Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
CHRISTIAN,CHRISTIANS

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ound 1280-1290 a.d. in guadalajara. it included commentaries on the torah. gnosticism: gnosis is a greek term for knowledge. the term gnosis applies to certain religious sects that emerged during the early formative years christianity, and which believed in hidden spiritual knowledge. the main factor that differentiated them from christianity was their emphasis on knowledge rather than faith. the christian church fathers considered the gnostics heretical, or heretics. kether: the first emanation on the tree of life. occultists identify kether as the state of consciousness where creation merges with the veils of nonexistence. kether lies on the middle pillar and transcends the duality of chokmah (male) and binah (female) which lie immediately below on the tree. it is therefore symbolized in

1 10 INITIATION CEREMONY

man, bull and eagle. around the great central lamp which is an image of the sun, is the great mother of heaven, symbolized by the letter heh, the first of the single letters, and by its number 5, the pentagram, malkah the bride, ruling in her kingdom malkuth, crowned with a crown of twelve stars. these twelve circles further represent the 12 foundations of the holy city of the apocalypse while in christian symbolism the sun and the twelve signs are referred to christ and his twelve apostles. heg: leads neophyte to hiereus and then returns to his place and is seated. hiereus: leads neophyte to the south, and says: hiereus: on the southern side of the holy place stood the seven branched candlestick, wherein was burned pure olive oil. it is an image of the mystery of the elohim, the seven cre

ee it is called thraa, the gate, which has the same number as the great name adonai, written in full: aleph, daleth, nun, yod, which both equal 671 in total numeration. it is also called the gate of death, the gate of tears, and the gate of justice, the gate of prayer, and the gate of the daughter of the mighty ones. it is also called the gate of the garden of eden and the inferior mother, and in christian symbolism, it is connected with the three holy women at the foot of the cross. the tenth path of the sepher yetzirah which answereth to malkuth is called the resplendent intelligence, because it exalts above every head and sitteth upon the throne of binah. it illuminateth the splendor of all the lights, the zohar me-ou roth and causeth the current of the divine influx to descend from the

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

repodo^oi, fiap^apoi were not used in that sense; but with the jews and christians of the n.t. are contrasted 'idvos, wvta, idvikol, lat. gentes, gentiles; ulphilas uses the pi. thiudos, and by preference in the gen. after a pronoun, thai thiudo, simrai thiudo (giiamm. 4, 441, 457, while thiudiskus translates idvikws gal. 2, 14. as it was mainly the greek religion that stood opposed to the judteo-christian, the word"exx.r;y also assumed the meaning iovikos, and we meet with (k\r)vik(ioi= i6vikoii, which the goth would still have rendered thiudiiilcos, as he does render "exxf^i/e? thiudos, john 7, 35. 12, 20. 1 cor. 1, 24. 12, 13; only in 1 cor. 1, 22 he prefers krekos. this "exx ;i/=gentills bears also the meaning of giant, which has developed itself out of more than one national name (hun

nvasion was gradually checked, the newly converted lands began to gather strength and to turn their arms against the heathen left in their rear. slowly, step by step, heathendom gave way to christendom. five hundred years after christ, but few nations of europe believed in him; after a thousand years the majority did, and those the most important, yet not all (see suppl. from greece and italy the christian faith passed into gaul first of all, in the second and thiid centuries. about the year 300, or soon after, we find here and there a christian among the germans on the ehine, especially the alamanni; and about the same time or a little earlier^ among the goths. the goths were the first teutonic people amongst whom christianity gained a firm footing; this occurred in the course of the four

ourse of the seventli century, they also went over to the new faith. the danes became christians in the tenth century, the norwegians at the beginning of the eleventh, the swedes not completely^ waltz's ulfua, p. 35. intkoduction. 3 till the second half of the same century. about the same time cliristianity made its way to iceland. of the slavic nations the south slavs were the first to adopt the christian faith: the carentani, and under heraclius (d. 640) the croatians, then, 150 years after the former, the moravians in the eighth and ninth centuries. among the north slavs, the obotritie in the ninth, bohemians^ and poles in the tenth, sorbs in the eleventh, and eussians at the end of the tentl then the hungarians at the beginning of the eleventh, livonians and lettons in the twelfth, est

and lowly. when chlodowig (clovis) received baptism, and the salian franks followed his lead, individuals out of all the frankish tribes had already set the example. intercourse with burgundians and west-goths had inclined them to the arian doctrine, while the catholic found adherents in other parts of gaul. here the two came into collision. one sister of chlodowig, lantlnld, had become an arian christian before his conversion, the other, albofled, had remained a heatlien; the latter was now baptized with him, and the former was also won over to the catholic communion^ but even in the sixth and seventh centuries heathenism was not yet uprooted in certain districts of the frankish kingdom. neustria 1 fourteen bohemian princes baptized 845; see palacky 1, 110. the middle north-slavs riaderi

r borrowed glory could henceforth be shed on places in one's native land. the new faith came in escorted by a foreign language, which the missionaries imparted to their disciples and thus exalted into a sacred language, which excluded the slighted mother-tongue from almost all share in public worship. this does not apply to the greek-speaking countries, which could follow the original text of the christian revelation, but it does to the far wider area over which the latin church-language was spread, even among eomauce populations, whose ordinary dialect was rapidly emancipating itself from the rules of ancient latin. still more violent was the contrast in the remaining kingdoms. the converters of the heathen, sternly devout, abstemious, mortifying the flesh, occasionally peddhng, headstron

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

ycles of the moon, and dating from between 13000 and 11000 bc, was found in france in a cave at the abri du roc aux sorciers at angles-sur-l'anglin. this motif continued right through to the triple goddess of the celts, reflecting the lunar cycles as maiden, mother and crone, an image that also appeared throughout the classical world. witchcraft and the early christians after the formation of the christian church, the worship of the old deities and the old ways were banned and the nature festivals supplanted by christian ones. the christians were pragmatic, however, and pope gregory, who sent st augustine to england in ad 597, acknowledged that it was simpler to graft the christian festivals on to the existing festivals of the solstices and equinoxes. so, easter, for example, was celebrate

d to focus, but they may, equally, ignore the importance of learning through experience and the heart. witchcraft within covens a coven is a group of members of a unit of witchcraft and, in fact, can number anything from two to 13, or even more. the number 13 is traditionally designated by the 13 moon cycles that make up one year, and 13 is the number of the goddess (hence it became unlucky under christian influence. gardenerian covens generally number 13. some covens are affiliated formally or informally to specific traditions, but they increasingly unite for organisational as well as legal and political strength, particularly in australia and parts of the usa. on-line covens are also springing up and they are an excellent way for solitary practitioners to gain support and information. re

for all rituals of women's power, especially when they must take the initiative, and she is easier to work with than kali. triple goddesses the triple goddesses are for lunar magic and moving from one stage to another in the life cycle. brighid brighid, the celtic triple goddess, is patroness of smiths, poets and healers and has the longest enduring cult in ireland, which merged into that of the christian st bridget of kildare. her name means 'high one' and she is sometimes seen as three sisters, daughters of the god dagda, the divine father, or as the triple-aspected maiden, mother and crone. she is invoked in fertility and healing magick and also for creativity, especially involving the written word. there are a number of sacred wells throughout england, wales and ireland dedicated to h

st bridget of kildare. her name means 'high one' and she is sometimes seen as three sisters, daughters of the god dagda, the divine father, or as the triple-aspected maiden, mother and crone. she is invoked in fertility and healing magick and also for creativity, especially involving the written word. there are a number of sacred wells throughout england, wales and ireland dedicated to her or her christian counterpart. deities of the environment invoke these deities for rituals involving all aspects of the environment and for healing the planet. gaia gaia is the all-embracing and all-nourishing goddess of the earth. it is said that she supplies in her bounty all the necessary plants to cure any disease and, in spite of human pollution, she constantly heals and renews the planet. she is als

transforms death into new more perfect life. she can be invoked for all waning moon magic and for rituals for banishing sorrows and bad habits. charges charges are declarations of the powers of the gods or godesses involved in the ritual, and are in themselves empowering and a way of linking the practitioner's own divine spark with that represented by the divinity. they are similar to creeds in a christian religious service. the charge of the goddess the charge of the goddess is a powerful way of focusing on cosmic energies. the goddess is considered to be both 'transcendent, or above and beyond the created universe (like the traditional idea of god on a cloud, looking down and judging creation, and also 'immanent, or manifest within every natural object, be it flower, stone, animal or per

ABRAMELIN1

of the philosopher s stone, he and his wife pernelle caused a handsome peristyle to be erected. from his own account, the author of the present work appears to have been born in a.d. 1362, and to have written this manuscript for his son, lamech, in 1458, being then in his ninety-sixth year. that is to say, that he was the contemporary both of nicholas flamel and pernelle, and also of the mystical christian rosenkreutz, the founder of the celebrated rosicrucian order or fraternity in europe. like the latter, he appears to have been very early seized with the desire of obtaining magical knowledge; like him and flamel, he left his home and travelled in search of the initiated wisdom; like them both, he returned to become a worker of wonders. at this period, it was almost universally believed

and probably the archbishop albert of magdeburg: and also some of the hussite leaders a roll of names celebrated in the history of that stirring time. considering the era in which our author lived, and the nation to which he belonged, he appears to have been somewhat broad in his religious views; for not only does he insist that this sacred system of magic may be attained by any one, whether jew, christian, mahometan, or pagan, but he also continually warns lamech against the error of changing the religion in which one has been brought up; and he alleges this circumstance as the reason of the occasional failures of the magician joseph of paris (the only other person he mentions besides himself and abra-melin who was acquainted with this particular system of magic, namely that having been b

ahometan, or pagan, but he also continually warns lamech against the error of changing the religion in which one has been brought up; and he alleges this circumstance as the reason of the occasional failures of the magician joseph of paris (the only other person he mentions besides himself and abra-melin who was acquainted with this particular system of magic, namely that having been brought up a christian, he had renounced that faith and become a jew. at first sight it does not seem clear from the occult point of view what particular occult disadvantage should be attached to such a line of action. but we must remember, that in his age, the conversion to another religion invariably meant an absolute, solemn and thorough renunciation and denial of any truth in the religion previously profes

ypt, where constantly travelling for the space of four years in one direction and another, the more i practised the experiments of the magic of rabbin moses, the less did it please me. i pursued my voyage towards our ancient country, where i fixed my residence for a year, and neither saw nor heard of any other thing but misery, calamity, and unhappiness. after this period of time, i there found a christian who also was travelling in order to find that which i was seeking also myself. having made an agreement together, we resolved to go into the desert parts of arabia for the search for that which we ardently desired; feeling sure that, as we had been told, there were in those places many just and very learned men, who dwelt there in order to be able to study without any hindrance, and to d

pirits judged him unworthy of their visits and conversation; and the evil spirits mocked him to a ridiculous extent. at times, indeed, they spake to him voluntarily and by caprice, and obeyed him in matters vile, profane, and of no account, in order the better to entrap, deceive and hinder him from searching further for the true and certain foundation of this great science. at argentine i found a christian called james, who was reputed as a learned and very skilful man; but his art was the art of the juggler, or cup and balls player; and not that of the magician. in the town of prague i found a wicked man named antony, aged twenty-five years, who in truth showed me wonderful and supernatural things, but may god preserve us from falling into so great an error, for the infamous wretch avowed

ABRAMELIN2

ins, and will especially seek to dispute with you concerning your religion and your faith in god: if you be a jew they will tell you that your faith and your religion have been refuted by god himself, and that you observe not the true law as it should be (observed: also if you be a pagan they will say, what hath god to do with you or his creatures either, seeing that you know not god? if you be a christian they will say unto you, what business is it of yours to have to do with hebrew ceremonies which are tainted with idolatry, and the like? but let none of this disquiet you in the least; answer them in few words, and laughingly, that it is none of their business to discuss these matters with you, and to deliver their opinions concerning them; and that although you may be a worthless wretch

ADEPTUS MINOR INITIATION

cond" tkrp" third "which is the veil of the sanctum sanctorum" chief "mighty adeptus major, what is the mystic number of this grade" second "21" chief: associate adeptus minor, what is the password formed therefrom? third "a" chief "h" third "y" 4 chief "h" third "hyha (vibrates loudly) chief "mighty adeptus major, what is the vault of the adepti" second "the symbolic burying place of our founder christian rosenkreutz, which he made to represent the universe" chief "associate adeptus minor, in what part of it is he buried" third "in the center of the heptagonal sides and beneath the altar, his head being toward the east" chief "mighty adeptus major, why in the center" second "because that is the point of perfect equilibrium" chief "associate adeptus minor, what does the mystic name of our

was placed in a cloister where he learned both greek and latin. while yet a youth, he accompanied a certain brother p.a.l. on a pilgrimage to the holy land, but the latter, dying at cyprus, he himself went to damascus. there was then in arabia a temple of the order which was called in the hebrew tongue 'damkar' that is, the blood of the lamb. there he was duly initiated, and took the mystic title christian rosenkreutz, or christian of the rosy cross. he then so far improved his knowledge of the arabian tongue that in the following year he translated the book 'm' into latin, which he afterwards brought back with him to europe. after three years, he went on into egypt, where there was another temple of the order. there he remained for a time still studying the mysteries of nature. after this

pus christi, they should meet at the collegium ad spiritum sanctum, or write the cause of absence. 4) every one should look for some worthy person of either sex, who after his decease might succeed him. 5) the word r.c. to be their mark, seal and character "the fraternity to remain secret for one hundred years. five of the fraters were to travel in different countries, and two were to remain with christian rosenkreutz" second "frater i.o. was the first to die, and then in england where he had wrought many wonderful cures. he was an expert qabbalist as his book 'h' witnessed. his death had been previously foretold him by c.r.c. but those who were later admitted were of the first order, and knew not when c.r. died, and save what they learned from frater a, the successor of d. of the second o

way of truth' third "thus then, did frater n.n. and his companions, having moved aside the circular altar, and having raised the brazen plate or lid of the pastos, discover the body of our founder, with all the ornaments and insignia as here shown before you. upon his breast was the book 't, a scroll explaining in full the mystic tarot; at the end of which was written a brief paragraph concerning christian rosenkreutz, beneath which the earlier fraters had inscribed their names. following this came the names of the three highest chiefs of the order, frater hugo alverda, the phrisian, in the 576th year of his age. frater franciscus de bry, the gaul, in the 495th year of his age. frater elman zata, the arab, in the 463rd year of his age. last of all was written: ex deo nascimur; in hwchy mor

ALEISTER CROWLEY EIGHT LECTURES ON YOGA

l. he should also practise assiduously liber iii. vel jugorum. the essence of this practice is that you select a familiar thought, word or gesture, one which automatically recurs fairly often during the day, and every time you are betrayed into using it, cut yourself sharply upon the wrist or forearm with a convenient instrument. there is also a practice which i find very useful when walking in a christian city- that of exorcising (with the prescribed outward and downward sweep of the arm and the words 'apo pantos kakodaimonos) any person in religious garb. all these practices assist concentration, and also serve to keep one on the alert. they form an invaluable preliminary training for the colossal work of genuine concentration when it comes to be a question of the fine, growing constantl

s of experience is based upon the possibility of expressing our impressions in adequate terms; and this is not at all the case with the results of magick and yoga. as we have already seen, every attempt at expression in ordinary language is futile. where the hero of the adventure is tied up with a religious theory, we get the vapid and unctuous bilgewater of people like st. john of the cross. all christian mystics are tarred with the same brush. their abominable religion compels them to every kind of sentimentality; and the theory of original sin vitiates their whole position, because instead of the noble and inspiring trance of sorrow they have nothing but the miserable, cowardly, and selfish sense of guilt to urge them to undertake the work. 15. i think we may dismiss altogether from our

ush. their abominable religion compels them to every kind of sentimentality; and the theory of original sin vitiates their whole position, because instead of the noble and inspiring trance of sorrow they have nothing but the miserable, cowardly, and selfish sense of guilt to urge them to undertake the work. 15. i think we may dismiss altogether from our minds every claim to experience made by any christian of whatever breed of spiritual virus as a mere morbid reflection, the apish imitation of the true ecstasies and trances. all expressions of the real thing must partake of the character of that thing, and therefore only that language is permissible which is itself released from the canon of ordinary speech, exactly as the trance is unfettered by the laws of ordinary consciousness. in othe

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

igher self, via a process of individuation that is active and dynamic (being brought about by the "patient" himself) as opposed to the passive depth analysis of the jungian adepts, lovecraft's cthulhu mythos was meant for entertainment. scholars, of course, are able to find higher, ulterior motives in lovecraft's writings, as can be done with any manifestation of art. lovecraft depicted a kind of christian myth of the struggle between opposing forces of light and darkness, between god and satan, in the cthulhu mythos. some critics may complain that this smacks more of the manichaen heresy than it does of genuine christian dogma; yet, as a priest and former monk, i believe it is fair to say that this dogma is unfortunately very far removed from the majority of the faithful to be of much con

andrew, apostle, for november 30, that bears the legend "ecce qui tollis peccata mundi- behold him who taketh away the sins of the world- and the picture above it is of the atomic bomb! basically, there are two "sets" of gods in the mythos: the elder gods, about whom not much is revealed, save that they are a stellar race that occasionally comes to the rescue of man, and which corresponds to the christian "light; and the ancient ones, about which much is told, sometimes in great detail, who correspond to "darkness. these latter are the evil gods who wish nothing but ill for the race of man, and who constantly strive to break into our world through a gate or door that leads from the outside, in. there are certain people, among us, who are devotees of the ancient ones, and who try to open t

hinese yin-yang symbol. but what of inanna, the single planetary deity having a female manifestation among the sumerians? she is invoked in the necronomicon and identified as the vanquisher of death, for she descended into the underworld and defeated her sister, the goddess of the abyss, queen ereshkigal (possibly another name for tiamat. interestingly enough, the myth has many parallels with the christian concept of christ's death and resurrection, among which the crucifixion (inanna was impaled on a stake as a corpse, the three days in the sumerian hades, and the eventual resurrection are outstanding examples of how sumerian mythology previewed the christian religion by perhaps as many as three thousand years- a fact that beautifully illustrates the cosmic and eternal nature of this myth

fantastic assumption, the sumerian origin of the feast of lammas. indeed, it seems just as valid as the ideas of idries shah concerning craft etymology as presented in his book, the sufis. it is also not far-fetched to assume that these four beasts were known to the entire region of the middle east, as they appear on the sphinx in egypt, and have become the symbols of the four evangelists of the christian new testament- an ironic and splendid result of the ignorance of the greek religious historians concerning the ancient mysteries! probable the most inconsistent concept the sumerians possesses with reference to the craft is the naming of the goddess as a deity, not of the moon (as the craft would have it, but of the planet venus. the moon was governed by a male divinity, nanna (like inan

phases of the moon, and were symbolic of divinity in many cultures around the world, and were also thought to represent certain animals who were horned, and worshipped for their particular qualities, such as the goat and bull. they also represent sexual power. the fact that, in ancient sumeria and egypt, horns were solely representative of evil gods, but of many different deities, was used by the christian church in their attempt to eradicate pagan faiths. it was a simple enough symbol to identify with the author of evil, satan, which the church depicted as a half-animal, half-human creature with horns, claws, and sometimes a tail. the church's use of the horns as a sort of archetype of evil is quite similar to the feeling many people have today with regards to the swastika used by the naz

ALEISTER CROWLEY BOOK OF LIES

the master of the temple; and he spake not. the ash thereof was burnt up by the magus into the word. of all this did the ipsissimus know nothing. book of lies get any book for free on: www.abika.com 21 [22] commentary( digamma) this chapter is presumably called caviar because that substance is composed of many spheres. the account given of creation is the same as that familiar to students of the christian tradition, the logos transforming the unity into the many. we then see what different classes of people do with the many. the rationalist takes the six sephiroth of microprosopus in a crude state, and declares them to be the universe. this folly is due to the pride of reason. the adept concentrates the microcosm in tiphareth, recognising an unity, even in the microcosm, but, qua adept, h

gend, that of the prophet who heard "a going in the mulberry tops; and to browning's phrase "a bruised, blackblooded mulberry. in the world's tragedy, household gods, the scorpion, and also the god-eater, the reader may study the efficacy of rape, and the sacrifice of blood, as magical formulae. blood and virginity have always been the most acceptable offerings to all the gods, but especially the christian god. in the last paragraph, the reason of this is explained; it is because such sacrifices come under the great law of the rosy cross, the giving-up of the individuality, as has been explained as nauseam in previous chapters. we shall frequently recur to this subject. by "the wheel spinning in the spire" is meant the manifestation of magical force, the spermatozoon in the conical phallus

denses the original steam. around this flows the air, created by earth and water through the action of vegetation. such is the globe; but all this is a mere strain in the aethyr, alpha-iota-theta-eta-rho. here is a new pentagrammaton, presumably suitable for another analysis of the elements; but after a different manner. alpha( alpha) is air; rho( rho) the sun; these are the spirit and the son of christian theology. in the midst is the father, expressed as father-and-mother. i-h (yod and he, eta( eta) being used to express "the mother" instead of epsilon( epsilon, to show that she has been impregnated by the spirit; it is the rough breathing and not the soft. the centre of all is theta( theta, which was originally written as a point in a circle( sun, the sublime hieroglyph of the sun in th

ALEISTER CROWLEY LIBER 777

the absolute recedes; we never grasp it; but in the travelling there is joy. am i no better than a staphylococcus because my ideas still crowd in chains? but we digress. the last attempts to tabulate knowledge are the kabbala denudata of knorr von rosenroth (a work incomplete and, in some of its parts, prostituted to the service of dogmatic interpretation, the lost symbolism of the vault in which christian rosenkreutz is said to have been buried, some of the work of dr. dee and sir edward kelly, some very imperfect tables in cornelius agrippa, the art of raymond lully, some of the very artificial effusions of the esoteric theosophists, and of late years the knowledge of the order ros rube et aure crucis and the hermetic order of the golden dawn. unluckily, the leading spirit in these latte

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

is called chaos- the dyad. the number three, the mother, is called babalon. in connection with this the reader should study "the temple of solomon the king" in equinox i, v, and liber 418. this first triad is essentially unity, in a manner transcending reason. the comprehension of this trinity is a matter of spiritual experience. all true gods are attributed to this trinity<christian trinity are of a nature suited only to initiates of the ix degree of o.t.o, as they enclose the final secret of all practical magick> an immeasurable abyss divides it from all manifestations of reason or the lower qualities of man. in the ultimate analysis of reason, we find all reason identified with this abyss. yet this abyss is the crown of the mind. purely intellectual faculties all

say so much when walter pater has told the story with such sympathy and insight. we will not further transgress by dwelling upon the identity of this legend with the course of nature, its madness, its prodigality, its intoxication, its joy, and above all its sublime persistence through the cycles of life and death. the pagan reader must labour to understand this in pater's "greek studies, and the christian reader will recognise it, incident for incident, in the story of christ. this legend is but the dramatization of spring. the magician who wishes to invoke bacchus by this method must therefore arrange a ceremony in which he takes the part of bacchus, undergoes all his trials, and emerges triumphant from beyond death. he must, however, be warned against mistaking the symbolism. in this ca

y and other sexual deficiencies in many forms. these are the people who have not understood, accepted, and used even the formula of osiris. kin to them are the "once-born" of william james, who are incapable of philosophy, magick, or even religion, but seek instinctively a refuge from the horror of contemplating nature, which they do not comprehend, in soothing-syrup affirmations such as those of christian science, spiritualism, and all the sham 'occult' creeds, as well as the emasculated forms of so-called christianity. as zoroaster says "explore the river of the soul; whence and in what order thou has come" one cannot do one's true will intelligently unless one knows what it is. liber thisarb, equinox i, vii, give instructions for determining this by calculating the resultant of the forc

it is rare (and it is unimportant for the reasons stated above) that one's memory should be confirmed by what may be called, contemptuously, external evidence. it was indeed a reliable contribution to psychology to remark that an evil and adulterous generation sought for a sign (even so, the permanent value of the observation is to trace the genealogy of the pharisee- from caiaphas to the modern christian) signs mislead, from "painless dentistry" upwards. the fact that anything is intelligible proves that it is addressed to the wrong quarter, because the very existence of language presupposes impotence to communicate directly. when walter raleigh flung his cloak upon the muddy road, he merely expressed, in a cipher contrived by a combination of circumstances, his otherwise inexpressible w

s in accordance with psychological, physiological, and physical law, the nose will remain unblown through all eternity. writers of magick have been unsparing in their efforts to instruct us in the preparation of the will, but they seem to have imagined that no further precaution was necessary. there is a striking case of an epidemic of this error whose history is familiar to everybody. i refer to christian science, and the cognate doctrines of "mental healing" and the like. the theory of such people, stripped of dogmatic furbelows, is perfectly good magic of its kind, its negroid kind. the idea is correct enough: matter is an illusion created by will through mind, and consequently susceptible of alteration at the behest of its creator. but the practice has been lacking. they have not devel

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS

one great purpose. rahoor is the sun god; tahuti is the egyptian mercury; kephra is the sun at midnight. about your problems; what i have to do is to try to teach you to think clearly. you will be immensely stimulated by having all the useless trimmings stripped from your thinking apparatus. for instance, i don't think you know the first principles of logic. you apparently take up a more or less christian attitude, but at the same time you like very much the idea of karma. you cannot have both. the question about money does not arise. this old and very good rule (which magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 14 i have always kept) was really pertinent to the time when there were actual secrets. but i have published openly all the secrets. all i can do is to train you i

before the horse. don't you see that, if i were trying to get you to do something or other, i should simply return you to the kind of answer which i thought would satisfy you, and make you happy? and this would be very easy to do because you have got no clear ideas about anything. for one thing, you keep on using terms about whose significance we are not yet in agreement. when you talk about the "christian path" do you believe in vicarious atonement and eternal damnation- or don't you? a great deal of the confusion that arises in all these questions, and grows constantly worse as fellow-students talk them over- the blind leading the blind- is because they have no idea of the necessity of defining their terms. then again, you ask me questions like "what is purity" that can be answered in a

purpose; all that we need to know is that the strongest prop of the monist structure has broken off short. moreover, is it really adequate to postulate an origin of the universe, as they inevitably do? merely to deny that there ever was a beginning by saying that this "one" is eternal fails to satisfy me. what is very much worse, i cannot see that to call evil "illusion" helps us at all. when the christian scientist hears that his wife has been savagely mauled by her peke, he has to smile, and say that "there is a magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 72 claim of error" not good enough. n. it has taken a long while to clear the ground. that i did not expect; the above propositions are so familiar to me, they run so cleanly through my mind, that, until i came to set th

lmost exclusively from the black tradition in the different stages. we have already mentioned the evangelical cults with their ferocious devil-god magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 92 who creates mankind for the pleasure of damning it and forcing it to crawl before him, while he yells with druken glee over the agony of his only son34. but in the same class, we must place christian science, so grotesquely afraid of pain, suffering and evil of every sort, that its dupes can think of nothing better than to bleat denials of its actuality, in the hope of hypnotizing themselves into anaesthesia. practically no westerns have reached the third stage of the black tradition, the buddhist stage. it is only isolated mystics, and those men who rank themselves with a contemptuo

pair at its utmost degree of intensity, and the melancholy contemplation which is induced by their perusal is not favourable to the inception of that mood which should lead every truly courageous intelligence to the determination to escape from the 33* anti-semite writers in europe- e.g. weininger- call the black theory and practice judaism, while by a curious confusion, the same ideas are called christian among anglo-saxons. in 1936 e.v. the "nazi" school began to observe this fact. 34* n.b. christianity was in its first stage a jewish communism, hardly distinguishable from marxism. 52 magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 93 ferule of the black schoolmaster to the outstretched arms of the white mistress of life. let us leave the sinister figure of schopenhauer for t

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

cribe his experiences to "jehovah" although his gentle spirit could have had nothing in common with the monster who was always commanding the rape of virgins and the murder of little children, and whose rites were then, and still are, celebrated by human sacrifice<jews in eastern europe which surprise the ignorant, are almost invariably excited by the disappearance of "christian" children, stolen, as the parents suppose, for the purposes of "ritual murder<blood-libel" myth was later recanted by crowley. the blood-libel was visited upon early christians by the romans and is visited today upon thelemites by christian fundamentalists> similarly the visions of joan of arc were entirely christian; but she, like all

ereby on the mind. but this is true of all phenomena, as berkeley and kant have proved beyond all question. this matter, then, need not concern us. we may, however, provisionally accept the view that dhyana is real; more real and thus of more importance to ourselves than all other experience. this state has been described not only by the hindus and buddhists, but by mohammedans and christians. in christian writings, however, the deeply-seated dogmatic bias has rendered their documents worthless to the average man. they ignore the essential conditions of dhyana, and insist on the inessential, to a much greater extent than the best indian writers. but to any one with experience and some knowledge of comparative religion the identity is certain. we may now proceed to samadhi. 37 chapter vii s

the lordship of the soul" there is a modest statement in good literary form. if we can only do as well as that! in the first place, what is the meaning of the term? etymologically "sam" is the greek in greek alphabet: sigma-upsilon-nu- the english prefix "syn" meaning "together with "adhi" means "lord" and a reasonable translation of the whole word would be "union with god" the exact term used by christian mystics to describe their attainment. now there is great confusion, because the buddhists use the word samadhi to mean something entirely different, the mere faculty of attention. thus, with them, to think of a cat is to "make samadhi" on that cat. they use the word jhana to describe mystic states. this is excessively misleading, for as we saw in the last section, dhyana is a preliminary

e are truly wise, to avoid this everlasting wail which characterizes the thought of the indian peninsula "everything is sorrow" etc. accepting their doctrine of the two phases of the absolute, we must, if we are to be consistent, class the two phases together, either as good or as bad; if one is good and the other bad we are back again in that duality, to avoid which we invented the absolute. the christian idea that sin was worth while because salvation was so much more worth while, that redemption is so splendid that innocence was well lost, is more satisfactory. st. paul says "where sin abounded, there did grace much more abound. then shall we do evil that good may come? god forbid" but (clearly) it is exactly what god himself did, or why did he create satan with the germ of his "fall" i

sights. surgical operations and dancing girls are fruitful fields for the beginner. in reading emotional books such as are inflicted on children, let him always endeavour to see the event from the standpoint opposite to that of the author. yet let him not emulate the partially emancipated child who complained of a picture of the colosseum that "there was one 95 poor little lion who hadn't got any christian" except in the first instance. adverse criticism is the first step; the second must go further. having sympathized sufficiently with both the lions and the christians, let him open his eyes to that which his sympathy had masked hitherto, that the picture is abominably conceived, abominably composed, abominably drawn, and abominably coloured, as it is pretty sure to be. let him further st

ALEISTER CROWLEY TAO TEH KING

hilosophical masters without prejudice such as had always rendered nugatory the efforts of missionary sinologists and indeed all oriental scholars with the single exception of rhys davids. until his time translators had invariably assumed, with absurd naivite, or more often arrogant bigotry, that a chinese writer must either be putting forth a more or less distorted and degraded variation of some christian conception, or utterly puerile absurdities. even so great a man as max muller in his introduction to the upanishads seems only half inclined to admit that the apparent triviality and folly of many passages in these so-called sacred writings might owe their appearance to our ignorance of the historical and religious circumstances, a knowledge of which would render them intelligible. durin

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE BANNED LECTURE

watered himself. 3. the tao of heaven is like an arrow, yet it woundeth not; and the wise man, in all his works, maketh no contention.etra-hoor-khuit network's magickal library the banned lecture gilles de rais to have been delivered before the university poetry society by aleister crowley on the evening of monday, feb.3rd.1930 long ago when king brahmadatta reigned in benares, a gentleman whose christian names were thomas henry- you possible have heard of him- he was no less apersonage than the grandfather of the great aldous huxley- once found himself threatened be a perdicament similar to that in which i stand tonite. he had been asked to lecture a distinguished group of people. what bothered him was this: what assumption was he to make about the existing knowledge of the audience? he

t under strong suspicion of heresy. i need not quote the obvious names. but there were certain bodies of people who did carry on the old knowledge, mostly by oral tradition, and who were perforce tolerated to a certain extent, because even the little knowledge that they did possess was so exceedingly useful. the best way to make armour, or to build cathedrals, or to heal sickness would enable the christian to get ahead of his friends. therefore, although conscience evidently demanded the maximum amount of persecution compatible with the existence of villains, the jews and the arabs were at least allowed to live. besides, the arabs saw to the themselves. but no one was better aware than the pope that knowledge was power. for all he know, and he probably knew that he did no know much, the je

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE HEART OF THE MASTER

he east and west? then there burst out on a sudden a whiteness on the chart, as if the stain had been expunged (albeit not wholly by the sweep of steel) and this word writ in curving characters scimitar-sharp mohammed. next was a name sore blurred: sir edward kelly, with one writ in cipher. and in the centre of all, within the emblem of a ruby rose of five petals upon a golden cross was engraved: christian rosencreutz (for so were the brethren discreet to conceal his true name. after whom came three names great and terrible that i write not in this place. lastly appeared this newly-writ hieroglyph of the lion, and the name of that brother was hidden from me. then was i shewn the mystery of the words: how in the first period of recorded history men thought that life came from woman alone, a

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE LAW OF LIBERTY

am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union "this is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all" it is shown later how this can be, how death itself is an ecstasy like love, but more intense, the reunion of the soul with its true self. and what are the conditions of this joy, and peace, and glory? is ours the gloomy asceticism of the christian, and the buddhist, and the hindu? are we walking in eternal fear lest some "sin" should cut us off from "grace? by no means "be ye goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines, and wines that foam! also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where, and with whom ye will! but always unto me" this is the only point to bear in mind, that e

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE LOST CONTINENT

a underlying this was in the main a particular case of the general proposition that whatever was natural should be transcended. as will be seen in the final chapter, the very stigma of success in their great work was the transcending of the sexual process. the bond of marriage was not, however, entirely of this negative character. it had its positive side, and here closely resembled the so-called christian doctrine of christ and the church. husband and wife were to be father and daughter, mother and son, brother and sister, teacher and pupil, and above all, friends. and this relation was to subsist on all planes. the hieroglyph of love was a cross; that of marriage, parallel straight lines, and as the cross was to be transcended in the circle, so were these lines to converge not on earth

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

he free and great have always done. the only point to remember is that one is a 'member of the body of god, a star in the body of nuith. this being sure, we are urged to the fullest expansion of our several natures, with special attention to those pleasures which not only express the soul, but aid it to reach the higher developments of that expression. the act of love is to the bourgeois (as the 'christian' is called now-a-days) a gross animal gesture which shames his boasted humanity. the appetite drags him at its hoofs; it tires him, disgusts him, diseases him, makes him ridiculous even in his own eyes. it is the source of nearly all his neuroses. against this monster he has devised two protections. firstly, he pretends that it is a fairy prince disguised, and hangs it with the rags and

man is simple, fearless, eager, he is all right; he will not become a slave. if he is afraid, he is already a slave. let the whole world take opium, hashish, and the rest; those who are liable to abuse them were better dead. for it is in the power of all so-called intoxicating drugs to reveal a man to himself. if this revelation declare a star, then it shines brighter ever after. if it declare a christian- a thing not man nor beast, but a muddle of mind- he craves the drug, no more for its analytical but for its numbing effect. lytton has a great story of this in 'zanoni' glyndon, an uninitiate, takes an elixir, and beholds not adonai the glorious, but the dweller on the threshold; cast out from the sanctuary, he becomes a vulgar drunkard "this folly against self" altruism is a direct ass

ice-born' of william james (varieties of religious experience. thelemites are 'thrice-born' we accept everything for what it is, without 'lust of result' without insisting upon things conforming with a priori ideals, or regretting their failure to do so. we can therefore 'enjoy' all things of sense and rapture' according to their true nature. for example, the average man dreads tuberculosis. the "christian scientist" flees this fear by pretending that the disease is an illusion in "mortal mind" but the thelemite accepts it for what it is, and finds interest in it for its own sake. for him it is a necessary part of the universe; he makes "no difference" between it and any other thing. the artist's position is analogous. rubens, for instance, takes a gross pleasure in female flesh, rendering

. fear, sorrow and failure are but phantoms. al ii,47 "where i am these are not" the old comment 47. hadit knows nothing of these things; he is pure ecstasy. the new comment hadit is everywhere; fear, sorrow, and failure are only 'shadows. it is for this reason that compassion is absurd. it may be objected that "shadows" exist after all; the "pink rats" of an alcoholic are not to be exorcised by 'christian science" methods. very true- they are, in fact, necessary functions of our idea of the universe in its dualistic 'shadow-show. but they do not form any part of hadit, who is beneath all conditions. and they are in a sense less real than their logical contradictories, because they are patently incompatible with the changeless and impersonal. they have their roots in conceptions involving

the number 418; nor had he thought of attaching any importance to the name of the house. he supposed this passage to be mystical, or to refer to some future house. yet on trial we obtain at once- boleskine= beth-vau-lamed-shin-kaph-yod-nun= 418. the new comment pride is the quality of sol, tiphareth; might of mars, geburah. now leo- my rising sign- combines these ideas, as does ra-hoor-khuit. the christian ideas of humility and weakness as 'virtues' are natural to slaves, cowards, and defectives. the type of tailless simian who finds himself a mere forked radish in a universe of giants clamouring for hors d'oeuvres must take refuge from reality in freudian phantasies of 'god. he winces at the touch of truth; and shivers at his nakedness in nature. he therefore invents a cult of fear and sh

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OTO GNOSTIC MASS

hippolytus, that transmitted the light of the gnosis to us their successors and their heirs; with merlin, arthur, kamuret, parzival, and many another, prophet, priest and king, that bore the lance and cup, the sword and disk, against the heathen; and these also, carolus magnus and his paladins, with william of schyren, frederick of hohenstaufen, roger bacon, jacobus burgundus molensis the martyr, christian rosencreutz, ulrich von hutten, paracelsus, michael maier, roderic borgia pope alexander the sixth, jacob boehme, francis bacon lord verulam, andrea, robertus de fluctibus, johannes dee, sir edward kelly, thomas vaughan, elias ashmole, molinos, adam weishaupt, wolfgang von goethe, ludovicus rex bavariae, richard wagner, alphonse louis constant, friedrich nietzsche, hargrave jennings, car

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE QABALAH

shith, the first word in genesis, is made the initial of a word, and we obtain hrwt larcy wlbqyc \yhla har tycarb, be-rashith rahi elohim sheyequebelo israel torah, in the beginning the elohim saw that israel would accept the law. in this connection i may give six very interesting specimens of notariqon formed from this same word tycarb by solom meir ben moses, a jewish qabalist, who embraced the christian faith in 1665, and took the name of prosper rugere. these all have a christian tendency, and by their means prosper converted another jew, who had previously been bitterly opposed to christianity. the first is \ymt djy \tcwlc ba jwr b, ben ruach ab, shaloshethem yechad themim: the son, the spirit, the father, their trinity, perfect unity. the second is wdwbut djy \tcwlc ba jwr b, ben rua

minine on the left, whilst the four uniting sephiroth occupy the centre. this is the qabalistical tree of life, on which all things depend. there is considerable analogy between this and the tree yggdrasil of the scandinavians. i have already remarked that there is one trinity which comprises all the sephiroth, and that it consists of the crown, the king, and the queen (in some senses this is the christian trinity of father, son and holy spirit, which in their highest divine nature are symbolized by the first three sephiroth, kether, chokmah, and binah) it is the trinity which created the world, or, in qabalistic language, the universe was born from the union of the crowned king and queen. but according to the qabalah, before the complete form of the heavenly man (the ten sephiroth) was pr

anation of agla is this: a, the one first; a, the one last; g, the trinity in unity; l, the completion of the great work. but hwhy, the tetragrammaton, as we shall presently see, contains all the sephiroth with the exception of kether, and specially signifies the lesser countenance, microprosopus, the king of the qabalistic sephirothic greatest trinity, and the son in his human incarnation in the christian acceptation of the trinity. therefore, as the son reveals the father, so does hwhy reveal hyha. and ynda is the queen by whom alone tetragrammaton can be grasped, whose exaltation into binah is found in the christian assumption of the virgin. the tetragrammaton hwhy is referred to the sephiroth thus: the uppermost point of the letter yod, y, is said to refer to kether; the letter y itsel

which expressed these ideas to the wise. as these formulas are done with, it is of no consequence if i reveal them. truth is not eternal, any more than god; and it would be but a poor god that could and did not alter his ways at his pleasure. this formula was used to open the vault of the mystic mountain of abiegnus, within which lay (so the ceremony of initiation supposed) the body of our father christian rosen creutz, to be discovered by the brethren with the postulant as said in the book called fama fraternitatis. there are three officers, and they repeat the analysis of the word as follows: chief. let us analyse the key word i. 2nd. n. 3rd. r. all. i. chief. yod. y 2nd. nun. n 3rd. resh. r all. yod. y chief. virgo (f) isis, mighty mother. 2nd. scorpio (h) apophis, destroyer. 3rd. sol)

f the cross. liber lviii 19 this formula, on which one may meditate for years without exhausting its wonderful harmonics, gives an excellent idea of the way in which qabalistic analysis is conduct. first, the letters have been written in hebrew characters. then the attributions of them to the zodiac and to planets are substituted, and the names of egyptian gods belonging to these are invoked. the christian idea of i.n.r.i. is confirmed by these, while their initials form the sacred word of the gnostics. that is, iao. from the character of the deities and their functions are deduced their signs, and these are found to signal (as it were) the word lux (rwa, which itself is contained in the cross. a careful study of these ideas, and of the table of correspondences, which one of our english br

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

song* the name of siegfried s sword. introduction to ascension day and pentecost not a word to introduce my introduction! let me instantly launch the boat of discourse on the sea of religious speculation, in danger of the rocks of authority and the quicksands of private interpretation, scylla and charybdis. here is the strait; what god shall save us from shipwreck? if we choose to understand the christian (or any other) religion literally, we are at once overwhelmed by its inherent impossibility. our credulity is outraged, our moral sense shocked, the holiest foundations of our inmost selves assailed by no ardent warrior in triple steel, but by a loathy and disgusting worm. that this is so, the apologists for the religion in question, whichever it may be, sufficiently indicate (as a rule)

ee with nearly everything they say, but their claim to be christians is utterly confusing, and lends a lustre to christianity which is quite foreign. deussen, for example, coolly discards nearly all the old testament, and, picking a few new testament passages, often out of their context, claims his system as christianity. luther discards james. kingsford calls paul the arch heretic. my friend the christian clergyman accepted mark and acts until pushed. yet deussen is honest enough to admit that vedanta teaching is identical, but clearer! and he quite clearly and sensibly defines faith surely the most essential quality for the adherent to christian dogma as being convinced on insufficient evidence. similarly the dying-to-live idea of hegel (and schopenhauer) claimed by caird as the central

n insufficient evidence. similarly the dying-to-live idea of hegel (and schopenhauer) claimed by caird as the central spirit of christianity is far older, in the osiris myth of the egyptians. these ideas are all right, but they have no more to do with christianity than the metric system with the great pyramid. but see piazzi smyth! henry morley has even the audacity to claim shelley shelley! as a christian in spirit. talking of shelley: with regard to my open denial of the personal christian god, may it not be laid to my charge that i have dared to voice in bald language what shelley* as represented by his encylop dia article; not in such works as limits of religious thought. a.c. an astronomer whose brain gave way. he prophesied the end of the world in 1881, from measurements made in the

ll chat about it; no need to show teeth, claws of cat about it! with gentle words fiat exordium; exeat dolor, intret gaudium* it had a design of 666 and crowley s name in hebrew (which, like most names, adds up to that figure) on the reverse. ascension day 9 aim of poet. indignation of poet. poet defies his uncle. whip and spur. sporting offer. the times competition outdone. sub-species of genus christian included in poet s strictures. we ll have the ham to logic s sandwich 145 of indignation: last bread bland, which after our scorn of god s lust, terror, hate, prometheus-fired, we ll butter, perorate with oiled indifference, laughter s silver: omne hoc verbum valet nil, vir! 150 let me help babu chander grish up! as by a posset of hunyadi38 clear mind! was soudan of the mahdi not cleared

ly hap the sword of song 10 ascension day. moral aspect of christianity to be discussed to prejudice of the metaphysical. orthodoxy to be our doxy. gipsies barred. henrik ibsen and h. g. wells. parson and poet. fugitive nature of dogma in these latter days. the higher criticism. panel* in libel i bewail me (funny how english seems to fail me) so, as a surgeon to a man, sir, 185 let me excise your christian cancer impersonally, without vanity, just in pure love of poor humanity! here s just the chance you d have! behold the warm sun tint with early gold 190 yon spire: to-day s event provide my text of wrath ascension-tide! oh! tis a worthy day to wrest hate s diadem from jesus crest! ascends he? tis the very test 195 by which we men may fairly judge, from the rough roads we mortals trudge o

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

ill, the law of light. 109 the soldier and the hunchback! and? 111 the soldier and the hunchback! and "expect seven misfortunes from the cripple, and forty-two from the one-eyed man; but when the hunchback comes, say 'allah our aid" arab proverb i inquiry. let us inquire in the first place: what is scepticism? the word means looking, questioning, investigating. one must pass by contemptuously the christian liar's gloss which interprets "sceptic" as "mocker; though in a sense it is true for him, since to inquire into christianity is assuredly to mock at it; but i am concerned to intensify the etymological connotation in several respects. first, i do not regard mere incredulity as necessary to the idea, though credulity is incompatible with it. incredulity implies a prejudice in favour of a

ere practical man, i intend taking the steamer- for my sins i am 122 in gibraltar- back to dorothy at the earliest possible moment. sandwiches of bun and german sausage may be vulgar and even imaginary- it's the taste i like. and the more i munch, the more complacent i feel, until i go so far as to offer my critics a bite. this sounds in a way like the "interior certainly" of the common or garden christian; but there are differences. the christian insists on notorious lies being accepted as an essential part of his (more usually her) system; i, on the contrary, ask for facts, for observation. under scepticism, true, one is just as much a house of cards as the other; but only in the philosophical sense. practically, science is is true; and faith is foolish. practically, 3 x 1= 3 is the trut

n wandering 45 times" is a scientific and valuable statement "i prayed fervently to the lord for the space of many days" means anything or nothing. anybody who cares to do so may imitate my experiment and compare his result with mine. in the latter case one would always be wondering what "fervently" meant and who "the lord" was, and how many days made "many" my claim, too, is more modest than the christian's. he 123 (usually she) knows more about my future than is altogether pleasant; i claim nothing absolute from my samadhi- i know only too well the worthlessness of single-handed observations, even on so simple a matter as a boiling- point determination- and as for his (usually her) future, i content myself with mere common sense about the probable end of a fool. so that after all i keep

sing himself (as it were) into that perception of their identity, which is his (partial and incorrect) idea of how things look from kether. 126 this man performs great magic; very strong medicine. he does really find gold on the midden and skeletons in pretty girls. in abiegnus the sacred mountain of the rosicrucians the postulant finds but a coffin in the central shrine; yet that coffin contains christian rosencreutz who is dead and is alive for evermore and hath the keys of hell and of death. ay! your tiphereth man, child of mercy and justice, looks deeper than the skin! but he seems a ridiculous object enough both to the malkuth man and to the kether man. still, he's the most interesting man there is; and we all must pass through that stage before we get our heads really clear, the keth

, if not entirely, accounts for the uncritical manner in which these systems have been handled by otherwise critical minds. even to-day, though many thousand years after they were first written down, we find a greater simplicity and truth in the ancient rituals and hymns of egypt and assyria than in the extraordinary entanglement of systems that came to life during the first five hundred years of christian era. and in the east, from the most remote antiquity to the present day, scientific systems of illuminism have been in daily practice from the highest to the lowest in the land; though, as we consider, much corrupted by an ignorant priestcraft, by absurd superstitions and by a science which fell to a divine revelation in place of rising to a sublime art. in the west, for some fifteen hun

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

h, the first word in genesis, is made the initial of a word, and we obtain brashith rah alhim shiqblv ishral thvrh, berashith rahi elohim sheyequebelo israel torah "in the beginning elohim saw that israel would accept the law" in this connection i may give six very interesting specimens of notariqon formed from this same word brashith by solomon meir ben moses, a jewish qabalist, who embraced the christian faith in 1665, and took the name of prosper rugere. these have all a christian tendency, 72 and by their means prosper converted another jew, who had previously been bitterly opposed 1 weh note: plagiarized entire from ginsburg's "the kabbalah. 2 weh note: better: his purported translation of three of the more obscure books of the zohar. 3 weh note: this observation led mathers to miss-i

inine on the left, whilst the four uniting sephiroth occupy the centre. this is the qabalistical "tree of life" on which all things depend. there is considerable analogy between this and the tree yggdrasil of the scandinavians. i have already remarked that there is one trinity which comprises all the sephiroth, and that it consists of the crown, the king, and the queen (in some senses this is the christian trinity of father, son, and holy spirit, which in their highest divine nature are symbolised by the first three sephiroth, kether, chokmah, and binah) it is the trinity which created the world; or, in qabalistical language, the universe was born from the union of the crowned king and queen. but according to the qabalah, before the complete form of the heavenly man (the ten sephiroth) was

nation of agla is this; a, the one first; a, the one last; g, the trinity in unity; l, the completion of the great work. but ihvh, the tetragrammaton, as we shall presently see, contains all the sephiroth with the exception of kether, and specially signifies the lesser countenance, microprosopus, the king of the qabalistical sephirotic greatest trinity,and the son in his human incarnation, in the christian acceptation of the trinity. therefore, as the son reveals the father, so does ihvh, jehovah, reveal ahih, eheieh. and adni is the queen, by whom alone tetragrammaton 82 can be grasped, whose exaltation into binah is found in the christian assumption of the virgin. the tetragrammaton ihvh is referred to the sephiroth, thus: the upper-most point of the letter yod, i, is said to refer to ke

ch expressed these ideas to the wise. as these formulas are done with, it is of no consequence if i reveal them. truth is not eternal, any more than god; and it would be but a poor god that could not and did not alter his ways at his pleasure. this formula was used to pen the vault of the mystic mountain of abiegnus, within which lay (so the ceremony of initiation supposed) the body of our father christian rosen creutz, to be discovered by the brethren with the postulant as said in the book called fama fraternitatis. there are three officers, and they repeat the analysis of the word as follows- chief. let us analyse the key word- i. 2nd. n. 3rd. r. all. i. chief. yod. hb:yod. 2nd. nun. hb:nun. 3rd. resh. hb:resh. all. yod, hb:yod. chief. virgo (virgo) isis, mighty mother. 2nd. scorpio (sco

x, the light of the cross. this formula, on which one may meditate for years without exhausting its wonderful harmonies, gives an excellent idea of the way in which qabalistic analysis is conducted. first, the letters have been written in hebrew characters. then the attributions of them to the zodiac an to planets are substituted, and the names of egyptian gods belonging to these are invoked. the christian idea of i.n.r.i. is confirmed by these, while their initials form the sacred word of the gnostics. that is, iao. from the character of the deities and their functions are deduced their signs, and these are found to signal (as it were) the word lux (hb:resh hb:vau hb:aleph, which itself is contained in the cross. a careful study of these ideas,and of the table of correspondences, which on

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time. it is one amen continuous. shall mine eye fade before thy glory? i am the eye. that is why the eye is seventy. you can never understand why, except in this vision. and now the table recedes from me. far, far it goes, streaming with light. and there are two black angels bending over me, covering me with their wings, shutting me up into the darkness; and i am lying in the pastos of our father christian rosenkreutz, beneath the table in the vault of seven sides. and i hear these words: the voice of the crowned child, the speech of the babe that is hidden in the egg of blue (before me is the flaming rosy cross) i have opened mine eye, and the universe is dissolved before me, for force is mine upper eye-lid and matter is my lower eye-lid. i gaze into the seven spaces, and there is naught

in as it is, the scarlet of the heart and the green of the snake are yet more vivid than the blinding white brilliance of the wheel. the figures on the wheel are darker than the wheel itself; in fact, they are stains upon the purity of the wheel, and for that reason, and because of the whirling of the wheel, i cannot see them. but at the top seems to be the lamb and flag, such as one sees on some christian medals, and one of the lower things is a wolf, and the other a raven. the lamb and flag symbol is much brighter than the other two. it keeps on growing brighter, until now it is brighter than the wheel itself, and occupies more space than it did. it speaks: i am the greatest of the deceivers, for my purity and innocence shall seduce the pure and innocent, who but for me should come to th

for in the book tarot was preserved all of the wisdom (for the tarot was called the book of thoth, of the aeon that is passed. and in the book of enoch was first given the wisdom of the new aeon. and it was hidden for three hundred years, because it was wrested untimely from the tree of life by the hand of a desperate magician. for it was the master of that magician who overthrew the power of the christian church; but the pupil rebelled against the master, for he foresaw that the new("i.e, the protestant) would be worse than the old. but he understood not the purpose of his master, and that was, to prepare the way for the overthrowing of the aeon. there is a writing upon the urn of which i can but read the (two) words: stabat crux juxta lucem. stabat lux juxta crucem. and there is writing

down to make them into a connected account; and that recension was re-written and edited in the interests of christianity, because people were complaining that christianity could show no true spiritual knowledge, or any food for the best minds: nothing but miracles, which only deceived the most ignorant, and theology, which only suited pedants.23 so a man got hold of this recension, and turned it christian, and imitated the style of john. and this explains why the end of the world does not happen every few years, as advertised. there is nothing whatever in the stone but a white rose. and a voice comes: there shall be no more red roses, for she hath crushed all the blood of all things into her cup. it seemed at one time as if the rose was in the breast of a beautiful woman, high-bosomed, ta

history, attempting to appreciate this unknown power, became confused with fable; it shook or strengthened empires by its oracles, caused tyrants to tremble on their thrones, and governed all minds, either by curiosity, or by fear' yoga or transformation: a comparative statement of the various religious dogmas concerning the soul and its destiny, and of akkadian, taoist, eguptian, hebrew, greek, christian, mohammedan, japanese and other magic, by wm. j. flagg. large 8vo "cloth extra" 1898. 6"s" 6"d" knight (j payne. discourse on the worship of priapus, and its connection with the mystic theology of the ancients; with an essay on the worship of the generative organs during the middle ages of western europe. 4to "with" 40 "curious plates. half roxvurghe binding. privately printed "1865 "3 3

