Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
RELIGIOUS

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ith no one outside the order. i hold in my hand your signed pledge to keep secret all relating to this order, but to confirm it, i now ask if you are willing, in the presence of the lord of the universe and this assembly, to take a great and solemn obligation to keep inviolate the secrets and mysteries of our order" 30 candidate "i am" hierophant "there is nothing contrary to your civil, moral or religious duties in this obligation. although the magical virtues can indeed awaken into momentary life, in the wicked and foolish hearts, they cannot rein in any heart that has not the natural virtues to be their throne (hierophant advances between the pillars, the hiereus stands on the candidate's left, the hegemon on the candidate's right, the stolistes behind the hiereus, the dadouchos behind

an ascent from malkuth through yesod and tiphareth to kether on the central pillar of the tree. zohar: the book of splendor, the principal book of the qabalah. it is thought to have been written by moses de leon and was first circulated around 1280-1290 a.d. in guadalajara. it included commentaries on the torah. gnosticism: gnosis is a greek term for knowledge. the term gnosis applies to certain religious sects that emerged during the early formative years christianity, and which believed in hidden spiritual knowledge. the main factor that differentiated them from christianity was their emphasis on knowledge rather than faith. the christian church fathers considered the gnostics heretical, or heretics. kether: the first emanation on the tree of life. occultists identify kether as the stat

0 0 INITIATION CEREMONY

ay be obtained. hiero (name of aspirant) i hold in my hand your signed pledge to keep secret all relating to this order, but to confirm it i now ask if you are willing in the presence of this assembly to take a great and solemn obligation to keep inviolate the secrets and mysteries of our order? let me however assure you that this obligation contains nothing incompatible with your civil, moral or religious duties. cand: i am. hiero: advances between pillars to eastern side of altar. hiereus: stands on candidate's left. heg: stands on candidate's right. kerux: advances to the altar picks up the triangle and delivers it to the hierophant. hiero: thou wilt kneel on both knees, give me your right hand, which i place on this sacred and sublime symbol. places candidate's right hand on the center

18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

ds: 1. the undisputed and very close affinity of speech between the two races, and the now irrefutably demonstrated identity of form in their oldest poetry. it is impossible that nations speaking languages which had sprung from the same stock' whose songs all wore the badge of an alliteration either unknown or quite differently applied by their neighbours, should have differed materially in their religious belief. alliteration seems to give place to christian rhyme, first in upper germany, and then in saxony, precisely because it had been the characteristic of heathen songs then still existing. without prejudice to their original affinity, it is quite true that the german and the norse dialects and poetries have their peculiarities of form and finish; but it would seem incredible that the

there were marked differences no doubt, but not otherwise than in their language; and as the gothic, anglo- saxon and old high german dialects have their several points of superiority over the old norse, so may the faitli of inland germany liave in many points its claims to distinction and individuality. intkoductioxn. 11 2. the joint possession, by all teutonic tongues, of many terms relating to religious worship. if we are able to produce a word used by the goths in the 4th century, by the alamanni in the 8th, in exactly the same form and sense as it continues to bear in the norse authorities of the 12th or 13th century, the affinity of the german faith with the norse, and the antiquity of the latter, are thereby vindicated. 3. the identity of mythic notions and nomenclature, which ever

y vindicated. 3. the identity of mythic notions and nomenclature, which ever and anon breaks out: thus the agreement of the o.h.g. muspilli, 0. sax. mudspelli, with the eddie muspell, of the o.h.g. itis, a. sax. ides, with the eddie dis, or of the a. sax. brosinga mene with the eddie brisinga men, affords perfectly conclusive evidence. 4. the precisely similar way in which both there and here the religious mythus tacks itself on to the heroic legend. as the gothic, fraukish and norse genealogies all run into one another, we can scarcely deny the connexion of the veiled myths also which stand in the background. 5. the mingling of the mythic element with names of plants and constellations. this is an uneffaced vestige of the primeval intimate union between religious worship and nature. 6. th

tice. the popular religion of the catholics, particularly in the adoration of saints, includes a good many and often graceful and pleasing relics of paganism (see suppl. 7. the evident deposit from god-myths, which is found to this day in various folk-tales, nursery-tales, games, saws, curses, illunderstood names of days and months, and idiomatic phrases. 8. the undeniable intermixture of the old religious doctrine with the system of law; for the latter, even after the adoption of^ conf. our' donner! hammer' the sei-v' lele! lado' the lat' pol! aedepol! me herole! me castor! medius^lidius &c. 12 introduction. tlie new faith, would not part with certain old forms and usages (see suppl. in unravelling these complex relations, it appears indispensable not to overlook the mythologies of neighb

e been meant (jcfa priggja sdlda 61 osni (give three tuns of ale to osinn, fornm. sog. 2, 16. gefa thor ok 0(5ni 61, ok signa fidl asum, ibid. 1, 280. drecka minni thors ok ogins, ibid. 3, 191. as the north made the sign of thor's hammer, christians used the cross for the blessing (segnung) of the cup; conf. poculum signare, walthar. 225, precisely the norse sig7ia full. minne-drinking, even as a religious rite, apparently exists to this day in some parts of germany. at otbergen, a village of hildesheim, on dec. 27 every year a chalice of wine is hallowed by the priest, and handed to the congregation in the church to drink as johannis segen (blessing; it is not done in any of the neighbouring places. in sweden and norway we find at candlemas a dricka eldhorgs skcd, drinking a toast (see su

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

eir remains can still be seen. the old ways did not die quickly, however, and so for centuries the two religions co-existed as people gradually transferred their allegiance from the earth mother, or mother goddess, to the virgin mary and the female saints. the persecution of witches but in medieval times, two largely political issues brought about the persecution of witches, especially women. the religious emphasis on the sin of eve and the belief in the inferiority of women had existed since the time of st paul, but with the rise of an organised male medical profession, women healers who had acted as herbalists and midwives became a threat. this was not least because their skills ensured less painful childbirth, which was considered contrary to the curse of god that the daughters of eve s

ers of the tribe that she would come to them next morning with a great gift for the people. a huge ornate ceremonial tepee was erected and in the morning she entered, carrying a special bundle on her back and singing a holy song. the men kept their eyes lowered when she entered, as she had instructed. she unfastened the bundle and took from it the buffalo calf pipe, which is still the most sacred religious object of the lakota today. the woman instructed the men in how to smoke the pipe, which in its smoke symbolised the visible spirit, in the bowl mother earth and in the stem father sky, so that it might be used for prayer offerings to her and for bringing peace to divided nations. on her visits she also taught sacred ceremonies for restoring balance and healing to both earth and people

death into new more perfect life. she can be invoked for all waning moon magic and for rituals for banishing sorrows and bad habits. charges charges are declarations of the powers of the gods or godesses involved in the ritual, and are in themselves empowering and a way of linking the practitioner's own divine spark with that represented by the divinity. they are similar to creeds in a christian religious service. the charge of the goddess the charge of the goddess is a powerful way of focusing on cosmic energies. the goddess is considered to be both 'transcendent, or above and beyond the created universe (like the traditional idea of god on a cloud, looking down and judging creation, and also 'immanent, or manifest within every natural object, be it flower, stone, animal or person. the t

do something positive to help a person, animal or place on the day after the third ritual. it need not involve money. you can re-light the oils at any time if energies seem sluggish and repeat the whole ritual a moon cycle later for as long as is necessary. there may be a lot of negative vibes swimming the other way, so persevere and be patient. incense magick incense has formed a central part of religious and magical ceremonies for thousands of years in lands as far apart as india and north america. it has been used for purification purposes, to invoke angels and to bind or repel demons by medieval magicians. it is said to release specific energies contained in its fragrance and to carry prayers and petitions to the god or goddess figure being invoked. since the 1960s, incense sticks, con

rks. with practice, you will learn to add the right quantity to ensure a steady but not choking stream of smoke as part of the ritual. many practitioners prefer to light it beforehand and just add a teaspoon of incense as part of the ceremony or spell when they need a billow of fragrance. incenses with a greater proportion of resin and gum will last longer- hence the popularity of frankincense in religious ceremonies. when working in a group, you can ask one person to top up the censer if necessary during a long rite. if you are alone, make this part of your increasing power actions in a private ritual. practise using non-combustible incense before rituals and in time it will become as natural as lighting a candle. the second type of incense, which many practitioners, myself included, pref

ABRAMELIN1

f constance: the duke of bavaria: duke leopold of saxony: the greek emperor, constantine introduction vii palaeologos: and probably the archbishop albert of magdeburg: and also some of the hussite leaders a roll of names celebrated in the history of that stirring time. considering the era in which our author lived, and the nation to which he belonged, he appears to have been somewhat broad in his religious views; for not only does he insist that this sacred system of magic may be attained by any one, whether jew, christian, mahometan, or pagan, but he also continually warns lamech against the error of changing the religion in which one has been brought up; and he alleges this circumstance as the reason of the occasional failures of the magician joseph of paris (the only other person he men

ABRAMELIN2

r operate for two other persons, whether it be for love or for hatred, you should expressly name both, and move the symbols answering to the classes under which they fall. also, if it be possible, you can touch them with the symbol, whether it be general or particular. under this heading are included all classes of goodwill, among the which the most difficult by far is to make yourself beloved by religious persons.130 chapter xxi (to transform oneself, and take different faces and forms) in this transmutation, which is rather a fascination, the method of operating is as follows: take the symbol in your left hand, and with it stroke your face. now were it some (ordinary) necromancer who was transformed by the working of some diabolical art, he would soon be discovered (by you. it of abramel

ommonplace ideas of everyday life, so as the better to exalt our thoughts. but, as abraham says, we should before all things understand what we are repeating. 17 the passover is about the vernal equinox and nearly corresponds to our easter; it begins on the 15th or 16th of the jewish first month= nisan or abib. the feast of tabernacles begins about the middle of their seventh month= tisri. 18 ie, religious denomination. 19 it is immaterial whether the religious conception be theistic or pantheistic. 20 the initiates of the true rosicrucian wisdom, know that there is a certain force in the observance of the equinoxes. 21 abraham evidently means his guardian angel. 22 here abraham admits to an extent what i have urged in my previous notes. 23 i.e, the astrologers to whom abraham refers in th

in magic it is advisable to turn towards the quarter sympathetic in nature with that of the spirit you wish to summon. 68 that is if you convoke them to serve you. but all mediaeval tradition implies that they are ready enough to come if you are an evil-minded person wishing to make a pact with them to obtain magical force, i.e. a goetic magician as opposed to an initiate adept. 69 this is why in religious and magical writings such stress is laid on the importance of controlling the thoughts; which are as it were our prototypical speech and action in all matters of importance. modern thought-reading would alone suggest this to persons unskilled in occultism. 70 les esprits jugent parla denostre ignoranse et serendent plus reveches et ostinez. the initiate knows the value of an invocation w

balah 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 squares of numbers above are evidently intended for the reverse sides; adam being applied to the child

ABRAMELIN3

magick 177 hatred, you should still name such persons aloud, and move the symbols of the class or classes under which they come. also, if possible, it is a good thing to touch them with the symbol, on the bare skin, if you can. under this heading are included all classes of good-will and affection, among the which abraham says that the most difficult thing is to make oneself or others beloved by religious persons (e) no. b is a gnomon of j squares taken from a square of c f. dodim means" loves pleasures. no. c consists of b h squares arranged like a capital letter e taken from a square of c f squares. raiah means a female companion. no. d consists of b d squares taken from a square of c f squares. modah= adorned as for a bridal. no. e consists of c f squares from a square of e j. no. f co

ADEPTUS MINOR INITIATION

th work in the zodiac; so that three plus seven multiplied by twelve yieldeth the number 120. second "o aspirant, ere thou canst enter the tomb of the adepti of the rose of ruby and the cross of gold, it is necessary to take a solemn obligation of secrecy, fidelity, fraternity, and justice. but as in all the previous obligations, there is nothing contained therein contrary to thy civil, moral, or religious duties. art thou willing to take such a pledge" aspirant "i am (hodos pulls up aspirant's robe over the head) second "are you willing to receive the stripes upon your back as a symbol of your willingness to martyr your flesh in the protection of this order (aspirant answers) hodos (removes the robe. using the whip, he lashes the aspirant 10 times which is symbolic of the 10 sephiroth) se

ALEE J BOOK OF AIWASS

, sustainer. the role of satan is architect, builder and destroyer. both work interdependently to achieve balance, harmony and consistent change. they define, compliment and complete one another. life is an expression of both order and chaos. it consists of a continuous series of good and bad experiences which appear to follow a pattern. this is true regardless of age, irrespective of our race or religious convictions. when life goes well, our spiritual growth tends to stagnate. the onslaughts and challenges of daily life give us the impetus to grow and excel. spiritual evolution beginning with the lower order of species, one particular strain will possess what could be termed a "hive soul" take for example the monarch butterfly- there are thousands in existence, yet they collectively poss

ating from behind your head- you point to the shadow cast in front of you and exclaim "i see saint peter. or satan" so the deities we give prayers and thoughts to become part of the tapestry of the universal unconscious and attach themselves to various archetypes, which are impersonal. what i am saying is, archetypes are also a natural conduit to the daemonic resonance we spoke of. and so, when a religious person tells me they prayed to mother mary and received an inspirational message in a dream which helped change the course of their life, i simply smile and nod. when daemons walk among us, they choose the time and the place, unlike younger souls, but there are no virgin births or "immaculate conceptions" it must be stressed that, as a race, the ancient ones come infrequently and they ar

ALEISTER CROWLEY EIGHT LECTURES ON YOGA

n) when a dancing girl is dedicated to the service of a temple there is a yoga of her relations to celebrate. 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

w immediately that if we were to put any common sense into the business (science is nothing but instructed common sense, the first thing to do was to make a comparative study of the different systems of mysticism. it was immediately apparent that the results all over the world were identical. they were masked by sectarian theories. the methods all over the world were identical; this was masked by religious prejudice and local custom. but in their quiddity- identical! this simple principle proved quite sufficient to disentangle the subject from the extraordinary complexities which have confused its expression. 3. when it came to the point of preparing a simple analysis of the matter, the question arose: what terms shall we use? the mysticisms of europe are hopelessly muddled; the theories h

thing to do with yama, or abstract righteousness. it was due to the fact that pork in eastern countries was infected with the trichina; which killed people who ate pork improperly cooked. it was no good telling the savages that fact. any way, they would only have broken the hygienic command when greed overcame them. the advice had to be made a universal rule, and supported with the authority of a religious sanction. they had not the brains to believe in trichinosis; but they were afraid of jehovah and jehannum. just so, under the grouping of yama we learn that the aspiring yogi must become 'fixed in the non-receiving of gifts' which means that if anyone offers you a cigarette or a drink of water, you must reject his insidious advances in the most victorian manner. it is such nonsense as th

eseen. i wish to thunder forth once more that no questions of right or wrong enter into our problems. but in the stratosphere it is 'right' for a man to be shut up in a pressure-resisting suit electrically heated, with an oxygen supply, whereas it would be 'wrong' for him to wear it if he were running the three miles in the summer sports in the tanezrouft. this is the pit into which all the great religious teachers have hitherto fallen, and i am sure you are all looking hungrily at me in the hope of seeing me do likewise. but no! there is one principle which carries us through all conflicts concerning conduct, because it is perfectly rigid and perfectly elastic 'do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law' so: it is not the least use to come and pester me about it. perfect mastery of t

t the worst inheritance of the emasculate school of mystics is the abominable confusion of thought which arises from the idea that bodily functions and appetites have some moral implications. this is a confusion of the planes. there is no true discrimination between good and evil. the only question that arises is that of convenience in respect of any proposed operation. the whole of the moral and religious lumber of the ages must be discarded for ever before attempting yoga. you will find out only too soon what it means to do wrong; by our very thesis itself all action is wrong. any action is only relatively right in so far as it may help us to put an end to the entire process of action. these relatively useful actions are therefore those which make for control, or 'virtue' they have been

ALEISTER CROWLEY AD MEIORUM CTHULHI GLORIAM

victory have been banging and clamouring at the gates. december 1977 was the middle of the killing spree of the calibre killer, known to the press as the son of sam, who was motivated- according to recent reports- by membership in a satanic cult in yonkers. several months after the capture of david berkowitz in 1978, nearly one thousand people killed themselves in guyana at the orders of a crazed religious leader. several months after that, the leader of a mystical islamic sect seized power in iran and- at the time of writing- is calling for a holy war against the infidel. there is evidence that every new age witnesses a baptism by fire. christians and muslims are turning on each other and themselves; israel is once again in serious jeopardy; buddhism is being eradicated in southeast asia

ls, black masses, animal sacrifice, and even human sacrifice, were reported- or blatantly lied about. for although many of the stories were simply not true or fanciful exaggeration, one thing was certain: aleister crowley was a magician, and one of the first order. born on october 12, 1875, in england- in the same country as shakespeare- edward alexander crowley grew up in a strict fundamentalist religious family, members of a sect called the "plymouth brethren. the first person to call him by that name and number by which he would become famous (after the reference in the book of revelation "the beast 666, was his mother, and he eventually took this appellation to heart. he changed his name to aleister crowley while still at cambridge, and by that name, plus "666, he would never be long o

ythology 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 rituale. magick, as well in history, begins at sumer for the western world, for it his here, in the sand-buried cuneiform tablets that recorded an age, that the first creation epic is found, the first exorcism, the first ritual invocations of planetary deities, the first dark summonings of evil powers, and ironically, the first "burnings" of people the anthropologists call "witches. love

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

vil, satan, which the church depicted as a half-animal, half-human creature with horns, claws, and sometimes a tail. the church's use of the horns as a sort of archetype of evil is quite similar to the feeling many people have today with regards to the swastika used by the nazis, a symbol which has become the archetype of an evil sigil in the west. the fact that it is a highly valued mystical and religious symbol in the east is something that is not well-known. what is worse, the image of the devil as perpetrated by the church is simultaneously representative of sexual energy, and can be safely compared to jung's archetype of the shadow, the psychic repository of a man's innate maleness, as the anima represents that part of a man which is feminine. truly, the pictures painted of a satanic

ALEISTER CROWLEY BOOK OF LIES

strongly dupin's account of how he was able to win at the game of guessing odd or even (see poe's tale of "the purloined letter) but this is a more serious piece of psychology. in one's book of lies get any book for free on: www.abika.com 37 advance towards a comprehension of the universe, one changes radically one's point of view; nearly always it amounts to a reversal. this is the cause of most religious controversies. paragraph 1, however, is frater perdurabo's formulation of his perception of the universal joke, also described in chapter 34. all individual existence is tragic. perception of this fact is the essence of comedy "household gods" is an attempt to write pure comedy "the bacchae" of euripides is another. at the end of the chapter it is, however, seen that to the master of the

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

but see appendix, liber samekh. compare also "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 mu

ncomprehensibly familiar and attractive to him. this was not the ordinary phenomenon of the "deja vu, it was chiefly a sense of being at home again. he discovered long after that levi had lived in the neighbourhood for many years. 5. there are many curious similarities between the events of eliphas levi's life and that of aleister crowley. the intention of the parents that their son should have a religious career; the inability to make use of very remarkable talents in any regular way; the inexplicable ostracism which afflicted him, and whose authors seemed somehow to be ashamed of themselves; the events relative to marriage<intelligence, and became the prey of an aged and hideous pith

fect than a magician working by himself. the psychology of "revival meetings" will be familiar to almost every one, and though such 73 meetings<ceremonial, equinox i, ix "energized enthusiasm, and equinox iii, l. liber xv, ecclesiae gnosticae catholicae cannon missae. the "revival meetings" here in question were deliberate exploitations of religious hysteria> are the foulest and most degraded rituals of black magic, the laws of magick are not thereby suspended. the laws of magick are the laws of nature. a singular and world-famous example of this is of sufficiently recent date to be fresh in the memory of many people now living. at a nigger camp meeting in the "united" states of america, devotees were worked up to such a pitch of ex

the mind. 209 the spiritual guide of molinos. a simple manual of christian mysticism. the star of the west (captain fuller) an introduction to the study of the works of aleister crowley. the dhammapada (s.b.e. series, oxford university press) the best of the buddhist classics. the questions of king milinda (s.b.e. series) technical points of buddhist dogma, illustrated by dialogues. varieties of religious experience (james) valuable as showing the uniformity of mystical attainment. kabbala denudata, von rosenroth: also the kabbalah unveiled, by s. l. mathers. the text of the kabalah, with commentary. a good elementary introduction to the subject. konx om pax. four invaluable treatises and a preface on mysticism and magick. the pistis sophia. an admirable introduction to the study of gnost

ng "the book of the dead "rituel et dogme de la haute magie. 373 "the book of the sacred magic of abramelin the mage "the goetia "the hathayoga pradipika "the spiritual guide of molinos. erdmann's "history of philosophy "the star in the west (captain fuller "the dhammapada (s.b.e. series, oxford university press "the questions of king milinda (s.b.e. series "777 vel prolegomena, etc "varieties of religious experience (james "kabbala denudata "knox om pax. 3. careful study of these books will enable the pupil to speak in the language of his master, and facilitate communications with him. 4. the pupil should endeavour to discover the fundamental harmony of these very varied works; for this purpose he will find it best to study the most extreme divergencies side by side. 5. he may at any time

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS

eadlong back in to dualism. all that of which we are aware must obviously possess limits, or it could have no intelligible meaning for us; if we want "pork" we must specify its qualities and quantities; at the very least, we must be able to distinguish it from "that-whichis- not-pork" but- one moment, please! l. there is in advaitism a most fascinating danger; that is that, up to a certain point "religious experience" tends to support this theory. magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 70 a word on this. vulgar minds, such as are happy with a personal god, vishnu, jesus, melcarth, mithras, or another, often excite themselves- call it "energized enthusiasm" if you want to be sarcastic- to the point of experiencing actual visions of the objects of their devotion. but the

us. however vivid a dream may be at the time, however it may persist throughout the years (though it is rare for any dream, unless frequently repeated, or linked to waking impressions by some happy conjunction of circumstances, to remain long in the mind with any clear-cut vision) it is hardly ever mistaken for an event of actual life. good: then, as waking life is to dream, so- yes, more so- is religious experience as above described to that life common to all of us. it is not merely easy, it is natural, not merely natural, but inevitable, for anyone who has experienced "samadhi (this word conveniently groups the higher types of vision21) to regard normal life as "illusion" by comparison with this state in which all problems are resolved, all doubts driven out, all limitations abolished

"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 pledged to secrecy know much about it; for another, every historian has been talking about some more or less conventional idea of magick, not of the thing itself

d 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 analogies. taoism has as little to do with the tao teh king as the

ost repugnant elements of nature that their triumph may be the greater. the formula is evidently one of dauntless courage. it expresses the idea of vitality and manhood in its most dynamic sense. the only religion which corresponds to this school at all is that of ancient egypt; possibly also that of chaldea. this is because those religions are magical religions in the strict technical sense; the religious component of them is negligible. so far as it exists, it exists only for the uninitiate. there are, however, traces of the beginning of the influence of the school in judaism and in paganism. there are, too, certain documents of the pure greek spirit which bear traces of this. it is what they called theurgy. the christian religion in its simplest essence, by that idea of overcoming evil

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

talent; but he is the least of the five. nor do they seem to have possessed any of the usual materials of power, such as rank, fortune, or influence. moses was rather a big man in egypt when he left; he came back as a mere stranger. 8 christ had not been to china and married the emperor's daughter. mohammed had not been acquiring wealth and drilling soldiers. buddha had not been consolidating any religious organizations. st. paul had not been intriguing with an ambitious general. each came back poor; each came back alone. what was the nature of their power? what happened to them in their absence? history will not help us to solve the problem, for history is silent. we have only the accounts given by the men themselves. it would be very remarkable should we find that these accounts agree. o

tion of vishnu, who was the local god of the period. anna kingsford, who had dabbled in hebrew mysticism, and was a feminist, got an almost identical vision; but called the "divine" figure which she saw alternately "adonai" and "maria" now this woman, though handicapped by a brain that was a mass of putrid pulp, and a complete lack of social status, education, and moral character, did more in the religious world than any other person had done for generations. she, and she alone, made theosophy possible, and without theosophy the world-wide interest in similar matters would never have been aroused. this interest is to the law of thelema what the preaching of john the baptist was to christianity. we are now in a position to say what happened to mohammed. somehow or another his phenomenon hap

of god" or "union with god" or "samadhi" or whatever we may agree to call it, has many kinds and many degrees, although there is an impassable abyss between the least of them and the greatest of all the phenomena of normal consciousness "to sum up" we assert a secret source of energy which explains the phenomenon of genius<religious genius. other kinds are subject to the same remarks, but the limits of our space forbid discussion of these> we do not believe in any supernatural explanations, but insist that this source may be reached by the following out of definite rules, the degree of success depending upon the capacity of the seeker, and not upon the favour of any divine being. we assert that the critical phenomen

to fruition. may all attain! 43 summary "q" what is genius, and how is it produced "a" let us take several specimens of the species, and try to find some one thing common to all which is not found in other species "q" is there any such thing "a" yes: all geniuses have the habit of concentration of thought, and usually need long periods of solitude to acquire this habit. in particular the greatest religious geniuses have all retired from the world at one time or another in their lives, and begun to preach immediately on their return "q" of what advantage is such a retirement? one would expect that a man who so acted would find himself on his return out of touch with his civilization, and in every way less capable than when he left "a" but each claims, though in different language, to have g

tions for us to follow. the only scientific method is for us to repeat their experiments, and so confirm or disprove their results "q" but their instructions differ widely "a" only in so far as each was bound by conditions of time, race, climate and language. there is essential identity in the method "q" indeed "a" it was the great work of the life of frater perdurabo to prove this. studying each religious practice of each great religion on the spot, he was able to show the identity-in-diversity of all, and to formulate a method free from all dogmatic bias, and based only on the ascertained facts of anatomy, physiology, and psychology "q" can you give me a brief abstract of this method "a" the main idea is that the infinite, the absolute, god, the over-soul, or whatever you may prefer to c

ALEISTER CROWLEY SEPHER SEPHIROTH

qry is, are; essence, being #y a young lion rypk habitations nyrwdm gift, tribute y# 311 man: a title of tiphareth #y) archangel of binah l)yqpc raphael: archangel of air (lit. ghealing of god h) l)pr rod (ps. 23:4 +b# 312 to renew (hence a new moon, a month #dx west (hence our gmoor h: gperson living in the west h, as from the arabic gmaghrabi h> gk. gmauros h, etc) br(m 314 perfect praise (i.e. religious) rwmg llh metatron: the archangel of kether (cf. 224) nwr++m out of the way, remote qwxr shaddai, the almighty: a name of god yd# acacia wood h# 315 ice, hail; crystal, pearl #ybg gullet+#w formation hrycy a vision of splendour hgwnh h)rm cave hr(m 316 bound, imprisoned #wbx green qwry a bundle, handful rmw( punishing iniquity, visiting sin nw( dqwp) perfumed )r+wq to worship, bow down x

ALEISTER CROWLEY TAO TEH KING

, greek and celtic traditions. one quintessential truth was common to all cults, from the hebrides to the yellow sea, and even the main branches proved essentially identical. it was only the foliage that exhibited incompatibility. when i walked across china in 1905-6, i was fully armed and accoutred by the above qualifications to attack the till-then-insoluble problem of the chinese conception of religious truth. practical studies of the psychology of such mongolians as i had met in my travels, had already suggested to me that their acentric conception of the universe might represent the correspondence in consciousness of their actual psychological characteristics. i was therefore prepared to examine the doctrines of their religious and 2 philosophical masters without prejudice such as had

st either be putting forth a more or less distorted and degraded variation of some christian conception, or utterly puerile absurdities. even so great a man as max muller in his introduction to the upanishads seems only half inclined to admit that the apparent triviality and folly of many passages in these so-called sacred writings might owe their appearance to our ignorance of the historical and religious circumstances, a knowledge of which would render them intelligible. during my solitary wanderings among the mountainous wastes of yun nan, the spiritual atmosphere of china penetrated my consciousness, thanks to the absence of any intellectual impertinences from the organ of knowledge. the tao teh king revealed its simplicity and sublimity to my soul, little by little, as the conditions

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE BANNED LECTURE

whenever questions arise with regard to black magic or black masses, invocations of the devil, etc, etc, it must never be forgotten that these practices are strictly functions of christianity. where ignorant savages perform propitiatory rites, there and there only christianity takes hold. but under the great systems of the civilised parts of the world, there is no trace of any such perversion in religious feeling. it is only the bloodthirsty and futile jehovah who has achieved such monstrous births. such upas-trees can only grow in the poisonous mire of fear and shame where thought has putrefied to christianity. there is thus no antecedent improbability that gilles de rais (or any other person of that place and period) was addicted to black magical practices, for they were all catholics

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE LOST CONTINENT

8 years on an average was the wastage of childhood, and even this was not all waste, since some time at least must be necessary for the experts to discover and direct the tendencies of the mind. the body ought therefore to be regarded as an engine, the theoretical limit of whose efficiency had been reached. so much i mention of the customs of the atlanteans with regard to marriage, education and religious sacrifices .pa viii. of the history of atlas, from its earliest origins to the period immediately preceding the catastrophe. the origin of atlas is lost in the obscurity of antiquity. the official religious explanation is this "we came across the waters on the living atla, which is pious but improbable. a mystic meaning is to be suspected. the lay historian says "we came, escaping from d

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

sappho, semiramis, messalina, cleopatra, ta chhi, pasiphae, clytaemnaestra, helen of troy, and in more recent times joan of arc (by shakespeare's account, catherine ii of russia, queen elizabeth of england, george sand "george eliot" against these we can put only emily bronte, whose sex-suppression was due to her environment, and so burst out in the incredible violence of her art, and the regular religious mystics, saint catherine, saint teresa, and so on, the facts of whose sex-life have been carefully camouflaged in the interests of the slave-gods. but, even on that showing, the sex-life was intense, for the writings of such women are overloaded with sexual expression passionate and perverted, even to morbidity and to actual hallucination. sex is the main expression of the nature of a pe

all details are equally likely to be of the essence of his personal plan, all equally 'right' in themselves, his own choice of the one as correct as, and independent of, his neighbour's preference for the other. he must not be ashamed or afraid of being homosexual if he happens to be so at heart; he must not attempt to violate his own true nature because public opinion, or mediaeval morality, or religious prejudice would wish he were otherwise. the oyster stays shut in his shell for all darwin may say about his "low stage of evolution, or puritans about his priapistic character, or idealists about his unfitness for civic government. the advocates of homosexuality "primus inter pares, john addington symonds- hammer away like hercules at the spiritual, social, moral, and intellectual advant

s sole and sufficient justification for his own matter and manner. 2. his only possible error is to withdraw himself from this consciousness of himself as both unique in himself and necessary to the norm of nature. to bring down this doctrine to a practical rule for every man or woman by which they may enjoy, in perfection, their sexual life and make it what it rightly is, the holiest part of the religious life, i say 'holiest' because it redeems even physical grossness to partake with spiritual saintship, the intention of this book of the law is perfectly simple. whatever your sexual predelictions may be, you are free, by the law of thelema, to the the star you are, to go your own way rejoicing. it is not indicated here in this text, thought it is elsewhere implied, that only one symptom

. it is explained in "energized enthusiasm "the equinox" i(9) that there are three gods whose function is to bring the soul to the realization of its own glory: dionysus, aphrodite, apollo; wine, woman, and song. the ancients, both in the highest civilizations, as in greece and egypt, and in the most primitive savagery, as among the buriats and the papuans, were well aware of this, and made their religious ceremonies 'orgia "works. puritan foulness, failing to understand what was happening, degraded the word 'orgies' to mean debauches. it is the old story of the fox who lost his tail. if you cannot do anything, call it impossible; or, if that be evidently absurd, call it wicked! it is critics who deny poetry, people without capacity for ecstasy and will who call mysticism moonshine and mag

iction is not freedom. it tends to make men slaves and hypocrites, and to destroy respect for law. weh note: evidently crowley wrote this around the time of the american prohibition. he denies virtue in illegal use, but advocates vigorous effort to change law. have no fear: two years after vodka was verboten, russia, which had endured a thousand lesser tyrannies with patience, rose in revolution. religious ecstasy is necessary to man's soul. where this is attained by mystical practices, directly, as it should be, people need no substitutes. thus the hindus remain contentedly sober, and care nothing for the series of invaders who have occupied their country from time to time and governed them. but where the only means of obtaining this ecstasy, or a simulacrum of it, known to the people, is

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

y christians the book of the beast aleister crowley y h a r h f s u r k h y h w here is wisdom: let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast. for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred, three score, and six the apocalypse of john this electronic edition prepared by celepha s press somewhere beyond the tanarian hills first published society for the propagation of religious truth benares [i.e. boleskine, foyers, inverness] 1904 e.v. reprinted in vol ii. of crowley s collected works society for the propagation of religious truth 1906 e.v. this electronic edition (based on the collected works printing) hastily prepared by frater t.s. for sunwheel oasis, o.t.o. 2001 e.v. re-proofed and corrected edition issued by celepha s press august 2003 e.v (c) ordo templi

ake, awake, o sword of song! my strength this agony of the age win through; my music charm the old sorrow of years: my warfare wage by iron to an age of gold: the world is old, and i am strong awake, awake, o sword of song* the name of siegfried s sword. introduction to ascension day and pentecost not a word to introduce my introduction! let me instantly launch the boat of discourse on the sea of religious speculation, in danger of the rocks of authority and the quicksands of private interpretation, scylla and charybdis. here is the strait; what god shall save us from shipwreck? if we choose to understand the christian (or any other) religion literally, we are at once overwhelmed by its inherent impossibility. our credulity is outraged, our moral sense shocked, the holiest foundations of o

han the metric system with the great pyramid. but see piazzi smyth! henry morley has even the audacity to claim shelley shelley! as a christian in spirit. talking of shelley: with regard to my open denial of the personal christian god, may it not be laid to my charge that i have dared to voice in bald language what shelley* as represented by his encylop dia article; not in such works as limits of religious thought. a.c. an astronomer whose brain gave way. he prophesied the end of the world in 1881, from measurements made in the great pyramid. the sword of song 4 sang in words of surpassing beauty: for of course the thought in one or two passages of this poem is practically identical with that in certain parts of queen mab and prometheus unbound. but the very beauty of these poems (especial

ink 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; and that plunged as we are in the midst of jingoism and religious revival, we may be standing on the edge of some gigantic precipice, over which we may cast all our impedimenta of lies and trickeries, political, social, moral and religious, and (ourselves) take wings and fly. the comparison between myself and the masters of english thought i have named is unintentional though perhaps unavoidable; and though the presumption is, of course, absurd, yet a

t paree or bolong! or the dance of algiers try your stomach at that! it s quite in your line, and would bring down your fat. you ve a very fine voice could you only control it! 110 and an emerald ring and i know where you stole it! but for goodness sake give up attemptiing br nnhilde; try a boarding-house cook, or a coster s matilda! the sword of song 28 live out thy life! character of balti. his religious sincerity. relations of poet and the egyptian god of wisdom. crowley dismissed with a jest. still you re young yet, scarce forty we ll hope at three score you ll be more of a singer, and less of a whore. 115 each to his trade! live out your life! fondle your child, and buss your wife! trust not, fear not, street straight and strong! don t worry, but just get along. i used to envy all my

