Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
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ho are but as sparks derived from that insupportable light which is in him. it is written that the borders of his garment of flame sweep the ends of the universe, and unto him all return. therefore do we adore him; therefore do we invoke him; therefore in adoration to him, sinks even the banner of the east. secondly, let me advise you never to ridicule or cast criticism or curses upon the form of religion professed by another, for what right have you to desecrate what is sacred in his eyes? thirdly, never let the seal of secrecy regarding the order be absent from your recollection, and beware that you betray it not by a casual or unthinking word. fourthly, study well that great arcanum, the proper equilibrium of mercy and severity, for either unbalanced is not good; unbalanced severity is

e elements combined, the elements of fire, water, air and earth. you will come to understand in a future lesson that these elements also refer to the four worlds of the qabalah as well as several other qabalistic correspondences. keep in mind that in the use of the hebrew alphabet in the workings of the qabalah, you will be able to correspond many different attributes from any system of magic and religion. qabalah this is a simple discourse on some of the major facets of the qabalah. it is also spelled as kabbalah and cabala.(pronounced ka-bah-lah. orgins qabalah comes from the hebrew word qbl, meaning an oral tradition, the esoteric and mystical division of judaism. the qabalah presents a symbolic explanation of the origin of the universe, the relationship of human beings to the godhead

0 0 INITIATION CEREMONY

the mystic circumambulations. i superintendent the preparation of the candidate; lead him through the path of darkness into light, and assist in his reception, and i aid the other officers in the execution of their duties. hiero: what does the white color of your robes symbolize? heg: purity. hiero: your peculiar ensign of office? heg: the miter-headed sceptre. hiero: what does it symbolize? heg: religion, to guide and regulate life. hiero: what does your office symbolize? heg: those higher aspirations of the soul which should guide its actions. hiero: honoured hiereus your station? hiereus: on the throne of the west, very honoured hierophant hiero: what does the throne of the west symbolize? hiereus: increase of darkness; decrease of light. hiero: your duty? hiereus: i preside over twilig

han we, who are but as sparks derived from that unsupportable light which is in him. it is written that the borders of his garment of flame sweep the ends of the universe and unto him all return. therefore do we adore him, therefore do we invoke him; therefore in adoration to him sinks even the banner of the east (done)secondly, let me advise you never to ridicule or cast obloquy upon the form of religion professed by another, for what right have you to desecrate what is sacred in his eyes? thirdly, never let the seal of secrecy regarding the order be absent from your recollection, and beware that you betray it not by a casual or unthinking word. fourthly, study well that great arcanum, the proper equilibrium of mercy and severity, for either unbalanced is not good; unbalanced severity is

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

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

ng of the eleventh, livonians and lettons in the twelfth, esthonians and finns in the twelfth and thirteenth, lithuanians not even till the commencement of the fifteenth. all these data are only to be taken as true in the main; they neither exclude some earlier conversions, nor a longer and later adherence to heathenism in limited areas. eemoteness and independence might protect the time-honoured religion of a tribe. apostates too would often attempt at least a partial reaction. christianity would sometimes lead captive the minds of the rich and great, by whose example the common people were carried away; sometimes it affected first the poor and lowly. when chlodowig (clovis) received baptism, and the salian franks followed his lead, individuals out of all the frankish tribes had already s

r bans hafi nokkurn tima blotat gos, lieldr triisu fi matt sinn ok megin' it is not thought that king h. and his champions have at any time &c; of orvaroddr (fornald. sog. 2, 165; cf. 505' ekki vandist blotum]?vi hann trusi a matt sinn ok megin; of finnbogi (p. 272' ek trui a sialfan mik' tliis is the mood that still finds utterance in a danish folk-song (d.v. 4, 27, though without a reference to religion: introduction. 7 forst troer jeg mit gode sviird. og saa min gode liest, derniist troer jeg mine dannes v"enne, jeg troer mig self allerbedst; and it is christian sentiment besides, wliicli strives to elevate and consecrate the inner man (see siippl. we may assume, that, even if paganism conld have lived and luxuriated a while longer, and brought out in sharper relief and more spontaneous

ervire videretur et diis quibus antea serviebat, atque in eodem fano et altare habebat in sacrificium ohristi et arulam ad victimas daemoniorum (see suppl. this helps to explain the relapses into paganism. the history of heathen doctrines and ideas is easier to write, according as particular races remained longer outside the pale of baptism. our more intimate acquaintance with the greek and koman religion rests upon writings which existed before the rise of christianity; we are oftener at fault for information as to the altered shape which that religion had assumed among the common people in greece and italy during the first centuries of our era. eesearch has yet to penetrate, even deeper than it has done, into the old celtic faith; we must not shrink from recomizino- and examining celtic

religion had assumed among the common people in greece and italy during the first centuries of our era. eesearch has yet to penetrate, even deeper than it has done, into the old celtic faith; we must not shrink from recomizino- and examining celtic monuments and customs on ground now occupied by germans. leo's important discovery on the real bearings of the malberg glossary may lead to much. the religion of the slavs and lithuanians would be far more accurately known to us, if these nations, in the centuries immediately following their conversion, had more carefully preserved the memory of their antiquities; as it is, much scattered detail only wants collecting, and traditions still alive in many districts aftbrd rich material. on the finnish mythology we possess somewhat fuller informati

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

rmony and connection with others, the world and the cosmos. it is an energy that can permeate every aspect of our being. a very special spirituality witchcraft and wicca (one of the major forms of witchcraft) both derive their names from the anglo- saxon words for wisdom 'witch' is from the old english word wita, meaning 'wise' and the wicca were the wise ones. witchcraft is said to be the oldest religion in the world. it is the indigenous shamanistic religion of europe that has, in spite of ferocious persecution from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, survived in the folk tradition of many lands and through families who kept alive the old beliefs and worship of the earth and the moon mother. not so many centuries ago, our ancestors burned yule logs at christmas as a symbolic gest

crystals or even entire rituals for your specific purpose. there are provisos, however. you must always remember that the form, the words and even ultimately the associations of particular oils, incenses and planetary hours are not what really matters. the truly important thing is that you should keep to the basic rules of witchcraft that are quite as strict and twice as hard as any conventional religion. these are rooted in wisdom, compassion, honesty, honour and common sense and are summed up in one short phrase 'an ye harm none, do what ye will. put in modern-day language, this means, quite simply 'do whatever you like as long as you don't hurt anyone' simple, did i say? it is in practice incredibly hard to harm none, especially if you are seeking promotion, fighting against an injusti

and was pressed to death- a torture in which heavy stones were placed on the victim's chest and which took three days to kill them- rather than confess, for if he had, his property would have been taken from his descendants. high-ranking practitioners of magick who attempted to conjure demons were usually male, and included both popes and royalty. they generally escaped censure, however. the folk religion of the countryside was an easier target. in december 1484, the bull of pope innocent vii was published, appointing heinrich kramer and jakob sprenger as inquisitors against witchcraft and heresy. these two clerics wrote the malleus maleficarum, the notorious hammer of the witches, which described in lurid detail the tortures that could be used to obtain confessions from suspected witches

f mouth. those who could write, recorded their spells and rituals in 'books of shadows- so-called partly because of the secrecy required to write and protect them. these were usually buried or burned with the witch on her death, or on rare occasions were handed on to the eldest daughter. witchcraft in modern times by the late twentieth century in the usa, witchcraft had been recognised as a valid religion by the american supreme court and accepted by the american army, but other countries, including the uk, are not so tolerant. what is more, in many lands, especially among smaller communities, misunderstanding and prejudice still persist. in the uk, for example, wiccans who practise openly and have children are sometimes regarded with suspicion by some health professionals. my dear friend

urpose, it would be through those midland roots, which are connected to what is said to be the most ancient order of witches known. at the turn of the twentieth century, my father's family were canal people and my father grew up at a time when the boats were still a major form of transport for coal and iron. some of these midland canal people were known as 'water witches' because they practised a religion based on the sacredness of water and earth. their symbol was the six-spoked sun wheel, painted on their boats. this sign was once thought to be a ship's wheel, but this is improbable, since canal boats have large rudders. unlike the romany gypsies, the midland water witches were descended from the friesian seafarers of the netherlands and 1876 a book entitled oer linda was published, name

ABRAMELIN1

elebrated in the history of that stirring time. considering the era in which our author lived, and the nation to which he belonged, he appears to have been somewhat broad in his religious views; for not only does he insist that this sacred system of magic may be attained by any one, whether jew, christian, mahometan, or pagan, but he also continually warns lamech against the error of changing the religion in which one has been brought up; and he alleges this circumstance as the reason of the occasional failures of the magician joseph of paris (the only other person he mentions besides himself and abra-melin who was acquainted with this particular system of magic, namely that having been brought up a christian, he had renounced that faith and become a jew. at first sight it does not seem cl

ons besides himself and abra-melin who was acquainted with this particular system of magic, namely that having been brought up a christian, he had renounced that faith and become a jew. at first sight it does not seem clear from the occult point of view what particular occult disadvantage should be attached to such a line of action. but we must remember, that in his age, the conversion to another religion invariably meant an absolute, solemn and thorough renunciation and denial of any truth in the religion previously professed by the convert. herein would be the danger, because whatever the errors, corruption, or mistakes in any particular form of religion, all are based on and descended from the acknowledgment of supreme divine powers. therefore to deny any religion (instead of only abjur

rances to magical action, the very greatest and most fatal is unbelief, for it checks and stops the action of the will. even in the commonest natural operations we see this. no child could learn to walk, no student could assimilate the formulas of any science, were the impracticability and impossibility of so doing the first thing in his mind. wherefore it is that all adepts and great teachers of religion and of magic have invariably insisted on the necessity of faith. but though apparently more broad in view in admitting the excellence of every religion, unfortunately he shows the usual injustice to and jealousy of women which has distinguished men for so many ages, and which as far as i can see arises purely and simply from an innate consciousness that were women once admitted to compete

ter him i found no one who worked these things truly; and although joseph at paris walked in the same path, nevertheless god, as a just judge, did not in any way wish to grant unto him the sacred magic in its of abramelin the mage 17 entirety, because he had despised the christian law. for it is an indubitable and evident thing that he who is born christian, jew, pagan, turk, infidel, or whatever religion it may be, can arrive at the perfection of this work or art and become a master, but he who hath abandoned his natural law, and embraced another religion opposed to his own, can never arrive at the summit of this sacred science.29 the sacred magic 18 the seventh chapter. od, the father of mercy, having granted unto me the grace to return safe and sound into my country; i paid unto him acc

nths he hath read and re-read this book with care and attention, considering all points in detail; for i am more than sure that he will not encounter any doubtful matter which he will not be able to solve himself, but further day by day will he assume unto himself a great and ardent desire, pleasure, and will, to undertake this so glorious operation; the which can be effected by any person of any religion soever,66 provided, however, that during the six moons he bath not committed any sin against the law and commandments of god. now it remaineth unto me, o lamech, my son, to show unto thee the marks of my extreme paternal tenderness, by giving thee two principal pieces of advice, by the means of which, and observing all the other particulars which i shall describe, thou (and any person unt

ABRAMELIN2

e four princes,96 more than all the rest, will powerfully tempt you, saying unto you who is he who hath given thee so great authority? they will reproach you with your hardihood and presumption in summoning them, knowing how powerful they are, and contrariwise, how weak and sinful you yourself are. they will reproach you with your sins, and will especially seek to dispute with you concerning your religion and your faith in god: if you be a jew they will tell you that your faith and your religion have been refuted by god himself, and that you observe not the true law as it should be (observed: also if you be a pagan they will say, what hath god to do with you or his creatures either, seeing that you know not god? if you be a christian they will say unto you, what business is it of yours to

business to discuss these matters with you, and to deliver their opinions concerning them; and that although you may be a worthless wretch and a great sinner, you will yet hope that the true and only god, who hath created the heaven and the earth, and who hath condemned them97 and brought them into submission under your feet, will forgive you your sins, both now and in future, whatever may be the religion which you profess (further that) you wish to know, understand, confess, and honour no other than the great and only god, the lord of light, by whose power, virtue, and authority you command them to obey you. when you shall have spoken unto them thus, then will they sing another song, telling you that if you wish them to serve and to be obedient unto you, 7 the sacred magic 76 that you mus

here set down other values and symbols, but i have only given those which i have found the most necessary for a beginner, and partly also to avoid confusing you. and also it is not right that i who am only a mortal man should give further instructions hereon unto you who are about to have an angel for master and for guide. we have already said that providing he recogniseth a god, any man, of any religion soever, may arrive at the possession of this veritable wisdom and magic, if he employ right and proper ways and means. now i say further that unto whatever law133 he who operateth may pertain, he can observe the feasts, etc, thereof, provided that they hinder not the operation, with a firm and true conviction that he shall have from his angel greater lights as to the points the sacred mag

fundamental doctrine of the ancient egyptian magic, from which, be it well remembered, the hebrew qabalah has been derived. the esoteric buddhists divide the personality into seven principles, instead of the three given above. 128 i.e, the four cardinal points, 129 the bandages. 130 in the original ms, despersonnes religieuses. this expression would include monks, nuns, and also people bigoted in religion. 131 i.e, such evil magician. 132 serrures, which implies bolts as well as locks. 133 i.e, religious denomination. 134 here abraham the jew is evidently especially addressing himself to his son lamech. 135 these two symbols are probably those which are placed at the extreme end of the third book, ie, the magical squares with the names adam and uriel returned therein, and of which the squa

ADEPTUS MINOR INITIATION

after this, he traveled by sea to the city of fessa, where he was welcomed at the temple there established, and he there obtained the knowledge and the acquaintance of the habitants of the elements, who revealed unto him many of their secrets "of the fraternity he confessed that they had not retained their wisdom in its primal purity, and that their qabala was to a certain extent altered to their religion. nevertheless, he learned much there. after a stay of two years he came to spain, where he endeavored to reform the errors of the learned according to the pure knowledge he had received. but it was to them a laughing matter, and they reviled and rejected him, even as the prophets of old were rejected. thus also was he treated by those of his own and other nations when he showed them the e

ALEE J BOOK OF AIWASS

duce an offspring (creators, but they were infants at one time (created. what i'm suggesting is this; something similar occurs on a spiritual level. ducks give birth to ducklings. gods give birth to godlings (humans. evolution occurs, growth occurs and the cycle continues. humans will eventually evolve to a plane of consciousness where this process is recognized and understood. when this happens, religion as we know it will die because faith succumbs to apprehension. sleepers and such recently, an email list subscriber queried "i know that with reincarnation we tend to forget our past incarnations and that there are daemons who sometimes forget it until something triggers it. i was wondering if there is a ritual or something one can do to find out if they are a reincarnated daemon" the dae

ALEISTER CROWLEY EIGHT LECTURES ON YOGA

lebrate. yoga, in short, may be translated 'tea fight' which doubtless accounts for the fact that all the students of yoga in england do nothing but gossip over endless libations of lyons' 1s. 2d (4) yoga means union. in what sense are we to consider this? how is the word yoga to imply a system of religious training or a description of religious experience? you may note incidentally that the word religion is really identifiable with yoga. it means a binding together (5) yoga means union. what are the elements which are united or to be united when this word is used in its common sense of a practice widely spread in hindustan whose object is the emancipation of the individual who studies and practises it from the less pleasing features of his life on this planet? i say hindustan, but i reall

o find anyone who has any ideas at all on the subject of liberty. because the law of thelema is the law of liberty, everybody's particular hair stands on end like the quills of the fretful porpentine; they scream like an uprooted mandrake, and flee in terror from the accursed spot. because: the exercise of liberty means that you have to think for yourself, and the natural inertia of mankind wants religion and ethics ready-made. however ridiculous or shameful a theory or practice is, they would rather comply than examine it. sometimes it is hook-swinging or sati; sometimes consubstantiation or supra-lapsarianism; they do not mind what they are brought up in, as long as they are well brought up. they do not want to be bothered about it. the old school tie wins through. they never suspect the

ever all its possibilities of mischief. our task being thus perfectly simple, we shall not require the assistance of a lot of lousy rishis and sanyasis. we shall not apply to a crowd of moth-eaten arahats, of betel-chewing bodhisattvas, for instruction. as we said in the first volume of 'the equinox, in the first number 'we place no reliance on virgin or pigeon; our method is science, our aim is religion' our common sense, guided by experience based on observation, will be sufficient. 2. we have seen that the yogic process is implicit in every phenomenon of existence. all that we have to do is to extend it consciously to the process of thought. we have seen that thought cannot exist without continual change; all that we have to do is to prevent change occurring. all change is conditioned

is the ecstasy which is the natural result of the consciousness of their annihilation, the necessary condition of the production of their offspring. 5. it would be easy to develop this thesis by analogies drawn from ordinary human experiences of the growth of passion, the hunger accompanying it, the intense relief and joy afforded by satisfaction. i like rather to think of the fact that all true religion has been the artistic, the dramatic, representation of the sexual process, not merely because of the usefulness of this cult in tribal life, but as the veil of this truer meaning which i am explaining to you tonight. i think that every experience in life should be regarded as a symbol of the truer experience of the deeper life. in the oath of a master of the temple occurs the clause 'i wi

ly important, has yet been one of the greatest influences in the development of europe. it has not always worked perfectly, but that has not been the fault of the system; and, even as it is, its record has been extraordinary. and one of the most remarkable things about it is that its greatest and most important achievements have been in the domain of science and philosophy. it has done nothing in religion; or, rather, where it has meddled with religion it has only done harm. what a mistake! and why? for the simple reason that it was in a position to take no notice of religion; all these matters were decided for it by the pope, or by the councils of the church, and the society was therefore able to free itself from the perplexities of religion, in exactly the same way as the novice obtains

ALEISTER CROWLEY ABSINTHE THE GREEN GODDESS

ance of the divine nature. he does not understand that the universe has only one possible purpose; that, the business of life being happily completed by the production of the necessities and luxuries incidental to comfort, the residuum of human energy needs an outlet. the surplus of will must find issue in the elevation of the individual towards the godhead; and the method of such elevation is by religion, love, and art. these three things are indissolubly bound up with wine, for they are species of intoxication. yet against all these things we find the prohibitionist, logically enough. it is true that he usually pretends to admit religion as a proper pursuit for humanity; but what a religion! he has removed from it every element of ecstasy or even of devotion; in his hands it has become c

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

ver be long out of print, or out of newspapers. for he believed himself to be the incarnation of a god, an ancient one, the vehicle of a new age of man's history, the aeon of horus, displacing the old age of osiris. in 1904, he had received a message, from what lovecraft might have called "out of space, that contained the formula for a new world order, a new system of philosophy, science, art and religion, but this new order had to begin with the fundamental part, and common denominator, of all four: magick. in 1937, the year lovecraft dies, the nazis banned the occult lodges of germany, notable among them two organisations which crowley had supervised: the a\ a\ and the o.t.o, the latter of which he was elected head in england, and the former which he founded himself. there are those who

but admiration for the shaitan (satan) of the so-called "devil-worshipping" cult of the yezidis of mesopotamia, knowledge of which led him to declare the lines that open this introduction. for he saw that the yezidis possess a great secret and a great tradition that extends far back into time, beyond the origin of the sun cults of osiris, mithra and christ; even before the formation of the judaic religion, and the hebrew tongue. crowley harkened back to a time before the moon was worshipped, to the "shadow out of time; and in this, whether he realised it as such or not, he had heard the "call of cthulhu. sumeria that a reclusive author of short stories who lived in a quiet neighbourhood in new england, and the manic, infamous master magician who called the world his home, should have someh

of the sumerians; and language which has been closely allied to that of the aryan race, having in fact many words identical to that of sanskrit (and, it is said, to chinese. for no one knows where the sumerians came from, and they vanished just as mysteriously as they appeared, after the assyrian invasions which decimated their culture, yet providing the assyrians with much of their mythology and religion; so much so that sumerian became the official language of the state church, much as latin is today of the roman catholic church. they had a list of their kings before the flood, which even they carefully chronicled, as did many another ancient civilisation around the world. it is believed that they had a sophisticated system of astronomy (and astrology) as well as an equally religious rit

ddess of the abyss, queen ereshkigal (possibly another name for tiamat. interestingly enough, the myth has many parallels with the christian concept of christ's death and resurrection, among which the crucifixion (inanna was impaled on a stake as a corpse, the three days in the sumerian hades, and the eventual resurrection are outstanding examples of how sumerian mythology previewed the christian religion by perhaps as many as three thousand years- a fact that beautifully illustrates the cosmic and eternal nature of this myth. therefore, the goddess of the witches has two distinct forms: the ancient one, goddess of the dragon-like telluric power which is raised in magickal rituals, and the elder goddess, defeater of death, who brings the promise of resurrection and rejuvenation to her foll

istorians concerning the ancient mysteries! probable the most inconsistent concept the sumerians possesses with reference to the craft is the naming of the goddess as a deity, not of the moon (as the craft would have it, but of the planet venus. the moon was governed by a male divinity, nanna (like inanna but minus the initial 'i, and was considered the father of the gods by the earliest sumerian religion. it should be noted, however, that all of the planetary deities, termed "the zoned ones" or zonei in greek, and indeed all of the sumerian deities, had both male and female manifestations, showing that the sumerians definitely recognised a yin-yang composition if the universe (the "male moon" idea is, the editor is given to understand, common to so-called aryan mythologies. there is also

ALEISTER CROWLEY LIBER 777

bika.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 learnt to combine these ideas, not in the m

k! was sternly answered, when you have given us this day our daily knowledge-lecture. under these circumstances daath got mixed with dewar, and beelzebub with buchanan. but even the best of these systems is excessively bulky; modern methods have enabled us to concentrate the substance of twenty thousand pages in two score. the best of the serious attempts to systematise the results of comparative religion is that made by blavatsky. but though she had an immense genius for acquiring facts, she had none whatever for sorting and selecting the essentials. grant allen made a very slipshod experiment in this line; so have some of the polemical rationalists; but the only man worthy of our notice is frazer of the golden bough. here again, there is no tabulation; for us it is left to sacrifice lite

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

tues in which he is deficient, and this task he must of course accomplish without in any way impairing his virility. it will then be lawful for a magician to invoke isis, and identify himself with her; if he fail to do this, his apprehension of the universe when he attains samadhi will lack the conception of maternity. the result will be a metaphysical and- by corollary- ethical limitation in the religion which he founds. judaism and islam are striking example of this failure. to take another example, the ascetic life which devotion to 11 magick so often involves argues a poverty of nature, a narrowness, a lack of generosity. nature is infinitely prodigal- not one in a million seeds ever comes to fruition. whoso fails to recognise this, let him invoke jupiter<
ght of his divinity. the "third method is the dramatic" perhaps the most attractive of all; certainly it is so to the artist's temperament, for it appeals to his imagination through his aesthetic sense. its disadvantage lies principally in the difficulty of its performance by a single person. but it has the sanction of the highest antiquity, and is probably the most useful for the foundation of a religion. it is the method of catholic christianity, and consists in the dramatization of the legend of the god. the bacchae of euripides is a magnificent example of such a ritual; so also, through in a less degree, is the mass. we may also mention many of the degrees in freemasonry, particularly the third. the 5 degree= 6square ritual published in no. iii of the equinox is another example. in the

is wrong to say triumphantly "mors janua vitae, unless you add, with equal triumph "vita janua mortis. to one who understands this chain of the aeons from the point of view alike of the sorrowing isis and of the triumphant osiris, not forgetting their link in the destroyer apophis, there remains no secret veiled in nature. he cries that name of god which throughout history has been echoed by one religion to another, the infinite swelling paean i.a.o<beast and with his number 666, so that he who invokes the former invokes also the latter. also with aiwaz and the number 93. see chapter v> 15 chapter ii the formulae of the elemental weapons. before discussing magical formulae in detail, one may observe that most rituals are comp

so "the book of the spirit of the living gods- where there is a ritual given "in extenso" on slightly different lines: equinox i, iii, pages 269-272. there is an etymological identity between tetragrammaton and "i a o, but the magical formulae are entirely different, as the descriptions here given have schewn. professor william james, in his "varieties of religious experience" has well classified religion as the "once-born" and the "twice-born; but the religion now proclaimed in liber legis harmonizes these by transcending them. there is no attempt to get rid of death by denying it, as among the once-born; nor to accept death as the gate of a new life, as among the twice-born. with the a. a. life and death are equally incidents in a career, very much like day and night in the history of a

as the "king's son" or knight-errant, he must win the princess, and set himself upon a strange throne. almost all the legends of heroes imply this formula in strikingly similar symbols. digamma. vau the sun- son. he is supposed to be mortal; but how is this shewn? it seems an absolute perversion of truth: the sacred symbols have no hint of it. this lie is the essence of the great sorcery. osirian religion is a freudian phantasy fashioned of man's dread of death and ignorance of nature. the parthenogenesis-idea 34 persists, but is now the formula for incarnating demi-gods, or divine kings; these must be slain and raised from the dead in one way or another<
ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS

ng of the meaning of the term "magick. many attempts have been made to define it, but perhaps the best for our present purpose of historical-ideological exposition will be this- magick is the science of the incommensurables. this is one of the many restricted uses of the word; one suited to the present purpose. it is particularly to be noted that magick, so often mixed up in the popular idea of a religion, has nothing to do with it. it is, in fact, magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 80 the exact opposite of religion; it is, even more than physical science, its irreconcilable enemy. let us define this difference clearly. magick investigates the laws of nature with the idea of making use of them. it only differs from "profane" science by always keeping ahead of it. a

irreconcilable enemy. let us define this difference clearly. magick investigates the laws of nature with the idea of making use of them. it only differs from "profane" science by always keeping ahead of it. as fraser29 has shown, magick is science in the tentative stage; but it may be, and often is, more than this. it is science which, for one reason or another, cannot be declared to the profane. religion, on the contrary, seeks to ignore the laws of nature, or to escape them by appeal to a postulated power which is assumed to have laid them down. the religious man is, as such, incapable of understanding what the laws of nature really are (they are generalizations from the order of observed fact) the history of magick has never been seriously attempted. for one reason, only initiates pledg

shed which is the work of an initiate. all existing translations have been garbled by people who simply failed to understand the text. an approximately perfect rendering is indeed available, but so far it exists only in manuscript. one object of this letter is to create sufficient public interest to make this work, and others of equal value available to the public. 48 it is impossible to find any religion which adequately represents the thought of this masterpiece. not only is religion as such repugnant to science and philosophy, but from the very nature of the tenets of the yellow school, its adherents are not going to put themselves to any inconvenience for the enlightenment of a lot of people whom they consider to be hopeless fools. at the same time, the theory of religion, as such, bei

masterpiece. not only is religion as such repugnant to science and philosophy, but from the very nature of the tenets of the yellow school, its adherents are not going to put themselves to any inconvenience for the enlightenment of a lot of people whom they consider to be hopeless fools. at the same time, the theory of religion, as such, being a tissue of falsehood, the only real strength of any religion is derived from its pilferings of magical doctrine; and, religious persons being by definition entirely unscrupulous, it follows that any given religion is likely to contain scraps of magical doctrine, filched more or less haphazard from one school or the other as occasion serves. let the reader, therefore, beware most seriously of trying to get a grasp of this subject by means of siren a

th unavoidable and a crime. i must digress to explain that the confusion of thought in this doctrine is constantly recurrent. that is part of the blackness of the ignorance which they confess to be the foundation of their universe (and after all, everyone has surely the right to have his own universe the way he wants it) this school being debased by nature, is not so far removed from conventional religion as either the white or the yellow. most primitive fetishistic religions may, in fact, be considered fairly faithful representatives of this philosophy. where animism holds sway, the "medicine-man" personifies this universal evil, and seeks to propitiate it by human sacrifice. the early forms of judaism, and that type of christianity which we associate with the salvation army, billy sunday

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

ery man is a condemned criminal, only he does not know the date of his execution. this is unpleasant for every man. consequently every man does everything possible to postpone the date, and would sacrifice anything that he has if he could reverse the sentence. practically all religions and all philosophies have started thus crudely, by promising their adherents some such reward as immortality. no religion has failed hitherto by not promising enough; the present breaking up of all religions is due to the fact that people have asked to see the securities. men have even renounced the important material advantages which a well-organized religion may confer upon a state, rather than acquiesce in fraud or falsehood, or even in any system which, if not proved guilty, is at least unable to demonst

gin by doubting every statement. let us find a way of subjecting every statement to the test of experiment. is there any truth at all in the claims of various religions? let us examine the question. our original difficulty will be due to the enormous wealth of our material. to enter into a critical examination of all systems would be an unending task; the cloud of witnesses is too great. now each religion is equally positive; and each demands faith. this we refuse in the absence of positive proof. but we may usefully inquire whether there is not any one thing upon which all religions have agreed: for, if so, it seems possible that it may be worthy of really thorough consideration. it is certainly not to be found in dogma. even so simple an idea as that of a supreme and eternal being is den

ppened in his mind. more ignorant than anna kingsford, though, fortunately, more moral, he connected it with the story of the "annunciation" which he had undoubtedly heard in his boyhood, and said "gabriel appeared to me" but in spite of his ignorance, his total misconception of the truth, the power of the vision was such that he was enabled to persist through the usual persecution, and founded a religion to which even to-day one man in every eight belongs. the history of christianity shows precisely the same remarkable fact. jesus christ was brought up on the fables of the "old testament" and so was compelled to ascribe his experiences to "jehovah" although his gentle spirit could have had nothing in common with the monster who was always commanding the rape of virgins and the murder of l

e possibilities of poetry to declare what is demonstrably untrue. for example, we find in the shiva sanhita that "he who daily contemplates on this lotus of the heart is eagerly desired by the daughters of gods, has clairaudience, clairvoyance, and can walk in the air" another person "can make gold, discover medicine for disease, and see hidden treasures" all this is filth. what is the curse upon religion that its tenets must always be associated with every kind of extravagance and falsehood? there is one exception; it is the a'.a, whose members are extremely careful to make no statement at all that cannot be verified in the usual manner; or where this is not easy, at least avoid anything like a dogmatic statement. in their second book of practical instruction, liber o, occur these words "

ibed not only by the hindus and buddhists, but by mohammedans and christians. in christian writings, however, the deeply-seated dogmatic bias has rendered their documents worthless to the average man. they ignore the essential conditions of dhyana, and insist on the inessential, to a much greater extent than the best indian writers. but to any one with experience and some knowledge of comparative religion the identity is certain. we may now proceed to samadhi. 37 chapter vii samadhi more rubbish has been written about samadhi than enough; we must endeavour to avoid adding to the heap. even patanjali, who is extraordinarily clear and practical in most things, begins to rave when he talks of it. even if what he said were true he should not have mentioned it; because it does not sound true, a

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE BANNED LECTURE

of arc was accepted in england as a symbol for everything vile. he makes her out not only as a sorceress, but a charlatan and hypocrite; and on tope of that a coward, a liar, and a common slut. i suspect that they began to whitwash here when they decided that she was a virgin, that is a sexually deranged, or at least incomplete, animal, but the idea has always got people going, as any student of religion knows. anyway, her stock went up to the point of canonisation. gilles de rais, on the other hand, is equally a household work for monstrous vices and crimes. so much so, that his is even confused with the fabulous figure of bluebeard, of whom, even were he real, we know nothing much beyond that he reacted in the most manly way to the problem of domestic infelicity. a moment s digression;

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE LAW OF LIBERTY

hen, where, and with whom ye will! but always unto me" this is the only point to bear in mind, that every act must the law of liberty get any book for free on: www.abika.com 3 be a ritual, an act of workship, a sacrament. live as the kings and princes, crowned and uncrowned, of this world, have always lived, as masters always live; but let it not be self-indulgence; make your self-indulgence your religion. when you drink and dance and take delight, you are not being "immoral" you are not "risking your immortal soul; you are fulfilling the precepts of our holy religion- provided only that you remember to regard your actions in this light. do not lower yourself and destroy and cheapen your pleasure by leaving out the supreme joy, the consciousness of the peace that passeth understanding. do

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE LOST CONTINENT

which no refined inhabitant could consider a sentence complete. he would introduce them into a discussion on the most material subjects "the immoral snub-nose "the unprogressive teeth "lascivious music "reactionary eyebrows--such were phrases familiar to all "to eat again, to sleep again, to work again, to find the light--that is liberty, that is progress" was a proverb common in every mouth. the religion of the people was protestant christianity in all essentials, but with an even closer dependence upon god. they asserted its formulae, without attaching any meaning to the words, in a manner both reverent and passionate. sexual life was entirely forbidden to the workers, a single breach implying relegation to the phosphorus works. in every field was, however, an enormous tablet of rock, ca

the same by their example. the education of the children was another important matter in which their ideas were wholly opposed to our own. it ceased altogether at the age of puberty, which was sometimes as early as six, never later than fourteen. were it so delayed, the delinquent was crowned in mockery with a square black cap, sometimes tasselated, and sent among the serviles to instruct them in religion and similar branches of learning, and never permitted to return to atlas. the ignorance and superstition of the plains was thus kept at a proper height. the method of education was indeed singular. certain atlanteans who made it their study would place the various articles in the hands of the infants, and observe what use they made of them. in the course of a few months the experts had ac

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

rophant and high priestess( vau and gimel, else it would be difficult to understand the next verse. the new comment the definition of "infinite space" offered in the comment on verse 13 is useful here. my work is in great part to insist upon the infinite possibilities of human development. man has too slavishly acquiesced in his limitations. science itself has shewn itself almost as intolerant as religion toward certain lines of research. indeed, every element of society has added its energy to the opposition which bars each pioneer with undiscriminating stupidity. darwin, pasteur, lister, and jenner met with the same ferocious cowardice as shelly and luther; they were assailed on every ground from religion and morality upwards; every falsehood that malice could invent was circulated about

gross animal gesture which shames his boasted humanity. the appetite drags him at its hoofs; it tires him, disgusts him, diseases him, makes him ridiculous even in his own eyes. it is the source of nearly all his neuroses. against this monster he has devised two protections. firstly, he pretends that it is a fairy prince disguised, and hangs it with the rags and tinsel of romance, sentiment, and religion. he calls it love, denies its strength and truth, and worships this wax figure of him with all sorts of amiable lyrics and leers. secondly, he is so certain, despite all his theatrical-wardrobe-work, that it is a devouring monster, that he resents with insane ferocity the existence of people who laugh at his fears, and tell him that the monster he fears is in reality not a fire-breathing

of the strong room of the future "this (doctrine) shall regenerate the world, the little world, my sister" the misunderstanding of sex, the ignorant fear like a fog, the ignorant lust like a miasma, these things have done more to keep back humanity from realization of itself, and from intelligent cooperation with its destiny, than any other dozen things put together. the vileness and falseness or religion itself have been the monsters aborted from the dark womb of its infernal mystery. there is nothing unclean or degrading in any manifestation soever of the sexual instinct, because, without exception, every act is an impulsively projected image of the will of the individual who, whether man or woman, is a star; the pennsylvanian with his pig no less than the spirit with mary; sappho with a

the direct result of mismanaging the sexual life, either tactically, strategically, or both. the book of the law emphasizes the importance of these considerations. the act of love must be spontaneous, in absolute freedom. the man must be true to himself. romeo must not be thrust on rosaline for family, social, or financial reasons. desdemona must not be barred from othello for reasons of race or religion. the homosexual must not blaspheme his nature and commit spiritual suicide by suppressing love or attempting to pervert it, as ignorance and fear, shame and weakness, so often induce him to do. whatever the act which expresses the soul, that act and no other is right. but, on the other hand, whatever the act may be it is always a sacrament; and, however profaned, it is always efficient. t

temple upon them. the chance of finding a suitable object of love has been reduced well nigh to zero by substituting for the actual conditions, as stated in the above paragraphs, a totally artificial and irrelevant series; the restrictions on the act itself, marriage, opinion, the conspiracy of silence, criminal laws, financial fetters, selections limited by questions of race, nationality, caste, religion, social and political cliqueishness, even family exclusiveness. out of the millions of humanity the average person is lucky if he can take his pick of a couple of score of partners. i will here add one further pillar to my temple. it happens only too often that two people, absolutely fitted in every way to love each other, are totally debarred from expressing themselves by sheer ignorance

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

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

ed by its inherent impossibility. our credulity is outraged, our moral sense shocked, the holiest foundations of our inmost selves assailed by no ardent warrior in triple steel, but by a loathy and disgusting worm. that this is so, the apologists for the religion in question, whichever it may be, sufficiently indicate (as a rule) by the very method of their apology. the alternative is to take the religion symbolically, esoterically; but to move one step in this direction is to start on a journey whose end cannot be determined. the religion, ceasing to be a tangible thing, an object uniform for all sane eyes, becomes rather that mist whereon the sun of the soul casts up, like brocken spectres, certain vast and vague images of the beholder himself, with or without a glory encompassing them

plainest words mean whatever a pious interpreter desires they should mean (huxley, evolution of theology. a.c. introduction 3 if the student has advanced spiritually so that he can internally, infallibly perceive what is truth, he will find it equally well symbolised in most external faiths. it is curious that browning never turns his wonderful faculty of analysis upon the fundamental problems of religion, as it were an axe laid to the root of the tree of life. it seems quite clear that he knew what would result if he did so. we cannot help fancying that he was unwilling to do this. the proof of his knowledge i find in the following lines: i have read much, thought much, experienced much, yet would rather die than avow my fear the naples liquefaction may be false. i hear you recommend, i m

nay! even in the moral beauty of the words, may fail to be impressed by their most important meaning. shelley himself recognised this later: hence the direct and simple vigour of the masque of anarchy. it has often puzzled atheists that a man of milton s genius could have written as he did of christianity. but we must not forget that milton lived immediately after the most important revolution in religion and politics of modern times: shelley on the brink of such another political upheaval. shakespeare alone sat enthroned above it all like a god, and is not lost in the mire of controversy* this, also, though i m no shakespeare, as too probable, i have endeavoured to avoid: yet i cannot but express the hope that my own enquiries into religion may be the reflection of the spirit of the age;

hate-wrinkled: 75 so, using little arms, earn one day better ones; cutting the small chains,24 learn soon to unfetter one s limbs from the large ones, walk forth and be free! so much for browning! and so much for me! pray do not ask me where i stand! 80 who asks, doth err. 25 at least demand no folly such as answer means! but if (you26 say) your spirit weans itself of milk-and-water pap, and one religion as another 85 o erleaps itself and falls on the other;27 you ll tell me why at least, mayhap, our christianity excites especially such petty spites as these you strew throughout your verse. 90 the chance of birth! i choose to curse (writing in english28) just the yoke of faith that tortures english folk. i cannot write29 a poem yet to please the people in tibet; 95 but when i can, christ

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

er are published three little books; the first an account of their character and purpose, restored from the writings of von eckartshausen; the second an ethical essay restored from the cipher mss. of the g. d (of which mss. a complete account will later be given; these two books chiefly for the benefit of those who will understand wrongly or not at all the motto "the method of science- the aim of religion" in which (if rightly interpreted) all is expressed; the third a series of scientific experiments, designed to instruct beginners in the groundwork of scientific illuminism, 2 and to prevent them from falling into the self-deception which pride always prepares for the unwary. from time to time further knowledge will be published, as fast as the diligence of the persons employed to write i

tion those who are able to receive light, and such persons are employed as agents to spread the light according to man's capacity and to revivify the dead letter. through these instruments the interior truths of the sanctuary were taken into every nation, and modified symbolically according to their customs, capacity for instruction, climate, and receptiveness. so that the external types of every religion, worship, ceremonies and sacred books in general have more or less clearly, as their object of instruction, the interior truths of the sanctuary, by which man will be conducted to the universal knowledge of the one absolute truth. the more the external worship of a people has remained united with the spirit of esoteric truth, the purer its religion; but the wider the difference between th

learly, as their object of instruction, the interior truths of the sanctuary, by which man will be conducted to the universal knowledge of the one absolute truth. the more the external worship of a people has remained united with the spirit of esoteric truth, the purer its religion; but the wider the difference between the symbolic letter and the invisible truth, the more imperfect has become the religion. 9 finally, it may be, the external form has entirely parted from its inner truth, so that ceremonial observances without soul or life have remained alone. in the midst of all this, truth reposes inviolable in the inner sanctuary. faithful to the spirit of truth, the members of the interior order live in silence, but in real activity. yet, besides their secret holy work, they have from ti

u debase the spirits of living fire to serve thy wrath and hatred? wouldst thou violate the purity of the souls of the waters to pander to thy lust of debauchery? wouldst thou force the spirits of the evening breeze to minister to thy folly and caprice? know that with such desires thou canst but attract the weak, not the strong, and in that case the weak will have power over thee. 21. in the true religion there is no sect, therefore take heed 20 that thou blaspheme not the name by which another knoweth his god; for if thou do this thing in jupiter thou wilt blaspheme hb:heh hb:vau hb:heh hb:yod and in osiris hb:heh hb:vau hb:shin hb:heh hb:yod. ask and ye shall have! seek, and ye shall find! knock, and it shall be opened unto you! 21 liber e. vel exercitiorvm svb figvra ix 23 a. a. publica

cle of good customers. he taught me every part of his craft as he had learnt it; and, in the next five or six years, imbued me with his own wish to do each piece of work as perfectly as possible. but this period of imitation did not last long. before i reached manhood, i began to draw apart from my father, to live my own life and to show a love of reading and thinking foreign to his habit. it was religion which separated us. at school i had learnt some french and german, and in both languages i came across sceptical opinions which slowly grew in my mind, and in time led me to discard and almost to dislike the religion of my father. i mention this simply because any little originality in me seemed to spring from this inquiry and from the mental struggle that convulsed three or four years of

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

tower of effulgence, whose foundations are set in the hearts of me, yea! as a mountain of chrysoleth slumbering in the crown of glory! whose summit is god! 229 [book ii "the scaffolding" will appear in no. 2] f_ the star in the west by captain j. f. c. fuller "fourth large edition now in preparation" through the equinox and all booksellers six shillings net- a highly original study of morals and religion by a new writer, who is as entertaining as the average novelist is dull. nowadays human thought has taken a brighter place in the creation: our emotions are weary of bad baronets and stolen wills; they are now only excited by spiritual crises, catastrophes of the reason, triumphs of the intelligence. in these fields captain fuller is a master dramatist "this page is reserved for official

d work with his neophyte, or alone. breach of this rule may prove a bar to advancement. the equinox "the editor will be glad to consider "contributions and to return such as "are unacceptable if stamps are enclosed" for the purpose" the equinox the official organ of the a. a. the review of scientific illuminism an. vii vol. i. no. v. sun in aries march mcmxi o.s "the method of science--the aim of religion" contents page editorial 1 liber hhh 5 the blind prophet. by aleister crowley 15 the training of the mind. by ananda metteya 28 the sabbath. by ethel ramsay 60 the temple of solomon the king 65 a nocturne. by victor b. neuburg 121 the vixen. by francis bendick 125 the pilgrim. by aleister crowley 130 my crapulous contemporaries, no. iv- wisdom while you waite. by aleister crowley 133 x-ra

d bowers of the lord of the flowers! hush! hush! the young feet flush the marble. the temple's ablaze and ablush. hush! hush! softer crush the grape on the palate, the bloom on the blossom, the dream on the sleeper, the bride on the blosom "the queen of the dancers, in her prime pose (spoken without inflection or emphasis" now do you understand the tragedy of life? 27 the training of the mind the religion of the buddhas is, in the most eminent sense of the word, a practical philosophy. it is not a collection of dogmas which are to be accepted and believed with an unquestioning and unintelligent faith: but a series of statements and propositions which, in the first place, are to be intellectually grasped and comprehended; in the second, to be applied to every action of our daily lives, to b

gmas which are to be accepted and believed with an unquestioning and unintelligent faith: but a series of statements and propositions which, in the first place, are to be intellectually grasped and comprehended; in the second, to be applied to every action of our daily lives, to be practised, to be lived, up to the fullest extent of our powers. this fact of the essentially practical nature of our religion is again and again insisted upon in the holy books. though one man should know by heart a thousand stanzas of the law, and not practise it, he has not understood the dhamma. that man who knows and "practises" one stanza of the law, he has understood the dhamma, he is the true follower of the buddha. it is the practice of the dhamma that constitutes the true buddhist, not the mere knowledg

, by dint of meditation, of such qualities as are opposed to the evil tendencies we desire to eliminate; and in the central and practical feature of the instance adduced, the practice of definite meditation or mental concentration upon the good sankh ras, we have the key to the entire system of the purification and culture of the mind, which constitutes the practical working basis of the buddhist religion. if we consider the action of a great and complex engine- such a machine as drives a steamship through the water- we will see that there is, first and foremost, one central and all-operationg source of energy; in this case the steam which is generated in the boilers. this energy in itself is neither 1 sila must then be defined as the discipline essential to mental concentration, and this

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

y in all the shrines, and the true i in all the parts of the body and the soul. he speaks with such a terrible roaring that it is impossible to hear the words; one catches a a phrase here and there, or a glimpse of the idea. with every word he belches forth smoke, so that the whole aethyr becomes full of it. and now i hear the angel: every particle of matter that forms the smoke of my breath is a religion that hath flourished among the inhabitants of the worlds. thus are they all whirled forth in my breath. now he is giving a demonstration of this operation. and he says: know thou that all the religions of all the worlds end herein, but they are only the smoke of my breath, and i am only the head of the great dragon that eateth up the universe; 130 without whom the fifth aethyr would be pe

erpent, and not of eve and adam; and therefore when he had slain his brother, who was the first murderer, having sacrificed living things to his demon, had cain the mark upon his brow, which is the mark of the beast spoken of in the apocalypse, and is the sign of initiation. 148 the shedding of blood is necessary, for god did not hear the children of eve until blood was shed. and that is external religion; but cain spake not with god, nor had the mark of initiation upon his brow, so that he was shunned by all men, until he had shed blood. and this blood was the blood of his brother. this is a mystery of the sixth key of the taro, which ought not to be called the lovers, but the brothers. in the middle of the card stands cain; in his right hand is the hammer of thor with which he hath slain

&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 symbolism of as many religious and magic

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 1 2

as rising at midnight, and saying,"i will go out and sleep in the sun. but i am an irishman, and if you offer me a donkey-ride at a shilling the first hour and sixpence the second, you must not be surprised at the shrewd silliness of my replying that i will take the second hour first. but that is always the way; the love of besting our dearest friends in a bargain is native to us: and so, even in religion, when we are dealing with our own souls, we try to cheat. i go out to cut an almond rod at midnight, and, finding it inconvenient, i "magically affirm" that ash is almond and that seven o'clock is twelve. it seems a pity to have become a magician, capable of forcing nature to accommodate herself to your statements, for no better use to be made of the power than this! miracles are only leg

s it. if a chemist wants to prepare copper sulphate from its oxide, he does not hesitate on the ground that sulphuric acid, thrown in the eyes, hurts people. so i use the moral drug which will produce the desired result, whether that drug be what people commonly call poison or no. in short, i act like a sensible man; and i think i deserve every credit for introducing this completely new idea into religion. 12.25. that function of my brain which says "you ought to be willing adonai" sometimes acts. but i am willing him! it is so active because all this week it has been working hard, and doesn't realise that its work is done. just as a retired grocer wakes up and thinks "i must go and open the shop. in hindu phrase, the thought-stuff, painfully forced all these days into one channel, has acq

soul, being, knowledge, bliss. but the main consideration was one of expediency. 118 has not john st. john possibly been stuffing himself both with methods and results? certainly this morning was more like the engorgement of the stomach with too much food than like the headache after a bout of drunkenness. a less grave fault, by far; it is easy and absurd to get a kind of hysterical ecstasy over religion, love, or wine. a german will take off his hat and dance and jodel to the sunrise and nothing comes of it! darwin studies nature with more reverence and enthusiasm, but without antics and out comes the law of evolution. so it is written "by their fruits ye shall know them. but about this question of spiritual overfeeding what did darwin do when he got to the stage (as he did, be sure!

is impurity. a bee's swarm is evil inside one's clothes."dirt is matter in the wrong place. it is dirt to connect sex with statuary, morals with art. only adonai, who is in a sense the true meaning of everything, cannot defile any idea. this is a hard saying, though true, for nothing of course is dirtier than to try and use adonai as a fig- leaf for one's shame. to seduce women under pretence of religion is unutterable 127 foulness; though both adultery and religion are themselves clean. to mix jam and mustard is a messy mistake. 2.5. it also struck me that this operation is (among other things) an attempt to prove the proposition: reward is the direct and immediate consequence of work. of all the holy illuminated men of god of my acquaintance, i am the only one that holds this opinion. b

ndon's favourites almost unrivalled to express by her art the delights of the body with a pagan simplicity and directness. now she sends us a book,'amphora, a volume of religious verse: it contains song after song in praise of mary, etc. etc. etc. the "scotsman" says:"outside the latin church conflicting views are held about the worship of the virgin, but there can be no doubt that this motive of religion has given birth to many beautiful pieces of literature, and the poets have never tired of singing variations on the theme of 'hail, mary. this little book is best described here as a collection of such variations. they are written with an engaging simplicity and fervour of feeling, and with a graceful, refined literary art that cannot but interest and attract many readers beyond the circl

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a mountain torrent cutting its own course amongst the hills and rushing on wildly yet wisely to the sea. no doubt, from the point of view of a sanitary engineer, the drain is more useful, more rational, altogether more proper than the wayward stream. but it is the rigid utilitarianism of this bread-and-water morality, this one-shirt-a- week thrift, this skimmed-milk philosophy this cake-on-sunday religion, and all the other halfpenny economies of a gluttonous mediocrity, that must be trampled under foot as if they were the very cockroaches of hell, before freedom of even a protoplasmic kind can be brought to life. better be a savage, a one-legged hottentot, better be anything than a civilized eunuch, a crape-capped "widder" in upper tooting lamenting her "demised husband" whilst she counts

m. then youth came, and with it god's name had grown to be a curse, and the form of jesus stood forth in the gloom of golgotha, a chill and hideous horror which vampire-like had sucked dry the joy of his boyhood; when suddenly one summer night he broke away from the ghouls that had tormented him, casting aside the sordid conventions of life, defying the laws of his 231 land, doubting the decaying religion of his childhood, he snapped, like rotten twigs, the worm-eaten conventionalities of the effete and hypocritical civilisation in which he had been nurtured, and sought refuge for a space in the wild and beautiful country which lies tangled like a head of tumbled hair to the north and north-west of england. here he learnt from the whispering winds and the dreamy stars that life was not alt

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ter having for a hundred years lost his way in "the night of hume's ignorance" has at length fallen victim to his own verbosity, and has indeed sadly scorched "his fundamental basis? the literary guide and rationalist review, 1908-9. monthly, 2"d. of all the lame ducks that crow upon their middens under the impression that they are reincarnations of sir francis drake, i suppose that the origin-of-religion lunatics are the silliest. 386 listen to charles callow-hay on stonehenge! here's logic for you "stonehenge is built in the form of a circle "the sun appears to go round the earth in a circle" argal "stonehenge is a solar temple" or, for the minor premiss "eggs are round" argal "stonehenge was dedicated to eugenics" listen to johnny bobson on cleopatra's needle "the needle is square in se

psychology proper, 391) and psycho-physiology; while for the physio-psychologist it is important to assimilate and co-ordinate the data of epistemology and embryology with those of ontogeny and phylogeny, for the psycho- physiologist it is sufficient to rest in that monistic autokineticism which is only distinguishable from blank atheism by its hellenistic-teutonic terminology. j. mcc. is a world-religion possible? by david balsillie, m.a. francis griffiths, 4"s. net. mr. balsillie does not seem to realise the immensity of his subject. i remember once at school, in a general knowledge paper, being asked to give "a short account of the equator" frankly, i funked the task, but another spirit, more bold, stated that it was nicknamed "the line" and sailors play jokes in crossing it! that is ju

r once at school, in a general knowledge paper, being asked to give "a short account of the equator" frankly, i funked the task, but another spirit, more bold, stated that it was nicknamed "the line" and sailors play jokes in crossing it! that is just mr. balsillie's attitude. for my own part i would even dare to speak disrespectfully of the equator rather than dismiss the vast subject of a world-religion in 180 pages, a large number of which are taken up with the practical jokes of such comic mariners in deep water as mr. myers and the rev. r.j. campbell. norman roe. balsillie for short- a.c. the buddhist review. quarterly, 1"s. founded, as "buddhism" in 1902, by allan bennett "lucifer, quomodo "cecidisti" rays from the realms of glory. by rev. septimus herbert, m. a. second edition. samu

and the ambition of them all is to cheat him. so they avoid the sceptic's sneers by an affection of doubt, the fanatic's thunders by an affectation of faith: between which two stools they fall to the ground. in the end they are more sceptic than the sceptic. hear how they try to be pious "leave thou thy sister, when she prays, her early heaven, her happy views" implies that the whole question of religion is so trivial that it is really not worth while disturbing any one about it. so too the play at scepticism results in an insane excess of maudlin piety. as we look back on that whole dreadful period, we sicken at its loathsome cant, its "laissez-faire" its sweating, its commercialism, its respectability, its humanitarianism, its inhumanity. of this age we have two perfect relics. if art b

ndon's favourites almost unrivalled to express by her art the delights of the body with a pagan simplicity and directness. now she sends us a book 'amphora' a volume of religious verse: it contains song after song in praise of mary" etc. etc. etc. the "scotsman" says "outside the latin church conflicting views are held about the worship of the virgin, but there can be no doubt that this motive of religion has given birth to many beautiful pieces of literature, and the poets have never tired of singing variations on the theme of 'hail, mary' this little book is best described here as a collection of such variations. they are written with an engaging simplicity and fervour of feeling, and with a graceful, refined literary art that cannot but interest and attract many readers beyond the circl

