February 28, 2018

Four Rays or Emanations





"...Know first, that from the Law spring four Rays or Emanations: so that if the Law be the centre of your own being, they must needs fill you with their secret goodness. And these four are Light, Life, Love, and Liberty.

By Light shall ye look upon yourselves, and behold All Things that are in Truth One Thing only, whose name hath been called No Thing for a cause which later shall be declared unto you. But the substance of Light is Life, since without Existence and Energy it were naught. By Life therefore are you made yourselves, eternal and incorruptible, flaming forth as suns, self-created and self-supported, each the sole centre of the Universe.

Now as by Light ye beheld, by Love ye feel. There is an ecstasy of pure Knowledge, and another of pure Love. And this Love is the force that uniteth things diverse, for the contemplation in Light of their Oneness. Know that the Universe is not at rest, but in extreme motion whose sum is Rest. And this understanding that Stability is Change, and Change Stability, that Being is Becoming, and Becoming Being, is the Key to the Golden Palace of this Law.

Lastly, by Liberty is the power to direct your course according to your Will. For the extent of the Universe is without bounds, and ye are free to make your pleasure as ye will, seeing that the diversity of being is infinite also. For this also is the Joy of the Law, that no two stars are alike, and ye must understand also that this Multiplicity is itself Unity, and without it Unity could not be. And this is an hard saying against Reason: ye shall comprehend, when, rising above Reason, which is but a manipulation of the Mind, ye come to pure Knowledge by direct perception of the Truth.

Know also that these four Emanations of the Law flame forth upon all paths: ye shall use them not only in these Highways of the Universe whereof I have written, but in every By-path of your daily life..."

- Liber CL, full text >>


February 22, 2018

Intoxicatingly beautiful




The Universe XXI.


"And this palace is nothing but the body of a woman, proud and delicate, and beyond imagination fair. She is like a child of twelve years old. 
She has very deep eye-lids, and long lashes. Her eyes are closed, or nearly closed. It is impossible to say anything about her. She is naked; her whole body is covered with fine gold hairs, that are the electric flames that are the spears of mighty and terrible Angels who breast-plates are the scales of her skin.
And the hair of her head, that flows down to her feet, is the very light of God himself. Of all the glories beheld by the seer in the Aethyrs, there is not one which is worthy to be compared with her littlest finger-nail. For although he may not partake of the Aethyr, without the ceremonial preparations, even the beholding of this Aethyr from afar is like the partaking of all the former Aethyrs.

The Seer is lost in wonder, which is peace.

And the ring of the horizon above her is a company of glorious Archangels with joined hands, that stand and sing: This is the daughter of BABALON the Beautiful, that she hath borne unto the Father of All. 
And unto all hath she borne her. 

This is the Daughter of the King. This is the Virgin of Eternity. This is she that the Holy One hath wrested from the Giant Time, and the prize of them that have overcome Space. This is she that is set upon the Throne of Understanding. Holy, Holy, Holy is her name, not to be spoken among men. For Kor they have called her, and Malkuth, and Betulah, and Persephone.

And the poets have feigned songs about her, and the prophets have spoken vain things, and the young men have dreamed vain dreams; but this is she, that immaculate, the name of whose name may not be spoken.
Thought cannot pierce the glory that defendeth her, for thought is smitten dead before her presence. Memory is blank, and in the most ancient books of Magick are neither words to conjure her, nor adorations to praise her. 
Will bends like a reed in the temptests that sweep the borders of her kingdom, and imagination cannot figure so much as one petal of the lilies whereon she standeth in the lake of crystal, in the sea of glass.

This is she that hath bedecked her hair with seven stars, the seven breaths of God that move and thrill its excellence. And she hath tired her hair with seven combs, whereupon are written the seven secret names of God that are not known even of the Angels, or of the Archangels, or of the Leader of the armies of the Lord.

Holy, Holy, Holy art thou, and blessed be Thy name for ever, unto whom the Aeons are but the pulsings of thy blood.

