Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
MYSTICISM

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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

igo indigo is for spiritual healing, for psychic awareness and knowledge of past lives and worlds; it is the colour of the seer. lavender lavender is for dreams and connections with others, on a telepathic level, for awareness of devas and other higher nature spirits and for herb wisdom. violet violet is for clairvoyance, mediumship, spirituality and contact with the evolved self, angelic guides, mysticism and peak experiences. purple candles are best used on thursday. pink pink is the colour of venus in her gentler aspects, for family relationships, affection, friendship matters, children and for the growth of new love and trust, especially after betrayal or a setback. pink rituals are excellent for restoring self-esteem and healing wounded emotions, for letting go of past hurts involving

oon in all its phases, was a goddess of fertility as well as love. it is also used on some altars to represent the goddess, with a gold candle for the horned god. silver is potent in all forms of divination, but especially for candle divination, for awakening clairvoyant powers, telepathic and psychometric abilities, astral projection, for rituals to invoke anima (female) power, for intuition and mysticism. it represents dreams, visions and a desire for fulfilment beyond the material world. in times of stress and sorrow, silver candles can remove negativity, promote inner stability and bring to the fore your hidden potential. silver candles are excellent for scrying, especially by the full moon, and for all magick involving the female life and for female fertility. silver candles are best

ALEISTER CROWLEY EIGHT LECTURES ON YOGA

through every stage of the journey. 2. when i first undertook the investigation of yoga, i was fortunately equipped with a very sound training in the fundamental principles of modern science. i saw immediately that if we were to put any common sense into the business (science is nothing but instructed common sense, the first thing to do was to make a comparative study of the different systems of mysticism. it was immediately apparent that the results all over the world were identical. they were masked by sectarian theories. the methods all over the world were identical; this was masked by religious prejudice and local custom. but in their quiddity- identical! this simple principle proved quite sufficient to disentangle the subject from the extraordinary complexities which have confused it

ALEISTER CROWLEY ABSINTHE THE GREEN GODDESS

rrowed for the romance of jesus. the veil of the temple, too, was of many colors. we find, further east, that the manipura cakkra--the lotus of the city of jewels--which is an important centre in hindu anatomy, and apparently identical with the solar plexus, is the central point of the nervous system of the human body, dividing the sacred from the profane, or the lower from the higher. in western mysticism, once more we learn that the middle grade initiation is called hodos camelioniis, the path of the chameleon. there is here evidently an illusion to this same mystery. we also learn that the middle stage in alchemy is when the liquor becomes opalescent. finally, we note among the visions of the saints one called the universal peacock, in which the totality is perceived thus royally appare

the burgeois is apparently triumphant. in this case the cause is evidently the horror of life induced in the artist by the contemplation of his surroundings. he must find another world, no matter at what cost. consider the end of the eighteenth century. in france the men of genius are made, so to speak, possible, by the revolution. in england, under castlereagh, we find blake lost to humanity in mysticism, shelley and byron exiles, coleridge taking refuge in opium, keats sinking under the weight of circumstance, wordsworth forced to sell his soul, while the enemy, in the persons of southey and moore, triumphantly holds sway. the poetically similar period in france is 1850 to 1870. hugo is in exile, and all his brethren are given to absinthe or to hashish or to opium. there is however anot

ALEISTER CROWLEY BOOK OF LIES

s were sitting in pentagrams, and the fellow- craftsmen in triangles. this may refer to the number of manual signs in each of these degrees. the moral of the chapter is apparently that the mother-letter aleph is an inadequate solution of the great problem. aleph is identified with the yoni, for all the symbols connected with it in this place are feminine, but aleph is also a number of samadhi and mysticism, and the doctrine is therefore that magick, in that highest sense explained in the book of the law, is the truer key. notes (23) l=30, o=70, v=6, e=5=111 (24) a=1, m=40, o=70=111 (25) the trowel is shaped like a diamond or yoni. l=30, a=1, p=80=111 (26) n=50, i=10, n=50, a=1=111. book of lies get any book for free on: www.abika.com 115 [119] 55 kappa-epsilon-phi-alpha-lambda-eta nu-epsil

arey street is well known to prosperous hebrews and poor englishmen as the seat of the bankruptcy buildings. paragraphs 1-4 are in prose, the downward course, and the rest of the chapter in poetry, the upward. the first part shows the fall from nought in four steps; the second part, the return. the details of this hierarchy have already been indicated in various chapters. it is quite conventional mysticism. step 1, the illumination of ain as ain soph aour; step 2, the concentration of ain soph aour in kether; step 3, duality and the rest of it down to malkuth; step 4, the stooping of malkuth to the qliphoth, and the consequent ruin of the tree of life. part 2 show the impossibility of stopping on the path of adeptship. the final couplet represents the first step upon the path, which must b

ALEISTER CROWLEY LIBER 777

d by duty get any book for free on: www.abika.com 9 their fertility as bearing witness to their harmony with the course of nature towards perfection--o0oit: liber 777 vel p rolegomena s y m b o l i c a ad s y s t e m am sceptico-mystic vi explicand fundamentum hieroglyphicum sanctissimorum scient summ v a\a\ publication in class b i 777 the following is an attempt to systematise alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion. the sceptic will applaud our labours, for that the very catholicity of the symbols denies them any objective validity, since, in so many contradictions, something must be false; while the mystic will rejoice equally that the self-same catholicity allembracing proves that very validity, since after all something must be true. fortunately we have le

money on these grounds, as has been done by certain moderns, is clear (and, i trust, indictable) fraud. the secrets of adepts are not to be revealed to men. we only wish they were. when a man comes to me and asks for the truth, i go away and practice teaching the differential calculus to a bushman; and i answer the former only when i have succeeded with the latter. but to withhold the alphabet of mysticism from the learner is the device of a selfish charlatan. that which can be taught shall be taught, and that which cannot be taught may at last be learnt* this is probably true, though in agreement with the statement of the traducer of levi s doctrine and the vilifier of his noble personality. iii 3. as a weary but victorious warrior delights to recall his battles fortisan h c olim meminiss

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

s a passionately ecstatic sense of identity. in my third year at cambridge, i devoted myself consciously to the great work, understanding thereby the work of becoming a spiritual being, free from the constraints, accidents, and deceptions of material existence. i found myself at a loss for a name to designate my work, just as h. p. blavatsky some years earlier "theosophy "spiritualism "occultism "mysticism, all involved undesirable connotations. i chose therefore the name "magick" as essentially the most sublime, and actually the most discredited, of all the available terms. i swore to rehabilitate magick to identify it with my own career; and to compel mankind to respect, love, and trust that which they scorned, hated and feared. i have kept my word. but the time is now come for me to car

mbulance- 10 chapter i the principles of ritual. there is a single main definition of the object of all magical ritual. it is the uniting of the microcosm with the macrocosm. the supreme and complete ritual is therefore the invocation of the holy guardian angel<sacred magic of abramelin the mage; and liber 418, 8th aethyr, liber samekh; see appendix 3> or, in the language of mysticism, union with god< all other magical rituals are particular cases of this general principle, and the only excuse for doing them is that it sometimes occurs that one particular portion of the microcosm is so weak that its imperfection of impurity would vitiate the macrocosm of which it is the image

to harmonize himself with the nature of the god, and to a certain extent exalts himself, in the course of the ceremony; but the third method is the only one worthy of our consideration. this consists of a real identification of the magician and the god. note that to do this in perfection involves the attainment of a species of samadhi: and this fact alone suffices to link irrefragably magick with mysticism. let us describe the magical method of identification. the symbolic form of the god is first studied with as much care as an artist would bestow upon his model, so that a perfectly clear and 17 unshakeable mental picture of the god is presented to the mind. similarly, the attributes of the god are enshrined in speech, and such speeches are committed perfectly to memory. the invocation wi

of the floor<incarnation; also part iv of this book 4> but before entering into the details of "i.a.o" as a magick formula it should be remarked that it is essentially the formula of yoga or meditation; in fact, of elementary mysticism in all its branches. in beginning a meditation practice, there is always< a quiet pleasure, a gentle natural growth; one takes a lively interest in the work; it seems easy; one is quite pleased to have started. this stage represents isis. sooner or later it is succeeded by depression- the dark night of the soul, an infinite weariness and detestation o

so a man who perhaps took up magick merely with the idea of acquiring knowledge, love, or wealth, finds himself irrevocably committed to the performance of "the great work" 130 it will now be apparent that there is no distinction between magick and meditation except of the most arbitrary and accidental kind<metaphysical antithesis that magick is the art of the will-to-live, mysticism of the will-to-die; but "truth comes bubbling to my brim; life and death are one to him> ii beside these open methods thee are also a number of mental methods of invocation, of which we may give three. the first method concerns the so-called astral body. the magician should practise the formation of this body as recommended in liber o, and learn to rise on the planes according to the ins

iments and draw their own conclusions> in magick and meditation this principle applies with tremendous force. it is quite useless to teach people how to perform magical operations, when it may be that such operations, when they have learned to do them, are not in accordance with their wills. what must be done is to drill the aspirant in the hard routine of the elements of the royal art. so far as mysticism is concerned, the technique is extremely simple, and has been very simply described in part i of this book 4. it cannot be said too strongly that any amount of mystical success whatever is no compensation for slackness with regard to the technique. there may come a time when samadhi itself is no part of the business of the mystic. but the character developed by the original training rema

eaching, the master therion is not altogether convinced that this is not the right attitude. 202 when people begin to argue about things instead of doing them, they become absolutely impossible. their minds begin to work about it and about, and they come out by the same door as in they went. they remain brutish, voluble, and uncomprehending. the technique of magick is just as important as that of mysticism, but here we have a very much more difficult problem, because the original unit of magick, the body of light, is already something unfamiliar to the ordinary person. nevertheless, this body must be developed and trained with exactly the same rigid discipline as the brain in the case of mysticism. the essence of the technique of magick is the development of the body of light, which must b

ing. very fortunate, on the other hand, was he to have found a guru who instructed him in the proper principles of the technique of yoga, and he, having sufficient sense to recognize the universal application of those principles, was able to some extent to repair his original defects. but even to this day, despite the fact that his original inclination is much stronger towards magick than towards mysticism, he is much less competent in magick<mystical attainment that is theoretically possible, while his powers in magick seem to be uneven and imperfect. despite this, it may yet be that he has compassed the possible. for mystical

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS

of the gods. at that time most of the book of the law was completely unintelligible to me, and a good deal of it- especially the third chapter- extremely antipathetic. i fought against this book for years; but it proved irresistible. i do not think i am boasting unfairly when i say that my personal researches have been of the greatest value and importance to the study of the subject of magick and mysticism in general, especially my integration of the various thought-systems of the world, notably the identification of the system of the yi king with that of the qabalah. but i do assure you that the whole of my life's work, were it multiplied a thousand fold, would not be worth one tithe of the value of a single verse of the book of the law. i think you should have a copy of the equinox of th

as to mask the truth altogether. at the reformation, we find a nugatory attempt to remove the black elemagic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 98 ment. the protestant thinkers did their best to get rid of the idea of sin, but it was soon seen that the effort could only lead to antinomianism; and they recognized that this would infallibly destroy the religious idea as such. 55 mysticism, both catholic and protestant, made a further attempt to free christianity from the dark cloud of iniquity. they joined hands with the sufis and the vedantists. but this again led to the mere denial of the reality of evil. thus drawing away, little by little, from clear appreciation of the facts of nature, their doctrine became purely theoretical, and faded away, while the thundercloud o

3 in the book. the unusual word "unassuaged" is very interesting. people generally suppose that "will" is the slave of purpose, that you cannot will a thing properly unless you are aiming at a definite goal. but this is not the case. thinking of the goal actually serves to distract the mind. in these few words is included the whole method without all the bombastic piety of the servile doctrine of mysticism about the surrender of the will. nor is this idea of surrender actually correct; the will must be identified with the divine will, so-called. one wants to become like a mighty flowing river, which is not consciously aiming at the sea, and is certainly not yielding to any external influence. it is acting in conformity with the law of its own nature, with the tao. one can describe it, if n

worked, turn to john xiii 2,3 and ask a scholar what any greek of the period would have understood by the technical expressions there unambiguously employed. 1^ weh note: this is a reference to the school of thought of rudolf steiner. by the time of this writing, steiner's students were being taught that crowley was a "bad man. tit for tat. anthroposophy presents a merging of several branches of mysticism with dance and movement. it rewards study, but one shouldn't mention a.c. at the steiner schools until one has acquired what one wants! magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 237 2 presently, i hope, you will begin to wonder whether, after all, the "morality" of the middle classes of the nineteenth century, in anglo- saxon countries, is quite as axiomatic as you were

i was before that the practice of yoga in itself is of enormous assistance to the magician in his more intelligible path, only adding that he should beware lest the logical antinomies inherent in yoga divert him from or discourage him in his simple path. love is the law, love under will. yours, 666 thelemic books referred to in this volume. book 4, part i- a concise and clear treatise on yoga and mysticism. book 4, part ii- an introductory treatise on the practice of magick. book of lies, the- which is- this book deals with many matters 55 also falsely called "breaks" on all planes of the highest importance. collected works- these works contain many mystical and magical secrets, both stated clearly in prose, and woven into magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 335 the

y frieda harris. goetia, the- the most intelligible of the mediaeval rituals of evocation. contains also the favourite invocation by the master therion. magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 336 heart of the master, the- a sublime masterpiece, describing a vision given upon the holy hill of sidi bou said. thelemic books knox om pax- four invaluable treatises and a preface on mysticism and magick. liber aleph- the book of wisdom or folly. this book contains some of the deepest secrets of initiation, with a clear solution of many cosmic and ethical problems. liber ararita- this book describes in magical language a very secret process 56 of initiation. liber cordis cincti serpente- the book of the heart girt with the serpent: an account of the aspirant with his holy guar

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

ir minds has been the hope of a heaven such as their parents and teachers have described, or such as 13 they have themselves pictured; and, without the slightest grounds for saying so, they make the assumption "this is that" in the bhagavadgita a vision of this class is naturally attributed to the apparation of vishnu, who was the local god of the period. anna kingsford, who had dabbled in hebrew mysticism, and was a feminist, got an almost identical vision; but called the "divine" figure which she saw alternately "adonai" and "maria" now this woman, though handicapped by a brain that was a mass of putrid pulp, and a complete lack of social status, education, and moral character, did more in the religious world than any other person had done for generations. she, and she alone, made theoso

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

ce theology to the interplay of the dyad nuith and hadith, these being themselves conceived as complementary, as two equivalent to naught "divided for lvoe's sake, for the chance of union- had enjoyed them in the form of a beast, bird, or what not; while later mary attributed her condition to the agency of a spirit- spiritus, breath, or air- in the shape of a dove. 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 thou canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. it commands with absolute authority when it appears at all, despite con

rates, osiris and typhon, jesus and barabbas) in nature, formed of equal and opposite elements. when the operation is mystical in character, the "child" does not appear at all in this manifested form as two, but as naught. in the consciousness of the adept, this is called samadhi. he has united himself with, and lost himself in, nuit. when the "child" appears as two, it is magick, as the other is mysticism. this is the essential difference between these arts. al i,15 "now ye shall know that the chosen priest& apostle of infinite space is the prince-priest the beast; and in his woman called the scarlet woman is all power given. they shall gather my children into their fold: they shall bring the glory of the stars into the hearts of men" the old comment 15. the authority of the beast rests u

gh not all, in the dark" the old comment 56. from the word "aum. all religions have some truth. we possess all intellectual truth, and some, not all, mystic truth. the new comment all previous systems have been sectarian, based on a traditional cosmography both gross and incorrect. our system is based on absolute science and philosophy. we have "all in the clear light, that of reason, because our mysticism is based on an absolute scepticism. but at the time of this writing i had very little mystic experience indeed, as my record shows. the fact is that i was far, far from the grade even of master of the temple. so i could not properly understand this book; how then could i effectively promulgate it? i comprehended but dimly that it contained my word; for the grade of magus then seemed to m

re of this, and made their religious ceremonies 'orgia "works. puritan 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 that be evidently absurd, call it wicked! it is critics who deny poetry, people without capacity for ecstasy and will who call mysticism moonshine and magick delusion. it is manless old cats, geldings, and psychopaths, who pretend to detest love, and persecute free women and free men. verbotenism has gone so far in certain slave-communities that the use of wine is actually prohibited by law! i wish here to emphasise that the law of thelema definitely enjoins us, as a necessary act of religion, to "drink sweet wines and wi

is symbol; for in truth they were* j like soft g- the master flamed forth as a star and set a guard of water in every abyss. w when distinct from u represents the operation of choice 'u" does this to some extent (will, word, way- also certain secret ones concealed the light of purity in themselves, protecting it from the persecutions. o the breath concentrated and directed. as to i as magic is to mysticism- likewise also did certain sons and daughters of hermes and of aphrodite, more openly g (hard) opening as if to devour (soft- but the enemy confused them. they pretended to conceal that light, that they might betray it, and profane it. z an irritated or excited form of s, emphasizing elements of anger and alarm- yet certain holy nuns concealed the secret in songs upon the lyre. b burstin

tiated by geometrical structure, electrical charge, or otherwise in precisely the same way as ozone from oxygen, red from yellow phosphorous, dextrose from laevulose, and a paraffin from a benzene of identical empirical formula. indeed, every "star" is necessarily derived from the uniform continuity of nuith, and resolvable back into her body by the proper analytical methods, as the experience of mysticism testifies. but each such complexs is none the less uniquely itself; for the scheme of its construction is part of its existence, so that this peculiar scheme constitutes the essence of its individuality. it is impossible to change a shilling into two sixpences, though the value and the material may be identical; for part of the essence of the shilling is the intention to have a single co

ue of the day's toil creates the toxins whose accumulation is the 'will to die. all mystic attainment is of this type, as all magick is of the 'will to live. at times we all want nibbana, to withdraw into the silence, and so on. the art of it is to dip deeply into 'death, but to emerge immediately, a giant refreshed. this plan is also possible on the larger scale, all life being magick, all death mysticism. then why is death 'forbidden? all things are surely lawful. but we must work "without lust of result, taking everything as it comes without desire indeed, but with all manner of delight! let thy love-madrigal to death, thy mother-mistress, ripple and swell throughout the years, with all the starry heaven for thine orchestra; but do not imagine that to attain her is the sole satisfaction

comment this passage now following appears to be a dramatic presentation of the scene shown in the stele. the interpretation is to be that ankh-f-n-khonsu recorded for my benefit the details of the magical formula of ra hoor khuit. to link together the centuries in this manner is nothing strange to the accomplished magician; but in view of the true character of time as it appears to the adept in mysticism, the riddle vanishes altogether. al iii,37 "i adore thee in the song- i am the lord of thebes, and i the inspired forth-speaker of mentu; for me unveils the veiled sky, the self-slain ankh-af-na-khonsu whose words are truth. i invoke, i greet thy presence, o ra-hoor-khuit! unity uttermost showed! i adore the might of thy breath, supreme and terrible god, who makest the gods and death to

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE QABALAH

of the other. the angel metatron is said to have been the conductor of the children of israel through the wilderness, of whom god says, my name is in him. with regard to gematria of phrases (gen. xlix, 10, hlyc aby, yeba shiloh= 358, which is the numeration of the word jycm, messiah.4 thus also the passage, gen. xviii. 2 hclc hnhw, 3 i.e. the kaballah unveiled. as scholem (major trends in jewish mysticism) and others have pointed out, the three tracts translated by mathers are actually fairly minor in the scheme of the zohar (a reasonably complete english translation of which occupies five quarto volumes) t.s. 4 the quote from genesis, in jacob s blessing to judah, is generally taken as the earliest reference to the messiah. other meanings of 358 are discussed later in this article t.s. l

f the sepher yetzirah \yyj \yhla rwr tja, achath (feminine, not achad, masculine) ruach elohim chayyim: one is is she the spirit of the elohim of life. 11 in passages mercifully omitted by crowley from the present article t.s. 12 given the timescales involved it is prima faci far more likely that the early qabalists (such as the author of the sepher yetzirah) were influenced by pythagorean number mysticism t.s. liber lviii 11 now, we find that before the deity conformed himself thus i.e, as male and female that the worlds of the universe could not subsist, or, in the words of genesis (i, 2) the earth was formless and void. these prior worlds are considered to be symbolized by the kings that reigned in the land of edom, before there reigned a king over the children of israel ,13 and they ar

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

ave a song of anti-christmas eve and first- and second- beast-er day. 100 there s one*31 who loves me dearly (vrai) who yet believes me sprung from tophet, either the beast or the false prophet; and by all sorts of monkey tricks adds up my name to six six six. 105 retire, good gallup !32 in such strife her superior skill makes you a cipher* crowley s mother. the sword of song 8 necessity of poem. mysticism v. literal interpretation. former excused. buddha rebukes poet. detailed scheme of modified poem. ho! i adopt the number. look at the quaint wrapper of this book* i will deserve it if i can: 110 it is the number of a man.33 so since in england christ still stands with iron nails in bloody hands not pierced, but grasping! to hoist high children on cross of agony, 115 i find him real for e

v) the microcosmic lives change daily in state or body yet you gaily arm a false hegel cap -pie your self, his weapons make him wear 450 false favours of a ladye fayre (the scarlet woman) bray and blare a false note on the trumpet, shout: a champion? faith s defender! out! sceptic and sinner! see me! quail i? 455 i cite the little-go. you stare, and have no further use for paley! ascension day 17 mysticism does not need christ. krishna will serve, or the carpenter. the sacred walrus. god, some vestments, and lady wimborne. fearful aspect of john iii. 16. universalism. will god get the bara* slam? eternal life. divergent views of its desirability. buddhist idea. dogma of belief. but if you drink your mystic fill under the good tree igdrasil64 where is at all your use for christ? 460 hath kr

d between mystics of all shades; and the obstacle to any accurate observation of the phenomenon, its true causes, and so on. this must always be a stumblingblock to more impressionable minds; but there is no doubt as to the fact it is a fact and its present isolation is to be utterly deplored. may i entreat men of science to conquer the prejudices natural to them when the justly despised ideas of mysticism are mentioned, and to attack the problem ab initio on the severely critical and austerely arduous lines which have distinguished their labours in other fields? a. c. more, though the establishment of this new estate of consciousness seems to open the door to a new world, a world where the axioms of euclid may be absurd, and the propositions of keynes* untenable, let us not fall into the

characteristics; the ten fetters; and there is clearly a definite theory in the idea of karma. such ideas are basic, and are as a thread on which 1 see huxley s classical example of the horse, zebra and centaur. 2 similarly, where buddhist parables are of a mystical nature, where a complicated symbolism of numbers (for example) is intended to shadow a truth, we must discard them. my experience of mysticism is somewhat large; its final dictum is that the parable x may be equated to a, b, c, d. z by six-and-twenty different persons, or by one person in six-andtwenty different moods. even had we a strong traditional explanation i should maintain my position. the weapons of the higher criticism, supplements by comon sense, are perfectly valid and inevitably destructive against any such structu

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

xi. 1. 142 preface the question "ave" there must have been a time in the life of every student of the mysteries when he has paused whilst reading the work or the life of some well-known mystic, a moment of perplexity in which, bewildered, he has turned to himself and asked the question "is this one telling me the truth" still more so does this strike us when we turn to any commentative work upon mysticism, such as r c jac's "bases of the mystic knowledge" or william james's "varieties of religious experience" in fact, so much so, that unless we are more than commonly sceptical of the wordy theories which attempt to explain these wordy utterances we are bound to clasp hands with the great school of medical-materialism, which is all but paramount at the present hour, and dismiss all such as

uropaths, psychopaths, hypochondriacs, and epileptics. well, even if we do, these terms explain very little, and in most cases, especially when applied to mystic states, nothing at all; nevertheless they form an excellent loophole out of which the ignorant may crawl when faced with a difficulty they have not the energy or wit to surmount. 143 true, the utter chaos amongst all systems of magic and mysticism that has prevailed in the west during the last two thousand years, partially, 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 extraordi

torment- that of not being allowed to suffer enough."2 2 "oeuvres" ii. 320. prof. william james writes "the great spanish mystics, who carried the habit of ecstasy as far as it has often been carried, appear for the most part to have shown indomitable spirit and energy, and all the more so for the trances in which they indulged" writing of st. ignatius, he says "st. ignatius was a mystic, but his mysticism made him assuredly one of the most powerful practical human engines that ever lived("the varieties of religious experience" p. 413. in the old days, when but a small portion of the globe was known to civilised man, the explorer and the traveller would return to his home with weird, fantastic stories of long-armed hairy men, of impossible monsters, and countries of fairy-like wonder. but

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

the society of jesus destroyed molinos. father poulain even repeats the catholic truths about molinos's confession. but father poulain is a jesuit. at this stage a reviewer wants to get up and stamp such people into pulp. but the hour is not yet, though ferrer's blood adds its cry to that of his fellow-martyrs. rather let us consider the good points in father poulain's poultice. he understand the mysticism of his own system fairly well, and his book forms a most useful document in comparative occultism. a. c. alchemy, ancient and modern. by h. stanley redgrave. a most admirable treatise on the little-understood and misunderstood science of alchemy. more, the only treatise. clarity and good sense mark every line. a book entirely essential to anyone who wishes to study the subject, and to un

mparative occultism. a. c. alchemy, ancient and modern. by h. stanley redgrave. a most admirable treatise on the little-understood and misunderstood science of alchemy. more, the only treatise. clarity and good sense mark every line. a book entirely essential to anyone who wishes to study the subject, and to understand (1) how the alchemists conceived of hierarchical monism (2) how they preserved mysticism (3) how they made chemistry possible. the book is a complete refutation alike of the pooh-pooh and the holy timmie schools of critics. leo viridis. lotus leaves. by alice l. head. elkin mathews. i really enjoyed these charming poems. now, you know, i don't often say a thing like that! alice l. foote. an adventure. anonymous. this little book appears to be the production of an extremely c

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induism, buddhism, mohammedanism, taoism &c. by a glance at tables, anybody conversant with any one system can understand perfectly all others. the "occult review" says "despite its cumbrous sub-title and high price per page, this work has only to come under the notice of the right people to be sure of a ready sale. in its author's words, it represents 'an attempt to systematise alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion' and so far as any book can succeed in such an attempt, this book does succeed; that is to say, it condenses in some sixty pages as much information as many an intelligent reader at the museum has been able to collect in years. the book proper consists of a table of 'correspondences' and is, in fact, an attempt to reduce to a common denominator the

inary hebrew compositor and reader is no more fitted for this task than a boy cognisant of no more than the shapes of the hebrew letters, one wonders how many proofs the re were and what the printer's bill was. a knowledge of the hebrew alphabet and the qabalistic tree of life is all that is needed to lay open to the reader the enormous mass of information contained in this book. the 'alphabet of mysticism' as the author says- several alphabets we should prefer to say- is here. much that has been jealously and foolishly kept secret in the past is here, but though our author has secured for his work the "imprimatur" of some body with the mysterious title of the a. a, and though he remains himself anonymous, he appears to be no mystery-monger. obviously he is widely read, but he makes no pre

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by the foolish talk of the ignorant, and thus may flowers be lost that should go to make the fadeless wreath of adonai. ah, lord, pluck "me" up utterly by the root, and set that which thou pluckest as a flower upon thy brow! 4.10. walked back to the d me to drink a citron press through the lovely gardens, sad with their fallen leaves. reflecting on what dr. henry maudsley once wrote to him about mysticism "like other bad habits (he might have said 'like all living beings' it grows by what it fees on. most important, then, to use the constant critical check on all one's work. the devotion to adonai might itself fall under suspicion, where it not for the definition of adonai. adonai is that thought which informs and strengthens and purifies, supreme sanity in supreme genius. anything that i

gone to bed, and shall take things in hand seriously, if it kills me. 9.53. since 9.17 have done pranayama, though allowing myself some irregularities in the way of occasional omission of a kambhakham.'tis very hard to stick to it. i find myself, at the end of above sentence, automatically crawling into bed. no john! 10.14 have been trying to extract some sense from that extraordinary treatise on mysticism,"konx om pax. another failure, but an excusable one. i will now beseech adonai as best i may to give me back my lost powers. for i am no more even a magician! so lost am i in the illusions that i have made in the search for adonai, that i am become the vilest of them all! 10.27. a strange and unpleasant experience. my thought suddenly transmuted itself into a muscular cry, so that my leg

n catholic singer, in a number of songs or hymns addressed to the virgin mary. the author, who has evidently a decided gift for sacred verse and has mastered varied metres suitable to her high themes, divides her poems into four series of thirteen each thus providing a song for each week of the year. the songs are all of praise or prayer addressed to the virgin, and, through many have a touch of mysticism, most have a simplicity of expression and earnestness of devotion that will commend them to the author's co-religionists. a green garland by v. b. neuburg green paper cover. 1s. 6d. net "as far as the verse is concerned there is in this volume something more than mere promise; the performance is at times remarkable; there is beauty not only of thought and invention and the invention is

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the white chalice of mystery with st. john, boehme, tauler, eckart, molinos, levi, and blake "rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air, hungry clouds swag on the deep" insatiable, he still pressed on, hungering for the knowledge of things outside; and in his struggle for the million he misses the unit, and heaps up chaos in the outer darkness of illusion. from the cloudless skies of mysticism he rushes down into the infernal darkness on winged thoughts "the fiery limbs, the flaming hair, shot like the sinking sun into the western sea" and we find him now in the goetic kingdoms of sorcery, witchcraft, and infernal necromancy. the bats flit by us as we listen to his frenzied cries for light and knowledge "the spiritual guide" and "the cherubic wanderer" are set aside for "the a

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an catholic singer, in a number of songs or hymns addressed to the virgin mary. the author, who has evidently a decided gift for sacred verse and has mastered varied metres suitable to her high themes, divides her poems into four series of thirteen each- thus providing a song for each week of the year. the songs are all of praise or prayer addressed to the virgin, and, though many have a touch of mysticism, most have a simplicity of expression and earnestness of devotion that will commend them to the author's co-religionists" the "catholic herald" says "this anonymous volume of religious verse reaches a very high level of poetic imagery. it is a series of hymns in honour of our lady, invariably expressed in melodious verse. the pitfalls of religious verse are bathos and platitude, but thes

uching thoughts are embodied in the various verses, which cannot but do good to the pious soul. the "staffordshire chronicle" says "under this title there has appeared an anonymous volume of verses breathing the same exotic fragrance of rossetti's poem on our lady that begins 'mother of the fair delight' there is the same intense pre-raphaelite atmosphere, the same aesthetic revelling in catholic mysticism, the same rich imagery and gorgeous word- colouring that prevade the poetic works of that nineteenth-century artist. a valuable addition to the poetic literature on the mother of our lord" the "guardian" says "the devotional fervour of 'amphora' will make them acceptable to those who address their worship to the blessed mother of the christ. the meaning of the title of the book is not ve

ism, buddhism, mohammedanism, taoism &c. by a glance at the tables, anybody conversant with any one system can understand perfectly all others. the "occult review" says "despite its cumbrous sub-title and high price per page, this work has only to come under the notice of the right people to be sure of a ready sale. in its author's words, it represents 'an attempt to systematise alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion' and so far as any book can succeed in such an attempt, this book does succeed; that is to say, it condenses in some sixty pages as much information as many an intelligent reader at the museum has been able to collect in years. the book proper consists of a table of 'correspondences' and is, in fact, an attempt to reduce to a common denominator the

dinary hebrew compositor and reader is no more fitted for this task than a boy cognisant of no more than the shapes of the hebrew letters, one wonders how many proofs there were and what the printer's bill was. a knowledge of the hebrew alphabet and the qabalistic tree of life is all that is needed to lay open to the reader the enormous mass of information contained in this book. the 'alphabet of mysticism' as the author says- several alphabets we should prefer to say- is here. much that has been jealously and foolishly kept secret in the past is here, but though our author has secured for his work the "imprimatur" of some body with the mysterious title of the a. a, and though he remains himself anonymous, he appears to be no mystery-monger. obviously he is widely read, but he makes no pre

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ly enjoying the unification of those facts. 5 6. we are philanthropists, ever eagerly transmitting our knowledge of those facts to others. 7. further, we are syncretists, taking truth from all systems, ancient and modern; and eclectics, ruthlessly discarding the inessential factors in any one system, however perfect. iv 1. faith, life, philosophy have failed. 2. science is already established. 3. mysticism, being based on pure experience, is always a vital force; but owing to the lack of trained observation, has always been a mass of error. spiritual experience, interpreted in the terms of intellect, is distorted; just as sunrise shows the grass green and the sea blue. both were invisible until sunrise; yet the diversity of colour is not in the sun, but in the objects on which its light fa

f trained observation, has always been a mass of error. spiritual experience, interpreted in the terms of intellect, is distorted; just as sunrise shows the grass green and the sea blue. both were invisible until sunrise; yet the diversity of colour is not in the sun, but in the objects on which its light falls, and their contradiction does not prove the sun to be an illusion. 4. we shall correct mysticism (or illuminism) by science, and explain science by illuminism. v 1. we have one method, that of science. 2. we have one aim, that of religion. vi there was once an inhabitant in a land called utopia who complained to the water company that his water was impure. 6 "no" answered the water man "it can't be impure, for we filter it "oh indeed" replied the inhabitant "but my wife died from dr

ness to the devil, the solitude difficulty by borrowing a vacant flat; but the british climate beat me. i hope one day to be rich enough to build a little house expressly for the purpose; but at present there is on the horizon no cloud even so large as the littlest finger of a man! if only, therefore, i could reduce the necessary period to a few hours! moreover, i could persuade other people that mysticism was not all folly without insisting on their devoting a lifetime to studying under me; and if only i could convince a few competent observers- in such a matter i distrust even myself- science would be bound to follow and to investigate, clear up the matter once for all, and, as i believed, and believe, arm itself with a new weapon ten thousand times more potent than the balance and the m

nd; but not until i have learned to use a microscope. and when i have learned- a matter of some months, maybe years- how can i convince the next sceptic? only in the same way, by teaching him to use the instrument. and suppose he retorts "you have deliberately trained yourself to hallucination" what answer have i? none that i know of. save that microscopy has revolutionised 52 surgery &c, just as mysticism has revolutionised, again and again, the philosophies of mankind. the analogy is a perfect one. by meditation we obtain the vision of a new world, even as the world of microorganisms was unsuspected for centuries of thinking- thinking without method- bricks without straw! just so, also, the masters of meditation have erred. they have attained the mystic vision, written long books about i

attained the mystic vision, written long books about it, assumed that the conclusions drawn from their vision were true on other planes- as if a microscopist were to stand for parliament on the platform "votes for microbes- never noted possible sources of error, fallen foul of sense and science, dropped into oblivion and deserved contempt. i want to combine the methods, to check the old empirical mysticism by the precision of modern science. hashish at least gives proof of a new order of consciousness, and (it seems to me) it is this "prima facie" case that mystics have always needed to make out, and never have made out. but to-day i claim the hashish-phenomena as mental phenomena of the first importance; and i demand investigation. i assert- more or less "ex cathedra- that meditation will

st. the buddhist, however, does not stop here, for he alleges that even this consciousness is false; that like all things it has the three characteristics of sorrow, change, and unsubstantiality. now all this analysis is a purely intellectual one, though perhaps it may be admitted that few philosophers have been capable of so profound and acute a resolution of phenomena. it has nothing to do with mysticism as such, but its rational truth makes it a suitable basis for our proposed classification of the mystic states which result from the many religious and magical methods in use among men. 59 xii "the vast sun, and the brilliant moon "o ether, sun, and spirit of the moon! ye, ye are the leaders of air "the principles, which have understood the intelligible works of the father, he hath cloth

epth of your soul lead you, but earnestly raise your eyes upwards- zoroaster "nama-rupa- purely material, and therefore shadowy and meaningless, are the innumerable shapes which haunt the mind of man. in one sense we must here include all purely sensory phenomena, and the images which memory presents to the mind which is endeavoring to concentrate itself upon a single thought. in other systems of mysticism we must include all astral phantoms, divine or demoniac, which are merely seen or heard without further reflection upon them. to obtain these it is sufficient to perform the following experiment: 60 sit down comfortably; it is perhaps best to begin in the dark. imagine as strongly as possible your own figure standing in front of you. transfer your consciousness to that figure, so that yo

nd certain than the mere characteristics of mystic traces in themselves is the great and and vital diagnostic that the result of a true trance is to inspire the yogi with power to do first- rate work in his own department. people who produce maudlin and hysterical gush, inane sentimentality, who are faddists, fools, drivellers, dodderers- these i refuse to accept as mystics. the true phenomena of mysticism can only occur in a high-class brain and a healthy brain; and their action on that brain is to repose it, to fortify it, to make it more capable of lofty and continuous thought. beware of the sheep in lions' skins, the asses that bray and think "the tiger roars" physically too the mystic is to be known by his atmosphere of power, cleanliness and light; by his self-control, his concentrat

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. a means to perpetual life. by cornwell round. simpkin, marshall and co. 1"s" net. this is a suggestive little book by a man who revolves a matter in his mind before he writes of it, and whose common sense never quits the hub of his thoughts. mr. round never rolls off down a side street, but always keeps to the high road between them all. he does not, so at least we read him, wobble more towards mysticism than towards materialism. he believes that a perfect equilibrium between the subjective mind_ s, and the objective mind_ o, produces the individual mind, which he symbolises as being neither round nor square, but a simple i or line, connecting the s and o. this i is the self-renewing link between these two, which, when it is truly balanced, renders death the most unnatural, in place of t

at was not known forty years ago_ see emma hardinge britten's "modern american spiritualism; nothing that was not commonplace yesterday_ see the current issue of "light" the real occult knowledge of plato, of paracelsus, of boehme, of levi, 319 was based upon theories whereby all the phenomena of modern psychism had their place, and were awarded their proper value. the pseudo-occultism and watery mysticism of the modern spiritualistic philosophers_ we call them by this noble title by courtesy_ is due to their complete lack of knowledge. what serious student of religion and occultism cares for the vapourings of ralph waldo trine, the philosophising of the rev. r. j. campbell, the poetry of ella wheeler wilcox? the prototypes of these people are utterly, or almost utterly, forgotten. one rec

ages, unluminous, formless, and void" then you return and pose as one who has trodden the eternal snows. you are like a man who puts a penny into a mutoscope that is out of order; and, rather than admit that he has been swindled, pretends to have enjoyed it. you are like a parvenu with an ill-cooked chop at a swagger restaurant who eats it rather than incur the frown of the waiter. better abandon mysticism outright than this. but we suppose it is impossible; you must trim, and compromise, and try to get round the boyg, o peer gynt without his courage and light-heartedness, o onion with many a stinking sheath, and a worm at the heart! 330 yes, if nothing else were wrong with you_ and everything else "is" wrong_ you would still be damned for your toadying to mrs. grundy and the reverend robe

e soul of galahad. rich in memorable verse and significant thought, so closely wedded to emotion that each seems either_ glasgow herald. a book of mystery and vision. by arthur edward waite. foolscap 4to. with special cover designed by mary tourtel, and frontispiece by isabelle de steiger. price 7s. 6d. net "the most remarkable and on the whole the most successful attempt to sing the mysteries of mysticism, since blake wrote his 'prophetic books_ the star "undoubtedly one of the most original and most remarkable books of verse published for many years" birmingham daily gazette. the secret of the sphinx: or, the ring of moses. by james smith and john wren sutton. crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. net "a romance founded on the building of the great pyramid by pharaoh and the birth of moses is a distinctly

ree. psychic philosophy, as the foundation of a religion of natural causes. by v. c. desertis. with introductory note by professor alfred russel wallace, o.m, d.c.l, ll.d, f.r.s. new edition, largely re-written, cloth gilt, gilt tops, crown 8vo, 421 pp, 4s. 6d. net. contents_ introductory note and preface_ part 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 p

. 24, 5s. net. only a few copies remain. an illuminating essay on the universe, reconciling the conflicting systems of religion. the god-eater. crown 4to, pp. 32, 2s. 6d. net. a striking dramatic study of the origin of religions. the sword of song. post 4to, pp. ix+ 194, printed in red and black, decorative wrapper, 20s. net. this is the author's first most brilliant attempt to base the truths of mysticism on the truths of scepticism. it contains also an enlarged amended edition of "berashith" and an essay showing the striking parallels and identities between the doctrines of modern science and those of buddhism. gargoyles. pott 8vo, pp. vi+ 113, 5s. net. oracles. demy 8vo, pp. viii+ 176, 5s. net. some of mr. crowley's finest mystical lyrics are in these collections. knox om pax. see advt

