Rufus Opus

Category: Blogspot Archive

Category: Blogspot Archive

  • The Sun Comes Up, It’s Tiw’s Day Mourning

    If your’e not a Cowboy Junkies fan, the blog title might not be as entertaining as it was for me.

    This morning was picture day at school. Lots of hubbub, not a lot of time for Work around daybreak. I don’t know why, but I’m attracted to Martial work in general lately. I’ve been barely resisting the urge to curse people on principle. There’s a … I don’t know, a violence about things in my life, not like a destructive violence, but a strong urge to wage war for the things I think are right. Politics, work, my Great Work, I just want to DO stuff, there’s a pressing urgency to DO stuff.

    Like the Box, and the Bune Radio. I want to create, empower, direct, and dominate my world. Not yours, mine.

    The song I stole the title for today’s post is about a woman going through that emotional stage of missing her ex-lover, but at the same time, enjoying the new-found freedom she had forgotten about. I was mostly looking for a song that had Tuesday in the title. (Tuesday comes from Tiw’s Day, the Norse God of War, which of course was Martial in nature. You prolly knew that.) There’s also a connection to Fall, leaves falling, the season changing, and although I’m going to miss Summer, I’m finding things about this season that I’d forgotten about, and that I like.

    Like Tiw’s Day. It’s Tiw’s Day, Mars Day, and I’m ready for some action. Mars plays an important role with Saturn in the Goetia, and I had a strange apocalyptic dream the other night that I’m beginning to suspect was a Goetic spirit trying to get my attention. The build-up of whatever’s trying to get my attention is getting so thick I can feel it in the air around me. It’s almost like a frustration, but it’s like a palm’s width outside of my body.

    So tonight, the Sun’s coming up and it’s going to be a Tiw’s Day Mourning. For something, or someone. Might be some part of my self that has to die, or be subjugated to my “True Will;” it might be something else. I’m definitely going to be Working some Goetic spirits, regardless. Maybe Tap into some forces and see what’s been going on and what’s to come.

    Muahahahaaa.

  • The Sun Comes Up, It’s Tiw’s Day Mourning

    If your’e not a Cowboy Junkies fan, the blog title might not be as entertaining as it was for me.

    This morning was picture day at school. Lots of hubbub, not a lot of time for Work around daybreak. I don’t know why, but I’m attracted to Martial work in general lately. I’ve been barely resisting the urge to curse people on principle. There’s a … I don’t know, a violence about things in my life, not like a destructive violence, but a strong urge to wage war for the things I think are right. Politics, work, my Great Work, I just want to DO stuff, there’s a pressing urgency to DO stuff.

    Like the Box, and the Bune Radio. I want to create, empower, direct, and dominate my world. Not yours, mine.

    The song I stole the title for today’s post is about a woman going through that emotional stage of missing her ex-lover, but at the same time, enjoying the new-found freedom she had forgotten about. I was mostly looking for a song that had Tuesday in the title. (Tuesday comes from Tiw’s Day, the Norse God of War, which of course was Martial in nature. You prolly knew that.) There’s also a connection to Fall, leaves falling, the season changing, and although I’m going to miss Summer, I’m finding things about this season that I’d forgotten about, and that I like.

    Like Tiw’s Day. It’s Tiw’s Day, Mars Day, and I’m ready for some action. Mars plays an important role with Saturn in the Goetia, and I had a strange apocalyptic dream the other night that I’m beginning to suspect was a Goetic spirit trying to get my attention. The build-up of whatever’s trying to get my attention is getting so thick I can feel it in the air around me. It’s almost like a frustration, but it’s like a palm’s width outside of my body.

    So tonight, the Sun’s coming up and it’s going to be a Tiw’s Day Mourning. For something, or someone. Might be some part of my self that has to die, or be subjugated to my “True Will;” it might be something else. I’m definitely going to be Working some Goetic spirits, regardless. Maybe Tap into some forces and see what’s been going on and what’s to come.

    Muahahahaaa.

  • Heading out to vote

    If your’e not a Cowboy Junkies fan, the blog title might not be as entertaining as it was for me.

    This morning was picture day at school. Lots of hubbub, not a lot of time for Work around daybreak. I don’t know why, but I’m attracted to Martial work in general lately. I’ve been barely resisting the urge to curse people on principle. There’s a … I don’t know, a violence about things in my life, not like a destructive violence, but a strong urge to wage war for the things I think are right. Politics, work, my Great Work, I just want to DO stuff, there’s a pressing urgency to DO stuff.