- The Cry of the 9th Aethyr, Which is Called ZIP,
Liber 418



February 18, 2018

Total exertion


"I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all gods of men."
Liber AL III-49


"The evident interpretation of this is to take the word to be "Do what thou wilt," which is a secret word, because its meaning for every man is his own inmost secret. And it is the most profound blasphemy possible against all 'gods of men' because it makes every man his own God.


We may then take it that this Solar-Phallic Ra Ha is Each Man Himself. As each independent cell in our bodies is to us, so is each of us to Heru-Ra-Ha. 
Each man's 'child'-consciousness is a Star in the Cosmos of the Sun, as the Sun is a Star in the Cosmos of Nuit."
- The new comment by AC



It is a mighty practice to invoke various Godforms/Buddhas and unite Their Wisdom, Power, Light, and Love with ours...
...and yet, an even more powerful practice is expressing the Strength, Might, and Wisdom that is already fully present in us, not as in 'Gods/Buddhas working through men/women', but as men/women expressing our potential, fully.

That is the Will of Ra-Hoor-Khuit for the New Aeon: not to hide behind various Godforms/Buddhas, self-sacrificing and suffering (read: resorting to our timidness et al.), but to truly express our inherent individuality and divinity fully, regardless.




Man is God Asleep; God is Man Awake?
No, there is no god but Man




Ra-hoor-khuit - Solar deity


"Our religion therefore, for the People, is the Cult of the Sun, who is our particular star of the Body of Nuit, from whom, in the strictest scientific sense, come this earth, a chilled spark of Him, and all our Light and Life. 
His vice-regent and representative in the animal kingdom is His cognate symbol the Phallus, representing Love and Liberty. 
Ra-Hoor-Khuit, like all true Gods, is therefore a Solar-Phallic deity."
- new comment on Liber AL III-22


RA-HOOR-KHUIT

"To Me do ye reverence! to me come ye through tribulation of ordeal, 
which is bliss."
Liber AL III-62

"This seems to indicate the means to be used in freeing the soul from its 'girders'.
We have seen that Ra-Hoor-Khuit is in one sense the Silent Self in a man,
a Name of his Khabs, not so impersonal as Hadit,
but the first and least untrue formulation of the Ego.
We are to reverse this self in us, then, not to suppress it and subordinate it.
Nor are we to evade it, but to come to it.
This is done "through tribulation of ordeal". This tribulation is that experienced in the process called Psychoanalysis,
now that official science has adopted -- so far as its inferior intelligence permits -- the methods of the magus.
But the 'ordeal' is 'bliss'; the solution of each complex by 'tribulation' 
-- note the etymological significance of the word! -- is the spasm of joy
which is the physiological and psychological accompaniment of any relief from strain and congestion." - the new comment

February 16, 2018

Energized Enthusiasm

The notion that purity defines closeness to salvation is generally accepted in most spiritual traditions on this planet. Most Paths deny sensual pleasure, desires, attachments, sex etc.

Theravada Buddhists are not allowed to even see a woman when in retreat, for example.

Tantra, however, takes the opposite approach and embraces, well, everything, including sexual energy and bodily fluids.

Higher degrees in the O.T.O. also examine and employ the same.

Master Therion has had a lot of experiences along these lines and he shares his thoughts beautifully in the text below.

It is an interesting read and worth studying. I share here only the first two paragraphs, you can find link to the whole text at the end.





Energized Enthusiasm
A Note on Theurgy

I.
I A O the supreme One of the Gnostics, the true God, is the Lord of this work. Let us therefore invoke Him by that name which the Companions of the royal Arch blaspheme to aid us in the essay to declare the means which He has bestowed upon us!


II.
"The divine consciousness which is reflected and refracted in the works of Genius feeds upon a certain secretion, as I believe. This secretion is analogous to semen, but not identical with it. There are but few men and fewer women, those women being invariably androgyne, who possess it at any time in any quantity.