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

of song "the book of the dead "rituel et dogme de la haute magie "the book of the sacred magic of abramelin the mage "the goetia "the hathayoga pradipika" erdmann's "history of philosophy "the spiritual guide of molinos "the star in the west (captain fuller "the dhammapada [s.b.e. series, oxford university press "the questions of king milinda [s.b.e. series "777. vel prolegomena &c "varieties of religious experience (james "kabbala denudata "knox om pax" 3. careful study of these books will enable the pupil to speak in the language of his master and facilitate communication with him. 4. the pupil should endeavour to discover the fundamental harmony of these very varied works; for this purpose he will find it best to study the most extreme divergences side by side. 5. he may at any time th

had dispensed with sinai's thunder, but on the other hand he made no blunder; he knew (no doubt) that "any" axiom would furnish bricks to build some donkeydom. but- all who urged that hermit to confess caught the infection of his happiness. i would it were my fate to dree his weird; i think that i will grow an elfin beard. 138 the temple of solomon the king 139 to plead the organic causation of a religious state of mind, then, in refutation of its claim to possess superior spiritual value, is quite illogical and arbitrary, unless one have already worked out in advance some psycho-physical theory connecting spiritual values in general with determinate sorts of physiological change. otherwise none of our thoughts and feelings, not even our scientific doctrines, not even our "dis"-beliefs, co

t of the mysteries when he has paused whilst reading the work or the life of some well-known mystic, a moment of perplexity in which, bewildered, he has turned to himself and asked the question "is this one telling me the truth" still more so does this strike us when we turn to any commentative work upon mysticism, such as r c jac's "bases of the mystic knowledge" or william james's "varieties of religious experience" in fact, so much so, that unless we are more than commonly sceptical of the wordy theories which attempt to explain these wordy utterances we are bound to clasp hands with the great school of medical-materialism, which is all but paramount at the present hour, and dismiss all such as have had a glimpse of something we do not see as "d traqu s" degenerates, neuropaths, psychop

t spanish mystics, who carried the habit of ecstasy as far as it has often been carried, appear for the most part to have shown indomitable spirit and energy, and all the more so for the trances in which they indulged" writing of st. ignatius, he says "st. ignatius was a mystic, but his mysticism made him assuredly one of the most powerful practical human engines that ever lived("the varieties of religious experience" p. 413. in the old days, when but a small portion of the globe was known to civilised man, the explorer and the traveller would return to his home with weird, fantastic stories of long-armed hairy men, of impossible monsters, and countries of fairy-like wonder. but he who travels now and who happens to see a gorilla, or a giraffe, or perchance a volcano, forgets to mention it

planted bears fruit; then by its fruit shall it be known, and by its fruit shall it be judged.4 3 "in the natural sciences and industrial arts it never occurs to any one to try to refute opinions by showing up their author's neurotic constitution. opinions here are invariably tested by logic and by experiment, no matter what may be their author's neurological type. it should be no otherwise with religious opinions "the varieties of religious experience" pp. 17, 18. 4 "dr. maudsley is perhaps the cleverest of the rebutters of supernatural religion on grounds of origin. yet he finds himself forced to write('natural causes and supernatural seemings' 1886, pp. 256, 257"'what right have we to believe nature under any obligation to do her work by means of complete minds only? she may find an in

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

s to place sin which definite acts have been done, definite thoughts constantly repeated. it is for this reason that we have a great sense of quiet and peace when we go to a monastery. the monastery is a place where life is protected, where men think deeply of the great mysteries of life and death; it is the home of those who are devoted to the practice of this meditation, it is the centre of the religious life of the people. when the people want to make merry, they have "pwes" and things in their own houses, 42 in the village; but when they feel religiously inclined, then they go to their monastery. so the great bulk of the thoughts which arise in a monastery are peaceful, and calm, and holy; and this atmosphere of peach and calm and holiness seems to penetrate and suffuse the whole place

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

human intellectual progress in the bold calculations of pythagoras; fable abounded in its miracles, and history, attempting to appreciate this unknown power, became confused with fable; it shook or strengthened empires by its oracles, caused tyrants to tremble on their thrones, and governed all minds, either by curiosity, or by fear' yoga or transformation: a comparative statement of the various religious dogmas concerning the soul and its destiny, and of akkadian, taoist, eguptian, hebrew, greek, christian, mohammedan, japanese and other magic, by wm. j. flagg. large 8vo "cloth extra" 1898. 6"s" 6"d" knight (j payne. discourse on the worship of priapus, and its connection with the mystic theology of the ancients; with an essay on the worship of the generative organs during the middle age

lts 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 magical systems as the author is acquainted with. the denominator chosen is necessarily a large one, as the author's object is to reconcile systems which divide all things into 3, 7, 10, 12, as the case may be. since our expression 'common denominator' is used in a figurative and not in a strictly mathematical sense, the task is less complex than appears at first sight, and the 32 pa

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 1 2

above the familiar nursery rhymes of our childhood; it is therefore somewhat of a relief and a pleasure to read the volume of hymns to the virgin mary which has just been published by messrs. burns and oats. these hymns to the virgin mary are in the best style, they are devotional in the highest degree, and to roman catholics, for whom devotion to the virgin mary forms so important part of their religious belief, these poems should indeed be welcome; personally i have found them just what i desired, and i have no doubt other catholics will be equally pleased with them."vanity fair" says:"to the ordinary mind passion has no relation to penitence, and carnal desire is the very antithesis of spiritual fervour. but close observers of human nature are accustomed to discover an intimate connect

en saint and sinner. now and then we find the extremes of self and selflessness in the same soul. dante tells us how the lover kissed the trembling mouth, and with the same thrill describes his own passionate abandonment before the mystic rose. in our own day, the greatest of french lyric poets, verlaine, has given us volumes of the most passionate love songs, and side by side with them a book of religious poetry more sublimely credulous and ecstatic than anything that has come down to us from the ages of faith. we are all, as sainte-beuve said,'children of a sensual literature, and perhaps for that reason we should expect from our singers fervent religious hymns."there is one of london's favourites almost unrivalled to express by her art the delights of the body with a pagan simplicity an

anything that has come down to us from the ages of faith. we are all, as sainte-beuve said,'children of a sensual literature, and perhaps for that reason we should expect from our singers fervent religious hymns."there is one of london'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 be

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2 3

le" 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 section "the old egyptians thought the earth had four corners" argal "the needle was built to commemorate the theory" or, even worse "the needle is square in section "it must have been built so for a religious reason" argal "the egyptians thought that the earth had four corners" it is impossible to commit all possible logical fallacies in a single syllogism. this must be very disappointing to the young bloods of the r.p.a. the rationalists have created man in their own image, as dull simpletons. they assume that the marvellous powers of applied mathematics shown in the great pyramid had no wor

bove the familiar nursery rhymes of our childhood; it is therefore somewhat of a relief and a pleasure to read the volume of hymns to the virgin mary which has just been published by messrs. burns and oats. these hymns to the virgin mary are in the best style, they are devotional in the highest degree, and to roman catholics, for whom devotion to the virgin mary forms so important a part of their religious belief, these poems should indeed be welcome; personally i have found them just what i desired, and i have no doubt other catholics will be equally pleased with them "vanity fair" says "to the ordinary mind passion has no relation to penitence, and carnal desire is the very antithesis of spiritual fervour. but close observers of human nature are accustomed to discover an intimate connect

en saint and sinner. now and then we find the extremes of self and selflessness in the same soul. dante tells us how the lover kissed the trembling mouth, and with the same thrill describes his own passionate abandonment before the mystic rose. in our own day, the greatest of french lyric poets, verlaine, has given us volumes of the most passionate love songs, and side by side with them a book of religious poetry more sublimely credulous and ecstatic than anything that has come down to us from the ages of faith. we are all, as sainte-beuve said 'children of a sensual literature' and perhaps for that reason we should expect from our singers fervent religious hymns "there is one of london's favourites almost unrivalled to express by her art the delights of the body with a pagan simplicity an

anything that has come down to us from the ages of faith. we are all, as sainte-beuve said 'children of a sensual literature' and perhaps for that reason we should expect from our singers fervent religious hymns "there is one of london'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 be

her high themes, divides her poems into four series of thirteen each- thus providing a song for each week of the year. the songs are all of praise or prayer addressed to the virgin, and, though many have a touch of mysticism, most have a simplicity of expression and earnestness of devotion that will commend them to the author's co-religionists" the "catholic herald" says "this anonymous volume of religious verse reaches a very high level of poetic imagery. it is a series of hymns in honour of our lady, invariably expressed in melodious verse. the pitfalls of religious verse are bathos and platitude, but these the sincerity of the writer and a certain mastery over poetic expression have enabled him- or her- to avoid. the writer of such verse as the following may be complimented on a very hi

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2

istics of sorrow, change, and unsubstantiality. now all this analysis is a purely intellectual one, though perhaps it may be admitted that few philosophers have been capable of so profound and acute a resolution of phenomena. it has nothing to do with mysticism as such, but its rational truth makes it a suitable basis for our proposed classification of the mystic states which result from the many religious and magical methods in use among men. 59 xii "the vast sun, and the brilliant moon "o ether, sun, and spirit of the moon! ye, ye are the leaders of air "the principles, which have understood the intelligible works of the father, he hath clothed in sensible works and bodies, being intermediate links existing to connect the father with matter, rendering apparent the images of unapparent na

als. as levi says "the love of the magus for such beings is insensate, and may destroy him" it surely will, if he beware not in time. higher again because more purely formless and for this reason truer to the vedana type are the ecstasies of joy and agony experienced by such men as luther, fox, molinos, and others. professor william james treats most adequately of this matter in his "varieties of religious experience" the limitations of this stage are first, its absorption in self; secondly, its almost always insuperable tendency to self-limitation and narrowness. two mystics, the one wallowing in jesus and the other in vishnu, will describe their experiences in almost identical language, yet denounce each other as "heathen" and "mlechha" respectively. among hashish phenomena the correspon

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3 2

constant fermentors of discord, jealous of my authority, though clamorous for my teaching, the so-called mr. and mrs. horos and a mrs. rose adams, who said she was a doctor of medicine, came to me in paris in the beginning of last year (1900) with an introduction from an acquaintance of good social standing. at this time my name was well known here in connection with lectures on ancient egyptian religious ceremonies. the female prisoner stated that they had come with the intention of aiding me in this, and she professed to be an influential member of the theosophical society, and also of my own order, giving me the secret name58 of a person of high occult rank in it, who had been reported to be dead some years before. i have yet to learn how, when, where and from whom she obtained the kno

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3 3

in a truer and more psychological sense, the destruction of personality. now, in the chemical changes involved in buddha's speaking this command, living protoplasm was changed into dead matter. or, on the other horn, the fact (insisted upon most strongly by the buddha himself, the central and cardinal point of his doctrine, the shrine of that metaphysic which isolates it absolutely from all other religious metaphysic, which allies it with agnostic metaphysic) that the buddha who had spoken this command was not the same as the buddha before he had spoken it, lies the proof that the buddha, by speaking this command, violated it. more, not only did he slay himself; he breathed in millions of living organisms and slew them. he could nor eat nor drink nor breathe without murder implicit in each

tory note by professor alfred russel wallace, o.m, d.c.l, ll.d, f.r.s. new edition, largely re-written, cloth gilt, gilt tops, crown 8vo, 421 pp, 4s. 6d. net. contents_ introductory note and preface_ part i. the bases of experimental fact. part ii. theory and inferences. part iii. practical mysticism "the book is replete with sound, scholarly, cogent and practical reasoning, on the scientific and religious, as well as on the psychic side_ light [t.p.'s weekly "temperately and carefully written, and is in every way superior to the average spiritualistic publication "in every way worthy of study_ christian world. the wisdom of plotinus. a metaphysical study, by c. j. whitby, m.d. 120 pp. crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. net. a treatise on the metaphysical doctrines of the great neoplatonic philoso

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3

lts 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 magical systems as the author is acquainted with. the denominator chosen is necessarily a large one, as the author's object is to reconcile systems which divide all things into 3, 7, 10, 12, as the case may be. since our expression 'common denominator' is used in a figurative and not in a strictly mathematical sense, the task is less complex than appears at first sight, and the 32 pa

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4 2

s two stools, a lamentable loon. this nulli secundus, inflated with fermenting grape-nuts! for in all that mass of analysis lucid and terrible i cannot recall a single line of beauty, rarely a note of ecstasy; with one exception (john tanner, hardly a hero. even he not a little absurd. he has seen through the shams of romance, and marriage, and free love, and literary pose, and medical ju-ju, and religious rant, and political twaddle, and socialist buncombe and- every phase of falsehood. but he has hardly grasped that each such falsehood is but a shadow of some sun of truth. he does not perceive the ineffable glory of the universe in its whole and in each part. he has smitten at the shadow of a shadow: it falls- the world is filth. let him 347 rather new-edge his sword for a deeper analysi

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4

lts 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 magical systems as the author is acquainted with. the denominator chosen is necessarily a large one, as the author's object is to reconcile systems which divide all things into 3, 7, 10, 12, as the case may be. since our expression 'common denominator' is used in a figurative and not in a strictly mathematical sense, the task is less complex than appears at first sight, and the 32 pa

entrusted to me is then threefold("a) secrets cannot be revealed. or even communicated from one person to another("b) one is not bound by an oath taken to any person who is a swindler trading upon the sanctity of one's oath to carry on his frauds. especially is this the case when the person responsible for administering the oath assures you that it is "in no way contrary to your civil, moral, and religious obligations("c) i was not, in any case, bound to mathers, but to the secret chiefs, by whose direct orders i caused the rituals to be published. i wish expressly to dissociate from my strictures on 5 mathers brother wynn westcott his colleague; for i have heard and believe nothing which would lead me to doubt his uprightness and integrity. but i warn him in public, as i have (vainly) war

d lot. they are mostly to be found among the well-to-do people, i suppose- and i do not wonder. when i see a mother smiling upon her grown-up son, i feel very sad. i remember my own parent. there! i called this a history- with a vengeance. you have it. now for a lesson in psychology. lionel's mother was queen and "regente" of bad parents. she was cleaver, but void of reasoning powers; inclined to religious mania, her immediate neighbourhood was crowded with foul larvae. in a legal and womanly manner she had despatched her first husband to the night of a sanatorium and thence to an early grave. she had suffered badly at the hands of her second. this we may take a being the coarsest form of that automatic justice, which is dealt only to the coarsest natures. it had not, however, extirpated a

"hatha-yoga pradipika" p. 2. 61 in all the mysteries the partakers of them were always such as had not committed crimes. it will be remembered that nero did not dare to present himself at the eleusinian (sueton "vit. nero" e. 3a. and porphyry informs us that "in the mysteries honour to parents was enjoined, and not to injure animals("de abstinentia" iv, 22. highest virtue. that is why in all the religious orders in the world that have produced spiritual giants, you will always find this intense chastity insisted upon..62 if people practise raja-yoga and at the same time lead an impure life, how can they expect to become yogis?63 80 this argument would appear at first sight to be self-contradictory, and therefore fallacious, for, if to obtain ojas is so important, how then can it be right

n to consciousness, at once attributes his attainment to his particular business partner- christ, buddha, mrs. besant, etc, ets, and attempts to rationalize about the suprarational, and describe what is beyond description in the language of his country. p, under the gentle guidance of ananda metteya, at first found the outward simplicity most refreshing; but soon he discovered that like all other religious systems buddhism was entangled in a veritable network of words. realizing this, he went a step further than gotama, and said "why bother about sorrow at all, or about transmigration? for these are not 'wrong viewyness' as mr. rhys davids would so poetically put it, but matters of the kindergarten and not of the temple; matters for police regulation, and for underpaid curates to chatter a

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

lts 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 magical systems as the author is acquainted with. the denominator chosen is necessarily a large one, as the author's object is to reconcile systems which divide all things into 3, 7, 10, 12, as the case may be. since our expression 'common denominator' is used in a figurative and not in a strictly mathematical sense, the task is less complex than appears at first sight, and the 32 pa

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6

of this work justifies itself as the reader reaches the end of the second volume. to the pharmacist it is an extremely useful book, and in a great many instances furnishes information of an interesting character, which the busy man would have difficulty in finding in pharmaceutical history. to the student of the occult it ought to appeal strongly, as the author gives a long list of drugs used in religious ceremonies in different ages, and although the present century is so much in advance, we find that the incenses and sweet odours used in ceremonial magic to-day are the same as those used in egypt, in the worship of isis, and in the services held in the temple of solomon. mention is also made of the preparations made by the ancient alchemists which were thought to have magic power. short

ALEX SANDERS THE KING OF THE WITCHES

im in the throat, killing him. he and his companions were allowed to leave the church and no further action was. taken although one had committed a murder. enquiries showed that the ritual about to have been done was black witchcraft. q: but what is. the difference between. black witchcraft and black magic? a: very little. the former is done in the name of a god ora devil, while the latter is.non-religious. q. is either pra(;tised to any extent nqwa,days? a: both are, very much..people are still murdered by them, and unlike voodoo, the victim need not v.ecessa.illy be told of the curse. q: what equipment does a witch require /1: to begin with, nothing more than a, simple robe<\j:ld an athame.-a black-handled knife. before taking the secondgrade initiation he must ha,vethe full regalia of e

ge us soon give up. q. does witchcraft help people to cope with modem life? a: certainly .they use it. to see into other people's minds and to bring. themselves opportunities. for advancement. and it provides a comprehensive social hfe. q does this mean that there is complete harmony in the covens? a: unfortunately no, there is as. much bickering and backbiting among our members as amongany other religious group. q:lf witches develop the powers of clairvoyance as you say. why don't many of them set up as professional seers? a: some do, and. it is permissible under our law, providing they don't.make itlmown that. they. are using .witchcraft. manyof the famous illusionists and.magicians on the.stage were.notusingsleight ofhand but genuine witch magic. we believe that houdini, who could extri

ALEXANDRIAN BOOK OF SHADOWS OCCULT

of themselves. a woman may impersonate either the god or the goddess, but a man may only impersonate the god. ever remember, if tempted to admit or boast of belonging to the cult, you may be endangering your brothers and sisters. for though now the fires of persecution have died down, who knows when they may be revived? many priests have knowledge of our secrets and they full well know that much religious bigotry has died down or calmed down, that many people would wish to join our cult if the truth were known of its joys and the churches would lose power. so if we take many recruits we may loose the fires of persecution against us again. so ever keep the secrets. those taking part in a rite must know exactly what results they wish to attain and must keep all their minds firmly fixed on t

ALICE A BAILEY01 THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ATOM

lf extraneous to it. these systems of thought teach that the world has been evolved by a power or being who has built the solar system, and who guides the worlds aright, keeping our little human life in the hollow of his hand, and "sweetly ordering" all things according to some hidden purpose which it is not possible for us, with our finite minds, to glimpse, still less to understand. this is the religious and supernatural point of view, and is based on the growing self-consciousness of the individual, and in a recognition of his own divinity. like the point of view of the realistic school, it embodies only a partial truth, and needs to be complemented. the third line of thought we might call the idealistic. it posits an evolutionary process within all manifestation and identifies life wit

s are prone to think that their outlook and interpretation is the only one. i hope in these talks to broaden somewhat our point of view. i hope we shall come to the realisation that the man who is only interested in the scientific aspect, and who confines himself to the study of those manifestations which are purely material, is 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 a

entific thinkers in which he suggests that we might be able to divide and subdivide the electron itself into what he calls "psychons" and thus be led into realms which are not now considered physical. that may be only a dream, but the thing that i am seeking to impress upon my mind and yours is that we scarcely know where we stand in scientific thought, any more than we know where we stand in the religious and economic world. everything is passing through a period of transition; the old order changeth; the old way of looking at things is proving false or inadequate; the old expressions of thought seem futile. all that the wise man can do just now is to reserve his opinion, ascertain for himself what appeals to him as truth, and endeavour then to synthesise that particular aspect of univers

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

nsciousness of the atom copyright 1998 lucis trust have had something of this sort in mind when he spoke about the heavenly man. by 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 pl

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

ound interesting and perchance they are true. the religions of all nations, the christian included, give indications that seem to substantiate these ideas. let us therefore accept these ideas as a working hypothesis as to the consummation of the evolutionary process in man and his work upon the attainment of perfection. let us therefore seek for the truth as a fact in our own consciousness. every religious faith holds out the promise that those who seek with earnestness shall find that which they are seeking; let us, therefore, seek. if by our search we find that all these statements are but visionary dreams, and profit not at all, leading us only into darkness, time will nevertheless not have been lost, for we shall have ascertained where not to look. if by our search, on the other hand

riably 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 governmental, religious, or cultural is the working out

by the life aspect. it is largely the ray of executive work, with the object of building, co-ordinating and producing cohesion in the four lower kingdoms of nature. it is distinguished largely by the energy which manifests itself in ritual, but this word ritual must not be narrowed down to its present use in- 107- initiation, human and solar copyright 1998 lucis trust connection with masonic, or religious ritual. its application is far wider than this, and includes the methods of organisation which are demonstrated in all civilised communities, such as in the world of commerce and of finance, and the great business organisations everywhere to be seen. above all, its interest lies for us in the fact that it is the ray which brings opportunity to the occidental races, and through the medium

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

rust helped to establish a new era of mental freedom for the students of the progressively unfolding revelation of the ageless wisdom. the age-old method of arriving at truth by the process of accepting new authorities and comparing them with previously established doctrines, while of undoubted value in the training of the mind, is gradually being transcended. in its place is emerging in both the religious and philosophical worlds a new capacity to take a more scientific position. spiritual teaching will be increasingly accepted as an hypothesis to be proved less by scholasticism, historical foundation and authority, and more by the results of its effect upon the life lived and its practical usefulness in solving the problems of humanity. heretofore, advanced esoteric teaching has almost i

ess, 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 our intellectual way out of the depths of a materialistic interpretation. it must not be forgotten, however, that under the law of action and reaction, the long period of materialistic thought has been a necessary one for humanity, because the mysticism of the middle ages has led us too far in the opp

st thus can be seen the wonderful synthesis brought about by the evolutionary working of these three cosmic laws, each of them embodying the mode of work of certain cosmic entities or existences. the final two will be taken up in their right place. now we will touch but briefly upon the law of matter, that of economy. this is the law that lies back of what has been mistakenly called "the fall" by religious writers, by which is defined in reality the involutionary process, cosmically considered. it led to a sevenfold differentiation in the matter of the system. just as the law of attraction led to the sevenfold psychic differentiation of the sons of mind, and the law of synthesis results in the sevenfold perfection of the same manasaputras, so we have an interesting connection between the s

elationship involved.96(85) iii. why is this solar system evolving along the lines of duality? 1. the problem of existence. the third question involves one of the most difficult problems in metaphysics, and covers in its consideration the whole perplexing mystery of the reason why there is objectivity at all. it is one that has been asked under different forms by men of every school of thought by religious people who enquire "why did god create at all? why is existence forced upon one and all; by scientists in their search for the ultimate truth and in their endeavor to find out the motivation of all that is seen, and to account for sensuous life; by philosophers in their equally diligent search for that animating subjectivity that is expressing itself through all the moral and ethical sci

persist, and all the many lines of approach (in the endeavour to find the solution) end in the cul-de-sac of hypothesis, and in the recognition of an- 136- a treatise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust ultimate something of such an elusive nature, that men are forced seemingly to predicate a source of energy, of life, of intelligence, and to call it by diverse names according to the trend (religious, scientific or philosophical) of their minds. god, the universal mind, energy, force, the absolute, the unknown, these terms and many others are forced from the lips of those who, by means of the form side, seek the dweller within the form, and cannot find him as yet. this failure to find him is due to the limitations of the physical brain, and to the lack of development in the mechanism

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

the orient. they are taught to formulate questions about the inner realities and then to find the answer for themselves through a search for that source of all knowledge, latent at the heart of all beings. to ask intelligently and to find the answer, they must first free themselves from all outer imposed authority and from all tradition and from the imposition of every theological dogma, whether religious or scientific. only thus can the reality be found and the truth be seen- 41- the light of the soul copyright 1998 lucis trust "when thy soul shall pass beyond the forest of delusion, thou shalt no more regard what shall be taught, or what has been taught. when withdrawn from traditional teaching thy soul shall stand steadfast, firm in soul-vision, then thou shalt gain union with the soul

e liberty-producing means. ignorance (avidya) must be supplanted by the true vidya or knowledge, and as is well-known, in this fourth race on this fourth globe and in the fourth round, the four vidyas and the four noble truths and the four basic elements form the sum total of this knowledge. the four vidyas of the hindu philosophy might be enumerated as follows: 1. yajna vidya. the performance of religious rites in order to produce certain results. ceremonial magic. is concerned with sound, therefore with the akasa or the ether of space. the "yajna" is the invisible deity who pervades space. 2. mahavidya. the great magic knowledge. it has degenerated into tantrika worship. deals with the feminine aspect, or the matter (mother) aspect. the basis of black magic. true maha-yoga has to do with

one) we tabulated them carefully, giving their synonyms where possible: means i. the commandments. yama. self-control or forbearance. restraint. abstention from wrong acts. these are five in number and relate to the relation of the disciple (or chela) to others and to the outside world. means ii the rules. nijama. right observances. these are likewise five in number and are frequently called the "religious observances" because they relate to the interior life of the disciple and to that- 102- the light of the soul copyright 1998 lucis trust tie, the sutratma or link which relates him to god, or to his father in heaven. these two, the five commandments and the five rules are the hindu correspondence to the ten commandments of the bible and cover the daily life of the aspirant, as it affects

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

he light of the satcopyright 1998 lucis trust from intellect to intuition by alice a. bailey copyright 1932 by lucis trust copyright renewed 1960 by lucis trust first printing 1932 the publication of this book is financed by the tibetan book fund which is established for the perpetuation of the teachings of the tibetan and alice a. bailey. this fund is controlled by the lucis trust, a tax-exempt, religious, educational corporation. the lucis publishing company is a non-profit organization owned by the lucis trust. no royalties are paid on this book. this title is also available in a clothbound edition this title is also available in dutch, french, german, greek,italian, spanish. chapter one introductory thoughts "the scientific method apart from a narrowly agnostic and pragmatist point of

h it more doors can be opened than with bare hands. thus it is part and parcel of our understanding and only clouds our insight when it lays claim to being the one and only way of comprehending. but it is the east that has taught us another, wider, more profound, and a higher understanding, that is, understanding through life. we know this way only vaguely, as a mere shadowy sentiment culled from religious terminology, and therefore we gladly dispose of eastern 'wisdom' in quotation marks, and push it away into the obscure territory of faith and superstition. but in this way eastern 'realism' is completely misunderstood. it does not consist of sentimental, exaggeratedly mystical, intuitions bordering on the pathological and emanating from ascetic recluses and cranks; the wisdom of the east

propriate laws and phenomena? mystics, seers and thinkers of all ages and in both hemispheres have said such a world exists. with this equipment, which we might call the personality, man stands with the past behind him, in a present that is full of chaos, and before a future into which he cannot look. he cannot stand still. he must go forward, and the vast educational, scientific, philosophic and religious organizations are all doing their utmost to tell him which way to go and to present to him a solution of his problem. that which is static and crystallized eventually falls to pieces and, where there is arrested growth, abnormalities will occur and retrogression be found. someone has said that the danger which we must avoid is that of a "disintegrating personality" if humanity is not pot

ng 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 theologians and the churchmen in all the big religious organizations, both eastern and western, may, or may not, be true. let us use the word "spiritual" to signify the world of light and beauty, of order and of purpose, about which the world scriptures speak, which is the object of the attentive research of the scientists, and into which the pioneers of t

ly becoming a process of evoking the deeper, generative possibilities that lie within the individual" h. a. overstreet one of the many factors which have brought humanity to its present point of development has been the growth and perfecting of its educational methods and systems. at first this was in the hands of the organized religions, but now it is practically divorced from the control of the religious bodies, and lies in the hands of the state. in the past, education was largely colored by theology and its methods were dictated by the churchmen and the priests. now the vast body of teachers are trained by the state; any religious bias is ignored on account of the many differentiated religious bodies, and the trend of the teaching is almost entirely materialistic and scientific. in the

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

of divinity, the central energy, or spirit, the coordinating force or soul, and that which these two use and unify are in reality one vital principle manifesting in diversity. these are the three in one, the one in three, god in nature, and nature itself in god. carrying the concept, for the sake of illustration, into other realms of thought this trinity of aspects can be seen functioning in the religious world as the esoteric teaching, the fundamental symbology and doctrines of the great world religions and the exoteric organisations; in government it is the sum total of the will of the people whatever that will may be, the formulated laws, and the exoteric administration; in education it is the will to learn, the arts and sciences, and the great exoteric educational systems; in philosop

as a worker in the plan of evolution, as a white magician, and as one of that band of consecrated disciples whom we call the- 34- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust "hierarchy of our planet. students of these matters are therefore begged to extend their concept of that hierarchy of souls so that they include all the exoteric fields of human life (political, social, economic, and religious. they are begged not to narrow down the concept as so many do, to only those who have brought their own little particular organisation into being, or to those who are working purely on the subjective side of life, and along what are reoognised by the conservative as the so-called religious or spiritual lines. all that tends to lift the status of humanity on any plane of manifestation is

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

ation of the activity of the will. the first effect is produced by character building, and by the purification of the bodies, as used by the soul in the three worlds. the second is the result of meditation and the development of organised purpose, imposed by the will upon the daily life. character building, clean living, controlled emotional reactions, and right thinking are the platitudes of all religious systems and have lost weight from our very familiarity with them. it is not easy to remember that as we live purely and rightly, we are verily and indeed working with forces, subjecting energies to our needs, subordinating elemental lives to the requirements of spiritual being, and bringing into activity a mechanism and a vital structure which has hitherto been only latent and quiescent

the souls of all men stand free from illusion, and neither can be destroyed, deluded nor manipulated. it is only "the souls in prison" who are subject to the activities of the forces of evil and only for a term. the first group works through governments, through politics, and the interplay between nations and is relatively small in number. the second ray group who delude and deceive, work through religious agencies, through mass psychology, and the misuse and misapplication of devotion and of the arts. they are largest in number. the third group work primarily through commercial relations in the business world, and through the use of money, the concretisation of prana or universal energy, and the outer symbol of the universal flux and flow. these thoughts are suggestive but not vital, deal

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

e we find a condition which is rare in the extreme. science is separative in its approach to the differing aspects of the divine manifestation which we call the world of natural phenomena, but it is non-separative in actuality, for there is little warring between the sciences and little competition between scientists. in this the workers in the scientific field differ profoundly from those of the religious. the reason for this is to be found in the fact that the true scientist, being a coordinated personality and working therefore on mental levels, works very close to the soul. the developed personality produces the clear distinctions of the dominant lower mind, but (if one may use such a symbolic way of expression) the close proximity of the soul negates a separative attitude. the religio

works very close to the soul. the developed personality produces the clear distinctions of the dominant lower mind, but (if one may use such a symbolic way of expression) the close proximity of the soul negates a separative attitude. the religious man is pre-eminently astral or emotional and works in a more separative manner, particularly in this piscean age which is passing away. when i say the religious man i refer to the mystic and to the man who senses the beatific vision. i refer not to disciples nor to those who are called initiates, for they add to the mystical vision a trained mental apprehension. the sixth ray of devotion embodies the principle of recognition. by this i mean the capacity to see the ideal reality lying behind the form; this implies a one-pointed application of des

) the activity of a gigantic man, built on lines which were the projection of their own consciousness, and who could be propitiated or angered by the behaviour of a human being. the result of a man's effect upon this deity provided man's destiny, which was either good or bad according to the reactions of this god to his deeds. thus we have the origin of the heaven or hell complexes of the present religious faiths. from this grew, automatically, the idea of a persistent entity called the soul, which could enjoy heaven or suffer hell at the will of god and as the result of actions done whilst in the human form. as the forms of man grew in sensitivity; as they became more and more refined under the influence of the law of selection and of adaptation; as the group life grew closer and the grou

s a fact, and as a consequence of this recognition our entire civilisation will have changed so radically that we cannot today even guess at the form it will take. the next ten years will see a greatly increased merging of the first three forms of light, and those of you who are awake to these issues and happenings will find it interesting to note what is going on. the consensus of opinion in the religious and spiritualistic fields and in the field of biblical prophecy, and likewise a study of the symbolism of the pyramid, lead students to believe that the immediate future will see some great event and some unforeseen spiritual happening. this should be duly anticipated, and careful preparation should be made for it. i refer not to any coming of any individual. i refer to a natural- 72- a

f papal infallibility. the tractarian movement in england started at the same time, whilst the progress of the seventh sub-ray influence, still going on, is marked by the steady increase of ritualism and sacerdotalism in the various churches, and even in the church of rome there has been a distinct tightening of priestly authority in all matters of dogma and practice. so much for its influence on religious thought; its other aspects will be considered later. we have also been told that the religious revival under wesley and whitfield in england was under the sixth subray, and i think we are justified in drawing the inference that the rise of molinos and the quietists in spain and central europe, and of st. martin and his band of spiritual philosophers in france and elsewhere, may have also