    Like the Box, and the Bune Radio. I want to create, empower, direct, and dominate my world. Not yours, mine.

    The song I stole the title for today’s post is about a woman going through that emotional stage of missing her ex-lover, but at the same time, enjoying the new-found freedom she had forgotten about. I was mostly looking for a song that had Tuesday in the title. (Tuesday comes from Tiw’s Day, the Norse God of War, which of course was Martial in nature. You prolly knew that.) There’s also a connection to Fall, leaves falling, the season changing, and although I’m going to miss Summer, I’m finding things about this season that I’d forgotten about, and that I like.

    Like Tiw’s Day. It’s Tiw’s Day, Mars Day, and I’m ready for some action. Mars plays an important role with Saturn in the Goetia, and I had a strange apocalyptic dream the other night that I’m beginning to suspect was a Goetic spirit trying to get my attention. The build-up of whatever’s trying to get my attention is getting so thick I can feel it in the air around me. It’s almost like a frustration, but it’s like a palm’s width outside of my body.

    October 21, 2008

  • Angelic Hierarchies

    To get anything of benefit from the hierarchical representations of God’s servants or ministers, we must first understand the foundational premise behind the formulation of a hierarchy in the first place, and also what an “angel” or minister of God is.

    The Premise of Hierarchies in the Western Magickal Tradition

    To the neo-platonists and their Christian successors, God was One. It’s a simple concept. Orpheus says:

    Pluto and Jupiter, and Phebus, are one;
    But why do we speak twice? Gods one alone. (From Agrippa’s Occult Philosophy, Book 3, chapter x)

    The sh’ma of Judaism puts it this way:

    “Hear o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”

    The One God is beyond understanding, and is described in terms of what it is not due to our lack of ability to comprehend the awesome unity of God. “Ineffable,” “Invisible,” and “Infinite” are terms that do not tell us what God is, but what it is not. The mystic (by virtue of their calling to be a mystic) understands inherently that God is super-essential.

    This super-essential Deity is constantly providing a stream of grace (or what we would likely call “energy” today) from itself into all that it created, in order that all of creation might participate with and know God intimately. This stream is called Providence by the Christian mystics, and is understood to be the mechanism by which Grace is delivered. When you see a mystic of neo-platonic christian heritage say that an event was “Providence,” they mean that a person achieved “a closer and fuller understanding of God” (or Grace) through a series of events that might not have seemed to be Grace bearing in the moment.

    Ok, so we have One super-essential God, sending Grace to creation by Providence. Since man is not capable of comprehending all of God at once in our standard mode, when God interacts with us directly, we interpret the aspect of God that we interact with as an entity, a messenger from God, or a representation of Deity, or a god in and of itself. The Goddess Venus, for instance, is that part of the One super-essential deity that represents the human understanding of “Love.” In other cultures, this aspect of God is interpreted as Haniel, the archangel of the sephiroth Netzach.

    To understand where this part of God “fits” in the whole process we interpret as Providence, we create models and hierarchies of correspondences so that we can present-progressively interact with that particular part of God as we perform our mundane activities. This touches on the practical purpose behind having a hierarchy in the first place.

    The Purpose of Hierarchies

    Having a model of Providence allows us to work towards obtaining unity with God. (Note: By unity I mean consciously working with God to accomplish God’s purpose, not the idea that we can somehow consciously become GOD.) When one understands the aspects of God that are functioning at various points in Providence, one can begin to consciously integrate these processes into their daily activities. For instance, knowing that Cherubim means the fullness of divine knowledge, and that the function of this manifestation of God is to illuminate the soul of a man with the divine knowledge of the immanence of deity in all things, one would begin to work with the Cherubim when one is seeking to understand how a situation is supposed to integrate with God’s plan.

    This is the Great Work of the Western Mystery Tradition, to be in union with God in all things while in the flesh.

    Having crudely put forth the foundational premise and purpose of hierarchies, we can look at what the various hierarchies are. For a better description, see The Celestial Hierarchies, by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopogate, from which the above was distilled.

    Some Traditional Hierarchies

    The angelic orders of the “cabalists” are associated with the ten sephiroth. Following the lightning path, they are:

    Kether – Haioth Hacadosch
    Hochma – Ophanim
    Prina – Aralim
    Hesed – Hasmalim
    Geburach – Seraphim
    Tiphereth – Malachim
    Nezah – Elohim
    Hod – Ben Elohim
    Iesod – Cherubim
    Malchuth – Issim

    That’s straight from Agrippa, the original spelling from the English translation by “J.F.” in 1651 intact. If you look in Book 3, Chapter x, you’ll find much more additional information on these orders, such as the particular angel in charge, the planets associated with them, and the biblical personages and the angels that were assigned to them that correspond.