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, buddhism, mohammedanism, taoism &c. by a glance at the tables, anybody conversant with any one system can understand perfectly all others. the "occult review" says "despite its cumbrous sub-title and high price per page, this work has only to come under the notice o sic the right people to be sure of a ready sale. in its author's words, it represents 'an attempt to systematise alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion' and so far as any book can succeed in such an attempt, this book does succeed; that is to say, it condenses in some sixty pages as much information as many an intelligent reader at the museum has been able to collect in years. the book proper consists of a table of 'correspondences' and is, in fact, an attempt to reduce to a common denominator the

dinary hebrew compositor and reader is no more fitted for this task than a boy cognisant of no more than the shapes of the hebrew letters, one wonders how many proofs there were and what the printer's bill was. a knowledge of the hebrew alphabet and the qabalistic tree of life is all that is needed to lay open to the reader the enormous mass of information contained in this book. the 'alphabet of mysticism' as the author says_ several alphabets we should prefer to say_ is here. much that has been jealously and foolishly kept secret in the past is here, but though our author has secured for his work the "imprimatur" of some body with the mysterious title of the a. a, and though he remains himself anonymous, he appears to be no mystery-monger. obviously he is widely read, but he makes no pre

greatest and truest medicine of the philosopher's stone may be found and held. now first done into english from the latin original published at frankfort in the year 1678. containing 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 "

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4 2

oubt or quibble, that the terrific strain caused by the eastern breathing exercises was no whit greater or less than that resulting from the acts of worship in an operation of ceremonial magic, that dh ran and the mantra yoga were in effect none other than a paraphrase of the sacred magic and the acts of invocation; and ultimately that the while system of eastern yoga was but a synonym of western mysticism. starting from the root, he had by now crept sufficiently far through the darkness of the black earth to predict a great tree above, and to prophecy concerning a kingdom of light and loveliness; and, as a worm will detect its approach to the earth surface by the warmth of the mould, so did he detect by a sense, new and unknown to him, a world as different from the world he lived in as th

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induism, buddhism, mohammedanism, taoism &c. by a glance at tables, anybody conversant with any one system can understand perfectly all others. the "occult review" says "despite its cumbrous sub-title and high price per page, this work has only to come under the notice of the right people to be sure of a ready sale. in its author's words, it represents 'an attempt to systematise alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion' and so far as any book can succeed in such an attempt, this book does succeed; that is to say, it condenses in some sixty pages as much information as many an intelligent reader at the museum has been able to collect in years. the book proper consists of a table of 'correspondences' and is, in fact, an attempt to reduce to a common denominator the

dinary hebrew compositor and reader is no more fitted for this task than a boy cognisant of no more than the shapes of the hebrew letters, one wonders how many proofs there were and what the printer's bill was. a knowledge of the hebrew alphabet and the qabalistic tree of life is all that is needed to lay open to the reader the enormous mass of information contained in this book. the 'alphabet of mysticism' as the author says- several alphabets we should prefer to say- is here. much that has been jealously and foolishly kept secret in the past is here, but though our author has secured for his work the "imprimatur" of some body with the mysterious title of the a. a, and though he remains himself anonymous, he appears to be no mystery-monger. obviously he is widely read, but he makes no pre

be "au "courant" the seeker should be on the spot* after the 21st of october 1910 the price of no. 1 of the equinox, of which only a few copies remain, will be increased to ten shillings. 1 the subscription for 1911 will be raised from ten to twelve shillings* a library for the use of subscribers is in progress of formation at 124, victoria street. the editor will be glad to receive any books on mysticism, magic, egyptology, philosophy, and similar subjects. old books out of print are especially welcome* another feather in the cap of h. r. b. that incomparable dodderer, franz hartmann, has published a portrait of cagliostro which she had given him (she had it taken when she "was" cagliostro, you understand) this sounds all very reasonable and likely; but the difficulty is that the portrai

s" and house-dogs shall we remain so long as we cling to a belief in a knowing subject and an known object, or in the worship of anything, even of the atman itself, as long as it remains apart from ourselves. such a delemma as this does not take long to induce one of those periods of "spiritual dryness" one of those "dark nights of the soul" so familiar to all mystics and even to mere students of mysticism. and such a night seems to have closed around y j avalkhya when he exclaimed: after death there is no consciousness. for where there is as it were a duality, there one sees the other, smells, hears, addresses, comprehends, and knows the other; but when everything has become to him his own self, how should he smell, see, hear, address, understand, or know anyone at all? how should he know

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duism, buddhism, mohammedanism, taoism, etc. by a glance at tables, anybody conversant with any one system can understand perfectly all others. the "occult review" says "despite its cumbrous sub-title and high price per page, this work has only to come under the notice of the right people to be sure of a ready sale. in its author's words, it represents 'an attempt to systematise alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion' and so far as any book can succeed in such an attempt, this book does succeed; that is to say, it condenses in some sixty pages as much information as many an intelligent reader at the museum has been able to collect in years. the book proper consists of a table of 'correspondences' and is, in fact, an attempt to reduce to a common denominator the

dinary hebrew compositor and reader is no more fitted for this task than a boy cognisant of no more than the shapes of the hebrew letters, one wonders how many proofs there were and what the printer's bill was. a knowledge of the hebrew alphabet and the qabalistic tree of life is all that is needed to lay open to the reader the enormous mass of information contained in this book. the 'alphabet of mysticism' as the author says- several alphabets we should prefer to say- is here. much that has been jealously and foolishly kept secret in the past is here, but though our author has secured for his work the "imprimatur" of some body with the mysterious title of the a. a, and though he remains himself anonymous, he appears to be no mystery-monger. obviously he is widely read, but he makes no pre

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ial 1 liber x 3 liber xvi 9 liber xc 17 liber clvi 23 liber cc 29 liber ccclxx 33 three poems for jane cheron. by aleister crowley 41 circle. by ethel archer 52 the electric silence 53 song 66 the scorpion. by aleister crowley 67 the earth. by francis bendick 108 sleep. by ethel archer 112 the ordeal of ida pendragon. by martial nay 113 the autumn woods. by victor j. i. neuburg 149 the dangers of mysticism 153 the big stick. by john yarker, e. whineray, aleister crowley, etc. 160 special supplement the rites of eleusis 1["the necessity of giving immediate publication to the text of the rites of eleusis has obliged us to hold over the instalment of the temple of solomon the king until next march] editorial slowly but surely the equinox climbs from crest to crest of prosperity. such has been

the heart of paris to a certain house. he wished to be certain; he wished to consult a brother of the silver star. now it is very easy to find a brother, when you know the password. but it is not always easy to get that brother to tell you what you want. he is almost certain to be exceedingly rude; he is extremely likely to insist on talking common sense, which is annoying when you go for exalted mysticism; and quite possibly he may just nod, and continue his labours, which is maddening when your business is of the highest importance to you, and to him, and to the brotherhood 143 itself, not to mention humanity- while he is occupied in playing spillikins, and further insults you by explaining that he is trying to prove that, if you only do it carefully enough, you can detach planets from t

n thou bloomest, o my rose of the worlds! and one shall pluck thee forth, and love and death shall lie together, and there shall be born he who shall bear for ever into life the rose-tipped lilies under the silent stars, the silent stars, and the red-blushing roses. o rose, my rose of the world, my rose of roses, thou shalt be born anew, and live for ever! victor j. i. neuburg. 152 the dangers of mysticism "affectionately inscribed to arthur edward waite" a curious idea is being sedulously disseminated, and appears to be gaining ground, that mysticism is the "safe" path to the highest, and magic the dangerous path to the lowest. there are several comments to be made on this assertion. one may doubt whether anything worth doing at all is free from danger, and one may wonder what danger can

h is symbolised by the "fool" of the tarot, who is alike the mystic and the infinite. but apart from this question, it is by no means certain that the formula is as simple as it seems. how is the mystic to assure himself that "god" is really "god" and not some demon masquerading in his image? we find gerson sacrificing huss to his "god; we find a modern journalist who has done more than dabble in mysticism writing "this mystic life at its highest is undeniably selfish; we find another writing like the old lady who ended her criticism of the universe "there's only jock an' me'll be saved; an' i'm no that sure o' jock; we find another who at the age of ninety-nine foams at the mouth over an alleged breach of her 154 alleged copyright; we find another so sensitive that the mention of his name

vel, unreal novel, fatuous novel, sorry novel, etc, etc, etc. the above method of filling space i took from rabelais. mr hichens' method is just as obvious. panurge. mysticiam. evelyn underhill. methuen. 15"s" net. this lengthy treatise upon the simplest of subjects is more free from pedantry and theological bias than was perhaps to be expected. it is very complete in its way as regards christian mysticism; but the attempt to restrict the term mysticism to christian mysticism must fail. it is indeed self-destructive. to exclude the authors of the bhagavadgita, the voice of the silence, knox om pax, and the tao teh king is to exclude by implication st. teresa. to deny crowley is to deny christ. similarly, the attempt to define magic in terms contrary to its tradition, is sectarian folly. i

e dies if you remove the root and stalk, mr pryse! he is unfortunately a poor scholar, and has developed the american literary sense to an incredible point. he translates gr:alpha-kappa-rho-alpha-sigma-iota-alpha "impotence, lack of control" as "sensuality" gr:alpha-gamma-gamma-epsilon-lambda-omicron-sigma as "divinity" and gives us "saucers" for "vials! unfortunately, too, he has studied eastern mysticism at second-hand, through theosophical spectacles. nor has he kept even to blavatsky the genius, but relied upon her commentators, who had neither her learning nor her experience. but he has the key, and it opens the way for a real study of "st john" by a person of greater ability. it is a very remarkable fact, however, that akrasia (333) and akolasia (333) should so accurately describe ch

rue de la tribune (librairie ch. carrington. 10 "francs" a magnificent volume without and within. this, with the single exception of the "bagh-i-muattar (probsthain& co, 1910, 3 "gs, and therefore difficult of access, is the greatest of persian mystic treatises, though it is rather elementary. but we can recommend no better volume for those who know but a little. dr bricteux has no experience of mysticism, and so makes mistakes. this was to be expected, but i am surprised at the scholar's error of asserting that the hindu system lacks the method of love. as ninety-five hindus practise bhakti-yoga for five that practise any other kind, we advise dr bricteux to be more careful. but this is a small blemish on a very fine essay. abhavananda. rubaiyat d'omar khayyami. mis en rimes fransaises p

ALEX SANDERS THE KING OF THE WITCHES

took them to work and had them copied and alex returned them to the library to exchange them for a fresh batch. eventually the daily borrowing of the manuscript became almost routine; later he was to regret his complacency. if he had bothered to use his powers of clairvoyance, he might have glimpsed trouble ahead. an item in a local newspaper about two young men who were planning an experiment in mysticism prompted alex to write to them asking ifhe could help. their reply sent him hurrying to meet them at a rendezvous in wilmslow,cheshire, near which one had a week-end cottage. they were planning to practise magic in order to raise the devil. since alex, as a witch, did not consider the devil an evil figure, but a little god or assistant angel, he was glad to take. part. when they had perf

'and illustrated it with photographs of the, prostrate figures in decorated robes. when alex arrived for work the following monday morning, he was shown into the librarian's office. the photographs ofalex at his rituals had been recognized by the li1 a:ry sta.ffover the week-end, and so had the egyptian symbolson his clothes. how, they asked, could a humble book-duster know so much about oriental mysticism unless he had access to priceless books such as those in the john rylands library? an immediate search wasordeted. the egyptian section was found to be the best dusted, but not all the books were in their correct places. a further search revealed the absence of the key of solomon 'at first alex denied taking the book and tried to bluff it out. then he admitted that he had borrowed it, bu

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

fourth race. sensa, or senzar. the name for the secret sacerdotal language, or the "mystery speech" of the initiated adepts all over the world. it is a universal language, and largely a hieroglyphic cypher. shamballa. the city of the gods, which is in the west to some nations, in the east to others, in the north or south to yet others. it is the sacred island in the gobi desert. it is the home of mysticism and the secret doctrine. triad. the spiritual man; the expression of the monad. it is the germinal spirit containing the- 131- initiation, human and solar copyright 1998 lucis trust potentialities of divinity. these potentialities will be unfolded during the course of evolution. this triad forms the individualised or separated self, or ego. viveka. the sanskrit "discrimination" the very

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

and demonstrate the essential unity of the scientific and religious idea. the two are at present somewhat divorced, and we are only just beginning to grope our intellectual way out of the depths of a materialistic interpretation. it must not be forgotten, however, that under the law of action and reaction, the long period of materialistic thought has been a necessary one for humanity, because the mysticism of the middle ages has led us too far in the opposite direction. we are now tending to a more balanced view, and it is hoped that this treatise may form part of the process through which equilibrium is attained. in studying this treatise the student is asked to bear in mind certain things: a. that in dealing with these subjects we are concerned with the essence of that which is objective

six schools of indian philosophy are the six principles. s. d, i, 299. these six schools are: a. the school of logic..proof of right perception. b. the atomic school..system of particulars. elements. alchemy and chemistry. c. the sankhya school..system of numbers. the materialistic school. the theory of the seven states of matter or prakriti. d. the school of yoga..union. the rule of daily life. mysticism- 788- a treatise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust e. the school of ceremonial religion..ritual. worship of the devas or gods. f. the vedanta school..has to do with non-duality. deals with the relation of atma in man to the logos. the gnosis or hidden knowledge is the same as atma vidya, or theosophy, and includes the other six. 103 17: s. d, ii, 33. i, 323. 104 18: s. d, i, 258

he six schools of indian philosophy are the six principles. s. d, i, 299. these six schools are: a. the school of logic p roof of right perception. b. the atomic school system of particulars. elements. alchemy and chemistry. c. the sankhya school system of numbers. the materialistic school. the theory of the seven states of matter or prakriti. d. the school of yoga u nion. the rule of daily life. mysticism. e. the school of ceremonial religion ritual. worship of the devas or gods. f. the vedanta school has to do with non-duality. deals with the relation of atman in man to the logos. 3. there are four branches of knowledge to which h. p. b. specially refers s.d, i, 192. these four are probably those with which man has dealt the most, in this fourth round and fourth chain. compare s. d, i, 7

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

cured through the imposition of two yogas. first, the yoga which is called by the name of laya yoga, the yoga of the centres which produced a stabilizing of the etheric body and of the centres in man and the development of the astral and psychic nature. later on, bhakti yoga, growing out of the development of the emotional or astral body, was incorporated with laya yoga and the foundation of that mysticism and devotion, which has been the underlying incentive during our particular aryan root race, was laid. the fourth initiation was at that time the objective. the subject of these great initiations has been discussed more at length in my previous volume "initiation, human and solar" now, in the aryan race, the subjugation of the mental body and the control of the mind is brought about thro

old scripture and he reveals himself in the light. the aspirant has therefore to become aware of the "point of light within become aware of the wheel with twelve spokes" and as that point of light is dwelt upon, it reveals a road which must be travelled should the aspirant seek to arrive at his goal. the first thing which is revealed is darkness. this should be remembered. in terms of occidental mysticism this brings about the "dark night of the soul" we will not, however, dwell upon the mystical aspect as it is necessary for us to keep our conclusions as much as possible along the occult line. the truth, as expressed in terms of christian mysticism, has been frequently and adequately covered. 37. the chitta is stabilised and rendered free from illusion as the lower nature is purified and

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

nd, to shine in its glory even through the apparent folly and wickedness of man. the poet, the artist, and the lover are seekers after that glory: the haunting beauty that they pursue is the faint reflection of its sun. but the mystic lives in the full light of the vision: what others dimly seek he knows, with a knowledge beside which all other knowledge is ignorance "the second characteristic of mysticism is its belief in unity, and its refusal to admit opposition or division anywhere "a third mark of almost all mystical metaphysics is the denial of the reality of time. this is an outcome of the denial of division; if all is one, the distinction of past and future must be illusory "the last of the doctrines of mysticism which we have to consider is its belief that all evil is mere appeara

here "a third mark of almost all mystical metaphysics is the denial of the reality of time. this is an outcome of the denial of division; if all is one, the distinction of past and future must be illusory "the last of the doctrines of mysticism which we have to consider is its belief that all evil is mere appearance, an illusion produced by the divisions and oppositions of the analytic intellect. mysticism does not maintain that such things as cruelty, for example, are good, but it denies that they are real: they belong to that lower world of phantoms from which we are to be liberated by the insight of the vision."1(36) but the mystical way is a preparation for the way of knowledge and where the mystic stops in adoration of the vision and in yearning after the beloved, the seeker after tru

they belong to that lower world of phantoms from which we are to be liberated by the insight of the vision."1(36) but the mystical way is a preparation for the way of knowledge and where the mystic stops in adoration of the vision and in yearning after the beloved, the seeker after true knowledge takes up the task and carries the work forward. dr. bennett of yale says, at the close of his book on mysticism "the mystic at the end of his preparation is simply waiting for an apparition and an event which he is careful not to define too particularly; he is waiting, too, with the full consciousness that his own effort has now carried him as far as it can go and that it needs to be completed by some touch from without."2(37) this thought confines the whole idea within the realm of sensuous perce

l reading and, lastly, complete obedience to the master."1(55) the word "aspiration" comes from the latin "ad="to, and "spirare="to breathe, to breathe towards" as webster puts it. the word "spirit" comes from the same root. aspiration must precede inspiration. there must be a breathing out from the lower self before there can be a breathing in by the higher aspect. from the standpoint of eastern mysticism, aspiration involves the 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 o

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 must gauge th

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 of them separately, for in

f the others is that of concentration, the gaining control of the mental processes. aspiration is presumably present to some degree or there would be no desire to meditate. it should be pointed out, however, that aspiration avails nothing unless it is endorsed by a strong will, a capacity to endure, and patient persistence. i. the stage of concentration. in all schools of advanced or intellectual mysticism, the first and necessary step is the attainment of mind control. meister eckhart, writing in the fourteenth century, tells us that "st. paul reminds us that we being planted in the likeness of god may attain to higher and truer vision. for this st. dionysius says we require three things. the first is, possession of one's mind. the second is, a mind that is free. the third is, a mind that

tration as a preliminary to meditation, and the capacity to focus the mind unswervingly upon any chosen subject. evelyn underhill defines this faculty as follows "the act of perfect concentration, the passionate focussing of the self upon the one point, when it is applied in 'the unity of the spirit and the bonds of love' to real and transcendental things, constitutes in the technical language of mysticism the state of meditation or recollection, and..is the necessary prelude of pure contemplation."11(77) iii. the stage of contemplation we are entering a realm of realization now which is much handicapped by two things: the use of words, which only serve to limit and distort, and the writings of the mystics themselves which- 58- from intellect to intuition copyright 1998 lucis trust while t

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

ical school, which is dignified by the name of introspectionist. like much else in the world at this time, from two great lines of thought, such as the mechanistic and the introspective or subjective mentioned above, a third will manifest which will embody the truth in both positions and duly adjust them to each other. on a larger scale this is working out in the fusing of occident and orient, of mysticism and occultism. we have no quarrel with either, but in the evolution of thought the main trends of ideas at this time are rapidly approaching each other and from them a synthesis will emerge which will prove an adequate platform upon which the coming cycle may make its stand. it might be of value here if we noted the tendency of three lines of thought, roughly speaking in- 194- a treatise

he nature of the planetary logos is revealed and his four avatars are definitely contacted through the direct mediatory work of sanat kumara. 7. a word now as regards the work of the ibezhan adepts and their mysteries; it is necessary here to point out that the whole trend of their work was in a way different and necessarily so, to that of the adepts at this time. their objective was to stimulate mysticism and the stimulating of the kingdom of god within the human atom. the nature of their work is most difficult for the average man of this time to comprehend, owing to the different state of his consciousness. the ibezhan adepts had to deal with a humanity which was in its infancy, whose polarization was most unstable, and whose coordination was very imperfect. there was very little mentali

o two decisions- 220- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust that individualisation must cease until man had not only coordinated the physical and astral bodies and could think self-consciously but until he had also transcended the physical and the astral. when he is becoming group-conscious, then the door into the kingdom of self-consciousness will again be opened. that the path of mysticism must lead eventually to the occult path, and that plans must be made to impart teaching, and mysteries must be organized which would reveal the nature of god in all that is seen, and not only in man. man must be taught that though an individual, he is but part of a greater whole and that his interests must be made subservient to those of the group. gradually the teaching was re-organized

tion in assured immortality, and of this the work undertaken by the spiritualists and psychic investigators right down the ages is the mode of approach and the inevitable guarantee. the sex instinct has worked out and finds its logical consummation in the- 359- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust relationship- consciously realised- of the soul and the body. this is the keynote of mysticism and religion, which is today, as ever, the expression of the law of attraction, not as it expresses itself through physical plane marriage, but as it finds its consummation (for man) in the sublime marriage carried forward with conscious intent between the positive soul and the negative and receptive form. the herd instinct finds its divine consummation in an awakened group consciousness

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

which our bodily "well-being" is the lowest form of material, yet symbolic, reflection. it is a sense of coordinated blissful satisfaction, based on realised being. 2. a withdrawal from even this life-awareness to a phase still more intensive and detached, which involves an awareness of the life of god itself, free from form, but still, in a mysterious sense, aware of quality. in the language of mysticism it might be expressed this way "i take a body. that body is alive. i know its life. i therefore know my mother "i use a body. that body is not me. i serve the group and in this serving live within the body, detached, a son of god. i know my self "i infuse a body. i am its life and in that life shall i see life. that life is known as love. i am the love of god. i know the father, and know

the father and of the mother (spirit-matter) and is therefore the embodied life of god, coming into incarnation in order to reveal the quality of the nature of god, which is essential love. this life, taking form, nurtures the quality of love within all forms, and ultimately reveals the purpose of all creation. this is the simplest definition for average humanity, being couched in the language of mysticism, thus linking the truth as found in all religions. it is necessarily inadequate, for it fails to emphasize the truth that what can be posited of man can also be posited of the cosmic reality, and that just as a human appearance on earth veils both the quality and purpose (in varying degree, so does that synthesis of all forms or appearances, within that unity which we call a solar system

h a world of material values. the world of meaning and of causes becomes gradually the world in which he finds happiness, and his selection of his major interests and the use to which he decides to put his time and powers are finally conditioned by the truer spiritual values. he then is on the path of illumination. i have sought to express the effects of these two major ray influences in terms of mysticism and of philosophy, but in very truth all that i have here said could be expressed scientifically and in terms of scientific formulas, if man were mentally equipped to appreciate them. but this is not yet possible. all these ray vibrations, no matter which they may be, can eventually be reduced to formulas and to symbols. reaction to environment, sensitive response to the ray influences w

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

n have been totally ignored. we have fought over the historical christ, and thus fighting, have lost sight of his message of love to all beings. fanatics quarrel over his words, and fail to remember that he was "the word made flesh" we argue about the virgin birth of the christ, and forget the truth which the incarnation is intended to teach. evelyn underhill points out in her most valuable book, mysticism, that "the incarnation, which is for popular christianity synonymous with the historical birth and earthly life of christ, is for the mystic not only this but also a perpetual cosmic and personal process" scholars spend their lives in proving that the whole story is only a myth. it should, however, be pointed out that a myth is the summarised belief and knowledge of the past, handed down

tency of past experience. if the sense of god has persisted in the world for untold ages, and if the testimony of the mystics and saints, the seers and the saviours of all time is historical and verifiable as it is then that testimony, in its wealth and universality, constitutes a fact as scientific as any other. these are days when a scientific fact seems to have some glamorous appeal. cycles of mysticism, cycles of philosophy, cycles of scientific expression, cycles of rank materialism such is the cyclic way we walk, and such is our history. but persistent through them all runs the thread of god's plan. steadily through them all, the soul of man marches from one unfoldment of consciousness to another, and our concept of divinity constantly gains in richness and reality. that is the fact

here is in us also a light, and that it too must blaze forth for the helping of the world and the glorification of our father which is in heaven.12 to this light the mystics testify, and it is this light into which they enter, and which enters into them, revealing the light which is latent and drawing it forth to potency "in thy light shall we see light" this is the outstanding fact of scientific mysticism. god is light as well as life. this the mystic has proved, and to this he eternally testifies. this awareness of the fact of divinity is established in our consciousness first of all through the recognition of the wonder latent in every human being. that man who sees no good in his fellowmen is he who is unaware of his own goodness; that man who sees only evil in those around him is he w

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

and willing to herd (of choice or perforce) with his fellow man. it is this principle, working or functioning through the human consciousness, which has led to the formation of our huge modern cities symbols of a coming higher civilisation which we call the kingdom of god, wherein the relationship between men will be exceedingly close psychically. it is this instinct to unify which underlies all mysticism and all religions, for man seeks ever a closer union with god and naught can arrest his at-onement (in consciousness) with deity. it is this instinct which is the basis of his sense of immortality, and which is his guarantee of union with the opposite pole to the personality the soul. being an attribute of deity, and being a divine instinct and, therefore, part of the subconscious life o

ghout the aeons and have motivated his creative processes. great sons of god have come and gone and challenged us to follow the light, to seek the vision of reality, to open our eyes and see truth as it is. down the ages, men have sought to do this and have called the method of their search by many names life experience, scientific research, philosophic questionings, history, adventure, religion, mysticism, occultism and many other terms applied to the adventurous excursions of the human mind in search of knowledge, of reality, of god. some have ended up in a maze of astral phenomena, and must continue their search later when they emerge, chastened, from the depths of the great illusion. others have wandered back into the dark cave of a pronounced materialism, of phenomenalism, and must li

two are then as one. in between these stages of low grade psychic life and the spiritual perception of the initiate there is to be found every possible type of sentient consciousness. these can be divided into three major categories: 1. the unfoldment and use of the psychic powers, both higher and lower. this is the stage of psychism. 2. the evolution of the mystical vision. this is the stage of mysticism. 3. the revelation of light and power. this is the stage of occultism. all these expressions of divine knowledge are connected with, and dependent upon, the development of the centres. in the low grade human being, the centres are nothing more than slowly revolving, palpitating disks of dim light. in lemurian days, the sacral centre was the most active and the brightest. in atlantean day

ordinating capacity and its mental emphasis, will control the mass of the people, for in the coming race the atlantean emotional state of consciousness will be to humanity what the lemurian or low grade type is to the aryan at this time. the masses will then all come under the category of the intelligentsia, whilst the intelligentsia of today will be the intuitives of tomorrow. in the language of mysticism, the masses will be on the probationary path and the cream of the race will be on the path of discipleship. the number also of the initiates and adepts, present in incarnation in order to carry forward the externalised work of the hierarchy will be great. the world will then be full of people who will be completely integrated personalities with all the virtues (and consequently all the v

ALICE A BAILEY12 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME I

of inter-related activity are present, then what might be called "spiritual habits" begin to form and are steadily established. their united effect serves eventually to attract the attention of the master. the contact is still too feeble and the grip of the soul upon the personality is still too weak to warrant the master himself doing anything directly with the aspirant. the stage is one of pure mysticism and of selfish spiritual purpose. the recognition of group relationship is missing; the knowledge of group inclination is not present; there is no true, unselfish desire to serve. there is only a vague desire for personal liberation, for personal integrity and for personal lasting happiness. this has to be changed into group emancipation, group cohesion and group joy. the first stage, th

ALICE A BAILEY13 PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY

gro 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 deep occult knowledge and an esoteric understanding which may some day make africa the seat of the purest form of occult teaching and living. this, however, lies several centuries ahead. in considering the problem of the african negro, it is the long range vision with which we must deal and the steady rising into power

ALICE A BAILEY16 GLAMOUR A WORLD PROBLEM

means anything. the western races must move forward into spiritual supremacy, without obliterating the eastern contribution, and the functioning of the law of rebirth holds the clue to this and demonstrates this necessity. the tide of life moves from- 107- glamour: a world problem copyright 1998 lucis trust east to west as moves the sun, and those who in past centuries struck the note of eastern mysticism must strike and are now striking the note of western occultism. therefore, the following stages must follow upon the three earlier. we will continue with the numbering as given, for what i here suggest is a formula for a more advanced meditation attitude. i said not form. 4. definite and sustained effort to sense the presence throughout the universe in all forms and in all presentations

the many results in psychic sensitivity, of which hierarchical contact, illumination, service and discipline are descriptive and, finally, the stage of "isolated unity" which is the paradoxical term used by patanjali to describe the inner life of the initiate. most of what i have said above is well known to all aspirants whether they study the raja yoga teaching of india or the life of practical mysticism as laid down by such mystics as meister eckhart and the more mentally polarised modern esotericist. these latter went beyond the mystical vision by arriving at fusion. i need not enlarge on this. it is the higher stage of at-one-ment to which all true mystics bear witness. what does concern us here is how this light is recognised, appropriated and used in order to dispel glamour and rend

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

hysical nature no longer dominate him; he is afraid of the impulses, emanating from the astral plane; he is awake and active mentally and as a functioning personality. but he remains unsatisfied and is uncomfortably aware of it. 3. he turns to invocation. this process of invocation falls into two stages: a. the stage of aspiration, irregular and vague but gradually assuming power. b. the stage of mysticism, merging into occultism (the study of that which is hidden. duality is now consciously and uncomfortably recognised and the higher way and the spiritual vision is contacted. desire gives place to the vague promptings of what might be called love. this is the movement in the personality of that divine emerging aspect. it is this that he seeks to invoke. when this is adequately strong then

of venus loved the earth so well that he incarnated and gave it perfect laws which were disregarded and rejected (s.d. ii. 38) 6 "every sin committed on earth is felt in venus. every change in venus is reflected on earth (s.d. ii. 35) 7 "venus. is the light-bearer of our earth, in both the physical and mystic sense (s.d. ii. 36) 8 "it is with the regent of venus (the planetary logos) that occult mysticism has to deal (s.d. ii. 36) 9 "humanity (which appeared in lemurian days. is said to be under the direct influence of venus (s.d. ii. 27) 10 "the sun sirius, is the source of the logoic mind (manas) in the same sense as the pleiades are connected with the evolution of mind in the seven heavenly men and venus is responsible for the coming in of mind in the earth chain (c.f. 347) 11 "there i

ALICE A BAILEY19 THE UNFINISHED AUTOBIOGRAPHY

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 intelligent enough to know something about adolescent mysticism and religious hysteria; i had heard religious workers discussing it. i had attended many revival meetings and had seen people "losing control" of themselves, as i called it. i, therefore, never mentioned my experience to any one for fear that they would class me as a "mental case" and one who would have to be carefully watched and handled. i was intensely alive spiritually. i was conscio

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

he succumbs to some infectious or contagious complaint. 4. diseases inherent in the soil. of these as yet but little is known. the soil of our earth, however, is very ancient, and is impregnated with disease germs which take their toll of the vegetable, animal and human kingdoms, manifesting differently in each, yet being due basically to the same causes. 5. diseases which are the difficulties of mysticism. these are the peculiar ills and complaints which attack the disciples and aspirants of the world. these can be traced in every case to the pouring in of energy through centres which are not properly equipped, or adequately developed, to handle the force. the above is a generalisation which may be found useful. the method whereby these astral forces (which are, as we know, preeminently t

nd between the other energies, focussed through the seven centres- 83- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: esoteric healing copyright 1998 lucis trust 7. it is the interplay of these energies which produces good health or bad. there has been much teaching given anent the age-long struggle between personality and soul, but it has always been presented in the language of spiritual approach, of mysticism and of religion, or else in terms of character reaction, of abstract aspiration and of purity or non-purity. with these i shall not deal. my theme is the effects of this conflict in the physical body. i wish, therefore, to confine myself only to the physiological and psychological problems incident to the struggle which, in the main, make hard the lot of the disciple. it might be posited

human organs of generation viewing them as a basic unity, though temporarily separated in the present dualistic expression of the human being. it must be remembered that this separation fosters a powerful impulse towards fusion, and this urge to blend we call sex. sex is, in reality, the instinct towards unity: first of all, a physical unity. it is the innate (though much understood) principle of mysticism, which is the name we give to the urge to union with the divine. like all else that undeveloped man has touched, we have perverted and distorted a divine idea and prostituted an immaterial urge to material desire. we have reversed the direction of the sacral energy, hence the over-developed animal nature and functions of average humanity- 109- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: eso

desire" of his patient. 4. he must have exact knowledge. we read that he must "know the point exact through which relief must come" this is a most important point and one entirely overlooked by the so-called healers in such movements as christian science, unity and others. healing does not come through an intense affirmation of divinity, or by simply pouring out love and the expression of a vague mysticism. it comes through mastering an exact science of contact, of impression, of- 309- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: esoteric healing copyright 1998 lucis trust invocation, plus an understanding of the subtle apparatus of the etheric vehicle. 5. the power to reverse, reorient and "exalt" the consciousness of the patient. the healer has to "lift the downward focussed eyes unto the so

ALICE A BAILEY21 EDUCATION IN THE NEW AGE

orm of culture material or spiritual, or material and spiritual which is the objective of all education. education is the major agent in the world. civilisation is the reaction of humanity to the purpose of any particular world period. in each age, some idea must be expressed in the current racial idealism. in atlantean times, the idea that predominated was basically sensory religious idealism or mysticism, expressing itself in terms of approach to a felt but unseen deity, an expression of the way of feeling. yet there were highly sensitive races, composed of nations and groups who laboured over the development of the feeling nature, consciously sometimes, but mostly unconsciously. their attitude to each other, as individuals or nations, was primarily sensitive and emotional a state of con

ty; this will hasten the achievement of culture by the masses, and the attainment of illumination by the more intellectual group. there is one point that i would like to make here. in the future, illumination will be viewed primarily from the intellectual angle and the whole subject will be approached mentally, and not so definitely (as is the case today) from the angle of religion. illumination, mysticism and religion have gone hand in hand. one of the major contributions of the present age to the unfoldment of the race has been the growing recognition that spirituality is not to be confused with and confined to the acceptance and the following of the precepts contained in the world scriptures; it cannot be held down to the implications given to these scriptures by an orthodox- 41- educat

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

these three points of view, or evocations of truth, that the work of the sixth group of disciples will be concerned. they are: 1. the fact of the spirit of god, both transcendent and immanent, will be demonstrated, and also a similar fact in relation to man. the mode of their approach to each other, via the soul, will be indicated. this aspect of the emerging truth might be called transcendental mysticism. 2. the fact of the divine quality of the forces in nature and in man and the method of their utilisation for divine purposes by man. this might be called transcendental occultism. 3. the fact, implied in the first, that humanity, as a whole, is an expression of divinity, a complete expression, plus the allied fact of the divine nature and work of the planetary hierarchy, and the mode of

process consists entirely of the production of contact and subsequent control of the forces of earth, water, fire and air. this is one of the aims of the magical workers but it concerns material nature and the control of substance and, in the realm of the lower occultism, is allied to the invocation and evocation of money, good health and the tangible material results as practised in the realm of mysticism by many schools of thought. note this, for it holds a clue to the relation of occultism and mysticism upon the lower levels of consciousness and indicates the need of both groups to shift their focus of interest and their emphasis on to the higher and more spiritual values. the control of the natural forces and the evocation of the desired material rewards will arrive normally and inevit

ised and the nature of invocation understood by all who seek to aid their fellowmen. as i explained elsewhere in detail (esoteric astrology, pages 570-575, this process of invocation falls into two stages in the life of the individual and also today in the life of humanity as a whole. the stage of aspiration, irregular and vague but gradually becoming focussed and assuming power; and the stage of mysticism with its uncomfortably recognised dualism; this merges into occultism which is the intelligent study of that which is hidden. it is because all these stages are actively present today that we have the dire and widespread crisis. it was the need to give a constructive trend and to focus the invoked energies which led me, under instruction from the hierarchy, to give out at widely separate

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

eatise on the seven rays- volume v: the rays and the initiations copyright 1998 lucis trust volume of a treatise on the seven rays (part ii, and has already been given to a number of senior aspirants in the hope that they would profit thereby; the need for synthesis has also been emphasised by me, and is closely related to the will-aspect, the first divine aspect. in the past, during the cycle of mysticism through which all aspirants very properly pass, they were taught to "see the vision" a vision of the goal, of the beauty to be sought, of the loved one to be known, of liberation to be achieved, of spiritual satisfaction and an opened door to greater wonders. in the occult age which has now definitely dawned, the neophyte will be taught to see the picture whole, to think in the larger te

not to location but to status a very different matter. 3. reflective concentration upon the hierarchical plan as his particular ashram has assumed responsibility for a measure of it; that responsibility he seeks to share intelligently and effectively. 4. recognition of the immediate contribution of the ashram and his immediate contribution as an integral part of it. this does away with visionary mysticism and produces the practicing occultist. 5. a study of the creative methods of his particular ray and an imaginative visualisation of that which will be expressed when the desired creative work has taken due form. 6. conscious projection of his contribution onto the outer physical plane. a tangible creative project is undertaken and eventually produced. 7. he thus plays his part in bringin

things which men everywhere regard as essential to their well-being is also the result of the creative activity of the fifth ray consciousness. this is, of course, as it demonstrates upon the physical plane. when it demonstrates upon the mental plane, we then talk of ideas, concepts, philosophies and ideologies. when it demonstrates upon the astral plane, we are aware of the religious impulse, of mysticism and of the emotional and conditioning desires. all these aspects are present in the consciousness of men everywhere today. everything is crystallising in human consciousness, and this takes place in order to make man aware of where he stands upon the ladder of evolution, and of what is wrong and what is right. all this again is due to the influence of fifth ray energy. this will begin to

th ways. the scientific way leads the aspirant into the world of energies and forces, which is the true world of occult endeavour, revealing the universal mind and the workings of that great intelligence which created the manifested universe. the "new man" who has come to birth at the first initiation must and will tread the occult or scientific way, which inevitably leads him out of the world of mysticism into the scientific and assured perception of god as life or energy. the first initiation marks the beginning of a totally new life and mode of living; it marks the commencement of a new manner of thinking and of conscious perception. the life of the personality in the three worlds has for aeons nurtured the germ of this new life and fostered the tiny spark of light within the relative d

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

and all things be done truly to the glory of god. but the soul must control, and not the lower nature. people forget that some of the greatest of the world initiates married; that the buddha married and had a son, and must have been an initiate of high degree when he entered into the married state [50] they forget that moses, david the psalmist, and many of the outstanding figures in the world of mysticism in both hemispheres, were married and raised families. disciples belong to all races, both in the occident and in the orient, and the attitude of different races towards sex is widely diversified. standards of conduct differ. the legality or the illegality of relations varies. different epochs and different civilizations have seen relationships that were legal at one time, and illegal at

hemselves the nature of that identity which we call the soul. the world setting is ripe for a renewal of a living faith and religion which will be based upon personal knowledge and not upon the pronouncements and the- 118- the labours of hercules interpretations of limited minds. dr. rufus jones, the great quaker leader, calls attention to this fact in words which are worth noting..an outbreak of mysticism is always a sign that the soul of man is uttering a vigoros protest against the encroachment of some organized system of life. which threatens to leave scant scope and area for its own free initiative and its spontaneous creative activity. it is a proclamation that the soul has certain inherent rights and capacities, a dominion of its own, which must be respected and held sacred. sometim

ticism is always a sign that the soul of man is uttering a vigoros protest against the encroachment of some organized system of life. which threatens to leave scant scope and area for its own free initiative and its spontaneous creative activity. it is a proclamation that the soul has certain inherent rights and capacities, a dominion of its own, which must be respected and held sacred. sometimes mysticism has been the protest of man's spirit against the hardening crust of dogma, sometimes a revolt against ecclesiasticism" the philosophic basis of mysticism by t.h. hughes, page 46. in days of darkness and apparent spiritual deadness, this revival of interest in the higher realities inevitably appears, guaranteeing that the spirit of man is on its way, and that the reality remains unchanged

AN INTRO TO STUDY OF THE KABALAH

tages of development; in each grade the primal truths are re-stated in a different form; they are revealed or re-veiled in language and symbolism suitable to the learner's own mental condition; hence the need of a teacher, of a guide who has traversed the path, and who can recognise by personal communion the stage which each pupil has attained. there is no royal or easy path to high attainment in mysticism. unwearied effort, combined with purity of life, is of vital importance. the human intellect can only appreciate and assimilate that which the mind's eye can at any time perceive. the process cannot be forced. mystic lore cannot be stolen. if any learner did appropriate the knowledge of a grade beyond him it would be to him but folly, disappointment and darkness. students have often been