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attempt to go to sleep has made me supernaturally wakeful. i am as often before in the state described by paul (not my masseur; the other paul! in his epistle to the romans, cap. vii. v. 19. i shall rise and go forth. 1.55. i have a good mind to try violent excitement of the muladhara cakkr m; for the whole sushumna seems dead. this at the risk of being labelled a black magician by clergymen, christian scientists, and the "self-reliant" classes in general. 2.15. arrived (partly by cab) at the place. certain curious phenomena which i have noticed at odd times "e.g. on thursday night but did not think proper to record must be investigated. it seems quite certain that meditation-practices profoundly affect the sexual process: how and why i do not yet certainly know. 2.45. rubbish! everyt

valid. i am glad to say that i woke properly and got quite automatically on to the mantra. my prana, however, seems feverish and unbalanced. so i eat a biscuit or two and drink some water and will put it right with the pentagram ritual. 2 weh note: this is a correction from hb:vau hb:yod hb:aleph an evident typo in the original printing. done, but oh! how hard. sleep fights me as apollyon fought christian! but i will up and take him by the throat.(see;'tis 2.30. twelve minutes to do that little in! and look at the handwriting! 3.6. how excellent is prana yama, a comfort to the soul! i did thirty-two cycles, easy and pleasant; could have gone on indefinitely. the muscles went rigid, practically of their own accord; so light did i feel that i almost thought myself to be "that wise one" who

ath taken the road to damascus! that holy man answered, as he went quietly to the cemetery,"i will await him here! so, therefore, there is one place, o thou thief of my heart's love, adonai, to which thou must come at last; and that place is the tomb in which lie buried all my thoughts and emotions, all that which is "i, and me, and mine. there will i lay myself and await thee, even as our father christian rosenkreutz that laid himself in the pastos in the vault of the mountain of the caverns, abiegnus, on whose portal did he cause to be written the words,"post lux crucis annos patebo. so thou wilt enter in (as did frater n. n. and his companions) and open the pastos; and with thy winged globe thou wilt touch the rosy cross upon my breast, and i shall wake into life the true life that is

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owledge of all nations, it will be necessary here to recount, briefly though it may be, the circumstances which let up to his entering into communication with the order of a. a. born of an ancient family, but a few days after the fifty-sixth equinox before the equinox of the gods, he was reared and educated in the faith of christ as taught by one of the strictest sects of the many factions of the christian church, and scarcely had he learnt to lisp the simplest syllables of childhood than his martyrdom began. from infancy he struggled through the chill darkness of his surroundings into boyhood, and as he grew and throve, so did the iniquity of that unnatural treatment which with lavish and cruel hand was squandered on him. then youth came, and with it god's name had grown to be a curse, an

first order is a group of four grades: the second order is a group of three grades of adeptship "highest of all are those great rulers who severally sustain and govern the third order, which includes three magic titles of honour and supremacy; in case of a vacancy the most advanced 7= 4 3 obtains by decree the well-earned reward. the grades of the first order are of hebrew design; of the second, christian "the rituals and secrets are received from the greatly honoured chiefs" the account given in the first paragraph may or may not be correct; and the following "history lection" written by a brother of the order of the a. a. throws considerable light on the origin of the above society; and what is of still more interest to us mentions p. and his final rupture with the order of the golden d

ich worked in a semi-secret manner "after some time s.d.a. died: further requests for help were met with a prompt refusal from the colleagues of s.d.a. it was written by one of them that s.d.a.'s scheme had always been regarded with disapproval. but since the absolute rule of the adepts is never to interfere with the judgment of 1 "see "the real history of the rosicrucians" by a. e. waite. 2 viz, christian rosencreutz. 3 "vide" diagram of the paths and grades. any other person whomsoever- how much more, then, one of themselves, and that one most highly revered- they had refrained from active opposition. the adept who wrote this added that the order had already quite enough knowledge to enable it or its members to formulate a magical link with the adepts "shortly after this, one called s.r

al (second part. the "hegemon" then explains the symbolic drawing of the zodiac, which is most complicated, but consists mainly of twelve circles and a lamp in the centre to represent the sun "the whole figure represents the rose of creation, and is a synthesis of the visible universe. furthermore the twelve circles represent the twelve foundations of the holy city of the apocalypse, while in the christian symbolism the sun and the twelve signs typify our saviour and the twelve apostles."2 after which the hiereus says "at the southern side of the holy place stood the seven-branched candlestick. the symbolic drawing before you represents its occult meaning. the seven circles which surround the heptagram represents its occult meaning. the seven circles which surround the heptagram represent

symptom of sense to him. as the rituals proceed it might be expected that these difficulties would gradually lessen, but this is far from being the case; for, as we have seen, the complexities already involved by the introduction of ancient egyptian deities, concerning whom it is probable the candidate has but little knowledge, are further heightened by a general intrusion on the part of hebrew, christian, macedonian and phrygian gods, angels and demons, and a profuse scattering of symbols; which, unitedly, are apt either so to bewilder the candidate that he leaves the temple with an impression that the whole ritual is a huge joke, a kind of buffoonish carnival of gods which in the sane can only provoke laughter; or, on account of it being so utterly incomprehensible to him, his ignorance

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, and that the said horse is (after all) not a dragon. very, very kind of you. thank you so much. and now will you kindly go away? the supersensual life. by jacob boehme. translated by william law. h.r.allenson, i"s. net. this admirable little treatise, now so beautifully and conveniently printed, deserves a place on every bookshelf. it contains the essential knowledge of our own community in the christian- but not too christian- dialect. i have bought a dozen copies to give to my friends. meister eckhart's sermons. translated by claude field, m.a. same price and publisher. too pedantic and theological to please me, though i daresay he means well. the worship of satan in modern france. by arthur lillie. swan sonnenschein and co, 6"s. arthur lillie is as convenient as mrs. boole from the st

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is the mystic number of this grade "second" 21 "chief" associate adeptus minor, what is the pass-word formed therefrom "third" aleph: hb:aleph "chief" h: hb:heh "third" yod: hb:yod. 1 see "liber o" the equinox, vol. i, no. 2 "chief" h: h "third" eheieh: hhb:yod hb:heh hb:aleph "chief" mighty adeptus major, what is the vault of the adepts "second" the symbolic burying-place of our mystic founder, christian rosenkreutz, which he made to represent the universe. 208 "chief" associate adeptus minor, in what part of it is he buried "third" in the centre of the heptagonal sides and beneath the altar, his head being towards the east "chief" mighty adeptus major, why in the centre "second" because that is the point of perfect equilibrium [by this system of question and answer the whole symbolism o

s: for he that will not strive shall be left in outer darkness [the "second adept" then raises his hands on high and cries] i invoke thee, the great avenging angel h u a, in the divine name i. a. o, 213) that thou mayest invisibly place thine hand upon the head of this aspirant in attestation of his obligation [the aspirant then repeats the obligation after him, saying; hb:resh hb:taw hb:koph. i "christian rosenkreutz" a member of the body of christ, do this day, on behalf of the universe, spiritually bind myself, even as i am now bound physically unto the cross of suffering: hb:heh hb:mem hb:koph hb:chet. that i will do the utmost to lead a pure and unselfish life. hb:heh hb:nun hb:yod hb:bet. that i will keep secret all things connected with the order. that i will maintain the veil of st

greek and latin. 1393. while yet a youth he accompanied a certain brother p.a.l. in a pilgrimage to the holy land, but the latter dying at cyprus, he himself went on to damascus. there was then in arabia a temple of our order, which was called by the hebrew name of damcar (hb:resh hb:koph hb:mem hb:dalet, that is, blood of the lamb. here he was duly initiated, and took the mystic title of c.r.c, christian rosenkreutz or christian rosy cross. he there so far improved his knowledge of the arabian tongue, that in the following year he translated the book "m" into latin, which he afterwards brought back with him to europe. 1396. after three years he went into egypt, where was another temple of our order; there he remained for a time, still studying the mysteries of nature. 1398. after this he

he day "corpus christi" they should meet at the collegium ad spiritum sanctum or write cause of absence (4) that every one should look for some worthy person of either sex, who after his decease might succeed him (5) the word r.c. to be their mark, seal, and character (6) the fraternity to remain secret 100 years. five of the brethren where to travel in different countries, and two to remain with christian rosenkreutz [the "second adept" then takes up the narrative. the discovery then of the vault of the adepts, wherein that highly illuminated man of god, our father, christian rosenkreutz was buried, occurred as follows: 1600. after frater a. died in gallia narbonensi, there succeeded in his place frater n.n; he, while repairing a part of the building of the college of the holy spirit, end

hand and heart) 228 thus the sephiroth are equilibrated in both directions as in the equinox ritual.22 the versicles will be seen to be very appropriate to each sephira. this application of the stigmata fixes the light, as the flaming sword is a transitory symbol (see opening. the aspirant may now resume his emblems; after which themis commemorates the life and death of osiris under the figure of christian rosenkreutz, as it were "the morning of isis" for aspirant being now "dead" isis mourneth for him. but aspirant also mourneth, that l sign may be formulated in him. she points out rose cross as an external emblem of the completion of the great work. in the life of jesus christ the master, the most notable events are_ he is cloistered at 5; when 30 he takes disciples and begins ministrati

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rtrait of a man in a frock-coat, so within the book we have the 311 muse in a dress-improver and a bond street hat. never mind; even those who dislike the poetry may love to puzzle out the meaning. detailed criticism is here impossible for lack of two illusions, time and space! i will only add that i was profoundly interested in the final book "the king's dole" no mystic who is familiar only with christian symbolism can afford to neglect this ritual. vale, frater! a. c. the cleansing of a city. greening and co. 1"s" net "wherefore i say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven,the same loveth little" jesus christ "but this german woman, pretending to defend the cause of virtue, and to warn women against the perils of the day, pro

iary of a lost one) which is defilement to touch. before i had skimmed fifty pages i found my brain swimming; i nearly swooned" rev. r. f. horton, d.d. this book should be printed on vellum and locked up in a fire-proof safe in the british museum, great russell street w.c; so that future ecclesiastical historians and ethicists may learn into what a state of mental menorrhagia the adherents of the christian church had fallen at the commencement of the twentieth century. the "cleansing" part of the business seems to consist in pumping filth into everything that is clean. we are not allowed to talk of leg because every leg adjoins a thigh: soon we shall not be able to put a foot into a boot without first looking to see if some nasty mess has not been deposited in it, and why? because foot adj

rt i. the bases of experimental fact. part ii. theory and inferences. part iii. practical mysticism "the book is replete with sound, scholarly, cogent and practical reasoning, on the scientific and religious, as well as on the psychic side_ light [t.p.'s weekly "temperately and carefully written, and is in every way superior to the average spiritualistic publication "in every way worthy of study_ christian world. the wisdom of plotinus. a metaphysical study, by c. j. whitby, m.d. 120 pp. crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. net. a treatise on the metaphysical doctrines of the great neoplatonic philosopher. contents_ life of plotinus. ancient and modern methods. neoplatonism. matter. the universe. individuality. the problem of evil. providence and the individual. demons and the demonic faculty. conce

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ontaining 22 celebrated alchemical tracts. translated from the latin and edited by a. e. waite. with numerous most interesting engravings. fcap. quarto, 2 vols. very scarce, 35s. azoth, or the star in the east. a new light of mysticism. by arthur edward waite. imperial 8vo, pp. xvi+ 239. original edition in special binding. price 5s. a presentation of mystic doctrine and symbolism in the light of christian teaching and hermetic philosophy; evolution in the light of mysticism; the way of attainment; and the interior life from the mystic standpoint "note_ many old books on astrology and alchemical science are also kept "in stock. write for latest new and second-hand catalogues_ william rider& son, ltd, 164 aldersgate st, london. e.c. the star in the west by captain j. f. c. fuller""fourth la

! marsyas. indeed, that "i" that is not god is but a lion in the road! knowest thou not (even now) how first the fetters of restriction burst? in the rapture of the heart self hath neither lot nor part. 18 marsyas. tell me, dear master, how the bud first breaks to brilliance of bloom: what ecstasy of brain and blood shatters the seal upon the tomb of him whose gain was the world's loss our father christian rosycross! marsyas. first, one is like a gnarled old oak on a waste heath. shrill shrieks the wind. night smothers earth. storm swirls to choke the throat of silence! hard behind gathers a blacker cloud than all. but look! but look! it thrones a ball of blistering fire. it breaks. the lash of lightning snakes him forth. one crash splits the old tree. one rending roar- and night is darker

e witness to his original greatness. but man is not so god-forsaken, so barren of straightforward means of reaching heaven, that he need invoke pharmacy and witchcraft. he has no need to sell his soul to buy intoxicating caresses and the friendship of the hur al'ain. what is a paradise which must be bought at the price of eternal salvation? i imagine a man (shall i 111 say a brahmin, a poet, or a christian philosopher) seated upon the steep olympus of spirituality; around him the muses of raphael or of mategna, to console him for his long fasts and his assiduous prayers, weave the noblest dances, gaze on him with their softest glances and their most dazzling smiles; the divine apollo, master of all knowledge (that of francavilla, of albert d rer, of goltzius, or another_ what does it matte

ouses, temples, and tarrying-places of the fraternity" an adept trying to prove that he is one! an adept with thoughts of his own rank and glory! an adept exacting recognition! what about the instant recognition all over the world of which you prated above? mr. waite, you seem to me to be a spiritual arthur orton! mr. waite, we have opened the pastos which you say contains the body of your father christian rosencreutz_ and it's only poor old druce "the book" this is the strange thing; the moment that mr. waite leaves prose for poetry, there is no more of this bunkum, bombast, and balderdash; we find a poet, and rather an illuminated poet. we have to appeal from philip sober to philip drunk "in vino veritas" good poetry enough all this: yet one cannot help feeling that it is essentially 113

ceremonial methods he adopted; however, before we enter upon these, we must return to our first point, namely_ the meaning and value of ceremonial magic. ceremonial magic, as a means to attainment, has in common with all other methods, western or eastern, one supreme object in view_ identification with the godhead; and it matters not if the aspirant be theist or atheist, pantheist or autotheist, christian or jew, or whether he name the goal of his attainment god, zeus, christ, matter, nature, spirit, heaven, 135 reason, nirvana, asgard, no-thing or no-god, so long as he "has" a goal in view, and a goal he is striving to attain. without a goal, he is but a human ship without port or destination; and, without striving, work, will to attain, he is but a human derelict, rudderless and mastles

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d by it had foreshadowed the existence of several undiscovered elements, so now did frater p, by his law of the correspondences of the ruach, prove, not only historically, philosophically, theologically and mythologically the existence of the everywhere proclaimed jechidah as being one, but in a lesser degree: that when an egyptian thought of ptah, a greek of iacchus, a hindu of parabrahman and a christian of the trinity as a unity, they were not thinking of four gods, but of one god, not of four conditions but of one condition, not of four results but of one result; and, that should they set out to attain unity with their ideal, the stages 187 they would progress through would be in all cases essentially the same, the differences, if any, being due to the mental limitations of the experim

is essentially middle-class; and this no doubt is the chief reason why it has met with a kindly reception by this nation of shop-walkers. 293 anikka, change; dukka, sorrow; anatta, absence of an ego. 294 pr n y ma acts on the mind just as calomel acts on the bowels. it does not matter if a patient believes in calomel or not. the physician administers it, and even if the patient be a most hostile christian scientist, the result is certain. similarly with pr n y ma, the guru gives his chela a certain exercise, and as surely as the calomel voided the noxious matter from the intestines of the sufferer, so will the pr n y ma void the capricious thoughts from the mind of the disciple. 295 by discovery here we mean individual experiment resulting in personal discovery; another person's discovery

t is worth a dozen good heads and heaven only knows how many bad ones. eat your "scoff" and enjoy it; give the girl a kiss- even if among the boats; and shake hands with the chaplain- after all he probably agreed with you over the boulter case. here surely is a link between you! drop the "insufferable" and the "christmas-card- curate" description of him, use your tea-spoon like an ordinary decent christian and don't empty the sugar basin, shake hands with him, my boy, shake hands with him, and try and be a real good fellow, joseph, a real good fellow, as well as an indifferent evolutionist! a. quiller. with the adepts. by franz hartmann. william rider and son. if you have never been to "the shakespeare" or "the elephant and castle" please go; for, for the same price that you would pay for

wled. but perhaps siva had a reputation to keep up; we'll ask kali. vishnu. ritual, faith, and morals. by f. h. perrycoste. watts and co. if you should be so depraved as to desire to become a rationalistic author, you must buy a pair of sissors, some stickphast, and a parcel of odd vols. at hodgson's containing: buckle, draper, gibbon lecky, and old dictionary or two of quotations and some of the christian fathers. the process then is easy; it consists in cutting these to pieces and in sticking them together in all possible combinations, and publishing each combination under a different name. for fifteen years mr. perrycoste has been snipping hard, and the above work consists only of chapters iii and iv of one volume of a series of volumes. we are charitable enough to hope that mr. perryco

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uteous breath and taste the goodly gift of grace. then fell the night. above the baying of the great beast, that was the bass to all the harps of heaven a-playing, there came a solemn voice (not one but was upon his knees in praying and glorifying god. the son of god himself- men thought- spoke then "arise! brave soldier, thou hast won the quest not given to mortal men. arise! sir palamede adept, christian, and no more saracen! on wake or sleeping, wise, inept, still thou didst seek. those foolish ways on which thy folly stumbled, leapt, all led to the one goal. now praise thy lord hat he hat brought thee through to win the quest" the good knight lays 112 his hand upon the beast. then blew each angel on his trumpet, then all heaven resounded that it knew sir palamede the saracen was master

regor mathers, author of "the kabbalah unveiled" the tarot" etc "with plates" crown 4to "cloth" 21"s "net" the key of solomon gives full, clear, and concise instructions for talismanic and ceremonial magic, as well as for the practical part of occultism. besides seals, sigils, and magical diagrams, nearly 50 pantacles or talismans are given in the plates. among other authors both eliphas l vi and christian mention the "key of solomon" as a work of high authority, and the former especially refers to it repeatedly. jennings (hargrave. the rosicrucians, their rites and mysteries, fourth edition, revised, demy 8vo "with hundreds of illustrations. half morocco" 7"s" 6"d" some of the contents: critics of the rosicrucians criticized- the hermetic philosophers- fire- theosophy of the persians- dru

f high authority, and the former especially refers to it repeatedly. jennings (hargrave. the rosicrucians, their rites and mysteries, fourth edition, revised, demy 8vo "with hundreds of illustrations. half morocco" 7"s" 6"d" some of the contents: critics of the rosicrucians criticized- the hermetic philosophers- fire- theosophy of the persians- drudical stones- the round towers of ireland- mystic christian figures and talismans- the rosy cross in indian, egyptian, greek, roman, and mediaeval monuments- the great pyramid- connexion between the templars and gnosticism- astro-theosophical system of the rosicrucians- robt. fludd- the holy greale- the round table- alchemy- the outline of the kabbalah, etc, etc. the kabbalah unveiled, containing the following books of the zohar (1) the book of c

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to be a delightful addition to our periodical literature. its first number gives in clear type on a nice page the magnificent essay which we all know so well, yet of which we never tire. the one objection to emerson is that he thinks all men know this oversoul. they don't. it's a few holy illuminated men of god, and i hope that this includes john m. watkins. a.c. vol. i, no. 2. june, 1910. a true christian. by jacob boehme. a most exquisite treatise on the life of the soul. boehme is a passive mystic, or quietist, of the very first water; he really perceives the underlying realities of christianity, a religion which is so hidden by mounds of dirt and rubbish that it needs a very great mystic to get to the bottom of things without becoming defiled. i hope mr. watkins is a true christian. v

ut it in another way; you say that the universe will go to nibb na, and that at one time naught save nibb na will be. then in the end desire dies in it, which was the primal germ of mind. where will that desire go to, if nibb na will be the all, and will be perfect, then what will be the object of this emanation of a sorrow-filled universe' this is all the merest twaddle of a hyde park atheist or christian evidence preacher. granted the hindu brahman is rationally ridiculous, yet nevertheless it is more rational to suppose a continuous chain of sorrowful universes and states of oblivion than an unaccounted-for state of sorrow and an unaccountable finality. it is as rational or irrational to ask where "brahman" came from, as it is to ask where "karma" came from. both are illusions, and as d

ive of the symbol may sought it under. thus yahweh as a clay phallus in a band-box was as much a reality to the jews of genesis as brahman in brahma-loka was to the aryas of vedic india; that the vision of moses when he beheld god as a burning bush is similar to the vision of the fire-flashing courser of he chaldean oracles; and that nibb na the non-existent is little removed, if at all, from the christian heaven with its harps, halos and hovering angels. and the reason is, that the man who does attain to any of these states, on his return to consciousness, at once attributes his attainment to his particular business partner- christ, buddha, mrs. besant, etc, ets, and attempts to rationalize about the suprarational, and describe what is beyond description in the language of his country. p

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

ic, so- called("c) composite rituals("d) the rituals of black magic("e) the descending hierarchy of spirits("f) the lesser key of solomon the king("g) the mystery of the "sanctum regnum("h) the rite of "lucifuge("i) the method of honorius, etc, etc, etc. the main objects of the work are (1) to determine the connection, if any, between the literature of ceremonial magic and the secret tradition in christian times (2) to show the fantastic nature of the distinction between white and black magic, so far, at least, as the texts are concerned. the work is issued in crown 4to, and includes about 180 engravings, some of which are full-page plates. price 15"s. net" post free. handsomely bound "just published" waite (a. e. the secret tradition in freemasonry, and an analysis of the inter-relation b

phenomena- v. the ether, or "astral light- vi. psycho-physical phenomena- vii. the elements, elementals, and elementaries- viii. some mysteries of nature- ix. cyclic phenomena- x. the inner and outer man- xi. psychological and physical marvels- xii. the "impassible chasm- xiii. realities and illusion- xiv. egyptian wisdom- xv. india the cradle of the race. vol. ii- i. the church; where is it- ii. christian crimes and heathen virtues- iii. divisions amongst the early christians- iv. oriental cosmogonies and bible-records- v. mysteries of the kabala- vi. esoteric doctrines of buddhism parodied in christianity- vii. early christian heresies and secret societies- viii. jesuitry and masonry- ix. the vedas an the bible- x. the devil myth- xi. comparative results of buddhism and christianity- xii

n.d. portion of contents- ever-burning lamps; the hermetic philosophers; the hermetic brethren; mystic history of the fleur-de-lis; sacred fire; fire-theosophy of the persians; ideas of the rosicrucians as to the character of fire; monuments raised to fire- worship in all countries; druidical stones and their worship; the round towers of ireland; cabalistic interpretations by the gnostics; mystic christian figures and talismans; the rosy cross in indian, egyptian, greek, roman and mediaeval monuments; the great pyramid; myths of the scorpion, or the snake in its many disguises; rosicrucians celestial and terrestrial; alchemy; rosicrucians in strange symbols; robert flood; indian mystic adoration of form; etc, etc. real history of the rosicrucians, founded on their own manifestoes, and on f

lomon gives full, clear, and concise instructions for talismanic and ceremonial magic, as well as for performing various evocations; and it is therefore invaluable to any student who wishes to make himself acquainted with the practical part of occultism. besides seals, sigils, and magical diagrams, nearly 50 pantacles or talismans are given in the plates. among other authors both eliphas levi and christian mention the "key of solomon" as a work of high authority, and the former especially refers to it repeatedly- wants supplied. new publications supplied to order "out of print books sought for and reported" visitors to london who are interested should make a point of calling- frank hollings, 7 great turnstile, holborn, w.c. near to chancery lane, the inns of court, and first avenue hotels

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6

furnished store of information for students of the occult arts and sciences "light" the new god and other essays. by ralph shirley, editor of the "occult review" crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 248 pp, 3"s" 6"d" net. contents the new god- prophets and prophecies- prophecies and anticipations- julian the apostate- mystical christianity- the perfect way- relationship of christianity to gnostic faiths- early christian evidences- founders of orthodox christianity- friedrich nietzsche- the strange case of lurancy vennum- cagliostro. dr. alfred russel wallace, writing to the author, characterises this book as "excellent both in style and matter "mr havelock ellis writes to the author "i have read your brilliant and stimulating volume of essays with much interest "the highly controversial matters of which

r" jocelyn["sings to his harp: noon slumbers softly in the palms; the desert breezes whisper psalms; and we who rest must rise and ride beneath the banner cruciform that braves the saracen and the storm, this blessed christmastide. for we are hardy, and worn with blows and battles, and languish for our mother snows. what is the gladness of the well to us who pine for citadel, and joyous burg, and christian feast? but we are vowed to christ to fight for god, our honour, and our right against the recreant east. 70 we have left our ladies, you and i, my brothers! to keep our castles, and to sigh! oh! could some holy hermit give one short day's dalliance fugitive! speed hither through the enchanted air our ladies, for our faith's reward! would it not sharpen every sword and perfume every praye

were like thee, christendom would perish in a year and a day. thy good knights comrades would row the turkish galleys, and a few prize fools- such as thou- make sport for their emirs or guard their women. jocelyn. and a good thing. i am weary of crusading. the sacred sepulchre is empty- praise god, who performed a miracle to make it so- and we must perforce come and fill thousands more with good christian flesh and blood, that was alive and jolly. let us be off, though! the preceptor sheds dullness as the sun sheds light, alike on the evil and on the good. one, two, three- i'll race you all to sidi khaled["they go off r. toward their horses" jocelyn "singing as he goes" what is the worth of a hound or a hawk? a monkey for mirth! a parrot for talk! rosamond's skin is whiter than milk, sedu

s these nigh five score years. laylah. i cannot tell you. rinaldo. this is all i know, that in the time of pope urban the second, some pilgrims to jerusalem began to 76 grumble< and a madman screamed so loud on their behalf that all europe was infected<christian intolerance "thelema lodge calendar, dec. 1990 e.v> all pilgrims grumble. all mankind grumbles. can chivalry do nothing better than redress grievances? progress and learning are dead in this eternal redressing. or if we must redress grievances, let us redress the great grievance, man misunderstanding man! laylah. let me go to my house "she tries to slip away] rinaldo. sit there["he puts

ndeed you love me, if you bid me waste no time. laylah. oh no. i must respect you. you treat me as if i were a pebble in the sand. nothing moves you. rinaldo. love moves me. laylah. we are opposites in all. rinaldo. so nature hath ordained. man hates his neighbour: but when he finds his opposite, he loves it. all joy is the warfare of enemies, from the clash of lance and sabre, when saracen meets christian on the plain to- this, when christian rushes saracen in his arms and["he clasps her" laylah. oh["the pitcher is overturned and the water flows out" rinaldo. i love you. laylah. i am a speck of dust in the simoom. rinaldo. let it whirl! there is no more christian and saracen, but man and woman- as it was in the beginning and for ever shall be "he has borne her in his arms to the tall gras

ALEX SANDERS THE KING OF THE WITCHES

ficers of the harem of rameses iii were brought to trial for making wax images of the pharaoh to the accompaniment of magic incantations. these images were fith-faths, still used by witches today against their enemies. history shows that, as a new religion succeeds the old, the i gods of the latter are invariably condemned as the devils of the former, and it was thus that the pagan god became the christian devil. ill spite of this, christianity and witchcraft co-existed peaceably for centuries. in britain, for instance, london was still heathen six hundred years after the birth of christ, and although augustine managed to convert the king of kent to christianity, the rest of the country preferred pagan rites of witchcraft. but as the 'establishment' became christian, the old religion fell

in europe until after the reformation (protestants were even greater witch-haters than their predecessors. one of the first countries to declare war on witches had been france, where they .were burnt at the stake several decades before the papal bull. at that time whole villages still followed the old religion and even the priests, who were mostly drawn from the peasant class, were only outwardly christian. having tried to stamp out witchcraft by persuasion, the clergy, backed by civil law, overcame it by force-the same fate as had befallen the ancient religions of egypt and of the aztecs. ill england tolerance had prevailed until the arrival of the inquisitors. at first the law forbade them to use torture, but nevertheless rumour and terror were rife in every village. the clergy claimed t

ted like a son and was obviously a great comfort to the couple. after many refusals, for their hospitality was frequently overwhelming, alex agreed to come and live with them, but first he insisted on telling them about himself they were incredulous, quite unable to believe that witchcraft was anything but dead. alex told them as much as he could of his religion, and although they remained firmly christian, they still wanted alex to move in with them 'you need someone to look after you' they told him 'if you get tired of us, you haveonly to say the word' ron was a stockbroker, a diffident man, shy of emotion and so sensitive that often he had to leave the room when his son's name was mentioned. his wife. maud poured out her frustrated affection on alex and frequently called him 'kenneth' w

ost nights and, what with his job during the day, was nearing exhaustion. now alex bedded down on the settee in the living-room where joan also slept, so that he would be on hand if she wanted anything. she was a difficult patient, ashamed of her incontinence and her inability to be silent when the pain was at its peak. she tormented her brother in every way she knew: she asked him to sing hymns, christian hymns that reviled his witch god; she screamed that she was dying if he left her for more than a few minutes; and she tried to blame her suffering on his belief in witchcraft. aching with tension and fatigue, he would crawl under his blanket at night and fight his desire to sleepin order to invoke his god and beg for forgiveness that he knew he did not deserve. do as you will to me, he p

er-job, in. the 'situations vacant' column of the paper that .evening he came acrossthe advertisement 'book duster wanted for large city library. applyjohn rylandslibrary, manchester. alex wrote out his application immediately and two days later was invited for an interview. as soon as he entered the building he felt at home. built as a memorial to a lancashire 61 cotton merchant who was a devout christian, the library was a monument of stone and wood. while at first appearance it looked like a church, a keener glance recognized the hallmark ofa stonemason trained in witchcraft. peering out from the top ofpillars were little stone mice with devils' faces; cats, demons, imps and dragons crouched in corners and crevices, in the boardroom where the interview took place, alex had difficulty ke

ALEXANDRIAN BOOK OF SHADOWS OCCULT

clear proof against you alone, you may be arraigned. persecution 61. keep all thoughts of the craft from your mind. if the torture be too great to bear, say "i will confess. i cannot bear this torture. what do you want me to say" 62. 63. if they try to make you speak of the brotherhood, do not. but if they try to make you speak of impossibilities such as flying through the air, consorting with a christian devil or sacrificing children, or eating men's flesh, 64. 65. to obtain relief from torture say "i had an evil dream, i was beside myself, i was crazed" 66. not all magistrates are bad, if there be an excuse, they may show mercy. if you have confessed aught, deny it afterwards, say you babbled under torture, say you knew not what you said. 67. 68. if you are condemned, fear not. the brot

ALICE A BAILEY01 THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ATOM

he awakens to the realisation that he himself is not simply an accumulation of physical atoms, a material something, and a tangible body, but that latent within him is a consciousness, a power, and a psychic nature which link him to all other members of the human family, and to a power outside himself which he must perforce explain. this it is which has led, for instance, to the evolution of the christian and jewish point of view, which posits a god outside the solar system, who created it, but was himself extraneous to it. these systems of thought teach that the world has been evolved by a power or being who has built the solar system, and who guides the worlds aright, keeping our little human life in the hollow of his hand, and "sweetly ordering" all things according to some hidden purp

atom of the chemist and physicist, or units of consciousness, such as human beings. this is evolution, the process which unfolds the life within all units, the developing urge which eventually merges all units and all groups, until you have that sumtotal of manifestation which can be called nature, or god, and which is the aggregate of all the states of consciousness. this is the god to whom the christian refers when he says "in him we live, and move, and have our being; this is the force, or energy, which the scientist recognises; and this is the universal mind, or the oversoul of the philosopher. this, again, is the intelligent will which controls, formulates, binds, constructs, develops, and brings all to an ultimate perfection. this is that perfection which is inherent in matter itsel

l side of things as that which is called divine; it deals with the life side, and with the spirit aspect, viewing that life as a power extraneous to the solar system and to man, and positing that power as a great creative agent, who creates and guides the objective universe and yet is outside of it. these two lines of thought can be seen upheld by the frankly materialistic scientist, the orthodox christian, and the deist of every faith. i indicated next a third line of approach to the problem, and we called it the idealistic concept. it recognises the material form, but sees also the life within it, and it posits a consciousness or intelligence which is evolving by means of that outer form. you will find, i think, that that is the line which i shall emphasise and stress in these lectures

have within the human being, intelligence; if you have within the planet, an intelligence controlling all its functions, may it not be logical to extend the idea and predicate a still greater intelligence back of that larger atom, the solar system? this brings us ultimately to the standpoint which the religious world has always held, that of there being a god, or divine being. where the orthodox christian would say with reverence, god, the scientist with equal reverence would say, energy; yet they would both mean the same. where the idealistic teacher would speak of "god within" the human form, others with equal accuracy would speak of the "energising faculty" of man, which drives him into activity of a physical, emotional, or mental nature. everywhere are to be found centres of force, an

e physicist, but of all forms that are constituted by their means, including the manifestation of a human being and of the deity of a solar system, that great life, that all-embracing, universal mind, that vibrant centre of energy, and that great enfolding consciousness whom we call god, or force, or the logos, the existence who is expressing himself through the medium of the solar system. in the christian bible the same thought is borne out by st. paul in a letter to the church at ephesus. in the second chapter of the epistle to the ephesians he says "we are his workmanship" literally, the correct translation from the greek is "we are his poem, or idea" and the thought in the mind of the apostle is that through the medium of every human life, or in the aggregate of lives which compose a s

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

(b) all manifestation is of a septenary nature, and the central light which we call deity, the one ray of divinity, manifests first as a triplicity, and then as a septenary. the one god shines forth as god the father, god the son, and god the holy spirit, and these three are again reflected through the seven spirits before the throne, or the seven planetary logoi. the students of occultism of non-christian origin may call these beings the one ray, demonstrating through the three major rays and the four minor, making a divine septenary. the synthetic ray which blends them all is the great love-wisdom ray, for verily and indeed "god is love" this ray is the indigo ray, and is the blending ray. it is the one which will, at the end of the greater cycle, absorb the others in the achievement of

ian or cosmic initiation. at-one-ment, the result of initiation. a point that we need to grasp is that each successive initiation brings about a more complete unification of the personality and the ego, and on higher levels still, with the monad. the whole evolution of the human spirit is a progressive at-one-ment. in the at-one-ment between the ego and the personality lies hid the mystery of the christian doctrine of the atonement. one unification takes place at the moment of individualisation, when man becomes a conscious rational entity, in contradistinction to the animals. as evolution proceeds successive at-one-ments occur. at-one-ment on all levels emotional, intuitional, spiritual and divine consists in conscious, continuous functioning. in all cases it is preceded by a burning, thr

the truth as it is, more will be- 17- initiation, human and solar copyright 1998 lucis trust forthcoming, when they themselves have done the necessary work and study. investigation is desired, and the attitude of mind which it is hoped this book will arouse might be summed up in the following words: these statements sound interesting and perchance they are true. the religions of all nations, the christian included, give indications that seem to substantiate these ideas. let us therefore accept these ideas as a working hypothesis as to the consummation of the evolutionary process in man and his work upon the attainment of perfection. let us therefore seek for the truth as a fact in our own consciousness. every religious faith holds out the promise that those who seek with earnestness shall

se three decisions of the hierarchy are having, and will have a profound effect upon humanity, but the result desired is being achieved, and a rapid hastening of the evolutionary process, and a profoundly important effect upon the mind aspect in man, can already be seen. it might here be well to point out that, working as members of that hierarchy are a great number of beings called angels by the christian, and devas by the oriental. many of them have passed through the human stage long ages ago, and work now in the ranks of the great evolution parallel to the human, and which is called the deva evolution. this evolution comprises among other factors, the builders of the objective planet and the forces which produce, through those builders, every form familiar and unfamiliar. the devas who

ystem, who are specifically concerned with the evolution at the present time of the human kingdom. these four are connected with: 1. the distribution of karma, or human destiny, as it affects individuals, and through the individuals, the groups. 2. the care and tabulation of the akashic records. they are concerned with the halls of records, or with the "keeping of the book" as it is called in the christian bible; they are known in the christian world as the recording angels. 3. the participation in solar councils. they alone have the right during the world cycle to pass beyond the periphery of the planetary scheme, and participate in the councils of the solar logos. thus they are literally planetary mediators, representing our planetary logos and all that concerns him in the greater scheme

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

olar system is the manifestation of the energy and life of a great cosmic existence, whom we call, for lack of a better term, a solar logos. this solar logos incarnates, or comes into manifestation, through the medium of a solar system. this solar system is the body, or form, of this cosmic life, and is itself triple. this triple solar system can be described in terms of three aspects, or (as the christian theology puts it) in terms of three persons. electric fire, or spirit. 1st person..father. life. will. purpose. positive energy. solar fire, or soul. 2nd person..son. consciousness. love-wisdom. equilibrised energy. fire by friction, or body, or matter. 3rd person..h. oly spirit. form. active intelligence. negative energy. each of these three is also triple in manifestation, making there

also carried on. the fire of kundalini produces the heat of the centre, and its intense radiance and brilliance, while the pranic emanatory fire produces ever increasing activity and rotation. as time elapses between the first and fourth initiation, the threefold channel in the spine, and the entire etheric body is gradually cleansed and purified by the action of the fire till all "dross (as the christian expresses it) is burnt away, and naught remains to impede the progress of this flame- 69- a treatise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust as the fire of kundalini and prana proceed with their work, and the channel becomes more and more cleared, the centres more active, and the body purer, the flame of spirit, or the fire from the ego, comes more actively downwards till a flame of re

hould not cast his eyes backwards, but should lift them to the plane where dwells his- 78- a treatise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust immortal spirit, and then by self-discipline, mind-control and a definite refining of his material bodies, whether subtle or physical, fit himself to be a vehicle for the divine birth, and participate in the first initiation. when the christ-child (as the christian so beautifully expresses it) has been born in the cave of the heart, then that divine guest can consciously control the lower material bodies by means of consecrated mind. only when buddhi has assumed an ever-increasing control of the personality, via the mental plane (hence the need of building the antaskarana, will the personality respond to that which is above, and the lower fires mou

of forms, the producer of pralaya and the one who withdraws the inner spiritual man from out of his threefold body; he draws them to himself the centre of his little system. the ego is extra-cosmic as far as the human being on the physical plane is concerned, and in the realisation of this fact may come elucidation of the true cosmic problem involving the logos and "the spirits in prison" as the christian puts it. c. his mode of action is a driving forward; the will that lies back of evolutionary development is his, and he it is who drives spirit onward through matter till it eventually emerges from matter, having achieved two things: first, added quality to quality, and therefore emerging plus the gained faculty that experience has engendered. second, increased the vibration of matter it

matter (fire by friction, and the emanations of the son, in time and space, are dependent upon the adequacy of the matter, and of the form to the life within. the first logos is electric fire, the fire of pure spirit. yet in manifestation he is the son, for by union with matter (the mother) the son is produced by whom he is known "i and my father are one"69(60) is the most occult statement in the christian bible, for it not only refers to the union of a man with his source, the monad, via the ego, but to the union of all life with its source, the will aspect, the first logos. we will now endeavor to confine ourselves strictly to the subject of fire in matter, and its active effect upon the sheaths of which it is the animating factor, and upon the centers which come primarily under its cont

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

so that a man becomes a living flame, 7. the path can be found and man himself become that path. the following triplicities may be found of value to the student, especially if he remembers that it is the central column which contains the terms applicable to the soul or second aspect. the union to be achieved is that of the third and second aspects. this is consummated at the third initiation (in christian terminology, the transfiguration. a later synthesis is then effected between the united third and second aspects and the first: 1st aspect 2nd aspect 3 rd aspect spirit soul body father son (christ) h oly ghost monad ego personality divine self h igher self l ower self life consciousness f orm energy force matter the presence the angel of the human being the presence a clear distinction

ng transformations which prevent the true nature of the soul becoming manifest. these are the externalities which hinder the light of the inner god from shining forth, and which are occultly spoken of as "casting a shadow before the face of the sun" the inherent nature of the lives which constitute these active versatile forms has hitherto proved too strong for the soul (the christ within, as the christian puts it) and the soul-powers have been prevented full expression. the instinctual powers of the "animal soul" or the capacities of the aggregate of lives which form the sheaths or bodies, imprison the real man and limit his powers. these lives are intelligent units on the involutionary arc of evolution, working towards self-expression. their objective is, however, different from that of

nature" latent in any form. it is the "being" that is the essential reality, and all beings are struggling toward true expression. all knowledge therefore which is acquired through the medium of the lower faculties and which is based upon the form aspect is incorrect knowledge. the soul alone perceives correctly; the soul alone has the power to contact the germ or the principle of buddhi (in the christian phraseology, the christ principle) to be found at the heart of every atom, whether it is the atom of matter as studied in the laboratory of the scientist, whether it is the human atom in the crucible of daily experience, whether it is the planetary atom, within whose ring-pass-not all our kingdoms of nature are found, or the solar atom, god in manifestation through the medium of a solar

the act of the ego, solar angel, higher self or soul, as he sounds out the word from his own place, on the abstract levels of the mental plane. he directs that sound, via the sutratma and the vestures of consciousness to the physical brain of the man in incarnation, the shadow or reflection. this "sounding forth" has to be constantly repeated. the sutratma is that magnetic link, spoken of in the christian bible as the "silver cord" that thread of living light which connects the monad, the spirit in man, with the physical brain. secondly, there is the earnest reflection of the man in his physical brain upon that sound as he recognizes it. the two poles of being are hinted at here: the soul and the man in incarnation, and between these two is found the thread, along which the pranava (or wo

n intellectual interest, and the substitution of mind control in place of control by the emotions has to precede any later realisation of the need of soul culture. the apparatus of thought must be contacted and used before the nature of the thinker can be intelligently appreciated. when this is realised, the contribution to human development by the great schools of thought we call mental science, christian science, new thought and other groups which lay the emphasis upon the mental states will be more justly appraised. the human family is only now becoming aware of the "vesture of consciousness" which we call the mental body. the majority of men have as yet to build that vesture which occult students call the mental body. from among those who are so doing, the true raja yogins will be gath

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

ntegrated and coordinated unit, then there is set up between the two a more intensive interaction. this interaction is brought about though the processes of self-discipline, an active will towards spiritual being, unselfish service (for that is the mode in which the group-conscious soul manifests itself) and meditation. the consummation of the work is the conscious realization of union called, in christian terminology, the at-one-ment. these three hypotheses must be accepted, at any rate, tentatively, if this process of education through meditation is to be rendered effective. in webster's dictionary, the soul is defined in line with these theories, and the definition runs as follows "an entity conceived as the essence, substance, or actuating cause of individual life, especially of life m

ychic nature, and the restraint of the mind-stuff. when this has been accomplished, the yogi knows himself as he is in reality" patanjali assuming the correctness of the theories outlined in the preceding chapters, it might be of value if we were to state clearly toward what definite goal the educated man aims as he enters on the way of meditation, and in what way meditation differs from what the christian calls prayer- 27- from intellect to intuition copyright 1998 lucis trust clear thinking on both these points is essential if we want to make practical progress, for the task ahead of the investigator is an arduous one; he will need more than a passing enthusiasm and a temporary endeavor if he is to master this science and become proficient in its technique. let us consider the last point

e idea of fire. it denotes a burning desire, and a fiery determination which eventually does three things for the aspirant. it throws a fierce light upon his problems, and constitutes the purificatory furnace into which the lower self has to go in order that all dross may be burned out, and it also destroys all hindrances which might keep him back. this same idea of fire runs through all books on christian mysticism, and many passages in the bible of a similar nature will come readily to mind. willingness to "bear the cross" to "enter the fire" to "die daily (it matters not what the symbology employed may be, is the characteristic of the true aspirant, and, before we pass on to the way of meditation and place our footsteps in those of the myriads of sons of god who have preceded us, we mus

that of meditation. they need not be expressed in their fullness and completeness, but must be incorporated in the life as working rules of conduct. they lead to detachment, a quality which is emphasized both in the east and in the west. this is the freeing of the soul from the thralldom of the form life, and the subordination of the personality to the higher impulses. dr. mar chal expresses the christian intention along these lines as follows "this 'detachment from self, what does it mean "first of all, clearly, it is detachment from the lower and sensible ego that is, the habitual subordination of the fleshly to the spiritual point of view, the co-ordination of the lower multiplicity under a higher unity "again, it is detachment from the 'vainglorious ego' the dispersed and capricious e

nt from the 'vainglorious ego' the dispersed and capricious ego, the plaything of external circumstances, the slave of fluctuating opinion. the continuity of the inner life could not accommodate itself to so fluctuating a unity "above all, it is detachment from the 'proud ego' we must have a right understanding of this, for humility is rightly considered as one of the most characteristic notes of christian asceticism and mysticism."3(57) here we have the subordination of the physical, emotional, and mental life to the divine project of achieving unity, emphasized, for capriciousness is a quality of the sensory apparatus, and pride that of the mind. the meditation process is divided into five parts, one part leading sequentially to another. we will take these various stages and study each o

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

ual and personal application of the teaching given. that must be done by each student for himself. you have wisely guarded the teaching from the taint of superimposed authority, and there lies back of your books no esoteric principle of hierarchical authority or support, such as has produced the narrow limits of certain ecclesiastical bodies and groups, differing as widely as the catholic church, christian science, those who believe in the verbal inspiration of the scriptures, and numerous (so-called) esoteric organisations. the curse of many groups has been the whispered word that "those who know wish "the master says "the great ones command" and the group of silly sheep feebly and blindly tumble over themselves to obey. they think thereby, through their misplaced devotion, to contact cer

ss" said a great initiate of the white lodge; and the greatest of them all yet present with us in physical form on earth, repeated the words of an earlier sage when he said "i have said ye are gods, and ye are all the children of the most high. in those words the triplicity of man, his divinity and his relationship to the life in whom he lives and moves and has his being, is touched upon from the christian standpoint, and all the great religions deal in analogous phrases with that relationship. a. spirit, life, energy. the word spirit is applied to that undefinable, elusive, essential impulse or life which is the cause of all manifestation. it is the breath of life and is that rhythmic inflow of vital energy which manifests in its turn as the attractive force, as the consciousness, or soul

d as the body. this life principle, this basic essential of being, and this mysterious elusive factor is the correspondence in man of that which we call spirit or life in the macrocosm. just as the life in- 19- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust man holds together, animates, vitalises and drives into activity the form and so makes of him a living being, so the life of god as the christian calls it, performs the same purpose in the universe and produces that coherent, living, vital ensemble which we call a solar system. this life principle in man manifests in a triple manner: 1. as the directional will, purpose, basic incentive. this is the dynamic energy which sets his being functioning, brings him into existence, fixes the term of his life, carries him through the years

k of the lodge is often hindered. the point reached at this time might be expressed as a swinging from the rank materialism of the past into a growing and profound realization of the unseen worlds without the balance that comes from self-acquired knowledge. the forces that have been set in motion by the thinkers the scientists of the world, the truly advanced religious men, the spiritualists, the christian scientists, the new thought workers, the theosophists and the modern philosophers and workers in other fields of human thought are gradually and steadily affecting the subtler bodies of humanity and are bringing them to a point where they are beginning to realize three things: a. the reality of the unseen worlds. b. the terrific power of thought. c. the need for scientific knowledge on t

ey are unconscious mediums and are unable to check the source from whence the teachings come; if they claim to know that source, they are frequently in error. some receive teaching from discarnate entities of no higher evolution, and frequently of lower, than themselves. some are simply abstracting the content of their own subconsciousnesses, and hence we have the beautiful platitudes, couched in christian phraseology, and tinctured by the mystical writings of the past, which litter the desks of disciples, working consciously on the physical plane. some work only on mental levels, learning, through telepathy, that which the elder brothers of the race and their own souls have to impart. they tap the sources of knowledge stored in the egoic consciousness. they become aware of the knowledge s

ALICE A BAILEY09 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME I ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY I

ve now laid down the basic premise that all that is known to us is a manifesting divine entity, expressing itself through three aspects which (for the purposes of this treatise and because they are more in line with the terminology of emerging modern thought) i choose to call life-quality-appearance. these are but other names for the trinity of all the great religions, and are synonymous with the christian phrase, father, son and holy ghost (those old anthropomorphic terms; with spirit, soul and body, the current phraseology; and with the life, consciousness and form of the indian philosophy. may i interpolate here the comment that modern thinkers would do well to bear in mind that the importance of christianity lies in the realisation that it is a bridging religion. this is symbolised for

when this is realised, we shall have every important group of men engaged in world affairs, or in the work of government in all its branches, aided on the mental plane by trained thinkers, so that there may be right application and correct adjustment to the plan. this time is as yet far away, and hence the distortions and misrepresentations on earth of the plan as it exists in heaven, to use the christian phraseology. it was the realisation of the present world need for illumined thinkers and subjective workers which prompted those who guide so to direct the incoming spiritual energies that the formation of the esoteric groups everywhere came about; it led also to the publication of the mass of mystical and oriental literature on meditation and allied topics which has flooded the world to

o note that the reason for the success in breaking down old barriers and in bringing about a condition of spiritual readiness everywhere in the occident, is largely due to the work of the orientalist scholars in france, germany and england. they have made the literature of the east available, in all its beauty, to the west, and so have linked the spiritual truths of all ages with the truth of the christian presentation, showing them all to be of equal progressive value. now the masses in india, china, and northern africa must be awakened to the inner significance of their own faiths, and to the part that christianity plays in the same great religious programme. this is occupying the close attention of certain second ray teachers in india, japan and syria- 112- a treatise on the seven rays

ll be brought about by the workers in the fields of education, of science, and of psychology. great things are on the way at this time, and the activities of workers on the third and fifth rays have never been so well directed nor so potent as today. as i told you, and as i now repeat, the workers on all the rays are organised to take part in one supreme effort, an effort towards which the entire christian era has been tending and for which it has been a preparation. the seventh and sixth rays are occupied with the work of government and with the task of producing a new synthesis, and thus the force of all the workers along those lines is combining with the energy of the first ray. the energies of the aspirants and disciples on the third and fifth rays are turned to the work of expanding t

ess, animated by love of humanity and by a desire to help the race. such a man is a spiritual man. the problem of god in the world of religion we shall see the solution of the second problem, and the ridding of the human consciousness of another area of doubt. the fact of god will be established and men's questioning in this respect will end. such a god will not be a national or a racial god; not christian, hindu or buddhist. such a god will not be a figment of man's creative imagination or an extension of his own consciousness, but a deity of essential life, who is the sum total of all energies; the energy of life itself, the energy of love, the energy of intelligence, of active experience, and that energy which produces the interplay between the seen and the unseen; a god most surely tra

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

to calvary the initiations of jesus by alice a. bailey copyright 1937 by lucis trust copyright renewed 1965 by lucis trust foreword this book goes out with the earnest wish that its effect may be wholly constructive and result in a deepening of our belief in christ and a broader recognition of the work which he came to initiate. many years of work as an evangelist and as a teacher in the field of christian principles, and a difficult cycle in which i faced the problem of my own relation to christ and to christianity, have brought me to two definitely clear and clean-cut recognitions: first, a recognition of the reality of the individuality of christ and of his mission; and secondly, a recognition that the development of the christ consciousness and the christ nature in individual man, and

efined. the hearts of men have never been more open to spiritual impression than they are at this time, and the door into the very centre of reality stands wide open. paralleling, however, this significant development is a trend in the counter direction, and materialistic philosophies and doctrines of negation are becoming increasingly prevalent. to many, the whole question of the validity of the christian religion remains to be determined. claims are made that christianity has failed and that man does not need the gospel story with its implications of divinity and its urge to service and sacrifice. is the gospel story historically true? is it a mystical tale of great beauty and of real teaching value but nevertheless of no vital import to the intelligent men and women of today, who pride

tion in the great continuity of divine revelation. they have endeavoured to emphasise its uniqueness, and to regard it as an isolated and entirely separated expression of spiritual religion. they thereby destroy its background, remove its foundations, and make it difficult for the steadily developing mind of man to accept its presentation. yet st. augustine tells us that "that which is called the christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist from the beginning of the human race until christ came in the flesh, at which time the true religion, which already existed, began to be called christianity."1 the wisdom which expresses relationship to god, the rules of the road which guide our wandering footsteps back to the father's home, and the teaching which brings revela

fit. god has never left himself without witness, and he never will. the place of christianity as the fulfilment of the past and as a stepping-stone to the future, is often forgotten, and this perhaps is one of the reasons why people speak of a failing christianity, and look forward to that spiritual revelation which seems so sorely needed. unless this continuity is emphasised and the place of the christian faith in it, revelation may come and pass unrecognised "there was" we are told "in every ancient country having claims to civilisation, an esoteric doctrine, a system which was designated wisdom, and those who were devoted to its prosecution were first denominated sages, or wise men. pythagoras termed this system. the gnosis or knowledge of things that are. under the noble designation of

ed, then the spirit and the living experimental experience disappear. we have been occupied with the details of the outer form of the faith, and have sadly forgotten the inner meaning which carries life and salvation to the individual and also to humanity. we have been busy fighting over the non-essentials of traditional interpretation and have omitted to teach the secret and the technique of the christian life. we have over-emphasised the doctrinal and dogmatic aspects, and have deified the letter, whilst all the time the soul of man was crying out for the spirit of life, which the letter veiled. we have agonised over the historical aspects of the gospel narrative, over the time element, and over the verbal accuracy of the many translations, while failing to see the real magnificence of c