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

vine problem. man is the counterpart of god and his beloved from whom he expects the return of love. man is the other person of the divine mystery. god needs man. it is god's will not only that he should himself exist, but man also, the lover and beloved" wrestlers with christ, by karl pfleger, p. 236- 3- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust 1 we are in process of passing from one religious age into another. the spiritual trends of today are steadily becoming more defined. the hearts of men have never been more open to spiritual impression than they are at this time, and the door into the very centre of reality stands wide open. paralleling, however, this significant development is a trend in the counter direction, and materialistic philosophies and doctrines of negation ar

e forecast. we are slowly passing into this new sign. for more than two thousand years its potencies and forces will play upon the race and will establish the new types, foster the new expansions of consciousness, and lead man on to a practical realisation of brotherhood. it is interesting to note how it was that the energies playing upon our planet when the sun was in aries, the ram, produced in religious symbology the emphasis of the goat or ram, and how in our present age of pisces, the fishes, those influences have coloured our christian symbology so that the fish preponderates in our new testament and in our eschatological symbology. the new incoming rays, energies and influences must surely be destined to produce equal effects, not only in the realm of physical phenomena but also in

entering more definitely into the world of true meaning and of value, we shall see the mysteries becoming universally recognised. the new values will be seen and the new techniques and methods of living will be evolved as a result of this perception. there are signs that this is already happening, that the destruction going on around us and the tearing down of the ancient institutions political, religious and social are only preparatory to this undertaking. we are on our way to "that which is within" and many voices are today proclaiming this- 19- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust we are on that path of transition (can we call it the path of discipleship) which will lead us into a new dimension, into the interior world of true fact and right energy. it is a world in whi

to him there comes the opportunity to pass from the stage of the new birth to that of the final resurrection, via the steep path of mount golgotha. in his innermost nature he must learn to understand the words of christ "ye must be born again,"2 and to express the death unto life which is the outstanding message of st. paul.3 each of us must sooner or later prove this for himself, because "living religious experience is the only legitimate way to the comprehension of dogmas."4 only by following the example of those who have achieved can we ourselves learn the meaning of achievement. only by our living divinely can our hidden divinity find true expression. this involves a practical self-application which brings its own reward but which must at first be entered upon blindly. the history of h

e not to be submerged in the apparent world chaos and thus lose our perspective. one is that each age provides its way out. this, christ meant when he said "i am the way, the truth and the life."8 he knew that he synthesised in himself the soul of the past and the spirit of the future. and what is true of him is true also of the teaching he gave. in christianity the past is comprised and its best religious elements are included- 25- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust the soul of man stands at the gates of revelation, and he must learn that this revelation will come through himself perfected. browning expressed this in the well-known lines "thus he dwells in all from life's minute beginnings, up at last to man the consummation of this scheme of being, the completion of thi

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

rhuman, are fundamentally the powers which express group activity, and the virtues are only effects of group life, rightly handled, which are attempting to express themselves on the physical plane. the growing science of social relations, of social responsibility, or coordinated civic life, of scientific economics and of human inter-relations, the steadily developing sense of internationalism, of religious unity, and of economic interdependence, are all of them indications of the energies of soul life upon the physical plane, and within the human family. hence the conflict of ideals in the world today; hence the massed dualism which produces such bewilderment; hence the compromises and hence the inconsistencies. here is to be found the cause of all the divergencies in the world of civilise

ly differing motives which impel people of good motive and intention and of high principle into antagonistic activities. two sets of principles are to be found controlling human life the selfish and the unselfish, the individual good and the group good, the objective goal and the subjective goal, the material incentive and the spiritual impulse, national patriotism and the world ideal, separative religious belief and the federation of religions, and all the many massed dualities which simply indicate the realism of people who are personalities (integrated and separative) or of souls (aligned and group-conscious. here is the major divergence in the world today; with the weight of the power on the side of separation, as it is the line of least resistance, and of critical differentiations. a

he youth of any nation and national group. service is, par excellence, the technique of correct group relations, whether it be the right guidance of an anti-social child in a family, the wise assimilation of a trouble-maker in a group, the handling of anti-social groups in our big cities, the correct technique to be employed in child guidance in our educational centres or the relation between the religious and political parties, or between nation and nation. all of this is part of the new and growing science of service. the imposition of this soul law will eventually bring light into a distracted world, and release human energies in right directions. it is not here possible to do more than indicate this briefly. the theme is too large, for it includes the awakening of the spiritual conscio

ever to be found, nevertheless, even in the most undesirable types of human beings; it is evolved in moments of high destiny or immediate urgency, and of supreme difficulty. the heart of man is sound, but oft asleep. serve and obey! these are the watchwords of the disciple's life. they have been distorted into terms of fanatical propaganda and have thus produced the formulas of philosophy and of religious theology; but these formulas do, at the same time, veil a truth. they have been presented to the consideration of man in terms of personality devotions and of obedience to masters and leaders, instead of service of, and obedience to, the soul in all. the truth is, however, steadily emerging, and must inevitably triumph. once the aspirant upon the probationary path has a vision of this (n

at the aquarian age will see consummated. 5. the outer groups are a tentative and experimental effort to see how far humanity is ready for such an endeavor. iv. they are also an experiment which has for its objective the manifestation of certain types of energy which will produce cohesion, or an at-one-ment, upon earth. the present distraught condition in the world, the international impasse, the religious dissatisfaction, the economic and social upheaval of the past few decades, are all the result of energies that are so potent owing to their immense momentum that they can only be brought into rhythmic activity by the imposition of stronger and more definitely directed energies. when the groups are functioning- 120- a treatise on the seven rays- volume ii: esoteric psychology ii copyright

ALICE A BAILEY12 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME I

ccultists. all are normal people, living useful, modern lives in many different countries in the world. some are orthodox protestant christians by profession; others are roman catholics; still others are christian scientists or belong to one or other of the more mental cults; some are quite unattached and free from affiliations. none of them regards his particular brand of faith or his particular religious background as essential to salvation; he knows that the only essential is belief in the spiritual realities and in the essential divinity of mankind. this belief necessarily involves a heart full of love, a mind open and illumined by right orientation to truth and a life dedicated to service and to the alleviation of human sufferings. this is the determined goal of all whose instructions

ups are a tentative and experimental effort to see how far humanity is ready for such an endeavour. iv. these groups are also an experiment which has for its objective the manifestation of certain types of energy which will, when effectively functioning, produce cohesion or at-one-ment upon earth. the present distraught condition in the world, the international cataclysm and apparent impasse, the religious dissatisfaction, the economic and social upheaval and the appalling effects of war are all the results of energies that are so potent owing to their immense momentum that they can only be brought into rhythmic activity by the imposition of stronger and more definitely directed energies. the groups are intended to work together eventually just as the various departments of a great organis

world thinkers. have you ever asked yourselves what are the aspects of the work, in connection with telepathy, which raise questions in your mind? is it not distrust of personality intention or point of view and a questioning also as to your own sincerity or motives? unless this work is carried forward selflessly and with complete freedom from personal prejudice and personal choices political or religious there can be no safe work along this line. that is why i emphasise to you the need of doing this work at the highest united point of meditation and with complete obedience to my decisions in the matter. another question could well be: what is the difference between this work which i am suggesting to you and the work of the lodge of the lords of form? none whatsoever, except in motive and

ALICE A BAILEY13 PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY

e problem of the children of the world still exists in most parts of the world but in a different form and under different conditions to those prevailing in the immediate post-war period, particularly in europe. the problems of capital, labour and employment also differ today in an increasingly automated and computerised world. change is occurring within many crystallized and reactionary areas of religious orthodoxy and separateness, creating new problems within the churches. similar comments can be made for all these problems, with the added fact that new problems are arising under present day conditions which are variations and extensions of the basic six discussed in this book. therefore, when in 1967 we are again faced with the need to reprint the book we realise that there are two alt

reative and practical goodwill. goodwill is man's first attempt to express the love of god. its results on earth will be peace. it is so simple and practical that people fail to appreciate its potency or its scientific and dynamic effect. one person sincerely practising goodwill in a family can completely change its attitudes. goodwill really practised among groups in any nation, by political and religious parties in any nation and among the nations of the world can revolutionize the world. the key to humanity's trouble (focussing as it has in the economic difficulties of the past two hundred years and in the theological impasse of the orthodox churches) has been to take and not give, to accept and not share, to grasp and not to distribute. this has involved the breaking of a law which has

will some day characterize the attitude of nation to nation. at present this is not so, and a very different psychology rules. nations seek and demand the best for themselves, no matter what the cost to others; they regard this as a right attitude and as characteristic of good citizenship. nations are coloured by hatreds and prejudices, many of which are as unwarranted today as foul language in a religious meeting. nations are split and divided within themselves by racial barriers, by party differences and by religious attitudes. this inevitably brings disorder and finally disaster. an intense spirit of nationalism assertive and boastful distinguishes the citizens of most countries, particularly in relation to each other. this breeds dislike, distrust and the disruption of right human rela

some new thing, for russia is rapidly maturing and integrating and will demonstrate that she has much to give. the world is witnessing the uprising and the surging forward of a nation which has accomplished in a quarter of a century what other nations have taken many generations to work out. russia is a giant, getting into his stride a young giant, aware of great possibility, animated by a deeply religious, though unorthodox spirit, handicapped by a combination of oriental traits and occidental purposes, and distrusted by the world, owing to earlier moves falsely taken. these moves were an attempt to infiltrate into other nations, in order to upset their stability and so weaken them that they could be easily swept into the house of humanity which russia is attempting to build. russia is in

lt 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 idealists and realists, political parties and far-sighted statesmanship, religious groups, fanatically occupied with their own ideas, capital and labour, isolationists and internationalists, people violently against certain groups or nations and others working on behalf of them. the only factor which can eventually and in due time bring harmony and the end of these chaotic conditions is right human relations. every country also has much to contribute but as long as tha

ALICE A BAILEY14 THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST

er one the doctrine of the coming one western teaching the doctrine of avatars eastern teaching right down the ages, in many world cycles and in many countries (and today in all) great points of tension have occurred which have been characterised by a hopeful sense of expectancy. some- 1- copyright 1998 lucis trust one is expected and his coming is anticipated. always in the past, it has been the religious teachers of the period who have fostered and proclaimed this expectancy and the time has always been one of chaos and difficulty, of a climaxing point at the close of a civilisation or culture and when the resources of the old religions have seemed inadequate to meet men's difficulties or to solve their problems. the coming of the avatar, the advent of a coming one and, in terms of today

nd with massed intent; it is dependent also upon the better establishment of right human relations and upon certain work being done at this time by senior members of the kingdom of god, the church invisible, the spiritual hierarchy of our planet; it is dependent also upon the steadfastness of the christ's disciples in the world at this time and his initiate-workers all working in the many groups, religious, political and economic. to the above must be added what christians like to call "the inscrutable will of god" that unrecognised purpose of the lord of the world, the ancient of days (as he is called in the old testament) who "knows his own mind, radiates the highest quality of love and focusses his will in his own high place within the centre where the will of god is known" when the chr

nificances. these facts will condition the reappearance of the christ and tend to a more rapid spreading of the news of his coming and the contents of his message- 7- the reappearance of the christ copyright 1998 lucis trust today, when he comes, he 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 retur

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 this great act of invocation are the spiritually minded people, the enlightened statesmen, the religious leaders and the men and women whose hearts are full of goodwill. they will evoke him if they can stand with massed intent, with hope and with expectancy. this preparatory work must be focussed through and implemented by the world intelligentsia and leading lovers of humanity, by groups dedicated to human betterment and by representative unselfish people. the success of the effort now bei

rrection. 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 resurrection of the spirit in mankind; the emphasis will be upon the livingness of the christ nature in every human being, and upon the use of the will in bringing about this living transfiguration of the lower nature. the proof of it will be the risen christ. this "way of resurrection" is the radiant way, the lighted way which leads from one great expre

ALICE A BAILEY15 THE DESTINY OF THE NATIONS

ied: first, the individual who accepts and is devoted to a particular ideology would cease fighting other ideologies for he would remember that the accident of birth and of background is largely responsible for making him as an individual what he is and determining his beliefs. and, secondly, it would bring to an end the attempt to impose a personally or nationally accepted ideology (political or religious) on other nations and persons. these are basic steps towards eventual peace and understanding and hence i emphasise them today. it will be of value next if i connect up the three major planetary centres of energy with the five rays which are today working towards the consummation of the plan for the race at this time. three of these streams of energy are working powerfully in the world a

ans of world unfoldment. the energy of the will of god works through them, though stepped down and often misused and misapplied, by their differing and limited personalities, and interpreted unsatisfactorily by their undeveloped consciousness. these people are found in every field of human affairs. they are the dominant persons, and the dictators in every aspect of human living political, social, religious and educational. who shall say (until at least a century has gone by) whether their influence and their efforts have been good or bad. where they flagrantly infringe the law of love, their influence may be powerful, but it is passing and undesirable, at least where that phase of their activities is concerned. where they meet human emergency and need, and work along lines of basic restora

is committed the task of organising the activities of the new era and of ending the old methods of life and the old crystallised attitudes to life, to death, to leisure and to the population. 3. the result of the increasing flow of seventh ray energy plus the decreasing influence of the sixth ray which shows itself as a pronounced crystallisation of the standardised and accepted forms of belief, religious, social and philosophic is to throw the millions of people who do not respond to either of the above influences through egoic or personality relation, into a state of bewilderment. they feel entirely lost, are gripped by the idea that life holds for them no desirable future, all that they have learnt to cherish and to hold dear is rapidly failing- 16- the destiny of the nations copyright

will bear in mind that the sixth ray works through and controls the solar plexus (being closely related to the astral plane, the sixth level of awareness) and that the seventh ray controls the sacral centre, you will see why there is so much emotion, so much idealism and so much desire mixed up in connection with the world conflict and why also apart from the storms in the political arena and the religious field that sex and its various problems has reached a point of interest in the human consciousness where a solution of these difficulties, a fresh understanding of the underlying implications and a frank dealing with the situation is inevitable and immediate. four problems will be solved in the next two centuries: 1. the problem of territorial possessions which is the group correspondenc

lvin and all who followed his lead made the same mistake and instead of holding before the people of the occident the realisation that those who recognised their essential divinity did so symbolically on behalf of all the developing, incarnating sons of god, they regarded themselves as the chosen people and all who did not think as they did are regarded as lost. when the jew and the narrow-minded religious devotees recognise their identity with all other people and express this identity through right relationship, we shall see a very different world. the world problem is essentially a religious problem and behind all strife in every department of world thought today is to be found the religious element. when the nature of the present struggle is better understood and its subjective causes

ALICE A BAILEY16 GLAMOUR A WORLD PROBLEM

y: 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 subject to glam

to the idealism. they are only in touch with the human interpretation of the idea, as formulated by some disciple or intuitive a very different thing. an illusion can, therefore, be defined as the consequence of an idea (translated into ideal) being regarded as the entire presentation, as the complete story or solution and as being separated from and visioned independently of all other ideas both religious in nature or apparently completely unrelated to religion. in this statement lies the story of separation and of man's inability to relate the various implications of a divine idea with each other. when visioned and grasped in a narrow and separative manner, there is necessarily a distortion of the truth, and the disciple or aspirant inevitably pledges himself to a partial aspect of reali

ch have the warrant and the sanction of love. it is, for instance, no illusion that the idea which finds expression in the statement that "all men are equal" is a fact which needs emphasis. this has been seized upon by the democratically inclined. it is indeed a statement of fact, but when no allowance is made for the equally important ideas of evolution, of racial attributes, and of national and religious characteristics, then the basic idea receives only limited application. hence the enforced ideological systems of our modern times and of the present day, and the rapid growth of ideological illusions, which are nevertheless based on a true idea each and all without any exception. it is again no illusion that the development of the christ consciousness is the goal of the human family, bu

whatever it may be, it conditions and determines your predominant life tendency. many people, particularly the unintelligent masses, are solely inspired by desire material, physical and temporary. animal desire for the satisfaction of the animal appetites, material desire for possession and for the luxuries of existence, the longing for "things" for comforts and for security economic, social and religious control the majority. the man is under the influence of the densest form of maya, and the forces of his nature are concentrated in the sacral centre. others are motivated by some form of aspiration or ambition aspiration towards some material heaven (and most religions portray heaven in this manner, ambitions for power, desire for the satisfaction of the emotional or aesthetic appetites

orces. b. sharing and greed, outlining a future world wherein the four freedoms will be dominant and all will have that which is needed for right living-processes. c. light and dark, demonstrating the difference between an illumined future of liberty and opportunity, and the dark future of slavery. d. fellowship and separation, indicating a world order where racial hatreds, caste distinctions and religious differences will form no barrier to international understanding, and the axis order of master races, determined religious attitudes, and enslaved peoples. e. the whole and the part, pointing to the time which is approaching (under the evolutionary urge- 98- glamour: a world problem copyright 1998 lucis trust of spirit) wherein the part or the point of life assumes its responsibility for

ALICE A BAILEY17 TELEPATHY AND THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

am. these teachings bear the impress and conclusions of the senior disciple and are frequently of value; they may and often do contain information of which the recipient is totally unaware. the criterion here is that nothing (literally nothing) will concern the recipient, either spiritually or mentally or in any other way connected with his personality, nor will they contain the platitudes of the religious background of the recipient. they will account for five percent (5) of the teaching given, but this is in relation to the entire world and the percentage does not refer to some one occult group, one religious faith or one nation. the recognition of this is of vital importance. 4. communications from a master to his disciple. this accounts for two percent (2) of the entire telepathic rece

ractically the work of developing or the mode of unfoldment of human sensitivity. i refer here to sensitivity to impression from or by the hierarchy- 72- telepathy and the etheric vehicle copyright 1998 lucis trust the work done through the processes of initiation is intended to fit disciples and initiates to receive impression from shamballa; the initiate is essentially a blend of scientific and religious training; he has been re-oriented to certain phases of divine existence which are not yet recognised by the average human being. i am endeavouring to make clear to you the basic synthesis underlying all manifested life upon our planet, and also the close interplay or relationship which forever exists and expresses itself through the supreme science of contact or of impression. the three

umanity, utilises the throat centre, working through the integrated personality, and therefore only when a relatively high degree of evolutionary unfoldment has been attained. the throat centre only becomes creatively and spiritually active when the lower nature has been to some degree subordinated to idealistic aspiration: this aspiration need not be one that is usually regarded as spiritual and religious by the orthodox and therefore imprisoned thinker. it must, however, be one of which the whole integrated man is the instrument and which will be of such a large nature that it will call all his creative faculty into expression. in this solar system, the heart centre is the first usually to be awakened and active; as soon as there is life in that centre and a measure of activity, the othe

and to do so consistently and persistently. however, there is much to encourage the server. humanity has now reached a point in development where there is a definite grasp of the plan of the hierarchy call it brotherhood, sharing, internationalism, unity or what you will. this is a growing and factual apprehension and is a general recognition by the thinkers and esotericists of the world, by the religious people of enlightenment, by broad minded statesmen, by industrialists and business men of inclusive vision and humanitarian insight, and even today by the man in the street. there is also a more definite recognition of emerging spiritual values and a greater readiness to relinquish hindrances to service. the plans of the christ for humanity's release are more matured, for they had to wai

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

of a perverted mentality and an unwholesome imagination, which today lie behind so much of its expression, the narrow-minded christian inheritance of a "guilt complex" where sex is concerned, and the heritage of diseased and over-or under-sexed physical bodies, have brought the race to its present chaotic and unintelligent handling of the important problem. the solution will not be found through religious pronouncements, based upon an outworn theory, or through physiological inhibition or legalised license; neither will it come through legislation, inspired by various schools of thought in any community or nation. it will be the result of the united activity of the spiritually minded consciousness, the judicial attitude, the intellectual perception and the steady urge of the evolutionary

ure and correct feeding, and when there is also a more proper apportionment of time; when esoteric psychology and esoteric astrology give their contribution of- 141- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust knowledge to the bringing up of young people. the old methods must give way to the new and the conservative attitude must be dropped in favour of religious, psychic and physical training and experiment, scientifically applied and mystically motivated. when i say religious, i do not refer to doctrinal or theological teaching. i mean the cultivation of those attitudes and conditions which will evoke reality in man, bring the inner spiritual man to the foreground of consciousness and thus produce the recognition of god immanent. i must write n

f the physical body is of paramount importance to practically everybody and the thoughts of all peoples without exception, whether at war or not, are turned that way. the emphasis upon the wholeness of the individual physical life is symbolic of the outer body of humanity, viewing all human beings as a unit. again, gold is the symbol which today governs man's desires whether national, economic or religious; it is connected with this sign and this is one of the indications that today the conflict in the world economic situation is based upon the upwelling of desire. in an esoteric way, therefore quoting from a very ancient book of prophecy "the golden eye of taurus points the way to those who likewise see. that which is gold will some day, too, respond, passing from east to west in that dir

number of people who are achieving the integration of the personality and becoming self-conscious, as well as in the emergence of thousands of- 288- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust self-conscious world aspirants who are subordinating gradually their integrated personalities to the good of the group. the influence of virgo appears in the many religious, spiritual and mental organisations and movements which indicate so directly the awakening of the christ consciousness in humanity. these triangles thus can be seen as vibrant living factors, producing world changes and giving a tremendous push onward to human unfoldment. it is interesting to bear in mind that just as each sign is divided into three decanates which are ruled by specific

s (consciously seldom but unconsciously often) against the evil influence, and the second group the leaders of the allied cause who represent their nations. no matter what past history may indicate in connection with many of the allied nations (past aggressions, ancient cruelties and wrong doing, they sought to cooperate with the forces of light and endeavoured to salvage human freedom political, religious and economic. i would also point out in passing that the two major divisions of the world the occident and the orient are also governed by certain ray energies, as follows: the occident .s oul ray. ray ii personality ray ray iv the orient. soul ray. ray iv personality ray ray iii i would remind you that we are in a period of shifting rays and that they change both for individuals and nat

ALICE A BAILEY19 THE UNFINISHED AUTOBIOGRAPHY

paratory stage, and the possibility of telepathic and direct spiritual contacts and knowledge what i say may prove to be of service. many isolated mystics, disciples and aspiring men and women down the ages have known all these things. the time has now come when the masses of men everywhere must know them too. so here goes for the story of my life. do not be misled. it is not going to be a deeply religious effusion. i am a flippant and humorous person and almost painfully ready to see the funny side of things. between you and me, people's profound interest in themselves and in their souls and all the intricacies of related experiences almost staggers me. i want to shake them and say "come outside and find your soul in other people and so discover your own" what is going on in people's mind

are so lovely, good and understanding. i want to go on record that she and my aunt, margaret, gave me something of such true spiritual significance that to this day i attempt to live by the note that they struck. they were very different. miss godby was plain, quite ordinary in background and equipment, but sound and sweet. my aunt was exceedingly beautiful, well-known for her philanthropies and religious views but equally sound and sweet. at 18 years of age i was sent to a finishing school in london, whilst my sister again went to the south of france with a governess. it was the first time we had ever been separated and the first time i was ever on my own. i do not think i was a great success at school; i was good at history and literature, really very good. i had been given a good class

know that i kept them out of mischief for two hours each sunday morning. during those days and until i was 22 and became the mistress of my own small income (as did my sister, we lived the lives of society girls; we had what is called three "london seasons" participating in the usual round of garden parties, teas and dinners and being definitely in the marriage market. i was, at that time, deeply religious but had to go to dances as i did not want my sister to go to such wicked things without me. how i was tolerated by the people i met i do not know. i was so religious and so imbued by the mystical consciousness and my conscience was so morbidly sensitive that it was then impossible for me to dance with a man or sit next a person at dinner without ascertaining whether they were "saved" or

tentatious holiness i was smart, intelligent, well educated and sometimes interesting- 21- the unfinished autobiography copyright 1998 lucis trust i have a sneaking respect for myself as i look back for i was so painfully shy and reticent that i suffered untold agonies as i screwed myself up to express this concern for the souls of strangers. apart from the fact that my aunt and my governess were religious people, what was it that made me so fixed in my spiritual aspiration and my determination to be straight good? that this determination took colouring from my religious environment has no real bearing on the question; i knew nothing different than to express my spirituality in attending the early communion service every day, if possible, and in trying to save people. that particular expre

people, what was it that made me so fixed in my spiritual aspiration and my determination to be straight good? that this determination took colouring from my religious environment has no real bearing on the question; i knew nothing different than to express my spirituality in attending the early communion service every day, if possible, and in trying to save people. that particular expression of religious service and enterprise could not be helped and i eventually outgrew it. but what was the factor that changed me from a very bad tempered, rather vain and idle young girl into a worker and temporarily into a fanatic? on june 30th, 1895, i had an experience which has made that date for me one that i never forget and always keep. i had been for months in the throes of adolescent miseries. l

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

ing. the question "why" so frequently asked brings in the factor of cause and effect with constant inevitability. the concepts of heredity and of environment are efforts to explain existing human conditions; qualities, racial characteristics, national temperaments and ideals prove the fact of some initiating world of causes. historical conditions, the relationships between nations, social taboos, religious convictions and tendencies can all be traced to originating causes some of them most ancient. everything that is happening in the world today and which is so potently affecting humanity things of beauty and of horror, modes of living and civilisation and culture, prejudices and likings, scientific attainment and artistic expression and the many ways in which humanity throughout the plane

e heights of human divinity. their aggressive history as narrated in the old testament is on a par with present-day german accomplishment; yet christ was a jew and it was the hebrew race which produced him. let this never be forgotten. the jews were great aggressors; they despoiled the egyptians and they took the promised land at the point of the sword, sparing neither man, woman nor child. their religious history has been built around a materialistic jehovah, possessive, greedy and endorsing and encouraging aggression. their history is symbolic of the history of all aggressors, rationalising themselves into the belief that they are carrying out divine purpose, wresting away from people their property in a spirit of self-defense and finding some reason, adequate to them, to excuse the iniq

e was taken by the jews because it was "a land flowing with milk and honey" and the claim was made that the act was undertaken in obedience to divine command. later, the symbolism gets most interesting. they divided into two halves: the israelites with headquarters at samaria, and the jews (meaning two or three special tribes out of the twelve) locating around jerusalem. dualism ran through their religious beliefs; they were schooled by the sadducees or the pharisees, and these two groups were in constant conflict. christ came as a member of the jewish race and they renounced him. today the law is working, and the jews are paying the price, factually and symbolically, for all they have done in the past. they are demonstrating the far-reaching effects of the law. factually and symbolically

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 treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: esoteric healing copyright 1998 lucis trust the average man certain uncontrovertible, spiritual facts. both in the guidance and protection of the masses in their spiritual natures and in the guidanc

only one point of view, one attitude to life, and no fluidity and capability of- 187- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: esoteric healing copyright 1998 lucis trust adjustment. such individuals may suffer, for instance, from what is called id e fixe, or they may be completely the victim of some obsessing mental thought. such mental obsessions can range all the way from a mild fanaticism to religious mania, with its accompanying characteristics of sadism, ruthlessness and general morbidity. dementia praecox comes under the first and the fourth groupings and is a blend, usually, of the factors descriptive of both. it is inherited in every case and, if not apparently physically so, is then based on inherited astral conditions, which in their turn aid in determining the physical conditi

ALICE A BAILEY21 EDUCATION IN THE NEW AGE

step to be taken in the mental development of humanity. teaching, if true, must be in line with the past and must provide scope for endeavour in the present and must also hold out further enlightenment for those who have succeeded or are succeeding in attaining the indicated goals. there must be a spiritual future indicated. it is that which is required now. the word "spiritual" does not refer to religious matters, so-called. all activity which drives the human being forward towards some form of development physical, emotional, mental, intuitional, social if it is in advance of his present state is essentially spiritual in nature and is indicative of the livingness of the inner divine entity. the spirit of man is undying; it forever endures, progressing from point to point and stage to sta

arious- 8- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust branches of science are also regarded as constituting the conquest of areas of territory, and this again is acclaimed as racial achievement. the conquests of science, the conquests of nations, and the conquests of territory are all indicative of the piscean method, with its idealism, its militancy, and its separativeness in all fields religious, political and economic. but the age of synthesis, of inclusiveness and of understanding is upon us, and the new education of the aquarian age must begin very gently to penetrate the human aura. iv. education is more than memory training and more than informing a child or student as to the past and its achievements. those factors have their place, and the past must be understood and stud

) their subjective cause and their relation to the world of reality of which the phenomenal world is but the symbol. at the age of seventeen the study of psychology will be added to the rest of the curriculum and the nature of the soul and its relation to the world soul will be investigated. meditation along suitable lines will be part of the curriculum. it should be noted here, however, that the religious implications of meditation are needless. meditation is the process whereby the objective tendencies and outgoing impulses of the mind are thwarted, and it begins to be subjective, to focus and to intuit. this can be taught through the medium of deep thinking on any- 12- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust subject mathematics, biology, and so forth. the tendency of the new

ectrician? is there a latent capacity for one or other of the arts, a reaction to colour and form, or a response to music and rhythm? is the intellectual calibre one that should warrant a definitely mental training in analysis, deduction, mathematics or logic? then perhaps as life goes on our young people will be graded into two groups: the mystical, under which heading one would group those with religious, artistic and the more impractical tendencies; and the occult, which would include the intellectual, scientific and mental types. by the time a child is seventeen the training given should have enabled him to strike his note clearly, and should have indicated the pattern into which his life impulses will most probably run. in the first fourteen years, opportunity should be given to exper

; to know- 30- education in the new age copyright 1998 lucis trust something of past events historical, geographical, literary, philosophical and scientific are likewise added in many countries and for certain classes of people. some of the literature of the world is also brought to his attention. the general level of world information is high but usually biassed, influenced either by national or religious prejudices, serving thus to make a man a citizen of his own country but not a human being with world relations. world citizenship is not emphasised. the teaching imparted stimulates the latent mass consciousness of the child, and evokes the memory (racial and individual) through the impartation of facts uncorrelated facts most of them unrelated to daily living. these facts could serve (i

ALICE A BAILEY22 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME II

d 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 later date) will bear fruit and inaugurate a new method of drawing nearer to god. it might be of value to all disci

shing of a pathway of approach, symbolised in the ritual i gave you as a golden band of light. this you- 36- discipleship in the new age- volume ii copyright 1998 lucis trust were to visualise as extending between yourselves, as a group, to your tibetan brother. this pathway of approach is the path which it is planned should constitute a more familiar symbol than has hitherto been the case in the religious life of the race. 4. this pathway of light leads to the heart of a dark blue disk at the very centre of which you were told i could be contacted. those of you who are in any way adept at meditation work know well that the light in the head when seen and recognised passes usually through three stages of intensification: a. it is, first of all, a diffused light, surrounding the head, disco

hnique 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 the world need of love, as exemplified by an attitude of goodwill and understanding, and a closer approach by humanity to the hierarchy. in the past, the religious emphasis upon the esoteric side of instruction has been the approach of the individual man to the god within, to his own higher self, the soul, the first master. in the future, the emphasis will be upon the united approach of humanity (as represented by an increasing number of groups of aspirants and disciples) to the hierarchy. according to the status of the groups and their awareness a

he consciousness in that of the soul, followed by a group dedication; and, finally, that humanity (symbolised by the group) and the hierarchy (symbolised by me) and the subsequent voicing by me of certain words of power were all intended to produce the fusion of the objective and subjective worlds, and the consequent emergence of the fifth kingdom in nature. thus the skeleton structure of the new religious 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

mena, 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 plan of the hierarchy call it brotherhood, sharing, internationalism, unity or what you will. this is a growing and factual apprehension and is a general recognition by the thinkers and esotericists of the world, by the religious people of enlightenment, by broad minded statesmen, and even today by the man in the street; divine purpose, however, implemented or engineered by the divine will, eludes as yet the most advanced. the work of the next few centuries will bring about changes in this respect, and these changes will be brought about by the work done in the ashrams of the masters, guided by the ashrams of the

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

hools 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 their consciousness in some small measure, and having established enough soul contact so that they can begin to touch the world of ideas (upon the intuitional levels of consciousness) can employ a new technique. together and as a group they can become sensitive to the incoming new ideas which it is intended should condition the new a

y available made so by the thinkers of their time and then give it a material, national and selfish twist and objective, and so force it on the masses by fear, warlike means and material promises. they belong, therefore, more practically to the third ray methods of work, for they are intelligent, expedient, and materially constructive. true idealism, involving as it must the new age patterns, and religious incentives are lacking in their techniques. nevertheless, they do lead the race on another step, for they have a mass effect in evoking thought, and sometimes eventual resistance, as the result of that thought. later we shall study these and other ways of governing, and analyse their ordinary modern expressions and future spiritual correspondences. these will some day appear on earth as

dy between the educators of the time, those whose task it is to enforce the law, and the statesmen 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 ente

us 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 characteristic of the human consciousness is the sense of the innermost or the real, a recognition of subjective destiny, and an innate knowledge of and reaching out to the unknown god. therefore, any truth or presentation of truth or method which has in it the possibility of producing a nearer approach to divinity or

aused by the ambitions of any one person or race, or by the materialism, aggression and pride of any particular nation. it is not basically the result of the wrong economic conditions existing in the world at this time. it is caused entirely by the widespread hatred in the world hatred of people and of races, hatred of individuals and of those in power, or of influence, and hatred of ideas and of religious beliefs. fundamentally, it is caused by the separative attitudes of all peoples and races who, down the centuries and also today, have hated each other and loved themselves. it is caused by people in every country, who have sought to cast the blame for conditions on everyone except themselves, and who have diligently sought for scapegoats whereby they may feel personal immunity for their

