Knowledge; not just Conversation:

 

Knowledge; not just Conversation:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

I find it interesting how many Thelemites claim that they have attained Knowledge and Conversation, without having proof of such. Most haven't even delved deep enough into the idea intellectually to give us a coherent definition of what Knowledge and Conversation actually means. This claim was never present in the past, even the Chymical Wedding was written anonymously as well as the Rosicrucian manifestoes, this was to assure that the work remains noble, that the integrity of these magi remained intact. Now the lack of understanding in modern times concerning this attainment has some of the most reprehensible charlatans claiming that they have attained. What is fascinating, is how often when going through some of the online communities, these charlatans use the claim of attainment to sell services to the naïve. For me personally, this is a very bad thing. I have seen people mention Crowley, saying that his work was great, but we need to stop looking at the man, who he was in life, and only focus on his formal writings on Magick. But then the same people, try to dispute the validity of his work by insisting that the philosophy of Thelema is clearly a projection of the times and the man Crowley. This to me shows a complete misunderstanding of what Knowledge and Conversation is, and I may be wrong as well, but I will present in this essay what I believe it to be.

Knowledge and Conversation from my understanding is not merely an attainment, it presents the task, and is rather the vehicle of an adept’s Great Work. It is a projection of the ego that embodies the divine will of an adept. If it was just an attainment, the tasks of the adeptus grades would have nothing to do with the work of Beauty or the thesis of the Exempt Adept, which is an inspired work showing the beauty of the Western Mystery Tradition, not a meme or a bunch of memes on a social media platform. And this work from my understanding, is to be put out to the world at large, obviously, as an adept has no superior, so one may think of the “C” in K&C as a conversation between an adept and the universe. But Knowledge is something too, it is not possible that this Knowledge is referring to Knowledge of self, as self was studied and perfected in the grades leading up to the attainment. Perhaps it actually means knowledge in the strict sense of the word. One criticism of the Book of the Law stated, and this was put out formally by a Thelemic fraternity, that from the book we can clearly see numerous influences that are not of a divine nature, which they presume delegitimizes the book. Well, this again indicates a complete lack of understanding, in this case the misunderstanding relates to what divine means. It is annoying how so many Thelemites can’t escape their Christianized perspective of divinity, that they would rather the gods be literal and able to come down from their cloud and visit us as the angel did Mary. And these people with their insane notions of what divinity is and establishing orders founded on their ill-conceived ideas is utterly corrosive to the integrity of Thelema as a legitimate magickal philosophy.

Of course, Knowledge means exactly that, and the attainment is that of Genius, which also means exactly that. During the first part of one’s magickal career one studies all the systems of Magick and occult philosophy, so that, once K&C is reached, an adept would have something to talk about with his Angel. Crowley had a lot to say, his contemporaries not so much, and although the man was a "super genius" as someone once said to me, isn’t a person selling him or herself short as to not try to live up to his example? I would say his example and Blavatsky’s are perfect examples of what Knowledge and Conversation should look like. One’s work will always be influenced by one’s knowledge, interests and experiences. Although for these to be worthy of the label of Knowledge and Conversation, there is a certain standard that needs to be upheld. Hence, we must make ourselves ready for this supreme attainment and assimilate the Western Mysteries in such a way as to become proponents of tradition, who have the authority to stand alone.

One example of this I think, is J.F.C. Fuller, who was a master of romantic prose and in everything he wrote this mastery and love of poetry shined through. Even in what is not considered an inspired text, although it may well be, the Treasure House of Images is full of quotes from numerous sources that had been assimilated by Fuller’s Soul to inspire his Great Work. Crowley’s work, however, was inspired by a much wider range of interests, and of course it was, when one considers the life and character of the man and viewing the attainment from a more rational perspective, we may say that to study the life of Crowley, is to take a look at his Soul, wherein hidden, we may find the nature of his Angel. And then, from this vantage point of understanding, these influences articulated perfectly in the Conversation between him and his Angel rendered into our Holy Books, may take on a character from which we can learn and establish a clear aim for our own work as magicians.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

Suffering:

 

Suffering:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

"Man, the bravest of animals, and the one most accustomed to suffering, does not repudiate suffering as such; he desires it, he even seeks it out, provided he is shown a meaning for it, a purpose of suffering. The meaninglessness of suffering, not suffering itself, was the curse that lay over mankind so far."