ALICE A BAILEY11 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME II ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY II

e fourth aspect of the personality which is the dense physical body. the three personality types of energy are the etheric body, which is the vehicle of vital energy, the astral body which is the vehicle of the feeling energy or sentient force, and the mental body which is the vehicle of the intelligent energy of will that is destined to be the dominant creative aspect. it is upon this truth that christian science has laid the emphasis. these forces constitute the lower man. the solar angel is a dual combination of energies the energy of love, and the energy of will or purpose and these are the qualities of the life thread. these two, when dominating the third energy of mind, produce the perfect man. they explain the human problem; they indicate the objective before man; they account for a

ill, however, be relatively abstruse to all those whose lives are centred in the personality. down the ages, the scriptures of the world and those who have attempted to elucidate them, have been occupied with imparting to humanity an understanding of the nature of those qualities and characteristics which should distinguish all true believers, all true aspirants and all sincere disciples, whether christian or otherwise. the teaching has always been given in terms of good behavior and of right action, and therefore given in terms of effects, produced by inner causes which have not always been specified. basically, all such virtues, good inclinations and attempted sound qualities represent the emergence into expression upon the physical plane of certain energies and tendencies, inherent in t

f the worlds and to the manifestation of the divine creator. it might help to a better understanding of the law of sacrifice if it were expressed through synonymous words and terms. a. the significance of the law of sacrifice it means the impulse of giving. the whole secret of the doctrines of "the forgiveness of sins" and of the "at-onement" lies hid in this simple phrase. it is the basis of the christian doctrine of love and sacrifice. hence the emphasis laid, in the piscean age and through the influence of christianity, upon just these two things, forgiveness and atonement. that man, as usual, distorted and misinterpreted the teaching and the truth, and that it fell, as does all else at present, under the glamour and illusion of the astral plane, plus the piscean influence, is true. man

hen this takes place, the consciousness of our humanity will then merge with that underlying consciousness of the whole, which recognises no pain or sorrow and has, therefore, slipped out of the realisation which predominantly governs the consciousness of the three great lives in our solar system. 5. it is this dimly sensed truth which lies behind the highest type of metaphysical thought, such as christian science, unity, divine science, and the emphasis laid by christianity and the esoteric schools upon the at-one-ment. this instinct towards betterment through sacrifice is itself diverse. there is, first of all, the instinct towards individual betterment, which leads to selfishness, to a grasping, and to an orientation of the materially-minded towards material possessions. there is, secon

ms of the modern civilised man; whether it is the urge to self-reproduction and the satisfaction of that appetite which works out today in the complexity of the sex life of the race; whether it is the urge to be popular, loved and esteemed; whether it is the urge for intellectual enjoyment and the mental appropriation of truth, or the deep-seated desire for heaven and rest which characterises the christian, or the aspiration for illumination which is the demand of the mystic, or the longing for identification with reality which is the "wish" of the occultist. all this is desire in some form or another, and by these urges humanity is governed and controlled; i would say most definitely controlled, for this is only a simple statement of the case- 95- a treatise on the seven rays- volume ii:

ALICE A BAILEY12 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME I

cepted discipleship (technically understood) for many lives. some are venturing for the first time consciously and with deliberate effort to tread the way to god. all are mystics, learning to be occultists. all are normal people, living useful, modern lives in many different countries in the world. some are orthodox protestant christians by profession; others are roman catholics; still others are christian scientists or belong to one or other of the more mental cults; some are quite unattached and free from affiliations. none of them regards his particular brand of faith or his particular religious background as essential to salvation; he knows that the only essential is belief in the spiritual realities and in the essential divinity of mankind. this belief necessarily involves a heart ful

the third ray of active intelligence. the mass of intelligent humanity are found on this ray. 4. the fourth ray of harmony through conflict. aspirants. struggling, well-meaning people. workers for unity emerge along this line. 5. the fifth ray of concrete knowledge or science. scientists and people who are purely mental and governed only by the mind. 6. the sixth ray of devotion or idealism. many christian people. fanatics. numbers of earnest churchmen of all the world religions. 7. the seventh ray of ceremonial order or magic. masons. financiers. great businessmen and organisers of all kinds. executives are found with these energies in their equipment. however, only when a man is highly developed and nearing the path of discipleship is it possible for the esoteric student accurately to su

wings of joy. i would remind you here that happiness is the result of achieved personality desire; joy is the expression of the soul's surety, whilst bliss is the consummation which the monad bestows upon the initiate- 135- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust prior to your group meditation, my brother, i would have you do the following brief spiritual exercise as the christian mystics call it: 1. sound the o.m. three times as a personality, achieving alignment; then sound it three times as the soul, conferring inspiration. 2. then, focussing yourself at as high a point as possible and using the creative imagination to your fullest capacity, see the radiation of love as light pouring from the soul and raying forth as a mental influence to others, as an emotiona

forces begins to wear down; its vibration weakens and, because much of the consciousness is still identified with the body nature, the disciple is conscious of fatigue, pain, distress and a deep weariness. it has been the "personality fatigue" of the human race which partially was responsible for the excessive misery complex, the sense of inferiority, and the pining-for-release psychology of the christian presentation of truth. as still further progress is made, the joy of the soul begins to pour through the worn and weary vehicles, and gradually the positive nature of the soul takes hold. when this is strong enough and the man is sufficiently decentralised, it is the soul quality which will persist in spite of physical limitations, and the inner sense of weariness will then be carefully

for i seek to place your interest, not in yourself but in others. february 1938 my brother and my friend: i would recall to you certain remarks which i made in my last instruction. with your usual aptitude to select that which your personality prefers, and which intrigues your sense of sin (i say this with a smile, brother, but the dramatic glamour of the sixth ray person, working in the piscean christian age, loves public conviction of wrong doing) and, feeding your sense of drama, enables you to say "now i know" when you do not. you emphasised that which was obvious, and ignored the real things with which i sought to reach you. what were the points of real importance in my last communication to you? i will list them briefly: 1. the illusion of selection and reward to which, i warned you

ALICE A BAILEY13 PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY

em fundamentally requires. racial faults are more widely recognized than racial virtues; racial qualities find themselves in conflict with national characteristics or world trends and these still further increase the difficulty. the efforts of well-meaning citizens (and they are many) and the plans of the convinced humanitarian to aid these minorities are too often based solely upon a good heart, christian principles and a sense of justice; these fine qualities are, however, often implemented by a profound ignorance of the true facts, of the historical values and of the various relationships involved. they are also often impulsed by a fighting fanaticism which borders on a hatred for the majority who (as the fighting protagonist sees it) are responsible for the cruel injustices under which

l aid, the ending of the ceaseless tribal wars, sanitation, and a more enlightened religious system in the place of the barbaric cults and crude religious practices. much evil followed the explorer, the missionary and the trader but much good also followed in their steps, particularly in those of the missionary. the negro is naturally religious and mystically inclined, and the major tenets of the christian faith have a definite appeal to his nature; the emotional aspects of the christian presentation (with the emphasis upon love and goodness and the life hereafter) is understood by the emotionally focussed negro. behind the many separative religious cults of that dark land, there emerges a fundamental and pure mysticism, ranging all the way from nature worship and a primitive animism to a

; let them realize that the solutions of the critical problems with which humanity is faced at the portal of the new age will not be found by deciding upon some line of action and forcing it on public attention by propaganda and by campaigning. it will come by advocating and developing a spirit of goodwill (with its results: a right atmosphere and a sound attitude) and an understanding heart. the christian era was ushered in by a mere handful of men, the twelve apostles, the seventy disciples and the five hundred who recognized the message of the christ. the new era in which christ will "see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied, is being ushered in by the hundreds of thousands of the men of goodwill now active in the world and who can become still more active if recognized, reached

u? the ideas of some human mind interpreted in terms of his period, tradition and background about what god said in some scripture which has been subjected during the centuries to the difficulties and the mistakes incident to constant translation a translation often based on oral teaching. the doctrine of the verbal inspiration of the scriptures of the world (deemed particularly applicable to the christian bible) is today completely exploded and with it the infallibility of interpretation; all the world scriptures are now seen to be based on poor translations and no part of them after thousands of years of translation is as it originally was, if it ever existed as an original manuscript and was not in reality some man's recollection of what was said. at the same time, it must be remembered

logy is simply what men think is in the mind of god. the more ancient the scripture, the greater, necessarily, the distortion. the doctrine of a vengeful god, the doctrine of retribution in some mythical hell, the teaching that god only loves those who interpret him in terms of some particular school of theological thought, the symbolism of the blood sacrifice, the appropriation of the cross as a christian symbol, the teaching about the virgin birth and the picture of an angry deity only appeased by death are the unhappy results of man's own thinking, of his own lower nature, of his sectarian isolationism (fostered by the jewish old testament, but not generally found in the oriental faiths) and of his sense of fear, inherited from the animal side of his nature all these are fostered and in

ALICE A BAILEY14 THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST

are the keynotes of the prevalent expectancy. when the times are ripe, the invocation of the masses is strident enough and the faith of those who know is keen enough, then always he has come and today will be no exception to this ancient rule or to this universal law. for decades, the reappearance of the christ, the avatar, has been anticipated by the faithful in both hemispheres not only by the christian faithful, but by those who look for maitreya and for the boddhisattva as well as those who expect the imam mahdi. when men feel that they have exhausted all their own resources and have come to an end of all their own innate possibilities and that the problems and conditions confronting them are beyond their solving or handling, they are apt to look for a divine intermediary and for the

ace is a matter of general interest within a few minutes. this makes it uniquely possible for him to work in the future. the development of spiritual recognition is the great need today in preparation for his reappearance; no one knows in what nation he will come; he may appear as an englishman, a russian, a negro, a latin, a turk, a hindu, or any other nationality. who can say which? he may be a christian or a hindu by faith, a buddhist or of no particular faith at all; he will not come as the restorer of any of the ancient religions, including christianity, but he will come to restore man's faith in the father's love, in the fact of the livingness of the christ and in the close, subjective and unbreakable relationship of all men everywhere. the facilities of the entire world of contact a

n and presented him with a decision which he could not avoid. reverently we might say that in this "occasion" of the christ's, two facts were involved and that both of them are difficult for man to understand. the fact of the synchronisation of his will with that of the father, and the fact that this synchronisation led to a basic decision, must be recognised by us. it is not easy for the average christian to realise that the christ passes on steadily to increasingly potent experiences, and that in his divine experience there is nothing static or permanent except his unalterable love for humanity. a close study of the gospel story, unimpeded by orthodox interpretations, reveals certain things. the usual interpretations, if men would but recognise them in their true meaning, are simply- 11

led the "place of serene determination and of poised, quiescent will" this statement marked a point of crisis and of determination in the life of christ, and proved his progress towards divine fulfilment. 3. then in the garden of gethsemane he said "father, not my will but thine be done" thus indicating his realisation of divine destiny. the meaning of these words is not (as is so often stated by christian theologians) a statement of acceptance of pain and of an unpleasant future and of death. it was an exclamation, evoked surely by his realisation of the universal implications of his mission and the intense focussing of his life in a universal sense. the gethsemane experience was an experience uniquely possible only to those sons of god who have reached his rare point in evolution; it had

ifted up, will draw all men unto me" this had no reference to the crucifixion but to the magnetic will of the christ to draw all men, through the life of the indwelling christ in every heart, out of the world of material values into the world of spiritual recognitions. it did not relate to death but to life; it had no reference to the cross but to the resurrection. in the past, the keynote of the christian religion has been death, symbolised for us in the death of christ and much distorted by st. paul in his effort to blend the new religion which christ brought with the old blood religion of the jews. in the cycle which christ will inaugurate after his reappearance, the goal of all the- 14- the reappearance of the christ copyright 1998 lucis trust religious teaching in the world will be th

ALICE A BAILEY15 THE DESTINY OF THE NATIONS

is the result of these energies, pouring cyclically through nature and through that part of nature which we call the human kingdom. to understand what is today taking place we must recognise that these energies are seven in number. they are called by many names in many different lands, but for our purposes the following seven names will be used: 1. the energy of will, purpose or power, called in christian lands the energy of the will of god. 2. the energy of love-wisdom, called frequently the love of god. 3. the energy of active intelligence, called the mind of god. 4. the energy of harmony through conflict, affecting greatly the human family. 5. the energy of concrete knowledge or science, so potent at this time. 6. the energy of devotion or idealism, producing the current ideologies. 7

largely re-incarnated romans and hence the friendly feeling which basically exists between the two countries in spite of outward appearance) are the original railroad makers. this is all upon the material side. upon the spiritual side, as i told you in an earlier book, the whole field of religion will be re-inspired and re-orientated from rome because the master jesus will again take hold of the christian church in an effort to re-spiritualise it and to re-organise it. from the chair of the pope of rome, the master jesus will attempt to swing that great branch of the religious beliefs of the world again into a position of spiritual power and away from its present authoritative and temporary political potency. the united states of america has for its personality ray the sixth ray and hence

effect upon that country and a study of these effects will demonstrate future possibility for the world, once the flow of its energy is less obstructed. it has produced the fusion of three powerful racial types in group formation and not through admixture as in the united states; it has enabled two relatively antagonistic divisions of- 52- the destiny of the nations copyright 1998 lucis trust the christian faith to work together with a minimum of friction; it has made geneva the seat of the red cross that world activity which works truly impartially with and for the nationals of all countries and for the prisoners of all nations; it housed that sad but well-intentioned experiment which was called the league of nations, and will again house a more true league to meet the world need; it is t

forth from the east and that the gift of india to the world is the light of the ageless wisdom. this is true in a sense, but there is a wider and deeper sense in which it will prove true. when the intent and purpose of the great life which works through shamballa is carried out and is in process of expression, a light will be revealed which has never yet been seen or known. there is a word in the christian scriptures which says "in that light shall we see light" this means that through the medium of the light of wisdom shed abroad in our hearts through the ageless wisdom, we shall eventually see the light of life itself something meaningless and inexplicable to humanity at present but which will be later revealed when the present point of crisis is surmounted. of its nature and its effect

the sun moves northward again has been regarded as a festival season; for thousands of years it has been associated with the coming of the sun-god to save the world, to bring light and fruitfulness to the earth and through the work of the son of god to bring hope to humanity. the christmas season is regarded by those who do not know any better as uniquely the festival of the christ, and this the christian churches have- 80- the destiny of the nations copyright 1998 lucis trust emphasised and to this all churchmen testify. this is both true and false. the founder of the christian church god in the flesh availed himself of this period and came to us in the dark of the year and initiated a new era in which light was to be the distinguishing note. this has been true from several angles, even

ALICE A BAILEY16 GLAMOUR A WORLD PROBLEM

tion of discipline has been so good that the black forces are interested sufficiently to attempt to hinder their fine work by submerging them in clouds of glamour. nothing could be further from the truth. that idea is itself part of the glamour of the present time, and has its roots in human pride and satisfaction. maya is oft regarded as being of the same nature as the concept promulgated by the christian scientist that there is no such thing as matter. we are asked to regard the entire world phenomena as maya and to believe that its existence is simply an error of mortal mind, and a form of auto-suggestion or self-hypnotism. through this induced belief we force ourselves into a state of mind which recognises that the tangible and the objective are only figments of man's imaginative mind

on. before i enlarge upon this subject i would like you to organise your minds on the matter, using definitions as a guide to your thought, yet stating the problem as you see it, and seeking to see the differences existing between these four aspects of the world glamour. 2. say each day, with care and thought, a very familiar prayer, the lord's prayer. it has many meanings and the trite and usual christian significance is not for you. ponder on this most- 16- glamour: a world problem copyright 1998 lucis trust ancient formula of truth and interpret it entirely in terms of a formula for the dissipation of illusion. write an exegesis on it from this angle, taking it phrase by phrase and regarding it as giving us seven keys to the secret of the elimination of glamour. the formula (which is no

and the jews merit our impersonal love, particularly as they are both guilty (if i may use such a term) of the same basic errors and faults. the german is powerfully race conscious; so is the jew. the german is separative in his attitude to the world; so is the jew. the german insists today on racial purity, a thing upon which the jew has insisted for centuries. a small group of germans are anti-christian; so are an equally small number of jews. i could continue piling up these resemblances but the above will suffice. therefore, your dislike of one group is not more warranted than your refusal to recognise any justification for the activities and attitudes of the other. like frequently repudiates and swings away from like, and the germans and the jews are curiously alike. just as many bri

gious impulse and, as the illusion has deepened and grown in time, the original simplicity (as it was conveyed by its revealers) has been lost. all basic revelations are presented in the simplest forms. accretion after accretion crept in; the minds of men made the teaching complex through their mental dissertations until the great theological systems were built up which we call, for instance, the christian church and the buddhist system. their founders would have much difficulty in recognising the two or three fundamental and divine facts or truths which they sought to reveal and emphasise, so great is the mantle of illusion which has been thrown over the simple pronouncements of the christ and of the buddha. the vast cathedrals and the pompous ceremonies of the orthodox are far removed fr

f angels and of men, and from the simplicity of his present way of life as he watches and waits for the return of his people to the simple way of spiritual realisation- 111- glamour: a world problem copyright 1998 lucis trust so great has been the illusion that in the west today men talk of the "temporal power of the catholic church; the protestant churches are split up into warring factions; the christian science church is known for its ability to amass money and to teach its adherents to do so and to achieve temporary good health; the greek orthodox church was corrupt throughout, and only the simple faith of the uncultured and the poor has preserved any semblance of the truth in its original simple form. they have no ability for high sounding theological discussions, but they do believe

ALICE A BAILEY17 TELEPATHY AND THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

t they have done this, they regard what they find as unusual, beautiful and important, and then proceed to formulate it into messages, which they expect their friends and the general public to regard as spiritually based. these messages are normally innocuous, sometimes beautiful, because they are a mixture of what the recipients have read and gathered from the mystical writing or have heard from christian sources and the bible. it is really the content of their right thinking along spiritual lines and can do no one any harm, but is of no true importance whatsoever. it accounts, however, for eighty-five percent (85) of the so-called telepathic or inspired writings so prevalent at this time. 2. impressions from the soul, which are translated into concepts and written down by the personality

mental force (if i might use such a term) submerges the astral nature, vitalising and inspiring the astral body, changing temporarily the quality of the astral aura, and establishing a control which will lead finally to the substitution which i have mentioned above. this is an aspect of the truth which underlies the doctrine of "vicarious atonement" a doctrine which has been woefully distorted by christian theology. registration, recording and interpretation let us now deal with the aforementioned "processes of registration, of recording interpretations, and the resultant invocative response" we must bear in mind always that i am stating general rules and that i am not dealing either with the ideal or with the undesirable; the sources of impression change as the disciple makes progress, th

ines but has not been sufficiently emphasised, owing to the point in evolution of mankind. today, mankind has made such progress that these points can be made effectively. i would call to your attention that this was the keynote of the gospel story: the human-divine nature of the christ, relating him to the father through his essential divinity, and also to man through his essential humanity. the christian church gave a wrong slant to the teaching by making christ appear as unique, though the higher criticism (deemed so shocking fifty years ago) has done much to correct this false impression. the outstanding characteristic of humanity is intelligent sensitivity to impression. ponder on this definite and emphatic statement. the work of science is, after all, simply the development of the kn

ALICE A BAILEY18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME III ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

ease that the sixth ray- 127- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust working through mars, rules christianity. it is a religion of devotion, fanaticism, of high courage, of idealism, of the spiritual emphasis upon the individual and his worth and problem, of conflict and of death. all those characteristics are familiar to us in the presentation of christian theology. it is however pre-eminently a religion which has waged a cruel and oft illogical war upon sex and its implications; it has emphasised a militant celibacy (militant where women and their rights and natures are concerned; it has regarded the sex relation as one of the primary evils in the world and has laid the emphasis upon the inviolable nature of the marriage bond when endorse

the beneficent or the malefic effect of the impact of sixth ray force upon the form nature. little emphasis has been laid nevertheless upon the influence of mars upon christianity, making it a definitely militant religion, oft cruel and sadistic (as witness the murders and tortures carried out in the name of christ, who was the outstanding representative of god's love. throughout the teaching of christian theology, the theme of blood runs ceaselessly and the source of salvation is laid upon the blood relationship and not upon the life aspect which the blood veils and symbolises. it is the creed of a crucified and dead christ which rules christianity and not that of the risen master. one of the reasons for this travesty of the truth has been that st. paul, that great initiate, prior to tak

e, prior to taking the third initiation which he did at the time he was functioning as related in the acts of the apostles, was potently under martian influence and was born in scorpio; a study of his horoscope would demonstrate this were you in a position to study as can we who are connected with the hierarchy. it was he who gave the scorpio-mars slant to the interpretation and exposition of the christian teaching and deflected its energy into channels of teaching which its founder had never intended. such is often the undesirable effect of the activities of well-meaning disciples upon the work which they undertake to carry on after the originator of some work for the hierarchy passes over to the other side through death or relinquishes his task in order to take up other duties. the blood

aul misinterpreted the esoteric significances of the new testament message and he misinterpreted because the truth like all truths as they reach humanity had to pass through the filter of his personality mind and brain; it was then unavoidably given a personal slant and twist and this is responsible for the sorry historical story of christianity and the dire plight of the nations today ostensibly christian nations yet swept by hate, ruled by fear and at the same time by idealism, governed by a fanatical adherence to their national destiny as they interpret it and "out for blood" as the piling up of armaments discloses. all these are sixth ray characteristics, emphasised by scorpio and conditioned by mars which ever rules the path of the individual disciple, and today the world disciple, hu

a. i would remind you, however, that the herd instinct in relation to sex has its basis either in normal and natural animal instinctual desire or in emotional attitudes, and of these the last category are by far the worst and carry with them by far the more deep-seated seeds of trouble. they range all the way from the stage of free love and a general promiscuity to the orthodox narrow and bigoted christian angle, as that is normally understood though not in the sense in which christ viewed life. this narrow viewpoint and the normal anglo-saxon attitude (an outcome of the teaching of the middle ages) regard sex as unusually sinful, ever undesirable, and as something to be lived down and overcome, and kept secretly in the background of the christian consciousness, where it is hidden as a pru

ALICE A BAILEY19 THE UNFINISHED AUTOBIOGRAPHY

hich it is, and to see to it that we truly serve. sincerely yours (signed) foster bailey new york december 16, 1949 introduction what finally decided me to write about my life was a letter i had in 1941 from a friend in scotland who said that he felt that i would really render a service if i could show people how i became what i am from what i was. it might be useful to know how a rabid, orthodox christian worker could become a well-known occult teacher. people might learn much by discovering how a theologically minded bible student could come to the firm conviction that the teachings of the east and of the west must be fused and blended before the true and universal religion for which the world waits could appear on earth. there is value in knowing that the love of god antedates christian

e. it takes all fundamentalists much time to learn that god is love. they assert it but do not believe it in practice, god's practice i mean. i would like, among other things, to show how the world of human beings opened up to a very class-conscious english woman and how the world of spiritual values with its direct, inner, spiritual government became a proven fact to an exceedingly narrow-minded christian. i glory in the name of christian but i now belong to the inclusive kind and not the exclusive. one of the things that i seek to bring out in this story is the fact of this inner direction of world affairs and to familiarise more people with the paralleling fact of the existence of those who are- 3- the unfinished autobiography copyright 1998 lucis trust responsible (behind the scenes) f

unded on several things. i was the plainest of an exceedingly good looking family and i am not plain. i was always regarded as rather stupid when in the schoolroom and as the least intelligent of an intelligent family. my sister was one of the most beautiful girls i have ever seen and her brains are superlative. i have always been devoted to her though she has no use for me, being a most orthodox christian and regarding anyone who has had the misfortune to get a divorce as quite without the pale. she is a doctor and was one of the first women in the long, long history of edinburgh university to win distinction and if i remember correctly she did this twice. she was quite young when she published three books of poetry and i have read reviews of these books in the london times literary suppl

therefore, never inherited the title. to her i owe more than i can ever repay. she oriented me spiritually and though her theology was very narrow, yet she herself was very broad. she gave me certain keynotes for spiritual living which have never failed me and to the end, she herself never failed me. when i became interested in esoteric matters and gave up being an orthodox, theologically minded christian, she wrote me that she could not understand but she certainly could trust me because she knew that i had a deep love for christ and that no matter what doctrine i might renounce she knew i would never renounce him. that was the exact truth. she was beautiful, lovely and good. her influence was widespread throughout the british isles. she had her own specially built and endowed cottage ho

wness of dogma. missionary work was dinned into my consciousness by both groups. the world was divided into those who were christians and worked hard to save souls and those who were heathen and bowed down to images of stone and worshipped them. the buddha was a stone image; and it never dawned on me then that the images of the buddha were on a par with the statues and images of the christ in the christian churches with which i was so familiar on the continent of europe. i was in a complete fog. and then at the height of my unhappiness and in the very middle of my dilemma and questioning one of the masters of the wisdom came to me. at the time of that happening and for many years after, i had not the remotest idea who he was. i was scared stiff at the occurrence. young as i was, i was inte

ALICE A BAILEY20 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME IV ESOTERIC HEALING

om the above how this taint, as might well be expected, has its roots in the astral or sentient body, the body of sensation. it is for this reason that i have included it. it would be an interesting experiment in analysis if these various well-known difficulties, diseases and complaints could be classified under their originating impulses. so few of them have a mental origin, in spite of all that christian science or mental science may say to the contrary. perhaps i should say, rather, that they are not based on wrong human thought, though all evil can be aggravated and intensified by wrong thought. many or perhaps most of the complaints from which average man suffers are based upon astral causes or upon some clearly defined desire. a formulated desire is one that finds expression in some

are but prefaces to change, for such is the law of being. 7. the centre at the base of the spine. this centre is, above everything else, controlled and governed by the law of being, above referred to, and is established where spirit and matter meet and where matter, the virgin mary under the influence of the holy spirit, time energy of the etheric vehicle is translated "into heaven" there (as the christian phraseology puts it "to be seated beside her son in the house of the father" this centre is found at the very base of the spine, and supports all the other centres. it is relatively quiescent at this time, for it is only roused into full activity by an act of the will, directed and controlled by the initiate. it is responsive only to the will aspect, and the will-to-be in incarnation is

nal self, then you have disease, ill health and death. this is a profoundly simple rule, but it gives the clue to the causes of disease and to the reason for an established immortality; it will be understood with great clarity and comprehension in a few years' time and will then supersede those idealistic but factually unsound and untrue systems to which we give the name unity, mental science and christian science. these systems present as immediate, demonstrable possibilities the stage of final liberation from the natural and material limitations which today control all forms; they ignore the time factor, and overlook the evolutionary process and also the point of development of the person concerned; their position is based on wishful thinking and on the innate desire of the average human

at the disciple does not concentrate upon the physical body at any time, or begin with any physical emphasis to work at the elimination of disease or disharmony. he begins with the psychology which the soul teaches and commences with the causes which are producing the effects upon the physical plane. it is a slower process, but endures. much of the violent auto-suggestion of the systems allied to christian science and unity are only temporary in their effects and are based upon a process of scientific suppression, plus a refusal to recognise existent factors. they are not based on truth. in a later life, the suppressed condition will again emerge in ever greater potency and will continue so to do until such time as it is ignored altogether and the life emphasis is laid on soul contact and

n a perfect manifestation on earth of physical living, of the emotional and mental life, and also of the spiritual life of an incarnated son of god, a christ- 127- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: esoteric healing copyright 1998 lucis trust it is on this point of understanding that so many worthy people go astray, particularly in the mental science movements, in the unity movement, and in christian science. instead of focussing their effort on achieving the pure life of christ in every day life, and acting as consecrated servers of their fellowmen and as channels for love, and becoming aware only of the consciousness of the whole, they are focussed on affirming a future perfection mentally and vocally in order to have good health and physical comfort. they regard it as their right

ALICE A BAILEY21 EDUCATION IN THE NEW AGE

e been increasing evidences of the permeating power of oriental thought in the fields of science, philosophy and the arts of the west. psychosomatic medicine, parapsychology, jung's analytical psychology are only a few indications of contemporary inwardly-oriented researches. the re-entry of the spiritual factor in life and education is something more than a recrudescence of some earlier forms of christian ideology. in this education for the new age, the type of east-west philosophy presented by the tibetan will find its proper setting. here we have the elements of a complete theory, as follows (a) subjective planning; a theory of the creative self-development of the individual (b) objective planning; a theory of the good society for human persons to live in. the psychological and social i

e coming into manifestation of the aquarian age. this fact should provide the grounds for a profound and convinced optimism; nothing can stop the effect growing, stabilising and final of the new, incoming influences. these will inevitably condition the future, determine the type of culture and civilisation, indicate the form of government and produce an effect upon humanity, as has the piscean or christian age, or the earlier period governed by aries, the ram or goat. upon these steadily emerging influences the hierarchy counts with assurance, and the disciples of the world must likewise learn to depend upon them. the consciousness of universal relationship, of subjective integration and of a proven and experienced unity will be the climaxing gift of the period ahead of us. in the coming w

ALICE A BAILEY22 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME II

ce. nothing else was possible. but even in this longer form, they will be potent in their invocative appeal, if said with mental intensity and ardent purpose. the points of emphasis upon which i would ask you to dwell (once it is permissible to use the phrases) are two in number: 1. may christ return to earth. this return must not be understood in its usual connotation and its well-known mystical christian sense. christ has never left the earth. what is referred to is the externalisation of the hierarchy and its exoteric appearance on earth. the hierarchy will eventually, under its head, the christ, function openly and visibly on earth. this will happen when the purpose of the divine will, and the plan which will implement it, are better understood and the period of adjustment, of world en

symbol beside it which indicates the era or period in human history during which it can and should be used. it is- 110- discipleship in the new age- volume ii copyright 1998 lucis trust interesting to us to note that the evolution of humanity is in line with the indicated timing. this invocation will have a potent appeal to mankind. my considered advice is that in its presentation to a definitely christian public (as for instance to the ecclesiastics of all denominations) the third verse in the stanza be changed and that its last line should read "the purpose which the master knows and serves" or perhaps "which disciples know and serve" the word "disciple" is an inclusive word, in the hierarchical sense; it is, at the same time, one easily recognised by the orthodox but offers no limitatio

trouble mankind may be done away with and some vague source of evil may be harnessed; they will regard it finally as a prayer that some equally vague primeval condition of blissful happiness may be restored and all unhappiness and pain disappear from the earth. this is, for them, entirely good and helpful and all that is immediately possible. i have so worded and rendered the invocation that the christian world, through its churches, may not find it impossible to use. second, esotericists and aspirants of the world will have a deeper and more understanding approach. to them it will convey the recognition of the world of causes and of those who stand subjectively behind world affairs, the spiritual directors of our life. they stand ready to strengthen those with true vision, ready to indic

th its aspects is hierarchical; the masters work in substance (i.e, light) though not with matter; the work to be done by triangle members is consequently purely mental and hence exceedingly powerful this of course when rightly done "energy follows thought" and the work of the triangles is that of directing thought. the work therefore falls into two categories: that of invoking divine aid (to use christian phraseology) and then through faith and acceptance directing the energies of light and love (which have been invoked) to all men everywhere. they will, from the popular attitude, be registered as illumination and goodwill. it is a deeply scientific work but fundamentally simple. invocation, prayer or aspiration, meditation it matters not what word you use by means of these three methods

of those who can meditate creatively can be found; they are chosen out of each of the larger centres and from among those who are already accustomed to meditation. i would like to pause at this point and ask you to remember that i refer not here to religious meditation, strictly understood, or to those invocative appeals for help and aid which are so closely associated in the mind of the western christian thinker. i refer to all who in quiet reflection, focussed appeal and with a true background of knowledge are able to "think through" into a higher state of consciousness than the one of which they are normally aware; in that higher state they arrive at those intuitional and spiritual "discoveries" which can produce the seed of a new creation, or which can open up (for those unable thus t

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

pouring in the love force. again, that force which we regard as emanating from the strictly human centre, the third ray type of energy, is of the third or creative order; and in these three energies you have, in reality, the expression of the three major centres of the planetary logos. the first or will energy is, as you know, focussed in sanat kumara, the ancient of days (as he is called in the christian bible, the lord of shamballa, who is the embodiment of the personality of the planetary logos. the love force is focussed through the two great spiritual lords of the hierarchy, the buddha and the christ, who are both embodiments of the heart centre of the planetary logos, for the buddha represents the twelve-petalled lotus in the head, of which the christ represents the counterpart, the

deavour to see why and to what end the present terrible happenings have occurred. a clear expression and statement of causes is needed free from- 72- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust emotional bias and partisan emphasis. what is happening today is not the result of immediate occurrences. when i say "immediate" i refer to all happenings which have occurred within the christian era. i want you to attempt to regard the present crisis as being caused or initiated by events which are of so ancient an origin that modern, orthodox historians have no record of them. only two points of view will serve truly to clarify what is happening at this time. first of all, a recognition that modern academic history constitutes only one page in a vast historical record and that

within humanity itself of such potency that it will magnetically attract a response from the waiting, watching hierarchy and bring about a much closer and likewise conscious rapport between the two planetary centres, the hierarchy and humanity. this is called the invocation of the great white lodge. much of this invocation of the christ principle is carried forward by true believers in all lands (christian and non-christian) who address themselves to the christ, no matter under what name they recognise him and then, with love in their hearts to him and their fellowmen, seek to ameliorate world conditions, end hatred- 98- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust and misery and demonstrate goodwill everywhere. this refers to the first stage of evoking the response to l

cooperation now seems immediately possible. the first phase, let the forces of light bring illumination to mankind, definitely invokes potencies which are to be found upon monadic levels of consciousness and upon what is occultly called the second plane of divine manifestation. these forces include the lord of the world and the representatives of the seven sacred planets who are spoken of in the christian bible as the "seven spirits before the throne of god" they include also the three agents of the divine triplicity who are known, esoterically and in the east as the three kumaras, or the three buddhas of activity. what do these names and these great individualities mean to you and to average humanity? nothing at all and this is necessarily so. they remain but names and possible hypotheti

the war. such people, fighting the existent fact of war, usually do little or nothing concrete to right the wrongs which are responsible for the war, and permit their defence personal, municipal, national and international to be undertaken by others. the sincerity of these people cannot be questioned. it should be remembered, in countering these ideas and in justifying the fighting spirit of the christian democracies, that it is motive that counts. war can be and is mass murder, where the motive is wrong. it can be sacrifice and right action, where the motive is right. the slaying of a man in the act of killing the defenceless is not regarded as murder. the principle remains the same, whether it is killing an individual who is murdering, or fighting a nation which is warring on the defenc

ALICE A BAILEY24 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME V THE RAYS AND THE INITIATIONS

nts: the nature of the word, the a.u.m, and its later developments, the o.m. and the sound. much confusion exists as to its significance or the necessity for its use. the phase of its recognition through which we are now passing is a purely exoteric one of accustoming the general public to the fact of its existence. this has been brought about in three ways: 1. through the constant use in all the christian churches of the word "amen" which is a western corruption of the a.u.m. the a.u.m. is here the lowest aspect of the originating sound. 2. through the emphasis laid in masonry upon the lost word, thus subtly drawing the attention of humanity to the o.m, the sound of the second aspect, the soul. 3. through the growing emphasis laid by the many occult groups throughout the world upon the us

spect, the soul. 3. through the growing emphasis laid by the many occult groups throughout the world upon the use of the o.m, its frequent use by these groups in public, and by those intent upon meditation. the soundest approach is that of the masonic tradition, because it deals primarily with the world of meaning and with a phase of the esoteric teaching. the use of the amen in the ritual of the christian church will eventually be discouraged, because it is basically a materialistic affirmation, being usually regarded by the average churchgoer as setting the seal of divine approval upon his demand to the almighty for protection, or for the supply of his physical necessities; all this is, therefore, related to the life of desire, of aspiration, of dualism and of request. it involves the at

to the disciple. he is also the coherent force within the planet, holding, through his radiatory influence, all forms and all substances in the planetary form so that they constitute one coherent, energised and functioning whole. a parallel to this, though on a much smaller scale, can be seen in the radiatory influence of the christ as it permeates, energises and holds in coherent expression the christian church in all its many aspects in the world; a still smaller analogy can be seen in the influence wielded by a disciple who stands at the centre of a group and holds it also in coherent and useful manifestation. intermediate between these two symbols of will and love, united in manifestation (the christ and a disciple, is the work of a world disciple, for the influence is wider and more

tually inclined people everywhere, with the result of a great broadening of the human aspiration. this work is as yet embryonic, but it should receive increasing attention. eventually it will demonstrate as the main linking unit between the east and the west, particularly if shri krishna is shown to be an earlier incarnation of the lord of love, the christ. thereby three major world religions the christian, the hindu and the buddhist will be intimately related, whilst the mahommedan faith will be found to be linked to the christian faith because it embodies the work of the master jesus as he overshadowed one of his senior disciples, a very advanced initiate, mahomet. a close study of all the above will indicate to you the lines along which i would like to see the work expand in future year

and transformation signify to members of the hierarchy as they face the way of the higher evolution? what can these words imply to those for whom the soul, the mediating principle, no longer has any factual significance? consider for a moment that the initiate who has undergone the first major initiation (the transfiguration) and the two initiations of the threshold (the birth and baptism of the christian mysteries) has created the antahkarana in order to establish direct relation between the monad and the personality, between the centre of universal awareness or identification and the form-expression in the three worlds. the antahkarana is constructed and constitutes an active channel of contact. the soul which has for ages directed the various and varying personalities is no longer in e

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

bors have prepared the disciple. the oracle has spoken, and down the ages the word has sounded forth: man, know thyself. this knowledge is the outstanding attainment upon the path of discipleship, and the reward of all the work done by hercules. the nature of discipleship it might be of value here if we considered briefly the nature of discipleship. it is a word in constant use among aspirants in christian lands, as in the oriental religions. discipleship could be defined as the final stage of the path of evolution, and as that period in a man's experience in which he is definitely self-conscious. it is the stage in which he knowingly pledges himself to impose the will of the soul (which is essentially the will of god) upon the lower nature. upon this path he submits himself to a forcing p

the leading star of the heavens, and taurus has always been connected with light and, therefore, with christ, who proclaimed himself as the light of the world. light, illumination and sound, as an expression of the creative force: these are the three basic ideas connected with this constellation. the "interpreter of the divine voice, as taurus was called in ancient egypt, can be paraphrased into christian terminology and called "the word made flesh. it is an interesting sidelight on the power of the zodiacal influences to recall that the bull's-eye lantern can be traced back to the bull's eve in taurus, and the pontifical bull, or the papal- 29- the labours of hercules enunciations which were regarded [45] as interpreters of god's voice, is a term in common usage today. it might well be a

e cup form part of the body of the serpent, and both constellations claim them. it is the cup that every human being has to drink, full of that which he has distilled out of his experience in matter. it is the cup of obligation certain of the ancient masonic rituals, and symbolizes the drinking of that which we have ourselves brewed. in other words, the same truth can be expressed in the words of christian bible "as a man soweth, so shall he also reap [107] then we have, thirdly, corvus, the raven, that stands upon hydra, the serpent, and pecks at it. it has nine stars, again the number of initiation. the old testament started with a raven, the new testament starts with a dove. experience starts with the bird of matter and ends with the bird of spirit. it is interesting to note that in aqu

scorpio, and as cygnus, the swan, in aquarius. this he must begin to do in leo, by demonstrating the power to dare, by facing the terrific struggle that lies ahead of him in the next three signs and by the slaying of the lion of [108] his own nature (king of beasts) alone and unaided, and so earn. the power to overcome the hydra, in scorpio. the lesson of the labor two thoughts, taken out of the christian bible, summarize the lesson of this labor. in st. peter's epistle we find these words "your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" and in revelations v, 5, we find the words "behold, the lion of the tribe of judah the root of david, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof" hercules, the aspirant, the soul, symbol

st-consciousness latent in the form. the mutable cross and the planetary rulers virgo is one of the arms of the mutable cross, with its opposite sign of pisces, and the airy gemini and fiery sagittarius completing the four arms. it is the common cross of those who have probationary status. its description is as follows "the mutable cross is the cross of the holy spirit, of the third person of the christian trinity, as it organizes substance and evokes sensitive response from substance itself (note the beautiful correlation of this statement with the fact that the holy spirit over-shadowed mary) on this cross the man reaches the stage of acquiescence and aspiration, and so prepares himself for the fixed cross of discipleship. it is notable that "the mutable cross of the personality dedicate

AN INTRO TO STUDY OF THE KABALAH

an do strange things they attribute to the kabalah, and things very difficult to explain have been seen in england, at the hands of students of kabalistic rites and talismans. the rabbinic commentaries, many series deep, overlaying each other, which now exist in connection with the old treatises form such a mass of kabalistic lore as to make it an almost impossible task to grasp them; probably no christian nor jew in this country can say what doctrines are not still laid up in some of the old manuscript works. the dogmatic or theoretical kabalah indicates philosophical conceptions respecting the deity, angels and beings more spiritual than man; the human soul and its several aspects or parts; concerning pre-existence and re-incarnation and the several worlds or planes of existence. the pra

the wisest of men, the greatest scientists have maintained, and ever won, struggle after struggle with the assumed infallibility of old hebraic testament literal instructions, assertions and narratives. the old testament may indeed be, to some extent, the link which binds together thousands of christians, for jesus the christ founded his doctrine upon a jewish people, but the interminable list of christian sects of to-day have almost all taken their rise from the assertion of a right of personal interpretation of the bible, which might have remained debarred to the generality by the confession that the keys of interpretation were lost, or at least missing, and that without their assistance error of a vital character was inevitable. the vast accumulation of varying interpretations of the bi

n to the precept of jesus the christ, who said-"judge not, that ye be not judged" one sect of the jews, the caraites, successors of the sadducees, throughout history rejected the kabalah, and it is necessary to say here that the hebrew rabbis of this country of the present day do not follow the practical kabalah, nor accept all the doctrines of the dogmatic kabalah. on the other hand, many famous christian authors have expressed great sympathy with the doctrinal kabalah. st. jerome, who died in a.d. 420, in his "letter to marcella" gives us all the kabalistic divine names allotted to the ten sephiroth. others were raymond lully, 1315; pope sixtus the fourth, 1484; pic de mirandola, 1494; johannes reuchlin, 1522; h. cornelius agrippa, 1535; jerome cardan, 1576; gulielmus postellus, 1581; jo

doctrine which would be more respected. no, every word has a sublime sense, and is a heavenly mystery. the law resembles an angel: to come down on earth a spiritual angel must put on a garment to be known or understood here, so the law must have clothed itself in a garment of words as a body for men to receive; but the wise look within the garments" at some periods both the ordinary jew and even christian fathers have made a somewhat similar declaration of a literal and a mystical meaning of scripture. the talmud in book "sanhedrin" remarks that manasseh king of israel asked whether moses could not relate something of more value than tales of timnah a concubine, and rachel with her mandrakes, and he is answered that there is a concealed meaning in these narrations. the christian father or

yoga, or the union of the human with the divine, by contemplation and absorption of the mind in a mystical reverie. frequently quoted kabalistic words are: arikh anpin, makroprosopos, the vast countenance which is a title of kether the crown, deity supreme; zauir anpin, mikroprosopos, the lesser countenance is the central sun, tiphereth, a conception that has something in common with that of the christian christ, the son of god (the former was represented by a face in profile, the latter by the full face. m. mathers. binah is the supernal mother, aima. malkuth is the inferior mother, the bride of the mikroprosopos. daath or knowledge is the union of chokmah and binah, of wisdom and understanding. merkabah was the chariot throne of god of the vision of ezekiel mentioned in his chapters i

ANALYSIS OF THE 5 6 INITIATION

ucifixion on the cross of pain and suffering has served the candidate well in that now he is equilibriated. the invocation of h v a follows after the obligation/oath is taken. it is divided into ten parts. the rtk of the candidate who is speaking binds the lower nine. it is a most sacred oath, never to be forgotten. next, themis commemorates the life and death of osiris. the symbolic archetype of christian rosenkruetz, the founder of our order, is now that of osiris. the aspirant is now in a state of mourning. it is the mourning of isis. recall that the aspirant is dead, having been crucified on the cross. the rose cross is pointed out as a symbol of the completion of the great work, though it may be several years before the aspirant fully understands the mysteries of the sublime and sacre

ARADIA GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES

which may also befound in a nursery-tale, yet which, like others, is derived from witch-lore, by which the lucciolais putunder a glass and conjured to give by its light certain answers.the conjuration of the meal or bread, as being literally our body as contributing to form it, anddeeply sacred because it had lain in the earth, where dark and wondrous secrets bide, seems tocast a new light on the christian sacrament. it is a type of resurrection from the earth, and wastherefore used at the mysteries and holy supper, and the grain had pertained to chthonicsecrets, orto what had been under the earth in darkness. thus even earth-worms are invoked in modern witch-craft as familiar with dark mysteries, and the shepherds pipe to win the orphic power must beburied three days in the earth. and so

, but simply on what he has been able to wrench and wring, as it were, out of infinitenature or the primal source by penance and study. i mention this because a reviewer hasreproached me with exaggerating the degree to which diabolism introduced by the church since1500 is deficient in italy. but in fact, among the higher class of witches, or in their traditions, it ishardly to be found at all. in christian diabolism the witch never dares to threaten satan or god, orany of the trinity or angels, for the whole system is based on the conception of a church and ofobedience.the herb concordia probably takes its name from that of the goddess concordia, who was repre-sented as holding a branch. it plays a great part in witchcraft, after verbena and rue. page 60 incantation.i boil the cluster of c

, 1889, in which the author, in the form of a novel, vividlydepicts the manners, habits of thought, and especially the nature of witchcraft, and the many super-stitions current among the peasants in lombardy. unfortunately, notwithstanding his extensiveknowledge of the subject, it never seems to have occurred to the narrator that these traditions wereanything but noxious nonsense or abominably un-christian folly. that there exists in them marvel-lousrelics of ancient mythology and valuable folklore, which is the very cor cordiumof history, is asuncared for by him as it would be by a common zoccoloneor tramping franciscan. one would thinkit might have been suspected by a man who knew that a witch really endeavoured to kill seven peo-ple as a ceremony or rite, in order to get the secret of e

ARTHUR E WAITE TEMPLAR ORDERS IN FREEMASONRY

rtain london lodges which prior to the year 1717 had their titles in the past of the guild and recognised its old charges, it would seem outside the reasonable likelihood of things that less than forty years after the foundation of grand lodge knightly orders should begin to be heard of developing under the aegis of the craft, their titles in some cases being borrowed from the old institutions of christian chivalry. it is this, however, which occurred, and the inventions were so successful that they multiplied on every side, from 1754 to the threshold of the french revolution, new denominations being devised when the old titles were exhausted. there arose in this manner a great tree of ritual, and it happens, moreover, that we are in a position to affirm the kind of root from which it spra

of root from which it sprang. twenty years after the date of the london grand lodge, and when that of scotland may not have been twelve months old, the memorable scottish freemason, andrew michael ramsay, delivered an historical address in a french lodge, in the course of which he explained that the masonic brotherhood arose in palestine during the period of the crusades, under the protection of christian knights, with the object of restoring christian churches which had been destroyed by saracens in the holy land. for some reason which does not emerge, the foster-mother of masonry, according to the mind of the hypothesis, was the chivalry of st. john. ramsay appears to have left the masonic arena, and he died in the early part of 1743, but his discourse produced a profound impression on

nd the strict observance demanded these at the beginning, but owing to obvious difficulties is said to have ended by furnishing patents at need (2) in the military order of hospitallers of the holy sepulchre of jerusalern, he undertook, as in others, to protect the church of god, with which may be compared modern masonic injunctions in the temple and holy sepulchre to maintain and defend the holy christian faith (3) again at his knighting he was "made, created and constituted now and for ever" which is identical, word for word, with the formula of another masonic chivalry, and will not be unknown to many. but the appeal of the new foundations was set in an6ther direction, and was either to show that they derived from masonry or were masonry itself at the highest, in the proper understandin

earts, and were founded by james the first, brother of the first bishop of jerusalem. these canons became the knights hospitallers of a much later date. on these followed the templars, from whom the masonic knights of the temple more especially claimed derivation, though in some obscure manner they held descent from all, possibly in virtue of spiritual consanguinity postulated between the various christian chivalries of palestine. the traditional history of the grade is given at unusual length and is firstly that of the templars, from their foundation to their sudden fail, the accusations against them included; it is a moderately accurate summary, all things considered. there is presented in the second place a peculiar version of the perpetuation story which is designed on the one hand to

ady in his heart for all sacrifice in the cause of the faith of christ, for the good of his church and its faithful. the pledge is taken on the knees, facing a tomb of black marble which represents that of molay, the last grand master and martyr-in-chief of the order. thereafter the inward meaning of the three craft degrees is explained to the candidate. that of apprentice recalls the earliest of christian chivalries, being the canons or knights of the holy sepulchre, who for long had no distinctive clothing and hence the divested state of the masonic postulant. but this state signified also that his arm is ever ready to do battle with the enemies of the holy christian religion and his heart for the sacrifice of his entire being to jesus christ. the alleged correspondences and meanings are

BALANONES TEMPLE OF SET FAQ

mple of set "satanic" many setians do, too, but not all "satan" is a name given to the prince of darkness, just like "set" is a name given to the prince of darkness. however "set" is a name given by a religion which found setian principles attractive and noble, and which honored the prince of darkness "satan" is a name given to the prince of darkness by christianity out of fear and revulsion. the christian satan is a twisted bastardization of the true prince of darkness "satanism" is a term used by many to describe the left hand path in the west. we are a proud part of the tradition of spiritual dissent, differing philosophically from the church of satan. their take on the left hand path is the immanent path wherein godhood is achieved by the worship of the carnal ego with no possibility o

ophically from the church of satan. their take on the left hand path is the immanent path wherein godhood is achieved by the worship of the carnal ego with no possibility of personal immortality save in some vague connection to the organic stream. we are followers of the transcendental path, wherein person immortality is achievable by a strengthening of the idealized self. in an increasingly post-christian world, the term "satanism" will become irrelevant. more discussion concerning the temple of set and satanism can be found in the ref document. you may also be interested in essays concerning the prince of darkness provided by balanone (http//www.bigfoot.com/ balanone/pod.html) and "concerning our patron" by high priest don webb (http//www.bigfoot.com/ balanone/patron.html. 2.4 left hand

t gov't recognition of one's path as a *real> religion has been an issue in the neo-pagan community for quite a while. yes, from its initial incorporation, the temple of set is a legal religious corporation within the state of california, and it is fully tax exempt (i believe most of us would gladly do away with the tax exemption of all religious organizations, losing our own if it meant that all christian, jewish, hindu, scientologist, and other religions also paid their fair taxes. but as long as they are tax exempt, we'll save our money this way also) yes, setian priests are able to perform legally binding marriage ceremonies. 3.2 set set is the most ancient name for the prince of darkness, given to the prince of darkness in ancient (pre-dynastic) egypt. whether set exists as an indepen

will be done" the temple of set teaches both theory and practice of lbm/mbm/gbm, along with individual and social ethical considerations to which the initiate must be sensitive in order to use such magical knowledge creatively, constructively, and responsibly [descriptions of "black magic" as involving human or animal sacrifice, rape, or other illegal or reprehensible practices are merely judaeo/christian propaganda, and have no basis in truth whatever] 4.2 ritual practices setian ritual practice is generally not discussed in public forums. however, some specific questions seem to require answers- do you sacrifice animals (or children? no. see the ref document for a more detailed discussion of this, and for other questions/answers concerning our ritual practices. 4.3 occult studies discus

pylon newsletters as the primary form of communication. in fact, due to the highly private and individualistic nature of most setians this is our prefered means of communication. the ability for you to meet face to face with other initiates is left completely up to you and the other initiates involved. the largest obstacle to being a setian in the carolinas is the local attitudes toward other non-christian religions, which any intelligent and sensitive individual should be more than capable of handeling- departure you may choose to resign from the temple of set at any time for any reason. the great majority of people who leave the temple of set do so simply by not paying their annual dues, and letting their memberships expire. many others send a simple and courteous resignation letter to t

BEHOLDERS OF NIGHT

between the two. it also frees one of the need for a spiritual father or mother, and to confirm responsibility and self-reliance by the individual themselves. that this is sometimes a lonely path is not a misstatement, but rather an angle of beauty of which we may seek comprehension of therein. what is often misunderstood is the intent of the left hand path. many view the lhp as one in line with christian satanism or diabolism, which is an inaccurate view of the path itself. the lhp is the freedom from such restrictive thoughts as good or evil, or the moral right of the day. the individual must seek to transcend both, and that the image of evil or darkness, is the opposition essence of our selves, our secret essence or holy guardian angel/evil genius of being. the black flame[6] itself is

BLACK SERPENT1

le character sells his soul to the devil to recapture his youth, led to her being labeled a devil worshipper. both accusations were false. http//www.playbillarts.com/news/article/3850.html undoubtedly there are even more of these cases unpublicized. religious freedom, it seems, is very specific to who has that freedom. increasingly, in most us workplaces, freedom of religion only applies to judeo-christian religions. this means that people who practice any form of non-judeo christian religion are probably safer keeping it to themselves. i have no doubt every last person reading this article has worked with a christian coworker who has openly discussed his/her religion. yet, very rarely do you hear of the christian being fired for openly sharing his religious beliefs. nor do you often hear

o not threaten to cast spells on, or send demons after, co-workers. if you think you have been unjustly terminated due to your religious beliefs, and have kept good records of the incidents, you might consider contacting your lawyer, or the aclu. only a qualified professional can tell you whether or not you have a case. 11 are we headed for a theocracy? by geifodd ap pwyll the growing threat of a christian theocracy, and what demonolators and satanists can do about it in recent years, we have seen a dazzling swing of the american political pendulum toward the right. particularly, toward the *religious* right. some evangelical christians are trying to put "god" in the public square. some people are trying everything within their power to force the teaching of "intelligent design (the next s

design (the next step in the evolution of creationism) upon american school curriculums. and as we have seen with our current president, george w. bush, declarations of "faith" have become a good way for seeking public office. on televangelist programs, such as the fodder one might view on the trinity broadcast network, it is not uncommon for us to hear sermons about how "america was originally a christian nation" and "we need to take america back for christ" many christians in the southern states believe, quite firmly, that the founding fathers of our great nation were evangelical christians like themselves, and that they intended for the constitution to be observed in a biblical context. the fact that many of the founding fathers- including our first president, george washington himself

gton himself- were masons and deists seems to be glossed over nowadays, even in high school american history classes. and the fact that they included the first amendment in our constitution- affirming even the rights of demonolators, satanists, and other minority religions to observe their religious beliefs- is apparently becoming more and more problematic to some. a new trend within the american christian spiritual experience is a movement that is being called "dominionism" it is sometimes called "christian reconstructionism" and appears to have grown out of conservative presbyterianism during the early 1970's. dominionist beliefs are evidently derived from genesis 1:26 of the old testament "then god said 'let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of th

g the ground (niv) 12 dominionist theologians believe that it is their responsibility, as christians, to bring the entire world- all countries, societies, and governments- under the "word of god" they are also postmillennialists, meaning they believe jesus christ will only return to earth after most of the world has been converted to christianity. under a dominionist society, mainline and liberal christian churches would be prohibited from holding services or proselytizing. all non-religious groups would also be prohibited from such. perhaps you might be able to worship the demons inside the privacy of your own home, but if you even breathe a word of it outside your home, you would be tried for idolatry and put to death. likewise for committing acts of magic, homo/bisexuality, adultery, so

BLACK WITCHCRAFT

to foundation by the goetic sorcery grimoire, which presents a left hand path alignment with the 72 daemons of the shemhamforasche, but rather the rituals which prepare the magician for the summoning and encircling of such spirits. an invocation of the holy guardian angel, azal ucel, as well as the invocation of the adversary prepare the mental outlook of the magician, that rather than adopting a christian dogma, the daemonic spirit is illumined within through determined and willed practice. this may also make considerations for the commitment needed for this path and circle of luciferian witchcraft, that even within workings of light, the witch is becoming in the blackened flame of azazel (in a sigillic and mantraspoken form, azal ucel. this is obviously a serious point of introspection n