So closely is this secretion connected with the sexual economy that it appears to me at times as if it might be a by-product of that process which generates semen. That some form of this doctrine has been generally accepted is shown in the prohibitions of all religions. Sanctity has been assumed to depend on chastity, and chastity has nearly always been interpreted as abstinence. But I doubt whether the relation is so simple as this would imply; for example, I find in myself that manifestations of mental creative force always concur with some abnormal condition of the physical powers of generation. But it is not the case that long periods of chastity, on the one hand, or excess of orgies, on the other, are favourable to its manifestation or even to its formation.

I know myself, and in me it is extremely strong; its results are astounding. For example, I wrote "Tannhauser," complete from conception to execution, in sixty-seven consecutive hours. I was unconscious of the fall of nights and days, even after stopping; nor was there any reaction of fatigue. This work was written when I was twenty-four years old, immediately on the completion of an orgie which would normally have tired me out.

Often and often have I noticed that sexual satisfaction so-called has left me dissatisfied and unfatigued, and let loose the floods of verse which have disgraced my career.

Yet, on the contrary, a period of chastity has sometimes fortified me for a great outburst. This is far from being invariably the case. At the conclusion of the K 2 expedition, after five months of chastity, I did no work whatever, barring very few odd lyrics, for months afterwards.

I may mention the year 1911. At this time I was living, in excellent good health, with the woman whom I loved. Her health was, however, variable, and we were both constantly worried. The weather was continuously fine and hot. For a period of about three months I hardly missed a morning; always on waking I burst out with a new idea which had to be written down. The total energy of my being was very high. My weight was 10 stone 8 lb., which had been my fighting weight when I was ten years younger. We walked some twenty miles daily through hilly forest. The actual amount of MSS. written at this time is astounding; their variety is even more so; of their excellence I will not speak.

Here is a rough list from memory; it is far from exhaustive:

(1) Some dozen books of A.'. A.'. instruction, including liber Astarte, and the Temple of Solomon the King for "Equinox VII."

(2) Short Stories: The Woodcutter.
His Secret Sin.

(3) Plays: His Majesty's Fiddler
Elder Eel
Adonis . written straight off, one
The Ghouls. after the other
Mortadello.

(4) Poems: The Sevenfold Sacrament
A Birthday.

(5) Fundamentals of the Greek Qabalah (involving the collection and analysis of several thousand words).

I think this phenomenon is unique in the history of literature. I may further refer to my second journey to Algeria, where my sexual life, though fairly full, had been unsatisfactory.

On quitting Biskra, I was so full of ideas that I had to get off the train at El-Kantara, where I wrote "The Scorpion." Five or six poems were written on the way to Paris; "The Ordeal of Ida Pendragon" during my twenty-four hours' stay in Paris, and "Snowstorm" and "The Electric Silence" immediately on my return to England.

To sum up, I can always trace a connection between my sexual condition and the condition of artistic creation, which is so close as to approach identity, and yet so loose that I cannot predicate a single important proposition.

It is these considerations which give me pain when I am reproached by the ignorant with wishing to produce genius mechanically. I may fail, but my failure is a thousand times greater than their utmost success.

I shall therefore base my remarks not so much on the observations which I have myself made, and the experiments which I have tried, as on the accepted classical methods of producing that energized enthusiasm which is the lever that moves God.

____________

Read the whole text here >>
(a new page opens up)


February 15, 2018

Personal freedom?

I may be broke and lone,
but I AM SPIRITUAL!
In this article, I will touch upon a sensitive topic: personal freedom and happiness in daily life.

Oftentimes we can see how our drive to attain higher grades and degrees on our Path simply overshadows our emotional, physical, financial, etc. needs in daily life. We want to advance, we Will it.