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f psychology, as true as it is moving, and of a quality rarely to be found in fictionug the equinox "the editor will be glad to consider contributions and to return such as are unacceptable if stamps are enclosed for the purpose" the equinox the official organ of the a. a. the review of scientific illuminism an. v vol. i. no. ii. sun in libra september mcmix o.s "the method of science--the aim of religion" london simpkin, marshall, hamilton, kent& co.ltd. contents page editorial 1 liber o 11 the herb dangerous (part ii) the psychology of hashish. by oliver haddo 31 reviews 90, 104, 385 the garden of janus. by aleister crowley 91 the dream circean. by marital nay 105 the lost shepherd. by victor b. neuburg 131 a handbook of geomancy 137 the organ in king's chapel, cambridge, by g. h. s. pin

ise 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 drinking it "no" said the water man "i assure you that this water comes from the purest springs in utopia; further, that water, however impure, c

ship, that i have constructed on the admitted principles of optics, to demonstrate by experience what these gentlemen are arguing about "a priori" and on hearsay" then they both rose up against him, and cursed him "unscientific balderdash" said the water man, for the first time speaking respectfully of science "blasphemous nonsense" said the inhabitant, for the first time speaking respectfully of religion "wait and see" said the judge; for he was a just judge. then the man with the microscope explained the uses of this new and strange instrument. and the judge patiently investigated all sources of error, and concluded in the end that the instrument was a true revealer of the secrets of the water. and he pronounced just judgment. but the others were blinded by passion and self-interest. the

he rule never to repeat my experiment before the lapse of at least a month. 54 frankly, i doubt if these were necessary. i do not suppose my will to be abnormally strong; i believe rather that there is a definite type of drug-slave, born from his mother's womb; and that those who achieve it or have it thrust upon them are a very small percentage. in saying this i include such obsessions as music, religion, gambling, among drugs. is the "keswick week" less of a debauch than the navvy's bank holiday? there are people who rush from meeting to meeting, and give up their whole lives to this unwholesome excess of stimulant; they are happy nowhere else; they become as irritable as the cocaine-fiend, and render wretched the lives of those who are forced to come in contact with them. personally, i

to fall under the power of some enchantress. all these alarmist reports, however, are really worthless, worthless at the best as the "omne ignotum pro terribili" fear 55 of the savage for an unfamiliar shape of bottle, worthless at the worst as the temperance crank's account of the fatal effects of alcohol, the vegetarian's account of the dangers of meat-eating, or the missionary's account of the religion of the people he lives among. the alleged sensuality of hashish- even baudelaire admits it- simply does not exist for me, perhaps because there is no germ of lasciviousness in my mind. of course if you excite, by whatever stimulus, a foul imagination, you will get pestilent effects. when queen mab tickles the lawyer, he dreams of fees. so the people who associate nudity with debauchery, a

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im to europe. 1396. after three years he went into egypt, where was another temple of our order; there he remained for a time, still studying the mysteries of nature. 1398. after this he travelled by sea to the city of fessa or fez. of the fraternity at fez, he confessed that they had not retained our knowledge in its primal purity, and that their kabbalah was to a certain extent altered to their religion, yet nevertheless he learned much there. 1400. after a stay of two years, he came back into spain, where he endeavoured to reform the errors of the learn d according to the pure knowledge which he had received; but it was to them a laughing matter, and they reviled and rejected him, even as the prophets of old were rejected. 1402. thus also was he treated by those of his own and other nat

ch there. 1400. after a stay of two years, he came back into spain, where he endeavoured to reform the errors of the learn d according to the pure knowledge which he had received; but it was to them a laughing matter, and they reviled and rejected him, even as the prophets of old were rejected. 1402. thus also was he treated by those of his own and other nations, when he showed them the errors in religion which had crept in. so after five years' residence in germany (1408) he initiated thereof his former monastic brethren, fratres g.v, i.a, and i.o, who had more knowledge than many others at that time, and by these four was made the foundation of the fraternity in europe. these worked and studied at the writings and other knowledge which c.r.c. had brought with him, and by them was some of

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y of saints, and determined him to devote his whole life, without keeping back the least imaginable thing, to the purpose of making himself worthy to enter that circle. we shall be disappointed if the book has any less effect on any other reader. the perusal of the notes may be omitted with advantage. n. the buddhist review. quarterly. 1"s" unwilling as i am to sap the foundations of the buddhist religion by the introduction of porphyry's terrible catapult, allegory, i am yet compelled by the more fearful ballista of aristotle, dilemma. this is the two-handed engine spoken of by the prophet milton!1 this is the horn of the prophet zeruiah, and with this am i, though no syrian, utterly pushed, till i find myself back against the dead wall of dogma. only now realising how dead a wall that is

inquire: are they meant to be obeyed? or_ and this is my theory_ are they sarcastic and biting criticisms on existence, illustrations of the first noble truth "reasons" as it were, for the apotheosis of annihilation? i shall show that this is so. the first precept. 1 "lycidas" line 130. 2 the school whose buddhism is derived from the canon, and who ignore the degradation of the professors of the religion, as seen in practice. 3 the obvious caveat which logicians will enter against these remarks is that pansil is the five virtues rather than precepts. etymologically this is so. however, we may regard this as a clause on my side of the argument, not against it; for in my view these are virtues, and the impossibility of attaining them is the cancer of existence. indeed, i support the etymolo

traightforward account of a man who did not support the blasphemy laws, and who would not have sneaked and shuffled about the boulter prosecution. on finishing this book we almost exclaim "bravo, ferrer" but our enthusiasm was seriously damped when on opening the "literary guide" we read that miss sasha kropotkin has stated in the "the westminster gazette" that se or ferrer's books on comparative religion "are quite similar in thought and tone to those published in england by the rationalist press association" if so "viva alfonso" the hand of god. by grant allen. 6"d" grant allan is always exciting, and this posthumous volume of essays quite keeps up his reputation of being the g. a. henty of rationalism. we remember reading "the woman who did" a dozen and more years ago now, shortly after

can only help us to pass dry-as-dust and useless examinations? give us more of these, mr. watts, dozens more, and we will forgive you "from the shades" best wishes to these little volumes, may you sell a million of each, but "in the sunlight" please. a. quiller. the survival of man. by sir oliver lodge. methuen. 7"s" 6"d" net. one of the most unfortunate results of the divorce between science and religion has been the attempt of each of the partners to set up housekeeping for itself, with the most disastrous results. i shall not run my simile to death, but i shall explain how this train of thought began in my mind. sir oliver's book is mainly a defence of the society for psychical research, and a plea for more scientific investigation of psychic or spiritistic phenomena; and it seems to th

t" 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 recalls now with how much difficulty the names of the rev. h. r. haweis, of a. h. davis, of lizzie doten! for there is no virtue in those who have strayed from the path t

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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 symbolism of as many religious and magic

m the mystic standpoint "note_ many old books on astrology and alchemical science are also kept "in stock. write for latest new and second-hand catalogues_ william rider& son, ltd, 164 aldersgate st, london. e.c. the star in the west by captain j. f. c. fuller""fourth large edition now in preparation" through the equinox and all booksellers six shillings net- a highly original study of morals and religion by a new writer, who is as entertaining as the average novelist is dull. nowadays human thought has taken a brighter place in the creation: our emotions are weary of bad baronets and stolen wills; they are now only excited by spiritual crises, catastrophes of the reason, triumphs of the intelligence. in these fields captain fuller is a master dramatist- 10 reward ten pounds "10) will be p

is edited as literary and commercial expediency may suggest to the person responsible. the equinox "the editor will be glad to consider "contributions and to return such as "are unacceptable if stamps are enclosed" for the purpose" the equinox the official organ of the a. a. the review of scientific illuminism an. vi vol. i. no. iii. sun in aries march mcmx o.s "the method of science--the aim of religion" london simpkin, marshall, hamilton, kent& co. ltd. contents page editorial 1 liber xiii 3 aha! by aleister crowley 9 the herb dangerous (part iii) the poem of hashish. by charles baudelaire (translated by aleister crowley) 55 an origin. by victor b. neuburg 115 the soul-hunter 119 madeleine. by arthur f. grimble 129 the temple of solomon the king (book ii "continued) 133 the coming of ap

ot one word of all of it; for wisdom is not mother-wit! so the adept is called insane for his frank failure to explain. language creates false thoughts; the true breed language slowly. following experience of a thing we knew arose the need to name the thing. so, ancients likened a man's mind to the untamed evasive wind. some fool thinks names are things; and boasts aloud of spirits and of ghosts. religion follows on a pun! and we, who know that holy one of whom i told thee, seek in vain figure or word to make it plain. olympas. despair of man! marsyas. man is the seed of the unimaginable flower. by singleness of thought and deed it may bloom now_ this actual hour! olympas. the soul made safe, is vision sure to rise therein? marsyas. though calm and pure it seem, maybe some thought hath cre

immorality of hashish_ that a sect of ishmaelites (it is from the ishmaelites that the assassins are sprung) allowed its adoration to stray far beyond the lingam-yoni; that is to say, to the absolute worship of the lingam, exclusive of the feminine half of the symbol. there would be nothing unnatural, every man being the symbolic representation of history, in seeing an obscene heresy, a monstrous religion, arise in a mind which has cowardly given itself up to the mercy of a hellish drug and which smiles at the degradation of its own faculties. since we have seen manifest itself in hashish intoxication a strange goodwill toward men, applied even to strangers, a species of philanthropy made rather of pity than of love (it is here that the first germ of the satanic spirit which is to develop

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wley has said, many of his present-day followers are quite capable of killing their own brothers for five rupees. the western theory that buddhists are lambs and models of virtue is due to the fact that certain western vices are not so congenial to the asiatic as they are to the european; and not because buddhists are incapable of enjoying themselves. 292 buddhism as a schism from the brahminical religion may in many respects be compared with lutheranism as a schism from the catholic church. both buddha and luther set aside the authority of miracles, and appealed to the reason of the middle classes of their day. the vedas were the outcome of aristocratic thought; and so in truth was the christianity of constantine and the popes, that full-blooded christianity which so soon swallowed the my

e the authority of miracles, and appealed to the reason of the middle classes of their day. the vedas were the outcome of aristocratic thought; and so in truth was the christianity of constantine and the popes, that full-blooded christianity which so soon swallowed the mystical christ and the anaemic communism of the "canaille" which followed him. conventional buddhism is pre-eminently the "nice" religion of the bourgeoisie; it neither panders to the superstition of the masses nor palliates the gallantries of the the dogmatism of literal buddhism appalled him. the five precepts, which are the yama and niyama of buddhism, he at once saw, in spite of nagasena and prig milinda, must be broken by every arahat each time he inhaled a breath of air. they were as absurd as they were valueless. but

pseudonymous authors, g. o. varr and l. o. heem- of ingenious fancy, exalted imaginative faculty, and a tendency, which would later be deemed undesirable, to slop over into the filthiest details whenever the love- interest became dominant. oh, but it was a most enthralling narrative! beginning with a comic account of the creation, possibly intended as a satire on our men of science or our men of religion 'twould serve equally well in either case- it went on to a thrilling hospital scene. the love-interest comes in chapter ii; chapter iii. has an eviction scene, since when there have been no snakes in ireland; chapter iv. gives us a first-rate murder, and from that moment the authors never look back. but the great white spirit was destined to have his day of repose disturbed. he had just g

ow can i bargain with thee? what shall i give that i may possess thy secret? o question unavailing! for i know not yet thy name! who art thou? who art thou? thomas["opening the door. mr. todd["enter" todd. carr["rising. how are you? i'm afraid you find me distracted! listen: all my life i have sought- nor counted the cost- for the secret of things. science is baffled, for knowledge hath no wings! religion is baffled, for faith hath no feet! life itself- of what value is all this coil and tumult? who shall give me the secret? what is the secret [todd "whispers in his ear" why, thanks, thanks! what a fool i have been! i have always known who you were, of course, but how could i guess you had the key of things? simple as a b c- or, rather, as a! and nothing to pay after all "for of all gods y

hn mctaggart ellis mctaggart doctor in letters fellow and lecturer of trinity college in cambridge, fellow of the british academy. watts and co, 17 johnson's court, fleet street, e. c. price 3"d. only the price threepence saved my reason "dare to be wise" is startling enough; but when one saw who it was that advised it "our object" quoth he("our" being the "heretics "is to promote discussion upon religion, philosophy, and art" these desperate conspirators! what is the parry-lytic liar about to allow such things in trinity "in seeking truth of all sorts many virtues are needed" this daring thinker "happiness and misery have much to do with welfare" these burning words may rekindle the fires of smithfield "here we find the need of courage. for, if we are to think on these matters at all, we

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consequence of the great popularity attained by the first series of prentice mulford's essays, published under the title of "the gift of the spirit" essays of prentice mulford. third series. contents_ the law of success. how to keep your strength. the art of study. profit and loss in associates. the slavery of fear. some laws of health and beauty. mental interference. co-operation of thought. the religion of dress. use your riches. the healing and renewing force of spring. the practical use of reverie. self-teaching: or the art of learning how to learn. how to push your business. the religion of the drama. the uses of sickness. who are our relations? the use of a room. husband and wife. the third and fourth series of prentice mulford's essays have been prepared in response to a large deman

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&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 symbolism of as many religious and magic

d should fulfil its object to give mental galvanic shocks to spiritual paralytics "sunday times "a serious exposition of the way a spiritual guide may helpfully minister to the diseased "bristol times and mirror_ the star in the west by captain j. f. c. fuller "fourth large edition now in preparation" through the equinox and all booksellers six shillings net- a highly original study of morals and religion by a new writer, who is as entertaining as the average novelist is dull. nowadays human thought has taken a brighter place in the creation: our emotions are weary of bad baronets and stolen wills; they are now only excited by spiritual crises, catastrophes of the reason, triumphs of the intelligence. in these fields captain fuller is a master dramatist- a green garland by v. b. neuburg gr

ate than the so- called "greater" key of solomon_ only a few copies remain for sale. the equinox "the editor will be glad to consider "contributions and to return such as "are unacceptable if stamps are enclosed" for the purpose" the equinox the official organ of the a. a. the review of scientific illuminism an. vi vol. i. no. iv. sun in libra september mcmx o.s "the method of science--the aim of religion" contents page editorial 1 liber iii 9 liber a 15 i.nst n.atturae r.egina i.sis. by omnia vincam 21 reviews 36 at bordj-an-nus. by hilda norfolk 37 alpha iota nu omicron zeta iota zeta iota delta omicron zeta. by aleister crowley 39 the temple of solomon the king. iv 41 pan to artemis. by aleister crowley 197 the interpreter. by perdurabo 199 the daughter of the horseleech. by ethel ramsa

merson is that he thinks all men know this oversoul. they don't. it's a few holy illuminated men of god, and i hope that this includes john m. watkins. a.c. vol. i, no. 2. june, 1910. a true christian. by jacob boehme. a most exquisite treatise on the life of the soul. boehme is a passive mystic, or quietist, of the very first water; he really perceives the underlying realities of christianity, a religion which is so hidden by mounds of dirt and rubbish that it needs a very great mystic to get to the bottom of things without becoming defiled. i hope mr. watkins is a true christian. v. b. n. the porch. vol. i, no. 3. on the good, or the one. by plotinus. we took up this book with avidity, thinking from the title that it was about mr. watkins. but no; at least not under that name. plotinus'

it is essential that the reader should possess some slight knowledge of the ved nta philosophy; and though the following in no way pretends to be an exhaustive account of the same, yet it is hoped that it will prove a sufficient guide to lead the seeker from the western realms of magic and action to the eastern lands of yoga and renunciation. to begin with, the root-thought of all philosophy and religion, both eastern and western, is that the universe is only an appearance, and not a reality, or, as deussen has it: the entire external universe, with its infinite ramifications in space and time, as also the involved and intricate sum of our inner perceptions, is all merely the form under which the essential reality presents itself to a consciousness such as ours, but is not the form in whi

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tc. 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 symbolism of as many religious and magic

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6

ion that the subject has been dealt with by two well-equipped, careful investigators "t. p.'s weekley "a really useful piece of work "t.p.s. book notes- london william rider& son, ltd, 164 aldersgate street, e.c. the star in the west by captain j. f. c. fuller "fourth large edition now in preparation" through the equinox and all booksellers six shillings net= a highly original study of morals and religion by a new writer, who is as entertaining as the average novelist is dull. nowadays human thought has taken a brighter place in the creation: our emotions are weary of bad baronets and stolen wills; they are now only excited by spiritual crises, catastrophes of the reason, triumphs of the intelligence. in these fields captain fuller is a master dramatist "this page is reserved for official

work with his neophyte, or alone. breach of this rule may prove a bar to advancement. the equinox "the editor will be glad to consider contributions and to return such as are unacceptable if stamps are enclosed for the purpose" the equinox the official organ of the a. a. the review of scientific illuminism an. vii vol. i. no. vi. sun in libra september mcmxi o.s "the method of science--the aim of religion" wieland& co. 3 great james street, gray's inn london, w.c. printed by turnbull and spears. edinburgh contents page editorial 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

ALEX SANDERS THE KING OF THE WITCHES

person on whom a restraint is to be worked. ancient hebrew book of magic. length of cord measuring a witch's height at the time of his initiation. sometimes held as a 'hostage' by the coven leader. originally a five-sided figure but now any circular piece of metal inscribed with witch symbols. major meeting of whole coven or several covens. cards used in predicting the future. primitive form. of religion practised by negroes of haiti and elsewherein the west indies and america. originally the witch who bound the initiate, but used only by non-witches to describe a male-witch. ancient word for witchcraft. initi t:d male or femalemember ofwitchcraft group. magician, not necessarily a witch. 3lntrobuction since the dawn of history man has believed in miracles. the first tribesmen to discover

benevolent power in primitive times. another, a man disguised as a jackal, carved on slate, dates back to archaic egypt. in about 1100 b.c. women and officers of the harem of rameses iii were brought to trial for making wax images of the pharaoh to the accompaniment of magic incantations. these images were fith-faths, still used by witches today against their enemies. history shows that, as a new religion succeeds the old, the i gods of the latter are invariably condemned as the devils of the former, and it was thus that the pagan god became the christian devil. ill spite of this, christianity and witchcraft co-existed peaceably for centuries. in britain, for instance, london was still heathen six hundred years after the birth of christ, and although augustine managed to convert the king o

od became the christian devil. ill spite of this, christianity and witchcraft co-existed peaceably for centuries. in britain, for instance, london was still heathen six hundred years after the birth of christ, and although augustine managed to convert the king of kent to christianity, the rest of the country preferred pagan rites of witchcraft. but as the 'establishment' became christian, the old religion fell into disrepute,and in a.d. 668 the archbishopofcanterbury ruled that people who ate and drank in heathen temples, or wore the heads of beasts, should do three years' penance. the witches continued to use the stag's horns, however. their only concession was to meet secretly, on moors or in lonely forests. these meetings were known as 'sabbats* after homage had been paid to the devil

t was made in the middle ages* often confused, erroneously, with the term 'coven. the latter is much more recent and refers to the basic organizational grouping of thirteen witches-six couples and a leader, or eleven priests, a high priest and high priestess. 2 to distinguish between beneficial and harmful magic, it had little effect on the treatment of the witches themselves. from being a joyous religion, witchcraft was changed overnight when, in 1484, pope innocent viii put his seal on e bull.t at condemned witches as heretics for interfering with fertility. from now on terror would invade the life ofanyone suspected of working miracles. in 1486, two members of the inquisition, with the full approval of the pope, wrote an ha publis ed the boo malleus male.ficarum, which described in cons

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

ALICE A BAILEY01 THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ATOM

just as much occupied with the study of the divine as is his frankly religious brother who only concerns himself with the spiritual side; and that the philosopher is, after all, occupied in emphasising for us the very necessary aspect of the intelligence which links the matter aspect and the spiritual, and blends them into one coherent whole. perhaps by the union of these three lines of science, religion, and philosophy we may get a working knowledge of the truth as it is, remembering at the same time that "truth lies within ourselves" no one man's expression of the truth is the whole expression, and the sole purpose of thought is to enable us to build constructively for ourselves, and to work in mental matter. i should like to outline my plan this evening, to lay the groundwork for our f

the "body of christ" he surely means all those units of the human family who are held within his sphere of influence, and who go to the constitution of his body, as the aggregate of the physical cells form the physical body of the man. what is needed in these days of religious upheaval is that these fundamental truths of christianity should be demonstrated to be scientific truths. we need to make religion scientific. there is a very interesting sanskrit writing, many thousands of years old, which i am venturing to quote here. it says "every form on earth, and every speck (atom) in space, strives in its efforts towards self-formation, and to follow the model placed for it in the heavenly man. the involution and the evolution of the atom..have all one and the same object: man" do you note wh

ur own ends. many atoms have not only an internal life of their own, but also radiate, and as radio-activity is gradually understood, so the study of man as a centre of active radiation will also come into being. we are standing these days on the verge of wonderful discoveries: we are nearing a marvellous synthesis of the thought of the world; we are advancing towards that period when science and religion will come to the help of each other, and when philosophy will add its quota to the understanding of the truth. the use of the imagination will frequently open up a wonderful vision, and if this imagination is based on essentials, and starts with a logical hypothesis, perhaps it will lead us to the solution of some of the mysteries and problems which are distressing the world now. if thing

e its appearance. there is, even now, a much greater spirit of tolerance abroad than was the case fifty years ago; but the time is rapidly approaching when the great fundamental unity that underlies all the different religions, and the fact that each faith is a necessary part of one great whole, will be recognised by men everywhere, and through this recognition we shall have the simplification of religion. we shall have the great central facts emphasised and utilised, and the small and petty differences of organisation, and of explanation, overlooked. again, we can look for a very interesting happening in connection with the human family to take place, for the moment group consciousness becomes, on a larger scale, the conscious objective of man, what will occur? you will have man putting h

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

of the outstanding lights in european history. always have these men and women been agents for the carrying out of race purpose, for the bringing about of group conditions, and for the furthering of the evolution of humanity. sometimes they have appeared as beneficent forces, bringing peace and contentment with them. more often have they come as agents of destruction, breaking up the old forms of religion and of government in order that the life within the rapidly crystallising form might be set free and build for itself a newer and a better vehicle. much that is stated here is already well known, and has already been given out in the different occult books. yet in the wise and careful enunciation of collected facts, and their correlation with that which may be new to some students, comes

e it is who in many ways makes the work of his brothers possible. their plans and desires are submitted to him, and through him pass the instructions to a large number of the deva agents. thus you have will, love, and intelligence represented in these three great lords; you have the self, the not-self, and the relation between synthesised in the unity of manifestation; you have racial government, religion and civilisation forming a coherent whole, and you have physical manifestation, the love or desire aspect, and the mind of the planetary logos working out into objectivity. the closest co-operation and unity exists between these three personalities, and every move and plan and event exists in their united foreknowledge. they are in daily touch with the lord of the world at shamballa, and

this deals with subjectivity, and therefore with the evolution of consciousness and primarily with self-consciousness in man. consciousness the manu the bodhisattva the mahachohan matter aspect..s. pirit aspect..intelligence aspect. form..l. ife..m. ind. the not-self..t. he self..the relation between. body..s. pirit..s.oul. or, in words strictly dealing with self-conscious realisation, politics..religion..s. cience. government..b. eliefs..c. ivilisation. races..f. aiths..e. ducation. all human beings belong to one or other of these three departments, and all are of equal importance, for spirit and matter are one. all are so interdependent, being but expressions of one life, that the endeavour to express the functions of the three departments in tabular form is liable to lead to error. the

oundation of our planetary hierarchy-and holds it forth to the lord of the world, who touches it with his own mighty rod, causing a fresh recharging of its electric capacity. this ceremony takes place at shamballa. the rod of initiation known as the "flaming diamond" is used by sanat kumara, the one initiator. this rod lies hidden "in the east" and holds the fire hidden that irradiates the wisdom religion. this rod was brought by the lord of the world from venus, and once in every world period it is subjected to a similar process to that of the lesser rod, only this time it is recharged by the direct action of the logos himself, the logos of the solar system. the exact location of this rod is known only to the lord of the world and to the chohans of the rays, and being the talisman of this

nation is built up around it, but this is not invariably so. 2. by sanat kumara working through the bodhisattva. in this case, the electric force in the rod is wielded in order to draw closer together those influences which demonstrate in the great religions of the world. the lesser rod of power is used here in conjunction with the greater. by their means the attractive quality or keynote of any religion is struck, and of any organisation with a religious basis. 3. by sanat kumara working through the mahachohan. by the wielding of the rod of power the magnetic focal points of those great organisations which affect the civilisation and the culture of a people are brought into coherent activity- 77- initiation, human and solar copyright 1998 lucis trust all physical plane organisation gover

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

ise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust microcosmically considered, will be touched upon and some light thrown upon the law of cause and effect (the law of karma) and its significance in the solar system. to sum up the matter, the teaching in this book should tend to an expansion of conscionsness, and should bring about a recognition of the adequacy, as a working basis, for both science and religion, of that interpretation of the processes of nature which has been formulated for us by the master minds of all time. it should tend to bring about a reaction in favor of a system of philosophy which will link both spirit and matter, 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 ou

lord of the world, who touches it with his own mighty rod, causing a fresh re-charging of its electric capacity. this ceremony takes place at shamballa.89,(78)90 second. the rod of initiation known as the "flaming diamond" and used by sanat kumara, the one initiator, called in the bible, the ancient of days. this rod lies hidden "in the east" and holds the fire latent which irradiates the wisdom religion. this rod was brought by the lord of the world when he took form and came to our planet eighteen million years ago. once in every world period it is subjected to a similar process as that of the lesser rod, only this time it is recharged by the direct action of the logos himself, the logos of the solar system. the location of this rod is known only to the lord of the world, and to the cho

the instantaneous use of the force or energy inherent in the ether itself, will take the place of the present methods. religious students will study the side of manifestation we call the "life side" just as the scientist studies that called "matter" and both will come to a realisation of the close relation existing between the two, and thus the old gap and the ancient warfare between science and religion will be in temporary abeyance. definite methods of demonstrating the fact that life persists after the death of the physical body will be followed, and the etheric web will be recognised as a factor in- 252- a treatise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust the case. the connection between the different planes will be sought, and the analogy between the fourth etheric subplane and the

e well known, not only in the destruction of the discarded vehicles touched upon above, but in the breaking up of the forms in which great ideals are embodied, the forms of political control, the forms in which nature itself evolves, apart from those in which individual consciousness manifests, the great religious thought-forms, the philanthropic concepts and all the forms which science, art, and religion take at any one particular time. all eventually break under the working of this law. its workings are more apparent to the average human mind in its manifestations at this time on the physical plane. we can trace the connection between the atmic and the physical plane (demonstrating on the lower plane as the law of sacrifice and death, but its effect can be seen on all the five planes as

despread feeling for bathing, fresh air, and sunlight, and the greater desire for vegetable, and nut foods, will result inevitably in a more ready assimilation of the pranic fluids. this will produce certain changes, and improvements, in the physical organs, and in the vitality of the etheric body. therefore, those of us who see somewhat of the plan are urged to spread the knowledge of the wisdom religion, and above all to break loose from the preconceived dogmas of pre-war days. it should be pointed out here that the war was a great occult event, and caused a vital change in many of the plans and arrangements of the hierarchy. modifications have been necessitated, and some events will have to be delayed whilst others will be hastened. one of the profoundest effects of the war was felt amo

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

re difficult to overcome and can only be dominated by the ego or soul itself. 7. doubt. this is one of the most interesting of the modifications for it concerns causes more than effects. the man who doubts can be described perhaps as doubting himself as an arbiter of his fate, his fellowmen as to their nature and reactions, god, or the first cause as witnessed by the controversies built up around religion and its exponents, nature itself, which doubt urges him on to constant scientific investigation and finally, the mind itself. when he begins to question the capacity of the mind to explain, interpret and comprehend, he has practically exhausted the sum total of his resources in the three worlds. the tendency of these seven states of mind, produced through the experience of the man upon th

and eventual transformation is due to one of two methods: 1. a slow method, that of repeated lives, experiences and physical incarnation until eventually the driving force of the evolutionary process brings a man, stage by stage, up the great ladder of evolution. 2. a more rapid process, wherein through such a system as outlined by patanjali and as taught by all the custodians of the mysteries of religion, a man definitely takes himself in hand, and through conformity to the rules and the laws laid down, brings himself, by his own effort, to a state of spiritual unfoldment. it might be noted here that these three processes bring a man to that initiation called the transfiguration. 3. the practices and methods are not the true cause of the transfer of consciousness, but they serve to remove

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

and to register with equal facility the inner or intangible world. this ability to re-orient itself will enable the mind to register the world of subjective realities, of intuitive perception and of abstract ideas. this is the high heritage of the mystic, but seems as yet not to be within the grasp of the average man. the problem facing the human family today in the realms both of science and of religion results from the fact that the follower of both schools finds he is standing at the portal of a metaphysical world. a cycle of development has come to an end. man, as a thinking, feeling entity, seems now to have arrived at a fair measure of understanding the instrument with which he has to work. he is asking himself: what use is he to make of it? where is the mind, which he is slowly lea

ld we harken, beats at our own clay-shuttered doors. the angels keep their ancient places; turn but a stone and start a wing 'tis ye 'tis your estrang d faces that miss the many-splendoured thing "the experience is at first tantalizing, alluring. there is a rumor of a new world and the spirit is eager for the voyage upon strange seas. the familiar world must be left behind. the great adventure of religion begins "there must somewhere be a point of certainty. a growing universe may provide for open futures, but whoso declares that the universe is growing states an unalterable fact about its structure, which fact is the eternal guarantee of the possibility and validity of experiment "man is a bridge. even the superman, once we perceive that he is only the symbol of the strenuous ideal, turns

with this work of educating the mystic, that the meditation technique has to do. it is this with which we deal in this book. the problem of leading man into his heritage as a human being is the function of the educators and of the psychologists. they must lead him up to the door of the mystical world. paradoxical as it may sound, the work of leading him into his spiritual heritage is the work of religion and of- 7- from intellect to intuition copyright 1998 lucis trust science. dr. pupin tells us that "science and religion supplement each other, they are the two pillars of the portal through which the human soul enters into the world where divinity resides."12(12) let us give the word "spiritual" a wide connotation! i do not here speak of religious truths; the formulations of the theologi

ost progressive educational thought, though not by the popular opinion of the day "the new education has for its great end, therefore, the training and development of the individual for social ends, that is, for the largest service to man "we commonly classify education under three heads primary, secondary and higher. to these three i should like to add a fourth, highest. the highest education is religion but it is also education."4(16) it is interesting to note that the same ideas are expressed by bhagavan das at the first all-asia educational conference. he says "the rules of religion, i.e, of the larger science, enable us..to discharge all these wider debts and duties. religion has been described as the command or revelation of god. this only means, in other words, the laws of god's nat

science, enable us..to discharge all these wider debts and duties. religion has been described as the command or revelation of god. this only means, in other words, the laws of god's nature, as revealed to us by the labours, intellectual, intuitional, inspirational, of the seers and scientists of all religions and all nations..we have heard of the three r's long enough. this fourth r, of genuine religion, is more important than them all..but it has to be carefully discovered and thought out first. it behooves all sincere educators to help in this work by applying the scientific method of ascertaining agreements amidst differences."5(17) both east and west seem to feel that an educational system that does not eventually lead a man out of the world of human affairs into the wider consciousn

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

edge. it is founded on authoritative statements and has in it the element of trust in the writers and speakers, and in the trained intelligences of the workers in any of the many and varied fields of thought. the truths accepted as such have not been formulated or verified by the one who accepts them, lacking as he does the necessary training and equipment. the dicta of science, the theologies of religion, and the findings of the philosophers and thinkers everywhere colour the point of view and meet with a ready acquiescence from the untrained mind, and that is the average mind- 10- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust then, secondly, we have discriminative knowledge, which has in it a selective quality and which posits the intelligent appreciation and practical application

tors. it is unproven and regarded by even the more open-minded of the academicians as a possible hypothesis, but lacking demonstration. it is not accepted as a fact in the consciousness of the race. only two groups of people accept it as a fact; one is the gullible, undeveloped, childlike person who, brought up on a scripture of the world, and being religiously inclined, accepts the postulates of religion such as the soul, god and immortality without questioning. the other is that small but steadily growing band of knowers of god, and of reality, who know the soul to be a fact in their own experience but are unable to prove its existence satisfactorily to the man who admits only that which the concrete mind can grasp, analyse, criticise and test. the ignorant and the wise meet on common gr

of the main necessities before occult aspirants at this time is to endeavour to think in terms of the one reality which is energy itself and nothing else. therefore, it is of value to emphasise in our discussion of this abstruse subject, the fact that spirit and energy are synonymous terms and are interchangeable. only in the realisation of this can we arrive at the reconciliation of science and religion and at a true understanding of- 18- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust the world of active phenomena by which we are surrounded and in which we move. the terms, organic and inorganic, are largely responsible for much of the confusion and the sharp differentiation existing in the minds of many people between body and spirit, between life and form, and have led to a refusa

evolution of the race as well as the racial unit, man. head center. base of the spine heart center. solar plexus throat center. sacral center in the above lies a hint for the more advanced student (and he is the one who hesitates so to regard himself. it is also symbolized for us in the relation between the eastern and the western hemispheres and between those great bodies of truth which we call religion and science. the life of meditation proceeds and the rapport between the soul and its triple instrument becomes steadily closer, and the resulting vibration more powerful. how many lives this will take depends upon various factors, which are too numerous to be mentioned here but which the student will find it useful to consider. let him list the factors which he feels he needs to take int

been made and much has arisen out of the war. the question, for instance, is rapidly changing from the formula "is there a life after death" to the enquiry "of what nature is the future life" and this is a portent of much encouragement. secondly, the masses of the people are suffering from suppression and from the effects of inhibition. science has said, there is no god and no spirit within man. religion has said, there must be a god, but where may he be found? the masses say, we desire not a god constructed by the brains of theologians. therefore the true inner comprehension finds no room for expansion, and the activity that should be finding its legitimate expression in the higher aspiration, turns itself to the deification of things, things pertaining to flesh, connected with the emoti

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

ns, and are synonymous with the christian phrase, father, son and holy ghost (those old anthropomorphic terms; with spirit, soul and body, the current phraseology; and with the life, consciousness and form of the indian philosophy. may i interpolate here the comment that modern thinkers would do well to bear in mind that the importance of christianity lies in the realisation that it is a bridging religion. this is symbolised for us by the fact that the master of all the masters took incarnation in palestine, that slice of land which is midway between asia and europe, and which partakes of the character of both. christianity is the religion of the transitional period which links the era of self-conscious existence with that of a group-conscious world. it is extant in the age which will see

ween the personality consciousness and the soul consciousness, a.a.b) then shall men be known by their knowledge, be coloured by the despair of desire unappeased, be divided into those who recognise their dharma (meet all implied obligations and duties) and those who only see the working out of karma, and from the very nature of their need find light and peace at last" christianity is primarily a religion of cleavage, demonstrating to man his duality and so laying the foundation for future unity. this is a most needed stage and has served humanity well; the purpose and intent of christianity has been definite and high, and it has done its divine work. today it is in the process of being superseded, but by what new formulation of truth is not yet revealed. the light is slowly pouring into m

ng the foundation for future unity. this is a most needed stage and has served humanity well; the purpose and intent of christianity has been definite and high, and it has done its divine work. today it is in the process of being superseded, but by what new formulation of truth is not yet revealed. the light is slowly pouring into man's life, and in this lighted radiance he will formulate the new religion and arrive at a fresh enunciation of ancient truth. through the lens of the illumined mind, he will shortly see aspects of divinity hitherto unknown. has it ever dawned on you that there may be qualities and characteristics of the divine nature, latent as yet within the form, that have hitherto remained totally unknown and not even dimly sensed, and which, as yet, are literally unpreceden

elops man by a system or technique which is qualified by the ray quality and is therefore specific and unique. let me point out to you the modes of this group teaching: ray i. higher expression: t he science of statesmanship, of government. lower expression: modern diplomacy and politics. ray ii. higher expression: t he process of initiation as taught by the hierarchy of adepts. lower expression: religion. ray iii. higher expression: m eans of communication or interaction. the radio- 35- a treatise on the seven rays- volume i: esoteric psychology i copyright 1998 lucis trust telephone, telegraph and the power to travel. lower expression: the use and spread of money and gold. ray iv. higher expression: t he masonic work, based on the formation of the hierarchy, and related to the second ray

resence felt in the fourth kingdom in nature. the effects in other kingdoms differ, but we shall confine our attention to the standpoint of humanity. the purpose of the first ray, and its main work, is to produce cessation and the death of all forms in all kingdoms in nature and on all planes. the energy of this ray lord brings about the death of an ant or of a solar system, of an organisation, a religion, or a government, of a race type or of a planet. his will or purpose works out through the law of periodicity. the second purpose of deity ray ii. love-wisdom the word is issuing from the heart of god, emerging from a central point of love. that word is love itself. divine desire colours all that life of love. within the human hierarchy, the affirmation gathers power and sound. the word i

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

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

ut it can also be a form of self-hypnotism and a "way of escape" from the difficulties and problems of daily life. the effort to understand, to experiment, to experience and to express what is known and believed is frequently too difficult for the majority, and they then fall back upon a belief which is based upon the testimony of the trusted, as the easiest way out of the impasse. the problem of religion and the problem of orthodox christianity are not one and the same thing. much that we see around us today of unbelief and criticism, and the negation of our so-called truths, is based upon the fact that religion has been largely superseded by creed, and doctrine has taken the place of living experience. it is this living experience which is the keynote of this book. perhaps another reason

ppily what is believed, may be the fact that theologians have attempted to lift christianity out of its- 4- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust place in the scheme of things and have overlooked its position in the great continuity of divine revelation. they have endeavoured to emphasise its uniqueness, and to regard it as an isolated and entirely separated expression of spiritual religion. they thereby destroy its background, remove its foundations, and make it difficult for the steadily developing mind of man to accept its presentation. yet st. augustine tells us that "that which is called the christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist from the beginning of the human race until christ came in the flesh, at which time the true religion, which al

e the destiny of every son of god. because of this submission and because he "learned obedience by the things which he suffered,"2 he could be trusted to reveal god to man, and (may we say it) the divine in man to god. for the gospels show us that continuously christ called forth this recognition from the father. the great continuity of revelation is our most priceless possession, and into it the religion of christ must, and does, fit. god has never left himself without witness, and he never will. the place of christianity as the fulfilment of the past and as a stepping-stone to the future, is often forgotten, and this perhaps is one of the reasons why people speak of a failing christianity, and look forward to that spiritual revelation which seems so sorely needed. unless this continuity

we are free to choose and to reject; but let us see to it that we choose with eyes opened by that sagacity and wisdom which are the hallmark of those who have penetrated a considerable way along the path of return. there is life and truth and vitality in the gospel story yet to be re-applied by us. there is dynamic and divinity in the message of jesus. christianity is, for us today, a culminating religion. it is the greatest of the later divine revelations. much of it, since its inception two thousand years ago, has come to be regarded as myth, and the clear outlines of the story have dimmed and have come frequently to be regarded as symbolic in their nature. yet behind symbol and myth stands reality an essential, dramatic and practical truth. our attention has been engrossed by the symbol

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

ires much spiritual insight, however, to enable the average disciple to see the correspondence or the trend of ideas which link, for instance: 1. the beatitudes (enunciated by the christ) and these seven laws. 2. the stages of the noble eightfold path and these soul potencies. 3. the eight means to yoga or union of the soul, and this septenate of influences. 4. the ten commandments of the semitic religion, and these seven spiritual laws. students would find it of interest to test their understanding of the esoteric relationships existing between these groups of teaching and see if they can, for themselves, trace the basic meanings. let us, by way of illustration, trace or indicate the relation between the seven laws and the eight means to yoga, because this will give us an illustration of

, the christ holds this office) and the world of men. the energy of the second ray must pour through such groups of students and believers and allied groups of thinkers and workers, and there will be many of these. this fact is to be noted. there- 118- a treatise on the seven rays- volume ii: esoteric psychology ii copyright 1998 lucis trust will be many such groups. the platform of the new world religion will be built by them. 7. a few groups will have an interesting function, but one which will not materialise for a long while, or not until the work of the building forces of the universe are better understood. this will be coincident with the development of etheric vision. these groups will act as channels of communication or intermediaries between the energies which constitute the force

progress begins definitely to function and to control. it might be of interest, if we here listed the recognised effects of the five laws with which we have been dealing: general physical law effect effect reaction quality 1. sacrifice world deliberate love for the s elflessness. saviours death "i saviour. desire the christ die daily" to follow. physical plane unity the masses. 2. magnetic world religion churches love of ideas d evotion impulse schools of thought organizations philosophy idealism 3. service humanitarian t he red cross l ove of sympathy. activity and allied h umanity c ompassion. activities astral unity. the probationers 4. repulse t he fight crusades of love of discrimination against evil. a ll kinds g ood. 5. group new groups new group of love of inclusiveness progress w

rience. their lives are spent in an astral turmoil, but they have steadily increasing interludes wherein the mind can momentarily make itself felt, and thus at need effect important decisions. these are the nice good people, who are, nevertheless, largely controlled by the mass consciousness, because they are relatively unthinking. they can be regimented and standardised with facility by orthodox religion and government and are the "sheep" of the human family- 127- a treatise on the seven rays- volume ii: esoteric psychology ii copyright 1998 lucis trust 6. the souls who think, and who are minds. these are steadily increasing in number and gaining in power as our educational processes and our scientific discoveries bring results, and expand human awareness. they constitute the cream of the

in the development of the race at this time, we can now study the types, the qualities of these souls, the apparatus of response which they must use, and the nature of the mechanism of contact- 128- a treatise on the seven rays- volume ii: esoteric psychology ii copyright 1998 lucis trust which they have constructed in order to enable them to function in the world as we know it today. science and religion together are producing that latest of the sciences which we call psychology. for this, the time is now ripe. 8. all these manifesting souls have come forth from some source at some time in their cyclic expressions. this, to the modern thinker, is purely speculative, and can be regarded probably unprofitable; it may also be interesting, but is presumably imaginative. may i say here that th

ALICE A BAILEY12 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME I

first ray work. it will embody the method whereby the divine will works out in the consciousness of races and nations. members of this group will have much first ray energy in their equipment. their work is to act as channels of communication between the department of the manu and the race of men. it is a noble task, my brothers, to be channels for the will of god. 6. the workers in the field of religion form this group. their work is to formulate the universal platform of the new world religion. it is a work of loving synthesis and it will emphasize the unity and the fellowship of the spirit. this group is, in a pronounced sense, a channel for the activity of the second ray of love-wisdom, that of the world teacher an office held at present by the christ. the platform of the new world re

new world religion will be built by the many groups, working under the inspiration of the christ and the influence of the second ray and these in their totality will constitute this sixth group. 7. the seventh group is that of the scientific servers. they will reveal the essential spirituality of all scientific work which is motivated by love of humanity and its welfare, which relates science and religion and brings to light the glory of god through the medium of his tangible world and his works. they have a most interesting function but one which will not become evident for a long time not until the building forces of the universe are better understood. this will be co-incident with the development of etheric vision. this group will act as a channel of communication or intermediary betwee

ul and if the spiritual momentum set up by all of you is adequate to the effort made and if you can carry on with persistence and with untiring effort and interest, it may be possible to bring the experimental stage to an end; the hierarchy can then recognise (as effectively established upon earth) certain focal points of energy which can constitute magnetic centres or rallying points for the new religion, the new medicine, the new psychology and education and the new politics. the potentialities are great. the difficulties are not insuperable, otherwise i would not have been permitted to make this great experiment. we enter into no activities which are obviously fore-ordained to failure. many experiments are being carried forward today in the world by the various members of the hierarchy

ret these- 349- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust i will, therefore, give you three such topics: 1. the coming nature or type of world government, considering what should emerge out of the present, major, world ideologies. 2. the coming world education and what should develop in that field of training. what are the needs of the coming generation? 3. the coming world religion and what should constitute its major and universal tenets. i would like you to give nine months to this work, giving three months to each of these world topics. if i might suggest, my brother, i would like to see you give two months to reflection, meditation and mental activity on the theme of the period, and then (during the third month) i would have you reduce your ideas to form and on

urself in the subject, approaching it in happiness and in the spirit of service, i will give you later some ideas upon which you might work. i will not do so now as i want you to read and think through into a greater clarity of vision and a clearer perception of what it is you are seeking to undertake. one reason why you can do this work is that all your rays are along the line of building and of religion. you can, therefore, approach the scene in a far more detached manner than if your rays were purely mental or along the line of the first ray which is the ray that always brings withdrawal and abstraction and is the ray of the destroyer or of death itself. ponder on this. there is a connection with the first ray aspect which is will, and that of death. death is now the result of the will

ALICE A BAILEY13 PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY

e nature of the problems has changed to a marked degree. for example, problems relating to the world's children continue to exist but in different forms and under different conditions to those of the post-war period. the problems of capital, labour and employment have changed greatly in an increasingly automated and computerised world. significant developments within the many branches of orthodox religion are presenting new problems within the world's faiths. similar comments can be made on all the problems considered. in addition, new problems are arising under present day conditions, although these can usefully be viewed as variations and extensions of the basic six problems discussed in this book. so now, in 1993, when we need to reprint the book again, we have had to consider whether i

have a sound and selfless underlying idealism in a greater or lesser degree. this is the freeing of humanity from dictatorship. after war comes the test of the success of victory. if the nations throughout the world reap the benefits of free election, if peoples in disputed areas are permitted by a free plebiscite to decide their own loyalties and adherences, and if freedom of speech, freedom of religion and a truly free press and radio are the outcome of this war, a great step forward will have been made by the entire human family. the united states the psychological problem with which the united states of america is confronted is that of learning to shoulder worldwide responsibility. both great britain and russia have already learned that lesson in some form- 14- problems of humanity co

ity. the goal is right human relations; nations will stand or fall just in so far as they measure up to that vision. the era ahead of us under evolutionary law and the will of god is to see the establishment of right human relations. we are entering a vast experimental period of discovery; we shall discover just exactly what we are as nations, in our group relationships, through our expression of religion and in our mode of governments. it will be an intensely difficult era and will be only successfully lived through if each nation will recognize its own internal defects and will handle them with vision and deliberate humanitarian purpose. this means for each nation the overcoming of pride and the attainment of interior unity. each country today is divided within itself by warring groups i

t contribution will not be given in aid of right human relations. every country must also receive from all other countries. this involves a recognition of certain specific lacks, plus a willingness to take from others on terms of equality. every country has its own peculiar note which must be brought into unison and swell the great chorus from all the nations. this will only be possible when pure religion is restored and the spiritual impetus- 16- problems of humanity copyright 1998 lucis trust nascent in every nation, is given free expression. this is not yet the case; theological forms still hold the spiritual life. every nation, owing to its past history, and to its own deeds and enactments, is closely related to every other nation, and of this fact the u.s.a. is perhaps more expressive

his divine spirit. education in the hands of any church would spell disaster. it would feed the sectarian spirit, foster the conservative, reactionary attitudes so strongly endorsed, for instance, by the catholic church and the fundamentalists in the protestant churches. it would train bigots, build barriers between man and man and eventually lead to a powerful and inevitable swing away from all religion on the part of those who would finally learn to think as they reach adult manhood. this is not an indictment of religion. it is an indictment of the past methods of the churches and of the old theologies which have failed to present christ as he essentially is, which have worked for riches, prestige, and political power and which have striven with all available means to increase their mem

ALICE A BAILEY14 THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST

really know is that, down the ages, great and divine representatives of god embody divine purpose, and affect the entire world in such a manner that their names and their influence are known and felt- 2- the reappearance of the christ copyright 1998 lucis trust thousands of years after they no longer walk among men. again and again, they have come and have left a changed world and some new world religion behind them; we know also that prophecy and faith have ever held out to mankind the promise of their coming again amongst us in an hour of need. these statements are statements of fact, historically proven. beyond this we know relatively few details. the word "avatar" is a sanskrit word, meaning literally "coming down from far away" ava (as prefix to verbs and verbal nouns) expresses the

e will find a world uniquely free from the grip and hold of ecclesiasticism; when he came before, palestine was held in the vicious grasp of the jewish religious leaders, and the pharisees and the sadducees were to the people of that land what the potentates of the church are to the people in the world today. but there has been a useful and wholesome swing away from churchianity and from orthodox religion during the past century, and this will present a unique opportunity for the restoration of true religion and the presentation of a simple return to the ways of spiritual living. the priests, the levites, the pharisees and the sadducees were not the ones who recognised him when he came before. they feared him. and it is highly improbable that the reactionary churchmen will be the ones to r

portance and responsibility of government; it is, therefore, realised by the hierarchy that before the cycle of true democracy (as it essentially exists and will eventually demonstrate) can come into being, the education of the masses in cooperative statesmanship, in economic stabilisation through right sharing, and in clean, political interplay is imperatively necessary. the long divorce between religion and politics must be ended and this can now come- 8- the reappearance of the christ copyright 1998 lucis trust about because of the high level of the human mass intelligence and the fact that science has made all men so close that what happens in some remote area of the earth's surface is a matter of general interest within a few minutes. this makes it uniquely possible for him to work in

n is one of the strongest indications that the christ is on his way. he is the embodiment of freedom, and the messenger of liberation. he stimulates the group spirit and the group consciousness, and his spiritual energy is the attractive force, binding men together for the common good. his reappearance will knit and bind together all men and women of goodwill throughout the world, irrespective of religion or nationality. his coming will evoke among men a widespread and mutual recognition of the good in all. this is part of the uniqueness of his coming and for it we are already preparing. a study of the daily press will prove this. it is the invocative appeal of the many groups working on behalf of humanity (consciously or unconsciously made) which will bring him forth. those who carry out

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

ALICE A BAILEY15 THE DESTINY OF THE NATIONS

l of them were part of the directing group of lives who are working out the plans of god, founded upon the love of god. the buddha and the christ are still closely connected with, and working in cooperation with, the hierarchy. hercules has gone over into the shamballa centre, but still works in a basic association with the buddha who is one of the forces linking shamballa and the hierarchy. pure religion, undefiled and spiritually focussed, is the higher expression of the sixth ray (working as is ever the case under the influence and potency of the second ray) and for us christianity in its earlier days was the great and inspiring symbol. in the same connection, among the lower aspects of the sixth ray are to be found all forms of dogmatic, authoritative religion as expressed by the organ

s in nature cannot yet stand pure first ray energy; hence also the keen interest in the life after death and the appearance of all the many groups which are today investigating the nature of survival and the probability of immortality; hence again the appearance of the modern spiritualistic movement. this is a direct effect of the coming into manifestation of the seventh ray. spiritualism was the religion of old atlantis and the seventh ray dominated that ancient civilisation for a very long period of time, particularly during the first half of its existence, just as the fifth ray is of such dominant potency in our aryan age and race. it is through the correct development of spiritualism along psychological lines and the withdrawal of its emphasis upon phenomena (which is its outstanding c

and antagonistic to each other. the problem is that, owing to the developed sensitivity of the race, this antagonism is now upon a world-wide scale. hence much of the- 24- the destiny of the nations copyright 1998 lucis trust present conflict of ideas, and the opposing ideologies, and hence also the feud between the old inherited traditions and the ancient forms of civilisation, of government, of religion on the one hand and of the newer emerging ideas on the other. these new concepts should usher in the new age and will eventually revolutionise our modern life and standards. they will relegate the old ideas to the same position as the ideas which governed the race one thousand years ago have today assumed in our consciousness. second: the situation is still further complicated by the fact

e was the great road builder and road maker of europe in the far distant past; today the british race (who are largely re-incarnated romans and hence the friendly feeling which basically exists between the two countries in spite of outward appearance) are the original railroad makers. this is all upon the material side. upon the spiritual side, as i told you in an earlier book, the whole field of religion will be re-inspired and re-orientated from rome because the master jesus will again take hold of the christian church in an effort to re-spiritualise it and to re-organise it. from the chair of the pope of rome, the master jesus will attempt to swing that great branch of the religious beliefs of the world again into a position of spiritual power and away from its present authoritative and

ishness of a materialistic regime and the unselfishness of a mystically and spiritually minded people, and all this in a most pronounced and peculiar manner. behind the closed borders of that mysterious and magnificent country, a great and spiritual conflict is proceeding and the rare mystical spirit and the truly religious orientation of the people is the eternal guarantee that a true and living religion and culture will finally emerge. out of russia a symbol of the world arjuna in a very special sense will emerge that new and magical religion about which i have so often told you. it will be the product of the great and imminent approach which will take place between humanity and the hierarchy. from these two centres of spiritual force, in which the light which ever shineth in and from th