ARADIA GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES

e literary men among the pariahs of india; there were probably many among theminions of the moon, or nocturnal worshippers ofdiana. in fact, i am not without hope that researchmay yet reveal in the writings of some long-forgotten heretic or mystic of the dark ages the parallelof many passages in this text, if not the whole of it. page 66 when illumination or illumin-ism, in company with magic and mysticism, and a resolve to regener-ate society according to extreme free thought, inspired the t emplars to the hope that they wouldmaster the church and the world, the equality of woman, derived from the cairene traditions, againreceived attention. and it may be observed that during the middle ages, and even so late as theintense excitements which inspired the french huguenots, the jansenists an

ed himself with collecting and preserving it.it is very probably that there were as many touching episodes among the heathen martyrs who wereforced to give up their beloved deities, such as diana, venus, the graces, and others, who wereworshipped for beauty, as there were even among the christians who were thrown to the lions. forthe heathen lovedtheir gods with a human personal sympathy, without mysticism or fear, as if theyhad been blood-relations; and there were many among them who really believed that such was thecase when some damsel who had made afaux pasgot out of it by attributing it all to some god,faun, or satyr; which is very touching. there is a great deal to be said for as well as against the idol-aters or worshippers of dolls, as i heard a small girl define them. page 45 n r

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

y treated as an evil demon, insomuch that his effigies and name are obliterated on all the monuments and inscriptions that could be reached" the real occult reason will be given in these pages* sukra is the son of bhrigu the great rishi, and one of the seven prajapati, the founder of the race of bhargavas, in which parasu rama is born[[vol. 2, page] 33 parent stars and sister planets. that occult mysticism has to deal. the allegory which states that for killing sukra's mother, vishnu was cursed by him to be reborn seven times on the earth, is full of occult philosophical meaning. it does not refer to vishnu's avatars, since these number nine, the tenth being still to come, but to the races on earth. venus, or lucifer (also sukra and usanas) the planet, is the light-bearer of our earth, in

me class as ad-m, ha-va (eve, aed-en (eden; ak-ad meaning "son of ad (like the sons of ad in ancient arabia. ad-ad, the "only one" and the first, was the ad-on or "lord" of syria and consort of ad-ar-gat or aster't, the syrian goddess. and gan-aeden (eden) or gandunia was babylonia and mesopotamia. in assyrian ak meant creator, the letter k pronounced kh (ah) gutturally. according to swedenborg's mysticism adam was not a man but a church) of primitive light. in the vedas ad-iti is the primitive light, the akasa of the phenomenal world[[vol. 2, page] 43 adam-adami. untouched by fruitless speculation. the only reference made to it was the brief conception of its diastolic and systolic property, of its periodical expansion or dilatation, and contraction. in the universe with all its incalcula

lt axiom "the circle is the thought; the diameter (or the line) is the word[[vol. 2, page] 107 bath-kol, daughter of the voice. and their union is life" in the kabala, bath-kol is the daughter of the divine voice, or primordial light, shekinah. in the puranas and hindu exotericism, vach (the voice) is the female logos of brahma- a permutation of aditi, primordial light. and if bath-kol, in jewish mysticism, is an articulate praeternatural voice from heaven, revealing to the "chosen people" the sacred traditions and laws, it is only because vach was called, before judaism, the "mother of the vedas" who entered into the rishis and inspired them by her revelations; just as bath-kol is said to have inspired the prophets of israel and the jewish high-priests. and both exist to this day, in thei

brew genesis in the sight of those, for whom they are no more divine revelation or the word of god, than hesiod's theogony is for mr. gladstone "the poetry it (the rig veda) contains appears to me, on the contrary" says barth "to be of a singularly refined character and[[vol. 2, page] 451 the vedas written by initiates. artificially elaborated, full of allusions and reticences, of pretensions) to mysticism and theosophic insight, and the manner of its expression is such as reminds one more frequently of the phraseology in use among certain small groups of initiated, than the poetic language of a large community("the religions of india" p. xiii) we will not stop to enquire of the critic what he can know of the phraseology in use among the "initiated" or whether he belongs himself to such a

tal fluid, with which the cat is preeminently endowed "the nine lives of a cat" is a popular saying based on good physiological and occult reasons. mr. g. massey gives also an astronomical reason for it which may be found in i "symbolism "the cat saw the sun, had it in its eye by night (was the eye[[footnote continued on next page[[vol. 2, page] 553 the degradation of the symbol. forcibly of this mysticism of the circle, when he beheld a whirl-wind from which came out "one wheel upon the earth" whose work "was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel (ch. i. vv. 4-16 "for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels (v. 20 "spirit whirleth about continually and returneth again according to his circuits- says solomon (eccles. i. 6, who is made in the english translation to speak o

l elaboration and adoption of which dates back to the very establishment of the mysteries- is discovered in the geometrical symbols containing the history of the evolution of man. the hebrews, whose prophet moses was so learned in the esoteric wisdom of egypt, and who adopted their numerical system from the phoenicians, and later from the gentiles, from whom they borrowed most of their kabalistic mysticism, adapted, most ingeniously, the cosmic and anthropological symbols of the "heathen" nations to their peculiar secret records. if christian[[footnote(s* see moor's hindu pantheon, where wittoba's left foot bears the mark of the nail- on the figure of his idol[[vol. 2, page] 561 the meaning of the crucifixion. sacerdotalism has lost the key of it to-day, the early compilers of the christia

light, remember us also and purify us" it is easy to see who this light and name are: the light of initiation and the name of the "fire-self" which is no name, no action, but a spiritual, ever-living power, higher even than the "invisible god" as this power is itself. but if the able and learned author of the "gnostics and their remains" has not sufficiently allowed for the spirit of allegory and mysticism in the fragments translated and quoted by him, in the above named work, from pistis sophia- other orientalists have done far worse. having neither his intuitional perception of the indian origin of the gnostic wisdom still more than of their "gems" most of them, beginning with wilson and ending with the dogmatic weber, have made most extraordinary blunders with regard to almost every sym

on. while even in their esoteric interpretation both can agree but to disagree, once that their respective vulnerable points are confronted, every disagreement must fall, for the two will find themselves on common ground. the "heel of achilles" of orthodox brahmanism is the adwaita philosophy, whose followers are called by the pious "buddhists in disguise; as that of orthodox buddhism is northern mysticism, as represented by the disciples of the philosophies of aryasanga (the yogacharya school) and mahayana, who are twitted in their turn by their correligionists as "vedantins in disguise" the esoteric philosophy of both these can be but one if carefully analysed and compared, as gautama buddha and sankaracharya are most closely connected, if one believes tradition and certain esoteric teac

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

rsonal speculations and theories. for this work is a partial statement of what she herself has been taught by more advanced students, supplemented, in a few details only, by the results of her[[vol. 1, page] viii own study and observation. the publication of many of the facts herein stated has been rendered necessary by the wild and fanciful speculations in which many theosophists and students of mysticism have indulged, during the last few years, in their endeavour to, as they imagined, work out a complete system of thought from the few facts previously communicated to them. it is needless to explain that this book is not the secret doctrine in its entirety, but a select number of fragments of its fundamental tenets, special attention being paid to some facts which have been seized upon b

though by no means all- were preserved in the vatican, and have since become part and parcel of the mysteries, in the shape of disfigured additions made to the original christian programme by the latin church. such is the now materialised dogma of the immaculate conception. this accounts for the great persecutions set on foot by the roman catholic church against occultism, masonry, and heterodox mysticism generally. the days of constantine were the last turning-point in history, the period of the supreme struggle that ended in the western world throttling the old religions in favour of the new one, built on their bodies. from thence the vista into the far distant past, beyond the "deluge" and the garden of eden, began to be forcibly and relentlessly closed by every fair and unfair means a

. we touch heaven when we lay our hand on a human body "this sounds like a mere flourish of rhetoric" adds carlyle "but it is not so. if well meditated it will turn out to be a scientific fact; the expression. of the actual truth of the thing. we are the miracle of miracles- the great inscrutable mystery[[footnote(s* there is no nation in the world in which the feeling of devotion or of religious mysticism is more developed and prominent than in the hindu people. see what max muller says of this idiosyncracy and national feature in his works. this is direct inheritance from the primitive conscious men of the third race[[vol. 1, page] 213 the creative powers. stanza vii. 1. behold the beginning of sentient formless life (a. first, the divine (vehicle (b, the one from the mother-spirit (atma

her" but to do this requires a boundless love of truth and the surrender of that prestige- however false- of infallibility, which the men of science have acquired among the ignorant and flippant, though cultured, masses of the profane. to blend the two sciences, the archaic and the modern, requires first of all the abandonment of the actual materialistic lines. it necessitates a kind of religious mysticism and even the study of old magic, which our academicians will never take up. the necessity is easily explained. just as in old alchemical works the real meaning of the substances and elements meant are concealed under the most ridiculous metaphors, so are the physical, psychic, and spiritual natures of the elements (say of fire) concealed in the vedas, and especially in the puranas, under

BLUE EQUINOX

ral reading section 1. books for serious study liber ccxx (liber l vel legis) the book of the law. this book is the foundation of the new on, and thus of the whole of our work. the equinox, vol i. nos i-x. the standard work of reference in all occult matters. the encyclopaedia of initiation. liber aba (book 4. a general account in elementary terms of magical and mystical powers. in four parts (1) mysticism (2) magical theory (3) magical practice (4) the law. liber ii. the message of the master therion, which explains the essence of the new law in a very simple manner. liber dcccxxxviii. the law of liberty, which is a further explanation of the book of the law in reference to certain ethical problems. collected works of a. crowley. these works contain many mystical and magical secrets, both

in reference to certain ethical problems. collected works of a. crowley. these works contain many mystical and magical secrets, both stated clearly in prose, and woven into the robe of sublimest poesy. the yi king (s. b. e. series, oxford university press) the .classic of changes; give the initiated chinese system of magick. the tao te king (s. b. e. series) gives the initiated chinese system of mysticism. tannh user, by a. crowley. an allegorical drama concerning the progress of the soul; the tannh user story slightly remodelled. the equinox 20 the upanishads (s. b. e. series) the classical basis of vedantism, the best-known form of hindu mysticism. the bhagavad-gita. a dialogue in which krishna, the hindu .christ, expounds a system of attainment. the voice of the silence, by h.p. blavat

sm. the bhagavad-gita. a dialogue in which krishna, the hindu .christ, expounds a system of attainment. the voice of the silence, by h.p. blavatsky, with an elaborate commentary by frater o.m. frater o.m, 7 =48, is the most learned of all the brethren of the order; he has given eighteen years to the study of this masterpiece. raja yoga, by swami vivekananda. an excellent elementary 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

aster 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 explicand, f

the language of occultism what webster or murray is to the english language. varieties of religious experience (james. valuble as showing the uniformity of mystical attainment. kabbala denudata, von rosenroth: also the kabbalah unveiled, by s.l. mathers. the text of the qabalah, with commentary. a good elementary introduction to the subject. konx om pax. four invaluable treatises and a preface on mysticism and magick. the pistis sophia. an admirable introduction to the study of gnosticism. the oracles of zoroaster. an invaluable collection of precepts mystical and magical. the equinox 22 the dream of scipio, by cicero. excellent for its vision and its philosophy. the golden verses of pythagoras, by fabre d.olivet. an interesting study of the exoteric doctrines of this master. the divine py

h is thus overdeveloped, with the result that the aspirant, instead of becoming an adept, becomes a bigot and fanatic. the a.a. does not offer examination in this course, but reccomends these books as the foundation of a library. section 2. other books, principally fiction, of a generally suggestive and helpful kind zanoni, by sir edward bulwer lytton. valuable for its facts and suggestions about mysticism. a strange story, by sir edward bulwer lytton. valuable for its facts and suggestions about magick. the blossom and the fruit, by mabel collins. valuable for its account of the path. petronius arbiter. valuable for those who have wit to understand it. the equinox 24 the golden ass, by apuleius. valuble for those who have wit to understand it. le comte de gabalis. valuable for its hints o

luable 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 treated. the m

ind to meditation and of regularizing the practices. liber ccc. a special instruction for the promulgation of the law. this is the first and most important duty of the equinox 30 every aspirant of whatever grade. it builds up in him the character and karma which form the spine of attainment. liber aba (book 4. a general account in elementary terms of magical and mystical powers. in four parts (1) mysticism (2) magical theory (3) magical practise (4) the law. liber ccvii. syllabus. an enumeration of the official publications of the a.a. with a brief description of the contents of each book. this course of reading will furnish the probationer with a through general knowledge of the whole system of attainment, and of the practices tending to this goal, so that he may choose freely as to what

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

e issue, a. e. waite and paul case give the number 8 to strength and 11 to justice, while virtually every other writer and deck shows 8 to be justice and 11 strength! many writers on the tarot frighten away would-be students with their needlessly veiled and lofty descriptions and interpretations. one such writer says, of the major arcana "their symbolism is a type of shorthand for metaphysics and mysticism. here are truths of so subtle and divine an order that to express them badly in human language would be a sacrilege. only esoteric symbolism can reveal them to the inner spirit of the seeker. he does, however, go on to express them in human language and i must confess that i intend to do the same! how do the cards work and how are they used? as with all tools of divination the tarot, cry

us; often taciturn, reserved. saturn is associated with the law, mining, printing, dentistry, building and real estate, second-hand books, agriculture and death. uranus is excitable and erratic, a little too forceful and inclined to be sarcastic. it has an affinity with nature, also technical objects. to do with electricians, inventors, astrologers. very much of the occult. neptune is inclined to mysticism, also to individuality. knows but does not say. can be of very doubtful character, capable of murder, rape, etc. sometimes vague; sometimes confused. associated with eating places, bars, prostitution, narcotics, navigation, the ocean, nursing, advertising. pluto is generally associated with children; youth. leaders, wanting things their own way, disliking laws. pluto is associated with h

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

igo indigo is for spiritual healing, for psychic awareness and knowledge of past lives and worlds; it is the colour of the seer. lavender lavender is for dreams and connections with others, on a telepathic level, for awareness of devas and other higher nature spirits and for herb wisdom. violet violet is for clairvoyance, mediumship, spirituality and contact with the evolved self, angelic guides, mysticism and peak experiences. purple candles are best used on thursday. pink pink is the colour of venus in her gentler aspects, for family relationships, affection, friendship matters, children and for the growth of new love and trust, especially after betrayal or a setback. pink rituals are excellent for restoring self-esteem and healing wounded emotions, for letting go of past hurts involving

oon in all its phases, was a goddess of fertility as well as love. it is also used on some altars to represent the goddess, with a gold candle for the horned god. silver is potent in all forms of divination, but especially for candle divination, for awakening clairvoyant powers, telepathic and psychometric abilities, astral projection, for rituals to invoke anima (female) power, for intuition and mysticism. it represents dreams, visions and a desire for fulfilment beyond the material world. in times of stress and sorrow, silver candles can remove negativity, promote inner stability and bring to the fore your hidden potential. silver candles are excellent for scrying, especially by the full moon, and for all magick involving the female life and for female fertility. silver candles are best

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

ces from theosophy, astrology, and european spiritualism. while it is possible that the cosmopolitan nature of city environments yielded a greater number of practitioners who were familiar with these occult traditions, it is also likely that the influences of various asian philosophies in american culture at the turn of the twentieth century stimulated the public's fascination with eastern-styled mysticism.[43] a fierce competition for clients engaged supernatural practitioners in urban settings. black magic page 88 of 144 http//content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docid=kt600020q0&chunk.id=0&doc.view=print 7/14/2006 strategies for promoting conjurers f services veered from outrageous claims to blatantly coercive endorsements. advertisements also offered the services of specialists who declared thei

CHRONOLOGIA RORISPERGIUS

e has spread over most of europe, reaching iceland, the baltic and bohemia. 1012: ben gabirol brings the works of plato to spain. 1013 1103 jacob ha-kohen's book of illumination aleph and angelic symbolism overlayed on the menorah 1016-1100 naropa 1018-c. 1079 michael psellus: on the hieratic art(alchemy theologised. 1020 d. meshullam ben kalonymos corresponded with the jews of babylon. rhineland mysticism. 1034 d. abu'l-hasan kharraqani. iranian sufi of the uwaysis tradition (whom suhrawardi claimed himself a spiritual heir to "i am amazed at those disciples who declare that they require this or that master. you are perfectly well aware that i have never been taught by any man. god was my guide, though i have the greatest respect for all the masters" 1034 to 1124- life of hasan-e sabbah

thodox church, forms catholic church 1058-1111 ghazali (persian muslim scholar and mystic) 1060 r. solomon ibn gabirol said to have created a woman 1062-1110 petrus alfonsi proof of the trinity based on the tetragrammaton. 1071-1126 guilhelm ix duca d'aquitania, vii conte di poitiers troubadour c. 1075 yehuda ha-levi born. friend of abraham ibn ezra. helped amalgamate ismailite thought and muslim mysticism to jewish thought. 1075-1129 rupert of deutz. trinitarian division of history: the age of the father from the creation to the fall; of the son from the fall to the passion; and that of the holy spirit from the resurrection until the resurrection at the end of time. identified an "age of the spirit "during which the seven spiritual gifts (isa 11:2) are poured out on the faithful, each gif

zirah "r" paris 809 (2, foll 93a,-94a. italy. short recension of tamim. 1500 kaf ha-ketoreth "the censer"-apocalyptic commentary written in italy on the psalms as text of the millenium; magical weapons of purification and destruction to annihilate the forces of evil. 1501 d. ibn abi jumhur al-ahsa'i. imami author of kitab al mujli, combined mu'tazilite theology with illuminationist philosophy and mysticism. 1501-1575 girolamo cardano 1502-1594 foix, francois de- comte de candale 1503-1566 nostradamus 1505 lefevre d etaples brought out in france for the first time in one volume ficino s pimander, and the asclepius, which also included ludovico lazarelli s crater hermetis (written before 1494 and modelled upon corpus hermeticum iv, which describes the passing on of divine knowledge from mast

rowley (crowley, edward alexander) dies 1947-56 discovery of qumran (dead sea) scrolls. 1948 the white goddess by r. graves. 1949 gardnerian book of shadows 1953 grand lodge of the state of israel was constituted. 1957 l'art magique andre breton 1958 franz bardon dies 1961 a history of the jews in christian spain v.1 yitzchak baer links radical joachimite spiritual spanish franciscans with jewish mysticism in thirteenth-century spain 1971 73 henry corbin mundus imaginalis 1974 julius evola dies 1976 j. t. milik, ed. and trans, the books of enoch: aramaic fragments of qumran cave 4, oxford: clarendon press 1977 el gran tarot esoterico maritxu guler and luis pena longa 1980 stairs of gold tarot. giorgio tavaglione "i saw a stair the color of gold, on which shone a ray of sun, which raised it

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

le and beliefs that moulded the thinking of the man claiming to be a young austrian born with the name schiklgruber, but later rather better known as adolf hitler "heil schiklgruber" would not have had the same ring to it, somehow. he hated school, the official story goes, and wanted to be an artist, an ambition which took him to vienna. he spent hours in the libraries reading books on astrology, mysticism, and the religions of the east. he was fascinated by the books of blavatsky, chamberlain, list, and liebenfels. he picked out bits from each of them to produce his preferred mixture, a cocktail of horror and hatred that would manifest as nazism. his passion was the power of the will. the potential of willpower to achieve anything it desires was to be his focus and guide throughout the ye

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

" sightings, tend to happen mostly at or near these magnetic faults in her book, where science and magic meet (element books, shaftesbury, england, 1991, serena roney-dougal points out that of the 286 stone circles in britain, 235 are built on rocks more than 250 million years old, the statistical chances of which are more than a million to one. robert graves, the poet and writer on mythology and mysticism, said "there are some sacred places made so by the radiation created by magnetic ores. my village, for example, is a kind of natural amphitheatre enclosed by mountains containing iron ore, which makes a magnetic field. most holy places in the world- holy not by some accident, like a hero dying or being born there- are of this sort. delphi was a heavily charged holy place."42 delphi in gr

ices are 'death rays' and 'vimana, or flying, disk-shaped aerial craft. these craft are described at length in many ancient vedic texts, including the bhagivad-gita and the ramayana. the naga race is related to another underworld race, the hindu demons, or rakshasas. they also possess, as individuals "magical stones, or a 'third eye' in the middle of their brows, known to many students of eastern mysticism today as a focal point for one of the higher chakras, or energy channel-points, of the human(oid) nervous system- the chakra associated with 'inner visions, intuition, and other esoteric concepts."10 the theme of ruling "royal" families and emperors claiming descent, and their right to rule, from the "serpent gods" can be found across the ancient world. these bloodlines and connections w

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

re some of the people and beliefs that moulded the thinking of the manclaiming to be a young austrian called schiklgruber, but later rather better known asadolf hitler. heil schiklgruber would not have had the same ring to it somehow. hehated school, the official story goes, and wanted to be an artist, an ambition that tookhim to vienna. he spent hours in the libraries reading books on astrology, mysticism,and the religions of the east. he was fascinated by the books of blavatsky,chamberlain, list, and liebenfels and he picked out parts from each of them to producehis preferred mixture, a cocktail of horror and hatred called nazism. his passion wasthe power of the will. the potential of willpower to achieve anything it desires was tobe his focus and guide throughout the years that followed

DEMONIC BIBLE

remonial magic, and eliphas levi, author of numerous books on the cabala. this was followed a century later by another occult order, known as the golden dawn, of which the magician aleister crowley was a member. the golden dawn, like the earlier rosicrucian brotherhood, explored the study of the jewish cabala, egyptian magic, and the enochian keys of dr. john dee. the cabala is a system of hebrew mysticism which identifies ten sephiroth, or emanations of god in graduated order from pure spirit to the course material world. even the shells or husks (evil spirits) are manifestations of god s power. in jewish belief, god is infinite and therefore beyond description. yahweh, according to the cabalist, is not the name of god but the phonetic pronunciation of the word god spoke at the moment of

nai, or el. the israelites were syrian foreigners to egypt, osiris being the egyptian name for the syrian fertility god of the jews. a similar mystical system (to the cabala) developed in egypt centered on the god amen. followers of the egyptian god amen began to teach that there was one god, amen, and that all other gods were manifestations of this one true god. the development of monotheism and mysticism occurred simultaneously among the egyptians and israelites. taken alone, the cabala is purely a mystical system but it lent itself well to magical application. words held the power to change reality and names compelled obedience from elemental beings. grimoires, or books of ceremonial magic based on cabalistic belief, cataloged the names and sigils of countless demons over which it was s

we read dowhat thou will shall be the whole of the law and love is the law, love under will. the word of the aeon of horus was thelema, the greek word for will. the will in this context was a magical will, the true will of the magician s higher self or his holy guardian angel. crowley s magick, as embraced by the order of oriental templars (oto) and order of the silver star (aa) combined eastern mysticism and yoga with the western ceremonial magic of the golden dawn. in practice, however, crowley s magick largely involved sex and drug use. it was the sexual aspects of tantric yoga crowley adopted together with some of the more deviant practices of black magicians and satanists of middle ages europe. the age of satan begins on april 30, 1966, former lion-tamer and carnival calliope player

s within society. we are at a point in history where the dominant religions of the past will be displaced by religions whose values are in greater accordance with society's values today. this is why many people have sought out new religions and have turned to wicca and new age philosophies or to alternative religious cults such as heaven's gate and the solar temple. while cults devoted to new age mysticism or white light magic and spirituality have had some success among those seeking for "something. anything spiritual, due principally to christianity's impoverishment of the ego and starvation of the intellect, they are ultimately no more relevant to today's society than the religions of the past. the world is searching for a religion which embraces the scientific knowledge of today, recog

DIABOLUS

cain, thus the sacrifice was not literal. 30 later paths of witchcraft as a lord of magick, but rather the darker aspects. here cain takes a similar path with anubis by name and process. robert cochrane, a practitioner of witchcraft in the 60 s wrote- in the north lies the castle of weeping, the ruler thereof is named tettens, our hermes or woden. he is the second twin, the waning sun, lord over mysticism, magic, power and death, the baleful destroyer. the god of war, of justice, king of kings, since all pay their homage to him. ruler of the winds, the windyat. cain imprisioned in the moon, ever desiring earth. he is visualized as a tall dark man, shadowy, cold and deadly. letters from robert cochrane here we see that cain, the son of samael and lilith, is the devil manifest on the earth

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

s 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 will be updat

vior. 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 christian magick& mysticism, auriel is the "archangel of death, he who brings all souls at last to rest upon the neither shore" aurum solis, order of the [o.s.v: the order of the shining sun. also called by it's latin name, the order of the sacred word. a well known and still existing english/british occult order which has been the primary promulgator of the teachings of melita denning and osbourne phillips. an ord

he primary make up of one element (q.v) and that element's attributes. elemental, artificial: an entity similar to an elemental, but created by a magician from an element (q.v) or a combination of elements for a specific purpose. elemetaries: the actual group name for elementals (q.v) according to classic grimoires (q.v. elements: there are five recognized magical elements in our system of magick/mysticism. these include air (q.v, earth (q.v, water (q.v, fire (q.v, and spirit (q.v. some systems have a four element system of air, earth, water, and fire; some systems utilizes a three element system of air, water, and fire. these names and systems are indicative of western esoteric systems. empathy: from the greek "en" meaning "in" and "pathos" meaning "feeling" literally translated as "in fe

e south. first matter: a mixture of the serpent (q.v) and the menstruum (q.v. used in alchemy (q.v) and sex magick (q.v. fortune, dion (nee violet mary firth: a past member of the hermetic order of the golden dawn (q.v) who was a lay psychologist as well as a natural psychic (q.v) and ceremonial magician. dion fortune founded her own order based upon that order's teachings and gnostical christian mysticism known as the society of the inner light. she wrote works including sane occultism and the mystical qabalah. futhark: a word made up of the first six rune (q.v) characters in the german rune alphabet: f-u-th-a-r-k. other rune alphabets are called by slightly different names due to variations in the pronunciation of the letters. the english rune alphabet is known as the futhorc- g- gabriel

made up of the first six rune (q.v) characters in the german rune alphabet: f-u-th-a-r-k. other rune alphabets are called by slightly different names due to variations in the pronunciation of the letters. the english rune alphabet is known as the futhorc- g- gabriel: pronounced "gahb-ray-ehl" the archangel (q.v) and cosmic guardian of the west and of elemental water. in the tradition of christian mysticism, gabriel is the "heavenly herald. the archangel of the annunciation, he who didst bring blessed tidings to our blessed lady, mary, the mother of christ" gardnarian (wicca: modern witches (q.v) who follow the teachings of and use the book of shadows composed by gerald b gardner (q.v. the first major tradition of modern wicca (q.v) a combination of neo-paganism and high ceremonial magick

sex: the ability to use the powerful energies raised during sexual activity for magickal purposes. magick, white: the science and art of causing change (in reality or in consciousness) in conformity with will, using means not currently understood by traditional western science, for the purpose of obtaining the knowledge and conversation of your holy guardian angel (q.v. also known as experiential mysticism. magickal catharsis: the release of magickal potency at the climax of a ritual or ceremony. it is usually accompanied by an emotional release, and in some forms of magick by physical climax. the catharsis of greek tragedy was no more than a pale echo of the original magickal catharsis of the greek eulusian mysteries. magickal memory: the memory of past lives. magickal name: a name given

rah (q.v, hode (q.v. keywords include: communication, intellect, perception, speaking, writing, computer, words, printed, read, trades, publishing, teaching, learning, schools, reason, logic, conscious memory, travel (local, consciousness, microphone, information, broadcast, distribution, self expression, thoughts, translated, details, brain, nervous system. merkabah: hebrew for "throne" merkabah mysticism was a system of pre-kabalistic spirituality where one would(?astral) travel through seven palaces with a goal of seeing god on "his" throne. michael: pronounced "mee-kahi-ehl" the archangel and cosmic guardian of the south and of elemental fire. in the tradition of christian mysticism, michael is the "defender, the protector and keeper of the sword of fire and of heaven. commander of the

awn's rituals in a public publication called the equinox. today, the a.a. is co-sponsored by the o.t.o. order of the astral star, the [o.a.s: the order of the astral star, inc. founded in 1980 in the commonwealth of kentucky, usa, by a group of ten teenagers including ghfr. pneuma asteros, ghsr. alethia asteros, and ghfr. skarff tou asterou and seven other members upon the principles of christian mysticism and ceremonial magick. the first degree is founded upon the ideals of christian knighthood, and the magickal secrets of the christian eucharist. the order practices golden dawn [g.d (q.v) style ceremonial/ritual magick. the symbol of the order is an eight rayed star on it's point, inscribed with the glyphs of the signs of the zodiac, the planets, the numbers, and colors. a gold, silver

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

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. 5. it is not my intention to write a historical study of the sources of the qabalah, but rather to show the uses that are made of it by moder

ain body of waters and swell their strength. so it is with a tradition: that which is not antagonistic will be assimilated. we must always test the purity of a tradition by reference to first principles, but we shall equally judge of the vitality of a tradition by its power to assimilate. it is only a dead faith which remains uninfluenced by contemporary thought. 9. the original stream of hebraic mysticism has received many tributaries. we see its rise among the nomad star-worshippers of chaldea, where abraham in his tent among his flocks hears the voice of god. but abraham has a shadowy background in which vast forms move half-seen. the mysterious figure of a great priest-king "born without father, without mother, without descent; having neither beginning of days nor end of life" administ

hod, the power, netzach, the glory, form the basal triangle 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

ciated by past meditation, he will obtain access to those ideas, even if the glyph has never been elucidated to him by those who have received the oral tradition "by mouth to ear" 16. the organised temporal force of the church availed to drive all rivals from the field and destroy their traces. we little know what seeds of mystical tradition sprang up only to be cut down during the dark ages; but mysticism is inherent in the human race, and although the church had destroyed all roots of tradition in her group-soul, nevertheless devout spirits within her fold rediscovered the technique of the soul's approach to god and developed a characteristic yoga of their own, closely akin to the bhakti yoga of the east. the literature of catholicism is rich in treatises on mystical theology which revea

ng the tree may not be ideal from the point of view of systematic thought, but i believe it is the only one which will enable the beginner to "get the hang" of the subject. it was upon the tree that i got my own mystical training, and i have lived and moved and had my being in its company for a good many years now, so i feel that i am competent to speak upon it from the point of view of practical mysticism; for i know from my own experience the difficulties of getting hold of the qabalistic system, so intricate, abstract, and voluminous, and yet so comprehensive and satisfactory when once it is mastered. 22. before we can consider the second triangle of the tree as a unit, we must know the meaning of its component sephiroth. chesed means mercy or love; it is also called gedulah, greatness

ing. observing their opposition, we shall expect to find two different aspects represented in them, these finding their equilibrium in a third, yesod, the sphere of luna. we see then a triangle composed of the lady of nature, the lord of books, and the mistress of witchcraft; in other words, subconsciousness and super- consciousness correlate in psychism. 29. anyone who is familiar with practical mysticism knows that there are three paths of superconsciousness-devotional mysticism, which correlates with tiphareth; nature mysticism, of the inebriating dionysian. type, which equates with the venus sphere of netzach; and intellectual mysticism of the occult type, which equates with hod, the sphere of thoth, lord of magic. tiphareth, as will be seen by reference to the diagram of the tree, bel

rentiated out of the amorphous sea of pure being. if the matrix be broken too soon, before the fluidic consciousness had become set as an organised system of stresses mystical qabala page 81 stereotyped by repetition, consciousness settles back again into formlessness, even as the clay returns to mud if freed from the supporting restraint of the mould before it has set. if there is a mystic whose mysticism produces mundane incapacity or any form of dissociation of consciousness, we know that the mould had been broken too soon for him, and he must return to the discipline of form until its lesson has been learnt and his consciousness has attained a coherent and cohesive organisation that not even nirvana can disrupt. let him hew wood and carry water in the service of the temple if he will

and kether. this sephirah, as we have already seen, may best be understood as apprehension, the dawning of consciousness; and we may interpret the phrase "tetragrammaton aloah va daath" as "god made manifest in the sphere of mind" 69. in the microcosm tiphareth represents the higher psychism, the mode of consciousness of the individuality, jr higher self. it is essentially the sphere of religious mysticism as distinguished from the magic and psychism of yesod; for be it remembered, the sephiroth of the central pillar of the tree represent levels of consciousness, and the sephiroth on the side pillars represent powers and modes of functino. tiphareth is also said to be the sphere of the greater masters; it is the temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens and the great white lodge

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

h things invisible. moreover, the occult fraternities are too inco-ordinated and scattered to be formidable political weapons even if they were imbued with bolshevism. it has also been said that the occult fraternities are controlled by the jews in the interests of zionism. this is quite untrue. there are very few jews in the occult movement. it is true, however, that the qabalah, the traditional mysticism of the jewish race, is one of the principal sources of western occultism, and that any occultist working on that tradition must know at least enough hebrew to be able to transliterate hebrew script. the study of the modern mystical qabalah is almost exclusively in the hands of gentiles, and orthodox jewish scholars know little or nothing of its literature and nothing whatever of its myst

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

ethods, be unchangeable [6, p. 110] the statement echoes aleister crowley s definition, and in admitting to a rather broad definition anton lavey refers to the equivalence between the perception of magic and science, possibly borrowing athur c. clarke s famous third law, which stipulates that [a]ny sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. most interpretations ranging from mysticism to die hard science are thereby covered. anton lavey asserted that magic falls into three basic categories: anger, lust, and compassion [6, pp. 114-115] feelings that are often difficult to cope with in many societies. two sections of the satanic bible are devoted to the practice of magic. one section contains three recipes for the aforementioned three categories of magic. the other sect

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

nally designed and created to contact the extrasensory realm. most frequently associated with the term occult are the techniques of magic and divination (including astrology, the tarot, and palmistry. in addition, various forms of meditation, yoga, and psychic development should be included, as well as some practices more commonly associated with religion, such as speaking in tongues, prayer, and mysticism. introduction viii introduction encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. by extension, the occult or paranormal can also legitimately incorporate a legion of mysterious phenomena not obviously extrasensory in nature: anomalous natural occurrences not easily understood or explained by contemporary science. such phenomena as the loch ness monster, unidentified flying objects (ufo

l-bestami claimed that this love was in itself an obstacle. he renounced conventional worship in the mosque, pilgrimage to mecca, and even the mystical practices of asceticism and meditation. various miracles were ascribed to al-bestami. sources: attar, farid al-din. muslim saints and mystics. translated by a. j. arberry. chicago: university of chicago press, 1966. zaehner, r. c. hindu and muslim mysticism. london: athlone press, 1960. encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. abu yazid al-bestami 5 abyssum an herb used in the ceremony of exorcising a haunted house. abyssum is consecrated by the sign of the cross and hung up at the four corners of the house. academia de estudo psychicos cesare lombroso cesare lombroso academy for psychical research, founded in sao paolo by jose de

e complex. sources: airaudi, oberto. tales from damanhur. translated by esperide and ileana troni. canavese, italy: damanhur editrice, 1997. intrivigne, massimo. damanhur: a magical community in italy. communal studies 16 (1996) 71.84. merrifield, jeff. damanhur: the real dream. london: thorsons, 1998. akasha (or soniferous ether) one of the five elementary principles of nature according to hindu mysticism. akasha is the first of these principles, and out of it the others are created. these subtle principles, or tattvas, are related to the five senses of human beings and to basic elements of matter: earth (prithivi, water (apas, fire (tejas, and air (vayu. the all-pervading akasha is responsible for vibrations of light and sound. sources: prasad, rama. the science of breath and the philoso

n theory and practice. london: neville spearman, 1976. lenglet, dufresnoy n. histoire de la philosophie hermetique. 2 vols. paris, 1792. read, j. prelude to chemistry. london, 1936. reprint, cambridge, mass: mit press, 1957. redgrove, h. stanley. alchemy: ancient and modern. london: rider, 1922. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1969. bygone beliefs. london, 1920. reprinted as magic& mysticism: studies in bygone beliefs. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1971. sadoul, jacques. alchemists and gold. new york: g. p. putnam s sons, 1972. reprint, london: neville spearman, 1972. silberer, herbert. the hidden symbolism of alchemy and the occult arts. new york: dover books, 1971. reprint, magnolia, mass: peter smith, 1972. thompson, charles j. alchemy: source of chemistry& medici

ker in the nineteenth century, who wrote several volumes to prove that all british proverbs and nursery rhymes were assonantal equivalents of high dutch invectives against the roman catholic church. sources: allegro, john. the sacred mushroom and the cross. garden city, n.y: doubleday, 1970. allen, james (1864.1912) british writer of self-improvement books that present a very individual blend of mysticism and new thought. like his contemporary ralph waldo trine in america, allen helped popularize new thought in great britain with his numerous popular inspirational books. according to his wife, allen wrote when he had a message, and it became a message only when he had lived it in his own life and knew that it was good. born in leicester, england, on november 28, 1864, he suffered much ill

movement. the psychedelic revolution contributed to the popularization of mystical experiences in an otherwise materialistic society but at the same time led many into meaningless despair and helped legitimize the widespread use of addictive narcotics drugs, now widely recognized as a major social problem. in 1967, in a state of spiritual despair, alpert went to india in search of meaning through mysticism. he studied for a few months under neem karoli baba in the himalayas, then returned to the united states as baba ram dass, or god s servant. having abandoned psychedelic drugs, he emerged as a disciple of hindu spirituality and commenced a career of lecturing and writing. in 1969 ram dass gave a course on raja yoga (meditation) at esalen institute, near san francisco, california, launchi

who developed the legend of the rosicrucian occult orders, came from a line of ministers that included a grandfather who had been among martin luther s original supporters. andrae was born august 7, 1586, in herrenburg, wurttemberg. he attended tubingen university, and after graduation he became chaplain at stuttgart. in 1607, due to ill health, he returned to tubingen, where he was introduced to mysticism as a member of the informal circle around christoph besold, a local devotee of the occult, especially the kabala, the jewish mystical system. during his last days in tubingen he finished and anonymously published the fama fraternitatis, the first of his rosicrucian publications. the following year he published the confessio, soon to be followed by the chemical marriage. by this time he h

solo attempts proved futile. enraged, he went to the inn where the unknown teacher was staying, but the teacher was gone. we see by this true history, remarked athanasius, how the devil seeks to deceive men who are led by a lust of riches. he related further that, as a result of this incident, the alchemist destroyed his scientific equipment and renounced alchemy forever. anpiel in ancient hebrew mysticism, anpiel is one of the angels charged by rabbis with the government of birds, for every known species was put under the protection of one or more angels. anpsi psi faculty in animals. the term psi-trailing is used to indicate a form of anpsi in which a pet may trace its owner in a distant location it has not previously visited (see also earthquake prediction; elberfeld horses) sources: ga

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

through faith the imagination is invigorated and completed, for it really happens that every doubt mars its perfection. faith must strengthen imagination, for faith establishes the will. because man did not perfectly believe and imagine, the result is that arts are uncertain when they might be wholly certain. agrippa also regarded magic as the true road to communion with god, thus linking it with mysticism. later magic with the death of agrippa in 1535, the old school of magicians ended. but the traditions of magic were handed down to others who were equally capable of preserving them, or were later revived by persons interested in the art. there was a great distinction between those practitioners of magic whose minds were illuminated by a high mystical ideal and those persons of doubtful

m, and many of the secret magic societies that abounded in europe about this period practiced animal magnetism experiments as well as astrology, kabbalism, and ceremonial magic. mesmerism powerfully influenced mystic life in the time of its chief advocates, and the mesmerists of the first era were in direct line with the martinists and the mystical magicians of the late eighteenth century. indeed mysticism and magnetism were one and the same thing to some of these occultists (see secret tradition, the most celebrated of which were cazotte, ganneau, comte, wronski, baron du potet de sennevoy, hennequin, comte d ourches, baron de guldenstubbe, and eliphas levi. modern revivals of magic during the 1890s there was a revival of interest in ritual magic in europe among both intellectuals and tra

ecame the most profuse writer on alchemy of his time. most of his works, many of which are adorned with curious plates, are obscure with the exception of his rosicrucian apologies. maimonides, rabbi moses (1135.1204) a great spanish-hebrew philosopher, theologian, and author of the guide for the perplexed. his theories were aristotelian and rational, but there remained in his viewpoint a touch of mysticism. he was born april 6, 1135, in cordova, southern spain, and was educated by arabic teachers. after the moorish conquest of cordova in 1148, jews left the province, and maimonides 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

, 1972. reprint, new york: bantam, 1975. emmons, nuel. manson in his own words. new york: grove press, 1986. george, edward. charles manson s life behind bars. griffin trade paperback, 1999. livsey, clara. the manson women: a family portrait. new york: richard merek publishers, 1980. sanders, ed. the family. new york: e. p. dutton, 1971. reprint, new york: avon, 1972. mantra (or mantram) in hindu mysticism, a mantra is a form of psychoactive speech having a 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