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

orth a wonder. seven men, all males and females (hermaphrodite. according to the nature of the seven governors- book ii. v. 29- or the seven hosts of the pitris or elohim, who projected or created him. this is very clear, but yet, see the interpretations of even our modern theologians, men supposed to be intellectual and learned! in the "theological and philosophical works of hermes trismegistus, christian) neoplatonist" a work compiled by john david chambers, of oriel college, oxford, the translator wonders "for whom these seven men are intended" he solves the difficulty by concluding that, as "the original pattern man (adam kadmon of ch. i. genesis) was masculine-feminine, the seven may signify the succeeding patriarchs named in genesis (p. 9. a truly theological way of cutting the gordi

r globe, which is the fourth in the chain, is subordinate to the chief spirit (or god) of the seven planetary genii or spirits. as already explained, the ancients had, in their kyriel of gods, seven chief mystery-gods, whose chief was, exoterically, the visible sun, or the eighth, and, esoterically, the second logos, the demiurge. the seven (who have now become the "seven eyes of the lord" in the christian religion) were the regents of the seven chief planets; but these were not[[footnote(s* all the words and sentences placed in brackets in the stanzas and commentaries are the writer's. in some places they may be incomplete and even inadequate from the hindu standpoint; but in the meaning attached to them in trans- himalayan esotericism they are correct. in every case the writer takes any

he central point nara- is shown in one of the oldest carvings as double-sexed (vishnu and lakshmi) standing on a lotus-leaf floating on the water; which water rises in a semicircle and pours through the svastica "the source of generation" or of the descent of man. pythagoras calls sukra-venus the sol alter "the other sun" of the "seven palaces of the sun" that of lucifer venus is the third one in christian and jewish kabala, the zohar making of it the abode of samael. according to the occult doctrine, this planet is our earth's primary, and its spiritual prototype. hence, sukra's car (venus-lucifer's) is said to be drawn by an ogdoad of "earth-born horses" while the steeds of the chariots of the other planets are different "every sin committed on earth is felt by usanas-sukra. the guru of

re three kinds of light in occultism, as in the kabala (1) the abstract and absolute light, which is darkness (2) the light of the manifested-unmanifested, called by some the logos; and (3) the latter light reflected in the dhyan chohans, the minor logoi (the elohim, collectively, who, in their turn, shed it on the objective universe. but in the kabala- re-edited and carefully adjusted to fit the christian tenets by the kabalists of the xiii. century- the three lights are described as (1) the clear and penetrating, that of jehovah (2) reflected light; and (3) light in the abstract" this light abstractly taken (in a metaphysical or symbolical sense) is alhim (elohim god[[footnote(s* see "masonic review" cincinnati, june 1886, art. kabala no. 6* see "isis unveiled" vol. ii, pp. 300 et seq, f

and the female emblem, copied from a rosary of the blessed virgin. printed at venice, 1542" and therefore, as inman remarks "with a license from the inquisition, consequently orthodox" will show the reader what the latin church understood by this "penetrating power of light and its effects" how sadly disfigured- applied as they were to the grossest anthropomorphic conceptions- have become, under christian interpretation, the noblest and grandest, as the most exalted, ideas of deity of the eastern philosophy! the occultists call this light daiviprakriti in the east, and light of christos in the west. it is the light of the logos, the direct reflection of the ever unknowable on the plane of universal manifestation. but here is the interpretation thereof given by the modern christians from t

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

beings. 223 what incarnates in animal man. 233 formation of man: the thinker. 238 occult and kabalistic pneumatics. 243 akasa and ether. 257 the invisible "lives. 259 occult vital chemistry and bacteriology. 261[[vol. 1, page] xii contents. page. the watcher and his shadow. 265 earth peopled by the shadows of the gods. 267- summing up. 269 the pith and marrow of the secret doctrine. 273 hermes in christian garb. 285 some occult aphorisms. 289 the seven powers of nature. 293- book i- part ii. the evolution of symbolism in its approximate order. i. symbolism and ideographs. 303 emblem and symbol differ. 305 magic potency of sound. 307 mystery language. 309- ii. the mystery language and its keys. 310 egypt's many religions. 311 the jews and their system. 313 moses copied from sargon. 319 iden

ogos or verbum. 429 the factors of creation. 432 identity of the hierarchies in all religions. 438 difference between the aryan and semitic systems. 444[[vol. 1, page] xiv contents. page. xiii. the seven creations. 445 the gnostic and the hindu versions. 449 the seven puranic "creations. 450- xiv. the four elements. 460 the "gods" and the "elements. 463 the language of the elements. 464 pagan and christian worship of the elements. 467- xv. on kwan-shi-yin and kwan-yin. 470 kwan-shi-yin and phallicism. 471 the real meaning. 472- book i- part iii. science and the secret doctrine contrasted. i. reasons for these addenda. 477 occultism versus materialism. 479 the sabbath of the mystic. 481- ii. modern physicists are playing at blind man's buff. 482- iii. an lumen sit corpus nec non. 483 the hy

ut it had been well deserved, and no one was more to be blamed[[vol. 1, page] xxxi introductory. in that affair than the missionaries and colonel wilford themselves. the former, on the testimony of sir william jones himself (see asiat. res, vol. i, p. 272, were silly enough to maintain that "the hindus were even now almost christians, because their brahma, vishnu and mahesa were no other than the christian trinity* it was a good lesson. it made the oriental scholars doubly cautious; but perchance it has also made some of them too shy, and caused, in its reaction, the pendulum of foregone conclusions to swing too much the other way. for "that first supply on the brahmanical market" made for colonel wilford, has now created an evident necessity and desire in the orientalists to declare nearl

enary division at once gives a clue to tremendous occult powers, the abuse of which would cause incalculable evil to humanity. a clue, which is, perhaps, no clue to the present generation- especially the westerns- protected as they are by their very blindness and ignorant materialistic disbelief in the occult; but a clue which would, nevertheless, have been very real in the early centuries of the christian era, to people fully convinced of the reality of occultism, and entering a cycle of degradation, which made them rife for abuse of occult powers and sorcery of the worst description. the documents were concealed, it is true, but the knowledge itself and its actual existence had never been made a secret of by the hierophants of the temple, wherein mysteries have ever been made a disciplin

se who would like to get a more correct understanding of the mysteries of the prearchaic periods given in the texts, cannot be offered to them in these two volumes. but if the reader has patience, and would glance at the present state of beliefs and creeds in europe, compare and check it with what is known to history of the ages directly preceding and[[vol. 1, page] xl introductory. following the christian era, then he will find all this in volume iii. of this work. in that volume a brief recapitulation will be made of all the principal adepts known to history, and the downfall of the mysteries will be described; after which began the disappearance and final and systematic elimination from the memory of men of the real nature of initiation and the sacred science. from that time its teachin

BLUE EQUINOX

cccxxxiii. the book of lies, falsely so called: with an extended commentary by the master therion. this book contains some of the most valuable mystic epigrams ever written, and also some very important secret rituals. it is the official text-book of a.a. for .babes of the abyss. liber xv: the canon of the mass, according to the gnostic catholic church, which represents the original and true pre-christian christianity. liber li. the lost continent. an account of the continent of atlantis: the manners and customs, magical rites and opinions of its people, together with a true account of the catastrophe, so called, which ended in its disappearance. liber cvi. a treatise on the nature of death, and the proper attitude to be taken towards it. liber dccclxxxviii. a complete study of the origin

entary study of hindu mysticism. his .bhakti yoga. is also good. the shiva samhita. an account of various phyiscal means of assisting the discipline of initiation. a famous hindu treatise on certain physical practices. the hathayoga pradipika. similar to the shiva samhita. the aphorisms of patanjali. a valuble collection of precepts pertaining to mystical attainment. the sword of song. a study of christian theology and ethics, with a statement and solution of the deepest philosophical problems. also contains the best account extant of buddhism, compared with modern science. the book of the dead. a collection of egyptian magical rituals. dogme et rituel de la haute magie, by eliphas levi. the best general textbook of magical theory and practice for beginners. written in an easy popular styl

lped the master therion more than any other. the goetia. the most intelligible of all the medi val rituals of evocation. contains also the favourite invocation of the master therion. curriculum of a.a. 21 erdmann.s .history of philosophy. a compendious account of philosophy from the earliest times. most valuble as a general education of the mind. the spiritual guide of molinos. a simple manual of christian mysticism. the star in the west (captain fuller. an introduction to the study of the works of aleister crowley. the dhammapada (s. b. e. series, oxford university press. the best of the buddhist classics. the questions of king milinda (s. b. e. series) technical points of buddhist dogma, illustrated by dialogues. liber dcclxxvii vel prolegomena symbolica ad systemam sceptico-mystic vi ex

lake. invaluable to all students. the shaving of shagpat, by george meredith. an excellent allegory. lilith, by george macdonald. a good introduction to the astral. l -bas, by j.-k. huysmans. an account of the extravagances caused by the sin-complex. the lore of proserpine, by maurice hewlett. a suggestive enquiry into the hermetic arcanum. en route, by j-k. huysmans. an account of the follies of christian mysticism. sidona the sorceress, by william meinhold. the amber witch, by william meinhold. these two tales are highly informative. macbeth; midsummer night.s dream; the tempest, by w. shakespeare. interesting for traditions treated. redgauntlet, by sir walter scott. also one or two other novels. interesting for traditions treated. rob roy, by james grant. interesting for traditions trea

am divided for love.s sake, for the chance of union .this is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all. it is shown later how this can be, how death itself is an ecstasy like love, but more intense, the reunion of the soul with its true self. and what are the conditions of this joy, and peace, and glory? is ours the gloomy asceticism of the christian, and the buddhist, and the hindu? are we walking in eternal fear lest some .sin. should cut us off from .grace. by no means .be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines that foam! also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! but always unto me. this is the only point to bear in mind, that every

BOOK OF JASHAR

only commanded to learn their nation's culture from their elders, the elders are commanded both to teach their national culture to their children and to study the cultural traditions of foreign nations, especially those nations with which they are in conflict. if attentive and sympathetic listening is an essential manifestation of love, then the new commandment here can be compared closely to the christian commandment to love your enemy. notice that the loving act commanded here does not require giving material aid and comfort to a dangerous enemy. we are required instead to listen our enemies and to learn from them, lest their accomplishments be lost and their story forgotten if we vanquish them. the crucial words "then you may find peace" lead us back to the primeval story of the jinn, w

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

re plenipotentiaries between them and the gods. but, at the great festivals, they almost became like gods themselves. with the coming of christianity there was not the immediate mass-conversion that is often suggested. christianity was a man-made religion. it had not evolved gradually and naturally over thousands of years, as we have seen that the old religion did. whole countries were classed as christian when in actuality it was only the rulers who had adopted the new religion, and often only superficially at that. throughout europe generally the old religion, in its many and varied forms, was still prominent for the first thousand years of christianity. an attempt at mass conversion was made by pope gregory the great. he thought that one way to get the people to attend the new christian

emples, where the people were accustomed to gathering together to worship. he instructed his bishops to smash any "idols" and to sprinkle the temples with holy water and rededicate them. to a large extent wicca (m; wicce (f. also sometimes spelled wica or wita. 4/ buckland's complete book of witchcraft gregory was successful. yet the people were not quite as gullible as he thought. when the first christian churches were being constructed, the only artisans available to build them were from among the pagans themselves. in decorating the churches these stonemasons and woodcarvers very cleverly incorporated figures of their own deities. in this way, even if they were forced to attend the churches the people could still worship their own gods there. there are many of these figures still in exi

ianity was slowly growing in strength, the old religion the wiccans and other pagans was one of its rivals. it is only natural to want to get rid of a rival and the church pulled no punches to do just that. it has frequently been said that the gods of an old religion become the devils of a new. this was certainly the case here. the god of the old religion was a horned god. so, apparently, was the christian's devil. obviously then, reasoned the church, the pagans were devil worshippers! this type of reasoning is used by the church even today. missionaries were particularly prone to label all primitive tribes upon whom they stumbled as devil-worshippers, just because the tribe worshipped a god or gods other than the christian one. it would not matter that the people were good, happy, often m

all primitive tribes upon whom they stumbled as devil-worshippers, just because the tribe worshipped a god or gods other than the christian one. it would not matter that the people were good, happy, often morally and ethically better living than the vast majority of christians. they had to be converted! the charge of devil-worship, so often leveled at witches, is ridiculous. the devil is a purely christian invention; there being no mention of him, as such, before the new testament. in fact it is interesting to note that the whole concept of evil associated with the devil is due to an error in translation. the original old testament hebrew ha-satan and the new testament greek diabolos simply mean "opponent" or "adversary. it should be remembered that the idea of dividing the supreme power i

t of frequent torture a "confession" was obtained and one hundred twenty men and women were burned to death on his charge that they had interfered with the elements. since fertility was of great importance fertility of crops and beasts there were certain sexual rites enacted by the wicca, as followers of the nature religion. these sexual rites seem to have been given unnecessary prominence by the christian judges, who seemed to delight in prying into the most minute of details concerning them. the rites of the craft were joyous in essence. it was an extremely happy religion and so was, in many ways, totally incomprehensible to the gloomy inquisitors and reformers who sought to suppress it. a rough estimate of the total number of people burned, hung or tortured to death on the charge of wit

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

ycles of the moon, and dating from between 13000 and 11000 bc, was found in france in a cave at the abri du roc aux sorciers at angles-sur-l'anglin. this motif continued right through to the triple goddess of the celts, reflecting the lunar cycles as maiden, mother and crone, an image that also appeared throughout the classical world. witchcraft and the early christians after the formation of the christian church, the worship of the old deities and the old ways were banned and the nature festivals supplanted by christian ones. the christians were pragmatic, however, and pope gregory, who sent st augustine to england in ad 597, acknowledged that it was simpler to graft the christian festivals on to the existing festivals of the solstices and equinoxes. so, easter, for example, was celebrate

d to focus, but they may, equally, ignore the importance of learning through experience and the heart. witchcraft within covens a coven is a group of members of a unit of witchcraft and, in fact, can number anything from two to 13, or even more. the number 13 is traditionally designated by the 13 moon cycles that make up one year, and 13 is the number of the goddess (hence it became unlucky under christian influence. gardenerian covens generally number 13. some covens are affiliated formally or informally to specific traditions, but they increasingly unite for organisational as well as legal and political strength, particularly in australia and parts of the usa. on-line covens are also springing up and they are an excellent way for solitary practitioners to gain support and information. re

for all rituals of women's power, especially when they must take the initiative, and she is easier to work with than kali. triple goddesses the triple goddesses are for lunar magic and moving from one stage to another in the life cycle. brighid brighid, the celtic triple goddess, is patroness of smiths, poets and healers and has the longest enduring cult in ireland, which merged into that of the christian st bridget of kildare. her name means 'high one' and she is sometimes seen as three sisters, daughters of the god dagda, the divine father, or as the triple-aspected maiden, mother and crone. she is invoked in fertility and healing magick and also for creativity, especially involving the written word. there are a number of sacred wells throughout england, wales and ireland dedicated to h

st bridget of kildare. her name means 'high one' and she is sometimes seen as three sisters, daughters of the god dagda, the divine father, or as the triple-aspected maiden, mother and crone. she is invoked in fertility and healing magick and also for creativity, especially involving the written word. there are a number of sacred wells throughout england, wales and ireland dedicated to her or her christian counterpart. deities of the environment invoke these deities for rituals involving all aspects of the environment and for healing the planet [insert pic p073- gaia gaia is the all-embracing and all-nourishing goddess of the earth. it is said that she supplies in her bounty all the necessary plants to cure any disease and, in spite of human pollution, she constantly heals and renews the p

transforms death into new more perfect life. she can be invoked for all waning moon magic and for rituals for banishing sorrows and bad habits. charges charges are declarations of the powers of the gods or godesses involved in the ritual, and are in themselves empowering and a way of linking the practitioner's own divine spark with that represented by the divinity. they are similar to creeds in a christian religious service. the charge of the goddess the charge of the goddess is a powerful way of focusing on cosmic energies. the goddess is considered to be both 'transcendent, or above and beyond the created universe (like the traditional idea of god on a cloud, looking down and judging creation, and also 'immanent, or manifest within every natural object, be it flower, stone, animal or per

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

magic in one powerful object. as an enduring reminder of the world to which she and her people belong, nana peazant has created this charm for her family's protection, even as some of the most destructive forces that they face have emerged from their own conflicts. in its composition, the charm consolidates some of the most significant icons of african american spirituality: the bible, a token of christian redemption; a root, a supernatural emblem and touchstone to an ancient heritage; and the most precious relic that nana owns, the bequest of a slave parent to a child.a twisted cord of her own mother's hair. bound together and made inseparable with twine, each element of the hand illustrates the charm's singularity of spirit. although the scene occurs in a motion picture, the real, histor

s of the supernatural in practices such as conjuring, the african american tradition of healing and harming, have been resignified as "religion" generally, however, observers have not viewed conjure and religion as elements of a single complex, choosing instead to retain the "magic-religion" dichotomy when looking at african american spirituality. perhaps one reason is that most interpreters set "christian" and "non- christian" traditions against each other, with little regard for the range of relationships that might exist between them. this approach, with its value-laden assumptions, has shaped academic studies on african american religion from the past to the present. while it may be useful for academic interpreters, a rigid dichotomy between christian and non-christian expressions in b

s in black folk traditions belies practitioners f own experiences.[7] instead of viewing supernaturalism as a marginal subset of african american religion, i have identified supernatural practices as they appear within and outside black spiritual traditions. these include those that might be classified as "magical" whose participants claim an allegiance to conventional spiritual authorities (e.g, christian ministers, or members of black churches) while taking part in hoodoo, conjure, and\ 5\ root-working practices. take for example a former slave, self-proclaimed preacher, and healer in a 1930s texas community by the name of william adams. adams, as did others in his day, found in the christian scriptures a timeless collection of potent spells, charms, curses, and esoteric lore "there am l

ecostal denomination, the church of god in christ. mason possessed an uncommon fascination with strangely formed natural objects.objects that were reminiscent of the "roots" or magical artifacts used by black conjurers throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. mason, however, described his roots as "wonders of god" and contemplated the miraculous as he delivered sermons to his afro-christian followers. shifting to a very different context, we may consider the kongolese in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, pious african catholics who assigned supernatural significance to the gnarly, rootlike incarnations of their patron deities. far from representing religious oddities, do these phenomena point to continuities that reach from africa to america? to begin to answer this

s historical contexts. the second chapter discusses the potential sources of black american supernaturalism, beginning with the spiritual life of african slaves in early america, and the traditions that, in african societies, had once encompassed all human relations and institutions. among enslaved blacks, older cosmologies gradually merged with concepts that were extracted from newly formed afro-christian ideas such as a radical monotheism, dualistic notions of good and evil, and concepts of spiritual intervention. elements of the older african worldview also intersected with black magic page 7 of 144 http//content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docid=kt600020q0&chunk.id=0&doc.view=print 7/14/2006 a network of anglo-american supernatural traditions. the simultaneous emergence of african-based superna

CHRONOLOGIA RORISPERGIUS

greek, hesychia=silence, q.v. parallels have been observed between medieval ecstatic kabbalah and hesychast practice. 204-270 ce plotinus, neoplatonic philosopher and mystic (born in egypt) c.210 clement of alexandria stromata book 6 chap.4 describes sacred ceremonial procession of egyptian priests carrying the 42 books of hermes(emanation of re) 215-220: origen (185-253/4, then catechist for the christian community of alexandria, preaches his homilies on genesis along with a lot of other works 216 to 276- life of mani, the illuminator, who founded manicheism, based on ideas from judaism, christianity, zoroasterism, gnosticism, etc. 244-261 mani sent a mission to egypt under adda and patteg reaching as far as alexandria and another mission was led by ammo penetrating to the far north-east

ism, etc. 244-261 mani sent a mission to egypt under adda and patteg reaching as far as alexandria and another mission was led by ammo penetrating to the far north-east of the empire, to parthia and marv and beyond where he founded communities. 250-325 ce iamblicus, neoplatonic philosopher, was born in chalcis, coele-syria 261-62 manichaean mission, led by adda and abzaxya made converts among the christian in karkuk. 262-310 porphyry of tyre, student of plotinus c. 270. christian monks begin congregating in the deserts of syria and egypt; of them possibly the most reknowned, anthony, undertakes a life of solitude. c. 275: porphyry publishes the enneads, a distillation of the lectures of his teacher plotinus (204-270. in the minds of historians of philosophy, neoplatonism instantly replaces

the edict of milan makes christianity a legal religion throughout the empire. a few years later, constantine begins building a new imperial capital on the bosphorus, which he modestly names constantinople. c.318 pachomius left his hermitage at an old serapis temple and founded the first known cenobitical or "communal type" monastery at tabennis near denderah, egypt. 325 council of nicea, can. of christian bible (to 13th cent) puranas. iamblichus: on nicomachus's introduction to arithmetic- first mention of casting out nines. ca.340-420 jerome studied hebrew with jewish instructors in bethlehem. 346 st. pachomius dies. 350-407 john chrysostom 350? abbaye jewish babylonian teacher expounds on the decans. 363 last pagan emperor julian stopped at harran at the beginning of his persian campaig

egory of nyssa 386: augustine (354-430, a rhetorician of north african descent currently working in milan, accepts baptism into catholic christianity from bishop ambrose of milan. 391 second burning of library at alexandria (by christians. 401 confessions of st. augustine. 404 cod. of the vulgate (latin bible. jerome (345-420) produces a new translation (from both greek and hebrew) of most of the christian scriptures into latin. 410-485 proclus: epistles on alchemy. commentary on euclid's elements. 411: rome is sacked by alaric the the visigoth. 5th century latin text, liber hermetis, translated from the greek, gives special attention to the decans "man is called by the informed, a world, since he is wholly correspondent with the world s nature. indeed at the moment of conception there spu

r zachut -ezra, ibn abraham(mantua, concerning the hebrew letters as well as principles of grammar.)sod (1100s, on the mysteries in the forms of the hebrew letters. manuscript copies of it are in the vatican library. ormat ha-mezima (also known as arugat ha-mezima, 1100s, a small philosophical book using the alphabet and poetry. bishop otto of freising of germany first recorded story of legendary christian ruler of the east, prester john, in his "chronicon" 1148 hildegard of bingen writing on science 1147-9: the second crusade ends in relative disarray with an abortive siege of damascus. d. 1149 yosef ben ya aqob ibn saddiq. olam qatan( the microcosm) borrowed in large part from the encyclopaedia of the brotherhood of purity whose sacred writings of this sect of ismailites were to play an

CHYMICAL WEDDING OF CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ

ies 1986 robert v. o'neill: tarot symbolism 1990 manly palmer hall dies 1992 dead sea scrolls published on microfiche. 1992 greek papyrus from 4th-century hermoupolis, egypt, published by william brashear of mithraic catechism 1999 christine payne-towler: underground stream "when you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research -wilson mizo the chymical wedding of christian rosenkreutz the chymical wedding of christian rosenkreutz originally published in german in 1616. this edition derives from an english translation published in 1690. no part of this document is copyrighted or copyrightable in any domain. adobe acrobat edition prepared by benjamin rowe, october, 2000. typeset in bembo. page 1 the first day n an evening before easter day, i sat at a table

to handle them at our pleasure. and this was afterwards ratified in a little chapel (to which we were conducted in procession) and thanks returned to god for it. i also hung up there at that time my golden fleece and hat, and left them there for an eternal memorial, to the honour of god. and because everyone had to write his name there, i wrote thus: the highest wisdom is to know nothing. brother christian rosenkreutz knight of the golden stone a.d. 1459. others wrote likewise, each as it seemed good to him. after this, we were again brought into the hall, where, having sat down, we were admonished quickly to think what we each one would wish. but the king and his party retired into a little closet, there to give audience to our wishes. now each man was called in separately, so that i cann

CONCERNING THE CEREMONY OF THE CONSECRATING THE VAULT

ven with the words vibrated tkrp. this spells the word paroketh. paroketh is the veil of the vault of tiphareth and the hidden tabernacle. here, we begin to see our ancient light with our more ancient fraters and sorors as well as our rosicrucian link. the third adept is asked "what does the mystic name of our founder signify" he replies "the rose and cross of christ" this connects us to a strong christian symbol. let us, however, remember that one does not need to be christian to realize the invoking power of the word christ. is not christ within all of us? pagans and christians find a common ground in that osiris and christ are interchanged as symbolical archetypes of self sacrifice unto the higher. the next main point to highlight is the meaning, in mystical terms, of the one hundred an

CULTUS SABBATI

raditions, the calling of angels, the apparatus of astrology, and latin incantations were integrated into the magic of the everyday. notably, these rituals, spells and formulae employed the idiom of the predominant religious culture, namely christianity, often melding folk religiosity in a seamless blend unique to each individual practitioner. although ritual magicians and cunning-folk alike used christian formulae in their praxes, one could argue that this religious language was naturally the timely idiom of narration for magical rites. however, beneath the shifting of language and culture, the immemorial methodologies and tools of magical ritual- the spirit-evocation, ritual circle, wand, knife, sigil, cord, knot, charm, starry aspectation, flora and fauna, invocation, exorcism and so fo

cord, knot, charm, starry aspectation, flora and fauna, invocation, exorcism and so forth- remain more or less constant. an important dimension of magical and folk religiosity was the oneiric or dream realm. peripheral areas of european folklore retain vestigial myths which relate the oneiric location of witch -meetings, fairie convocations, and the nocturnal flight of the wild hunt. merging with christian theological conceptions the background of folk belief assisted in the formation of the stereotypical witch ritual we know as 'the witches' sabbath. from an esoteric perspective it is considered that the sabbath is the astral or dream convocation of magical ritualists' souls, animal selves, and a vast array of spirits, faeries and otherworldly beings. it is considered that the true locati

heritage, and through dream and spirit-mediumship the circle fleshes itself and moves forward. the authenticity of our work does not rest in antiquity, it is active through present and on-going vision. traditional sabbatic craft often employs demonological names and imagery as part of a cipher to convey a gnosis of luciferian self-liberation. similarly, and as aforesaid, rituals may also utilise christian forms and terms, both as part of long-standing custom and as part of a sorcerous intent to willfully re-orientate culturally accumulated 'belief' to magical purposes. the positive and negative aspects of this arcanum are dealt with in azoetia (xoanon: 1992, 2002) under the name 'the iconostasis of blasphemy' and readers are directed there for more detailed understanding of this matter. o

his arcanum are dealt with in azoetia (xoanon: 1992, 2002) under the name 'the iconostasis of blasphemy' and readers are directed there for more detailed understanding of this matter. one must be wise to discern the use of veil upon veil: the use of demonological terms should not be misconstrued as advocacy for vulgar 'satanism 'black magic' or such like; neither should our positive use of judaeo-christian terms imply religious adherence in any conventional sense. the sabbatic craft uses sorcerous teachings of a specialised gnostic character, an outer part of which combines a coded use of both luciferic and christo -pagan terms. one must be careful to interpret this; it is a test! few pass beyond it. a defining feature of the cultus is its specialised use of the mythos of the medieval and

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

e and brimstone gods- originated: negative extraterrestrials. the 'fear of god' was born, and this fear and resistance to change (disobeying the gods) is still in the collective psyche. over time, as described at length in the robots' rebellion, these various god myths became fused together to form 'composite gods, based on themes from many of the earlier civilisations. so it is with judaism, the christian bible, islam, and most of the others. their version of; god relates to the type of extraterrestrials from which their religion originated or the way many different extraterrestrial stories have become fused into a composite god over the centuries. dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to worship a composite god made up of extraterrestrials. amen. if you look at the origins of the ma

trance on many other occasions in the years that followed. he also wrote of going on a 'celestial journey. 6. and the truth shall set you free many people in the modern world who claim to have experienced extraterrestrial contact have said the same as mohammed. saul of tarsus, better known as st paul, was the man who changed the image of y'shua (jesus)3 into the saviour-godmessiah from which the christian religion was spawned. this happened after he had a 'vision' of y'shua on the road to damascus. he also talked about being 'taken up' into heaven, or a number of different heavens (dimensions. speaking of himself, he wrote "i know a man in christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. whether he was in the body or out of the body, i do not know- god knows. and i know th

e and dated between the first and fourth centuries ad the inscription read "i am a son of the earth and the stars of the sky, but i am of the celestial race. may the knowledge be passed on!"11 the birth of y'shua (jesus, as described in the gnostic gospels, also has similarities to modern day et experiences. the protoevangelion of james is the oldest of the gnostic gospels which were removed from christian orthodoxy at the notorious council of nicaea in 325ad (see the robots' rebellion. the gnostic text describes the birth of y'shua and how people and animals froze in mid-gesture in a powerful, though temporary paralysis, while joseph and the midwife were unaffected. this is very much a theme of et contactee/abductee experiences. the text goes on "and the midwife went away with him. and th

revelations we hear of the new jerusalem descending from the sky (rev 22:10) and y'shua returning 'with the clouds (rev 1:7. was y'shua a member of a positive extraterrestrial race who became incarnate to help humanity get out of prison? it is certainly a possibility. the native american tribe, the iroquois, have a legend of an iroquois maiden marrying the chief of the sky people. the geologist, christian o'brien, suggested that hebrew and sumerian texts refer to a race of beings known as the 'shining ones, a term he connects with the hebrew word, elohim. it is no coincidence that the devas from the sanskrit and the angels of christianity are also 'shining ones. the incas of peru referred to 'shining ones' too. o'brien says that it was the beings known as the elohim which created modern h

ould have been y'shua ben yosef (joshua, the son of joseph) 4 george c. andrews, extra-terrestrials among us (llewellyn publications, usa, 1986) p63 5 extra-terrestrials among us, p54-55 6 ibid p73-74 7 ibid p72-73 8 ibid p63 9 preston b. nichols with peter moon, the montauk project (sky books, new york, 1992) 20..and the truth shall set you free 10 extra-terrestrials among us, p54 11 ibid p59 12 christian o'brien, the genius of the fen (turnstone press ltd, wellingborough, northamptonshire, 1985. his views were also quoted in richard l. thompson's alien identities (govardhan hill publishing, san diego, 1993) pl97-198 13 zecharia sitchin, the 12th planet (avon, new york, 1976) 14 virginia essene and sheldon nidle, you are becoming a galactic human (s.e.e. publishing co, santa clara, 1994)

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

tnesses who have been denied life-saving blood transfusions because their brain-dead parents insist on conducting every aspect of their lives according to the contradictory dictates of a book purveying stories of pure fantasy. the creation of the mental and emotional sheep pen of norms, which imprisons 99% of humanity, goes on minute by minute in subtle and less subtle ways. there are children of christian, jewish, muslim, or hindu parents who don't accept the religion, but still follow it because they don't want to upset their family. then there is the almost universal fear of what people think of us if we speak a different version of reality or live a different kind of life. note that the fear for those who wish to break out of the sheep pen is not the fear of what the elite families, th

"isms" of endless variety. these beliefs are perceived as "opposites" when, as i pointed out in my book, i am me, i am free, they are opposames. the vision of reality and possibility within the pen is so limited that it contains no opposites. so the elite have to create the perception of them to manufacture the divisions that allow them to divide and rule. i mean, what is the difference between a christian bishop, jewish rabbi, muslim or hindu priest, or a follower of buddha, imposing their beliefs on their children and others? there is none because while the belief they seek to indoctrinate may be slightly different, often very slightly, the overall theme is exactly the same- the imposition of one person's belief on another. look at the opposames in politics. the far left, as symbolised b

ree, i expose how mcveigh was set up by forces he did not understand and how a fuel fertiliser device in a ryder truck could not possibly have caused that horrific damage.'4 and what followed this death and destruction "anti-terrorism" laws went through congress without challenge that removed fundamental freedoms from american people. i have no sympathy with the political views of mcveigh and the christian patriots in general, except to the extent that they seek to expose the basics of the global agenda. but that's not the point. establishing the truth of what happened is the point, no matter what the views and attitudes of those involved. i think it is called justice. if you are wondering why mcveigh offered no defence and later asked to be executed, see the section on mind control. the t

e second world war was fought between the good guys and bad guys, the allies fighting for freedom and the fascists seeking a global dictatorship, you do not open your eyes to see the endless provable evidence that both "sides" were funded and controlled by the same people operating through wall street and the city of london. the story of "jesus" is another outstanding case, probably the best. the christian religion is based entirely on belief in the historical, literal, existence, of a jewish man who was born to a virgin mother, performed countless "miracles, died on a cross to save us all, disappeared from his tomb after three days, and then ascended to heaven to be with his dad. over the best part of 2,000 years, billions of lives on this planet have been controlled, limited, manipulated

t makes his opinion significant to anyone researching the material in this book. he is a scientist, an inventor of free-energy technology that could transform life on earth, and has been researching the iliuminati, their history, origin, and agenda, for more than 30 years. this interest began when he set out to prove that jesus really existed, but he soon found himself proving that he didn't. the christian scam led him into the bigger scam, just as my initial investigation into the suppression of spiritual (not religious) knowledge did for me. brian is no new age flyaway sitting in the clouds. he is a feet-on-the-ground, give-me-the-evidence, researcher and writer. in the 1960s, he worked at the aircraft giant, boeing, and he says that a group of boeing physicists got together to launch a

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

nd a head shaped like thehood of a cobra which curls over to form a snake-like headdress.51 over the thousands ofyears since these royal reptile-human hybrid bloodlines were created, they have become moreintegrated into the general populafion and less physically obvious, but the basic geneticstructure remains and the brotherhood maintains very detailed genetic records of who has itand who doesnt. christian and barbara obrien say in genius of the few that if theannunaki had interbred with humanity hundreds of thousands of years ago and then interbredwith them again about 30,000 years ago, the result of the second interbreeding would be agenetic structure that was 75% anunnaki and 25% human. i think there was another breedingprogramme far more recently, after the v enus flood of about 7,000

ociated with the hebrew words meaning life and snake. eve was,of course, tempted by the serpent according to old testament myth and other sources. inchapter 69 of the book of enoch we find that among the watchers who revealed thesecrets to humans was gadreel, the fallen angel who has been identified with temptingeve. the book of enoch was banned by the roman church which sought to deny theearlier christian belief in the existence of flesh and blood angels and fallen angelsoccupying physical bodies and interbreeding with humans. this was to stop the massesunderstanding the true situation. but the freemasons, who control the roman catholicchurch today along with other brotherhood offshoots, have always looked upon enochas one of their legendary founders. the very name enoch means initiated.t

lood.46andrew collins, from the ashes of angels, the forbidden legacy of a fallen race (signetbooks, london, 1997, p 35.47a genesis apocryphon, the translation of part of the dead sea scrolls by naham avigad andyigael yadin, published in 1956 by the hebrew university in jerusalem.48firdowsi, the shah nameh of the persian poet firdausi, translated by james atkinson(frederick warne, london, 1886).49christian obrien, with joy obrien, the genius of the few- the story of those whofounded the garden of eden (turnstone press, wellingborough, england, 1985).50from the ashes of angels, pp 268, 269.51ibid.52l. a. waddell, the phoenician origin of britons, scots and anglo saxons (the christian bookclub of america, hawthorne, california, first published 1924, p 65.53from the ashes of angels, p 191.54i

ic of ninkharsag, thecreator of the reptile-human crossbreeds. nimrod was the fish-god dagon who wasdepicted as half man, half fish.3 it is possible that this was symbolic of him being halfhuman, half scaled reptile. queen semiramis was also symbolised as a fish because thebabylonians believed fish to be an aphrodisiac and it became the symbol for thegoddess of love.4 hence the use of the fish in christian symbolism and architecture. inher role as the holy spirit, semiramis was pictured as a dove holding an olive branchand semiramis means branch bearer as in ze (the) emir (branch) and amit(bearer).5 note also the symbolism of this in the story of noah and the great flood,when the dove came back bearing an olive branch. the return of the reptilians after theflood? the name, semiramis, was e

st that the eagle issymbolic of the winged draco. eannus, it was said, held the keys to the doors of heavenand he was the sole intermediary between god and humanity, therefore any belief notsupported by him was false and should be condemned. this was a wonderful tool forthe babylonian priesthood to impose their will on the populous and exactly the samescam has been played by their successors, the christian priests, the rabbis and thepriesthoods of islam, hinduism and all the rest. the roman catholic title of cardinalcomes from the word cardo meaning hinge and relates to nimrods role as guardian ofthe door to heaven.10 the babylonian priests even established a governing body theycalled the grand council of pontiffs, a name later transferred to the church of rome.11the babylonian high priest

DAVID ICKE RELATED THE HIDDEN GEARS OF FREEMASONRY

ce all along. if you would like to go further you can go to the publishing and distribution house of invisible freemasonry, kessinger's freemasonry and occult publishing; kessinger's publishes all the old, formerly very secret masonic books of the invisible society. you are encouraged to pursue the subjects they have listed at the very bottom of their home page, noting the extremely satanic, anti-christian subjects of which the invisible fraternity is comprised. below are a few of these subjects as kessinger's has listed them: this is the heart and soul of the invisible, inner fraternity. the absolute darkest part of this heart is phallicism, worshipping the erect male sex organ. the obelisk is the major symbol for this worship, which is why you see obelisks everywhere associated with free

uential was franklin d. roosevelt, who did more to advance the cause of the new world order than anyone else in american history. seventeenth president andrew johnson 1865-1869 brig general albert pike (1809-1891) confederate the critical importance of this symbolism pointed out above, namely, that the presidency of the united states is to be controlled by freemasonry, is thoroughly documented by christian author, ralph epperson, in his book "the new world order. on page 171, epperson quotes testimony given in march, 1867, before the house judiciary committee, by general gordon granger. general granger related a meeting between himself, president andrew johnson, who was a mason, and albert pike, the most famous of all masons. general granger reported his surprise that president johnson con

DAVIDSON DAN SHAPE POWER

or activity that uses the symbol. for example, a company logo would have no intrinsic power in itself; however, the company may be a powerful organization. the use of the pentagram (i.e, a five pointed star) in both white (i.e, constructive with center point up) and black (i.e, destructive with center point down) ceremonial magic is well known to those who have dabbled in the occult sciences. the christian cross and the jewish star of david are common religious symbols with certain mystic power associated with them. when first studying shape power and symbols, i wondered how a symbol could be used for both constructive and destructive purposes even to the point of questioning if the symbol really had anything at all to do with the magical processes. i have long since learned differently, a

ound that trees growing over one of these spiral energy points will be affected by the vortexing energy and grow in a twisted pattern. about that same time, alfred watkins of herefordshire, england, made the interesting discovery that many of the ancient holy sites lined up in straight lines. he called these "leys" or ley lines. he theorized that the ancient people from the neolithic and into the christian era located their holy sites on these ley lines. dowsing revealed that these ley lines are part of the earth's energy system. 3.2 ley-lines ley lines are another manifestation of aetheric energy. ley lines originate above the earth's surface; penetrate and leave the earth vertically at nodal points or "power centers" as dowsers call them. ley lines are aetheric energy flows over the surf

DEITUS

y ever committed by a satanist for an obvious reason which has nothing to do with moral or ethical beliefs. a satanist cares about what is best for him and would not engage in acts which would jeopardize his freedom or safety. the occasional deviant may commit some horrific crime in the name of satan, but the satanist is no more responsible for the crimes of the sociopath or child molester than a christian is for those of a deviant priest or minister who does the same. while self-interest keeps the satanist from breaking the laws or cultural standards of the society in which he lives, a satanist may question the definition of good and evil and the values and ethics which his society has determined to be correct. what is good and what is evil? the satanist asks. if you kill for your country

economic systems, and all governments are equally flawed. once men went off to kill or die for their king and their god; now they do the same for democracy and liberty. but what is liberty, the satanist may ask, for those who must be killed to be liberated? all things are subjective and, therefore, nothing can accurately be judged except by its own standards and ideals. the satanist condemns the christian, not for his offences but rather, for his hypocrisy. all men will do what comes naturally to them and so the satanist is not surprised to see the christian having sex, drinking, gambling, and engaging in other sinful pleasures. the satanist does not even think badly of the christian for doing such things. but the satanist can only feel contempt for someone who preaches against the pleasu

this is the case, centuries will pass between new aeonic words. in another two-thousand year, the cycle of expansion will have ended and humanity will experience another cycle of restriction. aleister crowley made reference to the aeon of isis, a time when man lived in harmony with the natural world and the dominant religions involved the worship of nature. he was referring, of course, to the pre-christian pagan world. this was followed, he said, by the aeon of osirus, a time of restriction in which man rejected the natural world and in its place chose denial of the ego and mortification of the flesh. he believed that a new aeon, the aeon of horus, had begun. in egyptian mythology, isis was the goddess of fertility, osirus was the god of death, and horus was the god of rebirth. the period

ion in which man rejected the natural world and in its place chose denial of the ego and mortification of the flesh. he believed that a new aeon, the aeon of horus, had begun. in egyptian mythology, isis was the goddess of fertility, osirus was the god of death, and horus was the god of rebirth. the period of restriction, he said, had ended and the life-energies had returned to the world. the pre-christian pagan world was more, however, than simply a time of nature worship. men lived in greater harmony with the natural world than they did during the cycle of restriction which followed, but they also celebrated the carnal, exalted the ego, and explored deep philosophical thought. this was the time of the mystery schools and the philosophers of greece. this was the time of the great empires

which have hindered us from assuming our rightful place as heirs of creation. we must then assume the responsibilities which come with recognition of being gods and begin to act in a manner that reflects the wisdom, enlightenment, beauty, power, and majesty which is within us. it is not required of us that we become pure or blessed, or that we become all-loving and charitable. these concepts are christian corruptions. we must become, like the gods of the ancient world, unique, powerful, and glorious beings an apollo, an artemis, a zeus, or an aphrodite. i say that such beings as these cannot be judged for they are governed each by their own laws alone. they set their own values and move in their own spheres. i have said that man has already become a god, but this knowledge is not yet full

DEMONIC BIBLE

y scholars that devils are "fallen" gods, or deities men no longer worship. but then, are not gods simply devils men choose to worship? could it be that yahweh and allah are simply more "politically correct" devils than astaroth and beelzebub? the followers of every religion have been condemned by others as "devilworshippers" at some time or another. in the "tolerant" social climate of today, the christian still condemns the jew; the jew still condemns the muslim, and the muslim still condemns the christian. each is willing to kill and commit heinous crimes in the name of his "god. would it not be more honest for man to admit that he is a worshipper of devils and a believer in fairy tales? it is with these thoughts in mind that the demonic bible is written. stop now at the horror of these

fer was associated with the worship of venus or aphrodite, the goddess of love and passion, and involved sexual acts of which the early christians did not approve. the acceptance of christianity as the official religion of rome, and subsequent conversion of pagans to the new faith, resulted in the name lucifer becoming associated with the devil satan. if jesus is the light and truth, reasoned the christian, then lucifer must be a false light, a deceiver, even a fallen angel. christianity condemned paganism, goddess-worship, and sexuality as evil; and the cult of lucifer could be associated with all of these. lucifer became the latin name for the devil of hebrew origin, satan. in hebrew mythology, satan was an angel who accused men before god in order to bring about their punishment. he was

he religion of zoroaster. the jews adopted zoroastrian belief of a war in heaven between ahura-mazda and ahriman, the serpent, with yahweh taking the role of ahura-mazda and satan assuming the part of the serpent ahriman. satan, a minor angel in hebrew mythology, became equal in power with god. the belief of a war in heaven between god and satan was carried into europe by the early christians. in christian mythology, lucifer became the highest of the angels, created in the perfect image of god, who fell from grace because of his pride. during the spread of christianity in europe the devil began to take on the form most often associated with him today. christians gave him the attributes of many of the old pagan gods: horns, tail, and cloven hooves. he became the god of fertility, the god of

is pride. during the spread of christianity in europe the devil began to take on the form most often associated with him today. christians gave him the attributes of many of the old pagan gods: horns, tail, and cloven hooves. he became the god of fertility, the god of lust, the god of the dead, and the god of magic. devil worshippers and luciferans to facilitate conversion, pagan holy days became christian holy days. pagan temples were destroyed and became the sites of christian churches. the less demonic looking gods were converted into angels in god s armies as pagans were converted en masse to the new religion. the mass conversion of pagans to christianity was not entirely successful, however. in many countries, the people worshipped christ alongside the old gods. by the twelfth century

labored under the oppression of the church, some began to see satan as a preferable master to jesus of nazareth. the church condemned every natural inclination as sinful and wicked. the only way to salvation, the people were told, was denial of the flesh and obedience to the church and state. it is questionable whether or not there was a single satanist before the inquisition, but as a result of christian oppression (and repression) the cult of satanism and practice of witchcraft and magic developed. those evil masons& brothers of the rosy cross masonic lodges, which began to appear in france and england in the 18th century and spread to other countries, made a number of false claims: a) the origin of masonry can be traced to ancient jerusalem and the construction of solomon s temple, b)

DIABOLUS

nded it with a luminous cloud, and she placed a throne in the middle of the cloud that no one might see it except the holy spirit who is called the mother of the living. and she called his name yaltabaoth. the apocryphon of john the apocryphon of john, discovered in upper egypt in 1945, is perhaps one of the more significant gnostic texts which hold a hidden relation to the adversary. these early christian writings, dated roughly ad 350, were perhaps one of the most significant records of the history of gnostic records. it was written that barbelo (called sophia, a great and powerful female archon, who was considered beautiful and near perfection, desired to create a child. she went off alone and begat this child. while she desired to create something like herself, this child was imperfect

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

minology is by no means complete, nor would other esoteric orders, fraternities, or other organizations agree with the definitions that we give within these pages. this work is intended to be used by our own membership. this work is not meant to represent the quote "way things are" but rather give the beginning student a place to begin their understanding. the order of the astral star is based in christian mysticism and high ceremonial magick. these are our own organizations points of reference and thus we speak from our own perspectives. for this reason, the terminology is defined within our own biases and according to our own world view. for us, we perceive the definitions as being mostly correct, though still needing some refinement and additions. the next edition of this dictionary wil

n: from the greek "adelphos" and "adelphas" meaning "brother" and "sister. a term that is in the neuter sex to indicate roughly "sibling" in the order of the astral star [o.a.s (q.v, an adelphon is the title of the first degree of membership, and correlates to the fire of earth in the sephiroth of malkuth (i.e. the russet colored quarter of malkuth. the primary principle of this grade is based on christian knighthood. adeptus minor: a term used to describe a learned and skilled magician. in the hermetic order of the golden dawn [g.d (q.v) the student of the order was first taught ritual magick once they entered into this degree, which was the first degree of the inner order, the roseae rubeae et aureae crucis [r.r. et a.c (q.v. aeon of horus: the age of oneness between human beings and god

e powerful than an angel (q.v) and have free will. they also bear teachings, warnings, and messages of all kinds from heaven to earth (q.v) and carry out the orders of god. they are obedient to divinity and are each associated with an aspect of divinity represented by a "god" name. arch bishop: the word "bishop" comes from the greek "episokopos" meaning "to look upon" as in an overseer. 1) in the christian faith, a chief bishop (q.v) who has been consecrated to have ecclesiastical and administrative authority over a territorial arch diocese. 2) in the astral star, a primate of a state curia, and the senior member of the general synod for a given state or commonwealth. archetype: a universal and imageless concept; here, in the sense coined and used by carl g. jung, psychiatrist, such a conc

en by machines. auto-da-fe: a grotesque kind of festival mounted by the spanish inquisition in which accused heretics, whose only crime was adherence to their own "different" faith, were publicly paraded through town in special costumes, beaten, humiliated, and then burned alive at the stake. an example of a practice which all true christians need to know actually happened, and site as a very non-christian behavior. a cruel example of what can happen when any religion becomes so mainstream and popular as to deny others the freedom to experience the almighty in ways other than their own religious faith followed by a majority. auriel: pronounced "ah-ree-ehl" the archangel (q.v) and cosmic guardian of the north and of elemental earth. some traditions use "oh-ree-ehl" in the traditions of chri

place, within a specific object, and for a specific time, in order to perform a specific action or to accomplish a specific task. biorhythms: the regular rhythmic cycles of the physical body, which may have an amplitude of days, weeks, or even months, and which vary in intensity from individual to individual. bishop: from the greek "episokopos" meaning "to look upon" as in an overseer. 1) in the christian faith, a high ranking member of the clergy (priesthood) who has been consecrated to have ecclesiastical and administrative authority over a district diocese. 2) in the astral star, a prelate of a state curia, and a member of the general synod. bitom: pronounced "bee-toh-ehm" it is the enochian (q.v) name for the spirit of fire. black magick: 1) the science and art of causing change (in r

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

sm was the matrix of the [page 2] european spiritual culture when they recall the fact that jesus and paul were both jews. no race except the jewish race could possibly have served as the stock upon which the new dispensation was to be grafted because no other race was monotheistic. pantheism and polytheism had had their day and a new and more spiritual culture was due. the mystical qabala page 5 christian races owe their religion to the jewish culture as surely as the buddhist races of the east owe theirs to the hindu culture. 4. the mysticism of israel supplies the foundation of modern western occultism. it forms the theoretical basis upon which all ceremonial is developed. its famous glyph, the tree of life, is the best meditation-symbol we possess because it is the most comprehensive

e then will be true in principle now, and of value to us. the modern qabalist is the heir of the ancient qabalist, but he must re-interpret doctrine and re-formulate method in the light of the present dispensation if the heritage he has received is to be of any practical value to him. 7. i do not clairn that the modern qabalistic teachings as i have learnt them are identical with those of the pre-christian rabbis, but i claim that they are the legitimate descendants thereof and the natural development therefrom. 8. the nearer the source the purer the stream. in order to discover first principles we must go to the fountain-head. but a river receives many tributaries in the course of its flow, and these need not necessarily be polluted. if we want to discover whether they are pure or not, we

d, or [page 4] collection of learned commentaries thereon; and the qabalah, or mystical interpretation thereof. of these three the ancient rabbis say that the first is the body of the tradition, the second its rational soul, and the third its immortal spirit. ignorant men may with profit read the first; learned men study the second; but the wise meditate upon the third. it is a strange thing that christian exegesis has never sought the keys to the old testament in the qabalah. 12. in our lord's day there were three schools of religious thought in palestine: the pharisees and the sadducees, of whom we read so frequently in the gospels; and the essenes, who are never referred to. esoteric tradition avers that the boy jesus ben joseph, when his calibre was recognised by the learned doctors of

of the tree of life, with yesod, the foundation, or receptacle of influences, as the central point. whoever formulated that prayer knew his qabalah. 13. christianity had its esotericism in the gnosis, which owed much to both greek and egyptian thought. in the system of pythagoras we see an adaptation of the qabalistic principles to greek mysticism. 14. the exoteric, state-organised section of the christian church persecuted and stamped out the esoteric section, destroying every trace of its literature upon which it could lay hands in striving to eradicate the very memory of a gnosis from human history. it is recorded that the baths and bakehouses of alexandria were fired for six months with the manuscripts from the great library. very little remains to us of our spiritual heritage in the a

rible oaths and then "confided the hebrew alphabet to his safe keeping" 24. the philosophy of the qabalah is the esotericism of the west. in it we find such a cosmogony as is found in the stanzas of dyzan, which were the basis of mme blavatsky's work. herein she found the framework of traditional doctrine which she expounded in her great book, the 5ecret doctrine. this qabalistic cosmogony is the christian gnosis. without it we have an incomplete system in our religion, and it is' this mystical qabala page 21 incomplete system which has been the weakness of christianity. the early fathers, in the homely metaphor, threw away the baby with the bath-water. a very cursory acquaintance with the qabalah serves to show that here we have the essential keys to the riddles of scripture in general an

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

mind and set to work to exploit them. i am convinced that this factor played a large part in the witch-cult, and was the real cause of the universal horror and detestation of the witch. these powers have always been known to students of occultism, but nowadays they are known and used by people who would be exceedingly surprised to find who are their fellow-practitioners. mrs. eddy, the founder of christian science, stumbled on to these methods empirically without ever acquiring any rational knowledge as to their modus operandi. she endeavoured to teach them in such a way that they could only be used for good and their power for evil should be concealed; but that she herself was well aware of their possibilities if abused is witnessed by the dread of what she called "malicious animal magnet

without ever acquiring any rational knowledge as to their modus operandi. she endeavoured to teach them in such a way that they could only be used for good and their power for evil should be concealed; but that she herself was well aware of their possibilities if abused is witnessed by the dread of what she called "malicious animal magnetism" which shadowed her whole life. 3 of 103 the methods of christian science, without its strict discipline and careful organisation, were developed and exploited by the innumerable schools and sects of the new thought movement. in many of the developments the religious aspect was lost sight of, and they simply became a method of mental manipulation for purely personal ends, though not necessarily deliberately evil. their exponents advertised that they wo

shared. if we think of a person, we are in touch with that person. if we picture them clearly, it is as if we were face to face with them. if we picture them vaguely, it is as if we saw them in the distance. being in the mental vicinity of a person, we can create a thought- atmosphere by dwelling upon certain ideas in connection with him. this is how spiritual healing is done. the affirmations of christian science are used in order to get the mind of the healer into a certain emotional state, and his condition effectually influences the mind of the patient with whom he has put himself en rapport. this power, however, can be used for evil as well as good; the founder of christian science was wise enough to put her teaching in such a way that her students would not readily discern the second

is such an instrument; it is manipulated by the mind every time a voluntary movement takes place, and the operations of spiritual healing are simply an extension of this principle to the involuntary muscles and physiological processes not ordinarily directed by the conscious mind. occultists maintain that mind affects body by means of the etheric double, as it is called, the "mortal mind" of the christian scientists. we may not unreasonably conclude that when physical action is produced at a distance by occult means, it is done by employing this etheric double. the etheric double is primarily a body of magnetic stresses in the framework of whose meshes every cell and fibre of the physical body is held as in a rack. but intermediate between this and the dense physical body as we know it, t

ok; the creature lay motionless on my knee for a few minutes, and then gave a flutter and died. i had never seen death before, but i needed no one to tell me that i saw it now. the 33 of 103 "feel" of the creature, before and after that flutter, was different. i can only compare the feel of the magnetised and the unmagnetised crosses to the difference between the living and the dead bird. but the christian is not the only religion that can magnetise its ceremonial instruments. there are other ritualistic religions, and some of these are debased. we ought to use much caution before we place about our rooms as ornaments objects which may have been associated with cults whose nature we do not understand. many of them, of course, belong to the brummagem cult, and are dedicated to no more despe