Fredrich Nietzsche:

Anyone can agree that the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha are perfect, indeed it is a flawless doctrine. The doctrine states that life is suffering, and that desire and attachment leads to suffering and the only way to escape suffering is to detach from these, relinquish desire and follow the path of Buddhism, which demands adhering to the moral injunctions of Buddhism. Although for this doctrine to validate itself one must buy into the idea that suffering is something that needs to be avoided. Herein lies its fundamental flaw, as in death we all escape this suffering and there is nothing in death. So, worshipping death, or nihilism is contrary to the feeling of anyone who finds the experience of life to be divine, that the phenomenological experience itself is divine and that the world around us should be embraced and not escaped from. The doctrine opens up the idea of good and evil and assumes a holier than thou attitude from the start and actually misses the mark completely. There is no maturation for any individual without conflict, and the aim is not to find inner peace, the aim should rather be to find harmony with the universe around us. Withdrawing from the world and proceeding with an endless inner dialogue in the most peaceful of surroundings, is no way dissimilar from locking oneself up in a mental institution, crazy people are also scared of everything. It is a doctrine of cowardice and slavery, and indeed as Crowley mentions in Liber Aleph, and the only thing Buddha is credited for was giving us the nature of consciousness, the precepts and the noble truths, the doctrine, is not what he is venerated for in our tradition.

Every man and every woman is a universe, we, each, are a microcosm fully imbued with all the elements that pervade the macrocosm. Within us there is violent conflict between these elements, this conflict should be stilled and once it is stilled, we come to the Great Work. The same nature of conflict is present all around us, through Magick we learn that the character of the conflict changes as we change ourselves, hence we are indeed reflecting what is happening internally and changing objective reality as we harmonize the elements inside of ourselves. War is good for progress, it is a fact that cannot be argued against, and the same is true for inner conflict, reflecting the suffering of life. Without it we do not learn, we do not grow, we merely accept the basest nature of ourselves, and the whole idea stands in conflict with what life is. Life, which is change includes adapting and growing, the nature of the universe is evolution, or constant change. Nature does not make mistakes, thus the Buddhists insisting that being alive in this horrible world of suffering is a mistake, is the big mistake. When two forces unite in conflict, the battlefield is made fertile and new life springs from the decay, the same is true for any country that lies in ruins after a war, it is built anew to greater prosperity. Herein lies the Formula of I.A.O. Isis, Mother (Life and Peace), Apophis, Conflict with the Elements, Embracing Suffering (Decay) and Osiris is the flowering of the New Life. A magician knows that the intensity of the ordeal will equate to the level of change experienced, so that while the universe is destroying itself, he basks joyfully in the knowledge, that it is his Will that is done. Suffering makes us stronger and increases the circumference of experience to include a more complete perspective of divinity, thus from the start of one’s incarnation as a magician, there is no aim to escape suffering, but to seek it out and to overcome it by uniting with it, thus learning from it, to be fortified by experience and transcend it.

One may conclude that the nature of Being is never changing, Anata the highest aim of Buddhism remains the same for everyone and that its realization is incumbent to everything that experiences incarnation, so instead of just Anata, the Will is important. What every particular individual does with his incarnation is important, thus Being becomes his canvas, as he aligns his aspiration with the divine Will and becomes a hero with the courage and conviction to embrace pain and fully appreciate his freedom.  

“Love is the law, love under will.”