2, 1985. king, francis. ritual magic in england. london: neville spearman, 1970. mathers, s(amuel) l(iddell) macgregor (1854.1918) leading british occultist who was one of the founders of the hermetic order of the golden dawn. born in hackney, london, january 8, 1854, he lived with his mother at bournemouth after the early death of his father. as a boy he was intensely interested in symbolism and mysticism. he claimed a romantic descent from ian macgregor of glenstrae, an ardent jacobite who was given the title of comte de glenstrae by louis xiv. mathers became a freemason on october 4, 1877, and a master mason on january 30, 1878, soon after his 24th birthday. his mystical interests led him to become a member of the societas rosicruciana in anglia (rosicrucian society of england, where he

g the adept to view the wonders of a new world and communicate with its inhabitants. to accomplish this magic, the ordinary faculties were almost invariably heightened by artificial means. the grandeur of the magical ritual overwhelmed the neophyte and quickened his senses. ceremonial magic was a spur to the latent faculties of human psychic nature, just as were the rich concomitants of religious mysticism. in the medieval mind, as in other periods of human history, it was thought that magic could be employed both for good and evil purposes, its branches being designated white and black, according to whether it was used for benevolent or wicked ends. the term red magic was also occasionally employed, as indicating a more exalted type of the art, but the designation is fanciful. white magic

: shambhala, 1970. kundalini for the new age: selected writings. edited by gene kieffer. new york: bantam, 1988. luk, charles. the secrets of chinese meditation. london: n.p, 1964. melton, j. gordon. the ways of meditation. evanston, ill: stellium press, 1974. patanjali the yoga-sutras of patanjali. translated by m. n. dvidedi. adyar, india: theosophical publishing house, 1890. underhill, evelyn. mysticism: a study in the nature and development of man s spiritual consciousness. london: n.p, 1911. van over, raymond. total meditation. new york: collier books, 1978. medium throughout the history of spiritualism, a special place has been occupied by the medium as an individual qualified in some special manner to form a link between the living and the dead. most spiritualists would agree with t

ional conference on parapsychology. utrecht, 1953. telepathy as a form of archaic communication. psychiatric quarterly 23 (1949. unobtrusive communication. assen, the netherlands: van gorcum, 1964. meher baba (1894.1969) indian spiritual teacher and mystic, born merwin s. irani on february 25, 1894 in poona, india. his parents were parsees, but he was strongly influenced by both hinduism and sufi mysticism and was educated at a christian high school. at the age of 19, he contacted hazrat babajan, an elderly moslem female saint, who kissed his forehead and, as he later related, induced divine consciousness and a state of ecstatic bliss. after that, he devoted his life to religious teaching, usually expressed in a rather erratic fashion, involving journeys with disciples that apparently led

ESOTERISM AND THE LEFT HAND PATH

ing nature is based on the view of the cosmos as a manifold and hierarchic unity where nature has an important position next to god and man. nature is permeated with a light or a fire and is rich in potential experiences and should be read as a book. but faivre means, which is important, that it since the beginning of the 20:th century there has arisen a monistic spiritualism, inspired by eastern mysticism, where nature is left out or even denied. 3) conceptions and intermediation. esoterism is separated from mysticism through the emphasize on the regions between the earth level and the divine. teachings about angels and other entities from these middle regions becomes important in this context, just like thoughts about gurus and initiators. where mysticism views fantasy as an obstacle, es

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

s ascending and shooting beams of light toward the girls. the following evening lapp drove home to tell his parents, who responded with skepticism, about his sighting. he also informed his girlfriend, who was similarly unreceptive. he did not discuss the incident with cornell and soon lost contact with her. in the years ahead, he had dreams about being onboard the ufo and developed an interest in mysticism and religion. in 1978 he discussed his experience with webb, then an astronomer employed by boston s hayden planetarium. subsequently, webb traced cornell to atlanta. she confirmed the sighting though all she could recall of it was that a big light had approached them, they had fallen down, and some sort of mental block had ensued. webb had refrained from sharing the details lapp provide

ants to. it is, he asserts, as easy as learning how to whistle. see also: channeling further reading klimo, jon, 1987. channeling: investigations on re- ceiving information from paranormal sources. los angeles: jeremy p. tarcher. shepard, leslie a, 1991. encyclopedia of occultism and parapsychology: a compendium of informa- tion on the occult sciences, magic, demonology, superstitions, spiritism, mysticism, metaphysics, psychical science, and parapsychology, with bio- graphical and bibliographical notes and compre- hensive indexes. third edition. detroit, mi: gale research. linn-erri linn-erri introduced herself to robert p. renaud one night in july 1961. a pittsfield, massachusetts, ham-radio buff and general electric technician, renaud heard beeping sounds from his radio and then heard a

tarist carlos santana. santana claims that metatron was responsible for the restoration of his career in 1999 and 2000. during a meditation session metatron told him, we want to hook you back to the radio-airwave frequency and to reconnect the molecules to the light, presumably meaning renewed airplay and popular attention (gates and gordon, 2000. the name metatron comes out of traditional jewish mysticism, where metatron is depicted as an archangel, perhaps the highest of them all. some mystics believe that on earth he was the prophet enoch whom god took directly to heaven without the transi- metatron 173 tional detail of dying. other sources assert that it was he who led the israelites through the wilderness after the exodus. further reading arvey, michael, 1994. metatron. http//www.spir

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

n largely from the hermetic qabalah. with all due respect, i found much of the material in the rabbinical writings to be obscure, convoluted, and quasi-philosophical. few of the rabbinical sources described actual mystical practices. those that did were often hard to follow, and provided little explanation about what happens when you ascend the tree. as i searched through miles of print on jewish mysticism, and digested what i was learning from my mentor and experiencing in my practices, many fundamental questions arose in my mind. master abraham did not come out of a spiritual vacuum, nor was his dispensation of a monotheistic worldview the first among ancient cultures. in what ways did the cosmologies of the various ancient near eastern civilizations influence the shaping of the monothei

rakha (spiritual blessing) of perfect trees and the grace of the divine to quicken one s holy spirit" f" 2' 8 (ruach ha qodesh. mystical christianity has maintained a continuous lineage of known and mostly unknown saints and mystics over the centuries, who have faithfully passed on the essence of master yeshuvah s mystical spirituality. despite later distrust and suppression by pauline orthodoxy, mysticism flourished in the early church. master yeshuvah taught one set of teachings openly to the public, and another set of secret teachings privately to his most advanced disciples. the gospels themselves attest to this, and clement of alexandria wrote about such a secret teaching as late as the third century ce. of all the christian mystical literature, the most enigmatic and passionately dis

d sufism are essentially identical to those of the torah and the mystical qabalah. as the mystical qabalah is predicated upon the 3' 8: h" 2: 2 2:e 8% negatively existent mysterious unknown at the roots of all things, called ayn( nothing) and lo (i.e. the not, the qur an refers repeatedly to the divine essence as la (also the not. like the qabalah, the face of god is a prominent component in sufi mysticism, and like the torah (as well as, virtually all other mystical traditions, the qu ran has allusions to both vast and small face. for instance, in the light surah, allusions are given for the tree of life, for small face as light upon light, and for vast face as darkness upon thick darkness. 26 allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. the similitude of his light is that of a niche

c 1 hi iaka-i-ka-poli-o-pele( hi iaka in the bosom of pele, hi iaka-i-ka-maha-o-ka opua( hi iaka in the face of the rain clouds, hi iaka-i-ka-wai-ola( hi iaka in the waters of life, hi iaka naho-lani( hi iaka dweller in the sky, hi iaka-makole-wawahi-wa a( hi iaka in the rainbow. 2 rawson, philip and legaza, laslo. tao: chinese philosophy of change and time, thames and hudson, ny. ni, hua-ching. mysticism: empowering the spirit within, 1992- d 1 qur an, the enshrouded one surah. 2 arunachala is a mountain in south india sacred to lord shiva. 3 the spiritual teaching of ramana maharshi, shambhala, boston, 1972. e "h 4 30 4 this lurianic instruction for meditation is contained in chayyim vital s sha an ruach ha qodesh, cited in kaplan s meditation and kabbalah, p.96-97. 5 on an interesting

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

spheres beyond these. a striking feature of cabalism is the importance assigned to angels or divine spirits as intermediaries throughout this system, arranged in hierarchies corresponding to the other hierarchies. there are also bad angels, or demons, whose hierarchies correspond to those of their good opposites. the theosophical system of the universe on which the infinite subtleties of cabalist mysticism are based is connected with the scriptures through elaborate mystical interpretations of the words and letters of the hebrew text, particularly the book genesis (on which large parts of the zohar are a commentary. the hebrew alphabet, for the cabalist, contains the name or names of god; it reflects the fundamental spiritual nature of the world and the creative language of god. creation f

tual act of creation. in contemplating the letters of the hebrew alphabet and their configurations as constituents of god's name, the cabalist is contemplating both god himself and his works through the power of the name. the two branches of spanish cabalism are thus both based on the name or names; they are complementary to each other and' on the cabala, see g. g. scholem, major trends in jewish mysticism jerusalem, 1941. 1 scholem, op. cit, p. 210. 3 ibid, p. 212* ibid, p. 18. 92 pico della mirandola and cabalist magic intermingled. one branch is called the path of the sephiroth; the other the path of the names.2 an expert practitioner of the path of the names was the thirteenth-century spanish jew, abraham abulafia, who developed a most complex technique of meditation through a system f

list magic intermingled. one branch is called the path of the sephiroth; the other the path of the names.2 an expert practitioner of the path of the names was the thirteenth-century spanish jew, abraham abulafia, who developed a most complex technique of meditation through a system for combining the hebrew letters in endless varieties of permutations and combinations. though cabala is primarily a mysticism, a way of trying to know god, there is also a magic which goes with it, which can be used mystically or subjectively on oneself, a kind of self-hypnosis, as an aid to contemplation, and g. scholem thinks that this was how abulafia used it.3 or it can be developed into an operative magic,4 using the power of the hebrew language, or the powers of the angels invoked by it, to perform magica

of superior things, another way of doing which is by natural magic" he adds that cabala in its original meaning does perhaps not quite apply to both these sciences, but through "transumption" they may both be given the name.1 so far as i am able to understand him, therefore, pico divides cabala into two main branches. one is the ars combinandi which is probably derived from the letter-combinatory mysticism of abraham abulafia and which pico thinks is somewhat similar to the art of ramon lull. this side of pico's cabalism i shall entirely exclude from all further discussion here, as it belongs into the history of the art of ramon lull. here we are solely concerned with pico's second kind of cabala, the kind which is a "way of capturing the powers of superior things another way of doing whic

ose (as the magical conclusions certainly are) or whether some, perhaps most, of them are not purely mystical. is pico talking about a mystical ascent of the soul through the spheres to the sephiroth and the mystical nothing beyond them? or does he envisage using magical means for this ascent or at gaining magical powers for operations from it? in a personality such as his, the fine line dividing mysticism from magic is difficult and perhaps impossible to trace. modus quo rationales animae per archangelum deo sacrificantur, qui a cabalistis non cxprimitur, non est nisi per separationem animae a corpore, non corporis ab anima nisi per accidens, ut contigit in morte osculi, de quo scribitur praeciosa in conspectu domini mors sanctorum eius.1 this, the eleventh conclusion, is certainly profou

ic was the work known as the clavis salomonis1 which was widely circulated surreptitiously in variant forms. it is probably of this type of work that pico is thinking when he says that his practical cabala has nothing to do with wicked magics going under the name of solomon, moses, enoch, or adam, by which demons were conjured by bad magicians.2 when seen in the context of the lofty philosophical mysticism of cabala and from the stand-point of some real knowledge of hebrew and the mystique of the hebrew alphabet, those old magics were seen to be not only wicked, but also ignorant and barbarous. they are replaced by practical cabala, the learned hebrew magic which takes its place beside the learned neoplatonic magic as one of the two disciplines which together make up the equipment of the r

his doctrine in the second chapter, in the outline of "egyptian regeneration" from corpus hermeticum xiii with its description of the entry of the powers into the regenerated soul in the eighth, or "ogdoadic" sphere, after which the powers sing in the soul the "ogdoadic hymn" of regeneration.3 scholem has shown that in the 1 thorndike, ii, p. 281, note 1. 2 g. scholem, jewish gnosticism, merkabah mysticism, and the talmudic tradition, new york, i960; see also scholem's major trends on gnostic influence on the cabala. 3 see above, pp. 28-30. 108 pico della mirandola and cabalist magic hekhaloth literature (one of the predecessors of cabala) there is exactly the same conception, the divine glory and power being thought of as in the eighth sphere, and even the word "ogdoas" is translated into

117 pseudo-dionysius and theology of a christian magus nevertheless, though the dionysian orders are not, strictly speaking, a cosmological religion, there is something in the whole idea of orders set out in this fashion which recalls the gnostic religion of the world, or religious experience in the setting of the cosmic orders. r. roques has drawn attention to the parallels between the dionysian mysticism and gnosticism, particularly of the hermetic type, and has suggested a possible influence of hermetism on the hierarchies.1 thus, once again the phenomenon of misdating comes into play in the renaissance synthesis, and the great christian apologist who is believed to have been contemporary with st. paul really belonged to nearly the same period as the misdated prisci theologi, 2 and came

FRATER TENEBROUS CULTS OF CTHULHU

alk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. yog-sothoth knows the gate. yog-sothoth is the gate. yag-sothoth is the key and the guardian of the gate. past, present, future, all are one in yog-sothoth. he knows where the old ones broke through of old, and where they shall break through again. his order of existence parallels the concept of the universe as exposited in hindu and oriental mysticism, an all-in-one and one-in-all of limitless being and self. as such, a particular physical from cannot be ascribed to yog-sothoth, though in the dunwich horror, the offspring of his mating with lavinia whateley is compared to an octopus, centipede or spider. the formula of evocation of yog-sothoth is given in the case of charles dexter ward, wherein it forms part of the necromantic workin

FRATER U D PRACTICAL SIGIL MAGIC

lism squabblings of sc then, it is a truism that h g let us take dualism, for example. most people are familiar with polarized thin in o even the ontological monism of many religions ophical systems is a convention of revolt against this polar/dual view, thus defining itself by denying it. it is of no consequence at all that most systems (including the purely magical ones, not to mention those of mysticism) look for a synthesis and dissolution of the polarities. this quest for the grail is essentially a proof for the existence of dualism, at least when viewed as an ontological problem. the alphabet of desire/ 69 now we understand that the alphabet of desire has developed into a significant instrument of the dawning of consciousness merely by having been created. if you want to construct yo

FREEMASONS SATANISM AND SYMBOLISM

"in a book on witchcraft, the complete book of witchcraft and demonology. the caption states that he is 'the horned god of the witches, symbol of sex incarnate [p. 51] and if you look at his right hand you will see baphomet making the sign of the devil's triad "baphomet is also known as the sabbatic goat, in whose form satan is to be worshipped at the witches' sabbath [frank gaynor, dictionary of mysticism, new york, philosophical library, 1953, p. 24] then, we discovered that baphomet is officially approved as a symbol of the church of satan [the occult emporium, winter, 1993-1994, p. 54] and that it is worn by the priest of satan [ibid, 1990-1991, p. 26] since albert pike linked baphomet with the goat of mendes, we will show this obviously satanic symbol, as well. it should also be noted

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

ven, say that god is on earth. h-zohar. agnz secret wisdom of the qabalah page 2 preface this small book is in no sense a treatise on the qabalah. instead, it is a speculative study on one of several secret doctrines which it contains, and, i believe, the key-doctrine of all the others. should this be correct, then it follows that, unless this doctrine is understood, the whole symbolism of jewish mysticism must remain obscure, and it is this mysticism, so it seems to me, which constitutes the foundations of jewish culture and jewish aspirations. granted that this is so, then it follows that the idea elaborated in this book is one of considerable importance, even if many of my interpretations are faulty. even if the whole of my readings are wrong, which is unlikely, this in itself does not

ssianic redemption. 54 chapter v 55 the redemption of tetragrammaton 55 symbols of the messianic act 55 man the instrument of redemption. 55 the accomplishment of the messianic act. 56 the integration of the disintegrated. 57 the creation of hell. 58 the source of messianic power. 59 secret wisdom of the qabalah page 4 chapter vi 61 the source of mystic power 61 the essence of the qabalah. 61 the mysticism of modern science. 63 the laboratory of satan. 66 the mystical ordeal. 68 the fourth dimension. 69 chapter vii 72 the anatomy of illuminism 72 llluminism. 72 illuminism and revolution. 73 the fourth-dimensional state. 74 the great omission. 79 the mystic way. 81 hebrew alphabet and correspondences 83 glossary of hebrew words and names 84 secret wisdom of the qabalah page 5 list of illust

eliverance which the world awaits- a deliverance and transfiguration which can only come from within. such in brief are some of the main doctrines of the qabalah reduced to their simplest terms and translated into easily understandable language. from them we will turn to the scientific conceptions of today and will show that between these two systems of thought there are certain similarities. the mysticism of modern science. the science of today represents, in more than one way, what the scientist of fifty years ago would have called chaos. the law of causation is to disappear, conservation of energy is to disappear, uniformity is to disappear, determinism is to be replaced by probabilities, and law by chance. the law of the rationalists of the nineteenth century was at least something whi

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

nd maintenance, is, with a better and clearer understanding of the past history of the development of the human race, being gradually dispelled. on one point we may reasonably rest assured that the knowledge of right and wrong and our sense of justice and right-living have been developed quite independently of all religious beliefs. the moral law embodied in the golden rule is not an outgrowth of mysticism, or of man's notions of the unknowable; but, on the contrary, is the result of experience, and was formulated in response to a recognized law of human necessity--a law which involves the fundamental principle of progress. the history of human development shows conclusively that mankind grew into the recognition of the moral law, that through sympathy, or a desire for the welfare of other

human mind has been crowded. to this separation of the two original elements in the deity, and the consequent exaltation of one of the factors in the creative processes, is to be traced the beginning of our present false, unnatural, and unphilosophical masculine system of religion--a system under which a father appears as the sole parent of the universe. the fact is tolerably well understood that mysticism and the accumulation of superstitious ideas are the result of the over-stimulation of the lower animal instincts. when the agencies which had hitherto held the lower nature in check became inoperative--when man began to regard himself as a creator and therefore as the superior of woman--he had reached a point at which he was largely controlled by supernatural or mystical influences. the

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

tolerate us both.r.a. g ilber tbristol,february1987introductionwritingto his friend louis wilkinson, on7april1945,aleister crowleyremarked-inuncharacteristically charitable fashion-!if it had not been for waite,idoubt if, humanly speaking,ishould ever havegotin touchwiththe great order' inevitably he prefixed this praisewithabuse 'waite certainly did start a revival of interest in alchemy, magic, mysticism, and all the rest.thathis scholarship was so contemptible, his style so over-loaded, and his egomania so outrageous does not kill to the point of extinction, theworthof his contribution' even this is muted criticism for crowley; more often he heaped abuse on waitewithgusto, tingeing itwithvenomous personal attacks that were as unjustified as were his assaults on waite's writing. his char

ily engaged in tearing apart its social fabric. he was a prolific author,butone whose books are, for themostpart,unknownand unread; he was not recognized as a scholar by. the academic world,buthe remains the only comprehensive analyst of the history of occultism in all its many branches.notthatheapproved of thetermor the looseness of its connotations; to himself he was a mystic and an exponent of mysticism. he saw,whatothers before him had not seen, that there can be no final understanding of mystical experiencewithout.an appreciation of the traditions, outside the confines of the church, that preserved those practices that bring mystical experiencewithinthe reach of every man and. woman. he is not easyto understand. his writing isdiffuse,often verbose, and peppered'witharchaisms;butit. ha

s that bring mystical experiencewithinthe reach of every man and. woman. he is not easyto understand. his writing isdiffuse,often verbose, and peppered'witharchaisms;butit. has itsownpower and leaves the readerwiththe feeling that buried within the densely packed prose is a messageofimmense significance. this has been perceived by the more acuteofhis critics: deaninge-ascourgeofsentimental pseudo-mysticism-believed that waite had 'penetrated very near to the heart of his subject (reviewofstudiesinmysticism,inthesaturdayreview, 2 march1907).butwaite refused to jettison all that was included under the heading of occultism. he sawwithinit, as spurgeon said of the talmud 'jewels which the world couldnotafford to miss; and seeing them, drewthemoutand displayed them for all tosee-all,that is,wit

e most learned modern scholar of occultism-s-and this because waite recognized the spirituality of certainofthe alchemists. waite himself looked upon his studiesof the occult (or of'thesecret tradition, as he preferred to call it) as of subsidiaryimportance-froma literary pointofview-tohis poetry. he was, after all,'theexponent in poetical and prose writings of sacramental religion and the higher mysticism (his depiction of himself inwho'swho).even aleister crowley admired waite's poetry 'as a poet, crowley reluctantly admitted 'his genius was undeniable (incampaignagainst uizite, an unpublished part of theconfessions).others, more favourably disposed to waite,mighthesitate to endorse that judgement,butthey admired his verse for its own sake 'poetry of great beauty, katherine tynan called

tic, nothing more or less'.whichis how waite wanted them to be seen. he was, above all, a mystic and wished to beknownas such.thathis studies of the occult are remembered when his mystical writings are neglected is a tribute to the folly of an age that exalts the irrational,nota judgement upon their merits; for it is his analysis of mystical experience and his unique approach to the philosophy of mysticism that are his truelegacy.it would, however, be unrealistic to expect a swift recognition14a.e.waite, magicianofmanyparts_ofhis importance in the field of mysticism and onemustrest contentwiththe knowledge that his contribution to the historyofideas is at last becoming appreciated for. its. trueworth.butis the storyofhis lifeworththe telling? if for no other reason than to give an understa

cquest(followed in1940by its companion volume,agothicbibliography)all hopeofpublishingdealingsinbibliomaniacame to an end.onereason for partington's indecision overthebookwas waite's insistenceuponanonymity. in his later years he had become anxiousthatthe public should seehimsolely as he described himselfinwho'swho,as'theexponent in poetical and prose writingsofsacramental religion and the higher mysticism. they might, hethought,experience some difficulty in reconciling his role as a mysticwiththatofenthusiast forthe boys ofenglandand varney the vampire. hisfriends, however, had no such qualms.whilewaite was busying himselfwithdealingsinbibliomania,arthurmachen was writingthegrande'iiouvailleforr.townley searle,whowanted it as an introduction to .the .third catalogueofrare books issued by

eft' saidthe man, a little astonished i thought at the enquiry. there used to be a small lending library here, he explained, andhehad taken over the stock. and,tocutthestory short, waite went out into pentonville, which, i am sure, had now become for him not grey but radiant,witha copy of 'the old house in west street' under his arm. perhapsishould explain. my friend waite,besides taking over all mysticism, occultism, alchemyand transcendentalismfor his province, has a hobby, like most good men. in hiscase,this hobby is the collecting of 'penny dreadfuls' of ancient date: the forties and early fifties are, ibelieve,the golden age of this adventure. and amongst those 'penny dreadfuls, as they are affectionately called, one of the choicest prizes is 'the old house inweststreet. and waite had

rominent. inisrafel8whichwaswrittenafterasoul'scomedybutpublished earlier, the figureofisrafel is an idealized amalgamofan angelic being and the acolyte gabriel; waite'shumanloveforisrafel/gabrielis shown sublimated and transformed, and expressed in termsofan almost mystical experience, as when: was it oneofwhich he really approved in others..whenwritingon asceticism in his most important work on mysticism, theufjy ofdivineunion,he recognized that 'every mystical saint of the latinchurchwas a great ascetic',buthe saw too that 'celibacy..accomplished a most peculiarwork-ofwhich as yet we understand toolittle-bythe transfer of repressedand starvedsexualityto a spiritual plane; and eventhoughhe was aware thatjustsuch a transfer was one of the moreimportantelements in the awakeningofhisownmyst

GILBERT THE GOLDEN DAWN TWILIGHT OF THE MAGICIANS

nceofthe 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 fieldofalchemy alone w

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 fieldofalchemy alone who worship waite for his translationsofsome of the basic texts in the spagyric art.hisadvocacyofchristian mysticism attracted to him an authorityofthe statureofevelyn underhill and a novelist like charles williams.thoughwaite did become amemberofthe golden dawn, its curriculum meant little to him, as indicated in his autobiography,shadowsof lift andthought.after the revolt at theturnofthe century he was a memberofthe committee that governed the schismatic members and in consequenceofthis he ultimately

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, private room wh

il offices, 396, camden road, london? having given the address, he then added this pompous statement about the golden dawn itself:'thehermeticstudentsof therosicruciang.d.intheouter.thechiefs of the second order fearing that the proceedings of certain men in the northern counties of england may by exhibition of pretended powers and rosicrucian dignities lead students away from the higher paths of mysticism, into goetic practices, desire that all fratres and sorores of the g.d. will accordingly warn the unwary and uninitiated that no such persons hold any warrant from us, nor possess our ancient and secret knowledge. givencreation31forth from the m[ountain] a[biegnos] of sapiens dominabitur astris. deo duce comite ferro. non omnis moriar. vincit omnia veritas.published by order oftheabove:s

the old isis-urania members even though he still looked on manyofthem as personal friends. a. h. e. lee was at this time busy compiling, with the aidofd. h. s. nicholson, yet anotherofwaite's order members, theoxfordbookofenglishmysticalverse.theirwork as editors brought them into contact with a young man at the oxford university press named charles williams, whose evident interest in ritual, in mysticism and in waite's poems led lee to send him on to waite. it has commonly been assumed that charles will255 iams met waite when he moved to london in1917,but he first visited waite's home on 4 september1915--twoyears before his reception as a neophyte in thef'.r.267.c.267.at the equinox ceremony on21september1917.frater qui sitit veniat, as heemanation71became, remained in the order for elev

ller, but no less important, floodsofwords from mathers, westcott and a dozen others.muchoftheir work is nowofno value, as, indeed, was the case when they were first published,butmany remarkable books have survived and their importance has been recognized. even while scholars decry the academic value of mathers'thekabbalahunveiled(188])they cannot deny its seminal influence upon the studyofjewish mysticism, as they cannot deny the equal importanceofwaite's study,theholykabbalah(1929)'but the literary influenceofthe golden dawn, beyond this narrow fieldofscholarship, was small and less by far than has often been claimed. and could a magicalorderhave any significance for the worldgothegoldendawnofphilosophy or for the worldofart?itcould not and it did not. both artists and philosophers appea

nfluenced more recent occultists in search of inspired interpretationsoftarotsymbolism,buttheir artistic influencehas-fortunately-beennon -existent.c.d. broad is alleged to have been a member of the hermes temple in bristol,butnoneofhis philosophical work, or his studies in psychical research, betray the slightest signofthe metaphysicsofthe golden dawn. similarly, evelyn underhill's philosophy of mysticism runs entirely contrary to the ideasofthe order, for it was developed after she had cast offthe order and all itstheories-withwhich she had never had any sympathy, even in the sanitized form presented to membersofwaite's rectified isis-urania temple.hadthe thinking of the order affected anyone it would have beenlung,buthe seems not so much as to have ignored it as to have been utterly una

g series of practical workers whose origin is traced to the fratres r.c. of germany, which association was founded by christian rosenkreuz and his brethren so far back as1398.valentin andrea, the german theologian and mystic, has left us in his works, published in and after the year1614,an account of100thegoldendawnthe doctrines and exoteric management of the r.c. society. but even the revival of mysticism was but a new development of the vastly older wisdom of the kabbalistic rabbis and of.the most ancient of all secret knowledge, the magic of the egyptians, in which the bible itself tells us that moses the founder of the jewish system was 'learned, that is, in which he had been in255 itiated. through the hebrew kabbalah we have indeed become pos255 sessed of more of the ancient wisdom th

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

lso familiar to english people through our acquaintance with the book of genesis, whose reputed author was taught in egypt all the science and arts he possessed, even as the bible itself tells us, although 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 16

n reasons, or thirty-seven paragraphs, but is a very discursive relation of the doctrines of the fratres. as a whole its tenets differ from those of thefama,and are plainly tinctured with post-reformation ideas, indeed we find the pope called anti255 christ. so that it seems safe to decide that this tract is rather by valentine andrea, the protestant theologian, than by men deeply inspired by the mysticism and magic of a man raised to adeptship by oriental sages. time will not permit any review of theconfessio,nor of any glance at the lives and works of those philosophers who have since styled themselves fratresofr.c.,so i hasten to conclude with a short summary, and with the analogies between the origin of the order of r.c. and the theosophical society. as a critic, then, of the rosicruci

ut certain resemblances, possibly entirely superficial, which seemtome to exist betweenthenarrativeofchristian rosenkreuz and the origin of the theosophic prop255 aganda.letno error be made by you as to what is here said: the rosicrucian establishment, admitting of no demonstration, may be, if it seem good to you, regarded as a myth. theosophy is to us a great fact.butfor myself i studied western mysticism twenty years before i became a pupil of this school, and i esteem it highly, and so for me it is no slight to theosophy to compare it totheworkofchristian rosenkreuz. i admitthatthe present work ofthetheosophical society is exalted in its aim, and is becorr--ig universal in its distribution and so far excels theroleoftheideal rosicrucian, whose zeal wasmuchmoreturnedto personal developme

27-32.110. afurtherglanceatthekabalahupon several previous occasions i have had the pleasure of giving lectures, by special request, upon kabalistic philosophy, before audiences of theosophists. i have indeed found that the modern theosophists of the school of the late lamented madame blavatsky are fond of wandering from the sanskrit path of occult philosophy into the fields of the egypto-hebraic mysticism of the early kabalah. our respected h.p.b. herself also has, in her books, made constant references to the philosophic and mystic doctrines of the ancient rabbinic teachers, and, although we find her condemning many of their more modern vagaries, yet she implied the belief that the pure and ancient kabalah was a western offshoot from the wisdom religion of prehistoric times. had she been

te stages of development; in each grade the primal truths are restated in different forms, they are revealed, or reveiled in language and symbolism suitabletothe learner's own mental condition; hence the need of a teacher, of a guide who has traversed the path, and who can recognize by personal communion the stage which each pupil has attained. there is no royal or easy path to high attainment in mysticism. unwearied effort combined with purity of life is almost of vital importance. the human intellect can only appreciate andafurtherglace atthekabalah 109assimilate that which the mind's eye can at any time perceive; the process cannot be forced, mystic lore cannot be stolen.ifany learner did appropriate the knowledge of a grade beyond him, it would be tohimbutfolly, disappointment and dark

GILBERT R A THE MASONIC CAREER OF A

biographical and critical essay (redway, 1886) 9[9] jennings's book was the rosicrucians, their rites and mysteries (chatto& windus, 1879, 2nd ed. it was savaged by waite in redway's journal, walford's antiquarian and with justice; it is a hotchpotch of irrelevant and misleading data. and singularly unaffected by the crazes of the time it preaches a natural morality, and has so little interest in mysticism that it daily misinterprets and practically despises its own mystical symbols'10[10. in such a way waite clearly exibited his disdainful attitude to the craft, a disdain that he extended to the higher degrees for in a careful distinction between the rose croix degree and rosicrucianism proper, he is most unflattering to the former 'when ill-informed persons happen to hear that there are

s 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 evidence

ghly significant in that it reveals how his unpublished esoteric history of freemasonry was being transformed into the secret tradition in freemasonry. magnum opus i before this great work was published waite had written a series of articles on the origins of freemasonry and on the more obscure of the higher degrees, for his own journal, horlick's magazine. these were then published in studies in mysticism (1906. he followed these with a paper on 'the place of masonry in the rites of initiation' for the s.r.i.a. and a series of papers on templar symbolism and history, delivered between 1908 and 1910 at the sancta maria preceptory, of which waite had been a founding member in 1906. all these were, however, but a foretaste of the glory that was to come. in july 1911 waite's 'first contributi

ix ii: the secret of freemasonry) devil-worship in france, of the question of lucifer. a record of things seen and heard in the secret societies according to the evidence of initiates (redway, 1896) the life of louis claude de saint-martin, the unknown philosopher, and the substance of his transcendental doctrine (wellby, 1901 (appendix iv: martinism and the masonic rite of swedenborg) studies in mysticism (hodder& stoughton, 1906 (part ill, chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 concern freemasonry) the secret tradition in freemasonry and an analysis of the inter-relation between the craft and the high grades in respect of their term of research (rebman, 1911) 2 vols. some deeper aspects of masonic symbolism (anarnosa, n.m.r.s, 1916) the hidden church of the holy graal, its legends and symbolism (new yor

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

teresting a source. murat ozgen, a turkish freemason, maintains the following in his book, masonluk nedir ve nasildir (what is freemasonry and what is it like: we don't know clearly where the kabbalah came from or how it developed. it is the general name for a unique, metaphysically constituted, esoteric and mystical philosophy particularly connected with jewish religion. it is accepted as jewish mysticism, but some of the elements it contains show that it was composed much earlier than the torah.15 the french historian, gougenot des mousseaux, explains that the kabbalah is actually much older than judaism.16 ef from the templars to ancient egypt eg global freemasonry although the kabbalah developed within judaism, it depends on sources from outside of it. the kabbalah arose out of the pag

istian order, they were affected by some secret doctrines that they discovered in jerusalem, totally abandoned christianity and became an anti-religious organization practicing heretical rites. 2. when we asked what this doctrine was that influenced the templars, we found that it was basically the kabbalah. 3. when we examined the kabbalah, we found proof that, however much it may resemble jewish mysticism, it is a pagan doctrine older than judaism, that later entered the religion, and that its true roots are found in ancient egypt. 4. ancient egypt was governed by the pagan system of pharaoh, and there we found an idea that forms the basis of the modern atheistic philosophy: that of a universe existing of its own accord, and evolving by chance. all this surely paints an interesting pictur

people from religion. in the same book, isindag explains this goal and its "principles for the establishment of an advanced civilization: masonry's positive principles are necessary and sufficient for the establishment of an advanced civilization. they are -the acceptance that the impersonal god (the great architect of the universe) is evolution itself -the rejection of the belief in revelation, mysticism and empty beliefs -the superiority of rational humanism and labor. the first of the three articles above entails the rejection of the existence of god (masons do not believe in god, but in the great architect of the universe, and the above quotation shows that with this term, they mean evolution) the second article rejects revelation from god and religious knowledge based on it (isindag

e their lives meaning. as tolstoy explained "paradise will then have been established here on earth and people will attain the highest possible good."84 on the same topic, master mason isindag writes: the substance of everything: masonry understands this as energy and matter. they say that everything changes stage by stage and will return again to matter. scientifically, this is defined as death. mysticism on this matter, that is, the belief that, of the two forces of which a person is composed spirit and body the body will die and the spirit will not; that spirits pass away to the world of spirits, continue their existence there and come back into another body when god commands, does not fit in with the changetransformation ideas accepted by masonry. the ideas of masonry on this matter ca

GNOSTIC CATECHISM

biographical and critical essay (redway, 1886) 9[9] jennings's book was the rosicrucians, their rites and mysteries (chatto& windus, 1879, 2nd ed. it was savaged by waite in redway's journal, walford's antiquarian and with justice; it is a hotchpotch of irrelevant and misleading data. and singularly unaffected by the crazes of the time it preaches a natural morality, and has so little interest in mysticism that it daily misinterprets and practically despises its own mystical symbols'10[10. in such a way waite clearly exibited his disdainful attitude to the craft, a disdain that he extended to the higher degrees for in a careful distinction between the rose croix degree and rosicrucianism proper, he is most unflattering to the former 'when ill-informed persons happen to hear that there are

s 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 evidence

ghly significant in that it reveals how his unpublished esoteric history of freemasonry was being transformed into the secret tradition in freemasonry. magnum opus i before this great work was published waite had written a series of articles on the origins of freemasonry and on the more obscure of the higher degrees, for his own journal, horlick's magazine. these were then published in studies in mysticism (1906. he followed these with a paper on 'the place of masonry in the rites of initiation' for the s.r.i.a. and a series of papers on templar symbolism and history, delivered between 1908 and 1910 at the sancta maria preceptory, of which waite had been a founding member in 1906. all these were, however, but a foretaste of the glory that was to come. in july 1911 waite's 'first contributi

ix ii: the secret of freemasonry) devil-worship in france, of the question of lucifer. a record of things seen and heard in the secret societies according to the evidence of initiates (redway, 1896) the life of louis claude de saint-martin, the unknown philosopher, and the substance of his transcendental doctrine (wellby, 1901 (appendix iv: martinism and the masonic rite of swedenborg) studies in mysticism (hodder& stoughton, 1906 (part ill, chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 concern freemasonry) the secret tradition in freemasonry and an analysis of the inter-relation between the craft and the high grades in respect of their term of research (rebman, 1911) 2 vols. some deeper aspects of masonic symbolism (anarnosa, n.m.r.s, 1916) the hidden church of the holy graal, its legends and symbolism (new yor

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

ld 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. these teachings, however, did not remain available forever. as society changed and a new regime came to power the teachings of jesus were suppressed and replaced with the political faith of emperor constantine, and accordingly the gnosis went underground to ensure its survival. what we have in today's religious movements are not the original forms of

s and principles, in their place appear the relativism of the modern society whose primary focus is on progress. if you couple this with the disposing of religion by darwinian science then man is reduced to a animal, no more, no less and his behaviour and values come to reflect this unconscious revelation. fundamentalism is, in some sense, the encroachment of rationalism into the religious field. mysticism and esotericism (inner teachings) are rejected in favour of doctrines and beliefs that can be understood by a blinkered use of the rational mind. while fundamentalism is ambivalent to the intellect, it uses a restricted form of rationalism to hold its doctrines in place, accordingly, fundamentalism is most prevalent in religions of "the book- protestantism, islam and so forth. while othe

its doctrines in place, accordingly, fundamentalism is most prevalent in religions of "the book- protestantism, islam and so forth. while other forms of fundamentalism exist, the most pernicious forms are those which in reaction to materialism and scientism use rationalism to create a stalwart of dogma and doctrine, and yet in the process destroy the very foundation of the true religious vision- mysticism. to appreciate the esoteric and mystical view of truth we need to travel back to ancient greece and examine the allegory of the cave as used by plato. this allegory, beyond all others, offers us a real insight into the problem of what truth is. plato sees all of humanity as prisoners, each of us has been kept chained in a subterranean cavern from birth, facing a dark wall. only a very sm

bones and outline a specific model of the great chain of being based on a gnostic-theosophic system. this model owes a lot to the early greek mystery traditions (the source of gnosticism) as well as to later gnostic and theosophic traditions. who or what is god? one of the central issues within any religious tradition is who or what is god? in traditional faiths as well as within esotericism and mysticism there is clear definition of god though this may be expressed through many diverse images and language forms. these definitions while divergent in form, have one thing in common, they all define god without the using descriptions in moral or ethical terms. god simply is. in some sense this is central to the gnostic understanding of god for he/she/it is beyond definition, to define god in

en as the reflective sphere or astral light. the division between the mental and desire plane is not as clear as it seems and intermingling occurs between them both. the physical plane the world on which we live. the earth and the underworld on a critical examine of our models one will notice an anomaly, in the organic models (yggdrasil etc, the underworld is beneath the earth, indeed in medieval mysticism hell (the christian underworld) is even within the earth, being at its centre. while in the emanation model the underworld is called the astral plane (even the spirit world) and is above the earth, rule by the moon. the first thing to note is that the underworld is not hell. there is no heaven and hell in the gnostic system, the underworld is the realm of the dead and where we experience

m and nordic and vedic sources is to court disaster, at least in the eyes of modern scholarship. however, if we examine the research of those who laid the foundations for modern archaeology and anthropology, there is much evidence for a direct link between these divergent forms (even perhaps evidence of a single source or point of origin. if we take kabbalah, for example, today promoted as judaic mysticism when we examine the scholarly texts on its origins (both by jewish and non-jewish sources, they all tend to agree that the kabbalah had it roots in greek and hellenistic philosophy, gnosticism and alexandrian hermeticism, and furthermore, that it was only later adapted by judaic sources. an authority as respected as gershom scholem clearly suggests a strong greek influence, if not greek