DONALDTYSON BLACKMAS

ts were accused of trampling and spitting on the cross. black masses formed a part of the religious practices of the late anton szandor lavey and his los angeles based church of satan, founded in the 1960s, in the sense that these rituals were performed in honor of the devil and involved a parody of the church mass. however, lavey always asserted that his black mass was not intended to defile the christian god, because he denied the existence of such a god. since the deliberate degradation and defilement of christianity is one of the key features of the true black mass, the mass performed in the church of satan falls short of perfection. the concept of the black mass has no meaning outside of christianity. it was a fantasy created by the priests of the inquisition as the worst thing they c

DONALDTYSON DEMON

own as the lilitu. in addition to the direct personification of the forces of nature, demons were formed by the vilification of the gods and goddesses of other cultures. many of the medieval demons mentioned in the old testament, such as ashtaroth and baal, are the gods of middle eastern peoples other than the hebrews. the modern concept of demons owes many of its key features to the influence of christian folklore and theological doctrine, which were heavily influenced by jewish beliefs through the old testament. in christianity, a demon is not just a malicious spirit, but a spirit of hell sent to earth by the devil to enforce his authority or to carry out his purposes. just as angels are the agents of god who act with divine authority to do good works among men, so demons are the agents

rough the old testament. in christianity, a demon is not just a malicious spirit, but a spirit of hell sent to earth by the devil to enforce his authority or to carry out his purposes. just as angels are the agents of god who act with divine authority to do good works among men, so demons are the agents of lucifer who act with infernal authority to do works of evil. indeed, in jewish, islamic and christian mythology, lucifer was himself once an angel of heaven who defied god. seeking to overthrow god and rule heaven, lucifer assembled an army of apostate angels and initiated a war in heaven. he and his angels were defeated by michael and the angels who remained loyal to god, and were thrown down from heaven to hell. in their fallen state these angels of hell are supposed in christian lore

ted by god for so long as he or she remains obedient. when a person defies the will and commandments of god, then he or she becomes prey for lucifer. under ordinary circumstances lucifer cannot directly hurt persons under god's protection, which is why he needed a special dispensation from god to injure job's property and family. however, we are able to gather from other hints in the bible and in christian and jewish folklore that lucifer is free to suggest to human beings that they voluntarily defy god. once a person does so, he or she forfeits the protection of god. then lucifer is permitted to commit injuries upon the person. what is true of lucifer himself applies to his agents, the demons. in a nutshell, this is the christian demon myth. demons are tempters of men because they are for

o his agents, the demons. in a nutshell, this is the christian demon myth. demons are tempters of men because they are forbidden to injure human beings who obey god. but if through the temptation of a demon a person can be induced to disobey god, that person is demon fodder. effectively, they join lucifer's army of apostate fallen angels, although at a very subordinate rank. from a fundamentalist christian point of view, all those who fail to worship christ are disobedient to god, and therefore prey for the demons who walk and swim and fly upon the earth. much the same belief concerning those of other religions is held by fundamentalist islamics and jews. in a broader inter-religious sense, anyone of any religion who strives to do good is afforded protection against the injuries of demons

by some to open a doorway to hell, allowing demons to possess those who unwittingly use the board. however, these unfortunate dabblers in the occult, who in films always seem to be teenagers guilty of drinking beer and necking in the back seat of cars, can save themselves from the talons of the demons if they burn the board and give themselves in the service of christ through fervent prayers. in christian writings demons in the strictest sense- those fallen angels who remained loyal to lucifer in hell- were continually being confused with pagan deities and with nature spirits. thus we find mention of the demon satyr who incites men and women to lust, and the demon theutus, who induces the urge to gamble for money with cards or dice. the satyr is a nature spirit of greek mythology, and the

DONALDTYSON MIRACLES

in ordinary ways. events recognized as miracles usually have other qualities in common that narrow the definition. miracles are frequently associated with religion. they are popularly perceived to be caused by deities, by spiritual agents of deities known as angels, or by human agents of deities such as avatars or saints. although we are most familiar in the west with miracles associated with the christian religion, all religions have their history of miracles. religious miracles may be divided into two types, spontaneous or induced. in the first case, a wondrous event occurs without warning or petition, to the complete surprise of those who witness it. the second case involves divine intervention deliberately sought by prayers or ritual actions. an example of a spontaneous miracles would

cles what adolescent children are to poltergeist activity. they seem to act as facilitators of the wondrous events without conscious intention. this is most obvious in the case of stigmata, the spontaneous appearance of the wounds of christ on the bodies of devout religious believers. levitation and the appearance of glories or halos around the head or upper body are also common. the chronicle of christian miracles is overwhelming in it number and variety. only a few brief examples may be cited here. those interested in the subject should consult the 19th century text a dictionary of miracles by the reverend e. cobham brewer, an excellent compendium of christian wonders that runs to almost six hundred pages of double-column fine print. in 1380 a merchant was transporting a small wooden sta

e (626-59, the abbess of nivelles in belgium, was at prayer before the altar of st. sixtus, a globe of fire appeared upon her head. it was witnessed by all the sisters of the abbey. ten years after her death, the ghost of st. gertrude "appeared visibly" in the refractory of the college of nivelles and extinguished a fire that had threatened to destroy the entire college. the popular opinion among christian theologians is that miracles can only be caused by god. they make a distinction between the wondrous effects produced by magicians, and the wondrous effects produced by devout believers, saints, and angels. the trouble is, these events are often indistinguishable. to account for this similarity, christian scholars assert that the changes wrought by god are true and enduring changes, wher

make a distinction between the wondrous effects produced by magicians, and the wondrous effects produced by devout believers, saints, and angels. the trouble is, these events are often indistinguishable. to account for this similarity, christian scholars assert that the changes wrought by god are true and enduring changes, whereas the changes worked by magicians are temporary illusions. hence in christian folklore you read of the glamours of witches, who can make a man believe that his penis has fallen off, or that he has transformed into a beast such as a swine or a donkey, even though these things have not actually taken place. you encounter tales of magicians such as faust who could transform for a time bits of twigs and stones into the semblance of gold and silver coins, or could make

ut christians, if the gold is genuine, the alchemist must act with the assistance of god, since they hold the opinion that magic is a deception and incapable of true transformation. indeed, many alchemists, being good christians themselves, maintain that no transformation is possible without the help of god. they inflame themselves with prayer and practice austerities in pursuit of their art. yet christian theologians cannot accept alchemical change as a holy miracle since alchemy is by them classed as a form of magic, and all magic is condemned as evil by the church. they must reject the possibility of true alchemical transformation. my own view is that miracles, true miracles, do involve a transcendental spiritual power and draw upon the divine source that underlies the material universe

DONALDTYSON POSSESS

lk to the magician, but this is not the norm. those who evoke a lower spirit and expect to see it standing within the triangle and to talk to it as they would converse with another human being are mistaking the legends and fables of evocation for the reality of evocation. myths are always true, but their truth is symbolic. higher spirits are sometimes called angels, especially by magicians with a christian heritage. lower spirits are sometimes called demons. in actuality, there is no clear dividing line between good and bad spirits. the personalities of spiritual beings have the same broad range as the personalities of human beings. some are very bad, or very good. most are somewhere in between, neither wholly good nor wholly evil. as a general rule of magic, it is best to evoke all spirit

DONALDTYSON VAMPIRES

o various creatures of the night, such as the bat and wolf. in the form of mist they can exit and enter their graves through minute cracks in the ground. they cannot see their reflections in mirrors, nor be seen in them. for some unspecified reason, this causes the vampire to hate mirrors, and to shatter any looking glasses that happen to be around. they are equally discomforted by garlic and the christian cross, or the crucifix (cross with the figure of jesus upon it. in modern versions of the myth, vampires sometimes show contempt for the cross rather than fear. the vampires of popular modern fiction can be destroyed in a variety of ways. sunlight and holy water dissolve their flesh and bones like strong acid. in some versions of the legend, sunlight causes them to burst into flames. a s

EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD PAPYRUS OF ANI MALESTROM

arger work which were made in the xviiith and following dynasties, but in this introduction the term is intended to include the general body of texts which have reference to the burial of the dead and to the new life in the world beyond the grave, and which are known to have existed in revised editions and to have been in use among the egyptians from about b.c. 4500, to the early centuries of the christian era. uncertainty of the history of its source the home, origin, and early history of the collection of ancient religious texts which have descended to us are, at present, unknown, and all working theories regarding them, however strongly supported by the versions of the book of the dead. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod03.htm (2 of 36 [8/10/2001 11:22:54 am] apparently well-ascer

all stones; it is commonly called by the arabs haram el mastabat, because it is near the building usually called mastabat el-far' n. see vyse, pyramids, vol. iii, p. 52. the hieroglyphic texts are published by maspero in recueil de travaux, t. xii, pp. 53-95, and pp. 136-95, paris, 1892; and t. xiv, pp. 125-52, paris, 1892. there is little doubt that this pyramid was broken into more than once in christian times, and that the early collectors of egyptian antiquities obtained the beautiful alabaster vases inscribed with the cartouches and titles of pepi ii. from those who had access to the sarcophagus chamber. among such objects in the british museum collection, nos. 4492, 22,559, 22,758 and 22,817 are fine examples] p. xxiv summary of the monumental evidence. thus we have before the close

r next source of information is the famous papyrus[4] containing the "maxims of ani" which are well known through the labours of de roug,[5] maspero,[6] chabas[7] and am lineau.[8] we should speak of them, however, more correctly as the maxims of khonsu-hetep.[9] the papyrus [1. plate xiii, l. 8. 2. plate xvi, l. 7. 3. plate xix, l. 6. 4. it was found in a box laid upon the floor of the tomb of a christian monk at d r el-medinet, the text was given by mariette in papyrus gyptiens du mus e de boulaq, publi s en fac-simile sous les auspices de s.a. isma l-pacha, kh dive d' gypte. 5. in the moniteur, 15 ao t, 1861; and in comptes rendus des s ances de l'acad mie des inscriptions et belles lettres, paris, 1871, pp. 340-50. 6. in the journal de paris, 15 mars, 1871; and in the academy, aug. 1

re of ancient egypt. the different interpretations which different egyptologists have placed upon the facts demonstrate the difficulty of the subject. speaking generally, the interpreters may be divided into two classes: those who credit the egyptians with a number of abstract ideas about god and the creation of the world and the future life, which are held to be essentially the product of modern christian nations; and those who consider the mind of the egyptian as that of a half-savage being to whom occasional glimmerings of the legend of ra and isis. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod07.htm (9 of 10 [8/10/2001 11:23:38 am] spiritual light were vouchsafed from time to time. all eastern nations have experienced difficulty in separating spiritual from corporeal conceptions, and the eg

e some placed the elysian fields.[3] amenta or amentet, or was originally the place where the sun set, but subsequently the name was applied to the cemeteries and tombs which were usually built or hewn in the stony plateaus and mountains on the western bank of the nile. some believe that amenta was, at first, the name of a small district, without either funereal or mythological signification. the christian egyptians or copts used the word amend to translate the greek word hades, to which they attributed all the ideas which their heathen ancestors had associated with the amenta of the book of the dead. annu, the heliopolis of the greeks (herodotus, ii, 3, 7, 8, 9, 59, 93; strabo, xvii, i, 27 ff, and the capital of the thirteenth nome of lower egypt [1. see am lineau, la g ographie de l' gyp

ELIPHAS LEVI SANCTUM REGNUM

en deeply impressed with this system of rule by archangels, and edward maitland, in his life of dr. anna kingsford, refers to this volume with approval. under the heading of "notes" the editor has given a short description of each tarot trump at the end of each chapter, and also a few notes on the mystical meanings assigned to the tarots by eliphaz levi in his other works; some of the views of p. christian are added. to facilitate reference to such information, a table is added here specifying the places to which the student can turn for further opinions and more detailed descriptions. court de gebelin. le monde premitif analyse. paris 1773-82. volume 8. etteilla or alliette. philosophie des hautes sciences. amsterdam. 1785. etteilla. lecons theoriques et pratiques du livre du thot. 1787

ELLIS LOW TWELVE 1907

e best they could for a brother in trouble "i am not a mason, but most of my staff were masons, and i know they frequently did many things that seemed to give them extra pleasure for the unfortunate on the other side. i was sure the institution was full of good works, and although i was only a poor soldier who tried to do his duty, without being a mason, i believed the organization was based upon christian principles, and was always in sympathy with the work of the fraternity" a lively time 165 in some respects the most peculiar interest attaches to the narrative of captain henry c. lee, for it will be remembered that he was the one who recognized the masonic call of captain bliss when driven to the last extremity, and by instantly responding saved him from certain death. captain lee at th

ave found existence. xiv true to his oath-a legend of the new jersey coast rev. william hollinshed is a retired clergyman of the presbyterian church, and at this writing is proprietor of the burnbrae house, a summer resort about two miles from the little town of sparta, sussex county, n. j. i spent the month of june, 19o6, at the burnbrae, and formed a high regard for mr. hollinshed's ability and christian character. he is one of the admirable few whose daily life is in accord with his profession, and whose retirement from active service, because of broken health, does not mean that he has ceased his labors in his master's vineyard. he is as constant as ever in his works of charity, consolation and self-denial, and is known far and near as an earnest minister of the gospel. it was while si

s before the establishment of that blessed institution of life saving along our ocean and lake coasts. the vessel was rapidly pounded to pieces. nearly all were washed from the wreck and drowned. when all hope was lost, the father lashed his child to a plank. he had no thought that either would be saved, but he uttered a prayer that the body of his child might be found by some fisherman and given christian burial. he pinned a little golden emblem, the square and compass, to her shawl, and had just time to kiss her good-by when the billows swept her from his sight. a fearful crash followed, and the parent became unconscious. when his senses returned, he found himself in the cabin of a vessel bound for new orleans. he had been rescued at break of day when the fog lifted. upon his arrival at

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

t hand man. the strong publicity that the church of satan and its founder have received is itself no indication that the church of satan represents satanism beyond its own claim to the title as the devil s henchmen, however. it can be argued that because in certain aspects of its literature the church of satan references christianity in its departure from the creeds usually associated with common christian ideology, in that sense at least it qualifies as an anti- christian organization and hence by christian definition, satanic. in particular, the first section (most of which was adapted with few modifications from ragnar redbeard s might is right [5) of the satanic bible [6] by anton lavey has strong anti-christian proclamations. anton lavey has later explained that this section was inten

ch was adapted with few modifications from ragnar redbeard s might is right [5) of the satanic bible [6] by anton lavey has strong anti-christian proclamations. anton lavey has later explained that this section was intended as an eye-opener [5, p. 5. 1.1 satanic ideology anton lavey has claimed inspiration from, and ideological parallels with, several sources with leanings toward atheistic or non-christian morality, including mark twain, jack london, p. t. barnum, friedrich nietzsche, ragnar redbeard, orrin klapp, niccol machiavelli, charles finney, adolf hitler, charles darwin, ayn rand, herbert spencer, h. g. wells, yefimovitch rasputin, george bernard shaw, sigmund freud, ambroce bierce, sir basil zaharoff, and voltaire, to name just a few [3, p. 24; 5, p. 5-6; 2, p. 492, 741; 7, p. xii

and imagery, all of which are recurring themes among people whose self-esteem is out of proportion with their physical or intellectual abilities. organizations promising religious or similar emotionally gratifying compensation for lacking achievements thrive on such people. the church of satan acknowledges an emotional link between its ideology and nazism: barton: it s an unholy alliance the anti-christian strength of national socialist germany is part of the appeal to satanists. lavey: the aesthetics of national socialism and satanism dovetail [10, p. 236] anton lavey states in the satanic bible that there is evidence of an emerging satanic age. at that time there was increasing focus on personal freedom, relaxed sexual morals, rebellion against authorities, and iconoclastic behavior, all

that he was prompted to write the satanic bible by his agent and publisher s suggestion with a tight deadline: then] came the official commission to write a satanic bible. my agent and publisher wanted the material i had already printed in tract form, with additional stuff, to make up the bible as quickly as possible [5, p. 4] the satanic bible is comprised of, in the following order: 1. an anti-christian diatribe. this section seems to appeal especially to those that were brought up in christian homes and are fed up with that religion. the church of satan explains that this section is a wake-up call that is only necessary for some readers. 2. a level-headed refutation of christian dogma; an assertion that there is no afterlife and hence no reward or punishment after one dies; and elabora

ank and file members, as well as anyone else who has an interest in this material, to analyze these ideas and synthesize the apparent contradictions into a third side that is the essence of satanic understanding [18] or, in other words, the reason that there are contradictions is that there are none; and by perceiving the ideology as ambiguous, one has not gained satanic understanding. as in hans christian andersen s popular story, the emperor s new clothes, where people would rather not admit to being stupid not seeing the emperor s marvelous new (missing) clothes, followers of the church of satan would probably rather not admit they have no satanic understanding. inevitably individual satanists will reach different interpretations. the church of satan continues: will everyone arrive at t

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

ny circles. the word derives from latin and simply means to shut off from view or exposure. however, it eventually came to refer to realities specifically hidden from common sight; the occult realm is invisible to the physical eye but can be seen by an inner spiritual vision and/or grasped by psychic intuition. the occult is the opposite of apocalypse, which means to uncover. the last book of the christian bible is alternatively called the apocalypse or the revelation. to many religious people, the term occult denotes that which is opposite of what god has revealed; hence, the realm of satan and his legions of demons. some substance for this observation has been provided by religious leaders who combine an exploration of the occult with open opposition to the more traditional religions and

esert. when aaron cast his rod before pharaoh and his magicians (exodus 7, the rod transformed into a serpent, hence the occult use of aaron s rod with a motif of a serpent. an old jewish legend states that aaron s rod was created on the sixth day of creation and was retained by adam after leaving the garden of eden, subsequently passing into the hands of a succession of patriarchs. an apocryphal christian legend states that the rod was cut from the tree of knowledge, eventually came into the possession of judas, and was the beam of the cross on which christ was crucified. the hazel wand used by water diviners in dowsing echoes the water finding by aaron s rod in the desert. some form of wand has always been a symbol of authority. the wand also survives as the magical staff of modern conju

ng healing at a distance from the subject, sometimes through the subject providing some associational link such as a written request for healing, or in reverse form, by the healer sending a piece of material to be placed on the subject s body where the healing is required, or simply by prayers for the subject s recovery on the part of the healer or a band of healing associates. many people today, christian, metaphysical, or modern spiritualist, hold sessions at which they pray for the recovery of petitioners who write them for help (see also healing by faith; psychic healing) absolute (theosophy) theosophists profess to know nothing further about the absolute, the logos, the word of god, than that it exists. the universes with their solar systems are the lowest manifestations of this being

holmes, that originated in the mid-1990s in california. new thought is that spiritual metaphysical perspective that originated in the late nineteenth century as a religious expression of the emersonian tradition. many of its early proponents had been members of the church of christ, scientist. it has been characterized as a very loosely organized movement in contrast to the tight organization of christian science. ernest holmes was the last student of emma curtis hopkins, generally regarded as the founder of new thought. prominent in the formation of the network was harry morgan moses of the new thought center of san diego. the network s goal is the promotion of new thought as a practical philosophy and instructing people on its day-to-day application. it is the members belief that new th

ussed in the semites entry) beliefs and practices thought of as occult in western society were integral to the traditional tribal religions in the southern two-thirds of africa, especially those concerning sympathetic magic, the cult of the dead, and witchcraft. during the history of this region, the basically pantheistic and polytheistic religions have also been cross-fertilized with islamic and christian teachings, creating new beliefs and modifying old ones. today a large but undetermined number of africans follow traditional beliefs involving deities, ghosts, and spirits as well as an array of special powers in nature presided over by the supreme entity adopted from christianity and islam. the latter, somewhat remote from everyday problems, is believed to largely operate on humans thro

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

maginogi, originally indicating stories of a hero s childhood, but is here used in the wider sense of hero tale. the stories in this collection are from various manuscript sources, originally part of the oral tradition of professional minstrels known as cyvarwyddon. in this collection, the section entitled the four branches of the mabinogi derives from a manuscript ca. 1060 c.e, dealing with pre-christian myths that have affinities with traditional irish folklore. kilhwch and olwen is from a manuscript ca. 1100 c.e. and is an early arthurian romance. the dream of rhonabwy is another arthurian story, related to the french recension of didot perceval. the lady of the fountain, geraint, and peredur are also arthurian, ca. 1200 c.e, colored by breton and french culture, although celtic in ori

normal feats. sources: agrippa, henry cornelius. the philosophy of natural magic. london, 1651. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1974. barrett, francis. the magus: a complete system of occult philosophy. london, 1801. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1967. bonewits, philip e. i. real magic. new york: coward, mc- cann& geoghegan, 1971. reprint, new york: berkeley, 1971. christian, paul. the history and practice of magic. 2 vols. london: forge press, 1952. christopher, milbourne. the illustrated history of magic. new york: thomas y. crowell, 1973. reprint, london: robert hale, 1975. panorama of magic. new york: dover, 1962. crow, w. b. a history of magic, witchcraft& occultism. london: aquarian press, 1968. reprint, london: abacus, 1972 [crowley, aleister] the mas

to pray with the sick. subsequently a 46-year-old mother, paralyzed for several months with a cancerous tumor, claimed that she regained the use of her left arm and was able to walk again after being virtually immobile (see also healing by touch) magus a master magician or adept. the magi, or magicians (plural form of magus, were the wise men of the ancient persian priesthood. it is noted in the christian new testament that three magi brought gifts to the infant jesus. in the later tradition they were given names.kaspar, melchior, and balthasar. and their bones are said to rest in cologne cathedral, germany. the term magus is also used in magical societies like the golden dawn to indicate one of its highest grades, between the master of the temple and the ipsissimus. sources: king, franci

es settled in fez, morroco. after five years he moved to cairo, egypt, where he became physician to saladin and married the sister of ibn mali, a royal secretary. in his famous treatise, the guide for the perplexed, he sought to harmonize rabbinical and philosophical teachings but maintained that reason must be supplemented by revelation. his treatise profoundly influenced his arabic, jewish, and christian successors. it has been suggested that maimonides was sympathetic to the teachings of kabala in his late period. he died december 13, 1204. maison des spirites spiritist center founded by jean meyer, who also assisted the foundation of the institut metapsychique international (concerned with psychical research. the maison des spirites was located at 8 rue copernic, paris, and was intende

direct effect on the physical body and a claimed effect on the emotions, the mind, and even on physical processes in nature. the term is derived from the root man (to think, and tra from trai (to protect or to free from bondage. thus, a mantra is an instrument of thought. according to hindu tradition, the material universe is said to be formed from divine vibration, a concept echoed in the judeo-christian concepts of divine utterance preceding creation. and god said, let there be light (gen. 1:3) and in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god (john 1:1. the use of mantras can also be found in buddhist tantrism, known as vairayana. the verses of the hindu sacred scriptures, the vedas (veda means knowledge, are regarded as mantras, because they have been

EVERBURNING LAMPS

dd "magus nascitur non solum fit" no accident of birth alone can make a magician, but intensity of duly directed effort may do so in a certain number of persons with specially favourable mental powers. we may be all born with an equal right to existence; but it is absurd to say we are all to be chiefs or magi, for, as we are told in the master's degree "some must rule, and some obey" in 1484 died christian rosenkreuz, our great prototype; he was such a man; by the dispositions he made, and the society he designed, he shook the whole christian world for a century of years, and laid the first stones of the edifice we are still building to-day. in his tomb, when it was opened by the fratres, in 1604, or 120 years after his decease, were found, besides other mysterious articles, lamps of a spe

d have been freely done by the ancient sages. several of our most modern discoveries have been shown to have been anticipated by men who are contemptuously regarded by modern scientists. so it has ever been. earth knows but little of its greatest men; its greatest men are but pigmies in the presence of time, antiquity, and futurity "knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers" said the poet laureate. the christian rosicrucian can only exclaim "lead, kindly light, lead thou me on; the night is dark, and i am far from homnl1-7 evil and unclean spirits by g.h. frater d.d.c.f. r. r. e t a. c. z e l a t o r a d e p t u s m i n o r 2 these be they who be unclean and evil; even the distortion and perversion of the sephiroth, the fallen restrictions of the universe; the sloughing of the coils of the stoop

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

by visions of otherworldly entities or unearthly realms. some channelers believe that through their consciousness alone, they can travel through the universe and into other dimensions. in ancient times oracles and priests communicated with the gods. the resulting divine messages formed the basis of religious and mystical faiths. such communications often involved prophecies as well. in the judeo- christian tradition, the bible documents visions and messages recognizably related to the channeling 59 phenomenon of channeling. channeling seems ubiquitous in human experience. historically prominent practitioners include nostradamus, emanuel swedenborg, helena petrovna blavatsky (founder of the theosophical movement, and anna lee (founder of the quaker sect known as the shakers. in the latter h

ated the ranks. not everyone was willing to take the space people at their word. channeling contactee trevor james constable warned that some of them were demons in disguise. some years later, occult-oriented ufologist john a. keel wrote, the demons, devils, and false angels were recognized as liars and plunderers by early man. these same impostors now appear as long-haired venusians (keel, 1970. christian fundamentalist authors of ufo books expressed similar suspicions. adamski s death in april 1965 marked the passing of the era of the physical contactees. even so, the most successful contactee of later years was himself a physical contactee, eduard billy meier, a rural swiss man with a background in the esoteric. like adamski and his first-generation counterparts, meier put forth photogr

nce with the lie detector. saucers 2, 3 (september: 6 8. national investigations committee on aerial phenomena, 1967. information sheet on daniel fry. washington, dc, august. reeve, bryant, and helen reeve, 1957. flying saucer pilgrimage. amherst, wi: amherst press. 106 fry, daniel william a ufo supposedly photographed by daniel fry at merlin, oregon, may 1964 (fortean picture library) gabriel in christian and islamic tradition, gabriel is one of the two mightiest angels. he is the only angel mentioned in the old testament, as the destroyer of sodom and gomorrah. he is said to sit on god s left hand and to preside over paradise. mohammed credits gabriel with dictating the koran to him. in more recent times, an entity named gabriel, identifying himself as an archangel, channels through a ne

paul, mn: llewellyn publications. gordon gordon is the name of an ostensible extraterrestrial whom two alaska women claim to have encountered while traveling through western canada in october 1974. their story amounts to a ufo-age variant of the venerable legend of the vanishing hitchhiker. edmoana to ews of anchorage and her friend nuria hanson we re returning from a c o n vention of the coptic christian fe l l ow s h i p of america in kalamazoo, michigan. on october 18, they we re driving on the summit of steamboat mountain in british columbia when they spotted two lights. one, three times the apparent size of the moon, appro a c h e d them, then shot away to hover in the sky. t h e other light resting on the mountainside, looked, on closer examination, like a derby hat with portholes

. a british magazine, still published, named itself magonia after vallee s book, though the magazine rejects paranormal explanations of such phenomena. the magonia story appeared originally in a circa 833 manuscript written in latin by agobard (779 840, the archbishop of lyons. the title in english is book against false opinions concerning hail and thunder. agobard was fiercely hostile to all non-christian beliefs. one that particularly infuriated him was the mad and blind belief that there exists a certain region called magonia, from which ships, navigating on clouds, set sail to transport back to this same region the fruits of the earth ruined by hail and destroyed by the storm. agobard tells of several of these senseless fools who held in custody three men and one woman, who they said h

FAUST

stopheles if not a husband, be it for the while a beau. for, of the greatest gifts of heaven, it is one to have within our arms a lover dear. margaret that s not the custom of the country here. mephistopheles custom or not! at any rate it s done. martha tell on, oh, please! mephistopheles i stood where dying he was laid. twas not a dung-heap; somewhat better it was made of rotting straw; but as a christian did he die, thinking he owed far greater penance for his life. how deeply must i hate myself, i heard him cry, to leave my business so, my wife! alas, the recollection s killing me. if she could but forgive me in this life" martha [weeping. the good man! i forgave him long sincetruthfully! mephistopheles but she, god knows, was more to blame than i! martha he lies! what! at the grave s b

onsecrated head s in league with satan s power. true- as it seems- you re on the throne, secured by right, but woe! in the lord god s, in father pope s despite. which when the pontiff learns, swift judgment he ll deliver, his holy bolt will crush your sinful realm forever. he has not yet forgot- the day that you were crowned, a solemn time- you had the sorcerer unbound. and from your crown, where christian honour hung suspended, the ray of pardon first on that damned head descended. but smite your breast, and straightway from your wicked gain give back a moderate mite unto the holy fane; that broad and hilly space where your tent stood erected, where by an evil spirits -league you were protected, where to the prince of lies you lent attentive ear, devote the land to holy use in pious fear

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

within a universalistic context. he also presented those of every other mystical tradition by way of comparison and confirmation. by the mystical qabalah, we are referring to an ancient mystical transmission that preceded and supersedes any of the religious vessels through which it has been subsequently filtered and adapted. these vessels include the israelite hebrew, rabbinical judaic, mystical christian, sufi islamic, and possibly even, the north indian tantric. each of these vessels has framed the universal teachings of the mystical qabalah within the context, language, and cultural milieu of their respective dispensations. each version is unique and beautiful, to be respected and celebrated. but no single one of these vessels can legitimately claim to be the orthodox authority for the

from the books of isaiah and ezekiel, and the sh ir qoma (measure of the divine body from the sefer raziel hagadol; the peshitta (gospels) and the revelation of john; the qur an; and the etz hachayyim (tree of life. while many would question including the peshitta and qur an as primary sources of the mystical qabalah, it is appropriate to include them if one acknowledges that the hebrew, jewish, christian, and islamic religions are progressive developments or branches of the same shemite tree. 2 ef 2 5 chapter three gives a thorough introduction to the core teachings of the mystical qabalah. in this chapter, the reader will learn about the ayn, the negatively existent mysterious unknown at the roots of all things and its two faces: vast face and small face. this is followed by an explicat

ile to get a feel for current threads of discussion. 0- the information in this book is intended for educational purposes only. readers who elect to engage in the practices and disciplines described herein do so at their own discretion and liability, the universal mystical spirituality of the children of abraham is a robust, precious, and little known heritage upon which the fabric of the judaic, christian, islamic, and perhaps even the tantric religions are woven. in this book, that heritage is called the mystical qabalah.1 within the context of rabbinical judaism, this mystical tradition has come to be known as the jewish kabbalah, and in islam, as sufism (arabic tasawwuf. the christian cabala emerged from the mystical side of christianity, which developed as a parallel tradition to paul

this book, that heritage is called the mystical qabalah.1 within the context of rabbinical judaism, this mystical tradition has come to be known as the jewish kabbalah, and in islam, as sufism (arabic tasawwuf. the christian cabala emerged from the mystical side of christianity, which developed as a parallel tradition to pauline dogma as it diverged and became estranged from its judaic roots. the christian cabala evolved as a way to harmonize jewish kabbalistic doctrines with christian theology. the precise usage of the word qabalah to denote the ideas and practices of the esoteric teachings and the secrets of the torah emerged from the circle of yitza aq the blind (1200ce, and was used in the same context by eleazar of worms (beginning of the thirteenth century).2 the word qabalah (hlbq l

rabbinate in reaction to the troubling popularity of the apostate sabbatai zevi. zevi was ascribed messianic stature by his prophet nathan of gaza, and embraced as such by several million followers spread across the middle east. the phenomenon of zevi was further compounded by the widespread hermetic adulteration of jewish qabalistic teachings by european occultists, and a growing tendency among christian cabalists to attempt to establish that the true hidden meaning of the qabalah supports the efficacy of christian dogma. the widespread anti-qabalistic sentiment promulgated by both the rabbinical and pauline orthodox authority has been accompanied by a considerable amount of misinformation and fear mongering. even those rabbis and talmudic scholars who do not regard the mystical qabalah

FLY THE LIGHT

n word devak means worm which is a dragon or snake. an early form of the antichrist, called zohak and later azhi dahaka is a dragon-king who had two black and venomous serpents on his shoulders, who emerged with the initiatory kiss of ahriman, the devil. fly the light represents a beginning of transformation and the luciferian concepts of antinomian thought. no longer should children be force fed christian lies, bending knees to spiritual weakness. bring your young to us, a new luciferian youth! the world we live in is a christian world, look at what they have brought to humanity with their hypocritical self-deceit- war, murder, rape, incest, ignorance, blind faith and the slow destruction of the planet. it is time for a new luciferian youth, to shape the world in their own way by putting

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

slation, i, p. 226. 4 lactantius, div. inst, i, vi; iv, vi; viii, xviii; fletcher's translation, i, pp. 14-19; 220-2; 468-9. the sibylline oracles themselves were no more genuinely antique than the hermetica. forged sibylline prophecies of jewish origin appeared at some uncertain date, and were later manipulated by the christians. it seems difficult to distinguish what is of jewish and what is of christian origin in the oracula sibyllina. see m. j. lagrange, le judaisme avant jesus-christ, paris, 1931, pp. 505-11; a. puech, histoire de la ihtirature grecque chretienne, paris, 1928, ii, pp. 603-15; and the note by g. bardy in oeuvres de saint augustin, desclee de brouwer, vol. 36, i960, pp. 755-9- 8 hermes trismegistus general passages lactantius condemns the worshipping of images, and he a

-9- 8 hermes trismegistus general passages lactantius condemns the worshipping of images, and he also thinks that the demons used by magi are evil fallen angels.1 these things are, however, never associated by him with trismegistus, who always appears as a revered authority on divine truths. it is no wonder that lactantius became a favourite father for the renaissance magus who wished to remain a christian. augustine was, however, a difficulty for the renaissance magus who wished to remain a christian, for augustine in the de civitate dei delivers a severe condemnation of what "hermes the egyptian, called trismegistus" wrote concerning idols, that is to say of the passage in the asclepius, which he quotes at length, on how the egyptians in their magical religion animated the statues of the

interprets as a prophecy of the ending of idolatry by the coming of christianity. here too, therefore, hermes trismegistus is a prophet of the coming of christianity, but all credit for this is taken away by augustine's statement that he had this foreknowledge of the future from the demons whom he worshipped. hermes presages these things as the devil's confederate, suppressing the evidence of the christian name, and yet foretelling with a sorrowful intimation, that from it should proceed the wreck of all their idolatrous superstitions: for hermes was one of those who (as the apostle says "knowing god, glorified him not as god, nor were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was full of darkness' yet, continues augustine "this hermes says much of god accord

o affirm that the idolatrous passage in the asclepius was an interpolation made in the latin translation by the magician, apuleius, and was not in the lost greek original by hermes. this course was adopted by several hermetists of the sixteenth century, as will be seen later.1 but to the renaissance magus, the magic in the asclepius was the most attractive part of the hermetic writings. how was a christian magus to get round augustine? marsilio ficino did it by quoting augustine's condemnation, and then ignoring it, though timidly, by practising magic. giordano bruno was to take the bolder course of maintaining that the magical egyptian religion of the world was not only the most ancient but also the only true religion, which both judaism and christianity had obscured and corrupted. there

dates of moses and hermes. was hermes slightly later than moses, though much earlier than the greeks, as augustine said? was he contemporary with moses, or earlier than moses? all these views were to be held by later hermetists and magi. the need to date him in relation to moses was stimulated by the affinities with genesis which must strike every reader of the hermetic pimander. from other early christian writers, more about hermes trismegistus could be learned,1 particularly from clement of alexandria, who, in his striking description of the procession of the egyptian priests, says that the singer at the head of the procession carried two books of music and hymns by hermes; the horoscopus carried four books by hermes on the stars. in the course of this description, clement states that th

FRATER TENEBROUS CULTS OF CTHULHU

is the black goat of the woods with a thousand young a title inferring the geometric proliferation of creatures upon the earth. he is the horned god of the pagan agricultural societies of the ancient world, representing fertility and sexual energy. in greek mythology his archetype is pan, half-man and half-goat. as christianity began to replace paganism, the pan-image became the prototype for the christian devil, and was associated with the practise of satanism, though the worship of the horned god had pre-dated christianity by at least a thousand years. in 1919, aleister crowley published a poem entitled a hymn to pan, in which he evoked this current of sexual energy as it pertains to ceremonial magic, and which he often incorporated into his own magical workings. the exclamation, io pan

FREEMASON BLUEBOOK

lding agreeably to the rules and designs laid down by the supreme architect of the universe, in the great books of nature and revelation, which are our spiritual, moral and masonic trestleboard. situation. lodges should be situated due east and west dedication. lodges in ancient times were dedicated to king solomon in modern times to st. john the baptist and saint john the evangelist, two eminent christian patrons of freemasonry; and since their time there has been represented in every regular and wellfurnished lodge, a certain point within a circle embordered by two perpendicular parallel lines, representing saint john the baptist and saint john the evangelist. upon the top of the circle rests the book of holy scriptures. the point represents an individual brother; the circle, the boundar

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL 2

degrees of mystic masonry, he descended to the center of the earth. so does every other tekton, mason or phree messen (child of light) as the egyptian called such, descend through the nine arch-like strata of the earth. we shall find at the time of the first advent of christ both hiram abiff, the son of cain, and solomon, the son of seth, reborn to take from him the next great initiation into the christian mysteries. in the last chapter we saw while considering "the philosopher's stone" that the spinal cord is the principal laboratory for the alchemist, and that the spinal spirit fire, generated by turning the creative force upward through the spinal canal, passing it between the pituitary body and the pineal gland in the brain, gives to man a third eye as it were wherewith to see in the s

, the son of seth and the molten sea was cast by hiram abiff, the son of cain; but the main object was frustrated as we have seen, and the attempt at unification proved abortive. moses, the divinely appointed leader of the old dispensation, afterward reborn as elijah, guided humanity through its ages of infancy, and was finally embodied as john the baptist, the herald of the new dispensation, the christian era. at the same point in time the other actors in the world drama were also brought to birth that they might serve their brothers. at the casting of the molten sea hiram abiff had been given the baptism of fire by cain, which freed him from the lucifer spirits; he was also given a new hammer and a new word. when the new era dawned, he was born as lazarus, the widow's son of nain, and ra

drama were also brought to birth that they might serve their brothers. at the casting of the molten sea hiram abiff had been given the baptism of fire by cain, which freed him from the lucifer spirits; he was also given a new hammer and a new word. when the new era dawned, he was born as lazarus, the widow's son of nain, and raised by the strong grip of the lion's paw to the rank of immortals as christian rosenkreuz. solomon, the son of seth, was reborn as jesus. the baptism of water administered by john as representative of jehovah freed him also. he yielded his body at that moment to the descending christ spirit and ranged himself with the new leader. religion has been terribly tarnished in the course of time, its pristine purity has long since vanished under the regime of creed, and it

f time, its pristine purity has long since vanished under the regime of creed, and it is no longer catholic, that is to say, universal. sects and "isms" have branched out in one direction and another, but still jesus from the invisible worlds enfolds in his love all the sons of seth who will call upon his name by faith, and he will eventually unite the scattered churches in the kingdom of christ. christian rosenkreuz was given charge of the sons of cain who seek the light of knowledge at the sacred fires of the mystic shrine. as the creative energy implanted by their divine ancestor samael caused cain to work out their own salvation through the fire of tribulation, and fashion for themselves the golden wedding garment, which is the "open sesame" to the invisible world. and though the clean

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL

upon which he had inscribed the word. this was never found until ages later when hiram "the widow's son" was reborn as lazarus and became the friend and pupil of the lion of judah, who raised him from death through initiation. when the hammer was found it had the shape of a cross, and the disc had become a rose. therefore hiram took his place among the immortals under the new and symbolical name christian rosenkreuz. he founded the order of temple-builders which bears his name; in that order aspiring souls are still instructed how to fuse the base metals and make the white stone. the symbology of the foregoing will be explained in the following chapters. part v the mystery of melchisedec among all the characters mentioned in the bible none is more mysterious than melchisedec; said to be w

FREEMASONS SATANISM AND SYMBOLISM

irst initiation which is the first degree are urged to mightily "seek the light" the average mason is continually saying that he is "seeking the light" and will spend his entire life "moving toward the light" people who haven't studied this subject would assume that this "light" is the revelation of the god of the bible. this statement is continuously held up to try to convince us that masonry is christian. in the above quote, albert pike is saying that lucifer is the one who bears the light of freemasonry. the sentence immediately preceding confirms not only that lucifer is the light-bearer, but that masons of previous degrees have been led to believe that the opposite was true. the wording of this sentence is difficut to understand unless you have special knowledge. doc marquis was asked

ied first by pike as being the book of revelation written by the apostle john. pike then states that similar books from other religions are just as 'inspired' as revelation, mentioning plato, philo, the sephar yezirah, and the sohar. pike says all three of these books- apocalypse [revelation, the sephar yezirah, and the sohar, are all identically "inspired" and since the last two books are of non-christian faiths, albert pike is saying that the contents of revelation are no big deal. therefore, it is no big deal that the book of revelation denigrates the "pomp and works" of satan, since the god of that book is known to hate satan. pike then says that these three books "are the completest embodiment of occultism [ibid] now, we understand that pike views the god of the apocalypse as being th

t us review who vulcan of the pagans is, by looking within occult sources "vulcan was a sun deity who was associated with fire, thunderbolts and light. the festival in honor of him was called the vulcania in which human sacrifices were offered [percival george woodcock, short dictionary of mythology, new york, philosophical library, p. 152 "according to diel, he bears a family relationship to the christian devil [j.e. cirlot, translated by jack sage, a dictionary of symbols, new york, dorset press, 1991, p. 362 "it is fascinating to know that he married venus, another name for lucifer or the devil [woodcock, op. cit, p. 150-151; emphasis added] manly p. hall tells the mason that he can have the seething energies of lucifer in his hands, and then tells him to follow in the footsteps of the

hristian devil [j.e. cirlot, translated by jack sage, a dictionary of symbols, new york, dorset press, 1991, p. 362 "it is fascinating to know that he married venus, another name for lucifer or the devil [woodcock, op. cit, p. 150-151; emphasis added] manly p. hall tells the mason that he can have the seething energies of lucifer in his hands, and then tells him to follow in the footsteps of the "christian devil" to whom "human sacrifices" are offered. the infernal names there may be some people who have read up to this point and still might be skeptical. masonry cleverly masks its references to satan. there are 77 names which pagans have used to refer to satan over the centuries and they are in the satanic bible. we'll review some of these "infernal names" of satanism found within masonry

born, or reborn. wisdom confers a new life, and those who become wise are born again [p. p. 176-77] freemasons like all occultists, refer to their initiates who have completed their initiation, as being "born again" in 1988, when george bush was on the presidential campaign trail; barbara walters interviewed him. she asked him a question that caught him off guard. barbara asked george if he was a christian. bush literally stumbled, looked down for a moment, and answered "if by being a christian, you ask if i am 'born again' then yes, i am a christian" bush parsed his words carefully, unlike a born again christian. bush has a lifetime membership in an illuminist masonic secret society called, skull& bones. the answer that bush gave is typical of an occultist. they claim to be born again. th

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

n darkness; these have the day when for the former it is night; and there are countries in which it is secret wisdom of the qabalah page 9 constantly day, or in which at least the night continues only some instants. these secrets were made known to the men of the secret science but not to the geographers.7 though refuted by origen,8 celsus was undoubtedly right when he declared that the primitive christian church was possessed of a secret system, and weishaupt, the supposed founder of the illuminati, may not have been altogether wrong when he said: no one. has so cleverly concealed the high meaning of his teaching, and no one finally has so surely and easily directed men on to the path of freedom, as our great master jesus of nazareth. this secret meaning and natural consequence of his tea

lish between 1931 and 1934. of books dealing with the qabalah there is a large number, of which the following is a small selection which may be useful to the student. qabbalah, the philosophical writings of solomon ben yehudah ibn gebirol or avicebron, isaac myer, 1888; la kabbale ou la philosophie religieuse des hebreux, ad. franck, 1889. the kabbalah, its doctrines, development, and literature, christian d. ginsburg, second impression, 1920. the holy kabbalah, a. e. waite, 1929. the secret doctrine of israel, a. e. waite, 1913. the history of magic, eliphas levi, 1913. the book of formation or sepher yetzirah, knut stenring, 1923. the zohar in moslem and christian spain, ariel bension, 1932. a garden of pomegranates, israel regardie, 1932. q.b.l. or the bride's reception, frater achad, 1

he lord shall be one and his name one h (zech. xiv, 9. 34 as in god above all things become a perfect unity, that is a perfect balance, so also in man below must a perfect unity be established, for all things are also to be found in man. to the qabalist the mystery of faith consists gin the union of god with the female whom he fructifies, after the manner of the union of male and female h. to the christian this may seem a blasphemy, but remembering that in the qabalah the union of the sexes is looked upon as the sublimest act in life, to the jews it is the reverse. gbenediction does not abide save when male and female are together h; 35 and even moses the law-giver of israel was not considered perfect because he was separated from his wife. 36 god being a unity in the spiritual world, this

ied, god did not manifest to him clearly. after marriage he arrived at the perfection which is above as distinguished from the perfection which is below, and god manifested to him clearly. 38 we thus see that the mystery of sex is but the mystery of good and evil looked at from another angle. and as in the first problem the separation of evil from good is the main cause of differentiation between christian and hebrew ethics, so is the looking upon the sex act as sinful in place of righteous the main cause of differentiation between christian and hebrew morality. as christian ginsburg writes: love and fear are designed to aid the soul in achieving her high destiny, when she shall no more look through the dark glass, but see face to face in the presence of the luminous mirror, by permeating

he divine fall the divinity became manifest in adam qadmon, accordingly must man emulate him and through his own transfiguration destroy the material form of consciousness, so that the mirror of illusions may dissolve. thus will divinity be redeemed by the destruction of the divine image and the ineffable shin will be reabsorbed into the body of tetragrammaton. man must suffer for god- just as in christian theology, which in so many ways inverts hebrew theology, christ must suffer for man, so that god may become the perfect one. thus the crucifixion of mankind is the necessary consequent of the divine fall. man is, therefore, the implement of the redemption of god. this is the secret the qabalah hints at but never clearly expresses. the accomplishment of the messianic act. in the second ch

GAMBLE ELIZA BURT THE GOD IDEA OF THE ANCIENTS OR SEX IN RELIGION

me significance as the crux-ansata, or cross, among the egyptians. in later ages, the tree of life, i. e, the divine man, or cross, or both together, furnish immortal food to those who lay hold upon them, exactly in the same manner as did netpe, the goddess of wisdom, or spiritual life, in former times. according to the testimony of barlow, this is the subject "most frequently symbolized on early christian sepulchral tablets and monuments"[13] christ's body was the "bread of life" and his blood was the "wine from the tree of life" of which to partake was life eternal. the cross, as in earlier religions, represented completeness of life. the jambu tree, the buddhist god-tree, is in the shape of a cross.[14 [13] essays on symbolism, p. 74 [14] wilford, asiatic researches. among the kelti a t

jambu tree, the buddhist god-tree, is in the shape of a cross.[14 [13] essays on symbolism, p. 74 [14] wilford, asiatic researches. among the kelti a tall oak was not only a symbol of the deity, but it was jupiter himself, while the earth from which it sprang was the great mother. throughout europe, in all ages, the oak has received divine honors. the fact that under its branches jew, pagan, and christian alike swore their most solemn oaths, shows that its veneration was not confined to any particular nation or locality. the sacredness of the oak among the druids is well attested by all writers who have dealt with this interesting people. in rome its branches formed the badge of victory worn by conquering heroes, this emblem being the highest mark of distinction which could be conferred u

formed the badge of victory worn by conquering heroes, this emblem being the highest mark of distinction which could be conferred upon them. forlong assures us that the oak was even more worshipped at the west than was the sacred ficus at the east. like it, the wood of the oak must be used "to call down the sacred fire from heaven and gladden in the yule (suiel or seul) log of christmas-tide even christian fires, as well as annually renew with fire direct from ba-al, on beltine day, the sacred flame on every public and private hearth, and this from the temples of meroe on the nile, to the farthest icy forests and mountains of the sklavonian"[15 [15] faiths of man in all lands, vol. i, p. 68. among the druids, the mistletoe was also sacred especially when entwining the oak. together they re

is still worshipped as symbolical of the great first cause. the lotus was the emblem venerated in the solemn celebration of the mysteries of eleusis in greece and the phiditia in carthage. in referring to the degree of homage paid to the lotus by the ancients, higgins says "and we shall find in the sequel that it still continues to receive the respect, if not the adoration, of a great part of the christian world, unconscious, perhaps, of the original reason of their conduct" it is a significant fact that in nearly all the sacred paintings of the christians in the galleries throughout europe, especially those of the annunciation, a lily is always to be observed. in later ages as the original significance of the lotus was lost, any lily came to be substituted. godfrey higgins is sure that al

reproduce and sustain life, constituted the deity, then of course god or the sun would be female or male, or both, according to the prevailing belief in the comparative creative and sustaining forces of the sexes. from what appears in the foregoing pages the fact has doubtless been perceived that the worship of a virgin and child does not, as is usually supposed, belong exclusively to the romish christian church, but, on the contrary, that it constitutes the most remote idea of a creator extant. as has been hinted, there is little doubt that the earliest worship of the woman and child was much simpler than was that which came to prevail in later ages, at a time when every religious conception was closely veiled beneath a mixture of astrology and mythology. after the planets came to be reg

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

est, but theosophy was an intellectual pursuit to which he had been introduced by h.267p.blavatsky'sisisunveiled(1877).he found this curious book 'helpful as anomniumgatherumof esotericclaimsand pretences, a miscellany of magic and its connections, with the sole exceptionofalchemy,in which1cannotrecallthat h.p.b.everevinced any personal interest'(sly,p.68).nonetheless, although he 'hated its anti-christian bias',isisunveileddid bring him toeliphas levi, the most extraordinary magician of the nineteenth century. eliphas levi, otherwise alphonselouisconstant(1810-75),was among the most charismatic figures in the modern history of occultism. as a young man he had been ordained as a deaconin the roman catholic church butneverproceeded to the priesthood-he had no true vocation, being quite unab

istory of occultism. as a young man he had been ordained as a deaconin the roman catholic church butneverproceeded to the priesthood-he had no true vocation, being quite unable to come to terms with the needfor celibacy-and maintained an ambivalent attitude to the church throughout a life in which he oscillated perpetually between occultism andseemingorthodoxy. aftera briefperiodasa revolutionary christian socialist hefellunder the influence of thepolishmystic hoene wronski and later produced remarkable books on the history, theory, and practiceof magic_'hethataspiredtoknow'89his three principalworks,dogmeetritueldelahautemagie(1856),histoiredelamagie(1860),andlaclefdesgrandsmysteres(1861),were inaccurate, idiosyncratic,and-utterlyenchanting. theyalsoexercisedan enormous influence on occul

alah are very numerous,butbetween mysticism and the kabalah they are, comparatively speaking, few; in generalthekabbalah was'moreespecially a rationalized systemofmysticthought'.heconcludedthat'theexistenceofa concealed doctrineofreligion perpetuated fromantiquitycannotbe proved by recourse to kabalistic literature' although,'thequestion itself doesnotstand or fallby the kabalah, because,'itis in christian channelsthatthis doctrinemustbesoughtby thosewhoassume it, bywhichi meanthatthetranscendental succession has passedintothechurchofchrist'(doctrineandliteratureofthekabalah,pp.484, 486, 490).at thistime(1899)waite didnotusetheterm'secret tradition',althoughthe conceptofsuch a tradition was already implicit in the majority of his published works. his definitionoftheterm was first setoutin

ese'institutedmysteries' take, they invariably testify to'(a)theaeonian natureofthe loss (b)thecertitudeofan ultimate restoration (c) in respectofthatwhichwas lost,theperpetuityofits existence somewhere intimeandtheworld although interned deeply (d) and more rarely its substantial presence under veils close tothehandsofall (vol.i,p. xi).hisspecific concern waswiththe'tracesofa secret tradition in christian times, and it was for this reason that heturnedfrom the kabbalah to the problem o ftheholygrail and its symbolism. waite had also beendrawntothelegend ftheholygrail bytheenthusiasmofarthurmachen, and their subsequent98 a. e.waite-magicianofmanyparts_longand furious debates overtheinterpretationofthegrail romances had stimulatedbotha streamofarticles and waite'sfirsttrulysignificantbook,t

okelsewhere. initially he attempted tosetup a publishing schemeofhisown,a grandiose affairthatstyled itself'thehermetictext society. it progressed as far as a prospectus, printed in1908,whichoffered a list of sixty potential titles for translating and editing, arranged under fiveheadings(witha sixth section for 'miscellaneous and unclassifiedworks):great texts102 a. e.waite-magicianofmanyparts_of christian mysticism; lesser textsofchristian mysticism;theliterature of the rosy cross; the archaeology .of freemasonry and templarism; and,theliterature of alchemy. according to the prospectus, the 'primary intention' of the society was'toplace within the reach of its members the great and memorable texts of christian mysticism, of all schools and periods, excluding nothing on the ground of diffi