The Coincidence of Contraries:

 

The Coincidence of Contraries:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Anything only exists in relation to its opposite. It is no coincidence that some think about L.V.X. or Ether as the light of creation, that light is the necessary compliment of darkness that establishes our relationship with the formative world. Everything is perfect there is no good or evil, death and decay are the necessary compliments of life and birth, although most view these darker aspects of our reality as perhaps evil or an unwanted result. This is only true when viewing existence from the finite point of view, or from attachment to temporality, which may bring about the paralyzing fear of death. A paralyzing fear which results in limiting one’s experience of life and so some come to the Great Work, courage in the face of truth is a very valiant idea and means that without accepting the above there is no way to accomplish greatness, so that from this, one learns to live life more fully. A magician joyfully partakes in the "world of contending forces” and lives life today in the knowledge that tomorrow may never come, a fact that he is perfectly at ease with. Who can know the full beauty of life without having explored death, and who can know the value of darkness, if such a person has not yet been born into the light?

" He who would know the greatest secrets of nature, let him regard and contemplate the minima and maxima of contraries and opposites. Profound magic it is to know how to extract the contrary after having found the point of union."

Giordano Bruno:

True magick comes from this contemplation, Samadhi has its own result and is not a result in itself. The ultimate Samadhi is to lose oneself in the beloved, from whence an entirely new condition is created and it could be said that with every union new contraries are established and a new universe is created. These new opposites didn’t just appear, they had always been there, although union was necessary to attain insight as they were obscured, these new opposites again will necessitate the need for union, and so the magician evolves not by chance but through an act of will he is affecting his own becoming. The effect it has, is to have one’s perspective shifted from that of a contender, to that of a god or creator, who through union has positioned himself in control of two opposing principles, and this is the magick of Agape and Thelema.

This idea of life being pure joy is unique to Thelema, that the Christians can have their Devil and the Buddhists can have their suffering, and that it is the work of each and every individual to find the beauty locked away in the grotesque and the joy in the melancholia, and even God in Satan. The world religions with their monastic traditions have missed the point and have limited their insights into the nature of god by limiting their experience of life and nature through objective moral bias. It is also very interesting when considering Buddha’s attainment, that he went directly against what was expected and became an ascetic, even leaving a wife, child and a fortune behind, to become a hero and a Saint. It indicates a character not only of immovable aspiration and courage, but of an unshakable individualism also needed for such an exploration. And to me it seems, that all great prophets went against the grain and followed their inner calling, these prophets were noteworthy as individuals. A monastic life is certainly limiting to the Spirit and as life is pure joy, there is nothing that may impoverish one’s experience and stunt a person's development besides restriction, all things experienced may only expand consciousness and widen one’s circumference to include a greater understanding of what god is.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

A Psychic Journey: Skrying Puella

 

A Psychic Journey: Skrying Puella

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Puella means a girl and is attributed to Libra and Venus and Air of Water. It is a very auspicious figure and indicates love and union in all respects, she symbolizes the harmonious coming together of opposites and fruitful new beginnings.

Vision no 1:

I was in a house but the spirit called it a studio, when I asked. First, she was an old lady, then I saw a young girl sitting on a bed, who turned into a beautiful woman. I tested the old lady and she was gone. The spirit told me to put my hand on her heart, then she grabbed my arms and we started dancing in a spiraling motion. She told me that everything is possible there, that she loves me and wants me inside of her and that dreams are made there. The vision was strange, the spirit kissed and hugged and clung to me throughout the vision. Since we were the only ones in a house it felt like we were lovers. It especially felt like this while seated at a dining table and the spirit having prepared a meal for me, with her hand upon my leg and staring deeply at me while I was eating. At times the spirit fondled her breasts or pulled me onto the bed sensually and at other times she would merely show affection in the manner of a polite and loving spouse. There were at one-point giant spiders that crawled all over me, and when I tested them, they were still there. I asked the spirit what they were doing there and she told me that where we are, is my bad dream and she wants to make it better. Then we looked at the sun through the window and the spirit exclaimed that it was a beautiful day outside, as if she missed being outside. I started paying closer attention to the house we were in, it was dark and damp, the only furniture was a dining table, and two chairs with a bed and a tremendous amount of books on a bookshelf. Then the spirit came up to me and she embraced and held me, telling me how much she loves me, and I could feel the warmth of her breasts pressing against my chest. I told her that I was going to go and kissed her hand, she told me that she loves me and started kissing both my hands, and that she wants me to come back. I said I will and ended the vision.