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

heurgy page 84 the fallen kingdom it can, because of its light nature, shed its lower skin and pass through the cross or barrier and return home to the pleroma. the practices of this buddhist sect are esoteric in nature and have much in common with the secret techniques used within the celestial path of the gnostic tradition. this tradition is also found reflected in the secret chariot or merkeva mysticism of the kabbalistic tradition. seven days of re-creation another tradition which expresses this process of re-creation is found hidden within the creation tale of genesis. emanuel swedenborg, the great swedish mystic, taught that hidden with the seven days of creation was a description of our regeneration. though he did not relate these to the chakras, if we link them together we can gain

there is much restoration to be made. the foundations of the kabbalah the foundation of the kabbalah is in numbers and shapes. it represents a mathematical and geometrical way to understand the formation of the universe. since the universe has been formed by emanation, stepping down from one level to another, then some framework is needed to comprehend the process. we can deduce this mathematical mysticism in the works of pythagoras and many of the greek school as well as in the earliest christian and gnostic traditions. in jesus christ, sun of gnostic theurgy page 91 god (david fideler, quest books 1993) for example, we have an outline of the secret numerical codes found in the new testament. in the works of valentinus, the master gnostic, we have an outline of the formation of the univer

codes found in the new testament. in the works of valentinus, the master gnostic, we have an outline of the formation of the universe as a mathematical sequence. valentinus outlined a meticulous system which charted the movement from divine depth, to the dyad of depth and silence, to the four principles, to the ogdoad and then onto the decad and dodecad. as time progressed the kabbalistic form of mysticism became codified and the resulting structure came to be called the tree of life. the tree of life being a geometrical progression from the point, to the line, to a triangle (two dimensions) and to a pyramid (three dimensions. it is the development of life in a geometrical form (fig 23. the story of its form begins with no-thing. this is the state beyond all comprehension, it can have no a

elf will begin. you will still have many difficulties (breaks just like those above will occur, but generally mantra meditation is an easier path than silence. there are different perspectives on the choice of a mantra, some schools prefer the mantras to have no meaning whatsoever, other suggest it should be a term which is loaded with religious meaning. even many of the prayers used in christian mysticism have in some sense become mantras. there are many good books discussing mantra meditation, and we suggest you study these and choose a mantra which suits you. it is important that you feel comfortable with the mantra, and can easily pronounce it and repeat it. when you start with a mantra it is not wise to change midstream. some common mantras include the ever famous hare krishna, aum, i

generally accepted that egypt was the point of origin, at least in the modern cycle. there has been much pioneering work done to show that egypt was not some middle eastern backwater, but was a thriving cosmopolitan empire which had satellites around the world. it formed the nucleus in which much of the esoteric tradition developed. while much of the form of modern kabbalah originated in medieval mysticism, alchemy and hermeticism, we can clearly see that the basic mythology and forms was egyptian in origin. the recorded history of egypt covers an immense period of time. even the earliest forms of egyptian civilisation- which concentrated on the stellar worship of the star goddess had a highly evolved structure and form. by the first dynasty a wide range of esoteric and religious cults cou

s. obviously since britain was the destination for so many of the lost tribes of israel we would expect that it would be of primary importance for the early spreading of the message. from many accounts ireland and england were the first countries outside palestine to receive the christian message. the greeks there has been a trend in modern scholarship to overlook the role of greek philosophy and mysticism in gnosticism, and indeed with general reference to christianity. it is so easy to attempt to interpret the new testament from the perspective of semitic social mores and forget the cosmopolitan nature of israel at that period and the background of the greek mysteries. the gospel of john illustrates this perfectly, it has a strong hellenic orientation and uses terms that clearly come fro

ptian home to teach in rome (135-160 ad. he was close to being given a bishropic, which would have certainly changed the face of the church, alas this did not occur and he seceded from the church. valentinus taught what he claimed were the secret teachings of st.paul, these included a complex cosmology based on dualism and emanations. his teachings mixed greek philosognostic theurgy page 204 phy, mysticism and magic with an allegorical interpretation of the old testament, they are probably the most intellectual of all the gnostic traditions. mysticism, tantra and esoteric practise were part of the valentianian system and this led to claims of sexual excess against his followers by many church fathers. the same fathers, however, admit that valentinus lead a faultless life and that his erudi

nd meetings with cathar bishops in many regions. brethren of the free spirit the first gnostic to be known under the appellation of free spirit was amalric of bena (circa 1209, an italian antinomian who believed that we must do away with the priesthood and offer believers a direct experience of the divine. his approach was even more controversial in that he did not shy away from the use of sexual mysticism (tantra) as part of his system. generally, the term brethren of the free spirit has been used to denote those who combine antinomianism with sex mysticism. another example in this class is heinrich niclaes (1498-1561 ce, who not only taught that once you was born again you became free of sin and could live as you please, but that to become born again you had to experience a secret union

H SPENCER LEWIS ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL AMORC 1990

d who want, therefore, only the benefits of association with the rosicrucians. regardless of the fact that these persons offer to pay their yearly dues in advance or make other financial inducements, they are never invited to join the a.m.o.r.c. and cannot become members. the work of grand lodge sanctum membership is unique. it consists of the most complete course of home-study of metaphysics and mysticism ever offered, in addition to the other benefits of membership. the members do not pay for the instruction. the lessons are not sold, and membership does not consist of simply reading the weekly monographs and trying the experiments. to be in good standing as sanctum members of the grand lodge the members must not only meet their monthly obligations.which are nominal.but they must live up

ings. the crux ansata, called the cross of life, was designed by the egyptians and mystics to represent the continuity or immortality of life. the statement that in time the oval, or upper part of the crux ansata was closed into one perpendicular piece, thereby giving the original of the cross we use, is a mistake, for in our records we find, as will others find, on the oldest egyptian records of mysticism and history, both crosses used in the same period. they seemed to come into existence about the same time.at that time when the master minds of the orient were originating and creating symbols which would have definite meanings in the minds of the learned students. if the cross and other symbols confuse and perplex the wise today, it is not to be wondered at that in the days gone by ther

tion, he abandoned his interest in law as a profession, because its logic and required research alone continued to appeal to him. abstract subjects began to engross him more and more. he read works on oceanography, archaeology, and geology, especially those topics which entered the realm of speculation. his discussions with his father led his interest into the fields of ontology, metaphysics, and mysticism. his father never urged him to become a rosicrucian member or student. however, the answers he received to his questions.and which were not available through any other source of knowledge. aroused his admiration for the rosicrucian teachings, and he crossed the threshold of the order by a special dispensation while still a youth. the rosicrucian teachings touched a responsive chord and s

rest in the latin-american division. having perfected his knowledge of spanish, he lectures in spanish on his trips to south america and at the annual international conventions of the order. mr. poole's varied interests are revealed in the many articles that he has written for the rosicrucian forum and the rosicrucian digest, in which he has analyzed the philosophical and psychological aspects of mysticism and related them to a broad background knowledge of natural history and biology. he is a member of the american association for the advancement of science, the american ornithologists' union, and a life member of the cooper ornithological society. on january 24, 1969, after twenty-five years' membership in the california academy of sciences, he was elected a life member of this distingui

-the-job experience as well as from specialized computer science training. his capabilities soon earned him promotion to department head. then, surprising to all, he was chosen to succeed the retiring curator of the rosicrucian egyptian museum. although his enthusiasm for computer sciences was obvious, frater schaa also loved ancient history, and had continued his interest in egyptian and tibetan mysticism throughout his membership. to this he added a college degree in museum science, and pursued an active interest in modern egyptology. during this time he began his extensive travels for the order, touring egypt, lebanon and damascus as well as studying the major egyptian and babylonian collections of the united states. frater schaa seemed to have found his niche in life. however, in decem

977 frater schaa was appointed amorc controller, and served in that capacity until his promotion to the office of grand secretary. hierarchy membership needs, lecture writing and departmental coordination became his primary concern until his recent election to the supreme board and appointment as supreme treasurer of amorc. frater schaa comes to us with a wealth of experience in both business and mysticism; however, his greatest value remains in his deep love for the order and its humanitarian ideals. frater schaa still enjoys his nature walks and is now able to share them with his dearly loved life-companion, june. the schaas own a small cottage close to rosicrucian park and have two cats to share their hearth and yard. soror schaa is also a devoted member of the hierarchy.[141] raymond b

edge known only to his cult, knowledge that is not to be found in the rosicrucian teachings, yet which he has offered to students for years at a commercial price, is to believe that the order is unmindful of its obligations to its members, unacquainted with all sources of real wisdom, and inconsiderate of its own best interests. if any real knowledge of truly practical help to sincere students of mysticism is known to any group of students anywhere, it soon becomes a part of the rosicrucian teachings, if it is not already a part of them. it is this 155 fact that makes the order the eminent repository of great wisdom. that is why members are urged not to spend money and time in private lessons from foreign or domestic teachers of personal systems, or in buying new books as they are issued

stical and allegorical one. it refers to the indelible record of all events, occurrences, and knowledge which is an integral part of the cosmic consciousness, the divine intelligence. all things which have come to pass, or which will be brought about, are established in the akashic records, for all things happen through cosmic law and the volition of the supreme being. when a mystic or student of mysticism says he will consult the akashic records, he means he will seek to attune his conscious mind with the cosmic consciousness and be imbued with its omniscience. the word akashic is derived from the sanskrit word, akasa, which, in the sankhya philosophy means an indeterminate essence such as space or ether. alden (pronounced awlden).sometimes spelled ahldain; a'ldain; the name of a former m

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

sential brotherhood of man, as herein briefly outlined and imperfectly set forth. it has been assailed as buddhist and anti-christian, as though it could be both these together, when both buddhism and christianity, as set forth by their inspired founders, make brotherhood the one essential of doctrine and of life. theosophy has been also regarded as something new under the sun, or, at best as old mysticism masquerading under a new name. while it is true that many societies founded upon, and united to support, the principles of altruism, or essential brotherhood, have borne various names, it is also true that many have also been called theosophic, and with principles and aims as the present society bearing that name. with these societies, one and all, the essential doctrine has been the sam

ridicule the mere notion that there is anything in theosophy, occultism, spiritualism, or in the cabala, the other third is composed of the most heterogeneous and opposite elements. some believe in the mystical, and even in the supernatural, but each believes in his own way. others will rush single-handed into the study of the cabala, psychism, mesmerism, spiritualism, or some form or another of mysticism. result: no two men think alike, no two are agreed upon any fundamental occult principles, though many are those who claim for themselves the ultima thule of knowledge, and would make outsiders believe that they are full-blown adepts. not only is there no scientific and accurate knowledge of occultism accessible in the west-not even of true astrology, the only branch of occultism which

as, in the mysteries of great and civilized peoples, such as the egyptians, greeks, or romans, anything but priestly imposture. even the rosicrucians were no better than half lunatics, half knaves. numerous books have been written on them; and tyros, who had hardly heard the name a few years before, sallied out as profound critics and gnostics on the subject of alchemy, the fire-philosophers, and mysticism in general. yet a long series of the hierophants of egypt, india, chaldea, and arabia are known, along with the greatest philosophers and sages of greece and the west, to have included under the designation of wisdom and divine science all knowledge, for they considered the base and origin of every art and science as essentially divine. plato regarded the mysteries as most sacred, and cl

ases to which they are attracted and magnetically drawn by the karmic past of the individual. it is not enough to sit "for development" in order to attract them. that only opens the door to a swarm of "spooks" good, bad, and indifferent, to which the medium becomes a slave for life. it is against such promiscuous mediumship and intercourse with goblins that i raise my voice, not against spiritual mysticism. the latter is ennobling and holy; the former is of just the same nature as the phenomena of two centuries ago, for which so many witches and wizards have been made to suffer. read glanvil and other authors on the subject of witchcraft, and you will find recorded there the parallels of most, if not all, of the physical phenomena of nineteenth century "spiritualism" q. do you mean to sugg

able, pouncing upon unfortunate mankind from this pandora's box which you call an age of progress, and increasing pari passu with the growth of your material civilization. at such a price, better the inertia and inactivity of buddhist countries, which have arisen only as a consequence of ages of political slavery. page 114 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt q. then is all this metaphysics and mysticism with which you occupy yourself so much, of no importance? a. to the masses, who need only practical guidance and support, they are not of much consequence; but for the educated, the natural leaders of the masses, those whose modes of thought and action will sooner or later be adopted by those masses, they are of the greatest importance. it is only by means of the philosophy that an intel

lly expect all this to be accomplished in one short century? a. scarcely. but i must tell you that during the last quarter of every hundred years an attempt is made by those "masters" of whom i have spoken, to help on the spiritual progress of humanity in a marked and definite way. towards the close of each century you will invariably find that an outpouring or upheaval of spirituality-or call it mysticism if you prefer-has taken place. some one or more persons have appeared in the world as their agents, and a greater or less amount of occult knowledge and teaching has been given out. if you care to do so, you can trace these movements back, century by century, as far as our detailed historical records extend. q. but how does this bear on the future of the theosophical society? page 140 th

into philosophical doctrines. mystery language the sacerdotal secret "jargon" used by the initiated priests, and employed only when discussing sacred things. every nation had its own "mystery" tongue, unknown to all save those admitted to the mysteries. mystic from the greek word mysticos. in antiquity, one belonging to those admitted to the ancient mysteries; in our own times, one who practices mysticism, holds mystic, transcendental views, etc. mysticism any doctrine involved in mystery and metaphysics, and dealing more with the ideal worlds than with our matter-of-fact, actual universe. nazarene codex the scriptures of the nazarenes and of the nabotheans also. according to sundry church fathers, jerome and epiphanius especially, they were heretical teachings, but are in fact one of the

ed deity-"the mind or spirit self-potent" this creative principle is the primum mobile of everything to be found in the universe-its soul or ideation (see "seven principles" in man) occultism see occult sciences. occult sciences the science of the secrets of nature-physical and psychic, mental and spiritual; called hermetic and esoteric sciences. in the west, the cabala may be named; in the east, mysticism, magic, and yoga philosophy. the latter is often referred to by the chelas in india as the seventh "darshana (school of philosophy, there being only six darshanas in india known to the world of the profane. these sciences are, and have been for ages, hidden from the vulgar, for the very good reason that they would never be appreciated by the selfish educated classes, who would misuse the

INITIATION INTO HERMETICS

pattern of a diet, to get rid of slag and other impurities, or to save the body from illness and to compensate disharmonies, then ascetic measures may reasonably be employed, but beware of any exaggeration. somebody doing hard physical work would, indeed, be very foolish to deprive the body of substances absolutely necessary for its preservation, just because he is privately interested in yoga or mysticism. such extremes would doubtlessly end up with serious and dangerous injuries to the health. vegetarianism is not implicitly important for the mental progress or the intellectual development, unless it is supposed to be a remedy to clean the body from slag. a temporary abstinence from meat or animal food is indicated only for very specific magic operations as a sort of preparation, and eve

ctures, columns and statures in the temples of the ancient may certainly be interpreted as an outgrowth of elementaries magic. the legend concerning the golem, who is said to have been created by the wise rabbi low in prague likewise goes back to the creation of elementaries. but in the case of golem the creation has been produced with the rites of the quabbalah. anybody who knows of quabbalistic mysticism is informed about these facts. the synthesis remains the same as quoted in this method. method 3: before i explain the practice of the third method, i would like to remark that very little is known about it, and it is used only by a few oriental adepts. if any magician should decide in favor or this third method, he has of course to consider everything i have written about the creation o

mall mysteries, and each of these cards requires a description. divine providence will decide what and how much i shall be permitted to write and publish about the single tarot cards. having penetrated to the real inner significance of this book, the reader will have arrived at the conclusion that there is neither a white nor a black magic. in fact, there is no difference at all between magic and mysticism or sciences like that. as i have mentioned at the outset, any science is neither good nor bad; it can, however, become a hindrance or a help according to the use man makes of it. the opinion of the existence of black magic is to be attributed to the fact that up to now men had not the least idea of what magic is. in the various chapters and i connection with the methods i repeatedly poin

ISIS UNVEILED

s and somnambulists, reproducing the physical and mental phenomenon of ecstasy, hitherto believed to be the special gift of saints; when the passion for the turning tables had reached in france and elsewhere its climax of fury; when the leaning toward psychognq>hy alleged spiritual from a sim de curiosity had developed itself and settled into an unabated interest, and finally ebbed into religious mysticism; when the echoes aroused by the first raps of rochester, crossing the oceans, spread until they were re-percussed from nearly every comer of the world then, and only then, the latin church was fully awakened to a sense of danger. wonder after wonder was reported to have occurred in the spiritualist-circles and the lecture-rooms of the mesmerists; the sick were healed, the blind made to s

ute and translator of the kabala, expresses the same idea "are we not authorized" he asks "to view the kabala as a predous remnant ot religious philosophy of the orient, which, trans' ported into alexandria, got mixed with the doctrine of hato, and under the usurped name of dionysius the areopagite, bishop of atiiens, con- verted and consecrated by st. paul, was thus enabled to penetrate into the mysticism of the medieval ages* says jacouiot" what is then this religious philosophy of the orient, which has penetrated into the mystic symbousm of christianity? we an- swer: this philosophy, the traces of which we find among the magians, the cbaldaeans, the egyptians, the hebrew kabalists and the chris- tians, b none other than that of the hindfi br&hmanas, the sectarians of the piirit, or the

rue office a guide to purity of life and placed it in the perilous position of being the arbiter of human knowledge, an audacious tyranny over the mind of man. the example once set, there was no want of followers; the works of the greek philosophers were stigmatized as pro- fane; the transcendently glorious achievements of the museum of alex- andria were hidden from sight by a cloud of ignorance, mysticism, and unintelligible jargon, out of which there too often flashed the destroying lightnings of ecclesiastical vengeance* augustine* and cyprian> admit that hermes and osth&a believed in one true god; the 6rst two maintaining, as well as thcl two pagans, that he is invisible and incomprehensible, except spiritually. moreover we invite any man of intelligence provided he be not a religious

jewish tan m school, and the chriatian kabalists of the platonic gnosis" the former were represented by the party composed of the followers of peter, and john the author of tjie apoealypte; the latter ranged with the pauline christianity, blending itself, at the end of the second century, with the platonic philosophy, and engulfing, still later, the gnostic sects, whose symbols and misunderstood mysticism over- flowed the church of rome. amid this jumble of contradictions, what christian is secure in con- fesung himself such? in the old syriac gorpel according to luke (iu, 22. the holy spirit is said to have descended in the likeness of a dove" jesua, full of the sacred spirit, returned from jordan, and the spirit led him into the desert (old syriac, luke, iv, 1, tremellius'"die diffi- cu

fourth stage leads him even to god, when he becomes a part of the deity and sees him in au things. the first and second stages have received modem subdiviuons, as 'integrity 'virtue 'temperance 'benevolence' alter this the sheik confers upon him the grade of 'caliph' or honorary master, for in their mystical language 'the man must die before the saint can be bom* it will be seen that this kind of mysticism is applicable to christ as founder of a 'path" to this statement, the author adds the following on the bektash der- vishes, who "often initiated the janizaries. they wear a amau thorble 800. eva? temple in indul it sumnuided by luch belts of lacred treei. and like the kounboum of kuifu (mongolia) no one but an initiate has a right to approadi tlian- digilizocb, google initiation among th

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

herefore by the rosicrucians the abstract microcosmos, in which microcosm, or little world, in opposition to the macrocosm, or great world, is to be found man, as produced in it from the operations from above, and to be saved in the great sacrifice (crucifixion-act, the phenomena of the being (man, taking place in the mythic return of the world. all this is incomprehensible, except in the strange mysticism of the gnostics and the cabalists; 62 the rosicrucians. fig. 14 and the whole theory requires a key of explanation to render it intelligible; which key is only darkly referred to as possible, but refused absolutely, by these extraordinary men, as not permissible to be disclosed. as they, however, were very fond of diagrams and mystic figures, of which they left many in those rarities (mo

tion, and descended into the heaviest that hell could yield; endured the torments of hell, the second death, abjection from god, and was made a curse; that is, had the bitter anguish of god s wrath in his soul and body, which is the fire that shall never be quenched. faith and doctrine (thomas rogers, london, 1629. jacob behmen produces some of these most stringent and dark shades in his profound mysticism although essentially christian. note. it is a great mistake to suppose that any of the egyptian hieroglyphics tell the stories of their religion. there are various series of hieroglyphics, more or less reserved, but the real .beliefs of the egyptian priests were never (indeed, they dared not so have been) hazarded in sigma, or writing, or hieroglyphic of any kind being forbidden to be sp

nsufficient to convince us of its veracity; and whoever is bhuddistic, or boodistic, maya. 129 moved by faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding. the theosophic foundation of the bhuddistic maya, or universal illusion, has been finely alluded to by sir william jones, who was deeply imbued with the oriental mysticism and transcendental religious views. the inextricable difficulties, says he, attending the vulgar notion of material substances, concerning which we know this only, that we know nothing, induced many of the wisest among the ancients, and some of the most enlightened among the moderns, to believe that the whole creation was rather an energy than a work, by which the infinite being, who is

is the name iao. in the field are the seven planets. the sacred animals the scarab, ibis, asp, goat, crocodile, vulture, emblems of so many deities (viz. phre, thoth, isis, merides, bebys, neith) the principal in the egyptian mythology, arranged by threes, form a frame to the design. neatly engraved on a large, bright loadstone (the gnostics, p. 211. origin of the tricolor. theory of sacramental mysticism, adapted from the speculations of the sophists or gnostics. blue (b.v.m) baptism by water. natural. bread( host) body. white (s.s) air or light. intermediate. nexus. and red (f, fire) supernatural. wine (cup denied to the laity. spirit: symbolical blood. sacramenta: baptism and the supper of the lord. from the above cabalistic estimate of the virtues of colours, it happens that the colou

gels of the planets, according to the gnostics. at the beginning of all things, is jehovah (sabaoth, victory; at the end, the old serpent (ophis. between these are the seraphim (intelligences) and cherubim (benevolences, and their representatives. origen calls the sun, adonai; the moon, lao; jupiter, eloi; mars, sabao; orai, venus; astaphai, mercury; ildabaoth, saturn. all this is gnostic highest mysticism therefore. the name tarasque is given for the dragon of a northern nation (qy. the hill of tara &c) under the roman emperors, and under the emperors of byzantium, every cohort or centurion bore a dragon as its ensign (modestus, de vocabu. rei milit; flav. veget. de re militari, lib. ii. c. xiii; georget, insig. europ. loc. cit. matthew of westminster, speaking of the early battles of thi

se i.e. neros, or naurutz (malcolm s history of persia, vol. ii. p. 406. the tudor rose, or rose-en-soilel (the rose of the order of the garter, is the rosicrucian the rose crucified. 261 red rose, crucified, with its rays of glory, or golden sunbeams, or mythical thorns, issuant from its white, immaculate centre-point, or lily-point all which have further occult meanings lying hidden in theurgic mysticism. all these are spoken in the famous round table of the prince (and origin) of christian knighthood, king arthur. his table is now hanging on the wall, dusty and neglected, over the king's seat or bench in the court- house on the castle hill of our ancient winchester. but upon this abstruse subject of the round table we have spoken more fully in another place. see elias ashmole. pope john

hoc idem voluit. carm. 64. quod enim genus figurae est, ego quod non habuerim? ego mulier, ego adolescens, ego ephebus, ego puer, ego gymnasii fui flos, ego eram decus olei. marcianus capella lib. i. atys pulcher item curvi et puer almus aratri. caput autem tectum mithra phrygem indicat. laurentii pignorii patavini magn deum matris id et attidis initia. amstelodami andre frisii. mdclxix. profound mysticism of plato. 327 hear or read of each other; whether even the continual natural inclination which impels man to woman, and woman to man, be not the spirit-reflex and the atoning penance (there is a great amount of sadness which mingles in the delight of these feelings) of the original grand human division. and that this extra-natural (and yet natural) inclination which draws one sex towards

elve in number. the marshals of france should be twelve in number. the judges of england, according to old constitutional rationale, should be twelve; as the number of a jury are twelve. all these are mythical of the twelve signs, or divisions, of the zodiac, the twelve jewish tribes, the twelve oracular stones in the breastplate of the high priest of the jews, and, in the christian aspect of the mysticism, the twelve apostles; with the reprobate condemned central sign as judas, the traitor. the whole is cabalistic in the highest degree; and therefore ordinarily unintelligible. it signifies the second dispensation, or the astrological reproduction and re-arrangement of the zodiac, when the original ten signs of the ecliptic (mythically the gladius of the archangel michael) became twelve; a

KARR DON NOTES ON EDITIONS OF SEFER YETZIRAH IN ENGLISH

sefer yesirah (in aleph: historical studies in science and judaism, no. 2 (2002, edited by gad fruedenthal, indiana university press, at http//inscribe.iupress.org/loi/ale; see also wasserstrom s comments in between muslim and jew: the problem of symbiosis under early islam (princeton: princeton university press, 1995, pages 126-133. further, refer to wolfson s summary, sefer yetzirah: linguistic mysticism and cosmological speculation, which is a section of jewish mysticism: a philosophical overview, in history of jewish philosophy, edited by daniel h. frank and oliver leaman (london new york: routledge, 1997. don karr, 1991, 1994; updated 2001-7. email: dk0618@yahoo.com all rights reserved. license to copy this publication is intended for personal use only. paper copies may be made for pe

nal use. with the above exception, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, without permission in writing from the author. reviewers may quote brief passages. 20073 2 most versions of sy have six chapters containing brief, even laconic, statements, similar in tone to the hekhalot texts of early chariot mysticism. it was from the first chapter of sy that kabbalah derived the term sefirot and the notion of these as metaphysical stages of creation. the remaining chapters of sy tell of the powers and correspondences of the twenty-two hebrew letters. in 1971, gruenwald noted, although sefer yezira is one of the most frequently published works of jewish esoteric lore, there is no authoritative text av

requent productions of sy in english. between hall s translation and the next one reviewed here (that of work of the chariot, 1971, there is a lapse of over forty years. falling between are two translations, neither of which have i seen: doreal, dr. m. sepher yetzirah. the book of creation. a verse by verse analysis. denver: brotherhood of the white temple, 1941. listed in sheila spector s jewish mysticism: an annotated bibliography of kabbalah in english (new york/london: garland publishing, inc, 1984) under the history of kabbalah, f. merkabah mysticism and jewish gnosticism; doreal= f15) raskin, saul. kabbalah in word and image, with the book of creation and from the zohar. new york, academy photo offset, inc, 1952* listed in aryeh kaplan s sefer yetzirah [discussed below] under transla

sticism and jewish gnosticism; doreal= f15) raskin, saul. kabbalah in word and image, with the book of creation and from the zohar. new york, academy photo offset, inc, 1952* listed in aryeh kaplan s sefer yetzirah [discussed below] under translations/ english; and in spector s bibliography, where it is listed twice (1) under introductory surveys= c7 (2) under the history of kabbalah, f. merkabah mysticism and jewish gnosticism= f17* waite s version of the thirty-two paths can be found in the holy kabbalah, pp. 213-219* this item came up for sale on ebay (november 2004; the display page provided numerous images of the cover, text, and illustrations, which, alas, are rather adolescent. a passage from what is almost certainly this book is used to introduce the section on abraham abulafia in

hariot.com] the 2nd edition includes two appendices: 1. diagrams; 2. shuo kua/i ching with diagrams; plus sy in hebrew and gezer/sinatic, and a depiction of the gan eden alphabet. this version has been neither well known nor, until recently [see the website shown above, generally available. it is included here in part because it is the version of sy on which david blumenthal (understanding jewish mysticism [1978, pp. 13-46) based his translation in no small way. while blumenthal made revisions and additions here and there, he presented a virtual copy of work of the chariot s translation, while saying, the translation given here is my own, based upon the hebrew texts in l. goldschmit and sefer yetsira, anon. ed (jerusalem: 1964. there is bound to be some concurrence in translations of the s

uares, carlo. the sepher yetsira, including the original astrology according to the qabala and its zodiac. french original: editions du mont-blanc, 1968. english translation: boulder: shambhala publications, 1976. suares book on sy is one in a series on what he considers the three great cabalistic works [namely] genesis, the song of songs and sepher yetsira. suares does not believe kabbalah to be mysticism, stating, qabala is a science and the sepher yetsira is a precise and accurate treatise on the structure of cosmic energy, written in a hidden code. suares thesis rests on the belief that each hebrew letter denotes not only a letter, but also a proof, a symbol and even a miracle revealing its forgotten ontological origin. in a chapter which is repeated in all three books of this series

r interest in this most ancient kabbalistic work by rendering it as simply and accurately as possible. friedman was true to his intention. the clear translation is followed by observations of the text which analyze elements of the sy in a broad context of various ancient religions and philosophies. internal analysis is developed in several short chapters* blumenthal, david r. understanding jewish mysticism. a source reader: the merkabah tradition and the zoharic tradition. new york: ktav publishing house, 1978. blumenthal s translation has already been discussed in a rather unfortunate context; as stated, he published a slightly revised and expanded version of work of the chariot s translation. unlike work of the chariot, blumenthal offers extensive notes some are helpful; some are bewilde

provides a wealth of information and 20073 14 insight into the practical and speculative workings upon sy as no other book reviewed in this paper does. here, we find the thirty-two paths of wisdom, the 221 gates according to eleazer of worms, the 231 gates according to later kabbalists, plus a thorough list of editions, translations and commentaries* glotzer, leonard r. the fundamentals of jewish mysticism. the book of creation and its commentaries. northvale: jason aronson inc, 1992. glotzer s book gives sy one paragraph at a time (in english and hebrew, each followed by an extended commentary. glotzer freely draws from rabbinic sources ranging from the gaon of vilna and saadia to moses cordovero and hayim vital. this means that the commentary stays within the bounds of traditional jewish

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

many versions of sy offered are already quite familiar to us from their predecessors in print. westcott s translation turns up at numerous sites* two examples: 1. copenhagen qabalah: spiritual technology lab at http//qabalah.mortenhass.com both sy and the thirty-two paths are posted hereha(hereafter ek) ek is an anthology of texts which serves as an excellent complement to ok. dan, joseph. jewish mysticism, volume ii: the middle ages. northvale. jerusalem: jason aronson inc, 1998 (hereafter jmii) jmii is a collection of dan fs articles covering early kabbalah (concentrating on sefer ha-bahir) and the ashkenazi hasidim (see below, pre-kabbalistic streams of jewish mysticism, 5. to the above books, add the following dissertations. brody, seth lance. human hands dwell in heavenly heights: wor

and literature, edited by g. hartman and s. budick. new haven: yale university press, 1986; also jmii: chapter 1. dauber, jonathan victor. standing on the heads of philosophers (noted above, page 2- chapter 2. myth and philosophy in sefer ha-bahir- chapter 3: a. sefer ha-bahir: 30- appendix 2. 32 of sefer ha-bahir in light of early kabbalistic sources. eylon, dina ripsman. reincarnation in jewish mysticism and gnosticism [jewish studies, volume 25. lewiston-queenston-lampeter: the edwin mellen press, 2003. green, arthur. keter: the crown of god in early jewish mysticism. princeton: princeton university press, 1997: chapter thirteen. gsefer ha-bahir. h 20081 4. idel, moshe. ascensions on high in jewish mysticism: pillars, lines, and ladders. budapest/new york: central european university pr

r 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 fragments of what was to become sefer ha-bahir made their way to provence where they fed the development of a mystical school, ca. 1200. this school fs second generat

nion, individuality, and individuation in provencal and catalonian kabbalah (noted above, page 2, yechiel shalom goldberg analyzes key passages from r. isaac the blind fs commentary on sefer yezirah as well as from the works of r. isaac fs nephew, r. asher ben david, and r. azriel of gerona (see below. further reference. zinberg, israel. a history of jewish literature, volume iii: the struggle of mysticism and tradition against philosophical rationalism (philadelphia: 20081 5 the jewish publication society of america, 1973: chapter one, gthe mystics of provence. h. koren, sharon faye. gkabbalistic physiology: isaac the blind, nahmanides, and moses de leon on menstruation, h ajs review, vol. 28, no. 2 (cambridge: association for jewish studies, 2004. halbertal, moshe. concealment and revela

eck, 1999: comments regarding the iyyun school, or gcircle, h throughout. grozinger, karl e. ghandling of holy traditions as a path to mystical unity in the kitve ha- eiyyun, h in rashi 1040-1990: congres europeen des etudes juives, ed. by gabrielle sed-rajna (paris: editions du cerf, 1993. verman, mark. gthe evolution of the circle of contemplation, h in gershom scholem fs major trends in jewish mysticism 50 years after, edited by j. dan and p. schafer (tubingen: mohr siebeck, 1993. 1. c. gerona (catalonia: the most prolific circle of kabbalists from the period before the zohar was that of gerona, which followed up on the teachings of r. isaac the blind. the primary figures of this group were (1) r. ezra ben solomon and (2) r. azriel, who established a school which included (3) r. moses b

od before the zohar was that of gerona, which followed up on the teachings of r. isaac the blind. the primary figures of this group were (1) r. ezra ben solomon and (2) r. azriel, who established a school which included (3) r. moses ben nahman (nahmanides) and (4) r. jacob ben sheshet. on the gerona circle, see ek (pp. 34-36, ok (pp. 365-475, and moshe idel fs article, gsome remarks on ritual and mysticism in geronese kabbalah, h in the journal of jewish thought and philosophy, vol. 3, issue 1 (1993. other references: 1. r. ezra ben solomon. altmann, alexander. ga note on the rabbinic doctrine of creation, h in (idem) studies in religious philosophy and mysticism (ithaca: cornell university press, 1969. includes excerpts from r. ezra ben solomon fs perush eal shir ha-shirim and a letter to

ary on genesis 1:1-2 (composed 1291. 20081 6. gavarin, martelle. grabbi ezra ben solomon of gerona, h part 1, in kabbalah (newsletter) vol. 1, no. 2 (jerusalem: winter, 1985-6; part 2: gannotated bibliography: source texts and criticism, h in kabbalah (newsletter) vol. 2, no. 3 (spring 1986 [on-line at http//queensu.ca/jewishstudies/kabbalah.html. green, arthur. gthe song of songs in early jewish mysticism, h in orim: a jewish journal at yale, vol. 2 (new haven: spring 1987. goldberg, yechiel shalom. gthe foolishness of the wise and the wisdom of fools in spanish kabbalah: an inquiry into the taxonomy of the wise fool: in the journal for the study of sephardic and mizrahi jewry, volume 1, issue 2 (october- november 2007, edited by zion zohar, on-line at http//sephardic.fiu.edu/journal. sch

e: rabbi ezra of gerona- on the kabbalistic meaning of the mizvot, introduction/ annotated translation/ critical hebrew edition (ph.d. dissertation, waltham: brandeis university, 2002. r. ezra fs detailed kabbalistic commentary on the meanings of the mizvot. 2. r. azriel. ek pp. 87-108. altmann, alexander. gmotif of the eshell f in azriel of gerona, h in (idem) studies in religious philosophy and mysticism (1969; originally in journal of jewish studies, vol. xi, nos. 1-2 (1958. goldberg, joel r= yechiel shalom goldberg) gazriel of gerona: a phenomenology of individuality h= chapter 6 of mystical union, individuality, and individuation in provencal and catalonian. goldberg, yechiel shalom. gthe foolishness of the wise and the wisdom of fools in spanish kabbalah: an inquiry into the taxonomy

LAITMAN M BASIC CONCEPTS IN KABBALAH

ver that the truth cannot be ignored. humanity is constantly seeking a logical reason for its existence; humankind has studied the laws of nature for thousands of years. b a s i c c o n c e p t s i n k a b b a l a h 102 modern scientists realize that the farther they advance in their research, the foggier and more tangled the picture of the world becomes. modern scientific books resemble works on mysticism and science fiction, yet fail to provide an answer to the question about the meaning of life. the science of kabbalah offers its own method of researching the world. it helps us develop the ability to feel the concealed part of the universe. kabbalists tell us about a technique based on their personal experience. in their books, they teach the method of researching the universe, and show

LAITMAN M KABBALAH REVEALED

of our existence? in other words, why were we born? but today, more than ever before, many people feel that what has worked for 2,000 years no longer meets their needs. the answers provided by religion and science no longer satisfy them. these people are looking elsewhere for answers to the most basic questions about the purpose of life. they turn to eastern teachings, fortune-telling, magic and mysticism. and some turn to kabbalah. because kabbalah was formulated to answer these fundamental questions, the answers it provides are directly related to them. by rediscovering ancient answers about the meaning of life, we are literally mending the rupture between humanity and nature that occurred when we turned away from kabbalah and toward philosophy. k a b b a l a h s t e p s i n kabbalah ma

vering ancient answers about the meaning of life, we are literally mending the rupture between humanity and nature that occurred when we turned away from kabbalah and toward philosophy. k a b b a l a h s t e p s i n kabbalah made its debut about 5,000 years ago in mesopotamia, an ancient country in today s iraq. mesopotamia was not only the birthplace of kabbalah, but of all ancient teachings and mysticism. in those days, people bekabbalah: then and now 25 lieved in many different teachings, often following more than one teaching at a time. astrology, fortune-telling, numerology, magic, witchcraft, spells, evil eye xall those and more were developed and thrived in mesopotamia, the cultural center of the ancient world. as long as people were happy with their beliefs, they felt no need for c

liefs that were abundant in ancient mesopotamia mark the beginning of humanity s reconnection into a new civilization. today, we are beginning to realize that we are all connected and that we must rebuild the state that existed prior to the shattering. by rebuilding into a united humanity, we will also rebuild our connection with nature, with the creator. egoism is a catch-22 during the time when mysticism thrived, the wisdom of kabbalah was discovered and provided knowledge about the stage-by-stage growth of our egoism and what causes kabbalah: then and now 31 it. kabbalists taught that everything that exists is made of a desire for self-fulfillment. however, these desires cannot be fulfilled in their natural form, when they are self-centered. this is because when we satisfy a desire, we

LAITMAN M KABBALAH SCIENCE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

icantly diminished the predominance of natural science in general and physics in particular. instead, it positioned science as a tool that uncovers a limited part of reality, rather than the absolute truth. the actual reality is hidden from us; we cannot discover it by means of scientific research. in recent years, many scientists have become interested in various religions, new age theories, and mysticism. they are trying to find new tools and new ways to understand the hidden parts of reality, those unattainable by using conventional research methods. this scientific predicament has escalated into a crisis since the turn of the century, challenging our ability to expose the full picture of the world we live in, and to understand the rules that govern both nature and humanity. once humani

s in us, eventually leading to the perception of the upper worlds. from the above we can understand why kabbalah contains all the teachings and sciences of this world. without proper explanations, we would be lost and think that kabbalah is a mystical teaching of wizardry and miracles. there are others who relate it to judaism, but in truth the wisdom of kabbalah has no connection whatsoever with mysticism, religion or any other manmade fantasy. the purpose of the wisdom of kabbalah is one: to bring humanity to congruence with the creator through gradual correction. kabbalah is such a successful method for the correction of humankind s egoism precisely because it is written by those who are corrected. one s desire to draw near to the states described in kabbalah books makes those states pr

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

agree with anything. criticize and doubt everything. the most important objective is to be freed from prejudice, from education and from public opinion. free yourself from anything extraneous and try to absorb the way your nature tells you. that would be the truest, because any education and any external opinion is coercion. t h e s c i e n c e o f r e a l i t y q: isn t kabbalah another form of mysticism, like many others in the world? a: no. people want to label kabbalah as mysticism, blessings, curses, charms, etc. these labels became linked with kabbalah because it was forbidden to study. but that is really the case. even the holy ari writes that it is prohibited to use charms and blessings, because they have nothing to do with kabbalah. kabbalah is a science that teaches the law of r

(introduction to the study of the ten sefirot, item 155. out of a great desire to attain what they are studying, the readers awaken in themselves a surrounding light from the same spiritual degrees they re reading about. t h e i n t e n t d u r i n g t h e s t u dy q: you always recommend reading more. but how is a person who simply reads different from another who is interested in philosophy and mysticism, or one who wants the title, professor of kabbalah? such people do not make even a single step forward in spirituality. a: logically speaking, you re right. but the problem is that a person cannot force the right intent on himself. that aim should come from the heart, provided the heart really wants it. this will occur if there is a need to attain something higher, if your soul has devel

rtainly not in favor of burning or banning books. they think that the faster people go through the other paths, the faster they will understand that kabbalah is the only true path. therefore, the more people are exposed to various beliefs, and compare them to the wisdom of kabbalah, the better. k a b b a l a h i s n o t m y s t i c i s m q: how does the kabbalah relate to spiritual quests such as mysticism, eastern methods, and other spiritual systems? a: it has nothing to do with them. those are searches that a person makes, but they have nothing to do with kabbalah. b e l i e f s, m y s t i c i s m a n d t h e s u p e r n a t u r a l 287 q: what is the connection between kabbalah, fortune telling and magical forces? a: there is no connection between the wisdom of kabbalah and magic, fort

l fate. the human ego, the desire to enjoy for ourselves, continues to grow with each generation and seek fulfillment. it is happening very powerfully in our time, and therefore, along with technology, there are courses in astrology and the supernatural that b e l i e f s, m y s t i c i s m a n d t h e s u p e r n a t u r a l 303 are opening everywhere around us, even in universities. books about mysticism abound on the shelves of bookstores; horoscopes, prophecies and clairvoyants are found in every form of the media. i published my first book on kabbalah in 1984. at that time, the public was very earthbound, with its feet firmly on the ground, and thought that progress and a rational attitude would solve the questions of life. it seemed as though the topic of the book went against common

ams. 273 the soul of pharaoh. 273 c h a p t e r 7. b e l i e f s, m y s t i c i s m a n d t h e s u p e r n at u r a l. 27 9 hidden evolution. 279 increasing desire. 280 a greater responsibility. 281 a time for control. 281 all shall know me. 281 d e t a i l e d t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s 437 gradual evolution. 282 kabbalah is above our world. 284 the teachings of the east..285 kabbalah is not mysticism. 286 fortune tellers v social assistance. 287 false links to the upper worlds. 289 becoming a great egoist. 291 witchcraft and kabbalah. 291 meditation. 292 tarot cards. 293 pleasure hunt. 294 cults and ceremonies. 294 esoteric teachings. 295 evil eye. 295 a curse. 296 satan is within. 297 the truth behind the supernatural. 297 shambalah. 298 the physical body is meaningless here. 298 ma

