Rufus Opus

Tag: Teachings

Tag: Teachings

  • Bummers, Baby Bits, and Bigger Hammers

    Well, Sunday’s post turned out to be rather disappointing. I thought I’d seen through the illusion, and it turned out I had just gotten off on a tangent. While getting ready for church, that is, getting ready to wash my hair as I’d woken up too late for a full shower, I got the song Volare stuck in my head (doesn’t everyone in that situation?), and in High School Latin, I always sang the “Do” conjugations to that tune. In a loud lounge singer voice.

    I’d been thinking about becoming a Power, and the Powers of the Sphinx popped into my mind. In a flash of BRILLIANCE, I figured out that the Latin word “Do,” root of such English words as “donate” might have been the same root for the Dare part in the French manuscript written by Eliphas Levi. Before I could forget, I ran to the computer and posted my insight about giving up being the “secret” meaning behind the Dare, and how it combined with the Silent thing, because like Jason said, it’s part of the transition from the 8th to the 9th spheres, one of the final steps before becoming a Power.

    See, in each of the Seven planetary spheres, you have something to leave behind in order to be purified in that sphere’s powers. They’re listed in the Divine Pymander:

    25. And thus it is that man doth speed his way thereafter upwards through the Harmony.
    To the first zone he gives the Energy of Growth and Waning; unto the second [zone], Device of Evils [now] de-energized; unto the third, the Guile of the Desires de-energized; unto the fourth, his Domineering Arrogance, [also] de-energized; unto the fifth, unholy Daring and the Rashness of Audacity, de-energized; unto the sixth, Striving for Wealth by evil means, deprived of its aggrandizement; and to the seventh zone, Ensnaring Falsehood, de-energized.

    If the Four Powers of the Sphinx were talking about the way to attain the goals of the Emerald Tablet and the Divine Pymander and the Discourse on the 8th and 9th, why, I’d finally be able to put the writings of Eliphas Levi (that esoteric bridge between the Renaissance magicians and the Industrial Age Golden Dawn factory-line initiate system) into context and have one contiguous, if still not continuous means of interpreting the various historic, modern, and post-modern Hermetic traditions. I would finally be able to let go of my disdain for the GD and its spawn and start finding things of personal use in that system. I’d be able to TALK to Ceremonialists within those systems without pissing them off! How cool is that?

    So imagine my disappointment when I found out that the French word wasn’t related to the Latin “do.” It kind of took the whole foundation of my new and true interpretation all the way away.

    In a lot of ways, I’m tempted to return to my loathing of  Levi. I mean, 19th century esotericist, willy-nilly Tarot attributions, and the audacity to say that “Magic is not a vocation.” What the fuck could he possibly know?

    But that’s just pride. Fuck pride. Or to put in less Marcellus Wallace terms, “Domineering Arrogance can burn in the magnified rays of the Sun.”

    So, filtering out the baby bits from the bath water, I’m going to shelve the “Powers of the Sphinx” yet again. I enjoyed Jason’s exposition of the Inner, Outer, and Secret interpretations of the Powers. I agree with what he said about jumping to assumptions being a trap. Until I can wrap my brain around it in a better way, I’m not going to try to force anything into the system that’s evolving in my Work.

    At least until I can find a bigger hammer.*

    In the mean time, I’m going to return my focus to the Rainbow Body reference, the PGM, and looking deeper into some of the mysteries that I’ve been able to wrap my brain around so far.

    *Note: this link is for the dude’s signature line. Perhaps the finest wisdom I’ve seen, in an Inner, Outer, and Secret kind of way.

  • Four Powers of the Sphinx Redeux

    SAVOIR OSER VOULOIR SE TAIRE
    Dogme et rituel de la haute magie  Par Éliphas Lévi

    Ok, so EVERYTHING you know on the Powers of the Sphinx wasn’t entirely wrong. “To Dare” didn’t turn out to be related at all to the Latin word “Do, Dare, Didi, Datum.” (The first two conjugations are traditionally sung to the tune of The Love Boat, or Volare. By me. Traditionally.) OSER comes from Auser, which is like Autem or something. Can’t remember. But definitely not Do, Dare, Didi, Datum.

    So… There were no blinds or secrets, and I was wrong. But I do have this cool new interpretation. I might even say it is inspired.