    The terms Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels were used by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagate, a Christian mystic who was not a cabalist. Agrippa also uses these, and relates them to the sephiroth, but makes it clear in the text that they are not the names of the hierarchies used by the Hebrews.

    Bill Heidrick has a couple of tables that present the names, correspondences to the sephiroth, and the descriptions and functions of these orders in his Magical Correspondences . Know going into it that Bill is the product of traditional Golden Dawn and Ordo Templi Orientis teachings. While his research and facts have been proven to be as accurate as possible, his interpretations are nevertheless influenced by the teaching he received.

    Practical Application

    To effectively utilize these hierarchies, the mystic or magician must first identify which order is appropriate to their need. Then one would research the names of some of the members of this order, and then contact the entity and request a personal representative from that order to work with for the duration of the operation.

    Understanding the premise behind a hierarchy, the procedures of the magickal operations of the Western Mystery Tradition make a lot more sense. Abramelin’s Sacred Magick is an excellent example, with the Holy Guardian Angel being a member of the Order of Powers assigned to you at birth, who “aids the human mind to break free of the forces that draw man to earthly thoughts.” The Goetia can be better understood when it is recognized as a hierarchy of spirits that are closest to the manifest realm, a sub-hierarchy that doesn’t quite extend beyond the realms of Earth, Water, and Air in the platonic model.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, I would like to thank Richard Ryan for his Lamed towards presenting something of value and substance rather than simply critiquing someone else’s presentation. Putting this into words has helped me to better understand some of the issues I’ve been struggling with behind the scenes lately regarding cabalism vs. neo-platonic christian interpretations of the Great Work.

  • Desperately Important

    Mike Rock’s recent blog post is a must-see.

    http://blog.mike-rock.com/2008/10/make-mine-freedom.html

  • Desperately Important

    Mike Rock’s recent blog post is a must-see.

    http://blog.mike-rock.com/2008/10/make-mine-freedom.html

  • Falling in Love with Binah

    In a couple of places, I’ve seen people complaining a lot about the economy. Magicians even, who should know better.

    Gee, we’ve got bad financial times while Jupiter’s in Capricorn? Wow! Absolutely shocking.

    Gee, it’s affecting homes while Saturn’s in Virgo? Holy cow! That’s amazing!!

    Come on, people, get your heads out of your anal cavities. We’re magicians. The state of the world is not frightening to those in the know, it’s expected. We navigate behind the scenes. You can turn this generally bad time around for your benefit with a little planning and magic.

    I suggest talking to Tzaphqiel, or some other manifestation of the Intelligence of Saturn, since that’s where this is all coming from (Capricorn holding Jupiter hostage is ruled by Saturn, Saturn’s in Virgo Maleficently influencing things). Throw in Tzadqiel of Jupiter, and Michael of the Sun (he cushions the Saturn landing). Talk to Hanael and Hamaliel, Archangels of Capricorn and Virgo respectively as well.

    “They aren’t going to move where the planets are, what difference would it make?”

    The planets are still where they are, yes, but the planets are indicators of general influences at large. Like the label on the back of a plug you plug into the wall that tells you, “120VAC in, 9VDC out.” They tell you what the natural state of things are, but they don’t tell you how that will manifest in detail within your own life, within your own Sphere of Influence. You can run a clock radio off the plug, if it’s 9VDC, or you can run a flashlight, or whatever … as long as it’s got the right receptacle and runs on 9VDC.

    How the astrological influences manifest depends on a few million variables that are different for most people.Even people born in the same place at the same time will be raised by different parents, influenced by different teachers, or move to different parts of the world where their spheres of influence are shaped and molded uniquely. Twins are different, and it’s hard to get much closer than twins.

    Magicians get to do a lot more consciously than mundane folks with no interest in the occult. We get to say, ok, that’s a 9VDC output there, so I can run it through an oscillator to step it down to 4VDC to get it to light this here LED without burning it out. We get to do a lot that way.