LAITMAN M THE PATH OF KABBALAH

c i e n c e question: are there certain habits or customs around studying the wisdom of kabbalah? answer: the wisdom of kabbalah does not require practicing any customs or rituals. drawings or pictures of the worlds, sefirot, or gimatria, are simply visual aids. the essence of the wisdom of kabbalah is the individual experience of the creator and the spiritual world. the wisdom of kabbalah is not mysticism. it is a science that explores the entire reality, unlike every other science that explores only our world. q: does modern science accept this perspective? a: a science that studies the senses, including the theory of relativity, maintains that everything perceived by our senses is only valid regarding ourselves. but our picture of the world is relative because the pa r t f i v e: r e l

LEADBEATER C W THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY 2E

eir conception of these three was very similar to that of the three persons of the blessed trinity in christianity and the trimurti among the hindus; in fact, practically all philosophical religions have recognized the triple manifestation of the deity. in the book of dzyan the same emblem, but without the two lines, was used to denote the same reality, the first logos or word; while in christian mysticism it signifies the christ within the bosom of the father. it was also considered to be a reflection of the blazing star which should be in the centre of the lodge ceiling, it being in this respect the same as the ever-burning ruby lamp. it symbolized his light that gburns ever in our midst h and gshineth even in our darkness h. some students of masonry see the same symbol once more in many

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

compiled by jews of many lands and many ages. the most important texts are the sepher yetzirah, which explains the mystic meanings underlying the hebrew alphabet, and erects a vast system of mystical and occult speculation upon the combinations and permutations of the various letters; and the sepher ha zohar, or book of splendour, which is a medley of history and legend, of fable and of fact, of mysticism and fantastic speculation which, like all such literature, contains priceless gems of occult wisdom hidden in a mass of rubbish. both these texts claim to date from the second century a.d, but in reality they were not written down until a later period, the former being completed about the tenth century, and the latter before the thirteenth. they became known to the educated people of eur

the popular irrational faith which leads to what he calls somatic christianity (the merely physical form of the religion) and the spiritual christianity offered by the gnosis or wisdom. he makes it perfectly clear that by somatic christianity he means that faith which is based on the gospel history. he says of it: what better method could be devised to assist the masses? in dean inge s christian mysticism he is quoted as teaching that: 465. the gnostic or sage no longer needs the crucified christ. the eternal or spiritual gospel which is his possession shows clearly all things concerning the son of god himself both the mysteries shown by his words and the things of which his acts were the symbols origen regards the life, death and resurrection of christ as only one manifestation of a univ

in a small boat, symbolical of the ark. their doctrines were similar to those of pythagoras- including reincarnation and the existence of one supreme being. apart from a few stray references in classical authors, we know of them today chiefly through the bardic songs attributed to the welsh poet taliesin, of the sixth century a.d, who claimed druidic initiation. culdees of york blended christian mysticism with these pre-christian rites, and so linked them with modern masonry. 493. there have been many other mysteries, such as those of ireland, closely connected with the druids, and of scandinavia, wherein the death and resurrection of balder was the chief theme, and no doubt all these were connected with the source of our present masonry, being branches of the same tree, even though exter

he qualities of the sixth ray, the ray of devotion, working upon the fifth or teutonic sub-race, and producing as its characteristic intellectual fruit scholastic philosophy with its hair-splitting intellectuality based upon an almost fanatical devotion. 544. devotion, indeed, was the great characteristic of the middle ages. the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, so rich in the annals of christian mysticism, were adorned by men and women whose power of devotion reached heights rarely touched in any other age. the great s. bernard (who among many other noted works gave their rule to the order of knights templars, richard of s. victor, s. hildegarde, s. francis of assisi and s. antony of padua, and a little later s. bonaventura and s. thomas aquinas- all these have shone forth as a light unto

g. 652. just because they had to work so warily and so quietly it is not easy to find traces of the activity of these organizations; but a very earnest mason, mrs. isabel cooper-oakley, has devoted years of patient and laborious original research in many parts of europe to the study of this subject, and has published the results of her toil in traces of a hidden tradition in masonry and mediaeval mysticism. from that book i extract the following list of mystical societies, interspersed with a few names of individual mystics: 653. in the third century we find manes, the widow s son, the link for all of those who believe in the great work done by the sons of the widow and the magian brotherhood. 654. in the fourth century the central figure for all occult students is the great iamblichus, th

ly known; the cathari, widely spread in italy; the hermetists. 659. thirteenth century: the brotherhood of the winkelers; the apostolikers; the beghards and the beguinen; the brothers and sisters of the free spirit; the lollards; the albigenses, crushed out by the catholic church; the troubadours. 660. fourteenth century: the hesychasts, the precursors of the quietists; the friends of god; german mysticism, led by nicholas of basle; johann tauler; christian rosenkreutz; the great templar persecution; the fraticelli. 661. fifteenth century: the fratres lucis at florence, also the platonic academy; the alchemical society; society of the trowel; the templars; the bohemian brothers, or unitas fratrum; the rosicrucians. 662. sixteenth century: the rosicrucians became widely known; the order of

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

construct his own version of the black mass.however, unlike the imaginary black masses of the middle ages, lavey was more concerned with using the black mass for psychodrama than for magic.he also noted that if the purpose of the original was to shock one s contemporaries by blaspheming what was holy, then a true modern black mass would consist of the blaspheming of such sacred topics as eastern mysticism, psychiatry, the psychedelic movement, ultra-liberalism, etc (101. the notion of the black mass seems to have arisen out of the belief in the mystical( magical) efficacy of the mass, and out of the ends to which certain unprincipled priests put this power. within catholicism and certain other liturgical denominations, the mass is a ritualized miracle of substantiation in which the bread

and the purpose of the fraternity is to help people to speed this process, through a set of lessons and involvement in ritual practice. among the teachings of the fraternity is a course of philosophy in two levels, after which the neophytes can be accepted into either the order of the holy grail, which offers courses in a celtic approach to magic, or the coven of diana, which explores witchcraft, mysticism, and moon magic. after completing one of these courses, the initiate may apply for full membership through the order of the golden sword. at the beginning members, who must abstain from the use of illegal drugs, are supposed to attend a twentylesson series in ritual magic. members, who become gradually involved in a series of rituals, are introduced to the fraternity s holy book, the scr

avey, anton szandor for further reading: lucifers den official site: http//www.angelfire.com/mi/lucifersden magic and magical groups widespread acceptance of the occult had tapered off sharply among the educated by about 1750, but it did not cease altogether, and may have remained more or less constant among peasants. during the next century, the romantic revival of neo-platonism, medieval german mysticism, and astrology; the introduction of asian and especially indian esotericism; and the sudden enthusiasm for secret societies, mesmerism, and swedenborgianism marked the beginnings of the modern recrudescence of the occult.with varying degrees of popularity, faddishness, and intellectual respectability, it has remained a nearly ubiquitous factor in western cultural life ever since. in 1801

nially under a thelemic protection. the single lodge of the ota, led by carroll runyon (frater aleyin, is located in pasadena, although there has been a second lodge that operated in pittsburgh in the 1970s. the seventh ray, published in pasadena, is the periodical of the order. see also crowley, aleister;magic and magical groups 198 ordo templi orientis for further reading: ellwood, robert s, jr.mysticism and religion. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall, 1980. melton, j. gordon. the encyclopedia of american religion. 5th ed. detroit, mi: gale research, 1996. ordo templi orientis along with the hermetic order of the golden dawn, the other major magical tradition to influence modern satanism and left-hand path groups through aleister crowley was the ordo templi orientis (oto. the oto was f

LIBER 777

ria. 4. nymphs. in all cases death to be entrance into copulation, begetting yourself on them for new incarnation. woman adepts use corresponding male goou: liber 777 vel p rolegomena s y m b o l i c a ad s y s t e m am sceptico-mystic vi explicand fundamentum hieroglyphicum sanctissimorum scient summ v a\a\ publication in class b i 777 the following is an attempt to systematise alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion. the sceptic will applaud our labours, for that the very catholicity of the symbols denies them any objective validity, since, in so many contradictions, something must be false; while the mystic will rejoice equally that the self-same catholicity allembracing proves that very validity, since after all something must be true. fortunately we have le

money on these grounds, as has been done by certain moderns, is clear (and, i trust, indictable) fraud. the secrets of adepts are not to be revealed to men. we only wish they were. when a man comes to me and asks for the truth, i go away and practice teaching the differential calculus to a bushman; and i answer the former only when i have succeeded with the latter. but to withhold the alphabet of mysticism from the learner is the device of a selfish charlatan. that which can be taught shall be taught, and that which cannot be taught may at last be learnt* this is probably true, though in agreement with the statement of the traducer of levi s doctrine and the vilifier of his noble personality. iii 3. as a weary but victorious warrior delights to recall his battles fortisan h c olim meminiss

nt odours. 28 galbanum all diuretics. 29 ambergris[[menstrual fluid] all narcotics. 30 olibanum, cinnamon, all glorious odours alcohol. 31 olibanum, all fiery odours. nitrates 32 assafoe tida, scammony, indigo, sulphur (all evil odours. lead 32 bis storax, all dull and heavy odours. bismuth 31 bis[[no attribution possible] stramonium carbon table of correspondences 14 xlv. magical powers [western mysticism. xlvi. system of taoism. 0 the supreme attainment[[vision of no difference] the tao or great extreme of the yi king. 1 union with god shang ti (also the tao) 2 the vision of god face to face[[vision of antinomies] the yang and khien 3 the vision of sorrow[[vision of wonder] kwan-se-on, the yin and khwan. 4 the vision of love. 5 the vision of power. 6 the vision of the harmony of things (

LIBER ALEPH

ect forumlateth itself by direct creation in the sphere of its purpose and intent. but there remain yet two of the eight works, namely, the straight aspiration of the chiah or creator in thee to the crown, and the surrender of the nephesh or animal soul to the possession thereof; and these be he twin principal formulae of the final attainment, being archetypes of the paths of magick (the one) and mysticism (the other) unto the end. from each of these eight works is derived a separate mode of practical use, each after his kind; and it should be well for thine instruction if thou study upon hese my words, and found upon them a system. o my son, forget not therein the arcanum of their balance and proportion; for herein lieth the mystery of their holiness. o liber aleph vel cxi 108 dd de stell

LIBER DCCCLX JOHN ST

note by ac in equinox i (1, transcribed by yorke] john st. john 99 that should go to make the fadeless wreath of adonai. ah, lord, pluck me up utterly by the root, and set that which thou pluckest as a flower upon thy brow! 4.10. walked back to the dome to drink a citron presse. through the lovely gardens, sad with their fallen leaves. reflecting on what dr. henry maudsley once wrote to him about mysticism .like other bad habits (he might have said .like all living beings f) it grows by what it feeds on. most important, then, to use the constant critical check on all one fs work. the devotion to adonai might itself fall under suspicion, where it not for the definition of adonai. adonai is that thought which informs and strengthens and purifies, supreme sanity in supreme genius. anything th

one to bed, and shall take things in hand seriously, if it kills me. 9.53. since 9.17 have done pr.n.y.ma, though allowing myself some irregularities in the way of occasional omission of a kumbhakha .tis very hard to stick to it. i find myself, at the end of above sentence, automatically crawling into bed. no, john! 10.14. have been trying to extract some sense from that extraordinary treatise on mysticism, konx om pax. another failure, but an excusable one. i will now beseech adonai as best i may to give me back my lost powers. for i am no more even a magician! so lost am i in the illusions that i have made in the search for adonai, that i am become the vilest of them all! 10.27. a strange and unpleasant experience. my thought suddenly transmuted itself into a muscular cry, so that my leg

LIBER LVII

or a= 1, j= 8, d= 4, total= 13; and a= 1, h= 5, b= 2, h= 5, total= 13. again, the name of the angel wrffm, metatron, and the name of the deity, ydc, shaddai, each make 314; so the one is taken as symbolical of the other. the angel metatron is said to have been the conductor of the children of israel through the wilderness, of whom 3 [i.e. the kaballah unveiled. as scholem (major trends in jewish mysticism) and others have pointed out, the three tracts translated by mathers are actually fairly minor in the scheme of the zohar (a reasonably complete english translation of which occupies five quarto volumes. t.s] 6 liber lviii god says .my name is in him. with regard to gematria of phrases (gen. xlix, 10, hlyc aby, yeba shiloh= 358, which is the numeration of the word jycm, messiah.4 thus al

y reflection of itself. for though 0 be incapable of definition,14 1 is definable. and the effect of a definition is to form an eidolon, duplicate, or 13 [genesis xxxvi, 31; i chronicles, i, 43] 14 [in fact, zero can be and has been defined. but at the time mathers was writing modern philosophy of mathematics was in its infancy so he had to make do with the bastardized dregs of pythagorean number mysticism. t.s] 12 liber lviii image of the thing defined. thus, then, we obtain a duad composed of 1 and its reflection. now also we have the commencement of a vibration established, for the number 1 vibrates alternately from changelessness to definition, and back to changelessness again. thus, then, is it the father of all numbers, and a fitting type of the father of all things. the name of the

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

t! i am no brutal cain37 to smash an abel: i hear that blasphemy.s unfashionable: so in the quietest way we.ll chat about it; no need to show teeth, claws of cat about it! with gentle words.fiat exordium; exeat dolor, intret gaudium! 1 it had a design of 666 and crowley.s name in hebrew (which, like most names, adds up to that figure) on the reverse. 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 necessity of poem. mysticism v. literal interpre tation. former excused. buddha rebukes poet. detailed scheme of modified poem. 6 the sword of song we.ll have the ham to logic.s sandwich 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! let me help babu chander grish

that no sattva66 may renew once death has run life.s shuttle through (their dages put it somewhat thus) what.s fun to them is death to us! that.s clear at least. but never mind! call them idolaters and blind! we.ll talk of christ. as shelley sang .shall an eternal issue hang* great slam.a term of bridge-whist. bara is hindustani for great. john iii. 18 .he that believeth not is condemned already. mysticism does not need christ. krishna will serve, or the carpenter. the sacred walrus. god, some vestments, and lady wimborne. fearful aspect of john iii. 16. universalism. will god get the bara* slam? eternal life. divergent views of its desirability. buddhist idea. dogma of belief. 460 465 470 475 480 485 490 495 ascension day 15 on just belief or unbelief; and an involuntary act make differen

d between mystics of all shades; and the obstacle to any accurate observation of the phenomenon, its true causes, and so on. this must always be a stumblingblock to more impressionable minds; but there is no doubt as to the fact.it is a fact.and its present isolation is to be utterly deplored. may i entreat men of science to conquer the prejudices natural to them when the justly despised ideas of mysticism are mentioned, and to attack the problem ab initio on the severely critical and austerely arduous lines which have distinguished their labours in other fields. a. c. more, though the establishment of this new estate of consciousness seems to open the door to a new world, a world where the axioms of euclid may be absurd, and the propositions of keynes* untenable, let us not fall into the

characteristics; the ten fetters; and there is clearly a definite theory in the idea of karma. such ideas are basic, and are as a thread on which 1 see huxley.s classical example of the horse, zebra and centaur. 2 similarly, where buddhist parables are of a mystical nature, where a complicated symbolism of numbers (for example) is intended to shadow a truth, we must discard them. my experience of mysticism is somewhat large; its final dictum is that the parable x may be equated to a, b, c, d. z by six-and-twenty different persons, or by one person in six-andtwenty different moods. even had we a strong traditional explanation i should maintain my position. the weapons of the higher criticism, supplemented by common sense, are perfectly valid and inevitably destructive against any such struc

LIBER O

s (with their planetary rulers. xii. 8 the tree of life. xiv. 14 general attribution of tarot. xv. xviii. 55. 58 the colour scales. xix. 24 selection of egyptian gods. xxxiv. 26 some greek gods. xxxv. 27 some roman gods. xxxviii. 28 animals, real and imaginary. xxxix. 29 plants, real and imaginary. xl. 30 precious stones. xli. 33 magical weapons. xlii. 31 perfumes. xlv. 32 magical powers [western mysticism. liv. 61 the letters of the name. lv. 60 the elements and senses. lix. 65 the archangels of the quarters. liber o vel manvs et sagitta 18 lx [omitted] the rulers of the elements. lxi [omitted] angels of the elements. lxiii. 62 the four worlds. lxx. 59 attribution of pentagram. lxxv. 70 the five elements (tatwas. lxxvii. 73 the planets and their numbers. lxxviii. 79 intelligences of the p

LIBER SAMEKH

iii, ggraduum montis abiegni. h this extract is identified as liber viii in class d in the gsyllabus of the official instructions of the a a h in equinox i (10, the number assigned on the grounds that g[the] tarot card numbered 8, the charioteer, the bearer of the holy graal, represents the holy guardian angel. h 47 works cited a. numbered libri of a a 4. book 4 (liber aba. in four parts: part i (mysticism: as book 4 part i. part ii (magical theory: as book 4 part ii. part iii is magick in theory and practice. part iv (qelhma. the law: see the equinox of the gods. parts i and ii reprinted as book 4. parts i-iii reprinted as magick (book 4 parts i-iii) parts i-iv reprinted as magick: book 4 parts i-iv 6. gliber o vel magus et saggita sub figura vi h: in equinox i (2, appendix vii of book 4

LIBER XXXIII AN ACCOUNT OF AA

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 publication in class d 1 let the adept be armed with his magick rood [and provided with his mystic rose. in the cent

LOGOMACHY OF ZOS

ir violation. none is beyond good and evil, time or dimension, with their laws and limits. not one word, not one gesture, not one graph proves otherwise. all our integrations stem from our intro-extrovertive ability; a mental breathing. give, take and remake. hopes and fears form the arch of most religions and creeds; concretely or abstractly there is little more from which to build them. what of mysticism. a more enrapt self-indulging, more gaudy, the more common denominators: fortuitousness and escapism clothed in h( 1! h. m..1 (5: 5[ f..q i\ 0i am my own law, it sayeth. hope on, for you are much more than you are: much more than you will ever guess as possible. t( 6. i( f-protection, nutrition and sensation. breeding every hybrid and abortion by constant grafting, cross-breeding, agains

MACNULTY W KIRK KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY

niversity, with excursions into platonic theory and cabalism."24 in william preston and his work colin dyer offers this description of preston's personality "he was by nature impetuous. he was proud and stubborn, especially in matters involving what he considered as principle; these characteristics made him a controversial figure in the freemasonry of his times. in later years he inclined towards mysticism."25 certainly, preston was a man who marched to the beat of his own drum and worked to advance his own programs. we do know that in later editions of his lectures he cites kabbalah as one of the sources of masonic teaching. whether his mystical interests were a characteristic of his later years, or whether he had indulged them for a long time, presented them "clothed in the symbolism" of

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

distinction to the man jesus, who was viewed as an evil personality. the death of boethius in the sixth century marked the close of the ancient greek school of philosophy. the ninth century saw the rise of the new school of scholasticism, which sought to reconcile philosophy with theology. representative of the main divisions of the scholastic school were the eclecticism of john of salisbury, the mysticism of bernard of clairvaux and st. bonaventura, the rationalism of peter abelard, and the pantheistic mysticism of meister eckhart. among the arabian aristotelians were avicenna and averroes. the zenith of scholasticism was reached with the advent of albertus magnus and his illustrious disciple, st. thomas aquinas. thomism (the philosophy of st. thomas aquinas, sometimes referred to as the

octrines promulgated by the ancient philosophers, the fountainhead of those doctrines was never revealed to the profane. furthermore, in the lapse of time the teachings became so inextricably linked with the names of their disseminators that the actual but recondite source--the mysteries--came to be wholly ignored. symbolism is the language of the mysteries; in fact it is the language not only of mysticism and philosophy but of all nature, for every law and power active in universal procedure is manifested to the limited sense perceptions of man through the medium of symbol. every form existing in the diversified sphere of being is symbolic of the divine activity by which it is produced. by symbols men have ever sought to communicate to each other those thoughts which transcend the limitat

lebrated their ancient mysteries of samothracia, and whence came they and their gods cabiri (see mackey's encyclop dia of freemasonry) clement speaks of the mysteries of the cabiri as "the sacred mystery of a brother slain by his brethren" and the "cabiric death" was one of the secret symbols of antiquity. thus the allegory of the self murdered by the not-self is perpetuated through the religious mysticism of all peoples. the philosophic death and the philosophic resurrection are the lesser and the greater mysteries respectively. a curious aspect of the dying-god myth is that of the hanged man. the most important example of this peculiar conception is found in the odinic rituals where odin hangs himself for nine nights from the branches of the world tree and upon the same occasion also pie

without the assistance of chiram, the universal agent. the masonic mysteries teach the initiate how to prepare within his own soul a miraculous powder of projection by which it is possible for him to transmute the base lump of human ignorance, perversion, and discord into an ingot of spiritual and philosophic gold. sufficient similarity exists between the masonic chiram and the kundalini of hindu mysticism to warrant the assumption that chiram may be considered a symbol also of the spirit fire moving through the sixth ventricle of the spinal column. the exact science of human regeneration is the lost key of masonry, for when the spirit fire is lifted up through the thirty-three degrees, or segments of the spinal column, and enters into the domed chamber of the human skull, it finally passe

f the equinoxes causes various signs to play the r le of the murderers of the sun during the different ages of the world, but the principle involved remains unchanged. such is the cosmic story of chiram, the universal benefactor, the fiery architect: of the divine house, who carries with him to the grave that lost word which, when spoken, raises all life to power and glory. according to christian mysticism, when the lost word is found it is discovered in a stable, surrounded by beasts and marked by a star "after the sun leaves leo" writes robert hewitt brown "the days begin to grow unequivocally shorter as the sun declines toward the autumnal equinox, to be again slain by the three autumnal months, lie dead through the three winter ones, and be raised again by the three vernal ones. each y

as physical birth gives man consciousness in the physical world, so the neophyte, after nine degrees in the womb of the mysteries, was born into a consciousness of the spiritual world. this is the mystery of initiation to which christ referred when he said "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god (john iii. 3. the phoenix is a fitting symbol of this spiritual truth. european mysticism was not dead at the time the united states of america was founded. the hand of the mysteries controlled in the establishment of the new government, for the signature of the mysteries may still be seen on the great seal of the united states of america. careful analysis of the seal discloses a mass of occult and masonic symbols, chief among them the so-called american eagle--a bird which b

peculiar powers of the mandrake was founded upon an ancient secret doctrine concerning the true nature of the plant "it is slightly narcotic" says eliphas levi "and an aphrodisiacal virtue was ascribed to it by the ancients, who represented it as being sought by thessalian sorcerers for the composition of philtres. is this root the umbilical vestige of our terrestrial origin, as a certain magical mysticism has suggested? we dare not affirm it seriously, but it is true all the same that man issued from the slime of earth and his first appearance must have been in the form of a rough sketch. the analogies of nature compel us to admit the notion, at least as a possibility. the first men were, in this case, a family of gigantic, sensitive mandrogores, animated by the sun, who rooted themselves

he ministers of the demiurgus. it was affirmed by the gnostic christians that the redemption of humanity was assured through the descent of nous (universal mind, who was a great spiritual being superior to the demiurgus and who, entering into the constitution of man, conferred conscious immortality upon the demiurgic fabrications. that phallic symbolism occupies an important place in early jewish mysticism is indisputable. hargrave jennings sees in the figure of adam a type of the lingam of shiva, which was a stone representative of the creative power of the world generator "in gregorie's works" writes jennings "is a passage to the effect that 'noah daily prayed in the ark before the body of adam' i.e, before the phallus--adam being the primitive phallus, great procreator of the human race

MEANING OF MASONRY

at different times, may be found in later chapters of points already dealt with in previous ones, though the restatement may be advantageous in emphasizi ng those points and maintaining continuity of exposition. for reasons of explained in the chapter itself, that on the holy royal arch will probably prove difficult of comprehension by those unversed in the literature and psychology of religious mysticism; if so, the reading of it may be deferred or neglected. but since a survey of the masonic system would, like the system itself, be incomplete without reference to that supreme degree, and since that degree deals with matters of advanced psychological and spiritual experience about which explanation must always be difficult, the subject has been treated here with as much simplicity of sta

MOODY RAYMOND A LIFE AFTER LIFE

ts of contemporary near-death experiences. the question naturally arises, though, as to whether this parallelism is really all that surprising. some might suggest, for instance, that the authors of these various works could have influenced one another. such an assertion could be supported in some cases, but not in others. plato admits that he derived some of his insights partly from the religious mysticism of the east, so he might have been influenced by the same tradition which produced the tibetan book o f the dead. the ideas of greek philosophy, in turn, influenced certain new testament writers, and so it could be argued that paul's discussion of the spiritual body has some of its roots in plato. on the other hand, in most cases it is not easy to establish that such influence could have

MORALS AND DOGMA

ices were observed in a distinguished manner by the essenes; as would naturally be supposed, from the fact that they reverenced the sun, not as a god, but as a symbol of light and fire; the fountain of which, the orientals supposed god to be. they lived in continence and abstinence, and had establishments similar to the monasteries of the early christians. the writings of the essenes were full of mysticism, parables, enigmas, and allegories. they believed in the esoteric and exoteric meanings of the scriptures; and, as we have already said, they had a warrant for that in the scriptures themselves. they found it in the old testament, as the gnostics found it in the new. the christian writers, and even christ himself, recognized it as a truth, that all scripture had an inner and an outer mea

be ascribed; inasmuch as to do so, would immediately imply a quality, a distinction of subject and object. this supreme entity can be known only by an intellectual intuition of the spirit, transcending itself, and emancipating itself from its own limits. this mere logical tendency, by means of which men thought to arrive at the conception of such an absolute, the [greek, was united with a certain mysticism, which, by a transcendent state of feeling, communicated, as it were, to this abstraction what the mind would receive as a reality. the absorption of the spirit into that superexistence([greek: t ?p??e??a t??s?a, so as to be entirely identified with it, or such a revelation of the latter to the spirit raised above itself, was regarded as the highest end which the spiritual life could rea

l revenge, were found strangely mated and standing hand in hand within the temples of peace and concord; and the whole system was one grotesque commingling of incongruous things, of contrasts and contradictions, of shocking and fantastic extravagances, of parts repugnant to good taste, and fine conceptions overlaid and disfigured by absurdities engendered by ignorance, fanaticism, and a senseless mysticism. an empty and sterile pomp, impossible indeed to be carried out, and to which no meaning whatever was attached, with far-fetched explanations that were either so many stupid platitudes or themselves needed an interpreter; lofty titles, arbitrarily assumed, and to which the inventors had not condescended to attach any explanation that should acquit them of the folly of assuming temporal r

MOTTA MARCELO THE COMMENTARIES OF AL

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 goeth. it commands with absolute authority when it appears at all, despite consciou

17-20, 4 7-48, 61, 65; chapter iv, vv. 47,51, 60; chapter v, vv. 1, 15-18, 22-24, 59-64. see also liber vii, chapter vii, vv. 41-52; liber i, and liber 156. 46. nothing is a secret key of this law. sixty-one the jews call it; i call it eight, eighty, four hundred& eighteen. the jews call it ain, 61, not. they are aware of the key, but their awareness is unbalanced. they arrive to it only through mysticism or qabalistic metaphysics, and their spiritual experience is insufficient. it leads them to consider themselves the "chosen people, with the result that hebrew initiates often behave like spoiled children, interfering with the work of initiates higher than themselves. then, just like children, having cast breezes, they complain when they harvest storms. aiwass calls the key eight, eighty

elves the "chosen people, with the result that hebrew initiates often behave like spoiled children, interfering with the work of initiates higher than themselves. then, just like children, having cast breezes, they complain when they harvest storms. aiwass calls the key eight, eighty, four-hundred and eighteen. these three numbers give a balanced process of training which includes both magick and mysticism. as a result, the initiate acquires sufficient spiritual experience not to make the same blunders as do "asses in lion skin. 47. but they have the half: unite by thine art so that all disappear. they have half of the key. half=5+1+30+ 6=42. 4+2=6, the sun. the jews have, in common with thelemites, awareness of the sun current. this they acquired through the egyptian initiate they called

fore 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. in another

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 is a word to say about the hierophantic task. behold! there are three ordeals in one, and it may be given in three ways. the gross must pass through fire; let the fine be tried in intellect, and the lofty chosen ones in the highest. thus ye have star& star, system& system; let not one know well the other! these ordeals are general: all aspi

only that they understand a little; solve the first half of the equation, leave the second unattacked. but thou hast all in the clear light, and some, though not all, in the dark. all previous systems have been sectarian, based on a traditional cosmography both gross and incorrect. our system is based on absolute science and philosophy. we have "all in the clear light" that of reason, because our mysticism is based on an absolute scepticism. but at the time of this writing i had very little mystic experience indeed, as my record shows. the fact is that i was far, far from the grade even of master of the temple. so i could not properly understand this book; how then could i effectively promulgate it? i comprehended but dimly that it contained my word; for the grade of magus then seemed to m

igious 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 delusion. it is manless old cats, geldings, and psychopaths, who pretend to detest love, and persecute free women and free men. verbotenism has gone so far in certain slave communities that the use of wine is actually prohibited by law (this was written during the 'dry law' in america) i wish here to emphasize that the law of thelema definitely enjoins us, as a neces

entiated by geometrical structure, electrical charge, or otherwise in precisely the same way as ozone from oxygen, red from yellow phosphorus, dextrose from laevulose, and a paraffin from a benzene of identical empirical formula. indeed, every 'star' is necessarily derived from the uniform continuity of nuit, and resolvable back into her body by the proper analytical methods, as the experience of mysticism testifies. but each such complex is none the less uniquely itself; for the scheme of its construction is part of its existence, so that this peculiar scheme constitutes the essence of its individuality. it is impossible to change a shilling into two sixpences, though the value and the material may be identical; for part of the essence of the shilling is the intention to have a single coi

NAGEL CARL AMAZING SECRETS OF OCCULT POWER

secret of occult ribaldry is revealed in chapter 4. there you will see how to cause any young girl, however prudent she may be, to become maddened and inflamed with lust. secrets of the cabala< it is said that god created the world by pronouncing the tetragrammaton correctly and it is regarded as the ultimate magical word of power. the tetragrammaton is an essential part of the cabala, a form of mysticism that evolved from judaism. one tradition surrounding the cabala is that magic spells and rituals based upon its system possesses an extremely potent effect over all forms of matter. chapter 5 tells you exactly how to use the magical power of the cabala to increase your money supply. secrets of the spirit world is there a place of coming together between the living and the dead? an essent

o know which elemental force to invoke. now indulge in the sex act, but keep your mind at all times< on your magical intention. that s all there is to it. chapter 5 ancient secrets of the cabala it is said that god created the world by pronouncing the tetragrammaton correctly and it is regarded as the ultimate magical word of power. the tetragrammaton is an essential part of the cabala, a form of mysticism that evolved from judaism. it is the four letter name of god yod, he, vau, he and is normally pronounced jehovah or yahweh, and sometimes adonai. please do not try to understand it now, you will not be able to until you have mastered the middle pillar ritual revealed in this chapter. but once you are ready for it, i think you will find it to be one of the most profound and rewarding expe

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

religion and morality. one final avatar whose plans for an ideal society offer many analogies to the tenets of modern freemasonry is the famous czech pedagogue jan amos komensky. the persecutions suffered by reformers in catholic countries during the thirty years' war and the sight of the bloody collisions among races and religions had inspired in some noble souls the conception of a humanitarian mysticism for which komensky was an eloquent spokesman. he dreamed of the reconciliation of the principal christian factions. in his pansophia diatyposis (1643) and his de rerum humanarum emendatione catholica, whose first parts were published in 1666 under the titles panergesia and panaugia, he proposed the founding of a society with the purpose of spreading the ideas of tolerance and respect for

rsonal mark of every master of this brotherhood, frequently drawn atop a secondary figure representing an internal group to which the signatory belonged. for example, a hexagram "solomon's seal" the planetary sign of saturn, or the monogram of mary designated a group concerned with alchemy and hermetic studies, whereas the heart, such as the one found on playing cards, indicated a branch in which mysticism, particularly that of the kabbalah, was studied and practiced. see amberlain, le martinisme (paris: niclas, 1946, 48 and 55. 244 from the art of building to the art of thinking founding of that great scholarly association known as the royal society.12 one of the most active members of london's rosicrucian society was elias ashmole (1617-1692, known by the nickname "the english mecuriophi

arguments supporting assertions concerning efforts made by the stuarts and the jesuits through freemasonry. all of this, however, held only an episodic place in the history of the high masonic grades. what is primary and indubitable in the propagation of these grades and the constitution of the systems they embodied is their ritual and symbolic contents, which made them the vehicles of choice for mysticism and all the esoteric and hermetic doctrines that were popular during the eighteenth century. this is clearly where the new focus of the tradition occurred and the question that arises is how this harmonized with the sources of craft freemasonry. the grand lodges and modern freemasonry 261 the pope and the condemnation of freemasonry the pope was never alarmed by craft freemasonry. quite

ty around aspirations for betterment. eventually, a surprising development occurred within this presumptuous objective: excess acted as compensation for doubt. under the pretext of reforging its bonds with the order's origins, this spiritualist catholic freemasonry fabricated during the eighteenth century and beyond a veritable swarm of degrees and rites. every historical or legendary delusion of mysticism found a home therein. this movement was followed next by protestant and catholic germany and ultimately supplied a source of inspiration for romanticism. this was in turn relayed to the americas in the form of the dreams of chivalry held by caribbean colons.21 the light became the selva oscura of dante. everyone was to seek a clear view of this in order to discover the origin and goals o

NEW WORLD ORDER OR OCCULT SECRET DESTINY

nsform their nature into a god-like superman. the serpent caused the fall in the garden of eden by giving eve this very same message. man is a god in the making. and as the mystic myths of egypt, on the potter s wheel, he is being molded. when his light shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives the triple crown of godhood (manly p. hall, the lost keys of freemasonry, p. 92) european mysticism was not dead at the time the united states of america was founded. the hand of the mysteries controlled in the establishment of the new government for the signature of the mysteries may still be seen on the great seal of the united states of america. careful analysis of the seal discloses a mass of occult and masonic symbols chief among them, the so-called american eagle. the american ea

ONYX TABLET OF SET

iii 's questions, they will come to love and protect the system that awakened them. most will however go elsewhere, where life is easier and magic remains an entertainment. 1. discernment. they should know the difference between a good book (te velde) and a book read for inspiration (lovecraft. this ends super-subjectivity, or as my friend and teacher james lewis is fond of rightly condemning as "mysticism" 2. intellectual commitment. the initiate must view initiation as a lifetime pursuit. in the time of our ancestors' ancestors we had schools that were deeply connected with the culture, both on a linguistic and material culture basis, that taught sovereignty. some of these were closed to certain bloodlines, others like plato's academy were open to persons of merit. we do not exist in a s

PRELUDE TO THE BLACK ARTS

r limiting factor taught by certain establishment religions to keep people like you in check. they want to control you through fear and deceit in order to prevent you from acting on your own behalf in defense of your honor as they fear those with magickal abilities more than anything. that is because their discretions are many, and they have no abilities, whatsoever. this totally ludicrous bit of mysticism has invaded most magical circles, and that is why seldom does their magic succeed. the "white magicians" fear that their efforts will come back on them, and their confidence is impaired. bunk. real black magicians fear not the words of the mystics, nor do they give a fig for karma as they create their own realities day by day. then as they grow in stature (power) they create their own he

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

this golden dawn that itself provided a new dawn for "occultism" in the early 20th century. in the early 1900s, the original order began to fragment. first crowley published many of the g.d. rituals in the equinox and left to form his own order, the a.a, in 1905. the original isis-urania temple expelled mathers, and then- as the stella matutina- under the direction of waite, put more emphasis on mysticism than had the original g.d. later dion fortune broke off from this temple to form her own inner light group. it was as a member of the stella matutina that israel regardie first published a nearly complete set of the rituals and teachings in 1937-40 as the first edition of this present work. later he sold the copyrights for this and most of his other books at that time to the aries press

dy with magickal practitioners scattered around the country. presently he is involved in generating grimoires for egyptian and thelemic magicks. as a poet and storyteller, he attends festivals and gatherings to share his art. george wilson, 39, b.a. philosophy, b.s. nursing. professionally was an rn with a psychiatric specialty. recently retired to devote full time to occult studies. a student of mysticism for 20 years "kabbalah led to g.d. obtained the golden dawn in 1970 and this was the focus of occult interests from that time on" currently engaged in projects focusing on color scales, the outer order rituals, and the generation of magic squares. ma dhyan anupassana, aka suzan wilson, born august 26, 1954, sannyasin of bhagwan shree rajneesh, has studied eastern religion at san diego st

no reference to the golden dawn or l.v.x. per se, he has dealt a death knell to a classical physics model of psychological theory while a quantum mechanics model has been astoundingly and secretly kerneled within the profound symbology and initiatory technique of the golden dawn system for countless years! to quote wolf "it is my dream that quantum physics will bridge the gap between science and mysticism. as such it must lead thinkers and researchers to a new view of human behavior. b.f. skinner was not so wrong in attempting to deal with behavior scientifically, but he was the newton of behaviorists. we now search for the einstein and the bohr of human behavior to develop the quantum model of human beings" l.v.x. is generated in a number of ways and these are through ceremonial magic, t

nd even of greater eminence. they receivgd indged and havi handed down to;s their doc16 the golden dawn trine and system of theosophy and hermetic science and the higher alchemy from a long series of practised investigators whose origin is traced to the fratres roseae crucis of germany, which association was founded by one christian rosenkreutz about the year 1398 a. d "the rosicrucian revival of mysticism was but a new development of the vastly older wisdom of the qabalistic rabbis and of that very ancient secret knowledge, the magic of the egyptians, in which the hebrew pentateuch tells you that moses the founder of the jewish system was learned, that is, in which he had been initiated" in a slender but highly informative booklet entitled data of the history of <17> the rosicrucians publ

atement. properly performed, with initiated technique and insight, these rituals are stately ceremonies of great inspiration and enlightenment. the apparent complexity of the above delineated scheme may be thought by some individuals to be entirely too complicated for modern man and not sufficiently simple in nature. while one can deeply sympathise with the ideas of the extreme simplicity cult in mysticism, nevertheless it is evident that the complex and arduous nature of the routine is no fault of magic. man himself is responsible for this awkward situation. to be purified was considered by the alchemists and the theurgists of a bygone day as not nearly enough. that purification and consecration was required to be repeated and repeated, again and again. because of countless centuries of e

inevitable. theirs, however, will be the fault. for the formulae of magic require intensive study prior to experimental work. and since all the important formulae are given in their entirety, and nothing withheld that is of the least value, there should be no excuse for anybody harming himself. no serious hurt should come to anyone. on the contrary, the gain to those serious students of magic and mysticism who have initiative and yet refuse to involve themselves with corrupt occult orders, and it is to these that i fain would speak, should be immeasurable. you are being given a complete system of attainment. this you must study and develop at your own leisure, appyling it in your own particular way. the system is complete and effectual, as well as noble. the grade rituals as i shall reprod

his era. in 3 enoch (the hebrew enoch, we have that matrix where gnostic cosomo ony fused with jewish enochian and throne and chariot m sticism. here metatron serve2 the great god of the jews, as "little i.a.o."d id the nost tic transcendant e i ta no.th er title of metatron (whose secret name was michael, was johoel, or yah-god, also called "little jaho. for this see jewish gnosticism, merkabah mysticism and talmudic tradition by gershom g. scholem, as well as lan age and gnosis by j. michael la far e and es ecially the eye-opening the lion becomes man, g e nostic leonfomurphic creator& k o w a r 8 j.a ckson. h.s <152> z. 2 the formulae of the magic of light an introduction to the practical working of the z. 2 formulae by g. h. frater s. r m. d. in the ritual of the enterer are shadowed

