestess (1938), and non-fiction, including her classic Mystical Qabalah (1935). What is more relevant to the present case is her attitude to Crowley. She explains to Yorke her reserve and regret that he has sent on her prior letter directly to Crowley. She claims that this makes a “magical point of contact,” one she felt no doubt she would have to guard herself against. She refers directly to Crowley as an “awkward customer” and explicitly states that: I admire the man’s works, but fear the man. Her relationship is furthermore couched in terms of a parable: I have the greatest admiration for his intellect, but like the earthen pot in the fable, I am disinclined to go to the well in the company of the brazen pots. [222]

THE TITLES OF THE GRADES

As we have depicted throughout this volume, the notion of grading spiritual experiences and consequent responsibility is an ancient one. The Gnostic sect of the Manichees (200 A.D.) divided their sect into three progressive groups: the Auditors, the Elect and the Perfect. This threefold division occurs in many esoteric groups; even in the earliest writings upon the subject, it is suggested that the Rosicrucians are divided into three such grades: Initiates, Philosophers and Mages.[223]

A similar division occurs in the most obscure of esoteric groups – for example, the Masonic order of the African Brothers, where J.M. Ragon in Orthodoxie Maçonnique describes the Apprentice, the Alethophilote (‘friend of truth’) and the highest order of the Knights of Everlasting Silence. [224] He furthermore indicates that the object of these grades is selfknowledge and the exposition of the intimate connection between man and the world. This progression is intimated in each of the grades within the three divisions and we will now examine one indication of the progression through the titles given to each grade. In the Cipher Manuscripts of the Golden Dawn, likely composed by Kenneth McKenzie, based as we have seen on earlier orders, the early grades of esoteric progression are given Hebrew titles, indicating a little of their nature. The grades are also given ‘brotherhood names’ taken straight from the German Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross. [225] We will here examine the outer order words and names and in subsequent volumes expand upon these under their relevant grades.[226] Grade

Grade Word

Brotherhood Name

Neophyte

MThChIL

(Converted)

Zelator

ThLMID

Pereclinus

de

Faustus

(Disciple) Theoricus

BLHDA’aTh

Poraios

de

Rejectis

(Consuming Knowledge) Practicus

BA’aLAMZ

Monoceros

de

Astris

(Owning Speech) Philosophus

PhLMVNI

Pharos

Illuminans

(Gaining Certainty)

We can see from the grade words that the path of the initiate is to be converted (literally, ‘turned around’) from the apparent world and, through discipline, take up knowledge, gain identity with one’s own representation of the world (‘speech’), and attain certainity of self-knowledge. At this point, the Veil becomes apparent (the noise created by our lack or imbalance of the foregoing) and the work enters the ‘Portal’ grade to prepare for the dropping of that Veil. There is a constant battle between signal and noise, and a totally different experience of the world awaits when there is only a clear signal in the silence. Whilst others have attempted to explain the brotherhood names through alchemical or colour symbolism – even tarot (which is unlikely to have carried the same correspondences during the work of the G&RC) – the explanation given here is based upon the experience of the grades themselves, through the collective intelligence of initiates passing through them, most unaware of the similarity of their experience to other travellers.

N e o p h y te ( M T h C h I L ) This is likely MThIHD, meaning ‘converted’. The root of the word ‘converted’, other than its obvious usage in religious terminology, is ‘to turn around’. It signifies a turning around of attention to that which is not apparent. It is when the person in Plato’s cave first wonders about the shadows on the wall and turns around to see from where they are being cast. This begins a new phase in their life, hence ‘Neophyte’, one ‘new’ to that direction. In everyday terms, this often manifests as a curiosity in obscure and occult subjects, a yearning and seeking, a feeling that something just isn’t quite right. Many people remain Neophytes, as whilst they are aware of the shadows, for many reasons – habit, fear and attachments – they do not progress once they have turned around. It is possible to become a very experienced and knowing Neophyte, fully cognisant of the nature of the shadows and full of plausible explanations or possibilities of what might be casting them – but no real experience or knowledge of the journey beyond that viewpoint.

The word MThChIL is also similar to MThIChH, meaning ‘stretched’, ‘extended’. The conversion or transformation that goes on at Neophyte is one where the person is stretched but not necessarily changed beyond that. This produces a certain tension that can be utilised by the initiator in order to catalyse the next stage of the journey. Like Lot’s wife, it is dangerous, once having made this turn around, to look back. That is to say, once you have begun to act as if you are looking ‘beyond’ the world as it appears, there will be a necessary and inevitable re-framing of your perspective on the ‘old’ world, and more particularly those who still inhabit it. It can be that Neophytes become very anxious to proselytise their new perspective, even whilst not having fulfilled it themselves. Interestingly by gematria, the word has the value of 488, the same value as PhThCh, meaning ‘gate’, ‘entrance’, ‘insight’. Zelator ( T h L M I D ) This means simply ‘student’ or ‘disciple’, but in the sense of a student of the Torah, or Law. It is also usually referred to in the context of a studentteacher relationship. The Zelator, having moved from the Neophyte position, is now zealously studying, discovering and fervently enthusiastic to their newfound passion. This is when the student starts to buy all the books, join all the groups, read all the websites, and live and breathe their esoteric studies. This can be very concerning to all around them; sometimes it may be seen as a phase or even treated with anxiety and disturbance. It must be contextualised and compared with the same stage in any other pursuit, for example sport, or watching sport.

The Zelator benefits from a teacher who can at least assist direct study and provide reflective material. There is a danger that the Zelator will imagine that they are consuming the work, whilst in fact the work is consuming them. They may not see opportunities to grow beyond their fervent studies, nor the dead ends likely in the labyrinth they have unlocked. The Zelator stage usually lasts a number of years, although like any grade it can be maintained indefinitely without progressing beyond it. It is also important to note that the grades are progressively built upon one another, so that as the alchemists said, “Cease not calcinations,” that is to say, maintain the zealous state throughout most of the journey. As a Pereclinus/Perecline de Faustus (‘blessed adventurer’) the Zelator is seen as a learner, an adventurer, blessed in that they have turned away from the trials and distractions of the world.[227] They are put under ‘trial’ for the period of a year, testing their patience in a mundane manner, and their faith at a higher level. It is the same story as the applicant being turned away at the Shaolin Monastery, and waiting stood outside for a whole year in the outer courtyard. Eventually a monk comes out, and gives them a broom to start sweeping the courtyard. And after that – after perhaps another year of that apparently meaningless work – they are let into the inner courtyard. T h e o r i c u s ( B L H D A’aT h )

This is likely a conflation of BLH, ‘to consume’, ‘spend time’, ‘mix’ and Da’aTh, ‘knowledge’. Here the Theoricus, corresponding to Yesod on the Tree of Life map of the initiatory journey, starts to actually spend time recanting or re-framing their knowledge and experience gained at Zelator into a change of ‘knowledge’. They begin to re-cast their life in a new perspective and start to perceive how that will change them, their values and their behaviour. The techniques given at this grade catalyse, promote and provide a lens through which this process may be managed. The Theoricus stage is – as the Hebrew name suggests in the Cipher Manuscripts – a dim reflection of ‘Crossing the Abyss’, corresponding to Da’ath on the Tree of Life. This is also seen in the position of Yesod on the Tree of Life in the Middle Pillar, reflecting Da’ath below Tiphareth. In practical terms this shows the impact of the work at this stage on disolving a core sense of self-identity, as new knowledge is mixed into the old, and the stable sense of identity challenged and consumed. That this all takes place in the field of awareness is indicated on the map by Tiphareth. The Theoricus stage is one of self-knowing. The techniques applied are geared to a ‘solution’ (the alchemical process corresponding to this grade, as we will see elsewhere) of the self; a promotion of internal reflection (the Moon corresponds to Yesod). This stage can continue many years or merely a matter of nine months or so. As a Poraios de Rejectis (‘brought forth from the rejected’) the initiate is concerned with the “realisation of gold without labour,” according to the S.R.I.A. ritual. This intimates the nature of the Theoricus work as redeeming certain aspects of the self from what has been rejected. This cannot be done in the active way of the Zelator, it must be done “without labour” – an area that we will discuss in the volume concerning this grade.

Pra c t i c u s ( B A’aL AMZ) Again, a probable conflation – of Ba’aL, meaning ‘Lord’ or ‘owner’, ‘possessor’ and AMR, ‘word’, ‘utterance’, ‘speech’. The long journey of Theoricus, its tests and trials (which we cover elsewhere in terms of the map of tarot), culminates in a specific event which demonstrates that the Practicus has reached the other side of the ‘path of the Sun’ (The Sun tarot card connecting Yesod and Hod, Theoricus and Practicus) and is now in touch with the perspective indicated by The Hanged Man, the card corresponding to the path leading from Hod to Geburah.

[ILLUS. GD1-1-6c Cipher Example from Original Golden Dawn Manuscripts]

This is the first – usually, although not exclusively – experience for the initiate which is truly out of their hands, or appears to be so. It is often experienced as an ‘act of Grace’. However, the experience is catastrophic. This can be seen on the map by noting that the path leading from this sephirah has The Blasted Tower tarot card upon it; The Hanged Man reaches up to Geburah – the sephirah sometimes called Pachad or ‘fear’ – and, as Crowley warns, this is the first time that the initiate ventures off the Middle Pillar. So following the long solution of the Theoricus work, culminating in a primary mystical experience, it rapidly turns into a state of upturn, uncertainty, confusion, and turmoil. The Blasted Tower path must now be trodden; everything must be analysed, refined, considered, and shaken. Now the initiate has experienced something which cannot be formulated just in terms of ‘logic’ (Hod), so must start to widen their experiential knowing, between emotional and mental experience. At the same time, they must begin to manage how this affects the sephiroth that they have already passed through – the activities of Malkuth and the psychological world of Yesod. The Practicus stage is, as one initiate termed it, the ‘Long Plod to God’. It is often characterised by a wavering in the work, long dry periods, study periods, and rich experience which seems not to lead anywhere, defying expectations. However, throughout, the initiate cleaves to the only constant; the universe has spoken, and they have heard – they are truly the ‘Owner of the Word’, the title of the grade. As a Monoceros de Astris (‘unicorn of the stars’) the work of the Practicus is to be “inured to hardship” and continue upwards whilst the “unicorns” destroy the “town-lands of heaven.” The unicorn here is seen as a symbol of “virginal strength, a rushing, lasting, tireless strength.”[228]

Philosophus ( P h L M V N I ) This means ‘a certain one’. Eventually, ricocheting between Hod and Netzach, trying to regain the experience which was given inbetween Theoricus and Practicus, the initiate simply exhausts themselves again and comes to rest in Netzach. This is on the passive pillar, and they realise that all their activities will avail them not. They must simply surrender. This is a challenge for many and initiates a new phase in the work, the like of which is unique to every individual – perhaps here more so than any other phase. The word PhLMVNI comes from a root meaning to ‘distinguish’ as in ‘set apart’, ‘sever’, ‘separate’. The initiate commences a new level of devotion – sometimes characterised with a religious or mystical context – to something outside them. Whether this is seen as the god Pan, God, Anubis, the Higher Self, the Archons, or any other formulation is less relevant than the state itself. The Self calls out beyond itself. Thus begins the Portal which starts to lead one to the work of the Adept grades. With gematria, the word equates to 216, which is an important number with multiple words, including IPSVS, the ‘word of Maat’ in the work of Soror Nema; DBIR, the Holy of Holies; GBVRH, Geburah on the Tree of Life, and RAIH, ‘proof ’, ‘evidence’. As a Pharos Illuminans (‘lighthouse of illumination’) the Philosophus continues to act upon their values and strives to maintain congruency between their values and actions. In this they become both the light and the house – illuminating others by virtue of their striving. In a sense they are also selfguiding, even to their own self-destruction. The apparently awkward wording of a ‘lighthouse of light’ is actually a useful koan-like rendition of the nature of this grade. How can the illusion become real? How can one lift oneself out of oneself? How can one align oneself to something unknown?

So we can see in these Hebrew titles a continuation of the graduated ascent narrative with specific experiences, challenges and work identified for each step of the way. When overlaid in the vast correspondence schema of the initiatory work, they become even clearer as they are compared to their location on the Tree of Life, illustration through tarot, correspondence to the stages of alchemy, and their various astrological and other correspondences.

THE WORK OF THE GRADES “I prefer spiritual practices to be selfdetermined, self-apparent, un-regulated, indeterminate, unwritten, unstudied, unprecedented, devoid of content, without ritual, silent, personal, and only to be shared on special request.” — Eric Muhler[229]

Aleister Crowley developed these grades into a comprehensive schema of initiation for the individual within the system of the A A . However, his presentation of this schema was often subject to his financial and spiritual states, so was rarely set in stone.

∴ ∴

There are specific descriptions of the schema made in such works as Liber CLXXXV, Collegii Sancti. This lists the work and oaths of the grades to Adeptus Minor.

The work of the grades beyond Adeptus Minor is sketched out in the essay, ‘One Star in Sight’.[230] We will here review the work expected of the lower grades in terms of the oath one takes and the practical work involved. We will also refer to the ‘qualities’ the aspirant was expected to bring to the grade, as given on their certificate. These will be further explained in subsequent volumes of The Magister. In this system there is an additional outer grade of the Probationer, preceeding the Neophyte. Crowley also replaced the Portal stage of the Golden Dawn with the Dominus Liminus, the ‘Master of the Threshold’. This connects the grades of Philosophus (Netzach) and Adeptus Minor (Tiphareth) and heralds a significant waiting period for previous work to consolidate and the next grade to become obvious. The Golden Dawn assigned a minimum period of nine months to this stage, and in practice it has been found to take between one and five years to fulfil the conditions of the grade. The Probationer to the A

∴A∴

was expected to gain “a scientific

knowledge of the nature and powers of [their] own being.” They were further expected to bring “reverence, duty, sympathy, devotion, assiduity and trust” to the order. As we have seen with all Crowley’s work, these words are not chosen lightly; they are based upon a kabbalistic and initiatory scheme. The Probationer has not yet attained the qualities of the grades of initiation on the Tree of Life, so they have to bring them out of themselves. As the initiate works up the grades, it is seen that they have to bring those same qualities, less each one, corresponding to their previous grade, until at Adeptus Minor, only “reverence and duty do I bring.” This then gives an indication of the requirements of each grade:

Neophyte: Trust; Zelator: Assiduity; Practicus: Devotion; Philosophus: Sympathy; Adeptus Minor: Reverence and duty (after the attainment of the Holy Guardian Angel). In terms of experience, these wordings are extremely appropriate and not to be missed whilst ‘hidden in plain sight’. Often the apparently chance wording of initiatory structures conceals an obvious simplicity when such has been experienced, but which remains veiled to the casual reader or ‘armchair magician’. The practical work of each grade follows appropriate kabbalistic correspondence: Neophyte: To perfect control of the Astral Plane; Zelator: Asana and pranayama (posture and breathing); Practicus: Intellectual training (specifically kabbalah); Philosophus: Moral training. During the stage of Dominus Liminus, the candidate would be expected to work with pratyahara (observation of one’s thought processes) and dharana (uniting of object and subject). In the revised grade system of the OED, we place the equivalent practice to pratyahara earlier in the work.

In working these methods at the appropriate grade, the initiate is attempting to gain the following powers: Probationer: A scientific knowledge of the nature and powers of their own being; Neophyte: Control of the nature and powers of their own being; Zelator: Control of the foundations of their own being; Practicus: Control of the vacilliations of their own being; Philosophus: Control of the attractions and repulsions of their own being; Dominus Liminus: Control of the aspirations of their own being; Adeptus Minor: To attain the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.

The paths on the Tree of Life were also indicated by Crowley as having correspondence to the work of each grade. So, for example, in Malkuth, at the grade of Zelator, one would have access to the paths of The Last Judgement, The World and The Moon, corresponding to Meditation Ritual CXX, control of the Astral Plane, and methods of divination, accordingly. These will be outlined and described in full in the next volume of The Magister.

The Probationer had a simple list of tasks which would take up to one year to complete, including the making of a magical robe, chosing a magical name or motto, and memorising select chapters of Crowley’s writings. It is of interest that they could follow any practice “as seemeth him good.” At this stage, the initiate must be allowed to explore their own natural tendencies, as these (and their reactions to them) are the prima materia for later analysis and work.

THE VISIONS OF THE GRADES

Louise B. Young writes in The Unfinished Universe that “the universe is unfinished, not just in the limited sense of an incompletely realised plan but in the much deeper sense of a creation that is a living reality of the present.”[231] In the Platonic conceptualisation of time as “the moving likeness of eternity,” we sense this as our own incompleteness when we consider ourselves as entities within this ‘moving likeness’. We sense that we are unfinished, moving towards something, or perhaps away from something, in the dance that is depicted upon The World card of the tarot. Into that dance of sleep, a singular light shines, awakening us if we look into it and see what is beyond. In the Tarot of Everlasting Day, this is illustrated fully on that particular card and between the sleeping Fool and the Light of the World are 10 steps – the grades of initiation.

In the magical path of the via exhaustio, we proceed on the basis that each of these ten grades contains a different state of awareness – and a different perspective – which is only true until the next grade is attained. Each grade contains its own questions, its own illusion, traps and challenges. Each grade contains a novelty – a magical, esoteric or mystical experience that has never been experienced before by the candidate. This novelty may or may not coincide with the initiation of the grade – it is sometimes underestimated (as the candidate has no context into which to place its import) and then can only act as a slow burning fuel or seed for eventual realisation and initiation. We cannot know the destination other than what it is not, what we have already exhausted or demonstrated untrue in our experience. A candidate’s position in the initiatory structure can be best determined by the questions that concern them, not the answers that they think they have understood. We ourselves are an unfinished universe, and we make our way up the Tree of Life to recall and create that completion. As we do so, our vision opens up to evermore comprehensive, consistent and congruent experiences and states. These are described in key stages as the visions of the sephiroth. The following list is that given by the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley as the key visions of each of the sephiroth and hence grades of ascent in the Tree of Life and the WEIS: Malkuth: Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel Yesod: Vision of the Machinery of the Universe Hod: Vision of Splendour Netzach: Vision of Beauty Triumphant Tiphareth: Vision of Harmony

Gebruah: Vision of Power Chesed: Vision of Love Binah: Vision of Sorrow Chockmah: Vision of God face-to-face Kether: Union with God The most immediate implication of this list is that the experience of the Zelator, the grade assigned to Malkuth – the first after the Neophyte, beginner phase – is that of the HGA. This seems to make no sense in that the knowledge and conversation of the HGA is the work of the grade of Adeptus Minor in Tiphareth. However, here is concealed a powerful and mystical secret, in that the Zelator is indeed having a constant vision of their HGA, it is simply that they are not awake to this truth – and the knowledge and conversation is an awakening to that communion rather than a sleeping vision of it at Zelator. In each of the subsequent volumes of The Magister we will explore these visions in full.

Conclusion Part One This concludes the first part of Volume 0 of The Magister on Kindle. The following two parts continue the sketching out the curriculum of study for students, we look more closely at the Golden Dawn work from the original archive papers, outline the connection between psychology and magick, and then provide rituals and exercises in order to get you started on this profound path of western spiritual development. We provide a brief outline of the contents of the subsequent two sections below and we look forward to continuing this epic journey into magick with you in the Crucible Club, into which you are cordially invited in the spirit of a magical life. In the second and third sections of the MAGISTER on Kindle, we cover Rosicrucian teachings and the knowledge lectures of the Golden Dawn, drawing on original and often unpublished manuscripts. We develop the mystical teachings through the second section and in the third section present many more exercises and rituals for the student. Magister Volume 0 Part 2 On Those Things Which Call Us To Awakening Jerusalem’s Furnace: Concerning Graduated Mystical Experience The Stages of the Journey The Court Before the Tabernacle: Zelator (Malkuth) The Sanctuary or Forward Area of the Tabernacle: Theoricus (Yesod)

Practicus (Hod) Philosophus (Netzach) The Holy of Holies: Adeptus Minor (Tiphareth) The Mercy Seat and Solomon's Throne: Adeptus Major (Geburah) and Adeptus Exemptus (Chesed) After the Passing Over: Magister Templi (Binah), Magus (Chockmah) and Ipssisimus (Kether) The Alchemical Amphitheatre On Dreams and States of Consciousness The Guardian on the Threshold and the Inner Guide The Invisible College On Initiation and Calcination Vignette: The Mystical Explosion Exercise: Examining the Zelator The Secret Ladder The Sound of the Trumpet: The Original Intention of the So-Called ‘Rosicrucian Manifestos’ Historical Context Authorship The Fama The Confessio The Chymical Wedding The Mirror of Wisdom

Symbology and Metaphor Study of the WEIS The Nature of the Debate Western Esotericism, Rituals and Knowledge The Problem of Magic and the Occult Treatments of the Magical Orders The Teachings of Individual Esoteric Teachers and Followers The Teaching Work Conclusion The Academic and Esoteric Encounter The Birth of Academic Studies of Western Esotericism The Dangers of Monolithic and Historical Analysis The Insider / Outsider Problem The Issue of Secret Knowledge Definitions of Western Esotericism The Contemporary Milieu Conclusion The Ascent Narrative The Ascent Narrative in Christian Mysticism The Ascent Narrative in Kabbalah Curriculum Studies Applied to Western Esotericism Introduction: Curriculum as Model Methodology: Analysis of Curriculum Analysis of Content The Self in Education

Curricula as Content Purposes Content Procedures Evaluation Differences Between Secular and Esoteric Curricula Builders of the Adytum (BOTA): The Creation of a Curriculum The Teachers: A Case Study of Florence Farr The Aim and Structure of the Golden Dawn Light Before the Dawn: The Sat B’hai and the Gold and Rosy Cross The Sat B’hai and the August Order of Light The Influence of the Gold and Rosy Cross Westcott’s Western Mystic Doctrine Mathers and the Book of Concealed Mystery History Foundations at 17 Fitzroy Street A Society of Hermetic Students The Devastating but Priceless Secret The Construction of the Curriculum The Knowledge Lectures and Flying Rolls The Flying Rolls List of Rolls and Authors The Rituals The Ladder and the Golden and Rosy Cross

Evidence of Student Engagement in Western Esoteric Education Problems of Delivery of Material Qualification of Knowledge This is Reserved for a Higher Grade The Failure of the Golden Dawn Alumni of the Golden Dawn The Strange Reward Magister Volume 0 Part 3 In the Shadow of the Bright Circle: The Relationship Between Modern Ceremonial Magic and Psychology Strange Prisoners Naturphilosophie and Jung, the Development of the Unconscious The Nancy School and the Technique of Suggestion The Golden Dawn and the Development of the Self Dion Fortune and Israel Regardie, Psychoanalysts and Magicians Israel Regardie: The Sage of Sedona Dion Fortune: Priestess of the Soul Contemporary Syntheses of Psychology and Magic The Oath of Harpocrates: Considerations on Secrecy and the Hermetic Vessel Flying Roll XIII on Secrecy and Hermetic Love Sermons Through Stones: Who Are the Secret Masters?

No Man Hath Seen Me Unveiled: Considerations on the Dweller on the Threshold The Ka, the Ba, the Ab: Considerations on the Divisions of the Soul Vignette: The Goddess of Sais The Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel The Sacred Magic of Abramelin Vignette: 13 Dancing Girls on a Wednesday The Holy Guardian Angel The Angel and the Higher Self On the Egregore The Abyss Vignette: The Cube of Undoing The Fourth Way Work The Kundabuffers Watching for Kundabuffers The Initiatory Tarot The Three Decks The Mystery of the Monogram The World The Fool The Blasted Tower The High Priestess Your Magical Journal and Dream Diary Optional Journal Practices

The Dreaming Mind Zosimos of Panopolis The Vision of Zosimos Exercise: The Seven Steps Contemplation Optional Dream Practices Exercise: The Fountain of Morpheus (An Initiated Method of Dream Recall) Exercise: Hand Observation for Lucid Dreaming The Dream Journal: Liber Somnorium The Magickal Name The Purpose and Nature of the Magickal Name Salutations, Forms and Greetings Formal Framing in the Order of Everlasting Day Selected List of Magical Names and Mottos The Rituals and Practices Vignette: Airport Adoration Liber Resh (Solar Adoration) Liber Resh vel Helios sub figura CC Commentary and Practice Liber Qoph vel Lunae (The Book of the Moon, a Lunar Observation) The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) Visualisations The Self in Relationship (The Middle Pillar)

Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice The Middle Pillar Method Circulation of the Light The Peace Profound of the Rose Cross and Key The Rose Cross Ritual The Opening of the Golden Dawn into the Everlasting Day The Opening of the Everlasting Day The Rituals of the Sapphire Temple The Oath of the Tarot Majors Conclusion Frequently Asked Questions Reading List Part One: General Reading Part Two: A Magical Curriculum (Books by Grade) Bibliography Index

[1] Knight, G. & McLean, A. Commentary on the Chymical Wedding. Magnum Opus: Edinburgh, 1984, p.8. [2] Dick, P.K. I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon. Victor Gollancz Ltd: London, 1986, p.179. [3] Mathers, S.L.M. (S. S. D. D.) in King, F. Astral Projection, Ritual Magic, and Alchemy: Golden Dawn Material by S.L. MacGregor Mathers and Others. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough: 1971, p.164. [4] See Greer, J.M. Inside a Magical Lodge. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1998, pp.106110. [5] For Lord A.’s writings and philosophy, see http://www.lorda.blogspot.co.uk/ [last accessed 27 November 2012]. [6] See Abram, D. The Spell of the Sensuous. Vintage Books: New York, 1997, p.99 and, for a therapeutic approach, de Shazer, S. Words Were Originally Magic. W.W. Norton & Co, Inc.: New York, 1994, pp. 17-20.

[7] For the impact of the Reformation on magic, see Chapter 3 of Thomas, K. Religion and the Decline of Magic. Penguin Books: Harmondsworth, 1978. In terms of the origins of mystical Christianity, refer to Louth, A. The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition from Plato to Denys. Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1981 and earlier still for the roots of Gnosticism see Mead, G.R.S. Fragments of a Faith Forgotten. University Books: New York, 1960 and Petrement, S. A Separate God: The Origins and Teachings of Gnosticism. HarperCollins: New York, 1984. A fascinating analysis of the conflict between science and magic in the 18th century can be read in Gaby, A.J. The Covert Enlightenment: Eighteenth Century Counterculture and Its Aftermath. Swedenborg Foundation Publishers: West Chester, 2005. An overarching view of the development of magic and witchcraft in Europe is provided in Ankarloo, B. & Clark, S. (editors). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, 1999. The latter is a six volume treatise covering Biblical and pagan Societies to the 20th century. [8] Crowley, A. The Revival of Magick and Other Essays. New Falcon: Tempe, 1998, p.19. [9] Regardie, I. Foundations of Practical Magic. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983; Butler, W.E. Lords of Light: Teachings of the Ibis Fraternity. Destiny Books: Rochester, 1990; Apprenticed to Magic. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1981; Fortune, D. The Training and Work of an Initiate. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1986; Gray, W.G. An Outlook on our Inner Western Way. Samuel Weiser: New York, 1980; Knight, G. Magic and the Western Mind. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1991. For more on Dion Fortune, see Knight, G. Dion Fortune and the Inner Light. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 2000; Fielding, C. & Collins, C. The Story of Dion Fortune. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 1998; Richardson, A. Priestess: The Life and Magic of Dion Fortune. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1987; Chapman, J. Quest for Dion Fortune. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1993, and Richardson, A. Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune: The Logos of the Aeon and the Shakti of the New Age Llewellyn: Woodbury, 2009. [10] Fortune, D. Moon Magic. Weiser: York Beach, 1986. The Sea Priestess. Weiser: York Beach, 1981. The Goat-Foot God. Star: London, 1976. The Demon Lover. Star: London, 1976. The Winged Bull. Star: London, 1976. It

would be a while before I discovered Fortune’s further work such as the Mystical Meditations on the Collects. Weiser: York Beach, 1991, where she discussed more profoundly the deeper revelation of the mysteries and how they might inform Christian mysticism, although The Mystical Qabalah. Ernest Benn: London & Tonbridge, 1979, was one of the first books I purchased at the Ace of Wands occult shop in Derby, England, opening a whole world of lifetime study. [11] Refer to Godwin, J. The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance. Thames & Hudson: London, 2002; Wind, E. Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance. W.W. Norton & Co: New York, 1968; Seznec, J. The Survival of the Pagan Gods. Princetown University Press: Chichester, 1972, and Paris, G. Pagan Grace: Dionysus, Hermes and the Goddess Memory in Daily Life. Spring Publications: Dallas, 1990. A later volume will return to the bridging of paganism, witchcraft, Wicca, and esotericism in the WEIS. Also refer to Livingstone, G. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-Inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. iUniverse: New York, 2008, pp.49-50 where the ‘Western way’ is split into ‘native tradition’ and ‘Hermetic tradition’ from Caitlin & John Matthews’ work, The Western Way. [12] There are a number of biographies of Crowley. I would recommend first Crowley’s own hilarious and rollicking autobiography, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1986, followed in order of personal preference by Kaczynski, R. Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley. New Falcon: Tempe, 2002; Churton, T. Aleister Crowley: The Biography. Watkins: London, 2011; Booth, M. A Magick Life. Hodder & Stoughton: London, 2000; Regardie, I. The Eye in the Triangle: An Interpretation of Aleister Crowley. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1982; Symonds, J. The Great Beast. Mayflower: London, n.d. [This is my dog-eared paperback copy that accompanied me from the back seats of a college bus every day and soon after to the Sinai Desert and onwards. It is missing the publisher’s page – I probably tore it out to write a sigil on it]); Suster, G. The Legacy of the Beast. W.H. Allen: London, 1988; Wilson, C. Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast. Aquarian: London, 1987; King, F. The Magical World of Aleister Crowley. Weidenfield & Nicolson: London, 1977; Sutin, L. Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley. St. Martin’s Press: New York, 2000; Hutchinson, R. Aleister Crowley: The Beast Demystified.

Mainstream Publishing: Edinburgh, 1998; Symonds, J. The King of the Shadow Realm. Duckworth: London, 1989. See also the various essays in Bogdan, H. & Starr, M.P. (editors). Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2012, particularly ‘Varieties of Magical Experience’ by Marco Pasi, pp.53-87. [13] Sturzaker, J. Kabbalistic Aphorisms. Theosophical Publishing House: London, 1971; Sturzaker, J. & Sturzaker, D. Colour and the Kabbalah. Thorsons: Wellingborough, 1975, and The Kabbalist (magazine, 1975-2002, see my article in 1991, ‘An Analysis of Malkuth’ under ‘Mark Green’) at: http://internationalorderofkabbalists.org [last accessed 06 August 2012]. [14] Whilst impossible to provide a simple reading list for kabbalah, see elsewhere herein and perhaps commence with Berenson-Perkins, J. Kabbalah Decoder. Barron’s: Happauge, 2000, for a generalist introduction not straying to any particular school or tradition whilst giving adequate coverage for the layman. Also refer to Wang, R. The Rape of Jewish Mysticism by Christian Theologians. Marcus Aurelius Press: Columbia, 2001, for a critical appraisal of how kabbalah was utilised as it was moved into the Western occult movements. [15] My own works on tarot include Katz, M. Tarosophy. Forge Press: Keswick, 2016, and with co-author Goodwin, T. Around the Tarot in 78 Days. Llewellyn: Woodbury, 2012; Tarot Face to Face. Llewellyn: Woodbury, 2012; Learning Lenormand. Llewellyn: Woodbury, 2013; Abiding in the Sanctuary: The Waite-Trinick Tarot. Forge Press: Keswick, 2011, and with Goodwin, T. & Bain, D. A New Dawn for Tarot: The Original Tarot of the Golden Dawn. Forge Press: Keswick, 2013.

[16] In terms of the grimoire tradition, an accessible and comprehensive practical work is provided by Leitch, A. Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires. Llewellyn: Woodbury, 2005. The source material of Agrippa and Barrett is available in a number of versions, including Tyson, D. Three Books of Occult Philosophy written by Henry Cornellius Agrippa of Nettescheim. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1998, and d’Arch Smith, T. (editor). The Magus: A Complete System of Occult Philosophy by Francis Barrett. Citadel Press: Cecaucus, 1980. Two essential academic approaches are taken by Butler, E.M. Ritual Magic. Sutton Publishing: Stroud, 1998, and Kieckhefer, R. Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century. Sutton Publishing: Stroud, 1997. There are additional grimoires of note, which will be treated later, including Keith, W. (editor). The Grimoire of Armadel, trans. S. L. MacGregor Mathers. Weiser: York Beach, 2001, and Cavendish, R. (foreword). The Key of Solomon The King, trans. S. L. MacGregor Mathers. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1981. [17] Richardson, A. & Claridge, M. The Old Sod: The Odd Life and Inner Work of William G. Gray. Skylight Press: Cheltenham, 2011; Knight, G. I Called It Magic. Skylight Press: Cheltenham, 2011; Conway, D. Magic Without Mirrors: The Making of a Magician. Logios, 2011, and Hedsel, M. The Zelator. Century Books: London, 1998. [18] Regardie, I. My Rosicrucian Adventure. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1981. [19] Crowley, V. The Magickal Life. Penguin: New York, 2003; di Fiosa, J. A Coin for the Ferryman: The Death and Life of Alex Sanders. Logios, 2010; Kelly, A.A. Crafting the Art of Magic Book I: A History of Modern Witchcraft 1939-1964. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1991; Crowther, P. From Stagecraft to Witchcraft. Capall Bann: Chieveley, 2002. Witch Blood! The Diary of a Witch High Priestess. House of Collectibles: New York, 1974. The Witches Speak. Samuel Weiser: New York, 1976; Sanders, M. Firechild. Mandrake: Oxford, 2008; Deutch, R. The Ecstatic Mother: Portrait of Maxine Sanders. Bachman and Turner: London, 1977; Farrar, J. & Farrar, S. The Life and Times of a Modern Witch. Headline: London, 1998. Throughout my witchcraft work at the time I briefly corresponded with Janet and the late Stewart Farrar, and met with Maxine Sanders in London, although it was through the lineage of Patricia Crowther that I was initiated,

by a Priest and Priestess of her coven. I was also regularly corresponding with the new witchcraft groups in the United States of America, and receiving many of the early American journals and magazines during the period 1985-2000. [20] Mavromatis, A. Travelling Light: Glimpses of Modern Day Initiation. Thyrsos Press: London, 2010, and Lockhart, D. Sabazius: The Teachings of a Greek Magus. Element: Shaftesbury, 1997. [21] For example, Stewart, R.J. Underworld Initiation. Aquarian: Wellingborough, 1985, and O’Regan, V. The Pillar of Isis. Aquarian: London, 1992. [22] Luhrmann, T.M. Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England. Picador: London, 1994. See also an intresting comparison of esoteric teachers by Mistlberger, P.T. The Three Dangerous Magi: Osho, Gurdjieff and Crowley. O-Books: Ropely, 2010. [23] Wilson, R.A. Cosmic Trigger: Final Secret of the Illuminati. Abacus: London, 1979. Right Where You Are Sitting Now. And/Or Press: Berkeley, 1982. With Shea, R. Illuminatus! Sphere Books: London, 1976, in three volumes. [24] Duquette, L.M. My Life with the Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician. Red Wheel/ Weiser: York Beach, 1999. [25] St. George, E.A. The Casebook of a Working Occultist. Rigel Press: London, 1972. [26] Frost, G. & Frost, Y. Power Secrets from a Sorcerer’s Private Magnum Arcanum. Goldolphin House: Hinton, 1980, pp.27-29. [27] Richardson, A. Dancers to the Gods: The Magical Records of Charles Seymour and Christine Hartley 1937-1939. The Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1985, and Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. (editor). The Forgotten Mage: The Magical Lectures of Colonel C.R.F. Seymour. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 1999.

[28] Wolfe, J. The Cefalu Diaries 1920-1923. The College of Thelema of Northern California: Sacremento, 2008. See also Fuller, J.O. The Magical Dilemma of Victor Neuburg. Mandrake: Oxford, 1990. [29] Shiva, F. Inside Solar Lodge: Outside The Law. Teitan Press: York Beach, 2007. [30] Kansa, S. Wormwood Star: The Magickal Life of Marjorie Cameron. Mandrake: Oxford, 2011; Starr, M.P. The Unknown God: W.T. Smith and the Thelemites. The Teitan Press: Bolingbrook, 2003; Carter, J. Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons. Feral House: Port Townsend, 2004. [31] Kraig, D.M. Modern Magic. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1991; Frater U.D., High Magic. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 2005; McCarthy, J. Magical Knowledge Book I & II. Mandrake: Oxford, 2012; Greer, J.M. Inside a Magical Lodge. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1998; Penczak, C. Ascension Magick. Llewellyn: Woodbury, 2007; Cooper, P. Basic Magic. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1996; Wildoak, P. By Names and Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life. Skylight Press: Cheltenham, 2012. [32] Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The Shining Paths. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983. First Steps in Ritual. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1982. This latter work, particularly the Egyptian-styled ‘Meeting of Mind with Mind’ ritual, helped my own bridging of pagan practice and esotericism at that time. [33] Green, M. Magic for the Aquarian Age. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983. The Path Through The Labyrinth. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 1994.

[34] del Campo, G. New Aeon Magick: Thelema Without Tears. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1994; Mortimer, G.T. The Probationer’s Handbook. Media Underground, 2007; Orpheus, R. Abrahadabra. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005; Duquette, L.M. The Magick of Thelema. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1993. I would highly recommend for those looking at the initiatory aspects of Thelema, Gunther, J.D. Initiation in the Aeon of the Child: The Inward Journey. Ibis Press: Lake Worth, 2009. There is of course no singular ‘widely accepted’ interpretation of Crowley’s work. [35] Nema, Maat Magick. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1995. The Way of Mystery. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 2003. [36] I have at various times over the past three decades approached or been approached by these groups (or versions thereof) in several contexts. We will consider the organisation of magical practice within magical orders and the teaching of the mysteries in later volumes. [37] Chapman, A. Advanced Magick for Beginners. Aeon Books: London, 2008. [38] Goddard, D. The Tower of Alchemy. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1999. [39] Harrison, F. & Shadrach, N. Magic That Works: Practical Training for the Children of Light. Ishtar Publishing: Barnaby, 2005. [40] Templar, E. The Tree of Hru. Kingfisher Press: Irchester, 1990, and The Path of the Magus. Kingfisher Press: Irchester, 1986. p.87: “The ‘dimension change’ is inevitably a traumatic experience involving a psychological upheaval of some description. This process will continue over a few days until either a centre of stability is established within the self or the state of the consciousness reverts to its former condition ... When the adjustment period is complete the effects caused by the higher self in Yetzirah bring reactions in Assiah.” Compare with the work of Florence Farr on the model of ritual through the Egyptian states of self.

[41] Gold, E.J. Life in the Labyrinth. IDHHB: Nevada City, 1986; Ouspensky, P.D. The Fourth Way. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1970. Whilst Gurdjieff’s writings can be difficult, see Gurdjieff, G.I. Views From the Real World. Arkana: London, 1984. Life is Real Only Then, When “I Am”. Routledge and Kegan Paul: London, 1981. For the commentaries of his students and others, refer to Wellbeloved, S. Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts. Routledge: London, 2003; Gorman, M. Stairway to the Stars. Aeon: London, 2010; Tart, C.T. Waking Up. Element Books: Longmead, 1988; Pogson, B. The Work Life. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1994; Nott, C.S. Teachings of Gurdjieff. Arkana: London, 1990; Orage, A.R. Psychological Exercises. Janus Press: London, 1968; Nicoll, M. Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. Shamballa: Boston, 1987, in five volumes. Commentaries on the life and work of Gurdjieff and Ousepensky can be studied in Patterson, W.P. Struggle of the Magicians: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship. Arete Communications: Fairfax, 1998, and Webb, J. The Harmonious Circle. G.P. Putnam’s Sons: New York, 1980. [42] The plethora of theosophical titles is beyond this present volume, but will be treated later in a section on Theosophy and related currents. Introductory titles include Kingsford, A.B. & Maitland, E. The Perfect Way, or the Finding of Christ. Cosimo: New York, 2007; Steiner, R. The Way of Initiation, and Initiation and Its Results. Theosophical Publishing Society: London, 1910, particularly Chapter V, ‘The Dissociation of Human Personality During Initiation’ and following chapters on the two ‘guardians’. [43] The present author has comprehensive collections of the majority of these curricula materials in print and whilst avoiding revealing ‘initiated teachings’ will attempt to make clear and accessible their deeper aims and methodologies in both conceptual and practical material. [44] Dowd, F.B. The Way: A Textbook for the student of Rosicrucian Philosophy. Health Research: Pomeroy, 1972. Dowd was a student of P.B. Randolph and in turn taught R.S. Clymer.

[45] Hall, M.P. The Adepts in the Western Esoteric Tradition, Part 3: Orders of Universal Reformation. Philosophical Research Society: Los Angeles, 1949, pp.11-13. [46] Bryce, D. The Mystical Way and the Arthurian Quest. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1996; Stewart, R.J. The Underworld Initiation. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1985; Dobbs, J.R. The Book of the SubGenius. Simon & Schuster, Inc.: New York, 1987. [47] Cooper, D.J. Mithras: Mysteries and Initiation Rediscovered. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1996. [48] Bardon, F. Initiation into Hermetics. Osiris-Verlag: Kettig Uber Koblenz, 1962; Godwin, J., Chanel, C. & Deveney, J.P. The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1995; Burgoyne, T.H. The Light of Egypt: The Science of the Soul and the Stars. H.O. Wagner: Denver, 1963, in two volumes. [49] Greville-Gascoigne, A. The Way of an Initiate. T.B.O.T.P. Publications: North Ferriby, 1940; The Monolith (publication of the Order of the Cubic Stone); H.O.M, Lectures of the First Degree (1988). [50] Richardson, A. & Hughes, G. Ancient Magicks for a New Age. Llewellyn Publications: St. Paul, 1992 – a fascinating system built from two separate yet related magical diaries, dating 1940-42 and 1984-86. [51] Evolva, J. Ride the Tiger. Inner Traditions: Rochester, 2003; The Hermetic Tradition. Inner Traditions: Rochester, 1995; Introduction to Magic. Inner Traditions: Rochester, 2001; Blystone, W. Paenitere: An Introduction to the Occult Arts for the Neophyte. 1st Books, 2003; Weor, S.A. The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah. Thelema Press: Aloha, 2006; Ophiel, The Art and Practice of Caballa Magic. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1977. [52] Dawkins, P. & Trevelyan, G. The Pattern of Initiation in the Evolution of Human Consciousness. Francis Bacon Research Trust: Northampton, 1981.

[53] Abbot, R. with Warrington, P. The Works of Arthur H. Norris Vol. I. Natural Living Books: Northamptonshire, 2012, and Power, R. (editor) Great Song: The Life and Teachings of Joe Miller. Maypop: Athens, Georgia, 1993. [54] My favourite work on the nature of esoteric schools is the kabbalistic approach taken by Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi, School of the Soul: Its Path and Pitfalls. Gateway Books: Bath, 1985, although my own reading on the subject has been eclectic, ranging from group dynamics to Blakemore, L.B. Masonic Lodge Methods. Macoy Publishing: Richmond, 1953, pp.7-8 (i.e. ways of dealing with ‘Bossism in Lodges’, when someone thinks they are ‘boss’ other than the Lodge Master). One little known but extremely practical and insightful book is by the Satanist Yaj Nomolos, The Magic Circle: Its Succesful Organization and Leadership. International Imports: Hollywood, 1987. [55] As examples: Geldard, R. The Esoteric Emerson. Lindisfarne Press: Hudson, 1993; Roberts, A Lucid Dreamer: The Life of Peter Redgrove. Jonathan Cape: London, 2012, pp.232-8, noting Redgrove’s connections to Wicca and the Order of Q.B.L.H. [56] The Lamp of Thoth was published from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice shop in Leeds, United Kingdom, throughout the 1980s and this present author contributed to a number of issues under the magical name Frater AES, including letters and channelled workings such as Liber Penultima, an obscure piece in Vol. II. No.4 (1984): “When the black star rises and the hand grasps the feather, the pages of the Great Book will crumble and become like unto ash ...” etc. The 1980s were a fervent period of small press publishing as printing became more accessible. Magazines such as Sunpath were dedicated to one subject, astral projection; T.N.T. was devoted to ‘New Aeon Psychosexuality’; others were more eclectic. Earlier publishing periods produced such curiosities as the Living magazine during the 1930s, a publication of the School of Applied Philosophy, a New Thought movement incorporating “the wisdom-lore of three traditions: Christian, Hermetic, Buddhistic” (I.X., 1937, p. 3). [57] Insight, Issue 16 (published by D. James).

[58] My own inspirations at that time for satanic philosophy and practice were LaVey, A.S. The Satanic Bible. Avon: New York, 1969; The Satanic Rituals. Avon: New York, 1972, and a weekly correspondence by letter with several Satanic luminaries of the time, including at least two who, unfortunately, were later the subject of disparaging United Kingdom television documentaries. See also the ubiquitous Wheatley, D. The Satanist. Arrow Books: London, 1974. There are many more varied takes on the Left Hand Path nowadays, including Webb, D. Uncle Setnakt’s Essential Guide to the Left Hand Path. Runa-Raven Press: Smithville, 1999. We will also in the Zelator volume consider the work of such groups as the Order of the Nine Angles, Order of Dagon, Temple of Set, and other ‘sinister’ orientated work. See also Baddeley, G. Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship & Rock ‘n’ Roll. Plexus: London, 1999, and Schreck, N. Flowers from Hell: A Satanic Reader. Creation Books, 2001. As an example of academic approaches, see Asbjørn Dyrendal, ‘Satan and the Beast: The Influence of Aleister Crowley on Modern Satanism’ in Bogdan, H. & Starr, M.P. (editors). Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2012, pp.369-88. [59] The made-for-television movie by Gene Roddenbury, Spectre (directed by Clive Donner, 1977), also has a lot to answer for – with Robert Culp setting a role model as William Sebastian, the cursed occult investigator, accompanied by his loyal but damaged sidekick, Dr. ‘Ham’ Hamilton (played by Gig Young). The comicbook series Dr. Strange was also a surreal inspiration. [60] Pauwels, L. & Bergier, J. The Morning of the Magicians. Mayflower: London, 1971. [61] Hauck, D.W. The Emerald Tablet. Arkana: London, 1999. An overview of alchemical titles will be provided in the relevant section of The Magister.

[62] Suggested first readers are for alchemy in Edinger, E.F. Anatomy of the Psyche. Open Court: Chicago & La Salle, 1994; tarot in Nichols, S. Jung and Tarot. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1980, and astrology in Greene, L. & Sasportas, H. Seminars in Psychological Astrology: Volume 1: The Development of the Personality. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1987, amongst others. See also Spiegelman, J.M. The Tree of Life: Paths in Jungian Individuation. New Falcon Publications: Phoenix, 1993. [63] See Chappell, V. Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic: The Essential Ida Craddock. Weiser Books: San Francisco, 2010. [64] Williams, B. The Woman Magician. Llewellyn: Woodbury, 2011; Kaltsas, N. & Shapiro, (editors). Worshipping Women: Ritual and Reality in Classical Athens. Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation: New York, 2011; d’Este, S. (editor). Priestesses, Pythonesses, Sybils. Avalonia: London, 2001; Stewart, R.J. Celebrating the Male Mysteries. Arcania: Bath, 1991; Bly, R. Iron John. Element: Shaftesbury, 1990, and Moore, R. & Gillette, D. King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. HarperCollins: New York, 1990. [65] Denning, M. & Phillips, O. The Magical Philosophy (in five volumes). Llewellyn: Saint Paul, 1974. A contemporary author of the tradition, in one of its several offshoots, is Kraft, N.R. Ogdoadic Magick. Weiser/Red Wheel: York Beach, 2001, and Osborne Phillips published specific key initiatory rituals in Aurum Solis. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 2001. [66] I found myself particularly unmoved by these texts, a pastiche of which would be: “XOANO: The Guardian of the Eighth Portal, he bringeth fire to your nostrils and remaineth in shadow always. Speak not of that inner word of flame for it burneth the heart when the Arcanum is opened ... yet in his power is all wealth for thee.” It is actually fairly easy to channel such streams of text, and far easier to experience such grimoiric revelations than it is to sort out one’s actual life and gain any insight into the workings of the world outside your nostrils. Often these works are the particular obsession of what one esoteric shopkeeper referred to as ‘Squid Boys’.

[67] Louth, A. The Origins of Christian Mysticism. Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1981; McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism. SCM Press: London, 1995, this latter Volume II of an invaluable four volume series on Christian mysticism. [68] These authors and works will be unpacked throughout subsequent volumes. For the ‘Book of the Nine Rocks’, see Kepler, T.S. Mystical Writings of Rulman Merswin. Westminster Press: Philadelphia, n.d. We will also later return to the work of Marguerite Porete (?-1310) whose Mirror of Simple Souls (Babinsky, E.L. (translator). The Mirror of Simple Souls. Paulist Press: New York, 1993) picks up on the seven stages – explicity called ‘states’ of the soul in its divine ascent, see pp. 189-194. We only know of Porete’s death as she was burnt at the stake for heresy. [69] Ramon Lull, in Peers, E.A. (editor). The Art of Contemplation. The Macmillan Co: London, 1925; Thomas A. Kempis, in Barton, G. (translator). The Imitation of Christ. Guidance House: 1942, and Kaplan, A. Meditation and Kabbalah. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1985. [70] For background at this initial stage in our journey, consider Tweedy, I. Daughter of Fire. Blue Dolphin: Nevada City, 1986; Roberts, B. The Experience of No-Self. Shamballa: Boston, 1984; Bubba Free John. The Knee of Listening. Dawn Horse Press: Middletown, 1978; Brunton, P. The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga. Rider & Company: London, 1941. [71] One might consider Harvey, A. A Journey in Ladakh. Picador: London, 1993, p.181: “Westerners do not believe in being ‘Western’ as much as young Easteners do ...” Also by the same author, The Direct Path: Creating a Journey to the Divine Using the World’s Mystical Traditions. Rider: London, 2000, is highly recommended as a practical synthesis of Eastern and Western practice. [72] On Freemasonry, highly recommended is Churton, T. Freemasonry: The Reality. Lewis Masonic: Heresham, 2009, and Hamill, J. The Craft: A History of English Freemasonry. Crucible, 1986.

[73] Huxley, A. The Perennial Philosophy. HarperPerennial: New York, 2009; Holman, J. The Return of the Perennial Philosophy: The Supreme Vision of Western Esotericism. Watkins: London, 2008. For more individual writings on a personal philosophy, see Fowles, J. The Aristos. Pan Books: London, 1968; Wilson, C. The Outsider. Pan Books: London, 1963, or Yeats, W.B. A Vision. Papermac: London, 1981. [74] See Carroll, P. Psychonaut. Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Leeds, n.d.; Sherwin, R. The Book of Results. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Leeds, n.d.; The Theatre of Magick. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Leeds, n.d.; Tickhill, A. The Apogeton. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Leeds, n.d.; Wilde, J. Grimoire of Chaos Magick. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Leeds, n.d. and more recent works including Wetzel, J. The Paradigmal Pirate. Megalithia Books: Stafford, 2006; Carroll, P.J. Liber Kaos: The Psychonomicon. Antony Rowe: Chippenham, n.d.; Hawkins, J.D. Understanding Chaos Magic. Capall Bann: Chieveley, 1996. My own early attendance at Chaos magick meetings equated them to concerts for ‘Sisters of the Dammed’ fans, although one invocation of Baphomet was particularly memorable. [75] Baker, P. Austin Osman Spare: The Life and Legend of London’s Lost Artist. Strange Attractor Press: London, 2011. The work of Australian artist Rosaleen Norton is comparable and has been detailed by Drury, N. in Pan’s Daughter. Mandrake: Oxford, 1993, and Dark Spirits: The Magical Art of Rosaleen Norton and Austin Osman Spare. Salamander & Sons: Chiang Mai, 2012. [76] Carroll, P.J. Liber Null. Sorcerers Apprentice: Leeds, n.d. In the first issue of the magazine Chaos International, published in 1986, is to be found a computer program for calculating gematria – Hebrew numerology – written under my pseudonym of ‘Frater W.H.H’. I recall this was my choice from the name William Hope Hodgson, whose House on the Borderland (1908) I was working with at the time as a metaphor for the ‘in-between state’ of consciousness.

[77] Summers, C. & Vayne, J. Seeds of Magick. Quantum: London, 1990; Hine, P. Condensed Chaos. 1992; Dukes, R. S.S.O.T.B.M.E. Revised: An Essay on Magic. The Mouse That Spins, 1974, revised 2000. In this collection of essays, the chapter on ‘Progress in Magic’, pp. 114-22, is essential reading. [78] Hyatt, C.S. with Willis, J. The Psychopath’s Bible. New Falcon Publications: Tempe, 2003. [79] Irwin, R. Satan Wants Me. Bloomsbury: London, 2000, p.18: “... I have plenty of other things to try – like the Process, or Divine Light, or Ouspenskyism, or that Witches’ Coven in Islington, or Scientology, or Esalen. I’m easy – except if I am going to stick around with the Black Book Lodge, I would definitely like to see some demons.” [80] Wilson, R.A. Prometheus Rising. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1986. The exercise on pp.6-7 is one of the few mandatory exercises in the Order of Everlasting Day. [81] Rhinehart, L. The Book of the Die. HarperCollins: London, 2000; The Dice Man. The Overlook Press: New York, 2001; The Search for the Dice Man. HarperCollins: London, 1994. [82] Farber, P.H. FutureRitual. Eschaton: Chicago, 1999; Newcomb, J.A. 21st Century Mage. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2002; Katz, M. Tarosophy: Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape It. Forge Press: Keswick, 2016. [83] Henderson, J.L. Thresholds of Initiation. Chiron Publications: Wilmette, 2005, pp.175-184. [84] Wolff-Salin, M. Journey into Depth: the Experience of Initiation in Monastic and Jungian Training. Liturgical Press: Collegeville, 2005, particularly the pattern of ordeal, disillusionment and integration.

[85] As background and preparatory reading, particularly recommended are Main, R. Revelations of Chance: Synchronicity as Spiritual Experience. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1997; Clarke, R.B. An Order Outside Time: A Jungian View of the Higher Self from Egypt to Christ. Hampton Roads: Charlottesville, 2005; Conforti, M. Field, Form and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature & Psyche. Spring Journal Books: New Orleans, 2003; Wilbur, K. The Spectrum of Consciousness. Theosophical Publishing House: Wheaton, 1979. [86] Jung, C.G. Man and His Symbols. Picador: London, 1978; Campbell, J. The Hero With A Thousand Faces Paladin: London, 1988, and Vogler, C. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters Pan Books: London, 1999. [87] See Madden, K.W. Dark Light of the Soul. Lindesfarne Books: Great Barrington, 2008, for a discussion of traumatic breakdown and its relation to spiritual breakthrough, through the analysis of Jacob Boehme and C.G. Jung. The astonishing book by O’Brien, B. Operators and Things: The Inner Life of a Schizophrenic. Abacus: London, 1976, can give some pointers to a world in which the conscious mind has been overtaken by these forces. Hollis, J. provides a useful guide to responding to the types of emotions arising from inner work (and general life) in Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places. Inner City Books: Toronto, 1996. [88] Moore, A., Williams III, J.H., Gray, M. & Klein, T. Promethea. Americas Best Comics, 1999-2005, 32 issues. [89] For tarot, http://www.facebook.com/groups/tarotprofessionals [90] Alan Moore, Fossil Angels (2002), http://glycon.livejournal.com/13888.html [last accessed 05 August 2012]. [91] I was once sat across a pub table from members of a contemporary Golden Dawn group. One of them waited until his friends had gone to the bar and then leaned across to me and whispered, “I’m an Adeptus Major you know. What are you?” I think the ‘bemused’ look on my face answered the question.

[92] The most popular works being such as Redfield, J. The Celestine Prophecy. Bantam: London, 1994, termed on its cover with no little irony, ‘The No.1 American Sensation’. This was followed almost immediately by Redfield, J. & Adrienne, C. The Celstine Prophecy: An Experiential Guide. Bantam: London, 1995, an ‘eagerly-awaited companion’ within the year. There is also the popular Tolle, E. The Power of Now. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd: London, 2011, which has been described as a Bible du jour. We might also consider the work and life of Bach, R. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Scribner: New York, 1998, and Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. Pan Books: London, 1978; and Coelho, P. The Alchemist. Thorsons: London, 1995, as Western guides to ‘following your own dream’ or living ‘your own personal adventure’. There is of course Byrne, R. The Secret (2006) which at time of this writing has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide. It seems to me that from what I understand the ‘Law of Attraction’ has two fundamental flaws: firstly, the only people who have demonstrated that it works are those who have made their money writing that it works, rather than any other methodology; and secondly, it actually is the opposite of magical theory as stated by such as Crowley, in working without ‘lust of result’. That is neither here nor there unless a book claims that it is based upon research in such ‘secret’ or magical theory. Perhaps it all dates back to 1978 with the first publication of Harris, T.A. I’m OK – You’re OK. Arrow Boooks: London, 1995. [93] Wilbur, K. The Spectrum of Consciousness. Quest Books: Wheaton, 1979; Beck, D.E. & Cowan, C.C. Spiral Dynamics. Blackwell Publishing: Malden, 1996. [94] Yates, F.A. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. Paladin: St. Albans, 1975.

[95] The student is advised to commence with Faivre, A. Access to Western Esotericism. State University of New York Press: New York, 1994; von Stuckrad, K. Western Esotericism. Equinox Press: London, 2005; Hanegraaff, W. J. New Age Religion and Western Culture. Brill: Leiden, 1996; Owen, A. The Place of Enchantment. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2004; and Bogdan, H. Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation. State University of New York Press: Albany, 2007. A thorough examination of how ‘tainted terminologies’ – such as ‘occult’, ‘magic’ and ‘superstition’ – have come about, and the interface between the ‘academy’ and the ‘esoteric’ world can be found in Hanegraaff, W.J. Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2012. [96] For an orientation to academic approaches to paganism, see Adler, M. Drawing Down the Moon. Beacon Press: Boston, 1986; Hutton, R. The Triumph of the Moon. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1999; Clifton, C.S. Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Alta Mira Press: Oxford, 2006; and Harvey, G. Contemporary Paganism. New York University Press: New York, 1997. [97] Guénon, R. Perspectives of Initiation. Sophia Perennis: Hillsdale, 2004; and Initiation and Spiritual Realization. Sophia Perennis: Hillsdale, 2004. [98] ESSWE Newsletter, Spring 2012, Volume 3, Number 1. See www.esswe.org [last accessed 28 June 2012]. [99] Used with permission. The music of Machinae Supremacy is described by the band as carrying “a vibe of self-confidence, enlightenment and encouragement for people to take control of their own lives.” See http://www.machinaesupremacy.com [last accessed 27 November 2012]. [100] de Chardin, P.T. The Phenomenon of Man. Harper & Row: London, 1961, is a fundamental book to begin exploring notions of human spiritual evolution, and was a big influence on many later writers. [101] Crowley, A. Magick Without Tears. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1982, p.457.

[102] Crowley’s private notebook, labelled ‘Invocation of Hoor’, 1904 [Yorke Collection]. Also published in Churton, T. Aleister Crowley: The Biography, Watkins: London, 2011, p.101. [103] Zalewski, P. & Zaleswki, C. The Equinox and Solstice Ceremonies of the Golden Dawn. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1992. [104] The Golden Dawn. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1989, p.248. [105] Crowley, A. Liber Al, I.49. [106] It is also Maat who presides over our Temple corresponding to Kether – see later section. [107] Lurker, M. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson: London, 1980, p.78; Hart, G. A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, n.d., pp.116-117; Wilkinson, R.H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson: London, 2003, p.150-1, where Maat is seen as the nourishment of the Gods. [108] Shorter, A.W. The Egyptian Gods. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1937, p.105. [109] Naydler, J. Temple of the Cosmos: The Ancient Egyptian Experience of the Sacred. Inner Traditions International: Rochester, 1996, p.264. [110] Hornung, E. The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West. Cornell University Press: Ithaca & London, 2001, pp.8-9. [111] See also Navratilova, H. Egyptian Revival in Bohemia, 1850-1920. Set Out: Prague, 2003; Iversen, E. The Myth of Egypt and Its Hieroglyphs in European Tradition. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1993; Rice, M. Egypt’s Legacy: The Archetypes of Western Civilization 3000-30 BC. Routledge: London, 1997; and Quirke, S. Ancient Egyptian Religion. British Museum Press: London, 1992.

[112] Richmond, O. Temple Lectures. Fyfe: Chicago, 1892, p.197. Richmond writes “The ‘Star of the East’ once more rises to guide the mystic traveller upon his way; while the light of the rising sun guilds the pyramids of Egypt with a Golden Light.” [113] Henderson, J.L. & Sherwood, D.N. Transformation of the Psyche: The Symbolic Alchemy of the Splendor Solis. Routledge: Hove, 2003, p.110. [114] Abraham, L. A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1988, p.176.

[115] Peter Gabriel, ‘Mercy Street’, on So (1986): “She pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam / She pictures a soul / With no leak at the seam.” This song is based on the work on poet Anne Sexton, specifically the poem, ‘45 Mercy Street’. The number 45 is of significance in kabbalah, as is the word ‘mercy’ which is the literal translation of Chesed on the Tree of Life. Listen also to ‘The Two Trees’ by Loreena McKennitt, based on the poem by Yeats. [116] See also Adam Mclean, ‘The Alchemical Vessel as Symbol of the Soul’, http://www.levity. com/alchemy/vessel.html [last accessed 22 June 2012]. [117] Fox-Davies, A.C. The Complete Guide to Heraldry. Wordsworth: Ware, 1996, p.293. [118] See ‘Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni, CLVI’, verse 6: “And the angels shall lay thy dust in the City of the Pyramids, and the name thereof shall be no more” in Crowley, A. The Holy Books of Thelema. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1983, p.101. [119] Slater, S. The Complete Book of Heraldry. Anness Publishing: London, 2002, p.64. [120] Regardie, I. Golden Dawn. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1989, p.74. [121] Private correspondence with Birkbeck, L., author of Understanding the Future. Watkins: London, 2008.

[122] Lovecraft, H.P. ‘The Nameless City’ in The Lurking Fear and Other Stories. Panther: London, 1964, p.72. We will return to Lovecraft in a further volume. See Joshi, S.T. A Subtle Magick: The Writings and Philosophy of H.P. Lovecraft. Wildside Press: Berkeley Heights, 1999; Primal Sources. Hippocampus Press: New York, 2003; Joshi, S.T. & Schultz, D.E. An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopaedia. Hippocampus Press: New York, 2001; particularly pp.50-55 on Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos and his own thoughts on his ‘Yog-Sothothery’ pseudo-mythology. See also Evans, D. The History of British Magick after Crowley. Hidden Publishing: London, 2007, for a thread of discussion on the influence of Lovecraft’s work on both Anton LaVey and Kenneth Grant. [123] See Moses Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed. Dover: New York, 1956, pp.171-189 on the eternity of the universe. Also ‘The contemplation of eternity maketh the soul immortal’ by Thomas Traherne (c. 1636-1674) in Grant, P. A Dazzling Darkness: An Anthology of Western Mysticism. Fount: London, 1985, pp.322-332. [124] It is beyond this present volume to go into the history of the Bavarian Illuminati and their later re-casting as a popularist fiction of an überbrotherhood, suffice to say that we will look at this conceptualisation – and that of the Secret Masters – towards the final volumes of The Magister. [125] See Zimbardo, P. & Boyd, J. The Time Paradox: Using the New Psychology of Time to your Advantage. Rider: London, 2008; James, T. & Woodsmall, W. Time Line Therapy and the Basis of Personality. Meta Publications: 1998; Libet, B. Mind Time: The Temporal Factor in Consciousness. Harvard University Press: London, 2004; and Damasio, A.R. The Feeling of What Happens. William Heinemann: London, 2000. [126] Plato, Timaeus. Dent: London, 1965, pp.30-31. [127] See Chapter 10, ‘The Miraculous Fish: Symbol of the Self ’ in Clarke, R.B. An Order Outside of Time: A Jungian View of the Higher Self from Egypt to Christ. Hampton Roads: Charlottesville, 2005.

[128] A multi-mapping of the I-Ching onto Aeonic timeframes has been conducted by McKenna, T. in, for example, The Invisible Landscape. HarperCollins: New York, 1993, and True Visions and the Archaic Revival. MJF Books: New York, 1993. A similar cross-cultural temporal map is provided in Arguelles, J. Earth Ascending. Bear and Company, 1988. [129] A useful overview of human development to this point of time can be found in Harari, Y. N., Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. London: Vintage Books, 2011. [130] See Frater Aurum Nostrum Non Vulgi, ‘The Place of the Ma’at Current in Modern Magick’ in Thaneteros, Issue 4. [131] Reeves, M. Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future. SPCK: London, 1976. See also http:// www.centrostudigioachimiti.it/Benvenuti/benvenutieng.asp for the full diagrams of Joachim. [132] Corbin, H. En Islam Iranien: Aspects spirituels et philosophiques, Tome IV: L’Ecole d’Ispahan L’Ecole Shaykhie – Le Douzieme Imam, Gallimard, Bib. Des Idees: 1973, p.448. [133] de Chardin, T. Le Millieu Divin. William Collins Sons: London, 1964, p.150. [134] McKenna, T. Re-Evolution (1992) at http://deoxy.org/t_re-evo.htm [last accessed 27 June 2012]. [135] Waite, A.E. ‘At The End of Things’ in The Collected Poems of Arthur Edward Waite. William Rider & Son, Ltd: London, 1914, p.21. [136] See Bain, D., Goodwin, T. & Katz, M. A New Dawn for Tarot. Forge Press: Keswick, 2013, for this and more than 50 previously unpublished tarot-related images from the original Golden Dawn archives. [137] Cirlot, J.E. A Dictionary of Symbols. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1962, p.103.

[138] Reeves, N. Ancient Egypt: The Great Discoveries, a Year-by-Year Chronicle. Thames & Hudson: London, 2000, pp.160-166. [139] Crowley, A. Liber Al, II.5. [140] Grant, K. Outside the Circles of Time. Frederick Muller Ltd: London, 1980. [141] Grant, K. Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God. Frederick Muller: London, 1976, pp.53-58. [142] Other accounts of an arising global consciousness include Bloom, H. Global Brain. John Wiley & Sons: New York, 2000, and Stock, G. Metaman. Bantam Press: London, 1993. [143] There are many indications of visions of a global consciousness, and a new form of society based upon what might be called an open-source culture, such as Wells, H.G. ‘Human Life in the Coming World Community’ in The Open Conspiracy and Other Writings. Waterlow and Sons: London, 1933, pp.92-93: “A time will come when men will sit with history before them or with some old newspaper before them and ask incredulously, ‘Was there ever such a world?’” [144] Sendivogius. Treatise on Sulpher. Cologne, 1613. For an article examining Rosicrucian connections to Sendivogius, see also: http://www.levity.com/alchemy/sendi.html [last accessed 28 November 2012]. [145] Nema, Cincinnati Journal of Ceremonial Magick, Volume 1, Issue 5. [146] Nema, ‘Feast of the Hive’, Cincinatti Journal of Ceremonial Magick. [147] Lancaster, B. The Elements of Judaism. Element: Shaftesbury, 1993, p.33.

