From beyond the Abyss

May ALL adepts attain the City of pyramids

In this series of blogs we shall delve deep into the Supernals, quoting empirical knowledge of true Masters and, hopefully, sharing insights of this Thelemite.

The reality or to be more precise, the perception of reality below the Abyss is always changing: Aeons come and go, bodies and other identities alter and Gods are perceived as something separate, something out there.

Above the Abyss, however, everything is always the same, no drama, no play of Gods; not even Unity is definable.


Todays quote:

"...all the symbols are interchangeable, for each one containeth in itself its own opposite. And this is the great Mystery of the Supernals that are beyond the Abyss. For below the Abyss, contradiction is division; but above the Abyss, contradiction is Unity. And there could be nothing true except by virtue of the contradiction that is contained in itself."
- from the 5th Aethyr in The Vision and the Voice

Heru-Ra-Ha

In the Book of Thoth, Crowley introduces us to Heru-Ra-Ha when he comments on the Aeon Tarot card. He wrote:

"Around the top of the card is the body of Nuit, the star-goddess, who is the category of unlimited possibility; her mate is Hadit, the ubiquitous point-of-view, the only philosophically tenable conception of Reality. He is represented by a globe of fire, representing eternal energy; winged, to show his power of Going.

As a result of the marriage of these two, the child Horus is born. He is, however, known under his special name, Heru-Ra-Ha. A double god; his extraverted form is Ra-hoor-khuit; and his passive or introverted form Hoor-pa-kraat. He is also solar in character, and is therefore shown coming forth in golden light."

** ** ** 

In the new Aeon, the one we are in right now (according to Thelema's vision), individuality is essential, as well as personal freedom, assuming responsibility, not hiding behind gods but acting with understanding, wisdom, and light strength.

These are not some guidelines for new Aeon parenting....although I imagine a truly loving parent would undoubtedly want his child to grow along these lines.

In my view, what follows is a direct, albeit veiled in heavy symbolism, description of the stage of consciousness at the end of the Path.
Comments are not needed, for every one of us is alive enough to attain Heruraha.


In Liber 418, in the first Aeither, LIL, 
we can read about Heru-Ra-Ha:

"It is a little child covered with lilies and roses. He is supported by countless myriads of Archangels. The Archangels are all the same colorless brilliance, and every one of them is blind. Below the Archangels again are many, many other legions, and so on far below, so far that the eye cannot pierce. And on his forehead, and on his heart, and in his hand, is the secret sigil of the Beast.

And of all this, the glory is so great that all the spiritual senses fail, and their reflections in the body fail.

[...]

This child danceth not, but it is because he is the soul of the two dances, - the right hand and the left hand, and in him, they are one dance, the dance without motion."

[...]

I am light, and I am the night, and I am that which is beyond them.

I am speech, and I am silence, and I am that which is beyond them.

I am life, and I am death, and I am that which is beyond them.

I am war, and I am peace, and I am that which is beyond them.

I am weakness, and I am strength, and I am that which is beyond them.

Yet by none of these can man reach up to me. Yet by each of them must man reach up to me."

Joy of the unknown

Looking back, it was always my attachment to already attained insights

and knowledge that de facto kept me from moving onto deeper Reality.

And so, I second J. Krishnamurti's words:

"One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end."

On the Education of Children

Active or top-down perception is how cognitive neuroscience scientifically describes the process 'as above - so below'.

In simple terms (maybe even too simple): human inner depth of insight and mental-emotional orientation conditions how and what is perceived.

So, in a way, how a human being perceives something is always subjective.

And regarding Mr. Crowley, oh boy, things that are usually perceived about him range from purity to downright evil. What that says about the perceiver is an interesting question, isn't it.

Anyway...

...having undergone a lot of formal and also informal education in the areas of human consciousness, being a father, and reading Mr. Crowley's thoughts on the education of children, it is quite impossible for me to view him as someone sinister, dark, or even weird.

Quite the opposite, really. Thoughts below reflect deep insight into child and human nature and are in complete harmony with modern developmental psychology, the latest research by humanistic psychologists, and even systems like NVC or nonviolent communication.

And Crowley wrote this, what, 100 years ago when humanistic descriptive sciences had not even been conceived yet and the best children education was based on (quite ineffective, in my view) punishment - reward approach.