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART I

firmed by tetradic creation. human fecundity proves divine fecundity; the jod of the divine name is the eternal virility of the first principle. man understands that he was made in the image of god when he attains comprehension of god by increasing to infinity the idea which he forms of himself. when realizing god as the infinite man, man says unto himself: i am the finite god. magic differs from mysticism because it judges nothing a priori until after it has established a posteriori the actual base of its judgements, that is to say, after having apprehended the cause by the effects contained in the energy of the cause itself, by means of the universal law of analogy. hence in the occult sciences all is real, and theories are established only on the foundations of experience. realities alo

s at st. heleua because he admired the poems of ossian; louis philippe abdicated the throne as he did because he carried an umbrella. these are paradoxes for the vulgar, who cannot grasp the occult relations of things, but they are causes for the adept, who understands all and is sur44 the doctrine of transcendental magic prised at nothing. initiation is a preservative against the false lights of mysticism; it equips human reason with its relative value and proportional infallibility, connecting it with supreme reason by the chain of analogies. hence the initiate knows no doubtful hopes, no absurd fears, because he has no irrational beliefs; he is acquainted with the extent of his power, and he can be bold without danger. for him, therefore, to dare is to be able. here, then, is a new inte

dreamed that, being in somnambulism, i arose, went softly downstairs, took the gosling from the spit, and ate it. thereupon they also went down, but the gosling had vanished altogether. judas had a waking dream. this anecdote is given, not in the text of the sepher-toldos-jeshu itself, but in the rabbinical commentaries on that work. the legend is a protest of jewish positivism against christian mysticism. as a fact, while the faithful surrendered themselves to magnificent dreams, the proscribed israelite, judas of the christian civilization, worked, sold, intrigued, became rich, possessed himself of this life's realities, till he became in a position to advance the means of existence to those very forms of worship which had so long outlawed him. the ancient worshippers of the ark remaine

users. gaufridi confessed that he was guilty of depriving a number of women of the power to defend themselves against his seductions by simply breathing in their nostrils. a young and beautiful girl, of noble family, who had been thus insufflated, described in the greatest detail scenes wherein lubricity seemed to vie with the monstrous and grotesque. such are the ordinary hallucinations of false mysticism and infringed celibacy. gaufridi and his mistress were obsessed by their mutual chimeras, and the brain of the one reflected the nightmares of the other. was not the marquis de sade himself infectious for certain depleted and diseased natures? the scandalous trial of father girard is a fresh proof of the deliriums of mysticism and the singular nervous affections which it may entail. the

th. harmony consists in equilibrium, and equilibrium subsists by the analogy of contraries. absolute unity is the supreme and final reason of things. now, this reason can be neither one person nor three persons: it is a reason, and reason at the highest. to create equilibrium we must separate and unite separate by the poles, unite by the centre. to reason upon faith is to destroy faith; to create mysticism in philosophy is to assail reason. reason and faith, by their nature, mutually exclude one another, but they unite by analogy. analogy is the sole possible mediator between finite and infinite. dogma is the ever-ascending hypothesis of a presumable equation. for the ignorant, it is the hypothesis which is the absolute affirmation, and the absolute affirmation which is hypothesis. hypothe

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART II

complete manner, which might be capa66 the ritual of transcendental magic ble of another interpretation. but the most curious things which we have found on this subject are indicated by the mystical figures and magical legends in a book of henry khunrath, entitled amphitheatrum sapientae aeternae. khunrath represents and resumes the most learned gnostic schools, and connects in symbology with the mysticism of synesius. he affects christianity in expressions and in signs, but it is easy to see that his christ is the abraxas, the luminous pentagram radiating on the astronomical cross, the incarnation in humanity of the sovereign sun celebrated by the emperor julian; it is the luminous and living manifestation of that ruach- elohim which, according to moses, brooded and worked upon the bosom

tural mandragore is a filamentous root which presents more or less as a whole either the figure of a man, or that of the virile members. it is slightly narcotic and an aphrodisiacal virtue was ascribed to it by the ancients, who represented it as being sought by thessalian sorcerers for the composition of philtres. is this root the umbilical vestige of our terrestrial origin, as a certain magical mysticism has suggested? we dare not affirm it seriously, but it is true all the same that man issued from the slime of earth and his first appearance must have been in the form of a rough sketch. the analogies of nature compel us to admit the notion, at least as a possibility. the first men were, in this case, a family of gigantic, sensitive mandragores, animated by the sun, who rooted themselves

ion and forgiveness. later on secret vanity whispers to her how grand it would be to fix the affections of a lovelace, to love him and yet to withstand him. behold, then, clarissa surprised into loving lovelace! she chides herself, blushes, renounces a thousand times and loves him a thousand more. then, at the supreme moment, she forgets to resist him. had angels been women, represented by modern mysticism, jehovah indeed would have acted as a wise and prudent father by placing satan at the gate of heaven. it is a serious imposition on the self-love of some amiable women to find that man fundamentally good and honourable who philtres and magnetism 109 enamoured them when they thought him a scapegrace. the angel leaves him disdainfully, saying: gyou are not the devil! h play the devil as we

of st. theresa and st. angela de foligny? the last applied a red-hot iron to her rebellious flesh, and found that the material fire was cooling to her hidden ardours. with what violence does nature cry out for that which is denied her, but is brooded over continually to increase detestation thereof! the pretended bewitchments of magdalen bavan, of mlles. de la palud and de la cadiere, began with mysticism. the excessive fear of a given thing makes it almost invariably inevitable. to describe the two curves of a circle is to meet at the same point. nicholas remigious, criminal judge of lorraine, who burnt alive eight hundred women as sorcerers, beheld magic everywhere: it was his fixed idea, his mania. he was eager to preach a crusade against sorcerers, with whom europe, in his opinion, wa

is absolute light. the man of our time is immutable in himself; he changes no more than nature, in which he is rooted. the social conditions which surround him alone determine the degree of his perfection, of which the bounds are virtue, holiness of man and his happiness in the law. g after such elucidations, will anyone ask the utility of the occult sciences? will they treat with the disdain of mysticism and illuminism these living mathematics, 146 the ritual of transcendental magic these proportions of ideas and forms, this revelation permanent in the universal reason, this emancipation of mind, this immutable basis provided for faith, this omnipotence revealed to will? children in search of illusions, are you disappointed because we offer you marvels? once a man said to us, graise up t

ntial justice of which lies outside his knowledge, though its applications and results are demonstrated adequately to his mind. so does the true philosopher believe in that which is and does not admit a posteriori that all is reasonable. but no more charlatanism in philosophy, no more empiricism, no more system! the study of being and its compared realities! a metaphysic of nature! then away with mysticism! no more dreams in philosophy; philosophy is not poesy but pure mathematics of realities, physical and moral. leave unto religion the freedom of its infinite aspirations, and let it leave in turn to science the exact conclusions of absolute experimentalism. man is the son of his works; he is what he wills to be; he is the image of the god 148 the ritual of transcendental magic he makes;

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

lace or creature but is supposed to have other animals, greater or lesser, living in, or upon it, as inhabitants [there is] no such thing as pure wilderness in the whole universe. this passage is part of kirk's main argument of interconnecting and interacting entities: today we would say that he regards the universe as a holism. indeed, the concept is one well established at two extremes, that of mysticism and that of the most recent developments in modern science. this holistic world-view is repeated elsewhere (page 26, and kirk affirms at one point that it was one of the beliefs taught among the seers themselves. if we grant that kirk is reporting accurately. then he is not making a philosophical thesis of his own, but reporting the remnants of an esoteric or mystical tradition, preserve

n humanity. kirk asserts elsewhere that though the subterranean people can see us, we cannot easily see them (pages 47-48. conversation or direct contact with your co-walker is one of the chthonic magical techniques, found in underworld or shamanistic initiation worldwide. it has its mirror or reflex in the technique of conversation with the holy guardian angel, found in kabbalistic and christian mysticism, and featured in esoteric ritual and contemplative training. page 24. these subterraneans eat but little in their dwellings, their food being exactly clean, and served up by pleasant children like enchanted puppets. what food they extract from us is conveyed to their homes by secret paths. the subtle nature of the fairies and their means of nourishment are further discussed, combined wit

RUBY TABLET OF SET

selfteaching through examination and refutation of imperfect concepts] plato was an elitist, but his elitism was directed towards an ideal, happy, and harmonious society, which he felt could best be attained by enlightened stratification of roles. his prescription was thus benevolent aristocracy. critics of plato erroneously attack him as a totalitarian oligarch. they are also bewildered by the "mysticism" which permeates his writings. such "mysticism" is intelligible to those familiar with egyptian and pythagorean concepts. in the laws plato argues that the wise man must be subjected to laws which are not as competent as he is in order that unwise men will continue to trust him, because otherwise they cannot understand him. virtue in the laws is the proper posture towards pleasure and pa

c plato identified four levels of thought. the highest of these, noesis, was an intuitive recognition of truth. this enlightened intuition was brought about through the development of the psyche. it is an important factor in the setian concept of initiation.(1) various writers have described noesis as a mystical faculty. some infer from this that setian philosophy itself is based on an irrational mysticism. this questionable conclusion is based an assumption, namely, that noesis is mystical. the purpose of this article is to present an explanation of noesis that may clarify its relation to conventional reasoning (dianoia. it is first necessary to consider the pythagorean basis of platonic thought. pythagoras is a figure upon whom philosophy departments lavish little attention. the excellen

verbal reasoning. natural language is a refinement of the social chatter of apes and a vehicle for the expression of reason, not reason itself. if you bind reason to natural language, you debase reason. consider rubik's cube. few humans could deliver a coherent description, in their native tongue, of a general solution to the puzzle. is the cube mystical, merely because ineffability is typical of mysticism? no! zeno's paradox("why the arrow can never reach it's target) is not refuted by any aristotelian manipulation of natural language. only in calculus. an artificial language focussed on immeasurable quantities) and temporal processes. do we find a tool capable of explaining observed fact. these examples illustrate the point: natural language is a tool for the realm in which it evolved, n

rerequisites demanded of students by pythagoras and plato, and those of mystics hostile to intellect. music theory, geometry and astronomy are hardly needed for the abandonment of reason! we never find such things required by shamans, gurus, meditation instructors, priests, or other teachers of the right-hand path. on this basis alone, we ought to reject the identification of platonic noesis with mysticism. moreover, these prerequisites share a common feature: each has evolved notation and formalism. an artificial language. that is not mere jargon, but is distinct from natural language in its structure and use. noetic insight results when the mind has been trained to think in non-natural categories. those who do not experience this type of insight naturally express skepticism. some say tha

raphs cited above are all footnoted to original greek sources. the chimaera: so plato used mathematics as a "place to stand" in an effort to make the universe intelligible by reason alone. and platonists tend to emphasize this, shielding plato from the despised title of "mystic" see here: he indicates page #xv in the collected dialogues [huntington cairns] but the difference between plato and the mysticism that has attached itself to his philosophy is essential. plato's aim is to take the reader by steps, with as severe a logic as the conversational method permits, to an insight into the ultimate necessity of reason. and he never hesitates to submit his own ideas to the harshest critical scrutiny; he carried this procedure so far in the parmenides that some commentators have held that his

adiction of god as not "the intervening presence "the main doctrine of the prophets can be called 'pathetic theology. their attitude toward what they knew about god can be described as [a] religion of sympathy. the divine pathos, or as it was later called, the middot, stood in the center of their consciousness. the life of the prophet revolved around the life of god. this is the pattern of jewish mysticism: to have an open heart for the inner life of god. it is based on two assumptions: that there is an inner life in god, and that the existence of man ought to revolve in a spiritual dynamic course around the life of god" once again the preoccupation is with pleasing the deity. one can find examples of similar material in some of the ancient dialogues, quoted in modern reprints of the greek

id come about or the worse fate of a mutual fading of both societies as one eventually died out leaving the other without the source of service and goods it had depended on. in such a soil conditions were right for a gardener to tend the flowers in need of care. gandhi was that one who arose to tend of the garden "mine" he said "is a life full of joy in the midst of incessant work" his mastery of mysticism was evident is a calm, self-aware way: he was, he said, fascinated by the law of love and described it as his philosopher's stone. he remarked in xvii a.h. that had he no sense of humor he would have committed suicide, a statement which displayed an understanding of the law of sorrow. his comprehension can be seen further in this quote "the purpose of life is undoubtedly to know oneself

sk myself, if death is the final end what use is knowledge? the singer was right. better enjoy life without care. in which case temple and wisdom are absurdities, funeral rites are absurdities. yes, that's what i've thought. but i also told myself it would be another absurdity to reach this conclusion without proofs "do you yourself believe, her-bak, that death is a final end" asked the master of mysticism "my heart refuses it. but i must find the 'question' i'm to put without asking what i believe" the masters received this with satisfaction, and her-bak resumed "the funeral rites affected me through my love for nadjar. i understood what separation means. before death he was like ourselves. he breathed the same air, saw the same things. now his eyes see nothing, his nostrils breathe nothi

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

g over him and drowning him while he, almost piteously, waved a feeble arm. she was unable to guess what traumatic events might have given rise to such behaviour, and, feeling a little alarmed, telephoned her mother. alicja arrived to inspect the sleeping gibreel, pursed her lips, and pronounced "he's a man possessed" she had receded more and more into a kind of singer brothers dybbukery, and her mysticism never failed to exasperate her pragmatic, mountain- climbing daughter "use maybe a suction pump on his ear" alicja recommended "that's the exit these creatures prefer" allie shepherded her mother out of the door "thanks a lot" she said "i'll let you know" on the seventh day he came wide awake, eyes popping open like a doll's, and instantly reached for her. the crudity of the approach mad

finite, firm "not a chance. this is gibreel farishta, the actor, don't you recognize? poor guy's just playing out some movie scene" mishal won't let it go "but, hanif- and he becomes emphatic. speaking gently, because she has just been orphaned, after all, he absolutely insists "what has happened here in brickhall tonight is a socio--political phenomenon. let's not fall into the trap of some damn mysticism. we're talking about history: an event in the history of britain. about the process of change" at once gibreel's voice changes, and his subject--matter also. he mentions _pilgrims, and a _dead baby, and _like in "the ten commandments, and a _decaying mansion, and a _tree; because in the aftermath of the purifying fire he is dreaming, for the very last time, one of his serial dreams- and

SAPPHIRE TABLE OF SET MAIN

rts of magic, the concept of the master has been most precisely formulated to date by aleister crowley. let me cite the key descriptive passages concerning a master of the temple (8=[3] of the a:.a. from magick in theory and practice "the essential attainment is the perfect annihilation of that personality which limits and oppresses his true self. the magister templi is preeminently the master of mysticism, that is, his understanding is entirely free from internal contradiction or external obscurity; his work is to comprehend the existing universe in accordance with his own mind" when discussing the grade below (8=[3, that of adeptus exemptus (7=[4, crowley states "he will have attained all but the supreme summits of meditation, and should be already prepared to perceive that the only poss

SAPPHIRE TABLET OF SET

rts of magic, the concept of the master has been most precisely formulated to date by aleister crowley. let me cite the key descriptive passages concerning a master of the temple (8=[3] of the a:.a. from magick in theory and practice "the essential attainment is the perfect annihilation of that personality which limits and oppresses his true self. the magister templi is preeminently the master of mysticism, that is, his understanding is entirely free from internal contradiction or external obscurity; his work is to comprehend the existing universe in accordance with his own mind" when discussing the grade below (8=[3, that of adeptus exemptus (7=[4, crowley states "he will have attained all but the supreme summits of meditation, and should be already prepared to perceive that the only poss

SATANGEL

ith cupid upon her own lap. such continued to provide models for the renaissance artists of the 12th-15th century. a more eastern influence may also be recognised in the peacock angels of fra. fillipo lippi. although the power of the church extended its control of the arts, as the governments do with the media in modern times, painters such as leornado da vinci explored philosophies of heresy and mysticism, sciences liberal and otherwise. to keen and unconditioned eyes there are numerous signs of profound magical humour in their works, hidden in plain view. the archangels named in the bible (gabriel, michael, raphael) were mentioned in the seventh century onwards in the litany of the saints, although it was only as late as the last century that benedict xv made the feast of the last two ob

SATANIC BIBLE

ll a future which has lost any meaning, attending seminars guaranteed to flatten his ego- while doing the same to his wallet- and in general making a blithering fool of himself in the eyes of those who know! the true magus knows that occult bookshelves abound with the brittle relics of frightened minds and sterile bodies, metaphysical journals of self-deceit, and constipated rule-books of eastern mysticism. far too long has the subject of satanic magic and philosophy been written down by wild-eyed journalists of the right-hand path. the old literature is the by-product of brains festering with fear and defeat, written unknowingly for the assistance of those who really rule the earth, and who, from their hellish thrones, laugh with noisome mirth. the flames of hell burn brighter for the kin

s is no longer the outrageous spectacle to the dilettante or renegade priest that it once was. if the satanist wishes to create a ritual to blaspheme an accepted institution, for the purpose of psychodrama, he is careful to choose one that is not in vogue to parody. thus, he is truly stepping on a sacred cow. a black mass, today, would consist of the blaspheming of such "sacred" topics as eastern mysticism, psychiatry, the psychedelic movement, ultra-liberalism, etc. patriotism would be championed, drugs and their gurus would be defiled, acultural militants would be deified, and the decadence of ecclesiastical theologies might even be given a satanic boost. the satanic magus has always been the catalyst for the dichotomy necessary in molding popular beliefs, and in this case a ceremony in

ly enshrouds the practice of the black arts has been fostered, deliberately or out of ignorance, by those who often claim the highest expertise in such matters. if the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, then established occultists would do well as maze-makers. the basic principles of ceremonial magic have been relegated for so long to infinitely classified bits of scholastic mysticism, that the would-be wizard becomes the victim of the very art of misdirection which he, himself, should be employing! an analogy may be drawn of the student of applied psychology who, though knowing all of the answers, cannot make friends. what good is a study of falsehoods, unless everyone believes in falsehoods? many, of course, do believe in falsehoods, but still act according to natur

SATANICON

tuals of satanic proper. 29 the pact of satan. 30 the ritual of antichrist..33 -vi- preface to the original edition as we approach the dawning of the millennium, we will continue to see the rapid decay of the judeo-xian religion. persons of pride and intelligence will turn away from god and its church. enlightenment, selfishness and realism will take precedence over the moralities of altruism and mysticism. xians and their houses of shame will finally be realized and relegated to the gutters! hence, diabolism will be recognized as the religion, par excellence! the satanicon: a treatise of man s dark nature is a system of evilution; a collection of philosophical and psychological devices of darkness. through its doctrines of lucifarian wisdom and black art, the creator and the barbarian wil

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

use of logical systems. it also says that humans may not be able to control natural events, but that they can control the way they react to them. stupas: originally a mound marking the spot where the buddha s ashes were buried. rock pillars carved with the words of the buddha are also sometimes called stupas. sufism: a trend in or way of practicing islam; characterized by an ecstatic, trancelike mysticism. sunnah: the example of the prophet muhammad, containing the hadiths, or sayings; provides guidance to everyday questions of faith and morality. sunni: the main sect of islam. supernatural: that which is beyond the observable world, including things relating to god or spirits. supreme being: the central god responsible for creating the cosmos. sura: any chapter in the qur an. susano-o: t

jection of society and its influences. daoism is about finding individual balance apart from the world, while confucianism teaches that such balance is found only in society, by following the rules and rituals of society. thus, the two systems are themselves representative of the idea of yin and yang. daoist thought also has its social aspects, however, while confucianism, with its regard for the mysticism of the yijing, also has some occult features. in some respects, then, each religion borrowed from the other. daoist terms were used to interpret buddhist principles, especially those regarding meditation. for example, after achieving enlightenment, the buddha was described as having reached the dao. also, the buddhist idea of nirvana (the end of suffering) was equated with wu wei. daoism

ding feng shui and taijichuan, have found a welcome home in the west, and the daoist respect for nature has found its way into western environmental movements. the concept of dao has been adopted for use in book titles, from business management guides to cookbooks to the interpretation of quantum physics, as in the tao of physics: an exploration of the parallels between modern physics and eastern mysticism, by fritjof capra. all these influences of daoism indicate how strong the concept of the religion is in the world. for more information books bodenkamp, stephen r. daoism: an overview. in encyclopedia of religion, 2nd ed. edited by lindsay jones. detroit, mi: macmillan reference usa, 2005, pp. 2176 2192. clayre, alasdair. the heart of the dragon. boston, ma: houghton mifflin, 1984. hartz

of faith. it consists of the words ashahadu an la ilaha ill allah wa ashahadu ann muhammadar rasulullah, or i declare there is no god except god, and i declare that muhammad is the messenger of god. shari ah: islamic law. shiite: one of the main sects of islam; from the phrase shi at ali, or the party of ali. sufism: a trend in or way of practicing islam; characterized by an ecstatic, trancelike mysticism. sunnah: the example of the prophet muhammad, containing the hadiths, or sayings; provides guidance to everyday questions of faith and morality. sunni: one of the main sects of islam. sura: any chapter in the qur an. tawba: repentance. zakat: annual charitable giving. world religions: almanac 293 islam muhammad made a startling announcement to his followers. he told them that the archang

religion and philosophy. in the middle of his life, al-ghaza l gave up his academic career and spent years of deep thought on religion. he joined the sufi sect of islam, the mystical branch that emphasizes a direct connection with god through prayer and self-denial. al-ghaza l wrote more than four hundred works, including ihya ulum ad-din (the revival of the religious sciences, which brought the mysticism of sufism into the mainstream of islam. known as algazel in the west, al-ghaza l and his writings have influenced not only islamic thinkers but christian ones as well. period of learning al-ghaza l was born in 1058 ce in the small village of tus, near the town of masshad in persia (modern-day iran. he may have been named after his father s business, as ghazzali means wool merchant. his f

muslims. birth and early life jala l was born on or about september 30, 1207, in the town of balkh, a section of the ghurid empire which later became part of afghanistan. jala l ad-d n ar-ru m institute of islamic culture. reproduced by permission. 179 his father, baha ad-din walad, was a highly respected teacher, author, and theologian, or religious expert, whose work had strong mystical themes( mysticism has many meanings and is often associated with magic. in a religious sense, it generally refers to the notion of direct, mysterious communication with god) early in the thirteenth century, forces from mongolia were invading central asia. baha ad-din recognized the threat they posed, so in about 1218 he left balkh with his family and moved to persia. legend says that in the town of nishap

occasions, such as when he was taking a bath or just walking down a road. he was always accompanied by husan ad-din, who wrote the verses down. jala l probably completed the work sometime around 1270. in the meantime he had become a respected member of konya society. many students, teachers, and even christian priests visited him, both to pay their respects and to learn what they could about sufi mysticism. jala l died on december 17, 1273. he was so well known and respected that representatives of all the religions in the city attended his funeral. rumi is buried in a mausoleum (a building that contains burial sites) called the green dome in konya. the mausoleum is also a museum and is visited by thousands of people each year. jala l s son, walad, organized jala l s followers into the maw

speak as he thinks, to invoke god after his own manner. moses mendelssohn, an eighteenth-century german philosopher, is often referred to as the father of the jewish enlightenment. a philosopher is someone who searches to understand values and reality. he was the author of a large number of literary and philosophical works. mendelssohn called for reliance on reason rather than on blind faith and mysticism (direct, mysterious communication with god) when seeking religious truth. he also played a major role in unifying jewish and secular (nonreligious) culture at a time when many european jews desired education but were excluded from public and professional life. in german literature, he is remembered as the model for the noble title character in gotthold lessing s (1729 1781) nathan the wi

SEPHER HA BAHIR

ns his heart from worldly affairs and delves in the works of the chariot* is accepted before god as if he prayed all day. it is therefore called a prayer. what is the meaning of for errors? as it is written [regarding wisdom (proverbs 5:19, with its love you shall always err. regarding what is this speaking? the works of the chariot, as it is written (habbakuk 3:2* i.e maaseh merkavah or merkavah mysticism which kaplan says was synonymous with the qabalah at the time the bahir was first composed. the bahir 18 o god, i heard a report of you and i feared. 69. what is the meaning of, i heard a report of you and i feared [o god, bring to life your works in the midst of the years? why does the verse say i feared after i heard a report of you, and not after in the midst of the years? but it was

SEVEN SCROLLS CHILDREN OF THE BLACK ROSE

ture. they will also prosper and live in harmony with one another in a land of plenty. you see, there is more to all this than meets the eye, and the ignorant man is much less than his ancestors who once had the gnosis because he has forgotten many of the great truths and principles apportioned to the race of men when its days were short. yes, man has been deceived and cheated by the purveyors of mysticism and deceit. today, ignorant man lives in the realm of choices and confusion, but instead of choosing to seek the power of the force for himself, he has instead traveled the hot, dusty road that ends in failure, deceit and submission to mysticism. he has let the profane mystics talk him out of his inheritance. because of this, ignorant man has been mistakenly battling against something wi

e are involved in that age-old spiritual war with those who would enslave us, and we aim to win that war. the war of which we speak is that ancient and fierce battle between the children of the black rose and the opposition- those who carry the cross of submission and failure upon their backs and would have us share their load. we are spiritual warriors who fight off the darkness of ignorance and mysticism and refuse to submit to alien concepts which are against our nature. we are conservative in nature and take responsibility for our own actions. we play fair and help others to do the same. we discourage submission and ignorance and try to raise the interest of our fellow men and women to greater heights. when we can fend off imbalance, we do so. we remain secure in the grand knowledge th

sonality, and is interacting with you. this is as it should be, for it is joining you to your greater self as quickly as you will allow it, forming you into a whole, well, person who is rapidly learning who and what you are. the opposition fears this manifestation of the force whom we call lucifer as once we perceive it we are totally lost to them as we have the knowing and have no need for their mysticism and deceit. actually, it is all very simple. you called attention to yourself, and the force answered. it works like that. the importance of balance the force is balancing your physical self with your greater self, and soon, there will be one of you instead of many of you. no longer will you be out of focus, one image here and another there. no longer will a war of forces rage in the sam

SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON ZANONI A ROSICRUCIAN TALE

ledge, you sought initiation into the mysterious order of martines de pasqualis (it is so recorded of cazotte. of martines de pasqualis little is known; even the country to which he belonged is matter of conjecture. equally so the rites, ceremonies, and nature of the cabalistic order he established. st. martin was a disciple of the school, and that, at least, is in its favour; for in spite of his mysticism, no man more beneficent, generous, pure, and virtuous than st. martin adorned the last century. above all, no man more distinguished himself from the herd of sceptical philosophers by the gallantry and fervour with which he combated materialism, and vindicated the necessity of faith amidst a chaos of unbelief. it may also be observed, that cazotte, whatever else he learned of the brother

ave lived to an age far exceeding the allotted boundaries of mortal existence, and to have preserved to the last the appearance of middle life. he had died at length, it was supposed, of grief for the sudden death of a greatgrandchild, the only creature he had ever appeared to love. the works of this philosopher, though rare, were extant, and found in the library of glyndon's home. their platonic mysticism, their bold assertions, the high promises that might be detected through their figurative and typical phraseology, had early made a deep impression on the young imagination of clarence glyndon. his parents, not alive to the consequences of encouraging fancies which the very enlightenment of the age appeared to them sufficient to prevent or dispel, were fond, in the long winter nights, of

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

ean the redemption of the whole people. there was no question of an individual initiate being saved; salvation must be brought to the entire people. it belongs to the basic idea of jewish religion that one dies on behalf of all. the existence of mysteries within judaism, which could be brought out of the obscurity of secret rites into the religion of the people, is also certain. a fully developed mysticism existed in pharisaism, alongside the priestly wisdom that had there become outer formalism. a mystery- wisdom is described here, just as it is elsewhere.103 it is said that an initiate discoursed on wisdom, and his hearers realized the hidden sense of his words. they cried: old man, what have you done? would that you had been silent! you think that you can sail the boundless ocean withou

to be rediscovered. it had to be possible to find it again in jesus. the essence of christianity 151 the mystai had been concerned with levels of divinity within themselves, and with the personality known to the earthly senses. the christian was concerned with this, but also with an exalted god, perfect beyond anything attainable by human beings. if we can grasp this, we will see how a christian mysticism the attitude of the soul when it finds a higher spiritual nature within itself is possible only when the inner eye is opened to the light that streams from the christ in the person of jesus. union of the soul with its own inner energy is simultaneously union with the historical christ. mysticism is the unmediated feeling or perception of god within one s own soul. yet a god who transcend

the light that streams from the christ in the person of jesus. union of the soul with its own inner energy is simultaneously union with the historical christ. mysticism is the unmediated feeling or perception of god within one s own soul. yet a god who transcends utterly everything merely human cannot in the strict sense of the word be said to indwell the human soul. gnosticism and the christian mysticism which succeeded it represent an effort to participate somehow in that divinity with one s soul, without any intermediary. conflict here was inevitable. for in reality it was possible to find only one s own divine nature and that is of course the divine at a certain stage of development, while the god of the christians is a being complete and perfect in himself. it was possible to find th

k to the historical christ as the physical eye looks to the sun. the physical eye tells us that what it can see, it sees by the light of the sun, and the christian initiate tells us that one ascends in one s own inner nature to the vision of god, but the light by which one sees is the light of christmade- manifest. it is through him that the mystic ascends to the highest point within. so does the mysticism of medieval christianity differ from the experiences of the mystai in the ancient mysteries.169 chapter 11 christian and pagan wisdom philo judaeus: the mystery of the logos at the time of christian origins we also find the development within the ancient pagan culture of certain world conceptions that constitute a continuation of platonic thought, but which also have roots in a mysterios

ollowers of jesus proclaimed: that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched this we announce concerning the word of life.180 a neoplatonic paraphrase might be: that which was from the beginning, which cannot be perceived with the eyes or ears this is what must be grasped spiritually as the word of life. mysticism and fact the development of ancient thought thus comes to a head with a sharp polarization. in neoplatonism and world-views belonging to the same family, we come to an idea of christ that is purely spiritual. elsewhere, we find the identification of this idea of christ with a historical figure in whom it is manifested, namely jesus. but one might say that the author of the gospel of john

ad been prefigured in the mysteries. the cross on golgotha is the mystery-cult of antiquity epitomized in a historical fact. encountered first in the ancient cosmologies, the cross reappears in the context of a unique historical event, accessible to all humanity. there it forms the point of departure for christianity. understood in this way, christianity has its mystical aspect. as simultaneously mysticism and fact, christianity is a breakthrough in the historical development of humanity for which the processes of the mysteries, with the results that they brought about, form a prior evolutionary stage. chapter 12 augustine and the church the violence of the struggle played out in the souls of those who wrenched themselves free from paganism and made the transition to the new religion of ch

it was meant to show how christianity came into being, from the standpoint of a mystical awareness. behind this lay the idea that spiritual happenings were factors in its emergence, which could only be observed from such a point of view. it is for the book itself to demonstrate that by mystical i intend nothing in the way of vague intuition rather than strict scientific argument. in many circles mysticism is understood to be just that, and therefore to be distinguished from the concerns of all genuine science. but in this book i use the term to mean a presentation of spiritual reality a reality only accessible to a knowledge drawn from the sources of spiritual life itself. anyone who denies the possibility of such knowledge in principle will find its contents hard to relate to; a reader w

erstood to be just that, and therefore to be distinguished from the concerns of all genuine science. but in this book i use the term to mean a presentation of spiritual reality a reality only accessible to a knowledge drawn from the sources of spiritual life itself. anyone who denies the possibility of such knowledge in principle will find its contents hard to relate to; a reader who accepts that mysticism may coexist with the clarity of the natural sciences, however, may admit that the mystical aspect of christianity has to be mystically described. the point of the book was thus not only its subject-matter, but even more the kind of approach to knowledge on appendix 177 which it was based. hostility toward such an approach, on the grounds that it is inimical to the scientific spirit, is w

TEXE MARRS CODEX MAGICA SECRET SIGNS MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS AND HIDDEN CODES OF THE ILLUMINATI

is a common sign of recognition among illuminati. 418 codex magica twenty-one magical signs of the jewish cabala the six-pointed star, babylonian witchcraft, and the hollywood perdition of jerry seinfeld and associates he said furthermore unto me, son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of israel committeth here. ezekiel 8:6 kabbalism is a system of jewish mysticism and magic and is the foundational element in modern witchcraft. virtually all of the great witches and sorcerers of this century were kabbalists. william j. schnoebelen, in the dark side of freemasonry in the decades of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, the hottest spiritual trend was the new age movement. as we move forward through the first decade of the 21st century, the latest cure-all spiritua

y was albert pike. pike maintained that "every masonic lodge is a temple of religion; and its teachings are instruction in religion."14 now, pike also asserted that the true meanings of the symbols of freemasonry are found in the occult philosophy of the jewish cabala, that freemasonry owes all its secrets to the cabala, and that freemasonry is a religion based on the cabala.15 demons, magic, and mysticism in the cabala here are the eye-opening comments of a number of knowledgeable authorities on the jewish cabala: the cabala contains such power and demonic teaching, it is more than enough to give the ideology and driving force needed to lead the world astray and to keep such an evil conspiracy alive through the centuries..the cabala is a teaching source of the freemasons as well as for ot

ns as well as for other groups. john torrell, publisher the dove kabbalah: the sacred books of black magic of orthodox judaism which form a large part of the basis of the western secret societies, from rosicrucianism to freemasonry and the oto. kabbalism is itself derived from the sorcery of ancient babylon and..pharaohic egypt. craig heimbichner blood on the altar kabbalism is a system of jewish mysticism and magic and is the foundational element in modern witchcraft. virtually all of the great witches and sorcerers of this century were kabbalists. william j. schnoebelen, the dark side of freemasonry the hebrew cabala is a series of occultic writings that are as demonic as any incantation ever uttered in witchcraft. webster's dictionary tells us the cabala (sometimes spelled kabbala) is "

THAGIRION

d gold in the alchemy of the renaissance (kether- thaumiel are also represented by gold in a higher red form. a strong feeling of lust is usually experienced when one is reaching the sun sphere. here one will be united with goals and ideals and be one with the whole of the self. this is the heaven of the religious (or hell for those who rather would go there, the boddhi level or satori in eastern mysticism. for a dark magician the rising to this level brings a feeling of total power, but not in the naive and more illusory form that can be experienced on the spheres below. for a white magician a feeling of total goodness is experienced. both states are self-sufficient in themselves, but has often been traps for many magicians. this level is only half the way. the sun sphere can in a basic t

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the three main branches of judaism reform, conservative, and orthodox but is accepted by those in the hasidic sect. rabbi yonassan gershom, a neo-hasidic rabbi, has said that although jews are generally reluctant to speak of their personal spiritual experiences in public, it doesn t mean that some of them aren t having memories of past lives. there are many teachings about reincarnation in jewish mysticism, gershom said. the hebrew word gilgul comes from the same root as the hebrew word for circle or cycle. so the essence of its meaning is similar to the ideal of the wheel of karma. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 48 afterlife mysteries transmigration of souls is a universal belief in hasidism. m delving deeper crim, keith, ed. the

ty of the mystical traditions: this overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the absolute is the great mystic achievement. in mystic states we both become one with the absolute and we become aware of our oneness. this is the everlasting and triumphant mystical tradition, hardly altered by differences of climate or creed. in hinduism, in neoplatonism, in sufism, in christian mysticism we find the same recurring note, so that there is about mystical utterances an eternal unanimity perpetually telling of the unity of man with god. many scholars of the early christian church believed strongly that the various church councils had erred in removing reincarnation from official doctrine. the gnostics, who strongly influenced early christian doctrine, believed in reincarnatio

ds of playing cards. and i must look at the millions of little file cards, which are memories of past lives, in order to select what i believe to be most important to my clients and the problems that they are facing today. next, it is up to me to make suggestions about how they might go about dissolving the karmic debts that they have accumulated. m delving deeper gaynor, frank, ed. dictionary of mysticism. new york: philosophical library, 1953. steiger, brad. returning from the light. new york: signet inspiration, 1996. anthroposophy when he was in his late 30s, rudolf steiner (1861 1925, the founder of anthroposophy, received a revelation of what he believed was the turning point in human spiritual history, the incarnation of the divine being known as the christ. in the twentieth century

bodies. whereas edgar cayce (1877 1945) and rudolf steiner (1861 1925) evolved their spiritual teachings primarily through their own revelations, inspirations, and psychic abilities, blavatsky claimed to be able to draw upon the ancient wisdom of the masters koot hoomi and morya to abet the considerable knowledge that she had distilled from various mystery schools, hindu religious thought, jewish mysticism, and christian sects. many of the concepts and the spiritual eclecticism professed by blavatsky in the 1880s would be revised on a large scale in the 1970s, in what has loosely been called the new age movement. in addition to such contributions as occult masters and guides, blavatsky introduced the legend of the lost continent of lemuria, the return of the maitreya (world savior, and was

numerous seances in new england brought her to the attention of henry steel olcott (1832 1907, a newspaperman fascinated with psychic phenomena, who established a group centered around her mediumship. in 1875, blavatsky, olcott, and william q. judge (1851 1896, an attorney, made the decision to move beyond the precepts of spiritualism and create a more sophisticated approach to spirit contact and mysticism, which they named the theosophical society. the threefold purpose of the society was 1. to form a universal brotherhood of man; 2. to study and make known the ancient religions, philosophies, and sciences; 3. to investigate the laws of nature and develop the divine powers latent in humankind. in 1877, blavatsky published her worldview of the occult, isis unveiled. in this work, she argue

ers and skeptical investigators agree that impressionable children should not use the ouija board as a game to be played late at night during slumber parties or sleep-overs. often the messages relayed by the planchette whether by spirits or the human unconscious are of a profane and vile nature, revealing psychological weaknesses and primal fears. m delving deeper gaynor, frank, ed. dictionary of mysticism. new york: philosophical library, 1953. paranormal news. http//paranormal.about.com/science/ paranormal/ library/blnews. htm. 1 october 2001. post, eric g. communicating with the beyond. new york: atlantic publishing, 1946. skeptics dictionary. http//skepdic.com. 1 october 2001. seance those who accept the teachings of spiritualism believe that the varied phenomena associated with a sean

back into spiritualism in europe, it remains popular as a separate philosophy throughout south america, especially in brazil, where its members see no conflict in being nominal roman catholics and practicing espiritas. m delving deeper fodor, nandor. an encyclopedia of psychic science. secaucus, n.j: citadel press, 1966. playfair, guy lyon. the unknown power. new york: pocket books, 1975. mystics mysticism is the attempt of humans to attain ultimate knowledge of the true reality of things and to achieve communion with a hierarchy of spiritual beings and with god, not through the ordinary religious paths, but by means of personal revelation and interaction with the divine. whereas the major religions teach submission of the individual will and adherence to various creeds and dogmas, the mys

ckgrounds. christians most often described the light as an encounter with jesus or an angel, and muslims also often interpreted the light to be an angel. jews perceived it as a sign of inspiration or an experience of god. writing in fields within fields (1971, reza arasteh, a transcultural developmental psychologist and author of final integration in the adult personality, speaks of the role that mysticism has played in all major cultures by permitting individuals to transcend cultural reality. whether one examines judaic, christian, or muslim mysticism in the near east; humanism and modern psychoanalysis in the west; or zen buddhism and taoism in far eastern cultures, the interesting point is that all these mechanisms have come to us as a path rather than as logic, as experience rather th

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ing that went beyond the ordinary, as phenomena that was outside of the usual processes of the inner life. the study of this unknown area between ordinary and pathological states, this paraphysical phenomena, he suggested, should be called parapsychology. william james (1842 1910, the foremost american psychologist of the nineteenth century, explored the nonphysical realm of psychic phenomena and mysticism in his classic work the varieties of religious experience (1902. sir william barrett (1844 1925, professor of physics and fellow of the royal society of london, became convinced of the reality of telepathy and was one of the founders of the british society for psychical research in 1882. frederic myers (1843 1901, a classical lecturer at cambridge, wrote human personality and its surviva

ne] http//www.rense.com/ general27/crops.htm. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 296 invaders from outer space manistre, hugh. crop circles, a beginner s guide. london: hodder& stoughton, 1999. pringle, lucy. crop circles the greatest mystery of modern times. new york: harpercollins, 2000. silva, freddy. secrets in the fields: the science and mysticism of crop circles. charlottesville, va: hampton roads, 2002. majestic-12 according to ufo researcher and documentary filmmaker jamie shandera, in december 1984 he received an anonymous packet in the mail containing two rolls of undeveloped 35mm film. the film, once developed, revealed what appeared to be a briefing report to presidentelect dwight d. eisenhower (1890 1969; president 1953 61