[148] Daleth, ‘ICOM and the Future Society’, Meridian. ICOM: Summer 1998. ICOM was a group of eclectic English magicians formed in the 1990s, the name being the deliberately tongue-in-cheek Illuminated Congregation of Melchizedek. Their work is partially revealed in Katz, M. The Zodiacal Rituals. Forge Press: Keswick, 2008, and was tangential to the Maat current work. They were likely amongst the first magical groups to take advantage of the newly created Internet, inhabiting early bulletin board systems (BBS) and performing the world’s first ‘virtual ritual’ in a nascent 3D environment called ActiveWorlds, which is now the oldest VR still in existence. [149] Nema, Maat Magick. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1995; The Way of Mystery. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 2003; The Priesthood: Parameters and Responsibilities. Black Moon: Cincinnati, 1985; ‘A Measure of Maat’ and ‘Liber Pennae Praenumbra’, in British Journal of Maat, Volume 1, Number 1. Ordo Occultus Dea: Cheshire, 1982. [150] There are at least two fictional accounts of what life might be like if we were all immediately interconnected with each other as a species, both for the positive and negative: McQuay, M. The Nexus. Headline: London, 1989, and Emtsev, M. & Parnov, E. World Soul. Macmillan: New York, 1978. [151] Barrett, F. The Magus: A Complete System of Occult Philosophy. The Citadel Press: Secaucus, N.J., 1980. [152] Crowley, A. 777 & Other Kabbalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley. Samuel Weiser, Inc.: York Beach, 1982. [153] Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Llewellyn Publications: St. Paul, 1998. [154] Sheldrake, R. A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Formative Causation. Icon Books: London, 2012. [155] Fowles, J. The Aristos. Pan Books: London, 1968, pp.22-23. [156] Drury, N. The Path of the Chameleon: Man’s Encounter with the Gods and Magic. Nevillle Spearman: Jersey, 1973, p.13.

[157] Bubba Free John. The Knee of Listening. Dawn Horse Press: Middleton, 1978, p.269. [158] Crowley, A. The Book of Thoth. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1985, p.73. [159] Copenhaver, B.P. Hermetica. Cambridge, 1992, pp.5-6.

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[160] Williams, J. Winning with Witchcraft. Finbarr: 1986. [161] Roberts, B. The Experience of No-Self. Shamballa: Boston & London, 1982, pp.193-195. [162] Carroll, P. Psychonaut. Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Leeds, n.d., pp.53-58. [163] See Woodcock, A. & Davis, M. Catastrophe Theory. Penguin: Harmondsworth, 1980, and to a lesser extent, Gladwell, M. The Tipping Point. Little, Brown and Company: London, 2000. [164] Nott, C.S. Teachings of Gurdjieff. Arkana: London, 1990. [165] In Mark Braham, ‘The Protector of Humanity’, a talk given to the Arcane School Conference, London, June 1987, we hear “to deny hierarchisation is to deny existence” and “hierarchy is the accompaniment of evolution.” [166] A short story by Dick, P.K. ‘The Exit Door Leads In’, originally written for Rolling Stone College Papers (1979) and republished in Carr, T. Best Science Fiction of the Year #9. Ballantine Books: London, 1980. [167] Jung, C.G. Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 5. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1967, xxvi: “The time [being aged 36] is a critical one, for it marks the beginning of the second half of life, when a metanoia, a mental transformation, not infrequently occurs.” [168] Voss, A. Marsilio Ficino. North Atlantic Books: Berkeley, 2006, pp.12.

[169] New translation provided courtesy of Dr. Peter Forshaw, Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, University of Amsterdam. [170] Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Abiding in the Sanctuary. Forge Press: Keswick, 2011. [171] See Morrison, G. ‘Pop Magic!’ in Metzger, R. (editor). Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult. Disinformation Company: New York, 2003, p.21. A hypersigil is a creative act, such as writing, usually extended over a long series, intended as a magical sigil which changes its author and the lives of the author and readers. One example is when the author Alan Moore had the lead character, John Constantine, from his graphic novel series, Hellblazer, appear to him in his real life – a scene he then drew back into the graphic novel. The extended use of observation of tarot symbols can also function as a hypersigil, particularly when crowdsourced or represented on a social media network such as Facebook. Participants generate their own content, are influenced by the images of archetypal patterns presented by others, and this recontextualises their own perception, creating a feedback loop or hypersigil. Participants in our own (non-explained) experiments of this nature often report, without any suggestion, synchronicity or strange events such as people coming back into their lives from their past, or significant life changes, etc. The hypersigil concept is a radical new form of co-creative and collaborative magick and our Order has been using it for two years with fascinating results. [172] Frater Achad. The Egyptian Revival. Samuel Weiser: New York, 1973; an extended com- mentary on the Appendix to Chapter 2 in Q.B.L. or The Bride’s Reception. Samuel Weiser: New York, 1974, and Gray, W.G. Qabalistic Concepts. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1997, pp.213-232. [173] One of the most important lines in the Golden Dawn Neophyte initiation ritual. [174] 1 Corinthians 13:12: “For now we see through a glass, darkly.”

[175] Edinger, E.F. Anatomy of the Psyche. Open Court: Chicago and La Salle, 1994, pp.17-45. [176] This section was first published in Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Tarot Inspire. Forge Press: Keswick, 2011, and is here given in modified form for completeness. [177] Gilbert, T. Messages from the Archetypes. White Cloud Press: Ashland, 2004. [178] Compton, M. Archetypes on the Tree of Life: The Tarot as Pathwork. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1991. [179] MacGregor-Mathers, S.L. The Kabbalah Unveiled. Routledge Kegan & Paul: London, 1981, pp.20-21. [180] Gray, E. Mastering the Tarot. New American Library: New York, 1971, p.26 & p.69. [181] Gray, E. Mastering the Tarot. New American Library: New York, 1971, p.66. [182] Gray, E. Mastering the Tarot. New American Library: New York, 1971, p.29. [183] In fact, it could be proposed that each of the 10s in the Waite-Smith deck contain a reference to another card: the 10 of Cups shows the family whose parents first meet in the 2 of Cups (the red-roofed cottage and trees are seen in both), the 10 of Swords shows the murdered Hierophant (he is the martyred Thomas Beckett who wears the same clothing and is making the same blessing sign) and the 10 of Wands perhaps implies that they must be bound together to make a singular Ace of Wands. [184] Waite, A.E. Pictorial Key to the Tarot. Rider & Company: London, 1974, p.154-155. [185] See Da Free John. The Four Fundamental Questions. The Dawn Horse Press: Clearlake Highlands, 1980, pp.14-17.

[186] From the 1990 American psychological horror film, Jacob’s Ladder, directed by Adrian Lyne. [187] Waite, A.E. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. Rider & Company: London, 1974, p.274. [188] Brunton, P. The Hidden Teachings beyond Yoga. Rider & Co: London, 1941, p.161. [189] These are also to be found depicted as the Aces in the Union Deck of the Tarot of Everlasting Day. [190] See Fohrer, G. Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament. Walter de Gruyter: 1973, under ‫ הלל‬. [191] If you are interested in exploring more about the Path of Love, including how transference, ‘threeness’ and even kaballah relate to this journey, see Chapter 11, ‘Love’s Angel’, in Haule, J. Pilgrimage of the Heart: The Path of Romantic Love. Shamballa: Boston, 1992. [192] Crowley, A. The Book of Thoth. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1985, p.194195. [193] Conforti, M. Field, Form and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature and Psyche. Spring Journal Inc: New Orleans, 2003. [194] For his thoughts on initiation, see Eco, U. Foucault’s Pendulum. Picador: London, 1990, p.215. [195] Crowley, A. Magick Without Tears. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1982, pp.109-121. [196] For more on the initiatory journey through the tarot, you may wish to also read Ozaniec, N. The Element Tarot Handbook: Initiation into the Key Elements of the Tarot. Element: Shaftesbury, 1994. For more on the wounded healer, see the Bibliography and Sandford, L.T. Strong at the Broken Places. Virago Press Ltd: London, 1991. Also Sedgewick, D. The Wounded Healer: Countertransference from a Jungian Perspective, Routledge: Hove, 1994. [197] Waite, A.E. Unpublished notes.

[198] Fortune, D. Sane Occultism. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1979, p.115. [199] Hine, P. ‘Graded Grains Make Finer Flour’. See http://www.philhine.org.uk/writings/gp_grains.html [last accessed 22nd August 2014]. See also Staley, M. ‘Graded Grains Make Finer Flour’, in SKOOB: Occult Review, Issue 4, 1991. [200] The Tetrys is the triangular shape composed of ten points arranged from one point at the apex to four points at the base. It is a fundamental symbol in Pythagorean philosophy. To the Adeptus Minor, it symbolises the completion of the elemental grades and the new phase of bringing harmony to all aspects of life and creation. [201] Yeats, W.B. (Under the pseudonym of D. E. D. I.), ‘Is the Order of R. R. & A. C. to remain a magical order?’ Typescript. Yorke Collection, NS11.d. [202] Howe, E. Magicians of the Golden Dawn. London: Routledge, 1972. pp. 288-9. [203] Crowley, A. Magick. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1985. p.328. [204] Letter from Dr. S.W. Brathwaite to Gerald Yorke, dated 05 May 1932. Yorke Collection, OSD12. [205] Reply from Gerald Yorke to Dr. S.W. Brathwaite, corrected by Aleister Crowley. Yorke Collection, OSD12. [206] Ibid. [207] Ibid. [208] Kaczynski, R. Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley. New Falcon Publications: Arizona, 2002, p.373. [209] Ibid. [210]

Ibid. [211] Letter between Sidney French and Gerald Yorke, dated 18 April 1932. Yorke Collection, OSD12. [212] Crowley, A. ‘Liber O vel Manus et Sagittæ’, in Symonds, J. & Grant, K. Magick. Guild Publishing: London, 1988, pp.448-59. [213] Magick, op. cit., p.448. [214] Ibid. [215] Crowley, A. ‘Liber LXXI’ including the ‘Seven Portals’, Equinox Vol.III. No.I, also called the ‘Blue Equinox’. Universal Publishing Co: Detroit, 1919, p.87. [216] Letter from Sidney French to Gerald Yorke, dated 20 July 1932. Yorke Collection, OSD12. [217] Yorke Collection, OSD12. [218] Kaczynski, R. Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley. New Falcon Publications: Arizona, 2002, p.373. [219] Letter between Sidney French and Gerald Yorke, dated 18 April 1932. Yorke Collection, OSD12. [220] See, for example, Marcus Katz, ‘Tarot on the Threshold: Liminality and Illegitimate Knowledge’ in Augur, E. (editor). Tarot in Culture. [221] Letter from Violet Firth (Dion Fortune) to Gerald Yorke, dated 02 July 1928. Yorke Collection, OSD12. [222] Ibid. [223] Ephraim, F.G. Der Rosenkreutzer in Seiner Blösse. Amsterdam, 1781.

[224] Documents viewed in private collection. [225] Kuntz, D. The Complete Golden Dawn Cipher Manuscript. Holmes Publishing Group: Edmonds, 1996, p.38. See also the original publication of Magister Pianco, Der Rosenkreuzer in seiner Blösse. Amsterdam, 1781, p.107-111. [226] See the S.R.I.A. rituals as given by Alex Sumner, demonstrating the alchemical basis of the grades and the usage of these titles: http://www.golden-dawn.com/eu/UserFiles/en/File/ pdf/sria.pdf pp.2-3 [last accessed 06 August 2012]. [227] The name is given at the conclusion of the initiatory ritual. See the Zelator grade in Regardie, I., The Golden Dawn. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1989, p.152. [228] The poet and Golden Dawn initiate W.B. Yeats described the grade in allusion within his play, The Unicorn from the Stars (1907). One character, Father John, even muses about the Latin title: “I heard it in some place ...” Whilst we will detail this in a subsequent volume, the extract from that play where Martin describes his vision of the unicorns to Father John can be read for a stunning evocation of the work of this grade, familiar to Yeats. We must also look to the quoted Biblical psalm in the extract, Calix meus inebrians quam praeclarus est, “My chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly it is!” as a further indication of the nature of the grade. [229] Personal conversation with the present author. Eric Muhler is a jazz pianist and the grand-son of Aleister Crowley. [230] Crowley, A. Magick. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1985. pp.327-338. [231] Young, L.B. The Unfinished Universe. Simon and Schuster: New York, 1986, pp.205-206.

THE MAGISTER MAGICK IN HISTORY, THEORY & P RACTICE Volume 0: The Order of Revelation The Worker Enters the Workshop Part 2 of 3 parts on Kindle

O.E.D. Neophyte Grade Material Publication in Class B

FORGE PRESS

Keswick, Cumbria, 2016 www.westernesotericism.com Copyright © Frater V. (Marcus Katz) 2014, 2016. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the author. Tarosophy® and Western Esoteric Initiatory System® are registered trademarks. First paperback edition published 2015 by Salamander and Sons. This Kindle edition and all further print editions published by Forge Press, authorized by the author to whom all rights belong to this work. This Kindle section includes several links to other recommended reading however a complete list of these books and links will be found in the Reading Lists in part 3. Edited by Paul Hardacre & Marcus Katz.

ALSO BY FRATER V. (MARCUS KATZ) The Path of the Seasons (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) The Magician’s Kabbalah (Forge Press, 2015) NLP Magick (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) Tarosophy: Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape It (Forge Press, 2016) After the Angel (Forge Press, 2011) The Alchemy Workbook (Forge Press, 2008) The Zodiacal Rituals (Forge Press, 2008) Secrets of the Thoth Tarot (Forthcoming, 2016) Secrets of the Celtic Cross (Forthcoming, 2016) With Tali Goodwin Tarot Edge: Tarot for Teens and Young Adults (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015) The English Lenormand (Forge Press, 2013) Tarot Life (in 12 books, Forge Press, 2013) Abiding in the Sanctuary: A. E. Waite’s Second Tarot (Forge Press, 2013) Learning Lenormand (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2013). Tarot Turn (in three volumes, Forge Press, 2012) Tarot Inspire (Forge Press, 2012) Tarot Face to Face (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012) Around the Tarot in 78 Days (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012) Tarot Twist (Forge Press, 2010)

Tarot Flip (Forge Press, 2010) Easy Lenormand (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015) I-Ching Counters (Forge Press/TGC, 2015) The Original Lenormand Deck (Forge Press/TGC, 2012) With Tali Goodwin, Sasha Graham (ed.), Giordano Berti, Mark McElroy, Riccardo Minetti & Barbara Moore. Tarot Fundamentals (Lo Scarabeo, 2015) Tarot Experience (Lo Scarabeo, forthcoming 2016) With Derek Bain & Tali Goodwin A New Dawn for Tarot: The Original Tarot of the Golden Dawn (Forge Press, 2015) As Andrea Green (with Tali Goodwin) True Tarot Card Meanings (Kindle, 2014) Tarot for True Romance (Kindle, 2014) Kabbalah & Tarot: A Step-up Guide (Kindle, 2015) Visit Author Sites for Complete Bibliography & Details www.marcuskatz.com www.taligoodwin.com

For all Applications to the Crucible Club and Order of Everlasting Day www.westernesotericism.com

Ded ications This second section of Magister Vol. 0 on Kindle is dedicated to Mozart in the Jungle. And as ever, and above all, this book is spiritually dedicated to Antistita Astri Argentei The Priestess of the Silver Star She whose light leads the way to the Arcanum Arcanorum, the Secret of Secrets Vos Vos Vos Vos Vos V.V.V.V.V. In Memorium Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (1953-2012), for opening the door another degree. We will teach on the avenues and in gardens more perfect than we can imagine when the walls of the world have long fallen. -

The Magister

Therefore in honour of the feast, Which we shall hold today, That her grace may be multiplied A good work will she do: The rope will now be lowered Whoever may hang on to it He shall be freed.

Christian Rosencreutz, The Hermetic Romance: or, The Chymical Wedding (1616)[1]

“The World is on fire,” Sigismundo Celine said quietly. R. A. Wilson, Illuminatus Volume I: The Earth Will Shake[2]

Table of Contents On Those Things Which Call Us to Awakening Jerusalem’s Furnace The Stages of the Journey The Court Before the Tabernacle: Zelator (Malkuth) The Sanctuary or Forward Area of the Tabernacle: Theoricus (Yesod) Practicus (Hod) Philosophus (Netzach) The Holy of Holies: Adeptus Minor (Tiphareth) The Mercy Seat and Solomon’s Throne: Adeptus Major (Geburah) and Adeptus Minor (Chesed) After the Passing Over: Magister Templi (Binah), Magus (Chockmah) and Ipssisimus (Kether) The Alchemical Amphitheatre On Dreams and States of Consciousness The Guardian on the Threshold and the Inner Guide The Invisible College On Initiation and Calcination Vignette: The Mystical Explosion Exercise: Examining the Zelator The Secret Ladder The Sound of the Trumpet

Historical Context Authorship The Fama The Confessio The Chymical Wedding The Mirror of Wisdom Symbology and Metaphor Academic Study of the WEIS The Nature of the Debate Western Esotericism, Rituals and Knowledge The Problem of Magic and the Occult Treatments of the Magical Orders The Teachings of Individual Esoteric Teachers and Followers Conclusion The Academic and Esoteric Encounter The Birth of Academic Studies of Western Esotericism The Dangers of Monolithic and Historic Analysis The Insider/Outsider Problem The Issue of Secret Knowledge Definitions of Western Esotericism The Contemporary Milieu Conclusion The Ascent Narrative The Ascent Narrative in Christian Mysticism

The Ascent Narrative in Kabbalah Curriculum Studies Applied to Western Esotericism Introduction: Curriculum as Model Methodology: Analysis of Curriculum Analysis of Content The Self in Education Curricula as Content Purposes Content Procedures Evaluation Differences Between Secular and Esoteric Curricula Builders of the Adytum (BOTA): The Creation of a Curriculum The Teachers: A Case Study of Florence Farr The Aim and Structure of the Golden Dawn Light Before the Dawn: The Sat B’Hai and the Gold and Rosy Cross The Sat B’Hai and the August Order of Light The Influence of the Gold and Rosy Cross Westcott’s Western Mystery Doctrine Mathers and the Book of Concealed Mystery History Foundations at 17 Fitzroy Street A Society of Hermetic Students

The Devastating but Priceless Secret The Construction of the Curriculum The Knowledge Lectures and Flying Rolls The Flying Rolls List of Rolls and Authors The Rituals The Ladder and the Golden and Rosy Cross Students of the Golden Dawn Problems of Delivery of Material Qualification of Knowledge This is Reserved for a Higher Grade The Failure of the Golden Dawn Alumni of the Golden Dawn The Strange Reward Conclusion Part Two

On Those Things Which Call Us to Awakening

Exhaustion of the world and the limits of its offerings; The duplicity of the dreams of others; Circuited horizons of the logician’s love; The feelings of the imagined heart. The stark sunlight and its revelations; The broken chains of all that was important; The boundless creation exceeding all things; (Knowledge of God, given and taken). The tides of the sea and the calling of the deep; The word half-heard in the signature of all. But most of all, the One Who sees us sleeping And dreaming of an everlasting day.

Jerusalem’s Furnace

In this second section of the Magister on Kindle we will open by considering The Soul’s Journey Into God, by St. Bonaventure, attributed to the Tree of Life, as a demonstration of the initiatory journey mapped within Christian mysticism. It is through the use of kabbalah as a system of correspondence that we can perceive the structure of the initiatory journey, and penetrate to the core experiences and challenges encountered by a practitioner, no matter their cultural context. St. Bonaventure was a Franciscan monk born in central Italy in 1217. He joined the Order in 1243, and wrote a number of masterpieces including a biography of St. Francis. The most widely known of his works is that dealt with here, The Soul’s Journey into God, a dense summa of medieval Christian spirituality. It is based upon a vision of the Seraph, the six-winged angelic creature which had provided St. Francis his critical mystical experience, and it was whilst meditating on this vision that St. Bonaventure realised that “... this vision represented our father’s rapture in contemplation and the road by which that rapture is reached.”[3]

The Latin title of this work is Itinerarium mentis in Deum, and it is of interest to this present work that Itinerarium can be translated as ‘plan for a journey’ (itinerary), which is part of the function served by any initiatory system, such as the Book of Coming Forth by Day, the kabbalah, or the Bardo Thodol.[4] The Stages of the Journey According to Bonaventure, the journey of the soul is divided into three general stages: Purgation, Illumination and Perfection. Each of these responds to first, the human nature, second, the effort of the individual, and third, the action of God as Grace. The actions of the three stages are usually given as: Purgation Announcing, Leading & Declaring Illumination Ordering, Strengthening & Commanding Perfection Receiving, Revealing & Anointing These nine actions may be laid onto the Tree from Yesod up to Kether as a very general schemata of the processes undergone by the initiate, and follow a similar development of pattern to that found in alchemy. The three stages represent the grades between Malkuth and Netzach (Purgation), Tiphareth to Chesed (Illumination) and Binah to Kether (Perfection).

The Furnace of Jerusalem (per Bonaventure)

Bonaventure further divides the journey into six stages, taking the Seraph (with six wings) as the symbolic matrix of the description, and these stages take us from the condition of the mortal man to that of the contemplative residing in the mystical experience of the ‘Superluminous Darkness’ of God. I have ascribed these stages to the kabbalah and the initiatory system from Malkuth to the Abyss, as Bonaventure, like many mystics of the time, ceases his description at this level, although hinting at further states beyond. As Brady notes in his preface, the journey takes us “... into the cloud of unknowing, which is itself perhaps the most perfect knowing here below of the One in Three.” I take this “One in Three” to refer to the upper sephiroth of the Tree above the Abyss. It is the contention of the initiate that states can be opened above this Abyss, where identity merges with God as no-thing, and the Self is entirely annihilated. This assertion may have been unspeakable for such as Bonaventure due to its potential for interpretation as heresy. The condition of the mortal man is pictured as that of a ‘poor man in the desert’. However, this situation is deemed redeemable, as the Franciscans followed the doctrine of exemplarism; that all creation is a set of moments in the inner dynamism of God. That is to say, by observing the events of Nature, one could come to know the dealings and nature of God. As Bonaventure words it: “This is our whole metaphysics; emanation, exemplarity, consummation; to be illumined by spiritual rays and to be led back to the highest reality.” The journey is also related to the description of Solomon’s Temple and I have accordingly divided the following synopsis in terms of the temple.

The Temple of Ascent (per Bonaventure)

The Court Before the Tabernacle: Zelator (Malkuth) The first stage is that of imposing technique to exercise the natural powers which sow the seeds of initiatory progress, and avoid ‘sin’ (i.e. automatic attachment to the apparent). These natural powers are grace, which is awoken by prayer; justice, which is awoken by leading a good life; knowledge, which is activated by meditation; and wisdom, which is brought into being through contemplation. The quickening of these latent faculties by the practices given brings the Initiate to the ‘Valley of Tears’ and the commencement of the second stage. The Valley of Tears can be seen as symbolic of path 32 of the Tree leading from Malkuth to Yesod, and is also indicated on The Moon atu of the tarot. The Sanctuary or Forward Area of the Tabernacle: Theoricus (Yesod) The second stage of contemplation is the observation of the ‘vestiges’ of God, which is performed through the “mirror of things perceived through sensation.” The Latin root for ‘vestige’ primarily means ‘footprint’, and it can be seen in a similar way to the chief Mayan God, who was only known by his ‘footprint’ – that is, by his passing, rather than his presence. Bonaventure observes, according to his reading of Aristotle’s physics, and Augustine’s, that the world is “generated” and that “everything that moves, is moved by something else.” During the main work of the Theoricus, which is observation, one may come to recognise a unity running behind the apparent world.

The third stage of the journey is the successful conclusion of the work of the Theoricus, who has come to see that one “will be able to see God through yourself as through an image, which is to see through a mirror in an obscure manner.” Practicus (Hod) The third stage continues with the study of natural, rational and moral philosophy, which illuminates the mind, and thus, “illumined and flooded by such brilliance, unless it is blind, can be led through itself to contemplate that Eternal Light,” which is a key experience of the initiatory journey. That is to say, the reason, as it becomes refined and tested, eventually concedes its own place and limitations, and loses the power to confuse or enslave the identity. It is, like each of our false separations, “led through itself.” Philosophus (Netzach) Citing the Canticle of Canticles as a key text for stage four reveals much of Bonaventure’s belief about the work and events characterising the stage. Indeed, the emotional world is much in evidence in his descriptions of “the fullness of devotion, by which the soul becomes like a column of smoke from aromatic spices of myrrh and frankincense,” “intense admiration, by which the soul becomes like the dawn, the moon and the sun,” and “the superabundance of exultation, by which the soul, overflowing with delights of the sweetest pleasure, leans wholly upon her beloved.” It is to this stage that Crowley recommended the work of Liber Astarte, which was a devotional rite seeking to unite the Philosophus with a particular deity through devotion. The practical aspect of this stage is in the ‘hierarchical operations’ of perfecting or arranging our soul as in the ‘heavenly Jerusalem’. That is to say, we must configure ourselves in accordance with our own personal revelations, as attained previously.

The Holy of Holies: Adeptus Minor (Tiphareth) The fifth stage is the attempt to gain the apex mentis seu synderesis scintilla, the highest part of the soul, from which mystical union proceeds. Whereas the prior stages have been concerned with enquiry and resultant revelations, the middle stages are concerned with ‘being’ and ‘direct knowing’ of the “eternal and most present; utterly simple and the greatest; most actual and unchangeable.” Here words begin to lose relevance to actual direct experience of that which is “greatest precisely because it is utterly simple.” In kabbalah this is denoted partly by the symbolism of the Veil of Paroketh which separates the lower four sephiroth from Tiphareth. The Mercy Seat and Solomon’s Throne: Adeptus Major (Geburah) and Adeptus Minor (Chesed) The sixth and seventh stages of the Work are described with analogy to the two Cherubs facing the Mercy Seat. The discernment of Geburah and the joy of Chesed are pointed to as connected to the contemplation of the trinity (i.e. the upper sephiroth of Binah, Chockmah and Kether). A “perfection of illumination” is attained at the end of the sixth stage, and the seventh stage is given to the “passing over of the Red Sea” into the “Superluminous darkness” and “unknowing,” which I would suggest describes the stages of the Abyss and Binah in the initiatory system. From that point, Bonaventure hints “to the friend to whom these words were written, let us say with Dionysius; But you, my friend, concerning mystical visions,

with your journey more firmly determined, leave behind your senses and intellectual activities, sensible and invisible things, all nonbeing and being; and in this state of unknowing be restored, insofar as it is possible, to unity with Him who is above all essence and knowledge. For transcending yourself and all things, by the immeasurable and absolute ecstasy of a pure mind, leaving behind all things and freed from all things, you will ascend to the superessential ray of the divine darkness.” After the Passing Over: Magister Templi (Binah), Magus (Chockmah) and Ipssisimus (Kether) As a conclusion, Bonaventure notes that during the final stages of contemplation and work, it is acceptance of death or unity with the ‘fire’ which alone can achieve a successful conclusion, in order that we may “pass out of this world to the Father.” If the work of the lower sephiroth is characterised by enquiry, and that of the middle sephiroth by being, then the work of the upper sephiroth is that of transcendence. Bonaventure’s prose is extremely straightforward, despite a tendency to repeat a theme by listing aspects of it from many angles, and as such is quite accessible to the student of mystical attainment. This fire is God,

and his furnace is in Jerusalem.

The Alchemical Amphitheatre

In this section, we learn of the place of our Work, the real Temple and discover the Hidden College.[5] The work of the Order of Everlasting Day is carried out in the Crucible, a network of activity which operates under ten temples, in which initiates work at the appointed time and fashion: Malkuth: Temple of Anubis Yesod: Temple of Harpocrates Hod: Temple of Sothis Netzach: Temple of Isis Tiphareth: Temple of Ra Geburah: Temple of Horus Chesed: Temple of Amoun Binah: Temple of Nephthys Chockmah: Temple of Thoth

Kether: Temple of Maat As these Temples are always available and functional (in either a virtual or realised sense), they operate within each grade. As an initiate passes through the work and experiences of each grade, they access intimations of these Temples at higher grades. In a spiral path we work a complete system of initiation. As there are passages between the grades, at any point – one may not have the necessity or grace to complete the work within any particular Temple – we make our way to the Shrine of Stars, to transition between the grades. Beyond and above all, there exists the Sanctuary of Nuit which provides a contemplative space for those passing between Temples. During the operation of the work of the Temple in which one is exploring, there are three forms of activity, which may be carried out sequentially or concurrently. These are modelled on architectural terms to suit the service the work provides in the building of our inner temple: Pillar: Practice, ritual and workings (techne) Archway: Contemplative, meditative work (praxis) Passage: Ideas and principles, context, learning work (theoria) These activities are bound together by the fundamental teaching of correspondence and experience – we learn to apply these to our actual and daily life, to engage it more fully, not escape it. Nor do we use our work as a prop or a substitute for anything else.[6]

In the Temple of Harpocrates, for example, we learn more of silence and secrecy. The god Harpocrates is often shown as a child or figure touching their finger to their lip in the universal sign of silence. In the Golden Dawn, this position is one of two positions given to the Neophyte to learn as representing their state. As with any posture, it also signifies a mental state – a spiritual asana or attitude. For the process of calcination, the slow burning fire, to complete successfully, it is silence and secrecy that must be observed in order to create an hermetically sealed vessel – yourself – with no leak at the seams. This allows the alchemical work of change being wrought by the techniques and contemplations, methods and models, to intensify and work upon itself – inwards – to change your relationship and awareness of the universe. The more that is spoken, the more that is revealed, the less the Work can be done. We say at this grade, “The worker is hidden in the workshop.” This idea, which comes from Sufism, is also prevalent in alchemy, which we turn to in order to see where we perform this work and upon what it is performed. Although the answer is obvious, it is worth stating, as later it may be that the obvious answer is experienced in a more profound manner. Although most people believe that alchemy was mainly concerned with turning lead to gold, and other early chemical experiments taking place in secret laboratories, many alchemists also practised alchemy as a spiritual art and science. That the alchemical process is an internal process as well as an external process is intimated by Daniel Mogling (under the pseudonym of Theophilus Schweighardt) in The Mirror of the Wisdom of the Rosicrucians (1616).[7]

Here we see that although there are three aspects of the alchemical work – the ‘ora’ or prayer, the ‘labora’ in fields and streams, and the ‘atte natura’ or examination of Nature in the workshop, divided into both a primary and secondary work (‘ergon et parergon’) –the hidden skull symbolism and the textual reference to “climb down from the mountain and look with thy left eye (but with the right eye maintaining its precedence) into time and the creatures” both suggest changes in the state or awareness of the alchemist. Indeed, Mogling furthermore stresses: “‘Know Thyself! Know Thyself!’ I say, and so thou shalt come to pansophic perfection...”

Theophilus Schweighardt, The Mirror of the Wisdom of the Rosicrucians (1616)

This movement to a spiritual (pansophic) working of alchemy is also evident in the works of Heinrich Khunrath (1560-1601), whose Amphitheatre of Eternal Wisdom[8] depicts a place of working where the laboratory has become a lab-oratorium; a place of prayer and meditation. Furthermore, such alchemists as Paracelsus “mainly regarded alchemy as important for the curing of disease and the prolongation of life” rather than just as an entirely external discipline. Although Paracelsus indeed calls alchemy an art, with Vulcan its artist – denoting a more practical aspect – he also states that alchemy means: ... to carry to its end something that has not yet been completed. It is this unfinished business that the Great Work is concerned with: the idea that the universe is unfinished, and that we are co-creators in completing it by completing ourselves. This task is not only a singular ‘heroic’ journey but a mythic and universal one – as we have earlier seen within the framework of Naturphilosophie. The idea of co-creation in an evolving universe can be found as an idea as early as Plato in Timaeus and as contemporary a notion within astrophysics as in The Unfinished Universe by Louise B. Young.[9] So universe is our Temple, our amphitheatre, our Work. The Self in relation to universe is our method, our aim and our currently present state. It is only in each moment that we may find the gold – the Philosophers’ Stone, the Summun Bonum, the ‘good end’ which is ever-present. It is this we must remember through all our techniques, which are only essential to bring about a remembrance of this state – this truth, this nature – and not to distract us further.

Heinrich Khunrath. Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae. (Hamburg, 1595)

On Dreams and States of Consciousness Our main engagement in universe is through consciousness. It is here that we perceive of ourselves as a state or a process of being. Our awareness and attention present a changing state in which our perceptions interact with universe. In such a field arises a sense of identity and separation. This situation – the ‘darkness’ from which the Neophyte is brought into the ‘light’ – is mapped on the Tree of Life by the path between Malkuth, the Kingdom and world of action, and Yesod, the Foundation and realm of illusion, ego and dreams (also the realm of the sense of self and separation). The tarot card corresponding to the path is The World or Universe. It is also the only path that has two correspondences in astrology: of Earth (space) and of Saturn (time). It simultaneously presents to us both reality and the illusionary sense of reality. The engagement of the unconscious will become present in our Work as we progress, through dreams and visions. This shifting of state will be mapped by our later initiation into the grade corresponding to Yesod on the Tree of Life. The development of such unconscious processes is also evident in the writings of the alchemists. Like those in psychotherapeutic analysis, these writings record the occurrence of vivid symbolic dreams and visions. C.G. Jung was aware of this, writing that “the alchemists themselves testify to the occurrence of dreams and visions during the Opus.” He references Nazari, the Visio Arislei, Ostanes, Senior, Krates, Ventura, and Khunrath all as acknowledging dreams as important sources of revelation.

This activation of the unconscious is evident in as early a text as the Visions of Zosimos (c. 300 A.D.),[10] to the literary construct of The Alchemical Wedding by J.V. Andreae (1616).[11] Compare the following two accounts from these works: And having had this vision I awoke again and I said to myself “what is the occasion of this vision? ...” and Whereupon the trumpets began to sound again, which gave me such a shock that I woke up, and then perceived that it was only a dream, but it so strongly impressed my imagination that I was still perpetually troubled about it, and I thought I still felt the wounds upon my feet. Or the poetic account given in the alchemical text, John Dastin’s Dream,[12] published by Elias Ashmole (1652), which indicates the same state – which is not so much dream-like (asleep) as more specifically a hypnagogic state: Not yet full sleping, nor yet full waking, But betweene twayne lying in a traunce; Halfe closed mine Eyne in my slumbering ... As one proceeds through the work of the Crucible, we expect to notice an irruption of unconscious processes through dream, daydream and vision. It is this arising of new content that requires constant integration through the methods of the practical teachings.

The Guardian on the Threshold and the Inner Guide At each stage of the work there is an assisting guide as well as a challenging guardian. In many ways, like Janus, the Roman god of transitions, these could be considered different faces of the same entity or experience. At first, this assistance is through an external teacher, book or course. At the same time, these teachers, books and courses cause us to rely upon their teachings and advice, increasing dependency, not releasing it. This is inevitable at the first stage but must become undone later. We must remind ourselves that, in the end, we are alone in this path – although perhaps that loneliness is more profound and complex than it appears at present. The constant interruptions and sudden challenges we meet in the early stages of the Work are notorious and common. The challenge can be boredom, distraction, trials, and tribulations, but they all serve a simple function – to pull us back into the world. This is the Guardian on the Threshold of the first stage. Often this can manifest as a dark and disturbing nightmare, where an actual presence is felt – esoteric and occult literature is full of such accounts.[13]

The Hermetic Garden of Daniel Stolcius (1624)

Guide Figure from the Book of Lambspring (1625)

Sometimes this happens in the world between sleep and waking, either as we drift into sleep or up into awakening. This is called the hypnagogic state. It has also been noted that the hypnagogic state often brings with it a sense of a presence outside of the individual.[14] There are particular emblems in alchemical literature that incorporate the presence of a guide, often as a representation of Hermes Trismegestus, as from this image from The Hermetic Garden of Daniel Stolcius (1624). Or this image of the Guide Figure from The Book of Lambspring (1625).[15] In even earlier texts, the guide – or sense of another presence outside the alchemist – is present, as in the works of Zosimos, where we encounter “a little man, a barber, whitened by years,” who responds to the question of his identity by describing himself as “a spirit and a guardian of spirits.” We will return to this guide and to this guardian at another time. For now, it is enough that we are made aware that they are present and can recognise them when we encounter them – as we surely will.

The Invisible College

The Invisible college of the Rosicrucians, Theophilus Schweighardt Speculum sophicum rhodo-stauroticum, 1618

There is a building, a great building lacking windows and doors, a princely, aye imperial palace, everywhere visible, but hidden from the eyes of men, adorned with all kinds of divine and natural things, the contemplation of which in theory and practice is granted to every man free of charge and remuneration, but heeded by few because the building appears as bad, little worth, old and well-known to the mind of the mob who are ever heedless and seekers after things new; but the building itself is so precious, so delicate, artistic and wonderful in its construction that no wealth, gold, jewel, money, goods, honour, authority or reputation in the whole world can be named which is not to be found in that high reputable palace in high degree. It is itself so strongly fortified by God and nature, and preserved against the onslaught of the ignorant, that even though all the mines, cannon, batteringrams and petards and such recently invented military devices were used against it all human endeavour and toil would be useless and in vain. This is the Collegium ad S.S. of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, this is the royal, nay more than imperial palace of which the brethren in their ‘Fama’ make mention, herein are hidden the inexpressible costly treasures and riches – let this be a sufficiently lucid account thereof. Oh how many men go unknowing and without understanding through all the rooms, all the secret hidden places of this palace, unseeing, uncomprehending, worse than a blind man, or as the saying goes, as a donkey on a bagpipe, because they have not been sufficiently prepared and made worthy. He who hath ears, let him hear.[16]

The contemporary writer on alchemy, Adam McLean, suggests that the iconography of alchemy presents a psychological and spiritual opportunity for communication with the divine, as we will see in our contemplation work: Alchemical emblems are not textual information encoded in symbols which can be precisely decrypted into a ‘meaning’, but they are instead dynamic gateways, before which we can stand and allow ourselves to enter into an inner dialogue with the imagery.[17] Whether chemical, spiritual, spagyric, or philosophical, the enduring legacy of alchemy in psychology is evident in a range of titles both popular and academic. We conclude in the words of Silberer, discussing the goal of alchemy, taking from H.A. Hitchcock: Here lies one of the greatest mysteries of the whole of alchemy ... If, for example, it is said that whoever wishes to make gold must have gold, we must suppose that the seeker of truth must be true ...[18] The Invisible College is before our eyes, as we have eyes to see. It is to this aim that we dedicate ourselves in the Crucible.

On Initiation and Calcination When you continue this work of the Outer Court for several months, learning and practising the basic exercises, you may find yourself settling into a routine – a rather curious sense of boredom, even. Some students find disappointment setting in, and a little anxiety. Some students choose at this point to give the work up as not being what they expected. The daily tasks of keeping a dream diary and a magical record seem to dry up in insight, which seemed to be present at the beginning. The tutor or texts being followed may even seem unresponsive and irrelevant. This is – albeit a fact you must presently take on trust, or ask those who have gone through this first year – all to be expected and essential to further progress. You might be surprised how common and predictable this stage is. It is best described by alchemy. Although there are many versions of the stages of alchemy, the one I use ascribes the process of calcination to the first esoteric grades of Neophyte and Zelator. This first year is the work of the Neophyte becoming the Zelator – one who has ‘zeal’. As such, the process of calcination is seen as a dry, steady, gentle heat. It shakes out – quietly, slowly, almost unnoticeably – old habits and resistances, attachments and tired viewpoints, perspectives and memories. It gently dries them out into the boredom of the work, as the new – willed and magical – habits instil themselves as a framework. With the Lesser Banishing Ritual you are orientating yourself in space; with the Liber Resh observation you are orientating yourself in time. With the Middle Pillar exercise you will start to equilibrate yourself, and with the Rose Cross exercise which follows later you will come to equilibrate your environment. These four techniques are the four elemental parts of Malkuth, the Kingdom, which the Zelator inhabits.

Vignette: The Mystical Explosion The mystical experience can often be likened to an explosion caused by a bomb planted by a bomber. By the time that one has come to one’s senses after the event, which was so totally unexpected and shattering, the explosion has long wiped out any chance of seeing the footprints of the bomber. The thought process – and sometimes the practices and sequence of exercises or reading – that precede a mystical experience can rarely be precisely recalled nor ordered. This makes for frustrating learning, although one builds up a sense of faith that the viewpoint is more important than the past journey. Frater P.P.E. had two such experiences in this light, the first of which was whilst at a place of employment. He was musing on some kabbalistic conundrum and turned to look away from the window and at a red electric plug connected to a wall socket. At that moment, the red plug became real in a sense unlike anything he had experienced before or since. The whole of existence was present and correct in a timeless moment, before it slipped away back into the previous state of awareness. Perhaps there was something in the symbolism of being plugged in, or perhaps the colour red? These events are rarely repeatable. The second experience was when Frater P.P.E. was sitting on the floor at a manual typewriter, in the days when that counted as a wireless word processor with its own built-in printer. He turned to pick up a sheet of paper and was suddenly and undoubtedly seized with an absolute knowledge of what the universe was for, what it intended, and how it all worked. This lasted for several seconds before again being replaced by everyday consciousness. Afterwards, there was some sense of it all being about friction and communication, but these hardly touched upon the actual experience. The initiation system is designed to promote these higher states and prepare the initiate to hold them for longer periods of time.

The result of setting up these systems / frameworks / exercises is that what is not willed, what is not magical, what is not balanced, begins to become more obvious, even if only distantly at present. The initial reaction to this is often one of displacement – an unwillingness to even admit that anything is happening. It is this gentle tension that begins to shift the ground. Again, a gentle heat. The continuation – in fact, the concentration upon – the techniques is paramount. They provide the framework in which initiation takes place, and the foundation for further progress. They also provide an experiential language in which you can maintain orientation during later experiences. Again, it is not the content that is so important – it is the pattern and the process. This becomes clearer as you work through any initiation, and is why the system is flexible across time, space and culture. Beyond this, at the end of your Zelator work, there is an initiation into Theoricus, ascribed to Yesod, ‘Foundation’ on the Tree of Life. It should be noted that each grade of initiation is an entirely different state of consciousness.[19] It is this state that truly denotes the initiate of that sephirah – a Zelator is in an entirely different headspace than a Practicus, for example, even if they both like the same music, or they wear different clothes. The experiences of dryness, boredom, frustration, and even apparently external distractions and events which seek to prevent one from continuing study are part of the 'Dweller on the Threshold' syndrome, which we examine later in this volume.

The outer is not a sign-post in this work; the concerns, practices and values of each grade are entirely different. The initiation at the end of Zelator throws you into an intense state which might be predicted by the tarot cards attributed to the paths connecting Yesod to the other sephiroth. It is not to be taken lightly, although it is offered to you at the end of your year’s apprenticeship. It initiates at least another one to three years of work and experience that is impossible to explain until it is commenced. Exercise: Examining the Zelator You may now choose to look at the grade of Zelator. Research calcination, and look at the tarot cards that correspond to the paths which lead in / out of Malkuth: The Last Judgement, The Universe and The Moon. What influences do you see these cards as having upon your present state? What warnings do they hold? What opportunities do you have to learn their lessons and transcend them? You may wish to consider joining us in the Crucible Club and engage in a graduated series of self-study exercises opening up the Western Esoteric Initiatory System at your own pace – at the conclusion of which an application may be made to the Order of Everlasting Day for which this work is a presentation.

The Secret Ladder “Thus, the axis of the sefirot also constitutes the vertical ladder that is climbed by the mystic when he progresses in both understanding and in discovering experientially the higher levels of the divine structure.” — Moshe Idel, Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism[20]

The ladder provides a central icon in the mysteries of the WEIS. We here mention many of the variations of this principle icon in our Great Work, to which we will return later. As a symbol of the ascent narrative, it denotes many things. Firstly, of course, it is a means of ascending from the lower to the higher – but it is equally a symbol of the descent of the higher to the lower. As above, so below.

Frontispiece, Mutus Liber

In an illustration by Dürer, we see the astrologer sat in a chair on which the planets provide panels or stages uniting the Earth or globe in the astrologer’s hands to the celestial world above his head – each planet thus representing a stage of connection between man and the heavenly realm. In Christian imagery, we see paintings of Saints progressing up the ladder in steps, but with the demons attempting to arrest their ascent in a variety of ways. In one representation, we see that our ascent may be contested by other agents. It is of little consequence if these are seen as internal or external to the self, so long as it is recognised that there appear to be challenges to our ascent. The ladder is utilised in tracing boards within Freemasonry. The tracing boards are used as important teaching devices in Freemasonry, and are often painted as large panels and shown to a candidate during an initiation ritual. The ladder and step-ladder appear not only in Freemasonic art and diagrams, but also as actual items in certain rituals. In this famous frontispiece of the alchemical work, Mutus Liber (published c. 1677), we see a drawing of Jacob’s Ladder – the ladder which was seen by Jacob in a dream – with the angels ascending and descending. In this particular version, we see the angel blowing a trumpet to awaken Jacob from his sleep. This reminds us somewhat of the commencement of the Rosicrucian manifesto, the Chymical Wedding, and also the tarot image of The Last Judgement. The tarot card The Last Judgement also corresponds to one of the paths connecting Malkuth, the Kingdom, to the upper reaches of the Tree of Life. It is thus of import to the Zelator. In another ladder diagram, this one of a cosmological nature, by Robert Fludd in 1619, we see the ladder reaching up to the divine realm or the celestial realm signified by a star or bright light.

The rungs on this ladder are marked with aspects of human ability: sensus, imaginalis, ratio, etc., for the senses, imagination and rationality. Here we start to see that the rungs of the ladder are being viewed as essential building blocks for connecting with the divine. By working on the areas marked by the rungs, we create the ladder.[21] The nature of the ladder as signifying the hierarchy of realms is seen most clearly in Ramon Lull’s (1232-1316) illustration. Here Lull depicts the divine city and the world as being divided by a ladder of grades of being, starting with the mineral world, the world of plants and animals, then moving up through man and the angelic realm. The figure holds a further map of the aspects of art and science and human ability that provides a mechanism or compass for making the ascent to the divine world.

Steps of Ascent, from Ramon Lull’s Liber De Ascensu et Decensu Intellectus (written 1304, first published 1512)

The Sound of the Trumpet “Therefore we appeal to many a learned man in our writings With letters and by our own hands Although our names are not known, That is known to many a philosopher Many a chemist, many a Doctor Many a Reverend, many a worthy man Knows the sound of our trumpet.” Altar of the Theraphic Brotherhood, 1617[22]

We will now examine a number of perspectives on the ‘Rosicrucian manifestos’, specifically regarding the original intention behind their writing and publication. It is the present author’s view that the manifestos represent a test – in its truest forms of both challenge and measurement – of the time in which they were composed. This test – a word whose etymology means a vessel in which metals were assayed, similar to the Latin root, testa, ‘pot’ or ‘shell’ – is indeed such a shell in which a critical examination was carried out on the consciousness of the age. Not only are the manifestos loaded with metaphors – of light and dark, of lions and eagles, of night and dawn, of chalices, fountains, vipers, and asses – they are in themselves a meta-metaphor in which there is “the right, simple, easy and ingenious exposition, understanding, declaration, and knowledge of all secrets.”[23] It is also noted that in modern parlance, the mechanism by which this intention was carried out was the use of ‘undercover viral marketing’; a method by which a large audience of interested persons is rapidly reached by harnessing the existing social network ‘underneath’ the existing media, state or institutions. Tobias Churton approaches this concept when he refers to the publication of the first manifesto, the Fama Fraternitatis (1614) as “one of the most virulent intellectual hurricanes ever to hit Europe.”[24] The effectiveness of this method – likely the first use of viral marketing in print – is evidenced by the rapid spread of the Rosicrucian ‘furore’ prior to its premature closing-down at the onset of the Thirty Years War, and its longevity to the continuing expressions of Rosicrucianism in the present day. [25]

We will limit this present survey primarily to the first two published works of the ‘Fraternity of the Rosy Cross’, namely the Fama Fraternitatis (1614) and the Confessio Fraternitatis (1615), although we will also use selected material from the Chymical Wedding (1616). The so-called ‘fourth manifesto’, Speculum Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum (or, The Mirror of the Wisdom of the Rosicrucians), will also be referenced specifically with regard to the ‘college’ of the Fraternity, which indicates in metaphor the likely intention of the manifestos as a whole. To begin, we will set the historical context of the publications, then move on to a brief textual analysis, particularly where the intention of the writings is given, either explicitly or implicitly. We will be looking at contemporary thoughts on the likely authorship of the documents, and the background of the author which further illuminates possible intentions arising from his activities and worldview. Although the symbolism and metaphors employed are arguably the most discussed, divertive and mysterious elements of the texts, we will briefly touch upon these aspects, not wishing to add what Waite calls the “purposeless and rambling speculations” made on Rosicrucianism.[26] Having illuminated likely intentions from these perspectives, we will finally look on the actual impact of their publication. Historical Context The publication of the documents in Germany between 1614 and 1616 contextualises their writing in a time of critical change in Europe. The Reformation and Counter-Reformation had ended after 100 years, and the Thirty Years War was to start within four years of the publication of the Fama Fraternitatis. The key dates referenced here are given in the table below. A Timetable of Rosicrucian Publications

1517: Commencement of Reformation by Martin Luther. 1555: Peace of Augsburg ended violence between Lutherans and Catholics in Germany. 1586: Johann Valentin Andreae (born). 1604: A trigonus igneus (‘fiery triangle’) appears in the constellations of Serpentarius and Cygnus. 1606: Religious tensions broke into violence in the German free city of Donauwörth. The Lutheran majority barred the Catholic residents of the Swabian town from holding a procession, causing a riot to break out. 1612: Death of Emperor Rudolph II, leading to expectation of radical reforms.[27] Manuscript version of Fama Fraternitatis refered to by Adam Haselmayer. 1614: Publication of Fama Fraternitatis, dess Loblichen Ordens des Rosenkreutzes (or, The Declaration of the Worthy Order of the Rosy Cross) at Kassel (in German). 1615: Publication of Confessio Fraternitatis at Kassel (in Latin). 1616: Publication of Die Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkruetz (or, The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz) at Strasbourg (in German). 1618: Publication of Speculum Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum (or, The Mirror of the Wisdom of the Rosicrucians). Start of the Thirty Years War. 1622: Two ‘Rosicrucian’ posters appear in Paris.[28] 1654: Johann Valentin Andreae (died).

The first appearance of the word ‘Rosenkreuz’ in a printed book was in a Tyrolean schoolmaster’s response to the unpublished Fama, in 1612.[29] This schoolmaster, musician and alchemist, Adam Haselmeyer, was deeply versed in the works of Paracelsus, and proclaimed a newly-founded religion, the ‘Theosphrastia Sancta’. According to Gilly (2003), this response demonstrated that Haselmeyer saw both Rosenkreuz and Paracelsus as revealing the ‘Theosphrastia Sancta’, a divine truth preserved throughout history, in order to bring about a new religion of “evangelical freedom ... promised [to] this latter world.”’[30] This was how the manifestos were to be received – as an announcement, a trumpet call, a revelation bringing about an awakening of a new Christian truth; one promised not by the Church, but by the Hermetic tradition of which Paracelsus was theologist. Indeed, this new truth was seen by Haselmeyer as a form of religious science – deciphering the ‘textus libri Naturae’ – and as a form of observance, practical, and experimental. In this we see how the new philosophy reflected the ‘Christo-cabalistic divine magic’ of Khunrath, who wrote some years earlier in his own Confessio: ... when ye my contemporaries were idly dozing, I was watching and at work, meditating earnestly day and night on what I had seen and leaned, sitting, standing, recumbent, by sunshine, by moonshine, by banks, in meadows, streams, woods and mountains.[31]

This insistence of communion with Nature, travel, universal brotherhood, and a life imitating that of Christ was to form the template which the manifestos would exploit, to present highly critical ideas within an allegorical framework, itself referring to, and calling for – and in effect, attempting to bring about – a general reformation of the whole world. It is clear that the author/s of the Confessio saw the time being due for this reformation. They saw themselves as lighting the ‘sixth candlestick’ which would bring about a new age – perhaps developing the model of Joachim of Fiore, who saw three ages: that of the Nettles, Roses and Lilies. [32]

Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-1642)

Authorship Although published anonymously, it is now widely accepted that the manifestos originated in the ‘Learned and Christian Society’ established by Johann Valentin Andreae in Tübingen in 1610.[33] This group also included Christoph Besold and Tobias Hess. It is likely that the manifestos were the result of a meeting of these minds, although Andreae did claim authorship of the Chymical Wedding. It has been reasonably suggested that as Andreae was aged only 19 at the time of the writing of this latter text, on the evidence of its more mature construction and content, compared with other works by Andreae, it was likely re-worked by the group prior to actual publication.[34] This authorship, whether individual or collective, in part or in whole, emphasises the intent of the manifestos to respond to what Edeighoffer calls “the crisis of European consciousness in the 17th century.” A collective of individuals, radical reformers, synthesised a spiritual gnosis of a “Neoplatonic, gnostic reworking of orthodox Christian theology,”[35] and presented that in the shell of allegory and mystery as challenge to the piety of the age. The Fama

The first of the manifestos, the Fama, describes the life, travels and death – and later discovery of the tomb – of a certain Brother C.R., “a German, the chief and original of our fraternity.”[36] The Fama records the beginnings of a brotherhood, comprising originally four, and after the building of a secret college, the Sancti Spiritus, enlarging to eight members. These members travel, and hold to six articles, including the requirement to keep secret for 100 years. During the following description of the later finding of the tomb of C.R., the text returns to the need for secrecy and brotherhood on numerous occasions. The Fama is overtly anti-Papal; the Church is described as “not cleansed.”[37] However, the Fama is also critical of alchemy, the “ungodly and accursed gold-making,”[38] although it notes that the first of the brethren to die – Brother J.O. – was “well-learned in Cabala” and indeed describes a manuscript, ‘Book H.’, which attested to this knowledge.[39] The religious context which the Fama explicitly states is Christian: But that also every Christian may know of what religion and belief we are, we confess to have the knowledge of Jesus Christ ... Also we use two sacraments, as they are instituted with all Forms and Ceremonies of the first renewed Church.[40]

When the Fama was first printed, it was within a volume including a preface and a ‘reply’ by Adam Haselmayer. The contents of this preface and reply led Frances Yates to suggest that the intention of the Rosicrucian manifesto was “setting forth an alternative to the Jesuit order, a brotherhood more truly based on the teaching of Jesus.” However, she admits that the preface and reply are ambiguous, although there is clearly “an intention of associating the first Rosicrucian manifesto with anti-Jesuit propaganda.”[41] It is clear, however, that the intent of the text is to announce a rediscovery of transmitted wisdom, a philosophy that “also is not a new invention, but as Adam after his fall hath received it.”[42] This revelation, symbolised by the allegory of the discovery of the tomb of C.R., heralds a new reformation, both of “divine and human things, according to our desire, and the expectation of others.”[43] It could further be added that the intention is to imply criticism of the Reformation, which was seen to have failed, and also a further intention to test the expectation of ‘others’ (i.e. the public and the learned men to whom the pamphlet is addressed) against a Christian philosophy that is not given but suggested as pure in comparison to the established Church.

The call to the reader to “declare their mind”[44] is a device which assures the publication of this pamphlet will engender what contemporary advertising would refer to ‘viral marketing’. Indeed, modern campaigns often use undercover and subtle forms of graffiti in city environments to reinforce the mystery of the brand which is being marketed.[45] This is analogous to the appearance of posters promoting the Rosicrucian cause in Paris in 1622; the first commencing with the line, “We, the Deputies of the Higher College of the Rose-Croix, do make our stay, visibly and invisibly, in this city ...” and the second ending with the words “The thoughts attached to the real desire of the seeker will lead us to him and him to us.” So, in this sense the publication of the manifestos can be seen, as Christopher McIntosh says, as “the greatest publicity-stunt of all time,”[46] with the intention of a test of the consciousness of the age through the first use of a ‘viral marketing campaign’, mapping a ‘virtual world’ against the ‘real world’ to highlight the wide gap between the utopian vision of a ‘New Age’ and the failure of both Church and State in the reformation towards that vision. This self-referential aspect of the texts leads Colin Wilson to write that the invention of Christian Rosenkreuz is “not a hoax so much as a cry of rejection and a demand for new ways: in short, a kind of prophecy.”[47] Fr. Wittemans – whose work has been criticised elsewhere – states that the “only certain thing is that Andrae (sic), with thirty others, published the Fama as a sort of experiment ... in order to discover whether and which lovers of the true wisdom are to be found in Europe.”[48] In this he accords in that expression with Tobias Churton, when he writes that Andreae was “calling out for a second spiritual and scientific reformation to encompass all men of goodwill in the true Christian spirit of love and brotherhood.”[49]

The Confessio The publication of the Confessio Fraternitatis in the year following the Fama added more depth to the mystery and debate now rising with regard to the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross. It is estimated that several hundred works were printed regarding the search for – or criticism of – the Brotherhood, although there is as yet no extensive dated bibliography of this tangled furore.[50] In this we can see that whatever the intention of the work, the actual effect was as a catalyst – dividing the audience in a way that the author may not have intended. If Andreae was indeed author of the Fama, as we have touched on, he wrote in 1619, “Would that the remaining chimes and little bells by which this fable was noised abroad be melted down: I mean that their prolific writings would all go up in smoke!”[51] The Confessio was first published in Latin, and the authorship has been attributed to either Andreae or Tobias Hess.[52] Perhaps the Latin delivery was meant for more learned minds than had received the Fama? It may have been intended to quell the facile posturings of the public with regard to the Brotherhood, or it may indeed have been intended to further fuel the debate. The preface of the Confessio states that it will list “thirty-seven reasons of purpose and intention,”[53] yet in true ambiguous and esoteric fashion does not then make explicit the manner in which the text relates to thirtyseven reasons.

The text immediately makes two things clear: the world is “falling to decay, and near its end,” and the Brotherhood are in some way superior to the ‘mortals’ addressed by the text.[54] This context allows a direct criticism of both “the Pope and Mahomet” and the intention of the text is stated “for the sake of the learned ... make a better explanation.”[55] This explanation delivers the rise of a new philosophy and the start of a ‘Sixth Age’ into which newcomers will not be immediately initiated, but “must proceed step by step from the smaller to the greater.”[56] This statement of a step by step revelation is of interest in that it appears to refer to a graduated initiation – again referenced later in the Confessio; “this Fraternity, divided into Degrees.”[57] Another intention given by the text is that God himself has decreed that the Fraternity be enlarged,[58] which intensifies the call for the public to respond. The Confessio goes on to expound upon the coming of light to the darkness of “the arts, works and governments of men,”[59] sparing few areas of life in its critical gaze. It sees the dawn of a new Reformation, and hints that the Brotherhood has power through ‘magical writing’ by which prediction can be made.[60] However, it places the religious or spiritual background of the Brotherhood as Christian; the study of the Bible is seen as the “whole sum of our Laws” and yet, at the same time, alchemy is seen as a “great gift of God” so long as it leads to the “knowledge of Nature.”[61] The Confessio draws to a close by continuing its specific criticism of the “Roman Imposter” or “Viper” Pope, the “worthless books of pseudo chymists” and the “vain (astronomical) epicycles and eccentric circles”; thus, the philosophy of the Brotherhood is seen as holding truths beyond religion, alchemy and astrology.[62]

The text concludes by repeating the intended aim of the Brotherhood to “enrich and instruct the whole world” and the call to seek and find the Fraternity the sooner that liberation may come.[63] The Chymical Wedding It is the opinion of Adam McLean that without the third manifesto of the Chymical Wedding being published, the two preceeding texts would have faded from the public imagination. The publication of the “profound allegorical statement of the mystery of inner transformation” that is the Chymical Wedding, further deepened the enigma of the followers of Christian Rosenkreuz by demonstrating their possession of an “esoteric core.”[64] Although Andreae admitted authorship of the Chymical Wedding in his autobiography, Vita ab Ipso Conscripta,[65] he also dismissed it as a ‘ludibrium’. Ludibrium is a word derived from Latin ‘ludus (ludi)’, meaning ‘plaything’ or ‘trivial game’. In Latin ludibrium is an object at the same time of fun and of scorn and derision. However, in Andreae’s Peregrini in Patria errores (1618) he compares the world to an amphitheatre where no one is seen in their true light – thus the ludibrium could well be seen to have serious purpose undeneath the play itself. It may be seen that Andreae delighted in ambiguity, and as Churton notes, “ambivalence was central to Andreae’s genius.”[66]

It suffices to note that the tale of the Chymical Wedding commences with an invitation to arise from “carnal desires” and through selfexamination – “examining myself again and again” – come to an “understanding of the secrets of Nature.”[67] This method and resultant vision is told through a complex allegory of trials, rituals and realms, culminating in the admittance of Christian Rosenkreuz into the order of the Knights of the Golden Stone, whose motto is “The highest wisdom is to know nothing.”[68] The idea that the intention of the publication of the Chymical Wedding was to redirect the audience to the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross as a literary device is stated by McIntosh (1987) and, indeed, Andreae had written in Turris Babel that “in vain do you wait for the coming of the Brotherhood.”[69] The Mirror of Wisdom This ‘fourth’ Rosicrucian manifesto, Speculum Sophicum RhodoStauroticum (or, The Mirror of the Wisdom of the Rosicrucians), was published in 1618, authored by Daniel Mögling under the pseudonym of Theophilus Schweighardt. Although another complex piece of writing, drawing also on Thomas à Kempis’ Imitatio Christi, it can be seen that this piece attempts an explanation of the methodology of the ‘Rosicrucian Order’, and also intends to delineate the order, their works and their buildings as an inner and received wisdom, and not a material manifestation. The College of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood is described as:

… everywhere visible, but hidden from the eyes of men, adorned with all kinds of divine and natural things, the contemplation of which in theory and practice is granted to every man free of charge and renumeration, but heeded by few because the building appears as bad, little worth and well-known to the mind of the mob who are ever heedless and seekers after things new … [70] Another striking illustration from the same work is that used to encapsulate the text where it refers to the Ergon and Parergon – Work and Greater Work – of the Rhodo-Stauroticum. It is clear from the illustration, combined with the text, that the intention is to signal an inner work – the events are taking place in the two sockets of a skull in a mirror of the text: And here is to be noted that the created soul of man has two spiritual eyes; the right eye can see into eternity, and the left eye can see into time and creatures.[71] Mögling goes on to say that “... the Brotherhood against all expectation goes mightily forward,” but that entry is by prayer and works alone, which will attract a brother of the order to give the earnest seeker the Parergon, or Greater Work. This ‘fourth manifesto’ clearly intended to place the mysteries of the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross as a means of gnosis, or divine knowledge of Nature, through Christian and Hermetic methods and principles. Symbology and Metaphor

The symbolism of both the Fama and the Confessio are replete with indications that they are used in service of an intended awakening – a new dawn bringing light to the darkness of ignorance. Such symbolism as the rose, the dawn, the flowing chalice or fountain, briefly included in the Fama and Confessio, find their full expression in the Chymical Wedding. It is the symbol of the trumpet that calls this awakening at the start of the Wedding, which belongs to the apocalyptical tradition. Often in the New Testament the sound of trumpets is tied to Christ’s coming. Notice Paul’s description of the resurrection of the dead at the time a great trumpet announces Christ’s return: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”[72] The use of metaphor is well known in psychotherapy as a means of circumventing the conscious mind. A congruent and well delivered metaphor is a powerful means to affect change.[73] In the manifestos we see a complex metaphorical structure which plays with time – the unlikely timeline of Christian Rosenkreuz’s life and the constant references to the end of one age and the commencement of a new age – and space – “the college which is everywhere visible, but hidden from the eyes of men.”[74]

In literature, the creation of a ‘virtual’ world replete with worldview and behaviour to challenge existing notions is commonplace. All literature is analogous, a map of the territory of existence. The content and delivery of the manifestos still finds its echoes in the works of those authors versed in Gnostic, alchemical or kabbalistic motifs, such as Jorge Luis Borges, whose ‘Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius’ is referenced by McIntosh with regard to the Rosicrucian phenomenon,[75] and contemporary authors such as William Gibson who coined the term ‘cyber-space’ and whose recent work references a fragmentary piece of video released over time across the Internet which spawns its own interpretators and followers despite any clear indication of its intention.[76] In this section we have seen that each of the manifestos revealing the existence of the Fraternity of the Rose Cross and its founder Christian Rosenkreuz had a common intention to challenge what the author/s saw as the prevalent ignorance of the age, within the religious, artistic and scientific establishment. Their content, delivery and release were fashioned in such a way as to promote widespread discussion – although this also resulted in a literal belief of the content, i.e. the existence of a real brotherhood of mystical Adepts, as the lowest common denominator of public opinion. The likely re-working and publication of Andreae’s Chymical Wedding intended to re-frame opinion towards the literal, but in fact deepened the apparent enigma and promoted the mythology of the secret brotherhood and their Hermetic, alchemical knowledge and powers. Whatever their original intention, the manifestos remain ever-timely, visionary and powerful emblems of spiritual striving. It is not only the Tübingen Circle of the early 17th century who – in the face of political chaos, impending war and the failure of religious establishments – looked towards a universally-lived life of truth in a world of mutual trust and respect.

We will next move on to the academic study of the WEIS, and explore the work of the Golden Dawn, most particularly its curriculum and the student experience. Whilst what follows is more of an academic discussion, we will highlight much which sets the context for our contemporary appreciation of the tradition. If you are disinterested in academic analysis, language or primary source material, you may comfortably pass by the following portion of this volume – although I would recommend some dips into the primary material amidst the academic language.

Academic Study of the WEIS

The academic study of Western esotericism is the main issue for this section of first volume of The Magister, as it provides essential grounding in areas of little usual concern to practitioners. The students of the OED are encouraged to pursue historical research and wide reading in order to appreciate the breadth of their work and the roots from whence it has grown. There are, however, two areas that we must make clear. Firstly, in academia, it would not be sufficient to simply talk about a singular monolithic ‘Western esoteric tradition’ without defining the terms and scope of the term. In the volumes of The Magister, we use the term as a general label for our work, without need to define it further. Secondly, the approach of academic study to esotericism has blatantly ignored the taught content of magical curricula, which is our primary concern in these volumes. Often content is seen as merely a response – to disempowerment, disenfranchisement, science, etc. – and not as a source of independent value. Here we see it from our practitioner perspective as not requiring justification or defence; it is an active approach to engaging life, not a passive response mechanism (or if so, no more than any other activity, including academia).