Indeed, Crowley really knew what he was doing.

On a more personal note, as shared above, I have a daughter, she is nine now, my angel. :)
And I have been parenting her according to the thoughts below and/or modern sciences mentioned above.

I am still learning, it surely is a healthy challenge, but all in all, it works :)



Mr. Crowley:

“Each child must develop its own Individuality, and Will, disregarding alien Ideals… Education is assisting a soul to express itself. 

Every child should be presented with all possible problems and allowed to register its own reactions; it should be made to face all contingencies in turn until it overcomes each successfully. Its mind must not be influenced, but only offered all kinds of nourishment. Its innate qualities will enable it to select the food proper to its nature. Respect its individuality! Submit all life for its inspection, without comment…

From infancy children should face facts, unadulterated by explanations. Let them think and act for themselves; let their innate integrity initiate itself! Make them explore all life’s mysteries, overcome all its dangers. Falsity and fear are their only foe-men. 

Let them witness birth, marriage, death; let them hear poetry, philosophy, history; compel apprehension but not its articulate expression. Make them face cliffs, billows, animals, finding their own formula of conquest. Thrust Truth on them tirelessly, careful only to make its range all comprehensive; trust them to use it… 

Let children educate themselves to be themselves. Those who train them to standards cripple and deform them. Alien ideals impose parasitic perversions. Every child is a Sphinx; none knoweth its secret but itself…”

Every child is absolute.
Dare not bias it or bind!
Give the seed fair play to shoot!
At maturity its mind
Shall perfect its proper fruit,
Self-determined, self-designed!”

- abridged 'On the Education of Children' from The Revival of Magick

Thelema and reincarnation

In this article, I shall touch upon a rather sensitive topic in Thelema doctrine: reincarnation.

I aim to share certain notions on the subject and to present quite compelling arguments that speak in favor of reincarnation - with one intention in sight: to discover the bottom line truth about reincarnation on our own by direct, intimate insights beyond various scriptural notions.

Who am I

There is an exciting and well-referenced text on a related subject, written by Fr. IAO131 titled 'Death in Thelema'.

Before we move on, let us see some introductory remarks in the said text:

"Thelema does not have a conception of death like that of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). There is no notion of a heaven or hell that is beyond this world. There is no notion of Judgment for our moral actions or beliefs. This much is clear to anyone who has performed even a cursory review of the Thelemic literary corpus.

Thelema also does not have a conception of death like that of the Dharmic religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism). There is no notion of a desire to escape Samsara, the wheel of birth, death, and rebirth. There is also no notion of reincarnating in order to perfect the soul or achieve enlightenment throughout several lifetimes. This topic has been treated in a previous essay entitled “New Aeon Initiation” and Crowley has written, “The idea of incarnations ‘perfecting’ a thing originally perfect by definition is imbecile.” Thelemites see life and the world of duality as providing the opportunity for the “chance of union” (Liber AL I:29), to experience the joy of “love under will.”
- you can read the whole article here >> (a new page opens up)


Well, in the above text, we can read interesting words by A. Crowley:  “The idea of incarnations ‘perfecting’ a thing originally perfect by definition is imbecile."

This is an interesting assertion for a man who has revealed his past life experiences. We can see that there indeed was a process of perfecting going on:


"We do, however, have information from Crowley’s diaries about his recollections of the half dozen or so prior incarnations during which he struggled with the Adeptus Major Grade. The record develops some interesting points. These can be summarized here only in the briefest way...

By the early 16th century, the being who later would incarnate as Aleister Crowley had attained to the 5=6 Grade of Adeptus Minor. The record then documents an incarnation as Edward Kelley (1555-1595), John Dee’s psychic assistant in bringing forth the Enochian system of magick. Kelley was strongly drawn to magick powers, and so sought to push ahead (prematurely) to 6=5. Furthermore, Kelley apparently did not embrace the new teachings the Enochian angels had conveyed to him, which were, in part, an early disclosure of the Law of Thelema.
As a result of this, he stepped back a grade in his next incarnation where, as a frail and malformed young man (subjected to ill health and abuse), he nonetheless lived a profoundly mystical life, obtaining a very high and pure mystical attainment by age 22.