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cape the fires of the spanish inquisition. the secret society known as the order of the illuminati was founded in the city of ingolstadt in the southern german monarchy of bavaria on may 1, 1776 by adam weishaupt, a 28-year-old professor of religious law. beginning with only five members, weishaupt fs order grew slowly, numbering about 60 in five cities by 1780. the professor deliberately blended mysticism into the workings of the brotherhood in order to make his agenda of republicanism appear to be more mysterious than a political reform group. he joined the masons in munich in 1777 and adopted many of their classes and orders and promised his initiates that they would receive a special communication of occult knowledge as they advanced higher in the ranks of the illuminati. weishaupt fs

st in the supernatural with weishaupt fs goal of political revolution, and the two men quickly established branches of the illuminati throughout all of germany. a few months after knigge had joined weishaupt fs cause, membership in the illuminati swelled to 300. weishaupt had taken great care to enlist as many young men of wealth and position as possible, maintaining that philanthropy, as well as mysticism, was a principal goal of the society. he had also managed to create around himself a great aura of mystery, permitting himself to be seen by none but those in the highest ranks of the society, encouraging the myth that he was an adept of such great power that he existed largely as an invisible presence. initiates into the ranks of the illuminati underwent secret rites, wore bizarre costu

p l a i n e d magic and sorcery 41 spence, lewis. an encyclopedia of occultism. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1960. williams, charles. witchcraft. new york: meridian books, 1960. alchemy the image of alchemists as defrocked wizards and full-time frauds is not quite accurate. most of them were, in fact, highly spiritual men whose quest to transmute one substance into another was closer to mysticism than modern chemistry. the essence of alchemy lay in the belief that certain incantations and rituals could convince or command angelic beings to change base metals into precious ones. according to ancient tradition, the mummy of hermes trismegistus, the master of alchemical philosophy, was found in an obscure chamber of the great pyramid of giza, clutching an emerald tablet in its hands

into latin. when he was 24, mirandola became confident that he could prove the divinity of christ through certain doctrines of the kabbalah and esoteric magic, and armed with 900 theses for public debate on the matter, he set out for rome. the young magician fs proofs were not accepted warmly by the church, however, relying as they did upon such elements as nature spirits, pagan gods, and jewish mysticism. pope innocent viii (1432.1492, ever on the alert for the presence of witches in whatever disguise they may present themselves, appointed a commission to examine count mirandola fs theses for any taint of heresy. although his percentage of acceptable theses was quite high, the papal commission managed to discover four of mirandola fs arguments to be greatly heretical and another nine to

rrell fs website [online] http//www. marharrell.com/pages/ndono1.html. seagrave, sterling. the marcos dynasty. new york: harper& row, 1988. steiger, brad. the psychic feats of olof jonsson. englewood cliffs, n.j: prentice-hall, 1971. nostradamus (1503.1566) on december 14, 1503, michel de nostredame began a life that was destined to be filled with political intrigues, renaissance rationalism, and mysticism. born in saint-remy in provence, france, nostradamus came from a long line of jewish ancestors who had first come to europe during the dispersion. sometime before his birth, nostradamus fs parents had publicly converted to roman catholicism because of a papal edict decreeing disfavor to all those who were not of the christian faith. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s

sm because of a papal edict decreeing disfavor to all those who were not of the christian faith. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 158 prophecy and divination however, during their son fs formative years, the religious practice of the family had become a curious blend of catholic and jewish customs. in addition, there was a strong current of mysticism in the family. young michel fs grandfather was considered one of the most influential astrologists on the entire continent. when he was old enough, nostradamus was sent off to study liberal arts at avignon. his great interest was in studying astrology, and this prompted his practical-minded father to reconsider the choice of vocation he had made for his son. the next time nostradamus was

london museum of mankind is considered to be a nineteenth-century artifact. scientists, at least, are convinced that all evidence weighs toward recent origins of all crystal skulls. until convincing evidence that a known civilization venerated such an object, or that crystal skulls are remnants of a vanished civilization, belief in special qualities of the skulls are in the minds of beholders of mysticism. m delving deeper bryant, alice. the message of the crystal skull: from atlantis to the new age. st. paul, minn: llewellyn publications, 1989. garvin, richard m. the crystal skull: the story of the mystery, myth and magic of the mitchell-hedges crystal skull. new york: doubleday, 1973. gienger, michael. crystal power, crystal healing: the complete handbook. new york: sterling publication

lantis. the mysterious lost lands of lemuria and mu were conceived of during the nineteenth century, when the theory of evolution was introduced and was among the advances in the sciences that challenged conventional ways of understanding life. archaeological discoveries among the ruins of the egyptians, mayans, and other societies were forcing new interpretations of history, and radical forms of mysticism, such as theosophy, were becoming popular. references to the lost continent of mu can be traced back to 1864 and a french archaeologist named charles-etienne brasseur de bourbourg. he had become fascinated by hieroglyphics found on mayan ruins that dated back several centuries. by the time spanish explorers had reached the new world areas of mexico and central america in the 1500s, the g

THE KEY TO THE MYSTERIES

ernal. daughter of charity, and creator of charity in her own turn, true religion is essentially that which realizes; she believes in the miracles of faith, because she herself accomplishes them every day when she practises charity. now, a religion which practises charity may flatter herself that she realizes all the dreams of divine love. moreover, the faith of the hierarchical church transforms mysticism into realism by the efficacy of her sacraments. no more signs, no more figures whose strength is not in grace, and which do not really give what they promise! faith animates all, makes all in some sort visible and palpable; even the parables of jesus christ take a body and a soul. they show, at jerusalem, the house of the wicked rich man! the thin symbolisms of the primitive religions ov

part of the palm of the hand which corresponds to the thumb, was of a noteworthy development, the line of life was short and broken, there were crosses in the centre of the hand, and stars upon the mount of the moon "reverend sir" said desbarrolles "if you had not a very solid religious education you would easily become a dangerous sectary, for you are led on the one hand toward the most exalted mysticism, and on the other to the most concentrated obstinacy combined with the greatest secretiveness that can 163 possibly be. you want much, but you imagine more, and as you confide your imaginations to nobody, they might attain proportions which would make them veritable enemies for yourself. your habits are contemplative an rather easygoing, but it is a somnolence whose awakenings are perhap

THE MAGICIAN S KABBALAH

dates and linear sequences of succession due to its nature as oral, traditional, teachings. long before printing presses, the kabbalistic teachings were passed from teacher to pupil as oral teachings and collections of manuscripts, which in turn may have been copies of other sets being used by other teachers. the original impulse of kabbalah, however, emerged from a first century school of jewish mysticism termed "merkabah, meaning "chariot. these mystics utilised secret methods of "spiritual ascent" in order to attain mystical experience. these experiences can be recognised as those common to any modern adept following the occult initiatory system, for example "the world changed into purity around me, and my heart felt as if i had entered a new world. the teachings of the merkabah mystics

perhaps (when utilised) as a filter, through which the infinite and eternal is limited within our own comprehension. the tree of life acts as a template capable of the following functions, listed as according to aleister crowley (a) a language fitted to describe certain classes of phenomena, and express certain classes of ideas. the eclectic approach of magic, and the transcendent experiences of mysticism demand a means of expression not found in language fixed in the apparent world about us. kabbalah, by providing a system both abstract and structural, can be used to provide a common ground of meaning in conceptual realms where even meaning is relative. an example might be found in the way kabbalah depicts the interaction of different worlds in the jacob's ladder diagram. this basic imag

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

ated h s curiosity. the book was part one of book four aleister crowley. regardie wrote to crowley in paris and eventually received a reply to his inquiry, suggesting that he contact crowley's agent, karl germer, in new york. from germer, regardie bought set of the equinox, a series of magazines that crowley published 1909 to 1914. this was the beginning of regardie's life-long interest magic and mysticism which changed the course of his whole life, he soon realized that art was not h s calling. in march of 1926 young regardie became a member of the washington college societas rosicmciana in america. a year or so later, crowley offered regardie a job as his secretary in paris. regardie took this as a opportunity to learn magic from an authority. in order to go to paris, regardie had to obt

osicmciana in america. a year or so later, crowley offered regardie a job as his secretary in paris. regardie took this as a opportunity to learn magic from an authority. in order to go to paris, regardie had to obtain a passport visa. he was still a minor, and was supposed to get permission h s father for the required documents. however, he never told parents about crowley or his own interest in mysticism. crowley received a great deal of bad press in both the english and american tabloids, so regardie was hesitant to tell hs parents that he would working with crowley. since regardie had attended art school, simply told them that he had been invited to study painting with english artist in paris. his parents gave him documents for the but when it came time to obtain the french visa, regar

with a degree in psychology, and took up practice as a lay analyst. he was particularly intrigued with the work of wilheim reich. when america became involved in world war 11, regardie discontinued h s practice and joined the army, something he later considered a huge mistake. when the war was over, he continued his studies and received a doctorate in psychology. for a time he explored christian mysticism with as much energy as he had previously pursued hindu, jewish, and buddhist systems. he was especially drawn to christian science, new thought, and the unity school of christianity, which taught that faith, belief, and the power of positive thinking could cure physical illnesses. he concluded that the healing techniques taught by these different schools had validity, and he explored the

lfawareness of h s own oneness with infinite life-the consciousness that a state of separateness exists only within h s own mind. not until man does recognize that he is himself a microcosm of the macrocosm,2 a reflection of the universe, a world within himself, ruled and governed by his own divinity, can he escape from the wheel. it is the achievement of this one realization which all schools of mysticism, magic, and various forms of occult teachng refer to as the great work.3 the great work is not accomplished overnight, or even in one lifetime. but the sooner the aspirant undertakes the task, the sooner will it be finished, and the quicker will he be released from the cycle of necessity, the wheel of evolution to which common humanity is bound. millions of years may pass in the normal p

t entered psychoanalytical therapy, thanks to the influence of a very dear friend. the tremendous value and importance of psychotherapy as a prelude to any serious magical training was just beginning to dawn upon me. my work with dr. e. a. clegg of harley street, and with dr. j. l. bendit,l a jungian of wimpole street in london, led me to realize the importance of psychotherapy to the beginner in mysticism and magic. in fact, thrty-five years later, in 1968, i am more strongly of the opinion than i was then. so fervently do i feel about this that since that time i have acquired some of the qualifications necessary to practice various forms of psychotherapy, particularly that of wilhelm reich,l2 whose work i regard as a bridge between conventional psychotherapy and occultism. i doubt if rei

nsciousness whch collectively we call man. what modern psychology has quite possibly accomplished is an advance over the efforts of our predecessors in the way of a cathartic technique. moreover, because of modern devices, the methods of analytical psychology have been brought nearer to the understanding and convenience of the ordinary man of the street. in the past, the techruques of attainment, mysticism, magic, and yoga, or by whatever name such systems were denoted, were always several removes from the ken of the average individual. the two pillars of the temple 5 the psychologies of the past may be summarized by the use of the words yoga and magic. the subject of yoga has already been excellently dealt with by several able and competent writers, requiring therefore but little mention

of the ancient system of magic. for psychology has succeeded in evolving a system which can be applied to almost any individual who wishes to know the several departments and constituents of his own personality. possibly for the first time in the history of civilized thought, there is a technique which is of inestimable value to the average man. it is of supreme value to the studen.t of magic and mysticism, who, too often, labors under several delusions of what it is that he hopes to accomplish, and in what length of time he will do so. a study of analysis will prove first of all that he cannot proceed quicker than his own unconscious permits him. this will prevent gate-crashing, and an irrational enthusiasm and desire for speed. secondly, through the elimination of erroneous ideas as to h

ician's companion (llewellyn, 1993. 8. once again, regardie has switched the natural order of the qabalistic cross here "ve-gevurah (right shoulder) should precede "ve-gedulah (left shoulder. 9. libellus xi (ii "a discourse of mind to hermes" see scott, hermetica, 90-91. 10. plotinus was a leading neoplatonist of the third century c.e. he strove to combine greek logic and rational philosophy with mysticism and transcendental experience. his major work, the enneads, was compiled by his student porphyry. 11. for this reason it is important that the student keep a diary and record the results of all meditations, exercises, and rituals. 12. in addition to giving a mistaken impression of what spiritual growth is, it has also resulted in many seekers assuming that their meditations yield contact

THE PATH OF KABBALAH

habits or customs in the study of the wisdom of kabbalah? answer: the wisdom of kabbalah does not practice any customs or any ritual external activities. any drawing of a picture of the worlds, sefirot, or gimatria, is no more than aiding material. the essence of the wisdom of kabbalah is an individual sensation of every person of the creator and the spiritual world. the wisdom of kabbalah is not mysticism. it is a science that explores the entire reality, unlike all other sciences, which suffice to exploring our world. q: does modern science accept this perspective? a: a science that studies the senses, including the theory of relativity, maintains that everything that is perceived by our senses is only valid with respect to ourselves. but our picture of the world is relative because the

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

irgin in which chapter it is related how beauteous and fair she was to behold, and with what joyaunce and jollity she greeted her many lovers, and how she fed off their kisses and growing bold was cast forth to feed amongst the swine. the virgin gto be a singer of sweet songs, h is the great ideal crowley has enshrined before him; for varied as his powers are, entwined with satire, philosophy and mysticism, as a singer of lyrics and love-songs aleister crowley remains unsurpassed, unrivalled, among the host of present-day poets. his thoughts are as subtle, his imagination as gorgeous, his melodies as charming as those of shelley himself; soft as a summer breeze, fresh as the dawn in may, sunny as a june day, and then furious with burning passion and vitriolic lust. so closely interwoven in

in a huge bowl of water; but my dreams built it of titan oak, its sides were piled of fearful wood hewn from god fs forests, paid with sweat and tears and blood. yet to what does this infinite yearning lead? the soul looks hout to the beyond, h and from the shapeless and unstayed there bursts the cry of gnothing, h gbut evermore came out by the same door wherein i went. h* in verse vi we find the mysticism of berashith gnothing was everything h; and in verse vii, the perfection of life in death habsorbed my life in his, dispersed me, gave me death. h this is pure buddhism *omar khayyam. in death is found release, freedom from desire, which fools alone reject. in the spiritual contemplation of life the slags of existence fall to the bottom of the burning furnace of the human soul; the power

esire, which fools alone reject. in the spiritual contemplation of life the slags of existence fall to the bottom of the burning furnace of the human soul; the power of empire and glory is shattered, gthe golden image with the feet of clay, h and the marred vessels of the (all)-mighty potter are cast outside, from the wheel of fate. why contemplate what is so unprofitable and useless? yet in this mysticism which is more intrinsically of the east, we find an intricate web of egotism tangled with the utilitarianism of the west; for it seems on reading further that it is not in mere abstraction of the real, but rather in the total absorption of the real, that the nirvana of bliss is to be arrived at. it is terrible sailing this, scylla lies to our left, charybdis to our right, the blood-fleck

te inertia in zero. from here crowleyanity becoming purely mystical becomes symbolic, leading those who follow into the kingdom of the adepts; and finally showing how the keynote of all mystical systems of either east or west, is to be found in ecstasy; and how the former, arriving at this sublime state by purely mechanical methods, are not so suitable to those western nations as their own poetic mysticism, as found in the divine works of the christian fathers, the alchymistic philosophers, and the mystical poets of ancient and modern times *2. there is an old saying, gall men are born either platonists or aristotelians. h for many centuries now, european thought has been labouring under the damnosa hereditas of foregone conclusions. and as religion in the attempt to anthropomorphise power

ed that matter objectively was illusion or maya, and that the world problem could only be considered as a reality subjectively in the thoughts as gthinks, h in fact the world real was simply an elaboration of these hthinks. h these spiritualistic philosophies stagnating for a time were soon mystified by man fs inherent longing for the wonderful* and developed into various systems of spiritism and mysticism, both high and low. of the latter the most renowned, and in many ways the most profound, was the philosophy of the qabalah* gthe imagination of man is naturally sublime, delighted with whatever is remote and extraordinary, and running without control into the most distant parts of space and time in order to avoid the objects, which custom has rendered too familiar to it. h .an enquiry co

he shall be called gimmanuel, h that is ggod with us, h or being interpreted aleister crowley, the spiritual son of immanuel whose surname was cant* and as the doctrine taught by jesus christ became known as christianity, so let this theurgy, as expounded by this marvellous being, be known as crowleyanity: or in other words, according to the mind of the reader. pyrrhonic-zoroastrianism, pyrrhonic-mysticism, sceptical- transcendentalism, sceptical- theurgy, sceptical-energy, scientific- illuminism, or what you will; for in short it is the conscious communion with god on the part of an atheist, a transcending of reason by scepticism of the instrument, and the limitation of scepticism by direct consciousness of the absolute. to attain to such an illumination the mind of a huxley and the soul

e up to the present apprehended things per nos, from this day forward they will, under the atheistic theurgy of crowleyanity, know things per se. the ultima thule of our rigorous journey will at last be discernible on the horizon of our minds, and the mixed drinks of the stumbling scoto-german bacchantes will give way to the pure amrita of iacchus. the above may be symbolized as follows: idealism mysticism realism the pyrrhoni stic line hylo-idealism hylo-idealism ag no stic is m agnosticism c r owl e ya n i t y crowleyan i ty in the centre is mysticism which links together idealism and realism, or the ego to the non-ego, and at the same time holds them apart. without it idealism becomes absolute subjectivity, and realism absolute objectivity (n. b. the circle of idealism is the only entir

is the only entirely white circle in the symbol, and that of realism the only entirely black one. the gjakin h and gbohaz h of king solomon fs temple) idealism and realism are further connected by the hylo-ideallstic circle, which expresses them in terms of science; and the whole is encircled by the ring of agnosticism, beyond which philosophy as philosophy cannot penetrate. the three circles of mysticism, hylo- idealism (idealism and realism, and agnosticism; or magic, science, and philosophy, are all bisected by the pyrrhonistic line of doubt which alone vanishes in the circumference of crowleyanity. this is the outer circle of all, forming, with the pyrrhonistic line, a perfect yin and yang; itself the unutterable t a o. to attain to the ne plus ultra of crowleyanity, it will be necess

THE ABYSS AND TABAET

ten bold to even normal or bland. many of our kind are those who go unnoticed in society, yet master and control our personal lives in such a way to which much good luck befalls us. some are avatars of darkness, appearing as what society fears and hates most. the beast headed god has taken many masks in our world, the adversary has also mastered the elements as well. the adversary is anything but mysticism. when you discover something you destroy mysticism, within the circle of azothoz, you banish mysticism by obtaining knowledge of the self. during pathworkings, camping away from anyone for a period of time, joining the military, doing something which captivates and awakens the senses, you destroy mysticism. the process and interaction may be overpowering and leave you in awe however it i

n you discover something you destroy mysticism, within the circle of azothoz, you banish mysticism by obtaining knowledge of the self. during pathworkings, camping away from anyone for a period of time, joining the military, doing something which captivates and awakens the senses, you destroy mysticism. the process and interaction may be overpowering and leave you in awe however it is no mystery. mysticism is the act of neo-pagans who are trying to recapture the awe of your parents reading that first fantasy story to you that left your imagination with endless possibilities "the more mediocre, the weaker, the more submissive and cowardly a man is, the more he will posit as evil: it is with him that the realm of evil is most comprehensive. the basest (most dishonourable) man will see the re

orbidden and hostile to him everywhere the most powerful man, the creator, would have to be the most evil, in as much as he carries his ideal against the ideals of other men and remakes them in his own image" friedrich nietzsche the left hand path adept (whether they know they are lhp or not) are those who do things with those endless possibilities, rather than talk in vague sentences about them. mysticism is not-knowing that which cannot be known. a vicious cycle, the new age is truly something which is not new, rather a bad filter of what could be a wonderful reality. evil is nothing but an opinion and more or less a perspective of the individual. the left hand path is defined as the process of selfdeification and using the energy of the serpent (called shakti) to transform the conscious

THE SECRET RITUALS OF THE OTO

de pasqually, a somewhat mysterious figure who may have been portuguese by nationality. it has been suggested that de pasqually was of jewish origin, but there is no hard evidence of this and it is clear that, nominally at least, he was a catholic, for there is a surviving record of his son s baptism. nevertheless, he had undoubtedly been deeply influenced by a somewhat debased variety of jewish mysticism, for he was a devotee of the degenerate version of qabalistic magic presented in such works as the key of solomon and the sepher ratziel. the order of elect cohens was founded at bordeaux in 1760 six years earlier de pasqually had unsuccessfully attempted to found an organization called the scottish judges which may well have been a first attempt to establish a magical/masonic link-up an

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

s is not absolutely neces- sary, but it may be the easiest way of transferring the necessary knowledge. tradi- tionally this shape is thought of as an angel personally concerned in the welfare of the individual. since it is this personalized aspect of the unmanifest that watches over the soul, it is called the guardian angel (the guardian angel is treated more fully in chapter 29. some schools of mysticism like to abstract the guardian one step away from a discrete and self-aware being, preferring to call it the genius, of higher spiritual level, of the human mind. this is splitting hairs. what the guardian is, it is, and it does not change with human ways of conceiving it, although those conceits may color human perceptions. it is a natural act of the mind to project a sense of per- sonal

m concentrating on the silence. you will itch. your tongue and lips will become dry. you will swallow, you will shift about in your seat. small noises will soon be magnified into thunder. your mind will race like an engine out of control. and any time you focus your attention on these matters you will be turning away from the voice of your guardian. the grimoires and the sacred texts of christian mysticism and the kabbalah lay down various harsh regimes for the aspirant who wishes to attain the conver- sation of the guardian angel. to become inwardly still requires that the seeker set aside the world and, in effect, become a holy person totally dedicated to the light, for a time at least. all forms of stimulation must be avoided, even those seemingly harmless, because they distract the min

nal affinity. for a white european to assume an african tribal god would be foolish, unless he or she were completely in harmony with the culture and beliefs of that african tribe. for the same reason, a black amer- ican might be better off assuming the gods of egypt or greece, since his or her living culture (the culture actually experienced every day) is american, not african. the mythology and mysticism of the east fascinates westerners, but the west- ern magus will probably have better success dealing with western pantheons, rather than trying to invoke krishna or kuan-yin. there are no hard and fast rules in this matter. the true affinities of the magus must always be left to his or her per- sonal judgment. i n everyday magic it may be necessary to conceptualize and empower an entity

life can the fixed axis of the wheel of spirit be attained. this fourth and final stage is not for the magus because it precludes magic. by its nature magic is part of cause and effect. the dreamless state has nothing to do with the world of forms. the magus is always one who wishes to change and cre- ate-the mystic desires only to be. however, magic must never be thought of as a lower study than mysticism. the true magus transcends the mystic. like that great master of magic, jesus, he or she attains oneness with the light, then voluntarily renounces it to return to the world of illusion to reform and elevate humanity. the very highest level of attainment is always that of the magus. all the great prophets were magical adepts who trans- formed their mystical insight into manifest terms th

TYSON DONALD SOUL FLIGHT

n the basis of random sampling is less than 10-22."156 parapsychology and the nazis the early work by rhine was regarded with interest in europe by german psychologists, but was never effectively duplicated by them. in germany, the rise of the nazis during 156. rhine and pratt, 176. the 1930s had a chilling influence on serious scientific research into the paranormal. the nazis were infected with mysticism and superstition, but they did not attempt to cast these interests into the pseudo-scientific framework of laboratory esp investigation. even though occultism in the form of mystical beliefs and secret societies was found everywhere among the upper ranks of the nazi party, scientists were viewed with suspicion and their speculative research was seldom encouraged unless it happened to sup

serving that the visual impressions of the astral world are but "representations at their own level of higher forces' gareth knight wrote "however, 222 soul flight if one sticks to astral imagery one is still on the astral plane, even if one seems to be floating in a brilliant blaze of glory in kether, with the kerubim circling all around."201 the tree of life is derived from the system of jewish mysticism known as the kabbalah, which westcott and mathers incorporated into the teachings of the golden dawn. the kabbalah was developed mainly in europe during the middle ages and the renaissance, although portions of it, such as the text sepher yetzirah, are much older. the tree was an attempt to represent in a single diagram the stages in the emanation of the universe from the undifferentiate

ngland and traveled to ceylon, where she accepted the position as head of a finishing school for girls. allan bennett, another member of the golden dawn who was the mentor of aleister crowley, had also left england more than a decade earlier to live in ceylon, where he became a buddhist monk. it is not uncommon for early fascination with practical occultism to evolve into an interest in religious mysticism. the study of magic reveals the 242. howe, 68. chapter eighteen: astral self-defense 309 limits of everyday physical reality, and in individuals predisposed to religious thought, there is a tendency to move on to the study of spiritual reality. astral vampirism astral vampirism is the theft of vital energy from the living, either by spirits or by other human beings. the person who serves

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

ed. there is a numerological paradox in the structure of tetragrammaton. although it has four letters, two of those letters are the same. in the most straightforward sense, it is a name of four letters, but in another sense it is a name of three letters. it embodies and conveys the essences of both three and four simultaneously. this is a great mystery that extends far beyond the bounds of jewish mysticism. the relationship between three and four is the dynamic upon which the world is constructed. it is one of the most arcane secrets of both religion and magic. the greek sage pythagoras graphically captured this eternal marriage of three and four in his famous tetractys, a triangle formed out of ten dots, with four dots at its base. for centuries occultists have used the hebrew letters of

m the earth. that is why in the key they are given "vessels to water the earth with her creatures" the earth is personified as a female spirit; more than this, she is a mother goddess who generates living things in her womb. the creatures of the earth are her children. the soul of the world (anima mundi) figures prominently in greek philosophy, and from this source found its way into the hermetic mysticism of the renaissance. this image of the earth as a fertile mother becomes very important in the key of the thirty aethers. the "continually burning lamps" may be a reference to the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of god (rev. 4:5. this ties in nicely with the olives of zechariah, which ceaselessly pour their oil into a bowl through golden pipes. the perpetual oil feeds the pe

ocated there. the tree is often interpreted as a substitute for the cross upon which jesus died, and indeed the imagery of a tree is used in this way in early saxon poetry (see cynewulf's "dream of the rood. but the symbolisn o f the tree predates christianity. it is one of the archetypal patterns for the universe itself, and in this sense occurs both in the magic of the northern runes and in the mysticism of the kabbalah. the reference to twenty-two is highly significant, because there are twenty-two chapters in the book of revelation. therefore, the nests of woe upon the tree lament the destruction of the world, which in ancient times was not merely the physical earth, but the entire universe, just as the chapters of revelation lament its destruction. there are also twenty-two letters in

e finger of god (exod. 31:lb. in the vision of st. john, the name of the great whore appendix a: the keys 225 babylon is written in her forehead (rev. 17:5, and the name of the mounted warrior christ is written on his thigh (rev. 19:16. this prominence of writing has to do with the peculiar reverence of the ancient hebrews for the written word, which has come down to modern times preserved in the mysticism of the kabbalah. kabbalists believe that the holy torah is not merely a record of god's pronouncements and laws, but the living embodiment of god. the word of god is god, particularly the written word, which among the jews has always been regarded as the holiest of all manifest things. the temple at jerusalem was built with the sole purpose of housing the sacred ark of the covenant, and

UNLEASHING THE BEAST

templars, see francis king, sexuality, magic and perversion (secacus: citadel, 1971, 170-71. xlvifranklin rosemont, foreward to john patrick deveney, paschal beverly randolph: a nineteenth century american spiritualist, rosicrucian and sex magician (albany: suny, 1997, xv. as deveney observes, largely through randolph's influence the genie had been released from the bottle. a multitude of sexual mysticism flourished (paschal beverly randolph, 252 -178- xlviiirandolph, the mysteries of eulis, 337. randolph lists over 100 uses for sexual magic, which include everything from acquiring money to the secret of domestic happiness. one of the most striking features of randolph s sexual magic is his insistence that both partners must have an active role and that both must achieve orgasm in order f

WAITE ASPECTS OF MASONIC SYMBOLISM

notions of mystic birth, life, death and resurrection. it is a particular formula which is illustrated frequently in the mystic literature of the western world. long before symbolical masonry had emerged above the horizon, several cryptic texts of alchemy, in my understanding, were bearing witness to this symbolism and to something real in experience which lay behind it. in more formal christian mysticism, it was not until the 16th century and later that it entered into the fullest expression. now, that which is formulated as mystic birth is comparable to a dawn of spiritual consciousness. it is the turning of the whole life- motive in the divine direction, so that, at a given time- which is actually the point of turning- the personality stands symbolically between the east and the north

WEOR SAMAEL AUN ESOTERIC COURSE OF KABBLAH

the hope. the gnostic student should be very careful with the work in the laboratorium oratorium. since the betrayal of the sanctuary of vulcan, the doctrine of ahriman was spread everywhere; this is the doctrine of the nicholaitans that transforms human beings into disgusting sub-lunar demons. the adepts of the left hand color their doctrine a very beautiful hue filled with ineffable and sublime mysticism. many are the brethren of the path that have entered this tenebrous path. the basic foundation of the doctrine of the nicholaitans consists of spilling the cup of hermes. these offspring of darkness ejaculate the ens seminis during their practices of sexual magic. billions of solar atoms are lost with the ejaculation of the ens seminis, which are replaced by billions of atoms from the oc

y ser siempre un problema absolutamente sexual. todo aqu l que quiera nacer tiene que trabajar con la savia de la vida contenida en los dos vasos sagrados que la mujer desnuda del arcano xvii tiene en sus manos. 114 the three rays it has been stated that there exist three rays of inner self-realization. these three rays illuminate only one door and only one path, which is sex. the three rays are: mysticism, yoga and the perfect matrimony. however, without the arcanum a.z.f, it is not possible to advance a single step on the path of the razor s edge (spinal medulla. yoga in the western world, the teachings of yoga have been delivered in a bad manner. a lot of pseudo-sapient yogis have spread the false belief that the true yogi must be infra-sexual (an enemy of sex. some of these false yogis

WESTERN MANDALAS OF TRANSFORMATION SR AL

ony and perfection of a new flower. in today's modern physics there is still the basic assumption that mathematics plays an underlying role in the rational ordering of the universe. in modern mathematics, however, there is a number known as omega, a random number which is thought to be uncomputable.or, in mystical language, unknowable except through revelation. it has even been compared to number mysticism by a leading scientist, charles bennett, who says "omega is, in many senses, a cabalistic number. it can be known of, but not known, through human reason. to know it in detail, one would have to accept its uncomputable digit sequence on faith, like words of a sacred text (davis, p. 134. although we could never hope to understand the great mystery of being with our rational minds, qabalah

. although we could never hope to understand the great mystery of being with our rational minds, qabalah gives us a most effective and yet challenging way to relate to the godhead and all of its attributes or particular vibrations (we could call them planetary chakras or rays, starting with the most primordial archetypal forms, number, and geometry. the most practical way to integrate this number mysticism is through an understanding of magical squares and talismans. in the second of his three books of occult philosophy, cornelius agrippa said that mathematics and magic are so intimately connected that nothing successful could ever be achieved by the magician without a thorough understanding of numbers. the neo-platonic reasoning of his day intuited that numbers were the direct thoughts of

's consciousness breaks through into the world of ideas and makes direct contact with it. the mental images that each (person) has, when making this platonic contact, might be rather different in each case, but communication is possible because each is directly in contact with the same eternally existing platonic world (davis, p. 144. these platonic ideal forms are not only basic to the numerical mysticism of qabalah through its long historical development; through talismanic art, particularly geometric art, and qabalah's mystical number squares, new revelations await us. these particular revelations may or may not have been known to the ancient qabalists, but they were nonetheless there, waiting to be discovered. some of the geometrical forms that my colleagues and i have discovered have

used. 3. the name or sigil of your h. g. a. 4. other associations through number, symbol, etc. taken from the correspondence tables and the information given in the next chapter. chapter 3 correspondences current magical tradition follows these principles: after we clarify our intention, we proceed to concretize it through working with the divine names and numbers. this alphabetical and numerical mysticism is at the heart of the ancient art of qabalistic talisman-making, which is based on the mysteries of magical squares and the sigils derived from them. in the first of his three books of occult philosophy, agrippa says: the use of words and speech is to express the inwards of the mind, and from thence to draw forth the secrets of the thoughts, and to declare the will of the speaker. now

sman construction. numbers the first set of associations we will examine are based on number, which is the most primordial archetypal idea. numbers are much more than lines and circles on a page. in qabalah, numbers are the sephiroth, the initial emanations of the god-head. they are specific energies which carry similar ideas in many metaphysical traditions, from the ancient pythagorean numerical mysticism to modern-day numerology. a good understanding of the primary ideas associated with the first nine numbers (as well as eleven, which will be used in this book) are crucial concepts to be employed in a variety of ways in magical work. hebrew letters are also numbers.names have a particular numerical vibration. so do biblical phrases or affirmations. here is a brief review of numerical sym

er relating to mars is five, which is geburah on the tree of life. this is the special seat of will power on the tree and its principle divine name elohim gibor, means god of strength. to mars is attributed the letter peh and also heh (5, to which is assigned aries, and the emperor. this path is called the "constituting intelligence" five is also the numeration of ad, mist or vapor, and in hebrew mysticism this refers to the dark cloud or vapor that constitutes the substance of primordial creation, figure 7-c: traditional figure 7-d: alternate and that hovered over the waters in genesis. the root word gab also equals five and refers to the vault or surface of heaven. the power of the constituting intelligence of mars is further reflected in the magical phrase in genesis "let there be" whic

WILLIAM WESCOTT GOLDEN DAWN HISTORTY LECTURE

an rosenkreuz about 1398. he and the theologian, valentine andrea, have left us, in the works published about 1614, an account of the exoteric arrangements of the rosicrucian society. it seems likely it was andrea who published in 1614 the fama fraternitatis, or theory of the society, which must have been derived from the old records of the pupils of christian rosenkrawz. but even this arrival of mysticism was a new development of the older wisdom of the qabalistic rabbis and of that very ancient secret knowledge of the magic of the egyptians into which moses had been initiated. through the qabalah, indeed, europe became possessed of the ancient wisdom more than from any one other source, for the hebrews were taught at one time by the egyptians and later by the chaldees of babylon. it is a

WILLIAM WESCOTT NUMBERS THEIR OCCULT POWER AND MYSTIC VIRTUES

explained all ideas concerning the nature of things, and the same method of explaining the secrets of nature is once again being insisted upon in the new revelation of the secret doctrine, by h. p. blavatsky. numbers are a key to the ancient views of cosmogony in its broad sense, spiritually as well as physically considered and to the evolution of the present human race; all systems of religious mysticism are based upon numerals. the sacredness of numbers begins with the great first cause, numbers--th eir occu lt power an d mys tic vir tu es by w. wyn n wes tcott the one, and ends only with the naught or zero--symbol of the infinite and boundless universe. isis unveiled, vol. ii. 407. tradition narrates that the students of the pythagorean school, at first classed as exoterici or ausculta

WOLFSON ELLIOT ALEF MEM TAU KABBALISTIC MUSINGS ON TIME TRUTH AND DEATH

e precise turn of thought charted in this book opens the possibility of a temporal triumph of temporality, the conquering of time through time.1 in an effort to pave the way to this possibility, i have explored the nexus of time, truth, and death as it emerges hermeneutically from the symbolic world of medieval kabbalah. i have not adhered to the familiar methodology adopted by scholars of jewish mysticism, focusing on a particular historical period or individual personality; i have organized my thoughts instead around the letters alef, mem, and tau, the consonants of the word emet, truth, which stand respectively for beginning, middle, and end, the three points of the curvature of the timeline. utilizing profound i am tempted to say abysmal imaginative ruminations on time elicited from ka

on anaximander, pp. 179 190, esp. 185 188. 215. needless to say, many scholars have addressed the heideggerian notion of the fourfold. see, in particular, levin, philosopher s gaze, pp. 116 169. 216. heidegger, contributions, pp. 259 260. 217. ibid, pp. 259, 260, 264 (emphasis in original. 218. ibid, p. 265. 219. koyr, la philosophie, pp. 279 301, 320 327; caputo, mystical element, p. 98; walsh, mysticism, pp. 30 32; helting, heidegger und meister eckehart, pp. 56 58. for more detailed discussions on the influence of the theosophical gnosis (primarily through b hme) on schelling, see weeks, german mysticism, pp. 228 192 notes to pages 31 34 229; gibbons, spirituality and the occult, pp. 12 13; brown, later philosophy of schelling; kosolowski, philosophien der offenbarung, pp. 565 771. 220

erona, which johannes reuchlin compares in de arte cabalistica to nicholas of cusa s coincidentia oppositorum. the technical term indifferent, however, must be distinguished from coincidence, insofar as indifference means precisely that the opposites do not coincide but remain distinct. 227. schelling, ages, p. 53. 228. ibid, p. 6. 229. ibid, p. 87. 230. ibid, p. 85. 231. ibid, p. 42. 232. walsh, mysticism, pp. 68 70; magee, hegel, pp. 38 42. b hme himself may have been influenced by christian kabbalah; see weeks, german mysticism, p. 171, and the detailed analyses in schulitz, jakob b hme, and schmidt-biggemann, jakob b hme, pp. 157 181. 233. i have explored the matter in more detail in language, eros, being, pp. 100 104. the discussion here is a condensed version of that analysis. on the

ts on this work by scholem, kabbalah, pp. 200, 416 419, and the more detailed treatment in coudert, impact of the kabbalah, pp. 100 136, esp. 118 119. for a similar argument regarding this anthology serving as the source for hegel s knowledge of kabbalah, see magee, hegel, p. 167. 235. schulze, friedrich christoph oetinger, pp. 268 274; marx, philosophy of f. w. j. schelling, p. 61; weeks, german mysticism, pp. 196 198; kilcher, sprachtheorie, pp. 199 201; magee, hegel, pp. 65 67, 167, 173. 236. for an elaborate explication of the problem of the identity of the absolute in schelling s philosophy and its repercussions, see bowie, schelling, pp. 55 90. 237. scholem, origins, p. 439. apparently reflecting the influence of schelling, scholem uses the expressions indifferent with regard to the

bbalah by placing the withholding prior to the emanation is somewhat overstated and probably determined by excessive lexical concerns. on the idea of withdrawal in early kabbalah, see idel, on the concept, pp. 59 112. 273. schelling, ages, p. 107. 274. the paradox of the plenum-vacuum as it pertains to the pure consciousness associated with the mystical phenomenon is discussed in detail by stace, mysticism and philosophy, pp. 161 178, concluding with a brief discussion of the kabbalistic ein sof based on comments in scholem s major trends. 275. schelling, ages, p. 14. 276. wolfson, divine suffering, pp. 117 135. 277. schelling, ages, p. 101. 278. ibid, p. 80. 279. this seems to be schelling s interpretation of the first word of scripture, bere shit, in the beginning, which he renders as in

d see references cited on pp. 140 141 n. 52. 291. ibid, p. 80. 292. for further elaboration of this theme, see vater, schelling s neoplatonic, pp. 275 299; courtine, extase de la raison, pp. 220 236; challiol-gillet, schelling, pp. 179 195. on the transcendence of the antithesis of time and timelessness in schelling s notion of original indifference, see the brief but incisive remarks of tillich, mysticism, p. 102. see also orsini, coleridge, p. 210. 293. see scheier, die zeit, pp. 28 39. 294. on heidegger s indebtedness to schelling s notion of the ungrund and the dual function of language to reveal and conceal truth, see bowie, from romanticism, pp. 177 178. 295. heidegger, contributions, pp. 264 265 (emphasis in the original. 296. sch rmann, broken hegemonies, p. 550. 297. heidegger, on

o not think this binary can be exegetically elicited from or eisegetically imposed upon hebrew scripture or later jewish literary sources. for a discussion of the paradox of reversible motion in scientific theory, which raises similar questions with regard to the cause and effect relationship, see park, image of eternity, pp. 45 65. 36. on the comparative accounts of perpetual creation in islamic mysticism and zen buddhism, with specific reference to the depiction of the moment as what is cut off from before and after, see izutsu, creation, pp. 141 173. on the paradox of the permanence of impermanence in the buddhist conception of atemporal temporality, see also the analysis of wayman, no time, pp. 51 notes to pages 59 60 209 210 notes to pages 60 62 53; mansfield, time in madhyamika buddh

ation, p. 141, and other references cited on p. 157 n. 37. 91. babylonian talmud, menahot 110a. 92. shalom dovber schneersohn, sefer ha-ma amarim 5663, vol. 2, p. 199. 93. al-qushayri thus referred to the sufi as the son of his moment, ibn waqtihi, that is, the sufi is distinguished by the fact that he lives fully in the moment in which he must fulfill his religious duty. see sells, early islamic mysticism, p. 100; rumi, mathnawi, 1:132 133, 3:1426. the intrinsic connection between sufism and being-in-the-moment is repeated elsewhere by al-qushayri. see, for instance, qushayri, principles of sufism, p. 41: they say concerning the meaning of renunciation, each speaks from his own moment [waqt] and indicates his own limit. and, ibid, p. 303: amr b. uthman al-makki was asked about sufism, and

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