ALICE A BAILEY16 GLAMOUR A WORLD PROBLEM

thinking of various world groups, and many similar emanating sources have down the ages produced the world of illusion and those mental states which have held humanity prisoner to wrong concepts and thoughts. so many are these thought producing illusions that the effect in the world today has been to cause a general division of the human race into varying schools of thought (philosophy, science, religion, sociology, etc, etc, into many parties and groups, all of them coloured by an analogous idea, into groups of idealists fighting each other on behalf of their pet concepts, and into tens of thousands of participants in group mental activity. these are today producing the world literature, through which the world platforms are coloured; by their means the world leaders are inspired; and th

groups of idealists fighting each other on behalf of their pet concepts, and into tens of thousands of participants in group mental activity. these are today producing the world literature, through which the world platforms are coloured; by their means the world leaders are inspired; and they are responsible at this time for the mass of experiments in the field of government, of education, and of religion which are producing so much of the world unrest, and consequently so much of the world illusion. what is needed therefore at this time, are thinkers who are training themselves in that mental attitude and one-pointedness which is divorced from the danger of a negative receptivity and is responsive, at the same time, to the higher intuitional inspiration. it is mediating interpreters of id

glamour: a world problem copyright 1998 lucis trust and a determination to travel in a specific direction. there follows the resolution (note this word and its usage) of the duality into a unity. this resolution works out in the early stages (where the average type of aspirant is concerned) into a temporary astral unity and then there emerges the one-pointed devotee. he is found in all fields of religion, of science, of politics or in any other department of life. his etheric unity, producing re-orientation with its results of a clear vision, a grasp of truth, and a picture of the immediate way to go serves temporarily to glamour the man with a sense of achievement, of surety, of power and of destiny. he goes ahead blindly, furiously and ruthlessly until suddenly he is brought sharply up

s in this stage not the intelligent awareness of the thinking man but the blind consciousness of the physical man, plus the forces of nature themselves. 2. the average educated citizen in all lands is facing today the arjuna experience and the pairs of opposites upon the astral plane. hence the intense feeling abroad in the world; hence also the search for illumination, through education, through religion, and through the many agencies of mental instruction, with the consequent growth of knowledge, wisdom and right relationships. these people fall normally into two classes: a. those who are aware of the necessity for decision and discrimination in thinking and in choice, but who are not yet truly aware of the implications or of the indications. they are called the "bewilderment phase of ar

y glamoured by: a. that which is material and to be desired. b. that which they feel in all relationships. c. that which they believe to be ideal, to be true or just, based on their reactions to the thinkers of the day, but which they themselves do not mentally understand. d. that which they demand of beauty, and of emotional comfort. e. that which brings to them spiritual comfort in the realm of religion and religious desire. note the phrasing. 2. those who are more definitely aryan in their consciousness. this means that the mind factor is awakening and thus constituting a difficulty and that the illusions of the mental plane are now added to the glamours of the astral plane. these illusions are theoretical and intellectual in nature. 3. a group of people who are emerging out of those su

ALICE A BAILEY17 TELEPATHY AND THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

f divine energy, of divine interplay and of spiritual purpose is re-established, then evil will disappear and the will-to-good will become factual goodwill upon the outer physical plane. in the statements given above in connection with the three great planetary centres you have the basis for the new and coming approach to divinity which will be known under the expression: invocative and evocative religion. it is this new science of impression which forms the subjective basis and the uniting element which binds together the entire realm of knowledge, of science and of religion. the fundamental ideas which underlie these great areas of human thought all emanate from intuitional levels; they finally condition the human consciousness, evoking man's aspiration to penetrate deeper into the arcan

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

iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust the dragon" and it was the dragon-influence or the "serpent energy" which caused the influx of manasic or mind energy into the solar system. entangled closely with the karma of these two cosmic entities, was that of the lesser cosmic entity who is the life of our planet, the planetary logos. it was this triple karma which brought in the "serpent religion" and the "serpents or dragons of wisdom" in lemurian days. it had to do with solar and planetary kundalini, or serpent fire. a hint lies in the fact that the constellation of the dragon has the same relation to the one greater than our logos as the centre at the base of the spine has to a human being. it concerns stimulation, and vitalisation with a consequent co-ordination of the manifes

connection between mars and the blood, producing the resultant conflict between life and death (for scorpio is one of the signs of death, it is interesting to note that christianity is governed by mars. one is apt to recognise with ease that the sixth ray- 127- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust working through mars, rules christianity. it is a religion of devotion, fanaticism, of high courage, of idealism, of the spiritual emphasis upon the individual and his worth and problem, of conflict and of death. all those characteristics are familiar to us in the presentation of christian theology. it is however pre-eminently a religion which has waged a cruel and oft illogical war upon sex and its implications; it has emphasised a militant celi

x relation as one of the primary evils in the world and has laid the emphasis upon the inviolable nature of the marriage bond when endorsed by the church. this has all been the result of the beneficent or the malefic effect of the impact of sixth ray force upon the form nature. little emphasis has been laid nevertheless upon the influence of mars upon christianity, making it a definitely militant religion, oft cruel and sadistic (as witness the murders and tortures carried out in the name of christ, who was the outstanding representative of god's love. throughout the teaching of christian theology, the theme of blood runs ceaselessly and the source of salvation is laid upon the blood relationship and not upon the life aspect which the blood veils and symbolises. it is the creed of a crucif

on of virgo most accurately is "christ in you, the hope of glory" there is no clearer or more adequate definition of this sign than that; i would have you bear it in mind throughout our discussion upon this sixth sign of the zodiac (or the seventh if one is not considering the reversed wheel. in all the great world religions, the virgin mother appears and this a study of any book upon comparative religion would prove. i cannot trace for you at length this universal recognition of- 150- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust the task of virgo; it is needless for me to do so as it has been adequately done by many research scholars. i would, however, point out that four of the names whereby the virgin is called are familiar to all of us, and te

be touched upon here. august, which is ruled by leo, is the month of the dog-star, or of sirius, which thus brings sirius into close relation to leo. leo, in the cosmic sense (and apart from our solar system altogether) is ruled by sirius. sirius is the home of that greater lodge to which our fifth initiation admits a man and to which it brings him, as a humble disciple. later, when the new world religion is founded and is working- 177- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust we shall find that the major, monthly festival in august, held at the time of the full moon, will be dedicated to the task of making contact, via the hierarchy, with sirian force. each of the months of the year will later be dedicated (through accurate astrological and a

ALICE A BAILEY19 THE UNFINISHED AUTOBIOGRAPHY

r a service if i could show people how i became what i am from what i was. it might be useful to know how a rabid, orthodox christian worker could become a well-known occult teacher. people might learn much by discovering how a theologically minded bible student could come to the firm conviction that the teachings of the east and of the west must be fused and blended before the true and universal religion for which the world waits could appear on earth. there is value in knowing that the love of god antedates christianity and recognises no boundaries. this was the first and most difficult lesson i had to learn and it took me a long time. it takes all fundamentalists much time to learn that god is love. they assert it but do not believe it in practice, god's practice i mean. i would like, a

an consciousness. i want to point to some of the newer ideas which are coming out into the world of human thought from the inner group of masters and which are ushering in a new civilisation and culture and incidentally from the angle of eternity destroying many old and beloved forms. in my life i have seen, as have all thinking people, the disappearance of much that was worthless in the field of religion, of education and of the social order. and that is very good. looking back, i can imagine nothing more appalling than the perpetuation of the victorian era, for instance, with its ugliness, its smugness, and the excessive comfort of the upper classes (so-called) and the frightful condition under which the labouring classes struggled. it was in that well-padded, sleek and comfortable world

r reaching such a moment when she was in her early twenties. she felt that there was nothing to live for, and that life was a monotonous waste. why was life so stupid? why did she have to take it? not knowing what to say, i fell back on my own experience and remember so well saying to her "well, darling, one thing i can tell you. you never know what lies just around the corner" i never found that religion, or commonsense platitudes as usually dished out help in a time of crisis. what lay for her around the corner was the man she married, to whom she became engaged within a week and with whom she has been happy ever since. one needs to cultivate the awareness of the things of joy and happiness and not only register the- 8- the unfinished autobiography copyright 1998 lucis trust things of so

when they arrived, i loaded them into native carriages (gharris, put in all the makings for a picnic and drove to a place that in those days was called woodcock spinney. it was a lovely, hot, clear day and the fact that the place was then infested with snakes (kraits, deadly and small) did not seem to bother us. there we made tea and told silly stories; we asked riddles and never once did we talk religion and never once did i refer to their iniquities and then, as evening came on, we went home. i had said not a word of censure, of criticism, of request or pleading. they were certainly a bunch of mystified men. all through the evening i said nothing and, still bewildered, they went back to barracks. the next afternoon one of our coffee-shop managers sought me out and asked me if i would min

s feel quite at home on the sea. once i spent three weeks returning to great britain and whilst there spent one week in ireland, one week in scotland, one week in england and then took the boat back to india. i have spent many days and months, all told, on the ocean. i have lost count of how many times i have crossed the atlantic. all this time i was steadily and forcefully preaching the old-time religion. i remained appallingly orthodox or to use the more modern word an unthinking fundamentalist, for no- 47- the unfinished autobiography copyright 1998 lucis trust fundamentalist uses his mind. i had many arguments with liberal minded soldiers and officers but adhered with dogmatic firmness to the doctrinal presentation that no one could possibly be saved and go to heaven unless he believed

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

her 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 that: a. all dis

om those who are responsible for the unfoldment of the human consciousness. it might be truly said, brother of mine, that the rapid unfoldment of this lotus is one of the reasons why the world war could not be avoided. in one sense, it was a necessary happening (given the blind selfishness of the bulk of humanity) because it had become necessary to do away with all the old forms of government, of religion and of the crystallised social order. humanity has now reached a point of group awareness and of group interplay of a deeply spiritual kind, and new forms were required through which this new spirit could function more adequately. a. the heart centre corresponds to the "heart of the sun" and therefore to the spiritual source of light and love. b. it is brought into functioning activity af

erim period between the old and the new eras, men will wander in a fog of speculation; a great conflict will be engineered between the fundamentalist schools and the speculators and the investigators of the new ideas, and temporarily the "noble middle path" of the buddha will be forgotten. there is present today, in the science of medicine, a situation paralleling that to be found in the realm of religion. the old approach suffices for the masses and is frequently successful both in its ameliorative and preventive aspects, and in its process of diagnosis. this is all that is possible at this time. in the same manner, the old religious presentation suffices to guide the unthinking masses along certain broad lines of controlled living, and to keep clearly in the consciousness of- 161- a trea

ve a real contribution to make, but this will only be possible if they refuse to divorce themselves from the past and are willing to compromise in the present. academic medicine is the result of the god-given gifts of the human mind; it is a proven divine expression and a most beneficent force in the world, in spite of human weakness, commercial exploitation and many mistakes. it is the same with religion. both of these great sciences must eliminate the reactionary and fundamentalist positions, and then proceed with an open mind into the new ways of approach to divinity and of approach to physical well-being. it might therefore be said that the main contribution which i am making at this time is to indicate the causes of disease and ill health which are not recognised by orthodox medicine

f these deva forces and their activities, via the christ and through their responsiveness to his work and imminent appearance. on the phrase "mother of the world" the various ways in which the phrase can be used can mean quite a number of differing things. it can mean: 1. the feminine aspect in manifestation, symbolised for us in many of the world religions as a virgin mother and in the christian religion as the virgin mary. it is that substance which enables deity to manifest. 2. nature itself, the mother of all forms. 3. the moon also, who is the symbol of the generative, creative life which gives birth to forms and is therefore the symbol of the form nature. 4. the concentration of the feminine force in nature in some individual in female form who is then called the "world mother" such

ALICE A BAILEY21 EDUCATION IN THE NEW AGE

e stimuli and data necessary to the formulation of their own answers, the instructors in the department of unified studies will not pose as experts in integration. along with interested students, the faculty members will be seekers after synthesis. to illustrate the type of courses contemplated, the following possibilities are suggested: 1. the sociology of knowledge. 2. the interrelationships of religion, philosophy, science and art. 3. information theory, cybernetics and semantics. 4. the history and philosophy of science. 5. the history and presuppositions of the democratic theory of government (ideology. 6. contributions of biology, sociology and psychiatry to human welfare and progress. 7. the unity of knowledge. 8. the evolution of value systems from primitive culture to modern indus

the most important part of his nature: 1. his lower concrete mind, the reasoning principle. it is with this aspect of the man that our educational processes profess to deal. 2. that son of mind, which we call the ego or soul. this is the intelligence principle, and is called by many names in the esoteric literature, such as the solar angel, the agnishvattas, the christ principle, etc. with this, religion in the past has professed to deal- 9- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust 3. the higher abstract mind, the custodian of ideas, and that which is the conveyor of illumination to the lower mind, once that lower mind is en rapport with the soul. with this world of ideas philosophy has professed to deal. we might call these three aspects: the receptive mind, the mind as dealt

nd the grasping of the seven types of energy which determine a man and his activities, will bring about immediate changes. chapter ii the cultural unfoldment of the race civilisation and culture much emphasis is being laid today upon education coordinating, relational, psychological, vocational and equipping. to this must be added the old method of memory training and the attempt either to infuse religion into the mind of the child or to omit it with decision and with purpose. modern education has been primarily competitive, nationalistic and, therefore, separative. it has trained the child to regard the material values as of major importance, to believe that his particular nation is also of major importance and that every other nation is secondary; it has fed pride and fostered the belief

the facts equally so. i exaggerate perhaps; yet maybe i do not. nevertheless, the fact remains that the two great civilisations about which we can really know anything the aryan and the atlantean present two extreme objectives or positions towards which the humanity of the two periods directed and still direct their attention. the atlantean civilisation was definitely religious in its attitudes; religion was the commonplace of life and the raison d' tre of all that was. the world after death was the subject of interest and unwavering, unquestioning belief. the subtle influences emanating from the unseen realms, the forces of nature and man's relation to them through a keen sensitivity, and the entire gamut of his- 32- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust emotional attitudes

pable of recognising himself as living in an inner world, as a mind and a soul. he then expresses an inner subjective life of such potency that it controls and dominates the physical plane life, motivating it and giving it true direction. this attitude of the human being and the task of bringing this condition of consciousness to fruition, have been regarded for centuries as the task of organised religion, whereas it is essentially and necessarily that of education. it is true that the church in ancient days was the educator of the time, but the emphasis was laid upon the inner and subjective life, and as a rule no attempt was made to fuse and blend the two outer material well-being and inner spiritual existence- 33- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust education is the task

ALICE A BAILEY22 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME II

s now nearly completed, and today i ask you two questions: 1. what has this work meant to you? 2. have you grasped the importance of the work to be done? there has been a purpose behind all this effort which i have made, and an experiment of importance has been carried forward in preparation for the coming new age activity. in some of the earlier instructions*(3) i indicated that the coming world religion would be based upon a new science of approach and that this would, in time, supersede the present world religious formulas and ceremonials. hence the importance of the efforts now being made by disciples in these new seed groups. they are in reality occupied with the process of anchoring upon earth a new religious idea or concept, a seed thought or germ of a new activity which (at some la

concept and laid the foundation for future work to be carried forward with- 37- discipleship in the new age- volume ii copyright 1998 lucis trust steadfastness over a long period of time. a beginning has been made. ii in the second stage of the work outlined by me when you had worked for a year at this full moon activity, i began to widen the teaching and i added to the earlier technique. in the religion of the future, three years will always be given to training the youth of the period (from the ages of fifteen to eighteen) in a preparatory technique of approach. the stages in the second year's activity were as follows: 1. the recognition by the group members of the necessity for a closer group relation within the circle of the group and with me. this is symbolic of the recognition of th

essential dual activity. the first stage of this dual activity took place millions of years ago at the time of individualisation, and produced the emergence of the fourth kingdom in nature, the human family. the second stage is being rapidly worked out today, and will produce the emergence of initiation. the intermediate stage is that of integration. we have therefore the germ of a new scientific religion, called (as i have earlier pointed out) the science of approach. it is one in which humanity can now consciously share, for their stage in evolution warrants it. men can today grasp the objective, share in the united aspiration, and carry out the needed requirements. 3. the time to be given, at this stage of the training, to the full moon approach was shortened, but tremendously intensifi

ous ceremonial can be dimly seen and inadequately sensed. this stage is followed by: 4. two days of intensive recollection by the group in their brain consciousness. this involves: a. the development of the power to recall the words of power which had been spoken by me, and later, the listening for a word of power. this recognition of the words will be one of the major objectives of the new world religion, and hence our effort (not particularly successful hitherto) to do something symbolically analogous in our group activity. b. a subsequent definite intensification of the life processes, and a spiritual demonstration upon the physical plane as a result. the above elucidation should give you a new and more intelligent grasp of the symbolic significances of the work we are now attempting. i

and, by the very force of its interior life, eventually externalise itself. this coming externalisation of the groups which constitute the ashrams of the masters (not yet of the chohans, because they are still basically too potent) will be a gradual process, but it will in time restore the mysteries, bring the first two initiations into a relative prominence as integral parts of the coming world religion, familiarise the whole of mankind with the fact of the subjective world, and finally bring the most developed of the sons of men into a faint glimmer of understanding of the essential reality underlying all phenomena, and give some grasp of the purpose of shamballa and the will of the lord of the world. humanity has now reached a point of development where there is a definite grasp of the

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

tes and many others are outstanding examples. another method was the evocation of the desire of the masses for that which is deemed desirable and their mass reorientation towards a fuller life expression. this life expression, founded on some voiced idea, was embodied in an ideal life. thus the work of the saviours of the world came into expression, and this brought about the emergence of a world religion. the first method was strictly mental, and even today remains so; the masses, for instance, know little of plato and his theories in spite of the fact that he has moulded human minds either through acquiescence in his theories or through refutation of them down the ages. the other method is strictly emotional and so more easily colours the mass consciousness. an instance of this was the m

spects of the consciousness of the manifesting deity. this impact of force has evoked a response from those who function upon one or other of these levels of awareness. today, as the integration of the human family proceeds and as the mental level of contact becomes more potent, there is to be found a powerful human reaction to schools of thought and a lessened reaction to the methods of orthodox religion. this is due to the fact that the trend of the human consciousness is (if i might so express it) away from the emotional to the mental levels of consciousness, and this, as far as the masses are concerned, will go on increasing. the time has now come when there are enough people to be found who having themselves made the religious and the mental approaches to truth definite factors in the

life that they will become one living vibrant organism. the fourth group has ahead of it a rich and most interesting course of study and an illuminating objective. its instructions (see education in the new age) will evoke more interested response from a larger group of readers than perhaps will be the case in the instructions of any of the other groups, except those of the sixth whose subject is religion in the new age, and the third (see esoteric healing. i give them in the order of their importance. they will be more definitely- 32- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust popular and meet a more general need. the interest which the teaching on education will evoke will be owing to the fact that education is today widely recognised as the major moulding factor, ne

who are chosen by the educated masses to formulate the laws whereby they should be governed. it will be apparent, therefore, along what three lines of study and work the members of this fifth group will proceed. these i will not further elaborate in this place. in view of the steady progress towards religious unity which has proceeded apace during the past 150 years, the work of the sixth group (religion in the new age, as is also the case with the first group (telepathic communication) promises rapid results. this is, however, necessarily dependent upon the "skill in action" and the willingness of the group members and allied groups to proceed with slowness and tact. the moment any idea enters the religious field, it gains immediate momentum from the fact that the outstanding characteris

any truth or presentation of truth or method which has in it the possibility of producing a nearer approach to divinity or a more rapid understanding of the "deeper being" evokes an immediate response and reaction. there is consequently much need for caution and considered action- 37- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust i have already indicated to you the form that the religion of the new age will take (see the reappearance of the christ. it will be built around the periods of the full moon, wherein certain great approaches will be made to the world of reality, also around two periods of massed approaches to be made at the time of the major eclipse of the moon and of the sun during the year. the two major full moon approaches will be those of the wesak full moon

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

e of this science of invocation and evocation in the waking consciousness of humanity. prayer is the dim, faint and inadequate expression of this; affirmation of divinity in order to gain material well-being is a distortion of this truth. this needs to be remembered. the true significance of this emerging science is that, in the early or first stages, it embodies the seed concept of the new world religion. in the great invocations which i have given out, the first one*(4("let the forces of light bring illumination to mankind) was an effort on my part to put into words the invocative cry of mankind and of all men and women of goodwill throughout the world. its success was indicative- 46- a treatise on the seven rays- volume v: the rays and the initiations copyright 1998 lucis trust of the s

consciousness (from that point in time slowly brought about) of certain powers and capacities of which the race is today totally unaware. the immediate revelation ahead will be only the first step towards this distant related point, and its significance will not be apparent to the present generation, or even to the next; it will, however, be steadily though gradually appreciated as the new world religion with its emphasis upon the invocation of energies and the evocation of "life more abundantly" is developed and has its inevitable effect. students would do well to bear in mind that the impact of energies upon forms produces results which are dependent upon the quality of the forms receiving the impression. this is a statement of occult- 49- a treatise on the seven rays- volume v: the ray

f a master jesus or of a father damien, and the death of a hitler or of a murderer, are not the result of the same essential energies. when the din of battle and the smoke and fire of bombing and the cruel effects on human bodies have faded into the past, it will be apparent to the understanding aspirant that much evil has been destroyed in all fields of human activity in the field of theological religion, in the field of politics, and in the field of selfish economic competition. it will be for humanity then to precipitate and stabilise the appearing good, and this they will learn to do through the utilisation of the third shamballa energy the energy of organisation. the new world will be built upon the ruins of the old. the new structure will rise. men of goodwill everywhere, under the g

meditation lie far ahead in the distant future. the work of the preparatory schools must come first, and their work will proceed until such time that the work of the ashrams of the masters is recognised as forming part of an outer hierarchical activity. this in due time will lead to the giving of the first initiation publicly, as a part of the great service ritual of the then prevalent universal religion. the race of men will then in its most advanced brackets and groups in every country in the world be normally clairvoyant, and will therefore see for themselves the light within the candidates; they will know then that the first initiation is justifiably undergone, and they will also see the same light in thousands who in previous incarnations have taken that initiation. one thing only wi

blind in its selfishness and materiality, and which is implemented to retain the old things which should pass away and to fight that which is new. as individual aspirants, you all know that this condition exists in the conflict waged interiorly and expressed exteriorly between the soul and the personality. the same conditioning factors can be seen also working in every group, organisation, world religion, and in every nation, as well as in the planet as a whole. millions of years ago, the hierarchy realised that such a time of crisis and of conflict was inevitable. the easiest way to handle it would have been as lesser conflicts were dealt with in the past by a process of final intervention. shamballa and the hierarchy could have unitedly ended this world crisis, but it would then have ag

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

he final word "prepare the candidate. give him his labors to perform and place his name upon the tablets of the living way [3] the tibetan (djwhal khul. foreword the purpose of this study the intense interest evinced at this time in the subject of the spiritual life is in itself the warrant for such a study as this series of articles purposes. in defiance of the fact that academic and theological religion has no longer its ancient appeal and in spite of the revolt against organized religion, the urge towards spiritual realities has never been so keen as now. the day of empirical experience on a large scale is now with us, and men and women everywhere are refusing any longer to believe and blindly accept, because they are determined to know. acceptance of imposed dogmas is now giving place

life and form, and of soul and body. first "nature expresses invisible energies through visible forms" back of the objective world of phenomena, human or solar, small or great, organic or inorganic, lies a subjective world of forces which is responsible for the outer form. behind the outer material shell is to be found a vast empire of being, and it is into this world of living energies that both religion and science are now penetrating. everything outer and tangible is a symbol of inner creative forces and it is this idea that underlies all symbology. a symbol is an outer and visible form of an inner and spiritual reality. it is with this interplay of the outer form and the inner life [11] that hercules wrestles. he knew himself to be the form, the symbol, for the dominance of the lower m

a living being, to a universal mind, and to a central energy. in the unfolding drama of the heavens, in the conclusions of the scientific enquirer, in the mathematical computations of the astrologers, and in the testimony of the mystic, however, we can see a steadily emerging manifestation of this concealed divinity. little by little, through the study of history, of philosophy and of comparative religion, we see the plan of that deity becoming significantly apparent. in the passage of the sun through the twelve signs of the zodiac, we can see the marvellous organization of the plan, the focusing of the energies and the growth of the tendency towards divinity. now, at last, in the twentieth century, objective and subjective have become so closely blended and merged that it is almost imposs

been dominated and controlled. cassiopeia will be found seated on the arctic circle, close to [36] cepheus the king,or lawgiver, whom we shall meet later as one of the three constellations in pisces. at the commencement, law; at the close, law; for cepheus has a close relation with the first and the last sign of the zodiac. it is interesting to note that mahomet, the founder of the most militant religion, was born in this sign, and legend says that moses also was born in it; moses, the lawgiver, and mahomet, the warrior- 24- the labours of hercules the problem of hercules, as he enters upon his labors, is to demonstrate his power over matter and form, and so he has to recognize cassiopeia from the very beginning, the hitherto enthroned queen. the second constellation is cetus, the sea mon

g tendencies. 8. separativeness. the analytical mind divides and subdivides, prizing the part above the whole. greater emphasis is placed upon the indications of diversity than on the over-arching fact of unity. such fragmented thinking militates against the impulse toward synthesis. the separative attitude is more conscious of the differences between men than of the similarities; it conceives of religion as a series of antagonistic units rather than a single expression of spiritual impulse; it considers the opposition of classes in society to be more important than the common humanity that makes men brothers; it views the earth as a series of disparate nations, rather than as one world. hercules had to see the hydra as one monster, not a beast with nine different heads. as long as he soug

AN INTRO TO STUDY OF THE KABALAH

. if not within us, it could not understand us; if not outside, it would be subject to the same conditions. this is an eternal problem, to be and not to be, to be within and yet to be outside, to be finite and yet ready to serve the infinite" d. t. suzuki- 133- the labours of hercufian introduction to the study of the kabalah by william wynn westcott preface students of literature, philosophy and religion who have any sympathy with the occult sciences may well pay some attention to the kabalah of the hebrew rabbis of olden times; for whatever faith may be held by the enquirer he will gain not only knowledge, but also will broaden his views of life and destiny, by comparing other forms of religion with the faith and doctrines in which he has been nurtured, or which he has adopted after reac

dition to the body of kabalistic doctrine has been made, but before that time a long succession of commentaries had been produced, all tending to illustrate or extend the philosophical scheme. as already said, when the kabalah first took shape as a concrete whole and a philosophic system, may remain for ever an unknown datum, but if we regard it, as i believe is correct, as the esotericism of the religion of the hebrews, the foundation dogmas are doubtless almost as old as the first promulgation of the main principles of the worship of jehovah. i cannot now attempt any glance at the contentions of some doubting scholars, who question whether the story of the twelve tribes is a historic fact, or whether there ever were a moses, or even a king solomon. it is sufficient for the present purpos

this return to jerusalem it was that ezra and nehemiah, circa 450 b.c, edited and compiled the old testament of the hebrews, or according to those who deny the mosaic authorship and the solomonic r gime, it was then that they wrote the pentateuch. the renewed worship maintained until 320 b.c, when jerusalem was captured by ptolemy soter, who, however, did not destroy the foundations of the jewish religion; indeed his successor, ptolemy philadelphus, caused the hebrew scriptures to be revised and translated into greek by seventy-two scholars, about 277 b.c; this has been known for centuries as the septuagint version of the old testament. further jewish troubles followed, however, and jerusalem was again taken and pillaged by antiochus in 170 b.c. then followed the long wars of the maccabees

s the septuagint version of the old testament. further jewish troubles followed, however, and jerusalem was again taken and pillaged by antiochus in 170 b.c. then followed the long wars of the maccabees; subsequently the romans dominated judea, then quarrelling with the jews the city was taken by pompey, and not long after was again plundered by the roman general crassus in 54 b.c. yet the jewish religion was preserved, and we find the religious feasts and festivals all in progress at the time of jesus; yet once more in a.d. 70, was the holy city taken, plundered and burnt, and that by titus, who became emperor of the romans in a.d. 79. through all these vicissitudes, the hebrew old testament survived, yet must almost unavoidably have had many alterations and additions made to its several

nticity of their alleged origins, it cannot be denied that those ancient volumes, sepher yetzirah and zohar, contain a system of spiritual philosophy of clear design, deep intuition and far-reaching cosmologic suggestions; that are well worthy of the honour of receiving a special name and of founding a theological body of doctrine--the kabalah. the bulwark and main foundation of the public hebrew religion has always been the pentateuch, five treatises attributed to moses, which proclaim the laws of jehovah given to his chosen people. the old testament beginning with these five books is further continued by historic books, by poetical teachings and by prophetic works, but many portions are marked by materialistic characteristics and a lack of spiritual rectitude which the books of a great r

ANATHEMA OF ZOS

abit by speaking loudly unto his self. and at one time, returning to familiar consciousness, he was vexed to notice interested hearers-a rabble of involuntary mendicants, pariahs, whoremongers, adulterers, distended bellies, and the prevalent sick-grotesques that obtain in civilizations. his irritation was much, yet still they pestered him, saying: master, we would learn of these things! teach us religion! and seeing, with chagrin, the hopeful multitude of believers, he went down into the valley of styx, prejudiced against them as followers. and when he was ennui, he opened his mouth in derision, saying: o, ye whose future is in other hands! this familiarity is permitted not of thybut of my impotence. know me as zos the goat-herd, savior of myself and of those things i have not yet regrett

ANTINOMIANISM

s) from which the concept that moral law is not obligatory emerged. what is frequently misunderstood about antinomianism is this idea of non-obligatory moral law. often i see this idea distorted to mean having no morals or ethics. this is absolutely and historically innacurate. what the concept of non-obligatory moral law means is that morality cannot be an obligation to doctrine as emphasized by religion or culture. rather, morality must issue as a principle from the individuals own soul, heart and conscience as opposed to doctrinally instituted and enforced. obviously there is an element of self responsibility and personal development involved here. antinomianism as a praxis of spiritual dissent manifests as both a methodology and a practicum to personal spiritual freedom. antinomianism

man as he is and the giving over of self responsibility to a higher force has most often been represented by the right hand path (rhp. the right-hand path vs. left-hand path the distinction between the rhp and the lhp is one of the most misunderstood dichotomies i have personally encountered. the pagan community misunderstands it, most contemporary satanists misunderstand it, certainly mainstream religion hasn't got a clue. so, let me fill you in. the true distinction between the lhp and the rhp is one of intention: the lhp seeks a separation from god or nature for the purpose of self deification and the inherent personal responsibilities that implies. the rhp seeks to merge with god, to join the natural forces, to be with god and to allow the doctines of that god determine the degree and

rough a careful introspection via intellectual and creative means. it does not deny faith, it denies blind faith and obedience to ideas that you are not your own through experience or developed contemplation and philosophical inquiry. it is fully possible to have a rational faith in very large ideas (such as the essential nature of human consciousness) without having to simply "accept" it because religion, cultural ideology or socialization have told you that it is so. the alternative to this "blind acceptance of dogma" is to carefully evaluate the known facts from largely unbiased data such as scientific, archaeological and well developed philosophical concepts and then come to your own conclusions. sometimes to successfully accomplish this task one must learn very new thinhgs such as a n

ARADIA GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES

hing to the peoplethat it was a dutyto suffer and endure oppression and tyranny, and that the rights of authority of allkinds were so great that they on the whole even excused their worst abuses. for by upholdingauthority in the nobility the church maintained its own.the result of it all was a vast development of rebels, outcasts, and all the discontented, who adopt-ed witchcraft or sorcery for a religion, and wizards as their priests. they had secret meetings indesert places, among old ruins accursed by priests as the haunt of evil spirits or ancient heathengods, or in the mountains. t o this day the dweller in italy may often find secluded spots environed byancient chestnut forests, rocks, and walls, which suggest fit places for the sabbat, and are some-times still believed by tradition

a tower, without even the company of her governess,and put to strong and hard pain, being made to sleep on the stone floor, and would have died ofhunger had her mother had her way.then in this dire need she prayed to dianato set her free; when lo! she found the prison door unfas-tened, and easily escaped. then having obtained a pilgrims dress, she travelled far and wide,teaching and preaching the religion of old times, the religion of diana, the queen of the fairies andof the moon, the goddess of the poor and the oppressed.and the fame of her wisdom and beauty went forth over all the land, and people worshipped her,calling her la bella pellegrina. at last her mother, hearing of her, was in a greater rage than ever,and, in fine, after much trouble, succeeded in having her again arrested and

then in evil temper indeed she asked her whether she would become a nun: to which she repliedthat it was not possible, because she had left the catholic church and become a worshipper ofdianaand of the moon.and the end of it was that the mother, regarding her daughter as lost, gave her up to the priests tobe put to torture and death, as they did all who would not agree with them or who left their religion.but the people were not well pleased with this, because they adored her beauty and goodness, andthere were few who had not enjoyed her charity.but by the aid of her lover she obtained, as a last grace, that on the night before she was to be tor-tured and executed she might, with a guard, go forth into the garden of the palace and pray. page 44 chapter xi.the house of the wind.list to the

which is written is, moreover, often destroyed with scrupulous care by priestsor penitents, or the vast number who have a superstitious fear of even being in the same house withsuch documents, so that i regard the rescue of the vangeloas something which is to say the leastremarkable. page 4 for brief explanation i may say that witchcraft is known to its votaries as la vecchia religione, or theold religion, of which diana is the goddess, her daughter aradia(or herodias) the female messiah,and that this little work sets forth how the latter was born, came down to earth, established witchesand witchcraft, and then returned to heaven. with it are given the ceremonies and invocations orincantations to be addressed to dianaand aradia, the exorcism of cain, and the spells of the holy-stone, rue

eally very little) i could, to disinter somethingfrom the dead volcano of italian sorcery.if this be the manner in which italian witchcraft is treated by the most intelligent writer who hasdepicted it, it will not be deemed remarkable that there are few indeed who will care whether there isa veritable gospel of the witches, apparently of extreme antiquity, embodying the belief in a strangecounter-religion which has held its own from pre-historic time to the present day. witchcraft is allrubbish, or something worse, said old writers, and therefore all books about it are nothing better. isincerely trust, however, that these pages may fall into the hands of at least a few who will think bet-ter of them. page 3 n r r r r r preface.if the reader has ever met with the works of the learned folk-l

ARTHUR E WAITE TEMPLAR ORDERS IN FREEMASONRY

n the eighteenth century was prepared to receive masons who had been proved into that which was denominated the illustrious grade and order of knights of the temple of jerusalem. the candidate undertakes in his obligation to do all in his power for the glorious restoration of the order; to succour his brethren in their need; to visit the poor, the sick and the imprisoned; to love his king and his religion; to maintain the state; to be ever ready in his heart for all sacrifice in the cause of the faith of christ, for the good of his church and its faithful. the pledge is taken on the knees, facing a tomb of black marble which represents that of molay, the last grand master and martyr-in-chief of the order. thereafter the inward meaning of the three craft degrees is explained to the candidat

r the inward meaning of the three craft degrees is explained to the candidate. that of apprentice recalls the earliest of christian chivalries, being the canons or knights of the holy sepulchre, who for long had no distinctive clothing and hence the divested state of the masonic postulant. but this state signified also that his arm is ever ready to do battle with the enemies of the holy christian religion and his heart for the sacrifice of his entire being to jesus christ. the alleged correspondences and meanings are developed at some length, but it will be sufficient to mention that the masonic candidate enters the lodge poor and penniless, because that was the condition at their beginning of the templars and the other orders of christian knighthood. the candidate is prepared for the seco

at konigsberg from 1769 to 1799 in the provincial grand lodge; in the kingdom of hanover, at the english provincial grand lodge, from 1766 to 1778; and even now the list is not exhausted. the explanation of this influence through all its period and everywhere is (i) that which lay behind the romantic thesis of ramsay, as shown by his work on the philosophical principles of natural and revealed religionmystery of hidden knowledge perpetuated in the east from the days of noah and the flood (2) that which lay behind, as already mentioned, the talismanic attraction exercised on masonic minds in the eighteenth century by the name of knights templar, because the church had accused them. they had learned strange things in the east:

BALANONES TEMPLE OF SET FAQ

rld. there is a very definite sense that, through my contact with the art of austin osman spare, the previously unseen spirit world has become tangible and palpable, more reachable and more real. powerful stuff indeed. john balaohbalanone's temple of set faq contents: 1.0 introduction 2.0 philosophy 2.1 xeper 2.2 initiation 2.3 satanism 2.4 left hand path 2.5 metaphysics 2.6 dogma vs doctrine 3.0 religion 3.1 the temple of set as a religion 3.2 set 3.3 the gift of set 4.0 magic 4.1 black magic 4.2 ritual practices 4.3 occult studies 5.0 the organization 5.1 membership in the temple 5.2 relations with other organizations 5.3 why the temple of set? 5.4 our reputation(s) 5.5 pylons and orders 5.6 the high priest 6.0 setians and setianism 6.1 activities 6.2 setians 6.3 why are we here? 6.4 mis

. the temple of set has grown a lot in scope and maturity in those twenty years. because of this history, and because of the many antinomian pursuits followed by setians, many people will call the temple of set "satanic" many setians do, too, but not all "satan" is a name given to the prince of darkness, just like "set" is a name given to the prince of darkness. however "set" is a name given by a religion which found setian principles attractive and noble, and which honored the prince of darkness "satan" is a name given to the prince of darkness by christianity out of fear and revulsion. the christian satan is a twisted bastardization of the true prince of darkness "satanism" is a term used by many to describe the left hand path in the west. we are a proud part of the tradition of spiritua

t of this faq, magus don webb, the high priest, suggested i erred in my statement above: dw> actually the temple of set does have dogma: dw> 1. being and becoming are good. dw> 2. being and becoming can be enhanced by consciously chosen activities including magic. dw> 3. the temple of set, if properly maintained and used as a tool can be used to obtain being and becoming. dw> that's about it> 3.0 religion 3.1 the temple of set as a religion is the temple of set a religion? yes, although belief in the religion is not required of i* or ii* members. see the ref document for some discussion why i consider the temple of set to be a religion* fr. ignatius asked on the xepera-l mailing list, may 22, 1999> if tos is a "legally recognized" entity, is it then tax-exempt? and are> tos priests able to

red of i* or ii* members. see the ref document for some discussion why i consider the temple of set to be a religion* fr. ignatius asked on the xepera-l mailing list, may 22, 1999> if tos is a "legally recognized" entity, is it then tax-exempt? and are> tos priests able to perform legally binding marriage ceremonies? i was> wondering because i know that gov't recognition of one's path as a *real> religion has been an issue in the neo-pagan community for quite a while. yes, from its initial incorporation, the temple of set is a legal religious corporation within the state of california, and it is fully tax exempt (i believe most of us would gladly do away with the tax exemption of all religious organizations, losing our own if it meant that all christian, jewish, hindu, scientologist, and o

f set in the ref document> 4.0 magic 4.1 black magic what is black magic? how does the temple of set teach it? black magic is consciously-directed alteration of one's environment through obscure natural (lesser black magic) or non-natural (medial black magic) means, or apprehension of the forms/principles of the natural/non-natural universe (greater black magic. black magic inverts the formula of religion from "thy will be done" to "my will be done" the temple of set teaches both theory and practice of lbm/mbm/gbm, along with individual and social ethical considerations to which the initiate must be sensitive in order to use such magical knowledge creatively, constructively, and responsibly [descriptions of "black magic" as involving human or animal sacrifice, rape, or other illegal or rep

BEHOLDERS OF NIGHT

of evil, how with shades from his dire mansion, he deformed the works of oromazes, turned to noxious heat the solar beam, that foodful earth might parch (yasht xix.11,12) the black dragon is symbolized as ahriman, the averse force of darkness and shadow. ahriman in zoroastrian terms is the great force of evil and darkness, whom was created divine but chose the shadow path. in the ancient persian religion of zoroastrianism, ahriman (called also arimanius or angra mainya) is one of the earliest forms of the devil itself, the father of those of the shadow, the demonium of the earth. in the ancient witchcraft religion (yatuk, persian sorcerers used blood of wolves[10 (who are sacred to ahriman) to call upon darkness. ahriman was probably in this sense, one of the first vampyre forms of ancien

BELL CHRISTOPHER PAUL TSIU MARPO THE CAREER OF A TIBETAN PROTECTOR DEITY

kathleen erndl and dr. john corrigan for their advice in this work along the way and for agreeing to be part of my defense committee. both dr. erndl and dr. corrigan have played influential roles in my academic growth. dr. erndl has contributed greatly to my learning in asian studies and dr. corrigan is responsible for first introducing me to the deep but inviting waters of the academic study of religion. i would like to thank dr. douglas duckworth for his assistance in translating a good portion of the tibetan materials utilized in this work. he took the time outside of scheduled classes to work with me on this material, fortifying my understanding of these ritual texts and clarifying many troublesome points. i owe a debt of gratitude to david germano, robert barnett, and erin burke, who

these observations together to illustrate the multifaceted connections between the ritual and the social in tibetan buddhism and the importance of protector deities as a cohesive force between multiple cultural milieus, particularly lay and monastic communities. x figure 1. tsiu marpo (tenzin 1975, p. 415) xi introduction since the arrival of buddhism in tibet during the seventh century c.e, the religion has had a complex, at times uncomfortable, relationship with the indigenous religious forces of the land. in cultural myth and history, this relationship is personified by the constant interaction between buddhist agents and supernatural deities of the tibetan landscape. this interaction is not wholly unique to tibet and can be found in the development of buddhism in china, japan, sri lan

f the tibetan landscape. this interaction is not wholly unique to tibet and can be found in the development of buddhism in china, japan, sri lanka, and elsewhere in asia. however, what is unique is how such relationships develop, given tibet s particular history, and how the forces involved help solidify the buddhist community along lay and monastic divisions, the two major social elements of the religion. these two divisions have a complex relationship in all buddhist communities; they are symbiotic because the monastic community relies materially on the lay community, while the latter relies spiritually on the former. nonetheless, the goals of these communities are different, with the monastic community concerned with enlightenment and the lay community concerned with more pragmatic inte

d practice it is important to study these deities, where they come from, and how they evolve. despite this importance, very little research has been conducted on tibetan deities, compared to the overwhelming scholarship on tibetan buddhist philosophy. i suspect this is a preferential bias that still exists toward the high value of buddhist philosophy and the belief that it is the core of buddhist religion.2 the central perspective of my study is that this biased attitude is simply 1 this division of concerns is not mutually exclusive, as lay members of a buddhist community do have a long-term interest in enlightenment and monastic community members have practical motivations in daily life. these issues will be explored further in this study as well as in the conclusion. 2 bentor (1996, p

e of contents does a cursory job of categorizing various deities; beyond this, the individual chapters are little more than extensive and unorganized descriptions of these deities s attributes. there is no grand unifying methodology tying these descriptions to the greater cultural and ritual traditions of tibet and thus there is no concise statement on their importance and relationship to tibetan religion. the book, like its individual chapters, starts and ends abruptly with no solid connections. despite these weaknesses, oracles and demons of tibet provides a wealth of information and is groundbreaking in its depth. it continues to be the springboard from which later works on tibetan protector deities, including this one, begin their investigation. it is also one of only three english-lan

BLACK SERPENT1

light sprinkling of sugar, mix well, serve with whipped cream. more tips: use paper plates, plastic cups, and plastic ware so clean up is a snap. have someone else bring the beverages. enjoy! 7 by demonolators for demonolators tm the demonolatry book source project you can also get great music, calendars, and journals! http//www.lulu.com/demonolatry/ http//www.lulu.com/demonolatry2/ 8 share your religion, lose your job by s. j. reisner disclaimer: this article is not meant to give legal advice, nor should it be treated as such. it contains general advice about what you can do if you encounter religious discrimination in the workplace. if you need legal advice, talk to your attorney. in the last five years there have been at least three well-publicized instances where occult practitioners

l on a co-worker. http//www.witchvox.com/wren/wn_detail.html?id=2785 most recently, there is the case of julie carpenter who was fired from her job because it came out that she practiced witchcraft. according to media reports, the school stated her removal as a bus driver for the district was for the safety of the children. ms. carpenter was otherwise an exemplary employee and never discussed her religion with the children. http//wcco.com/topstories/local_story_014123111.html even non-occultists have been victims. tresa waggoner, the colorado music teacher whose attempts to introduce local children to opera using gounod's faust drew a storm of criticism, has decided to take legal action after being forced to take administrative leave from the bennett school after showing the opera led to a

he plot of faust, where the title character sells his soul to the devil to recapture his youth, led to her being labeled a devil worshipper. both accusations were false. http//www.playbillarts.com/news/article/3850.html undoubtedly there are even more of these cases unpublicized. religious freedom, it seems, is very specific to who has that freedom. increasingly, in most us workplaces, freedom of religion only applies to judeo-christian religions. this means that people who practice any form of non-judeo christian religion are probably safer keeping it to themselves. i have no doubt every last person reading this article has worked with a christian coworker who has openly discussed his/her religion. yet, very rarely do you hear of the christian being fired for openly sharing his religious

very last person reading this article has worked with a christian coworker who has openly discussed his/her religion. yet, very rarely do you hear of the christian being fired for openly sharing his religious beliefs. nor do you often hear public complaints 9 against christians witnessing in the office. the simple fact of the matter is that most people tolerate it because they think they have to. religion of any sort does not belong in the workplace. if religion is not a part of your job (i.e. you do not work for a religious organization, and your religion has no affect on your job performance, it cannot be used as grounds for termination. most employers know this and here's how they get around it they make the reason for firing the person of alternative faith legitimate. 1. they will star

beliefs. 4. the employee may begin receiving poor performance evaluations, where prior to the information coming out, their evaluations were above average or stellar. 5. occasionally it can be disguised as a layoff. how can you know for sure when you're being targeted? first, not all employers are out to get people of alternative faiths. a good majority of employers probably don't care what your religion is, and don't care to know. if there are genuine reasons for termination of employment, you can bet that religious discrimination was not a part of that equation. generally a person will know they're being targeted, especially if the following apply: 1. the information about an employee's alternative religious belief comes out and he is suddenly terminated without just cause (i.e. he was

BLACK WITCHCRAFT

was passed on to all women as lilith is directly connected with their fiery and dark sides. the goddess of luciferian witchcraft is lilith or babalon, as described previously. she is also hecate, the darkened moon goddess of the cunning circle, whose blessing is both youth, imagination and death. the son is within you and that is cain, the baphometic daemon whose magick is the core essence of the religion of sorcery. the very circle casting rite as written by gerald gardner presents the mother of witchcraft, mother, darksome and divine, mine the scourge and mine the kiss, the five-point star of love and bliss. within the circle there is the very graal of the adversary, that through self-love can the essence of the pentagram be sensed and understood. he refers to hecate or lilith (via diana

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

ath[[footnote(s* by "original" we mean the "amshaspend" called "zarathustra, the lord and ruler of the vara made by yima in that land" there were several zarathustra or zertusts, the dabistan alone enumerating thirteen; but these were all the reincarnations of the first one. the last zoroaster was the founder of the fire temple of azareksh and the writer of the works on the primeval sacred magian religion destroyed by alexander* in india called "the day of brahma[[vol. 2, page] 7 hyperboreas and lemuria. ii. the "hyperborean" will be the name chosen for the second continent, the land which stretched out its promontories southward and westward from the north pole to receive the second race, and comprised the whole of what is now known as northern asia. such was the name given by the oldest

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

, has two parts left for herself. this has an occult as well as an astronomical meaning "as it is above so it is below" is the fundamental axiom of occult philosophy. as the logos is seven-fold, i.e, throughout kosmos it appears as seven logoi under seven different forms, or, as taught by learned brahmins "each of these is the central figure of one of the seven main branches of the ancient wisdom religion" and, as the seven principles which correspond to the seven distinct states of pragna, or consciousness, are allied to seven states of matter and the seven forms of force, the division must be the same in all that concerns the earth* venus is thus[[diagram] the earth[[diagram[[vol. 2, page] 30 the secret doctrine. also of astrology, represented venus in its astronomical tables as a globe

ours in central america. it is they who discovered the sepulchre of the royal kan coh, at cichen-itza. the author[[footnote continued on next page[[vol. 2, page] 35 the "seven" mystery "seven seems to have been the sacred number par excellence among all civilised nations of antiquity. why? each separate people has given a different explanation, according to the peculiar tenets of their (exoteric) religion. that it was the number of numbers for those initiated into the sacred mysteries, there can be no doubt. pythagoras. calls it the 'vehicle of life' containing body and soul, since it is formed of a quaternary, that is wisdom and intellect, and of a trinity or action and matter. the emperor julian 'in matrem, etc' expresses himself thus 'were i to touch upon the initiation into our sacred

s unveiled "we find it rather unwise on the part of catholic writers to pour out their vials of wrath in such sentences as these 'in a multitude of pagodas, the phallic stone, ever and always assuming, like the grecian batylos, the brutally indecent form of the lingham. the maha deva' before casting slurs on a symbol whose profound metaphysical meaning is too much for the modern champions of that religion of sensualism par excellence, roman catholicism, to grasp, they are in duty bound to destroy their oldest churches, and change the form of the cupolas of their own temples. the mahody of elephanta, the round tower of bhangulpore, the minarets of islam- either rounded or pointed- are the originals of the campanile column of san marco, at venice, of the rochester cathedral, and of the moder

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

umber of fragments of its fundamental tenets, special attention being paid to some facts which have been seized upon by various writers, and distorted out of all resemblance to the truth. but it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings, however fragmentary and incomplete, contained in these volumes, belong neither to the hindu, the zoroastrian, the chaldean, nor the egyptian religion, neither to buddhism, islam, judaism nor christianity exclusively. the secret doctrine is the essence of all these. sprung from it in their origins, the various religious schemes are now made to merge back into their original element, out of which every mystery and dogma has grown, developed, and become materialised. it is more than probable that the book will be regarded by a large secti

ng more erroneous than this could be hardly imagined. it has enabled our enemies to find an effective weapon against theosophy; because, as an eminent pali scholar very pointedly expressed it, there was in the volume named "neither esotericism nor buddhism" the esoteric truths, presented in mr. sinnett's work, had ceased to be esoteric from the moment they were made public; nor did it contain the religion of buddha, but simply a few tenets from a hitherto hidden teaching which are now supplemented by many more, enlarged and explained in the present volumes. but even the latter, though giving out many fundamental tenets from the secret doctrine of the east, raise but a small corner of the dark veil. for no one, not even the greatest living adept, would be permitted to, or could- even if he

void this deplorable misnomer was easy; the spelling of the word had only to be altered, and by common consent both pronounced and written "budhism" instead of "buddhism" nor is the latter term correctly spelt and pronounced, as it ought to be called, in english, buddhaism, and its votaries "buddhaists" this explanation is absolutely necessary at the beginning of a work like this one. the "wisdom religion" is the inheritance of all the nations, the world over, though the statement was made in "esoteric buddhism (preface to the original edition) that "two years ago (i.e. 1883, neither i nor any other european living, knew the alphabet of the science, here for the first time put into a scientific shape" etc. this error must have crept in through inadvertence. for the present writer knew all

on all and everything man holds most dear and sacred, in his inner spiritual life. the true philosopher, the student of the esoteric wisdom, entirely loses sight of personalities, dogmatic beliefs and special religions. moreover, esoteric philosophy reconciles all religions, strips every one of its outward, human garments, and shows the root of each to be identical with that of every other great religion. it proves the necessity of an absolute divine principle in nature. it denies deity no more than it does the sun. esoteric philosophy has never rejected god in nature, nor deity as the absolute and abstract ens. it only refuses to accept any of the gods of the so-called monotheistic religions, gods created by man in his own image and likeness, a blasphemous and sorry caricature of the eve

ever unknowable. furthermore, the records we mean to place before the reader embrace the esoteric tenets of the whole world since the beginning of our humanity, and buddhistic occultism occupies therein only its legitimate place, and no more. indeed, the secret portions of the "dan" or jan-na("dhyan) of gautama's metaphysics- grand as they appear to one unacquainted with the tenets of the wisdom religion of antiquity- are but a very small portion of the whole. the hindu reformer limited his public teachings to the purely moral and physiological aspect of the wisdom religion, to ethics and man alone. things "unseen and incorporeal" the mystery of being outside our terrestrial sphere, the great teacher left entirely untouched in his public lectures, reserving the hidden truths for a select