And then we have many initiatory and magickal orders that are supposed to be based on the Thelema principles of liberty, life, light, freedom, and love. I say 'supposed to be' simply because I don't really see an overly emphasized connection there.
Let me explain:

Thelema, as far as I can see, advocates and inspires personal freedom, laughter, joy, power of choice, and, of course, the all-important Will.

The Law of Liberty (II.) shares on the subject:

"...We are all free, all independent, all shining gloriously, each one a radiant world. Is not that good tidings?..."

Great, isn't it!

And then enters an average magickal practice:

Divination, gematria, astrological aspects, hexagrams, Enochian tables, angels, holy Libri, lamens, sephirot, tarot spreads, magickal weapons, mystical symbolism, robes, magick rings, pentagrams, crystals, etc...etc...

Well, there is a gap, a huge canyon actually (in my observation) between what is required to do in various magickal orders and regarded as valid practice AND what really happens out there in real everyday life.

Too often I see really talented aspirants who have mastered all sorts of intricate magickal formulas and still insist on working a dead-end job, staying in dysfunctional relationships, living out of mommy's fridge, driving daddy's car, "experimenting" with heroin, or taking other drugs and still rebelling against, well, everything, like a teenager.

I've got no problem with any of that, please, but the questions really beg for answers:
What the hell happened to Liberty, Light, Life, and Love?
Where has the Thelema message gotten lost?
What good do my magickal weapons and tools do if I am still rather dishearted and discontented in my everyday life?

I know what I am talking about, for I have been avoiding real life (read: meditating) for the longest time, hoping that my fortune and attainments await me sometime later, someplace else. Oh, was I wrong!
And, what good does my entering into samadhi do if it has no function in my daily life?

Master Therion even shares a warning in 'The magick without tears':

"I must  conclude  with  a  warning.  So  many  of  these branches  of  magick  are  so  fascinating  that  any  one  of  them  is liable  to  take  hold  of  the  Magician  by  the  short  hair  and upset  his  balance  completely."



<long pause>



Lets not close this article on such a low tone; lets conclude these thoughts in an upright Thelema style I really enjoy:

Lift yourselves up, my brothers and sisters of the earth! Put beneath your feet all fears, all qualms, all hesitancies! Lift yourselves up! Come forth, free and joyous, by night and day, to do your will; for “There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.” Lift yourselves up! Walk forth with us in Light and Life and Love and Liberty, taking our pleasure as Kings and Queens in Heaven and on Earth.

The sun is arisen; the spectre of the ages has been put to flight. “The word of Sin is Restriction,” or as it has been otherwise said on this text: That is Sin, to hold thine holy spirit in!

Go on, go on in thy might; and let no man make thee afraid.

- The Law of Liberty








February 13, 2018

Fresh aliveness every day

"Death implies change and individuality;
if thou be THAT which hath no person, which is beyond the changing, even beyond changelessness, what hast thou to do with death?

The bird of individuality is ecstasy; so also is its
death.
In love the individuality is slain; who loves not love?
Love death therefore, and long eagerly for it.

Die Daily."
- The book of Lies - 16 (The stag-beetle)

As we can read in the commentary on the above text in The Book of Lies, the meaning between the lines is about change (mostly :)  )

Change is always present, as the impermanence is at the very core of the material existence. The Master points in the direction of Life, Bliss, and Joy by bringing into the discussion the Love itself, only to, staying true to his way of expressing himself, bring the whole thing back down again by saying, Die Daily.

It is a shame that such a wonderful and liberating fact, the change, is often perceived as something rather dark, brutal, and hard; here it is even compared to death and dying (!)

The standard interpretation of the 16th arcana, The Tower (from the Thoth tarot, see above), adds to such burdened perception.

Granted, changes can indeed be difficult, and yet, there is a flip side of this coin:

There is a state of consciousness beyond change (waking, dreaming, and dreamless states) that can contribute dramatically to our progress: samadhi (absolute state of consciousness). Entering samadhi involves no dying; it is pure joy, peace, and freedom.