The academic ambivalence to actual content versus content-asresponse – for example, Webb,[77] Gibbons[78] and Owen[79] – is reflected in other contemporary studies such as Hanegraaff.[80] Whilst speaking of the New Age sensu lato and sensu stricto, and referring to the movement as a whole being rooted in the New Thought tradition (and yet emerging as a secularised esotericism), Hanegraaff sees this movement as characterised by a popular Western cultural criticism. Whilst analysing any movement as a ‘flight from reason’ or ‘disenchantment’, or a reaction against male disempowerment, as in Carnes, [81] there is little motivation or necessity to explore the actual content of that movement. Similarly, if content is not viewed beneath activity, where that activity – usually ritual – is seen as a device to maintain secrecy as power, or to alleviate psychological stress, as a psychogenic model might construct, then again, the scholar can feel justified in abandoning any further investigation of esoteric content. This has meant that the bulk of esoteric teachings have lain fallow to academic appreciation, and that a blind spot to the majority of activity engaged in by individuals has been created. A member of the Golden Dawn would have spent many more hours in private study than a brief initiatory ritual, and even within that ritual, the bulk is taught content, elusive to existing models of initiation.[82] Since the revival of academic discourse in the Hermetic tradition pioneered by Yates[83] which followed the attempts of practitioners such as Waite (1921) and Lévi (1855) to discover and divulge – often under the veil of an implied secret knowledge – their roots in an attempt termed by Scholem, with regard to kabbalah, as a “supreme charlatanism,” there has, however, been an accelerating scholarly appreciation of Western esotericism. [84]

This is evinced in the publication of the monumental Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism (2005) and the foundation of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism in that same year.[85] It is within this dynamic discourse that we will seek to place this present study of the content of esoteric curricula – the taught content of a range of groups and individuals self-identifying as holders and transmitters of Western esoteric teaching and tradition. The Nature of the Debate It is proposed that we take a wide view in order to achieve our aim of surveying such a vast wealth of material present in occult teachings from across a century. We will avoid, by doing so, a reductionist strategy leading to constrained conclusions, such as Carnes, whose study of ritual fraternities, who were “[nearly all] exclusively masculine institutions” leads to the argument that such groups “provided solace and psychological guidance during young men’s troubled passage to manhood in Victorian America.” [86] This entirely ignores the rise of esoteric organisations during that same time which promoted equal membership for both men and women, such as the Theosophical Society and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Similarly, we seek to avoid the implied critique of the complex content of the curricula evident in Webb,[87] and Gibbons who argues that the occult philosophy has a “merely compensatory function.”[88] In fact, Webb, whose ambivalent sympathy for the matter is confused, goes so far as to say that the occult tradition is singularly characterised as “world-rejecting,” whilst ignoring the vast range of methods taught within such groups to engage magically with the world itself in everyday life.[89]

Our analysis will call upon the work of René Guénon[90] and others such as his nephew and student, Luc Benoist,[91] in subjecting the curricula to the conceptual model of landscapes, sign-posts and qualifications – of subjective and objective esotericism (the student experience and the taught content) and of the relationship of experience and tradition.

Western Esotericism, Rituals and Knowledge One recent examination of ceremonial practice in Western esoteric groups is Henrik Bogdan’s book, Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation (2007). Bogdan matches his research paradigms to those similar to Yates, Faivre and Hanegraaff, whilst noting the limitations of each – the Hermetic tradition implied by Yates, the validity of Faivre’s defining components to post-18th century currents, and whilst appearing to favour Hanegraaff, Bogdan notes this latter’s approach as being open between a spectrum of reductionism and all-inclusiveness.[92] Bogdan usefully adds the importance attached to personal religious experience – a theme to which we will return – and the introjections of the concept of personal Will into the schema of magical practice. We will trace this particular development in full as it is of significance to the practitioner experience and the aim of the curricula, particularly following the work of the occultist Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). We will see how Crowley’s definition of magic, later transformed by Dion Fortune (1890-1946), has informed the aim and attraction of magical practice throughout the revival of neo-paganism and into popular culture. In relation to Faivre’s definition of esotericism on the basis of six characteristics (see later), Bogdan categorises texts in four manners, implicitly or explicity esoteric in content, according to Faivre’s components. However, having established this categorisation, Bogdan later concentrates far more on the rituals of initiation rather than the taught content or ‘inbetween’ teachings that fill-in the student experience between those rituals.

It is my view that these teachings are often neglected due to their complexity and diversity, and in favour of already established paradigms for examining ritual, particularly initiatory ritual. It is similar to the Sufi parable about looking for a lost key in the light of a street lamp rather than at the door where one lost it, because there it is darker. Although such rituals are a key component of many of the groups we are to survey, the student experience would be far more involved with learning – and being taught – magical practices and concepts than the occasional (albeit important) ritual initiation. Faivre also implicitly directs us away from the taught content: The best way to locate any of these six components in a discourse, a work, a ritual, etc., is not to look for doctrinal tenets, but to try and find evidence of their presence in concrete manifestations like images, symbols, styles, etc. [93] Bogdan himself concentrates the study of his work upon the rituals of initiation; those of the Freemasons, the Golden Dawn, the O.T.O., and modern Wicca or witchcraft. He analyses the structure and basic components of these rituals, and concludes that the rituals can be seen as ‘mirrors’ of the esoteric currents of the time, and that the symbols encountered within those rituals are concerned with an ‘esoteric worldview’. Although the former conclusion is fully demonstrated in the work, the argument that the rituals reflect an esoteric worldview is not fully developed. Similarly, in the whole of the work, the taught content is barely touched upon other than as a diversion to demonstrate the introduction of sexual magic into the curriculum of the O.T.O., leaving the penultimate paragraph of the entire study to briefly and generically outline:

These [esoteric] teachings are often concentrated in the instructional part of the rituals, and can consist of such topics as alchemy, astrology, and magic.[94] In academia, the structure and workings – even the specific content of teachings – of esoteric groups is often ignored in treating these groups through the lenses of reception, historiography, sociological modelling, and literary critique. This is evident in earlier publications of material for an academic appreciation of Western esotericism. A key writer on the Golden Dawn, R.A. Gilbert (1987), wrote on his selection of A.E. Waite’s papers for publication: Of the remaining twelve essays, five are on mysticism, three are on rituals, and four concern the structure and working of the Order; they are all of lesser interest than the six published here.[95] The otherwise laudable and comprehensive – indeed, monumental – two volume Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism (2005) has no individual entry for initiation, although it has one for imagination.[96] Neither does it treat grades, although it treats many other subjects. However, it does reference at length the concepts – prevalent in Western esotericism – of hierarchies, and intermediaries, which provide the cosmological backdrop for Faivre’s (1994) components of the Western esoteric tradition, specifically, correspondence and, in turn, the fundamental backdrop for concepts of graduated ascent which is central to the magical curricula that we present here.[97]

It is fair to point out that some scholars have recognised the importance of content, but have usually approached it in a dismissive way. The following observation by Daniel van Egmond is an example: A comprehensive comparative study of the doctrines and practices of these Western esoteric schools with those of some of the established traditions might enable us to discover the main causes of their failures, and might help us to understand their importance as a spiritual phenomenon, even within our own culture.[98] A more distinct argument, whilst not from a recognised scholar, in favour of appreciation of the teachings of esoteric organisations may be discerned in the work of René Guénon (1886-1947). In an appreciative summary of Guénon’s work, Borella writes: It remains to be said that the metaphysical conception of symbolism he [Guénon] laid out is doubtless the only one that (intelligibly and without any diminution) allows one to take in all the sacred scriptures and thus escapes the destructive deviations of modernism.[99]

The Problem of Magic and the Occult

Green argues that magic has been unjustly neglected by contemporary sociology.[100] He defies this neglect by freely using the term ‘magic’ and editing a journal entitled Journal for the Academic Study of Magic. More broadly, there seems to be wariness on the part of academics to refer to ‘magic’ and the ‘occult’ rather than the preferred category of ‘Western esotericism’. A brief survey of academic titles demonstrates a slight majority of titles favouring the ‘esoteric’ brand. However, most groups that we survey will be seen to be self-defined as ‘occult’ groups and teaching ‘magic’. The term ‘magic’ is often confined to primitive societies, and it is here until recently that sociology has concerned itself; Weber, Durkheim and Mauss’s tribal studies are typical.[101] Only recently has a sociological and anthropological eye been turned to the contemporary practice of magic, namely Green,[102] Evans,[103] Luhrmann,[104] and Greenwood,[105] whilst others have concerned themselves with the neo-pagan community, such as Clifton[106] in the United States, and Hutton.[107] Luhrmann usefully introduces the idea of different discourses that are perceived by the practitioner during the study of magic (an area we will examine), and notes that the practice of magic is interesting as a flamboyant example of a common process, “That when people get involved in an activity they develop ways of interpreting which make that activity meaningful even though it may seem foolish to the uninvolved.”[108] It is this activity we will examine from the student experience – what was practised and what interpretation was placed upon the practice by the practitioner?

Treatments of the Magical Orders There are substantial treatments of only a few of the diverse groups who have claimed to be bearers of the Western esoteric tradition, none more so than the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1888.[109] In these treatments we see an array of biography, sociological analysis (often concentrating upon the initiation rituals or political in-fighting of charismatic leaders) and reproduction of source materials in collations of letters and teaching materials, such as the ‘Knowledge Lectures’ distributed by the order. There are no comprehensive attempts to analyse the teachings themselves, which are given verbatim, or to trace the development of those teachings over time. There are neither attempts to comment upon the student experience or the specific attraction of such teachings, which often required substantial investments of time and energy to accomplish, particularly in practical matters such as the creation of magical implements and tools – a task to which even W.B. Yeats applied himself.[110] There are other groups that have received specific attention. The documents of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, active from around 1895, have been disclosed by Godwin, Chanel and Deveney, with biographical sketches of influential members such as Max Theon, Peter Davidson, Thomas Henry Burgoyne, and Paschal Beverly Randolph. We may see here that it is essential to carefully survey the teachings of each group; here we see that a form of sexual magic was likely being taught[111] prior to the earliest claimed by others such as Bogdan (2007). In fact, work from the group published as the Light of Egypt (1889) by Thomas H. Burgoyne, writing as Zanoni, has an entire chapter on the ‘Mysteries of Sex’.[112]

Other groups are perhaps more well-known and yet have been little approached by academic studies; where these groups are still active, public or have surviving members, there is often distrust of ‘outsider’ enquires. Such groups include AMORC, the Rosicrucian Order, the O.T.O., and the Order of the Cubic Stone. Still others are active and well known in the ‘New Age’ community: the Servants of Light, the Society of the Inner Light, and the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) amongst these. All of the aforementioned have structured curricula of study. The teachings of these groups is rarely made public. On occasion a private student publishes material, such as David Edwards from the Order of the Cubic Stone, whose slim volume, Dare to Make Magic, includes basic instructions from that group.[113] We know much of the earlier Golden Dawn teachings through publication of its private materials by Aleister Crowley in his journal of ‘scientific illumism’, The Equinox, and Israel Regardie’s monumental publication of the Complete Golden Dawn, which proved to be far from such. Other lesser known groups will also be examined throughout The Magister, such as Clifford Bias’ Ancient Mystical Order of Seekers (AMOS) and C.C. Zain’s Brotherhood of Light.

The Teachings of Individual Esoteric Teachers and Followers There have been a number of recent scholarly incursions into occult groups, such as the Typhonian O.T.O. ,[114] Order of Dagon or the Dragon Rouge. [115] Not surprisingly, groups which have been open to such study have on the whole benefitted from having their work promoted within and without academia. The academic is congratulated on his access to the group, and the group is often given an air of ‘established recognition’ by the study. We should also note that a number of strands of Western esoteric teachings were developed by individuals whose works proved popular and attracted followers whilst not establishing an organisation themselves. Such authors include Franz Bardon and Ophiel, whose works have attracted small numbers of nonetheless devoted followers of a variety of esoteric teachings and techniques, namely ritual and kabbalah in Bardon and astral travel in Ophiel. [116] This volume will also reference lesser known authors in the Western esoteric field during the past century, including Eldon Templar, whose works The Path of the Magus and The Tree of Hru serve as examples of the curriculum applied to spiritual development, and far earlier examples of New Thought teachers explicitly demonstrating the ascent narrative in their teachings, such as the Astarian Society. The complex cosmological backdrop of the curriculum can be read in such works as The Hidden Way Across the Threshold, written in 1887 by J.C. Street, a “Fellow of the Order S.S.S. and of the Brotherhood Z.Z. R.R. Z.Z.” At this time, we see a bridging of spiritualistic practice, mediumship and magical practice of a Hermetic nature. We will later see such transition points of the curriculum and its relationship to defining a tradition.

That the work of these esoteric organisations was primarily teaching to serve the aim of initiation is undoubted; from the beginning of the Golden Dawn society, one of the three primary founders, Westcott, had been keen to develop a full curriculum from the rudiments of the ‘cypher manuscripts’.

Conclusion It will be argued that the magical curriculum is more than what Gibbons partially dismisses as a “compensatory function” or even a “palpable absurdity” for which “mystification is its best protection”[117] rather it is a means of reintegration through a project that has its roots in Neo-Platonism, the Renaissance and throughout the entire corpus of Western esotericism. [118]

The Academic and Esoteric Encounter

In introducing the magical curriculum – the very prima materia of the Western esoteric tradition – it is necessary to trace the academic history that precedes this study, and highlight salient issues with the encounter of the scholar and the esotericist.[119] The specific issue of knowledge deemed esoteric – the very nature of that knowledge – and neutrality with regard to that knowledge must be identified and acknowledged. We must also position our study with regard to the nascence of academic approaches, recognising both the limits and opportunities of a field in the earliest stage of development. We will conclude with a summary of the contemporary milieu.

It is understated to remark that the scope of Western esotericism is vast, the corpus both complex and obscure. The language, terminology and cosmological schema are both cross-cultural and specialised. The appropriation of cultural references spanning the whole of recorded time and with no respect for geographical boundaries further bulks out this material, making it impenetrable to many. A tradition of correspondence between systems as varied as science and Jewish mysticism adds further layers to this morass. We might take for example this example from a classic theosophical text: The meaning is plain.* They [the three steps] are all symbols, and emblematic, mutually and correlatively, of Spirit, Soul and Body (MAN); of the circle transformed into Spirit, the Soul of the World, and its body (of Earth). Stepping outside of the Circle of Infinity, that no man comprehendeth, Ain-Soph (the Kabalistic synonym for Parabrahm, for the Zeroana Akerne, of the Mazdeans, or any other ‘UNKNOWABLE’) becomes ‘One’ – the ECHOD, the EKA, the AHU …[120] *The numbers 3, 5, and 7 are prominent in speculative masonry, as shown in ‘Isis’. A mason writes:- “There are the 3, 5 and 7 steps to show a circular walk. The three faces of 3, 3; 5, 3; and 7, 3; etc., etc. Sometimes it comes in this form – 743/2 = 376.5 and 7635/2 = 3817.5 and the ratio of 20612/6561 feet for cubit measures gives the Great Pyramid measures,” etc., etc.[121]

It is perhaps this type of content which prompts Gibbons (2001) to propose that fragile intellectuals, “socially useless by commercial or industrial standards,” fall back on raising their trade into a mystery, and thus “occult philosophy in its pure form serves a merely compensatory function. Mystery is its own authority. A palpable absurdity is a challengeable absurdity, and mystification is its best protection.”[122] Criticism has been levelled at the late Victorian self-styled scholar-magicians, who have been found guilty of a “considerable confusion” in the eyes of contemporary scholars.[123] The academic encounter of Western esotericism is as problematic as that of the same academic encounter with religion. In the encounter, we may perceive early – for the study itself is nascent – evidence of the ‘false anxiety’ described by Penner and Yonan[124] where practitioners and scholars alike seek to either defend the ‘irreducible’ nature of the assemblage of actions, beliefs and values that constitute the esoteric corpus, or argue for a post-modern reductionalism deemed by Windschuttle to be the “killing of history.”[125] We might agree with Rudolf Otto and Mircea Eliade that esoteric belief, as religion, is a unique category – whilst distinguishing it somehow from religion – in its claim for a numinous and sacred space.[126] We might, however, wish to categorise its components to attain a definitional construct against which to analyse a corpus and deem it as belonging in the Western esoteric space.

There is further complication. The early pioneers of academic study were in fact the practitioners – insiders – themselves. Such practitioners and developers of the esoteric corpus at the turn of the 20th century – Lévi, Blavatsky, Westcott, Mathers, Waite, MacKenzie – considered themselves scholars of esoteric knowledge. Their ability and enthusiasm for research – Westcott himself wrote to a colleague, Theodor Reuss, to ask him to attain and preserve useful primary source material in Europe for study – is matched only by their ability to utilise that material in the support of their own esoteric claims. Lurhman wryly remarks that “entering magic is like entering a scholarly pursuit; the practitioner is impressed by the depth of knowledge, and dazzled by the learning of the leaders of the profession.”[127]

The Birth of Academic Studies of Western Esotericism Frances A. Yates began a new revival of academic interest with the 1964 publication of Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, where she developed the concept of magic (noted prior as influential on Bruno by Lynn Thorndike in his History of Magic and Experimental Science[128]) as belonging to a Hermetic philosophy.[129] Other scholars, such as D.P. Walker (1958), were already examining the Renaissance and highlighting the influence of a magic-based prisca astrologia, albeit one tempered by a Christian perspective: They must have been divine, or taught by God, those men who have handed down to us these sympathies and antipathies, and names, of the stars.[130] Yates’ 1975 work, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, set a staging post for Western esotericism at either side of the Thirty Years War, with the tracing of the current of thought through the Renaissance, cutting off after the publication of the Rosicrucian manifestos, to reappear in the Enlightenment. She acknowledges “groping in the dark” in some areas, and when discussing ‘secret societies’ emphasises: ... these groupings are intended only as hypotheses which might guide future investigators along a historical path which has not yet been trodden …[131] Antoine Faivre puts the role of the scholar thus: ... those of us who study it [Western esotericism] are not only called upon to be scholars, but detectives who are able to follow its often elusive traces.[132]

The Dangers of Monolithic and Historic Analysis In describing the content of the magical curriculum, we must be mindful of reducing the corpus to a monolithic structure. The whole of Western esotericism, as Idel writes of religion, is a “conglomerate of ideas, cosmologies, beliefs, institutions, hierarchies, elites and rites that vary with time and place,” even when one single religion or esoteric system is concerned.[133] The schisms of an order such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn result in a fragmentary assemblage of materials, rites, teachings, and artefacts. The identification and assessment of the permeation, given import and reception of these loosely connected assemblages, is a difficult task to comprehensively complete – if not impossible. That we are performing a historical summary is also prone to interpretative misunderstandings. We might miss how the curriculum itself was developed, in what order, and in what way was it developed as a response-in-time (at the time) to its reception. Taking the whole as a simple historical artefact for analysis may disguise useful information as to the intentions behind its development. The Insider/Outsider Problem

Mitchell suggests that any academic has to “reconcile the demands of scholarly caution and detachment with the need to develop and maintain a consistent ‘philosophy of life’.”[134] Donovan speaks of the difficulty of establishing, achieving or even imposing any form of neutrality in the field of religious studies.[135] I would argue that the same applies to Western esotericism, considered as an assemblage of teachings, rites and behavioural expectations much like religion. There must be a suspension of disbelief by any outsider to the ‘otherliness’ of the magical world-view in which – in part – it is possible for participants to comprehend fiction as reality. An example of this would be where contemporary Chaos magicians create a radical post-metaphysical form of spirituality from the fictional Lovecraft mythos.[136] The Issue of Secret Knowledge Two early forays into the contemporary Western esoteric domain make clear the issues inherent in the study of esoteric knowledge and those who practice esoteric systems. In the case of Lurhmann, she is expressly dismissive of the systems of correspondence, stating that: The fantasy of a truly successful command of magic depends upon detailed symbolic knowledge and expertise in performance so complex that actual achievement is impossible ... The scholarship creates the secret of success as the unattainable end of eternal study.[137] She talks of the interpretative drift of non-magicians into a “flamboyant instance of the conceptual cacophony of contemporary culture.”[138] Lurhmann, however, provides a useful list of works generally favoured by contemporary practitioners.[139]

A second anthropological analysis of contemporary practice is to be found in Greenwood who also acted as a participant in esoteric groups, but finds herself more sympathetic whilst her “cosmological framework was being slowly shifted” by her new studies. Her work draws on Frazer, Mauss and Malinowski as claiming that the logic behind magical thinking is rational.[140] Later studies, such as Evans and Bogdan, demonstrate the case of “going native in reverse”[141] as both scholars were practitioners prior to their studies. However, even as late as 2007, Evans proposes that we “simply do not have the right tools (yet)” to study these areas.[142] Definitions of Western Esotericism The self-definition of groups promoting an esoteric curriculum varies between the use of occult and esoteric. These terms are often seen as synonymous. Academic debate tends to favour the term esoteric rather than occult. As Laurant has summarised, the two terms ‘esotericism’ and ‘occultism’ entered into Western culture in the second quarter of the 19th century.[143] Esoteric was first encountered as ésotérisme in 1828, whilst the Latin, occulta, occolto were in use from as early as 1120 A.D. and prominent in use in Bruno (1548-1600) and Agrippa (1533).[144] Laurant traces the rise of institutionalised occultism, although curiously remarks that the “greatest impact” in this area was made by “Sar” Joséphin Peladin, which is arguable.[145] He concludes that occultism and esotericism separated between 1905 and 1914 with the growing gulf between science and faith, and that the history of the occult movement ends with René Guénon’s (1886-1951) denouncement of occultist initiation and “transposed materialism” in favour of an overarching “metaphysical tradition.”[146]

The complexity of the rise of esotericism in its broadest sense is termed by Faivre to be a “subtle history,” which must be read not only with “eyes of flesh but eyes of fire,” to reveal the “only history where meaning is unveiled.”[147] Faivre has suggested that if esotericism is considered as a form of thought, then we can identify the presence of six fundamental components within an historical context.[148] The use of these components is to facilitate the sketching of a possible boundary – albeit a fluid one – around the field of study. It also allows the academic to distance the study from the self-defining presence of the term within the constraints of a particular group or individual being studied. However, we must also define such key concepts as gnosis, theosophy, occultism, and Hermeticism in much the same way. The six components identified by Faivre as identifying esoteric thought are: Correspondence Living Nature Imagination and Mediations (intermediaries and levels) Experience of transmutation The practice of concordance (social equality) Transmission (of the teaching)[149] It is intended in this volume to work from the corpus itself, in order to generate a taxonomy which may or may not accord with Faivre’s components. A hierarchical structure may not be possible between the practices and teachings of a particular group and the components of esotericism, for, as Faivre admits, these components are “distributed in varying proportions” across the “vast, concrete, historical context.”[150]

The Contemporary Milieu The publication of the journal Aries (2001-) marks a watershed in the academic appreciation of the Western esoteric tradition.[151] In 2003, the Journal for the Academic Study of Magic also began to provide a peer reviewed publication for the development of academic consideration of modern magic.[152] The European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) was founded in 2005 as a learned society to advance the academic study of the field.[153] Three University Chairs of Western esotericism exist; Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne, Paris, France; University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Recent works tracing the history of Western esotericism have further identified key contributors to the academic recognition of esotericism, including C.G. Jung (1875-1961), Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) and Mircea Eliade (1907-1986). In the light of our present study, and as a necessary basis of the ascent narrative which we will come to discern, von Stuckrad comments that “what is special about esoteric traditions is their tendency, not only to regard the human soul in a Neo-Platonic sense as the ‘true centre’ of man, but to grant this effectively divine status.”[154] Conclusion We might conclude, then, that the task before us – not as a practitioner seeking to defend the very construct in which the materials are delivered, but as an academic seeking to understand the nature of those materials to determine the construct itself – is to be sympathetic to the ideas, wonder at the complexity and determine the nature of the engagement of these materials to the human experience. As Faivre summarises:

The task of the scholar of esoteric studies is not to prove that such an invisible ‘Tradition’, hidden behind the veil of the history of events, did or did not exist as such before the Renaissance; rather, the task consists of trying to grasp and to describe the different facets of the emergence of this idea as it appears in the imaginary and the discourses of the last centuries. [155]

The Ascent Narrative

In describing a master narrative as a “global or totalizing cultural narrative schema which orders and explains knowledge and experience,” Stephens (1998) also notes that the usage of traditional materials brings with it “predetermined horizons of expectation and with their values and ideas about the world already legitimized.”[156] Whilst avoiding the unnecessary unpicking of contradiction in the Western esoteric schema presented through the magical curriculum, we can attempt to discern the presence of a “grand cultural narrative” which is larger than the sum of its parts.[157] The Ascent Narrative in Christian Mysticism In the Plotinian exercise of ascent, it is to Augustine (354-430 A.D.) we will turn to discern what Louth (1981) deems a “uniquely important” contribution to the West – that is, a new dimension of psychological engagement lacking in the mystical theology of the Eastern and Greek Fathers.[158] In addition to this contribution, we will also focus upon the graduated nature of the ascent, which forms an essential component of the ascent narrative as it permeates into the esoteric grade system via an appropriation of kabbalistic notions of an emanative creation.

In Confessions IX we see Augustine’s personalised account of the ascent experience: Rising as our love flamed upwards towards that Self-same, we passed in review the various levels of bodily things, up to the heavens themselves ... And higher still we soared ... and so we came to our own souls, and went beyond them to come at last to that region of richness unending ... Louth sees in this a clear and fundamental sympathy with Plotinus. That the nature of this ascent is graduated is made apparent. Augustine writes: I shall mount beyond this power of my nature, still rising by degrees towards Him who made me. And so I come to the fields and vast palaces of memory …[159] The iconography of the ladder to represent this ascent, which will be traced in the Western esoteric schema, is made most explicit in the work of the Sinai Monk John Climacus (525-607 A.D.), The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Climacus developed the ladder icon beyond the brief analogous form commented upon by earlier contemplatives such as St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. John Chrystom during the 4th century, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus in the 5th century.[160] Whilst describing himself as a “second-rate architect” with regard to the structure of the ladder, it is apparent that this icon and underlying structure became a significant influence on the Christian East.[161] The Ascent Narrative in Kabbalah

Moshe Idel writes of Johann Reuchlin’s (1455-1522) integration of the Christian concept of the ladder as spiritual progress with the addition of a ‘golden chain’ from Psuedo-Dionysus, within the speech of a kabbalist, as an assumption of a philosophia perennis alluded to by Pico. Reuchlin wrote, through the words of Simon, a kabbalist: For our frailty we fall short of the good which is called God, and cannot climb there except with steps and ladders. You customarily refer to the Homeric chain. We Jews look to the holy scripture and talk about the ladder our father Jacob saw, from the highest heaven stretching down to earth, like a cord or rope of gold thrown down to us from heaven, a visual line penetrating deep within nature.[162]

Curriculum Studies Applied to Western Esotericism

In this section I consider selected elements of Western esotericism as an essentially educational project, with particular highlighting of several curricula of that project within selected occult orders and with further case studies of individuals as both delivering and receiving that curriculum. It is proposed that in making this consideration – one to which little academic attention has yet been placed – I will highlight the importance of content within Western esotericism and make the case for the various curricula as embodying a spiritual ascent narrative that has been progressively excluded from mainstream Western religion since the Reformation.

Neither educational specialists nor academic studies of Western esotericism have approached this study. It is far more common to approach the practices and taught content of the field through the lens of anthropology (Greenwood, 2009) or sociology (Hanegraaf, 1996). This has been described as two parallel paradigms of esotericism – as a ‘form of thought’ (Faivre) and as ‘gnosis’ (Hanegraaff) – but both applying to the rituals and initiatory structure of the occult orders rather than the taught content or curricula.[163] This present study of content as curricula through the lens of curriculum studies breaks new ground in the appreciation of the educational project of Western esotericism. It is not possible here to elaborate entirely upon all aspects of curriculum studies – a field in its own right – or all aspects of the development of Western religious ideas over the past few centuries. I will draw from these fields in order to provide a lens on Western esotericism which has hitherto been unexamined, and use concepts and comparisons to better provide an analytical framework of taught content, student experience and the development of teaching within occult orders. The central questions that I will address include: In what way can Western esotericism as taught within magical orders be considered as an educational project? What were the aims of this project? As an educational project, how did esoteric teaching differ from and overlap secular teaching? What are the specific challenges in teaching an esoteric curriculum? How did selected groups respond to these challenges? What is the content and structure of the curriculum of Western esotericism? How did the structure reflect the concerns of the group?

Are there unalterable landmarks (‘signposts’ in Guénon) in the curricula? How was esoteric knowledge, skill and experience graduated? What authority was attributed to the source of the curriculum and content? What value was placed on particular elements of the content? How was this content taught and received? Were teachers trained to be teachers of this material? How did students self-assess their progress? What training methods were used? How was this content evaluated and assessed? Did the project meet its aims? In short, I shall essentially argue that the Western esoteric teaching we are examining – when considered as an educational project – demonstrates a clear curriculum with defined aims, specifically contextualised as an ascent narrative. In answering these questions, we will examine the structure and development of the curriculum in particular groups, considering notions of hierarchy, elitism, presuppositions of merit, the notion of valuable knowledge, and marginalisation. We will specifically assess the issues arising from the notion of education as having relevance to normative society. If there is a consensual expectation that education should fit contemporary social requirements – a sine non qua of secular education and curricula planning – how does Western esotericism transcend this boundary? What function does this curriculum fulfil?

A parallel will be drawn between the adult education movement, and issues of teaching adults – andragogy (Knowles[164]) – which applies to the delivery of Western esotericism. It is of note that as with other forms of working class adult education, during the same period of the Golden Dawn order, there was a rapid jump in participation of adult schools in the period up to the First World War. By 1909-1910 there were some 1,900 schools in the United Kingdom alone involving more than 114,000 adults (this was the peak of participation).[165] A number of overlaps between secular and esoteric educational projects will also be taken as brief case studies, namely the Steiner educational establishments and the Point Loma School established by the theosophists. We will also see that in one particular case – the Order of the Golden Dawn - it was a failure to meet this educational project which brought about the downfall of the organisation, rather than the more often cited political causes already examined. Whilst the social, personal and political schisms may have caused disruption, it will be seen – from the student’s perspective – that it was the disruption to the teaching which caused their leaving, not the mostly behind-the-scenes politics. Introduction: Curriculum as Model Squires describes the curricula, both beyond as well as within the educational process, as a “locus of tensions.”[166] He further goes on to say, with regard to vocational courses, that there will be a tension between “academic and professional criteria ... social and role elements... personal and role elements.”[167]

The precise definition of an ‘academic’ process is ambiguous. Whilst it is generally used in the secular sense of ‘higher education’,[168][169] Squires argues that its fundamental ambiguity has to do with “the nature of the activity, or activities, as now conceived and practised.”[170] Whilst there is general agreement that the process refers to the advancement and transmission of knowledge at a high level, there are shades between the teacher as researcher and the researcher as teacher. In the latter, this is less teaching – in the didactic sense – than revealing, allowing participation in the process of thought or reflection. In this, it is more a guild model, where the craftsman or master is observed at work by his apprentices and learning takes place by a process of intellectual osmosis. In the former – teacher as researcher – the teacher makes available their research by delivery; that is, they transmit and interpret on behalf of the student, rather than discover and create in front of them in a participatory process, such as a philosophical debate. Methodology: Analysis of Curriculum We can attempt to evaluate the esoteric curriculum in terms of secular educational methodology by utilising a model adapted from Robert Stake, [171] given in Barnes.[172] In this methodology, we make key distinctions between intended and observed curriculum activities. In historical research, we will adapt this further to exchange ‘observed’ for ‘reported’ when looking at the student records of those following these esoteric curricula. We also examine through this methodology the proposed teaching and the actual teaching, with regard to antecedent. In this present context, this will refer specifically to the ‘grade requirements’ expected by the student when entering any particular phase of their study – were these specified and did the student actually demonstrate these antecedent requirements?

Intended antecedents Recorded(observed) antecedents Intended transactions Recorded (observed) transactions Intended outcomes

Recorded (observed) outcomes.[173]

Analysis of Content I will also utilise a scheme derived from Eraut, Goad and Smith[174] to analyse the curricula material, particularly where it is relatively extant such as the case study I will offer for the Order of the Golden Dawn. Whilst this scheme offers a basic categorisation of material, and analysis of overt characteristics (i.e. how are they presented, what are their stated aims, etc.), I will make a focused use of the criteria by which conceptual presentation and the relationship between learning activity and content is formulated. This is of particular relevance to the teaching of material within ritual which is found within such groups as the Order of the Golden Dawn.[175] The Self in Education In secular education, the lifeworld (or Lebenswelt – Schutz, 1974) of the student – the changing inner landscape of meaning and value – is largely marginalised. In the business of education, “a good deal of teaching and learning is faith-in-a-hurry.”[176] However, in esoteric education, it is this very lifeworld which is the critical component and ‘inner school’ of the curriculum. It is perhaps this aspect that attracts students to overcome their resistence to education as presented within the WEIS.

A.E. Waite (1857-1942) referred to this Hermetic philosophical basis as “an actual, positive, and realisable knowledge concerning the worlds which we denominate invisible, because they transcend the imperfect and rudimentary faculties of a partially developed humanity.”[177] Owen (2004) argues that it was this promise of a marginalised education that attracted students to the Order of the Golden Dawn, in that “it was this kind of questioning that drew women and men alike into occultism, and occultism alone that seemed to them to offer the synthesized answers that religion, science and philosophy in isolation could not provide.”[178] Perhaps it has ever been the case that the answers are never discovered in isolation, but in systems which are open enough to provide a synthesis which can generate insight.

Curricula as Content In this section we will argue that the planning of curricula by the Western esoteric orders under discussion reveals a fundamental epistemological concern that is at once the root of the stated purpose of the group in its educational endeavour, yet at the same time undermines that self-same ambition. It will be seen that an adherence to the components of Western esotericism (Faivre, 1994) inevitably leads a group to an absolutist epistemology with regard to its delivery of content. The key elements of curriculum planning as given by Tyler (1949) – purposes, content, procedures, and evaluation – may also be used to determine the emphasis of the educational establishment which concentrates upon any particular element (Kelly, 2009). In fact, Kelly proposes a matrix of three major ideologies:[179]

Curricula as content Education as transmission Curricula as product Education as instrumental Curricula as process Education as development Kelly argues that in secular education the concentration on curricula as content reveals an “absolutist epistemology” which invariably leads to loss of freedom and status for the individual.[180] The planning model which derives from such a position asks first, “What kinds of knowledge enjoy this absolute status?” and education is defined, ironically in this context, as “initiation into intrinsically worthwhile activities” (Peters, 1965, 1966). [181] Purposes The objectives of a secular curriculum may be broadly derived and developed from several sources – both of which have their critics. The curricula may be extrapolated from a study of contemporary life; sometimes derided as the “cult of presentism” (Tyler, 1949) or from the subject specialists themselves.[182] However, an esoteric agenda may be considered to take an alternative account of “the conditions and opportunities of contemporary life.”[183] I will examine the nature of this account. The First World War brought about an immediacy of training logic related to the skills required at that time, and that logic continued afterwards to deal with “the critical aspects of this complex life” that was fast-changing thereafter.[184] There was no need to teach things which had been important 50 years ago.

In the esoteric curriculum, there is an explicit rejection of ‘contemporary’ notions of application and a critique of ‘presentism’. As Goodrick-Clarke commented, “the esoteric curriculum does not value information, activity or skills simply on the basis of current popularity, utility, or their adoption by a majority of persons.”[185] This argument goes back to Herbert Spencer’s essay, ‘What Knowledge is of Most Worth?’, which has characterised secular education for a century. All too often the curriculum of the Christian school has been “a patchwork of naturalistic ideas mixed with biblical truth.” It is beyond this present work to explore how education has been funded by religious organisations, however, it does raise a point to consider. According to Frank Gaebelein, this has led to a form of “scholastic schizophrenia in which highly orthodox theology coexists uneasily with a teaching of non-religious subjects that differs little from that in secular institutions.”[186] Content The content of a curriculum provides a wealth of material to analyse both the intrinsic logical structure of knowledge selected for teaching in addition to the ‘hidden curriculum’ of social and personal education gained via the study of that content.[187] In secular education, the school curriculum is described as “a selection from the culture”,[188] but does this same selection apply to the esoteric endeavour of a magical order such as the Golden Dawn? Whilst the curricular content can be examined for its logic, it can also be examined for its likely usefulness in the lives of its students; an evaluation more apt perhaps for a curriculum whose ambition is for the “adept” to discover “the establishment of poise and balance in his own consciousness, and the manifestation of his conceptions of justice in every detail of his own personal conduct.”[189]

In the examination of content, I will also propose a typology or classification of esoteric content, to reflect the secular categorisation schemes proposed by Hirst and, alternatively, Lawton.[190] These schemes allow for an evaluation of whether content “appears to have social utility” or otherwise contributes to the enhancement of a student’s life.[191] The contrast of Hirst’s ‘logical levels’ and Barne’s ‘organisational arrangements’ will find a parallel in the Golden Dawn’s hierarchy of graded teaching and organisation of correspondence to the kabbalistic Tree of Life. Procedures Whilst there are few classroom observations of Western esoteric teaching, there are records of student experience, lecture attendance and other material which I will draw upon to demonstrate the procedures used to teach the curricular content. These will be explored as ‘procedural methods’ derived from the content itself.[192] This examination of procedure will reflect upon the content and the appropriateness of the methodology to teach that content. I will then evaluate the effectiveness of the procedures within the classification of content in the prior section. I will ask whether the occult orders were more effective at teaching a skill such as ‘astral travel’ or turning out mature human beings better able to engage with the world. Evaluation

We must first consider the difference between the evaluation of a course of study and its assessment. The evaluation of a curriculum in the secular sense is the process by which the ‘nature and desirability’ of a course is given ‘value or worth’; but to define the extent to which a course is ‘workable and effective’ requires a form – or forms – of assessment.[193] These forms of assessment create the basis for the evaluation of the effectiveness of a course in meeting the intended aim specified by those who create the course, understood by those teaching it, and received by those learning. We cannot cover all the arguments for various forms of assessments in this context (see Pidgeon and Allen, 1974; MacIntosh, 1976; and Rowntree, 1977), but we can summarise the following five categories (Gibby, 1978): Tests and examination constructed to measure ‘cognitive’ development; Systematic observation and recording of the learners’ progress made by those teaching; Self-assessment records by the learner; Personality and sociometric techniques carried out by the teachers and others; Longitudinal studies of learners’ development carried out by researchers.[194] No longitudinal studies have been carried out on the students of any particular esoteric curricula, to my knowledge. I would propose that this is because of the paucity of data, the fragmentary nature of delivery of esoteric curricula, the scantiness of student records over a consistent period of time, and perhaps the academic approach that content is a “palpable absurdity”[195] and an orientation to the esoteric project as “guildstructure” rather than “academic structure” (i.e. the perceived intent to control rather than educate).[196]

The examinations to measure cognitive learning were enshrined in the Golden Dawn through eight curricular areas of study, with practical and theoretical testing. As an example, the examinations to pass between the grades of Zelator to Theoricus Adeptus Minor in the Alpha et Omega temples (founded in 1900, 1913 and 1919) were listed as: Preliminary / Obligation: Performance Pentagram and Hexagram rituals

of

the

Rosy

Cross ritual,

Elemental: Creation of the magical implements Psychic: Tattva vision and astral projection Divination: Astrology, geomancy, tarot Magic: Talismans, ascending the planes, vibration of the divine names, ceremonies of invocation Enochian: Attributions and a report of an astral vision Symbolical: Explanation of the Neophyte ritual Consecration and evocation: Method, execution and effect[197] Differences Between Secular and Esoteric Curricula In secular education, the task of delivering content as education is to assist the young pupil “to negotiate meaning in a manner congruent with the requirements of the culture”.[198] In an esoteric education, arguably countercultural, how are the “modes of representation”[199] created if there is no congruence with social norms? Having compared and contrasted some important aspects of secular education with those of esoteric orders, we shall now look in some detail at the curriculum of certain particular esoteric orders, primarily the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Builders of the Adytum (BOTA): The Creation of a Curriculum Before we move to the Golden Dawn, we will look at a popular off-shoot of that order – the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA). In 1922, Paul Foster Case (1884-1954) began the construction of a curriculum, The Ageless Wisdom. In 1927 a ‘substantial shift’ in the curriculum was made, as detailed instructions for working magic and meditation were taken out of public circulation and moved back into a private “Chapter” structure which Case had initiated in 1926-1927. A new 48-week course was provided, called the ‘Extension’ or ‘First Year Course’ which contained more tarot material than previously. This was quickly followed by a ‘Sound and Colour’ course, ‘Esoteric Astrology’ course and ‘12 Lessons on Alchemy’.[200] In 1931-1932, Case produced ‘Inner Order’ teachings on the tarotkabbalah hybrid ‘Cube of Space’ system.[201] BOTA lay out their curriculum and ethos in The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order (1927). It is here that we see explicitly the association of the grade structure with states of experience within the student: The main thing to bear in mind in approaching this explanation of the Rosicrucian Grades is that every path on the Tree of Life corresponds to some particular mode of human consciousness.[202] Furthermore, the Neo-Platonic ideology that knowledge is a recovered attribute is stated: ... these descriptions are of vital importance, because they refer to mental states that are present in the life of every human being. Sometimes they are latent, sometimes they are active, but they are always part of the makeup of every man and woman.[203]

The finalised curriculum is: 7 lessons – Seven Steps; 11 lessons – Introduction to Tarot; 47 lessons – Tarot Fundamentals; 53 lessons – Developing Supersensory Powers (Ann Davies); 32 lessons – Interpretation of Tarot; 12 lessons – Master Pattern; 40 lessons – Tree of Life; 17 lessons – 32 Paths of Wisdom; 12 lessons – Sound and Colour; 52 lessons – The Great Work; 52 lessons – Esoteric Astrology (Ann Davies’ lectures using PFC’s notebooks); 52 lessons – Sexual Polarity (Ann Davies); 78 lessons – Oracle of Tarot (Ann Davies); 78 lessons – Vibratory Powers of the Qabalah (Ann Davies); 104 lessons – Meditation Ascent on the Tree of Livingness (Ann Davies); 68 lessons – Qabalistic Doctrines on Rebirth and Immortality (Ann Davies); The Seven Steps, Tarot Fundamentals, Interpretation of Tarot, and The Great Work are covered by the following books: Occult Fundamentals and Spiritual Unfoldment, Volume1: The Early Writings; Esoteric Secrets of Meditation and Magic, Volume 2: The Early Writings; Esoteric Keys of Alchemy;

Hermetic Alchemy: Science and Practice – The Golden Dawn Alchemy Series 2; Tarot Card Meanings: Fundamentals; Interpretations;

Tarot

Learning Tarot Essentials: Tarot Cards for Beginners.

Card

Meanings:

Florence Farr Whilst I will later contextualise esoteric teaching within the broad framework of social, personal or general education (Squires, 1987), I will first examine the nature of teaching and teachers through the occult order of the Golden Dawn. The tension in teachers between practice and teaching, knowledge-base and role-model, found within secular education I will argue is found in esoteric teaching. Whilst there is a similarity in that “such tensions are mitigated by the existence of teacher-practitioners, who perform a dual role”[204] there is, however, a significant difference in the esoteric teaching, in that the curricula itself is not controlled by an external body or organisation to that of the teachers. This difference will be shown to account for much of the difference in secular and esoteric teaching, where in the latter, transmission / tradition is to the forefront.[205] The educational background of the founders of the Golden Dawn is of a varied nature. William Wynn Westcott (1843-1925) claimed to have been educated “at Grammar School, Kingston-on-Thames and University College, London.”[206] However, as Gilbert (1997) demonstrates, much of Westcott’s claims in the autobiographical letter quoted are “exaggerated or falsified.”[207]

William Robert Woodman (1828-1891) was qualified as a medical practitioner by 1851, and was described by Westcott as “an excellent Hebrew scholar, and one of the few English masters of the Hebrew Kabalah.”[208] In this, all the founders of the Golden Dawn were selfschooled and self-taught, taking time to pursue their studies. Westcott “went into retirement at Hendon for two years, which were entirely dedicated to the study of Kabbalistic philosophy, the works of the Hermetic writers, and the remains of the alchemists and the Rosicrucians.”[209] Shortly before the establishment of the order, each was lecturing, and a programme card for the Hermetic Society lectures in July 1886 lists Mathers lecturing on ‘The Physical Alchemy’ and Westcott lecturing on ‘The Sepher Jetzirah’.[210] Regarding the remaining founder of the order, Samuel Liddell Mathers (1854-1918), we know even less about his early life and education.[211] Waite spoke of him as having “an utterly uncritical mind” and “a fund of undigested learning.”[212] Yeats said he “had much learning, but little scholarship.”[213] The lack of formal education in the founders seems to have then been reflected in the development of both the curriculum and the teaching methodology. Whilst the founders were mainly self-schooled, particularly in the mysteries, they expected their students to adopt a formal educational approach.

However, in the case of Florence Farr (1860-1917), the Golden Dawn did benefit from the presence of a natural teacher, and indeed one who later became a professional teacher. Farr’s contribution to the order’s delivery of the curriculum is, I argue, paramount to their relative longevity. As Greer (1995) notes, “Florence was no feeble figurehead... she was not afraid to create policies she thought essential to magical work, such as changing examinations.”[214] Farr was educated at Queen’s College, London (1877-1880), received good reports but did not progress to higher education. After an unsuccessful attempt at teaching (1880-1882), she continued her career in the theatre whilst joining the Golden Dawn in 1890.[215] However, her educationalist tendency was always present, manifesting through her Golden Dawn involvement and ultimately leading to her placement in the final years of her life as Lady Principal of the Ramanathan College, Ceylon.[216] Even before leaving London for that placement in 1912, she was researching the latest educational methodology, including the Montessori techniques.[217] A later volume of the Magister returns to share a more detailed analysis of Farr’s work on Ancient Egyptian thought and unpublished work by her on correspondence systems between Western and Eastern thought, Astrology and other matters of relevance to practitioners.

The Aim and Structure of the Golden Dawn

In this section, we will trace the history of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, with specific reference to the sources of its taught material and the structuring of that material into a graduated curriculum of study. We will expressly identify primary source material which is contextualised within the overarching theme of ascent-into-gnosis which has been proposed as the meta-narrative of Western esotericism. We will highlight unpublished evidence of the pedagogy of the order and its intent as an educational project. It is intended also to demonstrate that the taught content was purposeful in teaching correspondence, a key component of Western esotericism (Faivre, 1994) in order to achieve changes of awareness. Utilising primary original accounts of the reception of the teaching, we will examine how those changes – and potential for such – engaged students for substantial amounts of time. In conclusion, we will propose that the order failed not through political schisms or personal rivalries per se (Colquhoun, 1975 and others), but only insomuch as those flaws negated the purpose of the order to transmit the study of correspondence to enable the ascent narrative to be actualised in the lives of its participants.

Light Before the Dawn: The Sat B’Hai and the Gold and Rosy Cross The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, whilst evidencing a structure and curriculum that epitomises the synthesis of materials comprising a claimed Western esoteric tradition, should not be considered a creatio ex nihilo, but perhaps a creatio ex materia. In this section we will pursue two pre-existent esoteric societies which are individually lesser known but yet, when brought together, contributed much to the immediate impact and subsequent rapid development of the order, shaping for the following century the content of the magical curriculum. These two societies are the fringe Masonic group, the Sat B’hai, ‘Seven Brothers’, and the German alchemical order, the Orden der Gold- und Rosenkreuzer, ‘Order of the Gold and Rosy Cross’. I present new translations and previously unpublished material on both groups to highlight their contribution to the development of a magical curriculum and the structure of its delivery. These two strands come together in the work of Francis George Irwin (1828-1892), Benjamin Cox (1828-1895) and Kenneth MacKenzie (18331886). That these three pursued an educational ambition realised through a research project is clear. As Howe points out, with regard to MacKenzie: His ‘A Word to the Literary Men of England’ in Notes and Queries, 1 March 1851, proposed the foundation of a learned society whose task would be to rescue old manuscripts in Greek, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian, Zend (an ancient language allied to Sanscrit), and a dozen other middle-eastern and oriental tongues.[218]

The Sat B’Hai and the August Order of Light The esoteric milieu from which the Golden Dawn arose has been characterised as a baffling “lunatic story” and dismissed as “great fun for amateurs of the absurd.”[219] However, despite this, the structures nascent in such sketched out fringe degrees such as the Sat B’hai provided the primary material which allowed the Golden Dawn to appear as a ‘pre-founded’ order. The Sat B’hai and the August Order of Light were two ‘orders-on-paper’ that provide us with evidence of thinking that later flourishes into practical realisation in the Golden Dawn. A particular item, easily identified, where the code of the Sat B’hai evidences seeds which would later flourish in the Golden Dawn, is code 23 which dictated the changing of passwords and signs at the vernal equinox. [220] This is a practice taken through into the Golden Dawn and beyond to Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), who continued to see the vernal equinox as symbolic of the change not only of passwords, but of whole Aeons – representing changes of consciousness across the whole human race. As we know, his first and most influential periodical was entitled, appropriately, The Equinox. There is unpublished primary source evidence to suggest that the writing of his most discussed work, the ‘inspired’ Liber Al vel Legis, The Book of the Law, took place on the vernal equinox, and not 08-10 April as referenced in all published sources.[221] The concept of the change of authority corresponding to the Equinox did not escape Crowley who most surely intended the title to be a barb against the Order as well as the reception of his inspired book.

The August Order of Light (1881) was structured in three sections comprising nine degrees. In the Sat B’hai, the first three degrees have the candidate being named a ‘Mute’, then progressing to gain their voice as an ‘Auditor’, and finally progressing to ‘Scribe’ in charge of their own senses. This is somewhat mirrored in the August Order of Light with the first three grades being Novice, Aspirant and Viator, foreshadowing the Golden Dawn Neophyte, Zelator and Theoricus.[222] However, as we will see, the Golden Dawn drew upon a different mother-pattern for their graduated system. The contents of study of these fringe degrees, particularly these two ‘oriental’ degrees, is often eclectic. Whilst subjects such as spiritualism and mesmerism fascinated the late Victorians, they were often kept at arm’sbreadth from the ‘occult’ subjects of study.[223] Francis George Irwin, however, certainly saw mesmerism as a part of the curriculum. He was a keen manufacturer of Masonic rites, and in one set of notes for the formation of a secret society, whose main initiation ritual would involve a candidate being “conducted to a kind of labyrinth,” he wrote: The society is pledged to study the following subjects. Natural Magic – Mesmerism – The Science of Death and of Life – Immortality - The Cabala – Alchemy – Necromancy – Astrology – and Magic in all its branches.[224] Howe is somewhat dismissive of Irwin’s “delightful nonsense” so does not comment on the fact that Irwin saw this society, and its symbols, no matter how nascent, as leading to changes in states of awareness. In the brief notes for the symbol of this society, Irwin notes that the candidate would be: invested with the Cross of gold and enjoined to fit himself for that state of mind [my emphasis] of which it is the emblem.[225]

Irwin was perhaps ambivalent about the actuality of esoteric practice. However, Benjamin Cox was of a more practical nature, employing crystal gazing methods and scrying into his everyday practice. Cox wrote to Irwin in 1871 that: You seem undecided as to believing in occult science. I have not a shadow of doubt in the matter.[226]

In 1874, we see the stated motivation for such knowledge to be acquired, as Cox implores Irwin for more information with regard to the Fratres Lucis: ... the one desire of my heart is to become a member of some Order wherein I may learn the mysteries of nature and truth so that I may not only benefit myself but that of [sc. also] my fellow men. I have, as you know, ever considered the knowledge of occult science the one sure and safe means whereby we can obtain truth and wisdom.[227] The Influence of the Gold and Rosy Cross The Golden Dawn also drew from the Gold and Rosy Cross organisation of a century prior, through the cipher manuscripts. The similarity of the structure of the Order outlined within the manuscripts to the Hauptpläne of the G&RC is clear. It is likely that MacKenzie translated these Hauptpläne (main plans) prior to his creation of the cipher manuscript as he had an excellent knowledge of German and as his one-time mentor, Frederick Hockley (1808-1885), had written to Irwin in 1873:

Of course Mr. M.’s information is only derived from his intimate knowledge of French and German, and when you have mastered that difficulty, a vastly enlarged field of occult science will furnish you with Original matter, as well as others …[228] These plans were published by MacKenzie in his Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia in 1875-1877 by John Hogg. However, they are substantially edited and truncated. That MacKenzie has re-constructed this table from the original is made clear: It has been thought desirable to insert in this place two tables illustrative of Rosicrucian philosophy – the first of these has never before been published and has been specially constructed by the editor of for this work. The statements therein contained are derived from many sources of an authentic character, but have never been collected together before.[229]

Westcott’s Western Mystery Doctrine

Westcott (1848-1925) cites three standard works in his Introduction to the Study of the Kabbalah (1888, published 1910), of which two are in English and one in French: these are The Kabbalah, its Doctrines, Development and Literature (Ginsburg, 1865); The Doctrine and Literature of the Kabbalah (Waite, 1902), and the Kabbalah (Franck, 1889).[230] These same works are likewise referenced by E.A. Wallis Budge some 40 years later in his preface to Amulets and Superstitions.[231] to

Westcott positions the kabbalah as a “Western mystic doctrine” related the “Egyptian Hermeticism” alongside the “Indian Esoteric

Theosophy.”[232] Identifying the goal of each to be seeing “God face to face”, he goes on to refer to the grade system: We must be content to progress, as students have ever done, by stages of development; in each grade the primal truths are re-stated in a different form; they are revealed or re-veiled in language and symbolism suitable to the learner’s own mental condition; hence the need of a teacher, of a guide who has traversed the path, and who can recognise by personal communion the stage which each pupil has attained.[233] This is another clear indication of the graduated ascent narrative, with recognisable – “by personal communion” – stages that would be able to be matched to the “mental condition” of the initiate.

Mathers and the Book of Concealed Mystery

In 1887, Samuel Liddell Mathers (1854-1918), by then MacGregor-Mathers, published The Kabbalah Unveiled, a first translation into English of the Latin text of Knorr von Rosenroth’s Kabbala Denudata: “The Kabbalah Uncovered, or, The Transcendental, Metaphysical, and Theological Teachings of the Jews” (Sulzbach, Latin, 1677-1684). The life of von Rosenroth is briefly covered by Scholem (1974)[234] who writes that “although the book contains many errors and mistranslations, particularly of difficult Zoharic passages, there is no justification for the contemporary Jewish claims that the author misrepresented the Kabbalah.”[235] History The complex synthesis of esoteric materials included in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn curriculum is widely regarded as the apex of late Victorian occultism. The order, whose history and sources we will outline with specific regard to the taught content, was founded in 1888 by MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918), William Wynn Westcott (1848-1925) and Robert Woodman (1828-1891).

The impact of the order on its members and later students is a testament to the power of the material to attract and engage individuals over a substantial amount of time. Others have reviewed and analysed the dramatis personae of the order,[236] the women of the order,[237] the poet of the order, Yeats,[238] lesser known members such as Frederick Hockley,[239] well known members such as A.E. Waite (Gilbert, 1987),[240] the politics and group development,[241] the initiatory rituals,[242] and printed a selection of the additional teachings – the Flying Rolls (King, 1981).[243] However, I here focus upon the taught content of the order, its sources, structure, development and reception. In doing so, I intend to demonstrate that this material serves a master ascent narrative whilst further moving to a compendium of Western esoteric material. To take a specific example, we find that a Golden Dawn member, upon reaching the grade of Philosophus, would be expected to learn: The five rituals [of initiation], the three side lectures of 3 = 8 [Geomancy, General Guidance and Purification of the Soul, and the Tarot Trumps and their attribution to the Hebrew alphabet]; the four Knowledge Lectures, and the special Side Lectures of 4 = 7 , viz. Geomantic Talismans, Tree of Life in the Tarot, Shemahamphorash & [The Chaldæan Oracles of] Zoroaster, Qlipoth [of the Qabalah], Tatwas, [Poly]grams and [Poly]gons ...

And all of this was before making application – containing a formal statement that these subjects have indeed been studied – for the next grade. The multiple cosmological schema implicit in this summary include kabbalah, ancient Egyptian magical-religious practice, Zoroastrianism, and Eastern (Hindu) and Western (Pythagorean) philosophies. The specific subjects such as talismans and tarot are equally a synthesis of material incorporating elements from a broad range of sources, including the grimoires and magical encyclopaedias of John Dee (1527-1608) and Edward Kelly (1555-1597), Agrippa (1486-1535) and Francis Barrett (b. circa. 1780-80)[244] There is evidence that Mathers had a general structure for these subjects. An early 1897 Ritual A on general orders, covering the examinations of a Zelator Adeptus Minor to a Theoricus Adeptus Minor (the first two grade stages of the Inner Order) divides the work into several categories: preliminary, elemental, psychic, divination, magic, Enochian, and symbolic. [245] These categories can be summarised as: Preliminary: Learning correspondences, e.g. minutum mundum diagram Elemental: Constructing magical tools Psychic: Spirit vision and astral projection Divination: Astrology, geomancy and tarot Magic: Invocation, talismans, rising on the planes Enochian: Astral vision of specific Enochian squares Symbolic: Analysis of the Neophyte ritual and construction of a ritual

Furthermore, the structure is often recursive and self-referential, namely in being constructed upon the plan of the kabbalistic Tree of Life, one of the contents of the same structure. In a set of notes on alchemy, Westcott conveys how alchemy as a subject is to be studied in four ways, corresponding to the planes or worlds of the kabbalah, namely: Occult chemistry Assiah Psychic alchemy Yetzirah Mental alchemy

Briah

Spiritual alchemy Atiziluth[246] We will return to these divisions of subject matter within the curriculum later, having first traced the foundation of the order and the likely sources of the taught content.

Foundations at 17 Fitzroy Street The first warrant of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was signed by its founders at 17 Fitzroy Street, London. MacGregor Mathers, William Wynn Westcott and Robert Woodman, it has been suggested, used 17 Fitzroy Street as it was the studio of Mina Bergson (1865-1928; later Moina Mathers, after her marriage to MacGregor). However, another name is associated with that same address; a name that has only been highlighted later in the Golden Dawn story – that of H.M Paget. Henry Marriott Paget was married to Henrietta Farr, sister of Florence Farr. In fact, it is at the Pagets’ next home after Fitzroy Street, in Bedford Place, that Farr went to stay after her marriage broke up, and where she met W.B. Yeats. The Bedford Place crowd were a central nexus of Golden Dawn activity following its first year or so, and perhaps requires more research. Bedford Place was drawn by Paget, an artist whose brother famously drew Sherlock Holmes, giving him the distinctive deerstalker that Conan Doyle had never written. The 1901 census records Paget and the ages of his family and two servants. What has not been noted in previous research is that H.M Paget was living at 17 Fitzroy Street in 1879 with his wife and children, likely visited by Henrietta’s sister, Florence, before Mina Bergson took residence there sometime between 1880 and 1886. A letter to Paget at 17 Fitzroy Street, from fellow Royal Academy artist Sir Frederick Leighton, is clearly postmarked March 1879, some nine years before the property was used by Mathers and Company.[247]

Letter from Leighton to Paget, 1879

Notes & Queries, December 8th 1888 & February 9th, 1889

Notes & Queries, December 8th 1888 & February 9th, 1889

Notes & Queries [detail], December 8th 1888 & February 9th, 1889

Notes & Queries, December 8th 1888 & February 9th, 1889

A Society of Hermetic Students We know that the first public announcement of the Golden Dawn was by the allusion contained in two letters published in Notes and Queries, 08 December 1888. Here we see the original letter and the response, 09 February 1889, both likely written by Westcott, the first under an alias, ‘Gustav Mommsen’. We can note the phrases “society of students”, “course of study” and “Hermetic students of the G.D.” Clearly an educational agenda is being advertised. But what sort of students did the Golden Dawn wish to attract, and who was shaping the curriculum to be taught? It is my view that Westcott was the chief architect of the educational project within the order, and it was he who had a clear idea of the type of people he wished as students. In answering a request in his letter dated 15 December 1884, possibly to A.E. Waite (1857-1942), Westcott wrote: The Rosicrucians of Bulwer Lytton are fanciful and impossible people – Our type is more Valentine Andrea, Basil Valentine, Jacob Behmen ... Like many modern forms of old Societies we have great difficulty in not getting spoiled by members who join without real desire to study the occult.[248] Westcott was particularly enthusiastic about the delivery of esoteric teachings, and he himself delivered almost 50 papers to the members of the Metropolitan College from 1885 to 1928. The subjects of these papers included alchemy, Rosicrucianism, numerology, and kabbalah. He also published works on the Isiac Tablet of Cardinal Bembo and the significant eight volume collection Collectanea Hermetica (1893-1896).

GD2-1-2 p169 Founding Members Original Golden Dawn Manuscript

His papers also included works on comparisons of Mithraism and Freemasonry, and the Egyptian and Greek Mysteries, in which he saw “a magical chain of union between these great benevolent institutions.” From the beginning, Westcott had been keen to develop a full curriculum from the rudiments of the ‘cypher manuscripts’. He had written to Mathers in 1887 that, once the cypher was written up and a third Chief was chosen, they must “endeavour to spread a complete scheme of initiation.”[249] Westcott was certainly avid in his range of subjects for such a scheme. In an earlier address to the S.R.I.A. he suggests as topics for study: the whole range of church architecture as crystallised symbolism, the dogmas of the Gnostics, the several systems of philosophy of the Hindoos, the parallelism between Rosicrucian doctrine and Eastern Theosophy, for which read Max Heindel’s ‘Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception’, and that enticing subject, the origin and meaning of the 22 Trumps or symbolic designs of the ‘Tarocchi’ or pack of Tarot cards, which Eliphaz Lévi says form a group of keys which will unlock every secret of Theology and Cosmology.[250]

Westcott’s voluminous writings and numerous interests (mainly from the S.R.I.A.) provided a store of information from which the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, under Mather’s direction and ritual structuring, profited immensely.

Th.A.a Book (Yorke Collection)

The Devastating but Priceless Secret The taught content of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was delivered through several channels: as ‘Knowledge Lectures’, given within or as an addendum to ritual initiation; as ‘Flying Rolls’ or supplementary texts available to the initiate; and as teaching embedded within the ritual speeches, both initiatory and otherwise. Some would have been automatically given to the student, other material would be requested from the library, such as that held at Clipstone Street. An original document on astrology and tarot, for example, was maintained in a bound hardback pad, entitled Th. A.a. Minor, Astrologie and had the word ‘Loan’ written in gold.[251] The Construction of the Curriculum When we examine the Knowledge Lectures (the formal taught curriculum of the Golden Dawn) and the Flying Rolls (the supplementary instructional texts of the order) we encounter what Luhrmann would no doubt call the multifarious occult[252] - subjects of study veering between clairvoyance and Theban, the construction of a pentagram, Enochian language and teachings on the place of self-sacrifice.[253]

These subjects could easily be dismissed as examples of “structured ambiguity” resting on a “deconstructed notion of belief”[254] specifically designed to create “interpretative drift” – a progressive rationalisation of irrational beliefs.[255] However, this may not be the only interpretation of the aim of these practices. We will examine the construction of the curriculum and isolate statements of intent, and demonstrate the place of what Greenwood calls the magical consciousness – a form of associative thinking through sensory patterns of interrelatedness.[256] This consciousness is the intent of the practices – one found in participation, not analysis.[257] As we explore the construction of this curriculum, we will measure the “coherence, direction and purpose” of the teachings against the stated intent. [258] The Knowledge Lectures and Flying Rolls There were five main Knowledge Lectures and 36 Flying Rolls[259] – composed by Mathers and others – and their manufacture was described by him as not simply the “somewhat commonplace labour of translating a heap of unclassified MSS. ready placed in my hands for that purpose.”[260] Indeed, the genesis of “almost the whole of the Second Order Knowledge” was obtained by him from the “Secret Chiefs”; “by clairvoyance, by Astral projection on their part and on mine – by the Table, by the Ring and Disc, at times by a direct Voice audible to my external ear...”[261] In fact, he attested that the obtaining of the ‘Z ritual’ (the Zelator ritual) had resulted in extreme “nerve prostration” and bleeding from the nose, mouth and occasionally the ears.[262] Whilst we can make of this what we wish, the amount of material is testimony to one who once greeted A.E. Waite (18571942) in the British Library Reading Room, staggering under a load of books, with the words, “I have clothed myself with hieroglyphics as with a garment.”[263]

According to Westcott, Mathers studied under him and Woodman from his admission in 1882 to the Rosicrucian Society of England. Mathers would have been 28 years old. He proved an apt pupil and published a translation of Rosenroth’s Kabbalah Denudata (1677) in 1887, some five years later. He also published The Key of Solomon the King (1889), in which he was assisted by Westcott and later the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (1898), which had a troubled publishing history. He also provided essays to the Rosicrucian Society’s Transactions, including ‘The Deity in Hebrew Letters’, ‘Rosicrucian Symbols’ and ‘Rosicrucian Ancients and their Zodiacal Emblems’.[264] Mathers published a few other writings outside of the Golden Dawn material: a work translated from the French on infantry campaigning, a poem ‘in six duans’ entitled ‘The Fall of Granada’ and his work on tarot, The Tarot: Its Occult Signification, Use in Fortune Telling, and Method of Play (1888).[265] This latter work coincides with the foundation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where Mathers was to produce the ‘Herculean task’ which he felt called upon to execute; the synthesis of kabbalah, tarot, ritual, Ancient Egyptian myth, Enochian magic, and more into an entire magical curriculum. [266] The Flying Rolls

The documents known as the Flying Rolls were circulated to members of the order with strict instructions. If the member were to be away, they were to inform the member from whom they received the materials – indicating that the documents were circulated rather than distributed from one source. They were circulated by registered post, “properly covered and fastened up against inspection.”[267] A time limit was placed on the keeping of each roll, and the member was required to sign a form and acknowledge receipt of the roll. All queries were to be passed back to N.O.M., Westcott,[268] and no address was ever to be written down on the papers. Westcott’s papers give a catalogue of the rolls, including the date of issue and the cost of copying the document. The catalogue is of interest particularly with regard to the date of circulation and also the naming of the rolls, which demonstrates variances as the rolls were later edited and changed, in content or sequence.[269] The first roll was issued on 07 November 1892 at a cost of 2/6d. It was entitled ‘Warnings’ and was followed that same month by three further rolls, on ‘Purity and Will’, ‘Instructions’ and a ‘Spirit Vision’, this last composed by Florence Farr and Annie Horniman. It was later re-numbered and replaced by a note by Mathers on the second roll. Further rolls followed for 1892 and 1893, and the last was issued in November 1894. The latter rolls vary more widely between administrative instructions, such as the process of stamping letters (Adepts were advised to place the stamp facing sideways with the Queen’s face upturned to replicate the position of C.R.’s head in the tomb), to the usage of ritual implements in divination. The roll on stamping letters was erased and replaced with one on clairvoyance in 1894.[270] List of Rolls and Authors[271]

‘Warnings’, Westcott. ‘Purity and Will’, Westcott. ‘Instructions’, Westcott. ‘Spirit Vision’ [later re-numbered 6], Farr & Simpson. ‘Imagination’, Berridge. ‘Note on Roll 2’ [later re-numbered 4], Mathers. ‘Material Alchymy’, Westcott. ‘Geometric Pentagram’ [originally ‘Enoch Suggestions’], Pullen-Berry. ‘Right and Left Pillars’, unknown. ‘Self -Sacrifice’, Mathers. ‘Clairvoyance’, Mathers. ‘Telesm[atic] Images and Adonai’, Mathers. ‘Secrecy and Hermetic (Love)’, Farr. ‘Talismans and Flashing Tablets’, Westcott. ‘Man and God’, Westcott. ‘Fama Fraternitatis’, Westcott. ‘Vault Sides’, Westcott. ‘Progress’, Horniman or Simpson.[272] ‘Aims and Means’, Westcott. ‘Elementary View of Man’, Mathers. ‘Know Thyself ’, Moina Mathers. ‘Free Will’, Murray [not present in King, 1987)]. ‘Tatwa Visions’ [originally ‘Regulations for Exams’], Moina Mathers. ‘Horary Figure’, Berridge. ‘Clairvoyance’ [originally ‘Notice re. Stamping Letters’], Brodie-Innes. ‘Re Planets to Tatwas’ [a supplement to Roll 12], Mathers. ‘Theurgia’, Percy Bullock. ‘Use of Implements in Divination’, Mathers & Westcott.