Vision no 2:

I saw a tiny woman in a pink floral dress, she kissed my hand and said, she’s glad I came back. She had blonde hair and seemed very happy, she kissed me and I saw little children running and she said that, we can make anything together. Then she was standing directly in front of me, she had enormous wide eyes, her appearance was startling, although her presence was welcoming and very loving. Her character was exceedingly endearing and I noticed that we were standing on water. Then she said, “it’s where I live and it is just that way” around us was damp and there were what looked like people pulsating together in a sexual frenzy. The bodies soon became giant mushrooms that filled the entire place, we were surrounded by mushrooms and they changed the water that we were standing on into a different quality. Then the mushrooms changed back into an orgy and I soon found myself back in the house we were before. There was a man and the little children tore him apart, it was very violent and startling to witness, the spirit was very upset. She told me that she can see bad dreams again, and being upset she sat down. She started playing with a bracelet on her left arm and said “this is you, why did you give it to me?” Curious and upon closer inspection I saw that the bracelet had a little head in the shape of my face, it looked like a charm bracelet. That's when I ended the vision.

Vision no 3:

She came as soon as I projected her character and she seemed surprised that I was there. She took my arms and we started floating upwards and then we started spiraling like a whirlwind. Once back on the ground we were standing in a confined space, she drew down levers on both sides, then she took my face with both hands, her palms pressed against my cheeks, she told me that I am beautiful and it makes sense that we are there together. She walked away after embracing me and suddenly she was swimming in a stream, back and forth in front of me. The water was inviting and she said I can swim with her, that there were no crocodiles in the water. She came out of the water and I could see the droplets on her skin and her presence was warm and comforting. A giant serpent came out of the water, but it was friendly towards us, as it was her serpent. She told me not to worry about the serpent that everything is fine and that’s when I ended the vision.

Vision no 4:

I first saw scales and the flashing, then a woman holding a sword and the scales, and she was wearing a green dress. Then I was standing in front of the table and on it was the sword which I picked up and I saw the spirit, she has the most frightening face, but she exudes love and I am very comfortable with her. Behind her I saw a woman and a man sleeping together. She led me to a table and gave me some food to eat. While eating she held me from behind with her arms embracing my chest and shoulders. When I had finished eating, she told me, “everything is always hard but it is worth it, everything we can see is worth it.” Then she gave me a ring by placing it on my finger with a star ruby in and there was already a ring on my finger, which she took off and, she put it on her necklace to wear as a pendant. Then the vision ended.  

“Love is the law, love under will.”

Anima-Mundi:

 

Anima-Mundi:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

" Is this ' natural instinct' sense or intellect? If the former. Is it Internal or external? Clearly it is not external; but if internal, where is the internal sense from which they could have their foresight, their arts and artifices, their precautions, expeditions, to meet various conditions, both present and future? There must be some proximate principle, i.e. a form of intelligence peculiar to each animal, which determines its actions. The divine and universal intelligence is merely the principle that gives it intelligence, through which it understands."

"The swallow makes its nest, the ants their cave, the spiders their web or nets, in one way only, than which they could not make them more admirably or suitably. . . . Who knows whether the spirit of man is rising upwards, that of others moving downwards? At least it is to be referred to a defect of light and divine force that men hesitate and deliberate in all that belongs to the means of life, the modes of worship and defence, for if all knew perfectly, all would be governed in the best, and consequently in one way only."