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

a factual part of the hierarchical membership. of that truth, we know (as aspirants) relatively very little. truth as we understand it during the early treading of the path of discipleship is concerned with great verities which are (from the insight of the enlightened ones) only the a b c of life. these truths are: the manifestation of divinity on the physical plane. the doctrine of avatars. this religious history reveals. the nature of consciousness, through the development of psychology. the doctrine of the trinity, as it expresses itself through the aspects and the attributes. these four expressions of truth will be found to convey all the knowledge with which the initiate must stand equipped when he climbs the mount of transfiguration at the time of the third initiation. they have give

on the seven rays- volume v: the rays and the initiations copyright 1998 lucis trust world servers, plus an attempt to recognise the members of the new group whenever and wherever contacted. this will not be at all an easy task, my brothers, if you look only for those who think and work your way, or who recognise the hierarchy as you recognise it, or if you exclude those who labour in relation to religious and other fields in a manner different to yours. forget not, as an instance of this, that the great labour movement in the world was initiated by one of the masters and is implemented from his ashram at this time. we come now to a detailed analysis of rule xiii. in the foregoing pages i gave you certain broad principles and outlined a new aspect of the work which i had undertaken to do f

ted the art of revelation. the task ahead is simple. the important aspect, at this time, of the basic oneness underlying all forms, and which the workers of today must immediately emphasise, is the fact of the kingdom of god, of the planetary hierarchy. the citizens of that kingdom and the members of that hierarchy are gathered out of every nation, every political party, every social group, every religious cult or sect, and every organisation no matter what their expressed objectives and the universality of the field from which these people emerge, demonstrates their underlying unity. when this unity assumes adequate proportions in the eyes of mankind, a real synthesis will follow. therefore the call goes out at this time for hierarchical workers to reveal with greater emphasis the fact of

ncrease of pressure on the part of all who recognise the factual nature of the inner subjective kingdom of god, will produce amazing results. this kingdom, through its major power (a quality of synthesis, could you but realise it, is gathering together into itself men and women out of every nation and out of all parts of the earth. it is absorbing them into itself not because they are orthodox or religious in the generally accepted sense of the term, but because of their quality. simultaneously, as their numbers increase, a reverse movement is taking place. men are moving outward on to the physical plane, and doing this as a group in order to prove the factual nature of the world of unity into which they have succeeded in penetrating. they, therefore, are demonstrating oneness and synthesi

f all spiritual workers, the nature of the christ consciousness which knows no separation, which recognises all men everywhere as sons of god in process of expression. this is all desired because of the need to emphasise the all-inclusive approach of divinity to humanity. these working disciples and initiates regard all as essentially one and as brothers, which repudiates all man-made theologies (religious, scientific, political or economic) and says to all men everywhere "we are all the children of god; we are all equally divine; we are all on our way to the revelation of divinity, and this upon the physical plane of- 196- a treatise on the seven rays- volume v: the rays and the initiations copyright 1998 lucis trust existence; it is what we reveal that is of importance; what is revealed

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

iously seeking the satisfaction of his aspiration. at the close of his search he meets atlas, bearing the burden of the world, and so impressed is he with the weight of that responsibility and the load that atlas, the great master, is carrying, that he forgets all about the goal and his search for the golden apples and endeavors to lift the burden off the shoulders of atlas. when aspirants in the religious field and in the church, in the theosophical field, in the rosicrucian field, and in the many groups to which they gravitate, have learned to forget themselves in [73] service and to lose sight of their spiritual selfishness by helping humanity, there will be a much more rapid gathering in of initiates through the portal on to the path that leads from darkness to the light, and from the

ncept. decanates, rulers and constellations aquarius, like other signs, is divided into three decanates. we are now entering the first decanate governed by saturn, hence our present difficulties, our political upheaval, the dividing of the world stage into great groups, with people who are national, patriotic, and those who are beginning to vision the international spirit. in the churches, in the religious field, division again, between those who are getting a picture of the universality of the love of god, and those who bow to authority and dogma. in the field of economics a tremendous turmoil is brought about by saturn, between those who bow to material things and those who are letting them go in order to get the better things; between those who grab possessions for themselves, those who

that they are human beings with certain responsibilities, yes, but we can begin to get a [192] larger picture, develop the consciousness of humanity as a whole. as browning says "mankind made up of all the single men in such a unity the picture ends" that is going to happen in aquarius, that is what lies ahead, that is what the united nations, movements for international peace and other groups in religious, political and economic fields are working for; the breaking down of prejudice and learning to think in general terms, in wholes. the breaking down of barriers on a large scale has to be brought about by public opinion, and this is of slow growth and largely emotional; that is the trouble. in the aquarian age, especially in the second decanate, when mercury the messenger from the soul to

gular place in the heavens, a symbol of reality. this sign rules the feet and hence the idea of treading the path and attaining the goal has been the underlying spiritual revelation of the piscean age. pisces is also the sign of death in various aspects. the death of the body sometimes, or it may be that an old foolishness has come to an end, an undesirable friendship will cease, devotion to some religious form of thought that has held you will now [200] end and you will emerge and set your feet upon a new path. it is the sign of death to the personality. if we could give up the idea of the personality veils, we would be willing to let the personality go. it also means the death of a world savior for it is the sign of crucifixion and marks the end of a zodiacal cycle. there are three signs

almost unnoticed to humanity during the past century has been the slow dawning upon our consciousness of the fact of our own inherent essential divinity. men are recognizing that they are in very truth "made in the image of god, and are one in nature with their father in heaven. today also, the purposes and plans underlying god's creative work are being studied widely from both the scientific and religious angles, bringing definite changes in man's attitude to life as a whole. it is this unfolding plan for man, individual and- 119- the labours of hercules racial, that is revealed in the story of this ancient son of god. we are given a synthetic and complete picture of the progress of the soul from ignorance to wisdom [208] from material desire to spirit aspiration, and from the blindness o

AN INTRO TO STUDY OF THE KABALAH

which he has adopted after reaching full age and powers of discretion. being fully persuaded of the good to be thus derived, i desire to call attention to the dogmas of the old hebrew kabalah. i had the good fortune to be attracted to this somewhat recondite study, at an early period of life, and i have been able to spare a little time in subsequent years to collect some knowledge of this hebrew religious philosophy; my information upon the subject has been enlarged by my membership of the rosicrucian society. yet the kabalistic books are so numerous and so lengthy, and so many of them only to be studied in rabbinic hebrew and chaldee that i feel to-day less confident of my knowledge of the kabalah than i did twenty years ago, when this essay was first published, after delivery in the for

al view of this philosophy, there are now three standard works; two are in english; one by dr. c. ginsburg, 1865, a formal and concise r sum of the doctrines; the other, an excellent book "the doctrine and literature of the kabalah" by arthur e. waite, 1902; and one in french by adolph franck, 1889, which is more discursive and gives fewer details. many points of the teaching of indian systems of religious philosophy are not touched on by the hebrew system, or are excluded by differences of a fundamental nature: such as the cosmogony of other worlds, unless the destroyed worlds of unbalanced force refer to these; the inviolability of law, as karma, is not a prominent feature; reincarnation is taught, but the number of re-births is limited generally to three. some small part of the kabalist

ament. 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 treatises; the more esoteric doctrines w

e basis of those vast compilations of hebrew doctrine called the "talmud" of which there are two extant forms, one compiled at babylon-the most notable, and the other associated with jerusalem. to the original "mishna" the rabbis added further commentaries named "gemara" from this time the literature of judaism grew apace, and there was a constant succession of notable hebrew rabbis who published religious treatises, until at least a.d. 1500. the two talmuds were first printed at venice in 1520 and 1523 respectively. the old testament books were the guiding light through the ages of the jews, but the learned rabbis were not satisfied with them alone, and they supplemented them by two parallel series of works of literature; the one, talmudic, being commentaries based upon thirteen rules of

to dwell there for a time, to gain experience, to receive retribution, and then enter another stage of progress, and achieve a final return to its divine source. and yet the authors of these volumes, whoever they were, could hardly have been without the conception of the higher part of man, of his spiritual soul. the critical contention is that the old testament was deprived at some period of its religious philosophy, which was set apart for a privileged class; while the husk of strict law and tradition was alone offered for the acceptance of the people. the kernel of spiritual philosophy which is lacking in the old testament as a religious book may be the essential core of the kabalah; for these kabalistic dogmas are hebraic, and they are spiritual, and they are sublime in their grandeur;

ANTINOMIANISM

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 form of self responsibility. the rhp vs. lhp is not good against evil in the classic socialized, religious, cultural sense. it is about the most important choice a conscious being can make during his/her life. the loss of personal individuality and egocentric consciousness to the gentleness, solicitude and peace of god or fighting to maintain the individual will, the sense of self knowledge and being that the lhp recognizes as a special "gift" which enables that choice to be made, and of whic

liberally from several areas of philosophical and spiritual inquiry. existentialism, relativism, antinomianism, hermeticism, all share ideas which are synthesized into the lhp conception. tracing the roots of these ideas we find hints and glimpses contained in the extant thoughts of certain gnostic sects, the graeco/roman egyptian philosophies and aspects of the ancient egyptian philosophical and religious cults. particularly we see this in the reflections of the ancient setian priesthoods of egypt which have been integrated into other lines of philosophical thought. as previously stated, the differentiation between the lhp and the rhp is one of intent. for instance, in the church of rome (catholic) ritual is utilized. all the elements- altar, bell, candles, incense etc, form the component

infer that certain aspects of psychology rather than being a relatively "new" science are actually very ancient. the intent of these methodologies being transformative- developed to alter the way in which one perceives their internal and external environments for the purpose of accomplishment. the functional prosthesis of antinomianism the function of antinomianism is to dissent from established religious, cultural and social ideas that are often not the result of personal experience. the purpose of this spiritual dissent is to come to conclusions and ideas about the objective and subjective environment- on a personal level- that are your own. the antinomian spirit dissents from faith that is not arrived at through a careful introspection via intellectual and creative means. it does not d

seek for the tree to bear its fruit. antinomianism is not only a dissent from spiritual ideas that are not your own, that you have not experienced, but also from cultural and social ideas that are not your own. the entire antinomian spirit is motivated by a praxis that denies the blind acceptance of ideas no matter their source. it is one which urges each individual to make up their own minds on religious, social and cultural paradigms. this understanding must be based upon what the individual has learned through the strength of their own desire to consciously understand the contents of the proxemic environments each must inhabit. a genuine antinomy has no logical fallacy. one seeks to understand and conceive the unknown through the known so what was once hidden becomes then revealed. thi

ARTHUR E WAITE TEMPLAR ORDERS IN FREEMASONRY

ormably to the spirit of the time by the creation of rites and degrees of masonic knighthood, no trace of which is to be found prior of ramsay. their prototypes of course were extant, the knights of malta, knights of the holy sepulchre, knights of st. lazarus, in the gift of the papal see, and the order of christ in portugal, in the gift of the portuguese crown. there is no need to say that these religious and military orders have nothing in common with the operative masonry of the past, and when their titles were borrowed for the institution of masonic chivalries, it is curious how little the latter owed to the ceremonial of their precursors, in their manners of making and installing knights, except in so far as the general prototype of all is found in the roman pontifical. there are, of

any specific place of templar refuge after the proscription. but the chivalrous origin of masonry is not less a ramsay myth, and it characterises almost every variant of templar perpetuation which has arisen under a masonic aegis, from that of the knights of god and the chevalier du temple to that of werner and his sons of the valley, belonging to the year 1803. there stand apart only the english religious and military order and the late french order of the temple which depends from the charter of larmenius, but this was not masonic, though its pretence of templar perpetuation and succession is most obviously borrowed from masonry. in conclusion, i shall think always that baron von hund drew from france, whether directly at paris or via hamburg in his own country. we have seen that the str

ramsay, for others to occult knowledge on the side of magic, and for the chapter of clermont to alchemy. the collapse of the strict observance was not so much because it could not produce its hypothetical unknown superiors, but because it could not exhibit one shred or vestige of the desired secret knowledge. i have now accounted at length for that which antecedes the present english military and religious order of the temple and holy sepulchre, so far as possible within the limits at my disposal. the clerical knights templar, which originated at weimar with the lutheran theologian, j. a. von starck, and presented its claims on superior and exclusive knowledge to the consideration of the strict observance about 1770, represent an intervention of that period which has been judged- justly or

wreaking a ridiculous vengeance on the knights of malta, to whom some of the templar possessions were assigned (5) knight commander of the templar, because, according to the plenary ritual in manuscript of albert pike, it is exceedingly late and is concerned in his version with the foundation and history of the teutonic chivalry, which is beside our purpose. in respect of the english military and religious order i have met with nothing which gives the least colour to a supposition of gould that it arose in france: the chevalier du temple is its nearest analogy in that country, but the likeness resides in the fact that both orders or degrees have a certain memorial in the centre of the chapter or preceptory: we know that which it represents in at least one case and in the other, as we have

of the temple, in the library of grand lodge. it represents a revision of working and belongs to the year 1830. it is of importance as a stage in the development of the english military order (6) that which matthew cooke presented to albert pike, by whom it was printed in the year 1851. it is practically the same as ours and was ratified at grand conclave on april 11 of that year (7) that of the religious and military order, of the grace and beauty of which i have no need to speak. the two that remain over are dominion rituals of the order of the temple, being that in use by the sovereign great prior of canada prior to 1876, and that which was adopted at this date under the auspices of the grand master, wm. j. b. macleod moore. they are of considerable interest as variants of the english

BALANONES TEMPLE OF SET FAQ

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 other religions also paid their fair taxes. but as long as they are tax exempt, we'll save our money this way also) yes, setian priests are

you will have two years in which to achieve the ii, using the information and inspiration provided by the _crystal tablet, by correspondence and other contact with setians, and through your own work towards initiation- following from our choice to avoid all practices that would create a barrier between us and our self-created divinity, the setian can not in good faith hold membership in any other religious organization after he has become an adept. membership in organizations that advocate illegal action are likewise incompatible with setian affiliation. one cannot be for one's own xeper, and be working to restrict the xeper of another- the application and its approval. though some applications are approved and acted upon quickly, other applications for membership in the temple of set seem

there's anything you can do to help. 5.2 relations with other organizations by its bylaws, the temple of set as an organization can have no formal relationships or ties with any other organization. individual setians, however, can work with or have dealings with other organizations and its members. there are two limitations: 1) an adept ii* of the temple of set cannot also be a member of another religious organization, and 2) no setian may be a member of an organization which condones or takes part in the violation of society's laws to the detriment of society. that first limitation has often been a subject for discussion by people who don't understand it or who want clarification. one clarification i posted to alt.pagan in 1996 was "the temple of set wouldn't care if a setian chooses to

able to see and mesh with whatever magic is taking place, understanding the causes of the ceremony and participating in those causes as appropriate to our own will "however, if someone claimed to seriously believe in the wheel of karma, and that xeper is valueless because until we can learn to avoid all participation in this world we're doomed to ride that wheel cycle after cycle, then yes, that religious belief would be opposed to the setian principles of xeper, and that person would not be able to remain a member of the temple of set. the two philosophies are simply incompatible" the ref document includes sections which examine our history regarding specific other organizations. 5.3 why the temple of set? the ref document examines the question "what does the temple of set have to offer"

BANISHING THE SLAVE GODS

plimentary comment here: http//www.geocities.com/athens/parthenon/4052/starruby.htm this rite serves as both a banishing and an invocation. the "io pan" may be substituted with "hail satan" as they are both essentially the same force. the visualization of the pentagram is of utmost importance in this rite. it is used later in a non-ritual context when you are in the actual presence of any type of religious figure, authority, or someone that is just plain witnessing to you with their chosen "faith. to intiate an offensive attack- which is actually a blessing in disguise- you will imagine this inverse pentagram slightly between your eyebrows at the center of your forehead. in the same manner that said pentagram is projected out during the rite, you may project this onto the center of the for

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

itual 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 lanka, and elsewhere in asia. however, what is unique is how such relationships develop

ly 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 interests.1 the tibetan cultural landscape is overrun with the lives, adventures, and influences of innumerable gods and demons, both foreign and autochthonous. these deities play a significant role in shaping the religious history of tibet and continue to have a strong presence in the daily practice and worship of tibetans. as such, to better understand tibetan religious history and 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 tibeta

perspectives on the evolution of tsiu marpo as well as increase understanding of tibetan protector deities and the powerful roles that they play along mythic, ritual, communal, and political lines. aside from providing a full image of this important yet little known protector deity, this study aims to illustrate more broadly how deities like tsiu marpo are necessary elements of the tibetan socio-religious landscape. we will see that deities are instrumental in strengthening social cohesion on multiple levels and in multiple contexts. 2 review of the literature the available research on tibetan deities is scant. to this day, the most comprehensive treatment of tibetan gods, demons, and oracles is oracles and demons of tibet: the cult and iconography of the tibetan protective deities by r n

a larger ritual goal that these texts embody. a detailed exploration of the organization and structure of these ritual texts will yield rich information on the process and function of tibetan ritual and on the central role of protector deities within this process. this section will conclude with a speculative exploration of such texts as fields for monastic and lay intersection within the tibetan religious sphere. the fifth and final chapter will analyze the oracle tradition in tibet and tsiu marpo s connection with it. tibetan oracles are individuals who act as vessels for a protector deity and thus are divinely possessed. in their possessed state of trance, oracles provide communal advice 9 see bentor 1996, p. xxi. 7 through the power of clairvoyance. historically important oracle lineag

jambudv.pa( dzam bu gling).15 this structure, along with the multiple overlapping realms full of various entities, is mimicked in the powerful representative symbol of the ma..ala, which will be explored more fully in chapter 3. tibetans further attribute a great deal of sacred significance to the landscape and the necessity for its constant taming; this concept and its personification in tibetan religious history will also be examined in chapter 3 and discussed further below. the divine hierarchy because of the numerous deities, demons, and various other spirits that inhabit the vast and multifaceted landscape in tibetan buddhism, it is helpful to provide a concise classification of these beings as such systems have come to evolve both in tibetan texts and scholarly research. geoffrey sam

BLACK SERPENT1

rments [and] gave him his secret name of k nkyap dorj drakpotsel. the master received the tantras of this violence demon from the treasury. at a later time when he arrived in tibet, when he was welcomed by the seven attendant riders in the appearance of horsemen, it is said that here is the country of the violence demon tsi marwa. 215 the unprecedented elegant explanations tibetan t-+ affects our religious freedoms, but also how-to articles, reviews of music and movies from fellow practitioners, articles about how demonolatry affects our lives, and even some fun stuff. so for our debut issue i scoured the deepest regions of the internet (i didn t have to go far) to find wonderful authors to write for us. the result is black serpent. it is my hope you ll find this issue educational as well

onolators 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 have been fired from their jobs due to their employers becoming aware of their religious beliefs. in june 2004, alicia folberth, a wiccan high priestess, was fired, allegedly because of her need for ti

have been fired from their jobs due to their employers becoming aware of their religious beliefs. in june 2004, alicia folberth, a wiccan high priestess, was fired, allegedly because of her need for time off (on halloween) to practice her faith. http//www.connpost.com/news/ci_3168056 in a similar incident back in march 2001, shirley tingley, a witch, claimed she was fired from her job due to her religious beliefs, though her employer insisted it was because she threatened to cast a spell 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

hool after showing the opera led to accusations that the married mother of two was a lesbian promoting homosexuality; the 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

reedom of religion only applies to judeo-christian religions. this means that people who practice any form of non-judeo christian religion are probably safer keeping it to themselves. i have no doubt every last person reading this article has worked with a christian coworker who has openly discussed his/her religion. yet, very rarely do you hear of the christian being fired for openly sharing his religious beliefs. nor do you often hear 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 performanc

BLACK WITCHCRAFT

n world is of anti-nature, or rather the word antinomian is a greek form meaning against the law. this word makes reference to rebellion from a structure or spiritual design of the masses, the majority and whatever the current ideological mainstream may be at that time. witchcraft, no matter for what intent or form, has always stood outside any conventional acceptance within society either by the religious hierarchy (even though it keeps their organizations called church together and making money) or even governmental ones. to provide a distinct understanding of luciferian witchcraft from which i am an initiate of, i must write directly of experience and the vision which all initiates, past, present or secret, have brought to the current and how it manifests today. no longer should those o

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

k i, while they are first given in full as they stand, when taken verse by verse with their commentaries an attempt is made to make them clearer, by words added in brackets, in anticipation of the fuller explanation of the commentary. as regards the evolution of mankind, the secret doctrine postulates three new propositions, which stand in direct antagonism to modern science as well as to current religious dogmas: it teaches (a) the simultaneous evolution of seven human groups on seven different portions of our globe (b) the birth of the astral, before the physical body: the former being a model for the latter; and (c) that man, in this round, preceded every mammalian- the anthropoids included- in the animal kingdom[[footnote(s* see genesis ch. ii, v. 19. adam is formed in verse 7, and in

continued from previous page] law of buddha" as schlagintweit believes, but real living men, some superior to men by virtue of their occult knowledge, and the protectors of buddha's law, inasmuch as they interpret his metaphysical tenets correctly, others inferior morally as being black magicians. therefore it is truly declared that gautama buddha "is said to have taught them a more philosophical religious system than to men, who were not sufficiently advanced to understand it at the time of his appearance (schlagintweit's "tibetan buddhism* the mandragora is the mandrake of the bible, of rachel and leah. they are the roots of a plant, fleshy, hairy, and forked below, representing roughly the limbs of a man, the body and even a head. its magical and mysterious properties have been proclaim

mortal or immortal has ever seen or comprehended it during the periods of existence. the mutable cannot know the immutable, nor can that which lives perceive absolute life" therefore, man cannot know higher beings than his own "progenitors "nor shall he worship them" but he ought to learn how he came into the world (c) number seven, the fundamental figure among all other figures in every national religious system, from cosmogony down to man, must have its raison d'etre. it is found among the ancient americans, as prominently as among the archaic aryans and egyptians. the question will be fully dealt with in the second part of this book; meanwhile a few facts may be given here. says the author of the "sacred mysteries among the mayas and quiches, 11,500 years ago[[footnote(s "beyond" the gr

mprehensible. it is the summary in a few lines of the whole work of creation, or evolution, as one should rather say, from cosmo-theogony down to anthro[[vol. 2, page] 99 the hammer of thor. pogony, from the indivisible unknown parabrahm to the humble moneron of materialistic science, whose genesis is as unknown to that science as is that of the all-deity itself. the svastica is found heading the religious symbols of every old nation. it is the "worker's hammer" in the chaldean book of numbers, the "hammer" just referred to in the "book of concealed mystery (ch. i, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc "which striketh sparks from the flint (space, those sparks becoming worlds. it is "thor's hammer" the magic weapon forged by the dwarfs against the giants, or the pre-cosmic titanic forces of nature, which rebel

we shall find a still more striking corroboration of the same tenet under another form. unable to trace in genesis the "egg-born" we shall still find there unmistakably the androgynes, and the first three races of the secret doctrine hidden under most ingenious symbology in the first four chapters of genesis- the divine hermaphrodite. an impenetrable veil of secrecy was thrown over the occult and religious mysteries taught, after the submersion of the last remnant of the atlantean race, some 12,000 years ago, lest they should be shared by the unworthy, and so desecrated. of these sciences several have now become exoteric- such as astronomy, for instance, in its purely mathematical and physical aspect. hence their dogmas and tenets, being all symbolised and left to the sole guardianship of

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

nce 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 section of the public as a romance of the wildest kind; for who has ever even heard of the book of dzyan? the writer, therefore, is fully prepared to take all the responsibili

truth has to laboriously climb its way up hill" old truisms are often the wisest. the human mind can hardly remain entirely free from bias, and decisive opinions are often formed before a thorough examination of a subject from all its aspects has been made. this is said with reference to the prevailing double mistake (a) of limiting theosophy to buddhism: and (b) of confounding the tenets of the religious philosophy preached by gautama, the buddha, with the doctrines broadly outlined in "esoteric buddhism" any thing 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, p

he title; and, in justice to myself, i must add that "esoteric buddhism" was presented to me as a completed volume, and that i was entirely unaware of the manner in which the author intended to spell the word "budh-ism" this has to be laid directly at the door of those who, having been the first to bring the subject under public notice, neglected to point out the difference between "buddhism- the religious system of ethics preached by the lord gautama, and named after his title of buddha "the enlightened- and budha "wisdom" or knowledge (vidya, the faculty of cognizing, from the sanskrit root "budh" to know. we theosophists of india are ourselves the real culprits, although, at the time, we did our best to correct the mistake (see theosophist, june, 1883) to avoid this deplorable misnomer

british museum* all this is very likely to provoke a smile of doubt. but then, before[[footnote(s* badaoni wrote in his muntakhab at tawarikh "his majesty relished inquiries into the sects of these infidels (who cannot be counted, so numerous they are, and who have no end of revealed books. as they (the sramana and brahmins) surpass other learned men in their treatises on morals, on physical and religious sciences, and reach a high degree in their knowledge of the future, in spiritual power, and human perfection, they brought proofs based on reason and testimony, and inculcated their doctrines so firmly that no man could now raise a doubt in his majesty even if mountains were to crumble to dust, or the heavens were to tear asunder" this work "was kept secret, and was not published till th

y. upon buddha or his "good law" the loss of nearly 76,000 tracts does seem miraculous. had it been vice versa, every one acquainted with the natural course of events would subscribe to the statement that, of these 76,000, five or six thousand treatises might have been destroyed during the persecutions in, and emigrations from, india. but as it is well ascertained that buddhist arhats began their religious exodus, for the purpose of propagating the new faith beyond kashmir and the himalayas, as early as the year 300 before our era* and reached china in the year 61 a.d* when kashyapa, at the invitation of the emperor ming-ti, went there to acquaint the "son of heaven" with the tenets of buddhism, it does seem strange to hear the orientalists speaking of such a loss as though it were really

BLUE EQUINOX

s, 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 programme, so far as space permits. the equinox is so called, firstly because it is the comment upon the word of the new on, qelhma, which was

olegomena symbolica ad systemam sceptico-mystic vi explicand, fundamentum hieroglyphicam sanctissimorum scienti summ. a complete dictionary of the correspondences of all magical elements, re-printed with extensive additions, making it the only standard comprehensive book of reference ever published. it is to the language of occultism what webster or murray is to the english language. varieties of religious experience (james. valuble as showing the uniformity of mystical attainment. kabbala denudata, von rosenroth: also the kabbalah unveiled, by s.l. mathers. the text of the qabalah, with commentary. a good elementary introduction to the subject. konx om pax. four invaluable treatises and a preface on mysticism and magick. the pistis sophia. an admirable introduction to the study of gnostic

ut knew that the liber lxi 59 true way to attract the notice of such was to equilibrate the symbols. the temple must be builded before the god can indwell it. 22. therefore by the order of d.d.s. did p. prepare all things by his arcane science and wisdom, choosing only those symbols which were common to all systems, and rigorously rejecting all names and words which might be supposed to imply any religious or metaphysical theory. to do this utterly was found impossible, since all language has a history, and the use (for example) of the word .spirit. implies the scholastic philosophy and the hindu and taoist theories concerning the breath of man. so was it difficult to avoid implication of some undesirable bias by using the words .order .circle .chapter .society .brotherhood. or any other t

h the law by those in authority in the order when the time comes. thou wilt note that we have written unto thee more as a member of the o.t.o. than in thy capacity as of the a.a, for the former organization is co rdinate and practical, and concerns itself with material things. but remember this clearly, that the law cometh from the a.a, not from the o.t.o. this order is but the first of the great religious bodies to accept this law officially, and its whole ritual has been revised and reconstituted in accordance with this decision. now then, leaving the book of the law, note, pray thee, the following additional suggestions for extending the dominion of the law of thelema throughout the whole world. 1. all those who have accepted the law should announce the same in daily intercourse .do wha

eturn for a while, but the road once opened and the path plain, you will always be able to get there again, in the twinkling of an eye, just by readjusting your inner sight to the truth. you know how deeply we have always been impressed with the ideas of sun-rise and sun-set, and how our ancient the equinox 184 brethren, seeing the sun disappear at night and rise again in the morning, based their religious ideas in this one conception of a dying and re-arisen god. this is the central idea of the religion of the old on, but we have left it behind us because although it seemed to be based on nature (and nature.s symbols are always true, yet we have outgrown this idea which is only apparently true in nature. since this great ritual of sacrifice and death was conceived and perpetuated, we, thr

BOOK OF ENOCH

book is really enoch s true account of otherwise forgotten events that occurred in early times; events that we have no other surviving records of. enoch left us a book that describes people of an advanced culture; blond-haired people that enoch s people considered to be angels of god, and it was written on the angels instruction. the standard academic view seems to be that some slightly demented religious fanatic wrote the book- not long before the earliest provable fragments (200 or 300bc. i think it is impossible to support this view. such an author would have to be able to write the entire book from the point of view of a person who knows nothing of countries with names, or religions with names. then he goes on to describe the angels as blond men, who ran away from heaven in order to b

probably due to events in jerusalem during the reign of king manasseh of judah (695- 642 bc, which are documented in the bible (2chronicles 33:1- 20, and at 2kings 21:1- 18. king manasseh was not of the jewish faith, he erected alters to baal and asherah in solomon's temple. in kings at 21:16, it says that so much innocent blood was shed that it filled jerusalem from end to end. at this time, the religious establishment left the country, taking the ark of the covenant and all the important religious texts with them. after a number of years in egypt, the refugees went further south, near to the source of the nile, at lake tana in ethiopia. the descendants of these people are the falashas, who even today follow the form of judaism that had been practiced in israel only before 620 bc. the eth

BOOK OF JASHAR

nd so we must suppose that the author wants us to read it as fiction, not as dogma. indeed, the manuscript may prompt us to ask whether a taboo on using god as a literary character might in some ways limit and weaken our modern fictional literature. but why should anyone use god as a character in a story, if it puts readers on their guard and evokes images of the doctrines that launched a hundred religious wars? it would not be hard to rewrite the narrative without mentioning god "at god's first word" becomes "at first "god put a blessing on noah's porridge" becomes "noah's porridge was remarkably good" etc. but including god in the story serves as an effective literary device for expressing the fundamental importance of events. god serves as a thread that ties specific events into the gra

institution of marriage, which continually reunites fragments of his family in new combinations. human and cain both prophesy at the wedding feast, but only human is accepted as a true prophet. although cain's contemporary family rejects cain's prophecy, they accept him as a member of the clan, and the true and false prophets are never separated again. so the story is here setting an example for religious tolerance, to suggest that people with different beliefs should appreciate each other and remember their human kinship. we may also guess that, by our standards, cain's false prophecy of a future civilization might have been rather more interesting than human's true but trite predictions of joy and sorrow in marriage. at another level, the end of section 2 could also be interpreted as a

gives a simple answer. just as individuals need to rely on other individuals for guidance, so nations need other nations. a universal kingdom of all humanity is compared to cain wandering alone, with no one else to guide him away from madness and hallucination. just as cain needed jashar to set him straight (recall that jashar in hebrew means straight, so each nation needs other nations, and each religious group needs other religious groups, to set each other straight. god has commanded a system of competition between groups so that humanity can achieve its true destiny. thus, we begin to see social laws as given by god along with physical laws. god's destruction of the noahite kingdom is a simple game-theoretic change of equilibrium. if everyone expects everyone else to obey the king's or

n to the king's orders. either set of expectations can be a stable equilibrium. thus, when god's words shift the expectations from one equilibrium to the other, the king's universal authority simply vanishes, and the new world order of international rivalries and wars can begin to evolve. the phrase "with its own language for laws and prayers" suggests that the divisions may be both political and religious. the word "language" here could be interpreted in the sense of "wording" that is, we may be divided simply by our use of different words to describe similar codes of behavior and religious principles. the abrupt introduction of abram leaves us wondering which of his biblical relationships should be assumed in this story. in genesis, abram is both father and executioner to isaac. we can o

e. for this perception of the common heritage and posterity of all humanity, abram is blessed with a new name, but it is a name that implicitly reaffirms the existence of divisions between nations. the unspoken answer to abram's question is evidently that national identities are cultural, not genetic, and so the patriarchs are the founding fathers of separate cultural traditions. each national or religious group can retain a distinct cultural tradition, even though its individual members may have ancestors and cousins in many other nations, because each nation has its own educational system in which the children learn the nation's traditions, as god has commanded. on the other hand, as abram has recognized, national cultures can also be mixed together, through the movement of people across

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

pe (though probably not as generally widespread as murray indicated) these ritual leaders, or priests and priestesses, became known as the wicca* the "wise ones. in fact by the time of the anglo-saxon kings in england, the king would never think of acting on any important matter without consulting the witan; the council of wise ones. and indeed the wicca did have to be wise. they not only led the religious rites but also had to have knowledge of herbal lore, magick and divination; they had to be doctor, lawyer, magician, priest. to the people the wicca were plenipotentiaries between them and the gods. but, at the great festivals, they almost became like gods themselves. with the coming of christianity there was not the immediate mass-conversion that is often suggested. christianity was a m

re-christian religion behind all the "hogwash" of the christian allegations. although her theories finally proved a little far-fetched in some areas, she did indeed strike some chords. wicca was by no means as far-reaching and widespread as murray suggested (nor was there proof of a direct, unbroken line of descent from the cavepeople, but there can be no doubt that it did exist as an indubitable religious cult, if sporadic as to time and place. she enlarged on her views in a second book, the god of the witches, in 1931. in england, in 1951, the last laws against witchcraft were finally repealed. this cleared the way for the witches themselves to speak up. in 1954 dr. gerald brousseau gardner, in his book witchcraft today, said, in effect 'what margaret murray has theorized is quite true

open wiccan festivals and seminars taking place in such unlikely places as family campgrounds and motels such as the holiday inn. witches appear on television and radio talk shows; they are written up in local and national newspapers and magazines. witchcraft courses are given in colleges. even in the armed forces is wicca recognized as a valid religion department of the army pamphlet no. 165-13 "religious requirements and practices of certain selected groups a handbook for chaplains" includes instructions as to the religious rights of witches right alongside those of islamic groups, sikh groups, christian heritage, indian heritage, japanese and jewish groups. yes, witchcraft has a place in past history and will have a definite place in the future. the philosophy of witchcraft the craft is

universe as manifesting through polarity as masculine and feminine and that this same creative power lies in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. we value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive to the other. we value sex as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of life, and as one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship. 5. we recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological, worlds sometimes known as the spiritual world, the collective unconscious, inner planes, etc. and we see in the inter-action of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. we neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment. 6. we do not recogni

fulfillment of life in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness giving meaning to the universe we know and our personal role within it. 10. our only animosity towards christianity, or towards any other religion or philosophy of life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be "the only way" and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practice and belief. 10/ auckland's complete book of witchcraft 11. as american witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. we are concerned with our present and our future. 12. we do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as "satan" or