GILBERT THE GOLDEN DAWN TWILIGHT OF THE MAGICIANS

ous influenceofthe golden dawn. it was certainly not a wealthy organization; nor did it have a vast multitude of members. yet whatitstood for has percolated down through almost every level of modem occult belief.8thegoldendawnarthur edward waite was amemberfor abriefintervalofboththese organizations.hehad a rather condescending attitude towardsbothmathersand the golden dawn.hewas indebted more to christian mysticism and to the traditional antecedentsofboththe aforenamed groups than anything else and looked back to the past to dredge up what he could about alchemy, the qabalah, thetarot,the rosicrucians and medieval magic.hecame to write large tomes on allofthese subjects, and credit must be given to him for whatever popularity someofthem have since achieved. i know many in the fieldofalche

yofrosa crucis'.theoriginal document, in bacstrom's hand and certified by de chazal, is lost, but a copy made by frederick hockley passed through the hands of several early membersofthe golden dawn and survives still. their belief in the antiquity of their own order was evidently fortified by bacstrom's document. in the certificateofadmission it is made clear that the rosicrucians are essentially christian and primarily concerned with alchemy. as in freemasonry, rosicrucian brethren are sworn to eschew politics utterly, but contrary to masonic practice'oursociety does not exclude a worthy woman from being initiated, this provision dating, perhaps, from1490when the rosicrucians 'did separate themselves from the free-masons. from this, and from the fact that it had no instituted rituals, it

ety stated that 'no aspirant shall be admitted into the society unless he be a master mason, and of good moral character, truthful, faithful and intelligent. he must be a man of good abilities, so as to be capable of understanding the revelations of philosophy and science; possessing a mind free from prejudice and anxious for instruction. he must be a believer in the fundamental principles of the christian doctrine, a true philanthropist and a loyal subject" but the golden dawn, as we shall see, made no such restrictions.inlater years westcott was at pains to justify this distinction 'at the constitution of our societas rosicruciana in anglia, it was decided to make it consist solely of freemasons, although it was recognized that on the continent many groups of rosicrucian initiates and ad

of the pamphlets was political, and certainly they stimulated a stream of replies, both attacking and defending the mysterious order while not producing one scrap of evidence for its real existence.therosicrucian myth, set out in the manifestoes, is this 'according to the "fama fraternitatis benedicti ordinis rosae crucis" and the "confessio fraternitatisrc."the notable mystic and adept known as christian rosenkreuz, the founder of the rosicrucian fraternity, was born in1378,of a noble family, and received his education in a cloister. a certain monk, p.a.l, took him as a companion on a journey to the holy land; they reached cyprus, and there p.a.l. died. christian rosenkreuz, however, went on alone to damascus, and to the sanctuary ofmountcarmel where he studied with the wise men, from th

or fear of episcopal wrath, carefully avoided publicity. one such group had affinities with the rosicrucians.theguild of the holy spirit was first brought to public noticein]anuary1881in the first issue of the spiritualist journallight,a brief note referred to the guild, saying:'theproceedings of the society are quite private, but it is known that the objects pursued are the study and practice of christian mysticism. although the attainment of startling phenomena was not contemplated, yet some satisfactory results even of this class have been arrived at during the two months' sittings.'thethird issueoflightcarried a letter from the founder of the guild, a 'clergyman of the church of england, in which he elaborated the beliefs and practices of its members 'i have myself taken a small, priva

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

lynpublications(1971)isavailablefrom thorsons publishers) torrens, r. g.,thesecretritualsofthegoldendawn.welling255 borough, aquarian press,1973(the rituals printed date from1897but torrens' owntext ishistoricallyinaccurate and, in the case of the list of members and their mottoes,whollyunreli255able.)mathers, s.l.m. and 46.47, 48, 49, 54.rtcontentspageintroduction 7part one: rosicrucianchapter1. christian rosenkreuz and the rosicrucians 13 2. data of the history of the rosicrucians 28 3. the rosicrucians, past and present, at home and abroad 40 4. in memory of robert fludd 48 5. rosicrucian thoughts on the ever-burning lamps of the ancients 54 6. man, miracle, magic, from the ancient rosicrucian dogmata 66 7. courage versus obsession 71 8. chess shatranji and chaturanga 75 part two: kabal

ert fludd 48 5. rosicrucian thoughts on the ever-burning lamps of the ancients 54 6. man, miracle, magic, from the ancient rosicrucian dogmata 66 7. courage versus obsession 71 8. chess shatranji and chaturanga 75 part two: kabalistic 9. the kabalah 3110.a further glance at the kabalah 95 11. the ten sephiroth 110 12. the religion of freemasonry illuminated by the kabbalah 114 13. angels: jewish, christian and pagan 124 14. the devil, and evil spirits according to the bible and ancient hebrew rabbis 131 15. some anomalies in the biblical views of the constitution of man 139 16. the vestiges of tetragrammaton 154 17. the number four in relation with the world and man 1576themagicalmasonpartthree:divination18.thehistory of astrology169 19.dreams18120.divination and its history19221.the star

sicrucian duty to 'select a proper person to succeed him- no one since has equalled westcott's literary output on the curious subjects that he made his own. whatever his motives were for sustaining the fiction of anna sprengel, there is no doubt that westcott believed in the existence of rosicrucian adepts. while not going to the lengths ofdrfelkin, who travelled about germany seeking the tomb of christian rosenkreuz, he believed that hidden knowledge was still to be found 'there must be a lot of rosie [rucian] mss lying hid in your country' he wrote to reuss 'make every effort to find some" for forty years westcott poured out a never-ending stream of books and papers on hermetic subjects, translations and editions of alchemical and kabalistic classics, textbooks in his professional field

oduced, with others, as appendix iv in lady queenborough,occult theocrasy,1933.4 for the history of the order see ellie howe,the magiciansofthe golden dawnand my ownthe goldendaum:twilightofthe magicians(aquarian press, 1983. 5 letter tof.l.gardner, quoted in howe,op.cit.,p. 165. 6 quotedinhowe,op.cit.,p. 210. 7 see queenborough,op. cit.,appendix iv. 8 ibid. 9 ibid. 10 ibid.part one: rosicrucian1.christian rosenkreuz and the rosicruciansthe rosicrucians of medieval germany formed a group of mystic philosophers, assembling, studying and teaching in private the esoteric doctrines of religion, philosophy and occult science, which their founder, christian rosenkreuz, had learned from the arabian sages, who were in their turn the inheritors of the culture of alexandria. this great city of egypt

the orthodox are apt to slur over this assertion of the old testament narrative.ourpresent world has taken almost no notice of the rosicrucian philosophy, nor until the last twenty years of any mysticism, and when it does condescend to stoop from its utilitarian and money-makingoccupations,itis only to condemn all such studies, root and branch, as waste of time and loss of energy.thevery name of 'christian rosenkreuz, the founder of rosicrucianism, would meet with hardly any sign of recognition in the best social or the literary circles of this country; and yet the mere publication in 1614 of a little pamphlet in germany, narrating the mode of foundation and the aims of the rosicrucian order, made such a stir throughout14themagical masoneurope, that even to-day there are extant six hundred

GILBERT THE SORCERER AND HIS APPRENTICE

e of his tracts on the tarot a representation of the mystical arrangement of these52 the sorcererand his apprentice cards inthetemple ofptahat memphis, and he further says:'upona table or altar, at the heightofthe breast of the egyptian magus (or hierophant, were on one side a book or assemblageofcards or plates of gold (the tarot),andontheother a vase,etc.'this idea is further dilated upon by p. christian (the disciple of eliphas levi, in his'histoiredela magie,'to which i shall have occasion to refer later.thegreat exponents ofthetarot,court de gebelin, levi, and etteilla, have always assigned to thetarota qabalistico-egyptian origin,andthis i have found confirmed in my own researches into this subject, which have extended over several years. w. hughes willshire, in his remarks on the ge

to ten are said to symbolise the spirit, air, water, fire, height, depth, east, west, north, south. the twenty-two letters are divided into three mother letters, a, m, sh, referring to air, water, and fire; seven double letters, b, g, d, k, p, r, th, referring to the seven planets, etc; and twelve simple letters, h, v, z, ch, t, i, l, n, s,0,tz,q, referring to the twelve signs of the zodiac, etc. christian, the disciple of levi, in his recent work on magic, has made the explanation of the twenty-two hieroglyphics of the tarot form part of the initiatory ceremonies of the egyptian mysteries of crata repoa. the symbols of three of the twenty-two trumps of the tarot were thus restored by eliphas levi.7. the chariot.a cubical chariot with four columns, surmounted by an azure and star-decked ca

shed by george redway in1888.]8.on the tarot trumpsprefatory remarksbyv. h. frater 's. rioghail mo dhream5060themeaning, origin and possible connection of the tarot cards has been a question much agitated among occult students during the last century, and the bizarre designs of the trumps have been especially commented on by various authors, among whom count de gebelin, etteilla, eliphaz levi and christian may be said to have made them an especial study. etteilla (or aliette, for that was his real name) only succeeded in making confusion worse confounded, in his long and painful attempts to reform the figures of the trumps, though he was correct in assigning to them an egyptian origin. count de gebelin discussed their designs with the erudition of a clever student of archaeology, but he di

racter thatinmodern mystical phrase wouldbecalled-thecentral-spiritual sun, manifested materially as the physical sun in the sky, when it was weather conditions that had to be modified (as necessarily was frequently the case in egypt. but manifested also as a bringer of good to the exorciser himself, both on the materialandonthe spiritual plane. hence he is directed to use the formula often, as a christian of today might be directed to be regular and diligent in his devotions.iwouldhere.caution the student to beware of the very common errorofassumingthat old mythologies are nothingbutweather myths, and. the old ceremonial magic no morethanan attempttocontrol the weather, in fact a sort of glorified prayer for rainorfine weather, a matter whereinan african witch-doctor can usually give many

sychic-healers who would unquestionably have been classed as witches in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. many women were burned in the persecutiondays against whom the only proved charges were that they healed. sick persons by someceremonial,a study of a good collection of witchcraft trials, such as. may be found for example in pitcairn'scriminaltrials,will leave no doubt that most of the christian scientists today would have stood a very poor chance two or three hundred years ago. the confessions of witches of those days contain lurid and graphic accounts of the worship of the devil, and there are certain jesuit writers today who would persuade us that. all freemasons are devil worshippers. but without going this. lengthit.is well known that societiesofsatanists do exist in italy

GILBERT R A CHAOS OUT OF ORDER THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SWEDENBORGIAN RITE

. from 2[2] swedenborg s principal theological works are arcana coekstia, his commentary on the books of genesis and exodus, published at london between 1749 and 1756; and vera chrisriana religio, his principal dogmatic work, published at amsterdam in 1771. all of his works have been translated into english. the most noticeable differences between swedenborg s system and most other expositions of christian theology are over the doctrines of the trinity and vicarious atonement. swedenborg also denied the divine inspiration of all of the canonical scriptures, rejecting the poetical books in the old testament and the epistles in the new. avignon he moved to berlin where he became librarian to frederick the great and began to translate the works of swedenborg into french3[3. here he met a poli

GILBERT R A THE MASONIC CAREER OF A

. a. gilbert (aqc vol 99 1986) introduction in english freemasonry the seal of a certain distinction attaches to the name of arthur edward waite, while it has proved of such appeal in america that an important grand lodge has conferred upon him, causa honoris, one of its highest official positions. among his many publications those on the mystical and symbolical aspects of the secret tradition in christian times occupy a place apart, being things unattempted otherwise in the records of research. so waite referred to himself in the prospectus for the revised edition of his book, the secret tradition in freemasonry1[1, but it is doubtful if a single masonic scholar of his time- or since- could be found who would agree that this selfadulation was justified. during his lifetime waite was casti

egan to lose his faith in roman catholicism, although he retained a great love for its ceremonial, utilizing a number of elements of the roman liturgy for the rituals which he constructed in later life for his various secret orders. he turned instead towards spiritualism but found no spiritual consolation and moved on to the theosophical society, which fascinated him although he disliked the anti-christian bias of works of h. p. blavatsky who was its driving force. in this way he approached magic in general and eliphas levi6[6] in particular, and began to realize where his real dedications lay. he had already written and published many poems and imitation romances7[7] but was forced to recognize, reluctantly, his shortcomings as a writer of fiction and entered instead upon his career as a

brethren, they naturally identify these splendid inanities of occult nomenclature with the mysterious and awe-inspiring rosicrucians. the origin of the rose-cross degree is involved in the most profound mystery. its foundation has been attributed to johann valentin andreas, but this is an ignorant confusion, arising from the alleged connection of the theologican of wurtemberg with the society of christian rosencreutz'11[11. merely impolite references such as these could have been ignored, but not so his final chapter 'modern rosicrucian societies, which printed (pp. 416-22) the 'rules and ordinances of the rosicrucian society of england' quoted verbatim from the rosicrucian12[12. this was followed by an accurate account of the society's history and concluded by waite's own sarcastic and u

me ecossais et rectifie as maintaining more than any other rite the essence in ritual form of that secret tradition that 'tells us not alone that the soul "cometh from afar" and that the soul returns whence it came, but it delineates the path of ascent'62[62. the theory that all esoteric practices and traditions, whether alchemy, the hebrew kabbalah, the legends of the holy grail, rosicrucianism, christian mysticism or freemasonry, were secret paths to a direct experience of god had been developed by waite over many years. he was convinced that the symbolism in each of these traditions had a common root and a 61[61] springett wrote a number of books on secret societies and on masonic symbolism. he was an active supporter of the f.r.c. and of the later golden dawn before it, but there is no

trol when a constitution was finally drawn up in april 1903 (see appendix d for the whole text of this curious document. greater satisfaction was anticipated by waite from the c.b.c.s. than he had so far gained from the knights templar 'i attended this evening the meeting of the templar preceptory [king edward vii] when two installations took place. it is by far the most interesting of all of the christian chivalries with the rites of which i am acquainted, though such gleanings as i can make concerning the perfect knights' charges seem to hope for greater significance therein'66[66. he was also far from adept when he 'tried to play at toy soldiers'67[67, finding that my feet refused to do anything that was required of them. by a curious fatality i always turn the wrong way. i do not know

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

rk, our book, entitled the new masonic order, examined the history of the templars in great detail. for that reason, we will now offer just a summary. for, as we analyze the roots of masonry, and the influence that it has had on the world, we discover the meaning of "global freemasonry" g no matter how much some may insist that the crusades were military expeditions carried out in the name of the christian faith, fundamentally, they were undertaken for material gain. in a period when europe was experiencing great poverty and misery, the prosperity and wealth of the east, especially of the muslim in the middle east, attracted the europeans. this inclination took on a religious facade, and was ornamented with the symbols of christianity, though, in actuality, the idea of the crusades was bor

ply to escape the hardships of their normal lives."1 along the way, this greedy mass slaughtered many muslims, and even jews, in hopes of finding gold and jewels. the crusaders even cut open the stomachs of those they had killed to find gold and precious stones the victims may have swallowed before they died. so great was the material greed of the crusaders that they felt no qualms in sacking the christian city of constantinople (istanbul) during the fourth crusade, when they stripped off the gold leaf from the christian frescoes in the hagia sophia. after a long and difficult journey, and much plunder and slaughter of muslims, this motley band called crusaders reached jerusalem in 1099. when the city fell after a siege of nearly five weeks, the crusaders moved in. they carried out a level

t there were 9 members, but the order steadily grew. the reason they named themselves after the temple of solomon was because the place they had chosen as a base was the temple mount where this ruined temple had been located. this same location was where the dome of the rock (qubbet as-sakhrah) stood. the templars called themselves "poor soldiers" but within a short time they became very wealthy. christian pilgrims, coming from europe to palestine, were under the complete control of this order, and by whose money they became very rich. in addition, for the first time they set up a cheque and credit system, similar to that of a bank. according to the british authors, michael baigent and richard leigh, they established a kind of medieval capitalism, and led the way to modern banking through

at islamic commander saladin, who defeated the crusaders' army in 1187, in the battle of hattin, and afterwards rescued jerusalem, put the templars to death for the murders they had committed, even though he had otherwise pardoned a large number of christians. although they lost jerusalem, and suffered heavy casualties, the templars continued to exist. and, despite the continual diminution of the christian presence in palestine, they increased their power in europe and, first in france, and then in other countries, became a state within a state. there is no doubt that their political power made the monarchs of europe uneasy. but there was another aspect of the templars that also made the clergy ill at ease: the order had gradually apostatized from the christian faith, and while in jerusale

mors that they were organizing strange rites to give form to these doctrines. finally, in 1307, the french king philip le bel decided to arrest the members of the order. some of them managed to escape but most of them were caught. pope clement v also joined the purge. following a long period of interrogation and trial, many of the templars admitted to heretical beliefs, that they had rejected the christian faith and insulted jesus in their masses. finally, the leaders of the templars, who were called "grand masters" beginning with the most important of them, jacques de molay, were executed in 1314 by order of the church and the king. the majority of them were put into prison, and the order dispersed and officially disappeared. some historians have a tendency to portray the trial of the tem

GNOSTIC CATECHISM

. a. gilbert (aqc vol 99 1986) introduction in english freemasonry the seal of a certain distinction attaches to the name of arthur edward waite, while it has proved of such appeal in america that an important grand lodge has conferred upon him, causa honoris, one of its highest official positions. among his many publications those on the mystical and symbolical aspects of the secret tradition in christian times occupy a place apart, being things unattempted otherwise in the records of research. so waite referred to himself in the prospectus for the revised edition of his book, the secret tradition in freemasonry1[1, but it is doubtful if a single masonic scholar of his time- or since- could be found who would agree that this selfadulation was justified. during his lifetime waite was casti

egan to lose his faith in roman catholicism, although he retained a great love for its ceremonial, utilizing a number of elements of the roman liturgy for the rituals which he constructed in later life for his various secret orders. he turned instead towards spiritualism but found no spiritual consolation and moved on to the theosophical society, which fascinated him although he disliked the anti-christian bias of works of h. p. blavatsky who was its driving force. in this way he approached magic in general and eliphas levi6[6] in particular, and began to realize where his real dedications lay. he had already written and published many poems and imitation romances7[7] but was forced to recognize, reluctantly, his shortcomings as a writer of fiction and entered instead upon his career as a

brethren, they naturally identify these splendid inanities of occult nomenclature with the mysterious and awe-inspiring rosicrucians. the origin of the rose-cross degree is involved in the most profound mystery. its foundation has been attributed to johann valentin andreas, but this is an ignorant confusion, arising from the alleged connection of the theologican of wurtemberg with the society of christian rosencreutz'11[11. merely impolite references such as these could have been ignored, but not so his final chapter 'modern rosicrucian societies, which printed (pp. 416-22) the 'rules and ordinances of the rosicrucian society of england' quoted verbatim from the rosicrucian12[12. this was followed by an accurate account of the society's history and concluded by waite's own sarcastic and u

me ecossais et rectifie as maintaining more than any other rite the essence in ritual form of that secret tradition that 'tells us not alone that the soul "cometh from afar" and that the soul returns whence it came, but it delineates the path of ascent'62[62. the theory that all esoteric practices and traditions, whether alchemy, the hebrew kabbalah, the legends of the holy grail, rosicrucianism, christian mysticism or freemasonry, were secret paths to a direct experience of god had been developed by waite over many years. he was convinced that the symbolism in each of these traditions had a common root and a 61[61] springett wrote a number of books on secret societies and on masonic symbolism. he was an active supporter of the f.r.c. and of the later golden dawn before it, but there is no

trol when a constitution was finally drawn up in april 1903 (see appendix d for the whole text of this curious document. greater satisfaction was anticipated by waite from the c.b.c.s. than he had so far gained from the knights templar 'i attended this evening the meeting of the templar preceptory [king edward vii] when two installations took place. it is by far the most interesting of all of the christian chivalries with the rites of which i am acquainted, though such gleanings as i can make concerning the perfect knights' charges seem to hope for greater significance therein'66[66. he was also far from adept when he 'tried to play at toy soldiers'67[67, finding that my feet refused to do anything that was required of them. by a curious fatality i always turn the wrong way. i do not know

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

oid all possible misconceptions, we would end up with the gnostic handbook never being written. accordingly, we believe that within this handbook is a comprehensive summary of the basic principles of the gnostic tradition. we realize that what we outline in this text is unusual and rightly so, gnosticism is a unique form of perception and hence offers a very different worldview from that found in christian, pagan or esoteric and occult traditions. gnosticism is the essence behind such outer forms and hence offers the framework from which religion, occultism and mythology create the form. in recent times with the advent of fundamentalism of all forms, a clear and precise explanation of the ideals of gnosticism is not only useful, but mandatory. at the onset it should be made clear that gnos

s of information on basic religious questions. this is not meant to be an exhaustive theological exposition but a summary of the teachings which embody the gnostic legacy which has been passed onto the institute for gnostic studies. the approach we have taken in this handbook has been a religious one, our primary source of symbolism has come from within the essene, greek, gnostic, zoroastrian and christian mystical traditions. other interpretations are certainly possible and for those who wish to get behind the symbols, interpretations and beliefs we suggest you study the various publications and courses issued by the institute for gnostic studies. we hope you will find the gnostic handbook edifying as well as enjoyable reading. introduction gnosticism as a form of perception what do we me

e reunion of broken parts. the sources of our tradition the gnostic tradition is one that has spanned millenniums, it represents the height of the religious traditions of humanity. its primary points of focus are found within vedic philosophy, zoroastrianism, greek mystery traditions, old world religions (pagan and heathen) and gnosticism. the gnostic tradition is not culturally locked within the christian tradition as many modern exponents seem to profess. it is a pan-gnostic tradition, which spans many traditions and cultural milieus. the primary assumption of the gnostic tradition is that at some point in the dim reaches of time there was a primal universal religion, this religion diversified as man spread across the earth and different cultures and nationalities development. accordingl

the gnosticism of jesus brought together egyptian, greek and mystery cult traditions (such as those of eleusis and mithra) into one coherent system. the iconography of judaism played a small part but was insignificant in comparison to, for example, the greek mystery cult tradition. to understand this nexus of the gnosis we really need to jettison the old model which sees gnosticism as a jewish or christian heresy. as has been documented in such texts as the jesus mystery and jesus christ, sun of god+ it is more likely that rabbinic judaism and christianity are pagan and gnostic heresies! while there may be vigorous complaints and denials it is now even well known that so-called jewish kabbalah primarily derived from a reworking of neo platonic mysticism which into jewish religious language

ot the original forms of judaism and christianity, but apostate faiths masquerading in their place. the bible itself has been tampered with to the gnostic handbook page 8 such an extent that only through much critical study can we restore just some of its inner meaning. the institute upholds the original inner teachings of jesus as part of a continuum of wisdom which spans from pagan to so-called christian sources. but it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings here, however, fragmentary and incomplete belong neither to the hindu's, the zoroastrian, the chaldean, nor the egyptian religion, nor to buddhism, islam, judaism or christianity exclusively. the secret doctrine is the essence of all these. the secret doctrine, madame blavaskty. behind the veil of all the hier

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

aster- that's all. through the looking glass. lewis carroll. gnostic theurgy page 10 to appreciate the gnostic worldview you will need to put aside your beliefs and assumptions and reconsider most of what you have been taught. it is imperative that you understand the terms we use and the context they are used in. many of the words and concepts we present, though obviously from the language of the christian tradition, have little or no connection to the concepts of the same name in modern christianity! through our research, we have begun to reconstruct the mystery teachings, the inner teachings of the gnosis. hence, what we have discovered is very different from what the "so called" christian churches, occult organisations and other organised religions and philosophies teach today. now, sto

! through our research, we have begun to reconstruct the mystery teachings, the inner teachings of the gnosis. hence, what we have discovered is very different from what the "so called" christian churches, occult organisations and other organised religions and philosophies teach today. now, stop for a moment and consider the fact that we have already used a number of these programmed "buzz words. christian, church, occult, esoteric, mystery teachings..and each of these will trigger a certain association for you. for example, you would probably relate the term occult to something sinister and evil, and yet the word itself simply means hidden. members of the medical profession, for example, use the term occult bleeding for bleeding which comes from an unknown source. hardly sinister or demon

ere does immorality exist? the self is the owner, the chariot is the body. the soul is the charioteer, the mind is the reins and the senses are the steads. katha upanishad. x gnostic theurgy page 50 what is reincarnation? reincarnation is a concept that can be found at the heart of all of the great esoteric systems of the world. indeed, it can be found at the heart of most religions. in the early christian church there were many who taught the doctrine of reincarnation. clement of alexandria, origen, jerome, gregoras, augustine and irenaeus to name but a few. it was only during the council of nicea in 325 ad that the concept of reincarnation became unpopular. this disavowal was coupled with the development of new teachings regarding the trinity, eternal hellfire and purgatory that were imp

he does not have an eternity to make up his mind. again and again we find that reincarnation is for a certain time span only and ends with either ascension or annihilation. there is no room for universal reconciliation in the esoteric tradition. karma reconsidered what about karma? to understand the way in which reincarnation works we have to examine the effects of our actions. in generally held christian doctrine there is a belief that actions do not really have an effect, we ask for forgiveness and the effects of the act are removed. this is obviously not correct, every action has an effect. even if the gnostic theurgy page 53 moral (and the if is big) punishment was removed from an act by asking for forgiveness, the natural result of that act remains (for example, say i get hepatitis f

ody emotion life out of balance work etc life centred on the true self fig 16 gnostic theurgy page 69 work to subjugate the mind and body and awaken the hga. this stage is probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of the mystical tradition. christians talk about giving their life to jesus, making christ the centre of their existence and yet do not have any idea of what this really means. the christian concept of conversion is a corruption of the mystical transformation that happens when we enter the path of transfiguration. the christ who is the hga and the son of god, the light that becomes the centre of our lives is our own true self. conversion is the process of putting the animal and adept in their places, destroying links with the demiurgic kingdom and invoking the true self. thi

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS K

of the sanctum sanctorum" chief adept "mighty adeptus major, what is the mystic number of this grade" second adept "twenty one" chief adept "what is the password formed therefrom" third adept "aleph" chief adept "heh" third adept "yod" chief adept "heh" third adept "eheieh" chief adept "mighty adeptus major, what is the vault of the adepti" second adept "the symbolic burying place of our founder christian rosenkreutz, which he made to represent the universe" chief adept "associate adeptus minor, in what part of it is he buried" third adept "in the center of the heptagonal sides and beneath the altar, his head being towards the east" chief adept "mighty adeptus major, why in the center" second adept "because that is the point of perfect equilibrium" chief adept "associate adeptus minor, wh

es of the elders in the apocalypse. further, one hundred and twenty equals the number of the ten sephiroth multiplied by that of the zodiac, whose key is the working of the spirit and four elements typified in the wand which i bear (chief adept knocks four times. all face east. chief adept opens the vault wide, enters, passes to the eastern end, or place of the head of the pastos, the coffin of 9 christian rosenkreutz, and then faces west. second adept enters and passes to the south. third adept goes to the north. other members remain standing as before. the three officers each with a special wand in his right hand and crux ansata in the left, then stretch out their wands to form a pyramid above the altar, and also each join the crux ansata below) chief adept "let us analyze the keyword. i

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS Z3

finger of either hand, but 11 it is most protective when the left forefinger is used, the n of dsj, for the fingers of the right hand represent more violent action,and those of the left more watery action (if you do not have a convenient implement, a sigil or a pentagram may be traced with any finger of any hand according to the correspondence required) it may here be remarked that the so-called christian sign of benediction, consisting of the thumb and first two fingers only, projected, is the affirmation of osiris, isis and nephthys- or spirit, d and n. with regard to taking on mentally the forms of the gods, it may here be noted that the process is of great assistance and use in all magical working, whether of invocation or evocation, contemplation, meditation, skrying in the spirit vi

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS ZAM13

h is the veil of the sanctum sanctorum. mighty adeptus exemptus, what is the mystic number of this grade" second adept "twenty-one" chief adept "what is the password formed therefrom" third adept "aleph" chief adept "heh" third adept "yod" chief adept "heh" all "eheieh" 3 chief adept "mighty adeptus exemptus, what is the vault of the adepti" second adept "the symbolic burying place of our founder christian rosencruetz which he made to represent the universe" chief adept "associate adeptus minor, in what part is he buried" third adept "in the center of the heptagonal sides beneath the altar, his head being toward the east" chief adept "why in the center" second adept "because that is the point of perfect equilibrium, just as the cross of christ is the symbol of the equilibrium of self sacri

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS ZAM17

ly know if these of the second row have been of like wisdom as the first, and if they were admitted to all things. it shall be declared hereafter to the gentle reader not only what we have heard of the burial of brother r.c, but also it shall be made manifest publicly, by the foresight, 7 sufferance, and commandment of god, whom we most faithfully obey, that if we shall be answered discreetly and christian-like, we will not be ashamed to set forth publicly in print our names and surnames, our meetings, or anything else that may be required at our hands. now, the true and fundamental relation of the finding out of the high-illuminated man of god, fra. c.r.c, is this: after that a. in gallia narbonensi was deceased, there succeeded in his place our loving brother n.n. this man, after he had

reby to increase the number and respect of our fraternity, and make a happy and wished for beginning of our philosophical canons, prescribed to us by our brother r.c, and be partakers with us of our treasures (which never can fail or be wasted) in all humility and love, to be eased of this world's labours, and not walk so blindly in the knowledge of the wonderful works of god. but that also every christian may know of what religion and belief we are, we confess to have the knowledge of jesus christ (as the same now in these last days, and chiefly in germany, most clear and pure is professed, and is nowadays cleansed 10 and void of all swerving people, heretics, and false prophets, in certain and noted countries maintained, defended, and propagated. also we use two sacraments, as they are i

iefly in germany, most clear and pure is professed, and is nowadays cleansed 10 and void of all swerving people, heretics, and false prophets, in certain and noted countries maintained, defended, and propagated. also we use two sacraments, as they are instituted with all forms and ceremonies of the first and renewed church. in politia we acknowledge the roman empire and quartam monarchiam for our christian head, albeit we know what alterations be at hand, and would fain impart the same with all our hearts to other godly learned men, notwithstanding our handwriting which is in our hands, no man (except god alone) can make it common, nor any unworthy person is able to bereave us of it. but we shall help with secret aid this, so good a cause, as god shall permit or hinder us. for our god is n

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS ZAM19

ciousness, unto whom (as yet) be unknown the wonders of the sixth age, or who, by reason of the course of the world, esteem the things to come like unto the present, and, hindered by the obstacles of their age, live no other wise in the world than as men blind, who, in the light of noon, discern nothing only by feeling. chapter iv now concerning the first part, we hold that the meditations of our christian father on all subjects which from the creation of the world have been invented, brought forth, and propagated by human ingenuity, through god's revelation, or through the service of angels or spirits, or through the sagacity of understanding, or through the experience of long observation, are so great, that if all books should perish, and by god's almighty sufferance all writings and all

his seat and abundantly trodden under foot, whose final fall is reserved for an age when he shall be torn to pieces with nails, and a final groan shall end his ass's braying, the which, as we know, is already manifest to many learned men in germany, as their tokens and secret congratulations bear witness. 5 chapter vi we could here relate and declare what all the time from the year 1378 (when our christian father was born) till now hath happened, what alterations in the world he hath seen these one hundred and six years of his life, what he left to be attempted after his happy death by our fathers and by us, but brevity, which we do observe, will not permit at this present to make rehearsal of it; it is enough for those who do not despise our declaration to have touched upon it, thereby to

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

ment of the earth and from this we shall all perish. 12 and when will this catastrophe strike? soon, according to the aztec priests. they believed that the fifth sun was already very old and approaching the end of its cycle (hence the wrinkles on the face of tonatiuh. ancient meso-american traditions dated the birth of this epoch to a remote period corresponding to the fourth millennium bc of the christian calendar.13 the method of calculating its end, however, had been forgotten by the time of aztecs.14 in the absence of this essential information, human sacrifices were apparently carried out in the hope that the impending catastrophe might be postponed. indeed, the aztecs came to regard themselves as a chosen people; they were convinced that they had been charged with a divine mission to

iod, i remembered, had held tenaciously to the view that the civilization of the mayas was the oldest in central america. one could be precise about this, they argued, because the mayan dot-and-bar calendrical system (which had recently been decoded) made possible accurate dating of huge numbers of ceremonial inscriptions. the earliest date ever found on a mayan site corresponded to ad 228 of the christian calendar.5 it therefore came as quite a jolt to the academic status quo when stirling unearthed a stela at tres zapotes which bore an earlier date. written in the familiar bar-and-dot calendrical code used by the maya, it corresponded to 3 september 32 bc.6 what was shocking about this was that tres zapotes was not a maya site not in any way at all. it was entirely, exclusively, unambigu

fingerprints of the gods 156 uxmal. the sides of the stairway i was climbing were richly decorated with what the nineteenth-century american explorer john lloyd stephens described as a species of sculptured mosaic .13 oddly, although the pyramid of the magician had been built long centuries before the conquest, the symbol most frequently featured in these mosaics was a close approximation of the christian cross. indeed there were two distinct kinds of christian crosses: one the wide-pawed croix-patte favoured by the knights templar and other crusading orders in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; the other the x-shaped saint andrew s cross. after climbing a further shorter flight of steps i reached the temple at the very top of the magician s pyramid. it consisted of a single corbelvaul

that in each sphere of influence the same solemn tradition has been preserved for posterity a tradition which tells, in graphic language, of a global catastrophe and of the near-total annihilation of mankind. central america the identical message was preserved in the valley of mexico, far away across the world from mounts ararat and nisir. there, culturally and geographically isolated from judaeo-christian influences, long ages before the arrival of the spaniards, stories were told of a great deluge. as the reader will recall from part iii, it was believed that this deluge had swept over the entire earth at the end of the fourth sun: destruction came in the form of torrential rain and floods. the mountains disappeared and men were transformed into fish. 8 according to aztec mythology only

uted to menkaure. here the first european to break in had been a british colonel, howard vyse, who had entered the burial chamber in 1837. he found an empty basalt sarcophagus, an anthropoid coffin lid made of wood, and some bones. the natural assumption was that these were the remains of menkaure. modern science had subsequently proved, however, that the bones and coffin lid dated from the early christian era, that is, from 2500 years after the pyramid age, and thus represented the intrusive burial of a much later individual (quite a common practice throughout ancient egyptian history. as to the basalt sarcophagus well, it could have belonged to menkaure. unfortunately, however, nobody had the opportunity to examine it because it had been lost at sea when the ship on which vyse sent it to

GREENFIELD ALLEN SECRET CIPHER OF THE UFONAUTS

k, and the heirs of the illuminated tradition the templars, cathars, albigensians and other gnostics were forced to resort to a roundabout code or cipher to carry on their ideas in relative safety. new ciphers were developed. the cryptic language of alchemy that so intrigued carl jung and others overlaps with the rosicrucian tradition. a key work that dates to the 1600s, the alchymical wedding of christian rosenkreutz, contains a specifically rosicrucian cipher] beginning in the mid-19th century we suddenly see the occult tradition renew an ancient practice, speaking through oracular entranced prophets in voices other than their own. trance mediumship to communicate with the dead was the first version, but this was soon followed by various kinds of channelings and contacts with higher bein

ate. indeed, the ancient gnostics saw the god and devil of conventional theology as an ego-maddened entity under the delusion that it, indeed, is the ultimate being! the late phil dick, in his last gnostic allegorical fiction, eventually settled on the name v.a.l.i.s. or vast active living intelligence system for this being or demiurge. he wrestled through his literary career and secret life as a christian gnostic philosopher with whether valis was a benevolent, if machine-like deity of a sort, or an insane extraterrestrial supercomputer. throughout recorded history, and, from the evidence of primitive objects and works of art, for aeons before, certain humans have had the capacity to tune into or channel various of these higher intelligences with varying degrees of accuracy. these humans

in the cause to the end of his life. the last prisoner at spandau, hess died at the significant age of 93, proclaiming his loyalty to the thule ideal to the very end. the period, in the middle 1930s, in which these groups attained their greatest, ruinous power over the german state coincides closely with the reports of ghost rockets over northern europe. the british raj in india, and the european christian colonization of the east in general, had all but destroyed the classical tantrism and illuminism of the great white brotherhood in the east, finding such institutions as temple prostitution, chakra-puji, shiva devotion, etc. to be sexual obscenity. on the other hand, fearing the power of the black lodge as a political entity and eroding its hold on esoteric eastern religion as a practica

GREY W G CONDENSATION OF KABBALAH

r other limitations. these are the eternal verities which genuine kabbalah is trying to systematise and present as a fundamental formulary which can be followed comprehensibly by justifiably inquisitive individuals expecting far more from life than a material basis with a disintegrative end to it eventually. a few centuries back, this investigative instinct in western humans was called in certain christian circles the quest of the holy grail, or more properly sangreal, interpreted as bloodroyal. kings have a crown above their heads and a kingdom beneath their feet. such indeed are the symbols of the tree from top to bottom. our striving for the sangreal is what the tree of life should encourage us to try as a major motivation for living (a hebrew/english glossary continues on the page foll

GRIFFIN DAVID MAGICAL EVOCATION OF THE AVERSE FORCES

ter key of solomon,2 the lesser key of solomon3 (also known as the lemegeton, the grimoire of armadel,4 and the book of the sacred magic of abra-melin the mage.5 israel regardie contended that the magical grimoires contain the remnants of an ancient form of psychology, although in a greatly corrupted form. this corruption is likely due to the official condemnation of magic in all its forms by the christian church during the middle ages. thus the repressive paradigm prevalent in europe during the middle ages degraded the ancient and sacred science of theurgy into the vulgar sorcery of the grimoires and corrupted its sublime aims into the puerile desires of its guilt-instilled and greedy practitioners.6 1 herewith is revealed a profound magical secret, although "neither torches nor glasses s

the millennium, we live under very different conditions than did the magicians of earlier times. science has greatly diminished the power of dogma to determine how we see the world, and psychology has emerged to fill the role once played by theurgy. we live in an age of religious tolerance, wherein christians may again begin to embrace the value of magic. indeed, christ the magus is the ideal of christian magicians. let the intolerant and the self-righteous remember that the religious leaders of his day accused christ himself of evil magic, of commanding demons by the power of the prince of demons. hierarchies of demons an important obstacle to overcome in the practice of magical evocation is the difficulty to find a suitable hierarchy of averse forces. the hierarchies in most of the grim

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

t was the fashion to make short work of, by treating them as gallic or slavic, just as vagrants are shunted oif to the next parish let our neighbours dispose of the rubbish as they can. the norse edda, whose plan, style and substance vi preface. breathe the renaotest antiquity, avhose songs lay hold of the heart in a far different way from the extravagantly admired poems of ossian, they traced to christian and anglo-saxon influence, blindly or wilfully overlooking its connexion with the relics of eld in germany proper, and thinking to set it all down to nurses and spinning-wives (p. 1230, whose very name seemed, to those unacquainted with the essence of folk-lore, to sound the lowest note of contempt. they have had their revenge now, those norns and spindle-bearers. one may faii'ly say, th

anything they might still unconsciously borrow from it must have been preserved accidentally in traditional forms of poetry or the living idiom of the people. the very book in which heathen names and chax peeface. racfcers miglit the most innocently have found a place, albrecht of halberstadt's translation of the metamorphoses, is lost to us in its original form; when rudolf in his barlaam from a christian point of view refutes the grecian gods after the fashion of chrothilde (see p. 107, he sticks too closely to his text to let any native characteristics come into his head: the age was too entirely absoi-bed in its immediate present to feel the slightest inclination to look back into its own or other people's distant past. it is not till the 14th or 15th century that sundry writers begin

ve spoken in the fourth and sixth chapters. if among gods and heroes only tuisco, mannus and alx are named in german, and the rest given in' romana interpretatio' on the other hand, the female names nerthus, veleda, tanfana, huldana (for hludana, aliruna, have kept their original form; and so have names of peoples and places that lead back to gods, ingaevones, iscaevones, herminones, asciburgium. christian authors also, writing in latin, prefer the roman names, yet, when occasion calls, wodan, thunar, frea, sahsnot cannot be avoided. the refined language of the goths, and the framework of their hero-legend, lead us to imagine a very full development of their faith, then just giving way to christianity, though to us it has sunk into such utter darkness: such expressions as frauja, halja, si

ed, though it is a harder matter than one would imagine for this last sort to take root among the people. roman literature has from early times spread itself over other european lands, and in certain cases it may be quite impossible to strike the balance between its influence and that inner growth of legend. and nowhere is extrinsic influence less a matter of doubt than where, by the collision of christian doctrine with heathenism among the peeface. xxxv converted nations, it became unavoidable to abjure the old, and in its place to adopt or adapt what the new faith introduced or tolerated. oftentimes the church and i have specified sundry instances either was from the outset, or gradually became, tolerant and indulgent. she prudently permitted, or could not prevent, that heathen and chris

a, probably the goths also for a time, and the anglo-saxons down to a late period, retained the heathenish yule, as all teutonic christians did the sanctity of eastertide; and from these two the yule-boar and yule-bread, the easter pancake, easter sword, easter fire and easter dance could not be separated. as faithfully were perpetuated the name and in many cases the observances of midsummer. new christian feasts, especially of saints, seem purposely as well as accidentally to have been made to fall on heathen holidays. churches often rose precisely where a heathen god or his sacred tree had been pulled down, and the people trod their old paths to the accustomed site: sometimes the very walls of the heathen temple became those of the church, and cases occur in which idol-images still found

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

, but make a violent uproar every time the master spits. 2 in gervase of tilbury, cap. 18, the folleti also pelt with stones, and this of stone-throwing is what we shall meet with in quite early stories of devils; al together the racketing sprites have in this respect more of the devil or spectre in them than of the elf: it is a darkening and distortion of their original nature in accordance with christian sentiment. so it becomes clear, at last, how the once familiar and faith ful friend of the family under heathenism has gradually sunk into a bugbear or a taunt to children: a lot which he shares with goddesses and gods of old. as with holle and berhte, so people are threatened with the lamia, the omacmica, the manducus and goblin (pp. 500. 507: le gobelin vous mangera, le gobelin vous at

the vulgar eye the bless ings that he brought. 1 strongly in favour of this view are the north franconian names hullepopel (popowitsch 522, hollepeter (schm. 2, 174, the bavarian semper, of whom they say he cuts naughty children s bodies open and stuffs them with pebbles (schm. 3, 12. 250, exactly after the manner of holla and berhta (p. 273) 2; and consider faithful eckart, who escorts holla. in christian times they would at first choose some saint to accompany the infant christ or the mother of god in their dis tribution of boons, but the saint would imperceptibly degenerate into the old goblin again, but now a coarser one. the christmas plays sometimes present the saviour with his usual attendant peter, or else with niclas, at other times however mary with gabriel, or with her aged jose

rom an ohg. liiumi? an m is often attenuated into n, as ohg. sliumi, sniumi (celer, mhg. sliune, sliunic, our schleunig. that would explain why there is no trace of the word hiune in on; it would also be fatal to any real connexion with the national- name hun. 3 hund (centum) intensifies the meaning: hundmargr (permultus, hundgamall (old as the hills* we find the same faithfulness in the giant of christian legend, st. christopher, and in that of caroliugian legend, ferabras. 530 giants. iotunn/ sa3m. 35a&gt; b; fenja and menja are framvisar (grottas. 1, 13. when the verb]?reya, usually meaning exspectare, desiderare, is employed as characteristic of giants (sasm. 8sa, it seems to imply a dreamy brooding, a half-drunken complacency and immobility (see suppl. such a being, when at rest

jupiter inflicts on them his thunder-wounds; l his hammer has crushed the heads of many: were it not for thorr, says a scandinavian proverb, the giants would get the upper hand; 2 he vanquished hrungnir, etymir, thrymr, geirro^r, and it is not all the legends by any means that are set down in the bdda (see suppl. st. oiaf too keeps up a hot pursuit of the giant race; in this business heathen and christian heroes are at one. in our heroic legend sigenot, ecke, fasolt succumb to dietrich s human strength, yet other giants are companions of dietrich, notably wittich and heime, as asperian was rother s. the kings niblunc and schilbunc had twelve strong giants for friends (nib. 95, i.e. for vassals, as the norse kings often had twelve berserks. but, like the primal woods and monstrous beasts o

gen mand (not any man) meer meen. his word came to pass, and the stone figure stands yet on the cliff (faye 124. olafs red beard (like those of our hero-kings otto and friedrich) reminds us of thorr the foe of giants (p. 177; pipuga skagg is apparently the same as the pipskdgg, wedge- 1 danske viser 2, 12-3. thiele 1, 32; conf. faye 118-9. 2 fernow s varmeland, p. 223. 3 nyerup s karakteristik af christian 4, p. 17. trlants. 551 like or peaked beard, quoted by ihre; but the norwegian rhyme has white beard (the barbe fleurie of charlemagne. such divergences, and the changes rung on cellar wall, bathroom wall, cliff wall/ vouch for the popular character of the tradition (see suppl. it will surprise no one, if i produce a still older type of the whole story from the edda itself. when brynhild

H SPENCER LEWIS ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL AMORC 1990

sweden switzerland tahiti togo trinidad.tobago united states uruguay venezuela wales zaire zimbabwe [63] part five mystic symbols and their meanings especially prepared for this manual [64] the explanation of ancient symbolism is included in the rosicrucian teachings [65 [66 [67 [68 [69 [70 [71] evolution of the cross many who see the symbol of the rosy cross for the first time believe it to be a christian symbol.very likely a roman catholic symbol.and most surely a religious symbol. we have found that we are called upon daily to make some explanation, not only about the rosy cross, but the cross in any form, in our correspondence. we trust, therefore, that this explanation will anticipate many questions. first of all, let us say that the cross was not originally a religious symbol and is

make some explanation, not only about the rosy cross, but the cross in any form, in our correspondence. we trust, therefore, that this explanation will anticipate many questions. first of all, let us say that the cross was not originally a religious symbol and is used by many organizations, in some form or another, as a symbol without any religious significance. nor was there any such thing as a christian cross during the time of the birth of the christian doctrines as taught by the master jesus. it is a coincidence in religious matters that jesus, like many others for centuries before him, was crucified on a cross.and not even on a cross like that now used as the christian symbol; and it was due to another coincidence that the cross was adopted by the christian fathers, centuries after t

the birth of the christian doctrines as taught by the master jesus. it is a coincidence in religious matters that jesus, like many others for centuries before him, was crucified on a cross.and not even on a cross like that now used as the christian symbol; and it was due to another coincidence that the cross was adopted by the christian fathers, centuries after the crucifixion, as a symbol of the christian faith. they might have adopted the exclusive use of a golden crown (which they do at times) or the crown of thorns, or many other symbols typical of some event in his life and works. those who are of the jewish religion justly feel that the cross is a symbol to them of suffering in the form of persecution. one need only read the real history of the jews to note how they suffered needless

f suffering in the form of persecution. one need only read the real history of the jews to note how they suffered needlessly and continuously through campaigns conducted by those who ever cried aloud "via cruris" by way of the cross the jew was ever made to be an outcast and a persecuted victim of the ancient systems which merely used the sacred symbol to hide their real purposes. for, truly, the christian principles have naught in them to justify that which has been perpetrated in their name; but the same may be said of many other religious movements during their early stages. however, we wish to assure jews and gentiles, roman catholics, and protestants alike, that to the orientals.who belong to none of these four classifications.the rosy cross symbol is sacred, not as a religious symbol

h physical processes in relation to the whole scheme of the continuity of life. the rosicrucians today use the crux ansata as a symbol of immortality and reincarnation exclusively. to them it has no other meaning. in a study of some of the other crosses we see arbitrary changes and additions so as to form unique symbols, and we find the cross was common to nearly all ancient races, antedating the christian era. the rosy cross of the rosicrucians is always a gold cross with the distinctive looped ends as shown in the illustration. there is always one red rose in the center of the cross, and sometimes for purely decorative purposes a green stem may be attached to the rose; but there is never more than one rose, and a symbol composed of a cross with seven, or three, or four roses in the form

HAMIL THE ROSICRUCIAN SEER

onicknights templar and rose croix degrees.thelatter is now the 18th degree of the antient and accepted [scottish] rite of freemasonry, which in higgins' time did not exist as a coherent rite in england.therose croix degree was generally worked within knights templar encampments and was variously referred to as the rose croix, rose cross, rouge croix, rosae crucis or rosie cross degree. intensely christian in content the rose croix had nothing about it, even in higgins' time or earlier, to link it with the ideas or traditions of rosicrucianism, other than a very confusing set of alternative names! inritualmagicinengland(1970) francis king, without any supporting evidence, claimed a definite lineofcontinuity from sibley to barrett, then through. a pupil of barrett's magicalintroduaion19acco

8 at the age of twenty.12itwas through her that hockley received the crowned angel'smagnum()jjus,metaphysicaland spiritualphilos()jjhy;or theamneaionwith andinfluenceouermaterialbodies-byspirits.hockley approached crystal or mirror scrying with an almost religious awe. indeed his experiments were to have a profound effect on his own religious beliefs, turning him from a unitarian to a trinitarian christian with a firm belief in the mystery of the virgin birth. before use, the crystal or mirror had to be consecrated with prayers and dedicated to the serviceofgod. consecrated calls, again invoking the name of christ, were to be given three times to summon whichever spirit guide was required. once the spirit's message had been received, a special discharge was to be given three times, again i

mrsandby, at p. 428, rather summarily disposes of all those 'who may still have a leaning towards these developments of spiritualism' he will, perhaps, in proof of his assertion that 'in revelations to be credited, there should be a complete harmony between the different parts' oblige us by pointing out an example; for, judging from the discord, to use the mildest term, between the members of the christian world, we might be afraid of seekingiteven in thebible.tomyself 'the manifest discrepancies' in the works of h. werner, hauffe, davis, and cahagnet, are the greatest proofs that they are written with a"thatany tyro in the sciences should jot down the (to him) surprizing phenomena elicited would be most commendable; but that a learnedd.d.,an f.r.s, and a member of the institutes of paris

rty years amongst the hardships and privations of life, and amongst the poorest ofmankind-persecutedas no man has been since, and died an ignominous death, when he could have prevented it, solely for the loveofman, do you not think he would use his influence,-small perhaps at first, but great ifnecessary,-forthe enlightenment and true teaching of anyofthose mortals who were willing to believe? no christian can deny that hecando this; andifhe will do this for those who have denied him, done wrong to their fellow-men, and yet died in his belief atlast,-whyshould he not do it for a man who, through his long life, has had no aim but the good of mankind; who, as a man, has followed the example that jesus christset-'loveoneanother-'lovethy neigh255 bours asthyself-'dounto others, even as you wou

because they are opposed to the views stated in appendixb.,it would on my part be an unwarrantable impertinence; still i cannot but think it is to be regretted that the name of jesus christ should be thus inserted without any comment or qualification upon the simple announcement of an invisible255 spirit rapper, inasmuch asitis a needless and profitless shock to the feelings and opinions of your christian readers and well-wishers. upon receipt of your letter of the 16th november last, i stated to the c.a.-i.-mrowen informs me by letter that at a recentseancethe presence of jesus christ was announced. now although we are told by jesus himself (matt. 18 v. 20 'where two or three are gathered togetherin11v'name,there am i in the midst ofthem'-yetthe present statement being repugnant to my fe

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

s as a version of their unending war between chaos and order. the real challenge to traditional egyptian beliefs, however, was to come from another new religion: christianity. at first christianity was just one of many religions thriving in egypt. during the second and third centuries ce, christians were brutally persecuted for refusing to acknowledge that the roman emperors were gods. some early christian writers, such as the second-century ce bishop clement of alexandria, are useful though hostile witnesses on egyptian religion. during the fourth century ce, christianity became the dominant religion of the roman empire. the date usually given for the end of pharaonic culture is 395 ce. this was the year when the roman empire was divided into two. egypt became part of the eastern, or byza

ered the goddess. the latest known hieroglyphic texts are from philae. when there was no longer anyone left who could read the ancient texts, knowledge of the egyptian gods and their myths gradually died out. this change of religion was far more significant for egyptian culture than all the previous changes of government. post-pharaonic egypt the three centuries in which egypt was predominantly a christian country are often referred to as the coptic period. it was in the deserts of egypt that christian monasticism first developed, and the great monasteries partially took the place of temples in egyptian society. christian chroniclers provide evidence that some egyptians clung to the old beliefs as late as the sixth century ce. a few magical texts of this period still mention the myths of i

the horus introduction 45 child, but most replace them with anecdotes about the virgin mary and baby jesus. the last stories about the gods of egypt are those that tell of their defeat by coptic saints.109 in the seventh century ce, egypt was invaded first by the persians and then by the arabs. the arabs brought with them the muslim religion, but many of the native egyptians (the copts) remained christian. the coptic language fell out of general use around 1000 ce, but it has continued to be used in the liturgies of the coptic church right up to the present day. for centuries egypt was part of an arab empire ruled by caliphs in damascus or baghdad. the most famous of these caliphs was haroun al-rashid, who features in the arabian nights entertainment, a vast collection of stories compiled

e coptic church right up to the present day. for centuries egypt was part of an arab empire ruled by caliphs in damascus or baghdad. the most famous of these caliphs was haroun al-rashid, who features in the arabian nights entertainment, a vast collection of stories compiled in medieval egypt. egypt s greatest medieval leader was saladin (1169 1193 ce, who defended egypt and palestine against the christian crusaders. arabic literature flourished in egypt, and one of its themes was the lost treasures and secrets of the ancient pagan sites.110 medieval christian pilgrims who visited egypt because it was a bible land brought back descriptions of the pyramids, which they generally identified with the granaries of joseph. a crucial part of the renaissance, which began in fourteenth- century ce

ures, the repentant hero is rescued from his enchantment by the goddess isis and becomes a priest of osiris. william golding. the scorpion god. 1971. a novella that begins with a vivid recreation of the sed festival at which an egyptian king tries to renew his right to rule. golding examines the mythologies of power and the impact of doubt on a fixed world view. 222 handbook of egyptian mythology christian jacq. ramses under the western acacia. translated by dorothy s. blair. 1998. the last in a series of five historical novels about rameses ii by a french egyptologist. all the novels feature the interplay between myth and ritual in egyptian religion. there is a glossary of the deities that are mentioned. norman mailer. ancient evenings. 1983. a violent and erotic novel, which includes som

HEAVEN HELL

each day brought its own supply of bodies, souls, spirits, demons, etc, for annihilation. in all the books of the other world we find pits of fire, abysses of darkness, murderous knives, streams of boiling water, foul stenches, fiery serpents, hideous animal-headed monsters and creatures, and cruel, death-dealing beings of various shapes, etc, similar to those with which we are familiar in early christian and medi val literature, and it is tolerably certain that modern nations are indebted to egypt for many of their conceptions of hell. in the present work the object has been to give the reader the complete hieroglyphic texts of the book a-m-tuat and the book of gates, with reproductions of all their illustrations in black and white, and english translations and descriptions. the illustra

