Rufus Opus

Tag: RO’s Musings

Tag: RO’s Musings

  • Solve et Coagula

    The other day, I was reading Ouspensky’s “The Symbolism of the Tarot” over at the Sacred Texts web site (www.sacred-texts.com). In the section “What is the Tarot”, he used the word “problem” in a sentence that shed new light on an old question of mine.

    Regarding the study of IHVH, he said “The study of this Name (or the four-lettered word, tetragrammaton, in Greek) and the finding of it in everything constitutes the main problem of Kabalistic philosophy.”

    He wrote in 1913, and his use of the language is different from my own. When I say I have a problem, I don’t usually think about it as a good thing, or as a subject of research. I think of “Problem” as something that’s bad, negative, something that is impeding my ability to enjoy life. In Ouspensky’s mind though, a problem is the central core of a philosophy.

    It got me thinking about how philosophy is a solution to a problem. When you have a problem, you try to solve it, and that got me thinking about the old alchemical axiom, Solve et Coagula.

    I’ve tended to think about the process of Solve et Coagula as the process of breaking apart a conglomeration into its individual parts, refining it, and bringing the parts back together as a new and better whole. That’s how the Great Work has manifested for me. But to the Solve stage, you must first recognize on some level that there is a problem that needs to be solved. What’s my problem? What is it that I’m trying to solve?

    The goal of “reuniting with God” is the solution to being separated from God. I’ve understood for a long time that the separation is only one level of existence, and that ultimately no one is separated from God. Through the Logos, the way back to Union and communion with the Divine was paved. So my problem isn’t that I’m not united with God.

    I perform the Great Work because I want to be a better person. I want a stronger character, I want to pass on a legacy of doing the right thing for my fellow incarnate beings to my children and grand children. I want to help people, and not be a selfish, lazy, ungrateful man. My problem is that I do the wrong thing instead of the right thing.

    At any given moment, I have a pool of energy I can draw on to do something. I can go for a walk, give money to the poor, or insult some moron who cut me off in traffic. The potential for whatever I do is always there.

    How that energy manifests is determined by what I decide to do. My decisions are influenced by my impulses towards selfishness, and how I’m going to make myself happy in the next moments. I’m a conglomeration of parts, some parts of me want to do the right thing, others jsut want to do the lazy thing. The way I make my decisions is heavily influenced by these component parts. The parts of myself that have control over my energy resources, my potential determine what I’m going to decide to do with my potential in any given moment, in any situation.

    The solve process is where the component parts are melted down, and the imputities are taken away. The Great Work is to get rid of the negative components, and allow the positive components to dominate the decisions, to control the manifestation of the potential I carry.

    So what is the Great Work? At this point, it’s a series of little problems that need to be Solved and Coagulated. Each of my “High Magic” rituals need to be focused on resolving the problems in my character that I’m made aware of through the Conversations with my HGA. There are areas of ignorance about the roles of the archangels I need to Solve. There are problems of the heart, mind, and spirit, each of which will need to be addressed, and in the process, perhaps the greater Work will be accomplished.

  • In case you’re wonderng…

    If you’re wondering why the posts have died down for the last couple weeks, it’s because of the waning moon. During this phase, there’s not much point in doing magick. Some people use it as a time for curses or bindings, but I’m not into all that. I mean, sometimes I am, but not this time.

    I like the way it’s all set up. Two weeks of sending energies out, two weeks for drawing energies in. Sometimes I get annoyed that I have to wait for the moon phase to turn, but usually I find that whatever I was anxious to get done wasn’t that important anyway.

  • Spirit Pot Manual

    I’ve begun the somewhat painstaking process of writing out the events that lead to the creation of my spirit pot, the details of making it, and the results. Maybe it’ll turn into an actual published manuscript. Time will tell.

  • Spirit Pot Manual

    I’ve begun the somewhat painstaking process of writing out the events that lead to the creation of my spirit pot, the details of making it, and the results. Maybe it’ll turn into an actual published manuscript. Time will tell.

  • Spirit Pot Manual

    I’ve begun the somewhat painstaking process of writing out the events that lead to the creation of my spirit pot, the details of making it, and the results. Maybe it’ll turn into an actual published manuscript. Time will tell.

  • Something For God To Do – Prayer Wheels & Petition Boxes

    Recently, Jason Miller posted that he has a petition box that he will place people’s needs in. I’m not going to repeat his whole post, so just click on this link for more information.

    Today I got one of those emails that people forward around to their friends. Chances are you’ve gotten it. It’s the “Memo from God” that says:

    “This is God.  Today I will be handling All of your problems for you.  I do Not need your help.  So, have a nice day.”

    I’ve gotten it before. Somewhere along the way though, someone added this neat little bit:

    “P.S.   And, remember… If life happens to de liver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself!  Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.”