    I don’t care if you’re a magician like Jason Miller with his roots and prajna, or St. Faust with his sigils and whatever, or even Fr. POS with his GD initiate ways and means. Heck, you can even be a Wastewater Consultant wth an epicurean garden and multiple OTO initations like the author of My Gal. It doesn’t matter, you’ve got techniques at your disposal to rewire the output and put it to use the way you want.

    Hop to it. No one’s going to sit around and do it for you.

    October 19, 2008

  • The Invisible College

    I mentioned it the other day in passing. It’s not an original idea. It’s a rehash of the “Invisible Hand” that “really” controls world events. The fact is, we (you, me, and magicians in general) have a ton of spiritual resources that are designed to influence world events. While it is true that the Great Work is about rising through the spheres and getting to be more “like god,” or more fully in His image than we were to begin with, it’s also about returning to the state we were created in, back in the Garden of Eden.

    Basically, my belief is that there was one “positive commandment” given in the garden. One “Thou Shalt.” The other was a thou shalt not. The positive commandment is this:

    Tend the Garden

    In my interpretation, that means original Mankind was the steward of the world. With the adoption of the concepts of “Good and Evil”, we lost the ability to do this in the way we are supposed to do it. Through the accomplishment of the Great Work, we regain our standing with the source that emanated us. We return to the original partnership with God. Our realm of responsibility is all of Nature. That includes mankind, the spirits that influence manifestation, and everything we see, hear, feel, sense, touch, taste, defecate upon, and stub our toes on in the middle of the night.

    I envision a group of magi that are practicing the Work in their lives. Not only spiritually, but practically. It already exists. Going forward, I’m going to formally recognize it as “The Invisible College.” I started writing this a few days ago, and originally I was thinking of starting like an email list, or something like that for the practicing magicians in my circles of friends. Sort of a magical network for advice, somewhere to turn for quick references, and such-like other stuff that was private, and wouldn’t end up getting plastered across the internet.

    Then I realized we already do that, in IM’s and off-list emails. It would be pretty redundant. One more email group to wade through.

    So fuck that.

    However, here are some of the notes I’d made in my original post-idea. If you’re not in the “Invisible college” and want to be, here’s the general idea:

    The goal of the Invisible College is to get practical magicians to take over their sphere of influence. Take responsibility for it. Learn its needs, its wants, its desires. See what it is in our communities that are distracting people from performing the Great Work. See what’s going on with the local environment. See what’s being taught in local schools. Get to know the business circuits that light up the local economy. Look at how it integrates with the rest of the world, and take care of it.

    Now, to do this “right”, without your insane nephesh taking over and demanding everything be done for its own personal and private best interests, it is imperative that you get in touch with your personal representative of God. The Logos. You need to hang out with the Logos, learn from it, because it is the mouthpiece of God. You get your own little slice of Logos, the piece that is directly and perfectly suited to you in your current incarnation. We call it the HGA or Genius or Agatha Daimon. Get the equivalent of K&CHGA, and you have all you need to take over the world. Your world. Your part of the universe.

    And the boundaries of your sphere of influence are determined only by the boundaries of your sphere of influence. That means you have full authority over all you perceive. (But you still operate within the limits of being an incarnated human being. No fireballs; at least, I haven’t figured it out yet.)

    Start with what you know. Your family, your friends, your job. Once you’ve got the hang of it, move outward in concentric spheres. Local politics, local charities, local fraternities. Get to know who is in each, what their influence on your domain is. Conjure the egregores and find out what they’re up to, and whether the membership is doing what they’re supposed to do to get the eggregore’s plans fulfilled. Make sure the egregores’ plans are in harmony with your HGA’s plans for the world. If not, bind them, change them, or destroy them. It’s your job to get rid of termites eating the pillars of the temple.

  • Wow, a recession… no s*** Sherlock

    In a couple of places, I’ve seen people complaining a lot about the economy. Magicians even, who should know better.

    Gee, we’ve got bad financial times while Jupiter’s in Capricorn? Wow! Absolutely shocking.

    Gee, it’s affecting homes while Saturn’s in Virgo? Holy cow! That’s amazing!!

    Come on, people, get your heads out of your anal cavities. We’re magicians. The state of the world is not frightening to those in the know, it’s expected. We navigate behind the scenes. You can turn this generally bad time around for your benefit with a little planning and magic.

    I suggest talking to Tzaphqiel, or some other manifestation of the Intelligence of Saturn, since that’s where this is all coming from (Capricorn holding Jupiter hostage is ruled by Saturn, Saturn’s in Virgo Maleficently influencing things). Throw in Tzadqiel of Jupiter, and Michael of the Sun (he cushions the Saturn landing). Talk to Hanael and Hamaliel, Archangels of Capricorn and Virgo respectively as well.