Giordano Bruno:

In the above Bruno is talking about how animals are more connected to the World-Soul, as their actions are instinctual and for all intents and purposes perfect. Primitive man used to be like this, we used to navigate like animals and even insects do, depending upon the earth’s magnetic field. This is in a sense the divine Will of the world that we have come out of touch with. The aim is harmony with Nature from where the True Will is the driving force. Attaining to this does not mean a life without conflict, it only means that a person has learned who and what he or she truly is and have started living in accordance with the divine will of creation, of which we are all finite aspects.

I have started suspecting that intelligence has drawn a wedge between man and the Soul of the World. We have become detached on account of our superior place within Nature’s hierarchy, we don’t just look to nature for creative insights, we now look to the archetypal world as well. It is our link to the archetypal world that has made transcendent experience possible, but it has also placed it slightly out of reach for most to use intently for furthering development. A lot of people, I suppose, have become complacent as a result of the work necessary for attaining this union and Bruno states this is due to “a defect of light and divine force that men hesitate and deliberate”. We are entirely caught up in a way of life that has in a sense become mechanical, we have shunned our place in the divine hierarchy for a very paradoxical reason and the reason, is our inability to acknowledge the fact that we are animals as well as gods. To explore the animal soul is the first step in a magician's career, this exploration in turn unfolds to us the landscape of the sub-conscious, the world of dreams, where archetypes manifest to speak to our intellects. We are through this practice directly making contact and harmonizing our souls with the Soul of the World.

There is a doctrine in the qabalah which places this inverted purpose as the enemy or Satan, which states that as the name of god symbolizes the fall of man when looking at it on the Tree of Life from above the name is uncorrupted, although from below it becomes inverted or corrupted. Hence, to follow the word of god is actually a mistake when the word is objective, as given to us by the Church. It is through the acceptance of Satan as our savior, that strides may be made towards truth. Here of course Satan is referring to the animal soul. In order to fully inflame the Ruach with the potential for creation we must entirely integrate this part of our beings. Satan in its realized form as represented by the Devil Atu is thus a symbol of the ego, that has attained power and moved from inverted Satan towards realizing its godliness.

Magnetism or the earth and each individual’s magnetic field is interesting, as at a certain point with respect to the formula of I.A.O. a magician dies, to be resurrected. This is an ongoing theme throughout life, but especially for a magician, who has by an act of will affected this evolution, thus he has become painfully aware of it. The ego dies to be resurrected via this ordeal, and this resurrection is always a transfiguration of the ego, from whence it will find itself standing upon a higher plateau of experience necessitating adaptation. Perhaps it is the magnetic field or the Soul of the World, that serves as one of the properties which lead to successful rebirth and pulls the soul back together.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

A Bit About the A.’.A.’.

 

A Bit About the A.’.A.’.

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

I have become aware that some people misunderstand what the A.’.A.’. is, firstly it does not mean Alcoholics Anonymous, the initials stand for Astron Argon, which is Greek for Silver Star, so it is the Order of the Silver Star. It is a modern mystery school founded along the Rosicrucian method of student and teacher, meaning that once a person becomes a member, he only knows his or her instructor and later the students under them. It is the modern incarnation of the Great White Brotherhood and it is specifically a Thelemic Fraternity. The order is broken up into three orders, the G.D. the R.C. and the S.S., these are attributed to the three triads of the Tree of Life and correspond to the levels of consciousness relating to the Sephiroth.

One does not have to be a member or have a family member who is a Freemason, or a Martinist or any other lesser fraternity to join the A.’.A.’. as some people believe, to reiterate the A.'.A.'. stands alone. Members are not expected to be rich either, an assumption that some hold, which I personally find very strange. It has been called a society of the elect, which it most certainly is, although elect merely indicates that members of the order are imbued with certain characteristics from which they have attained the capacity to do the work of the order successfully, since it is a magickal order, you could say that these characteristics are psychic in nature, but certainly not monetary. One merely has to get in contact with a formal member of the order, sign the Probationer’s Oath and do the work of the Grade in order to join as a Neophyte. Once a Neophyte, the aspirant becomes a member of the G.D. or Outer Order, the grades of which are associated with the Pentagram, called the elemental grades and it is then the job of each aspirant to perfect him or herself as to become ready for entering the R.C. also known as the Inner Order or Inner Sanctuary. There is no exchange of money between instructor and student, one is graded on merit alone, the work is what is important. Crowley realized that two ways of corrupting a system such as this, is the exchange of money for grades and knowing the other members, which usually results in a popularity contest, therefore members don't meet and accepting money for formal instruction is grounds for expulsion from the Order. Upon entering the R.C. one becomes an Adept, meaning that the initiate has attained to Knowledge and Conversation with his Holy Guardian Angel, from whence the work deals with the Hexagram, thus and Adept starts uniting the 5 and the 6 pointed stars to accomplish the Great Work.