‘Order to 4 Liutenants’, Mathers. ‘Tatwas and Scrying & Hierophant’s Making 0=0 Signs’, Mathers. ‘Theban Letters’ [originally numbered 31], Westcott. ‘An Exorcism’ [originally numbered 32], Brodie-Innes. ‘Enoch Visions’ [originally ‘New Regulations’], Rand. ‘Ethiopic Letters’, Moina Mathers. ‘Notes on the Z Exordiums’, [likely Mathers] ‘Skrying and Astral Projection’ [not included in Westcott’s catalogue as issued after he resigned from office], Moina Mathers. Whilst Francis King was in “no doubt” that these flying rolls were created “mainly” by Mathers,[273] it is apparent in analysis that the bulk of content more than equally came from Westcott. Of the Flying Rolls, Westcott authored 11, Mathers 10, and they jointly authored another. A textual analysis of the word count of material demonstrates that Mathers produced some 10,900 words and Westcott 16,000.[274] So were these documents intended to be circulated as part of an overarching structure, and what was their intent? How did they integrate with the Knowledge Lectures and rituals of the order? How where they received by the students? We will here concentrate upon the original manuscripts of the order, rather than later variants such as the Stella Matutina or Cromlech Papers.[275]

We will turn our attention to the first rolls in order to discern the nature of the teaching being presented. The first rolls treat the subject of the will rather than ritual magical practice – and rather than the “Golden Dawn apocrypha” labelled by King[276] they appear more to be discursive papers built upon each other, referencing both the Knowledge Lectures, rituals and in addition building upon previous circulated roll material. The first example is P.W. Bullock’s (n.d.) ‘remarks’ on the prior roll of Westcott on ‘Will’. Bullock would work some two years later with Westcott on the introduction to The Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster (1895) published in the Collectanea Hermetica series.[277] His response in the rolls is dense: he quotes the Bible and the Bhaghavad Gita, and references numerology, kabbalah, alchemy, clairvoyancy, and Eliphas Lévi in as many lines. It seems that these rolls were not pedagogic material but were circulatory documents intended for discursive practice. The language of each expects prior knowledge – of the ‘Minutum Mundi scheme’ in Mathers own addition to this particular roll – and experience, such as of the Vault of the Adepts.[278] In modern parlance, these rolls were a discussion forum, with threads for particular themes, and not a linear or structured teaching method. The Rituals Although most scholars concentrate upon the initiatory rituals (Bogdan, 2007), the vast array of other rituals contain textual passages denoting much of the intention behind the order’s project. These rituals – including Enochian squares and invocations, evocation of angels, and the consecration of the Vault of the Adepts – are perhaps less treated for their content, whereas ‘initiation’ is deemed by scholars a safer subject, despite the content of such rituals far outweighing the initiatory texts in both mass and engagement by the student.

Here, for example, is an extract from the speech given by the Hierophant towards the close of the Ceremony of the Equinox, stating the intent of the order: Fratres et Sorores of the Order, seeing that the whole intention of the Lower Mysteries, or of external initiation, is by the intervention of the Symbol, Ceremonial, and Sacrament, so to lead the Soul that it may be withdrawn from the attraction of matter and delivered from the absorption therein, whereby it walks in somnambulism, knowing not whence it cometh nor whither it goeth; and seeing also, that thus withdrawn, the Soul by true direction must be brought to study of Divine Things, that it may offer the only clean Oblation and acceptable sacrifice, which is Love expressed towards God, Man and the Universe.[279] This is an ascent narrative with the metaphor of ‘awakening’ from a sleeplike state clearly depicted. As these subjects were made increasingly public, what remained secret? And what attitude did the student need in order to benefit from these teachings? A case study of one particular student – the notorious Aleister Crowley – will be made in this context. With regard to the reception of these teachings, Aleister Crowley’s response to the “devastating but priceless secrets”[280] revealed to him on his initiation into the order in 1898 was that, “I had known it all for months; and, obviously, any schoolboy in the lower fourth could memorise the whole lecture in twenty-four hours.”[281]

Although Gilbert notes Crowley’s following comment, in which Crowley writes, “I see today that my intellectual snobbery was shallow and stupid. It is vitally necessary to drill the aspirant in the groundwork,”[282] it should also be noted that Crowley’s commentary goes further in regard of the teachings and their relationship to ritual. Crowley notes that his reception of the initiation ritual itself is made a true “sacrament” despite the “muddled middle-class mediocrities” that he deemed were performing the initiation.[283] For Crowley, he saw himself as “entering the Hidden Church of the Holy Grail,” and not merely the Mark Mason’s Hall. He was successful, he suggests, because of the need for the student to be “armed with scientific knowledge, sympathetic apprehension, and common sense.” For him, this is due to his own “training in mathematics and chemistry ... poetic affinities ... and practical ancestors.”[284] Furthermore, he goes on to note that “this course of study [the terminology and theory of Magick from a strictly intellectual standpoint] should precede initiation and that it should not be mixed up with it.”[285] As his Confessions record a discussion of this matter as early as 1898 with both Julian Baker and George Cecil Jones, it is obvious that already Crowley was considering the teaching methodology, order of delivery of content, and preparation of the candidate. It is these early thoughts on the curriculum and grade structure that would resurface later in Crowley’s own revision of the scheme through both the O.T.O. and the A A

∴ ∴

A.E. Waite also expressed similar bemusement in his own initiation, which had taken place some seven years earlier in 1891:

I met, however, with nothing worse than a confounding medley of Symbols, and was handed a brief tabulation of elementary points drawn at haphazard from familiar occult sources: on these I was supposed to answer given questions, did I wish to proceed further. They were subjects about which it turned out that the GD had nothing to communicate that was other than public knowledge.[286]

Waite’s progress through the curriculum took him initially to the grade of Philosophus by April 1892, after being initiated as a Neophyte in January of 1891, as the 99th member of the order. He had attained Practicus in December of that same year, but after Philosophus, he resigned in 1893. It was to the second order he rejoined six years later, on 03 March 1899, as an Adeptus Minor. What work Waite did on the curriculum is unknown. It appears unlikely he took examinations, although he may have constructed Enochian tablets and studied further symbolism of the tarot, all prescribed on the curriculum of the Zelator Adeptus Minor.[287] This discontent with the original curriculum was not uncommon. J.W. Brodie-Innes (1848-1923) answers the discontent of the candidates to the Amen-Ra Temple in 1895 with a paper summarising the required reading and a return to the Ritual of Initiation for further study, in addition to ‘eight lectures on various subjects’ and the ‘First Knowledge Lecture’. He answers the question “Is this all?” by stating: It is not to jest with him [the newly initiated brother] that this lecture is put forth in this way. Our curriculum is an elaborate system of occult education and training, designed many centuries ago, to lead men step by step to the highest advance they are capable in this life of attaining ..[288].

Again, we see the ascent narrative being seen as the ultimate goal of the curriculum of taught content. It is also apparent from Brodie-Innes’ paper, ‘The Hermetic System’ (1892), that he sees a concurrent stream running throughout history, keeping these teachings alive in “times of darkness and materialism.”[289] In the writings of Waite we see an unusually clear statement of his own opinion – writings intended for his own ‘Rectified Rite’ (which came later after he left the Golden Dawn) and not for public consumption. He is writing on the ceremonial union which occurs in the initiatory ritual of the Adeptus Minor, and is worth quoting at length: The great types and symbols have been put into his [the initiate’s] own hands – the preparations have been made for his assistance in a long sequence of Grades; and he has been told in the Portal of the Rosy Cross that the intimations of spiritual consciousness should begin to manifest within him. That is a state which no man – whether Hierophant in the G.D. or Chief Adept in a Temple of the Second Order – can communicate to recipients. The most that can be done is to awaken that which is sleeping, and for this work the concurrence of the Postulant is essential.[290] That is to say, Waite states that the teachings are preparatory – for assistance – and the rituals are their intimations, but their aim is a spiritual consciousness that could not otherwise be awakened or communicated.

“An initiate is not the same as a mystic. Being an initiate – having an intuitive comprehension of what reason cannot explain – is a very deep process; it is a slow transformation of the spirit and of the body, and it can lead to the exercise of superior abilities ...”[291]

— Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum

GStA PK, FM, 5.2 D 34 Nr. 1757: Planus Principalis Pro Concordia Fratrum Rosae et Aureae Crucis post Revolutionem universalem Anno Domini 1767

GStA PK, FM, 5.2 D 34 Nr. 1759: Haupt-Plan für das gegenwärtige Decennium, 1777

The Ladder and the Golden and Rosy Cross We can view the Golden Dawn structure in the light of many preceding systems of ascent narratives, bound by a common graduated progression from the world of matter to the divine realm. We see the ascent narrative depicted in its most common symbol – a ladder – in early Christian mysticism, the theosophy of Robert Fludd, Freemasonry, the Catalan mysticism of Ramon Lull, alchemy, and finally, kabbalah, in which Jacob’s Ladder finds its parallel in the Tree of Life, another image of graduated ascent. One should first turn to the first use of kabbalah as a system of magical graduation, where it was specifically associated with a curriculum. In this case, an alchemical course of study, which pre-dates the Golden Dawn by 100 years. This system is found in the papers of the German Brotherhood of the Golden and Rosy Cross (G&RC), Rosae et Aureae Crucis, operating in the mid-to-late 1700s. These documents are also the foundation of the contemporary Order of Everlasting Day and will be fully detailed in a further volume of the Magister dealing with modern initiatory work and practice. Here we see two examples of the structure of the G&RC, in two Hauptpläne dated 1767 and 1777, given by Geffarth in Religion und arkane Hierarchie.[292] We see immediately the familiar grade names and kabbalistic correspondences. The G&RC is far more alchemically-minded than the later Golden Dawn, whose main alchemical works were carried out by few individuals, such as A.E. Waite and W.A. Ayton (1816-1909). However, like the Golden Dawn, the G&RC took candidates through a progressively practical curriculum, commencing with the basic elements:

The members of the first, lowest degree, juniores [learnt] the ceremonial, catechisms and the chemical instructions ... Within the first part of the institute was the instruction of the first degree, which contained the four elements; fire, water, air and earth, and their meanings. A junior thus got only the fundamental instructions and an indication of what the alchemical language mediated.[293] After then passing through the grade of Theoricus, it was only at the appropriately named Practicus that knowledge was then converted into practice, with the alchemical work of working with the chaotic mineral, electrum.[294] Even so, this practice was incomplete – although results would be gained, the practitioner would not yet be aware of their true significance. Only the Philosophi were given the deeper knowledge, the true secrets of the mineralischen naturkr ȁ fte to contemplate.[295] The higher grades were given to even fewer; “some among them” would be able, at the grade of Minores, to affect “miracle cures” with their alchemy, and the sixth degree of Majores worked to produce “one or more of those first four particular stones.”[296] In this, the Golden Dawn also concurred that the curriculum work of the Adeptus Minor recapitulated the work of the lower four grades, dividing the grade into sub-elements.

Beyond this grade the syllabus widened: the Adepti Exempti would come to learn “the work of nature, caballa and magia naturalis.” The eighth degree of Magistri began to formulate the synthesis of these arts into the “great work” until the ninth degree of Magi was opened by “divine providence.” Like the Thesophical Society and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the G&RC also had its secret chiefs; this mysterious grade of Magi for which there were no papers – the holder of this grade would understand its work. In Geffarth’s words, they would “formulate the total requirement of the attainment.” Holders of this grade were seen as equivalent to “Moses, Aaron, Hermes, Solomon, and Hiram Abif.”[297] Due to the controlled release of the papers through the hierarchy, and the giving of practical experiments whose meaning was only explained at a later grade, as Geffarth points out, “initiation and thus the relinquishment of secrets thus took place gradually.” The student could, if necessary, receive the lessons by mail. In other words the G&RC seems to have been the first mail order mystery school of the kind later exemplified by the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor and AMORC. Geffarth mentions this in his book. In a sense also the G&RC can be seen as a precursor of the external degree courses, such as those offered early on by London University – although no one involved in those courses would ever have heard of the G&RC.

Students of the Golden Dawn

That the work being undertaken by the “students of the G.D.” was being undertaken seriously is in no doubt, if we are to judge it alone by the time being devoted to studies by the students. In a letter dated 10 July, year uncertain (although whilst she was living at 123 Dalling Road, so early 1890s), Soror Sapientia Sapienti Dono Data (Florence Farr) wrote to De Profundis ad Lucem (Frederick L. Gardner, 1857-1930): I have your Adonai. Perhaps you can call for it on Thursday on your way home. I don’t think I could undertake to copy the Z but I will do the diagrams for you: if you copy it or get it copied.[298] She goes on to remark: You see, as I write myself I find it very trying to do much litha copying, even when I have to. One gets cramp, etc. Painting and making diagrams is a comparative rest.[299]

Her attitude as a teacher is also presented as she concludes: I think it best to do exams in the hall so that both parties can wear robes etc., and do the work thoroughly. So I’ll go there on Saturday afternoon. [300]

Farr was also a strict teacher when it came to ritual work. A letter likely from 1895-1896 to F.L. Gardner states firmly: If you propose to continue the studies of the rituals, I should be glad if you would learn by heart the part of the Kerux ... in the Ritual of the 32nd path ... so as to be able to take the part in it without the aid of a book [sc. manuscript] until the time when the lights are turned up. Although it has been said that no examinations survive for the students, there are tantalising traces of student progress pencilled in throughout the surviving correspondence, often on the back of letters already quoted for their political content in tracing the order’s downfall. These seem closer to the authentic dying voice of the order; that of its members attempting to pursue their education whilst their teachers squabbled and organised political petitions. We will look at just one such example during the time when the anti-expulsion petition of Annie Horniman (1860-1937) was being circulated. The Golden Dawn historian R.A. Gilbert suggests that, although we can only speculate in the absence of surviving ‘examinations’, it is likely that many members actually worked through the curriculum:

The large number of surviving ritual manuscripts indicates that members did copy the relevant texts once they had been advanced to that Grade, but the only other original material consists of a number of letters from members relating to their progression. None of these indicate exactly what they had produced or how it was received by their notional examiners. There certainly was a fast progression for some of the members but from their general correspondence, and from their activities within the Order, it seems probable that they did follow the prescribed syllabus of studies – both theoretical and practical – in its entirety. What cannot be said is just how many, if any, of them either failed to make satisfactory progress and subsequently dropped out of the Order, or were obliged to ‘resit’ the examinations.[301] This is borne out by the collection of Golden Dawn member letters held in the Yorke Collection (Warburg Institute, University of London) which mostly relate to the politics and petitions that engulfed the order. However, enveloped within those communications are traces of the curriculum, examinations and even the organisation of mentoring, testing and revision sessions. I believe that these have been overlooked whilst researchers have mainly concentrated upon the politics of the main correspondence. Some of these notes are written on the back of letters, cards or petitions, sometimes in pencil or as an obvious afterthought. The first example demonstrating these communications is from 14 March 1897: March 14, 1897 11 Hillden, Sutton Court Road, Chiswick

Dear Soror I should be much obliged if you will kindly send the paper for my exam on the altar diagrams to Fra. De Profundis (F.L. Gardner), who superintends my exams, as I hope to be ready in a day or two. Yours faithfully Genetheto Phos (W.F. Kirby)[302] W.F. Kirby (1844-1912) was previously the Honorary Secretary of the Hermetic Society, founded by Anna Kingsford (1846-1888) and Edward Maitland (1824-1897) in 1884.[303] Her address is one of many in the Bedford Park and Chiswick area. He was also one of many members who left the order after the infamous Horos trial which scandalised the order in 1901.[304] Whether he, like another member, left “in a ghastly funk ... and hurriedly burnt all ... lectures, letters, jewels, robes, etc.” there is no record. [305] The practical production of regalia and artefacts is also present within the curriculum, and the dearth of remaining evidence should not limit our imagination as to the wealth of items that must have been present at both Golden Dawn rituals and in the possession of its members. Howe (1972) gives evidence of nine members (around 1892- 1893) creating and consecrating sets of magical instruments, including the Lotus Wand, and even running out of enamel paints when painting the colour correspondences onto the Rose Cross regalia – or complaining that a blacksmith had not correctly straightened the handle of a ceremonial sword. [306]

There is also the evidence of regalia constructed for use in the A.O. which belonged to Soror Ex Fide Fortis (Mrs. Tranchell-Hayes) which was buried in a “cliff-top garden on the south coast.”[307] It was bizarrely washed up 30 years later onto a beach, the area having crumbled, and pronounced by local and national papers to be a ‘witches box’. It contained quarter banners, stoles, sceptres and a notebook – it was recognised by Doreen Valiente as belonging to the Golden Dawn, and apparently was then returned to London for safe-keeping.[308] Diaries from Clipstone Street, London, where two rooms had been rented by Westcott in 1892, and in which a full ‘Pastos’ (ceremonial vault) had been erected, further testify to the time that candidates spent working through the curriculum, for example, ‘invocating the spirit of Jupiter’. At least 30 Adept initiations were carried out in the vault between 1892-1893.[309] The theoretical knowledge and understanding prescribed in the curriculum is furthermore advanced in the level of detail and refinement of knowledge already presented in earlier grades. Not only would the candidate have to understand the rudiments of both the Enochian system and the system of geomancy, they would also need to demonstrate that they understood:

the correspondence existing between each of the 16 figures of Geomancy and each of the 16 Lesser Angles of the Enochian tablets treated as a whole.[310] Another letter, dated 1896, shows a typical assignment for a student: SRIA Dec 3 1896

‘Good Litha’ [lithograph, paper] on consecration – request you write one (on Talismans) for Juniors. You can now learn up to Z1 and Z3 for H exam; include the Coptic alphabet with its 10 Sephirothic letters, learn every Coptic name and place on the Temple position diagram ... S. Aude[311] Thus, within the curriculum being developed by Mathers and Westcott at this stage, there was “a symbolic synthesis so complex and extensive as to stagger the imagination.”[312] In fact, previously unpublished material makes it evident as to the scale of this synthesis. In one such paper we see the signs of LVX being overlaid onto a clock face in order to make correspondence with the solstices and equinoxes, thus aligning the student to the orbit of the Earth about the Sun.

Page of LVX signs from GD Notebook in Yorke Collection

This synthesis in ritual demonstrates that the relationship of ritual and initiation to the magical curriculum is complex. In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it is evident that rituals to confer grades of initiation were designed to correspond to specific levels of teaching and defined content – the so-called Knowledge Lectures. The rituals themselves introduce new concepts and symbols, whilst offering explanation of earlier rituals, pedagogic description of the symbols of the present ritual, and hints of further teaching to follow in later grades. However, the praxis of the individual members of the order could be at wide variance with the taught curriculum. Similarly, many papers were privately circulated providing additional commentary upon the existing teachings or entirely new, developmental material – these papers were referred to as the Flying Rolls. Furthermore, initiates of the order were expected to devise their own rituals based upon the framework presented in the order curriculum. An example of such a ritual is that created by J.W. Brodie-Innes (1843-1928) under his order motto, Sub Spe, in 1895. This ritual utilises incense, the tracing of pentagrams and sigils, culminating in an evocation and visible manifestation of a “vampirising elemental” – all in order to recover from a severe attack of influenza.[313] Problems of Delivery of Material

It is worth considering the state of technology, specifically in terms of transportation and communications (printing and post), at the time when the Golden Dawn was founded. In that year, there were no portable typewriters, automobiles were only just replacing the carriage, and post was still being delivered by tricycle in Coventry.[314] They were unable to take full advantage of the opportunities just around the corner, as typing, printing, copying, transport, and postal advances made the ‘correspondence course’ a popular mechanism of learning. It was not until the Golden Dawn had fallen apart that radio technology and long distance telephony developed, allowing distance learning to spread even further.[315] Qualification of Knowledge We turn now to a subject which appears to be altogether missing in recent studies of initiation, such as Bogdan and Bell, which focus upon the definition of the term and its ritualised forms, the difference between initiation and rites of passage, and typologies.[316] That is to say, and this is certainly clearly presented in the works of the French traditionalist (and esotericist) René Guénon (1886-1951), the concept of qualification and, more importantly, landmarks – a term that Guénon felt so fitting he kept it in the English, as it has “no exact equivalent in French.”[317]

There are further tests which have not been published, neither in Regardie, who originally published the Golden Dawn materials in several volumes between 1937 and 1940, nor later versions. In a 4=7 paper in the hand of F.L. Gardner, on the ‘Tattvas of the Eastern School’, there are not only descriptions of the activities suited to each of these ‘tides’ which are active throughout the day, means of using these tides, through meditation, for curing disease and forecasting future events, but also a practical test of skill.[318] The means of testing the skill of the Philosophus in these matters is by placing “five bullets or counters” of the colours of the tattvas in one’s pocket and selecting blind the correct counter which relates to the tide of that time of day. A further instruction suggests that with time, the practitioner can select two counters to calibrate more accurately to the shades between passing tattvic tides. This is Reserved for a Higher Grade But did the Golden Dawn members commit themselves to this curriculum, and did it achieve its stated intention to prepare the candidate for nothing less than “preparation for immortality”? According to Israel Regardie (1907-1985) there was some difficulty for the average student: ... the basic knowledge material was all disconnected data and pretty much of a closed book. All he could do was memorise the stuff by rote, and ask questions of the Officers of the Temple he belonged to. They may or may not have been too helpful. One of the common clichés was that the elucidation of this or that set of notions was reserved for a higher grade. Very frustrating![319]

And although Regardie goes on to suggest that the student working through the outer order curriculum would have been in possession of a great deal of material, he notes that it would have probably not been integrated, even though it was handed out ‘piecemeal’. With a lack of supervision, it would have also not been committed to memory or tested. This is later confirmed when he writes:

... despite the fact that the papers on the Pentagram and Hexagram rituals suggest, nay demand, that the contents be committed to memory, few apparently took this injunction seriously. Instead of being content with the rubric of the ritual stating that for example the invoking Pentagram of Air should be traced in the Air, or that the banishing Hexagram of mercury should be traced, the members whose papers I have seen drew the appropriate figure. This of course suggests that the figures were not committed to memory, and that the member had to draw the appropriate figure on the pages of the ritual in order to jog his memory.[320]

However it was delivered and received, there was one clear goal with this content – that the student learn correspondence between all aspects of their experience: For it is the science of correspondences he is studying the whole time, whether between the Divine Powers and the Universe, between these and man, or between these again and the different planes and developments in the life of Nature.[321]

The Failure of the Golden Dawn It is here, in this specific enterprise, I propose, that the Golden Dawn can be said to have truly failed, as it became swallowed up by personal and political feuds documented ably elsewhere,[322] it increasingly failed to teach the curriculum of correspondence, thus disengaging the ritual activities – merely performance pieces without proper preparation – from the taught symbolic language of magic. The latter was neglected as arcane symbolism relegated to the futile delivery of exoteric knowledge (i.e. the Hebrew alphabet) without due application in practical exercise. It was indeed a triumph of politics over policy, a failure to adhere to the most elementary principle of the project. A private letter of 1899 to F.L. Gardner held in the Yorke Collection (Warburg Institute, University of London) illustrates this failure in the resignation of one particular member: Doubtless you know of my resignation from the GD. I got tired of the empty monotony of mere ceremonial without any real explanation of its import and significance if there is any at all worth knowing that I did not previously know.[323]

This member, F.J. Johnson, was first initiated in 1889, visited Clipstone Street many times during 1893, after being initiated into the second order at the start of that year, and left in 1899.[324] His trajectory summarises both the curriculum and the failure; four years to work through the outer order work – with an initial rush of excitement (he visited the vault at Clipstone Street some 13 times in the year after his initiation, “invariably to collect or return manuscripts”[325]) leading to a six year disillusionment following his entry to the Second Order, ending in resignation. Perhaps it could also be argued that initiates were not taught to apply their teachings to their own lives and transformation. Similarly, higher order material may not have been ready for them, leaving them in a vacuum; nor, possibly, where it was doing so, was the impact of their practical work on their lives being supervised. In an analysis of Mathers and the teachings of the order, Nick Farrell has raised these issues, which he sees as a “cautionary tale” and “fatal flaw” at length.[326] The curriculum may also have failed in its transmission and reception away from the charismatic leaders who regulated its delivery and monitored its results. It was hardly set up for distance learning, particularly overseas. A critical letter of resignation in 1921, from Lilli Geise (?-1924) of the Thoth-Hermes Temple of the A.O. (Alpha et Omega) in New York, to Brodie-Innes, stated the curriculum as a major cause of discontent, intimating also that there had been prior instructions not to develop the curriculum by introducing other elements from her close experience with her teacher (and later, husband), Paul Foster Case (1884-1954). Regarding MacGregor Mathers, she wrote to BrodieInnes:

I have, however, no faith in the source of his initiation, on account of the very unsatisfactory curriculum up to the grade which I reached, including the books of the Z.A.M. Second Order ... Then the utter lack of guidance from the very beginning in this country, about 18 years ago. There never were really any capable leaders.[327]

It is apparent that the curriculum can function as a cohesive device within the structure of an organisation often led by a few charismatic individuals in a hierarchical fashion. In the story of Paul Foster Case, we see his split from the New York Thoth-Hermes Temple of the Golden Dawn (Alpha et Omega) being precipitated in part due to a disagreement about the place of teachings on sexual magick within the curriculum. Moina Mathers had written to him: ..... I have seen the results of this superficial sex teaching in several Occult Societies as well as in individual cases. I have never met with one happy result.[328]

Incidentally, an unpublished version of the curriculum for Theoricus Adeptus Minor (c. 1894) does contain a suspicious item of study in this light, namely “the opening of the knowledge of the masculine and feminine potencies necessary unto the manifestation of all things.”[329] Other changes of the curriculum followed. When Case founded his own order in 1922, the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA), following his development of a magical curriculum in terms of a comprehensive correspondence course in 1902, he purged all reference to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn’s usage of Enochian magic:

B.O.T.A. is a direct off-shoot of the Golden Dawn, but its work has been purged of all the dangerous and dubious magic incorporated into the Golden Dawn’s curriculum by the late S.L. MacGregor Mathers, who was responsible for the inclusion of the ceremonials based on the skrying of Sir Edward Kelly. There is much in these Golden Dawn rituals and ceremonies that is of the greatest value; but from the first grade to the last it is all vitiated by these dangerous elements taken from Dee and Kelly. Furthermore, in many places, the practical working is not provided with adequate safeguards, so that, to the present writer’s personal knowledge, an operator working with the Golden Dawn rituals runs very grave risks of breaking down his physical organism, or of obsession by evil entities.[330]

It is worth digressing upon the changes that Paul Foster Case affected upon the Golden Dawn magical curriculum, not only on its content but on its delivery – specifically into the American market. A revealing letter from Case to Israel Regardie, dated 10 August 1933, recounts his experience and reasoning for re-inventing and re-presenting the Golden Dawn teachings, a project which proved successful as BOTA maintain a strong presence in the United States, South America, Australia, and Europe. Another off-shoot of this project is the Fraternity of the Hidden Light, Fraternitas L.V.X. Occulta: The curriculum of the Fraternitas L.V.X. Occulta, or Fraternity of the Hidden Light, is a structured, graduated system which utilizes grades as a means of identifying the level of a student for the purpose of receiving the Ancient Wisdom teachings.[331]

Alumni of the Golden Dawn Were there successful graduates of the Golden Dawn educational endeavour, and if so, how can this be measured? The failure of the order as a stable organisation within a relatively short period of time left many members disenchanted. This has been demonstrated, particularly during the period whilst the main business of the order was circulating a petition for the expulsion of one of its members, Annie Horniman (1860-1937).[332] Ironically, it was Horniman who had written a Flying Roll in 1893 encouraging beginners to work with “patience and hope” and claimed “none of us who have made sacrifices for it [the order] in a right spirit are disappointed with the result.”[333] Following the collapse of the order, there was little overt trace of its legacy of trained Adepts. Whilst commenting on an article on Betty May (?-?), in the Worlds Pictorial News, the stage magician and esoteric student Chris van Berne (1871-1950), a follower of Aleister Crowley, wrote to another follower, Norman Mudd (c.1890-1934) in 1925: I meet several of the old G.D. but they know very little. Some of the Bradford crowd are still searchers, but the rest are only book collectors. [334]

In fact, van Berne estimated the number of ‘real workers’ to be 15 or less. His lack of enthusiasm that the teachings would be transmitted beyond a select group is also evident. In response to the news that Thomas Burgoyne (1855-1934) was to publish a book through Foyles in London, he writes:

... as I have nearly all the M.S.S. of that extinct society [the Golden Dawn], also the H.B. of L. [Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor], I have written to them [Foyles] to say that I think the work will be quite wrong, in facts and details. I have not had their reply yet.[335]

The Strange Reward “Sing out the song; sing to the end, and sing The strange reward of all that discipline.” — W.B. Yeats, A Vision As we have seen, a certain level of commonality of orders, grades and rituals, in addition to the actual content and delivery of teachings, is evident across many of the schools of Western esotericism. It is proposed, however, that the cosmological grounding of the Western esoteric tradition in a world of hierarchies and intermediaries, allied with a Gnostic concern of selfdeliverance, logically requires a curriculum of praxis and theoria which not only reflects this cosmology, but necessitates a mechanism to deliver a promised salvation. The Hermetic corpus clearly commences with this framework, and we will briefly return to this early articulation of a world of degrees as quoted earlier from the Hermetica. Whilst these degrees or stages originally depicted (much like the Ancient Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Day) the after-death ascent and return to the heavens and salvation, to initiates, this is a clear depiction of a way of exhaustion; as each zone or grade is attained, the psychic devices of the ‘Earthborn man’ (‘child of Earth’ in the Golden Dawn Neophyte initiation) are disabled, in order that the next grade can be attained, and ultimately entry into the ‘Ogdoadic region’ is attained.

Rather than dismiss the content of a ritual which falls outside established concepts of initiation – for example, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram – in favour of more accessible academic ground like the role of an initiation in re-establishing patriarchy et al, we might look to understand the reasoning behind the ritual being promoted as fundamental to a student’s progression in the magical curriculum. That content – that the ritual is a ‘banishing’ – and its position in the teaching order of many groups is the key factor. Dion Fortune, commenting on Israel Regardie’s publication of the magical curriculum as the Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic, wrote of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and Regardie’s publication of it: It is this formula which is given to the student immediately on initiation long before he is taught any practical working, in order that he may protect himself in case of Astral trouble. If Mr. Regardie is justified in drawing back the veil at all, then he is, undoubtedly justified in providing the necessary protection against anything untoward that may come through the veil. The Lesser Pentagram is of the nature of a fire extinguisher, and it is very necessary to have some such device handy when one ventures into such highly charged levels of the unseen as are contacted by the methods he describes.[336]

We may conclude that in all cases, the curriculum is seen as preparatory; a series of steps (literally grades, gradus, Latin ‘step’) towards an ultimate goal which transcends those lessons but is entirely reliant upon them – that of gnosis or enlightenment. The ladder is laid down at the end of the ascent, as we have seen indicated in the Mutus Liber.

Mutus Liber, Final Plate

That the goal may be attained is seen in the structuring of the orders to reflect a hidden hierarchy – an Invisible Church or Invisible College – whose masters have accomplished the Great Work. By entering into the curriculum, and taking the oaths, the candidate is initiated into this implicit framework, promising that through their work, they will strive to master the elements of their being. In both the Theoricus ritual of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and a paper from that order on ‘The General Guidance and Purification of the Soul’, in order to learn self-knowledge and direct the forces of nature, the candidate is instructed:

Be thou therefore prompt and active as the Sylphs, but avoid frivolity and caprice. Be energetic and strong like the Salamanders, but avoid irritability and ferocity. Be flexible and attentive to images like the Undines, but avoid idleness and changeability. Be laborious and patient like the Gnomes, but avoid grossness and avarice.[337]

It is that the elemental rituals of the order, the paraphernalia of ‘fan, lamp, cup, and salt’ represent this curriculum, teach it and reflect it as an enactment of enchantment, a play of the mundus imaginalis, so that the candidate may be lead out of the ‘darkly splendid world’.

We may see a specific cohesion of the WEIS within the curriculum of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, drawing together and disseminating esoteric teachings in an attempt to provide no less than an education in magical ascent and liberation. This was not merely a reaction to the disempowerment of the male (Carnes, 1989) or against a disenchantment of the world (Owen, 2004). Neither was it entirely a flight against reason (Webb, 1971), although these views provide multiple lenses through which we might contextualise the life of those developing and pursuing such a curriculum. The ideal of the curriculum and its place in the overall practice of the WEIS is more than the second perspective viewpoint or analysis. Despite recognising that a member had limited time to devote to the practice of a curriculum, despite the lack of support for distance learners, and an overburdensome language obscurum per obscurius, and despite the eventual fragmentation of teaching through public scandal, the lofty idealism, the Promethean ambition of the curriculum of the WEIS remains: Our subject of study is inexhaustible for it is the Universe itself whose Mysteries we seek to fathom by the aid of that Secret System of Correspondences and Formulas, the especial knowledge of our Order the Keys of the Wisdom of all Time. Our Grades therefore form the ladder which aids us to mount upwards towards this end, a ladder in which not one rung is wanting neither is there a Lacuna. We appeal to the soul by the secret formulas hidden in our Ceremonies; to the mind by the special studies of the Order, to the body by the Stations and movements in the Temple and to the whole being by the combinations of these.121

Conclusion Part Two

This concludes the second part of Volume 0 of The Magister on Kindle. Now that the extremely academic work is presented on the recent history of occult groups, teaching and structure, we can move on to more practical, psychological, magical and mystical matters in the final section and then the remaining ten volumes of this series. The third and concluding part of The Magister Vol 0 outlines the connection between psychology and magick, and then provides a range of practical rituals and exercises in order to get you started on this profound path of western spiritual development. Whilst some of these may have been covered in other books, they are presented here in the context of a forty-year period of practice, experience and study which has revealed many new aspects of the rituals and their proper place and practice within the whole spiritual journey. They have also been extensively worked by a range of individuals and groups from neophytes to adepts and their consequences fully experienced and incorporated into our teaching.

You will also discover a huge bibliography of recommended books on the subjects covered in this first volume of the Magister, and a graduated reading list by initiatory grade. We provide a brief outline of the contents of the final section below and we look forward to continuing this epic journey into magick with you in the Crucible Club, into which you are cordially invited in the spirit of a magical life.

Magister Volume 0 Part 3 In the Shadow of the Bright Circle: The Relationship Between Modern Ceremonial Magic and Psychology Strange Prisoners Naturphilosophie and Jung, the Development of the Unconscious The Nancy School and the Technique of Suggestion The Golden Dawn and the Development of the Self Dion Fortune and Israel Regardie, Psychoanalysts and Magicians Israel Regardie: The Sage of Sedona Dion Fortune: Priestess of the Soul Contemporary Syntheses of Psychology and Magic The Oath of Harpocrates: Considerations on Secrecy and the Hermetic Vessel Flying Roll XIII on Secrecy and Hermetic Love Sermons Through Stones: Who Are the Secret Masters? No Man Hath Seen Me Unveiled: Considerations on the Dweller on the Threshold The Ka, the Ba, the Ab: Considerations on the Divisions of the Soul Vignette: The Goddess of Sais The Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel The Sacred Magic of Abramelin Vignette: 13 Dancing Girls on a Wednesday The Holy Guardian Angel The Angel and the Higher Self

On the Egregore The Abyss Vignette: The Cube of Undoing The Fourth Way Work The Kundabuffers Watching for Kundabuffers The Initiatory Tarot The Three Decks The Mystery of the Monogram The World The Fool The Blasted Tower The High Priestess Your Magical Journal and Dream Diary Optional Journal Practices The Dreaming Mind Zosimos of Panopolis The Vision of Zosimos Exercise: The Seven Steps Contemplation Optional Dream Practices Exercise: The Fountain of Morpheus (An Initiated Method of Dream Recall) Exercise: Hand Observation for Lucid Dreaming The Dream Journal: Liber Somnorium

The Magickal Name The Purpose and Nature of the Magickal Name Salutations, Forms and Greetings Formal Framing in the Order of Everlasting Day Selected List of Magical Names and Mottos The Rituals and Practices Vignette: Airport Adoration Liber Resh (Solar Adoration) Liber Resh vel Helios sub figura CC Commentary and Practice Liber Qoph vel Lunae (The Book of the Moon, a Lunar Observation) The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) Visualisations The Self in Relationship (The Middle Pillar) Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice The Middle Pillar Method Circulation of the Light The Peace Profound of the Rose Cross and Key The Rose Cross Ritual The Opening of the Golden Dawn into the Everlasting Day The Opening of the Everlasting Day The Rituals of the Sapphire Temple The Oath of the Tarot Majors

Conclusion Frequently Asked Questions Reading List Part One: General Reading Part Two: A Magical Curriculum (Books by Grade) Bibliography Index

[1] Knight, G. & McLean, A. Commentary on the Chymical Wedding. Magnum Opus: Edinburgh, 1984, p.10. [2] Wilson, R.A. Illuminatus Volume I: The Earth Will Shake. Lynx: New York, 1988, p.317. [3] Cousins, E. (translator). Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey Into God, The Tree of Life, The Life of St. Francis. SPCK: London, 1978, p.54. [4] For after-death books that perhaps give some intimation of paths for life, refer to Budge, E.A.W. The Book of the Dead. University Books: Secaucus, 1981; Faulkner, R.O. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. University of Texas Press: Austin, 2000; Rinpoche, S. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Rider: London, 1995; Evans-Wentz, W.Y. (editor). The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1985; and Western esoteric versions of the same such as Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The New Book of the Dead. Aquarian: London, 1992, and Gold, E.J. New American Book of the Dead. IDHHB Publishing: Nevada City, 1981. [5] For a more extensive workbook and background on alchemy, see Katz, M. The Alchemical Amphitheatre. Forge Press: Keswick, 2008, and titles in the reading list. [6]For more teaching of the Crucible Club and the Order of Everlasting Day, see www.westernesotericism.com. [7] Schweighardt, T. Speculum sophicum rhodo-stauroticum. See http://www.levity.com/alchemy/schweig.html [last accessed 22nd August 2014] [8] De Rola, S. K., The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century. Thames & Hudson: London, 1988. pp. 29-44.

[9] Young, L.B. The Unfinished Universe. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1986. [10] Zosimos. See http://www.levity.com/alchemy/zosimos.html [last accessed 22nd August, 2014] [11] Andreae, J.V. Chymical Wedding. See http://www.levity.com/alchemy/chymwed1.html August, 2014]

[last

accessed

22nd

[12] Dastin, J. Dream. See http://alchemywebsite.com/tcbdastn.html [last accessed 22nd August 2014] [13] See also Fortune, D. Psychic Self-Defence. Aquarian: Wellingborough, 1981, for accounts of various psychic and ethereal disturbances through the work. [14] Mavromatis, A. Hypnagogia: The Unique State of Consciousness between Wakefulness and Sleep. Routledge: London, 1991. [15] See de Rola, S. K., The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century. Thames & Hudson: London, 1988. [16] McLean, A. ‘The Fourth Rosicrucian Manifesto? The Mirror of Wisdom of Theosphilus Schweighardt’ in The Hermetic Journal, Number 25, p.21. [17] McLean, A. The Western Mandala. Hermetic Research Series: Edinburgh, 1983. Also refer to McLean, A. Study Course on Alchemical Symbolism available in print from www.alchemywebsite.com [last accessed 08 February 2013]. [18] Silberer, H. Hidden Symbolism of ALCHEMY and the OCCULT ARTS. Dover Publications: New York, 1971. p. 337 [19] There are others who also point out that initiation confers a lineage within a certain magical tradition, for example, McCarthy, J. Magical

Knowledge Vol. I. Mandrake: Oxford, 2012, p.171. [20] Idel, M. Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism: Pillars, Lines, Ladders. CEU Press: New York, 2005, p.49. [21] We will return to this ladder in a following volume, which also spells out the word SIIRIUS (Sirius) in the first letter of each of the rungs, leading to a clearly marked star in the heavens. The star Sirius has a particular place in Western Esotericism, popularised by R. A. Wilson in his semiautobiographical book, Cosmic Trigger. [22] Altar of the Theraphic Brotherhood Fraternitatis Crucis Roseae, 1618, in McLean, A. (editor). The Hermetic Journal, Number 37 (Autumn 1987), p.39. [23] See Yates, F. A., The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1972, p.259. [24] Churton, T. The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005, p.91. [25] For example, AMORC. AMORC stands for the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, an esoteric fraternal group founded by H. Spencer Lewis in 1915, and whose website describes, “The Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, is internationally known as the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. We are a nonsectarian body of men and women devoted to the investigation, study and practical application of natural and spiritual laws. Our purpose is to further the evolution of humanity through the development of the full potential of each individual. Our goal is to enable everyone to live in harmony with creative, cosmic forces for the attainment of health, happiness, and peace.” http://www.amorc.org/ [last accessed 28 September 2006]. [26] Waite, A.E. The Real History of the Rosicrucians. Kessinger Publishing, 1999, originally published by George Redway: London, 1887,

p.433, in which he accuses Hargrave Jennings of such “ramblings,” and on Jennings’ book, The Rosicrucians, their Rites and Mysteries, Waite states that this “does not contain one syllable of additional information on its ostensible subject.” [27] Yates, F.A. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. Paladin: St. Albans, 1975, p.72. [28] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.139. [29] Gilly, C. Theophrastia Sanca: Paracelsianism as a religion in conflict with the established churches at: http://www.ritmanlibrary.nl/c/p/res/art/art_01.html, IV and note 41 [last accessed 27 September 2006]. [30] Theophrastia Sanca: Paracelsianism as a religion in conflict with the established churches . op. cit., IV [last accessed 27 September 2006]. [31] Khunrath, H. Confessio in the Amphitheatre, quoted in Churton, T. The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005, p.68. [32] Hanegraaf, W.J. (editor). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill: Leiden, 2006, II, p.1012. [33] Hanegraaf, W.J. (editor). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill: Leiden, 2006, II, p.1009. [34] McIntosh, C. The Rosicrucians. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1987, p.46. [35] Churton, T, The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005, p.122. Other names in this ‘golden chain’ included Valentin Weigel (1533- 1588), Sebastian Franck (1499-1542) and Casper Schwenckfeld (1489-1561). See pp.116-126.

[36] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p. 283. [37] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.288. [38] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.295. [39] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.289. [40] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.294. [41] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.72. [42] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.295. [43] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.294. [44] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.296. [45] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing [last accessed 23 September 2006]. [46] Churton, T. The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005, p.130. [47] Wilson, C. ‘Foreword’ in McIntosh, C. The Rosicrucians. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1987, p.10. [48] Fr. Wittemans. A New and Authentic History of the Rosicrucians. Rider & Co: London, 1938, p.33. [49] Churton, T. The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005, p.114.

[50] See Yates, F. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, Paladin: St. Albans, 1975, chapter 7, ‘The Rosicrucian Furore in Germany’, particularly note 3, p.127, and Churton, T. The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005, pp.131-135. [51] Churton, T. The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005, p.152, quoting De Curiositatis Pernicie Syntagma. [52] The Golden Builders, op. cit., p.143. [53] Confessio, Preface, in White, R. (editor). The Rosicrucian Enlightenment Revisited. Lindesfarne Books: Hudson, 1999, p.15. [54] Yates, F. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, Paladin: St. Albans, 1975, p.296. [55] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.297. [56] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.298-299. [57] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.300. [58] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.299. [59] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.301-302. [60] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.303. [61] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.304. [62] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., pp.304-305.

[63] The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, op. cit., p.306. [64] McLean, A. & Knight, G. Commentary on The Chymical Wedding. Magnum Opus: Edinburgh, 1984, p.2. [65] McIntosh, C. The Rosicrucians. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1987, p.46. [66] Churton, T. The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005, p.152. [67] Knight, G. & McLean, A. Commentary on the Chymical Wedding. Magnum Opus: Edinburgh, 1984, pp.8-9. [68] Commentary on the Chymical Wedding, op. cit., p.72. [69] McIntosh, C. The Rosicrucians. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1987, p.51. [70] McLean, A. ‘The Fourth Rosicrucian Manifesto? The Mirror of Wisdom of Theosphilus Schweighardt’ in The Hermetic Journal, Number 25, p.21. [71] ‘The Fourth Rosicrucian Manifesto? The Mirror of Wisdom of Theosphilus Schweighardt’, op. cit., p.32. [72] 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. [73] Barker, P. Using Metaphors in Psychotherapy. Brunner/Mazel Inc: New York, 1985, pp.32-34, also pp.28-29 on the clinical use of anecdotes and stories. [74] McLean, A. ‘The Fourth Rosicrucian Manifesto? The Mirror of Wisdom of Theosphilus Schweighardt’ in The Hermetic Journal, Number 25, p.21. [75] McIntosh, C. ‘The Rosicrucian Legacy’ in White, R. (editor). The Rosicrucian Enlightenment Revisited. Lindesfarne Books: Hudson, 1999,

p.249. [76] Gibson, W. Pattern Recognition. Putnam: New York, 2003. [77] Webb, J. The Flight from Reason. MacDonald & Co: London, 1971. [78] Gibbons, B.J. Spirituality and the Occult. Routledge: London, 2001. [79] Owen, A. The Place of Enchantment. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2004. [80] Hanegraaff, W.J. New Age Religion and Western Culture. Brill: Leiden, 1996. [81] Carnes, M.C. Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America. Yale University Press: New Haven, 1989. [82] Snoek, J. A. M. Initiations: A Methodological Approach to the Application of Clasification and Definition Theory in the Study of Rituals. Dutch Efficiency Bureau: Pijnacker, 1987. [83] Yates, F. A. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1964. [84] Scholem, G. Kabbalah. Keter Publishing: Jerusalem, 1974, p.203. [85] Faivre, A., Brock, R. & Brach, J-P. (editors). Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism. Brill: Amsterdam, 2005. [86] Carnes, M.C. Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America. Yale University Press: New Haven, 1989, p.15. [87] Webb, J. The Flight from Reason. MacDonald & Co: London, 1971. [88] Gibbons, B.J. Spirituality and the Occult. Routledge: London, 2001, p.141.

[89] Webb, J. The Flight from Reason. MacDonald & Co: London, 1971, p.224. [90] Guenon, R. Initiation and Spiritual Realization. Sophia Perennis: Hillsdale, NY, 2004; Perspectives on Initiation. Sophia Perennis: Hillsdale, NY, 2004. [91] Benoist, L. The Esoteric Path. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1988. [92] Bogdan, H. Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation. State University of New York: Albany, 2007, pp.9-15. [93] Faivre, A. & Voss, K. Western Esotericism and the Science of Religions. Peeters: Leuven, 1998, p.62. [94] Bogdan, H. Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation. State University of New York: Albany, 2007, p.172. [95] Gilbert, R.A. (editor). Hermetic Papers of A.E. Waite. Aquarian: Wellingborough, 1987, p.145. [96] Hanegraaff, W.J. (editor) with Faivre, A., van den Broek, R. & Brach, J-P. Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, 2 volumes. Brill: Leiden, 2005. [97] Faivre, A. Access to Western Esotericism. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994, pp.12-13. [98] van Egmond, D. ‘Western Esoteric Schools’ in van den Broek, R. and Hanegraaff W.J. (editors). Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times. State University of New York Press: New York, 1988, pp.340-341. [99] Borella, J. ‘René Guénon and the Traditionalist School’ in Faivré, A. & Needleman, J. (editors). Modern Esoteric Spirituality. SCM Press Ltd:

London, 1993, p.346. [100] Green, D. ‘Wishful Thinking? Notes Towards a psychoanalytical sociology of Pagan magic’ in Journal for the Academic Study of Magic, Issue 2. Mandrake: Oxford, 2004. [101] Mauss, M. A General Theory of Magic. RKP: London, 1972. [102] Green, D. ‘Wishful Thinking? Notes Towards a psychoanalytical sociology of Pagan magic’ in Journal for the Academic Study of Magic, Issue 2. Mandrake: Oxford, 2004. [103] Evans, D. The History of British Magic after Crowley. Hidden Publishing: Oxford, 2007. [104] Luhrmann, T.M. Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft. Picador: London, 1989. [105] Greenwood, S. Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld. Berg: Oxford, 2000. [106] Clifton, C.S. Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Alta Mira Press: Oxford, 2006. [107] Hutton, R. The Triumph of the Moon. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1999. [108] Luhrmann, T.M. Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft. Picador: London, 1989, p.7. [109] On the Golden Dawn alone: Colquhoun, I., Sword of Wisdom. Neville Spearman: London, 1975; Gilbert, R.A., A.E. Waite A Bibliography. Aquarian: Wellingborough, 1983; Gilbert, R.A., A.E. Waite Magician of Many Parts. Crucible: 1987; Gilbert, R.A., Hermetic Papers of A.E. Waite. Aquarian: 1987; Gilbert, R.A., Revelations of the Golden Dawn. Quantum: 1997; Gilbert, R.A., The Golden Dawn Companion. Aquarian: 1986; Gilbert, R.A., The Golden Dawn Scrapbook. Weiser: 1997; Gilbert, R.A.,

The Golden Dawn: Twilight of the Magicians. Aquarian: 1983; Graf, S.J., W.B. Yeats: Twentieth-Century Magus. Weiser: 2000; Greer, M.K., Women of the Golden Dawn. Park Street Press: 1995; Harper, G.M. Yeats’s Golden Dawn. Aquarian: 1987; Howe, E. (editor). The Alchemist of the Golden Dawn. Aquarian: 1985; Howe, E., The Magicians of the Golden Dawn. RKP: 1971; Jensen, K. Frank. The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot. ATS: 2006; Raine, K. Yeats, the Tarot and the Golden Dawn. Dolmen: 1976; Torrens, R.G. The Secret Rituals of the Golden Dawn. Aquarian: 1973. [110] Raine, K. Yeats, the Tarot and the Golden Dawn (Dolmen, 1976) contains photographs of Yeats’ magical implements, which he fashioned by hand. [111] Godwin, J., Chanel, C. & Deveney, J.P. The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor. Weiser: York Beach, 1995, pp.178-179. [112] Zanoni. The Light of Egypt Vol.I. Wagner: Denver, 1963, pp.28-43. [113] Edwards, D. Dare to Make Magic. Rigel Press: London, 1974. [114] Evans, D. The History of British Magic after Crowley. Hidden Publishing: Oxford, 2007. [115] Granholm, K. Embracing the Dark: The Magic Order of Dragon Rouge - Its Practice in Dark Magic and Meaning Making. ÅBO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY PRESS: Åbo, 2005. [116] Bardon, F. Initiation into Hermetics. Osiris-Verlag: Koblenz, 1962; Ophiel. The Art and Practice of Caballa Magic. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1977. [117] Gibbons, B.J. Spirituality and the Occult. Routledge: London, 2001, p.141.

[118] Faivre, A. Access to Western Esotericism. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994, pp. 128-133 & pp. 258-261 on knowledge and reintegration. [119] The difficulty in referring to a single definition of Western esotericism is covered in W.J. Hanegraaff ’s essay, ‘The Birth of Esotericism from the Spirit of Protestantism’ in Aries, Volume 10, Number 2 (2010). [120] Blavatsky, H.P. The Secret Doctrine. Theosophical University Press: Pasadena, 1988, p.113. [121] Blavatsky, H.P. Ibid, footnote p.113. [122] Gibbons, B.J. Spirituality and the Occult. Routledge: London, 2001, p.141. [123] Scholem, G. Kabbalah. Dorset Press: New York, 1974, pp.202-3. Scholem refers to the “supreme charlatanism” of Eliphas Lévi (Alphonse Louis Constant), Papus (Gérard Encausse) and Frater Perdurabo (Aleister Crowley). [124] Penner, H. H. & Yonan, E. A. ‘Is a Science of Religion Possible?’, Journal of Religion, Vol. 52 (1972). [125] Windschuttle, K. The Killing of History. Encounter Books: San Francisco, 1996, pp.203-206. [126] Pals, D. ‘Reductionism and Belief ’ in McCutcheon, R.T. (editor). The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion. Continuum: London, 2005, p.183. [127] Lurhman, T.M. Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft. Picador: London, 1994, p.274.

[128] Thorndike, L. History of Magic and Experimental Science. Macmillan & Co: London, 1923. [129] Yates, F.A. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1964, p.288, discussing Bruno’s ‘philosophicalreligious magic’. [130] Walker, D.P. Spiritual and Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella. Sutton Publishing Ltd: Stroud, 2000, p.217, quoting Campanella, Astrologia. [131] Yates, F.A. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1971, p.261. First published in 1972 (this reference at p.217). [132] Faivre, A. & Voss, K. ‘Western Esotericism and the Science of Religions’, in Numen, Volume 42, Number 1 ( January 1995), p.53. [133] Idel, M. Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism. Central European University Press: Budapest, 2005, p.1. [134] Mitchell, B. Neutrality and Commitment. Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1968, p.10. [135] Donovan, P. ‘Neutrality in Religious Studies’ in McCutcheon R.T. (editor). The Insider/ Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion. Continuum: London, 2005, p. 246-247. [136] Hanegraaff, W.J. ‘Fiction in the Desert of the Real: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos’ in Aries, Volume 7. Brill: Leiden, 2007, pp. 85-109. [137] Lurhmann, T.M. Ibid, pp.274-275. [138] Lurhmann, T.M. Ibid, p.376.

[139] Lurhmann, T.M. Ibid, pp.284-286. [140] Greenwood, S. Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld. Berg: Oxford, 2000, p.39. [141] Evans, D. The History of British Magic after Crowley. Hidden Publishing: Oxford, 2007, p.67. [142] Evans, D. Ibid, p.53. [143] Laurant, J-P. ‘The Primitive Characteristics of Nineteenth-Century Esotericism’ in Faivre, A. & Needleman, J. (editors). Modern Esoteric Spirituality. SCM Press Ltd: London, 1993, p.277. [144] Ibid, p.277. [145] Ibid, p.285-286. [146] Guénon, R. L’Erreur Spirit. Rivière: Paris, 1921. [147] Faivre, A. ‘Ancient and Medieval Sources of Modern Esoteric Movements’ in Faivre, A. & Needleman, J. (editors). Modern Esoteric Spirituality. SCM Press Ltd: London, 1993, p.70. [148] Faivre, A. Access to Western Esotericism. State University of New York Press: Albany, p.10-15. [149] Faivre, A. Ibid. [150] Faivre, A. Ibid. [151] Edighoffer, R., Faivre, A., Hanegraaff, W. J. & Goodrick-Clarke, N. (editors). Aries. Brill: Leiden, 2001.

[152] Butler, A. & Evans, D. (editors). The Journal for the Academic Study of Magic. Mandrake: Oxford, 2003. [153] http://www.esswe.org/ [last accessed 06 June 2009]. [154] von Stuckrad, K. Western Esotericism. Equinox Publishing Ltd: London, 2005, p.136. [155] Faivre, A. & Voss, K. Ibid, p.51. [156] Stephens, J. Retelling Stories, Framing Culture: Traditional Story and Metanarratives in Children’s Literature. Routledge: London, 1998, p.6. [157] Gorak, J. Making of a Modern Canon. Athlone Press: London, 1991, p.259. [158] Louth, A. The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition. Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1981, pp.132-133. [159] Augustine, Confessions, X.viii. [160] Luibheid, C. & Russell, N. (translators). John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Paulist Press: Mahwah, NJ, 1982, ‘Introduction’ by Ware, K. p.11. [161] Ibid, p.11. [162] Goodman M. & Goodman, S. (translators). Johann Reuchlin, On the Art of the Kabbalah. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln and London, 1993. [163] Bogdan, H. Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation. SUNY: Albany, 2007, pp.25-26. See also Greenwood, S. The Anthropology of

Magic. Berg: Oxford, 2009, pp.1-13, and Hanegraaff, W.J. New Age Religion and Western Culture. Brill: Leiden, 1996, pp.3-7. [164] Knowles, M. S. ‘Andragogy: Adult Learning Theory in Perspective’ in Community College Review, 5, 3, 9-20, W 78. [165] Smith, M.K. (2004). ‘Adult schools and the making of adult education’, The Encyclopedia of Informal Education, www.infed.org/lifelonglearning/adult_schools.htm [last accessed 15 August 2010]. [166] Squires, G. The Curriculum Beyond School. Hodder & Stoughton: London, 1987, p.54. [167] Ibid. [168] Halsey, A. H. & Trow, M. A. The British Academics. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1971. [169] Startup, R. Studies in Higher Education , v4 n2, Oct 1979, pp. 18190.

[170] Squires, G. The Curriculum Beyond School. Hodder & Stoughton: London, 1987, p.54. [171] Stake, R. E. ‘Generalizability of Program Evaluation: The Need for Limits’, Educ Prod Rep v2. pp. 39-40. [172] Barnes, D. Practical Curriculum Study. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1982. [173] Barnes, D. Practical Curriculum Study. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1985, p.182. [174] Ibid, pp.192-194. See also pp.195-196 for a suggested schema for analysing worksheets, which I apply in part to the ‘Knowledge Lectures’ of the Golden Dawn, particularly with regard to the ‘cognitive processes’ levels I-IV ranging from simple recall to interpretation and hypothesis. Also see Eraut, M., Goad, L. & Smith, G. Handbook for the Analysis of Curriculum Materials. University of Sussex: Brghton, 1974.

[175] Ibid, p.193. [176] Ibid, p.72. The work of Alfred Schutz was a key aspect of phenomenology, later adapted in a reductionist sense to the sociology of religion by Berger, P. L. and Luckmann, T. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Anchor Books: New York, 1966.

[177] Waite, A.E. The Occult Sciences: A Compendium of Transcendental Doctrine and Experiment. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, & Co: London, 1891, p.1.

[178] Owen, A. The Place of Enchantment. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2004, p.66. [179] Kelly, A.V. The Curriculum: Theory & Practice, Sixth Edition. Sage: London, 1977, p.56. [180] Ibid, p.57. [181] Ibid. [182] Tyler, R.W. ‘Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction’, in Flinders, D.J. & Thornton, S.J. (editors). The Curriculum Studies Reader, (Third Edition). Routledge: New York, 2009, pp.72-73. [183] Ibid, p.73. [184] Ibid, p.72. [185] Goodrick-Clarke, N. Personal Correspondence, 2010. [186] Gaebelein, F.E. ‘Toward a Philosophy of Christian Education’ in Hakes, J.E. (editor). An Introduction to Evangelical Christian Education. Moody Press: Chicago, 1964, p.41. [187] Barnes, D. Practical Curriculum Study. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1982, p.101. [188] Lawton, D., Gordon, P., Ing, M., Gibby, B., Pring, R. & Moore, T. Theory and Practice of Curriculum Studies. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1978. [189] Case, P.F. The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order. Weiser Books: York Beach, 1989, p.234.

[190] Practical Curriculum Study, op. cit., pp.102-103. [191] Ibid, p.102. [192] Sockett, H. Designing the Currriculum. Open Books Publishing: London, 1976, p.76. [193] Lawton, D., Gordon, P., Ing, M., Gibby, B., Pring, R. & Moore, T. Theory and Practice of Curriculum Studies. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1978, pp.188-189. [194] Ibid. [195] Gibbons, B.J. Spirituality and the Occult. Routledge: London, 2001, p.141. [196] See Owen, A. The Place of Enchantment. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2004, p.57-58, where the creation of the Second Order is seen as having the express purpose of “issuing teachings and making executive decisions anonymously on behalf of the ‘Secret Chiefs’,” although Owen also admits to the educational purpose when she notes that there was “neither precedent for nor contemporary rival to the kind of teaching and training offered by the Order.” [197] Notes of An Adept: Being the Outline and Study of the Grade Zelator Adeptus Minor. Portal Publications, 2005. Also see Küntz, D. The Golden Dawn Source Book. Holmes Publishing Group: Edmonds, WA, 1996, pp.173-174. [198] See Bruner and Haste, 1987:1 in Slee, P. T. & Shute, R. Child Development: Thinking About Theories Texts in Developmental Psychology. Routledge: Abingdon, 2013. p. 74. [199] Ibid.

[200] Moffit, L. Paul Foster-Case Timeline, http://www.2000biz.com/pfc/ [last accessed 13 August 2010]. [201] Ibid. [202] Case, P.F. The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order. Weiser Books: York Beach, 1985, p.160. [203] Ibid. [204] Squires, G. The Curriculum Beyond School. Hodder & Stoughton: London, 1987, p.61. [205] See particularly, Hanegraaff, W.J. ‘Tradition’ in Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill: Leiden, 2005, II, pp.1125-1135. [206] Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn Scrapbook. Weiser: York Beach, 1997, p.77. [207] Ibid, p.76. [208] Ibid, p.72-73. [209] Ibid, p.79. [210] Ibid, p.80. [211] Ibid, p.93. [212] Ibid, p.96. [213] Ibid, p.96.

[214] Greer, M.K. Women of the Golden Dawn. Park Street Press: Rochester, 1995, p.191. [215] There are documents relating to Farr’s educational period held in the Senate House Library, University of London, specifically, MS982/H/1, ‘Certificate for the Cambridge University higher local examination’. [216] Greer, M. K. Ibid, pp.344-345. [217] Ibid, p.344. The Montessori methodology would have been relatively new, only published and widely known within the five years prior to this date, but would have been greatly sympathetic to Farr’s spiritual experience within the Golden Dawn. The key concepts of the approach for teaching children – reflect much of that order’s framework: inner guidance of Nature, freedom for self-directed learning, planes of development, and prepared environment. http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori method [last accessed 09 November 2010]. [218] Howe, E. ‘Fringe Masonry in England 1870-85’ in Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, London, 1972). http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/aqc/fringe/fringe.html [219] Ibid. [220] Ibid, Appendix, http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/aqc/fringe/appendix2.html [221] Crowley, A. ‘The Book of Hoor’, Yorke Collection. Unfortunately, my own pamphlet on this subject was subject to removal by the current version of the O.T.O. who own the copyright on Crowley’s published and unpublished materials. [222] See http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/beresiner17.html [last accessed 23 July 2012].

[223] Waterfield, R. Hidden Depths: The Story of Hypnosis. Macmillan: London, 2002, p.208. [224] Ibid. [225] Ibid. [226] Ibid. [227] Ibid. [228] Ibid. [229] MacKenzie, K. The Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1987, p.616. [230] Westcott, W.W. An Introduction to the Study of the Kabbalah. Metaphysical Research Group: Hastings, 1978, p.7. [231] Budge, E.A.W. Amulets and Superstitions. Oxford University Press: London, 1930, p. xxxviii. “The Kabbalah Denudata by BARON VON ROSENROTH (1677-78) and the Kabbâlâh by Ginsburg (1865), and the works of MR. WAITE are very useful books on the subject, but the practical side of Kabbâlâh is very successfully handled by DR. ERICH BISCHOFF, a skilled Hebraist, in his Die Kabbalah (Einfuhrung), Leipzig, 1923, and more fully in his larger work, Die Elemente der Kabbalah, 2 vols, 1920.” [232] Ibid, p.65. [233] Ibid, pp.65-66. [234] Scholem, G. Kabbalah. Dorset Press: New York, 1974, pp.416-419.

[235] Ibid, p.416. [236] Howe, E. The Magicians of the Golden Dawn. RKP: London, 1972. Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn: Twilight of the Magicians. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983. [237] Greer, M.K. Women of the Golden Dawn. Park Street Press: Rochester, Vermont, 1995. [238] Graf, S.J. W.B. Yeats: Twentieth Century Magus. Samuel Weiser, Inc: York Beach, 2000. Harper, G.M. Yeats’s Golden Dawn. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1974. [239] Hamill, J. (editor). The Rosicrucian Seer. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1986. [240] Gilbert, R.A. A.E. Waite: Magician of Many Parts. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1987. [241] Colquhoun, I. Sword of Wisdom: MacGregor Mathers and ‘The Golden Dawn’. Neville Spearman: London, 1975. [242] Bogdan, H. Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation. State University of New York Press: Albany, 2007. [243] King, F. (editor). Astral Projection, Ritual Magic and Alchemy. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1981. [244] Including MacGregor-Mathers, S.L. The Key of Solomon the King. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd: London, 1981, first published 1888. Also The Grimoire of Armadel. Weiser: Boston, 2001. For an analysis of grimoire magic, see Fanger, C. (editor). Conjuring Spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic. Sutton Publishing Ltd: Stroud, 1998, and

Kieckheffer, R. Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century. Sutton Publishing Ltd: Stroud, 1997. [245] Anon. Notes of an Adept, Alpha Omega Temples. Portal Publications, 2005. A reproduction of G.F. Frater D.D.C.F.’s (MacGregor-Mathers’) issue of Ritual A, September 1897, revised 1898. [246] Notes on alchemy by N.O.M. [Non Omnis Moriar, William Wynn Westcott], Yorke Collection NS32. [247] Private letter from Sir Frederick Leighton to H.M. Paget, postmarked March 1879 (private collection). [248] Gilbert, R.A. William Wynn Westcott and the Esoteric School of Masonic Research, 19 February 1987, http://www.mastermason.com/luxocculta/westcott.htm [last accessed 14 July 2009], paragraph 45. [249] Howe, E. The Magicians of the Golden Dawn. RKP: London, 1972, p.12. [250] Westcott, W.W. An Address to the Sociatas Rosiciana in Anglia. http://www.goldendawn.com/temple/index.jsp? s=articles&p=address_to_the_sociatas_rosiciana_in_anglia [last accessed 14 July 2009]. [251] Yorke Collection, NS64, 17b. [252] Luhrmann, T.M. Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England. Picador: London, 1994, p.6. [253] King, F. Astral Projection, Ritual Magic and Alchemy. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1987, pp.257-260. There were 36 such papers circulating amongst the Golden Dawn members.