  • Know, Will, Dare, Keep Silent

    Don’t have a lot of time, running late for church.

    Real quick, everything you know about the four powers of the sphinx is most likely bullshit. Here’s the facts without the BS blinds (and it’s dangerous, it’s why it was hidden, but I gots all kinds o’ love for you, and I know you’re not STUPID like everyone else thinks; besides, you’d have to use the following to get into trouble, and I ain’t got time to say how to use it today).

    Know: Gnosis. Kind of a no-brainer for most of us.
    Will: Again, no brainer, but it’s not your want or your desire, it’s the Will
    Dare: Do dare didi datum. It’s not “be daring.”
    Keep silent: Nothing to do with keeping magic hermetically sealed by not talking about it. BULLSHIT that. It’s all about the 8th sphere leading to the Ninth. It’s the Silence of the ascended spirits, where you get AFTER you’ve purified the Four Elements and the Seven Spheres that influence them. Keeping silent while giving up, donating, keeping silent with intent, Willed Silence (but not grasping or striving silence), Gnowing Silently.

    It’s all about shutting the fuck up.

    I’ll tell you all about it in too many words some time, because I’m not very good at shutting up.

  • Genius and Evil Daimon Name Generator

    Quaro Lux has made a web-calculator available for FREE on his web site. You can now generate Genius and Evil Daimon names quickly and easily using this marvelous tool. In fact, if you buy one from me, the only added value that you’d get from me is that I use traditional astrological settings in my software. It’s nothing that special. It’s software-generated. I’m not doing any real work here but plugging your numbers into a graphical user interface.

    I like the traditional astrology settings, but they aren’t necessary. Even in Agrippa’s time, there were enough variations on ways to cast a natal chart that you could get different values from different astrologers. Not that different, but different enough to end up with different Genius names using the code he provides that forms the heart of QL’s code and my own spreadsheet. It’s the intent of the magician that determines what spirit we get, as Agrippa says. There’s “wiggle room.”

    So really, the stuff to do this for free is out there. Run a chart from a free natal horoscope site, like http://www.astro.com/cgi/genchart.cgi. (HINT: Turn on “Part Of Fortune in the Additional Objects list, then click the Blue “Click here to generate chart” button; this will open a window with a link to “guest users” that you use to enter your birth time and location information into).

    Get the degree and sign values for the SUN, MOON, ASCENDANT, and PART OF FORTUNE from the bottom of the chart. There’s a table.

    The only thing missing at large is something to generate the Prevential syzygy value readily and easily. Maybe Quaero Lux will work on a web calculator for that some time.

    In the mean time, here’s the instructions again on that:

    1. Look up the nearest Full or New Moon immediately prior to your birth using the Naval Observatory‘s Moon Phase database. It will give you the date and time of the nearest New or Full Moon.
    2. Adjust the time for your time zone (they give you Universal or “Greenwich Mean Time” values)
    3. Run ANOTHER chart for the same location as your birth, but put in the date and time of the nearest New or Full Moon prior to your birth.
    4. Write down the degree and sign value of the MOON in this chart. This is the “Prevential Syzygy” value.

    QL was kind enough to ask me before providing a Hebrew feature to his web calculator, knowing I charge for this. I told him he’s totally welcome to do so! I don’t charge to make a profit, I charge to keep from getting inundated with requests to do the work for you. I encourage you to use the free version. It teaches you something, and the Work you do to generate your Genius’s name is Work that will be rewarded in your relationship with the Spirit. I offered it as a service because it’s important, in my opinion, to be able to get the Genius’s name, and the technique is hard to explain. Easy to do once you’ve got the tools, but hard to explain. Now the tools are out there for you to do it yourself, and that’s a good thing.

    And if you want to check your work and pay me to generate a name for you, chances are it’s going to be different than the name you get using your own methods, so it’s kind of a waste of money. The settings in my software will be different than the free stuff. It doesn’t mean one is more valid than the other; it only means that we are using different opinions on the stars. The work done to get the Genius name is what is rewarded, in my opinion.

    And Quaero, last time I tried to post a comment, your comments feature wasn’t working on your new server.