    Now I don’t entirely agree with the whole “Let go and let God” philosophy this reflects. I mean, we’re HERE after all, and we can do stuff, so I think it’s safe to say that if we can, there’s a reason. We’re supposed to be doing stuff to affect our realm of influence.

    But I like the SFGTD box. It’s a modern cultural way to get back to petition boxes, like the one Jason made for Michael.

    I’m going to start using the Prayer Wheel part of The Box to write out things that I want God to do. Since he has this thing about graven images of himself, I’ll connect the ‘trodes with something other than an egraved seal. Maybe I’ll make a YHShVH or something out of copper wire.Oooh! One of those ubiquitous Jesus fishes might work, or just a simple cross. heh. I’m a friggin’ genius. Of course.

  • The Far-Reaching Aspects of Mars

    Earlier today I made a Mars talisman, and then did some work with my HGA and the Sun, and I’m still flying a bit. Post-coital bliss, in a way.

    But while it’s all still fresh, I want to share a bit on the aspects of Mars-in-Sagittarius.

    I had a long history of inappropriate displays of Martial energies. Especially when I got angry. I’m a Taurus, and all the stereotypical images that pop into mind when you think of a bull seeing red applied to me when I lost my temper. I’d snort, rant and rave, crush everything that stood in my way, and then when I calmed down, I was left to deal with the mess I’d made.

    As a result, I was a bit wary in working with Mars. I didn’t want to have any Martial energy coming into my sphere and triggering some kind of outburst. At the same time, I was eager to get that sphere integrated into my own, so it wouldn’t manifest destructively. The solution, of course, is to work with the powers of Mars through the auspices of the HGA. Which I did do today.

    I started with Kammael, archangel of Mars. I did a simple conjuration with my HGA and asked it to integrate the energies of Mars into my sphere. No problem, it said, and I began to behave more judiciously in my actions. That was neat. I also began to see conflict differently, whether in the wars in the middle east, or the politics in the workplace. I also began to stand up for things that I had earned, but in a diplomatic way.

    Today I made a talisman of mars to use in my Table of Practice. I carved the Table of Mars from Agrippa’s Book 3 on one side of a sheet of steel coated in tin. On the other side, I carved the symbol of Mars and the seals of the Intelligence and Spirit of Mars. It was similar to one I had made on paper a few months ago when Mars was in Scorpio. that talisman was made to use in vengeance-focused rituals. This one is designed to take advantage of Mars in Sagittarius, that is, using force, justice, and appropriate violence to make a better future. Mars is also well-aspected by Jupiter today, so there’s an aspect of using violence under authority to accomplish necessary actions to build a brighter future. Al in all, a very useful talisman.

    After making the talisman, I went on to make a talisman of the Sun, this one more of a lamen of Michael. While I was doing that, the powers of the sphere of Mars were still bouncing around in my sphere. My HGA and Michael used the time that I was focusing on drawing the seal to commune with me and reveal some aspects of the powers of Mars I hadn’t recognized before.

    Kammael, the archangel of Mars, is constantly monitoring me, directing the energies of Mars into my sphere at the levels that I require at any given time. Usually this is slight, but lately he’s been TRYING to get my attention. There’s been some spiritual business that I’ve been ignoring because it could easily reveal more character flaws in my self that I really would rather avoid dealing with.

    So I’ve been irritable, mean-spirited, and generally argumentative. I see attacks where there are none, and I feel under pressure. After working with the spirits today, I can see where I need to direct the martial force in my life, and I feel totally psyched about it. Instead of seeming like a bother or something to avoid, it seems like a challenge. The thrill of victory is right around the corner.

    That, I think, is the lesson I’m walking away with. There’s more going on than a lesson from the spirits, of course, but this is a blog, after all, and the words are all I have to put it into in this particular forum. The point I learned today about the powers of Mars is that they empower you to achieve victory in any circumstance, not just for violence or revenge, but for Success. All the things you read about successful business plans, successful family management, successful parenting, all these things are aspects of the powers of Mars. Victory.

  • Forgotten Things

    I was talking to a friend of mine, Frater Servitor Lucem, in IMs a few minutes ago. We got to talking about the coming Depression, the economy in general, and what to excpect. Along the way, he gave me a brief history of the things that have happened since the last Depression. These are important things to know. He lived through it, as his mother and grandmother immigrated to the US in the 1930’s and he grew up knowing what had happened. I’m younger than he is, and most of my friends have the same general understanding of history I do, I suspect. Chances are you know all this, but here is the brief overview of what happened that lead us where we are today.

    And this is important to you magicians that seek to become members of the Invisible College. Our role in this world is to take notice of these things. You may not feel called on to do anything about this with your spiritual resources, but I am.

    His comments begin below:

    See, when the Depression was underway, there were also Commies. The rich people were really afraid of the Commies, because the Commies had a nasty habit of killing the people they took over from.