[254] Luhrmann, T.M. Ibid, p.367. [255] Luhrmann, T.M. Ibid, p.12. [256] Greenwood, S. The Anthropology of Magic. Berg: Oxford, 2009, p.113. [257] Ibid, p.31 on Lévy-Bruhl and participation. [258] Owen, A. The Place of Enchantment. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2004, p.73. [259] The term ‘Flying Rolls’ (or ‘Flying Scrolls’) derives from Zechariah 5:2: “And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.” [260] G.H. Frater Deo Duce Comite Ferro [S.L. MacGregor-Mathers], ‘The Theoricus Adeptus Minor Manifesto’ in Küntz, D. The Golden Dawn Legacy of MacGregor Mathers. Holmes Publishing Group: Sequim, 2005, p.12. [261] Westcott, W.W. ‘Samuel Liddell Mathers’, in Küntz, D. The Golden Dawn Legacy of MacGregor Mathers. Holmes Publishing Group: Sequim, 2005, p.29. [262] Ibid, p.13. [263] A.E. Waite, ‘Notes of the Month: Appreciation of S.L. MacGregor Mathers’ in The Occult Review, Volume 29, Number 4. Rider & Co: London, 1919, pp.197-199. [264] Westcott, W.W. ‘Samuel Liddell Mathers’, in Küntz, D. The Golden Dawn Legacy of MacGregor Mathers. Holmes Publishing Group: Sequim,

2005, p.29. [265] Küntz, Ibid, p. 30. [266] G.H. Frater Deo Duce Comite Ferro [S.L. MacGregor-Mathers], ‘The Theoricus Adeptus Minor Manifesto’ in Küntz, D. The Golden Dawn Legacy of MacGregor Mathers. Holmes Publishing Group: Sequim, 2005, p.12. [267] Gardner, F.L. copy of ‘General Orders’ in Yorke Collection, NS63. GD MSS. 1. [268] King, Ibid, pp.284-285. [269] Ibid, pp. 286-288. [270] Ibid, p.287. [271] Ibid, pp.257-260, pp.286-288. [272] Ibid, p.258. [273] Ibid, p.14. [274] Word count of text in rolls written by Mathers and Westcott by present author. [275] King, F. Ibid, p.265 on Stella Matutina, pp.195-256, ‘Unpublished Papers of the Cromlech Temple’. [276] King, F. Ibid, p.11.

[277] Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn Companion. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1986, p.94. [278] King, F. Ibid, p.58. [279] Regardie, I. The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1984, Volume 8, p.11. [280] Symonds J. & Grant, K. (editors). The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1986, p.177. [281] Ibid. [282] Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn Scrapbook. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1997, p.64. [283] Crowley, A. Ibid, pp.176-177. [284] Crowley, A. Ibid, pp.176-177. [285] Crowley, A. Ibid, pp.177-178. [286] Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn Scrapbook. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1997, p.167. [287] Gilbert, R.A. A.E. Waite: Magician of Many Parts. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1987, pp.111-112. [288] Gilbert, R.A. (editor). The Sorcerer and his Apprentice: Unknown Writings of S.L. MacGregor Mathers and J.W. Brodie-Innes. Aquarian: Wellingborough, 1983, p.115. [289] Ibid, p.161.

[290] Gilbert R.A. (editor). Hermetic Papers of A.E. Waite. Aquarian: Wellingborough, 1987, p.193. [291] Eco, U. Foucault’s Pendulum. Pan Books: London, 1990, p.215. [292] Geffarth, R.D. Religion und arkane Hierarchie. Brill: Leiden, 2007, pp.182-183, Abb. 5.1 & 5.2. [293] Geffarth, R.D. Ibid, p.181; “Die mitglieder des ersten, untersten grades, juniores genannt, waren die neuaufgenommenen bruder und galten als anfanger, welche den esten teil des institutes, die ordens-regeln, das ceremonial, den catechismum und die chymischen zeichen kennen lernen sollten. Mit dem ersten teil des instituts war die in der instruction des ersten grades enthaltene erklarung der vier elemente feuer, wasser, luft und erde gemeint. Ein junior bekam also lediglich das grundlegende rustzeug einschlieblich der alchemistischen schriftsprache vermittelt.” [294] Geffarth, R.D. Ibid, p.183. [295] Geffarth, R.D. Ibid, p.184. [296] Ibid. [297] Ibid. [298] Letter from Florence Farr to Frederick L. Gardner, 10 July, Yorke Collection, GD Z1. [299] Ibid. [300] Ibid.

[301] Gilbert, R.A. personal correspondence to present author, 22 August 2007. [302] Letter from W.F. Kirby to unknown addressee, dated 14 March 1897 (Warburg Institute, University of London: Yorke Collection) NS73, Letters A-Z, K. [303] Howe, E. Ibid, p. 40. [304] See King, F. Modern Ritual Magic. Prism Press: Bridport, 1989, pp.79-93. [305] Howe, E. Ibid, p.240 on Westcott’s account of William Peck’s reaction to the trial. William Peck (1862-1925) was the City Astronomer at Edinburgh and was knighted in 1917. [306] Howe, E. Ibid, p.99. [307] King, F. Ritual Magic in England. New English Library: London, 1973, p.123. [308] See http://www.thewica.co.uk/DV%20and%20the%20GD.htm [last accessed 29 June 2012]. [309] Howe, E. Ibid, p.98. [310] Howe, E. Ibid, pp.288-289. [311] Yorke Collection NS73. [312] Fleming, A. ‘Introduction’ in Küntz, D. The Golden Dawn Court Cards. Holmes Publishing Group: Edmonds, Wash., c. 1996.

[313] King, F. (editor). Astral Projection, Ritual Magic and Alchemy. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1981, pp.40-41. ‘Flying Roll XXXIX: An Exorcism by Frater Sub Spe’. [314] http://postalheritage.org.uk/page/movingthemail-timeline accessed 29 June 2012].

[last

[315] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance_education [316] Bogdan, H. Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation. State University of New York Press: Albany, 2007. Bell, C. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1997. [317] Guénon, R. Perspectives on Initiation. Sophia Perennis: Hillsdale NY, 2004, p.98. [318] Yorke Collection, NS64, GD IV.12. [319] Regardie, I. The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1984, Volume I, p.23. The statement, “This secret is reserved for a higher grade”, became an in-joke for several years within the members of ICOM (see the first part of the Magister Vol. 0) who would use it in everyday life for any situation where information was withheld for no real purpose, or when an employee did not know precisely why they were following some particular rule or code of conduct. As in, “Why do we have to get on the bus?” “The guy didn’t say, I think it is a secret reserved for a higher grade”. [320] Regardie, I. The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1984, Volume IV, p.8. [321] Regardie, I. The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1984, Volume I, p.60.

[322] See amongst other works cited, Colquhoun, I. Sword of Wisdom: MacGregor Mathers and The Golden Dawn. Neville Spearman: London, 1975, amongst the earliest surveys of the Golden Dawn. [323] Letter to F.L. Gardner from F.J. Johnson, Christmas 1889 (Warburg Institute, University of London: Yorke Collection) NS73, Letters A-Z, G. Also quoted in Howe, E. Ibid, p.182, n.1. [324] Howe, E. Ibid, p.97. [325] Ibid. [326] Farrell, N. King Over The Water: Samuel Mathers and the Golden Dawn. Kerubim Press: Dublin, 2012. Mathers’ Last Secret: The Rituals and Teachings of the Alpha et Omega. Rosicrucian Order of the Golden Dawn: Laguna Niguel, 2011. [327] Letters from Lilli Geise to Brodie-Innes (New York, 1922). http://www.sria. org/1LilliG_BInnes.htm [last accessed 07 August 2007]. [328] Moina Mathers, letter to Paul Foster Case, 18 July 1921. http://www.golden-dawn.org/ biocase.html [last accessed 08 August 2007]. [329] Mathers, M. ‘Theoricus Adeptus Minor’ Document. Yorke Collection, NS99.13. [330] Case, P.F. Wheel of Life Magazine, March 1937. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_ Foster_Case [last accessed 28 July 2007]. [331] http://lvx.org/flohome.htm [last accessed 10 August 2007]. [332] Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn Scrapbook. Weiser: York Beach, 1997, p.137.

[333] Ibid, p.132. [334] Letter from Chris van Berne to Norman Mudd, dated 10 August 1925, Yorke Collection, OSEE1. [335] Ibid. [336] Fortune, D. ‘Ceremonial Magic Unveiled’ in Occult Review, January 1933. [337] Theoricus Ritual in the Golden Dawn, see Regardie, I. The Golden Dawn. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1989, p.160. The notion of our embodiment of the four elements is perhaps here taken from Paracelsus, “... there are not four arcana but only one Arcanum; however it has four aspects, just as a tower has four sides, according to the four winds. And just as a tower cannot be lacking in one side, so a physician must not lack any of these aspects. For one aspect does not yet make a whole physician, nor two, nor three; all four are needed. Just as the arcana consist of four parts, so the whole physician must comprise of the four aspects.” Jacobi, J. (editor). Paracelsus: Selected Writings. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1979, p.61. See also Goodrick-Clarke, N. Paracelsus: Essential Readings. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1990, and Webster, C. From Paracelsus to Newton: Magic and the Making of Modern Science. Dover: Mineola, 1982.

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Keswick, Cumbria, 2016 www.westernesotericism.com Copyright © Frater V. (Marcus Katz) 2014, 2016. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the author. Tarosophy® and Western Esoteric Initiatory System® are registered trademarks. First paperback edition published 2015 by Salamander and Sons. This Kindle edition and all further print editions published by Forge Press, authorized by the author to whom all rights belong to this work. This Kindle section includes a complete list of over 700 recommended reference books and links to essential material for your further study. Edited by Paul Hardacre & Marcus Katz.

ALSO BY FRATER V. (MARCUS KATZ) The Path of the Seasons (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) The Magician’s Kabbalah (Forge Press, 2015) NLP Magick (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) Tarosophy: Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape It (Forge Press, 2016) After the Angel (Forge Press, 2011) The Alchemy Workbook (Forge Press, 2008) The Zodiacal Rituals (Forge Press, 2008) Secrets of the Thoth Tarot (Forthcoming, 2016) Secrets of the Celtic Cross (Forthcoming, 2016) With Tali Goodwin Tarot Edge: Tarot for Teens and Young Adults (Forge Press, forthcoming 2016) Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015) The English Lenormand (Forge Press, 2013) Tarot Life (in 12 books, Forge Press, 2013) Abiding in the Sanctuary: A. E. Waite’s Second Tarot (Forge Press, 2013) Learning Lenormand (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2013). Tarot Turn (in three volumes, Forge Press, 2012) Tarot Inspire (Forge Press, 2012) Tarot Face to Face (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012) Around the Tarot in 78 Days (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012) Tarot Twist (Forge Press, 2010)

Tarot Flip (Forge Press, 2010) Easy Lenormand (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015) I-Ching Counters (Forge Press/TGC, 2015) The Original Lenormand Deck (Forge Press/TGC, 2012) With Tali Goodwin, Sasha Graham (ed.), Giordano Berti, Mark McElroy, Riccardo Minetti & Barbara Moore. Tarot Fundamentals (Lo Scarabeo, 2015) Tarot Experience (Lo Scarabeo, forthcoming 2016) With Derek Bain & Tali Goodwin A New Dawn for Tarot: The Original Tarot of the Golden Dawn (Forge Press, 2015) As Andrea Green (with Tali Goodwin) True Tarot Card Meanings (Kindle, 2014) Tarot for True Romance (Kindle, 2014) Kabbalah & Tarot: A Step-up Guide (Kindle, 2015) Visit Author Sites for Complete Bibliography & Details www.marcuskatz.com www.taligoodwin.com

For all Applications to the Crucible Club and Order of Everlasting Day www.westernesotericism.com

Ded i cations This third section of Magister Vol. 0 on Kindle is dedicated to The Glitch Mob. And as ever, and above all, this book is spiritually dedicated to Antistita Astri Argentei The Priestess of the Silver Star She whose light leads the way to the Arcanum Arcanorum, the Secret of Secrets Vos Vos Vos Vos Vos V.V.V.V.V. In Memorium Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (1953-2012), for opening the door another degree. We will teach on the avenues and in gardens more perfect than we can imagine when the walls of the world have long fallen.

When the fruit of my tree Shall be quite melted down Then I shall awake And be the mother of a King.

Christian Rosencreutz, The Hermetic Romance: or, The Chymical Wedding (1616)[1]

“I’ll read the Rosicrucian manifestoes.” “But you said the manifestoes were fake,” Belbo said. “So? What we’re putting together is fake.” “True,” he said, “I was forgetting that.”

Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum[2]

Table of Contents In the Shadow of the Bright Circle Strange Prisoners Naturphilosophie and Jung, the Development of the Unconscious The Nancy School and the Technique of Suggestion The Golden Dawn and the Development of the Self Dion Fortune and Israel Regardie, Psychoanalysts and Magicians Israel Regardie: The Sage of Sedona Dion Fortune: Priestess of the Soul Contemporary Syntheses of Psychology and Magic The Oath of Harpocrates Flying Roll XIII on Secrecy and Hermetic Love Sermons Through Stones: The Secret Masters No Man Hath Seen me Unveiled Considerations on the Division of the Soul Vignette: The Goddess of Sais The Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel The Sacred Magic of Abramelin The Holy Guardian Angel Vignette: 13 Dancing Girls on a Wednesday The Angel and the Higher Self On the Egregore The Abyss

Vignette: The Cube of Undoing The Fourth Way Work The Kundabuffers Watching for Kundabuffers The Initiatory Tarot. The Three Decks The Mystery of the Monogram The World The Fool The Blasted Tower The High Priestess Your Magical Journal and Dream Diary Optional Journal Practices The Dreaming Mind Zosimos of Panopolis The Vision of Zosimos The Seven Steps Contemplation Optional Dream Practices The Fountain of Morpheus (An Initiated Method of Dream Recall) Hand Observation for Lucid Dreaming The Dream Journal: Liber Somniorum The Magical Name The Purpose and Nature of the Magickal Name

Salutations, Forms and Greetings Formal Framing in the Order of Everlasting Day Selected List of Magical Names and Mottos The Rituals and Practices Liber Resh (Solar Adoration) Liber Resh vel Helios sub figura CC Commentary & Practice Vignette: Airport Adoration Liber Qoph vel Lunae The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram Visualisations. The Self in Relationship (Middle Pillar) Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice The Middle Pillar Method Circulation of the Light The Peace Profound of the Rose Cross and Key The Rose Cross Ritual The Opening of the Golden Dawn into the Everlasting Day The Opening of the Everlasting Day The Rituals of the Sapphire Temple 1. Kether: The Ritual of the Altar and the Lamp. 2. Chockmah: The Ritual of the Circle and Candle.

3. Binah: The Ritual of the Temple and Triangle. 4. Chesed: The Ritual of the Square. 5. Geburah: The Ritual of the Incense and the Pentagram. 6. Tiphareth: The Ritual of the Pillars and the Rose. 7. Netzach: The Ritual of the Oath. 8. Hod: The Ritual of the Crystal. 9. Yesod: The Ritual of the Treasure-House. 10. Malkuth: The Ritual of Binding Together. 11. The Kingdom Ritual. The Oath of the Tarot Majors Conclusion Frequently Asked Questions Reading Outline Part One: General Reading Part Two: A Magical Curriculum Bibliography

In the Shadow of the Bright Circle “You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.” — Glaucon to Plato, ‘The Allegory of the Cave’ (The Republic, Book VII)

Strange Prisoners We start this final section of the Magister Volume 0 on Kindle by looking at the relationship between psychology and esotericism. We then move on to more practical matters with magical rituals, exercises and ceremonies, having laid out in detail the development of our curriculum and these psychological aspects.

This chapter surveys the historical relationship between psychology and the Western esoteric tradition from the naturphilosophie of the 1800s to contemporary manifestations of psychology in modern occultism. We first examine the development of the idea of the unconscious from the work of Schelling, Carus and Jung. Then we trace the self-development concerns of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In a case study of Dion Fortune and Israel Regardie we see an explicit synthesis of psychology and occultism. Then we will conclude by reviewing a number of contemporary manifestations of this synthesis. Plato’s analogy of the cave serves throughout both as metaphor for the human state and as common ground between psychology and the Western esoteric tradition. In both cases it is assumed that there is an apparent reality, but that this is cast as a shadow – on the wall of our perceptions – from a reality that is initially occulted. In this, both psychology and esotericism return to a primarily Gnostic concern – that of the ‘great ignorance’[3] of our own nature and that of the universe of which we are part. Psychology and esotericism set out to explore the darkness outside of our knowledge, whether it be dwelling in the ‘unconscious’ or the ‘astral’, the mundus imaginalis or the dark side of the Tree of Life. Dion Fortune, whose life and work we shall examine further, wrote:

As soon as I touched the deeper aspects of practical psychology and watched the dissection of the mind under psycho-analysis, I realised that there was very much more in the mind than was accounted for by the accepted psychological theories. I saw that we stood in the centre of a small circle of light thrown by accurate scientific knowledge, but around us was a vast, circumambient sphere of darkness, and in that darkness dim shapes were moving. It was in order to understand the hidden aspects of the mind that I originally took up the study of occultism.[4] In this small circle of light, surrounded by darkness, we are, as Plato says, “strange prisoners” and psychology and esotericism both seek the keys to our escape and redingreation.[5] Indeed, the writer Philip K. Dick’s Gnostic concept of a ‘black iron prison’, the ‘unredeemed world of everyday consciousness’,[6] is a chilling re-statement of our predicament as are the monstrous tales of H. P. Lovecraft, to which we will return. The tools of our escape are common again to both psychology and esotericism: willed imagination leading – through symbols – to selfknowledge, initiation into increasingly comprehensive world-views through release of limiting attachments and beliefs, tested through experience in the crucible of self-awareness. As we will see in this section, the Gnostic concerns remain consistent throughout the history of both psychology and esotericism; the quest for self-knowledge is primary. As we read in The Apocryphon of James, “I tell you this so that you may know yourself.”[7] Naturphilosophie and Jung, the Development of the Unconscious

We will first highlight the concerns of naturphilosophie, specifically those which came to inform the work of Carl Carus and, in turn, shape the esoteric leanings of Carl Gustav Jung. The general scope of this school of thought is a significant template and could be considered an essential in which to cultivate ideas of self-development. According to Faivre, “Jung may be considered as the last major representative of naturphilosophie,”[8] a specific current of thought developed towards the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th, particularly in Germany. This philosophy, synthesising extant thinking ranging from Christian theosophy to animal magnetism, drew also from French naturalism, the metaphysics of Kant and Fichte, and Spinozan philosophy. Out of these streams flowed a single river of thinking, encompassing the concepts of: Nature having a history of a mythical order, i.e. the world is engaged in a process of a highly dramatic character – see ‘The Alchemical Amphitheatre’ in this present work for a discussion of the relationship of this ontological position with recent advances in quantum physics, as depicted in Louise B. Young’s The Unfinished Universe; The ‘philosophy of identity’ (viz. Schelling), i.e. the relationship of Nature and spirit, that spirit becomes Nature, and Nature becomes spiritualised. This relationship speaks to contemporary ecological concerns, and at the time underpinned the research of naturphilosophen Baader, Schubert and Kerner in mesmerism, animal magnetism and dreams;

Nature is a living net of correspondences to be deciphered and integrated into a holistic worldview. Although after about 60 years this current faded away during the 1850s, naturphilosophie left a legacy in both its approach and its constellation of concerns to later esoteric thinkers such as Rudolf Steiner and Carl Jung. More importantly, the concept of the unconscious represents the historical origin of psychoanalysis, leading from works such as Carl Carus’ Psyche: Entwicklungsgeschite der Seele (or, Psyche: The Developmental History[9] of the Soul, 1846) and Schubert’s Die Symbolik des Traums (or, Symbolism of Dreams, 1814). Carus developed the idea of the unconscious in the naturphilosophie framework, in a position James Hillman refers to as psychological idealism, avoiding the contextualisation of psychology as empirical science or idealism as philosophical metaphysics (Kant, Fichte, Hegel).[10] He further wrote, “The light of consciousness shines – in a manner to be discussed later – and illuminates the area within us. Light makes us aware of the darkness of the night.”[11] It is to illuminate this darkness – the unconscious – that we require techniques to encourage self-knowledge and improvement of the self to fulfil its place in the ‘mythic history’ of Nature. [12]

The Nancy School and the Technique of Suggestion

In addition to the emergence of the idea of the unconscious, the technique of suggestion, arising from Mesmer’s work with ‘animal magnetism’, is a primary thread crossing between esoteric thought and psychology. The notion of magical influence, strengthening the Will, and developing the conscious mind by suggesting concepts – via verbalisation or symbology – to the unconscious through imagination, underpin many methods of both schools. This relationship is clearly seen when, for example, discussing selfsuggestion, the author and physician Edwin Ash, writes in 1906, “There can be no more powerful means of backing up and rendering efficacious simple suggestion than by a religious ceremony.”[13] The development of self-suggestion follows Mesmer, with the colourful character Abbé Faria (actually José Custódio de Faria, 17461819), who took Mesmer’s initial work and brought to it a scientific viewpoint, soon dismissing the theory of ‘animal magnetism’ and introducing the idea of suggestion as the primary actor in the process. It was this work that Ambroise-Auguste Liébault (1823-1904) built upon as he founded the Nancy School in the city of Nancy in 1866. Hippolyte Bernheim, a professor from the University of Nancy, and at first a doubter of the techniques being employed at the School, to treat digestion, health and circulation ailments, joined the School where he conducted clinics with Liébault.[14] Bernheim was instrumental in overturning the previously held notion of hypnosis as a hysteria-like state, as was held by Charcot.

Both Émile Coué and Sigmund Freud visited the Nancy School.[15] Coué (1857-1926) was a French psychologist and pharmacist who is now known as the father of applied conditioning. He learned hypnosis from Liébault and went on to found the Lorraine Society of Applied Psychology. He modified Faria’s original concept of suggestion, and proposed that autosuggestion could be self-induced, leading to self-conditioning. His enduring legacy is the mantra, “Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better” (tous les jours a tous points de vue je vais de mieux en mieux). This is now known as the Coué method, and was further developed by Johannes Schultz as autogenic training. This mantra-like technique is one further developed in the esoteric tradition, although intensified by ritual activity and the presentation of symbols to the initiate.

The Golden Dawn and the Development of the Self Having examined the world-view of naturphilosophie and the techniques of the Nancy School, we will now turn to arguably the most influential ‘jewel’ in the crown of Victorian esotericism, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This ‘strange attractor’ of academics, Freemasons, artists, playwrights, poets, and dilettantes established a synthetic modus operandi of human development in the wake of naturphilosophie, but very much in the same contextual framework. Its techniques used the heightened expectation (a key determinant of success in hypnotic induction) of ritual initiation, willed self-suggestion of symbolism in the imagination, keyed to complex correspondences, and a structured map of self-development based on the kabbalistic Tree of Life and the degrees of Freemasonry.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1888 by Westcott, Mathers and Woodman and splintering in 1903, for 15 years provided arguably the most important synthesis of esoteric teaching of the late 19th century and early 20th century, in which the darkness outside the bright circle of consciousness could be explored both theoretically and practically in the consciousness of the initiates.[16] They also claimed an ancient pedigree, stretching back to Egypt, for the connection between hypnotism and magic.[17] Moina MacGregor Mathers wrote in 1918, that the establishment of the mysteries provided a “penetralia that which even the highest then known forms of religion had not, namely, a philosophico-religious reply resumed in Formulas and Ceremonies, to the problems of Life and Death, of Nature, of the Gods, of Spritual Beings, etc., and lastly of the linking of these things as a whole back to the First Cause of all things.”[18] In this we perceive echoes of naturphilosophie, and the holistic thinking at the centre of the inner order of the Golden Dawn, where the aim was to become “that Perfect Man,” and the Adept was to “apply myself to the Great Work – which is, to purify and exalt my Spiritual Nature so that with Divine Aid I may at length attain to be more than human.”[19] It is important to note that mesmerism and spiritualism were handled differently by the Golden Dawn; the Neophyte oath contains the lines, “I will not suffer myself to be hypnotised, or mesmerised, nor will I place myself in such a passive state that any uninitiated person, power, or being may cause me to lose control of my thoughts, words or actions.” It has been suggested that it was Anna Kingsford’s doctrines against passive mediumship that were instrumental in this clause[20] – certainly, Mathers and Westcott knew Kingsford and thought highly of her.[21]

Dion Fortune and Israel Regardie, Psychoanalysts and Magicians Israel Regardie and Dion Fortune are two individuals who in a sense developed through the Golden Dawn society, were to greater and lesser extents influenced by the shadow of Aleister Crowley,[22] and sought, more than any other members of that order, a psychological parallel to their understanding and experience of the Western esoteric tradition. Fortune studied and practiced analysis in her early years, drawing upon Adler, Jung and Freud, whilst Regardie sought out Freudian and Reichian analysis, particularly in the latter half of his life. In this section we will highlight key interfaces which these two individuals created between magic and psychoanalysis, and expose the legacy this presented to contemporary esotericists. Israel Regardie: The Sage of Sedona In Israel Regardie’s The Eye in the Triangle, he writes that “Equilibrium is the basis of the soul,”[23] and that such equilibrium is the aim of the elemental grades of the Golden Dawn, which, as depicted in the diagram of the Fall shown to initiates during the ritual, “point to a higher type of consciousness, the beginning of a spiritual rebirth.”[24] However, he saw this equilibrium as being granted by psychoanalysis as much as initiatory experience. Gerald Suster, biographer and friend of Regardie, considered that Regardie sought the answer to five questions:

1. How could the disciplines of magic and psychoanalysis be brought together? 2. Could magical and mystical illumination co-exist with neurosis? 3. Was the free association technique effective (as it consisted of verbalisation)? (A question that led Regardie to study non-verbal therapies, namely Reichian, indicating perhaps his answer in finding Fruedian psychoanalysis lacking); 4. How could the processes of magic and psychoanalysis be practically combined to aid the individual? 5. Was Freud right in asserting that our primary drive is sex? It is presently the first and fourth questions that concern us, despite the fascination of the remaining three avenues that Regardie pursued. In the early 1940s, his study of Wilhelm Reich – particularly the concept of psychological armouring and the connecting of schizophrenia and the autonomic nervous system – led him to combine these healing techniques with magical systems, in the ‘Middle Pillar’ exercise and related methods. In the writing of such titles as The Middle Pillar, Energy, Prayer and Relaxation, and The Art of True Healing, as Suster points out, Regardie was “uniting magic with therapy.”[25]

On the efficacy of the Golden Dawn rituals, Regardie wrote that “Without the least conscious effort on the part of the aspirant, an involuntary current of sympathy is produced by this dramatic delineation of psychic events which may be sufficient to accomplish the intrinsic purpose of the ceremony or ritual.”[26] He later refers to the participation mystique of the Adeptus Minor initiation, and indeed, uses Reichian terminology – in reference to the shattering of the character armour – to analyse the mechanism of the ceremony.[27] It is in the Middle Pillar exercise that Regardie separated and resynthesised his esotericism and his psychotherapy into one technique, applicable outside of the structure of the Golden Dawn, and in this he paved the way for others to begin to deconstruct the legacy of the order into selfdevelopmental exercises.

Dion Fortune: Priestess of the Soul In the unassuming grounds of Studley Agricultural College,[28] between 1911 and 1913, a battle of wills was fought between the College Warden and a young woman, aged 20, in her employment. The young woman described the lowest depth of this abusive encounter when she wrote, “I entered her room [the Warden’s] at ten o’clock, and I left it at two. She must have said these two phrases [‘You are incompetent and you know it. You have no self-confidence, and you have got to admit it.’] several hundreds of times. I entered it a strong and healthy girl. I left it a mental and physical wreck and was ill for three years.”[29] That young girl was Violet Firth (1890-1946), known more popularly by a form of her magical name, Deus Non Fortuna (God, Not Luck), Dion Fortune. Her natural desire for understanding, this abusive experience and subsequent illness drove her to study psychology and psychoanalysis at the University of London. She was influenced by Freud and Adler and, later, Jung (from around 1943).[30] She became interested in the writings of Francis Aveling, author of Personality and Will, and Directing Mental Energy. Her pursuit drew her towards not only psychoanalysis but also occultism. Fortune joined a daughter lodge of the Golden Dawn in 1919 and between 1924 and 1927 was also a member of the Theosophical Society. In 1922 she formed the Fraternity of the Inner Light as an ‘outer court’ of the Golden Dawn, although she was later expelled from the Golden Dawn by Moina Mathers. It was also in 1922 that she wrote an article ‘Psychology and Occultism’, which Gareth Knight notes, “marked a transitional phase between Violet Firth as psychologist and Dion Fortune as occultist.”[31]

Throughout, her abiding interest was in the untapped power of the mind. Her interest in the power of suggestion is evident in The Machinery of the Mind, where she writes, Autosuggestion, or the insertion of ideas in the subconscious by the conscious mind of the person concerned, has been reduced to a therapeutic system by the New Nancy School of psychology, and is associated with the name of Emile Coeué. It is held by this school that suggestibility, or the faculty of permitting ideas to so possess the mind that they express themselves in action, is a normal human faculty.[32] Her learning eventuated in a realisation that esoteric principles, to the initiate, had real practical use, and that application often answered for her problems that were unanswered in psychotherapy. In The Mystical Qabalah, she takes “the problem of the sublimation of the sex-drive” which she says “besets the psychotherapists, concerning which they talk so glibly and say so little.”[33] She provides a qabalistic interpretation of this ‘problem’, archly veiled in symbolism, demonstrating a complex model of sexuality on many levels. Indeed, this is a model, concern and theme to which she would return many times in her fictionalised works, such as The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic. Her writing on the physiological aspects of psychology, in particular the influences of drugs, both in Machinery of the Mind and The Mystical Qabalah, shows an intuitive but advanced appreciation of the physical and psychological mechanisms employed in ritual.[34] Her legacy was to introduce psychological concerns into the esoteric tradition, and demonstrate that esoteric models comprehended those of psychology.

Contemporary Syntheses of Psychology and Magic Having analysed the crossing-points of psychology and esotericism since the rise of naturphilosophie in the late 18th century and into the 19th century, through Jung, the Golden Dawn, and individuals such as Regardie and Fortune, we can briefly examine contemporary usages of psychology in occultism, particularly where that usage continues to develop from the foundations we have traced. The analysis of self-development through both psychology and the Western esoteric tradition continued in the late 1960s with the publication of a little known book, The Christ, Psychotherapy and Magic, written by a Christian parish priest, Anthony Duncan. Duncan spent time working with the occultist Gareth Knight in Tewkesbury and, using his knowledge of psychosynthesis,[35] began to draw comparisons between pathworking – a technique favoured by Knight and his school - Christian active prayer, and a psychotherapeutic technique known as initiated symbol projection (ISP)[36] developed in West Germany since 1948, referenced by Assagioli, based upon the work of three therapists, Happich, Leuner and Desoille. The common ground Duncan finds is in the use of will and the use of symbols – he refers to prayer as “a dialogue of wills”[37] and quotes Assagioli’s three functions of symbols: 1. As containers and preservers of a dynamic psychological charge; 2. As transformers of psychological energies (see ‘Use of Metaphor’); 3. As conductors or channels of psychological energies.

This willed initiation of a symbolic dialogue is common, Duncan argues, between psychology, religion, mysticism, and the Western esoteric tradition. He goes on to illustrate this commonality by examining a psychotherapeutic group working described by Assagioli which, in its use of Arthurian and Grail symbology, is identical to a similar working performed by Gareth Knight’s esoteric group. In this similarity, Duncan finds a bridge to the ‘corporate act’ of the Christian Mass, also underpinned by a claim “by both schools [of] an enhancement of the whole enterprise by the linkage of minds on a common object, via the unconscious.”[38] He uses Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s description of ‘Noosphere’ (a form of group mind) in passing, as a unifying model for these concepts.

Duncan’s work largely draws upon the kabbalah of Dion Fortune, which he quotes at length in his introductory sections, and begins his analysis of pathworking by quoting Regardie’s The Art and Meaning of Magic and using a working described in that book to illustrate his points. In 1983, we can read Regardie again, introducing Wilson’s Prometheus Rising, based upon the methods of Crowley and the psychological eight-circuit model of consciousness developed by Timothy Leary. Wilson continues the synthetic experiment of Fortune and Regardie and blends in the esotericism of Gurdjieff and the general semantics of Alfred Korzybski. Regardie notes that the scientific view-points that Wilson develops are, for him, reminiscent of the Reichian vegetotherapy, in that “everything alive is really alive in the fullest and most dynamic sense of the word. It twitches, searches, throbs, organizes and seems aware of an upward movement”[39] This foundation would be familiar to naturphilosophie, and Prometheus Rising could be seen as continuing in that tradition of synthesis. Indeed, Wilson leaves the reader with a quote from the futurologist Barbara Marx Hubbard: “The Future exists first in imagination, then in will, then in reality.”[40]

Most recently, the experiment to integrate the methods of psychology and magic have resulted in such works as Jason Newcomb’s The New Hermetics, which describes itself as a “synthesis of Western esoteric thought, Jungian psychology, the ideas of neuro-linguistic programming, the eight-circuit model of consciousness, and Scientific Illuminism.”[41] Newcomb interprets techniques such as the Middle Pillar (as we have seen, also used by Regardie as an integrative technique between magic ritual and psychotherapy) in the context of NLP. He directly acknowledges Jung, Reich and Leary as the psychological underpinnings of the “new Hermetics”[42] and his “empowering beliefs of the new Hermetic masters” are direct echoes or re-statements of those of naturphilosophie, where we commenced the scope of this present section:[43] 1. Naturphilosophie: Nature has a mythical order. The New Hermetics: The possibilities are unlimited and the universe functions according to rules, although, at any given time, some of these rules may not be understood. 2. Naturphilosophie: Spirit becomes Nature, Nature becomes spiritualised. The New Hermetics: There is a subtle realm beyond matter, from which the physical universe manifests. In life, you are constantly learning, growing and evolving. 3. Naturphilosophie: Nature is a living set of correspondences. The New Hermetics: The universe is ultimately one thing. It is possible to make your own luck and synchronicities.

This restatement of the beliefs encapsulated by naturphilosophie inevitably leads to the urge to self-development, in the case of the ‘new Hermetics’ through a contemporary re-codification of techniques originally designed by Mathers, Westcott and Waite, and opened to a wider audience and psychological interpretation by Regardie and Fortune. NLP itself derives from modelling the work of Milton Erickson (1902- 1980), a hypnotherapist, and its formative books were deliberately entitled The Structure of Magic to reflect a modelling of the ‘magical’ techniques utilised by therapists such as Milton Erickson, Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir. [44] The concerns of contemporary esotericists continue to derive from the same current as was evident in naturphilosophie. The post-Crowley Thelemic writings of Kenneth Grant refer to the ‘nightside’ of esoteric work,[45] echoing Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert’s work on dreams and the ‘nightside’ of the soul.[46] Esoteric artist and author Maggie Ingalls (writing as Soror Nema) refers to the relationship between the individual unconscious and the global unconscious (whom she personifies as an entity named Na’aton),[47] as did Carus in 1846: “we must realise that our unconscious life is affected by all humanity, by the life of the earth and by the universe, for it is definitely an integral part of this totality.”[48] PostCrowley Thelemites and Chaos magicians look to titles such as Future Ritual for a re-presenting of Coué’s self-suggestion as ‘meta-programming the self ’ with techniques modified from the Middle Pillar as used by Regardie.[49]

We have seen how as ‘footnotes of Plato’[50] esoteric and psychological approaches seek out the contents of the darkness outside of the bright circle of consciousness, whether that darkness is seen as the mundus imaginalis or the unconscious mind. In travelling the planes, ritual magic, alchemy, or psychoanalysis, the individual is driven to discover – in their own state of consciousness – more of themselves. In this, they discover more of their relationship to the universe of which they are necessarily an intrinsic part. From the naturphilosophie of Schelling through the rituals of the Golden Dawn, through the work of Carus and Jung, and in the syntheses proposed by Fortune and Regardie, not only are we all perhaps footnotes of Plato, we are all also working in that same temple whose portal has inscribed upon it, ‘Know thyself’.

The Oath of Harpocrates I provide below one of the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls. These papers were privately circulated by members of the order for initiates only, although they have been in public circulation and published for many years now.[51] Be that as it may, the Flying Rolls still contain a great deal of power when studied at the relevant time in the initiatory journey. For your present consideration I have attached Roll No. 13, and particularly refer you to the first section on ‘Secrecy’. This was written by MacGregor Mathers. The secrecy of which we speak is that of Hermeticism; a true seal on the vessel in which calcination – the slow fire – is taking place. Like a pressure cooker, our work must be regulated and not opened to the outer lest the pressure be entirely lost to the environment. In maintaining a secret, we easily and efficiently provide ourselves such pressure – an inner dynamic that maintains the work in which we are engaged. It leads to results, whereas openly speaking to all and sundry about our views, practices and values does not lead to anything useful at all. The Ancient Egyptian god-form given for the Neophyte in the Golden Dawn is that of Harpocrates, the child-god of innocence with his finger to his lips in the universal sign of silence. This is the first asana which we must learn – that of secrecy. Only when this is mastered do we learn the balancing Neophyte sign, that of Horus, the Avenger – a sign of projection; a willed and deliberate projection with all our values behind it, as any magical act should be. The following section is quoted verbatim from the Flying Roll.

Flying Roll XIII on Secrecy and Hermetic Love We have all no doubt heard of the terrible physical tests applied in Egyptian Initiations and are aware that violence amounting to torture was used in the Ancient Mysteries before the Neophyte was considered fit to take the first steps in his Ascent of the Mountain of God. Though the methods of our Order are different the Spirit is the same, and unless we have learned indifference to physical suffering, and have become conscious of a Strong Will, a will which fears nothing fate can do to us, we can never receive a real Initiation. These ceremonies in the lower grades of Our Order are principally active in disciplining our minds; they lead us to analyse and understand ourselves. They deal with the Four states of Matter, the Four Elements of the Ancients which with their synthesis answer to the five Senses. Our Senses are the paths through which our Consciousness approaches the central power which for want of a more accurate word I will call the Will. It is the object of our lives as initiates to bring this Will to such a state of perfection, strength, and wisdom, that instead of being the plaything of fate and finding our calculations entirely upset by trivial material circumstances, we build within ourselves a fortress of strength to which we can retire in time of need. The natural Man is a chaotic mass of contradictory forces. In the higher grades of the First Order, (by presenting a perfectly balanced series of symbols to the senses) we endeavour to impress upon the imagination of the initiates, the forms under which they can obtain perfection and work in harmony with the world force.

In the 0°=0° Ceremony the principles most insisted on are Secrecy and Brotherly Love. Apart entirely from the practical necessity for secrecy in our Order, it is the fact that Silence is in itself a tremendous aid in the search for Occult powers. In darkness and stillness the Archetypal forms are conceived and the forces of nature germinated. If we study the effects of calm concentration we shall find that in silence, thoughts which are above human consciousness clothe themselves with symbolism and present things to our imagination, which cannot be told in words. The more thought and concentration of purpose that precedes an action, the more effective and effectual it will be. Again in talking on subjects such as these, there is always a terrible danger of personal influence or obsession coming into action. The Eagle does not learn to fly from the domestic fowl ‘nor does the Lion use his strength like the horse’, and although knowledge is to be gained from every available source the Opinion of others should receive the very smallest attention from the true student of Life. Free yourselves from your environments. Believe nothing without weighing and considering it for yourselves; what is true for one of us, may be utterly false for another. The God who will judge you at the day of reckoning is the God who is within you now; the man or woman who would lead you this way or that, will not be there then to take the responsibility off your shoulders. ‘The old beauty is no longer beautiful; the new truth is no longer true’, is the eternal cry of a developing and really vitalised life.

Our civilisation has passed through the First Empire of pagan sensualism; and the Second Empire of mistaken sacrifice, of giving up our own consciousness, our own power of judging, our own independence, our own courage. And the Third Empire is awaiting those of us who can see – that not only in Olympus, not only nailed to the Cross, – but in ourselves is God. For such of us, the bridge between flesh and spirit is built; for such among us hold the Keys of life and death. In this connection I may mention that the 0°=0° of the Grade of Neophyte has a deep significance as a symbol; a 0 means nothing to the world – to the initiate in the form of a circle it means all, and the aspiration of the Neophyte should be ‘In myself I am nothing, in Thee I am all; Oh bring me to that self, which is in Thee’. Having so far considered some of the thoughts that the practice of silence may bring you let us proceed to the subject of brotherly love. We must of course take the word, as we take all higher teaching, as a symbol, and translate it for ourselves into a higher plane. Let me begin by saying that any love for a person as an individual is by no means a Hermetic virtue; it simply means that the personalities are harmonious; we are born under certain influences, and with certain attractions and repulsions, and, just like the notes in the musical scale some of us agree, some disagree. We cannot overcome these likes and dislikes; even if we could, it would not be advisable to do so. If in Nature, a plant were to persist in growing in soil unsuited to it, neither the plant nor the soil would be benefited. The plant would dwindle, and probably die, the soil would be impoverished to no good end.

Therefore brotherly love does not imply seeking, or remaining in the society of those to whom we have an involuntary natural repulsion. But it does mean this, that we should learn to look at people’s actions from their point of view, that we should sympathise with and make allowances for their temptations. I would then define Hermetic or Brotherly Love as the capacity of understanding another’s motives and sympathising with his weaknesses, and remember that it is generally the unhappy who sin. A crime, a falsehood, a meanness often springs from a vague terror of our fellows. We distrust them and ourselves. It is the down-trodden and the weak whom we have to fear; and it is by offering them sympathy and doing what we can to give them courage, that we can overcome evil. But in practising Hermetic Love, above all things conquer that terrible sting of love – jealousy. The jealousy of the benefactor, the jealousy of the lover, or the friend, are alike hateful and degrading passions. Jealousy is deeply rooted in human nature nourished by custom, even elevated to a virtue under the pretence of fidelity. To see human nature at its very worst you have only to listen to the ravings and threats of a person who considers his monopoly of some other person’s affection is infringed. This kind of maniacal passion is the outcome of the egotism á deux, which has been so fostered by romance. But it is natural to wish to help and be necessary to those we love, and when we find others just as necessary or helpful, to feel bitterly that our ‘occupation’ is gone; but these regrets will be impossible to us when we can live in the world realising from day to day more fully that the highest and best principle within us is the Divine Light which surrounds us, and which, in a more or less manifested condition, is also in others.

The vehicle may be disagreeable to us, the personality of another may be antipathetic, but latent light is there all the same, and it is that which makes us all brothers. Each individual must arrive at the consciousness of Light in his own way; and all we can do for each other is to point out that the straight and narrow path is within each of us. No man flies too high with his own wings; but if we try to force another to attempt more than his strength warrants, his inevitable fall will lie at our door. This is our duty towards our neighbours; our duty towards God, is our duty towards ourselves; for God is identical with our highest genius and is manifested in a strong, wise, will freed from the rule of blind instinct. He is the Voice of Silence, The Preparer of the Pathway, The Rescuer unto the Light.

Sermons Through Stones: The Secret Masters

“Travellers have met these adepts on the shores of the sacred Ganges, brushed against them on the silent ruins of Thebes, and in the mysterious deserted chambers of Luxor. Within the halls upon whose blue and golden vaults the weird signs attract attention, but whose secret meaning is never penetrated by idle gazers, they have been seen, but seldom recognised. Historical memoirs have recorded their presence in the brilliantly illuminated salons of European aristocracy. They have been encountered again on the arid and desolate plains of the Great Sahara, or in the caves of Elephanta. They may be found everywhere, but they make themselves known only to those who have devoted their lives to unselfish study and are not likely to turn back.”

-

H. P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled[52]

In this section we will introduce the concept of the Secret Masters, also known as the Hidden Chiefs, to which we will return much later in the work of The Magister, in Volume 9. As this concept was picked up by the Golden Dawn through theosophy, it is to that latter path that we will first turn our attention. Theosophy, as developed by H.P. Blavatsky, H.S. Olcott and those who followed – such as Annie Besant, C.W. Leadbeater, Katherine Tingley, Anna Kingsford, and A.P. Sinnett – may be considered one of the most voluminous and dense of esoteric movements. The claims of the movement to be in contact with Hidden Masters, variously termed Mahatmas, Adepts, etc., who precipitated communications remotely from Tibet through occult means, is possibly one of the most contentious issues in esoteric circles. The debate within and without the movement, stretching over a century, has resulted in an astonishing amount of material arguing the very existence of these Masters and their nature, both as historical personages and as adepts informing – from the East – the Western esoteric tradition. As such, it might be considered that the existence and nature of the Masters is indeed a question at the very heart of the Western esoteric tradition. To question their existence and nature is to question all who practice the tradition which ultimately promises similar adepthood to those who achieve a mastery of the disciplines of esoteric schools. And many contemporary schools claim a ‘contacted’ nature; that is to say that they assert their own connection to Hidden Masters.[53] As this section suggests, the concept of the Masters and their identity is fundamental to the WEIS, and not unique to the theosophical movement. It should be stated that this examination can only briefly touch upon certain issues, which remains wide-ranging and awash with unusually detailed, elaborate and obtuse claims and counter-claims – even for esotericism.

It is also proposed that the concept of ‘Hidden Masters’ might be considered an intrinsic component of the WEIS. Those components described by Faivre certainly are supportive of the concept, and the concept itself presupposes those components. It is the intention here to elucidate the context – and to suggest, indeed, a certain necessity – of the ‘Masters’, specifically in regard of the Theosophical Society. The scope will be limited to specific configurations of that society, and other occurrences of the concept will be referenced to support the intrinsic nature of the concept to the WEIS as a whole. We will begin by reviewing the occurrence of the Masters in the work of H.P. Blavatsky and significant others in the theosophical movement, such as A.P. Sinnett. We will see the role of the concept in esoteric thought, and its necessity. Furthermore, we will note how the appearance of the Masters pre-dated Blavatsky in the accounts of early theosophers, and has outlived her in contemporary occultism. The esoteric context in which the Masters exist will be touched upon, in particular the ideas of evolution, reincarnation and degrees of reality. To conclude, we will comment upon approaches to the subject, in particular the quest to answer the question of the identity of the Masters, by mundane physical identification. Madame Helena Petrova Blavatsky (1831-1891), founder of the Theosophical Society, related first having met a Master in 1843, at the age of 13, after a fall off a runaway horse in Asiatic Russia. There she was cared for by an ‘extraordinary’ man who suddenly appeared and who disappeared just as suddenly. She afterwards saw him sporadically in visions. However, Blavatsky admits that her reports of later encounters with the Masters are poorly recalled. She writes of that period:

Everything is hazy, everything confused and mixed. I can hardly remember where I have been or where I have not been in India since 1880.

And goes on to say: I saw Master in my visions ever since my childhood. In the year of the first Nepaul Embassy (when?) saw and recognised him. Saw him twice. Once he came out of the crowd, then He ordered me to meet Him in Hyde Park. I cannot, I must not speak of this. I would not publish it for the world.[54] There is a confused debate about these reports, including another account of a diary entry which has Blavatsky referring to Ramsgate rather than London, which she later referred to as a ‘blind’ to the truth. There is argument as to her debt to the writings of the English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and her possible relationship to the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, another esoteric movement. Whatever the nature of the truths behind the argument, for which particularly see Webb[55] and Johnson,[56] the centrality of these Masters is unarguable in the tenets of the theosophy movement. So, firstly, what – rather than whom – are these Mahatmas? Blavatsky writes:

A Mahatma is an individual who, by special training and education, has evolved those higher faculties, and has attained that spiritual knowledge, which ordinary humanity will acquire after passing through numberless series of reincarnations during the process of cosmic evolution, provided, of course, that they do not go, in the meanwhile, against the purposes of Nature and thus bring about their own annihilation.[57] However, these individuals, though human, are described as transcending their humanity in immeasurable ways, including those of physical limitations. In the inner teachings of the Theosophical Society, Blavatsky spoke about the Masters’ relationship to physical manifestation: The Masters’ bodies are, so far as they are concerned, illusionary, and hence do not grow old, become wrinkled, etc.[58] The location of the Masters in Tibet has been a question of some consideration. One Theosophical writer remarked that this location was obvious: The reason why the Mahatmas live in remote mountain regions is easily stated. In such high places the atmosphere is naturally the purest and most refined on the earth’s surface, and therefore suitable to the cultivation and development of psychic powers. The powerful magnetism engendered and thrown off by ordinary humanity, especially when crowded together in cities, is extremely trying to the sensitive natures of the Adepts.[59]

Blavatsky did not wholly elaborate the structure of the Masters’ organisation – a Great White Brotherhood – nor the concepts of Rays, the nature of the living quarters of her Masters, or many other elements that later accreted to this central concept of superhuman development. The sudden appearance of a guiding Master is not uncommon in theosophical literature. Early theosophers such as Jacob Boehme (15751624) and Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) both received such appearances. In the case of both men, a mysterious guide is present to initiate their teachings. In Boehme’s case, a stranger who appears at his master’s shop and calls the young Jacob out into the street, to tell him that he will become a great man and cause wonder in the world. In Swedenborg’s case, in the account given by Carl Robsahm, a man who appeared to Swedenborg in a vision was clearly identified as Christ.[60] Precedents to the concept of the Masters may be found in earlier literature outside of theosophy. It has been suggested by Hanegraaf that a precedent is in the ‘unknown superiors’ of the high-degree masonry of the Strikte Observanz (18th century) which, in turn, may have derived from the Rosicrucian mythos first made public in 1614.[61] However, the Masters described may not be of the same typology. The unknown superior of the Strict Observance is that of Karl Gotthelf Hund (1722-1776), founder of the Rite, about whom Jean Ursin questioned, “There is a debate over whether or not he made a voyage to England, or if it was in Paris that he was received into a Templar Chapter, in the presence of Lord Kilmarnock, by a mysterious knight of the red feather, Eques a Penna Rubra ...”[62]

It is claimed by the less-than-sympathetic Peter Washington that the “immediate source for this idea in Western esotericism was almost certainly the English novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), whose work she [Blavatsky] knew well. It would not be unjust to say that her new religion was virtually manufactured from his pages.”[63] Of course, Lytton was familiar with the esoteric current through wide reading of Boehme, Swedenborg and Mesmer, and working with Eliphas Lévi (1810-1875). In a listing of the various terms for prophets and seers within the literature of esotericism, the theosophist Geoffrey Farthing refers to “Adepts, Initiates, Rishis, Mahatmas, Maha-Gurus, Masters of Wisdom.” However, he closes the paragraph with the statement: What is more, they affirm that the knowledge and powers which they possess and demonstrate are accessible to all who will undergo the disciplines by which, and by which alone, such attainment is possible.[64] It might be stated that if the Masters did not exist, they would have to be invented, in order to demonstrate that the discipline of esoteric science leads to some worthwhile attainment. William Wynn Westcott, Freemason and co-founder of the Golden Dawn Society, in speaking of the Rosicrucians to the Theosophical Society, was keen to draw parallels between the two movements. In particular, on the Hidden Masters he states:

My intention is the more admissible because H. P. B. ever declared that the school of learned men who instructed HER to promulgate their doctrines, has been in continuous existence for ages; and that they have at several times, notably in the closing twenty-five years of each century, authorised and guided some effort at the spread of true occult philosophy.[65] The development of the Masters into a wider brotherhood was a gradual revelation. In 1925, C.W. Leadbeater dealt with the subject at length, in particular identifying the Masters with the Great White Brotherhood, whose whole object is “to promote the work of evolution.”[66] The connection of theosophy with the Masters is stated in clear terms by Annie Besant in her address to the Theosophical Congress held at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, entitled ‘Theosophy is a System of Truths Discoverable and Verifiable by Perfected Men’: These truths [are] preserved in their purity by the great brotherhood, given out from time to time as the evolution of man permits the giving; so that we are able to trace in all the religions the source whence they flow, the identical teaching which underlies them.[67] The Masters are here arranged as some university, with a similar hierarchy and organisation of mentoring and presentation for examination. The Master and the Adept are interchangeable terms, for the sponsoring agent between the initiate and the Brotherhood. However, the most pertinent comment on the role of the Masters is when Leadbeater points out that ‘Oriental’ material refers very little to Masters, as though none existed. In answering his own question, he asks that without the Masters:

How is a man living in the ordinary world brought to this Probationary Path, and how does he come to know that such a thing exists?[68] It is as an indication of the esoteric tradition and its relevance to the development of man that the Masters function; as exemplars of the evolutionary concerns of esotericism and embodiments of an other-wise occult teaching. It is also noted that many contemporary esoteric movements hold the concept of the Masters, hence supporting the present proposal that this element is indeed intrinsic to the esoteric milieu. New Age authors, equally voluminous in their writings as Blavatsky, include Jane Roberts (Seth), J.Z. Knight (Ramtha), Elizabeth Clare Prophet and revealed writings such as A Course In Miracles (Helen Schucman), The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield), Mutant Message Down Under (Marlo Morgan), and more recently, Conversations with God (Neale Donald Walsch),[69] all referring to one or more Masters. These masters are identified in a bewildering range of types, including, as found by Hanegraaf, “the Committee” described as “a geometrical consciousness comprised of a line, a spiral and a multi-dimensional triangle!”[70]

There are a number of presuppositions embedded within theosophy which support the concept of the Masters, and which indeed would lead to their inevitable conceptualisation if the ideas are developed. These are evolution, reincarnation and multiple planes of existence. In theosophy, and in particular the identity of the Masters, we find a greater weight on one of the ‘relative’ conditions of the six (four primary, two relative) conditions denoted by Faivre as identifying the esoteric tradition – that of transmission.[71] In the primary component of imagination and mediation, in theosophy we also see the “accent is placed on vision and certainty, rather than on belief and faith.”[72] The Secret Doctrine of Madame Blavatsky makes clear that the context in which the Masters are to be seen is truly esoteric – in accord with Faivre’s components – in that: The whole Kosmos is guided, controlled, and animated by almost endless series of Hierarchies of sentient Beings, each having a mission to perform ... They vary infinitely in their respective degrees of consciousness and intelligence ...[73] The universe as a living and connected entity, with mediated degrees of existence, is one which will support the concept of Adepts who can navigate this universe.

We must also account for the concept of karma in this vision of the Secret Masters. Karma is defined by Blavatsky as “the Ultimate Law of the Universe, the source, origin and fount of all other laws which exist throughout Nature.” More importantly, she deepens this concept by noting that karma is “that unseen and unknown law which adjusts wisely, intelligently and equitably each effect to its cause, tracing the latter back to its producer.”[74] Karma is thus seen as the law of evolution, in which the hierarchies are seated and “what is called ‘unconscious nature’ is in reality an aggregate of forces manipulated by semi-intelligent beings (Elementals) guided by High Planetary Spirits (Dhyani-Chohans), whose collective aggregate forms the manifested verbum of the unmanifested LOGOS ...”[75] Here Blavatsky again addresses a key component of esotericism defined by Faivre – that of a mediated universe, in which the Masters, as man, have a place. Blavatsky wrote that to see a real Mahatma, one must use “spiritual sight” and elevate the manas – the mind – “that its perception will be clear and all mists created by Maya [illusion] must be dispelled.” However, following that elevation, it is apparent that the Mahatmas are then to be considered as “ubiquitous and omnipresent” and the viewer will “see the Mahatmas wherever he may be.” This does not indicate a verifiable opportunity for one not versed in merging into the “sixth and seventh principles” to attain.[76] It is more in the relationship between the Master and the chela (pupil) that a new identity emerges; one based upon perception and communication, not verifiable externalisation. The Masters communicate through the pupil: “We employ agents – the best available,” says Master K.H. in a letter to H.S. Olcott, referring no doubt to Blavatsky.

This relationship is not verifiable and not predictable, even to the chosen agents: Our ways are not your ways. We rarely show any outward signs by which to be recognised or sensed.[77] And furthermore; ‘Sermons may be preached through stones’. Do not be too eager for ‘instructions’.[78] Not only are perceptions of the Masters open to question and unverifiable, their own perception is given as uniquely placed: The Mahatmas are persistent in asserting that they are not infallible, that they are men, like the rest of us, perhaps with a somewhat more enlarged comprehension of nature than the generality of mankind, but still able to err both in the direction of practical business with which they may be concerned, and in their estimate of the characters of other men, or the capacity of candidates for occult development.[79] The communication and relationship between the individual and the Master is equally unique. The disciple is seen in some senses as merely “the extension of the Master’s nervous system.”[80] The Master “outlines the work; the disciple is left free to decide within his own limits how his share of it should best be carried out.”[81]

In this context, it is not surprising that there is difficulty in formally identifying what is at once a human personage, an Adept whose own body has a double, an astral form, a transcended being, a form of communication, and an omnipresent existence. So can we identify such a Master? There are few other areas of the Western esoteric tradition that make so clear the line between esoteric articles of faith and academic epistemologies than the concept of Hidden Masters. Indeed, of this, Godwin suggests that here the “scholarly investigator [is] doomed to frustration.”[82] Blavatsky herself was less than forthright in her identification of her Master as a physical personage. In a letter to her aunt, reported by Jean Overton-Fuller, she says that she has “known” her Master for about 26 years, having first met him in London in 1851, in the train of the “premier of Nepaul” and later with the “Queen of Oudh.” Further background was given: He is a Buddhist, but not of the dogmatic Church, but belonging to Shivabhavika, the Nepaul so-called Aetheists (?!!!) … He who could be on the throne, according to the rights of birth, renounced all, to live quite unknown, and gave all his enormous income to the poor. [83]

The first external attempt to establish the veracity and identity of the Masters came from the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) investigation into the phenomena associated with the Theosophical Society in 1884, which led to a second investigation following claims of fraud (made by Emma and Alex Coulomb). The report of the second investigation, known as the Hodgson Report, published on 24 June 1885, concluded that the Coulomb’s accusations were true: the letters supposedly written by the Mahatmas Koot Hoomi Lal Sing and Morya had in fact been written by either Blavatsky or her theosophical assistant and disciple, Damodar K. Mavalankar. Furthermore, the Mahatmas were “mere fictions.”[84] However, this research has been questioned, with an alternative conclusion that there was no evidence that the Mahatma letters were fabricated.[85] Other authors have sought to establish the identity of the Masters and “move from the mythical to the historical.” One controversial study is that presented by K. Paul Johnson, who profiles 32 of the “hidden sponsors” of Blavatsky, seeking to identify the Masters as historical personages. Master K.H. is identified as Thakar Singh Sandhanwalia, and Master Morya is identified as Maharaja Kanbir Singh of Kashmir.[86] The physicality of the Masters is also another contentious area. In 1882, Olcott himself wrote to the Spiritualist magazine in response to this question: I have seen them, not once but numerous times. I have talked to them. I was not entranced, nor mediumistic, nor hallucinated, but always in my sober senses. I have corresponded with them, receiving their letters ... I have seen them, both in their bodies and their doubles, usually the latter ... Since November last, four different Brothers have made themselves visible to visitors at our headquarters.

I know the Brothers to be living men and not Spirits; and they have told me that there are schools, under appointed living adepts, where their Occult science is regularly taught.[87] As men – even transcended – the politics of the Masters is a deeper question outside the scope of this current work, but it could be suggested that the Masters provide a bridge between occult speculation and practical politics. Fritz Kunz talks of: ... the state of a man who is independent, original and simple, with regard to his duty to society, not only as an isolated individual with a unique experience, but as a person with a high social sense, such as the Masters are [my bold]. Unquestionably, such a man would believe in a greater democracy, one with forms unknown to us today except by such meaningless terms as Socialism, Communism — or even an anarchy, in which every individual is a law unto himself, because he knows the eternal laws, and therefore lives at a better and much more useful level in society than could a man of good intention who is without a knowledge of nature’s laws.[88] Ultimately, the Masters state their own reason for existence and their cause. The Master K.H. writes: The cause I live for, that Battle of Light against Darkness.[89]

In fact, Blavatsky indicates, in a statement not often quoted, that in the final analysis, there are two Masters: God and the Devil.[90] In this we see that the Masters provide a fundamental conceptual placeholder for the theosophical tradition, as agents representing the positive side of a dualistic world-view. In the identification of the Masters by their role and function, rather than their physical identity, we can see that the Masters function as a template in which the theosophist can contextualise their own personal spiritual evolution: I can come nearer to you, but you must draw me by a purified heart and a gradually developing will.[91] The Master provides a confidante and mentor to the aspiring student in the absence of the love of a Christ-figure: The Master is our friend and co-worker, or rather – we can be His, each in his own sphere, and according to our best judgement.[92] They transcend our own limitations; they are “able to see far into the future and see in an individual more of his potentialities than his present capacities.”[93] This function provides encouragement to those following the disciplines of the school, including the practice of right living and meditation. Furthermore, the Masters provide an overarching sentience to the events of the world, in the absence of a singular controlling deity:

We claim to know more of the secret cause of events than you men of the world do.[94] It is in this representation of the secret cause of events – the very occult heart of the universe – that the Masters provide their deepest function, as mediators between the world of the apparent and the world of divine wisdom; theo-sophia: Buddhism, stripped of its superstitions, is eternal truth, and he who strives for the latter is striving for theo-sophia, Divine Wisdom, which is a synonym of truth.[95] It has not been possible here to begin to examine a number of related issues to that singular question posed; that is to say, not only who are the Masters, but why are they generally identified as male, what are the mechanisms by which they perform transmutation of the world in order to communicate across space, and how is their transcendence of time to be explained? To these issues we will return in Volume 9 of The Magister. The identity of the Masters, it has been proposed, is not as relevant a question as to their role – their necessary function as exemplars and conceptual placeholders within the context of the WEIS, as evinced within the theosophy movement. As Kunz states, the obstacle to the emergence (or identification) of the Masters is “whether we are trying to make a world suitable to them,”[96] and this is the stumbling block of which Godwin writes to the academic approach.

The concept itself requires what Blavatsky terms “that enlightened belief,” faith, leading to knowledge, which is experience, and that – as we have concluded – is itself the prompt to “work in harmonious accord with Nature, instead of going against its purposes through ignorance.”[97] It was in the early part of what is now the previous century that these Masters wrote to Laura C. Holloway and warned that mankind was: drifting into two classes ... one preparing for long periods of temporary annihilation or states of non-consciousness (through bigotry or superstition), the other unrestrainingly indulging its animal propensities with the deliberate intention of submitting to annihilation pure and simple. In the face of that constant threat, the path of all human evolution into a state of mastery remains a relevant and compelling article of esoteric faith.

No Man Hath Seen me Unveiled

In this section we will look at the experience of the Dweller on the Threshold and begin to explore the magical constitution of the Self in relation to the universe, through the Ancient Egyptian schema and the kabbalah. This introduces the idea that the Self is experiencing a reorganisation in relation to the universe throughout the initiatory system, and as it does, various difficulties will be encountered. These may manifest in a variety of ways – self-delusion, boredom, pride, attraction to esoteric powers and experiences, and much more. The primary experience is that of the Dweller on the Threshold, which in effect is a standard entry into every initiatory grade which follows, not just the first on our occult progress. After a while one welcomes the Dweller as a signpost, rather than rejecting it as a terrifying evil presence.

The nature of events surrounding the initiatory work are extremely variable. However, there are usually effects both internal and external, so I will attempt to give a couple of examples. In one, a student found that they were suddenly experiencing waves of ‘insecurity’ about their personal situation/s and wanted to leave the Work in order to ‘deal with the situation’. It was not to be made easily clear to them that the ‘situation’ was the Work. Their ‘insecurity’ resulted from a growing knowledge and experience that they didn’t know themselves as well as they thought, so therefore this was also projected out onto those close to them. Another student found that they were experiencing a run of ‘bad luck’ which resulted in them ‘quitting’ the apprenticeship scheme in order to ‘get back to a normal life and come back later’. They couldn’t be convinced that this was part of their Work and they were unlikely to come back later or, if they did, that the same thing would probably happen again. They have not come back. These experiences are part of the ‘Dweller on the Threshold’ syndrome, which I best describe in a chemistry analogy. If you measure the temperature of water as it is heated, by the second, you get a steadily rising graph with a gentle curve. However, as the water approaches boiling point (100 degrees Celsius), at about 97-98 degrees Celsius, the graph suddenly dips slightly, as if the water isn’t heating up uniformly, but doing ‘something else’. The temperature then – after this briefest of blips – returns to rising steadily to 100 degrees Celsius, when it starts to boil and the water turns from liquid to gas. This ‘blip’ is caused by the water molecules, bonded atoms of hydrogen and oxygen, ‘stealing’ the heat energy in order to ‘break’ the bonds holding them in a liquid form, which turns them into a gaseous form. It is not a steady rise – there is an initiatory moment prior to the state-change.

That ‘blip’ seems to me a wonderful model of what happens to a life when it is about to undergo a state-change; and the magical faith is that it happens both internally and externally, with seemingly no apparent causality that can be measured, predicted or discerned. With regard to the Dweller on the Threshold, and other such matters, then ‘terror’ is often seen as your only chosen response (whether you like it or not!), but it is not something that is implicit in the experience itself. There is a line in Jacob’s Ladder, a film which I show my students at some point or another if they have not already seen it, where a character paraphrases a mystical saying, “If you’re holding on, then angels seem like demons, tearing your life away, but if you let go, you’ll see them as angels, freeing you.” It is very true. Heart-breakingly so. Each grade has its Dweller experience, appropriate to the nature of the sephirah to which it maps. At the grade of Adeptus Exemptus, corresponding to Chesed, ‘mercy’, one such experience was a terrifying lucid dream of such vehemence and power that it flung the initiate off the path for more than a year. The dreamer was placed in a blue cube, composed of a living water. A sound commenced, which he knew was of the ‘engines of undoing’. The water upon the walls started to create vast ripples and patterns of increasing complexity and speed, as his very soul became unravelled. He glanced across the room to see another figure – possibly himself – tearing out their own eyes as they could not endure the process. It may be that the Dweller is often ourselves, but this helps us not at all to know.