  • Coping with Difficult Times

    Times can tough. Mercury is retrograde, and will be until tomorrow. He’s still going to be “slow” until November 1st. I’ve found that Mercury Retrograde seems to affect my communications negatively, specifically at the very beginning and very ending of the retrograde motion.

    To mitigate the effects of Mercury Retrograde, as with any other astrological influence, you as a magician can appeal to the Intelligence or Archangel of the Sphere. You can also make a talisman for the planet when it is favorably situated in the heavens, and then tap into that power when the planet goes retro, or is combust, or whatever.

    Last week, when I needed to communicate clearly with multiple Intelligences of multiple spheres, I took advantage of the placement of Mercury in the heart of the Sun. The boost of the solar forces overcame any negatives caused by Mercury’s retrograde motion, and as a result, the communications were clear and crisp. I was fortunate in the timing there, it wasn’t planned out or anything.

    Another way to mitigate negative influences is through communion with the Intelligence of the Sphere. I use the Archangels of the Spheres as assigned by Trithemius in the Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals. Today is Wednesday, Mercury Day, and in the hour of Mercury I will be using a talisman I made last year when he was dignified. I’ll be conjuring Raphael here in a couple minutes, mostly to get the effects of Mercury’s transition from Retro to Direct smoothed out. I’ll also ask what might be going on in my own sphere of influence under the influence of Mercury that needs to be checked into. Sort of a Status Report from the VP in charge of Mercury.

    I’d use the Box I made, but I don’t have a metal Mercury Talisman. I need to make one. It should be made out of Pewter, since pewter is a mercurial blend of metals. It’s also soft and easy to work with, and has a low melting point. Brass, bronze, or other mixed metals take on the properties of Mercury as well, according to Aaron Leitch. I trust him, he’s a veritable gold mine of information.

    If they’re interesting, I’ll post the results later.

  • Dealing with the Guf – Reclaiming Moments of Horror

    The Guf is the lowest form of soul in some kabbalistic cosmologies. It consists of the actual body we wrap ourselves in. The word “guf” is the source of the English word “goofy,” so you can get an idea of how this soul is viewed in the cosmology of things.

    I was talking to a friend today about the horrifyingly embarrassing moments that crop up in my mind as I’m falling asleep, eliciting an audible groan or whimper. I was relieved to know that I’m not the only one that experiences these things, but that doesn’t really help get rid of the horror that still comes when I remember these kinds of events.

    The best example I have is when I went down to the end of a shooting range to hang a paper target, and the drill sergeant guy yelled “CEASE FIRE!!!!” at the top of his considerable lungs to get everyone else (who were still shooting) to take a break so I didn’t get killed. Everyone looked over at me, and I’m standing there like an idiot where about thirty people were shooting. Not a happy moment.

    What gets me is that this happened almost a decade ago, and to this day, I groan out loud remembering it. I’ve tried to “reclaim” that part of my brain to get rid of this response. Kraig has a retroactive magick section (I think) in his Modern Magick book, and I tried that. I tried going back and reliving the moment in my mind, trying to replace it with a different memory. I’ve tried rationalizing that I’d never been to a shooting range before, I was at the far end of the shooting range, and everyone else was at the other side, where I had assumed they wouldn’t shoot me… but nothing’s worked. It’s always in that light hypnogoguic state between waking and sleeping that I remember standing there in the crisp autumn wind with a crowd made up of fathers and sons and war vets looking at me like I was Forrest, Forrest Gump.

    My friend suggested that we can’t forget this kind of thing for a reason, that it serves some purpose. I can see how it can aid survival to never forget how stupid it is to steal a dinosaur’s egg while you think the thing is sleeping, but this was just embarrassing. Socially embarrassing. Sure, we’re pack animals, and it’s required to not do something stupid in public to not get ostracized… but that’s stretching it a bit.

    So on a seemingly unrelated tangent, I was reading through Plotinus’ Fifth Ennead. Not too far in, it says:

    “A double discipline must be applied if human beings in this pass are to be reclaimed, and brought back to their origins, lifted once more towards the Supreme and One and First.”

    “Reclaimed” jumped out at me. I had literally just been talking about reclaiming, so looking for an answer to this question, I read on…

    “There is the method, which we amply exhibit elsewhere, declaring the dishonour of the objects which the Soul holds here in honour; the second teaches or recalls to the soul its race and worth; this latter is the leading truth, and, clearly brought out, is the evidence of the other.”