    So, the New Deal came about. Not because the rich people were being so nice about things, but because they were afraid they might die. Communism was seen as a really serious threat. Nazism was, in part, a reaction against the Communist threat. Democracy was in some big trouble in the ’30’s. People seriously wondered whether it had a future.

    So, the New Deal made for some social re-engineering that helped people along, but mostly because people who have nothing to lose, and know it, are extremely dangerous.

    Enter the Second World War, and things really heat up.

    Democracy pretty much successfully defends itself against the Fascists, but only at the cost of allying with the dreaded Commies. Afterwards, the Cold War was the big showdown between Communism and Capitalism. Both systems are more or less bankrupt in many of the same areas, but capitalists have more wealth, and provide better incentives.

    Besides, what we had in the West wasn’t at all pure Capitalism, anyway. There was a strong Socialist streak left over from the New Deal. More equitable distribution of wealth led to enormous overall wealth in the West. So much so that we were able to bail Western Europe out of certain death by starvation.

    However, after a few decades, the rich, once again, became tired of sharing, and started to take back what the New Deal had given the rest of us. And when Communism finally gave up the ghost, they said, “Hey, don’t like what we’re about? Tough shit, where are you gonna go?” And they took away all the restrictions that had been put in place to prevent another depression.

    And they took back a lot of the social programs that came out of the New Deal, and bankrupted the rest (like Social Security).

    And here we are.

    Pretty much where we were in 1929.

  • How to be an Uber-cool Magician and Never Pay Taxes Again

    Ha! Yeah right.

    Anyway, here are some random thoughts about why I haven’t experienced the same level of creeping chaos in my life as I’ve been working with Goetic spirits.

    Generally, I think, people who have the creeping chaos had the seeds for it already there in their lives before beginning their Goetic Work.

    Most magical traditions in the West have a methodology of identifying the parts of the self that are out of harmony with the rest of the universe and bringing them into harmony. In the Golden Dawn, for instance, this can take the form of initiations. In Alchemy, there is the Black stage where the impurities of the base ingredients are brought to the surface, the White stage where the impurities are burned to ash, and the Red stage, when the essence of the original ingredients is purified and transformed into the Philosopher’s Stone.

    This purification process is essential, in my opinion. It happens as you do the Work. When you begin the Work, you’re supposed to start where you’re at, and then ascend through the heavens to your Source, and then return to the earth in great power. That’s the methodology laid out in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes. The human being descends from the heavens through the elements into the flesh of the Earth. Through theurgical rituals, we ascend through the spheres of the heavens. As we do, the impurities get burned away, and when we return to the earth, we do so in power, and from this process the universe is continuously created.

    I didn’t jump ahead in the process. I started with making contact with my HGA. Based on the translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin by Mathers, I thought that after I had made contact with my HGA I was required to conjure the Four Kings of Hell, and all their servants, and get four familiars. Since that translation didn’t have all the seals of the demons you’re supposed to work with, I thought I would substitute the Goetia, as it’s more complete. Or so I thought at the time.

    Since my HGA was the only spirit I’d ever conjured, I figured I’d get my feet wet by Working with the Archangels of the Sephiroth. I looked for a quick and easy conjuration method, and found Trithemius’ Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals. This technique is pretty straightforward and readily adaptable. It also only focuses on the seven Planetary Archangels. I was learning more about neoplatonism at the time, and this fit my personal understanding of the universal cosmology and spiritual hierarchies anyway, so I went with it.

    As I conjured each of the Archangels, I asked them to “purify the tincture of my sphere.” I went through various issues as a result (although honestly, it wasn’t that hard to deal with). I also built up my own sphere by interacting with these beings over a period of about a year. By the time I got back to the Goetic entities, I had already performed the ascension part. I knew where I belonged in the cosmic hierarchy, understood my race and value from an eternal perspective, and was ready to assume my role as the administrator of my physically manifest realm. There was no room for the Goetic spirit to cause chaos. There was no reason for it to, either.

  • Powers of the Sphinx in Rending the Veil

    I just finished reading an article on the Four Powers of the Sphinx by Patrick Dunn in the latest edition of Rending the Veil. I liked it, a lot. I usually get annoyed when the subject of the Four Powers of the Sphinx comes up. I’m not silent about my Work, I talk about it all the time. I’m not convinced that the “Will” has ever been properly identified in a magickal context. Daring and Knowledge didn’t strike me much as being more than a passing Captain Obvious reference. (As in, way to go, Captain Obvious!)

    But Patrick Dunn’s article treats the subject in a way I’ve never seen presented before. I’m no postmodernist, but I still could grasp what he was saying and see how it made the Powers of the Sphinx into something useful, instead of being a puss-filled boil on magic’s backside.

    The full article is located via this link. Click the underlined part, dude, or the Title of this post. It’s well worth the read.