BLUE EQUINOX

y man, goat of thy flock, i am gold, i am god, flesh to thy bone, flower to thy rod. with hoofs of steel i race on the rocks through solstice stubborn to equinox. and i rave; and i rape and i rip and i rend everlasting, world without end, mannikin, maiden, maenad, man, in the might of pan. io pan! io pan pan! pan! io pan! 9 editorial do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law the world needs religion. religion must represent truth, and celebrate it. this truth is of two orders: one, concerning nature external to man; two, concerning nature internal to man. existing religions, especially christianity, are based on primitive ignorance of the facts, particularly of external nature. celebrations must conform to the custom and nature of the people. christianity has destroyed the joyful cel

concerning nature internal to man. existing religions, especially christianity, are based on primitive ignorance of the facts, particularly of external nature. celebrations must conform to the custom and nature of the people. christianity has destroyed the joyful celebrations, characterised by music, dancing, feasting and making love, and has kept only the melancholy. the law of thelema offers a religion which fulfills all necessary conditions. the philosophy and metaphysics of thelema are sound, and offer a solution of the deepest problems of humanity. the science of thelema is orthodox; is has no false theories of nature, no false fables of the origin of things. the psychology and ethics of thelema are perfect. it has destroyed the damnable delusion of original sin, making every one uni

strate this law. the equinox 10 the a.a, or great white brotherhood, through whom this law was obtained, is a body of the highest initiates, pledged to aid mankind. it offers instruction in the way of spiritual progress and illumination to individual seekers. the work of the a.a. is called scientific illuminism. this may be briefly expressed by quoting its motto .the method of science: the aim of religion. each seeker is taught how to realise truth for himself, by means accurate and well-tested. the o.t.o. is the first of the great religious societies to accept the law. it trains groups by way of progressive initiation. the equinox publishes all instructions and pronouncements of the a.a. and o.t.o. it also publishes such poetry, drama, fiction, and essays, as are sympathetic to this progr

s that foam! also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! but always unto me. this is the only point to bear in mind, that every act must be a ritual, an act of worship, a sacrament. live as the kings and princes, crowned and uncrowned, of this world, have always lived, as masters always live; but let it not be selfindulgence; make your self-indulgence your religion. when you drink and dance and take delight, you are not being .immoral. you are not .risking your immortal soul; you are fulfilling the precepts of our holy religion. provided only that you remember to regard your actions in this light. do not lower yourself and destroy and cheapen your pleasure by leaving out the supreme joy, the consciousness of the peace that passeth understanding. do

. s. v. 6 =58 parzival 5 =68 pro coll. int. v. n. pr monstrator p. imperator pro coll. ext. achad cancellarius 55 liber lxi the preliminary lection in the name of the initiator, amen. 1. in the beginning was initiation. the flesh profiteth nothing; the mind profiteth nothing; that which is unknown to you and above these, while firmly based upon their equilibrium, giveth life. 2. in all systems of religion is to be found a system of initiation, which may be defined as the process whereby a man comes to learn that unknown crown. 3. though none can communicate either the knowledge or the power to achieve this, which we may call the great work, it is yet possible for initiates to guide others. 4. every man must overcome his own obstacles, expose his own illusions. yet others may assist him to

BOOK OF JASHAR

then you may find peace" and abram asked "how can we be fathers of separate nations? will not my sons marry their daughters, and my daughters marry their sons" then god put a blessing on abram, and so to this day he has been called ibrahim, the father of many nations. commentary on the jashar apocryphon at the dedication of the first temple, a supreme watershed moment in the history of the jewish religion, king solomon is said to have justified the proceedings by a scriptural quote from the "book of jashar (1 kings 8.13, from the greek septuagint sources. other citations of jashar in the hebrew bible include joshua 10.13, where joshua stops the moon and the sun, and 2 samuel 1.18, where david mourns jonathan and saul. we cannot help wondering what could have been in this "straight book (in

noahites without force and killing. when his ability to exercise force weakens in his old age, he finds that he is trapped in his position, because the families of his victims are waiting for revenge. he understands that they will devour him if he ever lets go of the reins of power, but his great hands are weakening. with a flash of genius, nimrod solves his problem by developing the first state religion. he diverts the people from their anger at him by a system of public sacrifices and monumental building. this state religion gives his regime a new support, other than his own ability to apply military force, and so he is able to maintain his position long enough to die in power and get a glorious state funeral. the generations that follow nimrod repeat his story: a king is needed to supp

BOOK OF PLEASURE

s non-belief. better is it to admit incapacity or insignificance, than reinforce it by faith; since the superficial "protects" but does not change the vital. therefore reject the former for the latter. their formula is deception and they are deceived, the negation of their purpose. faith is denial, or the metaphor idiotcy, hence it always fails. to make their bondage more secure governments force religion down the throats of their slaves, and it always suceeds; those who escape it are but few, therefore their honour is the greater. when faith perishes, the "self" shall come into its own. others less foolish, obscure the memory that god is a conception of themselves, and as much subject to law. then, this ambition of faith, is it so very desirable? myself, i have not yet seen a man who is n

ferent religions; certainly by it i prove the possibility of a fundamental illusion, but that they never realise-or this ukase they are the mockery, for how much they regret! they suffer more conflict than the unenlightened. with what they can identify their own delusion of fear they call truth. they never see this similarity and the quintessence of religions, their own poverty of imagination and religion's palliation. better is it to show the essential difference of religions. it is as well to know that various means; is not their object to deceive and govern? surely then, for the attainment of the transcendental, god and religion should have no place. some praise truth so-called, but give it many containers; forgetting its dependence they prove its relationship and paradox, the song of e

free pleasure in this life or another, i cannot uphold their doctrines. their criterion for enjoyment-death! better it were a man renounce them all, and embrace his own invincible purpose. he cannot go further, and this is his only release. by it he may put his pleasure where he will, and find satisfaction. the book of pleasure (self love) get any book for free on: www.abika.com 7 the consumer of religion kia, in its transcendental and conceivable manifestation. of name it has no name, to designate. i call it kia i dare not claim it as myself. the kia which can be expressed by conceivable ideas, is not the eternal kia, which burns up all belief but is the archetype of "self" the slavery of mortality. endeavouring to describe "it" i write what may be but not usually-called the "book of lies

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

since the last laws against witchcraft were repealed (as recently as the 1950s, witches have been able to come out into the open and show themselves for what they are. and what are they? they are intelligent, community-conscious, thoughtful men and women of today. witchcraft is not a step backwards; a retreat into a more superstition-filled time. far from it. it is a step forward. witchcraft is a religion far more relevant to the times than the vast majority of the established churches. it is the acceptance of personal and social responsibility. it is acknowledgement of a holistic universe and a means towards a raising of consciousness. equal rights; feminism; ecology; attunement; brotherly/sisterly love; planetary care these are all part and parcel of witchcraft, the old yet new religion

. how and why these misconceptions came about will be examined later. with the spreading news of witchcraft what it is; its relevance in the world today comes "the seeker. if there is this alternative to the conventional religions, this modern, forward-looking approach to life known as "witchcraft, then how does one become a part of it? there, for many, is the snag. general information on the old religion valid information, from the witches themselves is available, but entry into the order is not. the vast majority of covens (groups of witches) are still wary enough that they do not throw open their doors and welcome all and sundry. they are happy to straighten the misconceptions, but they do not proselytize. this leads many would-be witches, out of sheer frustration, to simply declare the

heir own practices. in doing so they draw on any, and oftimes all, available sources. the danger here is that they do not know what is valid and relevant and what is not. unfortunately there are now many such covens, operating with large chunks of ceremonial magick happily mixed-in with smatterings of satanism and odds and ends of voodoo together with amerindian lore. witchcraft is a very "loose" religion, in terms of ritual practices, but it does have certain basic tenets and there are established ritual patterns to be adhered to. the purpose of this book is to give this necessary information. with it, you as an individual or (with like-minded friends) as a group can then either do your own thing, happy in the knowledge that it is at least as valid as any of the more established tradition

appy in the knowledge that it is at least as valid as any of the more established traditions, or you can, on locating a coven, become an initiated participant with training and knowledge as good as (if not better than) any of the other coven members. in christianity there are many denominations (e.g. episcopalian, roman catholic, baptist, methodist. so it is in witchcraft. just as there is no one religion that is right for all people, there is no one denomination of witchcraft that is right for all witches. and that is as it should be. we are all different. our backgrounds both ethnic and social vary greatly. it has often been said that there are many paths, but they all lead to the same center. with so many paths, then, you are able to find the right one for you; the one path you can trav

tchcraft. the vast majority have suffered from bias as will be explained shortly but a few of the more recently published ones have told the story accurately. or as accurately as we can determine. the late dr. margaret murray traced back and saw witchcraft's origins in palaeolithic times; 25,000 years ago. she saw it as a more or less unbroken line through to the present, and as a fully organized religion throughout western europe for centuries before christianity. recently scholars have disputed much of what murray said. she did, however, present some tangible evidence and much thought-provoking material. as a probable development of religio-magick (rather than witchcraft, per se, her theories are still respected. twenty-five thousand years ago palaeolithic wo/man depended upon hunting to

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

armony and connection with others, the world and the cosmos. it is an energy that can permeate every aspect of our being. a very special spirituality witchcraft and wicca (one of the major forms of witchcraft) both derive their names from the anglo-saxon words for wisdom 'witch' is from the old english word wita, meaning 'wise' and the wicca were the wise ones. witchcraft is said to be the oldest religion in the world. it is the indigenous shamanistic religion of europe that has, in spite of ferocious persecution from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, survived in the folk tradition of many lands and through families who seite 2 wicca01.txt kept alive the old beliefs and worship of the earth and the moon mother. not so many centuries ago, our ancestors burned yule logs at christma

crystals or even entire rituals for your specific purpose. there are provisos, however. you must always remember that the form, the words and even ultimately the associations of particular oils, incenses and planetary hours are not what really matters. the truly important thing is that you should keep to the basic rules of witchcraft that are quite as strict and twice as hard as any conventional religion. these are rooted in wisdom, compassion, honesty, honour and common sense and are summed up in one short phrase 'an ye harm none, do what ye will. put in modern-day language, this means, quite simply 'do whatever you like as long as you don't hurt anyone' simple, did i say? it is in practice incredibly hard to harm none, especially if you are seeking promotion, fighting against an injusti

and was pressed to death- a torture in which heavy stones were placed on the victim's chest and which took three days to kill them- rather than confess, for if he had, his property would have been taken from his descendants. high-ranking practitioners of magick who attempted to conjure demons were usually male, and included both popes and royalty. they generally escaped censure, however. the folk religion of the countryside was an easier target. in december 1484, the bull of pope innocent vii was published, appointing heinrich kramer and jakob sprenger as inquisitors against witchcraft and heresy. these two clerics wrote the malleus maleficarum, the notorious hammer of the witches, which described in lurid detail the tortures that could be used to obtain confessions from suspected witches

ded their spells and rituals in 'books of shadows- so-called partly because of the secrecy required to write and protect them. these were usually buried or burned with the witch on her death, or on rare occasions were handed on to the eldest daughter [insert pic p018- witchcraft in modern times seite 8 wicca01.txt by the late twentieth century in the usa, witchcraft had been recognised as a valid religion by the american supreme court and accepted by the american army, but other countries, including the uk, are not so tolerant. what is more, in many lands, especially among smaller communities, misunderstanding and prejudice still persist. in the uk, for example, wiccans who practise openly and have children are sometimes regarded with suspicion by some health professionals. my dear friend

urpose, it would be through those midland roots, which are connected to what is said to be the most ancient order of witches known. at the turn of the twentieth century, my father's family were canal people and my father grew up at a time when the boats were still a major form of transport for coal and iron. some of these midland canal people were known as 'water witches' because they practised a religion based on the sacredness of water and earth. their symbol was the six-spoked sun wheel, painted on their boats. this sign was once thought to be a ship's wheel, but this is improbable, since canal boats have large rudders. unlike the romany gypsies, the midland water witches were descended from the friesian seafarers of the netherlands and 1876 a book entitled oer linda was published, name

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

k.id=0&doc.view=print 7/14/2006 facing page illustration: advertisement from an eighteenth-century newspaper for an escaped slave, described as "a fortuneteller and conjurer" hall's wilmington gazette (north carolina, october 1798\ 2\ they enter into a new and uncertain future beyond the shores of these sea islands.[1] what is extraordinary about this moment in the film is its seamless joining of religion and magic in one powerful object. as an enduring reminder of the world to which she and her people belong, nana peazant has created this charm for her family's protection, even as some of the most destructive forces that they face have emerged from their own conflicts. in its composition, the charm consolidates some of the most significant icons of african american spirituality: the bible

006 argue for its deeper significance, as a symbol of the survival of a kind of magical spirituality in the african american experience. this book is about the creations that black people have woven into their quest for spiritual empowerment and meaning. it is about magic, as that term refers to the beliefs and actions by which human beings interact with an invisible reality. but it is also about religion, which may be defined as a viable system of ideas and activities by which humans mediate the sacred realm. in some african american spiritual traditions, ideas about magical and religious practice can enclose identical experiences. christianity may presume a person's acceptance of a kind of supernaturalism, as a religion that calls upon god, jesus, and the holy ghost to directly intervene

his kind of spiritual efficacy, or they may adopt a lexicon that is associated with\ 3\ magic. or they may choose both. a fixed dichotomy between these ideas is not always apparent. it is clear, then, that we are dealing with contested notions of belief. in contemporary scholarship "magic" has acquired a plethora of associations, many negative, and others that appear to be virtually identical to "religion" in certain historical contexts. in the chapters that follow i examine the ways that these ideas have interacted.and separated.in african american experience, and the ways that they have been appropriated, critiqued, and recreated by both practitioners and antagonists. although magic is generally characterized as the antithesis of religion, it seems just as often to reflect the latter, to

opriated, critiqued, and recreated by both practitioners and antagonists. although magic is generally characterized as the antithesis of religion, it seems just as often to reflect the latter, to be its mirror image. when seen from different perspectives, the divisions sometimes break down, revealing the arbitrary nature of the categories. in the words of one writer "stated simply, magic is c the religion of the other"[2] this book is also concerned with the actual experiences that gave rise to the introduction of "magic" into that complex generally recognized as "religion" in black american experience. since few terms have prompted more disagreement than these two, it might be useful to clarify my own use of them. magic is a particular approach or attitude by which humans interact with un

ned with the actual experiences that gave rise to the introduction of "magic" into that complex generally recognized as "religion" in black american experience. since few terms have prompted more disagreement than these two, it might be useful to clarify my own use of them. magic is a particular approach or attitude by which humans interact with unseen powers or spiritual forces. in contrast with religion, it is efficacious, with its spells, curses, incantations, and formulae. magic is used for specific, personal ends. it operates mechanically.as opposed to prayer, which is communal, devotional, and noncoercive "magic" notes a famous treatise by the nineteenth-century scottish classicist james george frazer "often deals with spirits" but "it constrains or coerces instead of conciliating or

CHRONOLOGIA RORISPERGIUS

ies, agni and soma, as personifications of the ritual order, effectively survived the transition from theism to pantheism in 900 bc (james: 1963..pg 77) 800- the iliad and the odyssey were recited by a blind poet named homer; hesiod: works and days, theogony; upanishads 751 rome was founded 740 o.t. book of isaiah. 628-551 zarathustra/zoroaster 600- taoism (or daoism) is established in china as a religion by the legendary lao-tzu 580- 530 pythagoras was initiated into the egyptian mysteries (disciple of anaximander) 560 buddha was born c. 550? bon was introduced to tibet when there occurred a mass migration of iranians from sogdhiana in north-east iran to the northern parts of tibet. they brought with them an ancient form of polytheistic mithraism and the araimic alphabet. 550- the celts i

apocalypse of enoch, was written late first century c.e. in egypt by a jew. it survives only in late old slavonic manuscripts. it may have been composed originally in aramaic or hebrew, later being translated into greek, and later still being translated into old slavonic. 80 (n.t) gospel of matthew. 80 (n.t) gospel of luke. c.86 apollonides archprophet orapis of memphis wrote in greek on egyptian religion. 90 (n.t) gospel of john. 81-96 revelation of st. john. 123-170? apuleius, the golden ass 100-300 ce composition of corpus hermetica 100-185? pistis sophia 120-189 r. judah the prince, redactor of the mishnah. gave merkabah teachings to r. yochanam. c.120 r. akiba ben joseph 130 theon of smyrna: biblion- natural square often cited as magic. d. 132 rabbi ishmael. attributed to him is 3 eno

with the third century gnostic alchemist zosimos of panopolis, in whom he placed the historical point of the convergence of gnosticism and alchemy. zosimos accepted the hermetic teaching that the origin of the term "chemae" was from the books of the divine art of attaining immortality given to man by the fallen angels. 313: under emperor constantine, the edict of milan makes christianity a legal religion throughout the empire. a few years later, constantine begins building a new imperial capital on the bosphorus, which he modestly names constantinople. c.318 pachomius left his hermitage at an old serapis temple and founded the first known cenobitical or "communal type" monastery at tabennis near denderah, egypt. 325 council of nicea, can. of christian bible (to 13th cent) puranas. iamblic

only fragments of astrology survive in his work. 6th ce sefer yetzirah edited (to 7th cent)-eddas (to 9th cent)-welsh mabinogion. 570-632 muhammed, founder of islam. c. 580 maximus the confessor born. commented on the works of dionysios the areopagite. 590: gregory (540-604) becomes pope. 610 w.v. qur'an 642 third (and final) destruction of library of alexandria (by moslems. arabs bearing the new religion of islam captured alexandria, and the mantle of alchemical study and research passed from the greeks to the arab world. 644-656 can. of qur'an. 692 chinese reopened the silk-routes across central asia 711: muslims from north africa invade spain and quickly dismantle most of the hispano-visigothic kingdom there. they head north, into the pyrenees, towards modern-day france. 717 muslim cali

ning hermeticists from alexandria and installed them at harran. 721 al-jabir(jabir ibn hayyan) born in the town of tus. 732: at the battle of tours (in southern france, frankish leader charles martel manages to defeat the muslims. 754-775 kankah indian astrologer at baghdad, book on calculations for the nativity. 760 o.c of bardo th dol (tibetean book of the dead. 762: uigurs adopt the manichaean religion which became the state religion of this huge kingdom until its overthrow by the kirghiz. 810 d. georgius syncellus byzantine author of ekloge chronographias which preserves fragments of the books of enoch known through the works of the alexandrian historians pandorus and annianus (around c. e. 400. 840. manichaeism probably survived in eastern turkistan till the mongol invasion in the 13t

COLLIER IRENE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

the body of christ complete. i further understand this oath to be a clarification, between myself, the chief of the second order, and my higher sean when we speak of chinese mythology we need to be clear that it represents streams flowing together, running parallel, merging or diverging from many places and from many different models of reality.1 myths contain strong influences from chinese folk religion, confucianism, taoism, and buddhism. chinese folk religion, the oldest of the four, pays homage to ancestors who watch from afar and guide the lives of those still living on earth. in the fifth century b.c, the philosopher confucius introduced his ideas, which stressed fulfilling obligations and maintaining proper conduct. although confucianism is not a religion, its influence is deeply i

myth when the celestial king marduk slaughters the serpent tiamat, the feminine principle of chaos, and divides her enormous corpse: from one half marduk constructs the vault of heaven, from the other the solid earth .2 the story of panku also introduces one of the most important concepts in chinese thought: yin and yang. authors martin palmer and zhao xiaomin of the international consultancy on religion, education, and culture (icorec) explain: yin is female, moist, cold, the moon, the autumn and winter, the shadow and the waters. yang is male, dry, hot, the sun, the spring and summer, the bright and the dry land. they struggle with each other for supremacy. from their struggle comes the dynamic which drives the whole of life. for they are found locked together in every being, every situ

e thought. taoism was based on the tao te ching [dow deh jing, a collection of eighty-one verses written by the philosopher lao-tzu. the tao te ching puts forth the idea of following the tao, usually translated as the way, the natural creative life force of the universe. it also speaks of noninterference, or wu-wei, with living creatures and forces. from a philosophy, taoism gradually grew into a religion. temples were built, and monks were given the task of overseeing these places of worship. the taoist heaven was soon populated with a ruler, the jade emperor, who was assisted by eighty gods and goddesses. likewise, hell was also ruled by an emperor, yen-lo, with a host of demons to oversee its functions. taoists became fascinated with immortality, spells, elixirs, alchemy, and magical po

if we learn to live like water does, we will be living in accord with the tao, and its power (de) will carry us safely through life. such a way of life is called wuwei, usually translated as non-action [o]ne should follow one s natural course and allow all other things to do likewise, lest our willful interference disrupt things proper flow.5 monkey 107 10 the pilgrimage introduction the buddhist religion was first introduced to china from india in a.d. 67. its founder was siddhartha gautama, later known as the buddha. he taught that suffering was caused by greed, which can be overcome by thinking quietly (meditating. when a person dies, he or she will be reborn into another life (reincarnation. this cycle of rebirth can only be broken when a person has lived an exceptionally good life and

and offered his help to worthy pilgrims. tripitaka finally, kuan yin reached the palace of the earthly chinese emperor. when she explained her mission, the emperor readily agreed to finance the journey to india. like the buddha and kuan yin, he was greatly concerned about the selfishness and greed of his people. if, as they hoped, the pilgrims were successful in their quest, the merit of the new religion could be proclaimed throughout the land. however, the emperor knew that wandering souls could easily be lost in the cold high mountains of the journey. tigers, panthers, and snakes lurked in every forest. stories of these fierce animals were terrifying, but people also trembled at tales of strange ghosts and spirits who could change their shapes at will. when the emperor asked for pilgrim

COSIMANO CHARLES ELEMENTARY PSIONICS

hat is why they worked so hard and so long to keep knowledge of it suppressed. some do it from misguided and foolish religious motives. they would like you to believe, as they do, that all psychic power comes from the devil and his horned minions. that is probably the most stupid argument ever advanced and anyone dumb enough to believe it can probably be offered a real good deal on a used bridge. religion is the province of the weak-minded. then there are those who feel directly threatened by this knowledge, and in some cases rightly so. a politician is not going to be happy knowing that one person with a radionic box can influence tens of thousands of votes. finally, there are those unfortunates who must have the universe fit their neat theories and cannot bear the idea of something going

ck and tying up the babysitter. i got into psychic stuff sort of by accident. i was raised by good, materialist parents who had little use for anything they could not party with. they really enjoyed life and when i was in college i would come home from a date at three in the morning and they would not get back until two hours later. and, in spite of the bible boom of the 1950's, they did not take religion very seriously. we were united church of christ, with a short interlude among the liberal methodists and when a local television station decided to run the classic flash gordon serials on sunday mornings, dad was all to happy to give up church-going so i could watch my favorite show and he could get some sleep. there were no opportunities to see angels in my house and if anyone did, there

it but here we go. you now know how to contact the living and the dead. now you get to learn how to contact those who may not even be human! aren t you the lucky one? so, if you do any work along these lines, please please please consider it to be in the nature of a fun experiment and not go hog wild over any information you receive. take any contact with much salt and if you decide to form a new religion make sure it is a profitable one. there is a long standing tradition that humans are not the only life forms inhabiting the unseen realms; that among the various creatures to be found there are gods, devils, angels and assorted nature spirits that may disguise themselves as gods, devils and angels. there is also the long standing tradition that these beings like to play pranks on long suf

le-aged prankster and it is a hell of a lot more fun. while i was writing this book years ago i learned not to take the material too damned seriously, to have fun with it. and since then i ve learned not to take myself very seriously either. so deal with psionics like everything else in life. have fun with it, enjoy it, but don t take it too seriously. use it as a tool for living but don t make a religion of it. we have enough of those things in the world as it itthe covenant of samyaza- i- i, samyaza, speak to mortal man of fallen angels, those who are called watchers, whose blessing man reapeth in defiance of the tyrant-god demiurge. o man, hear of thy daimonic inheritance, and of the daimon seedwhich continues to manifest its power on earth, which doth uplift you fromthe beast of the fi

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

(disobeying the gods) is still in the collective psyche. over time, as described at length in the robots' rebellion, these various god myths became fused together to form 'composite gods, based on themes from many of the earlier civilisations. so it is with judaism, the christian bible, islam, and most of the others. their version of; god relates to the type of extraterrestrials from which their religion originated or the way many different extraterrestrial stories have become fused into a composite god over the centuries. dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to worship a composite god made up of extraterrestrials. amen. if you look at the origins of the major religions, the stories are remarkably similar to those we hear today from people claiming to have met, or been abducted by

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

aralysis, the amnesia, the conversions, and healings" 8. and the truth shall set you free the children passed a sealed message from their communicator to the pope, with instructions that it was only to be opened and made public in 1960. the pope did open it in 1960, but we are still waiting for all of it to be made public! one thing is for sure: if it had confirmed the basis of the roman catholic religion, it would have hit the airwaves within minutes. so what did it say? i am convinced that the old testament 'god' known as yhwh (yahweh) is also based on an extraterrestrial, or more likely, a series of them. interestingly, while the jewish religion is perceived as a 'one god' faith, the original hebrew texts do not support this. while the english translation refers to a 'god, the hebrew ta

than to create a series of dogmatic religions based on extraterrestrial special effects? look at the pain, misery, and inter-generational ignorance that has been visited upon this planet by christianity, islam, judaism, and all the rest. if you want to shut down someone's consciousness so they stop thinking for themselves and delink their minds from their infinite potential, sell them a dogmatic religion or some other form of rigid dogma. they are then putty in your hands. i think the takeover of planet earth was achieved by what i call the luciferic consciousness. i use this as an overall name to describe the force which attempts to work through all life forms, human and extraterrestrial, to control the planet. it is an extremely negative energy operating from the fourth dimension. the l

so, in fact- as it has throughout the period of the vibratory prison. to a manipulator, judaism is just as useful as christianity and islam; the political 'left' is just as important as the political 'right. you need two dogmas to play off against each other. the most effective dogmas over thousands of years have been the religions. one generation takes on a narrow view of life and themselves (a religion) and imposes it on their children, who then do the same to their children, and so it goes on into the modern world. the religious and political dogmas have all been inspired by negative elements from the fourth dimension. the two leading weapons used by religions are those cancerous emotions: fear and guilt. they have been used to suppress the human mind and to destroy its sense of self-w

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

r deeper than people in uniform or administrators of government. it starts with conditioned parents who impose their conditioning on their children and pressure them to follow their religious, political, economic, and cultural norms. there is no more extreme example than those who insist their offspring succumb to arranged marriages because of the rules of their 4 children of the matrix ludicrous religion; or the children of jehovah's witnesses who have been denied life-saving blood transfusions because their brain-dead parents insist on conducting every aspect of their lives according to the contradictory dictates of a book purveying stories of pure fantasy. the creation of the mental and emotional sheep pen of norms, which imprisons 99% of humanity, goes on minute by minute in subtle and

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

d the stepping-stones technique played out day after day. one extremely effective way to see through this scam is to keep asking yourself "who benefits from me believing this version of events or accepting the solutions and changes being offered as a result" the answer will be almost every time: anyone who wishes to centralise power and suppress more freedoms. blind faith over thousands of years, religion has best served this structure for human control and i will highlight later in this book the historical background and present-day manipulation of these "faiths. but, in short, they have created rigid belief systems that should never be questioned; imposed those beliefs through fear, indoctrination, isolation, and the mass genocide of non believers; and fought each other for dominance of

nia. another question. is it more likely that an illuminati which has its origins in the ancient past, long before these religions were created, just happened to "get lucky" when such a perfect vehicle for human control independently emerged? or is it rather more probable that these institutions of human enslavement were purposely created by these very same illuminati to advance their agenda? but religion is not the conspiracy, and nor are economics, 10 children of the matrix politics, and all the rest. they are part of a vast web of interconnected manipulation designed to persuade the masses to put themselves in prison and throw away the key. the illuminati work through every belief system- religious, political, economic, racial, and cultural- and through every side in the major "debates

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

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

the grand council of pontiffs, a name later transferred to the church of rome.11the babylonian high priest, who instructed the inner circle initiates, was known as..peter, meaning the great interpreter. the feast day of the christian st peter wastraditionally celebrated on the day the sun entered the astrological house of aquarius,the very day that eannus and janus were honoured!12 the babylonian religion, like allthe look-alikes that were to follow, consisted of two levels. the masses weremanipulated into believing superstitions and into taking symbolic stories literally, whilethe chosen initiates were given the real knowledge on penalty of death if they everrevealed it. in this way the truth about life, human potential, history and the reptilianagenda, were lost to the population and kep

sisted of two levels. the masses weremanipulated into believing superstitions and into taking symbolic stories literally, whilethe chosen initiates were given the real knowledge on penalty of death if they everrevealed it. in this way the truth about life, human potential, history and the reptilianagenda, were lost to the population and kept only for the few.human sacrifice was fundamental to the religion of babylon and wherever thebabylonian brotherhood and their reptilian bloodlines have travelled, human sacrificehas always gone with them because the reptilians demand these rituals. the malevolentones seem to be addicted to blood and this has been passed on to their crossbreeds asthe evidence i shall present will show. the babylonian priests were required to eatsome of their sacrificial

am talkingabout some of the biggest royal, political, business, banking and media names on theplanet. people like henry kissinger, george bush, the british royal family and manyother presidents, prime ministers and members of royalty. fantastic? of course it is, butsince when did the truth not sound fantastic in a world of such denial and illusion?three of the principle elements of the babylonian religion were fire, serpents and thesun. i should explain their focus on the sun because it is a vital part of the story. most55of the global population worshipped the sun for its obvious gifts of heat and light and theeffect this had on their crops and well-being. however, within the hierarchy of the babylonbrotherhood and other elite groups which had the advanced knowledge, they focused onthe su

there arosefrom its perversion several false schools of sorcery, or black magic (in egypt. the blackmagicians of atlantis continued to exercise their superhuman powers until they hadcompletely undermined and corrupted the morals of the primitive mysteries. they usurpedthe position formerly occupied by the initiates, and seized the reins of spiritual government.thus black magic dictated the state religion and paralysed the intellectual and spiritualactivities of the individual by demanding his complete and unhesitating acquiescence inthe dogma formulated by the priestcraft. the pharaoh became a puppet in the hands ofthe scarlet council- a committee of arch-sorcerers elevated to power by the priesthood.22the black magicians that hall says were formerly in atlantis were, for me, thereptilian

c arena such as religions andpolitical parties to suck this advanced knowledge out of circulation. the inquisitionwas a wonderful example of this technique. merely to speak about esoteric matterswas to sign your own death warrant. this scam has been so effective that still todayyou have christians condemning esoteric information as the devil when this sameknowledge is the very foundation of their religion. if you want to know wherechristianity really came from, stick around. it is recycled paganism and provably so.yet christianity has been used quite brilliantly as the major vehicle for removing vitalknowledge from the public domain. whenever christianity and other religions tookcontrol of a country or region, the ancient texts and records were removed ordestroyed. this took out of circula

DAVID ICKE RELATED THE HIDDEN GEARS OF FREEMASONRY

eries, hermeticism, and alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the adepts and sages, or the elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be mislead; to conceal the truth, which it calls light, and draw them away from it [morals and dogma, p. 104-5, 3rd degree] albert pike specifically says in the above quote that masonry is a religion after the order of the satanic mysteries, the equally satanic hermetic philosophy, and alchemy. freemasonry like the public education system was designed to conceal certain secrets from the brethren in the visible organization. the elite masons are the ones who know the truth. this again is consistent with a secret society because there is a hidden agenda. of course it also explains why p

s is the name. lucifer is divine and terrestial light 'the holy ghost' and "satan' at one and the same time" page 539 (volume) albert pike 33 "that which we must say to a crowd is- we worship a god, but it is the god that one adores without superstition. to you, sovereign grand inspectors general, we say this, that you may repeat it to the brethren of the 32nd, 31st, and 30th degrees- the masonic religion should be, by all of us initates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the luciferian doctrine. if lucifer were not god, would adonay whose deeds prove his cruelty, perdify and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, would adonay and his priests, calumniate him? yes, lucifer is god, and unfortunately adonay is also god. for the eternal law is that there is no light

his priests, calumniate him? yes, lucifer is god, and unfortunately adonay is also god. for the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods: darkness being necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive. thus, the doctrine of satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in lucifer, the equal of adonay; but lucifer, god of light and god of good, is struggling for humanity against adonay, the god of darkness and evil" instructions to the 23 supreme councils of the world, july 14, 1889. recorded by a.c. de la rive in la femme et l'enfant dans la francmaconnerie universelle on page 588 "lucifer, the light-bearer! strange and mysterious name to

on, people will realize who the real enemy is. the human race is asleep and it needs to awaken. if you really want to learn more, nevermind the red pill and eat the red apple and you will learn just how deep the rabbit hole goes. all of these masons praise lucifer. it is also the biggest reason why we see luciferic designs incorporated into government center washington d.c. freemasonry is satan's religion. it is the root of their control system. more on the great seal many companies use the pyramid within their logos. james walker, a 32 mason, shares some facts with us about the above symbols: 13 leaves in the olive branch 13 bars and stripes in the shield 13 arrows in the right claw 13 letters in the "e pluribus unum" on the ribbon 13 stars in the green crest above 32 long feathers on its

DEITUS

anist is his own god and his own redeemer. just as he knows that there is no other god beyond himself, he knows that it is useless to pray for the things that he wants. he is ultimately responsible for his own success or failure. he must work hard and strive for the things which he desires. to accomplish his goals, the satanist may choose to use magic in the performance of a satanic ritual. every religion has had some form of magic ritual or ceremony associated with it, but the satanist realizes that magic represents the ability of the human mind to cause change in the natural world. in the magical art, i discuss the use of telepathic transmissions to influence others. magic also involves magnetism, psycho kinesis, and the release of emotional energy from the magician. satanic rituals are

ing what they have always done. the satanist rejects them because they are hypocrites, and judges them by the standards they have set. why, you may ask, does the satanist call himself a satanist if he does not believe in the literal existence of the devil? the satanist, of course, recognizes the importance of ritual and ceremony to satisfy certain human emotional needs. he sees nothing wrong with religion, and in fact considers it essential to human behavior, but recognizes that churches have used religion to manipulate the masses into obedience to their will. the satanist chooses his own god, one which will not make him feel guilty for being human, one which will not condemn him for all his actions the satanist chooses a god who represents the very carnal being who has the power to create

invocation for calling any of the spirits and a listing of the archetypal devils, demons, and dark gods i have invoked using this formula. the wording of the invocation is not important and sigils, or seals, for the spirits are not necessary. a name when written is a word composed of letters each signifying a sound. the syllables (and sounds) which make up a name identify a particular being which religion, metaphysics, mythology, demonology, folklore, or legend has said to exist. each name represents a unique archetypal being which the magician may identify himself with, bringing about various changes within his psyche. even where different names have been given to the same archetypal being or where one name is derived from another, each name is a unique creation. some of the archetypes ma

each unique archetypal forms. the archetypal spheres and archetypal spirits i have described thus far exist (subjectively) because man has defined them to exist. some will argue that these gods and demons are real beings who have revealed their existence in the past and that the knowledge of these beings together with the knowledge of the astral planes on which they dwell has been passed down in religion and mythology. it is more likely, however, that these beings take on an apparent existence because people believe in them. the psychologist carl jung, fascinated with metaphysics, alchemy, and dream interpretation, considered that gods and demons existed as symbolic forms in the subconscious mind. further, he suggested that there was a collective subconscious shared by all humanity and th

cycle of expansion ended and the cycle of restriction, which crowley calls the aeon of osirus, began. like the aeon of isis, the aeon of osirus was not a single aeon but a succession of aeons in a cycle of restriction. the fact that the aeon of osirus was not a single aeon with one law is evidenced by the fact that there were many religions established during the cycle and many sects within each religion. there were also many different concepts as to who god was and what was expected of man from god. it may be said that the law of the aeon of muhammed was there is one god and muhammed is his prophet. it may also be said that the law of the aeon of christ (or aeon of st. paul) was only through the son can you approach the father. the significance of this is that all aeons established withi

DEMONIC BIBLE

. the irony of organized religious thought is the damnation of all, regardless of belief or quality of life. it has often been said by scholars that devils are "fallen" gods, or deities men no longer worship. but then, are not gods simply devils men choose to worship? could it be that yahweh and allah are simply more "politically correct" devils than astaroth and beelzebub? the followers of every religion have been condemned by others as "devilworshippers" at some time or another. in the "tolerant" social climate of today, the christian still condemns the jew; the jew still condemns the muslim, and the muslim still condemns the christian. each is willing to kill and commit heinous crimes in the name of his "god. would it not be more honest for man to admit that he is a worshipper of devils

morning star venus when it appeared in the eastern sky in the hours before dawn. lucifer, the light-bearer, the morning star, personified enlightenment, wisdom, and beauty. the cult of lucifer was associated with the worship of venus or aphrodite, the goddess of love and passion, and involved sexual acts of which the early christians did not approve. the acceptance of christianity as the official religion of rome, and subsequent conversion of pagans to the new faith, resulted in the name lucifer becoming associated with the devil satan. if jesus is the light and truth, reasoned the christian, then lucifer must be a false light, a deceiver, even a fallen angel. christianity condemned paganism, goddess-worship, and sexuality as evil; and the cult of lucifer could be associated with all of th

or the devil of hebrew origin, satan. in hebrew mythology, satan was an angel who accused men before god in order to bring about their punishment. he was never the enemy of god but at times the enemy of man. the name satan in hebrew means adversary. it is recounted in the bible that the jews were carried away as captives into babylon. when later freed by the persians, the jews were exposed to the religion of zoroaster. the jews adopted zoroastrian belief of a war in heaven between ahura-mazda and ahriman, the serpent, with yahweh taking the role of ahura-mazda and satan assuming the part of the serpent ahriman. satan, a minor angel in hebrew mythology, became equal in power with god. the belief of a war in heaven between god and satan was carried into europe by the early christians. in chr

loven hooves. he became the god of fertility, the god of lust, the god of the dead, and the god of magic. devil worshippers and luciferans to facilitate conversion, pagan holy days became christian holy days. pagan temples were destroyed and became the sites of christian churches. the less demonic looking gods were converted into angels in god s armies as pagans were converted en masse to the new religion. the mass conversion of pagans to christianity was not entirely successful, however. in many countries, the people worshipped christ alongside the old gods. by the twelfth century there were a number of gnostic heresies which threatened the power of the church in rome. one gnostic sect was known as the luciferans. the luciferans believed that lucifer was the true god and yahweh was the de

ic heresies which threatened the power of the church in rome. one gnostic sect was known as the luciferans. the luciferans believed that lucifer was the true god and yahweh was the devil. another gnostic sect, better known, was the knights templar. the knights templar fought in the crusades against the muslims but upon seeing how much more advanced the muslims were to themselves, converted to the religion of those they had fought. during the 12th and 13th centuries, the various gnostic heresies were suppressed and many of their followers executed. the trial of the knights templar and the suppression of the various gnostic heresies were only a foreshadowing, however, of the witch-hunts and inquisitions which spanned the 14th to 17th centuries as the church condemned anyone suspected of paga

DIABOLUS

to taste it. set is the original opposer or adversary, whose form captivated and later frightened those who dare stand against him. the persian foundation of averse practice is found in some satanic lore written by zoroastrian priests. ahriman, the prince of darkness in that regions lore is the initiator of the shadow practice of sorcery, thus cannot be judged within a spectrum of the zoroastrian religion this gnosis is other and stands outside within practice. to make proper reference; and by their devotion to witchcraft (yatuk-dinoih) he seduces mankind into affection for himself and disaffection to ohrmazd, so that they forsake the religion of ohrmazd, and practice that of ahriman. the bundahishn, from on the evil-doing of ahriman and the demons, sacred books of the east, oxford univers

into affection for himself and disaffection to ohrmazd, so that they forsake the religion of ohrmazd, and practice that of ahriman. the bundahishn, from on the evil-doing of ahriman and the demons, sacred books of the east, oxford university press, 1897 here lies the very foundation and cipher of the averse magical practice of satanic and luciferian magick it is other and exists outside any other religion, despite having inverse practices of traditional right hand path religions. sorcery is a religion, and its doctrines are written in the will and works of the magician his or herself. the evil eye itself holds a precedence and importance within the practice of yatuk-dinoih, there are specific demons of the evil eye. this may be considered in the context of powerful consciousness, the will

f thoth, aleister crowley 11 we once again find reference to the adversary through sorcerous will controlling storms and the more unfriendly aspects of nature. andar according to luciferian lore is a demon of the black flame, or isolate consciousness. zairich is a poisoning or testing demon, all of which are featured with invocations in the paitisha and yatuk dinoih. herein beyond the zoroastrian religion, acting outside of any connections with it, the sorcerer may choose this gnosis or current of the adversary in that he or she may seek the dangerous elements to strengthen their own will and separate themselves from those around them. in this act of antinomian rebellion, the sorcerer becomes a daeva or druj. the daeva known as akoman or aka manah is the evil mind, a personified demon of i

king proves of significant interest concerning magical transformation, zohak was later known as azi dahaka, the demon of three faces. zohak was said to have descended from a king called mardas and tazak, who dwelled originally in tazikan or arabia. it was according to lore that zohak lived as a king for a period of time of 1,000 years. as written in the denkard- this, too, is declared in the good religion that the source of demons (ahriman) had arrayed with deceits zohak, the descendant of taj, the diminisher of creations; hence the laws of zohak deteriorated his own nature, worked for the immoral and blemished (ahriman, and caused destruction by tyranny and apostasy, so that the habits of men were corrupted, the world distressed, and there was increase of morality among the creatures -the

s to harm his people. the denkard here we read that zohak, during his long life span, was considered the one who propagated early jewish scriptures as a means of satanic influence among his people. no doubt many of the arabs and surviving zoroastrians considered the jewish faith to be a joke propagated by ahriman. there were ten precepts of the priest zohak who was considered a part of the hebrew religion, while the actual intent of these so-called precepts of zohak are not acknowledged, the zoroastrians considered him very dangerous even after his long 1,000 year reign. the ten precepts suggest that zohak called their god an injurer of the universe, recommended daeva worship and the use of idols in ritual practice, that people should be selfish and to sacrifice before shrines. the referen

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

ral star, a primate of a state curia, and the senior member of the general synod for a given state or commonwealth. archetype: a universal and imageless concept; here, in the sense coined and used by carl g. jung, psychiatrist, such a concept existing within the collective unconscious mind of humanity. archetypal image: the form in which an archetype is clothed by a particular culture, mythology, religion, or individual. aries "the ram" in astrology (q.v, the first sign of the zodiac (q.v) having the qualities of cardinal (q.v) and fire (q.v) and is ruled by the planet mars (q.v. on the rainbow wand (q.v) and on the lotus wand aries is represented by the color red. keywords include: courage, forceful, animation, outgoing, ardently, egotistically, ardently, impulsively, vigorously, aggressi

sidered oracles, performing divinations (q.v) for the good of the state or private citizens. augurs were astrologers, and diviners which interpreted such omens as the flight of birds or the occurrence of thunder and lightening. they were of the noble class, and wore white robes, trimmed in purple. there is an old legend that states that several druids of gaul and britain were converted to a roman religion, and were made augurs for their territories after rome had conquered them. aura: an emanation of energy, or "halo" of colored light given out by, and forming a force-field surrounding all physical objects, including the human body, beasts, plants, and rocks, which people with psychic vision can see or other sensitives can sense. the observed colors of the aura are said to indicate definit

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

mbers of this society. her importance is also due to two large books she wrote, isis unveiled and the secret doctrine. many mystical and occult writings or so-called "channeling" are directly or indirectly based on these two books. blood of the red lion: in sex magick (q.v) the semen. body, etheric: an emanation of all created things. halfway between the astral and the physical. bon: the shamanic religion of tibet before the coming of buddhism, which officially supplanted it. in fact many bon beliefs and practices were absorbed into tibetan buddhism, giving it a unique, magickal character. book of shadows: a collection of rituals, prayers, charms, and other magickal information compiled by a witch (q.v) or group of witches. it varies from coven (q.v) to coven. the books of shadows of geral

t his techniques are too severe, and have modified them to modern usage, while retaining the same goals and results. b'riah: pronounced "b'ree-yah, it is the second of the four kabalistic worlds in descending order. it means world of creation. brujeria: although based on voodoo (q.v, brujeria has a distinctly hispanic-american flavor, being the spiritual/magickal system of the barrio. buddhism: a religion and philosophy of life based on the teachings and example gautama siddhartha, the buddha. siddhartha was an indian prince who followed the teachings of hinduism, and lived during the sixth (6th) century before christ or before the common era. buddha is a title of accomplishment and of respect, and means "enlightened one" buddhism teaches freedom from attachment to worldly things by gettin

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

page 2] european spiritual culture when they recall the fact that jesus and paul were both jews. no race except the jewish race could possibly have served as the stock upon which the new dispensation was to be grafted because no other race was monotheistic. pantheism and polytheism had had their day and a new and more spiritual culture was due. the mystical qabala page 5 christian races owe their religion to the jewish culture as surely as the buddhist races of the east owe theirs to the hindu culture. 4. the mysticism of israel supplies the foundation of modern western occultism. it forms the theoretical basis upon which all ceremonial is developed. its famous glyph, the tree of life, is the best meditation-symbol we possess because it is the most comprehensive. 5. it is not my intention

t up the whole scheme? the rabbis are unanimdus upon this point, they were angels. in other words, it was beings of another order of creation than humanity who gave the chosen people their qabalah. 3. to the modern mind this may seem as absurd a statement as the doctrine that babies are found under gooseberry bushes; but if we study the many mystical systems of mystical qabala page 12 comparative religion we find that all the illuminati are in agreement upon this point. all men and women who have had practical experience of the spiritual life tell us that they are taught by [page 14] divine beings. we shall be very foolish if we altogether disregard such a cloud of witnesses, especially those of us who never have had any personal experience of the higher states of consciousness. 4. there a

eping" 24. the philosophy of the qabalah is the esotericism of the west. in it we find such a cosmogony as is found in the stanzas of dyzan, which were the basis of mme blavatsky's work. herein she found the framework of traditional doctrine which she expounded in her great book, the 5ecret doctrine. this qabalistic cosmogony is the christian gnosis. without it we have an incomplete system in our religion, and it is' this mystical qabala page 21 incomplete system which has been the weakness of christianity. the early fathers, in the homely metaphor, threw away the baby with the bath-water. a very cursory acquaintance with the qabalah serves to show that here we have the essential keys to the riddles of scripture in general and the prophetic books in particular. is there any good [page 28]

her. it declares that god made the sea and the hills and the beasts of the field, and we visualise this process, if we visualise it at all, as the work of a celestial craftsman fashioning each new phase of manifestation and putting the finished product in its place in the world. this concept kept science back for hundreds of years in western europe, and in the end men of science had to break with religion and endure mystical qabala page 28 persecution as heretics in order to arrive at that conception of evolution which was explicitly taught in the mystic tradition of israel, a tradition with which the writers of the old testament were unquestionably familiar, for their works are full of qabalistic references and implications [page 40] 12. the qabalah does not conceive of god as fabricating

brium, are set the different levels of consciousness. the pillar of severity, with binah at its head, is the female principle, the pingala of the hindus and the yang of the chinese; the pillar of mercy, with chokmah at its head, is the ida of the hindus and the yin of the chinese; and the pillar of equilibrium is shushumna and tao. chapter xii the gods upon the tree 1. all students of comparative religion and its poor relation, folk-lore, are agreed that primitive man, observing and beginning to analyse the natural phenomena surrounding him, attributed them to the agency of beings akin to himself in nature and type, but transcending him in power. as he could not see them, he not unnaturally called them mystical qabala page 57 invisible; and as he could not see his own mind during life, or

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

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

ally founded to expose abuses in financial and public life, and for this purpose keeps a "black list" of individuals who are better avoided. it is fair and fearless in its methods, neither a persecutor nor a respecter of persons. it keeps a watchful eye upon the occult field and pillories charlatans, a task for which it should have the gratitude and support of all who have the cause of the wisdom religion at heart. the commonest danger to which a person who gets into the company of undesirables is exposed, is to be induced to part with more money than is convenient by the time- honoured expedients of either swindling or blackmailing, the latter being by far the commonest form of unpleasantness in black lodges. the one and only remedy in all such cases is to place the matter in the hands of

pse oneself, either of which eventualities may happen when people begin to experiment with the drugs that "unloose the girders of the mind" the morals of mankind in general leave much to be desired from the point of view of the purist, and the occult organisations, occupying as they do, the sea-coast of bohemia, leave more than usual. a few of the best, maintaining that occultism is essentially a religion, uphold a high standard; the remainder are blest with a kaleidoscopic collection of soul-mates. this need not concern us here. if people choose to kick over mrs. grundy's apron-strings, that is their affair. nor need we at the moment consider the occult abuses of sex-force, which will require detailed consideration in their proper place. all we need consider in this chapter is the purely

DONALDTYSON CORONZON

so that man would not realize his own innate divinity, and at the same moment recognize that he was superior to his spiteful master. how we regard coronzon thus depends on how we regard the serpent of genesis. if we are good, unquestioning christians and jews, we will look upon this serpent as the persecutor of mankind, the view we have been commanded to accept in scripture and by the leaders of religion. but if we are hermetics or gnostics, or even more open-minded kabbalists, we may suspect that the gnostic opinion has virtue, and that the serpent initiated the reformation and salvation of mankind that will ultimately result in the ascent of humanity to the status of gods (the elohim, a status that the jealous god of the old testament concealed from mankind at our time of origin. once w

DONALDTYSON DEMON

of apostate fallen angels, although at a very subordinate rank. from a fundamentalist christian point of view, all those who fail to worship christ are disobedient to god, and therefore prey for the demons who walk and swim and fly upon the earth. much the same belief concerning those of other religions is held by fundamentalist islamics and jews. in a broader inter-religious sense, anyone of any religion who strives to do good is afforded protection against the injuries of demons by god; but anyone who knowingly commits acts of evil loses that protection and becomes beelzebub's chew-toy. this is more or less the modern view of demons held by those who believe that traditional demons actually exist. we see this belief surfacing again and again in all sorts of folk forms. the ouija board is

DONALDTYSON MIRACLES

magic, be it black or white, is miraculous, since none of it can be explained by modern physics. stage magic is not miraculous, although it has been mistaken for miracles, because it merely pretends to transcend natural law but can be explained in ordinary ways. events recognized as miracles usually have other qualities in common that narrow the definition. miracles are frequently associated with religion. they are popularly perceived to be caused by deities, by spiritual agents of deities known as angels, or by human agents of deities such as avatars or saints. although we are most familiar in the west with miracles associated with the christian religion, all religions have their history of miracles. religious miracles may be divided into two types, spontaneous or induced. in the first ca

he possibility of true alchemical transformation. my own view is that miracles, true miracles, do involve a transcendental spiritual power and draw upon the divine source that underlies the material universe. however, i see no reason why an alchemist or a magician may not access this power just as effectively as a devout religious worshipper. magic is not something that lies outside the bounds of religion, it is the power that energizes religion and renders possible miraculous events in a religious context. religious miracles are usually unplanned, even when they are sought by prayer, and the magic involved in inducing the miracle is unconscious magic. however, miracles of equal validity can be achieved by the deliberate, conscious use of ritual magic. the same unseen process occurs in bot

DONALDTYSON NECRO

the magic of communicating with the souls of the dead for the purpose of obtaining useful information. the word literally means corpse (nekros) divination (manteia. it is one of the most ancient forms of magic. a large part of primitive shamanism, from which all forms of magic derive, was about communicating with the spirits of dead ancestors. we see this in modern voodoo, which is essentially a religion of ancestor worship that has evolved a pantheon of gods and goddesses who fulfill the roles of great ancestors to all the people. what sets necromancy apart from ancestor worship is its attitude toward the dead. the necromancer communicates with any easily-accessed soul that may possess the information he or she needs, and the willingness of the departed is of no consequence. necromancers

DONALDTYSON WEREWOLF

l around the globe. in northern europe there are tales of were-bears. the japanese had were-cats, the malaysians and indians were-tigers. almost every beast has been a were-beast to some culture. shape-changers in the east were usually said to be evil magicians or evil witches who used their magic to cause harm to others. shape-changing into animal form is a feature of shamanism, the oldest human religion. shamans are universally believed in their cultures to possess the power of transforming themselves into animals such as wolves, bears and ravens. in their beast form the shamans travel the world to acquire wisdom or exercise their magic power. individual shamans have an affinity to one or another beast, which is the totemic animal of their family or clan. one shaman may be linked to the

EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD PAPYRUS OF ANI MALESTROM

which we call egyptian in the valley of [1 "les textes des pyramides. nous reportent si loin dans le pass que je n'ai aucun moyen de les dater que de dire qu'elles taient dej vieilles cinq mille ans avant notre re. si extraordinaire que paraisse ce chiffre, il faudra bien nous habituer le consid rer comme repr sentant une valuation minima toutes les fois qu'on voudra rechercher les origines de la religion gyptienne. la religion et les textes qui nous la font conna tre taient d j constitu s avant la ire dynastie: c'est nous de nous mettre, pour les comprendre, dans l' tat d'esprit o tait, il y a plus de sept mille ans, le peuple qui les a constitu s. bien entendu, je ne parle ici que des syst mes th ologiques: si nous voulions remonter jusqu' l'origine des 1 ments qu'ils ont mis en oeuvre

les animaux venimeux montre quel effroi le serpent et le scorpion inspirait aux gyptiens. beaucoup d'entre elles sont crites dans une langue et avec des combinaisons de signes qui ne paraissent plus avoir t compl tement comprises des scribes qui les copiaient sous ounas et sous pepi. je crois, quant moi, qu'elles appartiennent an plus vieux rituel et remontent an del du r gne de m n" maspero, la religion gyptienne (in revue de l'histoire des religions, t. xii, p. 125. see also recueil de travaux, t. iv, p. 62. the versions of the book of the dead. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod03.htm (3 of 36 [8/10/2001 11:22:54 am] 3. so sind wir gezwungen, wenigstens die ersten grundlagen des buches den anf ngen den aegyptischen civilization beizumessen" see naville, das aegyptische todtenbuch

s mastaba, p. 113] p. xviii monuments prove that many of the priestly officials were still relatives of the royal family, and the tombs of feudal lords, scribes, and others, record a number of their official titles, together with the names of several of their religious festivals. the subsequent increase in the number of the monuments during this period may be due to the natural development of the religion of the time, but it is very probable that the greater security of life and property which had been assured by the vigorous wars of seneferu,[1] the first the versions of the book of the dead. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod03.htm (7 of 36 [8/10/2001 11:22:54 am] king of this dynasty, about b.c. 3766, encouraged men to incur greater expense, and to build larger and better abodes f

und many texts which are identical with those employed by their predecessors, and an examination of the inscription of pepi ii. will show that about three-fourths of the whole may be found in the monuments of his ancestors. what principle guided each king in the selection of his texts, or whether the additions in each represent religious developments, it is impossible to say; but, as the egyptian religion cannot have remained stationary in every particular, it is probable that some texts reflect the changes in the opinions of the priests upon matters of doctrine.[1] the "pyramid texts" prove that each section of the religious books of the egyptians was originally a separate and independent composition, that it was written with a definite object, and that it might be arranged in any order i

e tombs of heru-hetep and neferu, and those inscribed upon the sarcophagus of taka, all of the xith and xiith dynasties, differ in extent only and not in character or contents from those of the royal pyramids of sakk ra of the vth and vith the versions of the book of the dead. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod03.htm (15 of 36 [8/10/2001 11:22:55 am] dynasties, it has been declared that the religion as well as the art of the first theban empire are nothing but a slavish copy of those of northern egypt.[2] the theban version. the theban version, which was much used in upper egypt from the xviiith to the xxth dynasty, was commonly written on papyri in the hieroglyphic character. the text is written in black ink in perpendicular rows of hieroglyphics, which are separated from each other

ELLIS LOW TWELVE 1907

ireplace, smoking their corncob pipes. they looked up, but did not recognize me. the landlord, uncle jed, as he was known, scrutinized me sharply for a minute, and then grinned on one side of his face, as he had a queer habit of doing, came round from behind the bar and shook hands. uncle jed was a genuine, old-fashioned publican, who felt that he had no right to hold radical views on politics or religion. he was equally friendly with everybody, but i always fancied that he had a special liking for me. so when we had talked together apart for some minutes, i asked him whether there were any strangers in town "no" he replied with another side grin "about everybody except two or three of us have gone to war" 1 14 camping on his trail "have you seen anything of jim mcgibbon "he had a drink he

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

al-uss al-thani (second book of the elements of foundation) attributed to jabir. shortly after ruska found another version appended to the kitab sirr al-khaliqa wa san`at al-tabi`a (book of the secret of creation and the art of nature, which is also known as the kitab balaniyus al-hakim fi'l-`ilal (book of balinas the wise on the causes. it has been the emerald tablet of herme othe emperor s new religion copyright 2002 ole wolf page 1 of 30 analysis of the church of satan: the emperor s new religion by ole wolf the church of satan has caused outrage and extensive media attention since its inception as the boldest champion of satan in the occult explosion peaking in the 1960es, and for better or for worse has become synonymous with modern satanism. it asserts that satanism is a unique phil

not written by barton but lavey himself. comparing the literary style of the books with her style after lavey s death lends credibility to barton as the original author, albeit strongly inspired by lavey. figure 1. a sample church of satan membership card with the follower s name and signature removed. apparently the number 100261 is printed on all membership cards issued today. the emperor s new religion copyright 2002 ole wolf page 2 of 30 orful and haunting picture of a person qualified as no less than the devil s right hand man. the strong publicity that the church of satan and its founder have received is itself no indication that the church of satan represents satanism beyond its own claim to the title as the devil s henchmen, however. it can be argued that because in certain aspects

se authors and philosophers, etc [anton lavey s] ideas evolved from his enthusiasm for satanic sympathizers and reprobates like george bernhard shaw, john milton, goethe] peppered with a liberal dose of the johnson, smith& co. catalogue of jokes, tricks and novelties [7, p. xii] that is, although neither thought alone was novel, no one before anton lavey had connected the dots to synthesize a new religion based on the thoughts combined. the church of satan s ideology states that man alone is responsible for his own success, and that there is no reward in heaven or punishment in hell for man s intents and doings on earth. as the satanic bible states: 1. life is the great indulgence death, the great abstinence. therefore, make the most of life here and now. 2. there is no heaven of glory bri

what ambiguously as a unified god (that is, not a god among others) which: is seen as the balancing factor in nature, and not being concerned with suffering [6, p. 40] in contrast to popular opinion among church of satan followers there is no implication that there is no life after death; the text only states that once one is dead, one will be unable to indulge in one s desires. the emperor s new religion copyright 2002 ole wolf page 3 of 30 and most satanists do not accept satan as an anthropomorphic being with cloven hooves, a barbed tail, and horns. he merely represents a force of nature [which] is an untapped reservoir that few can make use of [6, p. 62] this definition, in conjunction with the term god, lends itself to a theistic or deistic perception of satan in addition to the athei

l commission to write a satanic bible. my agent and publisher wanted the material i had already printed in tract form, with additional stuff, to make up the bible as quickly as possible [5, p. 4] the satanic bible is comprised of, in the following order: 1. an anti-christian diatribe. this section seems to appeal especially to those that were brought up in christian homes and are fed up with that religion. the church of satan explains that this section is a wake-up call that is only necessary for some readers. 2. a level-headed refutation of christian dogma; an assertion that there is no afterlife and hence no reward or punishment after one dies; and elaborations on different facets of a life lived accordingly. this section contains many examples of how even seemingly conflicting behavior

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

o includes a host of techniques and practices originally 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

not have been acquired by normal means. the mediums manifestations of a wide variety of extraordinary phenomena seemingly pointed to the existence of unusual forces operating in the physical world, forces unknown or undocumented by the emerging scientific community at the time. almost concurrently with the emergence and spread of spiritualism, a few intellectuals, having close ties to traditional religion, yet imbued with the new scientific methodology, concluded that scientific observation could be used to investigate reports of supernatural phenomena, especially reports of ghosts and hauntings. this sparked the formation in 1862 of the ghost club in england. during the next two decades, the growth of spiritualism provided a fertile field for investigation, and in 1882 a new generation of

mation, for all that contributed data, i thank you. user comments are welcome users who can offer any additional information, corrections, or suggestions for new entries in future editions are encouraged to contact the editor. please address dr. melton either c/o gale group, 27500 drake rd, farmington hills, mi 48331-3535, or at his office: dr. j. gordon melton institute for the study of american religion box 90709 santa barbara, ca 93190.0709 a a a a secret society founded by aleister crowley (1875.1947) comprised of three orders: the silver star, the rosy cross, and the golden dawn. this society is also described as the great white brotherhood, although that is a term more properly applied by theosophists. the initials a a indicate argenteum astrum, and the triangle of dots signify a sec

ript details many different signs of this sort. abraham s personality and temperament as revealed in this work indicate a man heaping scorn on most other magicians aben-ragel encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 4 and speaking with great derision of nearly all mystical writings other than his own and those of his hero, abra-melin. abraham fiercely criticizes all those who recant the religion in which they were raised and contends that no one guilty of this will ever attain skill in magic. nevertheless, throughout the manuscripts, abraham manifests little selfishness and seems to have worked toward success in his craft with a view to using it for the benefit of mankind in general. his writings also reflect a firm belief in a higher self existing in every man, and a keen desire

bilitative services. the academy laid the groundwork for the formation of the american holistic medical association in 1978 (see also healing center for the whole person) sources: the dimensions of healing: a symposium. los altos, calif: academy of parapsychology and medicine, 1972. the varieties of the healing experience. los altos, calif: academy of parapsychology and medicine, 1971. academy of religion and psychical research organization founded in 1972 from a proposal developed in 1971 by j. gordon melton, its first secretary, to operate in those areas where parapsychology and religion intersect. it has served as an academic affiliate of spiritual frontiers fellowship (sff. the academy encourages dialogue, idea exchange, and cooperation between clergy, academics in philosophy and relig

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

, a captain in the usnr medical corps during world war ii, and afterward returned to lenox hill (1946.55. in 1955 he entered private practice and became an instructor in clinical neurology at new york university, bellevue hospital medical center, new york. he was a member of the american medical association, american academy of neurology, american board of psychiatry and neurology, and academy of religion and mental health, and a fellow of the american psychiatric association and the american society of clinical hypnosis. his interest in intuition, clairvoyance, and mediumship prompted him to join the american society for psychical research. macrobert published many articles on medical, psychiatric, and neurological subjects, as well as articles in parapsychology, including the chapter som

ll images and those who said that the gods were male and female; they had neither temples nor altars, but worshiped the sky, as a representative of the deity, on the tops of mountains; they also sacrificed to the sun, moon, earth, fire, water, and winds, said herodotus, meaning no doubt that they adored the heavenly bodies and the elements. this was probably before the time of zoroaster, when the religion of persia seems to have resembled that of ancient india. their hymns in praise of the most high exceeded (according to dio chrysostom) the sublimity of anything in homer or hesiod. they exposed their dead bodies to wild beasts. schlegel maintained that it was an open question whether the old persian doctrine and wisdom or tradition of light did not undergo material alterations in the hand

the throne, or that were formed in the vicinity of the court. encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. magi 955 in greece, and even in egypt, the sacerdotal fraternities and associations of the initiated, formed by the mysteries, had in general an indirect, although not unimportant, influence on affairs of state, but in the persian monarchy they acquired a complete political ascendency. religion, philosophy, and the sciences were all in their hands. they were the universal physicians who healed the sick in body and in spirit, and, in strict consistency with that character, ministered to the state, which is only the individual in a larger sense. the three grades of the magi alluded to were called the disciples, the professed, and the masters. they were originally from bactria, whe

o them were observed to stir and change their place without any person being seen to touch them. and the only remedy in these cases, he claimed, was to cut off the head and burn the body of the persons supposed to appear. sources: calmet, augustine. the phantom world. 2 vols. london: richard bentley, 1850. magic general term for magic art, believed to derive from the greek magein, the science and religion of the priests of zoroaster (see magi, or, according to philologist skeat, from greek megas (great, thus signifying the great science. it commonly refers to the ability to cause change to occur by supernatural or mysterious powers and abilities. in the twentieth century, magic has been more stringently defined as the ability to create change by an act of the will and the use of the cosmic

ted into their religious practice and thus, like the egyptian and babylonian rituals, were preserves of the priesthood. magic in early europe was integral to the various religious systems that prevailed throughout that continent and survived into the middle ages as witchcraft. christians regarded the practice of magic, at least the popular forms practiced in the pagan culture competing with their religion, as foreign to the spirit of their faith. thus the thirty-sixth canon of the ecumenical council held at laodicea in 364 c.e. forbade clerks and priests to become magicians, enchanters, mathematicians, or astrologers. it ordered, moreover, that the church should expel those who employed ligatures or phylacteries, because, it said, phylacteries were the prisons of the soul. the fourth canon

EVERBURNING LAMPS

s paribus, that fire would burn continually, until the surrounding states of radical moisture or natural heat should be altered by external circumstances, as if a flame be made to burn in a closed vault, it would depart when such was opened. rosicrucian and alchemical doctrines, especially their views on the connection between fire and water, are brought into close apposition to the dogmas of the religion of the hebrews in some portions, at least, of the sacred writings, notably in the volume of the "maccabees" book ii, cap. i, where we are told that when the jews were led captive into persia, the priest took the sacred fire from the altar, and hid it in a dry, hollow place. many years after, in more favourable times, nehemiah sent priests to fetch this fire, nothing doubting its existence

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

space ships. new york: abelard-schuman, 1961. flying saucers farewell. new york: abelard-schuman, 1962. special report: my trip to the twelve counsellors meeting that took place on saturn, march 27 30th, 1962. vista, ca: science of life. bennett, colin, 2000. breakout of the fictions: george adamski s 1959 world tour. the anom- alist 8 (spring: 39 84. ellwood, robert s, 1995. spiritualism and ufo religion in new zealand: the international transmission of modern spiritual movements. in james r. lewis, ed. the gods have landed: new religions from other worlds, 167 186. albany, ny: state university of new york press. good, timothy, 1998. alien base: earth s encounters with extraterrestrials. london: century. heiden, richard w, 1984. review of zinsstag and good s george adamski the untold stor

d 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 provided him; still

guy warren ballard marketed a simplified, popular version of blavatsky s doctrine. he spoke of his own meeting with twelve venusian masters in the teton mountains in wyoming. religious studies scholar j. gordon melton identifies ballard (who died in 1939) and his i am movement as crucial to the development of the later contactee movement. not only did ballard become the first to actually build a religion on contact with extraterrestrials, he writes, but his emphasis was placed upon frequent contact with the masters from whom he received regular messages to the followers of the world contactee movement. the movement took over the i am [spiritual] hierarchy and changed it into a space command hierarchy (melton, 1995. in the book of the damned (1919, the first volume ever written on the subj

ine that came into existence around 1800 came upon many firsthand accounts. these can be found in any number of scholarly texts on fairy lore. though sometimes puzzled by the apparent sincerity of their informants, few folklorists were willing to take the leap of faith required to embrace actual belief in fairies. one who did, however, was the well-regarded w. y. evans-wentz, an anthropologist of religion who had a ph.d. from oxford university. in the first decade of the twentieth century, evans-wentz traveled through the celtic regions of the british isles as well as brittany (on france s northwest coast. the result was a folklore classic, the fairy faith in celtic countries (originally published in 1911. aside from its worth as a record of surviving fairy beliefs and associated superstit

he replied that her tongue would not be able to pronounce it. he suggested that she make up a name with which she felt comfortable. she decided to call him leo, telling him that leo means king. from then on, she addressed him as king leo. king leo wanted to know what love feels like, since he and his people had no emotions though such feelings are just now starting to evolve in them. they have a religion; they recognize the same creator as surface humans do. joy met him again on august 14, 1999, when she was taken into the kingdom again. leo told her that some of his subjects would 144 king leo like to live on the top again, though most would be staying behind. those who wanted to go to the surface, however, were concerned that human beings would not accept their appearance. he told her t

FAUST

is flowing speech s magic bliss, his hands fond clasp, and, ah, his kiss! my peace is gone -my heart is sorei ll find it, ah, never, no, nevermore! my bosom yearns toward him to go. ah! might i clasp him and hold him so, and kiss his lips as fain would i, upon his kisses to swoon and die! martha s garden margaret. faust. margaret promise me, henry! faust what i can! margaret how do you feel about religion? tell me, pray. you are a dear, good-hearted man, but i believe you ve little good of it to say. faust hush, hush, my child! you feel my love for you. for those i love, i d give my blood and body too, would no one of his feelings or of church bereave. margaret that s not enough. we must believe! faust must we? margaret ah, could i but impress you, henry dear! the holy sacraments you also

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

s spiritual taproot. something essential was missing. it appeared to me that a rigid fence had been built around the letter of the torah, but that the living spirit of the torah was no longer there. i knew that other religions had distinct and beautiful mystical traditions, but where was ours? the rabbis never mentioned it, never taught us anything about it. moreover, what was the original hebrew religion like long before there were rabbis and temples, and we lived as nomadic tribes as the children of abraham? like many young jews in the late 1960 s, i began to voraciously read everything i could find on mystical and occult subjects. i went to see any teacher from any mystical tradition who brought their show to town xand in the late 1960 s and the 70 s there were a lot of shows! i learned

order of mystical qabalists, called ma aseh merkabah (work of the chariot, to engage in work specifically intended to water the mystical roots of the children of abraham, he formed a religious trust through which to publish his translations of primary qabalistic texts. he never asked for any money, and gave away thousands of copies of the books he produced at his own expense. he told us that true religion xthe universal teaching of rebinding with our divine nature xwas the birthright of all humans and the purpose of all life. i continued to attend the weekly meetings for many years, and have subsequently substantiated much of what he taught us through my own direct experiences. i have maintained a relationship with this enigmatic gentleman for over three decades. during the first year of a

t near eastern civilizations influence the shaping of the monotheistic worldview of the tribal hebrews? did abraham s children via his concubines simply go to jordan when he divided his family and sent them east to the east country? or, is it possible that they went much further east across long traveled sea or land trades routes from the sinai peninsula to the indus valley? what was the original religion of the desert hebrews like in practice? how did their religious practices change during centuries of egyptian enslavement? what was the ultimate impact of the construction of a centralized temple to house the ark of the covenant, with its attendant class of hereditary priests bound to a strict code of levitical purity? furthermore, the word rabbi does not appear anywhere in the torah, and

he primary qabalistic meditation practices. this chapter also describes a variety of valuable ancillary practices that might be used to complement a daily routine of qabalistic meditation. the main body of the text closes with an epilogue containing some final observations on the study and practices of the mystical qabalah, and a brief discussion of the idea of hebrew renewal i.e. a return to the religion of abraham. appendix a contains the complete listing of the divine names in the sefer hashmoth (book of names. appendix b applies the ideas of modern scientific cosmology to the qabalistic model of the work of creation. the appendices are followed by a glossary of terms. a companion volume to this book will contain the translations published by the work of the chariot trust in the early 1

alah serve to perpetuate a long standing sexist and elitist mindset that discourages individuals from pursuing direct mystical experience outside the context of orthodox religious observance as established by the pharisees subsequent to the diaspora.4 these attitudes also serve to 8- f e 0 solidify the position of orthodox rabbis as intermediaries and authorities in the dispensation of the jewish religion. the authority of the pharisees evolved from the growing prominence of the academies of jewish learning that started to appear in the late fifth century bce under the tolerant regime of the persians, after hundreds of years of assyrian and babylonian repression. the word pharisee comes from the word parush, meaning one separated i.e. one who withdraws himself out of motives for piety. amo

FLY THE LIGHT

time slightly over 70 minutes. seven tracks symbolize the beast of the apocalypse, being the 7 headed dragon. the remaining seven ascend in a crooked pattern around the tree of daath, or the qlippoth. this movement is thus symbolized as the fly god, beelzebub, as a form of the adversary. fly the light begins with alone and divided, an atmosphere of post-industrial chaos and the machinery of a new religion- luciferian youth. this album does not move in the clean and shiny future as we so often visualize, but a past of when machinery and mankind were at odds with each other, when one wished to become another by the subconscious desire of mankind. pounding rhythm, abrasive and chanting vocals, harmonies and disharmonies move in layers over industrial and ebm stylized songs, with an element da

FOCUS OF LIFE

the way. assuredly, thy virtue is to be equally different. thy complaint is the calamity: the hypocrite is always at prayer. dost thou suffer? thou shalt again suffer, till thine i does not fear its body. rather seek and increase by thy temptations, it is but the way to intelligence. transgression is wiser than prayer: make this thy obsession. thank only thyself and be silent. the coward's way is religion. there is no fear-but righteousness. let this be thy one excuse, i pleasured myself. brave laughter-not faith. rewarded are the courageous for they shall pass! thine i is envious of satisfaction. yet none devotes himself to reality. whoever learneth much, unlearneth all sentimental and small desires. this is the new atavism i would teach: demand of god equality-usurp! the mighty are right

ke- self-love discover..something that has resurrected from an archetype" o sin, where is thy violence? o love, where is thine incest? o thought, where is thy courage? o hope, where is thy faith? o self where is thy humility? o truth, where is thy mispronunciation? verily, self-love alone is complete! the sexuality and sleep of aaos aaos having realized at an early age that all systems of belief, religion and rituals; consisted alone in their original value to their creators; and were of the weary, to incarnate pleasure by hope, control by fear; and to deify by morals; that cowards fear, and must needs promise pleasure of their sufferings; and they who had experienced "i" would have you destroy its body; and potential: verily, aaos realized that the origin of i, was for pleasurable procrea

e! a world where will creates the afterthought in its own image. for most, death will hold mainly blank pages, but were we ever treated all alike? study your dreams in this life, it may help you in the death posture. the heaven of aaos "all things are subject to resurrection" thus spake smiling aaos, on rising from the dead. then turning towards his shadow "i come! the changing word that destroys religion, a vortex wind that shall jest in temples! again! a reveller in the marshalled order of the sexes, the mad anarch of desires, the wild satyr of wolfish kisses! once again to earth, o thou whirlwind of desire, thou drunken breath of ribald lightning! my vampire chalice of ecstasy! yea, as my rapacious flame reareth before thee, thou escapeth from me with the laughing whisper of thy wonderf

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

ally written in the second to the third centuries a.d. he was not returning to an egyptian wisdom, not much later than the wisdom of the hebrew patriarchs and prophets, and much earlier than plato and the other philosophers of greek antiquity, who had all so the renaissance magus firmly believed drunk from its sacred fountain. he is returning to the pagan background of early christianity, to that religion of the world, strongly tinged with magic and oriental influences, which was the gnostic version of greek philosophy, and the refuge of weary pagans seeking an answer to life's problems other than that offered by their contemporaries, the early christians. the egyptian god, thoth, the scribe of the gods and the divinity of wisdom, was identified by the greeks with their hermes and sometime

t antiquity by an all-wise egyptian priest, as the renaissance believed, but by various unknown authors, all probably greeks,1 and they contain popular greek philosophy of the period, a mixture of platonism and stoicism, combined with some jewish and probably some persian influences. they are very diverse, but they all breathe an atmosphere of intense piety. the asclepius purports to describe the religion of the egyptians, and by what magic rites and processes the egyptians drew down the powers of the cosmos into the statues of their gods. this treatise has come down to us through the latin translation formerly attributed to apuleius of madaura.2 the pimander (the first of the treatises in the corpus hermeticum, the collection of fifteen hermetic dialogues3) gives an account of the creatio

st entirely on the greek influences in the hermetica. a cautious summary by bloomfield (op. cit, p. 46) is as follows "these writings are chiefly the product of egyptian neoplatonists who were greatiy influenced by stoicism, judaism, persian theology and possibly by native egyptian beliefs, as well as, of course, by plato, especially the timaeus. they were perhaps the bible of an egyptian mystery religion, which possibly in kernel went back to the second century b.c" the mystery cult theory is opposed by festugiere, i, pp. 81 ff. 3 hermes trismegistus was highly organised and at peace. the pax romano, was at the height of its efficiency and the mixed populations of the empire were governed by an efficient bureaucracy. communications along the great roman roads were excellent. the educated

h this illumination through contemplation of the world or the cosmos, or rather through contemplation of the cosmos as reflected in his own nous or mens which separates out for him its divine meaning and gives him a spiritual mastery over it, as in the familiar gnostic revelation or experience of the ascent of the soul through the spheres of the planets to become immersed in the divine. thus that religion of 4 hermes trismegistus the world which runs as an undercurrent in much of greek thought, particularly in platonism and stoicism, becomes in hermetism actually a religion, a cult without temples or liturgy, followed in the mind alone, a religious philosophy or philosophical religion containing a gnosis. the men of the second century were thoroughly imbued with the idea (which the renaiss

ake pilgrimages to some remotely situated egyptian temple and pass the night in its vicinity in the hope of receiving some vision of divine mysteries in dreams.3 the belief that egypt was the original home of all knowledge, that the great greek philosophers had visited it and conversed with egyptian priests, had long been current, and, in the mood of the second century, the ancient and mysterious religion of egypt, the supposed profound knowledge of its priests, their ascetic way of fife, the religious magic which they were thought to perform in the subterranean chambers of their temples, offered immense attractions. it is this pro-egyptian mood of the graeco-roman world which is reflected in the hermetic asclepius with its strange description of the magic by which the egyptian priests ani

FRATER TENEBROUS CULTS OF CTHULHU

nvocation is supplied by lovecraft in the curious ritual phrase, of non-human origin, which is chanted by the worshippers of the cthulhu cult: ph nglui mglw nafh cthulhu r lyeh wgah nagl fhtagn. cthulhu represents the abyss of the subconscious or dreaming mind, and astrologically by the sign of scorpio. ceremonially, he is referred to the west (amenta, or the place of the dead in ancient egyptian religion, and geographically, to the site of r lyeh in the south pacific (the exact coordinates for which are to be found in the call of cthulhu) as already stated, nodens is the only member of the elder gods to be mentioned by name, and lovecraft gives no further information concerning him. the sign of the elder gods is described as an upright pentagram containing an eye-shaped sigil. the points

n fragments recovered from the original manuscript. of the latin texts now existing, one is supposed to be held by the british museum, and the other by the biblioth que nationale in paris. a 17th century copy is in the widener library collection at harvard. numerous other copies probably exist the book being rigidly suppressed by the authorities of most countries, and by all branches of organised religion. the mention of dee s name in connection with the necronomicon is interesting in that he was one of the few magical adepts of the past who can present us with practical evidence of communication with non-human entities. dr. john dee was the astrologer to queen elizabeth i, and worked with a number of scryers, or seers, the most talented of which was the irishman, sir edward kelly. through

FRATER U D PRACTICAL SIGIL MAGIC

ish magic of the turn of the century was also influenced by an important young science which would actually achieve its major triumphs only after the second world war.the psychology of sigmund freud. before that. blatvatsky's isis unveiled and the secret doctrine, as well as frazer's the golden bough, had given important impulses to the occult in general. william james's comparative psychology of religion influenced deeply the intellectuality of this time, but freud, adler, and especially carl g, jung eventually effected major breakthroughs. from then on, people started to consider the unconscious in earnest. this apparent digression, which had to be kept very short due to lack of space, is in reality a very important basis for the discussion that follows. we will not analyze in depth by w

FREEMASON BLUEBOOK

d of science and industry is implanted in man, for the best, most salutary and beneficent purposes. maine masonic text book file//c /grand lodge/bluebook/bluebook1.htm (15 of 76 [11/22/1999 11:51:55 am] speculative masonry. by speculative masonry we learn to subdue the passions, act upon the square, keep a tongue of good report, maintain secrecy, and practice charity. it is so far interwoven with religion as to lay us under obligations to pay that rational homage to deity which at once constitutes our duty and our happiness. it leads the contemplative to view with reverence and admiration the glorious works of creation, and inspires him with the most exalted ideas of the perfections of his divine creator. in six days god created the heaven and the earth, and rested upon the seventh day; th

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL 2

era dawned, he was born as lazarus, the widow's son of nain, and raised by the strong grip of the lion's paw to the rank of immortals as christian rosenkreuz. solomon, the son of seth, was reborn as jesus. the baptism of water administered by john as representative of jehovah freed him also. he yielded his body at that moment to the descending christ spirit and ranged himself with the new leader. religion has been terribly tarnished in the course of time, its pristine purity has long since vanished under the regime of creed, and it is no longer catholic, that is to say, universal. sects and "isms" have branched out in one direction and another, but still jesus from the invisible worlds enfolds in his love all the sons of seth who will call upon his name by faith, and he will eventually uni

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL

t and how it is made* part viii: the path of initiation* part ix: armageddon, the great war, and the coming age part i lucifer, the rebel angel the rosicrucian fellowship aims to educate and construct, to be charitable even to those from whom we differ, and never to vent the venom of vituperation, spite, or malice even upon those who seem deliberately determined to mislead. we revere the catholic religion; it is as divine in its essence, as both were born to further the aspiration of the striving soul, and both have a message and a mission in the world not apparent upon the surface today, because man-made ceremonial as a scale has hidden the present articles to remove that scale and show the cosmic purpose of these two great organizations, which are so bitterly antagonistic to each other

and the training which each will inaugurate, if successful; also the nature of the soul quality which may be expected to result from each method. the writer is not a mason, and thus he is free to say what he knows without fear of violating obligations, but he is a mason at heart, and therefore frankly opposed to catholicism. our opposition is not fanatical, or blind to the merits of the catholic religion, however. the catholic is our brother as well as the mason; we would not say a disparaging, irreverent word against this faith, or those who live by it, and should we seem to do so, in any passage, the wrong will be due to inadvertence. the reader is requested to note that we distinguish sharply between the catholic hierarchy and the catholic religion, but the former are also our brothers

solomon one that was fairer than he, and there the bible narrative leaves her. her marriage with solomon was never consummated or the name of mason would have faded from memory long ere the present day and humanity at large would now be docile children of the dominant church, without free will, choice or prerogative. nor could she be permitted to wed hiram, who represented the temporal power, or religion would have been stamped out; she must wait for the bridegroom who shall embody within himself the combined good qualities of solomon and hiram, but who is purified from their weaknesses. for the queen of sheba is the composite soul of humanity, and at the consummation of the work of our evolutionary era she will be the bride, while christ, whom paul called a high priest after the order of

FREEMASONS SATANISM AND SYMBOLISM

f that masons worship satan. once this is comprehended, you will understand why "they" have been trying to keep this all secret. if people really understood that masonry is the worship of satan, no one in their right mind would join. not only that but people would demand that this organization be outlawed. you have a continuous public relations campaign promoting the lie that freemasonry is not a religion, and is just a "good works social organization" as quoted above, you have secrets within secrets. lucifer praised as the light-bearer of freemasonry "lucifer, the light-bearer! strange and mysterious name to give to the spirit of darkness! lucifer, the son of the morning! is it he who bears the light, and with its splendors intolerable, blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish souls? doubt it n

where everyone can see concrete evidence is then given by pike of freemason's worship of satan/lucifer on the very front of the cover of morals and dogma. pike writes a latin phrase just below the round seal of "god" this is a phrase proven to be satanic. any "satanic brother" looking at this phrase would know that the contents of this book are satanic. they would also understand that the entire religion of freemasonry is satanic "deus meumque jus" is this phrase. the literal meaning is "god and my right" doc marquis says this statement is a typical one within satanism. there is one meaning within another with this statement. the first meaning is that the freemason can depend upon their god to determine their right and justice. the second meaning is, since the god of freemasonry is lucife

below. the masonic ring symbol is just a disguised pentagram with both the "good" and "evil" stars represented. thoth "the first hermes was the intelligence or word of god. moved with compassion for a race living without law. god sent to man osiris and isis, accompanied by thoth, the incarnation or terrestrial repetition of the first hermes; who taught men the arts, science, and the ceremonies of religion; and then ascended to heaven or the moon [pike, morals and dogma, p. 255, 17th degree, knights of the east and west; emphasis was in the original. helena petrovna blavatsky was founder of the house of theosophy. her books were all written by her demonic guiding spirits in a form that is called automatic writing. these writings tie thoth together nicely. hermes, the god of wisdom, called a

you think this blasphemy of saying that man can become god is unique to george steinmetz, listen to two more masonic authors. manly p. hall, another 33rd degree mason, writes "man is a god in the making [the lost keys of freemasonry, p. 92] masonic author, joseph fort newton, clearly and boldly states. to the profoundest insight of the human soul- that god becomes man that man may become god [the religion of freemasonry: an interpretation, macoy publishing and masonic supply company, 1969, p. 37] masonry acknowledges that freemasonry originated in the place where satan dwells! albert churchward, another masonic author states that the triangle pointing upward us a symbol for set, which is one of the infernal names for satan [signs and symbols of primordial man, george allen and company, ltd

se was created by the god of the bible. this statement really supports that concept, as it dogmatically states that the serpent entwined around the egg is a symbol of the creation of the universe. freemasonry idolizes the druids. pike not only mentions the druids in this sentence, but other masonic authors are even bolder in their admission that freemasonry venerates them because their mysteries' religion is identical to the druids. our mode of teaching the principles of our profession [masonry] is derived from the druids. and our chief emblems originally came from egypt [william hutchinson, mason, the spirit of masonry, revised by george oliver, new york, bell publishing, originally published in 1775, p. 195] another masonic writer (albert churchward, states that masons are "our present d

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

hysical science, formed part of the hidden cult. thus pythagoras, anaximander, nicetas, heraclides, aristarchus, seleneus, and ecphantus believed in the rotundity of the earth or in its movement; the first of these philosophers holding that each star was a world possessing its own atmosphere and surrounded by immense spaces of ether.4 but this knowledge was never popularized for fear of upsetting religion, by means of which authority over the ignorant masses was maintained. early in the fourth century a.d. we find lactantius writing: it is an absurdity to believe that there are men who have feet above their heads, and countries in which all is inverted, in which the trees and plants grow from the top to the bottom. we find the germ of that error among the philosophers who have claimed that

for every cult, except polytheism, has burnt offerings on the altar of the qabalistic mystery- magically depicted in the form of the pan-like baphomet. it is this extraordinary universality which it is important to remember, for it has been the binding force which has kept judaism intact; it has waterproofed it against solvent influences. further still, the qabalah does offer to humanity a world religion or cult. in a silent and secret way its doctrine is the conquering mystery of the life-force. the philosophy of the qabalah the philosophy of the qabalah is not difficult to define; it is a question of balance, of poise, and of equilibrium. but to explain what is meant by balance or poise is not so easy, and in place of attempting to do so in a few sentences we will let this central princ

ranslucency, tenuity, and purity, passing comprehension. 38 philosophical comparisons before concluding this chapter, it may be of some interest to the reader if a few brief comparisons are made between the qabalistic doctrines and other philosophies, because this will accentuate its universality; for the qabalah is a world philosophy, and consequently there lurks within it the makings of a world religion. that it should show remarkable resemblance fs to zoroastrianism is to be expected, for both flourished in adjacent regions. as the qabalah is largely an exposition of the upper and lower, god and the image of god, so is the zoroastrian philosophy founded on the idea of the passive and active in nature- the so-called good and the evil. as to the qabalist the mediating agent is the will, s

ot fortuitous, neither is it possible that they should have originated from one source, one human philosophical doctrine. the truth is that they are spontaneous, they spring naturally from reason itself once thought is turned upon the world; they are an integral part of man's mind and being. destroy them, and we are plunged into madness; fertilize them, and step by step we are raised towards god. religion, that is the equilibrium between the visible and the invisible, the lower and the upper, is essentially a part of man's nature. when this equilibrium is lost, society, however progressive it may seem materially, is plunged back into chaos from which cosmos and order can only emerge by an illumination, a balancing of forces, which will give life and light to a new world order. man is the m

t, as he says, that gwe have no language at our command except that derived from our terrestrial concepts and experiences h, scientific speculations lead to the supposition that gthe universe appears to have been designed by a pure mathematician h 4- a qabalistic assumption. and what does this mean? it means that science, which during the last century broke away from the idealistic conceptions of religion- the spiritual side of man- is today tending towards a return to these concepts; for, as this scientist says: we may think of the electrons as objects of thought, and time as the process of thinking. the universe can be best pictured, though still very imperfectly and inadequately, as consisting of pure thought. 5 here we return to an idealism which would have staggered the imagination of

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

e will use his trident like a pitchfork, turning humanity upside down. such a man, as eliphas levi warns us, gis a walking scourge and a living fatality; he may slay or violate; he is an unchained fool h. secret wisdom of the qabalah page 83 hebrew alphabet and correspondences no. hebrew letters latin equivalents name of letters numerical values significati uthe god idea of the ancients or sex in religion by eliza burt gamble preface. much of the material for this volume was collected during the time that i was preparing for the press the evolution of woman, or while searching for data bearing on the subject of sex-specialization. while preparing that book for publication, it was my intention to include within it this branch of my investigation, but wishing to obtain certain facts relative

nd the corresponding repression of the natural female instincts, the principles which originally constituted the god-idea gradually gave place to a deity better suited to the peculiar bias which had been given to the male organism. an anthropomorphic god like that of the jews--a god whose chief attributes are power and virile might--could have had its origin only under a system of masculine rule. religion is especially liable to reflect the vagaries and weaknesses of human nature; and, as the forms and habits of thought connected with worship take a firmer hold on the mental constitution than do those belonging to any other department of human experience, religious conceptions should be subjected to frequent and careful examination in order to perceive, if possible, the extent to which we

than do those belonging to any other department of human experience, religious conceptions should be subjected to frequent and careful examination in order to perceive, if possible, the extent to which we are holding on to ideas which are unsuited to existing conditions. in an age when every branch of inquiry is being subjected to reasonable criticism, it would seem that the origin and growth of religion should be investigated from beneath the surface, and that all the facts bearing upon it should be brought forward as a contribution to our fund of general information. as well might we hope to gain a complete knowledge of human history by studying only the present aspect of society, as to expect to reach reasonable conclusions respecting the prevailing god-idea by investigating the variou

n" or from a time when one race comprehended the entire population of the globe, maybe traced. humboldt in his researches observes "in every part of the globe, on the ridge of the cordilleras as well as in the isle of samothrace, in the aegean sea, fragments of primitive languages are preserved in religious rites" regarding the identity of the fundamental ideas contained in the various systems of religion, both past and present, hargrave jennings, in referring to a parallel drawn by sir william jones, between the deities of meru and olympus, observes "all our speculations tend to the same conclusions. one day it is a discovery of cinerary vases, the next, it is etymological research; yet again it is ethnological investigation, and the day after, it is the publication of unsuspected tales f

he ancient general system may be traced in the recently discovered islands in the pacific ocean; and, when the american world was first opened to the hardy adventurers of europe, its inhabitants from north to south venerated, with kindred ceremonies and kindred notions, the gods of egypt and hindostan, of greece and italy, of phoenicia and britain"[1 [1] pagan idolatry, book i, ch. i "though each religion has its own peculiar growth, the seed from which they spring is everywhere the same"[2 [2] max muller, origin and growth of religion, p. 48. the question as to whether the identity of conception and the similarity in detail observed in religious rites, ceremonies, and symbols in the various countries of the globe are due to the universal law of unity which governs human development, or wh

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

ibed waite as 'by far the 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

ause of his mother's isolation from them, and the consequent absence of any sense of family' identity or of family roots had a profound effect upon him. as he grew into his extended adolescence his social diffidence increased and his tendency to introspection intensified.butalienation from a wider family was not the only factor in the shaping of waite's character; his mother sought consolation in religion and this had an even deeper upon her son _2'thechurchofromeifoundwouldsuit'inherreligious observationemmalovell was typicaloftheenglish middle255class-sachurch-goingwomanofaquiet anglican type'(sly,p.19)-andwhenshereturnedfromamerica she maintainedherreligious respectability, however suspect she mayotherwisehavebeeninherfamily's eyes.thesmall waite family settledfromthefirst somewherebetw

father rawes,whowashimself a regular contributor. in oneoftheseessays,outcomes,waite made a violent attackuponthe reformation:centuries had taught the children of this world the lesson that thischurchcouldnotbe crushedoutwithfire and sword.thespiritofevil is persevering, and it thereforeturnedabout forothermeans,and by a masterstroke of fiendishingenuitytheydevised a plan for setting up a secular religion in the place of the priestly 'sacerdotalism'and a humanchristianity in place of the divine christianity of the church. to answer their vile ends, the whole spirit of christianity was alteredordistorted, itsmostdistinctive features struckoutand only a few broadtruthsretained..such a heresywhichbegan by denying half thetruthsofgod, wasnotlikely to improvewith satanwhohad inspired had a far

ontaguesummers'sthegothicquest(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 catalogu

, often spectacular andnotalwayseasy to explain, despite the frequent detectionoftrickeryamongbothprofessional and amateur mediums. both 'real' phenomena and exposures of fraud were faithfully reported in the spiritualist journals and in the multitude of books devoted tothesubject, for the devotees were eager to present a respectablefaceto the world and to establish their 'science, philosophy and religion of continuous life, based upon the demonstrated fact of communication, by meansofmedium ship,withthosewholive.in the spirit world'2as an acceptable faith. indeed, it was largely through the propaganda of the journals that potential converts were gained: waite among them. before he.beganto attend seances waite immersed himselfinspiritualist literature, until 'there came a timewheni could a

GILBERT THE GOLDEN DAWN TWILIGHT OF THE MAGICIANS

y, and received his education in a cloister. a certain monk, p.a.l, took him as a companion on a journey to the holy land; they reached cyprus, and there p.a.l. died. christian rosenkreuz, however, went on alone to damascus, and to the sanctuary ofmountcarmel where he studied with the wise men, from thence to egypt, to fez and then to spain, learning in all countries thefoundationdoctrinesoftheir religion and philosophy, and their artsofmedicine; and he at last settled down in south germany about the year1413.after several years spent in the studyofthe knowledge and arts so collected, c.r. chose three companions, fratres g.v, la (who, it was noted, was not a german) and1.0.,and instructed them fully in the precious resultsofhis travels, and so these four fratres founded the 'fraternityofth

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

he rosicrucians, past and present, at home and abroad 40 4. in memory of robert fludd 48 5. rosicrucian thoughts on the ever-burning lamps of the ancients 54 6. man, miracle, magic, from the ancient rosicrucian dogmata 66 7. courage versus obsession 71 8. chess shatranji and chaturanga 75 part two: kabalistic 9. the kabalah 3110.a further glance at the kabalah 95 11. the ten sephiroth 110 12. the religion of freemasonry illuminated by the kabbalah 114 13. angels: jewish, christian and pagan 124 14. the devil, and evil spirits according to the bible and ancient hebrew rabbis 131 15. some anomalies in the biblical views of the constitution of man 139 16. the vestiges of tetragrammaton 154 17. the number four in relation with the world and man 1576themagicalmasonpartthree:divination18.thehist

ofthe magicians(aquarian press, 1983. 5 letter tof.l.gardner, quoted in howe,op.cit.,p. 165. 6 quotedinhowe,op.cit.,p. 210. 7 see queenborough,op. cit.,appendix iv. 8 ibid. 9 ibid. 10 ibid.part one: rosicrucian1.christian rosenkreuz and the rosicruciansthe rosicrucians of medieval germany formed a group of mystic philosophers, assembling, studying and teaching in private the esoteric doctrines of religion, philosophy and occult science, which their founder, christian rosenkreuz, had learned from the arabian sages, who were in their turn the inheritors of the culture of alexandria. this great city of egypt, a chief emporium of commerce and a centre of intellectual learning, flourished before the rise of the imperial power of rome, falling at length before the martial prowess of the romans

panic among the learned, and it was a ferment which did not complete its work for several generations. that its effect was on the whole a good one, need not be doubted by us, for whatever may be the merits or demerits of rosicrucianism as a system of philosophy or ethics, its promulgation certainly tended to widen men's intellectual conceptions, to show that the prevailing standards and forms of religion were not the only possible forms of high spiritual thought and aspiration, and that even the time-expired form255 ulae of egyptian culture were susceptible of a later development not wholly unsuitable, and not unworthy of the attention of a later age. why indeed should it not have been so, seeing that for 1500 years in europe the nations had reposed in a state of apathy without culture, h

family, and received his education in a cloister. a certain monk,p.a.l.,took him as a companion on a journey to the holy land; they reached cyprus, and there p.a.l. died. christian rosenkreuz, however, went on alone to damascus, and to the sanctuary of mount carmel where he studied with the wise men, from thence to egypt, to fez and then to spain, learning in all countries the doctrines of their religion and philosophy, and their arts of medicine; and he at last settled down in south germany about the year 1413. after several years spent in the study of the knowledge and arts so collected, c.r. chose three companions, fratres g.v, la (who it was noted was not a german) and1.0.,and instructed them fully in the precious results of his travels, and so these four fratres founded the 'fraterni

er a few years a second circle of four other fratres was formed; these were c.r. the son of the deceased father's brotherofc.r.,b, a skilful painter, g.g, andp.d.,who acted as secretary to the others. while two fratres always remained with the founder c.r, the others went about doing good, relieving the poor and sick and collecting further knowledge.thefraternity then was a society of students of religion, philosophy and medicine, whose members sought for spiritual development and practised acts of benevolence.the history of the rosicrucians 29in the fama fratemitatiswe readthatthey bound them255selvesby six rules:1.to profess nothing, buttocure the sick, and that freely.a.to wear only the usual dress of the country in which they ,were..to assemble at the domus s.s. once in every year on a

GILBERT THE SORCERER AND HIS APPRENTICE

d denotes 'received tradition. but, notwithstanding the fact that the writers of the encyclopaedias have decided somewhat rashly against its claims as being the true esoteric interpretation of the mystical passages of scripture, other men, of as deep minds firm and satisfactory scheme of religious philosophy; and one which, while satisfying the cravings of their minds for a transcendent system of religion, could disclose to them in language sublime and logical, the mystical abysses of the mind divine. a system which could captivate such men as reuchlin, athanasius kircher, knorr de rosenroth (whose 'kabbalah denudata' is the leading work on the subject, picus de mirandola, dr henry more, cornelius agrippa, and robert fludd, is surely worthy of more than a passing and superficial examinatio

es impossible to resist, impossible to stop; fame, fortune, reputation, life itself may be thrown into the gulf, to secure more and more the delights of that mad dream. and to the outer world the effects are manifest. people incurred the ill-will of witches and were cursed, ill-luck dogged their footsteps. there was an unknown secret power threatening them. waves of panic set in. the ministers of religion improved the occasion to rouse a fear of satan and all his works in the interests of religion, and so tales were told from mouth to mouth till no story was too fantastic to find credence, and a clamorous demand arose for the cruellest and most drastic persecution, and among all this welter it is hard enough to find and follow the shining thread of truth. yet truth is there, and witchcraft

ere is a very remarkable change, for this is a time of special concurrence of variousschools, a most important time in the history of the world-.signalised. by several important things, one being that england, the greatest christian power in the west, now dominates india, the greatest buddhistic centre in the east. and this domination is not merely. physical, for we are teaching the indians their religion. the teaching of the purethehermetic system163buddhistic faith in.india, and the establishment and mainte255 nance of buddhistic schools in ceylon, have been largely due totheenergy of english and american theosophists. we should not try to getbuddhists converted to christianity,butfirst endeavour to make them.good buddhists. the buddhisthasdeveloped himsellas far asma,nas,buthehas not de

th consisted of the one and the trinity in unity, thereforejhethree transcendental, supernal, and uncognisable by man, and the seven cognisable by man. here we havetheseven principlesofman. sevenisthe key tothemosaic condition, and there we get the second key: the 7 days of creation, the 7. principles of man, the 7 great planets, the 7 archangels, and 7 angels, and soon, symbolised in every great religion;the 7 great gods and the 7 demons;andthesegods answer precisely to the 7 archangels .ofthe gnostics, hermetists, and, later on, of the christian scheme. they existed before the timeofchrist, and wereif not actually worshippedlooked upon as mediators. but at the incarna" tion of christ, thosewhobelieved that here was the prophesied fulfilment of the pleroma banished the 7 great gods from t

lux of spirituality seems to come now throughtheenglish-speaking race. let us say that there is great spirituality, that there are great truths,inthe buddhistic faiths. so it is. there are lessons which all of us might learn, and lay to heart. but look to the east, and you see english-speaking people- englishmen and americans -theesoteric teaching on the zodiac 185teaching the buddhists their own religion- reviving buddh255 ism. the buddhistic schools in ceylon would have been absolutely deadbutfor american enterprise, and their masters and mistresses today are american. the leaders and reformers of the buddhist temples in india are of the english race again.ourenergy and our spirituality is giving back to the east their own faith, and a magnificent faith it is, and a great gift. and all t

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

ilence up to his death in 1913. all that remained for the swedenborgian rite was to be scooped up by waite as a part of his ambitious, but ultimately unrealised, project for a secret council of rites. perhaps it was appropriate for a rite created by a fantasist to end in the dream-world of a mystic. there remains, however, the question of the purpose of the swedenborgian rite. ritual as an aid to religion: the purpose of the rite the ritual of the swedenborgian rite is inordinately long (even mackenzie accepted that it was of extreme length, tedious and largely uninspiring, and yet the rite itself survived for a far longer period than did the great majority of other fringe degrees. something about the ritual clearly caught the imagination of the 41[41] westcott to reuss, 14 february 1902

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

which can be best described according to such terms as "materialism" and "secular humanism" but, it is an errant philosophy based on false suppositions and flawed theories, as you will see in this book. in this book, the reader will also be presented with a summary of the history of the masons struggle against theistic religions. freemasons have played an important role in distancing europe from religion, and in its place, founding of a new order based on the philosophies of materialism and secular humanism. the reader will also see how masonry has been influential in the imposition of these dogmas and a social order based on them on non-western civilizations. after reading this book, the reader will be able to consider many aspects, from schools of philosophy to newspaper headlines, rock

cover of the books is symbolic and is linked to the their contents. it represents the qur'an (the final scripture) and the prophet muhammad, the last of the prophets. under the guidance of the qur'an and sunnah, the author makes it his purpose to disprove each one of the fundamental tenets of godless ideologies and to have the "last word, so as to completely silence the objections raised against religion. the seal of the final prophet, who attained ultimate wisdom and moral perfection, is used as a sign of his intention of saying this last word. all author' s works center around one goal: to convey the qur' an' s message to people, encourage them to think about basic faith-related issues (such as the existence of god, his unity and the hereafter, and to expose the feeble foundations and p

layman, the golden age, allah's artistry in colour, glory is everywhere, the importance of the evidences of creation, the truth of the life of this world, the nightmare of disbelief, knowing the truth, eternity has already begun, timelessness and the reality of fate, matter: another name for illusion, the little man in the tower, islam and the philosophy of karma, the dark magic of darwinism, the religion of darwinism, the collapse of the theory of evolution in 20 questions, engineering in nature, technology mimics nature, the impasse of evolution i (encyclopedic, the impasse of evolution ii (encyclopedic, allah is known through reason, the qur'an leads the way to science, the real origin of life, consciousness in the cell, technology imitates nature, a string of miracles, the creation of

of believers: paradise, knowledge of the qur'an, qur'an index, emigrating for the cause of allah, the character of the hypocrite in the qur'an, the secrets of the hypocrite, the names of allah, communicating the message and disputing in the qur'an, answers from the qur'an, death resurrection hell, the struggle of the messengers, the avowed enemy of man: satan, the greatest slander: idolatry, the religion of the ignorant, the arrogance of satan, prayer in the qur'an, the theory of evolution, the importance of conscience in the qur'an, the day of resurrection, never forget, disregarded judgements of the qur'an, human characters in the society of ignorance, the importance of patience in the qur'an, general information from the qur'an, the mature faith, before you regret, our messengers say

portance of patience in the qur'an, general information from the qur'an, the mature faith, before you regret, our messengers say, the mercy of believers, the fear of allah, jesus will return, beauties presented by the qur'an for life, a bouquet of the beauties of allah 1-2-3-4, the iniquity called "mockery" the mystery of the test, the true wisdom according to the qur'an, the struggle against the religion of irreligion, the school of yusuf, the alliance of the good, slanders spread against muslims throughout history, the importance of following the good word, why do you deceive yourself, islam: the religion of ease, zeal and enthusiasm described in the qur'an, seeing good in all, how do the unwise interpret the qur'an, some secrets of the qur'an, the courage of believers, being hopeful in