The A.’.A.’. is an order meant to cultivate Adepts, it's not a popularity contest, nobody cares about grades, only the work is important, and the only person who will ever really know your grade is your instructor. The S.S. or Order of the Silver Star refers to the Secret Chiefs, those Adepts who have attained immortality and guide the evolution of humanity. Nobody really knows who they are, but we consider them to be ascended masters, from whom some have chosen to incarnate. Indeed, the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, but here it is. It is not a lodge or group such as Freemasonry, O.T.O. or Martinism, it is a mystery school, wherein each member is responsible for his or her own work. I hope that for whoever is interested or curious, that this has cleared up any confusion and answered some questions you may have had about the A.'.A.'..

“Love is the law, love under will.”

Love and Will:

 

Love and Will:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Objective morality of good and evil such as that given to us by the organized religions of the world, the religions of the slaves, indeed designed to be as the owners of slaves, limit us in our search for divine truth. This truth embedded in the heart of every man and woman can only be found in the immediacy of the divine around us. So, what these religions tend to do is separate us from this union by giving us a made-up set of rules to follow to misplaced attention, in order that we may one day find ourselves seated next to some imagined god. This idea is limiting to the Will, as each’s Will naturally strives towards an impossible end, as it is an infinite end, and it is within the striving or becoming, that we find God inside of our limited selves. The Adam Qadmon and Shekinah are two very important qabalistic principles, that basically can be understood as our idea of what god is, both in its indifferent and entirely personal respects, being the Adam Qadmon. And the Shekinah, who in Thelema is our Mother Babalon, and relates to the Holy Spirit, that inspires Agape, meaning Love of God and for God. These ideas are naturally of such a character that limiting them by analysis seems like blasphemy. Although these ideas have taken on a new meaning in the Aeon of Horus, wherein each and every human being is the Crowned and Conquering Child, a God, or Goddess who no longer needs the superstition of the Old Aeon to maintain a connection with that which is truly divine. Herein lies its own difficulty, which is that of responsibility, as there is no compass in this New Aeon, the shores are yet unexplored, but as ever they are eternal. To find truth without direction is a hard task and so we are fitted with the responsibility to know ourselves at the beginning, hence the self is one’s only map towards truth. Who am I, is to say what is eternity, or what is God?

In order for any of us to find our True Wills we must explore, those things that we love, the things that fill us with joy are hints to the nature of each’s being and after we must look to the things to which we are averse and ruminate on what the reason for the aversion may be. As all human beings are animals, how is it, that another person can find beauty in that by which I am repulsed, what do they see or feel that I don't? This is how we explore the nature of our souls, each of us is entirely unique, and in our uniqueness lies one’s very important relationship with Nature. To fully unite with Nature is the aim of magick, she is our mother; and she guides us through life and often her face provokes panic. We are always reminded by this rumination never to avert our eyes and cower away, to stay strong, as in her lay the gifts of magick power. Perhaps one may admit, that the most terrifying, the most uncomfortable parts of her, are the ones that we must most strive to understand and to fall in love and unite with. This falling in love is continual and it is a struggle, as it should be, indeed it is violent and painful and very beautiful. It is this love of life and struggle, that in a sense must be one’s lover, through whom we continually grow and develop insights that without her, were impossible.  

“Love is the law, love under will.”