The gates and their guardians in the initiatory path are also found in the Tibetan Bardo Thodol, and the ancient Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Day; a model of stages of progression, through which an initiate may pass. Each stage has its own obstacles, rewards and perspective. They are usually sequential, but not necessarily so. They are usually attained when one has learnt the lesson of the following stage, but not necessarily so. They are usually passed through only once, but not necessarily so. They are a useful map of the initiatory process that becomes engaged when you start to seek truth and flee falsity. In the Theosophical Glossary we read about the Moon and the Dweller on the Threshold: In Tarot tradition, the Moon represents unconscious desires and the fears that accompany the sense of losing control or falling into the unconscious realm of sleep and dreams. However, if one is afraid to enter one’s own astral territory, one can never truly know oneself – and the mystery of initiation is about little more than this. The real confrontation that the Moon represents is the meeting with the ‘Dweller on the Threshold’ of which occult and esoteric teachers speak. This is the giant force of accumulated evil or wrongdoings, the hideous part of the self that a person would rather not look at and would like to pretend doesn’t exist, and which rises up at the point of real psychic growth. This ‘demon’ must not only be looked at, but integrated into the being, in order to establish wholeness.[98]

There are two or three separate considerations here. Firstly, at the point of growth, there has to be energy (for want of a better word) turned inwards in order to affect the change. I have mentioned the chemistry example of water boiling – the slight dip in temperature prior to the ‘boiling point’ which is the heat being used to break the bonds of the atoms, changing state from liquid to gas. This is common in all forms of initiation. I also liken it to a great light approaching us from behind. Whilst this light approaches, all we see is a shadow getting bigger and bigger, until we turn to face the light and step into it, when the shadow simply vanishes. The Moon represents another process – an alchemical one – which you will encounter if you follow on from the Crucible to later work. This process I won’t discuss as yet. At present, though, from the view-point of Malkuth, the Moon is a cyclical process, returning many times over to show us what we need to learn from what is presently unknown or rejected by us – the Shadow. The ‘psychic growth’ we encounter is a simple dissolution of the state of consciousness that allows us to remain in avoidance with relationship to universe. Whilst we hold onto this state, we have shadows, dwellers, thresholds, lessons, karma, and all other devices, props and illusions that support our separation. When we are ready to have exhausted these props, we can move on. The initiatory system allows us to formulate a series of stages which challenge these supports and illusions in a relatively efficient manner, although it is always – always – going to be difficult. But the rewards become greater.

Considerations on the Division of the Soul All cosmologies include some attempts to describe and model the elements that constitute the human experience. Their complexity and lucidity varies from culture to culture, and often models are variations on a theme, or expanded versions of earlier systems. It is useful to study at least one system – like the Tree of Life – for it provides us with a stable comparison to our ongoing experience, and acts as a placeholder for process and pattern. The simplest model might well be that implied in Descarte’s famous dictum, cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am.” His model further includes a dubious proof for the existence of God, thereby composing the most basic dualistic system of Self / God, which may be seen as separate entities, ultimately identical entities, or entities of which one is the enclosure of the other. The Self is one of the basic experiences of the human psyche, in that it is that to which we constantly refer our experience, both in the environment (e.g. “I am having a cup of tea.”) and in our inner world (e.g. “I am feeling happy.”). It is impossible to define these two worlds as separate except in our mundane experience, in that the so-called external world is in part – if not in totality – an experience equally generated by our own internal world.

In kabbalah, this is indicated by the separation of Tiphareth, ‘Selfconsciousness’, to Malkuth by Yesod, the ‘persona’. Our thoughts (Hod) and emotions (Netzach) constantly alter the process of Yesod (ego) in acting as our interpreter of the environment such that what we perceive is in fact our shared vision of the world, not the actual world itself. The philosopher Kant expressed this in his Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics: As the senses never and in no single instance enable us to know things in themselves, but only their appearances, and as these are mere representations ... all bodies, together with the space in which they are, must be held to be nothing but mere representations in us, and exist nowhere else than merely in our thought.[99] The actual world is termed by Kant the Ding-an-sich, the ‘thing-in-itself’. The medieval kabbalists, such as Abraham ibn Ezra, followed on from the Neo-Platonic school of Plotinus in utilising a threefold division of the functions of the psyche. These were: Nefesh (NPSh, breath, spirit, soul, person, character in drama, tombstone); Ru’ah (RVCh, wind, spirit, ghost, disposition); Neshamah (NShMH, breath, soul, life, living creature). This trinity, as developed by such kabbalists as Rabbi Moses Korduero and Rabbi Yitzchaq Loria, is usually taken to represent:

Nefesh - Animal vitality Ru’ah - Self-awareness Neshamah - Transcendent awareness Eliphas Lévi summarises these elements as the passions, the reason and the higher aspirations, and puts it that “The body is the veil of the Nephesch, the Nephesch is the veil of Ruach, Ruach is the veil of the shroud of Neschemah.”[100] A further development of these divisions, after the original Zoharic teachings, appended the Chiah (ChIH, soul, life) to the system, thereby making a parallel to the four kabbalistic worlds: Chiah - Atziluth Neschamah - Briah Ru’ah - Yetzirah Nefesh - Assiah A final addition to these teachings came with the 13th century occultists, when the concept of a ‘Yechidah’ was added, referring to the ultimate spark of God within the psyche. The word comes from the root IChID, meaning ‘oneness’, and is a similar root to IChID, ‘privacy, union with God’. The trinity of Yechidah, Chiah and Neschamah were all bound up under the title of the Neschamah, and attributed to Kether, Chockmah and Binah. The Ru’ah was attributed to the sephiroth of Chesed to Yesod, and the Nefesh to Malkuth.

Crowley, in Little Essays Towards Truth, describes the elements finally arrived at: Yechidah - Point, quintessential principle of soul Chiah - Creative impulse (Will) of Yechidah Ruach - Mind, spirit Nephesch - Animal soul Crowley noted that the Ruach, centred in Tiphareth, reaches its culmination in Da’ath, the union of Chockmah and Binah, and positioned at the Abyss. Thus the ultimate transcendence of the Self is brought about by this divine knowledge.[101] Kabbalists saw their work as ultimately bringing about the descent of the Neschamah by the holy union of the King (Melekh) and Queen (Matronita), which refer to Tiphareth and Malkuth. As the Ramak stated in Pardes Rimonim: The Nefesh (Lower soul) can motivate the Ruach (Middle Spirit) and the Ruach in turn motivates the Neshamah (Upper soul). The Neschamah then ascends from one essence to the next, until it reaches its source. The kabbalah is only one of many cosmologies which attempt to describe the functions of human experience. The Ancient Egyptians developed a complex system of souls inhabiting the individual, and as these may be contrasted against the kabbalistic divisions, I will mention them here briefly.

The Egyptian model used by many occultists from the late 19th century into the early 20th century was usually based upon the works of Sir E.A. Wallis Budge. As knowledge of the subject expanded, many of the phrases they may have used have been significantly updated and in some cases replaced. For example, the ‘Khu’ is referred to by Keith Perkins in Egyptian Life and the Tree of Life and rendered as ‘intelligence of divinity’ attributed to Kether.[102] However, ‘Khu’ is actually the now discredited reading of the word ‘Akh’, and is one of the spirit forms released at death, with the root meaning of ‘to be bright’ (the ‘Akhu’ are the spirits of the dead). Thus it is not applicable to divinity or Kether in the way that Perkins sees it, as it would rather be allocated to Yesod in terms of the sephiroth or the Nefesh in terms of the divisions of the soul. Egyptian Name – Glyph - Qualities Khat (Kat, Xat, Kab) – Fish - Body Sahu - Mummy and seal – Spiritual body Ka (Kai) - Upraised hands - Image, double Ba (Baie) - Various birds - Spirit-soul Khaibt - Fan

Shadow - aura

Akh (Khu, Khou, Yekh) - Bennu bird - Bright spirit Sekhem – Owl - Vital power Ren - Kneeling man - Name Hati – Lion - Whole heart Ab – Jar - Will Tet (Zet) - Upright snake - Soul Hammemit - Radiating Sun - Unborn soul

Florence Farr, in her book Egyptian Magic,[103] saw these divisions acting through magical practice by influencing the Ka and the Ba in the Ab. This representation is a mirror image, she said, of the Ka reaching up to provide a resting place for the Ba, symbolised by the hawk. This latter is an emanation of the Hammemmit, and signified the sacrifice of the lower Self to the Higher Self. In ritual, she explained the process of magic in terms of the above as follows: a. The symbolism of the ritual is fully recognised; b. The imagination is extended to encompass this symbolism; c. The Will is concentrated firmly and repeatedly; d. The Ka (ego) is thus put into tension, and acts on its counterpart in the heart (Ab), which is the vessel of conscious desire; e. This in turn reacts on the Hati (unconscious executant); f. The whole psyche thus in a state of theurgic excitation, the Ba (divine link) descended, and the whole body becomes a Khu (shining one or Augoides); g. This new being is established in the midst of the Sahu (elemental body), and by its radiation can awaken corresponding potencies in Nature. The Sahu could hence be seen in modern terms as a morphogenetic field; h. For this purpose, the Khaibt is used as the link between the ego and nonego, and the Tet (spiritual body) is established.

We will see how this model can be applied to the structure and mechanism of ritual – and the whole of magic – in the next volume of The Magister. Other models for the psyche include Gurdjieff’s ‘octaves’ scheme, and two other eight-fold systems, being the psychosynthesis construct of Dr. Roberto Assagioli and the ‘circuit grid’ model developed by Dr. Timothy Leary and expounded upon by Robert Anton Wilson. The psychosynthesis model has been compared to its kabbalistic counterpart in Hardy’s A Psychology With A Soul,[104] and it is heartening to find that she states kabbalah has a more effective model in this instance. The circuit system has been matched to a kabbalah scheme of YHVH and the tarot by R. A. Wilson in his unique workbook Prometheus Rising. In the end, it is up to the individual to utilise whichever scheme they find their experience best falls into. A combination of schemes may not necessarily be contradictory, but may illuminate different facets of the infinitely faceted gemstone that is the human being.

Vignette: The Goddess of Sais Never let it be said that the deities do not have a sense of humour. When working with the goddess Neith for a working of Liber Astarte, Frater Ash found himself visited by her on two very real occasions. As he had originally planned to work with the goddess Diana, he had been sent a dream the night before the six-month working was planned, in which he was to open a door on which was written ‘The Goddess of Sais’. On looking that up in the morning, he discovered the goddess to be Neith, about whom he knew little, unlike Diana, for whom the altar and workings had been prepared. So scrapping that, Frater Ash learnt that Neith was the goddess of mummy binding and bandages, the wrappings and shrouds of the dead. He began to work with this lesser known deity. One day, several weeks into this intense dedicatory practice, whilst at work in the accounts department of an engineering company, he was left alone and the door chime sounded. He went downstairs to open the door and find a rough looking woman with a basket. She looked at him and asked if the company was interested in buying from her? When he looked askance at her, she pulled a blanket back from the basket, and there were tens of rolls of white bandage. Without thinking, Frater Ash hurried the woman away, saying how busy he was and telling her not to come back. It was only when he returned to his chair that the chill started down his spine, and he realised that he had turned away a real life avatar of his own goddess, exactly as might be written in any folk tale.

Several years later, on a Nile cruise, he found himself involved in a party game, which unexpectedly turned into a game in which his wife had to run around him wrapping him with rolls of tissue paper as a mummy. Again, it was only the following day that he thought to check where the boat had been sailing that night. It was – of course – what used to be called in ancient Egypt, the town of Sais. Whatever else may be said about Neith, she has a long memory and a good sense of humour.

The Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel We now turn to arguably one of the most important element of the Western esoteric tradition – the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.[105] There has been more misleading material written about this most profound experience and state than any other aspect of the tradition. This is, in part, inevitable given that the language is based in the Christian heritage from which many Western practitioners seek to distance themselves. It is also ironic that Western practitioners will enthusiastically embrace the most complex doctrines of other religious systems – notably karma, chakras, and reincarnation – and yet remain confused and ambivalent with regard to the Western cultural milieu in which we are already positioned.

Order of 15, A Christian Occult Group

We will begin to discuss the nature of the Holy Guardian Angel, the Self, the Higher Self, and the True Will. Of these things, we may actually speak little but practice much – for angels weary of talk and are most evident on the battlefield, in labour, strife, and struggle. They are also to be found in the quiet groves, the silence of the shoreline, and in-between the aisles of both church and supermarket. We will here learn how the concept has entered into the popular imagination of the Western esoteric tradition, how the experience may be contextualised in our initiatory schema, and how it may eventually be gained.

The Sacred Magic of Abramelin The main introduction of the Holy Guardian Angel into Western esotericism is through the book known as the Sacred Magic of Abramelin.[106] Although there are rarer and lesser known examples of the Holy Guardian Angel being spoken of in Western magic – and more commonly understood examples such as the Genius or Daimon of the Neo-Platonists – it is through this magical text that the idea found its root in contemporary magic. The book was first translated from a French version held in Paris, by MacGregor Mathers, one of the three founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It acquired notoriety in the later work of Aleister Crowley, who – it must be said – developed the concept in various and contradictory ways throughout his life.[107]

In essence, the work is in three parts: a biographical account of the supposed author and his encounters with teachers across the world; a second part containing the instructions for a six month reclusion culminating in the ‘knowledge and conversation of one’s Holy Guardian Angel’ and subsequent three days of calling forth and commanding the demons; and a third part, considered an appendix, listing so-called ‘magical squares’ to be activated under the guidance of the angel and the subservience of the demons. Many have approached this book as a magical grimoire and simply worked rituals to activate the magical squares. Many view it as a dated and outmoded relic of superstitious magic. Some view it as dangerous and others are repelled by the requirements to humble oneself repeatedly to a Christian conception of God. Later criticisms have pointed out the psychological impact of performing the constant practices as advocated in the instructions, claiming that this could lead to delusions, psychological imbalance and obsession. However, very few have read the book in detail – as is repeatedly suggested within the text itself – and very, very few have attempted the ritual exactly as prescribed within the text (although the text allows for some modifications). And only one or two of those have claimed to have accomplished the working and attained its result. One of those who made this claim was William Bloom, who wrote of his experience with the ritual when he performed it over a six-month period in retreat outside Marrakech in 1972 – this was published originally as The Sacred Magician under the pseudonym Georges Chevalier.[108]

There are a few other written accounts of the complete working perhaps four or five. I have a private publication of a diary written by an Australian theosophist who conducted the working, and there are a couple of accounts online, although their veracity is uncertain. Similarly, there is an Abramelin newsgroup where at least three people claim to have performed the operation to its conclusion. In terms of the original translation by MacGregor Mathers from the French version, this has since been superceded by a better translation of a German version, The Book of Abramelin, by Georg Dehn and Steven Guth. This promotes an 18-month version of the working.

The Holy Guardian Angel There are as many descriptions of the Holy Guardian Angel (HGA) as there are practitioners, which is possibly emblematic of its individual conception. The practices which lead to this experience range far beyond the Abramelin working which is its most common association.[109] I can only offer the advice that the practitioner should seek towards this working as a culmination of their work between the grades of Neophyte and Adeptus Minor. It requires a significant amount of mental, psychological, emotional, and spiritual stability, as well as the physical and environmental capability to leave work and social bonds for six months. This is where your faith in magic and your spiritual path is truly tested – so by that point you had better be sure that there aren’t any other alternatives for your development and exploration. This is why, in the main, the work of the early grades is an exhaustive process, slowly undoing all the attachments and distractions, leaving an exit door that leads in. The actual working is possible, the result undeniable, and the resultant experience profound beyond any measure. It is to the successful accomplishment of this singular aim that the work of the Crucible Club and the Order of Everlasting Day is the basic introduction and foundation stone.

Vignette: 13 Dancing Girls on a Wednesday Frater F.P. resolved with his angel to establish a working with the magical squares and got to choose a random square. This could have been anything from invisibility to having a siege army appear at the walls of the town. Luckily he had chosen a random talisman from another grimoire which offered the opportunity of conjuring ‘13 dancing girls on a Wednesday’. He activated the square in the manner which his angel informed him, and duly forgot about it. He mentioned the working to his wife, but not its nature. If he recalls correctly, she asked him why it could not have been about money or some other practical aim, because he told her it was an ‘unusual request’ of the magick. The following week he was asked to accompany his wife to a lesson in raqs sharqi, which was being held in Manchester. Unbeknownst to either of them, as it was a sudden urge of his wife, the class she joined unexpectedly had decided to put on an impromptu performance to visiting relatives. So there sat Frater F.P., lounging on Arabian-themed cushions, with live drummers and string instruments from another time, with – count them – exactly 13 dancing girls, of course on the obligatory Wednesday. It was not that the square worked which surprised him; it was that he had forgotten all about it. This working without lust of result is the most essential component of magick.

The Angel and the Higher Self On a personal note, I would like to dispel some of the confusion that others seem to have created with regard to New Age or psychological interpretations of this working and its aim. The HGA is not the same as the Higher Self. It is not a ‘higher part’ of oneself. Nor is it entirely a ‘discrete entity’ as some might imagine an angel. Rather the nomenclature indicates a fullyengaged-in-divine-communication-emergent-from-self-in-relation-touniverse-messenger-carrier-state-presence. This manifests in a unique manner. A good model of how this can be contextualised can be found hidden in Florence Farr’s description of the Ancient Egyptian aspects of the soul and their activation during magical ritual. In that description is to be found a useful map of the correspondence of the human being, the Self and the HGA on the Tree of Life, in the four worlds. Without experiencing the working, any presumption of the result is forcing the mysteries to become reduced to fit into the mind, not the mind being enlarged to comprehend the mysteries. This seems to be the curse of the contemporary period, where rapid communication leads to an implicit assumption that such experiences and states can be efficiently compressed to superficial learning.

This is not the case – indeed, the Abramelin ritual is a self-extracting file; much that is not apparent becomes obvious within the text itself as one performs the operation. And it modifies itself in practice to suit the nature of the practitioner, and the cultural, temporal and spatial conditions. I imagine that the operation, far from being a quaint superstition, could easily be performed on a Mars base a century from now. In many ways, another metaphor for this particular culmination of work is as a tuning fork between one Tree of Life in one world and the Tree/s in the other worlds. The Adept attunes to the angel to sing of one song above and below. As Crowley wryly remarked, the name Holy Guardian Angel is so ludicrous as not to be taken seriously and as a true indication of what one might expect. However, it turns out that this is equally and somewhat paradoxically a blind. It has not been intended here to confuse or obscure, but rather to hint at this stage the culmination of the magical work from Neophyte to Adept. It is an aim worth pursuing but it costs everything you currently believe yourself to possess – although, as Gurdjieff often remarked, you can only truly sacrifice the only thing you really possess: your suffering. Furthermore, if we hold with Crowley that “There is a single main definition of the object of all Magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm and the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; or, in the language of mysticism, Union with God,” then we might see this angel as an ‘emergent property’ of our own unification.[110] The more that we see through separation and the illusion of separation, commencing with our own beliefs, the more that this angel is able to communicate – that being a two-way process, whether we can recognise it or not in the earliest days of the initiatory journey to this singular goal.

As Crowley says, “It is obviously impossible to communicate with an independent intelligence – the one real object of astral research – if one allows one’s imagination to surround one with courtiers of one’s own creation.”[111] That is why we must concentrate our work on examining and questioning: “Enquiry is Everything!” as I once wrote in my own magickal journal, to break down the buffers that allow us to maintain the sense of separation within ourselves and to others. If you cannot communicate clearly within yourself, what chance to communicate with your fellows? If you cannot communicate with your fellows, what chance of communicating with more ethereal constructs? And if you cannot talk with angels, what chance of walking with God?

On the Egregore

Of uncertain origin, the term ‘egregore’ is often considered as a group mind which ‘watches over’ a group in some manner. This mind is created by the shared will of the group, directed to a common purpose, and it is suggested by some writers that the entity can become, in a sense, distinct from the individuals of the group, so that when they pass away, many years later the egregore can be somehow ‘contacted’ by those pursuing the same aims as the original founders of the group mind. An egregore is a kind of group mind which is created when people consciously come together for a common purpose. Whenever people gather together to do something an egregore is formed, but unless an attempt is made to maintain it deliberately it will dissipate rather quickly. However, if the people wish to maintain it and know the techniques of how to do so, the egregore will continue to grow in strength and can last for centuries.[112]

We can consider the egregore as an ‘emergent property’, that is to say, something which exists as a result of the interaction and communication between individuals, and nothing intrinsic within the individuals or any individual themselves.[113] In this sense, when even two individuals come together and communicate, if they communicate in a focused manner, they will generate a powerful egregore – for example, the Enochian work of John Dee and Edward Kelly. It is noticeable that magical work generates such things more frequently because all truly magical work is willed, and involves the whole consciousness of the individual, focused in one act. Football crowds do not generate such long-standing egregores as the activity is based upon mixed emotional requirements being satisfied, albeit to a common purpose by a great number of individuals. More so, it is only magical – and occasionally religious or corporate leadership – activity that recognises and is expressly designed to create such entities.[114] Emergent systems require three significant components that we can recognise in the creation of egregores: simplicity, feedback and iteration. That is to say: Simplicity – simple observations and definition of the entity; Feedback – contemplation, channelling, meditation of the entity; Iteration – repetition over time, ritual devoted to the entity.

In kabbalistic terms, it can be seen that the sephiroth are emergent properties of each other; the so-called ‘Orchard’ or Fractal Tree. From the relationship between Binah and Chockmah emerges Da’ath, and the Veil of Paroketh (veiling Tiphareth) is the emergent property from the interaction of the lower sephiroth. Once these Sephiroth are aligned and working in equibilirium, the ‘noise’ is removed and the ‘signal’ can be transmitted clearly between them and what is revealed as Tiphareth after the noise is gone and naught but silence remains.

The Abyss

As with all constructs, the nature of the Abyss is seen otherwise from either side of its experience as a real event. As with most of the mystical metaphors, it is entirely necessary and entirely misleading. It is further confused by being in the public domain enough for anyone – and almost everyone – to write about it. We will deal with this towards the conclusion of The Magister. In this present volume we introduce the term and place it upon the Tree of Life as part of the initiatory schema, and at least provide indications of what it is not.[115] The Abyss represents a significant event in the life of the magicianmystic. As such, it is a culmination of thousands of hours of work towards its attainment. It is not a vision, nor can it be visualised.[116] Nor can it be simply attained by taking the ‘Oath of the Abyss’ at any moment of your life.[117] It is an emergent property of a fundamental re-orientation of awareness in relation to the universe, given divine grace by its reception within the individual. It is the moment to which the HGA deigns to lead us, at which point it too vanishes, as it was never there.

The HGA is the edge of light, the bridge, interface, component of awareness that arises from the shadow of the Abyss – the amaneusis of the soul. When the rememberance of the true state is attained, the light is entered and no longer casts a shadow (Abyss) nor has an edge (angel). The Abyss is the only step onwards from the grade of the Exempt Adept, one who has reached the edges of all self-awareness and fulfilled (and thus exhausted) the possibilities of that self. As Benjamin Rowe considers: By the time the person has achieved and absorbed the highest purely human level and become an ‘Exempt Adept’, both these processes have pretty much been exhausted. Those parts of the person’s being that are capable of being controlled and coordinated by the individual self are as integrated as they are ever going to be. The contents of the mind have been reduced to an integrated scheme and an encompassing philosophy. He is the Complete Individual, so to speak. Such people – as Crowley notes – tend to become leaders of ‘schools of thought’ for spreading their philosophy; or they become priests or social leaders of some sort.[118] At this stage, the only task of the Exemptus is to await absorption. We picture this as The Fool in the Union Deck falling back into the Abyss. The ego has been transcended and the Self-centre gained; the Self-centre has been completed and then transcended (although it was never there to transcend); the awareness of the other has been surrendered, and there is only a tripartite awareness now functioning, above the Abyss. It is there that the Master of the Temple literally triangulates the three remaining aspects of reality until they themselves are one – and none.

Vignette: The Cube of Undoing Frater V. had a lucid dream in which he was being held within a perfect blue cube, with a stranger. The walls of the cube were composed of living and vibrant conscious patterns. It was within the awareness of the vision that there was no space or time within the cube itself. At this point, the walls of the cube began to swirl in dynamic flow, and the fabric of reality within the space began to change in an indescribable manner. The other person in the cube began to scream and clutch at themselves as their body and soul began to literally unravel in the transition of the space. Frater V. felt a fear unlike anything he had ever encountered. This was the very undoing of the Adeptus Major into the realm of Chesed and it had little to do with the Mercy or loving kindness associated with the sephirah. When awakened from the dream, he considered what the real experience might be like – and why anyone would wish to undo themselves so.

The Fourth Way Work “And it’s all ‘bout your ego All the I’s in you, that you think make up your self Know yourself and maybe they’ll go Waking from an illusion you believe that’s awake.” — Garry Kennedy, ‘The Fourth Way’,[119]

In the work of the mystic G.I. Gurdjieff, he proposed that each of us has a kundabuffer, an organ “to prevent men seeing the reality of their situation.” Whilst this was proposed in a semi-fictional sense (like much of Gurdjieff’s writings), it is an important concept in self-awareness work.

In the WEIS we introduce some of the elements of Gurdjieff ’s work at a later stage, but here we introduce a few basic concepts to promote understanding of how the Fourth Way work – as termed by Gurdjieff – assists self-knowledge. It is of value that the Fourth Way work has received contemporary attention, particular as to the original issues with its comprehension and reception. The work also admits to and fits neatly into the graduated ascent narrative, for example in statements such as “consciousness has degrees.”[120] One way of seeing the kundabuffers is that they are the psychological defense mechanisms that connect and absorb the minor shock of our everchanging sense of self from one identity or personality to another. Usually in our day we ride these shocks on an almost momentary basis as we change our state and role. The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff promotes observation of these shocks to wake us up to the reality of our situation. There are many authors, artists, musicians, and other professionals who have been intrigued and attracted to the Fourth Way work. A notable contemporary case is Kate Bush, whose song, ‘Them Heavy People’, from her debut album The Kick Inside (EMI, 1978), mentions Gurdjieff by name and commences with lines describing how the work first appeared to her in a time of despair. However, there is little further evidence that she had anything other than a cursory interest in the Fourth Way.[121] Both Robert Anton Wilson – whose Prometheus Rising workbook I highly recommend to all Zelators – and Colin Wilson were heavily influenced by Gurdjieff ’s work. In the fiction, The Mind Parasites, Colin Wilson writes of the experience of attaining freedom from our attachment to the present:

If we could learn the trick of putting the mind in and out of gear, man would have the secret of godhead. But no trick is more difficult to learn. We are ruled by habit. Our bodies are robots that insist on doing what they have been doing for the last million years: eating, drinking, excreting, making love – and attending to the present.[122] Another contemporary interpreter of Gurdjieff’s work is E.J. Gold, whose books Life in the Labyrinth and The Human Biological Machine as a Transformational Apparatus are essential reading for later Theoricus work, albeit very testing works. It is often said that Gurdjieff ’s original works are somewhat inaccessible, so it is to his students that we tend to turn for explanation. These students include C.S. Nott, P.D. Ouspensky (whose The Fourth Way is essential reading), R. Orage, and J.G. Bennett. I would also recommend the more contemporary interpretations of the Fourth Way work by Sophia Wellbeloved, Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts, and Charles T. Tart, Waking Up. The Kundabuffers It is to Tart’s work that we will turn for our praxis contemplative work. He gives a brilliant interpretation of the kundabuffers in terms of psychological self-defence mechanisms. This also reminds us of the constant mantra proposed by the late Da Free John, whose work we will arrive at towards the end of The Magister. He proposed that the only consideration we should hold from moment to moment is the answer to the simple question, “Avoiding relationship?”

In Tart’s list of defence mechanisms, we will select several, and you may wish to choose one or two for a couple of weeks to examine in yourself. This prepares the ground for later work which is more demanding in terms of analysing oneself and one’s behaviours. The Gurdjieff work is very concerned with breaking habits, ending automatic responses or interrupting them, so here, we make a suggestion that you do something unexpected or unique every time you notice your chosen kundabuffer. It doesn’t matter what, so long as it is not the same thing as the previous times. Watching for Kundabuffers In Orage’s exercise book, Psychological Exercises and Essays, he provides a brief section on ‘Living a Fuller Life’. In this section he equates our usual sense of time – and our failing strategies to manage it – as a single string of beads. He notes that we try and either stretch the string, snapping it, or add more beads to it, which again results in snapping it. His solution is to point out that the analogy is due to our habitual training of time as a single string. He suggests that we can actually lay out three strings at the same time, and be aware of them, trebling our engagement of life. He also notes that this is not easy. In this practice appropriate for the Theoricus of the OED and given here as an example, we at least start to make an effort towards this Work. We must first learn to pause, and this contemplation of kundabuffers is designed to bring about regular pauses in daily activity without too much of a shock. Here are three kundabuffers from which you should choose one to explore over a month-long period:

LYING: Whilst not concerning ourselves with the morality of lying, it is sufficient to state that the act of lying is a distortion of our representation of the world. At any time that you consciously lie over the month chosen for this practice, you should use it as a trigger to pause – nothing more. SUPRESSION: In suppression, we fall prey not to an incorrect action or lack of action, but again, an invalid model of the world. We assume that we are suppressing an action – a spoken word, an opinion, even a thought – because of our knowledge of the expectations of others. However, this knowledge can never be accurate. So, any time that you begin to suppress your action, for whatever reason, simply ... pause.

REGRESSION: A third example of a failing of what Tart calls our ‘world simulator’ is when we regress to an earlier sense of self in our identity. We may throw a tantrum, feel jealousy or want attention – states belonging to a child-like self. We can ask ourselves, or have someone ask us, when we are emotional: “How old are you?” The answer is usually not what we expect. When asked that question, we break out of the regression to answer it. Again, when such regression occurs in you, use it as a moment to just ... pause. There are many other buffers that operate automatically to keep us asleep to the true nature of the passing moments in front of us. The Fourth Way work is an essential adjunct in the WEIS at the grade of Theoricus, to free us from these automatic responses to the world.

The Initiatory Tarot.

The Three Decks The Tarot of Everlasting Day is a unique creation in that it is composed of three decks, each layered in design upon the other. These three decks represent the Outer World, the Inner World, and their Union. A complex web of correspondences works not only between individual cards in their own deck, and between the same card in each deck, but also between different cards in each deck. They form a mystical labyrinth and a true library of Babel.[123] The three levels are designed to provide an accessible learning device on the Outer Deck, an initiatory schema in the Union Deck, and a mystical contemplative sequence on the Inner Deck. Whilst all three decks can be used for divinatory readings, it is the Outer and Union Decks that are particularly designed for this use.

In this volume of The Magister, we illustrate and provide interpretation of four of the Union cards met by the Adept on their journey up the Tree of Life, utilising the Waite-Trinick correspondences. The first two encountered are The World (which is positioned the same as per the Golden Dawn / Crowley) and The Blasted Tower. We also look at The Fool as the final outcome of the initiatory journey of Union, and The High Priestess who provides illustration of the Crossing of the Abyss, a fundamental experience in the initiatory system. In following volumes, we will explore the other card images as they indicate the relevant stages of initiatory progress. The Mystery of the Monogram The monogram emblazoned on the images is that of the acronym of Goodwin-Hall-Katz in the style of the alphabet of desire. The single line and circle motif can also be read as an emblem of the horizon and the Sun, the ‘everlasting day’. It is also the line and the circle, the two building blocks of form, the male and the female, and duality.

The Goodwin-Hall-Katz Monogram from the Tarot of Everlasting Day

The World The World card (called ‘The Apparent’ in the Inner Deck) is here the depiction of the original state of the Neophyte, who is pictured sleeping at the foot of the staircase in a foetal position. This echoes the depiction of The Fool in the Outer Deck as a child taking their first steps. The Fool and The World are intimately connected – ‘as above, so below’ – and they remind us that not only does every journey begin with the first step, we are all – always – already at our destination. When we take our step on what is literally a fool’s journey (for it is not necessary), it is always already too late – we are moving away from our goal of union, not towards it. It is fortunate then that The World does not recognise The Fool and our steps always lead back to the beginning, where we may discover our foolishness. At the base of this image is a black border, signifying the limits of all things. Above it is a black and white checkerboard floor on which a 10 stepped stairway arises. This is similar to the stairway to heaven, Jacob’s ladder, and the staircase in the film Matter of Life and Death with David Niven (directed by Michael Powell, 1946). At the bottom step of the stairway we see a figure (very small) asleep in the foetal position. He is The Fool in his first incarnation, at the start and end of his journey. Also on the step we see a staff with 12 segments (representing the zodiac) and a bag. These are the same as are transformed in the final Fool image of the Union Deck.

At the top of the stairs, taking up the majority of the image is a vesica piscis / mandorla. It is floating in a field of stars alike to the Hubble Deep Field view of the cosmos. There are the seven classical planets easily seen in the background. Four circles hold the vesica piscis in place, in each a pair of hands, symbolising four elemental approaches to life: Prayer / air (top circle) Passion / earth (left circle) Penitence / fire (right circle) Peace / water (bottom circle) The vesica piscis is constructed of 78 interlocking rings symbolising the whole of the tarot (not 72 which symbolise the name of God, Shem haMephorash, the explicit name of God, as used in many other designs). Within the vesica piscis is a female figure in a trance dance. She has tattoos of the four elemental cherubim, and is veiled in swirling ribbons, skirts, belts, beads, and buckles. This adornment is in ‘tribal fusion’ style showing the old revisioned in the new, the primitive and the modern, the fusion and synthesis of the card’s meaning. Her movement is a spinning spiral.

Above her is a light source (Kether) which relates back to the point of light in The Fool card at the bottom of the Abyss. Below her is a dark sphere (Malkuth) upon which she dances. The light source emits a single ray which shines down, through the dark sphere (cracking it slightly), and upon the head of the sleeping figure. In this it mirrors the work of Athanasius Kircher, Ars Magna lucis et umbrae (Amsterdam, 1671), on optics. We see later in The Fool of the Inner Deck the final and nihilistic resolution of this play of light, distortion and mirroring. This light is emblematic of the Golden Dawn phrase uttered to the Neophyte, that “The Light shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not.” It breaks through the apparent but it remains up to the sleeper to awaken. The ray of light is mirrored too by the long shadow which is cast by The Fool in his final fall depicted on the Union Deck, where he returns to this World card to commence his journey again in an endless cycle of seeking.[124] The floor is tiled with black and white, symbolising duality, from which The Fool has not yet arisen. These black and white tiles also appear on the candy stick of the Outer Fool, who offers us this choice, yet at the same time implicitly presents duality.

The World (Tarot of Everlasting Day, Union Deck)

The whole scene is well lit, very still and formal. It is the nascent beginning of all things, and their end. It is somewhat akin to the final surreal room scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey (directed by Stanley Kubrick, 1968). It is hyper-real and yet cannot be real. On the columns of the stairway are carved the two Trees of Knowledge and Life, which also appear on The Herald and The Fool card, as well as elsewhere through the symbolism of the Order of Everlasting Day. Here in The World card they are calcified and sterile; ancient reliquaries of their living reality, forgotten by most other than as decorative elements of the lowest order. In the Union Deck of the Tarot of Everlasting Day, the Major Arcana are brighter in the lower branches of the Tree and get darker as we progress to our own source and roots. In the Inner Deck, the lower card images are darker and become brighter as we progress up the Tree, for it is a divine tree that we now ascend, not a tree of self-discovery or recovery. Lying on the middle steps are a discarded carnival mask and a white angelic feather, symbolising the Abramelin work which we will cover in a following volume of The Magister. This feather appears as a pin on the swaddling cloth of the child in The Fool of the Outer Deck and on the head of The Fool in the Union Deck. It also appears as the emblem of Maat on the Herald of Everlasting Day. The World card is a synthesis of all that has come before and the promise of all that will follow. In Tarot Flip we discovered that the unconscious meaning given to this card by hundreds of readers through tens of thousands of mappings to real life in their readings is ‘beginning’.[125]

The Fool The Fool is the most paradoxical image, and was created first in the deck. He is a symbol of all that transcends time, space and identity. He is not just beyond duality – he knows no duality and is numberless. The Fool’s dog represents the faith in reality that is ever-present, until the very last moment when even that must be sacrificed. It is the final story in the Elric fantasy tales of Michael Moorcock. Elric is a doomed albino prince of a decadent empire, who lives through the power of a demonic sword called Stormbringer. The sword can drink the souls of its victims and transfer the energy to Elric, so they have a co-dependent relationship. Elric also has a constant companion, Moonglum. In the very last tale of Elric, in the epic war of Chaos versus Evil, when the old world is destroyed, Elric must blow the horn which will bring about the new world. However, he does not have the energy remaining after the battle. So Moonglum sacrifices himself on the sword to give Elric the energy. Elric uses this last remaining energy and blows the horn, bringing about the dawn of a new age ... however, as he dies, the sword turns back into a demon, and rises into the sky to enter the new world, putting back into it the spirit of chaos, with the words “I was always a thousand times more evil than thou.” It is that twist that The Fool, with his dog, contains. That one thing is always borne out of the last. The coiling dark turning light represents a DNA helix and the orbit of light when it approaches a black hole. The two Trees are the Moringa tree and the Tamarind tree from the Herald of Everlasting Day.

On the side of the Tree of Knowledge the Fool’s staff is discarded on the path, turning into a serpent. On the side of the Tree of Life, the dog tugs at the shadow of The Fool, which extends from The Fool down the path to the Tree. The Fool is seen breaking from his shadow as he falls backwards. The other objects (attachments) left on the path are one of time and one of space – instead of the tropes of hourglass and compass, we see instead a prism (for space) and a piece of cloth looped in a Möebius strip (for time). There is some similarity of The Fool with Asclepius, the healer (whole).

The Fool (Tarot of Everlasting Day, Union Deck)

The Hebrew letter meaning ‘sword’, ‘weapon’, is placed as a small Zayinshaped scar on The Fool’s exposed chest. This is a letter of ‘time’ and the concept of Chozer or ‘returning light’. The dog is shown as a devouring beast and looks suitably dream-like. His Ancient Egyptian depiction varies; sometimes he has crocodile-like warts for hair, sometimes a dark hair-like mane. The atmosphere of the card is timeless and eerie. The card also has that ‘edge of known law’ vibe to it, so light and time are being distended, distorted, dragged into the event horizon of the Abyss.

The Blasted Tower In the Waite-Trinick arrangement of the paths on the Tree of Life, The Blasted Tower takes the place of The Last Judgement on the path connecting Malkuth up to Hod. It thus represents one of the three paths open to the Zelator in their progress up the Tree of Life. It is an unbalanced path, yet it must be taken first before returning, having exhausted its possibilities. At that stage, the opposite path is usually taken by the Zelator – for what other choice do they have – until that too finds itself a cul-desac. Then the Zelator can return to their initial state and make the now obvious step into self-observation that was probably apparent in their original work. It is a step that cannot be taken whilst the temptations or imbalances of other possibilities have not yet been explored and exhausted. We see in this image the top of the ‘false tower’ which is struck by the lightning flash of realisation. This is the awakening above consciousness of the soul. The Neophyte, now taking a step forward and engaging with their work, is represented by a red robed acolyte plucking a red rose from a copious garden, but walking out of that garden, bearing the rose.[126] This symbolises the initial steps taken in the Great Work, which are predicated on one’s existing state and knowledge. It also indicates that we believe we can bring – indeed, offer as sacrifice – something from the apparent world, whether it be ourself or some other attachment. At this stage we do not see the eventual transformation of the red rose to the white, seen on The Fool image.

The Blasted Tower (Tarot of Everlasting Day, Union Deck)

The High Priestess In this card we look most to the Waite-Trinick High Priestess, with elements of the mystical teachings of the card from Crowley, and the Masonic / traditional symbolism of Waite. We also go further back to The Papess-type Marseilles demarcation of the card. There are two figures, an Upper Priestess and a Lower Priestess (as per the Trinick design). Below, a robed female figure stands facing towards us, behind an altar, upon which is an oyster containing a pearl. She holds high a mirror in which is reflected the light from above. Behind her are arches, pillars and drapes in a semi-circle; the drapes decorated with pomegranates, and the arches depicting a scene where five camels march across a desert between two seas, with a pyramid in the background. The letter ‘V’ stands atop each pillar. A pillar on the right is black, and marked with the Hebrew letter Cheth. The Upper Priestess dominates the majority of the image, and is depicted in the posture of the Greek maiden. She is Isis, the goddess. Her robes are similar to Waterhouse’s Cleopatra. A lunar light shines from her like a net – indeed, she is almost composed of light herself. It is this light that shines in the mirror below and the pearl. The figure of the Lower Priestess, who is naked, carries some semblance to The Truth, by Lefebvre, in terms of posture. We get the sense that she is the same woman who later (or earlier, for time is not the same here), in older age, is depicted in The Emperor image. The titles of this card are: The Oracle. The Sibyl. The Shekinah. Isis Veiled. The Papess of Antiquity.

Robert Place compares her to the priestess of Venus (or Isis) in the mystical romance, Hypnerotomachia, the Dream of Poliphilo (Venice, 1499), so we look to bring in the idea of her as a priestess of the mystery schools.[127] We also nod to Masonic influence in using pillars and arches as a backdrop.

The High Priestess (Tarot of Everlasting Day, Union Deck)

Her letter in the mystical schema (Waite-Trinick) is Cheth. The letter Cheth corresponds to life and devotion. It signifies a fence, barrier, enclosure, and also awe and fear. The letter is composed of Vau and Zayin. We think that The Priestess and The Magician should both be in temples – enclosures that reflect their nature. The Priestess with a circle of arched columns behind her, and drapes, bearing the pomegranate. The 18th path is called the ‘House of Influence’, so we reference this in terms of the ‘drawing down of the Moon’ which is clearly depicted in the Waite-Trinick version. The Sepher Yetzirah states, “From the midst of the investigation of the arcana and hidden senses are drawn forth, which dwell in its shade and cling to it, from the cause of causes”. It is an image of the secrets of Nature – the unveiled, the virgin, the mysterious. Other keywords include: unity through devotion, serenity, mystery, revelation and secrecy, transcendental change. The image illustrates the connection between Binah and Geburah (instead of Tipahreth to Kether on the Golden Dawn / Crowley schema) so this is between ‘Understanding’ and ‘Might’. It is the matrix card, weaving the net of all structure, giving form to light itself. It is the veiling of energy in matter, in a more ethereal manner than The Empress above. It is, indeed, the next graduation of the feminine formative energy below The Empress. In a spiritual sense, Jodorowsky says of this card, “she intransigently purifies everything that could form a barrier to the vibration of divine energy.”[128] I feel that Crowley states this also when he says “it is important for high initiation to regard Light not as the perfect manifestation of the Eternal Spirit, but rather as the veil that hides that Spirit … Thus she is light and the body of light.”[129]

There is an oyster and pearl on the altar, reflecting Crowley’s notes from The Book of Lies, of a sexual magick nature: “This is the Love of These; creation-parturition is the Bliss of the One; coition-dissolution is the Bliss of the Many.”[130] I also like the idea that Crowley gives of the Crossing of the Abyss that each traveller crossing that desert drops a drop of water, until eventually the whole path is irrigated and blossoms with life. He also alludes to the ‘five footprints of the camel’, V.V.V.V.V., which should be on the card. So we have a great sea (Binah) and a desert, the oyster with a pearl like the Moon, five drops of water, forming five Vs. The Upper High Priestess figure is in the posture of the Greek maiden. Her left hand is bunching up the skirts / robe, as if about to mount stairs. The scroll is replaced by the oyster and the mirror as far more appropriate representations of the type of law of The High Priestess. The pillars are modified, and the veil is shown on two levels; the veil of light above and the veils in the temple below. The Abyss and its journey are depicted on the Masonic stonework.

Your Magical Journal and Dream Diary “From one point of view, magical progress actually consists in deciphering one’s own record.” — Aleister Crowley, Magick[131]

Although the keeping of a diary is a reasonably mundane activity at heart – a mere recording of the day’s events – taken as part of a magical life it has a cumulative effect and proves an increasingly powerful tool in the magical toolkit. In conjunction with the technical work that the student is required to conduct in the Crucible Club (the solar observations) the first month of your journal will record this work, and your success or otherwise in maintaining this regular practice. You may also choose to record the general events of the day, and any other magical work in which you are currently engaged. The diary entries should be succinct and not overly-analysed. Here is an example from my own diaries, dated Friday 17 June 1983:

I received The Practice of Ritual Magic by Gareth Knight today in the post. I used an exercise in the book and meditated to the East on the balcony, in the light of the rising sun. I sat in the Sankhya-yoga position. East: Sword, Air, Yellow, Dawn, Spring, Life, Faith, Childhood, IHVH, Raphael, Paralda (Sylphs). What came to mind mostly was the idea of ‘birth’. At noon I did likewise with the Fire (South) correspondences. South: Wand, Red, Noon, Summer, Light, Hope, Youth, ADNI, Michael, Djinn (Salamanders). A dominant image arose of ‘Power’. Shortly before dusk I tried the Water (West) correspondences. West: Water, Cup, Blue, Dusk, Autumn, Love, Charity, Maturity, AHIH, Gabriel, Nixsa (Undines). Concentrating on the idea of a Keatsian [John Keats, the poet] ‘autumnal ripeness’ helped, as it was difficult to hold the ideas. [It was June, so Autumn felt distant]. Finally, not at midnight [I tended then and still do, write the journal at the end of the evening] went through the Earth (North) set: Disc, Green, Midnight, Winter, Law, Understanding, Old Age, AGLA, Auriel, Ghob (Gnomes). This gave me a very cold feeling, eventually, and the arising idea of ‘stability’. I finished by practising some vocal vibrating exercises, counting letters and numbers. By the following year, the entries were becoming far more esoteric and obscure, as the frequency of practice and the breadth of reading expanded, incorporating tarot, ancient Egyptian mythology, the I-Ching, astral projection group exercises (I had found a few people with whom to work), and correspondence with other occultists.

May 17th 1984. Day of Maat. 9:21 am. Last night, the LBRP was very clear. I actually saw a yellow figure outlined in the East. The Astral was very busy on retiring. At home today, cannot get into college. I tried a couple of Tarot readings as usual, but didn’t feel right today. 11:00 am. Roughly designed a pack of ten Egyptian Cards, based on the Tree of Life. I spread four in a Cross shape, making both an Ankh and Scales, after invoking Maat. The top position (1) is the Spiritual Aspect, the left position (2) is What Aids, right (3) is what opposes, bottom (4) is the Resources / Material aspects. I shuffled and drew: 1: The card of Isis (3) – things will develop naturally. A good card here for she is Magick. 2: The card of Thoth (2) – what assists is learning and wisdom. More study! 3: The card of Pthah (1) – what opposes, so stop, wait. 4: The card of Maat (4) – Truth. Keep to what is right. Note the cards, even though shuffled, the first 4 of 10! 1+2+3+4 = 10 = 1! 11:20 am. Phoned the Sorcerers Apprentice [a mail-order shop in Leeds] to ask about Lamp of Thoth #14. They have my order OK. 1:20 pm. Went out and posted two letters to S [a Satanist] and CP [Chaos magician].

11.36 pm. Been out at S’s all evening. M is very ill, and K has left the house because she is pregnant (!). The results of the Osirian Ritual have not yet come to pass. Nothing conclusive anyhow. We compared notes for the astral working. Did some work with Kabbalah from A.C.’s Diaries. Midnight: Interruption to this writing. Hail Khephra! Must strengthen Aura.

With regard to your journals, they are mainly for your own use to discern patterns in retrospect and partially to advise any supervisor or teacher as to how your practices are progressing. Crowley idealises the writing of the journal in Chapter 13 of Magick in Theory and Practice. His own journals and diaries are usually a far cry from his requirements of “virgin vellum, made from the calf which was born by Isis-Hathor” and written in a pen which is “the feather of a young male swan.” However, in terms of the symbolism, ideally the diary should be the perfect representation of the world, and one’s experience and relationship to it – for it is truly then “a book of incantation.”[132] A selected collation of Crowley’s voluminous journal entries and diaries is made by James Wasserman in Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary, mainly drawing upon ‘John St. John’ and ‘A Master of the Temple’, two of Crowley’s more significant magical journals.[133] The basic purpose of the journal is to provide a form of enquiry which matches your belief structure to your recorded actions. There is always going to be a ‘creative tension’ to choose the content and style of your writing, and this tension is an outer sign of the alignment between Will and Action. If all is well, there is no specific thought that goes into the ego-less record; Will, Belief and Action are in accord and aligned, there is no problem! However, until that state can be attained, the action of writing an external account serves to drive out the demons that lurk in the buffers between our beliefs. The journal may also provide assistance to those who follow in the ‘golden chain’ of initiation, providing them with useful information on the short-cuts and dead-ends in the labyrinth.

Edward Hoffman also comments on the kabbalistic references to both the ‘Recording Angel’ and ‘The Book of Life’ that records our deeds for later judgement.[134] He goes on to explore the technique of ‘reviewing’ the day advocated by Rabbi Nachman, which is actually a common technique taught to Neophytes. You do not need to specifically carry out such a review, as your Liber Resh practice, meditation and maintenance of a journal provide the same result – teaching you that you can ‘rise’ outside of yourself and judge your actions from a detached viewpoint. This is the secret teaching that is actually being communicated by this practice – the journal and the meditations are only means to that end. As such, the significance we place upon them is later abandoned. Optional Journal Practices “This life of ours is like a journey undertaken by the soul for the study of Divine Aspects, and of these is the pageant of the cosmos”[135] The Book of Light and the Book of Night: Take two pages of your diary and label one Liber Lumen, the ‘Book of Light’, and one Liber Nocte, the ‘Book of Night’. In the former, maintain a list of your positive qualities and actions taken; in latter maintain a list of your negative qualities, limiting beliefs and unwanted behaviour. The Book of the Unbound: On a page of your diary, start an entry which commences “If I could not fail at anything, I would …” and complete it in as much detail as possible. The Book of Belief: Take a page of your diary and list your beliefs in the form, “I believe …”

The Thread: Write in your journal, on the top of an empty page: “Every time I see this page I will write the date below, and my feelings about the purpose and usefulness of keeping a magical diary.” As the years go by, you may need to add a new sheet into this page. The journal provides a ‘thread’ to your everyday activities which, like the practice of Liber Resh, begin to consolidate your Will towards a singular aim. Crowley once said that the magician’s sole aim was to interpret his own magickal record, and after many years I have come to agree with him. Most people’s activities are disassociated, so their accomplishments are minimal and serve no aim; their light is diffuse. We are aiming to be focused like a laser beam, which is sometimes referred to as ‘coherent light’. You are to make your life a coherent light.

Rare Magical Book (Private Collection)

The Dreaming Mind

It is important to realise that imagination has become a misused word in Western society and it is part of our work to reclaim its importance in our life. It is to the author and philosopher Henry Corbin that we turn to remind ourselves of the importance of imagination. In Corbin’s perspective, imagination is an act of thought not grounded in Nature, but rather a divine act and knowing of the divine mind. It is the manner in which we participate in the mundus imaginalis – the world of imagination – which is no less real than the apparent world of the senses. It is in this world, through a hierarchy of levels and intermediaries, that the magician operates. We recognise that the world is composed of the imagination in its true sense; a living interpretation of whatever reality may be, re-visioned by our own perception into our own universe. As such, we choose to engage with our imagination through dream, vision, ritual, and symbolism as a profound encounter with reality and all that may be.

Many magical techniques incorporate an element of imagination or, more specifically, methods of visualisation. It must be remembered by the student that we are here teaching such methods not as means in themselves, but as preparation and practice for higher states. We are exercising our faculties (of imagination, will, discipline, etc.) and installing new perspectives and appreciation by our techniques. As such they remain rungs on the ladder, not the space into which we are ascending. The techniques of the magical system are tools of transcendence in a technology of transformation; they are not to be dropped into our imprisoned world-view, but better seen as means of escape and sign-posts of our way home. In this light, we do not argue better methods one against another; we do not debate variations of practice; we do not engage ourselves in discussion of pronunciation and effect – the worker remains hidden in the workshop. Zosimos of Panopolis Zosimos was a Greek-Egyptian alchemist and Gnostic mystic from the end of the 3rd century and beginning of the 4th century, who was born in Panopolis. His most famous work, also referenced by the psychoanalyst Carl Jung, is the Vision. In this vision, Zosimos describes an alchemical process which he sees in a dream. He then returns several times to the dreaming state and receives a series of visions.

We have chosen this work in its entirety as, much like the Emerald Tablet, it is worth ongoing contemplation and reflection. It is an important foundation in our Western esoteric tradition, and Zosimos was also one of the earliest writers to define alchemy, which he described, c. 300 A.D., as “the study of the composition of waters, movement, growth, embodying and disembodying, drawing the spirits from bodies and bonding the spirits within bodies.”

The Vision of Zosimos The composition of the waters, and the movement, and the growth, and the removal and restitution of bodily nature, and the splitting off of the spirit from the body, and the fixation of the spirit on the body are not operations with natures alien one from the other, but, like the hard bodies of metals and the moist fluids of plants, are One Thing, of One Nature, acting upon itself. And in this system, of one kind but many colours, is preserved a research of all things, multiple and various, subject to lunar influence and measure of time, which regulates the cessation and growth by which the One Nature transforms itself. And saying these things, I slept, and I saw a certain sacrificing priest standing before me and over and altar which had the form of a bowl. And that altar had 15 steps going up to it. Then the priest stood up and I heard from above a voice say to me, “I have completed the descent of the 15 steps and the ascent of the steps of light. And it is the sacrificing priest who renews me, casting off the body’s coarseness, and, consecrated by necessity, I have become a spirit.” And when I had heard the voice of him who stood in the altar formed like a bowl, I questioned him, desiring to understand who he was.

He answered me in a weak voice saying, “I am Ion, Priest of the Adytum, and I have borne an intolerable force. For someone came at me headlong in the morning and dismembered me with a sword and tore me apart, according to the rigor of harmony. And, having cut my head off with the sword, he mashed my flesh with my bones and burned them in the fire of the treatment, until, my body transformed, I should learn to become a spirit. And I sustained the same intolerable force.” And even as he said these things to me and I forced him to speak, it was as if his eyes turned to blood and he vomited up all his flesh. And I saw him as a mutilated image of a little man and he was tearing at his flesh and falling away. And being afraid I woke and considered, “Is this not the composition of the waters?” I thought that I was right and fell asleep again. And I saw the same altar in the shape of a bowl and water bubbled at the top of it, and in it were many people endlessly. And there was no one whom I might question outside of the bowl. And I went up to the altar to view the spectacle. And I saw a little man, a barber, whitened with age, and he said to me, “What are you looking at?” I answered that I wondered at the boiling water and the men who were burning but remained alive. And he answered me saying, “The spectacle which you see is at once the entrance and the exit and the process.” I questioned him further, “What is the nature of the process?” And he answered saying, “It is the place of the practice called the embalming. Men wishing to obtain virtue enter here and, fleeing the body, become spirits.” I said to him, “And are you a spirit?”

And he answered, saying, “Both a spirit and a guardian of spirits.” As he was saying these things to me and the boiling increased and the people wailed, I saw a copper man holding a lead tablet in his hand. He spoke aloud, looking at the tablet, “I counsel all those in mortification to become calm and that each take in his hand a lead tablet and write with his own hand and that each bear his eyes upward and open his mouth until his grapes be grown.” The act followed the word and the master of the house said to me, “Have you stretched your neck up and have you seen what is done?” And I said that I had and he said to me, “This man of copper whom you have seen is the sacrificial priest and the sacrifice and he who vomited out his own flesh. To him was given authority over the water and over those men in mortification.” And when I had seen these visions, I woke again and said to myself, “What is the cause of this vision? Is this not the white and yellow water, boiling, sulphurous, divine?”

And I found that I understood well. And I said that it was good to speak and good to hear and good to give and good to receive and good to be poor and good to be rich. And how does the Nature learn to give and to receive? The copper man gives and the water stone receives; the thunder gives the fire that flashed from it. For all things are woven together and all things are taken apart and all things are mingled and all things combined and all things mixed and all things separated and all things are moistened and all things are dried and all things bud and all things blossom in the altar shaped like a bowl. For each, by method and by weight of the four elements, the interlacing and separation of the whole is accomplished for no bond can be made without method. The method is natural, breathing in and breathing out, keeping the orders of the method, increasing and decreasing. And all things by division and union come together in a harmony, the method not being neglected, the Nature is transformed. For the Nature, turning on itself, is changed. And the Nature is both the nature of the virtue and the bond of the world.

And, so that I need not write to you of many things, friend, build a temple of one stone, like ceruse, like alabaster, like marble of Proconnesus in appearance, having neither beginning nor end in its building. Let it have within, a pure stream of water glittering like sunlight. Notice on what side the entry to the temple is and take your sword in hand and seek the entry. For thin-mouthed is the place where the opening is and a serpent lies by it guarding the temple. First seize him in your hands and make a sacrifice of him. And having skinned him, cut his flesh from his bones, divide him, member from member, and having brought together again the members and the bones, make them a stepping stone at the entry to the temple and mount upon them and go in, and there you will find what you seek. For the priest whom you see seated in the stream gathering his colour, is not a man of copper. For he has changed the colour of his nature, and become a man of silver whom, if you wish, after a little time, you will have as a man of gold. Then, again wishing to ascend the seven steps and to behold the seven mortifications and, as it happened, one day only did I ascend the way. Retracing my steps, I thereupon ascended the way many times. And on returning, I could not find the way, and becoming discouraged, not seeing how to get out, I fell asleep. And I saw in my sleep a certain little man, a barber, wearing a red robe and royal garments, and he stood outside of the place of the mortifications and said, “What are you doing, Man?” I said to him, “I stand here because I have missed every road and am lost.” He said, “Follow me”.

And going out, I followed him. And being near to the place of the mortifications, I saw the little barber man leading me and he cast into the place of the mortifications and his whole body was consumed by fire. Seeing this, I fled and trembled from the fear and I woke and said to myself, “What is this that I have seen?” And again I took thought and determined that this barber man is the man of copper. It is necessary for the first step to throw him into the place of the mortifications. My soul again desired to ascend – the third step also. And again, alone, I went along the way, and as I drew near the place of the mortifications, again I got lost, losing sight of the path, and stood, out of my mind. And again I saw an old man of hair so white my eyes were blinded by the whiteness. His name was Agathodaemon. And the white old man, turning, looked on me for a whole hour. And I asked him, “Show me the right way.” He did not turn toward me but hastened to go on the right way. And going and coming in this manner he quickly affected the altar. As I went up to the altar I saw the white old man. He was cast into the mortifications. O Creator-gods of celestial natures – straightaway the flames took him up entire, which is a terrible story, my brother. For from the great energy of the mortifications his eyes became full with blood. And I questioned him saying, “Why do you lie there?” And he opened his mouth and said, “I am the man of lead and I am withstanding an intolerable force.”

And then I woke out of fear and sought in myself the cause of this fact. And again I reflected and said to myself, “I understand well that thus must one cast out the lead – truly the vision is concerning the combination of liquids.” And again I knew the theophany and again the sacred altar and I saw a certain priest clothed in white celebrating those same terrible mysteries and I said, “Who is this?” And answering he said to me, “This is the priest of the Adytum. He wishes to put blood into the bodies, to make the eyes clear, and to raise up the dead.” And again I fell asleep for a while and while I was mounting the fourth step I saw one with a sword in his hand coming out of the east. And I saw another behind him, holding a disk, white and shining and beautiful to behold. And it was called the meridian of the Sun and I approached the place of the mortifications and the one who held the sword said to me, “Cut off his head and sacrifice his meat and muscles part by part so that first the flesh may be boiled according to the method and that he might then suffer the mortifications.” And waking, I said, “I understand well that these matters concern the liquids of the art of the metals.” And the one who held the sword said, “You have fulfilled the seven steps beneath.” And the other said at the same time as the casting out of the lead by all the liquids, “The Work is completed.”[136]

The Seven Steps Contemplation In the Vision of Zosimos, we see key roles being enacted by a variety of figures, namely the Priest Ion, the copper man, the red-robed barber, and Agathodaemon. We also see key processes being carried out at different stages of the vision. There are also fragments of teaching which are directly given by the figures in their speeches and symbolically given by their actions. You may wish to contemplate how this series progresses and, more importantly, take it as a reflection of your magical and spiritual progress. You may also choose to relate this tale to any transformative or significant event in your own personal history or current life. For example, you might take the process of grief, moving house, the start of a new relationship, a journey abroad, or any other significant event, which you can then perceive through the deeper pattern alluded to within the vision. This type of contemplation provides a means of mapping our living experience to deeper archetypal patterns. In doing so, we come to practice our method of correspondence, creating ever-increasing connections in our world-view. We hence move towards a comprehensive, consistent and congruent state of unity, rather than simply adding more and more discrete items of separation.

Such mappings also provide meta-models of experience that are flexible in application. This should lead to an increasing ability to recognise patterns and predict behaviour in any system, whether it be a relationship, a company, a queue, or a crowd on the stock exchange or soccer pitch. If the learning is not useful, it should not be distracting – it is true that by our works we are known. The magician should come to lead an increasingly successful life if these models are useful; maybe not to the extent of a fulfilment of all worldly desires – knowing the context of such things is not a key driver in their attainment – but certainly the strength and wisdom should manifest to meet all events with a thorough appreciation of consequence and an ability to take action. Optional Dream Practices The most direct route into the mundus imaginalis and an appropriate technique to start to develop over the Crucible work is that of dream-work. We give here two techniques to recall dreams and work towards lucid dreaming. The recording of dreams is a useful adjunct to your magical journal – a practice which is commenced during the first month of the Crucible Club. The Fountain of Morpheus (An Initiated Method of Dream Recall)

As you approach sleep, begin to visualise an elaborate garden of labyrinthine design. Proceed in your imagination to the centre of this garden, taking time to feel the evening breeze, inhale the perfumes of the closing flowers, hear the call of nightingales as the Sun begins to set, touch the overhanging leaves of the bowing trees, and see the evening sky darken in hue. At the centre of this garden at last come to a fountain of intricate design, drawing water from some hidden depth, splashing and playing in streams and jets on marble dishes. Find a seat against the edge of the pool into which this fountain flows so that you can watch the individual globes of water as they fall in slow and precise patterns across your gaze. Notice that in each globe a nascent dream is being born – images swirling in moving crystal reflections. As you drift into sleep, find in one particular globe of water the dream you feel opening and fall into it, allowing yourself to enjoy the unfolding scenes, seeing what you would see, hearing what you would hear, feeling what you would feel in that very scene. If sleep does not find you immediately, you may choose to emerge from one globe of water to another, enjoying wholly different and various environments as your unconscious ingenuity provides. Know that when you awake you will leave these flowing beads of water to return briefly to the seat by the fountain of Morpheus so that you may recall your experiences before fully awakening. The practice of this meditation sequence prior to sleep, allied to the positioning of a notebook and pen by the sleeping space, will greatly improve dream recall and the vividness of dreams. It may also be used as a precursor to lucid dreaming experimentation.

Hand Observation for Lucid Dreaming The first step in learning to lucid dream is to observe one’s hands in activity prior to taking to one’s bed of an evening. Spend 10 minutes as you attend to your boudoir, noticing your hands in motion. Then rest and sleep as per your normal habit. Repeat this for several days with intention, and you may notice your sleep pattern changing or becoming disrupted with occasional waking starts during the night. This is when you observe your hands in your dreaming state and, due to the anchoring of your sight to your attention, you are brought to full awareness, awakening you. For a further three or four nights, add into your routine a certain sense of gentle curiosity. That is, start to idly wonder if what you are seeing as you ready for bed is in your awake state or your asleep state. Is it usual for the light switch to be there on the wall, the giraffe in the corner, and so forth? Remain unattached but curious – cultivate a certain sense of bemusement. If this works for you, you will suddenly find yourself in a dream-state, observing your own hands, whilst maintaining a certain curiosity that does not awaken you physically. You are now lucid dreaming. After a few false starts and sudden awakenings from this state, you will be able to maintain it long enough to look around, and lucidly interact with your dream environment. The Dream Journal: Liber Somniorum

Record any results in your regular magickal journal, or you may wish to open a new Liber Somniorum (Book of the Dreamers) to maintain that as a separate record. I recommend a Jungian approach to dream interpretation, allied to an understanding of correspondence. The advantage of working with systems of correspondence is that they are then utilised by the unconscious processes as means of communication. It becomes the case that kabbalists have kabbalistic dreams, and tarot students have dreams involving the figures on the cards. In this section we have started to look at the importance of imagination in our work. This relates to the sephirah of Yesod on the Tree of Life, which corresponds to The Moon. There are many other methods of visualisation, contemplation, imagination, and reflection, but a good foundation is to commence with dream recall and dream-work. Given contemplations on such powerful texts as the Emerald Tablet and the Vision of Zosimos, you will find your creative and imaginative realms being engaged far more vibrantly and ecstatically than mundane life usually allows.

The Magical Name “... at this bar you leave your name and assume another to be known only within our walls. Brethren and Sisters of Thelema, you know this novice; give her a name.”

W. Besant and J. Rice, The Monks of Thelema. [137]

The magickal name is an underrated magical tool, as powerful as the altar, wand or pentacle in defining our Will. In a sense, it is also an oath of aspiration; a naming of the rung on the ladder and our best guess at the next rung up. It should always be the highest ambition or aim we possess, stated in the most succinct manner. As an oath the taking of a magical name is also a contract with one’s angel, albeit one not reciprocated in the first grades. So we make it to ourselves and then we try to live up to it, slowly moving our centre from our given name to our inner name – our true and magical name.

We take a magical name at each grade, representing the 10 unique states and our personal experience and expression of our encounter with these states. The magical name should produce a strain on our being as a result of its ambition. Crowley likened this (when writing about the oath) as grasping a snake, previously safely asleep in the Sun. Once we have grasped it, we awaken it and must then engage in a constant battle with it, grasping it ever tighter, lest it escape and bite us. The temptations and distractions we face in everyday life are like the snake, as Crowley goes on to say: We have all of us these tendencies [ego ideas, inhibitions, points of view, temptations] latent in us; of most of them we might remain unconscious all our lives – unless they were awakened by our Magick. They lie in ambush. And every one must be awakened, and every one must be destroyed. Everyone who signs the oath of the Probationer is stirring up a hornets’ nest. A man has only to affirm his conscious aspiration; and the enemy is upon him.[138] The Purpose and Nature of the Magickal Name We choose a magickal name to accomplish a range of results: 1. An act of self-determination; 2. A reflection of our inner nature; 3. A statement of our aim/s; 4. An acknowledgement that we are an evolving identity;

5. An initiation into the tradition. The name can be a name or a motto. It is usually translated into another language, often classical, such as Latin or Greek. It can also be translated into Hebrew or Gaelic, for example, if you identify strongly with another culture.[139] The magickal name is often then abbreviated as an acronym of the full name or motto. This is partially for secrecy, partially for elitism and partially because it is how it has been done before. The magickal name should be chosen after considering your primary aim in pursuing this avenue of enquiry. Why are you working magickally? What’s the point? What is it that you are looking for? What is it that you truly desire? What is it that you think is ultimately true about your relationship to universe? What is your highest ideal or value? If you were stripped down to the core, what would be the last sentence? The name or motto can, of course, be entirely unrealistic and idealised. However, it is best stated in the positive; rather than ‘I Seek to Escape Darkness’, perhaps better, ‘I Seek to Enter into Light’. The gematria (Hebrew / kabbalistic numerology) of the name may have relevance, or the correspondence of the letters to tarot cards, or even the shape of the letters of the acronym themselves may have meaning. In one case, Aleister Crowley saw the initials of his motto, V.V.V.V.V., as being the ‘footprints of a camel’. This had profound significance to his image of the grade he was working within.