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

k is a comprehensive summary of the basic principles of the gnostic tradition. we realize that what we outline in this text is unusual and rightly so, gnosticism is a unique form of perception and hence offers a very different worldview from that found in christian, pagan or esoteric and occult traditions. gnosticism is the essence behind such outer forms and hence offers the framework from which religion, occultism and mythology create the form. in recent times with the advent of fundamentalism of all forms, a clear and precise explanation of the ideals of gnosticism is not only useful, but mandatory. at the onset it should be made clear that gnosticism is a personal experience of religion. the term gnosis means "an experience of knowledge" and religion (from the latin religio) means "to

tery traditions, old world religions (pagan and heathen) and gnosticism. the gnostic tradition is not culturally locked within the christian tradition as many modern exponents seem to profess. it is a pan-gnostic tradition, which spans many traditions and cultural milieus. the primary assumption of the gnostic tradition is that at some point in the dim reaches of time there was a primal universal religion, this religion diversified as man spread across the earth and different cultures and nationalities development. accordingly, remnants of this perennial philosophy are found within the various traditions, belief systems and faiths. these faiths rather than being the primary sources of wisdom within themselves are actually remnants of one earlier, and more pristine school of knowledge. as t

ritical study can we restore just some of its inner meaning. the institute upholds the original inner teachings of jesus as part of a continuum of wisdom which spans from pagan to so-called christian sources. but it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings here, however, fragmentary and incomplete belong neither to the hindu's, the zoroastrian, the chaldean, nor the egyptian religion, nor to buddhism, islam, judaism or christianity exclusively. the secret doctrine is the essence of all these. the secret doctrine, madame blavaskty. behind the veil of all the hieratic and mystical allegories of ancient doctrines, behind the darkness and strange ordeals of all initiations, under the deal of all sacred writings, in the ruins of nineveh or thebes, on the crumbling stones o

rationalism and fundamentalism go hand in hand, once you reject the possibility of a wisdom (gnosis) that is greater than the collective psyche of man, then the mind becomes the point of reference. ethics become irrelevant, as do spiritual values 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

l structures we have are artificial, they have evolved as the society around us would like them to evolve. hence to really understand the gnosis there is a great need for you to put aside your pre-conceptions. this will be difficult as so many words have connotations which have been deliberately programmed to have us react in certain ways. we have developed certain "understandings" of philosophy, religion, democracy, politics etc. all of which may or may not be true, but nevertheless all of which probably originated from the system around us, rather than from within the perennial tradition. it is always important to realise the extent to which language can be moulded to suit different worldviews and used to create specific reactions and impressions. in some ways we might agree with the dis

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

eachings because they embody the most ancient wisdom, the essential essence behind the worlds religious and ideological systems. in this sense they are esoteric, eso- meaning inner, they are the inner teachings that are behind or beyond the secular, they are core religious wisdom available to the few. they are occult in that they are secret, hidden or unknown. they are religious in the sense that religion means to bind back, to return to the source or origin. these teachings are those which lead back to the spiritual world, the treasury of light from which we have become alienated. but it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings here, however fragmentary and incomplete, belong neither to the hindus, the zoroastrian, the chaldean, nor the egyptian religion, nor to budd

se creation by breathing life into shells satanel has formed. however, the fallen world cannot be fully rectified and a mixed system of light and darkness is formed. if we wish to move into another realm of myth, we could try a modern legend. in one fig 2 a multiple views of the central event. each offering a different perspective of the central truth. gnostic theurgy page 17 science fiction like religion, for example, there is a tale of primal spirit beings called thetans who are caught by one of their own who has become corrupt. he sets traps by showing them intricate mind patterns and they become so immersed in these patterns that they become locked inside them. as time progresses they become more and more restricted within these patterns until physical matter results. older myths of a

of matter has at the same time a transcendent characteristic. the directing intelligence is for leary the focal point for the given reality, while the communication centre offers the distribution point for the given state of consciousness. for example, the brain is the directing intelligence on its level, while it s distribution network is through the sense organs. the descriptions of science and religion give us an inkling of the deeper nature of each level of consciousness. for example, leary s description of how buddhism relates to the atomic state is quite informative. buddhism attempts to transcend life and cellular manifestations and to arrive at the white light of the void, the unitary atomic-electronic flash beyond form. while on the emotion level leary describes the religious imag

otion level leary describes the religious imagery as middle class catholicism and devil oriented fundamentalism which are based on the arousal of emotion and fear. in connection with each state leary gives a range of correspondences. to give you some idea of his system we have included a selection of same. following each level is given the directing intelligence, communication structure, science, religion and religious metaphor (fig 5) gnostic theurgy page 31 level. directing. communication science. religious intelligence. structure. metaphor. atomic. atomic. electron. physics. buddhism nucleus white light cellular. dna. rna. biology. hinduism reincarnation. somatic autonomic organs of the body.physiology. tantra. nerve plexes. kundalini. sensory. brain. sense organs. neurology. zen, sufis

vely rule over the world and each individually in his sphere is a warder of the cosmic prison. their tyrannical world-rule is called hiemarmene, universal fate.[this universal fate] aims at the enslavement of man. as guardian of his sphere each archon bars the passage to the souls that seek to ascend after death, in order to prevent their escape from the world and their return to god. the gnostic religion, pp 42-43. hans jonas. beacon press, 1963. gnostic theurgy page 36 the early gnostics understood the world in terms of the alpha event, or in more religious terms, the fall of man, and accordingly divided reality into two distinct realms. to understand this relevance of this division we have to consider various issues. before this event, man was in communication with the pleroma and exist

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS ZAM17

z he did get acquaintance with those which are commonly called the elementary inhabitants, who revealed unto him many of their secrets, as we germans likewise might gather together many things if there were the like unity and desire of searching out secrets amongst us. of those at fez he often did confess, that their magic was not altogether pure, and also that their cabala was defiled with their religion; but, notwithstanding, he knew how to make good use of the same, and found still more better grounds for this faith, altogether agreeable with the harmony of the whole world, and wonderfully impressed in all periods of time. thence proceedeth that fair concord, that as in every several kernel is contained a whole good tree and fruit, so likewise is included in the little body of man, the

nding, he knew how to make good use of the same, and found still more better grounds for this faith, altogether agreeable with the harmony of the whole world, and wonderfully impressed in all periods of time. thence proceedeth that fair concord, that as in every several kernel is contained a whole good tree and fruit, so likewise is included in the little body of man, the whole great world, whose religion, policy, health, members, nature, language, words, and works, are agreeing, sympathizing, and in equal tune and melody with god, heaven, and earth; and that which is disagreeing with them is error, falsehood, and of the devil, who alone is the first, middle, and last cause of strife, blindness, and darkness in the world. also, might one examine all and several persons upon the earth, he s

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

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

he past, the gods must be supplied with a steady diet of human hearts and blood. 16 this same belief, with remarkably few variations, was shared by all the great civilizations of central america. unlike the aztecs, however, some of the earlier peoples had calculated exactly when a great movement of the earth could be expected to bring the fifth sun to an end. 10 eric s. thompson, maya history and religion, university of oklahoma press, 1990, p. 332. see also aztec calendar: history and symbolism, garcia y valades editores, mexico city, 1992. 11 ibid. 12 pre-hispanic gods of mexico, p. 24. 13 peter tompkins, mysteries of the mexican pyramids, thames& hudson, london, 1987, p. 286. 14 john bierhorst, the mythology of mexico and central america, william morrow& co, new york, 1990, p. 134. 15 w

hagun: quetzalcoatl was a great civilizing agent who entered mexico at the head of a band of strangers. he imported the arts into the country and especially fostered agriculture. in his time maize was so large in the head that a man might not carry more than one stalk at a time and cotton grew in all colours without having to be dyed. he built spacious and elegant houses, and inculcated a type of religion which fostered peace. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 110 masonry and architecture. he was the father of mathematics, metallurgy, and astronomy and was said to have measured the earth. he also founded productive agriculture, and was reported to have discovered and introduced corn literally the staff of life in these ancient lands. a great doctor and master of medicines, he was the

g, he became an assiduous gatherer of the traditions and oral histories of the native peoples of the yucatan.16 bernardino de sahagun, a franciscan friar, was a chronicler to whom we owe much. a great linguist, he is reported to have sought out the most learned and often the oldest natives, and asked each to paint in his aztec picture writing as much as he could clearly remember of aztec history, religion and legend .17 in this way sahagun was able to accumulate detailed information on the anthropology, mythology and social history of ancient mexico, which he later set down in a learned twelve-volume work. this was suppressed by the spanish authorities. fortunately one copy has survived, though it is incomplete. 12 mysteries of the mexican pyramids, p. 21. 13 fair gods and stone faces, p

ority of the traditions of the god-king quetzalcoatl, as we have seen, focus on his deeds and teachings as a civilizer. his followers in ancient mexico, however, also believed that his human manifestation had experienced death and that afterwards he was reborn as a star.9 it is therefore curious, at the very least, to discover that in egypt, in the pyramid age, more than 4000 years ago, the state religion revolved around the belief that the deceased pharaoh was reborn as a star.10 ritual incantantations were chanted, the purpose of which was to facilitate the dead monarch s rapid rebirth in the heavens: oh king, you are this great star, the companion of orion, who traverses the sky with orion. you ascend from the east of the sky, being renewed in your due season, and rejuvenated in your du

and symbol in ancient egypt, thames& hudson, london, 1991, p. 29. 21 henri frankfort, kingship and the gods, university of chicago press, 1978, p. 134. the ancient egyptian pyramid texts, e. g. utts. 20, 21. 22 robert bauval and adrian gilbert, the orion mystery, wm. heinemann, london, 1994, pp. 208-10, 270. 23 the gods and symbols of ancient mexico and the maya, pp. 40, 177. 24 maya history and religion, p. 175. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 147 take the case of oannes, for example. oannes is the greek rendering of the sumerian uan, the name of the amphibious being, described in part ii, believed to have brought the arts and skills of civilization to mesopotamia.25 legends dating back at least 5000 years relate that uan lived under the sea, emerging from the waters of the persi

GREENFIELD ALLEN SECRET CIPHER OF THE UFONAUTS

eric values to the english alphabet. some of us, in the fullerton area, in orange county, california, were involved in these studies. while i haven t done much with it in recent times, some of my earliest ceremonial was performed using naeq values, including those which led to what became known as the dur.an.ki working. ciphers and secret alphabets have played a significant role in the history of religion; in the history of secret societies; in the history of intelligence. these last two have often been intimately connected over the centuries. the idea that there is an authentic tradition, whose initiates (and custodians) contact each other using these ancient tools, and whose contact and communication extends to those in the world of the profanes is not an idea that is new or shocking, ce

e holy books and the patience worth material channeled by mrs. curran from 1916. the alleged discarnate 17th century english girl who came through in correct period dialect shows the almost expected qabalistic qualities. patience worth= 201= intelligence and ail must be done well. actually, the lightlines group in kentucky, source of the ra material, is the crossover point from ufology to new age religion. jane roberts work the seth material is of special interest, as it introduced the new age community to trance channeling at a popular level. seth= 58= hadit, indicating a new aeon significance. we also note that the more current lazaris, channeled by jach pursel beginning in 1974, has the connection. lazaris= 52= aeons and as one (remember the phrase we are one a catch-phrase updating the

der to obtain certain secretions of a physical, emotional and even spiritual nature. 56 allen h. greenfield be sure and check out the ufo silencers! 57 10 the men in black and their magical origins..we are dealing with a full-size world-mystery and a real fight between the black and white brotherhoods- frater achad, 1948 throughout medieval times, a major current of thought distinct from official religion existed, culminating in the works of the alchemists and hermetics. among such groups were to be found some of the early modern scientists and men remarkable for the strength of their independent thinking and their adventurous life, such as paracelsus. the nature of the beings who mysteriously appeared, dressed in shiny garments or covered with dark hair, and with whom communication was so

dia, and the european christian colonization of the east in general, had all but destroyed the classical tantrism and illuminism of the great white brotherhood in the east, finding such institutions as temple prostitution, chakra-puji, shiva devotion, etc. to be sexual obscenity. on the other hand, fearing the power of the black lodge as a political entity and eroding its hold on esoteric eastern religion as a practical necessity had provoked the british to effectively dismantle the classical eastern manifestation of the black lodge, and western occultists visiting the east in the 19th and early 20th century already could only find watered-down remnants and secret adepts carrying on the hidden wisdom in either form. the great white brotherhood survived in tibet along with the dark lodges

) have begun to restore the political component to historical understandings of the magical revival of the late 19th century. for westerners, especially in america, the separation of church and state has been sufficient to make it difficult even to think in terms of spirituality and political philosophy as a continuous sphere. even hardcore bible-belters are unable to truly imagine an established religion in the european sense, let alone in the asiatic. i believe most of us have virtually no idea of what makes islamic republicanism tick, and we stand appalled not only at the atrocities of islamic government, but at its sheer zeal. the idea of pat robertson driving a truck filled with explosives into an enemy military compound shouting jesus is lord! is ludicrous in our imaginations. put bi

GRERALD SCHUELER AN ADVANCED GUIDE TO ENOCHIAN MAGICK

pects (1) it is a necessary field of learning in which man slowly grows from the outermost rim toward the center, and (2. because of an inherent strong seductivity, it is a place of distortion and deception. the symbols for the latter aspect are the wolf, for the desires of the flesh, the raven, for the desires of the mind, and the combined iamb and flag (symbolic of earth's two chief deceptions: religion and politics, for the desires of the soul. as you gaze upon the wheel of khr, try to comprehend 219 all of the lessons and principles that are expressed by the vision. you should be able to directly observe the universe without bias and without your own personal beliefs coloring your view. you may be surprised by how deeply your beliefs are either modified or strengthened by this experien

GREY W G CONDENSATION OF KABBALAH

roportion to spiritual subjects. its use trains and makes both mind and soul work in harmony with each other for the sake of making the best out of life. it not only helps to develop character, but in so doing it assists evolution by advancing and expanding consciousness in those concernedwith it.aconscientiouskabbalist becomes a better individual because of involvement with it. kabbalah is not a religion in itself yet it inculcates an awareness of and a sense of companionship with god. it is not so much a philosophy as a way of life that inspires a philosophical outlook. most of all kabbalah is a thinking and believing system of the soundest kind, enabling its practitioners to think and believe for themselves out of their own investigations and studies. we become aswe think and believe. k

sity amongmankind. thewestern kabbalist has been concerned with what it does and how it works. if anyone should enquire what use the tree of life and kabbalism might be in our modern times, the simplest answer is that this study sets out a scheme whereby god comes down to man by powers and principles, and shows us how we may return to god by means of pursuits and practices. it is not any specific religion but amethod of arrangement and application. pure methodology which could be applied to whichever religious form of beliefs might be followed. 15 god is god by any name humans may accept. conscious approach to god remains exactly what it is whether termed prayer, meditation, contemplation, invocation or anything else. energy is energy regardless of type or other limitations. these are the

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

any importations from the east, these can more conveniently be traced to the earlier and quieter intercourse of goths and northmen with the greek empire, unless indeed we can make up our minds to place nearly all the coincidences that stai'tle us to the account of a fundamental unity of the european nations, a mighty influence which is seen working through long ages, alike in language, legend and religion. i am met by the arrogant notion, that the life of whole centuries was pervaded by a soulless cheerless barbarism; this would at once contradict the loving kindness of god, who has made his sun give light to all times, and while endowing men with gifts of body and soul, has instilled into them the consciousness of a higher guidance: on all ages of the world, even those of worst repute, th

superstitions, especially about pathcrossing and the healing of diseases, are distinctly traceable to heathen origins. of many things, however, the explanation stands reserved for a minute inquiry devoting itself to the entire life of the people through the different seasons of the year and times of life; and no less will the whole compass of our law-antiquities shed a searching light on the old religion preface. xvll and manners. in festivals and games comes out the bright joyous side of the olden time; i have been anxious to point out the manifold, though never developed, germs of dramatic representation, which may be compared to the first attempts of greek or roman art. the yule-play is still acted here and there in the north; its mode of performance in gothland (p. 43) bears reference

ga mimir is the smith and keginn the dragon, in the volsungasaga reginn is the smith and fafnir the dragon. if these changes took place at haphazard, there would be nothing in them; but they seem to proceed by regular gradation, without leaps. among all branches of the teutonic race there shew themselves innumerable varieties of dialect, each possessing an equal right; so likewise in the people's religion we must presuppose a good many differences: the difficulty is to reconcile in every case the local bearings of the matter with the temporal. if the more numerous testimonies to wuotan in lower germany would lead us to infer that he was held in higher esteem by saxons than by alemanns or bavarians, we must remember that this (apparent) preference is mainly due to the longer continuance of

ne by the fruges excantare: why may not our es also come from id, our auge from oculus, our zehn from decem? at that rate wuotan might without more ado be traced back to jupiter, holda to diana, the alp to the genius, all german mythology to roman, and nothing be left us of our own but the bare soil that drank in the foreign doctrine, when two nations resemble each other in language, manners, and religion, such agreement is welcome in proof of their age. xxvlll peeface. and is not to be perverted to conclusions in favour of borrowing or influence which any peculiarity in them may suggest. but the stamp of authority will be given to research, when side by side with the string of consonances there also runs an inevitable string of divergences and transpositions. in our book of heroes the adv

rings xxx preface. are subjects for consideration. it would greatly advance our knowledge of wuotan^s true nature, if we could ascei-tain how far the celtic worship of mercury differed from the roman; to all appearance that deity was greater to the celts and germans than hermes-mercury was to the greeks and romans; to trismegistus and tervagan i allude on p. 150. all that is left us of the celtic religion, even in stray fragments, bespeaks a more finished mental culture than is to be found in german or norse mythology; there comes out in it more of priestly lore. but in respect of genius and epic matter our memorials are incomparably superior. as the celts enclose us on the west, so do the slavs on the east; and slavic writers, like the celtic, are rather fond, wherever their ancient faith

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

s births, who can help thinking of athena coming out of zeus s head (tpitoyeveta, and dionysus out of his thigh (fju^poppa^ri? as the latter was called &ijj,r)ta&gt;p (two-mothered, so the unexplained fable of the nine mothers of heimdallr (p. 234) seems to rest on some similar ground (see suppl. from these earlier creations of gods and giants the edda and, as the sequel will shew, the indian religion distinguish the crea tion of the first human pair. as with adam and eve in scrip ture, so in the edda there is presupposed some material to be quickened by god, but a simple, not a composite one. tre means both tree and wood, askr the ash-tree (fraxinus; the relation of askr to the isco of heroic legend has already been discussed, p. 350. if by the side of askr, the man, there stood 1 e f

mitive substances, which precede the creation of all other things and meet us again everywhere, must be sacred in themselves, even without being brought into closer relation to divine beings. such relation is not absent in any mythology, but it need not stand in the way of the elements receiving a homage to some extent independent of it and peculiar to themselves. on the other hand, it is not the religion, properly speaking, of a nation, that ever springs from the soil of this elemental worship; the faith itself originates in a mysterious store of supersensual ideas, that has nothing in common with those substances, but subjugates them to itself. yet faith will tolerate in its train a veneration of elements, and mix it up with itself; and it may even chance, that when faith has perished or

. the commentators say it is the zobtenberg in silesia (see suppl. here and there single stones and rocks, or several in a group, sometimes arranged in circles, were held in veneration (append. vota ad lapides, especially lapides in ruinosis et silvestribus locis venerari; as. stanweordung, bringanto sta/ne, thorpe pp. 380. 396. this worship of stones is a distinguishing character istic of celtic religion, 1 less of teutonic, though amongst our selves also we meet with the superstition of slipping through hollow stones as well as hollow trees, chap. xxxvi. cavities not made artificially by human hand were held sacred. in eng land they hang such holy-stones or holed-stones at the horses heads in a stable, or on the bed-tester and the house-door against witchcraft. some are believed to have

that is to say, where easter-fires remained in vogue, i can hardly anywhere detect this annunciation of summer; in lieu of it we shall find in n. germany a far more imposing development of may-riding and the maigraf feast. whether the announcing of summer extended beyond the palatinate into treves, lorraine, and so into france, i cannot say for certain.1 clearly it was not protestant or catholic religion that deter mined the longer duration or speedier extinction of the custom. it is rather striking that it should be rifest just in middle germany, and lean on slav countries behind, which likewise do it homage; but that is no reason for concluding that it is of slav origin, or that slavs could have imported it up to and beyond the rhine. we must first consider more closely these slav custo

ise a boy beareth after him a sheathed sword under his arm. leading a bear about and delivering a bear s loaf was a custom prevalent in the mid. ages, e.g. at mainz (weisth. 1, 533) and strassburg (schilter s gloss. 102. this low saxon rejection, and that polish dismissal, of the ancient gods has therefore no necessary connexion with a bring ing in of summer, however apt the comparison of the new religion to summer s genial warmth. in the polish custom at all events i find no such connexion hinted at. at the same time, the notion of bringing summer in was not unknown to the poles. a cracow legend speaks of lei and po-lel (after-lei, two divine beings of heathen times, chasing each other round the field, and bringing summer, they are the cause of flying summer, i.e. gossamer. l until we kno

H SPENCER LEWIS ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL AMORC 1990

l possession of any officer or member of the order [60] ques. has the a.m.o.r.c. enjoyed a good reputation? ans. the order under the present regime of administration has carried on its work publicly for over sixty years, during which time it has enjoyed excellent newspaper, magazine, radio, television, and other forms of publicity. the organization has naught to do with politics, controversies in religion or church, and deals with no immoral or questionable subjects, or practices, and is therefore unlikely to be entangled in any unpleasant notoriety. it has received the endorsement of the highest types of characters in all ages, and is known as an organization working for the highest forms of personal culture, good citizenship, and universal peace. ques. do the rosicrucians have any "comin

t now used as the christian symbol; and it was due to another coincidence that the cross was adopted by the christian fathers, centuries after the crucifixion, as a symbol of the christian faith. they might have adopted the exclusive use of a golden crown (which they do at times) or the crown of thorns, or many other symbols typical of some event in his life and works. those who are of the jewish religion justly feel that the cross is a symbol to them of suffering in the form of persecution. one need only read the real history of the jews to note how they suffered needlessly and continuously through campaigns conducted by those who ever cried aloud "via cruris" by way of the cross the jew was ever made to be an outcast and a persecuted victim of the ancient systems which merely used the sa

er persons' religious beliefs, except to point out the soundness, goodness, or possible benefits of certain doctrines and thereby show them the good that exists in all religions. hold not your religious thoughts as superior. speak well of them if need be, point out how they serve you, but do not create in the minds of others the thought that they are in sin or error because of their beliefs. that religion is best for each which enables one to understand god and god's mysterious ways. 8. be tolerant on all subjects and bear in mind that destructive [157] criticism creates naught but sorrow. unless you can constructively comment on matters, refrain from speaking. 9. attempt no direct reforms in the lives of others. discover in yourself what needs correction and improve yourself, that by the

s have any effect upon birth or upon the nature of man after birth. only the fanatical extremist makes. or believes. the claim that we are ruled by planets. it is advisable that all be acquainted with the history of astrology out of which arose the science of astronomy.[163] aten.a name for the symbol of the "sole everliving god" made understandable by akhnaton after he established a monotheistic religion in egypt. aten was represented by the sun disk, the sun being the symbol of the life-giving radiance of the invisible god. not as god, or even as a sacred symbol, is the sun disk used by modern rosicrucians, but as an objective symbol of the creative mind and divine essence of god. atlantis.the name of the continent once occupying a considerable portion of the space occupied now by the at

cts as magic, marvels, miracles, and religious ecstatic experiences, such as theophany and epiphany. aside from general occultism as it is conceived by the man in the street, there are what are known as the occult sciences. these embrace that subject matter, those objects of knowledge, which belong to the field of science, but which, nevertheless, were.and many still are.erroneously considered by religion and orthodox or mundane science, as absurdities. color therapy is a subject that has been long considered by the occultists. it is held that color affects the human emotions and plays a definite part in relationship to health, moods, and our reactions. however, color therapy was heralded by the mundane scientists as an occult superstition! today, color therapy is a branch of psychological

HAMIL THE ROSICRUCIAN SEER

step towards the success of his much desired plans.2.-1thensaid:-ashis scheme for the amelioration of society is not founded on a religious basis, do you think it will succeed? c.a.-ido. and it is also much best that in this peculiar system which he has founded, and which, if carried out strictly, would 'sow the good seed' in the hearts of man, and which is intended to be universal education, no religion should be named. were he to mention that, he must name one particular sect; and were that one sect mentioned, all others would be excluded. where it is founded to teach piety and benevolence,itis unnecessary that any particular doctrine should be argued upon. children brought up under his method could not fail to have religious feelings.3.-mrowen illustrated his axiom that 'man's characte

d, which he then did. but that in some measure can be attributed to the development of his intellectual faculties.therace of man will never become perfect. for while man is flesh, there is iniquity. good training may make him better than his fellow-men; but no sort of government or education can make him perfect, as he must be if loving kindness and mercy were thoroughly practised by him. without religion, no education could make a man wise170therosicrucianseerand the salvation of maniscomplete. for the redemption, salvation, and happiness of the very worst of all, the saviour died upon the cross. he was the essence of thefather,-thespirit of thefather,-onewithhimself,-sentby him on earth amongst men in their own form, to enlighten them according to his word.thebody was sacrificed for thei

perhaps larger and more convenient 'you as a man can do more under my guidance than i can spiritually 'will you write a work to the society, denouncing their spirits as evil..give the passages from your minutes, and quote the answers you have received in support of the doctrine of truth.correspondencewithrobertowen161death of christ, they will be saved everlastingly.12.-doesnot true and undefiled religion consist in a neverceasing desire and action to promote the happiness of man and of all created life, to the extent of the knowledge and power given to the individual by the creator?c.a.-thatis a part of true religion; but not the vital part. question bymrowen.-mayi ask what is the vital part? c.a.-abelief in the almighty powers of god, and in the death of his son. question by mr owen'sfri

l be lost.lo.-isnot the true and natural mode of forming the human character from birth, by sensible signs, or by seeing the things to be taught, and by familiar conversation between the instructor and instructed?c.a.-ishould recommend that while the character of a child is being formed, it should be secluded with other children, and with but few other persons, and those persons agreeing in their religion and their views of all material subjects.thathis mind should not be overcharged, but gently and pleasantly instilled with things that it could understand according to its age.thatthat training should continue until the child's mind is so far matured as to distinguish alone the good from the bad in nature.thenhe can be sent forth into the world, thoroughly knowing that he has a view of his

of his own on all important subjects.then,if by argument or intercourse with different people he becomes convinced, and believes in things different from those he was educated to believe, that conviction and belief is the right one.ii.-isthere any obstacle so formidable against the progress of mankind in wisdom, goodness, unity, and happiness, as the existing superstitions over the earth, called religion?c.a.-withoutreligion, no education could make a man wise and good; because he could not have even a true knowledgeofnature unless he believed in nature's god. i cannot call any religion a superstition; as every sect of religion has true religion and sincere christians. question by mrh.-doesyour last remark apply to those good men, whether mussulmen, hindoos, bramins, or bud255 dists, who

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

an myth in a tone of baffled irritation. g. s. kirk complained that a liberalism of interpretation, amounting at times to a chaotic indifference to consistency and meaning, is characteristic of egyptian thought. 8 much of this confusion can be resolved if the myths are examined in the contexts in which they occur, rather than in isolation. history and the sources of egyptian myth ancient egyptian religion had no official holy book equivalent to the bible or the koran (quran. the relationships between deities did not become fixed at one 4 handbook of egyptian mythology moment in time but went on changing and developing for thousands of years. egyptian mythology was never gathered by priests into one authorized version or harmonized in any long literary work comparable to hesiod s theogony

tombs in the royal cemeteries. many of these tomb owners had personal names that linked them with deities, such as ptah-hotep( the god ptah is satisfied. the inscriptions in their tombs tell us that many of them were part-time priests in the temples and shrines of deities, but at this period it was not permissible to show even a statue of a deity in a private tomb. the prevailing reticence about religion in daily life makes it difficult to know much about the gods at this period. a rich new source of evidence appeared in the twenty-fourth century bce, when hieroglyphic inscriptions were carved inside the pyramid tomb of king weni (unas. these inscriptions, composed in the language known as old egyptian, are now called the pyramid texts. the pyramid texts the pyramid texts are the oldest o

he encounters a giant serpent who seems to be a form of the creator sun god. one middle kingdom narrative that only features divine characters is a fragmentary story about the attempted seduction of horus by seth, an event alluded to in the pyramid texts. some egyptologists refuse to class this as a genuine myth because it may have formed part of a spell used in healing magic.37 magic and popular religion heka, the egyptian term usually translated as magic, was one of the forces used by the creator to make the world. humans were permitted to use magic in daily life to protect themselves or to heal others. knowledge of written magic was confined to the literate elite, so it is not surprising that some spells have a distinct literary quality. healing spells often identify the doctor-magician

k of the dead is a term coined in the nineteenth century ce for a body of texts known to the ancient egyptians as the spells for going forth by day. after the book of the dead was first translated by egyptologists, it gained a place in the popular imagination as the bible of the ancient egyptians. the comparison is very inappropriate. the book of the dead was not the central holy book of egyptian religion. it was just one of a series of manuals composed to assist the spirits of the elite dead to achieve and maintain a full afterlife. the collection was used for over a thousand years and eventually consisted of more than 190 spells or formulas. individual copies of the book of the dead vary greatly in the number and selection of spells they include. the order of the spells did not become fi

later new kingdom coincided with a new emphasis on god as a just but forgiving judge. in prayers of this period, people turn to gods such as thoth and amun to help them survive in an unjust society. other individuals humbly acknowledged that their sufferings were a just punishment for actions such as breaking an oath sworn in a god s name.60 these penitential texts, like much of our knowledge of religion in daily life, come from deir el-medina, the village of the artists who built and decorated the theban royal tombs. this exceptionally well preserved desert site was also the place where most new kingdom literature was found.61 mythology in literature only about ten late egyptian narratives survive from the new kingdom. the authors of these stories obviously assumed that their readers wou

HEAVEN HELL

with an early form of the ancient cult of osiris in the delta, and p. x with the later form of his worship, after he had absorbed the position and attributes of khenti-amenti, an old local deity of abydos. the two other books, however, are as important, each in its own way, as the "book of the dead" for they throw considerable light on the development of the material and spiritual elements in the religion of egypt, and commemorate the belief in the existence of numbers of primitive gods, who are unknown outside these books. the "book am-tuat" in the form in which we know it, was drawn up by the priests of the confraternity of amen-ra at thebes, with the express object of demonstrating that their god was the overlord of all the gods, and the supreme power in "pet ta tuat" or, as we should s

ernors of suten-henen, or herakleopolis, and those who ruled in the provinces near that city, succeeded in gaining their independence, and the kings of the ixth and xth dynasties were herakleopolitans; their rule gradually extended to the south, and the religious influence of their priests was so great that they succeeded in forcing many of their mythological legends and beliefs into the accepted religion of the country, and these subsequently became part and parcel of the great recension of the theban book of the dead. the dominion of the herakleopolitans, however, was of comparatively short duration, and it collapsed under the attacks of the bold and vigorous governors of the theba d, whose capital was at thebes. judging from the historical evidence concerning the period which lies betwe

own system of theology, but assigned to them subordinate positions and powers inferior to those of amen, or amen-ra, as he was called, and the new editions of most of the old religious works which appeared at thebes bore the traces of having been edited in accordance with their views and opinions. in many of its aspects the cult of amen was less material than that of many of the old gods, and the religion of the priests themselves ruthlessly rejected many of the primitive beliefs which survived among the populace p. 19 in general. they were obliged to tolerate and respect the universal belief in osiris as the judge, king, and god of the dead, for they, of course, found it impossible to eliminate from the minds of the people the effect which the traditions of a material heaven, handed down

ays definitely "there is no sin in my body. i have not uttered wittingly that which is untrue, and i have committed no act having a double motive [in my mind" as he was troubled by no remembrance of sin, his conscience was clear, and he expected to receive his reward, not as an act of mercy on the part of the gods, but as an act of justice. thus it would seem that repentance played no part in the religion of the primitive inhabitants of egypt, and that a man atoned for his misdeeds by the giving of offerings, by sacrifice, and by worship. on the other hand, nebseni is made to say to the god of sekhet-hetep "let me be rewarded with thy fields, o hetep; but do thou according to thy will, o lord of the winds" this petition reveals a frame of mind which recognizes submissively the omnipotence

papyri were written, cannot be said. there is abundant evidence in the papyrus of ani that ani himself was a very religious man, and we are not assuming too much when we say that he was the type of a devout worshipper of osiris, whose beliefs, though in some respects of a highly spiritual character, were influenced by the magic and gross material views which seem to have been inseparable from the religion of every egyptian. though intensely logical in some of their views about the other world, the egyptians were very illogical in others, and they appear to have seen neither difficulty nor absurdity in holding at the same time beliefs which were inconsistent and contradictory. it must, however, in fairness be said that this characteristic was due partly to their innate conservatism in relig

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

married a poor man. i accepted the offer of a rich hamburg firm and sailedfor japan as its junior partner. for several years my business went on successfully. i got into the confidence of many influential japanese,through whose protection i was enabled to travel and transact business in many localities, which, in thosedays especially, were not easily accessible to foreigners. indifferent to every religion, i became interested inthe philosophy of buddhism, the only religious system i thought worthy of being called philosophical. thus,in my moments of leisure, i visited the most remarkable temples of japan, the most important and curious ofthe ninety-six buddhist monasteries of kioto. i have examined in turn day- bootzoo, with its giganticbell; tzeonene, enarino-yassero, kie-missoo, higadzi

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

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

ience, and philosophy for the study of which the theosophical society has been founded. h.p. blavatsky preface the purpose of this book is exactly expressed in its title, the key to theosophy, and needs but few words of explanation. it is not a complete or exhaustive textbook of theosophy, but only a key to unlock the door that leads to the deeper study. it traces the broad outlines of the wisdom-religion, and explains its fundamental principles; meeting, at the same time, the various objections raised by the average western inquirer, and endeavoring to present unfamiliar concepts in a form as simple and in language as clear as possible. that it should succeed in making theosophy intelligible without mental effort on the part of the reader, would be too much to expect; but it is hoped that

ists who have sent suggestions and questions, or have otherwise contributed help during the writing of this book. the work will be the more useful for their aid, and that will be their best reward -h.p. blavatsky 1889 contents page 1 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt preface theosophy and the theosophical society 1 the meaning of the name 1 the policy of the theosophical society 4 the wisdom-religion, esoteric in all ages 7 theosophy is not buddhism 12 exoteric and esoteric theosophy 15 what the modern theosophical society is not 15 theosophists and members of the t.s. 18 the difference between theosophy and occultism 23 the difference between theosophy and spiritualism 25 why is theosophy accepted? 32 the working system of the t.s. 37 the objects of the society 37 the common origin o

the theosophical society: information for inquirers 345 the legal status of the theosophical society 347 note by the editor: the page numbers refer to the book edition and have no meaning in this file. despite careful checking for typos there may still be a few left. theosophy and the theosophical society the meaning of the name q. theosophy and its doctrines are often referred to as a newfangled religion. is it a religion? a. it is not. theosophy is divine knowledge or science. q. what is the real meaning of the term? a "divine wisdom (theosophia) or wisdom of the gods, as (theogonia, genealogy of the gods. the word 'theos' means a god in greek, one of the divine beings, certainly not "god" in the sense attached in our day to the term. therefore, it is not "wisdom of god" as translated by

ty. the same author tells us that the name is coptic, and signifies one consecrated to amun, the god of wisdom. theosophy is the equivalent of brahma-vidya, divine knowledge. q. what was the object of this system? a. first of all to inculcate certain great moral truths upon its disciples, and all those who were "lovers of the truth" hence the motto adopted by the theosophical society "there is no religion higher than truth" eclectic theosophy was divided under three heads: 1. belief in one absolute, incomprehensible and supreme deity, or infinite essence, which is the root of all nature, and of all that is, visible and invisible. 2. belief in man's eternal immortal nature, because, being a radiation of the universal soul, it is of an identical essence with it. 3. theurgy, or "divine work"

famous egyptian priest called abammon. ammonius saccas was the son of christian parents, and, having been repelled by dogmatic spiritualistic christianity from his childhood, became a neo-platonist, and like j. bo hme and other great seers and mystics, is said to have had divine wisdom revealed to him in dreams and visions. hence his name of theodidaktos. he resolved to reconcile every system of religion, and by demonstrating their identical origin to establish one universal creed based on ethics. his life was so blameless and pure, his learning so profound and vast, that several church fathers were his secret disciples. clemens alexandrinus speaks very highly of him. plotinus, the "st. john" of ammonius, was also a man universally respected and esteemed, and of the most profound learning

HINE P OVEN READY CHAOS

itioning. the chaos paradigm proposes that one of the primary tasks of the aspiring magician is to thoroughly decondition hirself from the mesh of beliefs, attitudes and fictions about self, society, and the world. our ego is a fiction of stable self-hood which maintains itself by perpetuating the distinctions of what i am/what i am not, what i like/what i don t like, beliefs about ones politics, religion, gender preference, degree of free will, race, subculture etc all help maintain a stable sense of self, whilst the little ways in which we pull against this very stability allows us to feel as though we are unique individuals. using deconditioning exercises, we can start to widen the cracks in our consensual reality which hopefully, enables us to become less attached to our beliefs and eg

phers, theologians, magicians, scientists, artists, clowns, and similar maniacs who are intrigued with eris goddess of confusion and with her doings. the existence of the discordian society was first popularised in robert anton wilson& robert shea s blockbusting illuinatus! trilogy, and also in malaclypse the younger s book principia discordia which sets out the basic principles of the discordian religion- a religion based around the greek goddess, eris. traditionally, eris was a daughter of nox (night) and the wife of chronus. she begat a whole bunch of gods- sorrow, forgetfulness, hunger, disease, combat, murder, lies- nice kids! the ancient greeks attributed any kind of upset or discord to her. with the fall of the ancient empires, eris disappeared, though it is suspected that she had a

mal: even false things are true. gp: how can that be? mal: i don t know man, i didn t do it. eris has since climbed her way from historical footnote to mythic mega-star, and the discordian movement, if such a thing can be said to exist, is growing on both sides of the atlantic, helped by the discordian tactic of declaring that everyone is a genuine pope. more people are getting into the idea of a religion based on the celebration of confusion and madness. the central greek myth that eris figures prominently in is the ever-continuing soap opera of mount olympus- home of the gods; the episode which inadvertently brought about the trojan war. it seems that zeus was throwing a party and did not want to invite eris because of her reputation as a troublemaker. infuriated by the snub, eris fashio

d rule operates in all aspects of our experience. our culture is profoundly egocentric- the terrestrial behaviour of tool-wielding apes. the we superior-you inferior behaviour loop has dominated our cultural relations with both ourselves and other planetary species, and is also at the root of notions such as free will or spirituality. 65 oven-ready chaos at the turn of the century, the shift from religion to science as the dominant ethos for defining reality exposed the fact that us apes required an ontonological dimension of action, to remain secure in a world increasingly percieved as hostile. the space left by the declining power of religion was quickly filled the the cults of the psyche- psychoanalysis, and various mystical/magical cults. these provided a comfortable rationale for the

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

was the late william channing webb, professor of anthropology in princeton university, and an explorer of no slight note. professor webb had been engaged, forty-eight years before, in a tour of greenland and iceland in search of some runic inscriptions which he failed to unearth; and whilst high up on the west greenland coast had encountered a singular tribe or cult of degenerate esquimaux whose religion, a curious form of devil-worship, chilled him with its deliberate bloodthirstiness and repulsiveness. it was a faith of which other esquimaux knew little, and which they mentioned only with shudders, saying that it had come down from horribly ancient aeons before ever the world was made. besides nameless rites and human sacrifices there were certain queer hereditary rituals addressed to a

g-party, saw the frightful image, and even questioned such of the mongrel prisoners as still survived. old castro, unfortunately, had been dead for some years. what i now heard so graphically at first-hand, though it was really no more than a detailed confirmation of what my uncle had written, excited me afresh; for i felt sure that i was on the track of a very real, very secret, and very ancient religion whose discovery would make me an anthropologist of note. my attitude was still one of absolute materialism, as l wish it still were, and i discounted with almost inexplicable perversity the coincidence of the dream notes and odd cuttings collected by professor angell. one thing i began to suspect, and which i now fear i know, is that my uncle's death was far from natural. he fell on a nar

HP LOVECRAFT THE CALL OF CTHULHU

on was the late william channing webb, professor of anthropology in princeton university, and an explorer of no slight note. professor webb had been engaged, forty-eight years before, in a tour of greenland and iceland in search of some runic inscriptions which he failed to unearth; and whilst high up on the west greenland coast had encountered a singular tribe or cult of degenerate eskimos whose religion, a curious form of devil-worship, chilled him with its deliberate bloodthirstiness and repulsiveness. it was a faith of which other eskimos knew little, and which they mentioned only with shudders, saying that it had come down from horribly ancient aeons before ever the world was made. besides nameless rites and human sacrifices there were certain queer hereditary rituals addressed to a s

g-party, saw the frightful image, and even questioned such of the mongrel prisoners as still survived. old castro, unfortunately, had been dead for some years. what i now heard so graphically at first hand, though it was really no more than a detailed confirmation of what my uncle had written, excited me afresh; for i felt sure that i was on the track of a very real, very secret, and very ancient religion whose discovery would make me an anthropologist of note. my attitude was still one of absolute materialism as i wish it still were, and i discounted with a most inexplicable perversity the coincidence of the dream notes and odd cuttings collected by professor angell. one thing which i began to suspect, and which i now fear i know, is that my uncle's death was far from natural. he fell on

HUEBNER LOUISE WITCHCRAFT FOR ALL WICCA 04

es, they don't go riding about by night on brooms. they don't cavort in the nude unless they have something very normal in mind, and they don't cackle over cauldrons of vintage lsd. they do dabble in spells and chants, burning candles and employing powerful processes, but once the mystery is stripped away, there is nothing much more strange connected with witchcraft than the mysteries of love and religion. in fact, when lovers light candles for dinner, and when churchgoers light candles in prayer, they invoke a force that witches have always known to be beneficial. as to whether witches are good or evil, that depends upon your point of view about what's good and what's evil. 1- witchcraft- what it's really like "i'll walk where my own nature would be leading. where the wild wind blows on t

es, they don't go riding about by night on brooms. they don't cavort in the nude unless they have something very normal in mind, and they don't cackle over cauldrons of vintage lsd. they do dabble in spells and chants, burning candles and employing powerful processes, but once the mystery is stripped away, there is nothing much more strange connected with witchcraft than the mysteries of love and religion. in fact, when lovers light candles for dinner, and when churchgoers light candles in prayer, they invoke a force that witches always have known to be beneficial. what is a witch really like? for one thing, a witch is not an ugly old hag. the very idea is unkind and illogical. if a witch has, as she is said to have, special powers and an ability to disturb natural happenings, then she mus

ects can give the receiver the emotion of confidence, because, naturally, when you receive a gift from someone who has put something of himself into it, it has an effect on you. however, unlike the witches in rosemary's baby, real witches aren't anticipating the birth of an anti-christ. you must believe in christ before you seek his opposite, and most witches have no leanings towards any orthodox religion. despite the growing popularity of witchcraft, there has been little accurate information available describing it as it really is today. the mass conception of witchcraft has been exploited and fed by those profit-seekers who have captured the people's imagination, using the half-truths everyone is familiar with. rosemary's baby is a good example of what witchcraft is supposed to be, but

nce also has been pointed out. and it has been noted that the churches, too, employed similar objects and rituals to achieve the same effect as witches do: the flame of candles, the ringing of bells, the book, soft music, chants, statues, soft fabrics, and flowers were part of a whole experience that people ages ago first discovered in their churches and were keyed up into feeling the full awe of religion. what the witches did, of course, was take these objects and influences home, using them in their own private lives to achieve a fullness of respect for life, and to attain their own hearts' desire- with a few personal prayers or chants thrown in along with several little things and rituals the churches never thought of. but in the same way that religion gears itself to an after life, wit

INFERNAL SABBAT LIVE

m the infernal sabbat chthonic summons article by michael ford, psychonaut 75 the ritual of the black mass was originally a ritual of rebellion against the church. in a time when if you were not christian of god fearing, your life would be made unlivable, the church became renown for it s religious aggression against those who did not uphold the governmental glory of the leaders who preached this religion. beliefs contrary to the bigotry and tyrannical attitudes of the church and its sterile followers were not accepted. the black mass was created as a means of liberation and rebellion through the reversed rites of blasphemy of orthodox thought. in the invocation of satan, this archetype of selfliberation was means of release, of seeking knowledge and freedom within the self to have the cho

INITIATION INTO HERMETICS

ve involvement in life. the results of this rite of sexual alchemy are in perfect accordance to the purpose of the rite and the essence of the forces involved. to those who truly seek, lilith and samael will join in true union through the unconsciousness that is leviathan. through these serpent forces of darkness, baphomet will arise. the treasure found deep within the earth if it is searched f i religion 17. god 18. asceticism part ii: practice foreword there is no doubt that every one who has been searching for the true and authentic cognition, in vain looked for years, if not even for a lifetime, to find a reliable method of training. the ardent desire for this noble aim made people again and again collect a mass of books, from near and far, supposed to be the best ones, but which were

ds and he is advancing in hermetics, he will be acquainted with many more aspects of this key, and be forced to accept it as an unchangeable law. he will no more wander in darkness and uncertainty, but he will carry a torch in his hand, the light of which will penetrate the night of ignorance. this brief summary will suffice for the adept to instruct him how to deal with the problem of truth. 16. religion the incipient magician will confess his faith to a universal religion. he will find out that every religion has good points as well as bad ones. he will therefore keep the best of it for himself and ignore the weak points, which does not necessarily mean that he must profess a religion, but he shall express awe to each for of worship, for each religion has its proper principle of god, whe

e will find out that every religion has good points as well as bad ones. he will therefore keep the best of it for himself and ignore the weak points, which does not necessarily mean that he must profess a religion, but he shall express awe to each for of worship, for each religion has its proper principle of god, whether the point in question be christianity, buddhism, islam or any other kind of religion. fundamentally he may be faithful to his own religion. but he will not be satisfied with the official doctrines of his church, and will try to penetrate deeper into god s workshop. and such is the purpose of our initiation. according to the universal laws, the magician will form his own point of view about the universe which henceforth will be his true religion. he will state that, apart

ul to his own religion. but he will not be satisfied with the official doctrines of his church, and will try to penetrate deeper into god s workshop. and such is the purpose of our initiation. according to the universal laws, the magician will form his own point of view about the universe which henceforth will be his true religion. he will state that, apart from the deficiencies, each defender of religion will endeavor to represent his religion as the best of all. each religious truth is relative and the comprehension of it depends on the maturity of the person concerned. therefore the adept does not interfere with anybody in this respect, nor will he try to sidetrack anyone from his truth, criticize him, to say nothing of condemning him. at the bottom of his heart he may feel sorry for fa

a will derange a person mentally, arouse doubts of all kinds, or hold him prisoner by vicissitudes and reverses of fortune in order to protect the mysteries in every possible way. these mysteries will always remain hidden from incompetent persons, though hundreds of books should be published about them. a true magician does not know any hatred against religions or sects, since he knows that every religion does have a fixed system that is intended to lead to god, and that is why he respects them. it is a well known fact that every religion has made mistakes, but he does not condemn it because every dogma is serving the spiritual maturity of its followers. in the due course of his development the magician goes through that stage of maturity where he can see with his mental eyes through every

IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY

fairies and suchlike beings is hardly touched upon at all, except in those instances where fairy lore and witchcraft become inextricably blended. the reason for this method of treatment is not hard to find. from the anglo- norman invasion down the country has been divided into two opposing elements, the celtic and the english. it is true that on many occasions these coalesced in peace and war, in religion and politics, but as a rule they were distinct, and this became even more marked after the spread of the reformation. it was therefore in the anglo-norman (and subsequently in the p. 4 protestant) portion of the country that we find the development of witchcraft along similar lines to those in england or the continent, and it is with this that we are dealing in this book; the celtic eleme

familiar spirit to do her behests. no longer does the judge p. 243 sentence, no longer does the savage rabble howl execrations at the old witch come to her doom. the witch of history is gone, and can never be rehabilitated- would, that superstition had died with her. for in ireland, as probably in every part of the civilised world, many things are believed in and practised which seem repugnant to religion and common-sense. scattered throughout the length and breadth of the land there are to be found persons whom the country-folk credit with the power of performing various extraordinary actions. from what source they derive this power is not at all clear--probably neither they themselves nor their devotees have ever set themselves the task of unravelling that psychological problem. such per

ISIS UNVEILED

gians who would enslave both history and science; and especially at the vatican, whose despotic pretensions have become hateful to the greater portion of enlightened christendom. the clergy apart, none but the logician, the investigator, the dauntless explorer should meddle with books like this. such delvers after truth have the courage of their opinions. digitizecoy google isis unveiled part two religion b 70a wai think that he doeth god when ofqkoaed to rerealcd doctrine" otetnmincdl cotmeil if 1870 "giadc the chuich! who* i> it" i kmf btnry vi, i. i in the united states of america sixty thousand (60.428) men are paid salaries to teach the science of god and his relations to his creatures. these men oontract to impart to us the knowledge which treats of the existence, character, and attr

cts in nature belortg to science, and every addition to the store of science en- riches instead of impoverishes her. if humanity has once admitted a truth, and then in the blindness of self-conceit denied it, to return to its realization is a step forward and not baokward" since the day when modern science gave what may be considered the death-blow to dogmatic theology by assuming the ground that religion was full of mystery, and mystery is unscientific, the mental state of the educated class has presented a curious aspect. society seems from that time to have been ever balancing itself upon one leg on an unseen tight-rope stretched from our visible universe into the invisible one; un- certain whether the end hooked on faith in the latter mi^t not suddenly break and hurl it into final amii

the hierarchical pretensions of the clergy; who, in retaliation, denounce both with equal acerbi. hie materialists are as little in harmony as the christian sects themselves the comtists, or, as they call themselves, the positivists, being despised and hated to the last degree by the schools of thinkers, one of which maudsley honorably represents in england. positivism, be it remembered, is that 'religion' of the future about whose founder even huxley has made himself wrathful in his famous lecture. the physical basis of life; and maudsley felt obliged, in behalf of modem science, to express himself thus "it is no wonder that scientific men should be anxious to disclaim comte as their law-giver, and to protest against such a king being set up to reign over them. not conscious of any person

a century ago* we &id it rather unwise on the part of catholic writers to pour out their viob wrath in such sentences as these "in a multitude of pagodas, the phallic stone, ever and always assuming, like the grecian' betylot, the brutally indecent form of the lingam. the mahd-dma^ before casting slurs on a symbol whose profound metaphysical meaning is too much for the modem champions of that religion of sensualism par exedlsnee, roman catholicism, to grasp, they are in duty bound to destroy their oldest churches, and change the form of the cupolas ot their own temples. the mahody of elephanta, the round tower of bhagalpur, the minarets of islam either rounded or pointed are the originals of the campanile column of san marco at venice, of rochester cathedral, and of the modem duomo of

acles and most of the obsessions are so strictly confined to roman catholic dioceses and countries? why is it that since the beformation there has been scarcely one single divine* miracle' in a protestant land? of course, the answer we must expect from catholics is, that the latter are peopled by heretics, and abandoned by god. then why are there no more churdi-miracles in russia, a couktty whose religion differs horn the roman catholic faith but in oitemal forms of rites, its fundamental dogmas being identically the same, except as to the emanation of the holy ghost? russia has her accepted saints and thaumaturgical relics, and miracle-working images. the st. mitrophaniy of vtnvneg is an authenticated miracle-worka, bat his miracles are limited to healing; and though hundreds upon hun- dr

JASMUHEEN THE FOOD OF GODS

o-existence among all kingdoms. his motto pax et bonum was an old world greeting meaning peace and all good things. j) someone tuned to the madonna frequency divine love-wisdom channel will be capable of divine communication and hence understand how to bridge the worlds. they will be focused and trained in imprinting the world with some aspect of holistic education such as bridging the worlds of: religion and science; metaphysics and quantum; east and west; tantra and yoga: divine mathematics and divine signs; or bridging more traditional areas such as mainstream medicine and alternative therapies. they may also be in the field of environmental sustainability, resource sustainability, alternative, sustainable energy systems, new financial systems, and any field that provides a beneficial s

nal health the tibetan masters (alice bailey s teachers) predicted that in the near future, we will become a different race of men women. at that time we shall operate upon mental energy, magnetic energy, spiritual power, and scalpels and chemical agents will no longer be necessary. i think we are almost near to this time. the movement has already started in this direction, with people from every religion and from different spiritual disciplines as well as biofield technicians (as jasmuheen describes including her own self) are all working on how to improve mental and emotional health of the people and are sharing how to attain spiritual health. divine nutrition: the madonna frequency& the food of gods with jasmuheen 121 though according to some, mental and emotional processes are separate

of gujarat (2) president: assoc. of physicians of ahmedabad 97- 98 (3) hon. associate prof. of neurology at k.m. school of pgmr and nhl. mmc (4) hon. neurologist: v.s. general hospital, ahmedabad (5) panel neurologist: isro, prl, nid (6) fellowship at houston and london on stroke and parkinsonism (7) writer of books (a) epilepsy (b) the disease of brain and nervous system (8) lectures on stress, religion and other spiritual aspects at different parts of world. 1. firstly, what led you into this field (of studying chi or pranic nourishment) answer: nature. i had an opportunity to monitor prolonged fasting as per the jain religious method of shri hrm for 411 days; on a scientific basis. that led me to postulate alternative ways to sustain the body when a person is not on routine food-calori