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

e. we seemed a group of petrified persons. suddenly a thrilling and transpiercing cry burst fromthe entranced girl's lips, she bent forward, and snatching the stiletto from her bosom, plunged it furiouslyround her, in the air, as if pursuing imaginary foes. her mouth foamed, and incoherent, wild exclamationsbroke from her lips, among which discordant sounds i discerned, several times two familiar christian namesof men. the mesmerizer was so terrified that he lost all control over himself, and instead of withdrawing thefluid he loaded the girl with it still more "take care" exclaimed i "stop! you will kill her, or she will kill you" but the frenchman had unwittingly raised subtle potencies of nature over which he had no control. furiouslyturning round, the girl struck at him a blow which wo

how thou dearest with theservant of nerthus" the nourishing (tacit. germ. xi- the earth, a mother-goddess, the most beneficent deity of theancient germans "ha, ha, ha. old hag of hell" chuckles the king, with an evil, ominous sneer "thou hast crawled out ofthe entrails of thy mother-goddess truly. thou fearest not my wrath? it is well. but little need i fear thineempty imprecations. i, a baptized christian" nightmare taleskarmic visions11 "so, so" replies the sybil "all know that clovis has abandoned the gods of his fathers; that he has lost allfaith in the warning voice of the white horse of the sun, and that out of fear of the allimani he went servingon his knees remigius, the servant of the nazarene, at rheims. but hast thou become any truer in thy newfaith? hast thou not murdered in co

surname, signifying abram, i.e, one is non-brahman* a debrahmanised brahman, one who is degraded orwho has lost his caste? after this how can we avoid suspecting that we may find, among the modern jews,the chaldeans of the time of the rishi agastya- these makers of bricks whose persecution began from eighthundred to a thousand years ago, but who emigrated to chaldea four thousand years before the christian era- when so many of the popular legends of southern india resemble the bible stories. louis jacolliot speaksin several of his twenty-one volumes on brahmanical india of this matter, and for once he is right* the particle a in the sanskrit word shews this clearly. placed before a substantive thisparticle always means the negation or the opposite of the meaning of the expression thatfollo

f kioto. i have examined in turn day- bootzoo, with its giganticbell; tzeonene, enarino-yassero, kie-missoo, higadzi-hong-vonsi, and many other famous temples. several years passed away, and during that whole period i was not cured of my scepticism, nor did i evercontemplate having my opinions on this subject altered. i derided the pretensions of the japanese bonzes andascetics, as i had those of christian priests and european spiritualists. i could not believe in the acquisition ofpowers unknown to, and never studied by, men of science; hence i scoffed at all such ideas. the superstitiousand atrabilious buddhist, teaching us to shun the pleasures of life, to put to rout one's passions, to renderoneself insensible alike to happiness and suffering, in order to acquire such chimerical powers

ome distance from his home, with theintention of altering his will. though very wealthy, he had no superintendent on his estate, but kept his bookshimself. the same evening after supper, he was heard in his room, angrily scolding his servant, who had beenin his service for over thirty years. this man, ivan, was a native of northern asia, from kamschatka; he hadbeen brought up by the family in the christian religion, and was thought to be very much attached to hismaster. a few days later, when the first tragic circumstance i am about to relate had brought all the policeforce to the spot, it was remembered that on that night ivan was drunk; that his master, who had a horror ofthis vice, had paternally thrashed him, and turned him out of his room, and that ivan had been seen reelingout of the

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

to mediumship or black magic. the immediate disciples of ammonius saccas, who was called theodidaktos "god-taught"-such as plotinus and his follower porphyry-rejected theurgy at first, but were finally reconciled to it through iamblichus, who wrote a work to that effect entitled de mysteriis, under the name of his own master, a famous egyptian priest called abammon. ammonius saccas was the son of christian parents, and, having been repelled by dogmatic spiritualistic christianity from his childhood, became a neo-platonist, and like j. bo hme and other great seers and mystics, is said to have had divine wisdom revealed to him in dreams and visions. hence his name of theodidaktos. he resolved to reconcile every system of religion, and by demonstrating their identical origin to establish one

jew aristobulus affirmed that the ethics of aristotle represented the esoteric teachings of the law of moses; philo judaeus endeavored to reconcile the pentateuch with the pythagorean and platonic philosophy; and josephus proved that the essenes of carmel were simply the copyists and followers of the egyptian therapeutae (the healers. so it is in our day. we can show the line of descent of every christian religion, as of every, even the smallest, sect. the latter are the minor twigs or shoots grown on the larger branches; but shoots and branches spring from the same trunk-the wisdom-religion. to prove this was the aim of ammonius, who endeavored to induce gentiles and christians, jews and idolaters, to lay aside their contention and strife, remembering only that they were all in possessio

groves, and while he taught a common doctrine for all, we, his followers on the same line, receive no recognition, but, on the contrary, are abused and persecuted. people 1,500 years ago are thus shown to have been more tolerant than they are in this enlightened century. q. was he encouraged and supported by the church because, notwithstanding his heresies, ammonius taught christianity and was a christian? a. not at all. he was born a christian, but never accepted church christianity. as said of him by the same writer: he had but to propound his instructions according to the ancient pillars of hermes, which plato and pythagoras knew before, and from them constituted their philosophy. finding the same in the prologue of the gospel according to st. john, he very properly supposed that the p

morphic, concrete, and gross imagery-in other words, to the dwarfing of the god-idea and to idolatry -ooo- theosophy is not buddhism q. you are often spoken of as "esoteric buddhists" are you then all followers of gautama buddha? a. no more than musicians are all followers of wagner. some of us are buddhists by religion; yet there are far more hindus and brahmins than buddhists among us, and more christian-born europeans and americans than converted buddhists. the mistake has arisen from a misunderstanding of the real meaning of the title of mr. sinnett's excellent work, esoteric buddhism, which last word ought to have been spelt with one, instead of two, d's, as then budhism would have meant what it was intended for, merely "wisdom-ism (bodha, bodhi "intelligence "wisdom) instead of buddh

, royal octavo, of 600 pages, diamond type, of theosophical miscellanies. of the last-named work 500 copies only were issued, for gratuitous distribution to libraries and universities. these earlier movements, of which there were many, originated within the church, with persons of great piety and earnestness, and of unblemished character; and all of these writings were in orthodox form, using the christian expressions, and, like the writings of the eminent churchman william law, would only be distinguished by the ordinary reader for their great earnestness and piety. these were one and all but attempts to derive and explain the deeper meanings and original import of the christian scriptures, and to illustrate and unfold the theosophic life. these works were soon forgotten, and are now gene

HINE P OVEN READY CHAOS

pression of your will that counts. if it works for you- do it. 41 oven-ready chaos basic exercises these exercises have been compiled from a variety of sources, and possibly have little inherent value of themselves, though they could be fun to try and may have far-reaching consequences. one acquaintance of mine began his foray into chaos magick by taking on the belief-system of being a born-again christian. he s still a born-again christian, but seems to be happier. 1. when obtaining any magical result (including failure) always think of several explanations for it. these explanations should contain at least one each of the following types: i. an explanation based on the parameters of the magical system that you have been employing. ii.strict materialism iii. something exceptionally silly

HOWE THE ALCHEMIST OF THE GOLDEN DAWN

that i was to be chief in the new rite of perfection in the sat b'hai. 2 i have been too harassed with the h.b. ofl. to attend to anything else. i will attend to it as soon as possible. my own experience of astrology and the taro, is, that neither is of much use, unless you have developed the inner light so as to see spiritual correspondence of each symbol as it turns up. if you have not read p. christian's histoire de fa magie you should do so. he gives an account of what cagliostro did in the way of predictions by the taro' it and astrology are closely interlinked. unless one has undergone the training which cagliostro had, we cannot do the same, tho' we may get some kind of approximation to events. mesmerism is a part only of the great science, tho' a most important part& cagliostro wa

uyers to make it pay. now, it might be different and especially under the auspices of the t[heosophical] s[ociety. people would buy the whole thing sooner than waite's abridgement' you would have to get a pliable translator. mathers could do it but he too is bound hand and foot to redway' i nother book of great importance should also be translated "histoire de la magie atravers les ages &c par p. christian [1870. it is out of print but it is possibleto get it in paris. this is a most interesting and important work. if see any likely boo s in any catalogue, i will immediately send it on to you, but i thmk the best way will be to send a letter to the most likely asking them to send cats. to you. they will be ve glad o do so, and you will get it sooner which is our] object. it is very rarely

ound twice sufficient, but it is possible that a third dose might be necessary. i wish you success. kind regards. i think you must be at home by this time and that perhaps you have forgotten the mss i am in need of. i am stopped in my work for want ofthem, so please excuse me reminding you of my needs. it has occurred to me that perhaps the oracle numbers you were wishing for, are contained in p. christian's 'histoire de la magie' which i suppose you have. at p.i77 is given an account as to cagliostro predicting all the events of the first french revolution, and even of the whole ca eer of napoleon buonaparte whilst he was yet a pupil at the ecole militaire, and the system by which he did it, which is really the taro, only a different way of working it. it is farther corrobated [sic] in th

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

nd steamers still touched, and returning northward at this lower level past the steep-roofed 1816 warehouses and the broad square at the great bridge, where the 1773 market house still stands firm on its ancient arches. in that square he would pause to drink in the bewildering beauty of the old town as it rises on its eastward bluff, decked with its two georgian spires and crowned by the vast new christian science dome as london is crowned by st. paul's. he like mostly to reach this point in the late afternoon, when the slanting sunlight touches the market house and the ancient hill roofs and belfries with gold, and throws magic around the dreaming wharves where providence indiamen used to ride at anchor. after a long look he would grow almost dizzy with a poet's love for the sight, and th

fix. here lay the arcana, wondrous or dreadful as the case may be, for which all his years of travel and application had been preparing him. a taxicab whirled him through post office square with its glimpse of the river, the old market house, and the head of the bay, and up the steep curved slope of waterman street to prospect, where the vast gleaming dome and sunset-flushed ionic columns of the christian science church beckoned northward. then eight squares past the fine old estates his childish eyes had known, and the quaint brick sidewalks so often trodden by his youthful feet. and at last the little white overtaken farmhouse on the right, on the left the classic adam porch and stately facade of the great brick house where he was born. it was twilight, and charles dexter ward had come

manuals of palaeography, and over these the two men puzzled till the lights of evening shone out from the great chandelier. in the end they found what was needed. the letters were indeed no fantastic invention, but the normal script of a very dark period. they were the pointed saxon minuscules of the eighth or ninth century a.d, and brought with them memories of an uncouth time when under a fresh christian veneer ancient faiths and ancient rites stirred stealthily, and the pale moon of britain looked sometimes on strange deeds in the roman ruins of caerleon and hexham, and by the towers along hadrian's crumbling wall. the words were in such latin as a barbarous age might remember 'corvinus necandus est. cadaver aq(ua) forti dissolvendum, nec aliq(ui)d retinendum. tace ut potes- which may r

marsh he had three ships afloat- brigantine columby, brig hefty, an' barque sumatry queen. he was the only one as kep' on with the east-injy an' pacific trade, though esdras martin's barkentine malay bride made a venter as late as twenty-eight "never was nobody like cap'n obed- old limb o' satan! heh, heh! i kin mind him a-tellin' abaout furren parts, an' callin' all the folks stupid for goin' to christian meetin' an' bearin' their burdns meek an' lowly. says they'd orter git better gods like some o' the folks in the injies- gods as ud bring 'em good fishin' in return for their sacrifices, an' ud reely answer folks's prayers "matt eliot his fust mate, talked a lot too, only he was again' folks's doin' any heathen things. told abaout an island east of othaheite whar they was a lot o' stone

smouth, too, because in seafarint days what profited the master of a ship gen'lly profited the crew proportionate. most of the folks araound the taown took the hard times kind o' sheep-like an' resigned, but they was in bad shape because the fishin' was peterin' aout an' the mills wan't doin' none too well "then's the time obed he begun a-cursin' at the folks fer bein' dull sheep an' prayin' to a christian heaven as didn't help 'em none. he told 'em he'd knowed o' folks as prayed to gods that give somethin' ye reely need, an' says ef a good bunch o' men ud stand by him, he cud mebbe get a holt o' sarten paowers as ud bring plenty o' fish an' quite a bit of gold. 0' course them as sarved on the sumatry queen, an' seed the island knowed what he meant, an' wa'n't none too anxious to get clost

HP LOVECRAFT THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH

marsh he had three ships afloat- brigantine columby, brig hefty, an' barque sumatry queen. he was the only one as kep' on with the east-injy an' pacific trade, though esdras martin's barkentine malay bride made a venter as late as twenty-eight "never was nobody like cap'n obed- old limb o' satan! heh, heh! i kin mind him a-tellin' abaout furren parts, an' callin' all the folks stupid for goin' to christian meetin' an' bearin' their burdns meek an' lowly. says they'd orter git better gods like some o' the folks in the injies- gods as ud bring 'em good fishin' in return for their sacrifices, an' ud reely answer folks's prayers 'matt eliot his fust mate, talked a lot too, only he was again' folks's doin' any heathen things. told abaout an island east of othaheite whar they was a lot o' stone

smouth, too, because in seafarint days what profited the master of a ship gen'lly profited the crew proportionate. most of the folks araound the taown took the hard times kind o' sheep-like an' resigned, but they was in bad shape because the fishin' was peterin' aout an' the mills wan't doin' none too well "then's the time obed he begun a-cursin' at the folks fer bein' dull sheep an' prayin' to a christian heaven as didn't help 'em none. he told 'em he'd knowed o' folks as prayed to gods that give somethin' ye reely need, an' says ef a good bunch o' men ud stand by him, he cud mebbe get a holt o' sarten paowers as ud bring plenty o' fish an' quite a bit of gold. 0' course them as sarved on the sumatry queen, an' seed the island knowed what he meant, an' wa'n't none too anxious to get clost

HUEBNER LOUISE WITCHCRAFT FOR ALL WICCA 04

uck i have had since 1968. 1969 was bad so far for me likewise. i sit here writing you with a broken ankle which for some reason doesn't seem to want to mend in a hurry. i was born september 30, 1921. i love people and i go out of my way to help people, yet i cannot for the life of me figure out how a person who is so compassionate, who spends many hours praying for others as i, a true born-again christian, can possibly draw so much bad luck towards themselves. is there any possible change for me in the near future? if i had any idea that it stemmed from my unhappy childhood i would surely try to seek out the best-known hypnotists and find out from my subconscious mind all that could possibly be blamed for all this unhappiness in my life. if you have any suggestions to this view of mine, p

INFERNAL SABBAT LIVE

ed in the witching way- the name that spirits and beings in the unseen will know you nspsychonaut 75 a luciferian& vampyric self-liberation ritual december 22nd, 2002 a b l a c k x-ma s s at the engine room the infernal sabbat chthonic summons article by michael ford, psychonaut 75 the ritual of the black mass was originally a ritual of rebellion against the church. in a time when if you were not christian of god fearing, your life would be made unlivable, the church became renown for it s religious aggression against those who did not uphold the governmental glory of the leaders who preached this religion. beliefs contrary to the bigotry and tyrannical attitudes of the church and its sterile followers were not accepted. the black mass was created as a means of liberation and rebellion thr

ion and rebellion through the reversed rites of blasphemy of orthodox thought. in the invocation of satan, this archetype of selfliberation was means of release, of seeking knowledge and freedom within the self to have the choice of free thought, action and deed. this is why the serpent is considered an aspect of satan or lilith, the serpent is long viewed as a symbol of wisdom and fertility. the christian satan was taken from the early mythological folklore of islam, from which satan s (meaning to oppose or the adversary) name was azazel. in the koran and accepted traditions such as the ahadith, azazel is said to be made of fire similar to the djinn, yet not of light as other angels. it is this fire which makes azazel the brightest angel among the others. azazel was the preacher to all an

INFERNAL UNION

s treasures of knowledge and strength hidden only by our previously ignorant minds. samael is according to legend, the fallen angel taught by belial .he is also known as asmodeus or ashmodei, the yezidi archangel ashamdon, and is the solar aspect of ahriman it seems, whose other name is ashmedai. he is the male serpent who possessed adam in the garden of eden in order to copulate with eve. in the christian apocalypse, and in thelema, he is the beast and the mate of babalon. in the kabbala, samael is the prince of the qlippoth, the inverse side of the tree of life and mate of lilith the queen of the qlippoth (lilith and babalon being the same. he is the infernal sun(night and fire) and she is the moon. samael is the source of all demonic energy. his title samael the black refers to his sini

INITIATION INTO HERMETICS

rdless whether the point in question be the banning witchcraft of tibet or the gestures of fingers (mudras) performed by the bali priests in their cults in the orient, or the exorcism ritual of magicians. the synthesis will always remain the same. at a trial, the hand with three fingers raised for the oath as confirmation of a truthful statement may also be regarded as a magical gesture. from the christian point of view the raised fingers symbolize the trinity. each of the numerous lodges and sects has its own rites. the lodges of the freemasons, for example, are all bound to a fixed sign, word and touch. a lot could be said about this problem from the historical point of view. for practical magic respecting the magical training, however, studies like these would be absolutely useless. it

on, the magician learned to respect this lawfulness regarding the universal laws, and he did observe it, since the conception of god has to be interpreted as an outcome of this universal lawfulness. whichever spiritual group the would-be magician belongs to, whatever his creed or path to initiation may be, without exception he has to respect this universal lawfulness in his conception of god. the christian will worship our lord jesus christ as his highest ideal, attributing to him the four fundamental qualities or basic aspects that are manifest in the omnipresence. these fundamental qualities are: omnipotence, omniscience or wisdom, all-love or charity, and immortality. the magician will not regard his christ as a manifestation endowed with only one quality, but regarding the universal la

e will choose for his future permanent connection. the mystical passive manner of unity with god is a privilege granted to most of the saints and all the believers to whom the divine principle manifested itself somehow in ecstasy. as the magician does not know in which form god will manifest to him, the kind of manifestation will be expressed according to his religious faith. in the instance of a christian, this may happen in the form of a symbol such as a white dove for the holy spirit, in the person of christ himself or in the shape of a cross; all this is, however, of secondary importance. the main point is the quality of the divinity that manifests itself to the respective person. how strong and pervasive this manifestation of god to the individual will be depends entirely in the measu

INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW CHUMBLEY

, another strand of genealogy is obviously to biblical texts where various elements of the mythos are present. biblical sources likewise connect to the apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, jewish folklore and even manichaean texts as avenues of influence. however, whilst one could explain the presence of cain and lilith with recourse to such sources, contesting some kind of dependence of sabbatic lore upon christian, jewish et al demonologies, this fails to appreciate the unique and self- sustaining complex of the craft mythos in itself. the teachings of traditional craft utilise a cipher of luciferian antinomianism which renders cain and lilith, our blessed primogenitors, as the bearers of light from the ancient serpent. the overcoming of adam by lilith and the murder of abel by cain signify the tr

IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY

devilry among you, but never thought that he did appear visibly among you till now that i have seen it' the poor man fell a-weeping, and said 'i perceive that god hath sent you to my house, and put it into your heart to go along with me, and permitted the devil to appear visibly among us this night. i never saw the like before. let me have the help of your prayers' after this he became a singular christian" mr. peden was also somewhat of a prophet, and his speciality appears to have been the prognostication of unpleasant events, at all events to persons in ireland. two instances will suffice. when in a gentleman's house in co. antrim he foretold that a maid-servant was enceinte, that she would murder the child, and would be punished "which accordingly came to pass, and she was burnt at cra

ISIS UNVEILED

kttmoftiul aocietr ibiifiii b
    church stattftici 1 catholic 'miradn' and spiritualutic 'phedomeiu' 4 christian and pa^an beliefs compared 10 .jblagic and mcer^ practiaed by chriitian dergy 20 o^muatitc theology a new idcdce 2s eafteni traditioii* as to alexandrian library 27 rotnan pontiffs imitatoia of the sndq brakm^tna 30 christimi dogmm derived from heathm philom^y 33 doctrine trf the l^inity of pagan gnostics and church fathers 51 bloody leooids of oiriitimiity 63

    and pa^an beliefs compared 10 .jblagic and mcer^ practiaed by chriitian dergy 20 o^muatitc theology a new idcdce 2s eafteni traditioii* as to alexandrian library 27 rotnan pontiffs imitatoia of the sndq brakm^tna 30 christimi dogmm derived from heathm philom^y 33 doctrine trf the l^inity of pagan gnostics and church fathers 51 bloody leooids of oiriitimiity 63 chapter n christian crimes and heathen virtues so t eeiies tt catherine of medida 5s occult aria practised by the clemt 69 tntijcbumintp and auto-tuhfi ocutot children 62 lgring cathdic saints 74 n t^iboii* of missionaries in india and china 79 sacrilqpou* tricks of catholic clergy 82 fuii k kabalist 91 peter not the founder of the roman dinrdi 91 strict lives of pagan hierophants 98 hl^ dwntctct of ancient

    erine of medida 5s occult aria practised by the clemt 69 tntijcbumintp and auto-tuhfi ocutot children 62 lgring cathdic saints 74 n t^iboii* of missionaries in india and china 79 sacrilqpou* tricks of catholic clergy 82 fuii k kabalist 91 peter not the founder of the roman dinrdi 91 strict lives of pagan hierophants 98 hl^ dwntctct of ancient 'mysteries' 101 jacouiot's account ol hiudd faldrs 103 christian symbolism derived from fbauic worship 109 hindu doctrine of the pitns, 114 "brahmanic spirit-dinununion dangers of u digitizecoy google contents chapter m ditisioi^ amongst the early christiai>k beaemblance between eariy chrotianity and boddhiun 12 iwer oeyex la rome 12 meanibg ot 'naiw' and 'naiarene' 12' b denved right 13 a generic name, islhagorean teacbin^ of jenu. ine apocalyps e ap

    the order of jesuita and iti r^tioo to aome of the muonic ordera, crimes permitted to its memben principles of jesuitry compared with tboae of pagan morallits. trinity erf man in egyptian soak rf iht dtad penecution of templan by the cburch 381 secfet maaonic dpben 3s5 jehovah not the "ineffable nanw' 398 chapter ix -the vedas and the bible ne*rly evwy myth baaed on some gnat truth 405 whence the christian sabbath 406 antiquity of the ved s 410 ^rthasoran doctrine of the potentialities of number* 417 'd*ys of (bnetu and 'days' of brahmi 422 fall ot man and the deluge in the hiadh books 425 antiquity of the mancient egyptians of the aryan race? 434 skmnel. david, and solomon mythicsl powmages 439 ^mbcjiam of noah's ark 447 "nie patriaichs identical with sodiacal signs

    iloaophy moducol no sitbeibts llie legends of tbra skvion christutu doctrine of tb atodement iuogksl caiue of the failure of minioiuria to convert buddluit and brthmkou. neither buddha nco' jeaua left written racordl the gmideat mysteries td tdjgion in the bhaoobod'&ti. hm meaning of regesoation eiidained in the salapalka-bt the ncrifice erf mood interpreted 566 danindia by christian misnouaries 573 the kble less autbenticated tb n way other sacted book 577 koowledge of chemiatiy and phyuci displayed by indian jug^en 583 chapteh xii conclusions and illusthations recaihtuiation of (nndamental pn^mwitioiu 587 setndiip of the soul and of the spirit 590 the phawmenon of the so-called ipiritjiand gb4 difference between mediums and adepts 59s inttrriew of an elnglisfa amba

JASMUHEEN THE FOOD OF GODS

say that we are divine beings and maybe that is true for you but i certainly am not divine. i could have responded and quoted john 14.2 and said as jesus did: i shall go to the house of my father to prepare for you an abode. the house of my father has many abodes. on that day you shall know that i am with the father, the father in me and i in you. you are god. but that only impresses those of the christian faith. what about the buddhist who believes in a supreme intelligence rather than a god as we know it and what has this to do with the science of measuring brain wave patterns and divine nutrition? when the abode is well prepared or tuned, then divine nutrition flows and is physically released within us especially when we consciously tune our brain wave patterns into the theta. delta fie

on: see chapter 7 and do the cosmic cable hook-in to allow us access to a pure, wise and loving never-ending source of nourishing power. both this tool and the violet light inner plane feeding tool (technique 12. chapter 6) are crucial to successful level 3 nourishment. step 6: elaboration on the activation of the 6th and 7th senses and the pituitary and pineal glands: the following article is by christian paaske (email: om@yogasenteret.no) yoga and meditation teacher in norway. i include it here as it provides some additional insights to what we shared earlier. as a yoga teacher, christian also offers a few extra tools for energizing the bio-system that many have found useful. the pineal gland is considered one of the body s greatest mysteries. today we know that it is an endocrine gland

thought comes. then close the eyes and concentrate on the light impression until it fades away. there are many other forms of tratak, using different objects of concentration. for example; place a red dot on the third eye, and sit in front of a mirror, or in front of another person also with a dot on the forehead. do tratak for 10-15 minutes. with both practices you are in for a surprise. thanks christian! note: our pituitary and pineal gland activation can be done by the techniques shared in chapter 6 and also by flooding these centers daily with the violet light. steps 7, 8, 9 and 10 are well covered in chapter 6. step 7: do the violet light one chakra column meditation in chapter 6, technique 12 to open up the inner plane pranic flow. step 8: begin using daily the perfect health, perfe

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

r the fourteenth. can evidence be depended upon? examination of hume s reasoing. 120 chapter the fifteenth. footsteps of the rosicrucians amidst architectural obejcts. 130 chapter the sixteenth. the round towers of ireland. 137 chapter the seventeenth. prismatic investiture of the microcosm. 142 chapter the eighteenth. cabalistic interpretations by the gnostics. 147 chapter the nineteenth. mystic christian figures and talismans. 157 chapter the twentieth. the rosy cross in indian, egyptian, greek, roman, and medi val monuments. 165 chapter the twenty-first. myth of the scorpion, or the snake, in its many disguises. 173 chapter the twenty-second. ominous character of the colour white to english royalty. 177 contents xv chapter the twenty-third. page. the beliefs of the rosicrucians meaning

y-second. ominous character of the colour white to english royalty. 177 contents xv chapter the twenty-third. page. the beliefs of the rosicrucians meaning of lights and of commemorative flambeaux in all worsihp. 186 chapter the twenty-fourth. the great pyramid. 199 chapter the twenty-fifth. history of the tower or steeple. 206 chapter the twenty-sixth. presence of the rosicrucians in heathen and christian architecture. 228 chapter the twenty-seventh. the rosicrucians amidst ancient mysteries and in the orders of knighthood. 237 chapter the twenty-eighth. rosicrucianism in strange symbols. 253 chapter the twenty-ninth. connection between the templars and gnosticism. 266 chapter the thirtieth. rosicrucian origin of the order of the garter. 282 chapter the thirty-first. rosicrucian supposed

ions. 322 xvi contents chapter the thirty-fifth. page. the adapted rosicrucian contemplation. intrusion of sin. ruins of the old worlds. 337 chapter the thirty-sixth. indian mysterious adoration of forms. the unity of the mythologies found in the buddhistic and mahommedan temples. 346 chapter the thirty-seventh. doctrine and rationale. the embodied children of the elements, both of heathen and of christian periods. 354 chapter the thirty-eighth. robert flood (robertus de fluctibus, the english rosicrucian. 361 supplementary notes. the first. notice of an ancient work (1595. 367 the second. rosicrucian views on the ark of noah. 368 the third. cabalistic illustrations. the sang-r ale, gr al, or holy gr ale. 369 concluding note. remarks upon two curious works. 372 the rosicrucians badge of th

following account of that which is chosen there to be designated rosicrucius s sepelchre: rosicrucius, say his disciples, made use of this method 10 the rosicrucians. to show the world that he had reinvented the ever-burning lamps of the ancients, though he was resolved no one should reap any advantage from the discovery. we have chosen the above story as the introduction to our curious history. christian rosencreutz died in 1484. to account for rosicrucianism not having been heard of until 1604, it has been asserted that this supposed first founder of rosicrucianism bound his disciples not to reveal any of his doctrines until a period of one hundred and twenty years after his death. the ancient romans are said to have preserved lights in their sepulchres many ages by the oiliness of gold

pected to die, merely changing their names, and reappearing in another place as new persons, they having long survived all who knew them, and thus being safe from the risk of discovery. the rosicrucians always most jealously guarded these secrets, speaking in enigmas and parables for the most part; and they adopted as their motto the advice of one of their number, one of the gnostics of the early christian period: learn to know all, but keep thyself unknown. further, it is not generally known that the true rosicrucians bound themselves to obligations of comparative poverty but absolute chastity in the world, with certain dispensations and remissions that fully answered their purpose; for they were not necessarily solitary people: on the contrary, they were frequently gregarious, and mixed

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

1879: a quantity of "slag" fell from the sky near chicago, on april 9. a professor who did not see the fall and who was not there, said that the slag was there all the time. but the new york times of april 14, 1879 said that about two bushels had fallen. 54 1881: two silver crosses were found by charles c. jones in georgia. an unintelligible inscription was upon them and they were definitely not christian since both arms of the cross were of equal length. 1884: nature, of january 10, quotes a kimberley newspaper "toward the end of november, 1883, a thick shower of ashy matter fell at queenstown, south africa. it was in marble-sized balls, soft and pulpy, and crumbled when dry. the shower was confined to one narrow strip of land, and thus hardly attributable too krakatao almost halfway aro

acing to destroy each other& will very soon do so, over a mere parcel or two of the sections of this planet, or over who is right& who is wrong or from jealousy (envy)1 of the other. they are yet children, these humans, show it too clearly. as things stand, they value materiall thing& will not apply themselves to true values of their own great prophetic book. in principal yes, but not practice no christian nation or diplomat will ever be of true value to another. thus, destruction. this man is no different he too is not2 of a "big spirit" enough. dle puka 2 italics and insertion of the word envy by jngthe basics of magick get any book for free on: www.abika.com 1 the basics of magick by k. amber get any book for free on: www.abika.com the basics of magick get any book for free on: www.abik

KARR DON NOTES ON EDITIONS OF SEFER YETZIRAH IN ENGLISH

interest, from whatever point of view it is approached, and however they may interpret mr stenring s statement that absolute knowledge of a single number is impossible for a human mind (p. 37, unless it has opened every gate of understanding, i.e, has acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of all sciences. waite s introduction to stenring is generally pretty good, though limited by his dependence on christian sources. he gives a fair account of sy: its background, editions, and content. 20073 8 stenring also includes the thirty-two paths of wisdom, saying that his tabulation of paths and their titles will be given according to comtesse calomira de cimara (from her french translation of 1913, and the translation of the tract according to waite and westcott* comment: israel regardie, on the thi

rthless (origins of the kabbalah, p. 51, n. 1. kaplan s sy is, however, a favorite among haredi students as is leonard glotzer s fundamentals. 20073 15 dan cohn-sherbok s jewish mysticism: an anthology (oxford: oneworld publications, 1995: pp. 60-66) gives slightly condensed renditions of chapters 1, 3, 4, and 5. these expand slightly on the passages presented in cohn-sherbok s earlier jewish and christian mysticism: an introduction (by dan cohn-sherbok and lavinia cohn-sherbok, new york: the continuum publishing company, 1994) in the section called creation mysticism. in the midst of steven fisdel s how-to book, practice of kabbalah: meditation in judaism (northvale: jason aronson inc, 1996, one finds sy chapter 1, paragraphs 1- 6 and 8, hebrew and english, in a chapter entitled, the sefi

KARR DON NOTES ON THE STUDY OF EARLY KABBALAH JEWISH MYSTICISM IN ENGLISH

ard a hermeneutics of jewish texts, edited by aryeh cohen and shaul magid. new york: seven bridges press, 2002. ghebraic and hellenic conceptions of wisdom in sefer ha-bahir, h in poetics today, volume 19, number 1 (spring 1998: hellenism and hebraism reconsidered: the poetics of cultural influence and exchange i, edited by david stern (durham: duke university press. gthe tree that is all: jewish-christian roots of a kabbalistic symbol in sefer ha-bahir, h in 1. the journal of jewish thought and philosophy, vol. 3, issue 1 [special issue: studies in jewish mysticism, esotericism, and hasidism (harwood academic publishers gmbh, 1993; and 2 (idem) along the path: studies in kabbalistic myth, symbolism and hermeneutics (albany: state university of new york press, 1995. 1. b. provence: the fra

approach may at first appear to be at cross purposes, for, while there is a case supporting a definition for kabbalah which is more inclusive (as in gruenwald fs comments noted above or in the suggestions in moshe idel fs article noted below, there are those of us who would like to see kabbalah circumscribed sufficiently to salvage it from the excessive, near-generic use of the term, primarily in christian and occult circles, to refer to mysticism and magic of all sorts (the term kabbalah is itself a coinage7 with problems not unlike those of related words as gmysticism, h gmagic, h gmyth, h and ggnosis/gnosticism. h)8 the issue of defining.or redefining.kabbalah has been addressed by moshe idel.9 he critiques the gprevailing assumption in the academic field h that kabbalah is ga relativel

t commence with genesis 1:1 and travel a nice straight line to kabbalah today. however, to set a broad stage for subsequent mystical endeavor, a fine first book is cosmos, chaos and the world to come: the ancient roots of apocalyptic faith, by norman cohn (new haven: yale university press, 1993, the second part of which charts the primal swirlings of the path which eventually leads to jewish (and christian) mysticism, beginning with zoroastrian concepts, tracing their development in jewish apocalyptic, finally landing in the book of revelation. this last turn may seem to veer off track unless one keeps in mind the fundamentally jewish character of this mystical apocalypse. for grounding in the theme (the ascension to heaven) taken up by the ancient jewish mystics associated with the merkab

calyptic, finally landing in the book of revelation. this last turn may seem to veer off track unless one keeps in mind the fundamentally jewish character of this mystical apocalypse. for grounding in the theme (the ascension to heaven) taken up by the ancient jewish mystics associated with the merkabah and hekhalot, a most informative source is martha himmelfarb fs ascent to heaven in jewish and christian apocalypses (new york/ oxford: oxford university press, 1993. on a somewhat different tack, though holding onto the thread begun with the last two selections, is markus n.a. bockmuehl fs revelation and mystery in ancient judaism and pauline christianity [wissenschaftliche untersuchungen zum neuen testament. 2. reihe 36 (tuebingen: j.c.b. mohr [paul siebeck, 1990)14 assuming that the read

sm, refer to my series on sources in english. gnotes on the study of merkabah mysticism and hekhalot literature in english h. with an appendix on jewish magic. gsefer yezirah in english h. gnotes on the study of early kabbalah in english h [the current paper. gnotes on the zohar in english h. gnotes on the study if later kabbalah in english: the safed period and lurianic kabbalah h. gthe study of christian cabala in english h these papers can be accessed on-line at http//www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/karr. gpopular h books on kabbalah and jewish mysticism are numerous and quite varied in their quality and purpose. for readable, well-researched accounts, see. laenen, j. h. jewish mysticism: an introduction= joodse mystiek. een inleiding] translated from the dutch by david e. orton. louisvi

KETAB E SIYAH

. obey it, o reader, and you and your posterity to the tenth generation shall be irretrievably and literally damned.they shall be hewers of wood and carriers of water: degenerates, gibeonites. but hate your enemies with a whole heart. if a man smite you on one cheek, smash him down! smite him hip and thigh for self-preservation is the highest law. he who turns the other cheek is a cowardly dog- a christian dog. give him blow for blow, scorn for scorn, doom for doom- with compound interest liberally added thereunto! eye for eye, tooth for tooth- aye, four-fold, a hundred-fold! make yourself the terror to your adversary; and when he goeth his way, he will possess much additional wisdom to ruminate over. thus shall you make yourself respected in all the walks of life, and your spirit- your im

LAITMAN M KABBALAH ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND

rabbi yehuda ashlag said "there is no place in between the spiritual, altruistic giving and the material, egoistic, impure receiving. if at every single moment a person is not bound to the spiritual, he forgets about it altogether and remains in the impure and physical state" it is said in the book, hakuzari, that the king kuzari, when it came time to select a religion for his people, turned to a christian, to a muslim, and finally to a jew. when the king heard the jew, he remarked that the christian and the muslim both promised him eternal heavenly life and great rewards in the world to come, after his death. on the other- 362- attaining the worlds beyond hand, the jew spoke of the rewards for the observance of the commandments and the punishment for disobeying them in this world. but it

LAITMAN M KABBALAH SCIENCE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

aulus ricius, introductoria theoramata cabalae philippus aureolus paracelsus (1493-1541) a german-swiss physician and alchemist, paracelsus established the role of chemistry in medicine. he is considered one of the founders of modern science. learn artem cabbalisticam, it explains everything- paracelsus, das buch paragranum k a b b a l a h, s c i e n c e, a n d t h e m e a n i n g o f l i f e 212 christian konrad sprengel (1750 1816) a german botanist and teacher whose studies of reproduction in plants led him to a general theory of fertilization which is still accepted today. adam, the first man, was very familiar with the kabbalah. he knew the signatures of all things, and hence gave all animals the most suitable names. therefore the hebrew language too contains the best names for all an

LAITMAN M THE PATH OF KABBALAH

rough the keeping of the spiritual laws. it is what we call the path of torah. it is not a physical keeping of mitzvot, but keeping the spiritual laws of creation. all we have to do is to choose it. q: what do i do if i feel that a certain situation is being forced on me? a: there are clear rules with regard to that situation: if someone threatens you, you should react accordingly, but not in the christian way, meaning by turning the other cheek. never wait for the second hit. for as long as you are here in this world, you should behave according to the acceptable rules of society. those rules are a revelation of the creator in our world. there is no shame in matters that concern your basic livelihood. should we be dying and need a piece of bread to survive, we will feel no shame, neither

LEADBEATER C W THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY 2E

tion by the emperor diocletian in the year 303, and the great abbey of s. alban was built over his remains some five hundred years later. 29. in the year 411 he was born in constantinople and received the name of proclus- a name which in after life he was destined to make famous. he was one of the last great exponents of neo-platonism, and his influence overshadowed to a great extent the medieval christian church. after that there is a gap in his list of incarnations, as to which at present we know nothing. we find him reborn in the year 1211, and in that life he was roger bacon, a franciscan friar, who was a reformer both of the theology and the science of his day. in 1375 came his birth as christian rosenkreutz. that also was an incarnation of considerable importance, for in it he founde

was born as francis bacon. of that great man we hear in history little that is true and a great deal that is false. the real facts of his life are gradually becoming known, largely by means of a cipher story which he wrote secretly in the many works which he published. that story is of entrancing interest, but it does not concern us here. a sketch of it may be found in my book the hidden side of christian festivals, from which i am epitomizing this account(*op. cit, p. 303) 31. a century later we are told that he took birth as jozsef rakoczi, a prince of transylvania. we find him mentioned in the encyclopedias, but not much information is given. after that considerable mystery surrounds his movements. he seems to have travelled about europe, and he turns up at intervals, but we have littl

holic church. just as christians look to st. michael and to our lady as real personages and hold festivals in their honour, so in ancient egypt adoration was offered to isis and osiris, and to other deities likewise. in the ultimate these august names referred to aspects of the godhead, amen-ra, for the trinity in egypt was represented by father, mother, son- osiris, isis and horus instead of the christian presentation of father, son, and holy spirit; but below that divine level there were then, as there are now, great beings in whom the ideal was embodied, who acted as representatives and as channels of god fs threefold power and grace to man. furthermore there are hierarchies of angels belonging to these different lines, just as there are hierarchies of angels who follow the leadership o

nthusiasm to the hidden work which was the principal activity of this noble religion. it is of this hidden side of the egyptian cult, not of its outer glories, that freemasonry is a relic, and the ritual which is preserved in it is a part of that of the mysteries. to explain what this hidden work was, let us draw a parallel from a more modern method of producing a somewhat similar result. 54. the christian plan for spreading abroad the divine power or grace is principally by means of the cele-bration of the holy eucharist, commonly called by our roman brethren the mass. we must not think of that grace as a sort of poetical expression, or as in the least degree vague and cloudy; we are dealing with a force as definite as electricity- a spiritual power which is spread abroad over the people

vout man, those who receive the sacrament at his hands have the additional benefit of a share in his love and devotion, but that in no way affects the value of the sacrament itself; whatever his failings, the divine strength is outpoured upon the people. 56. the old egyptian religion had the same idea of pouring out spiritual force upon all its people, but its method was altogether different. the christian magic can be performed by the priest alone, and may even be done quite mechanically; but the intelligent assistance of the laity greatly increases its power and the amount of force which can be outpoured. the egyptian plan, however, positively required the earnest and intelligent co-operation of a considerable number of people. it was, therefore, much more difficult to achieve perfectly

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

the three degrees. other greek mysteries. chapter vi the mithraic mysteries zarathustra and mithraism. mithraism among the romans. the mithraic rites. the roman collegia. the work of king numa. the colleges and the legions. the introduction of the jewish form. the transition to the operatives. chapter vii craft masonry in mediaeval times evolutionary methods. the withdrawal of the mysteries. the christian mysteries. the repression of the mysteries. the crossing of traditions. the two lines of descent. the culdees. celtic christianity in britain. the druidic mysteries. the holy grail. heredom. chapter viii operative masonry in the middle ages the temporary custodians. decline of the collegia. the comacini. the comacine lodges. other survivals of the collegia. the compagnonnage. the stonema

t was in these circles only that the severe tests which have been partially described were imposed upon the candidate, and he was definitely prepared by individual and personal instruction for the greater and holier mysteries which lay behind the whole scheme of egyptian initiation. 132. the candidate for these inner tests was required, after a preliminary bath (from which was derived the idea of christian baptism, to attire himself in a white robe, emblematic of the purity which was expected of him, before being brought before a conclave of priest-initiates in a kind of vault or cavern. he was first formally tested as to his development of the clairvoyant faculty which he had been previously instructed how to awaken; for this purpose he had to read an inscription upon a brazen shield, of

onnection with this degree it may be of interest to mention that in the temple of philae the body of osiris is represented with stalks of corn springing from it which a priest waters from a vessel which he holds in his hand. an inscription sets forth that this is the form of him whom we may not name, osiris of the mysteries, who sprang from the returning waters(*cheetham, the mysteries, pagan and christian, p. 53- this symbolism referring among other things to the quickening of the inner life in response to the power poured down from on high. the s n of the degree is often found in egyptian paintings, and is exactly the same as is in use among craftsmen to-day. as in the first degree, an average of seven years was also spent in the mysteries of serapis, at the end of which candidates who h

. the murder of osiris is said to have taken place on the seventeenth day of the month athyr (hathor, when the sun was in scorpio, osiris being in the twenty-eighth year either of his reign or his age (it will be noted that this date marks the beginning of winter, when the sun is mystically slain by the forces of darkness; and it was on this date, corresponding to the festival of all souls in the christian church, that the land of egypt mourned the death of osiris, as we mourn the death of the body of jesus on good friday) 148. news was brought to isis at coptos of the tragedy which had occurred, whereupon she cut off a lock of her hair, arrayed herself in mourning apparel, and went forth in search of the body of osiris. she learnt that the chest had been carried by the sea to byblos- not

ycle of changes, through childhood, manhood and old age; and for him also there is no escape from the sacrifice that characterizes all life, but he is reborn again and again in his cycle of reincarnations. 155. the story of the seed is thus that of the ordinary man, but the story of the sun is that of the man who is becoming divine. in the egyptian mysteries they called him the osirified, and the christian mystics spoke of him as becoming one with christ, as when s. paul spoke to his followers as: my little children, of whom i travail in birth again until christ be formed in you(*gal, iv, 19) it is the voluntary nature of the divine sacrifice that distinguishes it from the earthly sacrifices. therefore the method of man s reaching divinity was always proclaimed to be unselfishness and self

LETTER FROM A LUCIFEREAN

r of sexual diversity is commonplace, and books on sexual magic are easy to come by. the reader should bear in mind that it was a very different kettle of fish in the mid-fifties. however, i would not like to give the impression that the focus of the brotherhood was merely a venue for sexual orgia. the brotherhood s satanic ethos focused on the necessity of untangling oneself from the bindings of christian culture. since open and free sexual behaviour which is pleasurable, rather than merely procreative, has been for centuries castigated and demonized, our magister considered it the most effective method of awakening and invigorating the personal magical power, the will to overcome one s limitations. i came to understand this power as the "shining darkness- the luciferean life-spark. moreo

h is built up and can be tapped, during ritual work. needless to say, all ritual work (be it group or individual) was performed naked- all the better to draw on the power of the personal- or interpersonal- erotic impulse. since i have mentioned christianity in passing, i will now deal with the question of the relationship between christianity and satanism. i make no bones of the fact that i was a christian before i became a satanist, as were, to varying degrees i suppose, my colleagues. i have seen, time and time again, the charge by modern neo-pagans that satanists are merely inverted christians. to some extent, this charge is fell-founded. the relationship between christianity and satanism is very much like the relationship between the various schools of tantrism and orthodox vedanta. af

and satanism is very much like the relationship between the various schools of tantrism and orthodox vedanta. after all, the tantric s use of meat, wine, and sexual intercourse are only shocking within the context of orthodox belief. in the west, we think nothing of wining and dining as a prelude to sexual intercourse- providing of course that the lady pays! in the same way, satanism rejects the christian values of chastity, meekness, denial of pleasure and the flesh, and bending the knee to a god who is all-pervasive. what the neo-pagans miss of course, is that they themselves are as influenced by christian values as anyone else. it is too easy by far to simply embrace something which seems to be the antithesis of normality, without examining how one is bound by those values which, on th

denial of pleasure and the flesh, and bending the knee to a god who is all-pervasive. what the neo-pagans miss of course, is that they themselves are as influenced by christian values as anyone else. it is too easy by far to simply embrace something which seems to be the antithesis of normality, without examining how one is bound by those values which, on the surface, one is seemingly rejecting. christian values have infected modern satanic groups in much the same way. this can be seen in the way that modern exponents of satanism have concerned themselves with becoming strong, and crushing the weak. this desire to project one s own values onto other people masks a deep-seated insecurity, and is little more than the christian desire to save souls by another name. the satanist does not mere

es have infected modern satanic groups in much the same way. this can be seen in the way that modern exponents of satanism have concerned themselves with becoming strong, and crushing the weak. this desire to project one s own values onto other people masks a deep-seated insecurity, and is little more than the christian desire to save souls by another name. the satanist does not merely invert the christian impulse to interminably bother other people, but overcomes it, so that he is not at all concerned with other people apart from his chosen colleagues. for myself, it is much more satanic to have mastered the art of minding my own business, rather than setting myself up to pronounce the fate of other, lesser mortals. again, one can detect the undercurrents of christian impulse in the desir

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

ence modern satanism s effort to recover the positive satan of the romantic poets is inherently meaningless because it contradicts itself. alternately, in the same section where he discounts lavey and others as pseudo-satanists, russell characterizes jim jones s people s temple as a satanic group that merely used the name of christianity to disguise its true diabolism as if to imply that no truly christian organization could do anything bad or evil. the problem with this analysis is that western society is long past the stage in its cultural history where satan and satanism can unambiguously be equated with evil. the difficulties inherent in russell s assertion become evident as soon as one entertains its corollary, namely that christ and christianity are by definition good.however positiv

rn society is long past the stage in its cultural history where satan and satanism can unambiguously be equated with evil. the difficulties inherent in russell s assertion become evident as soon as one entertains its corollary, namely that christ and christianity are by definition good.however positively we might regard christianity, few of us would be willing to characterize the influence of the christian tradition as an unalloyed good. although we might wish we could make such simple, straightforward associations, the fact of the matter is that the cultural images of satanism and christianity we have inherited are complex and ambiguous. we do not have to look any further than everyday speech to perceive how thoroughly satan s sinister associations have been diluted: we live in a world wh

traditional aversion to sexuality, the diabolical has come to be associated with sex and sensuality. satan has also been portrayed as a proud, clever, creative nonconformist willing to question the status quo. in the modern world, all of these characteristics are regarded as positive traits, at least theoretically. almost all contemporary images of the devil derive directly or indirectly from the christian tradition. christian diabolism in turn has dual roots in judaism and zoroastrianism. the jewish satan was never as sinister as his christian counterpart. initially, in fact, satan was not a being at all, but, rather, an accusatory or adversarial role assigned by god. specifically, the earliest satans were angels, sent by god for the purpose of obstructing or blocking the acts of human be

smic war against god was later bequeathed to christianity. early christianity arose as a jewish sect during the apocalyptic period. the first christians strongly believed in the imminent second coming of christ (within their lifetimes, which would be accompanied by the resurrection of the dead, a final judgment, the defeat of satan, and the end of this world. with these apocalyptic additions, the christian devil remained essentially unchanged for centuries. these understandings were, however, gradually amplified by an emergent folklore about satan and his minions. this diabolical folklore eventually came to be regarded with the utmost seriousness by the church, so that, by the late medieval period, authorities were executing numerous people hundreds of thousands of people, especially women

new image of the church as a corrupt, evil institution that repressed and executed innocent people. if, then, christianity was bad, perhaps the devil was not so bad or even good. in the postmedieval world, particularly in romantic literary circles, poets like william blake often used infernal imagery to represent aspects of the human being such as sensuality components of the human condition the christian tradition labeled evil. this tendency to invert traditional introduction xiii imagery was also utilized by other romantic writers.more recent literary figures like the french poet charles baudelaire made use of the same inversion. for example, in his poem the possessed, baudelaire exclaimed, there is no fiber in my trembling body that does not cry, dear beelzebub, i adore you! the confli

LIBER LXI

e take refuge in vagueness. not to veil the truth to the neophyte, but to warn him against valuing non- essentials. should therefore the candidate hear the name of any god, let him not rashly assume that it refers to any known god, save only the god known to himself. or should the ritual speak in terms (however vague) which seem to imply egyptian, taoist, buddhist, indian, persian, greek, judaic, christian, or moslem philosophy, let him reflect that this is a defect of language; the literary limitation and not the spiritual prejudice of the man p. 24. especially let him guard against the finding of definite sectarian symbols in the teaching of his master, and the reasoning from the known to the unknown which assuredly will tempt him. we labour earnestly, dear brother, that you may never be

LIBER 777

the absolute recedes; we never grasp it; but in the travelling there is joy. am i no better than a staphylococcus because my ideas still crowd in chains? but we digress. the last attempts to tabulate knowledge are the kabbala denudata of knorr von rosenroth (a work incomplete and, in some of its parts, prostituted to the service of dogmatic interpretation, the lost symbolism of the vault in which christian rosenkreutz is said to have been buried, some of the work of dr. dee and sir edward kelly, some very imperfect tables in cornelius agrippa, the art of raymond lully, some of the very artificial effusions of the esoteric theosophists, and of late years the knowledge of the order ros rube et aure crucis and the hermetic order of the golden dawn. unluckily, the leading spirit in these latte

oseidon[[hermes psychopompos] 30 vision of surya. helios, apollo 31 agni-bhawana. hades 32 [athena] 32 bis prithiva-bhawana [demeter[[gaia] 31 bis vision of the higher self, prana-yama. we have insufficient knowledge of the attributions of assyrian, syrian, mongolian, tibetan, mexican, zend, south sea, west african &c. iacchus table of correspondences 10 xxxv. some roman gods. xxxvi. selection of christian gods (10; apostles (12; evangelists (4) and churches of asia (7. xxxvii. hindu legendary demons. 0. 1 jupiter god the 3 in 1 2 janus[[mercury] god the father, god who guides parliament 3 juno, cybele, hecate &c. the virgin mary 4 jupiter[[libitina] god the rain-make (vide prayer-book, god the farmer s friend 5 mars christ coming to judge the world 6 apollo[[bacchus, aurora] god the son (

LIBER ASTARTE

hat thou choose one suited to thine own highest nature. howsoever, this method is not so suitable for gods austere as saturn, or intellectual as thoth. but for such deities as in themselves partake in anywise of love it is a perfect mode. 2. concerning the prime method of this magick art. let the devotee consider well that although christ and osiris be one, yet the former is to be worshipped with christian, and the latter with egyptian rites. and this, although the rites themselves are ceremonially equivalent. there should, however, be one symbol declaring the transcending of such limitations; and with regard to the deity also, there should be some one affirmation of his identity both with all other similar gods of all other nations, and with the supreme of whom all are but partial reflect

LIBER CCXLII AHA

die! marysas. indeed, that .i. that is not god is but a lion in the road! knowest thou not (even now) how first the fetters of restriction burst? in the rapture of the heart self hath neither lot nor part. olypmas. tell me, dear master, how the bud first breaks to brilliance of bloom: what ecstasy of brain and blood shatters the seal upon the tomb of him whose gain was the world.s loss our father christian rosycross! marysas. first, one is like a gnarled old oak on a waste heath. shrill shrieks the wind. night smothers earth. storm swirls to choke the throat of silence! hard behind gathers a blacker cloud than all. aha! 5 but look! but look! it thrones a ball of blistering fire. it breaks. the lash of lightning snakes him forth. one crash splits the old tree. one rending roar!.and night is

LIBER CXCVII STORY OF SIR PALAMEDES

nd taste the goodly gift of grace. then fell the night. above the baying of the great beast, that was the bass liber cxcvii 98 to all the harps of heaven a-playing, there came a solemn voice (not one but was upon his knees in praying and glorifying god. the son of god himself .men thought.spoke then .arise! brave soldier, thou hast won the quest not given to mortal men. arise! sir palamede adept, christian, and no more saracen! on wake or sleeping, wise, inept, still thou didst seek. those foolish ways on which thy folly stumbled, leapt, all led to the one goal. now praise thy lord that he hath brought thee through to win the quest. the good knight lays his hand upon the beast. then blew each angel on his trumpet, then all heaven resounded that it knew sir palamede the saracen was master!