I've been 'entering' samadhi at will since 2007, and there is no need to force things. What has to be transformed and changed will present itself in due time. 

So, when the time comes, my dear mind, just let go. Practicing Samadhi is light years away from death and dying!

It brings into the stream of human awareness pure Light, Freshness, and Ever new Bliss daily.

So, there is no need to associate change with the dying. Let us connect the change with New Life, Joy, Strength, Freshness, and Freedom.


"...Success is your proof; courage is your armour; go on, go on, in my strength; & ye shall turn not back for any!..."
- Liber AL III: 46





Samadhi and similar topics are discussed in the After Abyss blogs >>




February 7, 2018

The After Abyss blogs



Checking the stats of visits on this Blog, I see that the post on the subject of Crossing the Abyss - Liber Cheth commentary and posts that deal with the whole After Abyss affairs are quite well received.

To make the searching and reading easier, here are all the blogs on the topic of Abyss and then some:




February 6, 2018

Liber B vel Magi reading







Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law


Liber B vel Magi
sub figurâ I

A∴A∴ Publication in Class A

00.
One is the Magus; twain His forces; four His weapons. These are the Seven Spirits of Unrighteousness; seven vultures of evil. Thus is the art and craft of the Magus but glamour. How shall He destroy Himself?

0.
Yet the Magus hath power upon the Mother both directly and through Love. And the Magus is Love, and bindeth together That and This in his conjuration.

1.
In the beginning doth the Magus speak Truth, and send forth Illusion and Falsehood to enslave the soul. Yet therein is the Mystery of Redemption.

2.
By His Wisdom made He the Worlds; the Word that is God is none other than He.

3.
How then shall He end His speech with Silence? For He is Speech.

4.
He is the first and the last. How shall He cease to number Himself?

5.
By a Magus is this writing made known through the mind of a Magister. The one uttereth clearly, and the other understandeth; yet the Word is falsehood, and the Understanding darkness. And this saying is Of All Truth.

6.
Nevertheless it is written; for there be times of darkness, and this as a lamp therein.

7.
With the Wand createth He.

8.
With the Cup preserveth He.

9.
With the Dagger destroyeth He.

10.
With the Coin redeemeth He.

11.
His weapons fulfil the wheel; and on What Axle that turneth is not known unto Him.

12.
From all these actions must He cease before the curse of His Grade is uplifted from Him. Before He attain to That which existeth without Form.

13.
And if at this time He be manifested upon earth as a Man, and therefore is this present writing, let this be His method, that the curse of His grade, and the burden of His attainment, be uplifted from Him.

14.
Let Him beware of abstinence from action. For the curse of His grade is that He must speak Truth, that the Falsehood thereof may enslave the souls of men. Let him then utter that without Fear, that the Law may be fulfilled. And according to His Original Nature will that law be shapen, so that one may declare gentleness and quietness, being an Hindu; and another fierceness and servility, being a Jew; and yet another ardour and manliness, being an Arab. Yet this matter toucheth the mystery of Incarnation, and is not here to be declared.

15.
Now the grade of a Magister teacheth the Mystery of Sorrow, and the grade of a Magus the Mystery of Change, and the grade of Ipsissimus the Mystery of Selflessness, which is called also the Mystery of Pan.

16.
Let the Magus then contemplate each in turn, raising it to the ultimate power of Infinity. Wherein Sorrow is Joy, and Change is Stability, and Selflessness is Self. For the interplay of the parts hath no action upon the whole. And this contemplation shall be performed not by simple meditation— how much less then by reason? but by the method which shall have been given unto Him in His Initiation to the Grade.

17.
Following which method, it shall be easy for Him to combine that trinity from its elements, and further to combine Sat-Chit-Ananda, and Light, Love, Life, three by three into nine that are one, in which meditation success shall be That which was first adumbrated to Him in the grade of Practicus (which reflecteth Mercury into the lowest world) in Liber XXVII, “Here is Nothing under its three Forms.”