In a sense, this process of choosing a magickal name is modelled on the Tree of Life by the path of The Last Judgement, the tarot card on the path between Hod and Malkuth. The pillar of form descends into Malkuth, the Kingdom, corresponding to Assiah, the World of Action, with every decision and action. This determines what follows, and is always a last judgement, as time appears to move forwards from each decision. The difficulty in choosing a name, or the ease, is a symptom of your relationship to universe in the context of making decisions. It reflects your ability to function in a changing world by fixing a point, being content that it will serve you, and working with it. This is the trumpet call of The Last Judgement, being played time and time again in life. In one esoteric workbook, you did not get to choose a name until your fourth month of practice, as it is seen therein that you are presenting that name to the inner plane Adeptii, who “have strict ideas about how those entering their service should conduct themselves.”[140] We would not dare to disagree on this point. Salutations, Forms and Greetings The common form in many Western esoteric orders is to refer to fellow members as ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’. This is done under the Latin, ‘brother’ being ‘frater’ and ‘sister’ being ‘soror’. From at least the 9th century, liturgy in the church utilised the phrase, “Orate, fraters et sorores,” meaning, “pray, brethren and sisters.” Some authors state that the usage is ‘from ancient times’, part of the ‘mystery schools’ or used secretly by ‘Rosicrucians’, but it has a far more common heritage and has been used openly in magical orders for some time. [141]

To address a fellow brother or sister, one uses the Latin word for ‘dear’, being ‘care’ (male) or ‘cara’ (female). Thus, for ‘dear brother’, ‘Care Frater’, or ‘dear sister’, ‘Cara Soror’. If you know the magickal name of the member, then you can use this following the ‘frater’ or ‘soror’, for example, ‘Care Frater F.P.’ The various plural forms for addressing ‘dear brothers’, ‘dear sisters’ or ‘dear brothers and sisters’ are as follows: Cari Fratres; Carae Sorores; Cari Fratres et Sorores; Carae Sorores et Fratres. A few variations of this favoured by groups as diverse as AMORC and the O.T.O., Freemasons and even Wiccans or Chaos magicians include: Avete (or Valete) literally ‘be healthy’, but generally used as ‘hello’; Ave, similar, meaning ‘goodbye’. That means that you could start an email, lecture or letter to the whole order with the rather cumbersome “Avete, Cari Fratres et Sorores!” or greet another member of the order whose magickal name you know with “Avete, Cara Soror D.O.” Formal Framing in the Order of Everlasting Day

Within the Crucible work, as an Outer Court of the Order of Everlasting Day, and within the full apprenticeship, we utilise two ‘framing’ sentences when we communicate, to remind ourselves of the important principles of our work. These frames are also used when I deliver lectures, whether they be to an esoteric or academic audience, publically or privately. They set the scene for a more considered communication. If you wish to adopt a formal framing of communication within the Work, the simplest one is to sign off your communication with: In the Great Work, Frater / Soror [your magickal name]. That reminds you, and the recipient, that the communication is within the context of the work that you are mutually embarked upon. The alternative full framing for the Outer Court and apprenticeship work is to commence all communication with: By our Work we are changed. And to sign off all communication with: The Worker is hidden in the workshop.

This reminds us that all our work and communication is to serve the process of self-development, understanding and change, and is not merely idle gossip or ego-serving delivery. It also reminds us that we are working on ourselves, not on others, and need not demonstrate any change other than that which occurs naturally within our work. Later grades within the order, for those that choose to go beyond the Crucible or apprenticeship program, have corresponding frames which remind us of the work, challenge and nature of the particular grade. The frames are also a form of breathing in and out at the start of a piece of communication, and for an advanced concept, may be considered as the Sign of the Enterer (projection) and the Sign of Silence (withdrawal) at the start and end of a magical ritual, which should apply to all true communication. Here is a sample communication showing this form: Care Frater F.P. By our work we are changed. It is with interest that I read ... [text of message] The Worker is hidden in the workshop. Soror S.L.I.

The tool of the magical name is also a long term exploration. It is something that we return to later and find new insight and perspective. In terms of coming to understand our history – our enquiry – it is a useful exercise to review the reasons for choosing our name at regular intervals. This is a cumulative process if one proceeds through the grades of the initiation system and takes a new name for each grade. For example, my Zelator name was Propositum Perfectio Est, which is Latin for ‘I propose perfection’. The best way of wording my initial motto which was ‘All things tend to perfection’. I was very much influenced by such books as The Unfinished Universe which gave a scientific view on the incompleteness of universe and for me embodied the evolutionary spirit of magick.[142] Looking back 30 years later, of course, I see that it was me who felt incomplete, unfinished and imperfect, and wished to see myself as ideally tending towards a perfect state. My Adeptus Minor name was F.P. for ‘Firmitatem Petere’ which comes from the full motto, ‘Cognitatione sui secumque colloquio firmitatem petere’. This means (in essence) ‘he comes to himself through knowledge and conversation’, and it was the name I took after the Abramelin ritual. It stayed with me for seven years. We will now list a selection of magical names and translations for your own inspiration.

Selected List of Magical Names and Mottos Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Julian Baker – Causa Scientiae (Latin: ‘For the sake of knowledge’) Edward Berridge – Resurgam (Latin: ‘I will rise again’) Aleister Crowley – Perdurabo (Latin: ‘I Will endure to the end’)[143] Florence Farr – Sapientia Sapienti Dona Data (Latin: ‘Wisdom is a gift given to the wise’) F.L. Gardner – De Profundis Ad Lucem (Latin: ‘From the depths to the light’) Maud Gonne – Per Ignem ad Lucem (Latin: ‘Through fire to the light’) Annie Horniman – Fortiter et Recte (Latin: ‘Strongly and rightly’) Moina Bergson Mathers – Vestigia nulla retrorsum (Latin: ‘I never retrace my steps’) Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (founder) – ‘S Rioghail Mo Dhream (Gaelic: ‘Royal is my race’) Mrs. Simpson – Perseverantia et Cura Quies (Latin: ‘Perseverance and care for rest’) Miss Elaine Simpson –Fidelis (Latin: ‘Faithful’) Colonel Webber – Non Sine Numine (Latin: ‘Not without divine favour’) William Wynn Westcott (founder) – Sapere Aude (Latin: ‘Dare to Know’)

A.F.A. Woodford – Sit Lux et Lux Fuit (Latin: ‘Let there be light, and there was light’) William Robert Woodman (founder) – Magna est Veritas (Latin: ‘Great is the Truth’) William Butler Yeats – Demon est Deus inversus (Latin: ‘The demon is the reverse of God’) Alpha et Omega Allen Bennett – Iehi Aour (Hebrew: ‘Let there be light’) J.W. Brodie-Innes – Sub Spe (Latin: ‘Under hope’) Dion Fortune – Deo, non fortuna (Latin: ‘By God, not by chance’) Mrs. Tranchell-Hayes – Ex Fide Fortis (Latin: ‘Strong through faith’) Stella Matutina Harriet Felkin – Soror Quaestor Lucis (Latin: ‘Seeker of light’) Robert Felkin – Frater Finem Respice (Latin: ‘Look to the end’) Mr. Meakin – Frater Ex Orient Lux (Latin: ‘Light from the East’) Israel Regardie – Ad Majoram Adonai Gloriam (Latin: ‘For the greater glory of the Lord’) Argenteum Astrum J.F.C. Fuller – Per Ardua ad Astra (Latin: ‘By struggle to the stars’) Charles Stansfeld Jones – Unus In Omnibus (Latin: ‘One in All’) and also Parsival George Cecil Jones – Volo Noscere (Latin: ‘I Wish to Know’)

Victor Neuburg – Omnia Vincam (Latin: ‘I will conquer all’) Austin Osman Spare – Yihoveaum Jane Wolfe – Estai (Greek: ‘It will be’) Ordo Templi Orientis William Breeze – Hymenaeus Beta George Macnie Cowie – Fiat Pax (Latin: ‘Let there be peace’) Karl Germer – Saturnus Grady McMurtry – Hymenaeus Alpha

The Rituals and Practices “There is no greater miracle than being present. Everything begins and never ends from this.” — Robert Earl Burton, Self-Remembering[144]

In this section we will present the basic ritual exercises of the Neophyte in the O.E.D. which are similar in procedure to many other groups. However, our contextualisation of these rituals is informed by four decades of exploration and practice, so they are given in a new light – a light that shines from their ultimate destination. We say “by our work we are changed” and there is indeed no other simple truth at this grade than ‘you get what you put in’. These rituals are preparatory in different ways for the ritual of Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is far more likely to accomplish that demanding work if you have several years or more practice of these components.

We cannot stress highly enough that nothing will happen without work. Boring, repetitive, often non-resultant work. If you are not willing to rather sweep the temple floor for the rest of your life than live as you are, and demonstrate such even if the gates remain closed, you will never be invited one summer into the monastery. The rituals and practices of the Neophyte are embodied in four tarot cards: Temperance - Middle Pillar exercise The Magician - Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram The Hierophant - Rose Cross The Sun - Liber Resh The corresponding letters for these cards are Samekh + Beth + Vau + Resh which spell SBVR or “thinking”. It here refers to us acting ourselves into a new way of thinking, rather than thinking our way into a new way of acting. In the technical practice for the first month of membership of the OED, the student is asked to perform an ‘observation’. This is a regular ritual that has no direct intention other than to mark the passage of time. However, as you will come to learn and experience, it can have powerful effects upon your life. It works with one of the foundations of our encounter with the universe: time. We ourselves are built from the trinity of time, values (beliefs and actions) and self-image. In tarot these fundamental building blocks of our relationship to reality are seen as: Wheel of Fortune - Time (fate and destiny)

The Hanged Man - Values (beliefs and actions) The Star - Self-image (vision) If we were to create a square of this triangle, we would add: The Blasted Tower - Communication It is these cornerstones that our initial magical work attacks, to release their hold upon the dreaming mind. The constant repetition of spells, rituals, magical exercises, and divinations (or any other habitual act of life – for from one perspective, all acts are spells, rituals, exercises, and a form of divination) is often an ego-created trap; for the simple but overarching purpose of these acts as experiments and demonstrations of our reality structure is often forgotten. When allied to the WEIS, they become powerful components leading to initiatory state-change, and whilst attractive, must not become simply more wallpaper on the inside of our cell. We aim to escape, not decorate. The transcendence of time is a commonly realised experience in mystical states, and Philip K. Dick goes further to suggest that “the purpose of the mysteries was to free the initiate from ‘astral determinism’, which roughly equals fate.” He further saw this task as belonging to the WEIS:

It all had to do with time. “Time can be overcome,” Mircea Eliade wrote. That’s what it’s all about. The great mystery of Eleusis, of the Orphics, of the early Christians, of Serapis, of the Greco-Roman mystery religions, of Hermes Trismegistos, of the Renaissance Hermetic alchemists, of the RoseCross Brotherhood, of Apollonius of Tyana, of Simon Magus, of Asklepios, of Paracelsus, of Bruno, consists of the abolition of time. The techniques are there.[145] Although the Liber Resh observation is a commonly known practice, and can be found with many variations, it is often given by default, without a clear indication of its place in the overall initiatory scheme. We will first look at some of the many reasons this observation is important, and additionally comment upon and discuss its actual practice in the real world. The ritual itself uses Ancient Egyptian god-forms. There are a number of reasons for this, including that the author, Aleister Crowley, was versed in the myths of Ancient Egypt, and that the Egyptians had a system in which the Sun was seen in different forms dependent upon the time of day and night. Hence, a different god-form was associated with the Sun on the Eastern horizon and the Western horizon, or for the midnight Sun. It reminds us in practice of our model from the Emerald Tablet that we saw at the opening of this volume of The Magister: “so all things were born from this one thing by adaptation.” In the performance of Liber Resh we remind ourselves constantly and implicitly that the one thing is being observed as many apparently different things. This is the true secret of the ritual.

Although Egyptology has moved on dramatically since Crowley’s day, in some cases revising the names of the gods entirely, or clarifying obscure concepts, we here utilise the original names for the sake of learning the basic form as originally composed and taught. In later work, one can revise the names and stations to accord with a more contemporary understanding of ancient Egyptian myth and religious thought. In the second practice (the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram) you will start to re-orientate yourself to magickal space. As a result, after several months you will start to experience yourself in relation to the universe in a whole new light; your awareness existing in a new matrix of time and space which will progressively strengthen and bring insight the more it is practiced.

Liber Resh (Solar Adoration) This observational ritual is taken directly from the work of Aleister Crowley who we will meet later in a whole volume of The Magister. It is a practice for the student to conduct at regular intervals during the day and night. At first, you should carry out this practice as you find it convenient – there is no initial requirement to perform it exactly at the stated times of sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight. However, you should aim to practice as close to these times as possible. The aim is to make the practice a regular and consistent observation, with as little variation as possible. As we have noted, the unstated intention of this work – from many years of practice and review – is to establish a re-orientation of yourself to time. This is absolutely fundamental to preparing yourself for later magical and mystical experience. There are future experiences that you will look back upon and find yourself realising that you are looking at time differently. This solar observation establishes a framework in which these experiences can manifest and be maintained without throwing your whole life out of balance. Another of the many effects of this practice is to widen your perspective. The word ‘perspective’ comes from the Latin ‘to see through’, and when we work on perspective our aim is to ‘see through’ the apparent world and our experience into another realm – a magical world. In the practice of Liber Resh we align our sense of time to the orbit of the Earth about the Sun, and so become attendant on that more cosmic cycle.

You may find yourself experiencing the ‘breath’ or ‘tides’ of energy that your body goes through during the day and night with more sensitivity as a result of this practice. Another aspect of this simple but powerful ritual is that we make a physical statement of our ‘grade’ of understanding at each point of the cycle. That is to say, we not only say “Hey, here I am, a being in time,” but we also reaffirm, “And here is what I currently know about my relationship to the universe,” in making the sign of our ‘grade’. This aligns our oath to enquire about this relationship at every point of the cycle, and reaffirms it constantly as a powerful statement of our Will. We will first give the ritual exactly as it was given by Aleister Crowley and then we will make a few comments to assist your performance of the ritual.[146]

Liber Resh vel Helios sub figura CC These are the adorations to be performed by aspirants to the A

∴ A ∴ Let

him greet the Sun at dawn, facing East, giving the sign of his grade. And let him say in a loud voice: Hail unto Thee who art Ra in Thy rising, even unto Thee who art Ra in Thy strength, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Uprising of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Night! Also at Noon, let him greet the Sun, facing South, giving the sign of his grade. And let him say in a loud voice: Hail unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy triumphing, even unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy beauty, who travellest over the heavens in thy bark at the Mid-course of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Morning! Also, at Sunset, let him greet the Sun, facing West, giving the sign of his grade. And let him say in a loud voice:

Hail unto Thee who art Tum in Thy setting, even unto Thee who art Tum in Thy joy, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Down-going of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Day! Lastly, at Midnight, let him greet the Sun, facing North, giving the sign of his grade, and let him say in a loud voice: Hail unto thee who art Khephra in Thy hiding, even unto Thee who art Khephra in Thy silence, who travellest over the heavens in Thy bark at the Midnight Hour of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Evening! And after each of these invocations thou shalt give the sign of silence, and afterward thou shalt perform the adoration that is taught thee by thy Superior. And then do thou compose Thyself to holy meditation. Also it is better if in these adorations thou assume the God-form of Whom thou adorest, as if thou didst unite with Him in the adoration of That which is beyond Him. Thus shalt thou ever be mindful of the Great Work which thou hast undertaken to perform, and thus shalt thou be strengthened to pursue it unto the attainment of the Stone of the Wise, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.

Commentary & Practice In using these names, we recognise the eternal light as passing through different forms in time. In a sense, this mirrors our awareness of reality – light passing through different configurations in time. It prepares our awareness for later lessons, which you will come to learn as we progress. This regular adoration practice also teaches you a relationship to a ‘higher’ force that is one of recognition and respect, but not slavery or worship. It also sets up a regular rhythm of practice outside and within your everyday life. It also places your awareness in the centre of time as you perceive it, again a useful foundation for later work. The language is not too important. It is the words used by Crowley, based upon poor translations of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, whose actual pronunciation is unknown. The ‘sign of the grade’ is important but not essential. For a beginner student within the OED, it is the Neophyte sign. It is a sign of projection, raising both arms ahead and parallel to your eyes, with palms down – almost as it about to perform a dive into water. You look down your arms into the far distance, and visualise light streaming into infinity. You then drop your right arm and hand, and raise your left hand to your mouth to make the ‘Sign of Silence’ which is a finger to the lips. This ‘seals’ back the energy that you have projected. These signs are also explained as follows:

The Sign of the Enterer: Stand erect. Your palms facing down, draw your hands up the sides of your body until they point, fingers forward, at either side of your head. Step forward with your left foot and thrust your arms forward. Called the Sign of Horus, this sign assists you in sending your energy forward towards an object of adoration. It is usually accompanied by an outgoing of breath. The Sign of Silence: This sign has the effect of withdrawing the energy projected in the Sign of the Enterer, and ending your identification with the object of adoration. It is also called the Sign of Harpocrates, and its significance as such is without end. Stand upright. Bring your left index finger to your lips as though telling someone to be quiet. Simultaneously stamp your left foot, gently and firmly, or take an in-breath. The meditation to perform once you have completed the adoration and the signs is upon The Sun tarot card (or simply take a few moments to be with yourself in silence). You can also contemplate the words of the Emerald Tablet or consider the Vision of Zosimos. At this stage there is no requirement for heavy meditation; a simple marking of time and attention of awareness is all that is necessary. This practice should be done as close to sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight as convenient, and regularly. If you cannot see the Sun, or are slightly late or early, no matter – perform the adoration. If you miss an adoration, perform the next one as usual and leave the missed one. You should also record the observation in your magical diary or journal.

With regard to the positions adopted in the Liber Resh, you are advised to make the ‘sign of your grade’, which as a Neophyte is the Sign of the Enterer followed by the Sign of Silence. This projects energy and withdraws it, and symbolises that as a Neophyte you are awakening and learning to control (albeit unconsciously at present) elemental energies. I do not believe that you should do different signs at different times of the day; to me, you are recognising your state-of-being (‘grade’) in time when you do Liber Resh, and your state-of-being in space when you practice the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. Unless you have changed grade during the day, then you would adopt the same sign at all times. The Sign of Harpocrates is made with the left hand, although the figure is historically most often depicted with the right hand to the mouth. It is certainly made with the left in the Golden Dawn. Strangely, the gesture as made by Harpocrates is not actually anything to do with ‘silence’ or the ‘hush’ motion or sound, but was actually a sign which represented the particular hieroglyph of the god. It is only after the Ancient Egyptians that the sign, and therefore the god’s association with silence, was made. At a more mystical level, Harpocrates also represents the ‘Silent Watcher’ which is your Holy Guardian Angel, and the aim of the elemental grades of initiation. You are already falling back into yourself to prepare to meet your angel, even within this basic signing and practice.

Vignette: Airport Adoration Frater F.P. found himself at dawn in an airport whilst performing the Abramelin operation, for which Liber Resh is in part a preparation and practice. As it was essential that he performed the observation, he managed to locate the ‘All Faith Chapel’ room and find a member of staff to unlock it. However, he was still dressed in a suit and tie, and carrying his briefcase and laptop, required for the business trip. So he performed the practice (also involving a Banishing Ritual and vibrating names) and prayers so dressed. At the point of completion, he looked up and realised that there was a closed-circuit television camera in the room. He imagines that is still doing the rounds as the security company’s top 10 videos.

Liber Qoph vel Lunae The Book of the Moon, a Lunar Observation. In this variant form of the Liber Resh practice, initiates of the OED equilibriate their solar and conscious observations with a reflective recognition of unconscious patterns. The Moon is symbolic of our inner life, and as corresponding with Yesod, as the Sun corresponds to Tiphareth, their equal activation in our life, Malkuth, is depicted by the Temperance tarot card. The lunar observation is only made once daily, at night or before sleep, ideally gazing upon the Moon in her station. The wording, given as a cycling litany, is given as appropriate for the Moon in her four aspects: waxing, full, waning, and new.[147] Litany of the Younger Daughter (Waxing Moon) O Younger Moon, blessed be thou, O Daughter of my Soul, blessed be thou, O Thou Who Grows in Darkness, blessed be thou, O Silent Seed of Light, blessed be thou. Come forth my soul, to know its depths in Thy Light, reflected in mine eye. Litany of the Mother (Full Moon) O Mother Moon, honoured be thou, O Mirror of Creation, honoured be thou,

O Thou who holds all Secrets, honoured be thou, O Memory Full of Treasures, honoured be thou. Come forth my soul, to know its depths In Thy Light, reflected in mine eye.

Litany of the Older Daughter (Waning Moon) O Elder Moon, remembered be thou, O Pale Dew, remembered be thou, O Thou who changes all, remembered be thou, O Well of Tears, remembered be thou. Come forth my soul, to know its depths in Thy Light, reflected in mine eye. Litany of the Innocent (New Moon) O Innocent Moon, enchanted be thou, O Lost Soul, enchanted be thou, O thou who is unknown and unbidden, enchanted be thou, O secret sea, enchanted be thou. Come forth my soul, to know its depths in Thy Light, reflected in mine eye.

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. The practice of casting a circle is well documented in magical work and a common element to many esoteric practices and traditions.

The word

‘temple’ comes from a root meaning to ‘separate’, as does ‘sacred’, to ‘remove from the profane’. Thus, any circle cast creates a temple boundary. When I teach this personally, I teach students to create a circle, charge it with a colour / sound / texture that reflects their will, then extend it to the edges of universe. Thus universe becomes the temple, and all boundaries are removed. I would encourage you to adopt this approach. In the Temple of Anubis, who is guardian of the gates, we learn here to create a circle and space of working with four elemental guardians at the four geographical quarters. We also perform a simple gestural ritual called the Kabbalistic Cross which maps to the sephiroth on the Tree of Life. In doing this ritual – ideally at the commencement and completion of each day – we establish a space in which our world becomes a magical temple. Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice 1. There is no particular pronunciation, as I have heard magicians with a very ‘Geordie’ (North-East England) accent performing the ritual, and it is a very different sound to a Californian or native speaker of Hebrew! The vibration should be controlled by the breathing out – the exhalation – and should vibrate through the whole body, so aim for a deep, sonorous tone and a comfortable volume.

2. You can use your index finger, or an elemental weapon. It is best to start with your own body before extending the practice to other objects, which you need to ensure carry the same intention. 3. Start East. 4. The vibration of those names are four aspects of the universe, or ‘names of God’. Each represents a certain configuration of energies, which can be ascertained by looking at the Hebrew letters that compose each name and relating them to their corresponding tarot cards. 5. The Kabbalistic Cross is the statement, “Ateh, Malkuth, veh-Geburah, veh-Gedulah, Amen,” with the corresponding actions of drawing a Cross upon the body – this activates the Tree of Life in your aura. 6. The direction of the line drawn for the banishing pentagram starts with the bottom left corner, goes up to the top point, then follows that direction until the pentagram is drawn. I always relate this to my left hip, ahead of me, then my head, ahead, then my right hip, left shoulder, right shoulder, then back to the level of my left hip. What you are doing for the banishing is drawing the first line AWAY from the point attributed to EARTH on the pentagram. When you invoke, you draw the line starting from the top point, TOWARDS the point attributed to EARTH. For the ‘Greater’ Banishing Ritual, you learn the attribution of the elements to the points, then, for example, to INVOKE FIRE, you would draw the first line TOWARDS the point attributed to FIRE. Although when you do this, because you are in effect working with an ‘unbalanced’ energy, you have to draw an ‘equilibrating’ pentagram first. I hope that makes sense in theory – don’t worry about it too much at the moment in practice.

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram 1. Stand facing East in the centre of room with feet together. 2. Perform the Kabbalistic Cross: Touch forehead and say, “Ateh” Touch chest and say, “Malkuth” Touch right shoulder and say, “Ve-Geburah” Touch left shoulder and say, “Ve-Gedulah” Put palms together over chest and say, “Le-Olahm, Amen” 3. Surround yourself with pentagrams: Draw a large pentagram before you, starting at the bottom left point; Point to the centre of the pentagram and vibrate “Y-H-V-H” Draw a line to the centre of what will become the South pentagram; Draw a large pentagram before you, starting at the bottom left point. [If you are unsure about the pentagram, see www.westernesotericism.com for a fully illustrated version] Point to the centre of the pentagram and vibrate “Adonai” Draw a line to the centre of what will become the West pentagram; Draw a large pentagram before you, starting at the bottom left point; Point to the centre of the pentagram and vibrate “Eheieh”

Draw a line to the centre of what will become the North pentagram; Draw a large pentagram before you, starting at the bottom left point; Point to the centre of the pentagram and vibrate “AGLA” Draw a line to the centre of the East pentagram. 4. The Elemental Kerubim – with your feet still together and facing East, extend your arms horizontally, palms up, and say: “Before me, Raphael, Behind me, Gabriel, On my Right, Michael, On my Left, Auriel, For before me flames the pentagram, And behind me shines the six-rayed star.” 5. Repeat the Kabbalistic Cross. Visualisations. 1. Visualise yourself as being of immense height, standing with your head among the stars, and with your feet on the Earth like someone balancing on a soccer ball. 2. Kabbalistic Cross visualisations: “Ateh (m), Ata (f)” – Kether above your head, a sphere of pure brilliance; “Malkuth” – Malkuth in your chest cavity, in radiant yellow-gold; “VeGeburah” – Geburah envelopes your right shoulder, in radiant red; “Ve-Gedulah” – Chesed envelopes your left shoulder, in radiant blue; “Le-Olahm, Amen” – You fill the Universe, encased in light.

3. Pentagrams and their connecting lines are drawn on the boundaries of the universe. Draw pentagrams and connecting lines in electric blue (like a laser or welding torch). As you vibrate the names, visualise them within the pentagram in black Hebrew letters on a white background – ‘white fire on black’, as the kabbalists say of holy script. To vibrate the names, take a deep breath, visualising a current of light descending from Kether (above your head) to Malkuth (below, but slightly enveloping, your feet). Hold your breath and maintain the visualisation of light in Malkuth for a moment, while you mentally rehearse the divine name. Then, as you expel the air from your lungs in the saying of the name, visualise the light rising up from Malkuth like a fountain, flowing out through the top of your head, overflowing and enveloping your body in the ovoid form of the aura. East: YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh) South: ADONAI (Aleph-Daleth-Nun-Yod) West: EHEIEH (Aleph-Heh-Yod-Heh) North: AGLA (Aleph-Gimel-Lamed-Aleph) 4. The Elemental Kerubim should be visualised accompanying the Pentagrams. They are tall winged humans with heads appropriate to their Elements: Raphael - Human Gabriel - Eagle

Michael - Lion Auriel - Bull ‘The pentagram’ – these are the five Sephiroth from Tiphareth to Malkuth; visualise as the apparent Universe. ‘The six-rayed star’ – these are the six sephiroth from Kether to Tiphareth; visualise as a star of enormous brilliance. 5. Kabbalistic Cross (as per above). This ritual should be practised in stages until you can perform the whole in a simple yet forceful manner. It should be practised at the start and end of each day. Its continual working over an extended period of time will establish its own routine and revelations. You may notice that in establishing such a willed and equilibrated space, those elements of your life that are not so balanced will be called into attention. This may result in some disruption to your routine. Such disruptions should be taken as evidence that you are working towards balance and not as distractions or challenges to your work. The regular performance of this ritual in a particular place should generate an atmosphere which is noticeable to those entering the space, even in a domestic setting. As one unknowing friend once remarked, “Have you done something with the room? Redecorated?”

The Self in Relationship (Middle Pillar) The Middle Pillar exercise completes a triad of practices given to the Neophyte. In Liber Resh, we re-orientate ourselves to magickal time; in the Banishing Ritual, we re-orientate ourselves to magickal space; and in the Middle Pillar exercise, we re-orientate ourselves to the magickal Self. Although there are many other useful effects of these rituals – a sense of balance, of equilibrium, a serenity and calmness of movement and rhythm that permeates the aura after several months of practice – it is these three orientations that begin to have a profound effect over practice. We are apparent selves existing in time and space. These three methods integrate themselves into this apparent state to achieve the building blocks of later mystical experience. This is not to be underestimated nor taken as basic techniques; they can provide the conduits for intense mystical experience later in the work and assist us integrate that experience into our life. Our practice in the next Temple, the Rose Cross Ritual, will weave these three orientations together into a whole in order to maintain an ongoing synthesis of practice in a harmonious manner. For now, it is useful – indeed essential – to pick up the pace and maintain your practices of three rituals – Liber Resh at regular daily intervals, the Lesser Banishing Ritual at least daily, and the Middle Pillar at least once a week.

Later work beyond the Crucible sees us learn the Greater Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and also an invoking version which allows us to work more dynamically with the four elements. Beyond even that we learn the hexagram version, which takes us from equilibriating and interacting with the forces of the elemental world into the forces of the planetary world. There are further versions of Liber Resh and the Middle Pillar which change in accordance with our progress in the ascent upon the Tree of Life and our own changes of awareness and state. It is Israel Regardie to whom we owe most of the development of the Middle Pillar method. As a therapist as well as a magician he saw the potential of this practice to equilibrate the Self. As you progress with your theory work, learning more about the Tree of Life, these two elements will inform each other and deepen both.[148] Although we see this ritual as re-orientating to the Self, we also see it as the Self-in-relationship. This is important in our contemplation of the method; to see the Self not in itself, but as an entity defined by its relationship – to others, to the world, to the divine, and to itself. It is an eye that sees itself. Notes Prior to Commencing the Practice As you learn the correspondences in your theory work, and learn the colours of the sephiroth, then you may visualise them in the appropriate colours during this exercise. I also recommend obtaining information on the Golden Dawn techniques of building the Tree of Life into the aura and the work of Israel Regardie by the same name, The Middle Pillar, to deepen your appreciation of this exercise.

In this exercise we establish ourselves as the Middle Pillar of the Tree of Life by visualising the central sephiroth of the Tree within our own body / aura. We visualise the sephiroth as spheres – although we must remind ourselves they are ‘numerical emanations’ and not spheres nor objects of any description – and vibrate (chant slowly with intent) the corresponding divine name in Hebrew. The meanings of these divine names is given, and as your practice continues you can contemplate these names as demonstrating different stages and states of Self-relationship, and notice to which you are more attracted or repelled. This is a powerful method hidden within the method and a secret of initiatory work. You may also contemplate the individual Hebrew letters and the corresponding tarot cards, in order to see how these sephiroth function as building blocks of the Self / universe in relation to itself.

The Middle Pillar Method 1. Stand facing West in your temple or working area (or imagine that you are, if you are elsewhere). The Pillars of Mercy and Severity should be to your left and right, with the white Pillar of Mercy on your left, and the black Pillar of Severity on your right hand side. You form (or become) the Middle Pillar as you stand between them. You may also visualise a ladder behind you [this is specific to the work of the Order of the Everlasting Day for which the Crucible is the Outer Court].

2. Imagine that the black pillar is reflected into your right side, and the white pillar reflected into your left side. 3. Now raise your consciousness to the light of your Kether – the area just above the crown of your head (the literal meaning of the word, Kether). Formulate in your mind a sphere of brilliant white light there. This is the divine core of your being. When you can see it and feel it in your mind strongly enough, vibrate (three or four times) slowly: “Eheieh” (Eh-HEH-yeh) meaning ‘I am that I am (Existence is Existence)’ Hebrew letters: Aleph-Heh-Yod-Heh Tarot sequence: The Fool / The Emperor / The Hermit / The Emperor Vibrate this word until it is the only thought in your conscious mind. 4. Imagine a shaft of light beaming down from your Kether into the energy centre about the level of the nape of your neck / throat. Here, visualise another sphere of light similar to your Kether, though smaller in size. This is your Da’ath centre. It is an important gateway of knowledge and communication, and represents knowledge. When you can feel this sphere strongly, vibrate slowly (three or four times, etc.): “YHVH Elohim” (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh Eh-loh-heem) meaning ‘Lord of Hosts’ Hebrew letters: Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh Aleph-Heh-Yod-Mem

Tarot sequence: The Hermit / The Emperor / The Hierophant / The Emperor + The Fool / The Emperor / The Hermit / The Hanged Man 5. Bring a shaft of light from your Da’ath center straight down until it reaches the level of your heart. This is your Tiphareth centre. Visualise a sphere of light similar to the others. Regardie says in The Middle Pillar, “from there a warmth and a quite different sense of power will gently radiate as though from an interior sun.” This is your inner beauty and the beauty of the Self in relation to the divine through gnosis / knowledge (Tiphareth – Da’ath – Kether). When you can feel this sphere strongly, vibrate slowly: “YHVH Eloah Ve-Daath” (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh Eh-loh-ah Veh-Dah-Ath) meaning ‘Lord of Knowledge’ Hebrew letters: Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh Aleph-Lamed-Vau-Heh Vau-DalethAyin-Tau Tarot sequence: The Hermit / The Emperor / The Hierophant / The Emperor + The Fool / Justice / The Hierophant / The Emperor + The Hierophant / The Empress / The Devil / The World 6. Bring the shaft of light from your Tiphareth centre straight down until it reaches the Yesod center in the genital region. Imagine another sphere of light there. When you can feel it strongly, vibrate slowly as before:

“Shaddai El Chai” (Shah-dye-El-Chai, with ‘Ch’ being a coughy ‘kH’ sound as in the German ‘Ch’ or the Scottish ‘Loch’) meaning ‘Almighty Living God’ Hebrew letters: Shin-Daleth-Yod Aleph-Lamed Cheth-Yod Tarot sequence: The Last Judgement / The Empress / The Hermit + The Fool / Justice + The Chariot / The Hermit 7. Imagine the shaft of light descending from Yesod into your Malkuth centre at your feet and ankles. You should be stood upon this sphere. When you can feel this sphere strongly, vibrate slowly as before: “Adonai ha-Aretz” (Ah-doh-nye ha-Ah-retz) meaning ‘Lord of Earth’ Hebrew letters: Aleph-Daleth-Nun-Yod Heh-Aleph-Resh-Tzaddi Tarot sequence: The Fool / The Empress / Death / The Hermit + The Emperor / The Fool / The Sun / The Star 8. At this point, according to Regardie, you may “make the Kabbalistic Cross [that you have learnt as part of your previous Crucible work in the Lesser Banishing Ritual] to indicate that you have called the Light of your Kether and balanced it in your aura.” Circulation of the Light

Here are some additional energy circulation exercises that are worth experimentation following the Middle Pillar exercise. You may find that each method works in a different way, some more appropriate for you than others. I personally recommend the third circulation which is that also favoured by Regardie. Here we draw up the light from our Malkuth to our Kether on the in-breath, and cascade it like a fountain down all around us back to Malkuth on the out-breath. This forms an oval seed-like shape around our whole self, through which we enter into a relationship with our Self and our environment mediated by the sephiroth. If you choose to experiment with these methods, I also recommend using one for a couple of days in order to notice its effect before moving onto another (unless it makes you dizzy, or feel unbalanced, in which case move to another). Circulation 1: Exhale and visualise the light from your Kether travelling down the left side of your body and into Malkuth. Inhale and bring it from Malkuth up the right side of your body back into Kether. Circulation 2: Imagine a ribbon of light descending from your Kether and going down along the front of your body to Malkuth, and then going up along your back and returning to Kether. Circulation 3: Bring the light up your Middle Pillar and when it reaches your Kether, imagine it showering down along the outside of your body as it returns to Malkuth.

Circulation 4: Spiral the energy around the outside of your body from Malkuth to Kether. This ritual should be practised in stages until you can perform the whole in a simple yet forceful manner. It should be practised at least once a week, or preferably daily, certainly when learning the method. You may write out the divine names on cards and have them where you can read them out loud. As with our previous exercises, its continual working over an extended period of time will establish its own routine and revelations. You will also begin to experience how the triad of exercises you are now performing integrate with each other and other emergent properties arise. You might see this exercise in the tarot card of Temperance. It should also be repeated that you may notice that in establishing such a willed and equilibrated space in the banishing ritual, which may precede the Middle Pillar (although later we will use the Rose Cross before the Middle Pillar, as a gentler method and more appropriate preparation), and then establishing a willed and calibrated relationship to the Self and relationship to the environment through the Middle Pillar, that those elements of your life that are not so balanced will be called into attention. This may result in some disruption to your routine and the way that you see others and your relationship to them. Such disruptions and changes of perspective should be taken as evidence that you are working towards balance and not as distractions or challenges to your work. At this stage, if you have not already started the practical work, or started and dropped it, then you should consider whether this path is for you, as it is not too late to re-commence your work and establish the calcination required for later revelations and initiation.

The Peace Profound of the Rose Cross and Key Our technical practice of the Rose Cross (and Key) squares the triangle of previous techniques and prepares us for another order of work. It is a spatial method similar to the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, but one in which we work to the centre rather than out from the centre. It is called the Rose Cross Ritual and was developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and, like the Middle Pillar, was favoured and popularised by Israel Regardie.[149] As we have previously discussed in Liber Resh, we re-orientate ourselves to magickal time, and in the Banishing Ritual, we re-orientate ourselves to magickal space. In the Midlle Pillar exercise, we re-orientate ourselves to the magickal Self. Here we now re-orientate that Self to the centre and its relationship to the whole. The energy of this ritual can be compared with the Lesser Banishing Ritual and you should find it a more calming, passive, meditative state after initial practice. This is an ideal technique for meditation, contemplation and healing work. It is said that this method closes down the astral, whereas the Lesser Banishing Ritual lights it up. It is certainly a powerful and profound method of moving into a state of tranquility, in contrast to the dynamic force of the pentagram which prepares us for active magical work. I would recommend learning this ritual and performing it with peaceful music and lightly-fragranced incense. Japanese incense is ideal, or a blended incense of rose or jasmine.

In the sense of the map of the Tree of Life, this method corresponds to the sephirah Tiphareth, meaning ‘beauty’ and the grade of Adeptus Minor. As such, it corresponds to the experience of the pure Self, undifferentiated awareness, and a lightness of being. These may all be experienced within this technique after practice.

The Rose Cross Ritual 1a. Light a stick of incense. Go to the South-East corner of the room. Make a large cross and circle thus:

The Rose Cross

1b. And holding the point of the incense in the centre, vibrate the word: “Yeheshuah.” 2. With arm outstretched on a level with the centre of the cross, and holding the incense stick, go to the South-West corner and make a similar cross, repeating the word. 3. Go to the North-West corner and repeat the cross and the word. 4. Go to the North-East corner and repeat the cross and the word. 5. Complete your circle by returning to the South-East corner and bringing the point of the incense to the central point of the first cross which you should imagine astrally there. 6. Holding the stick on high, go to the centre of the room, walking diagonally across the room towards the North-West corner. In the centre of the room, above your head, trace the cross and circle and vibrate the name. 7. Holding the stick on high, go to the North-West and bring the point of the stick down to the centre of the astral cross there.

8. Turn towards the South-East and retrace your steps there, but now, holding the incense stick directed across the floor. In the centre of the room, make the cross and circle towards the floor, as it were, under your feet, and vibrate the name. 9. Complete this circle by returning to the South-East and bringing the point of the stick again to the centre of the cross, then move with arm outstretched to South-West corner. 10. From the centre of this cross, and raising the incense stick in front of you as before, walk diagonally across the room towards the North-East corner. In the centre of the room, pick up again the cross above your head previously made, vibrating the name. It is not necessary to make another cross. 11. Bring the stick to the centre of the North-East cross and return to the South-West, incense stick down, and pausing in the centre of the room to link up with the cross under your feet. 12. Return to the South-West and rest the point of the incense a moment in the centre of the cross there. Holding the stick out, retrace your circle to the North-West, link on to the North-West cross – proceed to the North-East cross and complete your circle by returning to the South-East, and the centre of the first cross.

13. Retrace the cross, but larger, and make a big circle, vibrating for the lower half “Yeheshuah,” and for the upper half “Yehovashah.” 14. Return to the centre of the room, and visualise the six crosses in a network around you.

Rose Cross Ritual

This ceremony can be concluded by the ‘analysis of the Keyword’ given as follows: 1. Stand with arms outstretched in the form of a cross, facing East. 2. Vibrate these words: I.N.R.I. (Yod-Nun-Resh-Yod) – The Sign of Osiris Slain. 3. Right arm up, left arm extended out from shoulder, head bowed toward left hand. L – The Sign of the Mourning of Isis. 4. Both arms up in a V shape. V – The Sign of Typhon and Apophis. 5. Arms crossed on breast, head bowed. X – The Sign of Osiris Risen. 6. Make the signs again as you repeat L.V.X. L.V.X. Lux. 7. Arms folded on breast, head bowed. The Light of the Cross.

8. Then arms extended in the Sign of Osiris Slain (see 1). Virgo – Isis – Mighty Mother Scorpio – Apophis – Destroyer Sol – Osiris – Slain and Risen 9. Gradually raise arms. Isis – Apophis – Osiris 10. Arms above head, face raised. I.A.O. [This following section 11 is in the Enochian language and for now you can choose whether you wish to use it or otherwise.] 11. Except when in the Vault, now vibrate the four Tablet of Union names to equilibriate the light. Exarp – Hcoma – Nanta – Biton 12. Aspire to the light and draw it down over your head to your feet. Let the Divine Light Descend.

GD 2-1-2 p134 INRI from Original Golden Dawn Manuscripts

GD 2-1-2 p135 INRI from Original Golden Dawn Manuscripts

The Opening of the Golden Dawn into the Everlasting Day

All rituals are constructed upon basic principles, such as confirming a space of working, purification, consecration, invocation, and banishing prior to opening and closing. These principles establish a state in which magical work can be undertaken. In the following simple ritual format, we create an opening in which we might practice one of the exercises that we have already learnt, such as the Middle Pillar. This opening and closing of the temple is a fundamental practice and precedes initiatory and magical work. The ritual is an essential component of the elemental workings that follow in later work, and more advanced methods such as the Greater Pentagram Rituals, Hexagram Rituals, elemental, planetary and zodiacal workings, as well as advanced methods beyond that including invocations, evocations, Enochian, and angelic workings. There are also elements of this ritual that will stand the Adept in good stead when he or she attempts the Abramelin Ritual in order to attain the Knowledge and Conversation of their Holy Guardian Angel, as discussed earlier. The performance format given here is suitable for an individual working, but might easily be modified for other participants. You can build upon this ritual with appropriate visualisations, which will be covered in later volumes.

The Opening of the Everlasting Day

Opening Ritual in the Grade of Neophyte of the Order of Everlasting Day: One knock (K) – give a knock (usually with a staff or wand). You may wish to use a bell, allowing the ring to completely ring out ‘onto the astral’ each chime. Perform the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP). Exclaim: “Hekas Hekas Este Bebeloi! Be ye hence far from us, O ye profane, for we are about to open a Temple of the Everlasting Day. Enter this place with hands clean of deed and heart pure of thought, lest ye defile the source of all life itself.” Sign of Neophyte – Make the Sign of Entering and of Silence. Go to the South. Say: “In the South stands the Dadouchos, symbolising heat and dryness. Here is the incense attended and from here the Dadouchos assists in the consecration by fire.” Go to the North.

Say: “In the North stands the Stolistes, symbolising cold and moisture. Here is the cup attended and from here the Stolistes assists in the purification by water.” Go to the West. Say: “In the throne of the West sits the Hiereus, symbolizing increase of darkness, decrease of light. He presides over twilight and darkness and guards the gate of the West.” Go to the East. It is here that you should stand or have a chair for your working. Say: “In the throne of the East I sit, symbolising the rise of the Sun of light and life.” Purify with water and consecrate with fire. Trace the temple floor with water, saying: “So therefore first the priest(ess) who governeth the works of fire must sprinkle with the lustral waters of the loud coagulating sea ...”

Trace the temple perimeter with a candle or incense, saying: “... and when, after all the phantoms of illusion have departed, thou shalt see that holy formless fire, that fire which darts and flashes throughout the hidden depths of the universe.” Raise the light above the altar or in the East, proclaiming: “Hear thou the voice of the fire!” Make three circumabulations of the temple, deosil (clock-wise walks of the temple area), and each time passing the East make the Sign of the Enterer. Imagine that the light is pouring into the temple through the East, and that you are projecting it into the circle as you make the sign. Furthermore, feel that you are rising higher with each circle, making a threefold spiral ascent. This is usually written in shorthand as: 3 x C (0=0 Signs in East). Take a moment to centre yourself in the temple space, and then make the following adoration: Holy art Thou, Lord of the Universe! Holy art Thou, Whom Nature hath not Formed! Holy art Thou, the Vast and the Mighty One! Lord of the Light and of the Darkness! Pause a moment in reflection of this adoration.

Say: “In the name of the Lord of the universe, I declare that the Sun hath arisen and the light shineth in the darkness.” Make the following mystic statements, knocking or ringing a chime at each: Khabs am Pekht (K) Konx om Pax (K) Light in Extension (K) Say: “I now declare open this temple for the works of the Order of Everlasting Day.” Practice the Middle Pillar exercise or similar working as appropriate. You can then close the temple as follows: One knock (K). Purify with water and consecrate with fire as before (“So therefore first ...”) Make the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP). Say: “I now declare closed this meeting of the temple of light.”

You may wish to build up the practice of turning a space into a magical temple through this opening ritual. It provides an important and fundamental structure to later ritual practice, particularly initiatory rituals. There are also essential elements of this practice that lay foundations for spiritual progress in later grades of the initiatory system.

The Rituals of the Sapphire Temple

The following rituals have been composed to demonstrate the application of kabbalistic methods in the production of magical ceremonies. Each ritual is based around the letters that compose the title of the sephiroth to which the ritual is allocated – so there are 10 rituals, one for each of the sephirah on the Tree of Life. I have then provided a Kingdom ritual, which binds all 10 rituals together, using the first letter of each of the names of the 10 sephiroth to provide the 10 points of the ritual. In addition, the letters of the Hebrew names for the implements and furnishing of the ritual have been analysed to provide further expansion of their functions. Such analysis is useful to the magician using kabbalah, but each individual must develop their own basic ‘language’ from which these expansions can be derived. The rituals have been written in such a way that they can act as templates for more elaborate ceremonies, but contain within themselves a simple statement about the nature of each particular sephirah in its manifestation through the Hebrew letters.

The rites are modular in format, and can be pieced together as required in order to accomplish a variety of tasks. They are given here as designed to follow a particular project, providing focus and meaning through the ceremonies associated with it. Thus they could be used together when beginning a new relationship, or to discover and activate aspects associated with dissatisfaction over a job. Equally, they can be used purely as written to get a sense of the role of each of the sephiroth in any process taking place throughout the universe or within oneself. Note that in Hebrew, the words for altar, lamp, triangle, pentagram, and hexagram all commence with the letter Mem, symbolic through the image of The Hanged Man of initiation and the fastening to the ‘on-high’, which is a state of being rather than a place or plane. The words for the triangle and the hexagram (two triangles) both contain two occurrences of the letter Shin, which in itself is symbolic of fire, represented by a triangle. We will commence with the Kether ritual, involving the altar and the lamp, and work our way to the ritual of Malkuth.

1. Kether: The Ritual of the Altar and the Lamp. Altar; MZBTh; the altar is the foundation of initiation, the link to the onhigh. Offerings are made and intuition received here. The magician arranges the four elements and makes manifest his magic. Lamp; MNVRH; the light of on-high, transforming the dark, bringing grace and enlightenment. The light of the lamp is the window through which we see. The lamp pertains to two of the sephiroth, and is used here to represent Kether. The lamp hanging above the altar is symbolic of Kether, as it illuminates all the work below. The lamp which is carried in the hand, or any other form of light thus carried, symbolises Netzach, in that it represents the light of love, which is brought by the magician, and only illuminates that to which it is directed. This is an important point of symbolism. The purpose of this first ritual is to link your goals with your environment by recognising the inherent unity between Kether and Malkuth, symbolised by the lamp and altar respectively. Kether in this context symbolises whatever enlightenment you wish to attain, and Malkuth is your base of work. This ritual can hence be used to throw light on a particular facet of the environment, or some other problem that is facing you. The lamp must be suspended above the altar, but if this is not possible then a tall candleholder will suffice. The altar itself can be either the traditional double-cube altar or simply a tray upon which your implements are placed, or the top of a table. The ritual follows the influence of the letters that spell out Kether, being Kaph, Tau and Resh.

Point Kaph. Stand or kneel before the altar and hold your hands above it, palms open and facing up. Visualise the altar as the centre of the universe, about which everything turns, like the spokes of a wheel. Say: “My life is the life I choose to lead. I am the centre myself, and that of all about me.” Point Tau. Now turn both hands over and place them on the altar, one over the other, both bent slightly inwards making an ‘X’ shape. Feel the altar beneath your hands and say: “My life is the place of the Great Work, and myself the altar on which the Work is done.” Point Resh. Light the lamp above the altar and state: “Let the Eternal Light of which this is part be visible to me in all that I accomplish.” The meditation for this ritual is to take your problematic situation, or question, and think about it. Then visualise the question in some symbolic form, such as a question mark, sigil or other object, and see it as hanging between the lamp and the altar. Then slowly visualise the light of the lamp becoming brighter, and the altar becoming larger and larger until one is lost in the other, and the visualised object is lost amidst them. Then slowly contract this vision to a singular point of light and hold it as long as possible. This will have the effect of simplifying and clarifying your work at regular intervals. 2. Chockmah: The Ritual of the Circle and Candle. Circle; A’aGVL; the circle is the eye of the mind, containing the mystery to be worked. Within, all things are fixed and placed in equilibrium. Candle; NR; the candle dies to release the light.

The second ritual builds the Sapphire Temple further by creating a circle within which the Work is performed. The altar is usually the centre of the circle, or can be placed in the East, which is where the Sun rises and hence is symbolic of the dawning of light. As the ritual is assigned to Chockmah, the actions are circular and involve the candle as a pillar of light. Again, the actions follow the pattern of energy indicated by the letters composing Chockmah. Point Cheth. Draw a circle about your temple space in any manner that seems appealing, using either your hand to point, or a wand or stick. This represents the enclosure (Cheth) within which you will work. Point Kaph. Light a candle on your altar and place it in the centre of the circle, if this is not the position of your altar already. Warm the palm of your hand by the candle flame, feeling the warmth enter your arm. Point Mem. Take a small container of water – either a shell, cup or other small pot – and walk around the circle in a clockwise motion, sprinkling the water. Say: “I purify the Circle by Water, and cleanse it and myself of all that is unnecessary to my Work.” Point Heh. Take the candle and walk around the circle once again, holding it up and saying: “I consecrate this Circle by Fire, focusing everything in it and myself to the Work I will do.” Place the candle down again, raise your arms above your head and say, firmly: “BEHOLD!”

The meditation for the ritual of Chockmah is that of a spiral. Visualise yourself as the centre of a circle, and then visualise that circle spinning around you as a wheel. From that point, visualise the circle vibrating upwards and downwards, so that the path of any point on the circle will form a spiral. Imagine that this spiral is the same spiral as that which forms the shape of a great galaxy, and then bring your attention back to the microscopic realm by imagining the spiral as forming the curve of a spiral of DNA within your body, or the shape of a seashell. Attempt to view time, and your own personal history as a spiral event rather than a linear one. What light does this template throw on the events which have taken place in your life? 3. Binah: The Ritual of the Temple and Triangle. Temple; HIKL; the temple is existence itself, the window in which the Great Work is seen. The temple is our place of being and our place of study. Triangle; MShLSh; in the triangle is both the water of purification and the fire of consecration. Their equilibrium gives energy to the Work. Chalice; KVS; in the vault of the graal is the wine of inspiration which alone can truly support us.

In this ritual, which is of the third sephirah, Binah, we complete the building of the temple itself. This completes the triangle of actions in the three sephiroth above the Abyss. Whereas Chockmah gives us the energy (in a spiral form) for the Work, Binah provides the form through which it is manifest. We must recall that the temple itself is equally a symbol, and symbolises our whole life, and the environment we live in. We must not forget to live in one world, and not see our temple work as separate to our ‘normal’ or everyday world. As with each of the rituals of the Sapphire Temple, this working can be performed in itself, or be preceded by the earlier rituals. The full set is intended to create a master ceremony which can be modified according to requirements whilst still retaining the key elements and sequence of kabbalistic ritual. Point Beth. Take the chalice up from the altar and elevate it, saying: “Let this Temple be a working place of the elements, force and form in harmony.” Pour water into the chalice, contemplating it as a symbol of Chockmah pouring energy into Binah. Beth is the archetype of containers, and can mean ‘temple’. Point Yod. Take a seed and place it into the chalice. Say: “Let the seed of this Work I am to perform grow to fruition in peace and safety.” Yod is the letter attributed to The Hermit tarot card, and symbolises the guiding principle of light, to which Nature aspires, as a seed becomes a plant which turns to the light. Point Nun. Light the candle in front of the chalice as symbolic of the Sun (see also the point above regarding the candle, NR). Say: “Let the gross be removed that the light may shine forth and fill this temple.”

Point Heh. Visualise a triangular window in the East, through which light shines, and fills the temple. Raise your hands and state: “Let the Spirit of Understanding fill this Temple I have built.” The meditation of this ritual is that of the triangle, which is one of the symbols of Binah, having three sides. It is also the first of the solid shapes after the circle, and is symbolic of the first equilibrium of unities, being composed of both the monad (Kether) and the duad (Chockmah). In Pythagorean numerology, three is sacred to Saturn, ruler of time, which is the planet attributed to Binah. The meditation is simply to take any situation and attempt to resolve it into three principles, visualised as words on each side of the triangle. Thus, a relationship might be drawn onto the triangle as ‘time’, ‘love’ and ‘space’. This triangle is that which binds the situation, and can be used to see the most basic form of any event or process. 4. Chesed: The Ritual of the Square. Square; RBVA’a; building the square of the elements provides a base of light from which to work our will, with inspiration and energy. With the ritual of the square, we awaken the powers of the elements in their most archetypal form, as they begin to appear in the flux of energies sent forth from Chesed to be differentiated in Geburah and disseminated through Tiphareth into the four lower sephiroth. The letters of Chesed; Cheth, Samekh, Daleth, conceal the square in a number of ways. Firstly, Cheth itself has the value of 8, the double square, and in full the value of 418, the number of the Great Work accomplished, according to Crowley. This sums to 4 + 1 + 8 = 13 = 1 + 3 = 4. Daleth has the value of 4 also.

Point Cheth. Draw a double square about the temple. The corners of the first square are the quarters, commencing in the East, then South, West and North. The corners of the second square are the cross-quarters, commencing in the South-East, then South-West, North-West, and North-East. This makes another form of enclosure (Cheth) about the temple. Point Samekh. Take a staff or stick to each point of the double square in turn, commencing with the East. Say: “Within this Temple, the Powers of the (quarter or cross-quarter name) are awakened!” Point Daleth. Take the staff to each of the quarters in turn, saying as appropriate: East: “I open the Portal of the East and awaken the energy of Air.” South: “I open the Portal of the South and awaken the energy of Fire.” West: “I open the Portal of the West and awaken the energy of Water.” North: “I open the Portal of the North and awaken the energy of Earth.”

The meditation for the ritual is one used in many opening rituals, which involves facing each quarter in turn and meditating on the properties of the element associated with that quarter. Thus for East, one visualises the Air, and attempts to awaken within oneself the positive qualities of Air, being lightness, swiftness, clarity and so forth. Most systems, including kabbalah, also use personifications for the powers of the quarters, such as Michael for the South, or djinn in the Wiccan system. However, in the Sapphire Temple sequence, it is best to begin with the abstract principle of the element, and then build up suitable personifications at a later stage. This avoids some of the dangers involved with working with personified energy when first beginning ritual work, the worst of which is attributing personal qualities to these archetypal forms. 5. Geburah: The Ritual of the Incense and the Pentagram. Pentagram; MChMSh; the pentagram initiates a separation and forges the link to on-high. It initiates the energy of the Work. Incense; QTRTh; the incense pervades, appealing to our deepest senses. The smoke coils and twists like a snake, and from the point of light, burning, we are surrounded by manifestation.

With Geburah, we begin to impose constraints on the energies awoken in the Chesed ritual. Geburah is the sephirah of discrimination and discernment, being the defining aspect of form. As the pentagram is the symbol of Geburah, having five points, it is appropriate that the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is here introduced, being the most common form of preliminary temple ritual in ritual magic. However, as this ritual is of primary importance in most magical work, I here offer a kabbalistic commentary on its nature, and have provided the full ritual elsewhere in this book. Point Gimel. Light incense. Pause and meditate briefly on the nature of sacrifice, where one substance changes its form entirely, hence dying, only to allow another form of itself to rise, like incense. Points Beth, Vau and Resh. These points together form the basis of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, which is now performed. The Hebrew word, Beth Vau Resh, BVR, means ‘to be empty, uncultivated’, and hence indicates the nature of the temple after a successful banishing. The tarot cards which relate to these letters are The Magician, The Hierophant and The Sun, which show that the banishing is performed according to Will in order to reveal and work with the mysteries of Light. The letters themselves demonstrate that the banishing aims to ‘fix’ (Vau) the ‘temple’ (Beth) in one’s ‘head’ (Resh) or awareness. Point Heh. Raise hands after the banishing and say: “BEHOLD!” 6. Tiphareth: The Ritual of the Pillars and the Rose. Pillar; A’aMVD; between the pillars the eye of the mind is awakened to the on-high. The sacred things are shown and the portal is opened.

Rose; VRD; the rose recalls love, light and unity to those who look upon it. Hexagram; MShShH; the hexagram symbolises two triangles of energy (Shin and Shin), one of an ascending nature, providing the symbols of Fire and Air (Heh, air hole), and the other of a descending nature, providing the symbols of Water (Mem) and Earth (the synthesis of the four letters). For the Tiphareth ritual, we reach a critical junction in the sequence, and hence the working seeks to provide the full equilibrium of the temple, and fasten it to the kabbalistic Tree as strongly as possible. This is done by a series of visualisations which map the Tree and the pillars to the temple, which is a technique favoured by the Golden Dawn Society. The two pillars of the temple are often called Boaz and Jachin in Freemasonry and derived groups, without other explanation than their Biblical origin or that Boaz is Zoab, ‘fortify’ backwards, and Jachin is Nikaj, ‘prepared’, backwards. Boaz is translated as BA’aZ, ‘in strength’, and Jachin as YHKN, ‘he that strengthens, or will establish’, hence ‘in strength shall this my house be established’. I have used an alternative rendering which reads ‘I have entered in’ for Boaz, and ‘seeking Mercy’ for Jachin. The ritual is analysed as the Geburah ritual, and the central point could be replaced or added to by the performance of the Rose Cross Ritual of the Golden Dawn, or a banishing hexagram ritual. A rose should be placed on the altar for the duration of this ceremony. Point Tau. Move to the left of the temple, standing in the North, facing the Eastern wall, and state firmly: “I have entered in.”

Visualise standing in the sephirah of Hod, which can be as complex or simple as you like. The simplest form would be to visualise an orange circle beneath your feet. Now visualise the Pillar of Severity stretching out in front of you to Geburah, which is outside of the temple, and beyond that to Binah, which can only dimly be seen. When you are ready, turn to face the West and touch your right shoulder with your right hand, saying: “Geburah.” This activates the Pillar of Severity and identifies it with your right side and the actions of your right hand. Points Peh, Aleph and Resh. The word PhAR means ‘beauty’ and from it is derived Tiphareth. Move to the centre of the temple and meditate on the symbol of the rose for a moment. Imagine it as a symbol of your true self, and visualise it blooming as the light comes to it. Point Tau. Move now to the right of the temple, standing in the South and facing East again. State: “I have entered in, seeking Mercy.” Visualise standing now in Netzach, and the Pillar of Mercy extending outwards and away to Chesed, and beyond to Chockmah. When ready, turn to face West and, touching your left shoulder, say: “Gedulah.” This activates the Pillar of Mercy and identifies it with the actions of your left side and any movements you make with your left hand. Thus if you were to use a crook and flail in an Egyptian based ritual, you would hold the crook in the left hand and the flail in the right hand. 7. Netzach: The Ritual of the Oath.

In the preceding rituals we have built up the Sapphire Temple and placed ourselves firmly within its pillars. We now need to align our will with the workplace by making an oath. For this ritual, the implements attributed to the letters of Netzach (see 777 by Crowley) have defined the form of the ceremony itself. The oath may take any form, but it would be appropriate to structure it around a particular project you are involved with, and lay it out according to your understanding of kabbalah. For example, an oath taken as part of a car-buying ritual might begin, “The point of this work is to buy a car (Kether). I wish to buy a car with all the energy I have (Chockmah). I require the car to be a model most suitable to my needs (Binah). I seek a car which is affordable (Chesed) and for which I will be able to strike a good bargain for (Geburah),” and so on. Point Nun is the oath itself; point Tzaddi is the censer and aspergillum; point Cheth is the furnace and graal. On the altar is the rose, cup with wine, pen and paper, incense, bowl of water, and candle of colour appropriate to the oath to be made. About the circle visualise or inscribe the God-Name ARARITA. Begin with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of Pentagram. Take the water and sprinkle the circle, saying: “The Seven of Perfection is purified and resolved to the One circle of Light.” Take the incense and cense the circle, saying: “The Seven of Perfection is consecrated and resolved to the One circle of Light.” Take the cup and hold it up, saying: “I invoke the power of Netzach, the power of Glory, the power of Victory, in the name of Jehovah Tzabaoth, Lord of Hosts, to work this Oath of Transmutation.”

Drink some wine. Write the oath on paper. Holding the oath above the candle, say: “By the Furnace of Victory, by the Graal of Understanding, by the Oath of Transmutation, I bind this Work of mine unto its perfection.” Burn the oath. Finish with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. 8. Hod: The Ritual of the Crystal. Crystal; BDLCh; The crystal acts as a receptacle and focus of light, demonstrating the structure of Nature. It encourages equilibrium and the clarity of definition, that we may know our own direction. Once the oath has been made, the stage of Hod in the sequence is reached, which is primarily concerned with reverberation and vibration. A suitable ritual implement for this is a crystal, which symbolises the manner in which the form of Hod refracts the light which reaches it from Netzach in the creative process. In a sense, Hod, and this rite, seal the intention of the Work before it is manifest through Yesod and Malkuth. Point Heh. Light the candle and place it in the East. Say: “BEHOLD! The Dawn is the rising of the Light. I face the East and see the Sun rise.” Point Vau. Take the crystal or prism and look at the light of the candle as it passes through the object. Say: “The Light is vibration. The Crystal is vibration. All things move according to their own nature.”

Point Daleth. Return to the East and ring a bell or make one chime of a gong. Listen to the vibrations of the sound and visualise a door opening in the East through which light and sound pass. State aloud your particular purpose and visualise the words passing through the door and resonating with the Light. State: “My voice vibrates between the light and the darkness. The portal of light is opened and nature responds.” The meditation for the ceremony is that of a crystal cave, in which you may visualise light pouring and illuminating scenes in the crystals. Make a note of these scenes and discover what they reveal about your Work. 9. Yesod: The Ritual of the Treasure-House. In Yesod, we reach the penultimate stage of the sequence, and one of compilation, as all the prior aspects of the Work are brought together. To symbolise this, choose 10 objects which relate to each of the sephiroth. At its most simple, the set might be simply of pieces of card with the numbers one to 10 written on them. It could be a set of 10 coloured stones, or statuettes of appropriate gods and goddesses. You will also need a box of some description into which the objects may be placed. This symbolises the ‘treasure house of images’, a title of Yesod. Point Yod. Place the objects in your hand and take them about the temple. Return to the altar and say: “This is Aleph, single most Unity, the One that is the Many, the Many that is the One.” Point Samekh. Place the objects in the box, one by one, saying with each:

“This is (name of sephirah). This assists my work by (appropriate wording, for example, ‘... by bringing me joy,’ whilst placing a symbol of Netzach in the box).” Point Vau. Close the box, pause and then open it again, saying: “Let inspiration proceed from this treasure house of images, which is of my own nature.” Point Daleth. Take up the box and take it to each of the four quarters in turn. Say at each point: “This box is my foundation. This box is made one with the powers of the (name of quarter, e.g. East).” 10. Malkuth: The Ritual of Binding Together. The components of Work gathered together in Yesod must now be united and the Work completed. As a result of this a new state is initiated, and the sequence commences again as Malkuth is inherently joined to Kether. This ritual is most suitable when change is taking place in your work, and there is a particular event, manner of behaviour, or belief, that is important to release. Before the ritual is commenced, write the pattern to be changed on a piece of slate, in chalk, or some other material that may be easily wiped clean. Also choose an object which represents the offending event, memory, behaviour, etc. and place it into your ‘treasure house of images’ box. Point Mem. Face East and state: “In order to pass through the gate from the Old to the New, I must leave behind (state pattern).” Point Lamed. Take the object out of the box and say: “I recognise that I must adjust to a new way of being if I leave this behind.” Point Kaph. Place the object on the altar and say: “It is time to release this pattern, loose it in the wheel of life’s changes.”

Point Vau. Take the slate and wipe the words or drawing from it, and place the object on the altar in a cloth. State: “As the old is relinquished, the new way is revealed and will be fixed in me from this moment.” Point Tau. Pause for a moment and allow any feelings or thoughts to makes themselves known, especially those that might indicate new patterns that have been opened by the giving up of the old behaviour. As an alternative or addition to the Malkuth ritual, the Kingdom ritual below is based upon the first letters of each of the names of the sephiroth, and can be used as a simple framework for ritual work. 11. The Kingdom Ritual. Point Kaph. Point hand towards the altar, palm up and state the aim of working. Point Cheth. Draw a circle about the temple. Point Beth. Elevate a chalice filled with wine and visualise light descending from above. This completes the first triad above the Abyss. The elevation of the chalice is symbolic of the creation of Da’ath, or ‘knowledge’, from the union of Chockmah and Binah. Point Cheth. Draw the double-cube of the quarters and cross-quarters. Activate the quarters. Point Gimel. Light incense. Point Tau. Hold out arms in the form of a cross and visualise the pillars.