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

.w. king, m.a, published in 1864, horapollo has preserved a talisman, or gnostic gem, in yellow jasper, which presents the engraved figure of a cynocephalus, crowned, with b ton erect, adoring the first appearance of the new moon. the phallic worship prevailed, at one time, all over india. it constitutes, as mr. sellon asserts, to this day one of the chief, if not the leading, dogma of the hindoo religion. incontestable evidence could be adduced to prove this however strange and impossible it seems the key of all worship the world over; and highest in esteem in the most highly civilised nations. though it has degenerated into gross and sensual superstition, it was originally intended as the worship of the creative principle in nature. innumerable curious particulars lie scattered up and do

the rites connected with it were grand and solemn enough. the general diffusion of these notions regarding the phalli and the ioni, and of the sacred mystic suggestions implied in both, as well as the inflections in design of these unlikely, repulsive figures for serious worship, prove that there was something very extraordinary, and quite beyond belief to the moderns, in the origin of them. the religion of the phallos (and of its twin emblem) is to be traced all over the east. it prevailed not only amongst the hindoos, assyrians, babylonians, mexicans, etruscans, greeks, and romans, in ancient times, but it still forms an integral part of the worship of india, thibet, china, siam, japan, and africa. we cannot, therefore, afford to ignore this grand scheme of ritual, when we discover it t

n of the phallos (and of its twin emblem) is to be traced all over the east. it prevailed not only amongst the hindoos, assyrians, babylonians, mexicans, etruscans, greeks, and romans, in ancient times, but it still forms an integral part of the worship of india, thibet, china, siam, japan, and africa. we cannot, therefore, afford to ignore this grand scheme of ritual, when we discover it to be a religion so widely spread, and reappearing so unexpectedly, not only in the countries with which we are contemporaneously acquainted, but also in those old countries of which we in reality know very little, or nothing at all; for all history reads doubtfully, being written for popular purposes. in the temple-herren of nicolai there is an account of a gnostic gem, or talisman, which represents a cy

conceived to dwell in fire. by degrees, therefore, the world came to be over-curious in the fire that was constantly to be kept up, and in things to be sacrificed; and they proceeded from one step to another, till at length they filled up the measure of their aberration, which was in reality instigated by their zeal, and by their intense desire to mitigate the displeasure of their divinities for religion was much more intense as a feeling in early days by passing into dreadful ceremonies in regard to this fire, which they reverenced as the last possible physical form of divinity, not only in its grandeur and power, but also in its purity. it arose from this view that human sacrifices came to be offered to the deities in many parts of the world, particularly in phoenicia, and in the coloni

rse; 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 spoken, still more written. consequently all supposed readings of hieroglyphics are guesswork only implying earnest and plausible but mistaken effor

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

em, and maybe more. but, whether or not, it is beyond the comprehension of our weary minds to go further at the moment, and we will just have to be content to consider our solar system as one living entity. this war-weary, heartsick and bedraggled planet is not alone--it is just one cell in a multicellular unit. galacticly speaking let us revive from the sedative idea fostered by both science and religion that man, homo sapiens, of here and now, of the united states and today, is the final, glorious, end-point in the work of an omnipotent and benevolent creator, all alone in an infinite universe. it cannot be true and in our honest hearts all of us know that it is not so. it is nice to have company. eh? draga? were i to be granted one more word, that word would be truth. i am interested in

nd today, is the final, glorious, end-point in the work of an omnipotent and benevolent creator, all alone in an infinite universe. it cannot be true and in our honest hearts all of us know that it is not so. it is nice to have company. eh? draga? were i to be granted one more word, that word would be truth. i am interested in true knowledge, for its own sake. it is my philosophy that science and religion should have at least one thing in common: the untiring, unceasing, unwavering quest of unbiased, undistorted true knowledge of the world around us and, again, i use the word world in its old, original and all-comprehensive sense. to cry out that we have discovered the truth about ufo's would be to invite ridicule, even for our effort. therefore, let us summarize our conclusions and prefac

K AMBER THE BASICS OF MAGICK

nt one. basicly, this is the idea that part of the mind normally operates below or outside of ordinary consciousness and awareness. dreams and hypnosis are examples of this. also subconscious are the many automatic functions of the physical body such as respiration and digestion. why do magick? magick encompasses many things- science and art, philosophy and metaphysics, psychology and comparative religion. magick is an adventure at the borderlands of the unknown. it can fit the pieces of the puzzel of life into a meaningful whole _magick is fun_ and interesting. use magick to help raise consciousness without drugs. gain new experiences. fantacy can come alive through magick. psychic phenomena can be controlled and be fun and helpful _magick is beneficial. it can help you to have excellent

ve you should not be your primary reason for studying it. magick and witchcraft a number of other occult disciplines are prevalent today besides magick. there are many cults and sects which profess their own views, but there are really few differences between them. one popular area in the occult today is witchcraft. this is far removed from the cliche of devil worship. real witchcraft is a nature religion (pagan. witchcraft has much in common with magick. alchemy also has much in common with magick. it's heritage comes from the middle ages. alchemy fathered chemistry and the physical sciences. but the avowed purpose of alchemy, turning lead into gold, is too limiting to be called magick. sometimes the goal of alchemy is interpreted in another way, as the transformation of man into a spirit

l occultists indeed. of course, everything i have said here is a generalization. magick, witchcraft, alchemy, or any occult field are complex subjects. suffice it to say that magick the basics of magick get any book for free on: www.abika.com 7 includes them all (it is eclectic. for magick is undoubtedly a philosophy which has, as the late aleister crowley wrote "the method of science- the aim of religion" review questions 1) define magick. 2) define esp and pk. give examples. 3) what is the subconsicous? book list hal n. banks, an introduction to psychic studies. annie besant, thought power. michael h. brown, pk, a report on the power of psychokinesis. richard cavendish, the black arts. alexandira david-neel, magic and mystery in tibet. raynor c. johnson, the imprisoned splendour. ostrand

things you think it cannot do. as in any magick, results relate to effort and belief. another way of looking at an artificial elemental is as an aspect of your personality (sub personality) which has been detached from you. invocation formal ritual usually involves the invocation (ritually calling up) of a god or goddess, spirit, or other entity. in this sense, magick is somewhat similar to pagan religion and witchcraft. however, we consider magick ritual a technique, not a religion. worship need not be involved. sometimes the invocation of an entity creates an artificial elemental. crowley says there are three different kinds of the basics of magick get any book for free on: www.abika.com 26 invocation- 1) devotion to the entity (as in the bhakti yoga of the hare krishna sect; the faustia

KARR DON NOTES ON EDITIONS OF SEFER YETZIRAH IN ENGLISH

open knowledge, while the while spaces show nothing and represent the hidden wisdom* on-line at http//www.fredreissbooks.com/wst_page3.html. 20073 17 part 2: studies on sefer yezirah franck, adolphe. the kabbalah. the religious philosophy of the hebrews. french original: la kabbale ou la philosophie religieuse des hebreux, paris: 1843. german translation by adolph jellinek: die kabbala, oder die religion- philosophie der hebraer, liepzig: 1844. 2nd french edition, paris: hachette et cie, 1892. hebrew translation from the german by m. rabinsohn: ha-kabbalah o ha- philosophia ha-datit shel ha-yehudim, vilna: 1909. revised and enlarged [english] translation by dr. i. sossnitz: the kabbalah or the religious philosophy of the hebrews, new york: the kabbalah publishing company, 1926. english tr

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

uded nahmanides and the zohar. fenton, paul. gsolitary meditation in jewish and islamic mysticism in the light of a recent archeological discovery, h in medieval encounters, volume 1, number 2 (leiden: brill, october 1995. fishbane, eitan. gauthority, tradition, and the creation of meaning in medieval kabbalah: isaac of acre fs illumination of the eyes, h in the journal of the american academy of religion, vol. 72, issue 1 (atlanta: emory university, march 2004. contemplative practice and the transmission of kabbalah: a study of isaac of acre fs me firat eeinayim. ph.d. dissertation, waltham: brandeis university, 2003. huss, boaz. gnisan.the wife of the infinite: the mystical hermeneutics of rabbi isaac of acre, h in kabbalah: journal for the study of jewish mystical texts, vol. 5, edited

m. goodman (edinburgh: t&t clark ltd, 1986: volume iii, part 1, pp. 342- 79. idel, moshe. gon judaism, jewish mysticism and magic, h in envisioning magic: a princeton seminar and symposium, edited by p. schafer and h. kippenberg (leiden: brill, 1997. schafer, peter. gjewish magic literature in late antiquity and early middle ages, h in journal of jewish studies, vol. xli, no. 1 (1990. gmagic and religion in ancient judaism, h in envisioning magic. 2. merkabah and hekhalot material& 3. sefer yezirah on these, see my papers, gnotes on the study of merkabah mysticism and hekhalot literature in english h and gnotes on sefer yezirah in english. h 4. transition a. geonic period it is generally thought that the geonic period left little by way of evidence of theosophical development. apocalyptic

in jewish thought [festschrift in honor of joseph dan on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, edited by rachel elior and peter schafer. tubingen: mohr siebeck, 2005. gthree themes in the sefer hasidim, h in ajs review, vol. 1 (cambridge, 1976. gtopics in the hokhmath ha-nefesh, h in journal of jewish studies, vol. xxi (1970. trachtenberg, joshua. jewish magic and superstition: a study in folk religion. new york: behrman fs jewish book house, 1939; rpt. new york: atheneum, 1975. van uchelen, nikolaas a. gma easeh merkabah in sefer hasidim, h in jerusalem studies in jewish thought, vol. vi (3-4 [proceedings of the second international conference on the history of jewish mysticism: the beginnings of jewish 20081 24 mysticism in medieval europe, edited by joseph dan (jerusalem: the hebrew

o be too limited in its conceptual framework, as well as in its actual treatment of the subject matter. h scholem saw certain developments in antique judaism as a mystical phase which followed well after the writing of the hebrew bible; he also saw expressions of mysticism, once present, as separate and distinct not just from the scriptural phase but from normal (common or popular) expressions of religion. gruenwald makes a case for tracing gmystical, or quasi-mystical, elements in scripture itself. h further, he states that there are mystical elements in rabbinic literature to which scholem did not give due attention. critical analyses focusing on scholem fs treatment of ancient jewish mysticism (i.e. merkabah mysticism and hekhalot literature) have also been offered in recent years.6 for

KASAK VEEDE UNDERSTANDING PLANETS IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

ur current culture has inherited from the people of that land. be it either the wheel, the art of writing, or the units for measuring time and angles. science and knowledge of stars has always. though with varying success. been important in european culture. much from the babylonian beliefs about constellations and planets have reached our days. planets had an important place in babylonian astral religion, they were observed as much for calendrical as astrological purposes, and the qualities of the planetary gods were carried on to greek and rome. the following started out as an attempt to compose a list of planets together with corresponding gods who lend their names and qualities to the planets. though it was easy to find such a list about greece and rome, texts concerning mesopotamia in

KETAB E SIYAH

n the tigris and euphrates, all the riches of the world were brought to shurupuk: gold and silver, cedar and purpure, bright lapis lazuli, birds and beasts of a thousand shapes, grain and wine. 209 all that the earth might give up was brought to shurupuk. wet with milk and wine or else the blood of beasts were my altars in shurupuk and my temples were richly appointed. devoted and most dutiful in religion were the people of shurupuk, honouring well the lord that made them and all the shedim that watched over them and guided to ever more gloried destinies the empire of shurupuk. great among the lands of men was regal shurupuk, envy of all the nations of the earth. of all the men that walked on earth, of that race of heroes, the greatest of the nephilim was utanapishtim, august emperor of pr

crifice that you might demonstrate to him the perfection of your faith and love for his throne and reign. yet heed well the word of adonai yahweh for he asks not of you some mere libation for even as the corrupt disciples of satan pour out libations for the shedim and the shades of those that came before these things are done most easily and test not the profundity of fealty. more than their weak religion does adonai yahweh require of his servant. indeed some much greater thing is the due of a king so great as is the king of heaven. no less than this does your faith require; that you sacrifice as a burnt offering your one beloved son, isaac. this is the true will of god. take your son hence to moriah and there, upon the hills, build an altar of stones and of wood a pyre. there strike down

capacity let us then act and tell of that which passes in your dominion. of those that dwell in palestine is there one nazarene of galilee that does proclaim himself divine and crowns himself king of these lands. thus does he seek to usurp that which is to caesar and to heaven. yet with his most devious speech does he stir the people of the land against rome's most beneficent rule and against the religion of their fathers. this one that is named jesu does preach both sedition and blasphemy and, by his sorceries, those that hear are persuaded and make rebellion against high caesar. well would it be for you to reach out in wrath against this one. send your men to seize him and destroy him like a criminal. when the people see this king treated as any thief deserves soon will their misplaced f

orbidden to us to make water standing, or to put on out clothes sitting, or to cleanse ourselves in the privy as do the mohammedans, or to perform our ablutions in their baths. neither is it permitted to us to pronounce the name of shaitan (because it is the name of our god, nor any name resembling this, such as kitan, sharr, shatt; nor any vocable resembling mal'un, na'l, or the like. before our religion was called idolatry and the jews, christians, muslims and persians held aloof from our religion. king ahab and amran were of us, so that they used to call the god of ahab beelzebub, whom they call amongst us pirbub. we had a king in babel whose name was bukhti-nossor (nebuchadnezzer, and ahasuerus in persia, and in constantinople aghriqalus. before heaven and earth existed, god was over t

ll dictated schemes. only through summary destruction of earth might man be halted, and for messiah to attempt this would lay bare the very futility of the final design of god. heaven may dismay man with peril and affliction, but we shall send him word of our own interest, that he shall know he is not alone. with all force did the host of heaven descend among man, and they did instruct him in the religion of fear. prophets arose and were proclaimed heralds of knowledge, but they brought not word of truth, but warning to the human spirit to cower and fawn before the word of god the supreme being. the struggle of the ascent of man was fraught with the horrors of his superstition, and the call for blessed oblivion through union with god was answered by many who in their torment and hopelessne

KNOWLEDGE LECTURE FIVE

until the burnt sacrifice is consummated and the christ is conceived by the spirit. let him meditate upon the triplicity of fire- its attributes and correspondences. meditation number six let the aspirant meditate upon the cross in its various forms and aspects as shown in the admission badges throughout the grades. let him consider the necessity and prevalence of sacrifice throughout nature and religion. let him realise the saying of the master, whosoever shall save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall save it. except an ear of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. let him endeavour to realise his own place and relative importance in the universe, striving to stand outside himself and allowing only su

LAITMAN M FROM CHAOS TO HARMONY

rt in israel. and thus, in 1974, after being a refusenik (one whose request to leave russia for israel is refused) for four years, i finally arrived in israel. alas, even here i was only allowed to engage in research that was limited to the single cell level. i realized i had to look elsewhere for a place to learn about the overall systems of reality. consequently, i turned to philosophy, then to religion, but found answers in neither. only after long years of searching did i find my teacher. it was the great kabbalist, rabbi baruch shalom halevi ashlag (the rabash. i spent the next twelve years alongside the rabash, from 1979 to 1991. to me he was the last of the mohicans, the last great kabbalist in the great dynasty of kabbalists that endured for many generations. i did not move from hi

ounteract it or restrain it indefinitely, because that would be going against nature. if we try to do that, we will discover that we are unable to do so. although our present state does not indicate that nature wishes for us to enjoy, it is because, unlike every other degree in nature, our egos have not completed their development. this is how baal hasulam explains it in his essay, the essence of religion and its purpose: from all 70 from chaos to harmony of nature s systems, presented before us, we understand that in any being of the four types still, vegetative, animate, and speaking, both as a whole and in particular, we find a purposeful guidance, meaning a slow and gradual growth by way of cause and effect. this is similar to a fruit on a tree, guided to a favorable purpose of finally

n that, as we become wiser, we discover the wondrous wisdom concealed in nature. all our discoveries combined only make us realize that we are nothing but an offshoot of chapter seven: realizing our free choice 113 the unfathomable wisdom that exists, which opens up to us when we are ripe and ready to absorb it. in albert einstein s words (quoted in his new york times obituary, april 19, 1955: my religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. that deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of god. 115 8 everything is ready (for life s purpose) e vo lu t i o n o f t h

er ego, the domination of the force of the klipa of the right is appearing in the world. this is what we feel today as a global intensification of the power of islam over christianity. 182 from chaos to harmony when the people of israel begin to tackle the two klipot and stabilize themselves in the middle line, they will encounter the klipa of the middle line. it resides within them, in their own religion, and they will have to distinguish it, separate it, and uproot it from the world. we should be aware that all the wars that kabbalists describe can be decided at a higher level than the humansocial level it is the level of our desires. if we triumph there, succeed in realizing the correction method, and learn to use the ego altruistically, we will thus build the middle line. in that state

LAITMAN M KABBALAH REVEALED

upied itself with developing monotheistic religions, and later on, science. both were created to answer man s most fundamental questions: what is our place in the world, in the universe? what is the purpose 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 answer

had the answer to life s purpose and to the role of humanity in the universe. but in those days, the desires of most people were too small to strive for this knowledge. so when kabbalists saw 38 kabbalah revealed that humanity did not need their wisdom, they hid it and secretly prepared it for a time when everyone would be ready for it. in the meantime, humanity cultivated other channels such as religion and science. today, when growing numbers of people are convinced that religion and science do not provide the answers to life s deepest questions, they are beginning to look elsewhere for answers. this is the time that kabbalah has been waiting for, and this is why it is reappearing xto provide the answer to the purpose of existence. kabbalah tells us that nature, which is synonymous with

own nature and the creator s nature. only if i don t know which is more pleasurable can i make a truly free choice and neutralize my ego. 150 kabbalah revealed imp l eme n t i n g f r e e c h o i c e the first principle in spiritual work is faith above reason. so before we talk about implementing free choice, we must explain the kabbalistic meanings of faith and reason. faith in just about every religion and belief system on earth, faith is used as a means to compensate for what we cannot see or clearly perceive. in other words, because we cannot see god, we have to believe that he exists. in this case, we use faith to compensate for our inability to see god. this is called blind faith. but faith is used as compensation not just in religion, but in practically everything we do. how do we

LAITMAN M KABBALAH ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND

terial pleasures derived from the common objects of this world? drugs are prohibited in our world precisely because they allow us to escape reality. they make us incapable of facing the blows and beauty of life, which are caused by the absence structure of spirituality- 85- of egoistic pleasures. these blows are, in fact, a means of reforming us, since only a small part of the population turns to religion and to kabbalah in order to change. paradoxically, we turn to the creator in times of hardship, when we are shaken by grief. it is odd that we do not turn away from the creator during the hard times, since it was he who sent us our suffering. drugs are a source of false pleasure and are therefore prohibited. those who fall under the influence of drugs are under an illusion of pleasure tha

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

LAITMAN M KABBALAH SCIENCE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

rived in israel. alas, here, too, i was only offered to conduct studies and research on the limited single-cell level. i realized i had to search for a place where i could study the general systems of reality. i turned to philosophy, but before long realized that the answer was not to be found there. i then tried to pa r t i: k a b b a l a h m e e t s q ua n t u m p h y s i c s 20 find answers in religion, but had found nothing but a mechanical performance of the commandments. there was no deeper understanding there. only after many years of searching did i finally find my teacher, rabbi baruch ashlag. i was with him for twelve years, from 1979 to 1991. to me, he was the last of the mohicans, the last kabbalist in the chain of great kabbalists that extended through the generations. i was h

s and were able only to perceive their physical reality. this was actually a gradual process. some lost their spiritual perception with the ruin of the first temple, and the rest lost it with the ruin of the second temple. rabbi akiva was the last great kabbalist to attain the degree of the spiritual law, love thy friend as thyself. the intensification of egoism induced unfounded hatred, and only religion remained for people, instead of the wisdom of kabbalah. t h e n a t u r e o f m a t t e r 41 yet, despite the decline, a select few remained kabbalists, and they passed the wisdom on from generation to generation until a time when all of humanity would need it. today, we must rekindle the ancient science, revive the study of kabbalah, discover the upper reality through it, and pass it on

a t t e r 41 yet, despite the decline, a select few remained kabbalists, and they passed the wisdom on from generation to generation until a time when all of humanity would need it. today, we must rekindle the ancient science, revive the study of kabbalah, discover the upper reality through it, and pass it on to all humanity. it is important to note, however, that kabbalah has nothing to do with religion, and does not imply that we need perform any physical actions. as we have mentioned previously, kabbalah speaks only about desires and intentions with respect to the creator. this might lead us to conclude that, since the solution to our future challenges lies in the dissemination of kabbalah to all humanity, we might have to convert everyone into kabbalists. in truth, we don t have to. h

ve created by the creator. these two the will to receive and the creator are much t h e g i v i n g f o r c e a n d t h e r e c e i v i n g f o r c e 55 higher elements, in the sense that they precede all religions and belief systems. kabbalah is about the two working forces of reality, the giving force, called creator, and the receiving force, called creature. kabbalah has nothing to do with any religion or any faith. i do not want to compare kabbalah to other teachings, nor do i wish to discuss any religion, be it hinduism, judaism, christianity, or islam. after all, why deal with religion when we can discuss the physics of the upper world? the challenge in explaining this material is that we cannot compare our emotions. we cannot say that the term, upper force that one person feels is i

entually 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 project a cor

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

each generation and fits it to the new generation. the torah does not change because it speaks of technical existence. but unsuitable rules were canceled over time. for example, today there is no temple and therefore none of the rules linked with it or with the holiness of the land apply today. k a b b a l a h a n d j u da i s m q: is the difference between judaism and kabbalah that judaism is a religion, and kabbalah is a wisdom based on rationality and understanding? t h e w i s d o m o f k a b b a l a h 61 a: kabbalah is the wisdom of the revelation of the creator, the system of the attainment of the upper revelation, a sublime truth and superior knowledge. religion does not deal with any of that. a religious person must know how to follow rules and live within their boundaries. kabbal

ose are people who came out to the spiritual world and express their impressions and the method of correction in their own mother tongue. that is why kabbalah is expressed in the language of the jews. k a b b a l a h i s n o t a r e l i g i o n q: is there an equivalent to kabbalah in other religions? a: there is no equivalent to kabbalah in other religions because the wisdom of kabbalah is not a religion, but a science. it does not relate to religions, beliefs, extrasensory methods, or even judaism. any orthodox jew will answer the question, do you know the wisdom of kabbalah? by saying that not only do they not know it, but they do not think there is any need to know it. and the response will be correct, as the wisdom of kabbalah is not necessary for those who are occupied with religious

gions, however, are built on self-restriction and abstemiousness. t h e wo r l d, r e l i g i o n s a n d t h e s c i e n c e o f k a b b a l a h q: upon multiple readings of your books, i noticed that certain places in the text seemed very familiar. when i tried to analyze them, i became convinced that some kabbalistic concepts form the basis of various global religions. though kabbalah is not a religion, it seems t h e w i s d o m o f k a b b a l a h 71 to have the potential to unite the more progressive representatives of global religions (a topic frequently discussed in the vatican. do you foresee such a possibility? a: kabbalah is not intended to unite religions, since it has nothing to do with them. kabbalah is a science studying the essential core of man, the higher world, the entir

the higher world, the entire universe, and the creator. the outcome of that study is the discovery that mankind wishes to become like the creator. religions, however, are combinations of rituals designed by humans to support them in their earthly existence. specifically, it is the opium for the people, a method of pursuing psychological comfort. that is why baal hasulam said that the only optimal religion is love thy neighbor as thyself, since it leads to uniting with the creator. what we call religion is nothing more than a way to create feelings of stability and comfort within our shaky existence. m e a n i n g o f k a b b a l a h q: what are the sources you usually cite regarding the meaning of kabbalah? a: the kabbalist rav yehuda ashlag, author of the sulam commentary on the zohar, be

room for everyone, for all trends. in fact, all other systems exist only to reveal their futility, thus emphasizing the genuineness of the wisdom of kabbalah. t h e w i s d o m o f k a b b a l a h 81 the souls that descend to our world are at various stages of development. some have not acquired a true desire for genuine kabbalah. there are also people who come to us, and later leave for orthodox religion. i believe we should let people choose their way for themselves. when i came to my rav, i said, i have studied with quite a few kabbalistic teachers. how can i be certain that this is my final stop? i was thirty-three at the time, and my life stretched ahead of me. my rav was already 75. he replied, i have no answer for you, it is something that a person feels in his heart. you should bel

LAITMAN M THE PATH OF KABBALAH

degree of our equivalence of form with the light. if we feel our environment only through the senses we received at birth, that sensation is called this world. if we succeed in changing, correcting our desires to match those of the creator, we begin to feel him to the extent of our correction. the measure of that sensation is called one s spiritual world, or one s spiritual degree. 306 part five: religion, prejudice and kabbalah c h a p t e r 5 .1 a r e l i g i o n o r a s c i e n c e? k abbalah is often associated with tradition and even with religion. in most cases, this is a result of the difficulty in finding logic in the old customs and the various prohibitions in the mitzvot (commandments. it is a difficulty expressed directly or indirectly by antagonism toward religion. this is the

a s c i e n c e? k abbalah is often associated with tradition and even with religion. in most cases, this is a result of the difficulty in finding logic in the old customs and the various prohibitions in the mitzvot (commandments. it is a difficulty expressed directly or indirectly by antagonism toward religion. this is the reason for the important need to clearly distinguish between kabbalah and religion. every religion relies on a certain prophet, a person who was connected with spirituality and circulated his knowledge among people. this argument is at the basis of every religion, meaning that everything begins with the sublime truth, the revelation of the creator before the prophet, who was the founder, be it judaism or any other religion. the wisdom of kabbalah is a method to attain t

s of his actions. eventually, the creatures attain the same spiritual degree as the creator and become his partners. pa r t f i v e: r e l i g i o n, p r e j u d i c e a n d k a b b a l a h 319 o t h e r r e l i g i o n s q: are there parallels to the wisdom of kabbalah in other religions? a: there is no parallel to the wisdom of kabbalah in other religions because the wisdom of kabbalah is not a religion, but a science. it is not related in any way to religions, faiths, or clairvoyance of any kind, not even to judaism. any believing jew, when asked if is proficient in kabbalah, would reply negatively, and see no need to be. one does not need the wisdom of kabbalah to perform religious commandments. besides, the study of kabbalah increases one s egoism; increases one s desire for knowledge

airvoyance of any kind, not even to judaism. any believing jew, when asked if is proficient in kabbalah, would reply negatively, and see no need to be. one does not need the wisdom of kabbalah to perform religious commandments. besides, the study of kabbalah increases one s egoism; increases one s desire for knowledge, and relies on self-discovery and understanding of the spiritual world, whereas religion relies on self-restriction, coercion, and settling for the limitation of desires. q: do other religions also have ways to attain the spiritual worlds? a: all other religions speak of internal psychological processes, or processes that relate to one s animate body and the power that revive it. animals, too, have bodies that operate according to certain laws, and their bodies are not that d

what happens to a person when filled with delight? is there any room left for thoughts, or cold reasoning? t h e pa t h o f k a b b a l a h 354 most of the people who turn to kabbalah come from society s middle class, whether socioeconomic or educational. a college professor, for example, devoted entirely to scientific research, does not need any religious coatings. logic is king, and science is religion. often scientists are even more fanatic in their beliefs than religious fanatics. we must teach people to look within and discover the ten sefirot inside them. the first, keter, is the attribute of the creator. the others are measurements of exposure of the creator to the creature, meaning malchut. we must be taught to differentiate between these properties and ourselves. as malchut corre

LEADBEATER C W THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY 2E

ery caterpillar is a potential butterfly; and we have the advantage over these creatures in that we can anticipate the butterfly stage, and so learn much more about our world, come much nearer to the truth, enjoy life much more, and do much more good. we should study the hidden side of every-day life, for in that way we shall get so much more out of it. the same truth applies to higher things- to religion, for example. religion has always spoken to mankind of unseen things above- not only far away in the future, but close around us here and now. our life and what we can make of it largely depend upon how real these unseen things are to us. whatever we do, we should think always of the unseen consequences of our action. some of us know how useful that knowledge has been to us in our church

work than they used to do; in the old days they constantly chanted short versicles of praise or exhortation, and each one of them understood himself to be filling a definite position, to be a necessary wheel in the great machine. 37. from this knowledge several points emerge. it is noteworthy that the masonic ceremonies, which have so long been supposed to be rather in opposition to the received religion of the country, are seen to be themselves a relic of the most sacred part of a great ancient religion. like every product of these ancient and elaborately perfected systems, these rites are full of meaning, or rather of meanings; for in egypt we attributed to them a fourfold signification. since every detail is thus full of import, it is obvious that nothing should ever be changed without

name is invoked there can be no cause for fear. 43. the fourth intention is the hardest of all to explain. to make you understand that, i must try to take you back, if i can, into the atmosphere of old egypt, and to the attitude that religious men held there. i do not know whether it is possible to reconstruct that in these modern days, which are so hopelessly, so fundamentally different. 44. the religion which we know best at the present day is intensely individualistic; the great central objective put before most christians is that of saving their own souls. that duty is represented to be of primary importance. can you picture to yourselves a religion, just as much a religion in every way, in every respect as earnest, as fervid, as real, from which that idea was entirely absent, to which

truistic, any more than are all the people in modern england. but i do say that the country was permeated with joy and fearlessness so far as its religious ideas were concerned, and that every one who by any stretch of courtesy could be described as a religious man was occupied not with thoughts of his personal salvation, but with the desire to be a useful agent of the divine power. 46. the outer religion of ancient egypt- the official religion in which everyone took part, from the king to the slave- was one of the most splendid that have ever been known to man. gorgeous processions perambulating avenues miles in length, amid pillars so stupendous that they seemed scarcely human work, stately boats in a medley of rainbow colours sweeping majestically down the placid nile, music triumphant

of the hidden truth which she represented. 52. the hidden york 53. no doubt the really religious man took his part in all the outward pomp which i have described; but what he prized far above all its amazing magnificence was his membership in some lodge of the sacred mysteries- a lodge which devoted itself with reverent enthusiasm to the hidden work which was the principal activity of this noble religion. it is of this hidden side of the egyptian cult, not of its outer glories, that freemasonry is a relic, and the ritual which is preserved in it is a part of that of the mysteries. to explain what this hidden work was, let us draw a parallel from a more modern method of producing a somewhat similar result. 54. the christian plan for spreading abroad the divine power or grace is principally

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

er development. thinkers of this school, on the record of their own spiritual experiences, declare that the degrees of the order are symbolical of certain states of consciousness which must be awakened in the individual initiate if he aspires to win the treasures of the spirit. they give testimony of another and far higher nature upon the validity of our masonic rites- a testimony that belongs to religion rather than to science. the goal of the mystic is conscious union with god, and to a mason of this school the craft is intended to portray the path to that goal, to offer a map, as it were, to guide the feet of the seeker after god. 19. such students are often more interested in interpretation than in historical research. they are not primarily concerned in tracing an exact line of descen

n form, although their essence was identically the same; for the egyptian lodge possessed the tradition handed down from the initiates of atlantis, which was somewhat modified in later days, to suit the needs of the slowly-evolving humanity of the aryan race. 189. the first three initiations 190. the first of the true inner initiations was called the birth of horus, and corresponded in that great religion to the birth of christ in bethlehem in the christian presentation. horus was born of isis, the virgin-mother; at his birth the star shone forth, and the angelic hosts sang their song of triumph; he was adored by shepherds and wise men, and saved from danger which threatened him from without. in the book of the dead it is said: i know the power of the east, horus of the solar mount, the st

n civilization, and to realize that in age and splendour it compared even with the grandeur of ancient egypt. but even now, though there is abundant appreciation of the archaeological value of the cretan discoveries, not much attention has yet been given by freemasons to the highly interesting fact that the minoan civilization shows us the existence, five thousand years ago at least, of a mystery-religion which in its symbols and general arrangements closely resembles our modern ritual. one feature of those cretan mysteries especially attractive to co-masons is that in them women were admitted as well as men. the admission of women was the practice of almost all the mysteries of the ancient world, but clearer traces of the fact remain to-day in crete than in any other country. these myster

of its own, and much of the similarity between them can be explained by the fact that for long ages not only the delta, but middle and upper egypt stood in continuous relation with minoan crete. 227. it is not our object to enter into a further description of this minoan civilization, which in many respects was equal if not superior to that of our own times. we are here concerned chiefly with the religion and the ritual usages of the ancient minoans, which in their details show such a remarkable likeness to modern freemasonry. since the minoan script cannot yet be deciphered, we are but very partially informed about the thoughts and the beliefs of the minoan race, but from the objects found and the monuments discovered some conclusions may be drawn which are sufficient for our present purp

sacral knot (plate i, 2, following p. 50. when thus combined it closely resembles the egyptian ankh, the token of immortality (plate i, 3. following p. 50) 232. the mother-goddess dictynna denoted the productivity and creative power of nature; this double axe, especially when surmounted by the sacral knot, signified the eternal truth of death and resurrection, which was the central mystery of the religion of crete as it was of that of egypt; and so it was often laid before her to typify the ever-recurring miracle of the rebirth of tree and grain from the death of winter. the very form of the labyrinth in the recesses of which this sacred emblem was concealed was in itself symbolical and full of meaning; it was based upon the cross, and the representations of it on seals and coins sometimes

LEFT HAND PATH AND RIGHT HAND PATH

ven if that be so, the remarks are of interest, only five years after the foundation, in a tract actually dedicated to the grand lodge. copyright (c) 2005 by anand gholap all rights reserved. terms of use of this web-sg left-hand path and right-hand path from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the terms left-hand path and right-hand path refer to a postulated dichotomy between two distinct types of religion. the exact meaning of the terms has varied over time; the most modern usage regards religions which focus upon the worship of one or more deities and the observance of strict moral codes as belonging to the right-hand path, while considering religions which value the spiritual advancement of the self over other goals to belong to the left-hand path. this usage of the terms is invoked almo

have regarded the left hand and left-handedness as evil. this tendency can be seen in the dual meaning of the word right, in the etymology of words such as sinister, which in latin means both left and unlucky, and in taboos such as the islamic prohibition against touching holy texts with one's left hand. consequently, the left hand has often been used as a symbol for the rejection of traditional religion. the word right as used with hand in the old testament is generally the hebrew word yamin meaning stronger, more dextrous. the word for left is smowl meaning dark. god gives and creates with his right hand, it is his wonderful ability to do all things. with his left hand he punishes. this hints at the obic nature of the lhp. it should be noted that the terms "left" and "right" as applied

acticioners. this usage of the terms is still current in modern tantra. adoption by western occultism the prevalence of these terms within the new age movement, particularly occultism and satanism, is often attributed to the influence of helena blavatsky, who first used the term left-hand path to describe "immoral" religions. this usage was popularized by aleister crowley, who maintained that his religion, thelema, was, despite appearances, not of the left-hand path. it is not known whether she borrowed these terms from tantra or from a different source; some have suggested that she, or perhaps crowley, borrowed the terms from the kabbalah, which speaks of the left hand pillar of serverity, the middle pillar of balance, and the right hand pillar of mercy. while this usage of the terms is s

bers of the left-hand path. mahayana buddhism is seen as a mixture of left-hand path, since its ultimate goal is the attainment of enlightenment for the individual, and right-hand path, since it regards good deeds as the means by which enlightenment may be attained. criticism the existence of the dichotomy between the left-hand path and the right-hand path is not generally accepted by scholars of religion. critics of the dichotomy argue that it is derived from a rather limited subset of the world's religions and that it fails to encompass the variety of religious beliefs and practices found throughout the world, and that the terms are too loosely defined to be of much use in formal study and too loaded with pejorative connatations to be useful in ordinary discourse between people holding d

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

en though times have changed, and always will, man remains basically the same. for two thousand years man has done penance for something he never should have had to feel guilty about in the first place.we are tired of denying ourselves the pleasures of life which we deserve. today, as always, man needs to enjoy himself here and now, instead of waiting for his rewards in heaven. so, why not have a religion based on indulgence? certainly, it is consistent with the nature of the beast.we are no longer supplicating weaklings trembling before an unmerciful god who cares not whether we live or die.we are self-respecting, prideful people we are satanists! anton szandor lavey, the satanic bible xii introduction as representatives of pure evil, our culture has also invested the devil with many posi

e satan is portrayed as a member of god s heavenly court a kind of celestial prosecuting attorney. satan s transformation into a true bad guy did not really begin until after the persians defeated the babylonians and returned the jews to palestine from babylonia. seeking to make them allies, the persians even gave the repatriated jews money to rebuild the temple. the persians were zoroastrians, a religion built around the notion of an ongoing, more or less evenly matched struggle between ahura mazda (in later zoroastrianism, uhrmazd, the god of light and the upper world, and angra mainyu (later ahriman, the god of darkness and the lower world. partially because of a friendly link with the persians, judaism took in influences from zoroastrianism. thus satan, the closest thing the jews had t

on the internet, his memory and his organization are often attacked by other satanists. in the course of my research, i found myself unwittingly stepping into this arena of contention. perhaps as a consequence of this conflict, some of my contacts xiv introduction voiced objections to the central role i assigned lavey and his best-known work, the satanic bible, in the formation of modern satanist religion. i was, furthermore, encouraged to shift my emphasis to the work of earlier literary figures ultimately responsible for fashioning the positive image of the devil that lavey later adopted for his church of satan. after reflecting on these objections, however, i concluded that despite his heavy dependence on prior thinkers lavey was directly responsible for the genesis of modern satanism a

zelators are also invited to join the order of thelemites. because the abbey is a secret order,much of its teachings and practices are not revealed to nonmembers. the abbey has about a hundred members, scattered throughout the united states, canada, greece, england, and australia. see also crowley, aleister;magic and magical groups for further reading: melton, j. gordon. encyclopedia of american religion. 5th ed. detroit, mi: gale research, 1996. abraxas abraxas is a term associated with gnosticism, an ancient religious movement influencing judaism, christianity, and contemporaneous paganism that was prominent during the first few centuries of the common era. its central teaching was that this world was the creation of an evil deity who had trapped human spirits in the physical world. our

turned his men into swine. garlic, of course, is also used to ward off vampires. for further reading: lockhart, j. g. curses, lucks, and talismans. detroit, mi: single tree press, 1971. ravenwolf, silver. to ride a silver broomstick: new generation witchcraft. st. paul, mn: llewellyn, 1996. angel heart william hjortsberg s 1978 novel falling angel inspired the 1987 film angel heart. violence and religion intertwine with diabolical scenes of voodoo ceremonies, grizzly murders, and hallucinations of bloody horror for the protagonist and for the imaginations of the audience members who are able to sit through this film. robert de niro stars in the part of lou cyphre, who hires detective harry angel (played by mickey rourke, to find a famous singer named johnny favorite who mysteriously disap

LIBER LXI

d worship to the prophet of the lovely stto liber lxi vel causae a'.a. the preliminay lection including the history lection the preliminary lection in the name of the initiator, amen. 1. in the beginning was initiation. the flesh profiteth nothing; the mind profiteth nothing; that which is unknown to you and above these, while firmly based upon their equilibrium, giveth life. 2. in all systems of religion is to be found a system of initiation, which may be defined as the process by which a man comes to learn that unknown crown. 3. though none can communicate either the knowledge or the power to achieve this, which we may call the great work, it is yet possible for initiates to guide others. 4. every man must overcome his own obstacles, expose his own illusions. yet others may assist him to

t adept, he was driven of the spirit into the wilderness, where he abode for six years, studying by the light of reason the sacred books and secret systems of initiation of all countries and ages. 18. finally, there was given unto him a certain exalted grade whereby a man becomes master of knowledge and intelligence, and no more their slave. he perceived the inadequacy of science, philosophy, and religion; and exposed the self-contradictory nature of the thinking faculty. 19. returning to england, he laid his achievements humbly at the feet of a certain adept d.d.s, who welcomed him brotherly and admitted his title to the grade which he had so hardly won. 20. thereupon these two adepts conferred together, saying: may it not be written that the tribulations shall be shortened? wherefore the

LIBER 777

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 learnt to combine these ideas, not in the m

k! was sternly answered, when you have given us this day our daily knowledge-lecture. under these circumstances daath got mixed with dewar, and beelzebub with buchanan. but even the best of these systems is excessively bulky; modern methods have enabled us to concentrate the substance of twenty thousand pages in two score. the best of the serious attempts to systematise the results of comparative religion is that made by blavatsky. but though she had an immense genius for acquiring facts, she had none whatever for sorting and selecting the essentials. grant allen made a very slipshod experiment in this line; so have some of the polemical rationalists; but the only man worthy of our notice is frazer of the golden bough. here again, there is no tabulation; for us it is left to sacrifice lite

LIBER ALEPH

for thou art born into dis-ease; where are many false and perverted wills, monstrous growths, parasites, vermin are they, adherent to thee by vice of heredity, or of environment or of evil training. and of all these things the subtlest and most terrible, enemies without pity, destructive to thy will, and a menance and tyranny even to thy self, are the ideals and standards of the slave-gods, false religion, false ethics, even false science. d the book of wisdom or folly 31 ae de lege motus (of the law of motion) onsider, o my son, that word in the call or key of the thirty aethyrs: behold the face of your god, the beginning of comfort, whose eyes are the brightness of the heavens, which provided you for the government of the earth, and her unspeakable variety! and again: let there be no cre

ith diffidence that his word allh may mean this or that. but i am bold concerning his doctrine of the unity of god, for god is man, and he said therefore: man is one. and his will was to unite all men in one reasonable faith: to make possible international co-operation in science. yet, because he arose in the time of the greatest possible corruption and darkness, when every civilisation and every religion had fallen into ruin, by the malice of the great sorcerer of nazareth, as some say, he is still hidden in the dust of the simoom, and we may not perceive him in his true self of glory. nevertheless, behold, o my son, this mystery. his true word was la allh, that is to say (there is) no god, and la al is that mystery of mysteries which thine own eye pierced in thine initiation. and of that

LIBER CCXLII AHA

rd of all of it; for wisdom is not mother-wit! so the adept is called insane for his frank failure to explain. language creates false thoughts; the true breed language slowly. following experience of a thing we knew arose the need to name the thing. so, ancients likened a man fs mind to the untamed evasive wind. aha! 15 some fool thinks names are things; and boasts aloud of spirits and of ghosts. religion follows on a pun! and we, who know that holy one of whom i told thee, seek in vain figure or word to make it plain. olympas. despair of man! marsyas. man is the seed of the unimaginable flower. by singleness of thought and deed it may bloom now.this actual hour! olympas. the soul made safe, is vision sure to rise therein? marsyas. though calm and pure it seem, maybe some thought hath crep

LIBER CXLVIII SOLDIER AND THE HUNCHBACK

will be as pestilent and numerous a body as the gnominal christians h are to-day; for (at present) i have been able to devise no mechanism for excluding them. rather, perhaps, should i seek to find them a niche in the shrine, just as hinduism provides alike for those capable of the upanishads and those whose intelligences hardly reaches up to the tantras. in short, one must abandon the reality of religion for a sham, so that the religion may be universal enough for those few who are capable of its reality to nestle in its breast, and nurse their nature on its starry milk. but we anticipate! my message is then twofold; to the greasy bourgeois i preach discontent; i shock him, i stagger him, i cut away earth from under his feet, i turn him upside down, i give him hashish and make him run amo

me what moses saw of god! it is disgusting to have to spend one fs life jetting dirt in the face of the british public in the hope that in washing it they may 1 [fr, git fs his job. h] 18 liber cxlviii wash off the acrid grease of their commercialism, the saline streaks of their hypocritical tears, the putrid perspiration of their morality, the dribbling slobber of their sentimentality and their religion. and they don ft wash it. but let us take a less unpleasing metaphor, the whip! as some schoolboy poet repeatedly wrote, his rimes as poor as edwin arnold, his metre as erratic and as good as francis thompson, his good sense and frank indecency a match for browning! gcan ft be helped; must be done. so. h nay! ftis a bad, bad rime. and only after the scourge that smites shall come the rod

LIBER DCCCLX JOHN ST

. the inscription on the door of the vault of christian rosenkreutz was there said to be .post cxx annos patebo (after 120 years i shall manifest. 120 is equated with .lux crucis (the light of the cross) by various methods of qabalistic analogic] 2 [liber lxv, ii. 62] john st. john 63 but that is always the way; the love of besting our dearest friends in a bargain is native to us: and so, even in religion, when we are dealing with our own souls, we try to cheat. i go out to cut an almond rod at midnight, and, finding it inconvenient, i .magically affirm. that ash is almond and that seven o.clock is twelve. it seems a pity to have become a magician, capable of forcing nature to accommodate herself to your statements, for no better use to be made of the power than this! miracles are only leg

hn 67 if a chemist wants to prepare copper sulphate from its oxide, he does not hesitate on the ground that sulphuric acid, thrown in the eyes, hurts people. so i use the moral drug which will produce the desired result, whether that drug be what people commonly call poison or no. in short, i act like a sensible man; and i think i deserve every credit for introducing this completely new idea into religion. 12.25. that function of my brain which says .you ought to be willing adonai. sometimes acts. but i am willing him! it is so active because all this week it has been working hard, and doesn ft realise that its work is done. just as a retired grocer wakes up and thinks .i must go and open the shop. in hindu phrase, the thought-stuff, painfully forced all these days into one channel, has ac

nda, soul, being, knowledge, bliss. but the main consideration was one of expediency. has not john st. john possibly been stuffing himself both with methods and results? certainly this morning was more like the engorgement of the stomach with too much food than like the headache after a bout of drunkenness. a less grave fault, by far; it is easy and absurd to get a kind of hysterical ecstasy over religion, love, or wine. a german will take off his hat and dance and jodel to the sunrise.and nothing comes of it! darwin studies nature with more reverence and enthusiasm, but without antics. and out comes the law of evolution. so it is written .by their fruits ye shall know them. but about this question of spiritual overfeeding.what did darwin do when he got to the stage (as he did, be sure! li

is impurity. a bee.s swarm is evil.inside one fs clothes .dirt is matter in the wrong place. it is dirt to connect sex with statuary, morals with art. only adonai, who is in a sense the true meaning of everything, cannot defile any idea. this is a hard saying, though true, for nothing of course is dirtier than to try and use adonai as a fig-leaf for one.s shame. to seduce women under pretence of religion is unutterable foulness; though both adultery and religion are themselves clean. to mix jam and mustard is a messy mistake. 2.05. it also struck me that this operation is (among other things) an attempt to prove the proposition: reward is the direct and immediate consequence of work. of all the holy illuminated men of god of my acquaintance, i am the only one that holds this opinion. but

LIBER DCCCXI ENERGIZED ENTHUSIASM

is unsavoury allusion to our consideration of the methods of the greeks. v agree then that it does not follow form the fact that wine, woman and song make the sailor's tavern that these ingredients must necessarily concoct a hell-broth. there are some people so simple as to think that, when they have proved the religious instinct to be a mere efflorescence of the sex-instinct, they have destroyed religion. we should rather consider that the sailor fs tavern gives him his only glimpse of heaven, just as the destructive criticism of the phallicists has only proved sex to be a sacrament. consciousness, says the materialist, axe in hand, is a function of the brain. he has only re-formulated the old saying, gyour bodies are the temples of the holy ghost. h! now sex is justly hallowed in this se

LIBER DOMINI

lves before their so-called gods, fashioned from their own minds or, better yet, bequeathed to them by false prophets and books filled with feces. comment: there are no specific metaphysical or ethical beliefs required to follow satan. it is one thing to have personal opinions on these matters, but quite another to claim some kind of authoritative sanction for them. what the followers of dogmatic religion choose to ignore is the fact that these dogmas are always the opinions of other men- whether based on a personal intuition or a so-called inspired book. in matters of faith, no man has authority over another- a satanist must recognize this fact, or they will fare no better than the sheep of dogmatic religion. 6. i trample on these powerless and false gods. i laugh at their petty disputes

LIBER LIBRAE

u debase the spirits of living fire to serve thy wrath and hatred? wouldst thou violate the purity of the souls of the waters to pander to thy lust of debauchery? wouldst thou force the spirits of the evening breeze to minister to thy folly and caprice? know that with such desires thou canst but attract the weak, not the strong, and in that case the weak will have power over thee. 21. in the true religion there is no sect, therefore take heed that thou blaspheme not the name by which another knoweth his god; for if thou do this thing in jupiter thou wilt blaspheme hwhy and in osiris hwchy. ask and ye shall have! seek, and ye shall find! knock, and it shall be opened unto you [this text is a slight adaptation by crowley of an instruction originally circulated in the practicus grade of the h

LIBER LXI VEL CAUSAE

06.20erliber lxi vel cavsa a a the preliminary lection i n c l u d i n g the history lection v a a publication in class d 1 the preliminary lection in the name of the initiator, amen. 1. in the beginning was initiation. the flesh profiteth nothing; the mind profiteth nothing; that which is unknown to you and above these, while firmly based upon their equilibrium, giveth life. 2. in all systems of religion is to be found a system of initiation, which may be defined as the process whereby a man comes to learn that unknown crown. 3. though none can communicate either the knowledge or the power to achieve this, which we may call the great work, it is yet possible for initiates to guide others. 4. every man must overcome his own obstacles, expose his own illusions. yet others may assist him to

self no perfect adept, he was driven of the spirit into the wilderness, where he abode for six years, studying by the light of reason the sacred books and secret systems of all countries and ages. 18. finally, there was given unto him a certain exalted grade whereby a man becomes master of knowledge and intelligence, and no more their slave. he perceived the inadequacy of science, philosophy, and religion; and exposed the self-contradictory nature of the thinking faculty. 19. returning to england, he laid his achievements humbly at the feet of a certain adept d.d.s, who welcomed him brotherly and admitted his title to the grade which he had so hardly won. 20. thereupon these two adepts conferred together, saying: may it not be written that the tribulations shall be shortened? wherefore the

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

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

ed by its inherent impossibility. our credulity is outraged, our moral sense shocked, the holiest foundations of our inmost selves assailed by no ardent warrior in triple steel, but by a loathy and disgusting worm. that this is so, the apologists for the religion in question, whichever it may be, sufficiently indicate (as a rule) by the very method of their apology. the alternative is to take the religion symbolically, esoterically; but to move one step in this direction is to start on a journey whose end cannot be determined. the religion, ceasing to be a tangible thing, an object uniform for all sane eyes, becomes rather that mist whereon the sun of the soul casts up, like brocken spectres, certain vast and vague images of the beholder himself, with or without a glory en-compassing them

inest words mean whatever a pious interpreter de sires they should mean (huxley .evolution of theology..a.c. introduction iii if the student has advanced spiritually so that he can internally, infallibly perceive what is truth, he will find it equally well symbolised in most external faiths. it is curious that browning never turns his wonderful faculty of analysis upon the fundamental problems of religion, as it were an axe laid to the root of the tree of life. it seems quite clear that he knew what would result if he did so. we cannot help fancying that he was unwilling to do this. the proof of his knowledge i find in the following lines .i have read much, thought much, experienced much, yet would rather die than avow my fear the naples. liquefaction may be false. i hear you recommend, i

ay! even in the moral beauty of the words, may fail to be impressed by their most important meaning. shelley himself recognised this later: hence the direct and simple vigour of the .masque of anarchy. it has often puzzled atheists that a man of milton.s genius could have written as he did of christianity. but we must not forget that milton lived immediately after the most important revolution in religion and politics of modern times: shelley on the brink of such another political upheaval. shakespeare alone sat enthroned above it all like a god, and is not lost in the mire of controversy* this, also, though .i.m no shakespeare, as too probable. i have endeavoured to avoid: yet i cannot but express the hope that my own enquiries into religion may be the reflection of the spirit of the age;

head23 hate-wrinkled. so, using little arms, earn one day better ones; cutting the small chains,24 learn soon to unfetter one.s limbs from the large ones, walk forth and be free. so much for browning! and so much for me! pray do not ask me where i stand .who asks, doth err..25 at least demand no folly such as answer means .but if (you26 say .your spirit weans itself of milk-and-water pap, and one religion as another o.erleaps itself and falls on the other;27 you.ll tell me why at least, mayhap, our christianity excites especially such petty spites as these you strew throughout your verse. the chance of birth! i choose to curse (writing in english28) just the yoke of faith that tortures english folk. i cannot write29 a poem yet to please the people in tibet; but when i can, christ shall not

LIBER NU

the universe being self-contained must be capable of expression by the formula (n- n= 0. for if not, let it be expressed by the formula n- m= p. that is, the infinite moves otherwise than in itself, which is absurd. ed] this is the second practice of meditation (ccxx. i. 27) 7. meditate upon the facts of samadhi on all planes, the liberation of heat in chemistry, joy in natural history, ananda in religion, when two things join to lose themselves in a third. this is the third practice of meditation (ccxx. i. 28, 29, 30. 8. let the aspirant pay utmost reverence to the authority of the a a and follow its instructions, and let him swear a great oath of devotion unto nuit. this is the second practice of ethics (ccxx. i. 32. 9. let the aspirant beware of the slightest exercise of his will agains