    “They aren’t going to move where the planets are, what difference would it make?”

    The planets are still where they are, yes, but the planets are indicators of general influences at large. Like the label on the back of a plug you plug into the wall that tells you, “120VAC in, 9VDC out.” They tell you what the natural state of things are, but they don’t tell you how that will manifest in detail within your own life, within your own Sphere of Influence. You can run a clock radio off the plug, if it’s 9VDC, or you can run a flashlight, or whatever … as long as it’s got the right receptacle and runs on 9VDC.

    How the astrological influences manifest depends on a few million variables that are different for most people.Even people born in the same place at the same time will be raised by different parents, influenced by different teachers, or move to different parts of the world where their spheres of influence are shaped and molded uniquely. Twins are different, and it’s hard to get much closer than twins.

    Magicians get to do a lot more consciously than mundane folks with no interest in the occult. We get to say, ok, that’s a 9VDC output there, so I can run it through an oscillator to step it down to 4VDC to get it to light this here LED without burning it out. We get to do a lot that way.

    I don’t care if you’re a magician like Jason Miller with his roots and prajna, or St. Faust with his sigils and whatever, or even Fr. POS with his GD initiate ways and means. Heck, you can even be a Wastewater Consultant wth an epicurean garden and multiple OTO initations like the author of My Gal. It doesn’t matter, you’ve got techniques at your disposal to rewire the output and put it to use the way you want.

    Hop to it. No one’s going to sit around and do it for you.

    However, if you’re new at all this, here’s a talisman for you to print off and color. Silver-grey (the color of Lead, Dark Blues, and Dark Greens would be appropriate, per the Golden Dawn color scheme (colors are from the Assiah Scale becauise this is supposed to affecrt the manifest world).

    Write out how you want things to go for you in your life in the form of a prayer or petition on the back where Money and Home Life are concerned, and consecrate it by running it through incense, praying over it, anointing it with oils or holy water, and repeating the prayer you write on the back for seven days.

    Feel free to post your results in the comments area below (expect results to begin manifesting within 2 weeks, but sometimes earlier, rarely later).

  • Haniel: Archangel of Venus

    Last Friday, I performed a conjuration of Haniel.

    It went fairly well, and I went through the usual process; I asked if it liked the Spirit Box thing I made, and it said it did. I asked if there was anything I needed to be aware of within my own Sphere of Venus that needed to be addressed, and it pointed out a couple of things. I asked a few specific favors for myself and my friends, and it indicated it would be able to address them. As usual, I asked for any money that it could send my way through its sphere of influence, and it agreed to. I asked to be taken on a tour of the sphere of Venus in a vision, and it complied.

    When I asked if there was anything in my own Sphere of influence related to Venus that I needed to address, I saw in the crystal a bunch of little points of light appear. It was like watching a night sky; first you know there are stars there, and you can see the brightest, but then you become aware of even more stars that were there the whole time, and as I watched, they twinkled. I knew as they appeared that each point of light represented a friend of mine, and as I went to each point of light in the crystal, I asked for favors for friends. Healing of a wounded heart here and there, creativity and passion for their art there, and purity and cleansing in other places.

    When I asked for money, it was sort of an afterthought, towards the end of the session. The next day my spouse sold a wedding dress (we have managed to accumulate three altogether over the years) for $100. I thought that was pretty neat.

    When I asked for a tour of the Venusian realm, I was taken to a park in my imagination. The park is a local Christian gathering place. The lad that owned the farm left it to a bunch of caretakers with the stipulation that the grounds be used for Christian activities. There’s a little pond they keep stocked with fish, there’s a Christian private school on the premises, and in the summer they have a huge Christian day camp that meets there. Weather permitting, every Friday night they show family-friendly movies on a big screen they set up by the pond, and they have a huge pool. They also have acres of corn fields and these beautiful rolling hills. It’s a nice spot. Not what I’d think of as Venusian, of course.

    But Haniel appeared beside me, and showed me around. I usually see the archangels as androgynous faces in the crystal. This was different. She was definitely a she, and she showed me around the area. As she did, I saw life abundant. I saw nature in her beauty. Everything was charged and pulsating, flowing through the plants and animals and all the elements like green lightning. Everything was charged, crisp and clear. She smiled at me, and asked if I understood. In that moment, I did.