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

eir remains can still be seen. the old ways did not die quickly, however, and so for centuries the two religions co-existed as people gradually transferred their allegiance from the earth mother, or mother goddess, to the virgin mary and the female saints. the persecution of witches but in medieval times, two largely political issues brought about the persecution of witches, especially women. the religious emphasis on the sin of eve and the belief in the inferiority of women had existed since the time of st paul, but with the rise of an organised male medical profession, women healers who had acted as herbalists and midwives became a threat. this was not least because their skills ensured less painful childbirth, which was considered contrary to the curse of god that the daughters of eve s

ers of the tribe that she would come to them next morning with a great gift for the people. a huge ornate ceremonial tepee was erected and in the morning she entered, carrying a special bundle on her back and singing a holy song. the men kept their eyes lowered when she entered, as she had instructed. she unfastened the bundle and took from it the buffalo calf pipe, which is still the most sacred religious object of the lakota today. the woman instructed the men in how to smoke the pipe, which in its smoke symbolised the visible spirit, in the bowl mother earth and in the stem father sky, so that it might be used for prayer offerings to her and for bringing peace to divided nations. on her visits she also taught sacred ceremonies for restoring balance and healing to both earth and people

death into new more perfect life. she can be invoked for all waning moon magic and for rituals for banishing sorrows and bad habits. charges charges are declarations of the powers of the gods or godesses involved in the ritual, and are in themselves empowering and a way of linking the practitioner's own divine spark with that represented by the divinity. they are similar to creeds in a christian religious service. the charge of the goddess the charge of the goddess is a powerful way of focusing on cosmic energies. the goddess is considered to be both 'transcendent, or above and beyond the created universe (like the traditional idea of god on a cloud, looking down and judging creation, and also 'immanent, or manifest within every natural object, be it flower, stone, animal or person. the t

do something positive to help a person, animal or place on the day after the third ritual. it need not involve money. you can re-light the oils at any time if energies seem sluggish and repeat the whole ritual a moon cycle later for as long as is necessary. there may be a lot of negative vibes swimming the other way, so persevere and be patient. incense magick incense has formed a central part of religious and magical ceremonies for thousands of years in lands as far apart as india and north america. it has been used for purification purposes, to invoke angels and to bind or repel demons by medieval magicians. it is said to release specific energies contained in its fragrance and to carry prayers and petitions to the god or goddess figure being invoked. since the 1960s, incense sticks, con

rks. with practice, you will learn to add the right quantity to ensure a steady but not choking stream of smoke as part of the ritual. many practitioners prefer to light it beforehand and just add a teaspoon of incense as part of the ceremony or spell when they need a billow of fragrance. incenses with a greater proportion of resin and gum will last longer- hence the popularity of frankincense in religious ceremonies. when working in a group, you can ask one person to top up the censer if necessary during a long rite. if you are alone, make this part of your increasing power actions in a private ritual. practise using non-combustible incense before rituals and in time it will become as natural as lighting a candle. the second type of incense, which many practitioners, myself included, pref

CHAOS MAGICK AND LUCIFERISM

arious languages and techniques of war and survival. later on in life hassan overtook the eagles nest that is also called alamut. located on the southern shore of the caspian sea around the elburz mountain range, sabbah established a fanatical power base that was soon feared throughout the region. hassan i sabbah s faith seemed to be a gnostic dualistic similar to islam in a manicheism ideal. the religious head or what is called imam is a personal representative to god itself. only through this imam will one be able to journey to god. in western definitions, this concept is similar to the pope. sabbah was not only able to raise a number estimated at several thousand fanatic followers, called the assassins from their ritual use of hashish, which was said to make them suggestive to hassan i

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

ghters of the dust enumerates the fundamental interests of one family on the eve of their dispersal, their concern for survival, their hopes for future generations, and their attempts to respect the past and to preserve memory. it is also a story of the cultural and spiritual resources to which a people might turn when they are in need. i suggest that daughters might be read as an allegory of the religious sojourn of blacks in america, with nana's charm as a metaphor for a legacy that some have chosen to preserve, and others to reject. rather than dismissing the hand as an object of superstition, i want to black magic page 4 of 144 http//content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docid=kt600020q0&chunk.id=0&doc.view=print 7/14/2006 argue for its deeper significance, as a symbol of the survival of a kind o

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, when petitioned, in the life of the believer. individuals may utilize the rhetoric of miracle to characterize this kind of spiritual efficacy, or they may adopt a lexicon that is associ

ces instead of conciliating or propitiating them as religion would do" religion is, accordingly, a public and social activity; magic is private, manifested in solitary, focused events, and has no church or sustained collective.[3] yet if we return to nana peazant and her conjuring hand, we are confronted with a problem. should the hand and the accompanying ceremony be interpreted as "magical" or "religious" or is there an intermediate category in which to place ideas of the ways that humans have engaged a reality beyond their own, a reality delineated by the presence of divine beings, forces, and other invisible entities? to address this question, this book examines a range of spiritual traditions such as conjure, hoodoo, and root working. viewing these traditions through the interpretive

visible entities? to address this question, this book examines a range of spiritual traditions such as conjure, hoodoo, and root working. viewing these traditions through the interpretive lens of "vernacular religion" i draw a contrast between the official doctrines of institutional religions such as protestant christianity\ 4\ and the vast territory of behaviors that human beings may invest with religious meaning.[4] these behaviors, we will see, may be embedded within activities such as work, recreation, or leisure. hence the boundaries of "religion" can be difficult to locate. charles long, who has most strongly advocated an original methodological approach to black religion, asserts that "the church [is] not the only context for the meaning of religion" for black people, but that "reli

people, but that "religion c mean[s] orientation.orientation in the ultimate sense, that is, how one comes to black magic page 5 of 144 http//content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docid=kt600020q0&chunk.id=0&doc.view=print 7/14/2006 terms with the ultimate significance of one's place in the world" these "extrachurch orientations" long adds "have had great critical and creative power" often touching "deeper religious issues regarding the true situation of black communities"[5 "religion" then, not only pertains to the formal creeds, doctrines, and theologies of a church-based faith tradition but includes beliefs that are embedded in the ordinary experiences and the deeply held attitudes, values, and activities of members of a group or community. it may also include what david hall has called "lived re

CHRONOLOGIA RORISPERGIUS

ear modern turfan. 762 caliph al-mansur in baghdad founded house of wisdom for the purpose of promoting the arab's assimilation of indian, greek and persian science. 787-886 abu ma'shar. persian astrologer. al-kindi's student wrote a "great introduction (ysagoga maiore) to astrology around 850 ce; a major source for medieval astrologers. a fusion of sabian hermeticism, persian chronology, islamic religious doctrine, greek science and mesopotamian astrology. identified idris with enoch and hermes. 796-861 dhu l-nun al-misri hermetic sufi from akhmim egypt, said to have studied with jabir b. hayyan al-kufi. 800-866 al-kindi wrote "on rays (de radiis. al-kindi's theory would tend to imply that the "occult qualities" of plants and stones are a kind of signification "all terrestrial things emit

probably the chinese 'domino' cards. 1120- 1147 jaufr rudel troubadour 1122-1204 eleanor of aquitaine 1125. adelard of bath an englishman who went into the islamic world and learned much about its culture. he was one of the first to translate arabic astrological texts into latin, most notably abu ma'shar's the abbreviation of the introduction to astrology. 1127-1279 "white lotus society. chinese religious sect which developed out of pure land buddhist lay associations in the southern sung dynasty 1128-1203 alanus ab insulis aka alain de l'isle& alain de lille derived his pythagoreanism from the asclepius and hermetica; influenced by pseudo-dionysius and john scotus erigena. school of chartres. influence on romance of the rose. quotes hermes trismegistus liber de xxiv philosophorum: a gath

f philadelphia's appearance as "holy pope. arnald of villanova writes a number of important treatises on alchemy quaestiones tam esseentiales quam accidentales, epistola supe alchemia ad regem neapolitanum, de secretis naturae, exempla de arte philosophorum; key of solomon. d.1300 'aziz al-din nasafi. kitab al-insan al-kamil. 1300 sister manfreda, a member of the visconti family and follower of a religious sect, founded by guglielma of bohemia and inspired by the profecies of a 13th century italian monk, gioacchino da fiore had been elected "pope" by her sect was sentenced and burned. 1300-1325 w.v. white book of rhydderch (mabinogion. ma'arekhet ha-elohut expounds doctrines of kabbalah; popular in italy. 1304 bernard delicieux, provencal spiritual preaches to carcassone on the sibyls and

gue, yersinia pestis) ravage europe. in the mid-fourteenth century several white lotus groups rebelled against mongol rule in the name of both maitreya and the manichean king of light. white lotus school(pai-lien she) became a secret society and played an important role in the rebellions and peasant insurrections of the 13th-15th centuries. the strange powers supposedly unleashed by buddho-taoist religious practices and demonstrated with magic tricks may have led to the delusion of invulnerability that is characteristic of the modern martial arts. the association between popular religion and feats of magic became so strong that in the late seventeenth century it was natural for a chinese author to suppose a rope-climbing performance by a street magician had some connection with white lotus

heologian, in 1570. studion collected precious stones and monuments, displayed in stuttgart library. wrote the 2000 p. naometria(measure of the temple) joachite chiliasm and key of david. 1543-1620 chaim vital 1544-1616 helisaeus roeslin 1544-1607 john pistorius, qabalist 1544 postel in rome- he published his work de orbis terrae concordia (concerning the harmony of the earth) advocated universal religious peace, to be achieved by convincing jews, moslems, and pagans of the truth of christianity. 1545-1608 joseph duchesne (quercetanus) 1546 "absconditorum a constitutione mundi clavis" gillaume postel. the "key of hidden things" is david's key. 1548 postel translates the zohar. 1548-1600 giordano bruno 1549-1550 postel journeys to the orient(he claimed to have walked all the way to china) 1

COLLIER IRENE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

r confucius introduced his ideas, which stressed fulfilling obligations and maintaining proper conduct. although confucianism is not a religion, its influence is deeply ingrained in chinese ideas about behavior and government. between 600 300 b.c. taoism emerged. at first, it was a philosophy that encouraged people to seek harmony with the tao, or the way, a nature force. later, it evolved into a religious system involving many gods, goddesses, spirits, ghosts, demons, magical powers, and the quest for immortality. 7 preface in a.d. 67 buddhism was introduced to china from india. it contributed two powerful religious and mythical figures: the buddha, a real, historical person who later became a divinity, and kuan yin, the goddess of mercy. it also introduced the concept of reincarnation, t

other minerals add colors and imperfections to the stone during its formation in the earth. some colors are given especially descriptive names: snow jade, mutton-fat white, chicken-bone white, milky white, spinach green, apple green, kingfisher (emerald) green, cinnabar red, rust red, lavender, black, and blue. through the ages, jade has been used for ceremonial blades (axes, daggers and swords, religious containers and nature spirit figures (oxen, cicadas, doves, dragons, carp, mountain scenes, and, currently, for personal treasures (chopsticks, writing brushes, teacups, rice bowls, jewelry. professor d argenc sums up its symbolism: with time jade came to be associated in popular belief with everything that is noble, pure, beautiful and indestructible. 6 chinese mythology 94 9 monkey int

vive their dangerous trip. q: who volunteered to fetch the scriptures? a: a humble monk named san zang stepped forward for the dangerous mission. the emperor renamed san zang tripitaka, after the indian name for the scriptures. q: why did the buddha, kuan yin, the emperor, and san zang agree to the dangerous trip? a: they knew that the people were greedy and selfish, and that they needed some new religious ideas and spiritual guidance. q: what happened to taoism when buddhism was introduced to china? a: the people of china were able to follow both the new teachings of buddhism and the way of taoism. the pilgrimage 117 expert commentary dr. daniel overmyer of the university of british columbia explains buddhism s appeal: wherever it went, buddhism was accepted by many people as a new, liber

COSIMANO CHARLES ELEMENTARY PSIONICS

s car to the same place in an hour. don't let anyone deprive you of something useful because it does not fit their scheme of things. in fact, at this point, i should mention something that is unpleasant but must be faced. there are those who profit from ignorance of this material. that 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

t he had to be content to stop it from burning down houses, no small feat in a day when the local clergy were convinced that lightning was a sign of divine wrath rather than poor divine insulation, and were thus certain that the lightning rod was blasphemous in the extreme. of course, it is a good thing to remember that if someone comes along with something that improves the lot of humanity, some religious fool will object to it. so if a lot of the stuff in this volume seem odd, and the machines primitive, remember that we are standing on one shore, trying vainly to see the other one and hoping that someday we will have the boat that can get us there. but you can't build a boat without learning what will float, so get on to the next chapter. you've got a lot of work to do. energy work now

e is always the fear that a zealous reader will take the advice given to him and do something really stupid, like give up insulin for his diabetes. therefore, in putting this information before you i am going to expect that you will use some degree of common sense in its application. let me illustrate what i expect you to avoid. at one time in my life i found myself hanging around with a group of religious-type people (hell, the girls were cute) and a faith healer came to town. being of a somewhat skeptical bent, i was unimpressed by his habit of pouring oil on people and pronouncing them cured of everything from arthritis to the dreaded spotted nose-drip. as you may well expect, my lack of faith was a great trial to my friends but they came to appreciate my point of view after one of thei

CULTUS SABBATI

m, but invariably rooted in pragmatic deeds of healing, love-magic, wortcunning, curing and cursing. where the practices of cunning-folk overlapped with those of the high ritual magic traditions, the calling of angels, the apparatus of astrology, and latin incantations were integrated into the magic of the everyday. notably, these rituals, spells and formulae employed the idiom of the predominant religious culture, namely christianity, often melding folk religiosity in a seamless blend unique to each individual practitioner. although ritual magicians and cunning-folk alike used christian formulae in their praxes, one could argue that this religious language was naturally the timely idiom of narration for magical rites. however, beneath the shifting of language and culture, the immemorial m

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

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

ere are, however, tens of thousands of extraterrestrial civilisations which have visited this planet, i believe, and they will be very different in appearance, genetics, and means of nourishment. some undoubtedly look very much as we do and could walk past us in the street without turning a head. others appear very different from us. i feel that at least many of the 'miracles' recorded throughout religious legend have an extraterrestrial (fourth dimensional) origin. the sight witnessed by 70,000 catholics at fatima, portugal in 1917 sounds like many of the stories described in both the ancient texts and the modern world. the fatima 'miracle' followed a series of meetings between three children and some strange being, which, they said, sometimes manifested as the virgin mary. the being prom

y 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-worth, thus creating a physical reality to match. religions are the same thought pattern manifesting under different names- the th

ly settlers. from that point on, the native culture of north america was doomed, as was that of south and central america once the spanish and portuguese arrived. the way the native peoples were slaughtered without mercy and their cultures destroyed without respect or compassion was one of the most appalling episodes in all of human history. thousands of settlers sailed west from europe to escape religious persecution after the brotherhood-engineered reformation divided the christian church into protestants and catholics. this created division and conflict and weakened the power of the pope. but when the persecuted peoples arrived in america, they often proceeded to persecute the native population and the immigrants of other religious beliefs in the same merciless way that they themselves

ement known as zionism had been introduced to campaign for a jewish homeland, but it is often misunderstood: all jewish people are not zionists and all zionists are not jewish. zionism is not a religion or a race; it is a political movement consisting of people, jews and non-jews, who support the claim for a jewish homeland. if you support that, you are a zionist, too, no matter what your race or religious belief. to say that zionism is the jewish race is like saying the british labour party is the english race. zionism was founded in the last century by an atheist, theodore herzl, and it is used as a front for the global elite and a means to dupe jewish people as a whole. the offer to recognise a homeland in palestine was designed both to persuade the united states to enter the war and 74

following declaration of sympathy with jewish zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the cabinet: his majesty's government view with favour the establishment in palestine of a national home for the jewish people, and will use their best endeavours for the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non- jewish communities in palestine [what a joke, or the rights and political status enjoyed by jews in any other country. i should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the zionist federation" at the time less than one per cent of the population of palestine was jewish and yet this letter was to form the basis on which the post-war world

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

ected to a global computer network. a ridiculous conspiracy "theory? oh really? well have another look around you and you'll see that this is happening today, now the sheeple the self-policing of the human herd goes far 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

one who does not conform (c) you bring these beliefs into conflict, so ensuring the divide and rule you so desperately need for control by the few. while the masses are so busy fighting each other and seeking to impose their beliefs and views on each other, they don't see that the llluminati have strings attached to all of them. humans are like moths buzzing around a light, so mesmerised by their religious belief, the football scores, the latest row on a soap opera, or the price of friggin' beer, that they fail to notice the preparations being made to smash them on the arse with a swatter. pyramids within pyramids the llluminati have created a pyramid structure throughout society that allows them to operate a global agenda that only a relative handful of people know exists. it is like thos

uman 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. the reason is simple: if you want to know the outcome of a game before the game has even started, you need to control all sides. the manager of a football team cannot dictate the result if he only controls one side. if, however, he is managing both sides, he can decide the result before a ball is ki

uce light-skinned offspring with "god-like features" became the goal of many atlanteans, samsel writes, and these crossbreeds became the dominant force. they took over the government, economics, education, religion, and communications. sound familiar? samsel says that the kings of the white royal lineage ruled atlantis and what he calls the "sons of belial" controlled the temple of the sun, their religious hierarchy and ritual network. today this atlantean temple of the sun is known as the illuminati. during this period, many atlanteans of the red race migrated west to the americas, which were then geographically different to what we see today. samsel goes on "the age of the atlantic empire would prove to be a free-for-all for the sons of belial and the followers of the temple of the sun

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

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

examples.you can easily understand that a race performing technological feats of such magnitudeshould be seen as gods by a people unable to comprehend such abilities. in the 1930s,american and australian servicemen landed their planes in remote parts of new guineato drop supplies for their troops. the locals, who had never seen a plane, believed theservicemen were gods and they became a focus of religious beliefs. this would havebeen even more extreme in the ancient world had their advanced race been beings fromother planets, stars or dimensions, flying craft more advanced than anything flown (atleast officially) by todays military. an influx of knowledge from outside this planet oranother source would explain so many of the mysteries that official history greets with4a deafening silence

the anunnaki. the sumerian tablets speak of king8sargon the elder being found as a baby floating in a basket on the river and brought upby a royal family. exodus speaks of moses being found as a baby floating in a basketon the river by a royal princess and how he was brought up by the egyptian royalfamily. the list of such coincidences goes on and on.the old testament is a classic example of the religious recycling which has spawnedall the religions. so when you are looking for the original meaning of genesis and thestory of adam you have to go back to the sumerian accounts to see how the story hasbeen doctored. genesis says that god (the gods) created the first man, adam, out ofdust from the ground and then used a rib of adam to create eve, the first woman.zecharia sitchin points out tha

manipulate. this involves a programme of crossbreeding and that is preciselywhat the sumerian texts are describing in relation to the anunnaki. rhodes adds that:from their underground bases, the reptilian military et s (establish. a network ofhuman-reptilian crossbreed infiltrates within various levels of the surface cultures militaryindustrial complexes, government bodies, ufo/paranormal groups, religious and fraternal(priest) orders, etc. these crossbreeds, some unaware of their reptilian genetic mindcontrol instructions, act out their subversive roles as reptilian agents, setting the stagefor a reptilian-led et invasion.18i only came across the work of john rhodes in the last few days before this book wascomplete and by then, as you will see later in the detailed text, i had reached exa

nchand semiramis means branch bearer as in ze (the) emir (branch) and amit(bearer).5 note also the symbolism of this in the story of noah and the great flood,when the dove came back bearing an olive branch. the return of the reptilians after theflood? the name, semiramis, was evolved from the earlier indian deity, sami-rama-isior semi-ramis.6 a fish and a dove are two symbols still widely used in religious ritualand national ceremony, although most of the people involved have no idea of the truemeaning. sinn fein, the political wing of the northern ireland terrorist group the ira,has a dove as its symbol and you find the dove on many of the sceptres held by thebritish monarch (see picture section. both organisations are modern fronts for thebabylonian brotherhood and the doves symbolise qu

ves working in high positions in the v aticantold me how, during the reign of pope john paul ii, he was given a guided tour of theplace which blew his mind. he was shown the popes solid gold bath which is decoratedwith all the astrological symbols and he saw inside the vacuum-sealed vaults whichcontain thousands of ancient esoteric books which have been stolen and hoarded overhundreds of years of religious dictatorship and so taken out of public circulation. theroman church and the babylonian brotherhood are one and the same.nimrod was also eannus, the god with two faces, who was later known to theromans as janus. one of the anunnaki brothers, enki the serpent god, was alsofigure 6: the fleur-de-lis, symbolof the babylonian trinity of nimrod,queen semiramis and tammuz,among other things. 5

DAVID ICKE RELATED THE HIDDEN GEARS OF FREEMASONRY

as are formulated designed to give the powerful more power. chaos is created, and media blitzed. then cries go out for solution. laws are passed which could never have been passed without the chaos. the order has reigned by deception of the masses, and the agenda is accomplished. after all, it is those secret societies (which follow this egyptian model) that control the finances, governments, and religious systems that currently plague the planet with perversions of truth and fascist agendas not becoming of the truly enlightened. below are quotes written by high level masons praising lucifer with references "the mysteries of magic' by eliphas levi "what is more absurd and more impious than to attribute the name of lucifer to the devil, that is, to personified evil. the intellectual lucifer

DAVIDSON DAN SHAPE POWER

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

DEMONIC BIBLE

r of heaven and earth must be the most evil son-of-a-bitch who ever lived. non-christians, we are told, are damned to hell because they have not accepted christ as their personal savior. non-catholics, we are told, are damned to hell because they have rejected god's holy church. and catholics, we are told, are damned to hell for bowing down to and worshipping graven images. 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 condem

this word and so left the embassy of lucifer and went into seclusion. if deitus is the word of the aeon, he said, it would have its effect with or without his direct involvement. since his arrest in october 1999, mr. miller has put his criminal past behind him. he now works as a network technician and a consultant in computer and network security. in 2002 he became involved in the baha i faith, a religious group which believes baha ullah, a persian nobleman of the late 19th century, to be the most recent manifestation of god. he has spent the past three years studying the baha i writings and the religious texts of other major world religions. his experience in proclaiming deitus as the word of the new aeon had convinced him that the prophets of the world s great religions (hinduism, judais

grew quickly to include twenty-five consulates in ten countries several hundred members. with the exception of a few gifted individuals, most who sought membership in the eol were eager and curious but lacked any serious understanding of the concepts put forth. magus susej needed time to reflect on the deeper significance of the word deitus and, therefore, left the eol to pursue a deeper study of religious history. the international office of the embassy of lucifer was temporarily closed leaving regional consulates to continue on their own initiative. those gifted individuals who understood the law of deitus, will to come into being as a god, would apply deitic philosophy to their lives and continue without the guidance of the eol. those who did not understand the philosophy would fall awa

draws heavily from the philosophy of those temples which preceded it (the tos, ona, cos, oto/aa, etc) and builds upon the work of michael aquino, aleister crowley, and others. the eol also contributes a new magic (the demonic bible) and a new philosophy (deitic philosophy) with which others may experiment. as a political and diplomatic organization, the eol places itself apart from any particular religious organization. membership in the eol does not preclude membership in the church of satan, the temple of set, the ordo templi orientis, the masons, or any other fraternal, religious, or secular organization. the rcol, the ecclesiastical arm of the eol, has been disbanded due in part to the potential for conflict with certain organizations but also for its irrelevance to the goals of the eo

also for its irrelevance to the goals of the eol. as a magical temple, the eol is open to anyone who shares its philosophical approach. and as a diplomatic organization, the eol has worked, and will continue to work, in cooperation with other organizations which share similar objectives. the eol is not a church and it must be stressed that it is not in competition with any other satanic church or religious organization. the political objectives of the eol bear mention only in passing since they have little relevance to this, the second edition of the demonic bible. the eol is only relevant as a magical and philosophical temple which has applied the rituals and philosophical concepts presented by magus susej in the demonic bible and in its role as the vehicle for the promotion of the word o

DIABOLUS

as said in the denkard to have enunciated ten specific points on the practice of the yatuk dinoih or witchcraft. to be mentioned in the denkard as enunciating admonitions meant that he had presented a systematic methodology of practice concerning their aspects of sorcerous practice, considered by the zoroastrians as evil or satanic. it seems clear just as zohak that akht-jadu operated outside the religious structure of zoroastrianism, thus their ideals of magical practice were not specifically evil or wrong. they could also lay in the idea of predilection based on their methods of selftransformation through their own religious and socio-daemonic structures of becoming. to observe the view the zoroastrians had concerning akht, let us look at the context of which it was written- one, against

cienced (black-hearted, sorcerous and vicious akht, on account of his sorcerous practices and his enmity towards men, proclaimed that no good should be done to any person, but that every person should be rendered capable of doing evil (to others) 16 here we are able to discover the antinomian nature of akht that this individual did not seek to align his psyche with the order perceived through the religious doctrine of zoroastrians, he found comfort and power within a perhaps darker path. it could not be conceivable that akht suggest no good should be done to men, as this would almost certify an extreme from which few would be able to live in accordance to. the evil-hearted, vicious sorcerer akht proclaimed enmity to the divine beings, affection to the demons, the abandonment of the adorati

they are in control of their own destiny be it success or failure, rather than bending knee and trusting in an exterior force. if you cannot trust and be strong within yourself first, how could one ever hope to have the stability to be a decent individual with honor? ahriman indeed opens the path towards the subconscious, which can be called asare- tariki, darkness and the powers of the left. as religious aggressors attest that such a religion of sorcery depopulates, history merely offers a balanced statistic of facts more murders and destruction were caused by monotheistic religions of god and christ than any so called satanic beliefs. if you consider the laws of nature, the law of the strong depopulation, as with some overgrowth of animals, is merely a welcoming to the natural order of

ers a balanced statistic of facts more murders and destruction were caused by monotheistic religions of god and christ than any so called satanic beliefs. if you consider the laws of nature, the law of the strong depopulation, as with some overgrowth of animals, is merely a welcoming to the natural order of selection which death comes to the weak. 16 akhtya, who is a propagator of some antinomian religious aspects of ahriman, appears in another tale in a pahlavi tale called yavisht i friyan17. in this tale akht, who is a powerful sorcerer, travels to a city of enigma-expounders with an army of seven myriads. he shouted to all that he would make that city a beaten track for elephants, and would test and destroy the righteous who claims to have superior knowledge. by the use of the magical f

uted to all that he would make that city a beaten track for elephants, and would test and destroy the righteous who claims to have superior knowledge. by the use of the magical formula called a staota, which is a form of sound vibrations used in the form of words, which held a spring, he would tear apart those who could not answer or survive the staota. none could withstand akht, save for a young religious man called yavisht i friyan. the youth was invited to the residence of akht, but discovering that akht had dead matter (bones, rot hair or nails) under his pillows and carpets, he could not enter until akht had them removed. as the legend moves forward yavisht withstood each staota and then used the staota to attack akht. he took time to through sorcery, rushed into hell and communicated

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

ly 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 who brings all souls at last to rest upon the neither shore" aurum solis, order of the [o.s.v: the order of the shining sun. also

er: a cross hilted, double edged, short blade used as the magickal tool and weapon of elemental air. attributed to the direction of the east. deacon/ deaconess: from the late latin, from the greek "diakonos" meaning "servant. in the christian church, a lesser member of the clergy. one who ranks just below a priest/ priestess and is assigned the responsibility of assisting the priest/ priestess in religious services and in administrative matters. dee, dr. john: a mathematician, astronomer, scientist, and ceremonial magician who lived in the reigns of queen elizabeth i and king james i of england, from 1527-1608. john dee was a devout christian, who is best known for developing with his assistant (edward kelley) the enochian (q.v) system of ceremonial magick (q.v. the system might have died

tice, this is twenty percent (20, or five (5) correct answers in twenty-five (25) attempts. both higher than hazard and lower than hazard overages are significant. hcoma: pronounced "hay-coh-mah" it is the enochian (q.v) name for the spirit of water. heathen: a person who comes from the heaths. this word has a similar history as pagan (q.v. a word used to indicate a person who is a social but non-religious pagan. hegemon/ hegemone: from the greek word "hegemononios" meaning "a leader "a guide "one who has authority over others, and "one who shows the way "a person who does something first "a commander "to train "to educate" and "to weigh in the balance. more generally, an assistant of the mysteries who reconciles opposing forces during initiation, and assists the hierophant (q.v) and the h

uipment, and persons under the immediate authority of the houngan, or priest. as such, it is equivalent to the christian parish. it may also be used in a more restricted sense to mean the small chamber adjoining the peristyle that contains the alter of one or more loa (q.v. houngan: a male priest of voudoun (q.v, who presides over the rites and gives counsel and magickal aid to worshipers of that religious faith. see planetary hours. hours, planetary: a division of the day and night into sections ruled by the energies of the planets. to determine the length of each planetary hour, divide the daylight hours by twelve. they will be different in length than the night hours (to determine the length of which you divide the total time of darkness by twelve. except on the equinoxes when the plane

things in your life, based on hermetic order of the golden dawn [g.d (q.v) techniques mixed with methods of exorcism. the letters stand for 1) identify; 2) objectify; and 3) banish- j- jesus: 1) born in circa 6 a.d. to humble parents, this prophet and teacher was said to be the son of god incarnate sent on earth to re-unite the created order with divinity. the founder and messiah of the christian religious faith. 2) a title known as the pentagrammaton (q.v. juno: one of four thousand known asteroids, but treated as a very minor planet. in astrology (q.v, the planet named after the greek goddess who served as the patron deity of marriage. she was the wife of jupiter, though the marriage was not a happy one. keywords include: spouse, wife, partnerships, law giver, judge, women's issues, weat

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

ncient rabbis say that the first is the body of the tradition, the second its rational soul, and the third its immortal spirit. ignorant men may with profit read the first; learned men study the second; but the wise meditate upon the third. it is a strange thing that christian exegesis has never sought the keys to the old testament in the qabalah. 12. in our lord's day there were three schools of religious thought in palestine: the pharisees and the sadducees, of whom we read so frequently in the gospels; and the essenes, who are never referred to. esoteric tradition avers that the boy jesus ben joseph, when his calibre was recognised by the learned doctors of the law who heard him speak in the temple at the age of twelve, was sent by them to the essenian community near the dead sea to be

wer potential. this is a relationship which is in a perpetual state of flux, and which varies at every separate point at which we make our innumerable contacts with our environment. 33. for the most part, the relationship between a man and a woman is not entirely satisfactory to either party, and they have either to put up with incomplete satisfaction in their relationship under the compulsion of religious or econorflic pressure, or supplement elsewhere their incompleteness, with as a rule a recurrence of the previous conditions when once the novelty has worn off. it is to be observed that under such circumstances it is only in novelty that sexual satisfaction at its highest is to be found; and novelty is a thing which requires constantly to be renewed, with disastrous results to sexual ec

s why so many magical enterprises are sterile. 40. these matters are highly recondite secrets of the mysteries, of which we moderns have lost the keys; but the experience of the new psychology, and its allied art of psychiatry, has abundantly proved the soundness of the basis on which the ancients built when they made adoration of the creative principle and of fertility an important part of their religious life. it is a matter of well-established experience that the person who has dissociated his or her sexual feelings from consciousness can never get to grips with life on any level. this fact is the basis of modern psychotherapy. in occult work the inhibited, repressed person tends to unbalanced forms of psychism and mediumship, and is totally useless for rnagical work in which power has

force as the shoulder takes the kick of a rifle. the great guns used for long-distance ranging have to be bedded in a mass of concrete in order that they may resist this back pressure of the charge that drives the shell forwards; for it is obvious that the pressure on the breech of the gun must equal the pressure on the base of the shell when the gun goes off. this is a truth which our idealising religious tendencies are inclined to ignore, with a consequent weakening and invalidating of their teaching. binah, marah, matter, is the thrust-block which gives dynamic life-force its secure basis, out of the resistance to spiritual force, as we have already noted, comes the idea of mystical qabala page 106 implicit evil, which is so unjust as binah. this comes out very clearly when we consider

-mars influence to slay the old god, the slayer of his children, and reign in his stead. 49. the magical symbols of binah are said to be the yoni and the outer robe of concealment, the latter is a gnostic term and the former an indian one, meaning the genitals of the female, the negative correspondence of the phallus of the male. the less well-known term kteis is the european equivalent. in hindu religious symbols the yoni and lingam appear with the greatest frequency, for the idea of life-force and fertility is a prime mover in their faith. 50. the idea of fertility is the main motif in the aspects of binah that manifest in the world of assiah, the material level. life not only enters into matter for discipline, but it also issues thence triumphantly, increased and multiplied. the fertili