LIBER XXXIII AN ACCOUNT OF AA

le to receive light, and such persons are employed as agents to spread the light according to man fs capacity and to revivify the dead letter. an account of a a 3 through these instruments the interior truths of the sanctuary were taken into every nation, and modified symbolically according to their customs, capacity for instruction, climate, and receptiveness. so that the external types of every religion, worship, ceremonies and sacred books in general have more or less clearly, as their object of instruction, the interior truths of the sanctuary, by which man will be conducted to the universal knowledge of the one absolute truth. the more the external worship of a people has remained united with the spirit of esoteric truth, the purer its religion; but the wider the difference between th

learly, as their object of instruction, the interior truths of the sanctuary, by which man will be conducted to the universal knowledge of the one absolute truth. the more the external worship of a people has remained united with the spirit of esoteric truth, the purer its religion; but the wider the difference between the symbolic letter and the invisible truth, the more imperfect has become the religion. finally, it may be, the external form has entirely parted from its inner truth, so that ceremonial observances without soul or life have remained alone. in the midst of all this, truth reposes inviolable in the inner sanctuary. faithful to the spirit of truth, the members of the interior order live in silence, but in real activity. yet, besides their secret holy work, they have from time

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

in the second edition of the book of lie cdivert from the aim of the work, namely, to let the texts speak for themselves and to give the reader an idea of the main issues in the study of scandinavian mythology. xv a note on orthography this page intentionally left blank 1 introduction when most of us use the word gmyth h in conversation, we refer to something that is not true. when historians of religion use it, they generally refer to a representation of the sacred in words. when anthropologists use it, they often refer to narratives that tell about the formation of some social institution or behavior. none of the definitions, however, will hold directly for the characters and stories this book treats. that is in part because of the enormous time frame: materials relevant to the study of

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

le in the conversion was championed by twelfth-century and later icelandic monks, took hostage some wealthy young icelandic travelers, and there was further resolve among christians in iceland to complete the conversion. however, as the two sides approached the althingi in iceland in the year 1000, it appeared that war would break out. finally it was agreed that a single arbiter should choose one religion for the entire land, and the lawspeaker thorgeir, a pagan, was chosen. after spending a night under his cloak, he emerged and decreed that iceland should be christian. and so it was. at first some pagan practices were permitted if carried out in secret, but later even this permission was rescinded. however, for reasons that are no longer quite clear, the old stories about the gods were no

hly) olafsson, a king from the important vestfold district in the oslo fjord. ynglinga tal lists the ways that 22 generations of the ynglingar, kings centered in uppsala and predecessors of rognvald, met their deaths and where they were buried. the poem clearly originally served a dynastic purpose, but, especially in its discussion of the earliest kings, it has much to tell us about mythology and religion. thjodolf also composed the shield poem haustlong (autumn-long, which may refer to the poem fs gestation period. he describes two mythological scenes that adorned the shield: loki fs betrayal of idun and her apples to the giant thjazi and her rescue, and thor fs duel with hrungnir, the strongest of the giants. from the earliest skaldic tradition come three geddic praise poems, h poems in

m earth. and seeing the importance of the heavenly bodies for time reckoning, they assumed that some being had ordered the course of these bodies and probably existed before they did and might rule all things. this knowledge they possessed was worldly knowledge, for they lacked spiritual knowledge. this is medieval speculation on the origin of paganism, and it ascribes to pagans a kind of natural religion, one based on unenlightened observation of the environment. it was especially attractive to icelanders like snorri, who traced their genealogies from pagans and for whom the conversion of their land to christianity was a relatively recent event. the first extant work of icelandic history writing is a little treatise called islendingabok (book of icelanders, by the priest ari thorgilsson t

LOGOMACHY OF ZOS

within us all, and ever co-essential, is a prescient unknown informer who tones all experience as good and evil: therefore, whatever values or beliefs we hold, to transgress them is fatal. any fact or fiction has no difficulty in finding relatables as supporting w=h' z' 5( w( 1"4..q* reality when instantly and simultaneous to time and place. our difficulty is to re- 3, y..q( m ^9 '7a h7 -belief, religion or faith) as substitute of real belief (which needs no other reality than its own: what you cannot conceive as yourself is yourself (as another reality. abstract or concrete: if you suggest a wish to the thing you desire of, in their own manner, there will be a response: so, if i ask my mind in an( s. s. e( 5( i shall receive a true answer, although i may not be able to translate it: sema

st his wishes, does he obey me or his ids (which means we also obey external influences we know nothing of) if desires were not satisfied by transmutation, sublimation, substitution and other forms of transference, then we should be nothing more than a scrap-heap of thwarted impulses. how often can we desire uninhibitedly, and satiate? also, where there is human congress, the first essentials are religion, law, morality, and conventions with their corollary of reward and punishment. the harness of the ids. only the stoic seeks and practices virtue for its own sake: not from fear, but by obedience to his ides or his gods. evolution is a process of change by creating variation, a constant amalgam of inexact sub-divisions, increasing differences, that follow a law of asymmetry based on consta

n. of flesh we transfer/transmit by unity; our potentials, our absoluteness are by the same means: the nexus of all things is consummation. we distort facts into fictions and our fictions serve as facts: truth "suggestio falsi: but to my naive mind, a naked bottom is a naked bottom, and a large colourful one equal to a sun-rise. both are freely accessible and pleasurable. i cannot conceive of any religion (involantry tribute) so profound, as appreciation of the flesh, it has never been sufficiently so, no texture equals flesh. all intersubjectivity is from flesh impacting flesh. truth is our pragmatism, nothing is possible through freedom because..q 4"2%d/ 5! s n@ o- e..1 h7 gods are usually our presuppositions to explain ourselves. our conative ability is always adequate to our necessity

rce thinking by association and be fully conscious that we are doing so. matter being the vehicle of mind. to this fractional extent we can control the content of memory. faults made habitual become our idioms and style. nothing easy has much new substance or growth. the eternal alternations compel our untruth, unless we re-orientate. to feel and to understand are an equation. the main premise of religion is the demanding of complete acceptance..1 e..1' 5! u. e- e..1..q k..1 abstracts and mysteries of life. as proof, it is asserted that god, or cause, being so miraculous in its/his workings as to be beyond comprehension, over-rides all bafflement at contradictions and incongruities. i admit: nature has accomplished the impossible. has she not created man? if you can so delude yourself, and

unassertability. to believe anything sufficiently makes desire connective. only impacts have meaning: their consequences are true and real. t* 6..1 e. a\ i( 6..1 2..1. x..q i am+ o# e..1 6 k..1( sively realizable and advantageous, then autistic thinking has validated itself. all things are given sufferance and..1. d. s..q. m..w7 the repercussions become our future heritage and our good and evil. religion is now institutionalized fear and beggary of the soul. theurgy has neither quality, its aim is self- b..1. x q( f &7 the state, the community, and democracy are fictions. a small and greedy hierarchy well hidden by political and religious facades, with all the abilities of others (by hire purchase) ready to serve their interests. outside this, the public are all certifiable lunatics feedi

LUCIFERIAN SORCERY

umanity, enabled it to rise above the mongoloid putty of our ancestors and become something beautiful. witchcraft was a natural tool, taught by luciferic angels known as the watchers, and their cain inspired brethren known as the nephilim. this is the lore of the nightside, from which legend becomes desire which takes flesh. the very beginnings of witchcraft hold much lore and legend as any other religion or socio-formulated belief pattern. in the beginning within the great darkness, diana (liliththe moon) joined with lucifer (the sun) and produced the daughter and goddess aradia, or by some suggestion hecate. the watchers led by azazel, after lucifer fell from the heavens joined with man s daughters and produced the nephilim. the watchers then taught man and woman the art of sorcery, and

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

LUCIFERIAN WITCHCRAFT THE MYSTERY REVEALED

in order to ultimately emerge through the left hand path. the two paths are essentially united consciously, from which each individual will be able to unite the microcosm with the macrocosm, the angelic and the demonic, the shadow and the light, all opposites in union. this is the work of the beast 666 and babalon conjoined. the very beginnings of witchcraft hold much lore and legend as any other religion or socio-formulated belief pattern. in the beginning within the great darkness, diana (liliththe moon) joined with lucifer (the sun) and produced the daughter and goddess aradia, or by some suggestion hecate. the watchers led by azazel, after lucifer fell from the heavens joined with man s daughters and produced the nephilim. the watchers then taught man and woman the art of sorcery, and

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

there is fear that our nation s separation of church and state is now threatened, considering further that some politicians are using an anti-evolutionary, creationist stance to sway their constituencies. but for a scientist, it is not just politics that is of the essence. for a person practicing and teaching science, there is now serious concern that the traditional division between science and religion is coming to an end among a growing portion of the american public, which is further promoting our international isolation. and scientific isolation from the rest of the world is a frightening, dangerous prospect. this state of affairs is not exactly new in the united states. many will recall the scopes trial (also called the scopes monkey trial) of 1925, in which john t. scopes, a high s

of science potentially clashing with certain religious beliefs had been settled earlier (although not quite completely) and was certainly not expected to be legislated upon. in essence, science and faith had arrived at a state of modus vivendi in europe, with the united states more or less following suit shortly after the scopes trial. and this is indeed the way it should be, because science and religion represent very different modes of knowledge and understanding. even though both can address similar questions (what is the origin of the universe? what is the origin of life, they tackle these questions from very different perspectives and on completely different levels. in brief, science does not need religion, and religion does not need science.when they try to encompass one another, bo

ence. with a few scientists among their ranks to provide credence, creationist and neocreationist movements now claim that evolutionary thinking is critically flawed rather than being simply a-religious (or, perhaps as they see it, antireligious, as in the past. as we describe in this book, nothing can be farther fromthe truth: evolution rests on solid scientific bases and is in conflict not with religion as a whole, but with only a very narrow interpretation of a very small part of one sacred book, the bible. this is where america runs the risk of becoming isolated from the rest of the world, and not just politically. worldwide, an enormous majority of believers in the bible no longer interpret the hebrew story of creation literally only christian fundamentalists do so. this is their righ

ntists who conduct their research in their laboratories, the field, and their observatories. these scientists use reason and the rules of science to gain understanding of the natural world, not to decide which kind of philosophical system science represents. this question is better left for philosophers to argue about because in fact, most scientists do not care about it. this book is not against religion. rather, it is against self-declared righteous people who, in the name of a distorted view of science and an intolerant view of religion, put the perception of science in jeopardy in america. therefore, we have not attempted to present the problem as balanced it is not balanced. there cannot be a balanced view when science and nonscience are clashing head to head. as with all books, ours

: more about complexity 145 7 the dangers of creationism 179 appendix 1 the brusselator 195 appendix 2 experiments for educators 199 glossary 203 further reading 207 index 211 this page intentionally left blank evolution and religious creation myths this page intentionally left blank 1 creationism and intelligent design the evolution of an idea skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense. carl sagan a 2004 gallup poll in the united states reported that 45% of the population believe that god created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years; 38% believe that humans evolved from other life-forms over many millions of years but that god directed the process; 13%are of the opinion that humans evolved f

MACNULTY W KIRK KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY

ould certainly start with some information about the nature and history of the masonic order. a definition of the order as it exists today is relatively easy: freemasonry is a secular fraternal organization, open only to men, which promulgates the principles of morality and seeks to advance the practice of brotherly love and charitable action among all persons not simply among masons. it is not a religion; but it is a society of religious men in that as it requires its members to believe in the existence of "a supreme being" the name of that being and the form in which it is to be worshipped is entirely the business of the individual mason. masons are obligated on the "volume of sacred law" and each mason takes his obligation on that particular volume of sacred writings which he holds to b

mbers to believe in the existence of "a supreme being" the name of that being and the form in which it is to be worshipped is entirely the business of the individual mason. masons are obligated on the "volume of sacred law" and each mason takes his obligation on that particular volume of sacred writings which he holds to be sacred. while encouraging each brother to follow the teachings of his own religion, freemasonry is not concerned with the details of those religions; and sectarian religious discussion is forbidden at masonic gatherings. while not a religion, the order might be considered to be a "philosophical companion to religion" to my way of thinking that very idea is implicit in this definition, taken from the first lecture: masonry is "a peculiar system of morality, veiled in all

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

rialism. when the great astronomer laplace was asked by napoleon why he had not mentioned god in his trait de la m canique c leste, the mathematician naively replied "sire, i had no need for that hypothesis" in his treatise on atheism, sir francis bacon tersely summarizes the situation thus "a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion" the metaphysics of aristotle opens with these words "all men naturally desire to know" to satisfy this common urge the unfolding human intellect has explored the extremities of imaginable space without and the extremities of imaginable self within, seeking to estimate the relationship between the one and the all; the effect and the cause; nature and the groundwork of nature; the mind and

y the former and woven into the fabric of patristic philosophy. briefly described, neo-platonism is a philosophic code which conceives every physical or concrete body of doctrine to be merely the shell of a spiritual verity which may be discovered through meditation and certain exercises of a mystic nature. in comparison to the esoteric spiritual truths which they contain, the corporeal bodies of religion and philosophy were considered relatively of little value. likewise, no emphasis was placed upon the material sciences. the term patristic is employed to designate the philosophy of the fathers of the early christian church. patristic philosophy is divided into two general epochs: ante-nicene and post-nicene. the ante-nicene period in the main was devoted to attacks upon paganism and to a

ly called being; all other manifestations are existences. truth is to be discovered through reflection upon this mystery. the most important of modern italian philosophers is benedetto croce, a hegelian idealist. croce conceives ideas to be the only reality. he is anti-theological in his viewpoints, does not believe in the immortality of the soul, and seeks to substitute ethics and aesthetics for religion. among other branches of italian philosophy should be mentioned sensism (sensationalism, which posits the sense perceptions as the sole channels for the reception of knowledge; criticism, or the philosophy of accurate judgment; and neo-scholasticism, which is a revival of thomism encouraged by the roman catholic church. the two outstanding schools of american philosophy are transcendental

cast by the sanctuaries of ellora, ur, and memphis upon the thought substance of a primitive people. thales, pythagoras, and plato in their philosophic wanderings contacted many distant cults and brought back the lore of egypt and the inscrutable orient. from indisputable facts such as these it is evident that philosophy emerged from the religious mysteries of antiquity, not being separated from religion until after the decay of the mysteries. hence he who would fathom the depths of philosophic thought must familiarize himself with the teachings of those initiated priests designated as the first custodians of divine revelation. the mysteries claimed to be the guardians of a transcendental knowledge so profound as to be incomprehensible save to the most exalted intellect and so potent as t

ated were those of isis, sabazius, cybele, and eleusis" after being admitted, the initiates were instructed in the secret wisdom which had been preserved for ages. plato, an initiate of one of these sacred orders, was severely criticized because in his writings he revealed to the public many of the secret philosophic principles of the mysteries. every pagan nation had (and has) not only its state religion, but another into which the philosophic elect alone have gained entrance. many of these ancient cults vanished from the earth without revealing their secrets, but a few have survived the test of ages and their mysterious symbols are still preserved. much of the ritualism of freemasonry is based on the trials to which candidates were subjected by the ancient hierophants before the keys of

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

ing that the iron-bearing celts discovered on their sweep westwards across northern europe and into britain around 500 b.c. the indigenous britons, or prytani as they then were called, were a strange people, who buried their dead in great burial mounds, or barrows, used bronze as their only metal, and relied for weapons chiefly upon slender arrows with delicate elder-leaf-shaped flint tips. their religion, which was connected in some way with the moon and stars, was conducted amidst stone circles, surrounded by a bank and ditch (the original witch circle, in fact. the prytani appear to have kept very much to themselves, isolating themselves within raths, or large circular encampments, the only contact between the two races being made by the celtic shamans, or druids, a word probably signif

centuries, to the old gods. in 1851 helena petrovna blavatsky had met the aforementioned rosicrucian magus bulwer lytton, and impressed by the encounter, had organized the theosophical society in 1875, the object of which was to establish a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity. the purpose of this nucleus was to study the supreme source of all the world religions, the central "wisdom religion" as vouchsafed to various peoples of the earth in such a manner as best suited to time and geographical circumstance, and which was said to have been in existence from time immemorial; the old wisdom of the watchers, in fact. in madame blavatsky's society it was the oriental branch of this wisdom, comprising the teachings of vedanta and esoteric buddhism, which was the main inspiration. c

d how to form one" here and now it will be sufficient for you to make a symbolic gesture which will ceremonially demonstrate your severance from old restraints and inhibitions that in the past have acted as the main obstacles to the development of the powers within you. basically, these restraints can be symbolized as the yoke imposed by such established systems of irrational thought as organized religion, be it christianity, judaism, or buddhism. organized religion, let me emphasize. of course, there are many other ironclad systems of thought without occult bases which have been imposed upon the public mind from time to time, such as communism, fascism, or capitalism, but these at least function under the pretence of ministering to the bodies of mankind rather than to the good of the soul

christian" country, the gesture is most effective. it is a defiant relic from the days of the great witch persecutions, and though witches used not to be specifically anti-christian, many of them became so, not unnaturally, with the advent of that tide of religiously motivated oppression and bloodshed. it is a symbol of defiance towards the dead letter as opposed to the living spirit of organized religion. this is what you must do: when you are quite sure you wish to take this first step, prior to going to bed on three successive nights, making quite sure you are not observed, light a candle and address yourself to it with the following words. this gibberish is, in fact, the lord's prayer written out backwards. it is somewhat difficult to pronounce, but struggle through as best you can. it

he charm, or incantation. witches, like poets, painters, and chefs, have always taken a bit from here and a bit from there in the exercise of their craft, so much so that in many cases the original wisdom has been almost totally overlaid. everything that seems to have an inherent power in it, that triggers the emotions strongly, is pressed into use for the purposes of magic. snippets of folklore, religion, myth, and herbal lore, all are blended together with notorious in difference to mixing of styles and cultures. all that matters is the item's effect on you and your deep mind. while on the subject of religious components "words of power" cabalistic names of god and the like, here is a tip for the wise witch: better results will always be obtained if you happen to subscribe to the religio

MEANING OF MASONRY

lineage of the order and the present-day value of rites of initiation. in giving these pages to publication care has been taken to observe due reticence in respect of essential matters. the general nature of the masonic system is, however, nowadays widely known to outsiders and and easily ascertainable from many printed sources, whilst the large interest in and output of literature upon mystical religion and the science of the inward order life during the last few years has familiarized many with a subject of which, as is shown in these papers, masonry is but a specialized form. to explain masonry in general outline is, therefore, not to divulge a subject which is entirely exclusive to its members, but merely to show that masonry stands in line with other doctrinal systems inculcating the

aft has been gradually developing from small and crude beginnings into its present vast and highly elaborated organization. to-day the number of lodges and the membership of the craft are increasing beyond all precedent. one asks oneself what this growing interest portends, and to what it will, or can be made to, lead? the growth synchronizes with a corresponding defection of interest in orthodox religion and public worship. it need not now be enquired whether or to what extent the simple principles of faith and the humanitarian ideals of masonry are with some men taking the place of the theology offered in the various churches; it is probable that to some extent they do so. but the fact is with us that the ideals of the masonic order are making a wide appeal to the best instincts of large

ertain religious element in it, but as they are told that religious discussion, which means, of course, sectarian religious discussion, is forbidden in the lodge, they infer that masonry is not a religious institution, and that its teachings are intended to be merely secondary and supplemental to any religious tenets they may happen to hold. one sometimes hears it remarke d that masonry is" not a religion; which in a sense is quite true; and sometimes that it is a secondary or supplementary religion, which is quite untrue. again masonry is often supposed, even by its own members, to be a system of extreme antiquity, that was practised and that has come down in well-nigh its present form from egyptian or at least from early hebrew sources: a view which again possesses the merest modicum of

to think that a vast organization like masonry was ordained merely to teach to grown-up men of the world the symbolical meaning of a few simple builders' tools, or to impress upon us such masonry elementary virtues as temperance and justice--the children in every village school are t aught such things; or to enforce such simple principles of morals as brotherly love, which every church and every religion teaches; or as relief, which is practised quite as much by non-masons as by us; or of truth, which every infant learns upon its mother's knee. there is surely, too, no need for us to join a secret society to be taught that the volume of the sacred law is a fountain of truth and instruction; or to go through the great and elaborate ceremony of the third degree merely to learn that we have

t" masonry, by means of a series of dramatic representations, is intended to furnish those who care to discover its purport and to take advantage of the hints it throws out in allegorical form, with an example and with instructions by which our return to the" east" may be accelerated. it refers to no architecture of a mundane kind, but to the architecture of the soul's life. it is not in itself a religion; but rather a dramatized and intensified form of religious processes inculcated by every religious system in the world. for there is no religion but teaches the lesson of the necessity of bodily purification of our first degree; none but emphasizes that of the second degree, that mental, moral and spiritual developments are essential and will lead to the discovery of a certain secret cent

MICHAEL FORD A RITE OF THE WEREWOLF

the infernal sabbat. in the context of witchcraft and sorcery, the western initiate of today holds a wealth of information to build from. idries shah points out in the sufis that the spanish word for witch is bruja, and are considered the children of wisdom. the history of witchcraft and primal sorcery is bound within the yatuivdah and dregvants15 of iran and persia, within the early zoroastrian religion. the middle eastern cults and sects of magical practice produced what we commonly call magickal paths today. what was lost or well forgotten, by some incantation or spell of remembrance, such surged forth as a bestial atavism that which was dead now emerged as a 12 angels are considered by abu-hamid mohammed al-ghazali to be the higher faculties of man. 13 empyrean= highest heavens, heigh

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

ers and shamans has included a 'harrowing of hell, a knowledge and power quest into the subconscious underworld of unspeakable desires and fears, and for good reason. any repressed desire will claw its way out of the dungeon at an inappropriate time or at an unguarded moment if left unacknowledged and unsolved. thus religious people have a propensity to commit exactly those enormities which their religion specifically forbids. we off- white chaoists forbid nothing on moral grounds alone 'nothing is true, and 'everything is permitted, as we say, not forgetting that 'the consequences can be ghastly. to those exploring the darkside we can only advise do what ever you can get away with' and monitor the conditions of your material existence as a guide. if you find yourself becoming more powerfu

a study guide to the night side, a non- christian dogma infested approach. the methods of witchcraft within this tome are of the darkest magick, when vampires, werewolves and sorcerers haunted the nights, doing their work and weaving webs in your dreams. we are still there, alive in your mythologies, alive in your mind. what is witchcraft in essence? is witchcraft the worship of nature, an earth religion? not completely. the tradition, which i have studied through and learnt, is the darker side of witchcraft, far more dangerous than traditional wiccan rites however the results are much greater. do not fear the darkness of the self; let it guide you through the shadows to the light of prometheus! this work is meant as an inspirational guide, through which the individual can gain access to

tion not associated with any dogma s such as good or evil. the great opening of the abyss is encoded within the grimoire, open and enter with care. our basis is to establish a thought process ushering forth in this upcoming age based on balance and ancient values. the subconscious must be explored on numerous levels to understand what is known as the beast within. we do not wish to throw in a new religion, or claim something amazing or revolutionary. this book was conceived after a great personal undertaking which involved the goddess babalon, for which opened the 6 6 gates of hecate and lilith. this work is seen by me personally as a manifestation and gift for these forces, which both myself and elda isela continue to work with. our approach towards witchcraft is based in nature, that eac

phic form is extremely doubtful. gods are extensions of the mind and it's vast categorizing skills which prove to have a significant role in altering and directing magickal energies towards various goals, and in breeding our desires. the sorcerer views life as sacred, and as it's keeper, that it is their choice which path to take in it. it is not surprising that most people choose a path of blind religion, believing truth is what a books states without exploring for themselves. the vampire sorcerer understands that everything must be questioned and explored, for nothing is sacred and everything can be changed. life and joy is available to the fighting individual, one who is able to go beyond what is dictated and forge a great path in his/her own life. they also understand that no one else

possible and focus on something else. once this can be done, the desire will become a fact based in flesh. if not, failure results in abiding anger in the individual, and leads to further troubles down the road. creation of elementals 'all things are subject to resurrection, thus spake smiling aaos, on rising from the dead. then turning towards his shadow 'i come! the changing word that destroys religion, a vortex wind that shall jest in temples (aos the focus of life) elementals are described as created spirits which are connected to the sorcerer's will. many of these are created in highly intense rites which can either be hermetic or ceremonial in nature. it is however of major importance that the sorcerer does not become obsessed with his creations, as elementals can become uncontrolla

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

hs human inhabitants. this is a question that should beon the mind of every living man and woman. it has been with us for millennia and itwill be with the children of the future if we do not come upon the answer now. wehave left the question of evil in the hands of theologians and scientists for too long.this was surely a mistake for, as the casualty statistics clearly testify, the institutionsof religion and science have been the worst purveyors of evil that this planet has everhad to endure. after centuries of prevarication and criminality, we can no longer affordto look to these edifices to answer the all-important conundrum of evil.but if we turn from religion and science in this regard, does it mean that we are left ina void? is there, perhaps, another answer to how the phenomenon of

women slowly suffered the removal of their powerand status. aggression, violence, and conquest became dominant. meat eating(unheard of in the pre-diluvian epoch) was necessary during the times of tribulationand was later maintained. class divisions were established, slavery was again pro-moted, blood sacrifice compelled, carnality indulged in, and the subjugation of natureexalted into a veritable religion. coming down from these times, commensurate withthe artificial municipal life, were the vast mind-control strategies that are still today inevidence. the urantia book and others provide a commentary on the life of human-kind in the post-diluvian epoch: acquired inheritance, cities and industry, domestication of animals, practical family organi-zation (male at the head, racial and cultural

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

fiction and fantasy, to musicand film, in which they tell the tale, knowing that it is unlikely that the average readeror viewer will go beyond their entertainment value, or indulge in deeper, heuristicanalyses.atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation67 what goes on in the bible? those of a questioning bent, disenchanted with the quandaries of materialistic science,frequently turn to religion. its representatives have lauded themselves as having thequestion of evil in hand, as possessing the special abilities and knowledge, whichalone address mankinds epistemological conundrums. for 2,000 years, christianityand the major religions have sought to account for the presence of evil. they have notsucceeded in giving us any clear answer. in attempting to answer one question, theyhav

vil in hand, as possessing the special abilities and knowledge, whichalone address mankinds epistemological conundrums. for 2,000 years, christianityand the major religions have sought to account for the presence of evil. they have notsucceeded in giving us any clear answer. in attempting to answer one question, theyhave fostered thousands of new ones. and some might argue that along with science,religion is one of the most adroit exponents of evil in the world today. and indeed,when we review the canon of christianity, we have good reason to feel frustrated. onemay well ask, what is going on in the bible? let us then take a brief look. we are told by the religions that man has two natures, good and evil. one is then com-pelled to ask why god would instill such propensities in his own crea

MICHAEL W FORD THE VAMPIRE GATE

to hold lasting relationships we do not prey on each other we don t harm people or 13 act outside of the laws of our government. luciferians enjoy life we want more of it. t h e l u c i f e r i a n c r e e d i am a luciferian and of seba and set. i am a vessel of ahriman and az. i worship my own self-progressing divinity. i deny all religions which would sacrifice the sense of i. i recognize that religion must start within and be a mirror of my desire. i affirm my body as a temple of darkness and fire. i affirm my soul as the daemon-god upon the throne in this black tower. the twin serpents are my key to continued vitality and initiation, i will seek to raise and then create my desire upon earth. i recognize my eye is but the eye of set, that as the serpent i shall command my presence upon

ek to go forth in the night in the form of the beast, drinking from the waters under the moon. we devour paradise and bath in the blood of the moon. our brothers are yatus, sorcerers of ahrimanic witchcraft; our sisters are pairikas, daughters of az. we are the people of the lie (druj, we are the those of demon-flesh awakened and ancient, forever seeking to further illuminate the black flame. our religion is sorcery, that which is ensorcelled by our practice of yatuk-dinoih (witchcraft. life is the great gift of ahriman, as isolate consciousness (the soul or psyche) is separate from the natural order. the black order of the dragon is entirely spiritual in nature, aimed at the theory of gaining immortality via the psyche. it is the physical path of exhaustion, of when the spirit and flesh a

shadow and breathe deeply in drain them enough and fly away into the night. sight in the dream will drain them, focus and call their astral body into yours. the eyes are very powerful in terms of feeding and sorcery. i will write no more of looking directly into the eyes in the nightmare, nothing more can be written here. 75 glossary ahriman [avestan/pahlavi] the prince of darkness in zoroastrian religion. ahriman is considered one brother created by zurvan and was the opposing force to ohura mazda. ahriman is also known as angra mainyu, an older title derived from angra mainyu, being the evil or averse spirit. ahriman is a sorcerer who achieved a means of immortality and power over darkness and shadow. one who creates his desire in flesh. in relation to the sorcerer or practitioner of yat

cerers may gather and grow in their arts, by encircling and manifesting their desire. m.n. dallah wrote in the history of zoroastrianism concerning a connection with demons holding mastery over the earth, their ability to sink below the earth and that such demons around the time of zoroaster walked the earth in human form. in the denkard, it is described that one who becomes a vessel for the evil religion becomes physically an abode for unholy demons or daevas. one grows aligned to arezura spiritually by practicing with discipline the path of daeva-yasna or yatukih 78 sorcery. arezur or arzur is the name of an early son of ahriman who killed the first man. asana posture relating to the practice of yoga. in reference to the luciferian path, posture is anything which is steady or consistent

ergy. practitioners of vampirism do create their own chi but also use chi absorbed or drained from other sources to manipulate the shadow by dream and ritual, growing stronger. the eye is both a symbol of vampirism and luciferian practice, predatory 88 spirituality. vampirism is based in the foundations of early egyptian texts and charles darwin theories of natural selection. not referring to the religion of vampirism. see predatory spiritualism. yatukih [avestan/pahlavi] term denoting relevance of sorcery within persian mythology. directly relating to the title of the practice of ahrimanic/satanic sorcery and the practitioner in a modern sense. see yatuk dinoih. yatuk dinoih [avestan/pahlavi] witchcraft and sorcery. the development and practice of adversarial and opposing sorcery to encir

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

arding the creation of the universe, the history of the planet, and the birth of mankind. some of these stories are oral traditions, and are handed down to subsequent generations in the form of songs and folklore. other civilizations managed to record these tales in writing, forming the many religions and mythologies that we know--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 3 today. giving the subject of religion and mythology no more than a cursory glance, one may be forgiven for believing that these myths of history and creation are the misguided accounts of an ignorant and superstitious people. truly, the stories of myth are easy to dismiss. modern man has, for the most part, accepted the assertions of psychologists regarding these ancient tales. the gate-keepers of psychology, men like sigmund

be depicted without a serpent. even the pharaohs (kings) of egypt wore a ureaus on their headpiece. the ureaus was a serpent which symbolized the immortals. gods of greek mythology are likewise associated, and often depicted, with snakes. meanwhile, here in the new world, the mythologies of the mayans, aztecs, incas, and native americans is replete with serpent symbolism. hinduism, the prevailing religion of india, is yet another religion whose gods are consistently associated with snakes. in china, and the whole of the orient, the immortal gods are connected to, or described as, dragons and serpents. in islam, the serpent is associated with satan, and demons. in voodoo the gods are again associated with serpents. reptile gods are seen as far east as the pacific islands. no matter what pla

oken. jesus, as a child, was intensely curious and full of wonder, then there s a whole 18 years of his life that completely unaccounted for in the bible (as if he disappears, then, at age around age 30, he pops back up with magical abilities and, instead of an all-consuming curiosity, has all the answers. jesus time among man may not have been fun, but he should have been honored to jump-start a religion of benevolence with those 33 years; a mere 33 years, between two eternities in paradise, is but infinitely small sliver of time. he sacrificed himself for my sins? what does that even mean? now, under normal circumstances, all i could do is relate to you this chosen one s reappearance--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 11 in mythology, and perhaps a bit of philosophical commentary. luck

in other cases, the title hathor is associated with bast, who is known to not be isis. also, in egyptian mythology, ra is the sun god, but then again so is osiris and osiris son, horus; all three are known as sun gods, and all three are confirmed as different beings--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 12 i suspect that the hindus has the best grasp on what is actually taking place. in the hindu religion gods come upon man in the form of avatars. vishnu, for instance, has come upon man 9 times already, meaning there are 10 gods who are all associated with the single god vishnu. this model could amount to a rather confusing situation if the hindus weren t aware of the multiplicity of their gods. so, not only will one find correspondences between gods in separate mythologies, but correspond

ns, the astral, and the earth. others still speak of 4 partitions: hell (infernal, heaven, the astral, and the material. the cross-sections that occultists have divided the universe differs, but there is general agreement regarding the function, and nature of the separate worlds. the concepts of heaven and hell are usually thought of as exclusively christian, but this is far from the truth. every religion and mythology out there makes reference to the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. in regards to the heavens, it is often described as an extra dimension that does indeed have the semblance of space and time. satan and the angels, for instance, are spoke of as approaching the throne of god, as if there were a way to be in heaven, but not in the presence of the throne. this is importan

MICHAEL W FORD NOX UMBRA

n developing the vampyric path, literary and folklore is highly suggested. it is through inspired magickal lore that one may develop their own form of becoming, something which may add to their own arcana of belief. in the yatuk dinoih, the lines of persian sorcery and vampyrism are close, as connected with the adversary form of ahriman. an early ritual described in "sacrifices in greek and roman religion and early judaism" by royden keith yeikes describes a persian blood ritual known as 'taurobolium, which holds a connection to mithris and the lore of the bull. in this ritual, the practitioner slays a bull on a platform, which has many holes in the wood. the blood then pours upon the individual. symbolically, the sacrifice of the wolf to ahriman is symbolic only. no blood of an animal or

MOODY RAYMOND A LIFE AFTER LIFE

borne out by my findings. thirdly, my religious upbringing deserves some' comment. my family attended the presbyterian church, yet my parents never tried to impose their religious beliefs or concepts upon their children. they generally tried, as i was growing up, to encourage whatever interests i developed on my own and provided the opportunity for me to pursue them. so, i have grown up having a "religion" not as a set of fixed doctrines, but rather as a concern with spiritual and religious doctrines, teachings, and questions. i believe that all the great religions of man have many truths to tell us, and i believe that no one of us has all the answers to the deep and fundamental truths with which religion deals. in organizational terms, i am a member of the methodist church. fourthly, my a

viet nam related his difficulty in dealing with his out-of-body experiences emotionally "i get choked up by trying to tell about it even now. i feel that there is a lot i don't remember about it. i have tried to forget it" in short, it seems that a strong case can be made that embellishment has not been a very significant factor in the development of these stories. did all these people profess a religion before their experiences? if so, aren't the experiences shaped by their religious beliefs and backgrounds? they seem to be to some extent. as mentioned earlier, though the description of the being of light is invariable, the identity ascribed to it varies, apparently as a function of the religious background of the individual. through all of my research, however, i have not heard a single

ges men have turned to such psychoactive compounds in their quest to achieve other states of consciousness and to reach other planes of reality (for a lively and fascinating contemporary exposition of this side of drug use, see the recent book, the natural mind, by andrew weil, m.d) thus, drug use has historically been associated, not only with medicine and the treatment of disease, but also with religion and the attainment of enlightenment. for example, in the well-publicized rituals of the peyote cult found among american indians in the western united states, the peyote cactus plant (which contains the substance mescaline) is ingested in order to attain religious visions and enlightenment. there are similar cults all over the world, and their members share the belief that the drug they e

MORALS AND DOGMA

ents--the executive, which executes the laws; the legislative, which makes the laws; the judiciary, which interprets the laws, applies and enforces them, between man and man, between the state and the citizens. the three invisible faces, are liberty, equality, and fraternity--the threefold soul of the state--its vitality, spirit, and intellect* though masonry neither usurps the place of, nor apes religion, prayer is an essential part of our ceremonies. it is the aspiration of the soul toward the absolute and infinite intelligence, which is the one supreme deity, most feebly and misunderstandingly characterized as an "architect" certain faculties of man are directed toward the unknown--thought, meditation, prayer. the unknown is an ocean, of which conscience is the compass. thought, meditat

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

ateuch in a hebrew lodge, and the koran in a mohammedan one, belong on the altar; and one of these, and the square and compass, properly understood, are the great lights by which a mason must walk and work. the obligation of the candidate is always to be taken on the sacred book or books of his religion, that he may deem it more solemn and binding; and therefore it was that you were asked of what religion you were. we have no other concern with your religious creed. the square is a right angle, formed by two right lines. it is adapted only to a plane surface, and belongs only to geometry, earth-measurement, that trigonometry which deals only with planes, and with the earth, which the ancients supposed to be a plane. the compass describes circles, and deals with spherical trigonometry, the

sis weeping over the broken column containing the remains of osiris at byblos* masonry has its decalogue, which is a law to its initiates. these are its ten commandments: i [symbol: earth: god is the eternal, omnipotent, immutable wisdom and supreme intelligence and exhaustless love. thou shalt adore, revere, and love him! thou shalt honor him by practising the virtues! ii [symbol: full moon: thy religion shall be, to do good because it is a pleasure to thee, and not merely because it is a duty. that thou mayest become the friend of the wise man, thou shalt obey his precepts! thy soul is immortal! thou shalt do nothing to degrade it! iii [symbol: earth: thou shalt unceasingly war against vice! thou shalt not do unto others that which thou wouldst not wish them to do unto thee! thou shalt b

sophy. morality is faith in full bloom. contemplation should lead to action, and the absolute be practical; the ideal be made air and food and drink to the human mind. wisdom is a sacred communion. it is only on that condition that it ceases to be a sterile love of science, and becomes the one and supreme method by which to unite humanity and arouse it to concerted action. then philosophy becomes religion. and masonry, like history and philosophy, has eternal duties--eternal, and, at the same time; simple--to oppose caiaphas as bishop, draco or jefferies as judge, trimalcion as legislator, and tiberius as emperor. these are the symbols of the tyranny that degrades and crushes, and the corruption that defiles and infests. in the works published for the use of the craft we are told that the

MOTTA MARCELO THE COMMENTARIES OF AL

gross animal gesture which shames his boasted humanity. the appetite drags him at its hoofs; it tires him, disgusts him, diseases him, makes him ridiculous even in his own eyes. it is the source of nearly all his neuroses. against this monster he has devised two protections. firstly, he pretends that it is a fairy prince disguised, and hangs it with the rags and tinsel of romance, sentiment, and religion. he calls it love, denies its strength and truth, and worships this wax figure of him with all sorts of amiable lyrics and leers. second, he is so certain, despite all his theatrical-wardrobe- work, that it is a devouring monster, that he resents with insane ferocity the existence of people who laugh at his fears, and tell him the monster he fears is in reality not a fire-breathing worm

of the strong room of the future "this (doctrine) shall regenerate the world, the little world, my sister. the misunderstanding of sex, the ignorant fear like a fog, the ignorant lust like a miasma, these things have done more to keep back humanity from realization of itself, and from intelligent cooperation with its destiny, than any other dozen things put together. the vileness and falseness of religion itself have been monsters aborted from the dark womb of its infernal mystery. there is nothing unclean or degrading in any manifestation soever of the sexual instinct, because, without exception, every act is an impulsively projected image of the will of the individual who, whether man or woman, is a star; the pennsylvanian with his pig no less than the spirit with mary; sappho with athis

the direct result of mismanaging the sexual life, either tactically, strategically, or both. the book of the law emphasizes the importance of these considerations. the act of love must be spontaneous, in absolute freedom. the man must be true to himself. romeo must not be thrust on rosaline for family, social, or financial reasons. desdemona must not be barred from othello for reasons of race or religion. the homosexual must not blaspheme his nature and commit spiritual suicide by suppressing love or attempting to pervert it, as ignorance and fear, shame and weakness, so often induce him to do. whatever the act which expresses the soul, that act and no other is right. but, on the other hand, whatever the act may be it is always a sacrament; and, however profaned, it is always efficient. t

temple upon them. the chance of finding a suitable object of love has been reduced well nigh to zero by substituting for the actual conditions, as stated in the above paragraphs, a totally artificial and irrelevant series; the restrictions on the act itself, marriage, opinion, the conspiracy of silence, criminal laws,financial fetters, selections limited by questions of race, nationality, caste, religion, social and political cliqueishness, even family exclusiveness. out of the millions of humanity the average person is lucky if he can take his pick of a couple of score of partners. i will here add one further pillar to my temple. it happens only too often that two people, absolutely fitted in every way to love each other, are totally debarred from expressing themselves by sheer ignorance

gods that is not also of us" therefore, the love that is law is no less love in the petty personal sense; for love that makes two one is the engine whereby even the final two, self and not-self, may become one, in the mystic marriage of the bride, the soul, with him appointed from eternity to espouse her; yes, even the most high, god all-in-all, the truth. therefore we hold love holy, our heart's religion, our mind's science. shall he not have his ordered rite, his priests and poets, his makers of beauty in colour and form to adorn him, his makers of music to praise him? shall not his theologians, divining his nature, declare him? shall not even those who but sweep the courts of his temple, partake thereby of his person? and shall not our science lay hands on him, measure him, discover the

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS E

leaming ivory. lower down were the homes of the other gods, which, though less commanding in position and size, were yet similar to that of zeus in design and workmanship, all being the work of the divine artist hephastus. below these were other palaces of silver, ebony, ivory, or burnished brass, where the heroes, or demi-gods, resided. as the worship of zeus formed so important a feature in the religion of the greeks, his statues were necessarily both numerous and magnificent. he is usually represented as a man of noble and imposing mien, his countenance expressing all the lofty majesty of the omnipotent ruler of the universe, combined with the gracious, yet serious, benignity of the father and friend of mankind. he may be recognized by his rich flowing beard, and the thick masses of hai

place at night, consisted of black sheep, and the blood, instead of being sprinkled on the altars or received in vessels, as at other sacrifices, was permitted to run down into a trench, dug for this purpose. the officiating priests wore black robes, and were crowned with cypress. the narcissus, maiden-hair, and cypress were sacred to this divinity. pluto. before the introduction into rome of the religion and literature of greece, the romans had no belief in a realm of future happiness or misery, corresponding to the greek hades; hence they had no god of the lower world identical with aides. they supposed that there was, in the centre of the earth, a vast, gloomy, and impenetrably dark cavity called orcus, which formed a place of eternal rest for the dead. but with the introduction of gree

NAGEL CARL AMAZING SECRETS OF OCCULT POWER

ey, an infamous black magician of the 1920s, was< dubbed by the daily express the wickedest man who ever lived and came to believe that he was the biblical beast of the revelations. he was, for a short time, a member of the hermetic order of the golden dawn, but his true interest lie in the oto (ordo templis orientis, a german order involved in sexual magic. he took this and adapted it into a new religion, thelema. a magical system dedicated to the enlightenment of one s soul via sex rituals held in honor of pan, the god of earthly existence and often portrayed as the carnal side of man s nature. in 1920 crowley established his abbey of thelema on a small island off the coast of sicily, the walls of which were covered with an incredible collection of crowley s artistic expertise. frescoes

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

ble of erecting large structures by themselves and because this work required extensive general, technical, and artistic knowledge. here it is necessary to make an important, preliminary observation if we truly wish to understand the history of labor and trades: first and foremost, this association always had a religious basis. for the people of antiquity, every action of life was commingled with religion. humans considered themselves the playthings of higher powers without whose help it was impossible to succeed at anything. work was notably invested with a sacred nature. oswald wirth, in les mysteres de l'art royal, translated this religious sentiment with great skill: the ancient corporations: colleges of builders in rome 5 the hunter sacrificed to the guardian spirit of the animal he s

bers of primitive clans gathered together to eat the sacred animal "they communed" durkheim wrote "with the sacred principle that dwelled within it and they assimilated it. the purpose of sacrificial banquets was to bring about communion of the believer and his god in one flesh in order to knit between them a bond of kinship" thus we may say that dietary communion was one of the earliest forms of religion.5 the roman collegia it is supremely important to establish the connection between operative freemasonry and the collegia artificum et fabrorum of rome, for the collegia exerted a major influence over trade brotherhoods of the middle ages, which more or less directly descended from them. according to plutarch, colleges of artisans were founded in rome by king numa pompilius around 715 b.c

st originally. their degeneration into something lesser did not occur until later and was one reason why the julia law (67-64 b.c) limited their number. professional worship in the collegia and the conversion to christianity we now return to the fundamental nature of ancient trades. originally, as was the case in other cultures, the laws and institutions of roman society were essentially based on religion. this was also true for the collegia, whose activity was dominated by professional worship. it was natural and indispensable for each roman collegium to have its tutelary deities, just as every family had its lares (household 12 the origins of freemasonry from ancient times to the middle ages gods. it was in this celebration of common worship that the affiliated members recognized each ot

he tongue and mores of his country."11 indeed* for more on the symbolic myth of hercules and its connection with builders, see my book les loges de saint-jean (paris: editions dervy, 1995, 71 ff. the ancient corporations: colleges of builders in rome 13 the best propagators of christianity in the working classes were the syrians "christianity in the third and fourth centuries was preeminently the religion of syria. after palestine, syria played the greatest role in its foundation."12 the community of worship and more or less religious or ritual practices had the natural effect of strengthening the ties bonding the faithful. a kind of solidarity compelled members of the same collegium to lend help and assistance to each other when life's circumstances so dictated. one of trajan's letters re

e. people wanted assurance that they would not be tossed into one of the atrocious mass graves common to that era and that their college would see to their funeral arrangements.those who were buried together contracted a kind of intimate fraternity and kinship.13 the sacred character attached to labor continued with the rise of christianity and in fact was reinvigorated and rejuvenated by the new religion, which enabled labor subsequently to acquire an even higher value. this effect, which is often overlooked, is of the utmost importance, for it appears in all the social and political upheavals that have taken place throughout the history of labor. throughout the centuries the church unfailingly proclaimed and continually developed this principle: labor is the image of divine creation. 14

NEW WORLD ORDER OR OCCULT SECRET DESTINY

n the goal is the false teaching of man s divinity. the new agers see many ways to salvation; christians proclaim that there is only one way- jesus christ. for the gate is small, and narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it (matt. 7:14) the bible states that this is in reality the broad way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter it (matt. 7:13) therefore, the only religion not compatible with the new age, and hence the coming new world order, is the belief and strict adherence in the word god with traditional christianity being looked upon as particularly pernicious. in dark secrets of the new age, texe marrs wrote: the new age is a universal open-arms religion that excludes from its ranks only those who believe in jesus christ and a personal god. buddhists

es, witch doctors and shamans all who reject christianity are invited to become trusted members of the new age family. worshippers of separate faiths and denominations are to be unified in a common purpose: the glorification of man. the guardians of the mysteries freemasonry, by its own accord, practices the ancient mysteries of egypt, and has as a primary goal, the re-instatement of this mystery religion for the coming world order. the magical mystery religion of ancient egypt exercised a great fascination over renaissance man, which was incorporated into the newly formed lodges at that time. the mysterious heiroglyphs were considered to be symbols of hidden knowledge. symbols and gestures became a means of conveying secrets and truths. the cosmos was seen as an organic unity. it was peop

ion of man into superman was always the purpose of the ancient mysteries, and the real purpose of modern masonry is, not the social and charitable purposes to which so much attention is paid, but the expediting of the spiritual evolution of those who aspire to perfect their own nature and transform it into a more god-like quality. freemasonry, through its mysteries, will soon usher in a new world religion for the new world order. a modern day tower of babel and the ultimate unification of the world s religions. the new age welcomes these goals and looks to the light of masonry as its esoteric basis for occult initiation into the new world order. benjamin creme writes: the new religion will manifest, for instance,through organizations like masonry. in freemasonry is embedded the core or the

e secret heart of the occult mysteries, wrapped up on number, metaphor and symbol (the reappearance of the christ and the masters of wisdom p.87) freemason and co-founder of lucifer publishing company (now called lucis trust, foster bailey, concurs, is it not possible from a contemplation of this side of masonic teaching that it may provide all that is necessary for the formulation of a universal religion (the spirit of masonry p.113) foster bailey states that masonry is the descendant of, or is founded upon, a divinely imparted religion. this religion he explains..was the first united world religion. then came the era of separation of many religions and sectarianism. today we are working again towards a world universal religion (ibid p.31) to biblical students these are shocking admission

ONYX TABLET OF SET

the *mediator* to determine what remedies apply] the priesthood administrative mailing list purpose 3admin-l is for administrative notices or discussions within the priesthood of the temple of set. anything and everything that applies to temple administration is appropriate for the 3admin-l list. priesthood discussions that are not administrative in nature, such as those dealing with philosophy, religion, or initiation, are more appropriate on the 3foruml list. please remember that subscriptions to this mailing list are restricted to priests of the temple of set, and that the messages on the list are intended only for the priesthood. if you wish to share a message posted to 3admin-l with anyone else, please obtain the permission of the author of the post before doing so. posting conceptua

regarding mailing list operations should be sent to the list administrators at 3admin-l-admin@xeper.org the current version of this document is always available by sending email to 3admin-linfo@ xeper.org be prideful of being! the priesthood forum mailing list purpose 3forum-l is for discussions within the priesthood of the temple of set. anything and everything that applies to setian philosophy, religion, initiation, or similar topics is appropriate for the 3forum-l list. topics which deal with administrative matters or notices would be more appropriate on the 3admin-l list. please remember that subscriptions to this mailing list are restricted to priests of the temple of set, and that the messages on the list are intended only for the priesthood. if you wish to share a message posted to

eat power in that it is dealing with psyches that are still dependent on signals from without, but has made the leap of cutting out most of the signals. the priesthood's power to send a signal of success or lack of progressi s its most important and sacred tool. be very careful in its use, and always talk to another iii+ in this matter. when to counsel the world lacks traditions of initiation and religion. this means that most people entering the temple, or even remaining in the second degree for years, largely view the temple as a hobby. when our lives are taken up by "real" matters like illness, school, employment issues--we give up our hobbies. sometimes even our best and brightest will do this. whereas we always respect the right of the person to decide, we have the obligation to expre

: html revision: june 11, 1998 ce candidates to the temple will have all of the weaknesses of the world they come from. this does not mean that we should tolerate weaknesses, it means that we should from the start begin leading them away form weakness.those who will be our nobles will be glad (at least in the long run) thatwe did so. the most common weaknesses in the world are: a sense that magic/religion are entertainment. they never had to work hard as christians or agnostics or wiccans, and hard work seems to be a sign of "fanaticism" hard work is the norm if you are trying to do something that goes against the grain of the world. a sense that all things are equal "all religions are one" or other relativistic drivel. this can be changed from a passive attitude into one of challenge- sin

d manipulate it without the respect he would have for it if he believed in it. he quickly acquires contempt for these popular images and beliefs; in his work he must change the propaganda themes so frequently that he cannot possibly attach himself to any formal, sentimental, political, or other aspect of the ideology" replace the terms "propagandist" and "ideology" with "conventional priest" and "religion" and you will see that the point of the paragraph is unchanged. in 1984 george orwell pointed out that, this hypocrisy notwithstanding, it is a test of the orthodoxy and reliability of the propagandist that he never admit to his cynicism: that it remain onyx tablet: ot.i.mod temple of set author: michael a. aquino vi date: december 1, 1988 ce revision: html revision: august 8, 1999 ce uns

PATRON OF SORCERY

nding them. the wise would do well to look to themselves, within and beyond, for the emergence of this pattern. the simple act of looking shows that it is occurrit the patron of sorcery dakhla sba 16 july xxxi, aeon of set (1996 ce) during a recent conversation, a student of ancient egypt mentioned to me the cult of isis and osiris and its survival of the fall of egypt as a mediterranean "mystery religion. as an initiate of the modern temple of set, i began to wonder to what extent the original cult of set had survived that civilization, and what documented forms this survival had taken. i found an answer in hans dieter betz's edition of the greek magical papyri in translation including the demotic spells (chicago: university of chicago press, 1986. in the twilight of egyptian civilization

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

daughter iatiku with her sister to make the earth fruitful. iatiku sends her son to lead the people up into this world, and then iatiku and her sister sing a creation song, all the while casting seeds and images of their song out of a basket given them by spider woman (see p. 93. we still talk of mother earth. native americans consider this as a fact. smohalla, the wanapam founder of the dreamer religion in the mid-19th century, said: you ask me to plow the ground! shall i take a knife and tear my mother s bosom? then when i die she will not take me to her bosom to rest. you ask me to dig for stone! shall i dig under her skin for her bones? then when i die i cannot enter her body to be born again. you ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it, and be rich like white men! but how dare i

s, when he is initiated into her cult: i am nature, the universal mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are. holding the world together in the mysteries of eleusis in ancient greece, the great goddess formed the central focus of greek religion (see p. 29. these rituals, open only to the initiated, related to the myth of the grain goddess demeter, and her daughter persephone, the ineffable maiden. those who witnessed the rites were assured of a new birth in death. the mysteries were thought by the greeks to hold the entire human race together. such a belief illustrates the crucial importance of myth in holding the world together

e sources say six) months on earth with her