    So there are two disciplines required to accomplish the returning to the Source, God, which sums up Plotinus’ idea of what I think of as the Great Work. The discipline of stating the dishonour of things the Soul holds dear here, and the remembrance of the race and worth of the Soul.

    Respect of others is what my Guf-Soul holds dear, so dear that an embarrassing moment haunts me for years, permanently ingrained in my neural paths. Dishonouring the “need for respect from others,” (hmmm, pride, perhaps?) isn’t too difficult. I recognize that the opinions of those rednecks at that moment aren’t really that important.

    Teaching the Soul its race and worth though… How does this apply in the context of a mortifying memory? The Soul in the Guf at that moment was of God and was God. The value of that Soul is inestimable. How can teaching the Soul its race and value make the horror of that moment go away?

    I don’t have an answer, but I do know that I was particularly Guf-ey that day. I’ll be holding these two things together in my mind as I remember what happened, and see what comes of it. Educating the Guf as to its value and source may indeed be the key to getting rid of that disgusting horror.

  • An Astral Ritual

    So last Tuesday I was dealing with some annoying crap in my life. Finances were sucking. My job, my beautiful job, was in trouble. The gov’t contract has to be reviewed and funds reallocated at the end of each fiscal year. (That’s Sept. 30 for you civilians that don’t know.) My company subcontracted renegotiations out to the locals, and they totally dropped the ball. I should have known this would happen, but you know, I was distracted by other things.

    I got a call saying I would lose half my hours and all my benefits. Oh boy, was I thrilled.

    Since I had failed to proactively magick up a good contract ahead of time, as I should have, I ended up having to do damage control magic instead. Reactionary rather than Proactionary magic is not the preferred modus operendi, but it would have to do.

    Tuesday, what a wonderful day for doing wealth magic, eh? I checked my Current Astrological Weather, and found that Mercury was Cazimi (within 17 minutes of the Sun). Cazimi is supposed to be like plugging the planet into a tesla coil or something. According to some, and I believe it. I figured the Cazimi effect would overpower the retrograde sufficiently to get some clear communications with the spirit world, plus I needed help in business.

    The Moon was also right on Jupiter’s ass, in the Second House. I mean, they were overlapping one another. I found this gem on an astrology site about the Second House: “Specific possessions covered by the Second House include earned income and our ability to influence it.”

    The Moon is waxing, and I had been reading in Agrippa that day about how the Moon has power over all growth and decrease (Book 2, chapter something or other). Since Jupiter is health and prosperity, and I needed both of these things for various other reasons, I thought, hey, that’s great!

    The other issue was Saturn hanging out in Virgo. As you may know, this can bring strife and discomfort into the hearth and home. My spouse was ill and dealing with a great deal of pain since Saturn wandered into Virgo. She’s a Capricorn, so I suspect that wherever Saturn wanders, she gets hit especially hard in that aspect of her life. This job issue was affecting our house and home and family, and knowing what I know about Saturn, I figured out that I would need to include this planet in the rite to get the boundaries moved.

    Since I was going to be trying to move the boundaries, I knew I’d need to go through the Sun to get to the proper part of Saturn’s sphere. The Solar Gate to Saturn provides the best landing pads, in my opinion. The Mars Gate sucks.

    So if you’ve been keeping track, by this time I had figured out I needed to work with the Sun, Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter, and the Moon. And it was a Tuesday. I looked at what I was thinking about, and laughed. Five of the Seven Governors working together to get me out of a mess on a day that none of them ruled. So what the hell, says I, I’ll throw Mars in too. I should probably have included Venus anyway, but it didn’t seem to make sense at the time. Looking back, it could have helped with the Hearth/Home issues too.

    So I had analyzed my situation and identified what some of the contributing factors were. I looked to the stars and found what was looking good and what wasn’t. I identified the key players, and figured out how each could be used magically to turn around my situation.