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

but that she herself was well aware of their possibilities if abused is witnessed by the dread of what she called "malicious animal magnetism" which shadowed her whole life. 3 of 103 the methods of christian science, without its strict discipline and careful organisation, were developed and exploited by the innumerable schools and sects of the new thought movement. in many of the developments the religious aspect was lost sight of, and they simply became a method of mental manipulation for purely personal ends, though not necessarily deliberately evil. their exponents advertised that they would teach the art of salesmanship, of making oneself popular and dominant in society, of attracting the opposite sex, of drawing to oneself money and success. the amazing number of these courses adverti

al projection in which she knew she was tempted to indulge. at first sight her case had looked like one, of obsession, and had been so diagnosed by one or two members of the community, but wise handling revealed otherwise. this case reveals another interesting point in that, true to the witch-tradition, she had a horror of sacred symbols. she would not occupy a room where there was a picture of a religious subject. nothing would induce her to wear any piece of jewelry in the form of a cross, and it was impossible for her to enter a church. this case has many points of interest, especially in the fact that what was apparently a case of well-marked insanity was cleared up by occult methods. chapter iv projection of the etheric body before we can leave the subject of attack by incarnate human

isturbance. we should not unquestioningly attribute evil influences to a place or a person that causes us discomfort; it may merely be that psychic force at a greater tension than we are accustomed to is disturbing our equilibrium. the sites of monasteries that were disbanded with persecution at the time of the reformation are also frequently badly "haunted" by psychic forces. the group-mind of a religious community is a very potent thing, and when it is disturbed by the corporate emotion of its members, the forces thus let loose are not readily dispersed. moreover, the monks, initiates of the mysteries of jesus, would not be likely to hand over their sacred places to the despoilers with any good will. it has been reported again and again that a curse rests on those who profited by the spo

hing to render it inviolate and preserve the peace of their dead, the workers by night would probably be preferred, for they merely robbed, and did not strip and expose the nude bodies to the public gaze. there was a terrible outcry recently when some bodies were moved in a village church yard to make room for the monument chosen to decorate the grave of a famous public man. even the people whose religious feelings were not outraged by this act of sacrilege regarded it as in shocking bad taste. yet nobody proposed to strip the graveclothes from the body of someone's wife or mother and photograph it stark naked. when it comes to the question of a mummy's curse, i am afraid that my sympathies are entirely with the mummy. the initiate is strictly counselled that he should never blaspheme the

ng letter contains a very illuminating experi ence, and is of value, not only for its account of a psychic attack, but also for its description of the manner in which the attack was combated "in the winter of 1921-2 i was told (from the inner planes 'we see your initiation into the order of the christ' i did not understand very clearly and i waited "in june, 1922, an oriental, the head of a great religious order, came to see me (i was living in switzerland) we will call him z. i expected great things from him and looked on him as a sort of master. knowing that he had met abdul baha, i thought to please him by putting a. b.'s photo on my walls, but when z. entered my room i saw at once that he 63 of 103 did not quite like it. we conversed for a while and he asked me several questions. sudde

DONALDTYSON BLACKMAS

was first used in english in 1896. there is little evidence that a true black mass was ever celebrated earlier than the late 17th century. prior to this period, sorcerers occasionally used the ritual forms of the church for their own purposes, to accomplish desired goals by their magic. when the purposes were evil, the ritual practices sometimes involved the perversion and defilement of catholic religious practices. however, the black mass as a celebration or homage to satan or the antichrist is a relatively modern activity. it was performed in the french royal court, and probably in england by members of the hell-fire club. possibly it was also done in the russian royal court. it is unlikely that black masses were ever used in the rituals of the knights templar, even though the knights w

e antichrist is a relatively modern activity. it was performed in the french royal court, and probably in england by members of the hell-fire club. possibly it was also done in the russian royal court. it is unlikely that black masses were ever used in the rituals of the knights templar, even though the knights were accused of trampling and spitting on the cross. black masses formed a part of the religious practices of the late anton szandor lavey and his los angeles based church of satan, founded in the 1960s, in the sense that these rituals were performed in honor of the devil and involved a parody of the church mass. however, lavey always asserted that his black mass was not intended to defile the christian god, because he denied the existence of such a god. since the deliberate degrada

DONALDTYSON DEMON

vely, they join lucifer's army of apostate fallen angels, although at a very subordinate rank. from a fundamentalist christian point of view, all those who fail to worship christ are disobedient to god, and therefore prey for the demons who walk and swim and fly upon the earth. much the same belief concerning those of other religions is held by fundamentalist islamics and jews. in a broader inter-religious sense, anyone of any religion who strives to do good is afforded protection against the injuries of demons by 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

DONALDTYSON ELEMENT

ot muscular, with long arms and legs, deep chests, usually short hair. their touch feels very human and normal. their faces tend to be angular. they can be beautiful, but are not so sensual as undines, and by nature are more aloof and detached. sylphs are helpful when trying to accomplish matters that involve the intellect or products of the intellect, such as works of art, letters, books, ideas, religious dogmas, political manifestos, or the persuasion of others through ideas. there is little danger in evoking sylphs, but they have a mild contempt for human beings and will lie very convincingly when it suits their purposes. be vigilant against deception when dealing with them. gnomes are not like the funny little men in the pointed hats that go under this name in popular folklore, but the

DONALDTYSON MIRACLES

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

re often associated with saints than sinners, even when no prayer or action has been taken to induce them. indeed, holy men are to miracles what adolescent children are to poltergeist activity. they seem to act as facilitators of the wondrous events without conscious intention. this is most obvious in the case of stigmata, the spontaneous appearance of the wounds of christ on the bodies of devout religious believers. levitation and the appearance of glories or halos around the head or upper body are also common. the chronicle of christian miracles is overwhelming in it number and variety. only a few brief examples may be cited here. those interested in the subject should consult the 19th century text a dictionary of miracles by the reverend e. cobham brewer, an excellent compendium of chri

f magic, and all magic is condemned as evil by the church. they must reject the possibility of true alchemical transformation. my own view is that miracles, true miracles, do involve a transcendental spiritual power and draw upon the divine source that underlies the material universe. 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 del

ligion, 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 both religious miracles and occult miracles. the heightening of the emotions and the altered state of consciousness present in extreme devotion assists in the creation of miracles, which is why miracles are most common in a religious context. a similar state can be achieved in the rituals of magic, but magicians capable of generating it are few in number. how are we to understand a miracle to function?

DONALDTYSON POSSESS

porarily, or permanently, rendered unconscious, as it is during deep, dreamless sleep. the consciousness of the spirit takes over the motor control of its human host. in effect, the spirit pushes out the human soul and takes possession of its body, just as we would evict tenants from an apartment and assume residence there. in voudoun (voodoo) possession by spirits and gods is a necessary part of religious practice. the spirit or loa is said to "ride" the body of the possessed person the way a man rides a horse. the reality of possession is that the human consciousness is seldom completely excluded. usually the human consciousness goes into a kind of trance state in which it has no will. such possessions happen to everyone, and usually are of short duration. we can recognize when a spirit

EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD PAPYRUS OF ANI MALESTROM

r a translation of the text, the present volume has been prepared to be issued with the second edition of the facsimile. it contains the hieroglyphic text of the papyrus with interlinear transliteration and word for word translation, a full description of the vignettes, and a running translation; and in the introduction an attempt has been made to illustrate from native p. vi egyptian sources the religious views of the wonderful people who more than five thousand years ago proclaimed the resurrection of a spiritual body and the immortality of the soul. the passages which supply omissions, and vignettes which contain important variations either in subject matter or arrangement, as well as supplementary texts which appear in the appendixes, have been, as far as possible, drawn from other con

terlinear transliteration and word for word translation 1-242 translation 245-369 bibliography 371-377 next: the versions of the book of the dead. contents http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod02.htm [8/10/2001 11:22:27 am] sacred texts egypt index previous next introduction. the versions of the book of the dead. the four great versions of the book of the dead. the history of the great body of religious compositions which form the book of dead of the ancient egyptians may conveniently be divided into four[1] of the periods, which are represented by four versions- 1. the version which was edited by the priests of the college of annu (the on of the bible, and the heliopolis of the greeks, and which was based upon a series of texts now lost, but which there is evidence to prove had passed

s ritual there seems to have existed another and larger work, which was divided into an indefinite number of sections or chapters comprising chiefly prayers, and which dealt on a larger scale with the welfare of the departed in the next world, and described the state of existence therein and the dangers which must be passed successfully before it could be reached, and was founded generally on the religious dogmas and mythology of the egyptians. the title of "book of the dead" is usually given by egyptologists to the editions of the larger work which were made in the xviiith and following dynasties, but in this introduction the term is intended to include the general body of texts which have reference to the burial of the dead and to the new life in the world beyond the grave, and which are

de the general body of texts which have reference to the burial of the dead and to the new life in the world beyond the grave, and which are known to have existed in revised editions and to have been in use among the egyptians from about b.c. 4500, to the early centuries of the christian era. uncertainty of the history of its source the home, origin, and early history of the collection of ancient religious texts which have descended to us are, at present, unknown, and all working theories regarding them, however strongly supported by the versions of the book of the dead. http//www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod03.htm (2 of 36 [8/10/2001 11:22:54 am] apparently well-ascertained facts, must be carefully distinguished as theories only, so long as a single ancient necropolis in egypt remains u

emains unexplored and its inscriptions are untranslated. whether they were composed by the inhabitants of egypt, who recorded them in hieroglyphic characters, and who have left the monuments which are the only trustworthy sources of information on the subject, or whether they were brought into egypt by the early immigrants from the asiatic continent whence they came, or whether they represent the religious books of the egyptians incorporated with the funeral texts of some prehistoric dwellers on the banks of the nile, are all questions which the possible discovery of inscriptions belonging to the first dynasties of the early empire can alone decide. the evidence derived from the p. xii its antiquity. enormous mass of new material which we owe to the all-important discoveries of mastaba tom

ELLIS LOW TWELVE 1907

s was devised, in which every mason was initiated and which he was pledged to keep secret. the term "free" as applied to the craft, arose from the fact that its members were exempted by several papal bulls from the laws which governed ordinary laborers, as well as from the various burdens imposed upon the working classes in england and on the continent. these laws bound the free masons to certain religious duties, and it was natural that a craft whose principal business was church building should receive the special attention and care of the clergy. so marked became the influence of the free masons that the jealousy of the church was aroused long before the reformation. henry of beaufort, cardinal of winchester, instigated the passage of an act, during the minority of henry vi, which forba

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

d more than reported by its enemies (anti-cult fanatics excluded, the church of satan has established itself as the organization that is usually mentioned in books describing satanism regardless of opinion. anton lavey himself is usually mentioned in company with names such as eliphas l vi, abb boullard, and aleister crowley, all of whom are considered leading figures in so-called traditional (or religious, or mythical) and modern satanism. hagiographies such as the secret life of a satanist [3] and the church of satan [4, both by the church of satan s former high priestess and anton lavey s third wife, blanche barton (grand priestess of the temple, provide a col- 1966 coincided with year one declared in ira levin s rosemary s baby. anton lavey claimed to have been involved in the 1968 mov

provides a salt water injection to such people s egos with the assertion that satanists are intrinsically superior people. church of satan literature, such as the black flame, bulge with racist, fascist, and nazi-oriented essays and imagery, all of which are recurring themes among people whose self-esteem is out of proportion with their physical or intellectual abilities. organizations promising religious or similar emotionally gratifying compensation for lacking achievements thrive on such people. the church of satan acknowledges an emotional link between its ideology and nazism: barton: it s an unholy alliance the anti-christian strength of national socialist germany is part of the appeal to satanists. lavey: the aesthetics of national socialism and satanism dovetail [10, p. 236] anton

terpretations. the church of satan continues: will everyone arrive at the same synthesis? no. surprised? you shouldn t be, as satanism is a religion which embraces the practice of individualism, not demanding that all its members have some kind of lockstep sameness [18] the emperor s new religion copyright 2002 ole wolf page 5 of 30 different and contrary individual interpretations do not warrant religious unity, however. people do not unite in disagreement not unless they join hands in a shared disagreement with something entirely different, such as satanists pet demon: christianity. if the church of satan does indeed unite its followers despite opposing interpretations, their unity is not about its ideology at all. 1.3 satanic rituals and magic the satanic bible formally defines magic as

uals that have passed away. a wedding ritual has been written [2, p. 604, but for all practical purposes it does not exist. in spite of an expected demand, rituals concerning marriage and death are thus effectively still absent* of rituals traditionally classified as rites of passage events such as birth, marriage, and death only (voluntary) baptism rituals are available for initiation of it is a religious question whether this magic actually works, but if the chief purpose of the magic is to vent frustrations and get it out of one s system, the magic probably has some self-therapeutic value. the wedding ritual may have been published in past issues of the church of satan s newsletter, the cloven hoof, but back issues prior to no. 126 are not available. the ritual is reproduced in michael

ible) are associated with different types of rituals, and associates keys 2, 7, and 13 with lust and weddings and key 11 with funerals, according to anton lavey [19. hence, a preparation for such rituals is available, but the rituals themselves are not available for the followers* rituals concerning marriage and death may be said to be irrelevant to satanism and therefore now ignored, but because religious people tend to carry old socio-religious habits with them as spiritual baggage when they switch religions, marriage and funeral are guaranteed to be a concern. the emperor s new religion copyright 2002 ole wolf page 7 of 30 new followers. this one, and rituals for marriage, funerals, etc. would generally be the first ones to be made available for the followers of a religion. the effectiv

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

exposure. however, it eventually came to refer to realities specifically hidden from common sight; the occult realm is invisible to the physical eye but can be seen by an inner spiritual vision and/or grasped by psychic intuition. the occult is the opposite of apocalypse, which means to uncover. the last book of the christian bible is alternatively called the apocalypse or the revelation. to many religious people, the term occult denotes that which is opposite of what god has revealed; hence, the realm of satan and his legions of demons. some substance for this observation has been provided by religious leaders who combine an exploration of the occult with open opposition to the more traditional religions and religious institutions. as used in eop, however, occultism stands for (1) the bro

of occult (then termed supernatural) entities and forces. this belief brought comfort to some; but, for others, it became a source of fear, leading to suffering, and even death, for many. it allowed some people to rule by their reported ability to manipulate supernatural powers, and made it possible for the inquisition to persecute thousands as witches and satanists. it also enabled unscrupulous religious leaders to deceive people with sham relics and miracles. by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, there began a serious critique of the more questionable supernatural phenomena, beginning with relics and extending to the actions of the witchfinders. as protestantism secularized (denied sacred value to) the world, and the acceptance of scientific observation and organization o

stence of god the creator, but suggested that god had merely established a system of natural law, leaving the world to govern itself by that law. by implication, god was divorced from the world, and supernatural events did not occur; rather the supernatural was merely the misobserved natural. furthermore, neither angels nor spirits communicated with humans; and, in turn, prayer did not reach god. religious spokespersons responded, of course, and popularized a new definition of miracle .the breaking by god of his own natural laws to intervene in the lives of his creatures. deist thought was largely confined to a small number of intellectual circles, among them some very powerful and influential people, including most of the founding fathers of the united states.benjamin franklin, thomas jef

eastern traditions in the 1960s as the west welcomed large numbers of immigrants from japan, korea, china, and southeast asia into its communities. at the same time, african religions, many having found a home in the caribbean, were also integrating themselves into western life. all of these religions will be scrutinized and carefully observed in the coming decades by the more traditional western religious communities. xi encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. introduction the current need for a new edition of eop in the more than half a century since spence and fodor published their volumes, not only has the occult/metaphysical/psychic world changed.a change clearly symbolized by the new age movement.but the general opinion surrounding spiritualism, theosophy, and psychic phen

born in trent, tyrol, he became curate of that diocese, then became a calvinist in 1557. acontius came to england about two years later, where he dedicated his major work, stratagemata satanae (the stratagems of satan, to queen elizabeth. the book attributes all doctrines other than the apostles creed to satan as stratagems to tempt mankind from truth. however, the book was also a strong plea for religious toleration. an english translation was first published in 1648 under the title satan s stratagems; or, the devil s cabinet-council discovered. abyssum encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 6 active-agent telepathy term used by parapsychologists for situations in which the agent in telepathic experiments seems to be an active factor in causing mental or behavioral effects in

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

in the kabala and probably representing one of the four simple elements. air, water, earth, or fire. macroprosopus means creator of the great world. macumba african-derived brazilian religions that have spirit possession as a central feature. madonna ministry the madonna ministry is a new thought metaphysical ministry founded by bishop arnold michael, formerly a minister with the united church of religious science. as a young man, in 1947 he had written a book, blessed among women, on the life of the virgin mary published in 1948. the writing of the book became a life-altering event and michael left his job managing a restaurant and studied for the religious science ministry. he served religious science churches for the next 35 years. in 1980, he returned to his consideration of the virgin

nd studied for the religious science ministry. he served religious science churches for the next 35 years. in 1980, he returned to his consideration of the virgin mary and began writing a series of newsletters under the title madonna ministry that explored mary s role as a consciousness of unconditioned love who represents the feminine-mothering aspect of god. in the mid-1980s he retired from the religious science ministry and accepted consecration as a bishop by archbishop warren watters of the independent church of antioch, a church that combines a gnostic theosophical approach to christianity with an apostolic lineage through the non- chalcedonian churches in the middle east. michael founded the church of the talking pines before he died in 1987. two years later he was succeeded by bish

lic lineage through the non- chalcedonian churches in the middle east. michael founded the church of the talking pines before he died in 1987. two years later he was succeeded by bishop charles sommers, who had also been consecrated by archbishop watters. in 1990, the church of the talking pines changed its name to madonna ministry. the church continues a major focus on spiritual healing, as does religious science, but includes a wide diversity of healers who represent the broad spectrum of holistic health practices. the healing emphasis led it into a relationship with the world federation of healing and the creative health network as cosponsors of the annual international healing summit. the first summit was held in 1997 in monterey, california; subsequent summits included meetings at gla

re improbable than the prodigious faculties which we are obliged to attribute to the medium if we deny them to the dead; but the existence of the medium, contrary to that of the spirit, is unquestionable, and therefore it is for the spirit, or for those who make use of its name, first to prove that it exists. he added that in his view there were five imaginable solutions of the great problem: the religious solution, annihilation, survival with our consciousness of today, survival without any sort of consciousness, and survival with a modified consciousness. the religious solution he ruled out definitely, because it occupied a citadel without doors or windows into which human reason does not penetrate. annihilation he considered unthinkable and impossible: we are the prisoners of an infinit

the country. in 1988 mafu launched a more advanced study opportunity for people serious about his teachings, developing a course called advanced realization training beyond the human potential. the course introduced people to a macrobiotic diet, meditation, and other advanced teachings. the direction of the movement around mafu took a new turn in 1989 when torres visited india and had an intense religious experience. she took the vows of a renounced life (as a sanyassi) and accepted the mission as the ordained leader of spirituality for the present age. she also received her new name, swami paramananda saraswati. torres returned to the united states and established the foundation for the realization of inner divinity to supersede mafu seminars. the subsidiary, the center for god realizati

EVERBURNING LAMPS

s still burning when found, and within it was a bituminous substance. plutarch in his work "de defectu oraculorum" states that in a temple to jupiter ammon a lamp stood in the open air, and neither wind nor rain put it out, and the priests told him it had burned continually for years- see also "licetus" cap. v. herodotus tells us that the egyptians made a special and extensive use of lamps in the religious festivals, and that the temples of king mycerinus had many mysterious ones. strabo, and pausanias in his atticus, narrate that in the temple of minerva polias, at athens, there was a mysterious lamp of gold always burning; it was made by callimachus. the altar of the temple of apollo carneus, at cyrene, was similarly furnished. a like account is given of the great temple of aderbain, in

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

the space people. the society maintains headquarters in london and los angeles, as well as chapters all over the world. see also: channeling; contactees further reading aetherius society, 1995. the aetherius society: a cos- mic concept. hollywood, ca: aetherius society. curran, douglas, 1985. in advance of the landing: folk concepts of outer space.new york: abbeville press. saliba, john a, 1995. religious dimensions of ufo phenomena. in james r. lewis, ed. the gods have landed: new religions from other worlds, 15 64. albany, ny: state university of new york press. wallis, roy, 1974. the aetherius society: a case study of a mystagogic congregation. sociologi- cal review 22: 27 44. affa affa first appeared in 1952 among the extraterrestrials who communicated to a small prescott, arizona, oc

. opening to the infinite: human multidimensional potential. mill spring, nc: wild flower press. angelucci, orfeo (1912 1993) orfeo angelucci was among the most interesting of the early contactees. unlike many of his contemporaries, he was generally deemed 22 angel of the dark ufo contactee orfeo angelucci (fortean picture library) sincere, even by skeptics who tended to see him as something of a religious visionary in a flying-saucer context rather than as a cynical exploiter of the credulous. angelucci's initial contact allegedly occurred on may 24, 1952, in burbank, california. driving home from work at an aircraft factory, he saw a saucer, which emitted two small globes. the globes approached him, and a masculine voice assured him that he had nothing to fear. angelucci saw a crystal cu

your life? immediately afterward, the dying person experiences a life review in which significant events are rapidly played out either in order of their occurrence or all at once in, as moody puts it, a display of visual imagery. incredibly vivid and real. the percipient feels great love and warmth emanating from this being, who is usually interpreted as a divine figure from the individual s own religious tradition. some see it as god or christ, others as an angel. all, however, feel that the being is an emissary, or a guide. moody characterized the meeting with the being of light as perhaps the most incredible common element in the accounts. other researchers who followed in moody s wake, however, only ambiguously replicated this particular finding. kenneth ring, margot grey, and others

s in 1952. moore s sources alleged that ebe later was called ebe-1, because two other aliens ebe-2 and ebe-3 later fell into u.s. government hands. the three captives revealed that nine alien races were visiting earth. one in particular, the little gray-skinned beings, had been especially active. this group had been monitoring human activities for twentyfive thousand years and had manipulated our religious beliefs. in his book ufo crash at aztec (1986, william s. steinman reports another alleged 1948 incident, this one involving a physician from bishop, california, named claude e. steen, sr (elsewhere in his book steinman gives the year as 1949 and spells the last name steene) a member of a special military unit contacted steen and led him and his nurse to a location where an alien was bei

times, channeling was called revelation, or mediumship. whatever the name, it is often accompanied by visions of otherworldly entities or unearthly realms. some channelers believe that through their consciousness alone, they can travel through the universe and into other dimensions. in ancient times oracles and priests communicated with the gods. the resulting divine messages formed the basis of religious and mystical faiths. such communications often involved prophecies as well. in the judeo- christian tradition, the bible documents visions and messages recognizably related to the channeling 59 phenomenon of channeling. channeling seems ubiquitous in human experience. historically prominent practitioners include nostradamus, emanuel swedenborg, helena petrovna blavatsky (founder of the t

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

eternal-womanly draws us above. fi wthis chart shows the correlations between the sinatic hebrew, ezra hebrew, and rashi aramaic alphabets. the numerical value assigned to each letter by the qabalah, and the english equivalents are also listed. my wonderful mother and father, may the lord be pleased with their souls, steeped our family life in the extraordinary richness of jewish culture and its religious traditions. my brother and i attended hebrew school from a young age, and we regularly attended services and holiday celebrations at our local synagogue. i treasure the memories of receiving my father s blessing before the ark of the torah on the occasion of my bar mitzvah,1 and observing my mother lighting candles on the sabbath. but, as my heart opened and mind developed, i could not s

od of two decades, he never referred to himself as a teacher. in fact, he repeatedly said that the lord is the only teacher; the lord is the only rabbi; the lord is the only guru. after he was recruited by an ancient 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

heistic 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 was not an official title or position until after rabbinical a

abbalah, nor exclusively intended for those born of jewish parents. our mentor explicated the full range of ideas and practices of the mystical qabalah within a universalistic context. he also presented those of every other mystical tradition by way of comparison and confirmation. by the mystical qabalah, we are referring to an ancient mystical transmission that preceded and supersedes any of the religious vessels through which it has been subsequently filtered and adapted. these vessels include the israelite hebrew, rabbinical judaic, mystical christian, sufi islamic, and possibly even, the north indian tantric. each of these vessels has framed the universal teachings of the mystical qabalah within the context, language, and cultural milieu of their respective dispensations. each version

s in this book. the name of the mailing list is abes_kids. the name abes_kids is a colloquial moniker referring to the children of abraham. the list is envisioned as a vehicle for an intelligent, respectful, non-pedantic, nondogmatic, non-philosophical discussion about the worldviews and yogic practices of the mystical qabalah from a universalistic perspective, outside the context of any orthodox religious tradition. subscribing to the list is simple. from the computer address at which you wish to receive mail from the list, send email to: majordomo@imagicomm.com in the body of the post, type only the words: subscribe abes_kids. it is not necessary to place any text in the subject line of the post. the listserver will automatically send you back a post confirming your subscription, and dir

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

l french scholars are aware of renaissance hermetism. in england, d. p. walker has examined the prisca theologia in an important article, and has analysed ficino's use of the hermetic asclepius in his book spiritual and demonic magic from ficino to campanella. this book brings out for the first time shades of difference in renaissance attitudes to magic and indicates the bearing of the subject on religious issues. no one had as yet spoken of bruno in connection with hermetism, nor, in spite of my interest in all these studies, did the possibility of such a connection occur to me for some time. i had long known that bruno's works, particularly those on memory, are full of magic (a fact which did not escape lynn thorndike in his history of magic and experimental science) but i did not realis

ll into place; and this book was written fairly quickly. it is obvious that the book is not a monograph on bruno; it sets out to do only what its title states, to place him in the hermetic tradition. before a final reassessment of bruno is possible other studies are necessary, particularly an elucidation of his place in the history of the classical art of memory which he transformed into a magico-religious technique. some of the references to bruno's mnemonics in the present book may seem rather obscure, but i hope to treat further of this subject in another book. there is a great omission in this book, namely the influence on bruno of ramon lull which i have hardly mentioned, nor have i used his many works on lullism. here again a study of bruno and the lullian tradition is needed which o

man's history was not an evolution from primitive animal origins through ever growing complexity and progress; the past was always better than the present, and progress was revival, rebirth, renaissance of antiquity. the classical humanist recovered the literature and the monuments of classical antiquity with a sense of return to the pure gold of a civilisation better and higher than his own. the religious reformer returned to the study of the scriptures and the early fathers with a sense of recovery of the pure gold of the gospel, buried under later degenerations. these are truisms, and it is also obvious that both these great returning movements were not mistaken as to the date of the earlier, better period to which they turned. the humanist knew the date of cicero, knew the correct date

ive. it turned to other ways of seeking an answer, intuitive, mystical, magical. since reason seemed to have failed, it sought to cultivate the nous, the intuitive faculty in man. philosophy was to be used, not as a dialectical exercise, but as a way of reaching intuitive knowledge of the divine and of the meaning of the world, as a gnosis, in short, to be prepared for by ascetic discipline and a religious way of life. the hermetic treatises, which often take the form of dialogues between master and disciple, usually culminate in a kind of ecstasy in which the adept is satisfied that he has received an illumination and breaks out into hymns of praise. he seems to reach this illumination through contemplation of the world or the cosmos, or rather through contemplation of the cosmos as refle

n 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 renaissance imbibed from them) that what is old is pure and holy, that the earliest thinkers walked more closely with the gods than the busy rationalists, their successors. hence the strong revival of pythagoreanism in this age. they also had the impress

FRATER TENEBROUS CULTS OF CTHULHU

r as extraterrestrials with concrete physical existence and sometimes, a particular deity may be referred to in both ways within the same text. by comparing the references to each of these deities in the mythos stories, it is possible to reconstruct their inter-relationship in terms of a hierarchy, and to examine the correspondences between lovecraft s imaginary pantheon and those of pre-existing religious and mythological systems. basically, the gods of the cthulhu mythos fall into two groups, the great old ones and the elder gods, though of the latter, only nodens is mentioned by name. between ultimate chaos and the physical world stand yog-sothoth and azathoth, who share dominion over the lesser deities, pre-human races, and mankind. yog-sothoth is the outer manifestation of the primal

FREEMASON BLUEBOOK

anized capacity. a lodge can unite in the funeral procession of a person not a mason, only as mourners, and not then without the express consent of the grand master, or grand lodge. when other organizations unite in the burial of a mason, the lodge after taking charge of the body will conduct the services as if none but masons were present. the masonic service must be the final one, except that a religious service at the grave is permissible. upon the decease of a mason, the master of his lodge should ascertain whether the deceased had requested to be buried with masonic honors, or if such is the wish of his immediate relatives, taking special care not to urge it upon them. if the deceased is a member of a distant lodge, or, of no lodge, but entitled to masonic burial, the duty devolves up

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL 2

s were particularly concerned in bringing about this change: the angels from the moon, the mercurians, and the lucifer spirits from mars. the alchemists connected the angels from the moon, which rules the saline tides, with the element salt, the lucifer spirits from mars with the element sulphur, and the mercurians with the metal mercury. they used this symbolic presentation partly because of the religious intolerance which made it unsafe to promulgate any other teaching than that sanctioned by the orthodox church of that day, and partly because humanity as a whole was not yet ready to accept the truths which were embodied in their philosophy. they also spoke of a fourth element, azoth, a name composed of the first and last letters of our classical languages and intended to convey the same

standing, it should be said that this lesson was only given to the aspirant to discipleship to show him the reason why it is necessary for him to live a pure and chaste life. it does not apply to the masses who have no spiritual aspirations and are as yet unable to restrain their passions. the rosicrucians do not even advocate an entirely celibate life for their pupils; indeed they regard it as a religious duty for the enlightened mystic, man or woman, to wed a kindred spirit if such can be found, and thus furnish incoming souls a particularly advantageous opportunity for rebirth. when such a devoted couple perform the generative act in a spirit of aspiration to serve a waiting ego, when the prenatal conditions are pure mentally, morally and physically, when the early childhood days of the

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL

n always emphasizes the necessity of faith, while the statesman emphasizes, and places his reliance on, work. but when faith flowers into work we reach the highest ideal of expression. humanity may, and does, admire lofty sentiment and brilliant oratory; but when a lincoln unbinds the shackles of a downtrodden race or when a luther revolts in behalf of the fettered spirits of humanity and secures religious freedom for them, the outward action of these emancipators reveals a beauty of soul never discernible in those who soar in cloudland, but fear to soil their hands by actual work in the temple of humanity. the latter are not true temple-builders and would be unable to gain inspiration from the sight of that wonderful temple described by manson in "the servant in the house" the author call

d; the base metal has been changed to gold, the wonderful alloy of the molten sea has been made from the dross of the earth. all that then remains is to "pull the plugs" and pour it. the natural golden color is the christ ray finding its chemical expression in the oxygen, a solar element, and as we advance upon the path of evolution towards universal brotherhood even those who are not professedly religious acquire a tinge of gold in their auras due to the higher altruistic impulses common to the west. paul speaks of this as "christ being formed in you" for when we have learned to mix the alloy by spiritual lives, when we vibrate to the same pitch as he, we are christ-like, ready, as said, to pull the plugs of the crucibles and to pour the molten sea. christ was liberated on the cross throu

FREEMASONS SATANISM AND SYMBOLISM

was taken from masonic books that were published by masonic publishing companies. most of these writings were kept secret. biblical admonition has been taken carefully, comparing masonic teachings to the holy bible. in i john 4:1, we read "beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of god: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" we see that any religious teaching that does not conform to scripture is from a "false prophet" many people still do not understand the importance of studying this subject to its logical conclusion. their spiritual freedom is at stake. remember two things about masonry: 1) superior masons deliberately lie to their fellow masons, as those masons "deserve to be mislead" 2) explanations given to 95% of all masons ar

y stumbled, looked down for a moment, and answered "if by being a christian, you ask if i am 'born again' then yes, i am a christian" bush parsed his words carefully, unlike a born again christian. bush has a lifetime membership in an illuminist masonic secret society called, skull& bones. the answer that bush gave is typical of an occultist. they claim to be born again. they are also filled with religious ecstasy when the spirit of lucifer sweeps through them upon initiation. back to the phoenix bird. listen to the explanation given by a radical feminist, barbara walker, in her occult book, now is the dawning, p. 281. egyptians believed that the phoenix was the representative of a god who "rose to heaven in the form of a morning star, like lucifer, after his fire-immolation of death and r

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 druids [albert churchward, signs and symbols of primordial man: the evolution of religious doctrine from the eschatology of the ancient egyptians, london, england, george allen and company, ltd. 1913, second edition, p. 189. another masonic author, george oliver, also noted freemasonry's connection with the druids "the druids had a high veneration for the serpent. their great god, hu, was typified by that reptile; and he is represented by the bards as 'the wonderful chief drag

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

ossness, personified; a reflection of a reflection four times removed. yet this emanation is the only one which can be comprehended by man, who in this microcosmic life can only struggle forward through the clash between passivity and activity, which are both good and evil according to circumstances- that is according to necessity. necessity is divinity in hiding: authority is the divinity of the religious order and liberty is divinity in man. the establisher of authority is the messiah. these mystical philosophers fully recognized the necessity for goriginal sin h, because the world is of satan and man is of the world. man is born in sin; not the sin of adam's disobedience, carnal or physical sin, but in the mystical and spiritual sin of tetragrammaton fs fall. the blame was thrown upon a

mathematical phantasies. 11 in a spherical universe, if you gaze in any direction long enough. that is if you gaze for six thousand million years. you will see the back of your head. 12 but fortunately we are spared this experiment because a eperfectly spherical world is a mathematical invention h. 13 so also do we conclude are all other worlds fashioned out of thought-forms, whether mathematical religious or whatnot in shape. they are all shadows, all in gsubstance h illusionary. pope said in his dunciad, see mystery to mathematics fly! h. still the keystone is mystery. to the qabalist the number 137 is a number of awe, a complete book of mysteries (qabalah hlbq= 5+ 30+ 2 +100= 137. from the ayin soph to the three supernal sephiroth and thence to the seven inferior spheres it symbolizes t

an assistant and resistant to scientific growth. the rationalist says that gthe answer to a+ b is x; the theologian says gno, it is y h; and between the beliefs and disbeliefs of both has the intellectual world expanded from out of wonders to what we call facts. yet, however firmly these facts may be founded upon reason, there remains always a doubt. within the circumference of this doubt lie all religious systems, and its centre, where all doubt ends, is called god. to a highly intellectual and speculative mind god is a mystery subject only to symbolic explanation; but to the crude, sensuous masses of mankind he and his symbols are one. to the first he is a metaphysical ideal; to the second- a physical fact. as from the qabalistic mind is evolved an androgenous being whose very existence

e eternal is but a prolongation of life terrestrial; the soul, of the personality; heaven is but a super-happy home and hell but an infra-abominable gaol. everywhere and in every land we find the same ideas dressed in different garments the same gods and goddesses of chaos and order, of love and death, of hatred and life, of fertility, of dawn, of night, etc, etc. from such is built up the normal religious mood of the masses; nevertheless there is yet another mood, for from time to time in the world's history something happens: a man appears, be he prince or pauper, who throws the masses into such a state of religious fervour that all reason and with it all doubt is obliterated and a spiritual condition is produced which closely resembles physical drunkenness. such men were orpheus, oedipu

sive partner in their ignorance and animality (the chaos of his would-be cosmos, then the child of this union will not be lucifer, the intellectual satan, but belial, his sensuous or qliphothic counterpart. then will the surroundings of his followers be turned into a physical hell. it was for this reason that the qabalists locked away their secrets from the uninitiated, and that every other truly religious cult has done the same; for the spirit of god cannot be reflected upon chaos except as a broken, jagged, and turbulent star of light which maddens its watchers in place of illumining them. this, we are of opinion, will be accepted by most thinkers, though many will refuse to differentiate between the demagogue and the religious master, because the power of both these soul-troublers varie