18.
And this is the Opening of the Grade of Ipsissimus, and by the Buddhists it is called the trance Nerodha-Samapatti.

19.
And woe, woe, woe, yea woe, and again woe, woe, woe unto seven times be His that preacheth not His law to men!

20.
And woe also be unto Him that refuseth the curse of the grade of a Magus, and the burden of the Attainment thereof.

21.
And in the word CHAOS let the Book be sealed; yea, let the Book be sealed.


Love is the law, love under will.

February 1, 2018

Do what thou wilt?

Although my inner psychological climate is very much in line with the powerful words of Ra-Hoor-Khuit ("...Success is your proof; courage is your armour; go on, go on, in my strength; & ye shall turn not back for any!..." - Liber AL III: 46), integrity and respect still is and always will be, important to me.

Each Star (meaning each human being) traveles along the unique path, and thats ok with me. My Will stops where your Will begins.

And speaking of which, my Will or in other words, what is currently very much alive in me is an inspiration to share my experiences and thoughts on the all important topic: the Will.

After all, the Ra-Hoor-Khuit Himself says in the Liber AL that "There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt." (Liber AL, III:60).

To those who have integrated these words into spiritual and everyday lives, this one single line from the Book of the Law seems to be the cornerstone of all dimensions of the enigma called existence.

What does that mean?
How to get to know the Will?
Is the Will even attainable in day-to-day life?
Are everyday duties an obsticle to "doing the Will"?
Is there such thing as wrong Will?
Where my Will stops and where begins the Will of my God/Goddess?
Etc.

I will elaborate on the subject of Will from two empirical standpoints:
- everyday or personal and
- spiritual or transpersonal.

So, here we go:

In the life of every man, woman, aspirant and adept there are two parallel processes going on and on, supporting and nurishing each other: growing up (personal development) and waking up (transpersonal progress).

There is one situation I am keep seeing in my work with people for the last 20+ years: most of individuals I meet neglect, push aside, supress and deny the personal issues. All in the name of spiritual progress, of course.

And so we can observe a certain pattern emerging in spiritual circles; yes, in our Orders as well: aspirants or adepts performing perscribed rituals each and every day, meditating, learning Libers by heart, consoulting Thoth tarot at least 11 times a day, wearing robes, experiencing LVX etc. AND still living with parents, with no job or doing a dead end job, with around 14,8 EUR or 15,6 USD in their pocket (no bank account, of course), living out of parents' fridge, having occasional "tantric" sex with no commitment whatsoever etc. - trying to spiritually advance while their life here on Earth is, well, non-existent.

Sounds familiar?

There is a huge difference between having a life here on Earth by walking the "Wilt" talk and avoiding personal issues by thinking that "Wilt" has got nothing to do with our lives here and now.

Having experienced what I share on this Blog and reflecting on my own past fuck-ups on the Path, I wish someone would have spoken to me about these things some 15 or 20 years ago. You see, I have always believed that spiritual path is the answer to everything.

Well, it is not.

There are certain things that meditation and Star Ruby rituals simply cant handle. Transpersonal things cannot handle the personal issues much like personal effort alone yields no transpersonal progress.

Exactly the same things I was running from in my daily life turned out to be serious obsticles to both K&C of HGA and Crossing the Abyss.

Was it my Will to run away from those negative components of my inner life? Nope. I was just under false impression that I am doing the Will. In reality I was just trying to get out of the shit I saw all around me. I wish I had been able to see my own shit and deal with it.

The Will is so much more, however. It is boundless source of inspiration, creativity and strong support at the same time. It is strenght and beauty integrated when expressed through constructive action here on Earth.

It is well beyond emotional drama and even further apart from even the most sophisticated dogs of reason.

The Will is.

Lets actualize it now, here on Earth, especially through growing up in our daily lives, if we, well, Will.

You might also want to check the blog The Will, old and new >>