LIBER CXLVIII SOLDIER AND THE HUNCHBACK

evised 30.06.200.sliber cxlviii the soldier and the hunchback! and? a a publication in class c 1 gexpect seven misfortunes from the cripple, and forty-two from the one-eyed man; but when the hunchback comes, say eallah our aid. f h arab proverb. i inquiry. let us inquire in the first place: what is scepticism? the word means looking, questioning, investigating. one must pass by contemptuously the christian liar fs gloss which interprets gsceptic h as gmocker h; though in a sense it is true for him, since to inquire into christianity is assuredly to mock at it; but i am concerned to intensify the etymological connotation in several respects. first, i do not regard mere incredulity as necessary to the idea, though credulity is incompatible with it. incredulity implies a prejudice in favour o

end taking the steamer.for my sins i am in gibraltar. the soldier and the hunchback 9 back to dorothy at the earliest possible moment. sandwiches of bun and german sausage may be vulgar even imaginary.it fs the taste i like. and the more i munch, the more complacent i feel, until i go so far as to offer my critics a bite. this sounds in a way like the ginterior certainty h of the common or garden christian; but there are differences. the christian insists on notorious lies being accepted as an essential part of his (more usually her) system; i, on the contrary, ask for facts, for observation. under scepticism, true, one is just as much a house of cards as the other; but only in the philosophical sense. practically, science is true; and faith is foolish. practically, 3 1= 3 is the truth; an

ring 45 times h is a scientific and valuable statement. gi prayed fervently to the lord for the space of many days h means anything or nothing. anybody who cares to do so may imitate my experiment and compare his result with mine. in the latter case one would always be wondering what gfervently h meant and who gthe lord h was, and how many days made gmany. h my claim, too, is more modest than the christian fs. he (usually she) knows more about my future than is altogether pleasant; i claim nothing absolute from my samadhi.i know only too well the worthlessness of single-handed observations, even on so simple a matter as a boiling-point determination!.and as for his (usually her) future, i content myself with mere common sense about the probable end of a fool. so that after all i keep my sc

notising himself (as it were) into that perception of their identity, which is his (partial and incorrect) idea of how things look from kether. this man performs great magic; very strong medicine. he really does find gold on the midden and skeletons in pretty girls. in abiegnus the sacred mountain of the rosicrucians the postulant finds but a coffin in the central shrine; yet that coffin contains christian rosencreutz who is dead and is alive for evermore and hath the keys of hell and of death. ay! your tiphereth man, child of mercy and justice, looks deeper than the skin! but he seems a ridiculous object enough both to the malkuth man and to the kether man. still, he fs the most interesting man there is; and we all must pass through that stage before we get our heads really clear, the ket

LIBER DCCCLX JOHN ST

. my attempt to go to sleep has made me supernaturally wakeful. i am.as often before.in the state described by paul (not my masseur; the other paul) in his epistle to the romans, cap. vii. v. 19.1 i shall rise and go forth. 1.55. i have a good mind to try violent excitement of the m.l.dh.ra-cakra; for the whole su.umn. seems dead. this at the risk of being labelled a black magician .by clergymen, christian scientists, and the .self-reliant. classes in general. 2.15. arrived (partly by cab) at the place.2 certain curious phenomena which i have noticed at odd times.e.g, on thursday night.but did not think proper to record must be investigated. it seems quite certain that meditationpractices profoundly affect the sexual process: how and why i do not yet certainly know. 2.45. rubbish! everythi

r seen anything but his head, which he would poke out of a waterproof sheet. he was supposed to be an invalid. i am glad to say that i woke properly and got quite automatically on to the mantra. my prana, however, seems feverish and unbalanced. so i eat a biscuit or two and drink some water and will put it right with the pentagram ritual. done, but oh! how hard. sleep fights me as apollyon fought christian! but i will up and take him by the throat (see .tis 2.30. twelve minutes to do that little in) and look at the handwriting! liber dccclx 44 3.6. how excellent is pr.n.y.ma, a comfort to the soul! i did thirty-two cycles, easy and pleasant; could have gone on indefinitely. the muscles went rigid, practically of their own accord; so light did i feel that i almost thought myself to be .that

th taken the road to damascus. that holy man answered, as he went quietly to the cemetery .i will await him here. so, therefore, there is one place, o thou thief of my heart fs love, adonai, to which thou must come at last; and that place is the tomb in which lie buried all my thoughts and emotions, all that which is .i, and me, and mine. there will i lay myself and await thee, even as our father christian rosenkreutz that laid himself in the pastos in the vault of the mountain of the caverns, abiegnus, on whose portal did he cause to be written the words .post lux crucis annos patebo..1 so thou wilt enter in (as did frater n. n. and his companions) and open the pastos; and with thy winged globe thou wilt touch the rosy cross upon my breast, and i shall wake into life.the true life that is

s silly as rising at midnight, and saying .i will go out and sleep in the sun. but i am an irishman, and if you offer me a donkey-ride at a shilling the first hour and sixpence the second, you must not be surprised at the shrewd silliness of my replying that i will take the second hour first. 1 [see the fama fraternatis, the first rosicrucian manifesto. the inscription on the door of the vault of christian rosenkreutz was there said to be .post cxx annos patebo (after 120 years i shall manifest. 120 is equated with .lux crucis (the light of the cross) by various methods of qabalistic analogic] 2 [liber lxv, ii. 62] john st. john 63 but that is always the way; the love of besting our dearest friends in a bargain is native to us: and so, even in religion, when we are dealing with our own sou

LIBER LVII

shith, the first word in genesis, is made the initial of a word, and we obtain hrwt larcy wlbqyc \yhla har tycarb, be-rashith rahi elohim sheyequebelo israel torah .in the beginning the elohim saw that israel would accept the law. in this connection i may give six very interesting specimens of notariqon formed from this same word tycarb by solom meir ben moses, a jewish qabalist, who embraced the christian faith in 1665, and took the name of prosper rugere. these all have a christian tendency, and by their means prosper converted another jew, who had previously been bitterly opposed to christianity. the first is \ymt djy \tcwlc ba jwr b, ben ruach ab, shaloshethem yechad themim .the son, the spirit, the father, their trinity, perfect unity. the second is wdwbot djy \tcwlc ba jwr b, ben rua

inine on the left, whilst the four uniting sephiroth occupy the centre. this is the qabalistical .tree of life. on which all things depend. there is considerable analogy between this and the tree yggdrasil of the scandinavians. i have already remarked that there is one trinity which comprises all the sephiroth, and that it consists of the crown, the king, and the queen (in some senses this is the christian trinity of father, son and holy spirit, which in their highest divine nature are symbolized by the first three sephiroth, kether, 21 [sometimes \yyjh o, otz ha-chayim, thus making possible the fudging of a different set of gematria identities. t.s] on the qabalah 15 chokmah, and binah) it is the trinity which created the world, or, in qabalistic language, the universe was born from the u

anation of agla is this: a, the one first; a, the one last; g, the trinity in unity; l, the completion of the great work. but hwhy, the tetragrammaton, as we shall presently see, contains all the sephiroth with the exception of kether, and specially signifies the lesser countenance, microprosopus, the king of the qabalistic sephirothic greatest trinity, and the son in his human incarnation in the christian acceptation of the trinity. therefore, as the son reveals the father, so does hwhy reveal hyha. and ynda is the queen .by whom alone tetragrammaton can be grasped. whose exaltation into binah is found in the christian assumption of the virgin. the tetragrammaton hwhy is referred to the sephiroth thus: the uppermost point of the letter yod, y, is said to refer to kether; the letter y itse

which expressed these ideas to the wise. as these formulas are done with, it is of no consequence if i reveal them. truth is not eternal, any more than god; and it would be but a poor god that could and did not alter his ways at his pleasure. this formula was used to open the vault of the mystic mountain of abiegnus, within which lay (so the ceremony of initiation supposed) the body of our father christian rosen creutz, to be discovered by the brethren with the postulant as said in the book called fama fraternitatis. there are three officers, and they repeat the analysis of the word as follows: chief. let us analyse the key word.i. 2nd. n. 3rd. r. all. i. chief. yod. y 2nd. nun. n 3rd. resh. r all. yod. y chief. virgo (f) isis, mighty mother. 2nd. scorpio (h) apophis, destroyer. 3rd. sol)

ux, the light of the cross. this formula, on which one may meditate for years without exhausting its wonderful harmonics, gives an excellent idea of the way in which qabalistic analysis is conduct. first, the letters have been written in hebrew characters. then the attributions of them to the zodiac and to planets are substituted, and the names of egyptian gods belonging to these are invoked. the christian idea of i.n.r.i. is confirmed by these, while their initials form the sacred word of the gnostics. that is, iao. from the character of the deities and their functions are deduced their signs, and these are found to signal (as it were) the word lux (rwa, which itself is contained in the cross. a careful study of these ideas, and of the table of correspondences, which one of our english br

LIBER LXI VEL CAUSAE

he take refuge in vagueness. not to veil the truth to the neophyte, but to warn him against valuing non-essentials. should therefore the candidate hear the name of any god, let him not rashly assume that it refers to any known god, save only the god known to himself. or should the ritual speak in terms (however vague) which seem to imply egyptian, taoist, buddhist, indian, persian, greek, judaic, christian or moslem philosophy, let him reflect that this is a defect of language, the literary limitation and not the spiritual prejudice of the man p. 24. especially let him guard against the finding of definite sectarian symbols in the teaching of his master, and the reasoning from the known to the unknown which assuredly will tempt him. we labour earnestly, dear brother, that you may never be

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

ong* the name of siegfried.s sword. introduction to .ascension day and pentecost. not a word to introduce my introduction! let me instantly launch the boat of discourse on the sea of religious speculation, in danger of the rocks of authority and the quicksands of private interpretation, scylla and charybdis. here is the strait; what god shall save us from shipwreck? if we choose to understand the christian (or any other) religion literally, we are at once overwhelmed by its inherent impossibility. our credulity is outraged, our moral sense shocked, the holiest foundations of our inmost selves assailed by no ardent warrior in triple steel, but by a loathy and disgusting worm. that this is so, the apologists for the religion in question, whichever it may be, sufficiently indicate (as a rule)

e with nearly everything they say, but their claim to be christians is utterly confusing, and lends a lustre to christianity which is quite foreign. deussen, for example, coolly discards nearly all the old testament, and, picking a few new testament passages, often out of their context, claims his system as christianity. luther discards james. kingsford calls paul the arch heretic. my friend the .christian clergyman. accepted mark and acts.until pushed. yet deussen is honest enough to admit that vedanta teaching is identical, but clearer! and he quite clearly and sensibly defines faith.surely the most essential quality for the adherent to christian dogma .as .being convinced on insufficient evidence. similarly the dying-to-live idea of hegel (and schopenhauer) claimed by caird as the centr

n insufficient evidence. similarly the dying-to-live idea of hegel (and schopenhauer) claimed by caird as the central spirit of christianity is far older, in the osiris myth of the egyptians. these ideas are all right, but they have no more to do with christianity than the metric system with the great pyramid. but see piazzi smyth. henry morley has even the audacity to claim shelley.shelley!.as a christian .in spirit. talking of shelley:.with regard to my open denial of the personal christian god, may it not be laid to my charge that i have dared to voice in bald language what shelley* as represented by his encylop dia article; not in such works as .limits of religious thought..a.c. an astronomer whose brain gave way. he prophesied the end of the world in 1881, from measurements made in th

the cock of the dissenter.s midden, he) and others of the self-same kidney. how different from sir philip sidney! but .cave os, et claude id, ne vituperasse inventus sim. in english let me render him .ware mug, and snap potato-trap! or elsely it may haply hap aim of poet. indignation of poet. poet defies his uncle. whip and spur. sporting offer. the times competition outdone. sub-species of genus christian included in poet.s strictures. 145 150 155 160 165 170 175 180 ascension day 7 panel* in libel i bewail me (funny how english seems to fail me) so, as a surgeon to a man, sir, let me excise your christian cancer impersonally, without vanity, just in pure love of poor humanity! here.s just the chance you.d have! behold the warm sun tint with early gold yon spire: to-day.s event provide my

e the christ by simple section, and strictly on the moral side. but first; i must insist on taking the ordinary substantial creed your clergy preach from desk and pulpit each sunday; all the bible, shaking its boards with laughter as you read each sunday. ibsen43 to a full pit may play in the moon. if (lunars they) they thought themselves to be the play, it.s little the applause he.d get. i met a christian clergyman. the nicest man i ever met. we argued of the cosmic plan. i was lord roberts, he de wet.44* scots legal term for defendant. a romany word for woman. the rev. j. bowley. the conversation described actually occurred in mr. gerald kelly.s studio in paris. 185 190 195 200 205 210 215 ascension day. moral aspect of christianity to be discussed to prejudice of the metaphysical. ortho

LIBER XXXIII AN ACCOUNT OF AA

it is a society which unites superior strength to its own, and counts its members from more than one world. it is the society whose members form the republic of genius, the regent mother of the whole world [this work was first published in equinox i (1. the designation liber xxxiii was given in the gsyllabus h in equinox i (10. it is an adaptation by crowley (deleting or amending all specifically christian references) of letter ii of the cloud upon the sanctuary, a late 18th-century german work of christian mysticism, translated into french by persons unknown, and from french into english by one isabel de steiger (late 19th century (c) ordo templi orientis. key entry &c. by frater t.s. for celephais press/ n.i.w.g. this e-text last revised 13.06.200-tliber xxxvi the star sapphire v a a pub

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

texts with any one of the narrow definitions of myth suggested above. certainly they had some truth value to the people who composed them and those who wrote them down, but these were not always the same people.usually they were not.and it is obvious that what was true, sacred, and an account of how the world got to be the way it is to a viking age pagan poet can have been none of the above to a christian scribe copying the story in a manuscript hundreds of years after the viking age. it is therefore easier and more enlightening to talk of formal criteria and content. in form, then, myth in general, and the texts that comprise scandinavian mythology in particular, are narrative, although this narrative is couched in both verse and prose. in general, one expects myth to recount important e

universitetet) the viking age is by definition a period when scandinavians and europeans interacted, and without that interaction and the written documents it gave rise to in europe, archaeologists might have called the period from 800 to circa 1000 the gscandinavian iron age. h the beginning of the period, as we have seen, is portrayed by those who wrote the history, the literate members of the christian church, as a meeting between pagan and christian, and it was only natural that as time passed attempts would be made to convert the scandinavians, as charlemagne had converted the saxons. indeed, those scandinavians who traded or settled in christian lands had ample contact with christianity, and many of them either converted or had themselves gprime-signed, h that is, they accepted the

the process was to bear fruit first in denmark in the later tenth century, when king harald bluetooth witnessed the priest poppo carrying a red-hot piece of iron, with no harm to his hands, as a demonstration that christ was greater than the pagan gods. at jelling in jutland, king harald bluetooth erected an elaborate rune stone celebrating his parents and himself, the person who gmade the danes christian, h as the jelling rune stone says. in norway there is evidence of christian burial from around this time, and hakon the good was a christian king whose reign ended around 960, when harald converted. but hakon was buried in a mound and celebrated in pagan poetry. olaf tryggvason, who ruled norway from 995 to 1001, had been baptized in england, and he undertook a program of forcible conver

try. he was of a family from the oslo fjord, and the most obdurate pagans were allegedly in the other power center in the country, the area near modern trondheim. credit for the final conversion is given to olaf haraldsson. when he was killed at the battle of stiklestad in 1030, a battle having far more to do with national politics than religion.his opponents were supported by cnut the great, the christian king of denmark and england.people quickly saw signs of his sanctity, and he became the most important saint of northern europe. we are less well informed about the conversion in sweden. although the kings of sweden were christian from the beginning of the eleventh century, the monk adam of bremen, in his history (ca. 1070) of the archbishopric of hamburg- bremen in northern germany, whi

inavia, reported a vast pagan temple at uppsala, with idols of the pagan gods and gruesome sacri- introduction 7 rune stones depicting thor fs hammer like this one in sweden are fairly easy to find. compare this to the rune stone on page 10; both are from the late viking age (statens historika museum, stockholm) fices. but eleventh-century rune stones from that very same part of sweden are openly christian: ggod rest his soul, h many of them ask, in runes surrounding an incised cross. most historians accept that sweden was fully christian by the beginning of the twelfth century at the latest. the conversion in iceland followed a fascinating course. missionaries were active in the latter decades of the tenth century, but so were their pagan opponents. olaf tryggvason, whose role in the conv

LUCIFERIAN SORCERY

proceed later to darker areas of bestial exploration, such as lycanthropy and spiritual transformations of mind above flesh. the union of both brings the announcement of our becoming in the world of manes and shades of the dead. the daemonic aspects of the witches sabbat path are quite real, however once one evokes and invokes the spirit of these dark lords shall they be revealed as positive. the christian inversion of pagan gods is only visible on the surface, thus beyond separation from god to daemon is one in the same. we are both the garden of pleasure and the catacombs of the dead and their necromantical desire. 16 the grand circle of magickal awakening is the triple hermetic circle, developed from hamara t. this circle, traced by each initiate and give the proper names from which sha

direct communication with the setian gnosis. this is when the great illumination known as the black flame takes place, and the individual is able to perceive that life is what he or she makes of it, and everything is possible with a positive outlook. the christians would have you believe that black magick itself is the path of death and destruction, however it is honestly quite the opposite. the christian monotheistic religion is self-destruction by placing exterior worship of a deity alien to you. it teaches that man and women are to be subservient to it s will and that we must ignore the natural desires and impulses we were born with. the luciferian laughs at such, and we with discipline and thought out actions, change life, as we know it to suit us as best we can. we do not accept thin

LUCIFERIAN SORCERY AND SET TYPHON

ersary. the combination of art and text invoke the very spirit of shaitan and lilith to those who may embrace it. azothoz reaches into the current of magick to manifest itself in the initiate who may be of this essence, born by the spark of djinn fire to witch blood. this is a luciferian process of self- liberation which invites a deeper understanding of daemon and angel, their union outside of a christian standpoint. it is the otherness which individuals may seek to inspire, bringing one closer to the lord of storms and chaos, set to a spirit of order in the self. when writing of angels, a point of the `angelick familiar, luciferian angel or holy guardian angel may be observed, higher aspects of our consciousness, while `demonic familiar is the lower, bestial aspects of our consciousness

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

solid scientific bases and is in conflict not with religion as a whole, but with only a very narrow interpretation of a very small part of one sacred book, the bible. this is where america runs the risk of becoming isolated from the rest of the world, and not just politically. worldwide, an enormous majority of believers in the bible no longer interpret the hebrew story of creation literally only christian fundamentalists do so. this is their right, of course. on the other hand, it is not their right to try to impose their religious views on others, especially where science is concerned. in doing so, these people, if successful, will clutter the science curriculum with misleading, unscientific issues, something our country does not need. neocreationists and proponents of intelligent design

science curriculum with misleading, unscientific issues, something our country does not need. neocreationists and proponents of intelligent design usually prefer not to make reference to the bible. but in the final analysis, their goal is the same: they want to put an end to the teaching of what they call materialistic science and replace it with something more in agreement with their particular christian convictions. this strategy was discussed in the excellent book creationism s trojan horse: the wedge of intelligent design, by barbara forrest and paul r. gross (oxford university press, 2004. as we know, our modern world relies heavily on science and its applications. as we also know, the state of scientific and mathematical knowledge is not a healthy one in the united states. teaching

decades. the most prominent opinion continues to be in favor of creationism and against evolution. nearly half of the u.s. population, then, reject one of the historically most contentious scientific theories, the theory of evolution by natural selection, often referred to as darwinism. opponents of evolution claim that evolutionary biology is unfounded, undemonstrated, illogical, and possibly un-christian in short, basically wrong. in 2005, the kansas board of education passed a resolution giving high school teachers free reign to teach alternatives to evolution, including so-called intelligent design theory (hereinafter id, a recent variant of creationism. this decision, and president george w. bush s public endorsement of it, stirred intense national debate. a movement supporting creati

on passed a resolution giving high school teachers free reign to teach alternatives to evolution, including so-called intelligent design theory (hereinafter id, a recent variant of creationism. this decision, and president george w. bush s public endorsement of it, stirred intense national debate. a movement supporting creationism and the teaching of id in public schools is now spreading to other christian countries, as well. meanwhile, creationists and id advocates have become increasingly powerful in u.s. political organizations, now representing a majority of the republican party in several states. journalist and author chris mooney argues in his book the republican war on science (2005) that seattle s discovery institute an organization at the center of the id movement is politically a

cally and religiously motivated. the goal of the discovery institute, he claims, is the destruction of scientific materialism (modern science) and its replacement by a religiously imbued science based on the supernatural origin of many phenomena observed in nature (intelligent design. this redefinition of science, says mooney, is in line with the thinking of members of the conservative republican christian right and hence has serious political implications that can affect all of us. it is therefore important to understand what id actually 3 proposes, what its origins are, and the extent to which it can validly claim to be a scientific alternative to evolutionary science. intelligent design is not really a new approach to explain life on earth. it derives from older religious interpretation

MACNULTY W KIRK KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY

stical ascent" was part and parcel of the hermetic/kabbalistic tradition. we should note that this journey is an ascent in consciousness; from ordinary consciousness of the physical world, through the soul and the spirit, to a consciousness of the divine presence. reuchlin describes such an ascent in de arte kabbalistica;51 another can be found in the hermetica.52 some of these ascents are deeply christian in their character. in de occulta philosophia agrippa. rises through the three worlds, the elemental world, the celestial world, the supercelestial world. where he is in contact with angels, where the trinity is proved. the hebrew names of god are listed, though the name of jesus is now the most powerful of all names."53 viewed with these writings in the background, masonic symbolism cer

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

t: table of contents p. 7 table of contents dedication 3 preface 5 color plates 9 illustrations in the text 11 introduction 12 the ancient mysteries and secret societies which have influenced modern masonic symbolism ancient systems of education--celsus concerning the christians--knowledge necessary to right living--the druidic mysteries of britain and gaul--the rites of mithras--the mithraic and christian mysteries contrasted. 21 the ancient mysteries and secret societies, part ii the gnostic mysteries--simon magus and basilides--abraxas, the gnostic concept of deity--the mysteries of serapis--labyrinth symbolism--the odinic, or gothic, mysteries. 25 the ancient mysteries and secret societies, part iii the eleusinian mysteries--the lesser rites--the greater rites--the orphic mysteries- th

sephiroth the thirty-two paths of wisdom--the greater and the lesser face--kircher's sephirothic tree--the mystery of daath--the three pillars supporting the sephirothic tree--the four letters of the sacred name. 121 qabbalistic keys to the creation of man gematria, notarikon, and temurah--the elohim--the four adams--arabian traditions concerning adam--adam as the archetype of mankind--the early christian church on the subject of marriage. 125 an analysis of the tarot cards the origin of playing cards--the rota mundi of the rosicrucians--the problem of tarot symbolism--the unnumbered card--the symbolism of the twenty-one major trumps- the suit cards. 129 the tabernacle in the wilderness moses, the egyptian initiate--the building of the tabernacle--the furnishings of the tabernacle--the ar

e rosicrucian temple--the adepts of the rose cross. 137 rosicrucian doctrines and tenets the confessio fraternitatis--the anatomy of melancholy--john heydon on rosicrucianism--the three mountains of the wise--the philosophical egg--the objects of the rosicrucian order. 141 fifteen rosicrucian and qabbalistic diagrams schamayim, the ocean of spirit--the seven days of creation--the symbolic tomb of christian rosencreutz--the regions of the elements--the new jerusalem--the grand secret of nature. 145 alchemy and its exponents the multiplication of metals--the medal of emperor leopold i--paracelsus of hohenheim--raymond lully--nicholas flarnmel--count bernard of treviso. 149 the theory and practice of alchemy the origin of alchemical philosophy--alexander the great and the talking trees--natur

rigin of alchemical philosophy--alexander the great and the talking trees--nature and art--alchemical symbolism--the song of solomon--the philosopher's gold. 153 the theory and practice of alchemy, part ii the alchemical prayer--the emerald tablet of hermes--a letter from the brothers of r. c--the magical mountain of the moon--an alchemical formula--the dew of the sages. 157 the chemical marriage christian rosencreutz is invited to the chemical wedding--the virgo lucifera--the philosophical inquisition--the tower of olympus--the homunculi--the knights of the golden stone. 161 bacon, shakspeare, and the rosicrucians the rosicrucian mask--life of william shakspere--sir francis bacon--the acrostic signatures--the significant number thirty-three--the philosophic death. 165 the cryptogram as a

est, the less studious furthermore concluded that the wiser course to pursue was to accept that which appeared to be the most reasonable of the teachings of any school or individual. from this practice, however, arose a pseudo-broadmindedness devoid of the element of preciseness found in true logic and philosophy. the neo-pythagorean school flourished in alexandria during the first century of the christian era. only two names stand out in connection with it--apollonius of tyana and moderatus of gades. neo- pythagoreanism is a link between the older pagan philosophies and neo-platonism. like the former, it contained many exact elements of thought derived from pythagoras and plato; like the latter, it emphasized metaphysical speculation and ascetic habits. a striking similarity has been obse

MARS COCIDIUS AND THE REDCAPS IN LANCASHIRE

rome too, and the college of augurs who thereafter carried the crooked staff (lituus) of a swineherd as a symbol of office. the lituus also mimics the shape of a swans head and neck (this is not coincidental. the staff was used to mark out the area of sky used in the process of augury and to mark out the templum on the ground where the augur carried out his rites. the lituus was later adopted by christian bishops. it is therefore most appropriate that the votive of laran was unearthed in a ploughed field. when it came into my hands it was still covered in brown clay. as noted earlier mars as god of the countryside is represented as the green woodpecker (picus puck? c.f. pook, bwca, boggart, buggane and all the other variants) and therefore wears the livery common to most of the little peo

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

of the pale galilean is passing, and the restrictions imposed by his devotees are losing their thrall upon the public mind, leaving people free once more to return to the old teachings of joy and knowledge of arts once forbidden. our lady habondia and her horned consort hold court once more. should you wish to tread the dark path of witchcraft, the way is open to you now. whether you believe the christian bugaboos and fear to lose your soul in return for the powers or, like us, consider the gamble well spent, is up to you. should you decide the former, then read no further. the aim of this book is solely to teach you the first steps to becoming a witch or warlock. but remember, the choice was yours. we take no responsibility for the results you may achieve, good or bad. witchcraft is witc

is underworld aspect as lord of riches and artificer of metals. in fact he is the alter ego of tubal cain himself, naamah's own brother. azael or azazel, is in fact one of the modern witch's gods. which brings me to the crux of the matter. according to ancient magical legend, azael was originally one of those beings of primordial fire, first created dwellers in the high heaven, referred to by the christian church as messengers, or angels, by the greeks as daemons. azael and his followers, according to old lore, in defiance of their masters, elected to descend upon the earth countless eons ago, for the purpose of educating and civilizing primitive man as he then existed. whether it was part of their original plan or merely a side issue, these angelic beings "sons of god" or "watchers of the

great azael and his cohorts had had to assume tangible bodies in order to descend upon the earth. because of their revolt against higher authority and the ties with this world which they had subsequently formed, they were unable to divest themselves of these material forms and re-ascend into the heavenly spaces again "book of noah" from charles canon, book of enoch, london, society for promoting christian knowledge, 1962. reprinted from oxford university press edition, 1912- it is from these exiled beings that all true magical knowledge and power is said to be derived. laban, reputedly one of the greatest adepts in magical art of pre-flood times, visited the mountaintop wherein they dwelt, to learn his wisdom. this idea has lingered on and finally became a fundamental part of legends of m

one day and night by volcanic upheaval and subsequent flood, of such a planetary magnitude that to this day, throughout many parts of the world, there yet remains evidence of this appalling cataclysm in the form of layers of silt and debris beneath a certain level of geological strata, as well ,as the recurring legends of the flood and atlantis current throughout the western hemisphere. the early christian writer of the tale of beowulf recounts how, written in runes upon the hilt of an enchanted sword said to have been made by the nephelim themselves, king hrothgar of the danes reads. the story of ancient wars between good and evil, the opening of the waters, the flood sweeping the giants away, how they suffered, and died, that race who hated the ruler of us all, and received judgement fro

r on. we know for a fact that glass castles such as these existed at craig phadrick at inverness, dun fionn, achterawe, and dundbhairdghal. by the eleventh century a.d, subsequent to successive invasions of britain, as it was now called, by teutonic angles, saxons, jutes, danes, and lastly normans, prytanic lore had been completely overlaid by a conglomeration of celtic, roman, saxon, and finally christian beliefs, gnostic and otherwise. the prytani themselves, now referred to by either their saxon epithet, elvenfolk, or simply as people of the heath or heathens, were rapidly dwindling into legend. the elven king and queen in their enchanted hill which opened up on the ancient holy festivals of halloween and beltane were fast passing out of public memory, recalled only by the wise, or as t

MATHERS MACGREGOR THE GREATER KEY OF SOLOMON VOL 1

d and published in the philosophie occulte, as well as an invocation called the qabalistical invocation of solomon, which bears close analogy to one in the first book, being constructed in the same manner on the scheme of the sephiroth. the history of the hebrew original of the key of solomon is given in the introductions, but there is every reason to suppose that this has been entirely lost, and christian, the pupil of levi, says as much in his histoire de la magie. i see no reason to doubt the tradition which assigns the authorship of the key to king solomon, for among others josephus, the jewish historian, especially mentions the magical works attributed to that monarch; this is confirmed by many eastern traditions, and his magical skill is frequently mentioned by the old adepts. there

MEANING OF MASONRY

l a philosophy of the spiritual life of man and a diagram of the process of regeneration. we shall see presently that philosophy is not only consistent with the doctrine of every religious system taught outside the ranks of the order, but that it explains, elucidates and more sharply defines, the fundamental doctrines common to every religious system in the world, whether past or present, whether christian or non-christian. the religions of the world, though all aiming at teaching truth, express that truth in different ways, and we are more prone to emphasize the differences than to look for the correspondences in what they teach. in some masonic lodges the candidate makes his first entrance to the lodge room amid the clash of swords and the sounds of strife, to intimate to him that he is

d alluding to the g.g.o.t.u. doubtless we have often asked ourselves what that phrase and what that symbol imply. need i repeat that the building alluded to is not the edifice we meet in, but is our own selves, and that the sacred symbol at the centre of the roof and of the floor of this outward temple is but symbolic of that which exists at the centre of ourselves, and which was spoken of by the christian master when he proclaimed that" the kingdom of heaven is within you; that at the depths of our own being, concealed beneath the heavy veils of the sensual, lower nature, there resides that vital and immortal principle, which is said to" a llude to" the g.g. because it is nothing other than a spark of god himself immanent within us. over the old temples of the mysteries was deeper written

shlar of his own nature into the perfect cube, and i would ask you to observe also that the cube itself contains a secret, for unfolded, it itself denotes and takes the form of the cross. the inward development which the second degree symbolizes is typified by the lowering of the triangular flap of the apron upon the rectangular portion below. this is equivalent to the rite of confirmation in the christian churches. it denotes" the progress we have made in the science" or in other words it indicates that the higher nature of the man, symbolized by the trinity of spirit, has descended into and is now permeating his lower nature. hitherto, in his state of ignorance and moral blindness, the spiritual part of his nature has, as it were, but hovered above him; he has been unconscious of its pre

wn person. in masonry that prototype is hiram abiff: but it must be made clear that there is no historical basis whatever for the legendary account of hiram's death. the entire story is symbolical and was purposely invented for the symbolical purposes of our teaching. if you examine it closely you will perceive how obvious the correspondence is between this story and the story of the death of the christian master related in the gospels; and it is needless to say that the mason who realizes the meaning of the latter will comprehend the former and the veiled allusion that is implied. in the one case the master is crucified between the two thieves; in the other he is done t o death between two villains. in the one case appear the penitent and the impenitent thief; in the other we have the con

crucified between the two thieves; in the other he is done t o death between two villains. in the one case appear the penitent and the impenitent thief; in the other we have the conspirators who make a voluntary confession of their guilt and were pardoned, and the others who were found guilty and put to death; whilst the moral and spiritual lessons deducible from the stories correspond. as every christian is taught that in his own life he must imitate the life and death of christ, so every mason is" made to represent one of the brightest characters recorded in our annals; but as the annals of masonry are contained in the volume of the sacred law and not elsewhere, it is easy to see who the character is who is alluded to. as that great authority and initiate of the mysteries, st. paul, tau

MICHAEL FORD A RITE OF THE WEREWOLF

generibus (1560) by casper peucer wrote of a story from latvia, of when werewolves take their forms to walk at night with the devil. the sorcerers are summoned to a conclave where all transform and go forth by night. the writer jean de nyauld in de la lycanthropie and metamorphosis and ecstasy and witches makes reference to an ointment with the following ingredients: the fat of a child (take away christian paranoia= animal fat, juice of water parsnip, soot and deadly nightshade. the unguent which was smeared on the inner thigh contained belladonna, this was said to create flying sensations. a document from the sloane ms. british museum and published in an older book6 presents a werewolf chant7 from which the sorcerer sheds the human form for that of a wolf. such a chant may be used in drea

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

its cup. i have worked in the occult since i was very young, it is very much a natural thing to me, and the connections between the topics of vampirism and sorcery were made known to me at an early age through my dreams. at a later age i actually made a magickal connection, the result of this study in print is the book of the witch moon. this is meant to be a study guide to the night side, a non- christian dogma infested approach. the methods of witchcraft within this tome are of the darkest magick, when vampires, werewolves and sorcerers haunted the nights, doing their work and weaving webs in your dreams. we are still there, alive in your mythologies, alive in your mind. what is witchcraft in essence? is witchcraft the worship of nature, an earth religion? not completely. the tradition

sired area. this method can also be used to contact a succubus or incubus and is a very useful technique for purposes of evocation and invocation. da ath da ath is one of the zones of the qabalistic tree of life, a great void which is defined as the abyss. the abyss or zone of da'ath is best understood as the dimension from which all begins or manifests, we are but spawn of the abyss. this is the christian hell, evil only by the ignorance and lack of understanding concerning the nature of da ath. the world, nature and the universe as we know it are indifferent to suffering, the same as the abyss. all things manifest from this dimension yet nothing remains within its favor, all returns to it by the way of the grave at some point. life recycles itself. this can also be defined as what spare

rimoire a standard study and road map for the awakenings of witchcraft are presented and often hinted at. witch blood is the gateway to the magickal current within each individual. witch blood is not an actual hereditary stream or genetic code, but a mental gateway and gift bestowed by one who conceals the nature of the self and self-love, the discipline needed to conquer the state of being. some christian based beliefs describe those of the path of the adversary, or shaitan (lucifer) as demon-possessed. they state that we are conversing with demons and harbor relations with the devil. this is completely true! we are of the adversary, the devil, or shaitan. its voice speaks to us through our dreams, through our very lives according to our will. this is witch blood. anyone who has dedicated

alk now the luciferian path, reborn under the luciferic shadows and promethean light! shaitan asmodeus belial lilith hecate eko, eko" the witch would now make a cut and draw blood, letting it drop into the soil. this would be followed by the vision of a brilliant white light which is followed by the ascent of the morning star, lucifer. this symbolism is based on the essence of lucifer in the pre- christian gnostic status of bringer of light. the gnostic method of overcoming the self, becoming all and none. the initiate should then disrobe and begin traveling through the forest, running, jumping until complete exhaustion overtakes their very being. this would be a very close and early representation of what is the death posture, which the initiate would undertake some time later. this is th

iation of asmodeus with witchcraft beyond the triple mooned nature is that the daemon is said to be the child of tubal- cain and naamah, given life by the reverse aspects associated with witchcraft and demonology. these 'reverse aspects' refer to his title as a "demon of impurity (the book of the sacred magick of abramelin the mage" translated by macgregor mathers) which signifies the horrors (by christian doctrine) of astral copulations which occur at the witches' sabbat. such copulations occur once the individual creates and charges elementals evoked for this specific purpose on the material plane. it is not always advisable to evoke such elementals while not consecrating or binding them, such if not controlled can cause undesirable effects. asmodeus in the doctrine of the witches sabbat

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

should now be apparent, historians have suppressed most of theevidence of the pre-diluvian matriarchies. all the various tenets of post-diluvian religionhave their roots in the lexicons of those bent on mind control and the enslavement of human-kind. the utter perversity of their natures could not be better revealed than by the philosoph-ical perusal of these so-called religious credos.a study of christian history discloses the portentous fact that the concept of the malig-nancy of matter, coming into the movement from hinduism through zoroastrianism,became an influence overwhelmingly dominating the theology and the ethic. it bred the mon-strous cult of asceticism, whose driving motivation was the idea that the instincts of the fleshmust be crushed down in the interests of the spirit. the

me an influence overwhelmingly dominating the theology and the ethic. it bred the mon-strous cult of asceticism, whose driving motivation was the idea that the instincts of the fleshmust be crushed down in the interests of the spirit. the tragic consequence of this stagger-ing default of insight are incalculable, but in all conscience overwhelming to any intelli-gence that discerns it. it lay the christian mind open to the obsession of a psychologicalinfluence that has been nothing less than devastating to sanity, inflicting upon the psyche atrauma that has produced morbidity and crushed to a degree the natural instinct for humanhappiness (alvin boyd kuhn, the ultimate canon of knowledge)from these malefactors comes the notion of the removed god, a distant, immaterialand punitive demiurge

m egalitar-ian to state society. certainly no standard explanations are adequate (david watson, thepathology of civilization)in individuals, insanity is rare, but in groups, parties, nations and epochs it is the rule (fredrick nietzsche) atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation65 chapter 10what goes on in the bible?the government of the united states is not in any sense founded on the christian religion.(president john adams)from the advent of the first historical empires, over 10,000 years have elapsed. wehave long attempted to answer the dilemma of evil and its permutations. we have beenlead to believe that it is a natural, if pernicious, part of life, something we each have towork out as we exist and evolve. we are made to think that evil comes into beingbecause of the erstw

orld fools and the other half hypocrites; to support rogueryand error all over the earth (thomas jefferson)the clergy converted the simple teachings of jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind andadulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to them-selves..these clergy, in fact, constitute the real anti-christ (thomas jefferson)what influence in fact have christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? inmany instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. in no instancehave they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. rulers who wished to sub-vert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. a just government,instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the

c liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. a just government,instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy (president james madison)thanks to scholars, we now know that the book of genesis is a simulacra of earliersumerian, akkadian, and egyptian originals, in which the experiences of the dramatispersonae are suggestively similar. the net result is that the christian hegemony has noanswer for the existential predicaments of man. in fact, they have made these worse.they espouse no answers or remedies that do not themselves foster the repression ofthe natural instincts. surely, after 2,000 years of such labyrinthine diversions, theolog-ical nonsense, and prevarication, it is time to hand out the pink slip to the representa-tives of religion and pay no

MICHAEL W FORD THE VAMPIRE GATE

would be law and she gave him the tablet of destinies. kingu went forth to battle and was later defeated. his blood was used to beget the human race according to legend. let s consider the path of tiamat and its relation to vampirism and the luciferian path. rahab is a name associated with dragon and serpent, such is associated as an antagonist against the associated god of the hebraic and early christian culture. the primal dragon is an atavistic1 force in the blood, brain and deepest memories of the human race. as tiamat was of the first, this force arises again in the judeo- christian texts of revelations, as the behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns here we see the manifestation of samael or lucifer as the great dragon, no doubt a

n the ground in which the adept treads. knowledge of the enemy is essential. the luciferian must study the ways of the enemy monotheistic right hand path religions christianity, et al. such belief indoctrinates the weak and ignorant, thus should be kept out of the mind entirely, save it poison you to spiritual death. if anything, the luciferian should seek to devour the very essence of the tribal christian god, 47 to drink deep of its knowledge of war, chaos, natural disaster, disease. if you compare the realities of our world with the christian concept, their god is dormant. please take your attention to luciferian witchcraft and specifically the yatuk dinoih. the ten precepts of zohak and the ten adominations of akht jadu display therein the very foundation of this work, the luciferian p

uciferian witchcraft, includes several of his most infamous graveyard workings, together with the complete version of the luciferian goetia- a completely revised and updated version of the goetia grimoire from the lesser key of solomon the king. part three covers yatukan and ahrimanic persian sorcery. as i have mentioned before, it is the willingness and creativity of ford to look beyond worn-out christian- and hebrew-based demonology in search of black magick inspiration that marks his work as unique. here, forbidden heresies of millenia-old zoroastrian thought reveal their diabolic secrets to the sorceror. 91 liber hvhi magick of the adversary by michael w. ford succubus publishing 2005 isbn: 1411660862 198 pages, 8.5 x 11.0 in, perfect-bound, 60# white interior paper, black and white in

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

partitions of the universe: the abyss, the heavens, the astral, and the earth. others still speak of 4 partitions: hell (infernal, heaven, the astral, and the material. the cross-sections that occultists have divided the universe differs, but there is general agreement regarding the function, and nature of the separate worlds. the concepts of heaven and hell are usually thought of as exclusively christian, but this is far from the truth. every religion and mythology out there makes reference to the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. in regards to the heavens, it is often described as an extra dimension that does indeed have the semblance of space and time. satan and the angels, for instance, are spoke of as approaching the throne of god, as if there were a way to be in heaven, but no

implied in this is that heaven and our world--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 24 are connected by a guarded nexus point. what s more is that heaven itself is often spoke of as being broken into 7 pieces, the 7 heavens. each level of the heavens is ruled by an arch-angel, and in some cases these heavens have been mistaken for earthly locations. for example, i ve heard occultists, texts of the christian apocrypha, and muslims speak of the garden of eden as a location that resides in the 3rd heaven, as opposed to a terrestrial location. then there is hell, sometimes called the abyss, the qliphoth, the averse, or acausal realms. similar to how the heavens are broken into 7 pieces, hell is also considered to exist as separate parts and, like the heavens, each partition has its own ruler. b

h-heh-shu-wah and yeh-heh-wah-sha are references to yahweh [god; the former, yeh-heh-shu-wah refers to his heavenly manifestation, while the latter, yeh-heh-wah-sha, represents god in his fleshly manifestation. it s pretty clear who they had in mind--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 46 further, these very same magicians recommended a lifestyle, and use of magical powers, that anyone could call christian. some magicians, like our aforementioned amberlin, recommended a lifestyle only the angels could touch; his emphasis regarding the moral use of magic and devotion to god became redundant (annoying, even to the well-intentioned reader( me. but there was something else about these occult writers that drew me in. i found myself intrigued by their commentary about psychology, history, and th

nd microchips, are soon to be required for travel, and to enter corporate and government buildings. purchases will also come to rely on such forms of identification, as the move for totally electronic currency begins. atheism, and other beliefs lacking spirituality, will continue to rise; the people of the future only concern themselves with the material. you will witness strange new practices in christian, catholic, and islamic churches; they will begin to resemble festivals and marketplaces more than places of worship. those religious people who are unwilling to liberalize their principles will be pegged as dangerous fanatics and fundamentalists. as life for the commoner becomes increasingly unbearable, he seeks to use drugs to escape from it; the depression he attempts to banish is the

cain [5.9] cain, as christians know him, is the first son of adam and eve, and also the first murderer. cain was jealous of his righteous brother abel, so one day while out in the field, cain murdered able. the lord, enraged at what cain has done, drives cain away from his parents and places a mark upon him so that people who cross his path do not slay him. i have always thought that the standard christian interpretation of this story was wrong; just listen to the wording. here s the lord speaking to cain after his crime in genesis 4:11 and now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 85 hand; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a va

MICHAEL W FORD NOX UMBRA

ten causes obsession and destruction. this, if looked through a rhp (right hand path) or path of disillusion (i.e. christianity) this is accurate according to the belief structure. keep in mind that religious pathways such as christianity hold no adversarial view piont rather than the extremes of the exact opposite side- which is not a natural point of study in itself. can the buddhist understand christian thinking inherently and objectively? yes, this path allows psychologically the ability to perceive and understand other views, while still limiting material control and destroing the self in the natural order. could christians understand a buddhist view point-as a majority, no. can a lhp (left hand path) practitioner understand the religious doctrine of christianity- yes, while most of u

MOODY RAYMOND A LIFE AFTER LIFE

d not mean to imply that the being had wings, played a harp, or even had a human shape or appearance. there was only the light. what each was trying to get across was that they took the being to be an emissary, or a guide. a man who had had no religious beliefs or training at all prior to his experience simply identified what he saw as "a being of fight" the same label was used by one lady of the christian faith, who apparently did not feel any compulsion at all to call the light "christ" shortly after its appearance, the being begins to communicate with the person who is passing over. notably, this communication is of the same direct kind which we encountered earlier in the description of how a person in the spiritual body may "pick up the thoughts" of those around him. for, here again, p

ry black, except that, way off from me, i could see this light. it was a very, very brilliant light, but not too large at first. it grew larger as i came nearer and nearer to it. i was trying to get to that light at the end, because i felt that it was christ, and i was trying to y reach that point. it was not a frightening experience. it was more or less a pleasant thing. for immediately, being a christian, i had connected the light with christ, who said "i am the t light of the world" i said to myself "if this is it, if i am to die, then i know who waits for me at the end, there in that light (2) i got up and walked into the hall to go get a drink, and it was at that point, as they found out later, that my appendix ruptured. i became very weak, and i fell down. i began to feel a sort of d

urse of his vision also, interestingly enough, paul reports that he was blinded by the light and was unable to see for three days afterward. this runs contrary to the reports of those who say that though the light was indescribably brilliant, it in no way blinded them, or kept them from seeing things around them. in his discussions of the nature of the afterlife, paul says that some challenge the christian concept of the afterlife by asking what kind of body the dead will have: 1 corinthians 15:35-52: but some man will say "how are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come" thou fool (of) that which` thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. but god give' it a body as it hath pleased him, and to ever, seed his own body. there are also celestial bodies

MORALS AND DOGMA

quare, and compasses, are not only styled the great lights in masonry, but they are also technically called the furniture of the lodge; and, as you have seen, it is held that there is no lodge without them. this has sometimes been made a pretext for excluding jews from our lodges, because they cannot regard the new testament as a holy book. the bible is an indispensable part of the furniture of a christian lodge, only because it is the sacred book of the christian religion. the hebrew pentateuch in a hebrew lodge, and the koran in a mohammedan one, belong on the altar; and one of these, and the square and compass, properly understood, are the great lights by which a mason must walk and work. the obligation of the candidate is always to be taken on the sacred book or books of his religion

us, began his letters thus"_our lord and god commands that it should be done so and so" and formally decreed that no one should address him otherwise, either in writing or by word of mouth. palfurius sura, the philosopher, who was his chief delator, accusing those who refused to recognize his divinity, however much _he_ may have believed in that divinity, had not the right to demand that a single christian in rome or the provinces should do the same. reason is far from being the only guide, in morals or in political science. love or loving-kindness must keep it company, to exclude fanaticism, intolerance, and persecution, to all of which a morality too ascetic, and extreme political principles, invariably lead. we must also have faith in ourselves, and in our fellows and the people, or we

moniously blended, that a perfect discipline is evolved. there are men who dialectically are christians, as there are a multitude who dialectically are masons, and yet who are ethically infidels, as these are ethically of the profane, in the strictest sense--intellectual believers, but practical atheists--men who will write you "evidences" in perfect faith in their logic, but cannot carry out the christian or masonic doctrine, owing to the strength, or weakness, of the flesh. on the other hand, there are many dialectical skeptics, but ethical believers, as there are many masons who have never undergone initiation; and as ethics are the end and purpose of religion, so are ethical believers the most worthy. he who _does_ right is better than he who _thinks_ right. but you must not act upon t

n systematic hypocrisy. when the demagogue becomes a usurper it does not follow that he was all the time a hypocrite. shallow men only so judge of others. the truth is, that creed has, in general, very little influence on the conduct; in religion, on that of the individual; in politics, on that of party. as a general thing, the mahometan, in the orient, is far more honest and trustworthy than the christian. a gospel of love in the mouth, is an avatar of persecution in the heart. men who believe in eternal damnation and a literal sea of fire and brimstone, incur the certainty of it, according to their creed, on the slightest temptation of appetite or passion. predestination insists on the necessity of good works. in masonry, at the least now of passion, one speaks ill of another behind his

er in time. pretence and grimace and sordid beggary for votes will some day cease to avail. have faith, and struggle on, against all evil influences and discouragements! faith is the saviour and redeemer of nations. when christianity had grown weak, profitless, and powerless, the arab restorer and iconoclast came, like a cleansing hurricane. when the battle of damascus was about to be fought, the christian bishop, at the early dawn, in his robes, at the head of his clergy, with the cross once so triumphant raised in the air, came down to the gates of the city, and laid open before the army the testament of christ. the christian general, thomas, laid his hand on the book, and said_"oh god! if our faith be true, aid us, and deliver us not into the hands of its enemies_ but khaled_"the sword

MOTTA MARCELO THE COMMENTARIES OF AL

e (simple-minded readers must not think for one moment that a. c. is here "admitting the historical existence of the virgin mary; on the contrary, he is obviously putting her on the same footing with europa, semele and others. the virgin birth, like the dying god, is a much older myth than christianity; and the virgin was usually seeded by a god under the form of a beast. far from being original, christian theology is a pot-pourri of stolen goods) but the "small person" of hindu mysticism, the dwarf insane, yet crafty, of many legends in many lands,is also this same "holy ghost, or silent self of a man, or his holy guardian angel. he is almost the "unconscious" of freud, unknown unaccountable, the silent spirit, blowing "whither it listeth, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it

himself before horus, to invoke him, under the paraphernalia of asar. if the candidate is wise, he will make sure that he possesses the magical and mystical powers of which the paraphernalia are merely the symbols. for ra-hoor-khuit demands that you bind the words and the deeds "isa the sufferer. this expression needs no explanation if you have any acquaintance with the sado-masochistic nature of christian mysticism, specially where roman catholicism predominates. some people are happy only when they suffer. let them be. see lxv, v, verses 7-10, 19-22, 47-51. who are you to chart another star's course "but they are not of me" in one sense, this means that those who identify themselves with either asar or isa can become "stars of her body" only by death be this death initiatic or physical

re not. but as long as your sahashara is not active, for you she does "not" exist. isa is the legendary "jesus, for which canidian concoction the prescription is to be found in my book bearing that title, liber dccclxxxviii. a.c. is unduly harsh with "jesus. this is because at the time of writing the commentaries his personality was still reacting against the brainwashing of his early upbringing. christian worship is not really more repugnant than its parent, attys worship. it is more a matter of clinical interest for psychiatrists today than a matter for condemnation by thelemites. in his late years, having worked many changes by his magick, he no longer paid attention to it. but he never thought it funny. pathological methods of mysticism are funny only to pathological minds. 50. there i

the free and great have always done. the only point to remember is that one is a 'member of the body of god, a star in the body of nuit. this being sure, we are urged to the fullest expansion of our several natures, with special attention to those pleasures which not only express the soul, but aid it to reach the higher developments of that expression. the act of love is to the bourgeois (as the 'christian' is called now-a-days) a gross animal gesture which shames his boasted humanity. the appetite drags him at its hoofs; it tires him, disgusts him, diseases him, makes him ridiculous even in his own eyes. it is the source of nearly all his neuroses. against this monster he has devised two protections. firstly, he pretends that it is a fairy prince disguised, and hangs it with the rags and

nthusiasm (equinox i, ix) that there are three gods whose function is to bring the soul to the realization of its own glory: dionysus, aphrodite, apollo; wine, woman, and song. the ancients, both in the highest civilizations, as in greece and egypt, and in the most primitive savagery, as among the buriats and the papuans, were well aware of this, and made their religious ceremonies 'orgia, works 'christian' foulness, failing to understand what was happening, degraded the word 'orgies' to mean debauches. it is the old story of the fox who lost his tail. if you cannot do anything, call it impossible; or, if it is evidently absurd that it should be impossible, call it wicked! it is critics who deny poetry, people without capacity for ecstasy and will who call mysticism moonshine and magick de

NAGEL CARL AMAZING SECRETS OF OCCULT POWER

f the archangels and the elemental forces associated with them. in detail, i ll be explaining how to do it later in this book. the pentagram represents man- the five points being his head, two arms, and two legs. inverted it becomes the symbol of baphomet, the goat of a thousand young. now to understand what baphomet represents, i need to give you a little lesson on the knights templar, a debased christian sect that practiced occult rituals. king phillipe of france had them burnt at the stake in the 14th century for worshipping baphomet- an idol with the head and feet of a goat, the breasts of a woman, and the wings of an angel. inverted the pentagram becomes the symbol of baphomet- the five points being two horns, two ears, and the beard. so now you know! love and witchcraft love has alwa

. an interesting aspect of the cabala is that the achieving of knowledge is likened to sexual union with shekinah, a female personification of wisdom. this is similar to the gnostic sophia, wisdom given a female personification, only with a much stronger sexual connection since she was a prostitute. gnosticism was the main competitor to christianity in ancient rome. the gnostics believed that the christian jehovah was not the real god but an evil creator of an evil world. the power of the spheres sit or lie down, whichever you find most comfortable, at the center of your witching circle. if you choose the latter, use a rug or blanket as a mattress. now begin to breathe rhythmically until the rhythm is established. while inhaling and exhaling in this rhythmic pattern pretend that a sparklin

ere working with a group. using this magical power is simplicity itself. the warlock of the middle ages, desiring to arouse love and passion, was required to make a figure of wax to represent the woman whose company he desired above all else. positive magic is worked from the first quarter until a full moon, and black magic from the last quarter until a new moon< the knights templar was a debased christian sect that practiced occult rituals. it's a good idea to work a protection ritual on a regular basis. the pentagram (five-pointed star) is a tool used by both witches and magicians to keep evil forces at bay. the pentagram represents man- the five points being his head, two arms, and two legs. in reading these words you will learn many ancient secrets of the occult. the old grimoires were

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

municipal organization and professional groups eventually inspired european sovereigns in their fight against feudalism and in their quest to strengthen their authority at the time of the crusades, when they found roman social institutions still in place in the east. 10 the origins of freemasonry from ancient times to the middle ages the principal collegia in the latter days of the roman empire, christian influences brought about both a decline in slavery and the development of free labor. this labor remained completely organized under the corporative form of the collegia and each professional was compelled to join the college of his trade. the institution realized the height of its development in the fourth century.9 at this time a distinction was made between public and private colleges

rigins of freemasonry from ancient times to the middle ages the influence of the church was first felt on the ethical plane, resulting in the dignification of labor and the protection of the humiliores against the powerful in institutions. the earliest constitutions ordered that work be remunerated, and little by little slavery diminished and the fate of serfs gradually improved. according to the christian concept of labor, each trade was placed under the protection of a patron saint, who acted as an intercessor with the power on high. over the centuries these saints became increasingly involved with people's everyday lives. but the relationship between artisan and the higher power extended much further than this. christian religion teaches that we carry within us the divine virtues; we ar

wer extended much further than this. christian religion teaches that we carry within us the divine virtues; we are, in effect, a temple for them. in following the exemplary life shown by christ, we are able to attain perfection and, through the action of christ within us, ensure that christ lives. in our work we are thus a participant in the creative labor of god. for more than a millennium, this christian truth permeated more and more of human life. in the middle ages it became one of the principles of social organization. even at the beginning of the fifteenth century, fra angelico's contemporaries would say that angels came down to paint his painting during the inspired slumber of this incomparable dominican monk. on the social and practical plane, it is not out of the question that tra

r chalons. but this accord, born of a common danger, was temporary. the franks, both ripuarians (who lived south of the rhine) and salians (who settled north of the rhine, gradually infiltrated from the paris basin to take a predominant position in northern and eastern gaul. in 464 the ripuarians occupied the diocese of treves once and for all. following this time and lasting more than a century, christian inscriptions disappeared in this diocese, a certain sign that the christian in other words, roman populace had been decimated, forced into exile, or reduced to the condition of germanic serfs known as lites. from this point on we can no longer find any trace in these ripurian-ruled lands of the collegia that had built the monuments in the gallic capital of treves. but in the regions subj

the existence of autonomous professional associations. more important, individual freedom no longer guaranteed the work of the independent craftsman. an individual could become only a serf. the remnants of the collegia no longer offered any refuge except that provided by the bishops, who remained builders, and they were integrated primarily into monasteries, which were multiplying throughout the christian world. the bishop's authority or conventual grip extended even into the cities. withdrawing into themselves in response to the shock of invasions, cities had become veritable fortresses almost everywhere. the possessions of the church expanded there until the secular populace became a minority and urban life took on an increasingly cl