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

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 to the foundations of religious belief and worship which were not accessible at that time, and knowing that considerable labor and patience would be required in securing these facts, i decided to publish the first part of the work, withholding for the time being that portion of it pertaining especially to the development of the god-idea. as mankind construct their own gods, or as the prevailing ideas of the unknowable

ascendancy over that of man, human energy was directed by the altruistic characters which originated in and have been transmitted through the female; but after the decline of woman's power, all human institutions, customs, forms, and habits of thought are seen to reflect the egoistic qualities acquired by the male. nowhere is the influence of sex more plainly manifested than in the formulation of religious conceptions and creeds. with the rise of male power and dominion, and 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 vi

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 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

rought 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 various creeds and dogmas of existing faiths. the object of this volume is not only to furnish a brief outline of religious growth, but to show the effect which each of the two forces, female and male, has had on the development of our present god- idea, which investigation serves to accentuate the conclusions arrived at in the evolution of woman relative to the inheritance of each of the two lines of sexual demarcation. e.b.g. contents- chapter introduction i--sex the foundation of the god-idea ii--tree, pla

continuation of paganism xiv--christianity a continuation of paganism-(continued) xv--christianity in ireland xvi--stones or columns as the deity xvii--sacrifices xviii--the cross and a dying savior the god-idea of the ancients. introduction. through a study of the primitive god-idea as manifested in monumental records in various parts of the world; through scientific investigation into the early religious conceptions of mankind as expressed by symbols which appear in the architecture and decorations of sacred edifices and shrines; by means of a careful examination of ancient holy objects and places still extant in every quarter of the globe, and through the study of antique art, it is not unlikely that a line of investigation has been marked out whereby a tolerably correct knowledge of th

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

eness that waite had perceived the true nature of magic and pointed to anotherway-thatofthe mystic. unwilling to acceptwhathe knewinwardly to be true; crowley turned to verbiage and venom, at the same time belittling himself and ensuring that future generationsofoccultists should knowofwaite and be curious.andwhowaswaite?arthuredward waite, the child of anglo-american parents, wasbornat a time of religious upheaval and left this world as it was busily engaged in tearing apart its social fabric. he was a prolific author,butone whose books are, for themostpart,unknownand unread; he was not recognized as a scholar by. the academic world,buthe remains the only comprehensive analyst of the history of occultism in all its many branches.notthatheapproved of thetermor the looseness of its connotat

eld her children fromthedistressingtruthabout their legal status. in waite's case the deception failed.thathe knewofhis illegitimacy seems clear fromthecontentof the long dramatic poem,a soul'scomedy,5which he published in.1887.theheroofthe poem is an orphan whose life parallels thatofthe author: he has the same experiencesofboyhood, undergoes the same emotional turmoil, and suffers from the same religious. doubts.heis alsoillegitimate-thechildofan illicit marriage between a brother and his half-sister. in turn, the hero himselfhas an illicit affair and fathers a sonwhois also modelled on waite: he has the same name, austin blake, that waite adopted asa pseudonym for some of his early poems.nordo the parallels end here: the hero's parents meet at lyme (where he is born, and his second self

aven"has possibly at length fallen. he didnotstopwritinghis poems,butonlya very few would be printed in the 1880s, there would be no more privately printed pamphlets, andnothingsubstantial would appear until 1886 andlsrafel. and that was tobe a very different workindeed--5 'lovethatnevertoldcanbe'durin gmuchofthevictorian erathemajorityofperiodicals for children were overtly, almost aggressively, religious in tone, although there were exceptions,amongthemostprominentofwhichwasjameshenderson's dung folks'paper.1itsmostfamouscontributorwasrobertlouisstevenson-bothtreasureislandandkidnappedfirst appearedinitspages-butthebulkofitscontents came from lesseminentauthors,amongwhomwas a. e. waite. inthemid-1880swaitewrotea seriesofessays forthe young folks'paper,on such obscure subjects as 'ever-bu

mighthave had some accident alone at betsy cottage. in great anxiety he telegraphed to broadstairs, only to learnthatall was well 'such, he said 'is mykindofpsychism.'11messages receivedthroughgenuine psychics herespected-aswithoneharrygordonwhovisited waiteat ealing in 1919and 'obtained strange communicationswitha little table inourdining-roomv-and he even suggested that some psychics may have a religious role to play:'ifeelthatwe stand here on the thresholdofthings unrealized,thattheday may comewhena consecrated and ordained "automatist" assisted by a dedicatedcircle-irithe plenary senseofthese_'whileyetaboyisoughtforghosts'55expressions-willobtain records from a 'dissociated personality" orfrom''theotherside, andthatthey will carry an. authenticnote,'atthesame time he disapproved strong

rafted (see appendix a, togetherwith'an apology for ritual',whichstated that'theexercises of devotional mysticismwhichwill betheobject ofourmeetings will involve some revival of ancient mystic ritual, arid the outlines of 'a tentative rite' for the order (the full text of the 'apology' and 'a tentativerite'are printed inazoth,pp. 122-128. see also appendix a for therite).the'rite'was the proposed religious service of the order, whichwaite-wooseemsnotto have been the soleauthor-describedas 'pleasing,butoflittle practical value'.hadtheorderofthe spiritual templenotexisted only on- paper, and had its services ever taken place, waitewouldundoubtedly have been more enthusiastic, for the overall structure of the'rite'conforms closely to the patternthatwould appear in later orders that were entir

GILBERT THE GOLDEN DAWN TWILIGHT OF THE MAGICIANS

s been profoundly influenced by these seminal systems. i cannot conceive of any form of occultism without thinking of madame blavatsky.herinfluence may not be admitted or appreciated on the surface; nonetheless a little enquiry will reveal it. even such popularizations of contemporary scientific thought such asthetaoofmodernphysicsandthedancingwulimasters,which constantly make reference to eastem religious systems, are able to do so largely because madame blavatsky did so much on behalf ofhindumystical thinking. and i cannot help but remem255 ber the picture of oppenheimer, the father of the hydrogen bomb, sitting on his desk in padmasana reading the bhagavad gita. on the other hand, there is hardly a legitimate occult order in europe or america that has not borrowed directly or indirectly

of indian, gnostic, kabbalistic and other concepts and beliefs. among their supporters in india was a. p. sinnett, the editor ofthepioneer,and it was through his booktheoccultworld(1881),even more than through the efforts of pioneer theosophists in london, that theosophy was introduced to england, where it was seized upon by a sectionofthe cultured middle classes who were spiritually unsettled by religious doubts arising from the darwinian controversy. it is most unlikely that many of the new theosophists understood the 'esoteric buddhism' thrust upon them,butthey delighted in the prospect of revelations from the mahatmas, koot hoomi and morya; they were less enchanted by the unprepossessing emissariesofthe masters when these ar255 rived in the shape of madame blavatsky and colonel olcott

rophant:'placethecandidate at the westofthe altar.'thisis done by the hegemon.hierophant:'wehold your signed pledge to keep secret all things respecting thisorder.toconfirm it, i now askwhetheryouare willing to take a solemn obligation inthepresenceofourassem-appendixciiibly that you will keep inviolate the secrets and mysteries of this order.thereis nothing incompatible with your civil, moral or religious duties in this obligation, for although transcendental virtues may awake to a momentary life in foolish and wicked hearts, they cannot subsist in any unless the natural virtues are their throne. he who is the foundationofspirits comes not to break but to fulfil the law. are you ready to take this pledge?'candidate:'i am ready.'thehierophant proceeds to the e. of the altar,thehiereus to t

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

he constitution of man 139 16. the vestiges of tetragrammaton 154 17. the number four in relation with the world and man 1576themagicalmasonpartthree:divination18.thehistory of astrology169 19.dreams18120.divination and its history19221.the star lore of the bible216partfour: masonic22.freemasonry and its relation to the essenes233 23.the resemblances of freemasonry to the cult of mithra244 24.the religious and masonic symbolism of stones256partfive: miscellaneous papers25.an essay on the ancient mysteries269 26.a recent spiritual development287 27.an essay upon the constitution of man: spirit, soul, body296 28.man's blood and generation310introductionof all the actors in the bizarre pageant of the occult revival, william wynn westcott was the most unlikely: cautious, fearful and altogether

plished fact; it was a sweeping change that had affected a vast tract of semi-civilised country, and perhaps some explan255 ation of the outcry against rosy cross was a form of protest against another possible attempt at the conversion of men, like the reformation of catholicism which had preceded it, and had, while making great improvements, greatly unsettled men's minds, and had shaken european religious and social life to its foundations. the narrative, then, of christian rosenkreuz created a veritable intellectual 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

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, had made almost no progress, and had been hide-bound by the fetters of a religious establishment which boasted itself upon its exclusiveness, its control of all that god gave or man could receive, and formulated and practisedchristian rosenkreuz15the dogma that there was no revelationbutane- the bible- and that the bible was unsuitable to the people, whose soleduty was to support a priesthood, from whose personal attention and propitiation alone was any good to be obta

ecretsocietiesshould be read as an introduction to deeper personal research.thework of franz hartmann, namedmagic, white and black,i can recommend to serious enquirers, for it elucidates the real aims of the higher magic, with which alone we are concerned, and it clears away many misconceptions which exist in the minds of the uninitiated. to such as desire to follow more closely the old testament religious element, i should advise a perusal of the commen255 taries ofdrallen barnes on daniel andthebook of revelation, and the symbolical descriptions of the book of46themagicalmasonezekiel. on the christian aspect i recommendthe perfect way,orthe findingofchrist,by the latedra. kingsford; in this volume will be found worked out the broader scheme of christian teaching which is so apt to be obs

avallo at rome;itwas still burningwhenfound, and within it was a bituminous substance. plutarch in his workdedefectuoraculorumstates thatina temple tojupiterammon a lamp stood in the open air, and neither windnorrainputitout,and the priests told him ithadburned continually for years. see also licetus, cap. v. herod255 otus tells usthatthe egyptians made a special and extensive use of lamps in the religious festivals, and that the temples of king mycerinushadmany mysterious ones. strabo, and pausaniasinhis atticus, narrate that in thetempleof minerva polias, at athens, there was a mysterious lampofgold always burning; it was made by callimachus.thealtar of the templeofapollo carneus, at cyrene, was similarly furnished. a like account is given ofthegreat temple of aderbain,inarmenia, by said

GILBERT THE SORCERER AND HIS APPRENTICE

lf prefer, as being the truest rendering of the hebrew word qblh.itis derived from qbl, meaning 'to receive, and 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 henr

f the figures cannot be traced back further than the reign of charles vi' thesepheryetzirah.referred to in the above quotation has been recently translated by my friend dr wynn westcott, who is a skilful and erudite qabalistical student, so that it can now be read in english.itcertainly gives, in my opinion, the qabalistical key of the tarot; and shows at once, by evident analogy, the ancient and religious origin of its bizarre symbolism.itconsists of thirty-three short sections (the thirty-third being merely recapitulatory) divided into five chapters, and elucidated by thirty-two occult paragraphs called the 'paths. in fact, it may be called a treatise on the ten and the twenty-two. the numbers from one to ten are said to symbolise the spirit, air, water, fire, height, depth, east, west

balance of the table of osiris, indicates the weighing of the actsofthedead, and the future state as the certain result thereof, a conception natural and obvious to a people whose ideas were bounded by the lower principles, and who had not learnt the possibility of rising above these principles and beyond the law of karma.thesubstitution of libra for ara marks a distinct stage in the progress of religious history; many others are marked in the zodiac, and will appear as we proceed.thesymbol of libra is simply ara cut off at the top (fig 12. to see one instance of how these symbols are written on the face of physical nature, and how everyone of them must be in fact just as true on the physical plane asitis on the abstract metaphysical or spiritual plane, consider a ray of light. we know it

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

enborgian rite by bro. r. a. gilbert (aqc vol 108 1995) swedenborg: the man and his work one thing is certain: swedenborg himself had nothing to do with it neither with the late 18th century rite that has come to bear his name, nor with its bizarre successor that is the subject of this paper. but in order to understand that rite it is essential to know something of the man, of his work and of the religious movement that grew out of it. emanuel swedenborg was born at stockholm in 1688, the son of jasper swedberg. at that time a professor of theology at uppsala university and later, from 1702, bishop of skara (the name was changed when the family was ennobled in 1719. from 1716 to 1747 swedenborg was an assessor in the royal college of mines of sweden, but he was more than simply a metallurg

ies of ugle and of the grand lodge of massachusetts, while a typescript copy made by waite is in the high council library of the sria. there is also a printed version in vol. 1 of collectanea, somewhat inaccurately transcribed by harold voorhis in 1938. but the rituals were not intended simply to be read. beswick, who wrote them, felt that the masonic lodge was the ideal forum for conveying great religious truths in pictorial and dramatic form: the main objects of our temples should be to make them schools for teaching symbolism and correspondences, which we can better do in such schools than from our pulpits. the dramatic form of representation is in every respect better suited for teaching than dry exposition. the pictorial system has ever been. the most impressive and effectual, because

GILBERT R A THE MASONIC CAREER OF A

3[83] aqc 15 (1902, pp. 163-74. waite's comments are printed on pp. 170-2 84[84] diary, 3 october 1902 really- that it is an incoherent and slovenly paper i begin to see very clearly how much a real history of the templars is wanted in england to set matters right, so far as they can be set, once and for all. this is of course a scheme of my own doing for my seminal work on the secret doctrine of religious societies'85[85. waite's strictures on castle's paper were, of course, quite unjust but his diary entry is highly significant in that it reveals how his unpublished esoteric history of freemasonry was being transformed into the secret tradition in freemasonry. magnum opus i before this great work was published waite had written a series of articles on the origins of freemasonry and on th

emasons were to prove more satisfactory to waite. in july 1915 waite had published a fulsome review, under the title of 'master building'108[108, of dr. joseph fort newton's book, the builders: a story and study of masonry (1914. this was only just for fort newton had referred to waite in glowing terms as a 'master of the vast literature and lore of his subject, to the study of which he brought a religious nature, the accuracy and skill of a scholar, a sureness and delicacy of insight at once sympathetic and critical, the soul of a poet, and a patience as untiring as it is rewarding; qualities rare indeed, and still more rarely blended'109[109. fort newton was also editor of the american masonic journal the builder, and, given that he saw waite in such a fight, it is not surprising that he

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

freemasonry" g no matter how much some may insist that the crusades were military expeditions carried out in the name of the christian faith, fundamentally, they were undertaken for material gain. in a period when europe was experiencing great poverty and misery, the prosperity and wealth of the east, especially of the muslim in the middle east, attracted the europeans. this inclination took on a religious facade, and was ornamented with the symbols of christianity, though, in actuality, the idea of the crusades was born out of a desire for worldly gain. this was the reason for the sudden change among christians of europe from their former pacifist policies, in earlier periods of their history, towards military aggression. the founder of the crusades was pope urban ii. he summoned the coun

their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into flames. piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. it was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses. but these were small matters compared to what happened at the temple of solomon, a global freemasonry de place where religious services are normally chanted. in the temple and the porch of solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.3 in two days, the crusader army killed some 40,000 muslims in the most barbaric manner.4 the crusaders then made jerusalem their capital, and founded a latin kingdom stretching from the borders of palestine to antioch. later, the crusaders initiated a struggle to m

elebrate heretical masses, and perform rituals of black magic. according to the common views of many researchers, this "something" was the kabbalah. the meaning of the word kabbalah is "oral tradition" encyclopedias and dictionaries define it as an esoteric, mystical branch of jewish religion. according to this definition, the kabbalah investigates the hidden meaning of the torah and other jewish religious writings. but, when we examine the matter more closely, we discover that the facts are quite something else. these facts lead us to the conclusion that the kabbalah is a system rooted in pagan idolatry; that it existed before the torah, and became widespread within judaism after the torah was revealed. this interesting fact about the kabbalah, is explained by just as interesting a source

lthough fe the "world-view" of ancient egypt did not remain buried with these statues, but was carried down to the present day. by those secret societies that see themselves as the heirs of ancient egypt global freemasonry the templars were founded as a christian order, they were affected by some secret doctrines that they discovered in jerusalem, totally abandoned christianity and became an anti-religious organization practicing heretical rites. 2. when we asked what this doctrine was that influenced the templars, we found that it was basically the kabbalah. 3. when we examined the kabbalah, we found proof that, however much it may resemble jewish mysticism, it is a pagan doctrine older than judaism, that later entered the religion, and that its true roots are found in ancient egypt. 4. a

hange, political changes would follow. the french and italian revolutions, for example in the coming sections, we will look at some important turningpoints in the history of europe. at every stage the fact that will confront us is that there existed a force that wanted to alienate europe from its christian heritage, replace it with a secular ideology and, with this program in mind, to destroy its religious institutions. this force attempted to cause europe to accept a doctrine that had been handed down from ancient egypt through the kabbalah. as we pointed out earlier, at the basis of this doctrine were two important concepts: humanism and materialism. first, let us look at humanism. a model of solomon's temple. the templars and masons, because of their superstitious beliefs concerning sol

GNOSTIC CATECHISM

3[83] aqc 15 (1902, pp. 163-74. waite's comments are printed on pp. 170-2 84[84] diary, 3 october 1902 really- that it is an incoherent and slovenly paper i begin to see very clearly how much a real history of the templars is wanted in england to set matters right, so far as they can be set, once and for all. this is of course a scheme of my own doing for my seminal work on the secret doctrine of religious societies'85[85. waite's strictures on castle's paper were, of course, quite unjust but his diary entry is highly significant in that it reveals how his unpublished esoteric history of freemasonry was being transformed into the secret tradition in freemasonry. magnum opus i before this great work was published waite had written a series of articles on the origins of freemasonry and on th

emasons were to prove more satisfactory to waite. in july 1915 waite had published a fulsome review, under the title of 'master building'108[108, of dr. joseph fort newton's book, the builders: a story and study of masonry (1914. this was only just for fort newton had referred to waite in glowing terms as a 'master of the vast literature and lore of his subject, to the study of which he brought a religious nature, the accuracy and skill of a scholar, a sureness and delicacy of insight at once sympathetic and critical, the soul of a poet, and a patience as untiring as it is rewarding; qualities rare indeed, and still more rarely blended'109[109. fort newton was also editor of the american masonic journal the builder, and, given that he saw waite in such a fight, it is not surprising that he

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

e for gnostic studies gnostic apostolic church po box 492 armidale nsw 2350 australia email:pleroma@ozemail.com.au web: http//www.ozemail.com.au/ pleroma we have felt for many years that there is a great need for a study of the principles on which the gnostic tradition is built. at first we avoided such a task as our knowledge of the gnostic tradition was still evolving and because any outline of religious symbolism can come across as dogmatic. however, as time progressed we realized that if we waited until all the facts were in and we worked to avoid all possible misconceptions, we would end up with the gnostic handbook never being written. accordingly, we believe that within this handbook is a comprehensive summary of the basic principles of the gnostic tradition. we realize that what we

atin religio) means "to bind back to the point of origin" and hence gnosticism is an experience of the real essence of what god is. it does not represent dry dogmatism or a simple recital of facts, but a real and personal experience of god within human experience. it is in this spirit we issue this handbook. the structure of this handbook is aimed to facilitate easy access of information on basic religious questions. this is not meant to be an exhaustive theological exposition but a summary of the teachings which embody the gnostic legacy which has been passed onto the institute for gnostic studies. the approach we have taken in this handbook has been a religious one, our primary source of symbolism has come from within the essene, greek, gnostic, zoroastrian and christian mystical traditi

way of looking at things. gnosis literally means wisdom but does not mean book learning, even tradition, it is a direct experience of the divine, the flash of wisdom that is brought when we meet god face to face. certainly gnosticism has certain key motifs, certain perennial ideals, which we will examine in the course of this book. however, we must appreciate that there are gnostic trends in most religious traditions. whether we are talking about odin on the world tree and his flash of wisdom as he grasped the runes or whether we are talking on the mystic achieving wisdom after days of penance and fasting, both are essentially gnostic. in some ways the best way to appreciate gnosticism is to use the metaphor of algebra. algebra is a branch of mathematics that uses letters etc to represent

on and in a sense, symbolism. this is also the case with spirituality. spirituality uses symbols to stand for realities, it uses images to represent things that cannot be easily imagined or explained. the problem is that algebra is an academic form of mathematics and has little effect on everyday life while spirituality controls and influences us more than we would care to admit. only be removing religious iconography from the realm of the emotions and appreciating it as a symbol system, as a form of divine algebra can we really understand its nature. the gnostic handbook is one application, one representational system for the ancient gnosis. it can be seen in many forms and using many symbol systems. accordingly, it is important to realise the difference between the representational lette

ndbook is one application, one representational system for the ancient gnosis. it can be seen in many forms and using many symbol systems. accordingly, it is important to realise the difference between the representational letter and the thing that is represented, between the essence and the form. the institute hence differentiates between its philosophical works (such as gnostic theurgy) and its religious works (such as the gnostic handbook. to give an example, while all gnostic traditions agree on the universe being in some sense dualistic, there are many divergent ways of expressing this dualism and even more ways to understand. some gnostic schools have two a true and false god, one the essence behind all things, the other a demiurge or false creators, others see the dualism as relativ

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

source. hardly sinister or demonic i would suggest. again and again we must emphasise that to understand and appreciate the gnostic worldview you need to put aside the associations, prejudices and pre-conceptions you have and consider new meanings for the terms that are used. it is important for you to understand the language we use in the context of how we use it, and not in terms of prevailing religious terminology. we are not asking you to just accept everything we say or blindly agree with our redefinition of old terms. what we are asking you do to is temporally suspend disbelief, enter into our gnosis and only make a decision after you have seen the whole picture. so what do all these strange terms mean? the term gnosis comes from the greek word meaning to know, but it means more tha

ing to know, but it means more than head knowledge, it means to experience, to grasp, to see. gnosis is the process through which the seeker of spiritual wisdom experiences the divine and is transformed. gnostic theurgy page 11 the teachings which make this transformation possible are considered mystery teachings 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 whic

ere is decay, suffering and finally cessation of time or death. this alpha event then is the major starting point for how we understand the gnostic system, because how we perceive matter and the development of matter, influences our whole view of life and the world. the nature of myth one of the major problems with comprehending the truth of the alpha event is that in the many diverse gnostic and religious traditions this event is presented in so many different ways and via so many different symbol-systems. on one level we may read the high-browed philosophical approach of the greek mysteries, and on the other, we may read about the bloody battle between "the forces of light and darkness" or the literal expulsion of satan from heaven. at first these traditions may seem disparate and it may

battle between "the forces of light and darkness" or the literal expulsion of satan from heaven. at first these traditions may seem disparate and it may seem advantageous to jettison one or the other depending on your own level of comprehension. however, if we examine these various traditions in more detail, we may discern a common foundation and come to the realisation that the problem is one of religious or symbolic language rather than truth. when we are teaching children about mathematics, we may discuss apples and orange, trees and coins, however, as adults we enter into the world of algebra and equations. nobody really considers these two different approaches to be in conflict, we simply realise that a different set of metaphors are being used to explain the same essential truth. in

different set of metaphors are being used to explain the same essential truth. in the gnostic tradition the same is undoubtedly true. whether, for example, we speak of an error arising in the divine mind, an opposite appearing as a reflection of the logos or of satan being expelled from heaven, we are simply using different metaphors for the same cosmic event. it seems that many twentieth-century religious movements have become so locked into semantics that they end up arguing about things which are in reality, only different perspectives of the same truth. gnostic theurgy page 15 when we examine the gospels we find ample evidence for different appreciations of the divine mysteries, jesus spends an inordinate amount of time discussing the importance of parables, and seems to delight in usi

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS A

ept, obligation are deemed of the utmost gravity, while infraction of executive regulations unless repeated and indefensible, will be deemed of less grave importance. the chiefs hope that private differences between members will be amicably arranged in private, as they have no wish to interfere in such matters. members should at all times be very careful not to show any disrespect to the personal religious feelings of other members. notices will be from time to time posted in the library, in references to minor regulations, use of the books, and to the holding of classes for instruction. whenever one adept writes to another adept on second order matters, he must stamp the envelope with a peculiar manner: viz. in the usual corner, but with the stamp turned around, so that the face looks upw

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS U1

can but rarely act through the spiritual consciousness since for it to do so, the king of the physical body, that is the lower will, must rise from his throne to acknowledge his superior. this is the reason why, in some cases, when sleeping does the higher will only manifest itself by dream unto the ordinary man. 8 in other cases, it may be manifested; at the times through the sincere practice of religious rights or in cases where the opportunity of self-sacrifice occurs. in all these cases, the lower will hath, for a moment, recognized a higher form of itself, and the hwhy of the man hath reflected from the eternal lord the higher self. this yechidah is the only part of man which can truly say- hyha, i am. this is but the rtk of assiah of the microcosm, that is, it is the highest part of

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

this is the nazca desert (where they do things on a grand scale) and the monkey is at least 400 feet long and 300 feet wide. were the linemakers map-makers too? and why were they called the viracochas? graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 50 chapter 5 the inca trail to the past no artefacts or monuments, no cities or temples, have endured in recognizable form for longer than the most resilient religious traditions. whether expressed in the pyramid texts of ancient egypt, or the hebrew bible, or the vedas, such traditions are among the most imperishable of all human creations: they are vehicles of knowledge voyaging through time. the last custodians of the ancient religious heritage of peru were the incas, whose beliefs and idolatry were extirpated and whose treasures were ransacked duri

records confirmed this was exactly the appearance ascribed to viracocha by those who worshipped him. whoever he was, therefore, he could not have been an american indian: they are relatively dark-skinned people with sparse facial hair.12 viracocha s bushy beard and pale complexion made him sound like a caucasian. back in the sixteenth century the incas had thought so too. indeed their legends and religious beliefs made them so certain of his physical type that they initially mistook the white and bearded spaniards who arrived on their shores for the returning viracocha and his demigods,13 an event long prophesied and which viracocha was said in all the legends to have promised. this happy coincidence gave pizarro s conquistadores the decisive strategic and psychological edge that they need

37, 439. 9 ibid, p. 437. 10 fair gods and stone faces, p. 62. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 109 family of obviously related11 but slightly different gods sharing the symbol of the snake. quetzalcoatl/kukulkan/itzamana was quite explicitly portrayed in many of the mexican and mayan accounts as having been accompanied by attendants or assistants. certain myths set out in the ancient mayan religious texts known as the books of chilam balam, for instance, reported that the first inhabitants of yucatan were the people of the serpent. they came from the east in boats across the water with their leader itzamana, serpent of the east, a healer who could cure by laying on hands, and who revived the dead. 12 kukulkan, stated another tradition, came with nineteen companions, two of whom were

ed. scholars do not dispute this interpretation.14 it is generally accepted that quetzalcoatl s cult was immensely ancient, originating in prehistoric times in central america and thereafter receiving the devotion of many cultures during the historic period. the feathered serpent in this particular sculpture, however, had certain characteristics that set it apart. it seemed to be more than just a religious symbol; indeed, there was something rigid and structured about it that made it look almost like a piece of machinery. whispers of ancient secrets later that day i took shelter in the giant shadow cast by one of the olmec heads carlos pellicer camara had rescued from la venta. it was the head of an old man with a broad flat nose and thick lips. the lips were slightly parted, exposing stro

as a natural 11 ibid, pp. 266-9. 12 the ancient kingdoms of mexico, p. 67. 13 mysteries of the mexican pyramids, p. 221. 14 the orion mystery. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 169 feature the river nile which was exactly where it should be had it been designed to represent the milky way.15 the incorporation of a celestial plan into key sites in egypt and mexico did not by any means exclude religious functions. on the contrary, whatever else they may have been intended for it is certain that the monuments of teotihuacan, like those of the giza plateau, played important religious roles in the lives of the communities they served. thus central american traditions collected in the sixteenth century by father bernardino de sahagun gave eloquent expression to a widespread belief that teot

GREENFIELD ALLEN SECRET CIPHER OF THE UFONAUTS

hours after george adamski died suddenly. bryant died june 24, 1967, the anniversary of the first flying saucer sighting, the same day as the death of ufologist frank edwards, and the day of the largest and most diverse convention of ufo investigators ever held, the 4th annual national ufo conference in new york city. dr. gordon melton has gone so far as to describe the contactees as an emerging religious movement with an impetus and a life of their own. as with the theosophical masters and the secret chiefs of magick, there is a political as well as spiritual undertone in contactee lore. of particular note is the work of george hunt ric williamson (a/k/a brother philip, d. january 1986, head of the brotherhood of the seven rays with an abbey near lake titicaca in south america. williamso

l of common denominators in all the mythology that has emerged in the nearly 150 years since the fox sisters heard rapping sounds in the walls, and the ship of spiritualism was launched. in presenting certain ancient holy texts, willis barnstone notes that, to use a secret language for purposes of exegesis is a common linguistic practice, and is actually a characteristic embedded in virtually all religious texts. thus, perhaps, ciphers embedded in holy books not only does not begin with the book of the law and the dawn of the new aeon, but is as old as written language and is the basic premise which qabalists have operated under for many centuries. our research for this book is dictated by necessity of illustration, not any attempt to create qabalistic connections. all the more reason to n

modern times, nazi germany the black lodge has operated more or less openly with characteristic occult symbols of human skulls, lightning bolts, etc. out in the open. but like the great white brotherhood that it actively seeks to subvert and overthrow (as it did in the time of the knights templar, the black lodge has generally communicated by cipher and myth, in silence and secrecy, often within religious, fraternal and political institutions dedicated to the status quo. in the west since at least the early 18th century, the black lodge has tended to operate along crypto-masonic lines, and its development has tended to coincide with and mirror that of the great white brotherhood. this development may, in fact, be attributed to a cosmic principle of equal generation of forces. thus, the bi

o be observed by a westerner was in the 1930s, while the last ancient intact body of adepts of the eastern black lodge, ironically dedicated to foisting upon sleeping humanity a rank and demoralizing materialism, was discovered and destroyed in accordance with the insipid marxism which guided the chinese people s liberation army into tibet in the late 1950s. among various tantric buddhist and bon religious institutions, the p.l.a. liquidated the cavern retreats of schamballah and agarthi, the former being possibly the oldest surviving branch of the black lodge on the planet (see ossendovski s men, beasts and gods, circa 1925, for an account of schamballah and agarthi) as survivors of the marxist massacre from the tibetan great white brotherhood are known to have come to the west in subsequ

cation with and overlapping with ultraterrestrial sources. 64 allen h. greenfield the reality of the secret chiefs the mythology of the secret masters or chiefs and the myth of the black lodge form an archetypal substratum of modern magical lore which is almost a necessity if magick is not to drift into a kind of bland parapsychological secular humanism or offbeat psychology on the one hand, or a religious fundamentalism grounded in a new faith substituted for christianity. but one should at least allow that the legend of secret chiefs may have some rather literal basis in fact; that there are high masters of the art scattered around the world, that they are in communication with one another, and that how they use their illumination depends upon their character and predisposition. this is

GRERALD SCHUELER AN ADVANCED GUIDE TO ENOCHIAN MAGICK

e drawn, because such explanations are included in this system (detailed in my forthcoming book, enochian physics. enochian magick, with its emphasis on individual study, may better serve those who prefer not to participate in the group ceremonies of more traditional wicca or occult organizations. although similar in theory, enochian magick is probably best practiced alone and in secret. all true religious, philosophical, occult, and magical systems lead the sincere aspirant to the same goal-a dearer understanding of the meaning of l i fe. it is sometimes described as many paths, all leading up the same mountain toward the same invisible peak. some paths slowly meander around the mountain. these paths require little effort, and offer great security and many resting places along the way. ot

nown as avatars, mahatmas, adepts, bodisattvas or simply good people who try as best as they can to make the world a better place to live. most remain anonymous and shun publicity. many are not consciously aware of their self-imposed tasks but diligently carry them out anyway. some are cast into the public limelight and must bear the jeers and derision of those whom they came to help. most of our religious founders and leaders, our philosophers and phi lanthropists are from this lodge, consciously or unconsciously. only those who are actively against the lodge are truly not members. these are called the black brothers (black refers to their magick, 236 not their race. they seek their own personal salvation and refuse to help others, often refusing to admit that others need assistance. they

GREY W G CONDENSATION OF KABBALAH

hould 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 eternal verities which genuine kabbalah is trying to systematise and present as a fundamental formulary wh