There then followed two incarnations of failing in his attempt to assimilate the Geburah level of attainment.

First, he was a Russian called Father Ivan, profoundly steeped in magick, but laden with extreme vices, abusive of his magick powers, subject to rages, and author of horrible cruelties – all being extreme imbalances of the Gebu-ran energies.

Following this, he was a Heinrick van Dorn, an incarnation only partially remembered for reasons reportedly involving "some serious magical error connected with the grade of Adeptus Major," an abuse of black magical forces "in an entirely futile way. It is a tale of grimoires and vain evil rites, of pacts at which Satan was mocked, and crimes unworthy even of witches," Crowley wrote. He hanged himself at about age 27.

Following this suicide, he "passed through a dreadfully dark purgation," also described as "a profound horror and gloom." Upon completing this cleansing, he was born as Cagliostro (1748-1795). His karma having been equilibrated by his purgatory, Cagliostro reached a "very full" attainment of the 6=5 Grade. His blind spot in that incarnation, in his celebration of his mighty attainment, appears to have been a failure to see that something entirely Other lay beyond the Second Order – "not knowing or caring about the Abyss above me."

After Cagliostro, he incarnated as Eliphas Levi (1810-1875), who comfortably reattained the Adeptus Major Grade (summarizing his knowledge in The Dogma & Ritual of High Magic), then attaining the 7=4 Grade of Exempt Adept before his death."
- Chapter 10 (6=5 chapter) of The Mystical & Magical System of the A.'.A.'. by James A. E.


When I read the words of Master Therion above, I hear that he is referring to the ultimate identity of human beings, which indeed is perfect in itself.
(I wrote an article on the subject some time ago; see the blog 'After Abyss II.: Changeless reality', here >>)

At the same time, however, that ultimate, changeless reality is not the only reality to consider. And considering human relative nature might be an intelligent thing to do. It is that relative human nature that is being perfected, as is evident from the Master Therion's sequence of incarnations.


A well-researched phenomenon: reincarnation

Leaving the Thelema doctrine aside for the time being, I would like to evoke the lifelong research work done by Ian Stevenson, MD. His field of research was reincarnation.

His detailed and well-documented research results are interesting indeed. It is worth looking into his books, in my opinion, and what he shares therein is that in many documented cases, there was a person A who died. After a certain time, person B was born in a different place and remembered the circumstances of, in some cases, the violent death of person A.

Moreover, the birthmarks of person B affirm and connect with the injuries sustained by person A before dying. There are even death certificates of person A and photographs taken of the birthmarks of person B linking both.

There is a well-documented website, 'Dr. Ian Stevenson's Reincarnation Research', offering a wealth of information on the subject of the non-locality of human consciousness. You can visit the website here >> (a new page opens up)


Conclusion

So, where do all presented notions leave us regarding Thelema doctrine and reincarnation?

Well, as far as reincarnation is concerned, and considering the research results of Ian Stevenson and maybe personal insights into our past, it gets pretty challenging to disregard the whole concept.

And at the same time, with the Thelema as the empirical wisdom of the new Aeon in which the focus is on the continuity of awareness, it might be equally difficult to disregard the notion of "...seeing life and the world of duality as providing the opportunity for the “chance of union” (Liber AL I:29), to experience the joy of “love under will.” . 

The ultimate reality, which is so amply presented in many of the Thelema texts might as well be comprehended as something quite above and untouched by reincarnation...by those adepts that have done the Work and have Attained...

...for the rest of us, well, we shall all see what awaits us, won't we.

New to Thelema?

Letting the heavy abstract topics of after Abyss be for a while, here we have a brief general introduction to Thelema and O.T.O.:

Nuit and Her feast for the Adepts

“As the dancer whirls, she chants in a strange, slow voice, quickening as she goes: Lo! I gather up every spirit that is pure, and weave him into my vesture of flame. I lick up the lives of men, and their souls sparkle from mine eyes. I am the mighty sorceress, the lust of the spirit. And by my dancing I gather for my mother Nuit the heads of all them that are baptized in the waters of life. I am the lust of the spirit that eateth up the soul of man. I have prepared a feast for the adepts, and they that partake thereof shall see God.”
~ Aleister Crowley, 15th Aethyr of The Vision and the Voice