This completes the second triad above the Veil, which prepares the place of working. Point Nun. Write the oath or perform the main working, meditation, as appropriate. Point Heh. Light a candle in the East, visualise light blessing the working and drink wine. Point Yod. Hold hand back over the altar and make a fist, visualising the sealing of the working. This completes the third and final triad, bringing about the actual conclusion of the ritual – that is to say, by the time a process has reached Yesod, it is virtually unstoppable, aside from perhaps the way in which it manifests. All that remains is to state that the Work has been completed. Point Mem. Say: “I have entered by the Gate, I have initiated my will, I leave by the Gate.” This concludes the rituals of the Sapphire Temple. There will be many further rituals described in the following volumes of The Magister, particularly suited to each grade of the initiatory system and for general practice.

The Oath of the Tarot Majors And she said to me, “This doubt is but a bridge of dust, that we can cross.” And so we did, for the empty laments of the mind were silenced in that hour, and our bodies became light. My soul, she turned to me and beckoned. “Come,” she said, “let us dance in the scattered dust of doubt, we shall make of it the stars of all the heavens, the dew upon the mornings of eternity and the seeds of every moment of awakening.” I took her hand, and was gone.

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The Magister

In the order, we take the tarot as a means of engaging life, not escaping it. We take the pattern of the Major Arcana as an illustration of the relationship between awareness and divinity, and as such, the lessons we learn on the path. To encourage our own reception of these lessons, we take an oath each day to fully aspire to the highest principles taught by tarot. The oath should be taken until it is a living breathing attitude or asana for every moment of life. You may feel the necessity to change this as it informs you from experience, or work on particular cards or sections. It commences with The Fool (0) and works through to The World (21).

1. Without pause, I will step into every experience and engage it fully, as if it were my last. 2. Without doubt, I will create wilfully, wantonly, astonishingly, and authentically. 3. Without blinking, I will connect only to my deepest source and quietest voice. 4. Without cessation, I will recognise that Nature teaches me all that I need to know. 5. Without hesitation, I will not go back, nor return, nor halt for those who face backwards. 6. Without shame, I will teach what I need to teach and learn what I should learn. 7. Without guilt, I will love life and connect to all that is in relationship with truth. 8. Without stopping, I will act as if every moment were my last. 9. Without fear, I will wrestle both my angels and my demons, and be their measure. 10. Without need, I will find myself in my own company and recover my own light in that place. 11. I will turn the Wheel and not be turned upon it; I will be the Wheel but not be bound upon it. 12. With my eyes open, I will see truth manifest in all things beneath the lie. 13. With my face forward, I will stand in the light of my highest values in every situation.

14. With joy, I will laugh and embrace every opportunity for ceaseless change. 15. With peace, I will comprehend that my garden is divinely designed for my gardening. 16. With courage, I will realise that all shadows are in themselves terrified. 17. With energised enthusiasm, I will break down what imprisons me and build my freedom. 18. With vision abiding in the sanctuary, I will write with the language of stars. 19. With utter abandon, I will tread out into what adventure awaits me in that which I do not yet know. 20. With awareness, I will encompass the follies of others. 21. With my own ears, I will hear the calling in the clamour, the signal in the noise. 22. There will be no pause, doubt or blinking, no cessation or hesitation, no shame or guilt; I will not stop, I will not fear. There is no need. I will turn with my eyes open, my face forward. Where I am there is joy and peace. I find courage, enthusiasm and vision abiding. With utter abandon and in full awareness I answer all that calls me to attend the hidden sanctuary of the world.

Conclusion “The Soul is at prayer. The world of action calls us through the open Temple door and we are conscious of its power and its claim. Not yet, however, do we surrender utterly. The light fades. We close our eyes to keep it in its radiance near us. Serenely we step forward to the task.” E. Eaton, The Hours of Isis[150]

As we opened this volume, inviting you into the Workshop, we also presented you a symbol: a Rose Key. The Rose is aflame and the Key has no door. The door is open always and is yourself, your true and only Workshop. The Rose is your soul and the Key is reality. When forged together in experience, reality immolates the soul and they become one, opening a door which is not there – the Everlasting Day of the divine life. In order to perceive that door, we must extinguish all that appears to be light, for that inner light is hidden in the outer light of the apparent, and is not comprehended. These are as symbolic as your representation of the universe, and hence as real. Through the Key we attain the Rose, and through the Rose we attain the Key.

We have presented here only the briefest of outlines, the most tentative of sketches of a living spiritual path, obscured by the ages of symbolism, passed from hand-to-hand and ear-to-ear by the most unlikely of men and women. Our Work continues in the Everlasting Day, and whilst we have no need of company, no necessity in our Order of Revelation, the door is always open, for it is not there. You are invited to enter this Workshop and our subsequent volumes will provide instruction for what you discover therein. We continue in our next volume, Volume 1: The Light of the Labyrinth, covering the grade material of the Zelator, where we detail further practical work and come to discover that ‘The Worker is Hidden in the Workshop’. Mane nobiscum Domine, quoniam adversperascit.[151] Frater V. Winter Solstice, 2012 Imbolc, 2016 (Kindle Version).

Frequently Asked Questions As a nod to contemporary idiom, The Equinox and Magick Without Tears in which Aleister Crowley collated letters from a student and his responses, throughout the decade in which The Magister will be constructed we will gladly receive specific and general questions about the tradition which will be collated for response in subsequent volumes under a FAQ section.[152] These should be sent to [email protected]. We provide below a selection of typical and frequent questions asked by Neophytes-to-be.

1. Does magick work? The philosopher Xenophanes wrote that the nature of things is in the habit of concealing itself. The interesting thing to an initiate is not whether magick works, but whether their universe works. Thus, there is a constant act of enquiry – we take every act as a comprehension test of our reality. Does time work? Does it work the way I think? Is there truth? If so, to whom does it belong? If a god speaks to me, do I have to listen? The fundamental act of the universe is awareness. How does that work? Can we indeed know ourselves? When we try, what happens? Where do we go when we step back from ourself? Does magick work? If so, what does that tell us about the universe? Does it tell us that beliefs can change, and thus we can change? What do we change into and how does fate, destiny and free will work in a universe that allows such change? If nothing else, the test of magick leads to the test of everything – for the world is indeed a magical place, and our time here, as I have said, is short. The question I ask in return is, “What are you going to do about it?”

2. Why does it appear so complicated?

The universe is a complex construction as is our mind. In relationship they generate a staggering bewilderment of possibilities, constrained only by your imagination. We can condense those possibilities into a set of 78 images and call it tarot, a ‘full deck of possibilities’. In arranging just 10 of those images, selected at random from a shuffled deck, and placed in a pattern of 10 positions each of which carries a contextual meaning, we can generate several quintillion possible patterns. To put that into context, if each person on the planet read a ‘Celtic Cross’ tarot spread today, using a standard tarot deck, and every person on the planet did the same again tomorrow, and every day thereafter, we would be long gone as a species before any of us got the same cards in the same pattern. And the mystery is this: after just a couple of days of learning, any of us could read any of those quintillions of emergent patterns. We are built for complexity, even if we have forgotten. The work of magick is the work of fulfilling our highest vision, and opening up to possibilities, abilities, activities, creations, and sights as yet undreamt. Dream harder. 3. What about all the Latin, Hebrew and Greek? Western culture has a lot to offer those who pursue its history and roots, and its tradition of esotericism. The fact that there may be no demonstrated direct connections between one mystery school and another, the fact that there is merely a tendency to re-invent, re-interpret and re-imagine golden ages of the past, is not a problem to us. The synthesis of Western esotericism is an ongoing creative act of ridiculous audacity and ambition, and if we learn some Latin, Greek and Hebrew along the way, that is to be applauded.

4. Can I self-initiate myself? No. Well, not at every grade. Sometimes you require another to pull you out of the swamp in which you may be unwittingly mired. And sometimes it is an act of Grace that must be awaited in faith. However, it all comes from you and the ever-burning lamp that is lit by your unique and individual relationship to the universe. It is up to you to continually attend that lamp of devotion. 5. What is the point of it all? In a mystical sense, the end of suffering, seeking and the constant realisation of the ongoing unity of all things. In a magical sense, the experience of the simple magic of reality. In a philosophical sense, a congruent, consistent and comprehensive awareness of experience. 6. Wasn’t Aleister Crowley an evil person?

Aleister Crowley, one of numerous personages who we will encounter in our journey within The Magister, was indeed branded ‘the wickedest man in the world’. He was a brute of a man with a strange and strong intellect, a passion for life, and was way ahead of his time in many and most regards. He had no issues with challenging people to escape their own boundaries, thresholds and limitations, even if they were not ready to then manage that liberated state. He also held contradictory viewpoints quite gleefully, and was subject to what some would no doubt view as perverse desires and addictions. He was also capable of charm, wit and mystical poetry of the highest devotional order. On one occasion, unemployed and out of money, he designed golf courses based upon myth and applied for employment at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in Scotland. Whether one judges the man as evil or otherwise, complex or simple, his life is notable and worth studying.

7. What do I do next if I am interested in becoming an initiate on this path? The next volume of The Magister will continue to provide practical information, ritual and practice to open up the possibilities of this path. In the meantime, you may contact us via http://www.westernesotericism.com, the online home of The Magister and related projects. 8. If it goes wrong, can I go back?

There are various points in the initiatory system from which there is no ‘going back’, as it would be an impossible collapse of state-awareness. Our goal and ambition is to ensure that the initiate is always – within what is possible – prepared to maintain or endure the highs and lows of the journey. The mind also has a reasonable failsafe mechanism, which can shut down or reinterpret experience which is not holistically healthy to possess. It does that all the time anyway.

Reading Outline This reading outline is divided into two parts: a general reading list and a magical curriculum. The reading list is sectioned into themes based upon the ten sephiroth on the Tree of Life. The magical curriculum is given as suggested reading by the grades of the initiatory system. Neither section is to be taken as essential or comprehensive, but may provide some nascent structure to your personal studies. This reading list will also be provided and kept updated on the main website at www.westernesotericism.com with links and further references.

Part One: General Reading Section 1. Kether: Essential Seeds and Overviews a. Overviews of the Curriculum (i) The Complete Golden Dawn, Israel Regardie or the revised and updated Golden Dawn, Chic Cicero (ii) Magick, or Magick in Theory and Practice (Book 4), Aleister Crowley b. Allegorical Accounts of the Journey (i) Vision of Zosimos http://www.levity.com/alchemy/zosimos.html (ii)

Chymical Wedding, Christian Rosenkreutz:

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/chymwed1.html

(iii)

The Wake-World, Aleister Crowley:

www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/liber095.pdf

Section 2. Chockmah: Academic Works a. Western Esotericism (i) Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation, Henrik Bogdan (ii) Western Esotericism, Kocku von Stuckrad (iii) The Path of the Chameleon, Nevill Drury (iv) The Place of Enchantment, Alex Owen (v) The History of British Magic after Aleister Crowley, Dave Evans (vi) The Book of English Magic, Philip Carr-Gom and Richard Heygate

Section 3. Binah: World-Views and Cosmologies a. Hermetic Teachings (i) Hermetica (translated by Brian P. Copenhaver) pp. 5-6 for the grades, p. 53 for the Hymnodia (prayer to the Sun) (ii) The Emerald Tablet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet b. Neo-Platonic Teachings (i) Timaeus, Plato Particularly E.8, ‘Time, the Moving Likeness of Eternity’ c. Gnostic Teachings

(i) The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels (ii) The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Geza Vermes d. Kabbalistic Teachings (i) Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism, Moshe Idel (ii) Sepher Yetzirah, William Wynn Westcott (iii) Sepher Yetzirah, Aryeh Kaplan (iv) The Mystical Qabalah, Dion Fortune (v) The Kabbalah Decoder, Janet Berenson-Perkins e. Christian Mystical Teachings (i) Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey into God, the Tree of Life, the Life of St. Francis (translated by Ewert Cousins) (ii) John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (translated by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell) (iii) Meister Eckhart (translated by Edmund Colledge and Bernard McGinn) (iv) The Spiritual Canticle and Poems of St. John of the Cross (translated by E. Allison Peers) (v) The Interior Castle or The Mansions (Saint Teresa of Jesus) (vi) The Mystical Writings of Rulman Merswin (translated by Thomas S. Kepler) (vii) The Book of the Nine Rocks (viii) The Cloud of Unknowing (translated by James Walsh) (ix) The Mystical Doctrine of Saint John of the Cross (selected by R.H.J. Steuart)

Breaks the ‘dark night of the soul’ into stages and grades, such as the Passive Night of Sense, the Active Night of the Spirit, the Purgation of Memory, etc. See also the ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’ (x) Pseudo-Dionysius (translated by Colm Luibheid) f. General Mysticism (i) Mysticism, Evelyn Underhill (ii) A Dazzling Darkness: An Anthology of Western Mysticism, Patrick Grant (iii) An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mysticism and Mystery Religions, John Ferguson g. General Philosophy (i) The Story of Philosophy, Bryan Magee (ii) The Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley

Section 4. Chesed: Western Esoteric Schools and Teachers a. Western Esoteric Schools and Teachers (i) The Training and Work of an Initiate, Dion Fortune (ii) The Way of Initiation and Initiation and Its Results, Rudolf Steiner (iii) The Hidden Way Across the Threshold, J.C. Street (1887) Particularly ‘Chapter XIII: The Great Mystery, or the Hidden Way’ (iv) The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, Godwin, Chanel and Deveney b. Contemporary (i) The Experience of No-Self (Bernadette Roberts)

(ii) The Spectrum of Consciousness (Ken Wilber) (iii) The Love-Ananda Gita, Da Free John. Particularly pp. 305-306, ‘There are degrees of Realisation’ (iv) The Adept, Da Free John. Particularly, pp. 79-84, ‘The Adept is the Unborn Reality’ and ‘Appendix: The Seven Stages of Life’ (v) The Inner Reality, Paul Brunton (vi) The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga, Paul Brunton (vii) Le Millieu Divin, Teilhard de Chardin (viii) The Cosmic Consciousness of Edward Carpenter, Richard M. Bucke c. Sufi Mysticism (i) Daughter of Fire, Irina Tweedy. Also published abridged as The Chasm of Fire.

Section 5. Geburah: Workbooks, Practices and Techniques a. General Workbooks (i) Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson (ii) A Year to Live: How to live this year as if it were your last, Stephen Levine (iii) On the Prayer of Jesus: Unceasing Prayer, Ignatius Brianchaninov (iv) The Art of Contemplation of Ramon Lull (translated by E. Allison Peers) (v) Meditation and Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan b. Meditation and Visualisation

(i) The Inner Guide Meditation, Edwin Steinbrecher c. The Abramelin Working (i) The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (translated S.L. MacGregor Mathers) (ii) The Sacred Magician, William Bloom (diary account) (iii) The Book of Abramelin (New Translation), Georg Dehn, translated by Steven Guth

Section 6. Tiphareth: Rare Works by Adepts a. Rare Works by Adepts (i) The Path of the Magus, Eldon Templar (ii) The Hymn of Jesus, G.R.S. Mead (iii) The Way of an Initiate, A. Greville-Gasgoigne (iv) The Hours of Isis, Evelyn Eaton

Section 7. Netzach: Methods and Practices a. Astrology (i) The K.I.S.S. Guide to Astrology, Julia and Derek Parker (ii) The Watkins Astrology Handbook, Lyn Birkbeck (iii) The Horary Textbook, John Frawley b. Tarot (i) 78 Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack (ii) Tarot Plain and Simple, Anthony Louis

c. I-Ching (i) Total I-Ching, Stephen Karcher d. Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism (i) The Spiral Dance, Starhawk (ii) Eight Sabbats for Witches, Janet and Stewart Farrar e. Alchemy (i) The Golden Game, Stanislas Klossowski De Rola (ii) The Alchemy Reader, Stanton J. Linden (iii) Transformation of the Psyche, Henderson and Sherwood (iv) The Black Arts, Richard Cavendish. See ‘Chapter 4, Part 2: The Making of the Stone’ (v) Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy, Edward F. Edinger (vi) The Hermes Paradigm, Rubaphilos Salfluĕre (vii) In Pursuit of Gold and The Pass-Keys to Alchemy, Lapidus (David Curwen) (viii) The Forge and the Crucible, Mircea Eliade f. The Fourth Way Work (i) The Fourth Way (P.D. Ousepensky) (ii) Waking Up: Overcoming the Obstacles to Human Potential (Charles T. Tart) (iii) Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts, Sophia Wellbeloved

Section 8. Hod: Essential Reference Works a. Dictionaries and Reference Works (i) 777, Aleister Crowley (ii) A Dictionary of Symbols, J.E. Cirlot (iii) An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, J.C. Cooper

Section 9. Yesod: Psychology (i) The Feeling of What Happens, Antonio Damasio (ii) The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Julian Jaynes (iii) Mind Time: The Temporal Factor in Consciousness, Benjamin Libet (iv) Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious, Timothy D. Wilson (v) Breakdown of Will, George Ainslie (vi) The Illusion of Conscious Will, Daniel M. Wegner (vii) Field, Form and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature and Psyche, Michael Conforti (viii) A Psychology with a Soul: Psychosynthesis in Evolutionary Context, Jean Hardy. Particularly on p.138, ‘the Self is depicted somewhat more precisely in the Kabbalah’

Section 10. Malkuth: Science

a. Science (i) The Unfinished Universe, Louise B. Young (ii) Chaos, James Gleick (iii) Gaia, J.E. Lovelock (iv) The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins

Section 11. Da’ath: Fiction a. Novels (i) Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein (ii) Valis, Philip K. Dick (iii) In the Country of Last Things, Paul Auster (iv) The Mind Parasites, Colin Wilson (v) Foucault’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco (vi) The Chymical Wedding, Lindsay Clarke b. Short Stories (i) I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, Philip K. Dick (ii) ‘The God’s Script’ in Labyrinths, Jorges Louis Borges (iii) ‘The Lottery in Babylon’ in Labyrinths, Jorges Louis Borges

Part Two: A Magical Curriculum I have here listed and linked several books for reading by grade. Whilst any book can be read at any time, they are arranged here by grade in order to provide a graduated curriculum. This is a partial list only, as an extended list with commentary is given in following volumes addressing each grade. Further, this list only covers the Outer Order, but is given to highlight several books that may not reflect the usual recommendations found elsewhere. This list will also be maintained with links at: www.westernesotericism.com. Malkuth: Neophyte / Zelator What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do, Neil Eskelin Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Susan Jeffers The Middle Pillar, Israel Regardie The One Year Manual, Israel Regardie The Unfinished Universe, Louise B. Young Field, Form and Fate, Michael Conforti The Spectrum of Consciousness, Ken Wilbur The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century, Stanislas Klossowski de Rola Journey Notes: Writing for Recovery and Spiritual Growth, Richard Solly and Roseann Llyod Create Your Personal Sacred Text: Develop and Celebrate Your Spiritual Life, Bobbi L. Parish

Yesod: Theoricus The Act of Will, Roberto Assagioli What We May Be, Piero Ferrucci Prometheus Rising, Robert Anton Wilson The Inner Guide Meditation, Edwin Steinbrecher The Examined Life, Robert Nozick The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart Waking Up, Charles T. Tart I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, Philip K. Dick The Experience of No-Self, Bernadette Roberts Hod: Practicus Beyond Logic and Mysticism, Tom McArthur Straight and Crooked Thinking, Robert H. Thouless Symbolic Logic, Lewis Carroll Vicious Circles and Infinity: An Anthology of Paradoxes, Patrick Hughes and George Brecht Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Edward O. Wilson Nervous Breakdown: What is it? What causes it? Who can help? Jenny Cozens Labyrinths (particularly ‘The God’s Script’), Jorge Luis Borges The Knee of Listening, Bubba Free John Netzach: Philosophus

A Year to Live: How to live this year as if it were your last, Stephen Levine In the Country of Last Things, Paul Auster The Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley

Additional reading for these grades and further materials for the Adept grade and above will be referenced in future volumes of the Magister and are provided within the Crucible Club.

Bibliography A full linked version of this bibliography will be maintained for reference and use at www.westernesotericism.com with titles added as the Magister progresses. Author names are repeated for multiple titles to assist reference on Kindle.

Abbot, R. & Warrington, P. The Works of Arthur H. Norris, Volume I. Natural Living Books: Northamptonshire, 2012. Abraham, L. A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1988. Abram, D. The Spell of the Sensuous. Vintage Books: New York, 1997. Adler, M. Drawing Down the Moon. Beacon Press: Boston, 1986. Ankarloo B. & Clark, S. (editors). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, 1999. Anon. Notes of An Adept: Being the Outline and Study of the Grade Zelator Adeptus Minor. Portal Publications, 2005. Arguelles, J. Earth Ascending. Bear and Company, 1988. Ash, E. Hypnotism and Suggestion. William Rider & Son: London, 1912. Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. (editor). The Forgotten Mage: The Magical Lectures of Colonel C.R.F. Seymour. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 1999. Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. Wellingborough, 1982.

First

Steps

in

Ritual.

Aquarian

Press:

Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The New Book of the Dead. Aquarian: London, 1992. Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The Ritual Magic Workbook. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1986. Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The Shining Paths. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983. Assagioli, R. Psychosynthesis. Turnstone Press: Wellingborough, 1975. Assagioli, R. The Act of Will. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1990. Babinsky, E.L. (translator). The Mirror of Simple Souls. Paulist Press: New York, 1993. Bach, R. Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. Pan Books: London, 1978. Bach, R. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Scribner: New York, 1998. Baddeley, G. Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship & Rock ‘n’ Roll. Plexus: London, 1999. Baker, P. Austin Osman Spare: The Life and Legend of London’s Lost Artist. Strange Attractor Press: London, 2011. Bandler, R. & Grinder, J. The Structure of Magic. Science and Behaviour Books: Palo Alto, 1985. Bardon, F. Initiation into Hermetics. Osiris-Verlag: Kettig Uber Koblenz, 1962. Barker, A.T. (editor). The Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P. Sinnett. Theosophical University Press: Pasadena, 1973. Barker, P. Using Metaphors in Psychotherapy. Brunner/Mazel Inc: New York, 1985. Barnes, D. Practical Curriculum Study. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1985.

Barton, G. (translator). The Imitation of Christ. Guidance House: 1942. Beck, D.E. & Cowan, C.C. Spiral Dynamics. Blackwell Publishing: Malden, 1996. Bell, C. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1997. Benoist, L. The Esoteric Path. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1988. Berenson-Perkins, J. Kabbalah Decoder. Barron’s: Happauge, 2000. Besant, W. & Rice, J. The Monks of Thelema. Chatto & Windus: London, 1910. Birkbeck, L. Understanding the Future. Watkins: London, 2008. Blakemore, L.B. Masonic Lodge Methods. Macoy Publishing: Richmond, 1953. Blavatsky, H.P. The Key to Theosophy. Theosophical Publishing House: London, 1987. Blavatsky, H.P. The Secret Doctrine. Theosophical University Press: Pasadena, 1988. Bloom, H. Global Brain. John Wiley & Sons: New York, 2000. Bly, R. Iron John. Element: Shaftesbury, 1990. Blystone, W. Paenitere: An Introduction to the Occult Arts for the Neophyte. 1st Books, 2003. Bogdan, H. & Starr, M.P. (editors). Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2012. Bogdan, H. Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation. State University of New York Press: Albany, 2007. Booth, M. A Magick Life. Hodder & Stoughton: London, 2000.

Borges, J.L. Fictions. London: Penguin Books, 2000. Brueton, D. Many Moons. Prentice Hall Press: New York, 1991. Brunton, P. The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga. Rider & Company: London, 1941. Bryce, D. The Mystical Way and the Arthurian Quest. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1996. Bubba Free John, The Knee of Listening. Dawn Horse Press: Middleton, 1978. Budge, E.A.W. The Book of the Dead. University Books: Secaucus, 1981. Budge, E.A.W. Amulets and Superstitions. Oxford University Press: London, 1930. Burgoyne, T.H. The Light of Egypt: The Science of the Soul and the Stars. H.O. Wagner: Denver, 1963, in two volumes. Burton, R.E. Self-Remembering. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 1995. Butler, A. & Evans, D. (editors). The Journal for the Academic Study of Magic. Mandrake: Oxford, 2003. Butler, E.M. Ritual Magic. Sutton Publishing: Stroud, 1998. Butler, W.E. Apprenticed to Magic. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1981. Butler, W.E. Lords of Light: Teachings of the Ibis Fraternity. Destiny Books: Rochester, 1990. Campbell, J. The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Paladin: London, 1988. Carnes, M.C. Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America. Yale University Press: New Haven, 1989. Carr, T. Best Science Fiction of the Year #9. Ballantine Books: London, 1980.

Carroll, P. Psychonaut. Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Leeds, n.d. Carroll, P.J. Liber Kaos: The Psychonomicon. Antony Rowe: Chippenham, n.d. Carroll, P.J. Liber Null. Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Leeds, n.d. Carter, J. Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons. Feral House: Port Townsend, 2004. Case, P.F. The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order. Weiser Books: York Beach, 1989. Cavendish, R. (foreword). The Key of Solomon the King, trans. S.L. MacGregor Mathers. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1981. Chapman, A. Advanced Magick for Beginners. Aeon Books: London, 2008. Chapman, J. The Quest for Dion Fortune. Samuel Weiser: Maine, 1993. Chappell, V. Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic: The Essential Ida Craddock. Weiser Books: San Francisco, 2010. Chertok, L. & De Saussure, R. The Therapeutic Revolution: From Mesmer to Freud. Brunner/Mazel: New York, 1979. Churton, T. Aleister Crowley: The Biography. Watkins: London, 2011. Churton, T. Freemasonry: The Reality. Lewis Masonic: Heresham, 2009. Churton, T. The Gnostics. George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Limited: London, 1987. Churton, T. The Golden Builders. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2005. Cirlot, J.E. A Dictionary of Symbols. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1962. Clarke, R.B. An Order Outside of Time: A Jungian View of the Higher Self from Egypt to Christ. Hampton Roads: Charlottesville, 2005.

Clifton, C.S. Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Alta Mira Press: Oxford, 2006. Codd, C.M. Theosophy as the Masters See It. Theosophical Publishing House: Adyar, 1926. Coelho, P. The Alchemist. Thorsons: London, 1995. Colquhoun, I. Sword of Wisdom: MacGregor Mathers and ‘The Golden Dawn’. Neville Spearman: London, 1975. Compton, M. Archetypes on the Tree of Life: The Tarot as Pathwork. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1991. Conforti, M. Field, Form and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature & Psyche. Spring Journal Books: New Orleans, 2003. Conway, D. Magic Without Mirrors: The Making of a Magician. Logios, 2011. Cooper, D.J. Mithras: Mysteries and Initiation Rediscovered. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1996. Cooper, P. Basic Magic. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1996. Copenhaver, B.P. Hermetica. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1992. Corbin, H. En Islam Iranien: Aspects spirituels et philosophiques, Tome IV: L’Ecole d’Ispahan – L’Ecole Shaykhie – Le Douzieme Imam, Gallimard, Bib. Des Idees: 1973. Cousins, E. (translator). Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey Into God, The Tree of Life, The Life of St. Francis. SPCK: London, 1978. Crowley, A. Equinox Volume III, Number I. Universal Publishing Co: Detroit, 1919. Crowley, A. Little Essays Towards Truth. Sut Anubis: Northampton, 1985.

Crowley, A. Magick Without Tears. Falcon Press: Las Vegas, 1989. Crowley, A. Magick. Guild Publishing: Bungay, 1989. Crowley, A. The Book of Lies. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1984. Crowley, A. The Book of Thoth. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1985. Crowley, A. The Holy Books of Thelema. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1983. Crowley, A. The Revival of Magick and Other Essays. New Falcon: Tempe, 1998. Crowley, A., Symonds, J. & Grant, K. (editors). Magick. Guild Publishing: London, 1988. Crowley, V. The Magickal Life. Penguin: New York, 2003. Crowther, P. From Stagecraft to Witchcraft. Capall Bann: Chieveley, 2002. Crowther, P. The Witches Speak. Samuel Weiser: New York, 1976. Crowther, P. Witch Blood! The Diary of a Witch High Priestess. House of Collectibles: New York, 1974. d’Arch Smith, T. (editor). The Magus: A Complete System of Occult Philosophy by Francis Barrett. Citadel Press: Cecaucus, 1980. d’Este, S. (editor). Priestesses, Pythonesses, Sybils. Avalonia: London, 2001. Da Free John, The Four Fundamental Questions. The Dawn Horse Press: Clearlake Highlands, 1980. Damasio, A.R. The Feeling of What Happens. William Heinemann: London, 2000. Dawkins, P. & Trevelyan, G. The Pattern of Initiation in the Evolution of Human Consciousness. Francis Bacon Research Trust: Northampton, 1981.

de Chardin, P.T. The Phenomenon of Man. Harper & Row: London, 1961. de Chardin, T. Le Millieu Divin. William Collins Sons: London, 1964. de Shazer, S. Words Were Originally Magic. W.W. Norton & Co, Inc.: New York, 1994. Dehn, G. & Guth, S. (translators). The Book of Abramelin. Ibis Press: Lake Worth, 2006. del Campo, G. New Aeon Magick: Thelema Without Tears. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1994. Denning, M. & Philips, O. Magical States of Consciousness. Llewellyn: St Paul, 1985. Denning, M. & Phillips, O. The Magical Philosophy. Llewellyn: Saint Paul, 1974, in five volumes. Deutch, R. The Ecstatic Mother: Portrait of Maxine Sanders. Bachman and Turner: London, 1977. di Fiosa, J. A Coin for the Ferryman: The Death and Life of Alex Sanders. Logios, 2010. Dick, P.K. I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon. Victor Gollancz Ltd: London, 1986. Dick, P.K. Valis. Gollancz: London, 1981. Dobbs, J.R. The Book of the SubGenius. Simon & Schuster, Inc.: New York, 1987. Dowd, F.B. The Way: A Textbook for the student of Rosicrucian Philosophy. Health Research: Pomeroy, 1972. Drury, N. Dark Spirits: The Magical Art of Rosaleen Norton and Austin Osman Spare. Salamander & Sons: Chiang Mai, 2012. Drury, N. Pan’s Daughter. Mandrake: Oxford, 1993.

Drury, N. The Path of the Chameleon: Man’s Encounter with the Gods and Magic. Nevillle Spearman: Jersey, 1973. Dukes, R. S.S.O.T.B.M.E. Revised: An Essay on Magic. The Mouse That Spins, 1974, revised 2000. Duquette, L.M. Ask Baba Lon: Answers to Questions of Life and Magick. New Falcon Publications: Las Vegas, 2011. Duquette, L.M. My Life with the Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 1999. Duquette, L.M. The Magick of Thelema. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1993. Eaton, E. The Hours of Isis. The Baskerville Press: London, 1928. Eco, U. Foucault’s Pendulum. Pan Books: London, 1990. Edighoffer, R., Faivre, A., Hanegraaff, W.J., Goodrick-Clarke, N. (editors). Aries. Brill: Leiden, 2001. Edinger, E.F. Anatomy of the Psyche. Open Court: Chicago and La Salle, 1994. Edwards, D. Dare to Make Magic. Rigel Press: London, 1974. Ellenberger, H.F. The Discovery of the Unconscious. Basic Books Inc: New York, 1970. Emtsev, M. & Parnov, E. World Soul. Macmillan: New York, 1978. Ephraim, F.G. Der Rosenkreutzer in Seiner Blösse. Amsterdam, 1781. Evans, D. The History of British Magic after Crowley. Hidden Publishing: Oxford, 2007. Evans-Wentz, W.Y. (editor). The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1985. Evolva, J. Introduction to Magic. Inner Traditions: Rochester, 2001.

Evolva, J. Ride the Tiger. Inner Traditions: Rochester, 2003. Evolva, J. The Hermetic Tradition. Inner Traditions: Rochester, 1995. Faivre, A. & Needleman, J. (editors). Modern Esoteric Spirituality. SCM Press Ltd: London, 1993. Faivre, A. & Voss, K. Western Esotericism and the Science of Religions. Peeters: Leuven, 1998. Faivre, A. Access to Western Esotericism. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994. Faivre, A., Brock, R., & Brach, J-P. (editors). Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism. Brill: Amsterdam, 2005. Fanger, C. (editor). Conjuring Spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic. Sutton Publishing Ltd: Stroud, 1998. Farber, P.H. Future Ritual: Magick for the 21st Century. Eschaton: Chicago, 1995. Farr, F. Egyptian Magic. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983. Farrar, J. & Farrar, S. The Life and Times of a Modern Witch. Headline: London, 1998. Farrell, N. King Over The Water: Samuel Mathers and the Golden Dawn. Kerubim Press: Dublin, 2012. Farrell, N. Mathers’ Last Secret: The Rituals and Teachings of the Alpha et Omega. Rosicrucian Order of the Golden Dawn: Laguna Niguel, 2011. Farrell, N. Magical Pathworking: Techniques of Active Imagination. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 2001. Farthing, G.A. Deity, Cosmos and Man. Point Loma Publications: San Diego, 1993.

Faulkner, R.O. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. University of Texas Press: Austin, 2000. Fielding C. & Collins, C. The Story of Dion Fortune. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 1998. Firth, V. (Dion Fortune). Machinery of the Mind. George Allen & Unwin, Ltd: London, 1922. Flinders, D.J. & Thornton, S.J. (editors). The Curriculum Studies Reader (Third Edition). Routledge: New York, 2009. Fohrer, G. Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament. Walter de Gruyter: 1973. Fortune, D. Moon Magic. Weiser: York Beach, 1986. Fortune, D. Mystical Meditations on the Collects. Weiser: York Beach, 1991. Fortune, D. Psychic Self-Defence. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1981. Fortune, D. Sane Occultism. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1979. Fortune, D. The Demon Lover. Star: London, 1976. Fortune, D. The Goat-Foot God. Star: London, 1976. Fortune, D. The Mystical Qabalah. Ernest Benn Limited: London & Tonbridge, 1979. Fortune, D. The Sea Priestess. Weiser: York Beach, 1981. Fortune, D. The Training and Work of an Initiate. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1986. Fortune, D. The Winged Bull. Star: London, 1976. Fowles, J. The Aristos. Pan Books: London, 1968.

Fox-Davies, A.C. The Complete Guide to Heraldry. Wordsworth: Ware, 1996. Fr. Wittemans. A New and Authentic History of the Rosicrucians. Rider & Co: London, 1938. Frater Achad. Q.B.L. or The Bride’s Reception. Samuel Weiser: New York, 1974. Frater Achad. The Egyptian Revival. Samuel Weiser: New York, 1973. Frater U.D. High Magic. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 2005. Frost, G. & Frost, Y. Power Secrets from a Sorcerer’s Private Magnum Arcanum. Goldolphin House: Hinton, 1980. Fuller, J.O. The Magical Dilemma of Victor Neuburg. Mandrake: Oxford, 1990. Gaby, A.J. The Covert Enlightenment: Eighteenth Century Counterculture and Its Aftermath. Swedenborg Foundation Publishers: West Chester, 2005. Geffarth, R.D. Religion und arkane Hierarchie. Brill: Leiden, 2007. Geldard, R. The Esoteric Emerson. Lindisfarne Press: Hudson, 1993. Gibbons, B.J. Spirituality and the Occult. Routledge: London, 2001. Gibson, W. Pattern Recognition. Putnam: New York, 2003. Gilbert, R.A. (editor). Hermetic Papers of A.E. Waite. Aquarian: Wellingborough, 1987. Gilbert, R.A. (editor). The Sorcerer and his Apprentice: Unknown Writings of S.L. MacGregor Wellingborough, 1983. Gilbert,

R.A.

A.E.

Wellingborough, 1987.

Mathers Waite:

and

Magician

J.W. of

Brodie-Innes. Many

Aquarian:

Parts. Crucible:

Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Wellingborough, 1986.

Dawn

Companion.

Aquarian

Press:

Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn Scrapbook. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1997. Gilbert, R.A. The Golden Dawn: Twilight of the Magicians. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983. Gilbert, R.A. A.E. Waite: A Bibliography. Aquarian: Wellingborough, 1983. Gilbert, R.A. A.E. Waite: Magician of Many Parts. Crucible: 1987. Gilbert, R.A. Hermetic Papers of A.E. Waite. Aquarian: 1987. Gilbert, R.A. Revelations of the Golden Dawn. Quantum: 1997. Gilbert, T. Messages from the Archetypes. White Cloud Press: Ashland, 2004. Gladwell, M. The Tipping Point. Little, Brown and Company: London, 2000. Glouberman, D. Life Choices and Life Changes through Imagework. Mandala: London, 1989. Goddard, D. The Tower of Alchemy. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1999. Godwin, J. The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance. Thames & Hudson: London, 2002. Godwin, J. The Theosophical Enlightenment. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994. Godwin, J., Chanel, C. & Deveney, J.P. The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1995. Gold, E.J. Life in the Labyrinth. IDHHB, INC: Nevada City, 1986.

Gold, E.J. New American Book of the Dead. IDHHB Publishing: Nevada City, 1981. Goodman M. & Goodman, S. (translators). Johann Reuchlin, On the Art of the Kabbalah. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln and London, 1993. Goodrick-Clarke, N. Wellingborough, 1990.

Paracelsus:

Essential

Readings.

Crucible:

Goodwin, T. and Bain, D. A New Dawn for Tarot: The Original Tarot of the Golden Dawn. Forge Press: Keswick, 2013. Gorak, J. Making of a Modern Canon. Athlone Press: London, 1991. Gorman, M. Stairway to the Stars. Aeon: London, 2010. Graf, S.J. W.B. Yeats: Twentieth Century Magus. Samuel Weiser, Inc: York Beach, 2000. Grant, K. Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God. Frederick Muller: London, 1976. Grant, K. Nightside of Eden. Frederick Muller: London, 1977. Grant, K. Outside the Circles of Time. Frederick Muller Ltd: London, 1980. Grant, P.

A Dazzling Darkness: An Anthology of Western Mysticism.

Fount: London, 1985. Gray, E. Mastering the Tarot. New American Library: New York, 1971. Gray, W.G. An Outlook on our Inner Western Way. Samuel Weiser: New York, 1980. Gray, W.G. Qabalistic Concepts. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1997. Green, M. Magic for the Aquarian Age. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983.

Green, M. The Path Through The Labyrinth. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 1994. Greene, L. and Sasportas, H. Seminars in Psychological Astrology, Volume 1: The Development of the Personality. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1987. Greenwood, S. Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld. Berg: Oxford, 2000. Greenwood, S. The Anthropology of Magic. Berg: Oxford, 2009. Greer, J.M. Inside a Magical Lodge. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1998. Greer, M.K. Women of the Golden Dawn. Park Street Press: Rochester, 1995. Greville-Gascoigne, A. The Way of an Initiate. T.B.O.T.P. Publications: North Ferriby, 1940. Guénon, R. Initiation and Spiritual Realization. Sophia Perennis: Hillsdale, 2004. Guénon, R. L’Erreur Spirit. Rivière: Paris, 1921. Guénon, R. Perspectives of Initiation. Sophia Perennis: Hillsdale, 2004. Gunther, J.D. Initiation in the Aeon of the Child: The Inward Journey. Ibis Press: Lake Worth, 2009. Gurdjieff, G.I. Life is Real Only Then, When “I Am”. Routledge and Kegan Paul: London, 1981. Gurdjieff, G.I. Views From the Real World. Arkana: London, 1984. Hakes, J.E. (editor). An Introduction to Evangelical Christian Education. Moody Press: Chicago, 1964. Hall, M.P. The Adepts in the Western Esoteric Tradition, Part 3: Orders of Universal Reformation. Philosophical Research Society: Los Angeles, 1949.

Hamill, J. (editor). The Rosicrucian Seer. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1986. Hamill, J. The Craft: A History of English Freemasonry. Crucible, 1986. Hanegraaff, W.J. (editor) with Faivre, A., van den Broek, R. & Brach, J-P. Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill: Leiden, 2005, in two volumes. Hanegraaff, W.J. Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2012. Hanegraaff, W.J. New Age Religion and Western Culture. Brill: Leiden, 1996. Hardy, J. A Psychology with a Soul. Arkana: London, 1987. Harper, G.M. Yeats’s Golden Dawn. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1974. Harris, T.A. I’m OK – You’re OK. Arrow Boooks: London, 1995. Harrison, F. & Shadrach, N. Magic That Works: Practical Training for the Children of Light. Ishtar Publishing: Barnaby, 2005. Hart, G. A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, n.d. Harvey, A. A Journey in Ladakh. Picador: London, 1993. Harvey, A. The Direct Path: Creating a Journey to the Divine Using the World’s Mystical Traditions. Rider: London, 2000. Harvey, G. Contemporary Paganism. New York University Press: New York, 1997. Hauck, D.W. The Emerald Tablet. Arkana: London, 1999. Haule, J. Pilgrimage of the Heart: The Path of Romantic Love. Shamballa: Boston, 1992.

Hawkins, J.D. Understanding Chaos Magic. Capall Bann: Chieveley, 1996. Hedsel, M. The Zelator. Century Books: London, 1998. Henderson, J.L. & Sherwood, D.N. Transformation of the Psyche: The Symbolic Alchemy of the Splendor Solis. Routledge: Hove, 2003. Henderson, J.L. Thresholds of Initiation. Chiron Publications: Wilmette, 2005. Hine, P. Condensed Chaos. New Falcon Publications: Tempe, 1992. Hoffman, E. The Heavenly Ladder: Kabbalistic Techniques for Inner Growth. Prism Press: Sturminster Newton, 1996. Hollis, J. Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places. Inner City Books: Toronto, 1996. Holman, J. The Return of the Perennial Philosophy: The Supreme Vision of Western Esotericism. Watkins: London, 2008. Holroyd, S. Gnosticism. Element Books: Dorset, 1994. Hornung, E. The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West. Cornell University Press: Ithaca & London, 2001. Howe, E. (editor). The Alchemist of the Golden Dawn. Aquarian: 1985. Howe, E. The Magicians of the Golden Dawn. RKP: London, 1972. Hutchinson, R. Aleister Crowley: The Beast Demystified. Mainstream Publishing: Edinburgh, 1998. Hutton, R. The Triumph of the Moon. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1999. Huxley, A. The Perennial Philosophy. HarperPerennial: New York, 2009. Hyatt, C.S. with Willis, J. The Psychopath’s Bible. New Falcon Publications: Tempe, 2003.

Idel, M. Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism: Pillars, Lines, Ladders. CEU Press: New York, 2005. Irwin, R. Satan Wants Me. Bloomsbury: London, 2000. Iversen, E. The Myth of Egypt and Its Hieroglyphs in European Tradition. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1993. Jackson, P. & Lethem, J. (editors). The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick. Gollanz: London, 2011. Jacobi, J. (editor). Paracelsus: Selected Writings. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1979. James, T. & Woodsmall, W. Time Line Therapy and the Basis of Personality. Meta Publications: 1998. Jensen, K.F. The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot. ATS: 2006. Jinarajadasa, C. (editor). H.P.B. Speaks. The Theosophical Publishing House: Adyar, 1950. Jinarajadasa, C. (editor.) Letters from the Masters of Wisdom. The Theosophical Publishing House: Adyar, 1973. Jodorowsky, A. & Costa, M. The Way of Tarot. Destiny Books: Rochester, 2004. Johnson, K.P. The Masters Revealed. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994. Joshi, S.T. & Schultz, D.E. An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopaedia. Hippocampus Press: New York, 2001. Joshi, S.T. A Subtle Magick: The Writings and Philosophy of H.P. Lovecraft. Wildside Press: Berkeley Heights, 1999. Joshi, S.T. Primal Sources. Hippocampus Press: New York, 2003. Jung, C.G. Man and His Symbols. Picador: London, 1978

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[1] Knight, G. & McLean, A. Commentary on the Chymical Wedding. Magnum Opus: Edinburgh, 1984, p.10. [2] Eco, U. Foucault’s Pendulum. Picador: London, 1990, p.391. [3] “God will bring upon the whole universe the Great Ignorance, in order that all things may remain in their natural condition” – Basilides of Alexandria, a Gnostic who lived immediately prior to Valentinus, c. 120130 A.D. Jung attributed his visionary writing, Seven Sermons to the Dead, to Basilides. See Holroyd, S. Gnosticism. Element Books: Dorset, 1994, pp.41-47. [4] Fortune, D. Psychic Self-Defence. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1992, pp.18-19. [5] An archaic term meaning ‘restoration to a former state’. [6] Sutin, L. (editor). of Dick, P.K. In Pursuit of Valis: Selections from the Exegesis. Underwood- Miller: California, 1991, p.266. This edition of Dick’s notebooks forming his ‘Exegesis’ demonstrates much of Dick’s Gnostic concerns and development of Gnostic concepts, many of which were written into his published fiction. His A Scanner, Darkly. Panther Books: London, 1985, is also now a major film starring Keanu Reeves (who also starred in The Matrix trilogy, also derived in part from Gnostic theology). Also refer to Jackson, P. & Lethem, J. (editors). The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick. Gollanz: London, 2011. This provides a large part of Dick’s attempt to respond to his revelatory experiences in what the editors wonderfully refer to as an “open laboratory of interpretation.” We will return to Dick’s writings in a subsequent volume of The Magister.

[7] Churton, T. The Gnostics. George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Limited: London, 1987, p.22. [8] Faivre, A. Naturphilosophie in Hanegraaff, W.J. (editor) with Faivre, A., van den Broek, R., & Brach, J-P. Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism. Brill: Leiden, 2005, Vol. II, pp.822-826. [9] Murray Stein suggests ‘biography’ as a less ponderous translation than ‘developmental history’ in her ‘Precis of Parts Two and Three of Psyche’, an Appendix in Psyche, on the Development of the Soul. Spring Publications: New York City, 1970. [10] Psyche, on the Development of the Soul, op. cit., p. ii, James Hillman, An Introductory Note, ‘C.G. Carus – C.G. Jung’. [11] Carus, C. in Psyche on the Development of the Soul, op. cit., p.53. [12] See Ellenberger, H.F. The Discovery of the Unconscious. Basic Books Inc: New York, 1970, particularly pp.202-210. [13] Ash, E. Hypnotism and Suggestion. William Rider & Son: London, 1912, p.110. [14] For Bernheim’s classic work Suggestive Therapeutics and its influence, see ‘Classics in Psychology’ Robert H. Wozniak – Bryn Mawr College, Hippolyte Bernheim: Suggestive Therapeutics (1886; English 1889) at: http://www.thoemmes.com/psych/ernheim.htm [last accessed 14 January 2012].

[15] Chertok, L. & De Saussure, R. The Therapeutic Revolution. From Mesmer to Freud. Brunner/ Mazel: New York, 1979. [16] Owen, A. The Place of Enchantment. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago and London, 2004, particularly Chapter Four. [17] Owen, A. Ibid, p.125. [18] Mathers, M. Preface to the fourth edition of MacGregor-Mathers, S.L. Kabbala Denudata, viii. Quoted in Owen, A. Ibid, p.67. [19] Adeptus Minor Oath. See Regardie, I. The Golden Dawn (1982 printing), Volume 2, Book 3, p.214. [20] Anna Mary Bonus Kingsford, Esotericist, Visionary, Hermetic Mystic, Paradoxos Alpha, 2004. http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/kingsford.htm [last accessed 08 February 2013]. [21] Greer, M.K. Women of the Golden Dawn. Park Street Press: Vermont, 1995, p.52-55. [22] For an appraisal of Regardie’s relationship with Crowley, see Suster, G. Crowley’s Apprentice, referenced herein, and for similar analysis of Dion Fortune’s relationship see Chapman, J. The Quest for Dion Fortune, which also reproduces verbatim a letter from Regardie to Chapman on Dion Fortune’s position on Crowley, p.43-46. [23] Regardie, I. The Eye in the Triangle. Falcon Press: Arizona, 1982, third reprint, p.157.

[24] Regardie, I. Ibid, p.156. See also illustration earlier in this present volume. [25] Suster, G. Crowley’s Apprentice. Samuel Weiser, Inc: Maine, 1990, p.116. [26] Regardie, I. Ibid, p.137. [27] Regardie, I. Ibid, p.183. [28] The identification of this establishment was not given by Dion Fortune, but has since been reasonably identified from several primary sources by Chapman, J. The Quest for Dion Fortune. Samuel Weiser: Maine, 1993, p.4-5. [29] Fortune, D. Psychic Self-Defence. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1981, Preface, pp.14-15. [30] Chapman, J. Ibid, p.77. Chapman produces a transcript of a conversation with Helah Fox, who had known Dion Fortune. In this Fox notes that Fortune had only become really interested in Jung in 1943. However, in Fortune’s own Machinery of the Mind, published in 1922, she demonstrates more than a passing knowledge of Jungian thinking in ‘Chapter XXI: Psychoanalysis’, where she contrasts the Jungian and Freudian methods and theories, albeit in brief. [31] Knight, G. Dion Fortune and the Inner Light. Thoth Publications: Loughborough, 2000, p.66-71, ‘The Occultist as Psychologist’.

[32] Firth, V. (Dion Fortune). Machinery of the Mind. George Allen & Unwin, Ltd: London, 1922, p.82. [33] Fortune, D. The Mystical Qabalah. Ernest Benn Limited: London & Tonbridge, 1979, 13th impression, first published 1935. This is one of the few books that really re-writes itself through each grade of one’s own personal progress. I have returned to this book many times over 30 years, fully satisfied that I had read it thoroughly and comprehended its various messages each time, only to find myself again astonished at what Dion Fortune actually wrote in it for those ‘with ears to hear’. And I expect that to continue for some time. [34] Fortune, Ibid, p.101. [35] See particularly in this context Hardy, J. A Psychology with a Soul. Arkana: London, 1987.

[36] Duncan neglects to note that in Assagioli’s preface, he states that “Dr Leuner now prefers to call his method ‘Guided Affective Imagery’ and uses ‘Initiated Symbol Projection’ to refer to the diagnostic aspects of his work.” (Assagioli, R. Psychosynthesis. Turnstone Press: Wellingborough, 1975). This use of imagery is a fundamental technique in both esoteric practice and psychological work, for example, Steinbrecher, E.E. The Inner Guide Meditation. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1982; Farrell, N. Magical Pathworking: Techniques of Active Imagination. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 2001; Glouberman, D. Life Choices and Life Changes through Imagework. Mandala: London, 1989; Denning, M. & Philips, O. Magical States of Consciousness. Llewellyn: St Paul, 1985; Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The Shining Paths. Aquarian, Wellingborough, 1983, and other titles. Assagioli was also concerned about the concept of Will, and shows a similar stress on the importance of Will as members of the Golden Dawn – in particular, Aleister Crowley, whose ‘tradition’ is named Thelema, meaning ‘Will’. See Assagioli, R. The Act of Will. Crucible: Wellingborough, 1990. There has been very little research into this similarity between psychosynthesis and the Western esoteric tradition – authors have instead concentrated upon the similarities between the ‘egg’ diagram of psychosynthesis and the Tree of Life, see Hardy, p.12 & p.30. [37] Duncan, A. The Christ, Psychotherapy and Magic. p.196. [38] Duncan, A. Ibid. p.187. [39] Regardie, I. in Wilson, R.A. Prometheus Rising. Falcon Press: Arizona, 1983, IV, Introduction.

[40] Ibid, p.259. [41] Newcomb, J.A. The New Hermetics. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 2004, p.1. [42] Ibid, p.59. [43] Ibid, pp.158-160. [44] Bandler, R. & Grinder, J. The Structure of Magic. Science and Behaviour Books: Palo Alto, 1985. See also Rosen, S. My Voice Will Go With You. W.W. Norton & Co.: London, 1991, for an introduction to the teaching tales and techniques of Milton Erickson. A similar synthetic title used by a therapist applying NLP to clinical psychotherapy is Lankton, S. Practical Magic. Meta Publications: Capitola, 1980. [45] Grant, K. Nightside of Eden. Frederick Muller: London, 1977, p.23-26 for a discussion of consciousness, subject and object, and the identification of Self with its objects. [46] Carus, p. iii [47] Nema. Maat Magick. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1995, p.65. See also Stock, G., Metaman. Bantam Press: London, 1993, on the birth of a global super-organism or global mind. [48] Carus, p. 63

[49] Farber, P.H. Future Ritual: Magick for the 21st Century. Eschaton: Chicago, 1995, which also represents versions of Golden Dawn and Crowley-modified ritual forms. [50] A phrase used by Bertrand Russell in conversation with Alfred Whitehead, referring to Western philosophy as a whole. [51] King, F. (editor). Astral Projection, Ritual Magic and Alchemy. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1987. This is the first comprehensive publication of the Flying Rolls. [52] Blavatsky, H.P. Isis Unveiled. (Online edition, see: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/isis/ iu1-01.htm last accessed 23 March 2007) Volume I, p.17 on which page is also quoted an extract from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s Zanoni, of relevance to note below. [53] For example, The Servants of the Light School of Occult Science, also known as SOL, is a “fully contacted Mystery School, teaching throughout the world, by correspondence.” The official site for the School states they have more than 6,000 students in 23 different countries. http://www.servantsofthelight.org/ [last accessed 23 March 2007]. [54] Barker, A.T. (editor). The Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P. Sinnett. Theosophical University Press: Pasadena, 1973. Letter LXI, pp.150-151. [55] Webb, J. The Flight from Reason. Macdonald & Co: London, 1971, pp.50-52.

[56] Johnson, K.P. The Masters Revealed. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994. [57] Blavatsky, H.P. ‘Mahatmas and Chelas’ in Theosophist, July 1884. [58] Spierenburg, H.J. The Inner Group Teachings of H.P. Blavatsky. Point Loma Publications: San Diego, 1985, p.74. [59] Adams, E. ‘The Masters of Wisdom’, in Theosophical Siftings (1890) Volume

III.

http://www.theosophical.ca/MastersOf

WisdomEA.htm,

paragraph 16. [last accessed 21 March 2007]. [60] Trowbridge, G. Swedenborg: Life and Teaching. Swedenborg Society: London, 1934, p.110. [61] Hanegraaf, W.J. (editor). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill: Leiden, 2006, II, p.630. [62] http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/hund_k/hund_k.html, paragraph 3, [last accessed 23 March 2007]. Quoting Ursin, J. Création et histoire du Rite Écossais Rectifié. Petite bibliotheque franc-mac, 1993. [63] Washington, P. Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon. Secker & Warburg: London, 1993, p.36. [64] Geoffrey A. Farthing. Deity, Cosmos and Man. Point Loma Publications: San Diego, 1993, p.3.

[65] Westcott, W.W. ‘Christian Rosenkreuz and the Rosicrucians’ in the Theosophical Siftings, Volume 6, 1893-1894 at: http://www.theosophical.ca/ChristianRosenkreuz.htm, paragraph 38 [last accessed 21 March 2007]. [66] Leadbeater, C.W. The Masters and the Path. The Theosophical Publishing House: Adyar, 1953, p.141. [67] The Theosophical Congress Held by the Theosophical Society at the Parliament of Religions, World’s Fair of 1893, at Chicago, IL, September 15-17: Report on Proceedings and Documents (New York: American Section Headquarters, 1893), p.24. [68] Leadbeater, C.W. Ibid, p.142. [69] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age, para. 7, [last accessed 23 March 2007]. [70] Hanegraaff, W. (editor). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill: Leiden, 2005, II, p.631. [71] Faivre, A. Access to Western Esotericism. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994, p.13. [72] Ibid. [73] Blavatsky, H.P. The Secret Doctrine. Theosophical University Press: Pasadena, 1988, I. p.274.

[74] Blavatsky, H.P. The Key to Theosophy. Theosophical Publishing House: London, 1987, p.201. [75] Blavatsky, H.P. The Secret Doctrine. Theosophical University Press: Pasadena, 1988, I. [76] Blavatsky, H.P. Ibid. Theosophist 1884. [77] Jinarjadasa, C. (editor). Letters from the Masters of Wisdom. The Theosophical Publishing House: Adyar, 1973, p.149. [78] Jinarjadasa, C. Ibid, p.150. [79] Jinarjadasa, C. Ibid, p.17. [80] Codd, C.M. Theosophy as the Masters See It. Theosophical Publishing House: Adyar, 1926, p.20. [81] Codd, C.M. Ibid, p. 22. [82] Godwin, J. The Theosophical Enlightenment. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994, p.224-225. [83] Overton-Fuller, J. Blavatsky and her Teachers. East-West Publications: London and The Hague, 1988, p.57, quoting from C. Jinarajadasa, (editor). H.P.B. Speaks. The Theosophical Publishing House: Adyar, 1950, p.222. [84] Hanegraaff, W.J. (editor). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill: Leiden, 2006, II, pp.1118-1119.

[85]

Harrison,

V.

(1997)

‘H.P.

Blavatsky

and

the

SPR’.

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ hpb-spr/hpb-spr1.htm . He wrote, “I cannot exonerate the SPR committee from blame for publishing this thoroughly bad report. They seem to have done little more than rubberstamp Hodgson’s opinions; and no serious attempt was made to check his findings or even to read his report critically. If they had done so (...) the case would have been referred back for further study. Madame H.P. Blavatsky was the most important occultist ever to appear before the SPR for investigation; and never was opportunity so wasted.” [86] Johnson, K.P. The Masters Revealed. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994, pp.120-175. [87] ‘The Himalayan Brothers’, in Light (London), March 4, 1882, p.98. http://www.blavatsky-archives.com/olcottandmahatmas.htm [last accessed 23 March 2007]. [88] Kunz, F. The Men Beyond Mankind. The David McKay Company: Philadelphia, 1937, p.180. [89] Codd, Ibid, p.13. [90] Wheaton (editor). Blavatsky: Collected Writings. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1982, XIII (1890-1891), p.236-237. [91] Codd, Ibid, p.353 (from The Mahatma Letters, Ibid, p.266). [92] Codd, Ibid, p.173.

[93] Codd, Ibid, p.6. [94] Codd, Ibid, p.5 & p.448. [95] Sinnett, A.P. Esoteric Buddhism. Wizard’s Bookshelf: San Diego, 1981, p.17. 43 Kunz, Ibid, p.206. [96] Kunz, Ibid, p. 206. [97] Blavatsky, H.P. ‘Mahatmas and Chelas’ in Theosophist, July 1884. [98] Theosophical Glossary. [99] Kant, I. Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics § 13, Note II [100] Levi, I. Key to the Mysteries. Rider: London, 1984. [101] Crowley, A. Little Essays Towards Truth. Sut Anubis: Northampton, 1985, p.12. [102] Perkins, K. & Johnson, K. Egyptian Life and the Tree of Life. International Order of Kabbalists: London, 1982. [103] Farr, F. Egyptian Magic. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1983. [104] Hardy, J. A Psychology with a Soul. Arkana: London, 1989. [105] We will return to this subject in greater detail within the volumes of The Magister. Also refer to my own account of the working in Katz, M. After the Angel. Forge Press: Keswick, 2011.

[106] MacGregor-Mathers, S.L. The Book of the Sacred Magic of AbraMelin the Mage. Thorsons: Wellingborough, 1977, also Dover Press: New York, 1975 which is a reproduction of the original 1900 version by John M. Watkins of London. A new edition translated from the German rather than the French version is Dehn, G. & Guth, S. (translators). The Book of Abramelin. Ibis Press: Lake Worth, 2006. [107] Crowley, A. Magick Without Tears. Falcon Press: Las Vegas, 1989, p.276, or p.465, where the angel is referred to as a ‘private God’. [108] William Bloom also wrote a pseudonymous fiction, QHE! The Taming Power. Mayflower: St. Albans, 1974, which happens to also feature a character based in Glastonbury called Willie. The book is written under the name W

∴W∴

and involves a messianic mission, a threatened

nuclear holocaust, an Amazonian Russian lady submarine commander, and a tea party in Glastonbury, amongst other novelties. [109] See, for example, Vayne, J. ‘Thou, Who Art I, Beyond All I Am” in Chaos International, 25, pp.5-10, where the HGA is compared to the Ori of Macumba and similar Western African systems, and a ritual is described involving chanting, DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) and ketamine. Another attempt at discussing the HGA is given by Mantovani, M. ‘Holy Guardian Angel for Fun and Prophet’ in Morgan, M. (editor). Thelemic Magick II. Golden Dawn Publications: Oxford, 1996, pp.74-91. [110] Crowley, A. Magick in Theory and Practice, Chapter I, ‘The Principles of Ritual’, p.151. [111]

Ibid. Appendix III, ‘On the Astral Plane’, p.344. [112] Delaforgem, G. ‘The Templar Tradition: yesterday and today’, Gnosis (Number 6, 1998). [113]

See

‘Emergent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergent_behavior

property’, [last

accessed

26

November 2012]. [114] http://www.philhine.org.uk/writings/ess_egregore.html [last accessed 26 November 2012]. [115] For another consideration of the Abyss, see Rowe, B. (1951-2002), ‘The Illusion of the Abyss’, 1997, at http://hermetic.com/browearchive/abyss2.htm [last accessed 26 November 2012]. [116] A witch once told me that she had “been to the bottom of the Abyss, and there were trees there.” [117] A magician once told a workshop I was attending that he had taken the ‘Oath of the Abyss’ and all it had done was “helped me give up smoking.” [118] See Rowe, B. (1951-2002), ‘The Illusion of the Abyss’, 1997, at http://hermetic.com/norton/abyss2.htm para. 12 [last accessed 26th January 2016] [119] From self-published album, used with permission.

[120] Burton, R.E. Self-Remembering. Red Wheel/Weiser: York Beach, 1995, p.16. [121]

See

radio

interview

transcript

at

http://gaffa.org/dreaming/e2_gurd.html [last accessed 29 November 2012]. [122] Wilson, C. The Mind Parasites. Panther Books: London, 1969, p. 153. [123] Borges, J.L., ‘The Library of Babel’ in Fictions. London: Penguin Books, 2000, pp.65-74. Gold, E.J., Life in the Labyrinth. IDHHB, INC: Nevada City, 1986, pp.105-117. [124] See Circle of Iron (also known as The Silent Flute) with David Carradine, directed by Richard Moore, 1978. The ‘Book of All Knowledge’ is recapitulated in The Fool on the Inner Deck. [125] Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Tarot Flip. Forge Press: Keswick, 2010, p.46. [126] See also the painting by Aleister Crowley, ‘Four Red Monks Carrying a Black Goat across the Snow to Nowhere’, which was also used as the cover of Symonds, J. The Magic of Aleister Crowley. Frederick Muller Ltd: London, 1958. This oil painting by Crowley is taken by Churton, T. Aleister Crowley: The Biography. Watkins: London, 2011, pp.301-302, as a commentary on the “theosophist inspired fantasy” of the search for Shambhala, at that time being undertaken by Nicholas Roerich on behalf of the OGPU, the forerunner of the KGB. Here in the Tarot of Everlasting Day it indicates the futility of the search, yet also its necessity.

[127] Place, R. The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination. Tarcher/Penguin: New York, 2005, p.133. [128] Jodorowsky, A. & Costa, M. The Way of Tarot. Destiny Books: Rochester, 2004, p.134. [129] Crowley, A. The Book of Thoth. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1985, p.73. [130] Crowley, A. The Book of Lies. Samuel Weiser: York Beach, 1984, pp.16-17. [131] Crowley, A. Magick, p.256. [132] Crowley, A. Magick, pp.109-110. [133] The former can be accessed online at: http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib816. html [last accessed 26 November 2012]. [134] Hoffman, E. The Heavenly Ladder: Kabbalistic Techniques for Inner Growth. Prism Press: Sturminster Newton, 1996, pp.75-76. [135] Waite, A.E. Lamps of Western Mysticism. Rudolph Steiner Publications: New York, 1973, p.290. [136] The Vision of Zosimos of Panopolis at:

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/zosimos.html [last accessed 07 February 2013]. [137] Besant, W. & Rice, J. The Monks of Thelema. Chatto & Windus: London, 1910, p.15. This lesser known book by the brother-in-law of Annie Besant, a well-regarded theosophist, is

a novel of a magical fraternity

espousing the law of Thelema, totally separate to Crowley’s formulation of the same, and deriving from the same source, i.e. Rabelais, F. Gargantua & Pantagruel. Penguin Books: Harmondsworth, 1978, originally published in 1532-1534. In the opening chapter of Besant & Rice, a ritual initiation is described wherein the two new candidates are given magical names by the existing members. [138] Crowley, A. Magick. Guild Publishing: Bungay, 1989, p.70. [139] See for example, Mollick, A. Living with Magick in a Mundane World. n.p., 2006, no page numbers, section on ‘Choosing Your Magickal Motto’ where Mollick describes his first motto as ‘Artos’ from the Celtic for Arthur. [140] Ashcroft-Nowicki, D. The Ritual Magic Workbook. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1986, p.92. [141] For a deeper appreciation of the import of greetings, see Crowley, A. Magick Without Tears. Falcon Press: Phoenix, 1982, pp.149-151, particularly ‘Carthage should be destroyed’.

[142] Young, L.B. The Unfinished Universe. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1986. On the level of the psyche, one might also consider the stages described by Kegan, R. The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1982, which takes Piaget’s work further into five stages: impulsive, imperial, interpersonal, institutional, and inter-individual. These map across to the initiatory structure at the level of the personality development, all of which run in parallel – we initiate ourselves in all worlds at the same time: we age physically, we develop psychologically, we explore the world as linear time and space allows, and we initiate our own awareness to go beyond these realms. [143] In the case of Aleister Crowley we have most of his magical mottos throughout his ascent of the grade system. These will be explored in the relevant volume of the MAGISTER dealing with Thelema. [144] Burton, R.E. Self-Remembering. Weiser/Red Wheel: York Beach, 1995, p.1. [145] Dick, P.K. Valis. Gollancz: London, 1981, p.136. [146] Kim Huggens has provided a unique series on Liber Resh in the PORTAL magazine of Magicka School at www.magickaschool.com. [147] A comprehensive overview of the myth and magic of the Moon in all her aspects is given by Brueton, D. Many Moons. Prentice Hall Press: New York, 1991. [148] Regardie, I. The Middle Pillar. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1998, pp.69-83.

[149] Regardie, I. The Middle Pillar. Llewellyn: St. Paul, 1998. The Art of True Healing. Helios: Toddington, 1974. For more advanced techniques such as the Bornless Ritual and Opening by the Watchtower, see Regardie, I. Ceremonial Magic. Aquarian Press: Wellingborough, 1980. [150] Eaton, E. The Hours of Isis. The Baskerville Press: London, 1928, p.18. [151] Luke 24:29: “Stay with us, because it is towards evening.” [152] You may also wish to refer to Duquette, L.M. Ask Baba Lon: Answers to Questions of Life and Magick. New Falcon Publications: Las Vegas, 2011.