    So, in the hour of the Moon (because I was primarily trying to expand Jupiter’s influence to overcome the slow-but-steady aspect of financial growth that controls him while he’s in Capricorn), I conjured the following Archangels of the Planets:

    • Gabriel – Moon, to increase Jupiter’s influence
    • Tzadqiel – To increase Jupiter’s influence, bringing health and prosperity to the situation
    • Michael – To work with Tzaphqiel in a nice smooth manner to loosen bonds and move the boundaries that were constricting hearth and home, and to turn the boundaries from being walls of confinement into walls of protection
    • Tzaphqiel – To actually move the boundaries that were keeping our family poor and ill outwards, providing more space for the Jupiter-Moon effect to fill up the new gap, and to strengthen our defenses of our house and home
    • Raphael – To specifically aid in inter-communications between the other planetary governors, and to provide a focus on business to the rite
    • Kammael – Because it was Tuesday, at first, but as I was conjuring him I realized that he could add a certain “violence” to the rite, making its effects happen more quickly, and to turn it into a military campaign of sorts, like the Delta Force of Archangelic Powers

    I didn’t have time to set up a full ritual with all the incenses and lamens and seals and what have you. Astrologically, the clock was ticking, and I had about six minutes left in the Hour of the Moon, if I remember right. So I decided to go the Astral Temple route.

    I sat here in me leather chair before the computer monitor, closed me eyes and breathed. Focusing on the breath stills my mind, like the Qabalistic Cross used to back in the day when I practiced the GD-style magic. As my mind cleared, I began intoning the name of my HGA. At the same time, I visualized my Astral Temple around me. I basically placed myself at the center of the Altar setup I have, with the Four Angelic Kings surrounded by the Seven Planetary Seals. I felt my HGA’s presence in the room with me, and the golden light descended into my astral temple, bringing the seven planetary seals representing their spheres around me into sharp relief.

    As each of the Planetary Seals began to pulse with light and life, indicating to me that the Intelligences represented by each were at least listening, I began conjuring the Archangels. Each seemed to materialize around the seals that represented them, sort of. When I got to Raphael, the other Archangels seemed to clear up, and it was like putting on your glasses in the morning, or when the weather changes and a haze you didn’t realize was there just goes away.

    When I had all the Archangels present, I outlined why I had conjured them. I explained what had happened at work, and how it was affecting me. I then went through each of the Archangels mentioned above, and went over what it was I wanted them to do. I felt this warmth and this tingling in my body, which I had mostly forgotten about by then, and had to focus again on the temple. Can’t get distracted when the magic starts working.

    The Archangels all understood what it was I was trying to accomplish. Each agreed that they would do their part to make what I wanted manifest. It was a lot like a corporate meeting. they “talked” amongst themselves, and I sort of sensed what they were doing as different parts of my “Sphere” would resonate to each angel’s influence as they wove together the fabric of reality to accomplish what it was I was looking for.

    I thanked them, and my HGA, and God in Jesus name, and returned my awareness to my body. I felt completely different. Before beginning the rite, I was stressed, and felt a lot like a cornered, caged animal. The stress was like a heavy, humid heat wave on my soul. After the rite, it was jsut gone. Instead, I felt alive, healthy, and optimistic. That’s a big thing for me, because when I get going down the depression road that stess usually puts me on, optimism is the furthest thing from my mind.

    That day I got a call from the Vice President of the company I work for, and he went over everything that was going on with the contract in detail with me. He explained how things had happened, and what they were doing about it. He assured me that he would reissue a new contract that would work things out in my favor.

    My thoughts: “Yeah fucking right. You’ll say anything to keep me on your payroll, I’m making you money. No way I’m staying with a place that cut my paycheck in half and cut my benefits. Get fuct.”

    The next day, I got the contract. I got a raise, I got my benefits, and I was able to work out a 32-hour work schedule with the local sub-contractor that’s managing the project. I’m still losing money, but not half, and not the benefits. With a five-person family, you’ve got to hae benefits. That day, I also got multiple other job leads that would double my income for a couple of months, which was as long as the company expected me to be on reduced hours. I will be able to hold both jobs simultaneously by a stroke of luck.

    Now, ideally, I would have been performing divinations regularly enough to know what was coming. I would have seen this heading my way and done some proactive magic to eradicate the stress. I blame no one but myself. I’ve got to get a grasp on my life, and do all the things I mentioned in the Invisible College post so that I’m no longer left in a position of climbing back up the side of a cliff after I’ve run off like the Coyote chasing the Road Runner.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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