GRIFFIN DAVID MAGICAL EVOCATION OF THE AVERSE FORCES

ndon, 1975) provides an excellent historical analysis of this phenomenon. 2 at the close of the twentieth century, as well as of the millennium, we live under very different conditions than did the magicians of earlier times. science has greatly diminished the power of dogma to determine how we see the world, and psychology has emerged to fill the role once played by theurgy. we live in an age of religious tolerance, wherein christians may again begin to embrace the value of magic. indeed, christ the magus is the ideal of christian magicians. let the intolerant and the self-righteous remember that the religious leaders of his day accused christ himself of evil magic, of commanding demons by the power of the prince of demons. hierarchies of demons an important obstacle to overcome in the pr

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

ous spring, from its stagnant swamps the ancient river. nations hold fast by prescription: we shall never comprehend their tradition, their superstition, unless we spread under it a bed on still heathen soil. and these views are confirmed by what we know to be true of poetry and legend. if the heathens already possessed a finely articulated language, and if we concede to them an abundant stock of religious myths, then song and story could not fail to preface. vll lay hold of these, and to interweave themselves with the rites and customs. that such was the case we are assured by tacitus; aud the testimony of jornandes and eginhart leaves not the smallest room for doubt respecting later ages. those primitive songs on tuisco, on mannus and the three races that branched out of him, are echoed

rmation arose first in our country, and we should long ago have given it our undivided allegiance, had not a stir been made against it from abroad. it is remarkable how the same soil of old-german faith in scandinavia and britain proved receptive of protestant opinion; and how favourable to it a great part of france was, where german blood still held its ground. as in language and myth, so in the religious leanings of a people there is something indestructible. gods, i.e. a multiplication of the one supreme incomprehensible deity, could only be conceived of by germans as by others under a human form (p. 316, and celestial abodes like earthly houses are ascribed to them. but here comes a difference, in this reluctance to exhibit the immeasurable (that magnitude coelestium) in visible images

tree again. when next it begins to leaf, the terrible fight is near, and will open when the tree bears fruit. then shall frederick hang his shield on the tree, all men shall flock to it, and make such a slaughter that the blood will run info the warriors' shoes, and the wicked men be slain by the righteous (ib. nos. 24. 28. in this remarkable tradition may be recognised things old and very old. a religious poem of the 16th cent (grater's odina p. 197) speaks of duke frederick, who is to win back the h. sepulchre, and hang his shield on a leafless tree; and antechriste is brought in too- a fragment of an older lay of the 14th cent (cod. pal. 844) says of emp. frederick' an dem gejaid er verschwant (in the hunt he disappeared, das man den edeln keiser her sind gesach (saw) nyemer mer; also w

racle, but when he pushes the beneficent exercise of his powers to the supernatural point, he learns to conjure. miracle is wrought by honest means, magic by unlawful; the one is geheuer (blessed, wholesome, p. 914, the other ungeheuer. at the same time the origin of all conjuring must be traced directly to the most sacred callings, which contained in themselves all the wisdom of heathendom, viz. religious worship and the art of song. sacrificing and singing came to mean conjuring; the priest and the poet, confidants of the gods and participants of divine inspiration, stand next-door to the fortune-teller and magician (see suppl. it is so with all nations, and was so with our ancestors: by the side of divine worship, practices of dark sorcery, by way of exception, not of contrast. the anci

GRIMM TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 2 1883 COMPLETE

k they lighted candles and laid down sacrificial gifts. it is called 1 fontibus venerationem exhibere, ad fontanas adorare (conf. legg. liutpr. 6, 30, ad fontes votum facere, reddere, exsolvere, orare ad fontes, offerre ad fontes, munus deferre, ad fontes luminaria facere, candelam deferred this last no doubt was done only or chiefly at night, when the flame reflected from the wave would excite a religious awe.1 the saxons also were fonticolae: wyllas and flotwceter are named in the as. laws as objects of rever ence. beside the passage from cnut (p. 102, the poenitentiale ecgberti says 2, 22: gif hwilc man his selmessan gehate ofrse bringe to hwilcon wylle, 4, 19: gif hwa his wseccan t asnigum wylle hsebbe (vigilias suas ad aliquem foiitem habeat; the canones edgari 16 forbid wihveorffunga

midden van der mane, dat men in duitsche heet luderglieer; in another passage it is hndegher 1 (for leudegher; and willeins in messager de gand, 1, 195, following a ms. of 1351, reads, dat men in dietsch heet lodegeer; but none of these forms is intel ligible to me. perhaps the proper name ludger, leodegarius, ohg. liutker, has to do with it, and some forgotten legend of the mid. ages. a touching religious interpretation is handed down by berthold 145, surety not invented by himself, that the moon is mary magdalene, and the spots her tears of repentance (see suppl. the sun has had a slighter influence than the moon on super stitious notions and observances. magical herbs must be gathered, if not by moonlight, at least before sunrise (p. 621, and healing waters be drawn before sunrise (p. 5

erg -garten often occur as names of places (see suppl. 1 let us see how much of these heathen fancies has survived among christian ones, or found its counterpart in them. the name valholl, walahalla, seems to have been avoided; winsele may indeed have been said of heaven, but i can only find it used of earthly dwellings, csedm. 270, 21. beow. 1383. 1536. 1907. on the other hand our later and even religious poets continue without scruple to use the term freudensal for heaven, for heavenly 4 ik sup mit min herr jesu christ, wenn du, diivel, ewig dorsten miist, un drink init en fort kolle schal, wenn du sittst in de hollequal. this is not mere railing, but the sober earnest of heroes who mean to drink and hunt with wuotan; conf. lisch s mekl. jahrb. 9, 447. 1 such a land of bliss is part of c

H SPENCER LEWIS ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL AMORC 1990

rosy cross are the exclusive property of the legitimate fraternity, and its chartered bodies throughout the world. ques. has the a.m.o.r.c. any relation in the past or present with the roman catholic church, or the jesuits? ans. there was a time in the ancient periods of the order when some jesuits were gready interested in the teachings, and some joined the order, just as many others of various religious denominations have joined the order in the past and present; but today there are no jesuits or representatives of the roman catholic church serving in any official capacity in the a.m.o.r.c, nor is there any official or unofficial connection between the a.m.o.r.c. and any religious sect or denomination. ques. what relation has the a.m.o.r.c. with other metaphysical, mystical societies, i

will be the master within, and not some foreign person of one tongue, affiliated with one school, and limiting his redemption to those who are within a certain fold. and, the rosicrucians have never solicited funds for the support of propaganda for any such masters, or the organizing of colonies or utopian places where anticipated masters or new races might be born or created. ques. what are the religious convictions of the rosicrucians? a ns. the religious convictions of the rosicrucians are as diversified as the races and types of persons in the organization. since it is a universal and international movement with members living in all lands, and of every creed and tongue, its religious attitude is strictly nonsectarian. there are members in the organization who are priests, clergymen

it is a universal and international movement with members living in all lands, and of every creed and tongue, its religious attitude is strictly nonsectarian. there are members in the organization who are priests, clergymen, rabbis, and directors and workers in every one of the various religions throughout the world. there is nothing in the rosicrucian teachings to interfere with the individual's religious convictions, while on the other hand the teachings will tend to support the revelations of spiritual truths as found in all of the sacred writings of the past and present. ques. in what manner is the a.m.o.r.c. perpetuating the ancient fraternity? ans. by continually promoting the ancient teachings with the modified applications and traditional revelations of science and discovery which

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

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

HAMIL THE ROSICRUCIAN SEER

ther, edwin waveuleigh, a retired excise officer, at 195 cherry orchard lane! she was about thirteen years old when hockley metherand died in 1858 at the age of twenty.12itwas through her that hockley received the crowned angel'smagnum()jjus,metaphysicaland spiritualphilos()jjhy;or theamneaionwith andinfluenceouermaterialbodies-byspirits.hockley approached crystal or mirror scrying with an almost religious awe. indeed his experiments were to have a profound effect on his own religious beliefs, turning him from a unitarian to a trinitarian christian with a firm belief in the mystery of the virgin birth. before use, the crystal or mirror had to be consecrated with prayers and dedicated to the serviceofgod. consecrated calls, again invoking the name of christ, were to be given three times to

ain, despite all the care taken, even the crowned angel wasnotabove giving hockley the required ceremonial for calling up very dubious spirits. as hockley took down verbatim what his speculatrix reported seeing, what is remarkable is the quality and depthofinformation received. it seems unlikely that a teenage girl with, presumably, an average victorian female's education, could have invented the religious and philosophical information hockley transcribed. many seekers after arcane knowledge sought initiation into freemasonry, in the erroneous belief that knowledgeofthe rituals of freemasonry would set them on the path to discovering the key to all knowledge. surprisingly, hockley did not take this step until his fifty-fifth year, although some of his contacts, professional, spiritualist a

he c. a, isaid:-mrrobert owen requests your view of this 'introduction to the second edition of the report of his meeting in st martin's hall, on the rst instant, containing his reasons for calling his meetings' c.a.-iknow whatitcontains, and i believe it to be another 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 w

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 character is formedjor and notbyhim' at his lecture on the rst january, by observing that it was possible to take seven children of the same parentage, and to bring them up in different places, in different languages, nationalities, and creeds, and to make them most religiously hate each other; and that it was equally possible to take

o boldly avow his belief, however opposed it may be to his own or his friends' previous opinions.c.a.-thatman has acted from his childhood from an inherent senseofright. no matter what it was,ifhebelieved that he was right, he would publicly avow it.thatsense of right and truth has done a great, very great, good for his fellow men, by itself;buthow much greater good would that do when guided by a religious sense ofright;-whenhe can do those things under the blessing of god, how much happier would be his feelings, when he felt that he was chosen for a great work, and that it was the intention of the almighty to give his reward accordingly. i wish you to write to mr owen, to give him my answer to all those questions, express my hope that his opinions on that subject will be changed, and afte

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

d directly. the king and the gods from the first dynasty onward, every egyptian king was called a horus. the extent to which egyptian rulers were regarded as divine is much disputed,12 but the kings of the early dynastic period certainly enjoyed more power and responsibility than anyone else in their culture. they were rulers of the first large nation-state in history. the king was the political, religious, and military leader of this state. royal annals for the early dynastic period partially survive in a copy on the palermo stone and related fragments.13 the annals list the kings of egypt, starting with a series of prehistoric kings. seal impressions and small bone or wood labels of the early dynastic period portray kings engaging with a variety of deities.14 mesopotamian seals and seali

naos are accompanied by short speeches saying what they will do for the king. these images may be the oldest surviving representation of the ennead of heliopolis, a group of nine deities that was very important in the creation myths recorded in later times. some of these myths could already have been current, but whether they were written down or existed only in oral form is not clear. a type of religious text that does seem to have developed in this period was the topographical list.17 this listed deities according to their cult places and summarized their functions and qualities with epithets. some epi- 8 handbook of egyptian mythology thets, such as horus, protector of his father, suggest the existence of a story behind them. in the fourth dynasty the king s role was redefined as being

e 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 of the three principal collections of egyptian funerary literature.19 they are also among the earliest religious writings known from anywhere in the world. the texts are divided into sections; each is preceded by an egyptian phrase meaning words to be spoken but sometimes translated introduction 9 as spell or incantation. these incantations can be as short as a single sentence or many paragraphs long. the pyramid of king weni contains around 300 incantations, but more than 800 are currently known

wy and were buried under pyramids at various desert sites. none of these royal tombs was inscribed inside. elaborate temples for the royal mortuary cult were built near these pyramids, but none of them has survived in good condition. nor have many of the temples built for deities during this period survived. one tantalizing text known as the ramesseum dramatic papyrus seems to be the script for a religious ritual in which the king took part in the reenactment of mythical events, such as the coronation of the god horus (see figure 3).24 more is known about the religious life of the government officials and their families who formed the elite of egyptian society. in their decorated tombs, no- 12 handbook of egyptian mythology marchs could be shown presiding over religious festivals and vener

ok part in the reenactment of mythical events, such as the coronation of the god horus (see figure 3).24 more is known about the religious life of the government officials and their families who formed the elite of egyptian society. in their decorated tombs, no- 12 handbook of egyptian mythology marchs could be shown presiding over religious festivals and venerating sacred objects. other modes of religious activity and belief could be presented in encoded ways.25 short hymns to deities, of the type that might have been sung at festivals, start to be written on tomb walls or funerary stelae. the coffins in elite burials of this period were sometimes painted with texts and scenes that formed part of the second of the major collections of funerary literature: the coffin texts (ct. the coffin

HEAVEN HELL

m in the other world over which he reigned. the beliefs connected with the cult of osiris developed naturally p. ix out of the beliefs of the predynastic egyptians, who, we have every reason to think, dealt largely in magic both "black" and "white" many of the superstitions, and most of the fantastic and half-savage ideas about the gods and supernatural powers enshrined in the great collection of religious texts called per-em-hru, were inherited by the dynastic egyptians from some of the oldest dwellers in the nile valley. those who died in the faith of osiris believed in the efficacy of the book per-em-hru, and were content to employ it as a "guide" to a heaven which was full of material delights; the number of those who were "followers" of osiris was very large under every dynasty in egy

in chronological order, to piece them together and then make deductions and draw general conclusions from them. we must always remember that the texts of the various books of the dead are far older than the illustrations found in the later recensions of them which are now in our hands, and that such illustrations, in matters of detail at least, reflect the opinions of the priestly class that held religious supremacy at the time when they were drawn or painted. in cases where archetypes were available the artist was careful to follow in all general matters the ancient copies to which he had access, but when new beliefs and new religious conceptions had to be illustrated, he was free to treat them pictorially according to his own knowledge, and according to the wishes of those who employed h

n cases where archetypes were available the artist was careful to follow in all general matters the ancient copies to which he had access, but when new beliefs and new religious conceptions had to be illustrated, he was free to treat them pictorially according to his own knowledge, and according to the wishes of those who employed him. the oldest books of the dead known to us, that is to say, the religious compositions which are inscribed p. 3 on the walls of the chambers and corridors of the pyramids of kings unas, teta, pepi i, mer-en-ra, and pepi ii, are without illustrations of any sort or kind, and it is not easy to account for this fact. that the egyptians possessed artistic skill sufficient to illustrate the religious and general works which their theologians wrote or revised, under

as proved that the "pyramid texts" contain formulae and paragraphs which, judging from the grammatical forms that occur in them, it is easy to see must have been composed, if not actually written down, in the earliest times of egyptian civilization. these formulae &c, are interspersed with others of later periods, and it seems as if, at the time when the "pyramid texts" were cut into stone, these religious compositions were intended to contain expressions of pious thought about the hereafter which would satisfy both those who accepted the ancient indigenous beliefs, p. 4 and those who were prepared to believe the doctrines which had been promulgated by the priests of the famous brotherhood of ra, the sun-god, who had made their head-quarters in egypt at annu, i.e, on, or heliopolis. the ol

ch had been promulgated by the priests of the famous brotherhood of ra, the sun-god, who had made their head-quarters in egypt at annu, i.e, on, or heliopolis. the old native beliefs of the country were of a more material character than the doctrines which the priests of heliopolis taught, but it was found impossible to eradicate them from the minds of the people, and the priests therefore framed religious works in such a manner that they might be acceptable both to those who believed in the old animal-gods, tree-gods, plant-gods &c, of egypt, and those who preferred a purely solar cult, such as that of the worship of the sun-god ra. the oldest books of the dead, in fact, represent the compromise arrived at under the ivth, vth, and vith dynasties, between the priests of the old and the new

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

lk of ayodhya had gathered together,full of emotion, the heir-apparent was absent from the festival. he had concealed himself in the forests of the yogis. now, these forests had been inhabited by holy hermits, and devarata knew that there be would beunassailable and impregnable. he might be seen there, but no one could do him violence- not even the godvaruna himself. it was a simple solution. the religious austerities of the aranyakas (the holy men of theforests) several of whom were daityas (titans, a race of giants and demons, gave them such dominance thatall the gods trembled before their sway and their supernatural powers- even varuna, himself. these antediluvian yogis, it seems, had the power to destroy even the god himself, at will- possiblybecause they had invented him themselves. n

ailedfor 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-hong-vonsi, and many other famous temples. several years passed away

iculous in my eyes. on a day ever memorable to me- a fatal day- i made the acquaintance of a venerable and learned bonze,a japanese priest, named tamoora hideyeri. i met him at the foot of the golden kwon-on, and from thatmoment he became my best and most trusted friend. notwithstanding my great and genuine regard for him,however, whenever a good opportunity was offered i never failed to mock his religious convictions, therebyvery often hurting his feelings. but my old friend was as meek and forgiving as any true buddhist's heart might desire. he never resented myimpatient sarcasms, even when they were, to say the least, of equivocal propriety, and generally limited hisreplies to the "wait and see" kind of protest. nor could he be brought to seriously believe in the sincerity ofmy denial o

un, and finding, probably, the lordten-dzio-dai-dzio (the spirit who darts his rays) propitious for the coming ceremony, he speedily drewout a little bundle. it contained a small lacquered box, a piece of vegetable paper, made from the bark of themulberry tree, and a pen, with which he traced upon the paper a few sentences in the naiden character- apeculiar style of written language used only for religious and mystical purposes. having finished, heexhibited from under his clothes a small round mirror of steel of extraordinary brilliancy, and placing itbefore my eyes asked me to look into it. i had not only heard before of these mirrors, which are frequently used in the temples, but i had often seenthem. it is claimed that under the direction and will of instructed priests, there appear in

l income for life, or if i nightmare talesviii- a tale of woe48 ever left my new friends and instructors. having settled my earthly accounts and disposed of my belongingsat kioto, i joined the "masters of the long vision" who took me to their mysterious abode. there i remainedfor several years, studying very earnestly and in the most complete solitude, seeing no one but a few of themembers of our religious community. many are the mysteries of nature that i have fathomed since then, and many secret folio from the library oftzionene have i devoured, obtaining thereby mastery over several kinds of invisible beings of a lower order.but the great secret of power over the terrible daij-dzin i could not get. it remains in the possession of avery limited number of the highest initiates of lao-tze

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

sor, the theosophical society, namely, to reconcile all religions, sects, and nations under a common system of ethics, based on eternal verities. q. what have you to show that this is not an impossible dream; and that all the world's religions are based on the one and the same truth? a. their comparative study and analysis. the "wisdom-religion" was one in antiquity; and the sameness of primitive religious philosophy is proven to us by the identical doctrines taught to the initiates during the mysteries, an institution once universally diffused. all the old worships indicate the existence of a single theosophy anterior to them. the key that is to open one must open all; otherwise it cannot be the right key -ooo- the policy of the theosophical society q. in the days of ammonius there were s

o them. the key that is to open one must open all; otherwise it cannot be the right key -ooo- the policy of the theosophical society q. in the days of ammonius there were several ancient great religions, and numerous were the sects in egypt and palestine alone. how could he reconcile them? a. by doing that which we again try to do now. the neo-platonists were a large body, and belonged to various religious philosophies; so do our theosophists. it was under philadelphus that judaism established itself in alexandria, and forthwith the hellenic teachers became the dangerous rivals of the college of rabbis of babylon. as the author of the eclectic philosophy very pertinently remarks: the buddhist, vedantic, and magian systems were expounded along with the philosophies of greece at that period

religion and philosophy. q. where and by whom was it so preserved? a. among initiates of every country; among profound seekers after truth-their disciples; and in those parts of the world where such topics have always been most valued and pursued: in india, central asia, and persia. q. can you give me some proofs of its esotericism? a. the best proof you can have of the fact is that every ancient religious, or rather philosophical, cult consisted of an esoteric or secret teaching, and an exoteric (outward public) worship. furthermore, it is a well-known fact that the mysteries of the ancients comprised with every nation the "greater (secret) and "lesser (public) mysteries-e.g, in the celebrated solemnities called the eleusinia, in greece. from the hierophants of samothrace, egypt, and the

e ancients comprised with every nation the "greater (secret) and "lesser (public) mysteries-e.g, in the celebrated solemnities called the eleusinia, in greece. from the hierophants of samothrace, egypt, and the initiated brahmins of the india of old, down to the later hebrew rabbis, all preserved, for fear of profanation, their real bona fide beliefs secret. the jewish rabbis called their secular religious series the merkabah (the exterior body "the vehicle" or, the covering which contains the hidden soul-i.e, their highest secret knowledge. not one of the ancient nations ever imparted through its priests its real philosophical secrets to the masses, but allotted to the latter only the husks. northern buddhism has its "greater" and its "lesser" vehicle, known as the mahayana, the esoteric

europeans and americans than converted buddhists. the mistake has arisen from a misunderstanding of the real meaning of the title of mr. sinnett's excellent work, esoteric buddhism, which last word ought to have been spelt with one, instead of two, d's, as then budhism would have meant what it was intended for, merely "wisdom-ism (bodha, bodhi "intelligence "wisdom) instead of buddhism, gautama's religious philosophy. theosophy, as already said, is the wisdom-religion. page 10 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt q. what is the difference between buddhism, the religion founded by the prince of kapilavastu, and budhism, the "wisdomism" which you say is synonymous with theosophy? a. just the same difference as there is between the secret teachings of christ, which are called "the mysteries

HINE PHIL ASPECTS OF EVOCATION

if we deny our demons then they are indeed .outside. and the self becomes a fortress, for an army at war with itself. in contrast, the babblogue is a trial by catharsis, to understand and unify the dwellers within, rather than deny or subjugate them. the shaman.s journey the central theme of all .magical retirements. of this nature is the journey within. shamans world-wide, and the most powerful religious myths are concerned with this descent into chaos- the confrontation with death, the demon feast, trial by fire, communion with the dead- and the subsequent return- the realisation of power, and the subsequent return to human affairs as an initiate. the core elements in this process can be summarised as follows: phase of departure: summons to depart, seperation from mundane life, descent

dividuals encounter something .outside. their embedded structure of .how the world should be- that is, consensus reality, it seems to me that there is a factor which can be termed .the credibility envelope. which comes into play, whereby an individual .fits. the experience into a category that least strains the limitations of consensus reality. thus a strange encounter may become a meeting with a religious entity, a ghost, or creatures from outer space. conscious .belief. in the validity of such entities is not necessarily a factor, since all these phenomena are part of the folklore of .the unknown. and can be present as .memes (units of information) in the subconscious mind of the individual, thanks to our information-rich culture, with its vast networks of media for the transmission of i

HINE P OVEN READY CHAOS

head til you reach enlightenment, you have to spend a good deal of time reading up on the beliefs associated with the system, learning its do s and don ts, committing to memory lists of symbols and correspondences, how to talk to your fellow magi, and in 8 phil hine some extreme cases, how to dress, walk, and chew gum at the same time. how does this come about? well magic, like some of the great religious messages is essentially simple, but is prey to the process whereby simple ideas become extremely complicated beliefs which can lead you further and further away from doing any magic at all. weave back through time to somewhere in the paleolithic era to find a tribal shaman sitting on a rock gaping at the visions revealed by a soggy piece of toadstool. fast-forwards a few millenia and you

HOWE THE ALCHEMIST OF THE GOLDEN DAWN

ve in both church and state. but by 1893 she had cut completely loose from her rebellious and sensational past and had embarked upon her even more rebellious and sensational future. she was to become the successor to the fantasticmadame helena petrovna blavatsky and the international president of the stormy and mystical theosophical society. later, in ndia, she would be a conspicuous and idolised religious, educational, and political leader; one-time president of the indian national congress; and an admired older friend. and example to mohanadas gandhi; whose eventual break with her over the best methods of achieving indian independence led to his fame and martyrdom and her eclipse. 12 at henry lay esqre staverton court by cheltenham 25 july 1889 38 the alchemist of the golden dawn mrs ayt

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

rds said, for his slowness in recognizing both hieroglyphics and pictorial design. many of his questions seemed highly out of place to his visitor, especially those which tried to connect the latter with strange cults or societies; and wilcox could not understand the repeated promises of silence which he was offered in exchange for an admission of membership in some widespread mystical or paganly religious body. when professor angell became convinced that the sculptor was indeed ignorant of any cult or system of cryptic lore, he besieged his visitor with demands for future reports of dreams. this bore regular fruit, for after the first interview the manuscript records daily calls of the young man, during which he related startling fragments of nocturnal imaginery whose burden was always so

HP LOVECRAFT AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

ciful doubt about the nature of the beings which had built and inhabited this monstrous dead city millions of years ago, when man s ancestors were primitive archaic mammals, and vast dinosaurs roamed the tropical steppes of europe and asia. we had previously clung to a desperate alternative and insisted- each to himself- that the omnipresence of the five-pointed motifs meant only some cultural or religious exaltation of the archaean natural object which had so patently embodied the quality of five-pointedness; as the decorative motifs of minoan crete exalted the sacred bull, those of egypt the scarabaeus, those of rome the wolf and the eagle, and those of various savage tribes some chosen totem animal. but this lone refuge was now stripped from us, and we were forced to face definitely the

HP LOVECRAFT THE CALL OF CTHULHU

ward said, for his slowness in recognizing both hieroglyphics and pictorial design. many of his questions seemed highly out of place to his visitor especially those which tried to connect the latter with strange cults or societies; and wilcox could not understand the repeated promises of silence which he was offered in exchange for an admission of membership in some widespread mystical or paganly religious body. when professor angell became convinced that the sculptor was indeed ignorant of any cult or system of cryptic lore, he besieged his visitor with demands for future reports of dreams. this bore regular fruit, for after the first interview the manuscript records daily calls of the young man, during which he related startling fragments of nocturnal imagery whose burden was always some

HP LOVECRAFT THE NAMELESS CITY

cence had been, and reflected a moment on certain oddities i had noticed in the ruins. i thought curiously of the lowness of the primal temples and of the underground corridor, which were doubtless hewn thus out of deference to the reptile deities there honoured; though it perforce reduced the worshippers to crawling. perhaps the very rites here involved crawling in imitation of the creatures. no religious theory, however, could easily explain why the level passages in that awesome descent should be as low as the temples- or lower, since one cold not even kneel in it. as i thought of the crawling creatures, whose hideous mummified forms were so close to me, i felt a new throb of fear. mental associations are curious, and i shrank from the idea that except for the poor primitive man torn to

HP LOVECRAFT THE TOMB

ence i seemed to know in spite of the fact that it had been unseen and forgotten for many generations. at last came that which i had long feared. my parents, alarmed at the altered manner and appearance of their only son, commenced to exert over my movements a kindly espionage which threatened to result in disaster. i had told no one of my visits to the tomb, having guarded my secret purpose with religious zeal since childhood; but now i was forced to exercise care in threading the mazes of the wooded hollow, that i might throw off a possible pursuer. my key to the vault i kept suspended from a cord about my neck, its presence known only to me. i never carried out of the sepulcher any of the things i came upon whilst within its walls. one morning as i emerged from the damp tomb and fastene

HUEBNER LOUISE WITCHCRAFT FOR ALL WICCA 04

tainly lead to an abundant popularity and many successful attractions, rather than to condemnation and repulsion. who then were the ugly hags called witches? if historical accuracy is lacking as to who and what they were, it must follow that there is little truth in how they "seemed" to look. for a magnificent example of misrepresentation, look at salem, massachusetts, in the 1690s: political and religious victims, old tired wives, envied neighbours, folk doctors, hysterical teenagers, menopausal mothers-in-law, the retarded and/or psychotic, unwanted old souls- all were counted as fair and proper witch material. but let's face it: would a witch with esp and a strong inclination for survival have ignored the signs of a fast-decaying society and impending personal disaster? would a witch wi

ions; they are productive types, and they're always successful in what they attempt. most of the so-called witches in salem were victims of circumstances. the cases you read in reference books point out that witches usually were somebody's unwanted mother-in-law or an old grandmother whose family couldn't support her any more and so would accuse her of witchcraft. but the greatest percentage were religious-political victims, because at that time the church was in a frenzy, and the religious leaders felt the more witches they got rid of, the better became the church's reputation. so they looked all over hell-and-gone to find witches. it was very simple. mental defectives were easy to eliminate. people of power were a bit more difficult, but it didn't prevent them from eradicating a few mayo

cept that words are symbols of your ideas and thus have a magical quality. we use words to place what is happening in our minds with another person's mind. some of the older religions still believe that the symbolism of letters is powerful, too. during world war ii the jews in syria had every reason to believe they were about to be invaded by the germans. they called up their cabalists (a body of religious scholars) who spent an evening in meditation. the cabalists discovered they could manipulate the letters in "syria" and by reversing them, spell "russia. after chanting this reversal over and over, they appeared in the plaza and told the assembled crowd to have no fear, the germans were going to invade russia, not syria. the germans did indeed turn to russia, but whether or not the cabal

whistle. but most effective of all is candle glow "a home with candles burning brightly will be visited by sexy woodnymphs nightly" in the beginning, herbs were used to placate gods. man burned herbs to release pungent aromas meant to stimulate the senses of the deity and insure favours. herbs have been included in food, baths, spells, closets, spell potions, medical treatments, magical rites and religious ceremonies. they have been used for emotion-elevators, decorations of the elevated, and dietetic inspiration; they have been expected to honour you, dry you out, fatten you up, make you strong, protect from harm, bring him back, break the tide, cure the plague, bring in money and inhibit infidelity. ancient greece bought courage with thyme, romans cured drunkenness with parsley, and char

ply. their money. and this can cover with insurance, taxes, and money that you get in a will. it also deals with sex, because it covers what the other person is offering you as opposed to what you have to offer him. in general, it's what you get from another person- or what you exchange. the ninth circle has to do with expansion of yourself, and that could be either in travel, in thought, or in a religious experience or some form of idealism. it's where you leave yourself and offer yourself up to another cause or person. usually that type of thing has to do with your philosophy, rather than sex and love. it's too abstract an area. as opposed to the fourth, which was your base of operation, the tenth circle might be pictured as your roof, your cover, your prestige in the world, your power

INFERNAL SABBAT LIVE

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

INITIATION INTO HERMETICS

trines 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 fanatics or atheists without showing it outwardly. let everybody hold on to

pt 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 fanatics or atheists without showing it outwardly. let everybody hold on to what he believes and makes him happy and content. should everybody stick to this maxim, there would be neither hatred nor religious dissensions on this earth. there would be no reason for disputes and all turns of mind could exist happily side by side. quite a different thing is, if a seeker, dissatisfied by materialism and doctrines, and longing for spiritual support, will ask advice and information of an adept. in such a case the adept is obliged to supply the seeker with spiritual light and insight, according to h

hermetics. this maxim is standing for the entire magical ritual. it is stated hereby that not only any idea can be expressed by an action, but can also be bound to a certain task. this refers to any creature as well. anything not receiving and bearing a special name, symbol or external mark is without significance. all the magical processes and rituals are based on this primordial thesis in every religious system with its special cults since the remotest times. the only difference is that nothing but a very small part has been accessible to the masses, whilst most of it has been kept strictly secret but reserved only to high priests and adepts. every ritual answers a certain purpose, regardless whether the point in question be the banning witchcraft of tibet or the gestures of fingers (mud

ith this universal bright white light. now concentrate the quality of clairvoyance into this light in the body, i.e, imagine that the light is penetrating everything, seeing everything and looking into everything. neither space nor time is any hindrance to this light. your conviction of this quality of the light is to be firm as a rock, and not the faintest doubt is allowed to arise. if you are a religious man, it should be easy for you to believe that this universal light is representing a part of god, who owns all the qualities described here. as soon as you have sucked in the light into your body in this manner, together with the quoted qualities, and if you can feel its tension and penetrating power inside you, accumulate the light with the help of your imagination from the feet and ha

methods. 2. magical animation of pictures the magical animation of pictures also belongs to the four methods concerning the creation of elementaries. in cults, the pictures, images of saints, statues and the like are very often told to emanate an exceedingly strong magic power producing miraculous effects on the bodies, spirits and souls of their worshippers. the blessed silence, calmness and the religious ambiance that meets visitors in churches and places of pilgrimage certainly is known to everybody, and there is no need to go into detail about it. all the healings in places of pilgrimage, that have even been substantiated in part scientifically but have not been completely explained, can be imputed to the animation of pictures and statues. the strange atmosphere surrounding these objec

INTRODUCTION TO THE SEVEN FACES OF DARKNESS

ing my family dilemmas? the experiences of the three types of sovereignty gained so far must be used now to learn the life lesson, that if you continue to act with an initiatory attitude all life experiences can be used in the quest for sovereignty. the choice is not finding the right thing to do, but finding the right attitude that informs your actions. fear of the unverifiable all humans on any religious or philosophical path fear that in the end there is no "proof" of what is believed. the quest for immortality might be a unicorn-hunt, the quest for sovereignty might be just good psychology for motivating ourselves for years. but this fourth stage of the quest for sovereignty gives us the test of our ideas. as we begin to unlock the darkness within, our "accidents" and "slips" begin to

IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY

d her as a heretic and an associate of satan, while the protestant acted similarly because holy writ contained the grim command "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" thus persecution flourished equally in protestant and roman catholic kingdoms. but in ireland the conditions were different. we find there a roman catholic majority, not racially predisposed towards such a belief, debarred by their religious and political opinions from taking their full share in public affairs, and opposed in every way to the protestant minority. the consequent turmoil and clash of war gave no opportunity for the witchcraft idea to come to maturity and cast its seeds broadcast; it was trampled into the earth by the feet of the combatants, and, though the minority believed firmly in witchcraft and kindred sub

iff of the cantred of overk, and a posse of armed men, by whom he was arrested under orders from sir arnold, and lodged the same day in kilkenny jail. this naturally caused tremendous excitement in the city. the place became ipso facto subject to an interdict; the bishop desired the sacrament, and it was brought to him in solemn procession by the dean and chapter. all the clergy, both secular and religious, flocked from every side to the prison to offer their consolation to the captive, and their feelings were roused to the highest pitch by the preaching of a dominican, p. 32 who took as his text, blessed are they which are persecuted &c. seeing this, william outlawe nervously informed sir arnold of it, who thereupon decided to keep the bishop in closer restraint, but subsequently changed

xhortation, which encouraged the man to defy satan and all his works. the upshot of the matter was, that he became very charitable to the poor, and seems to have entirely renounced his intemperate habits. 1 rejecting the supernatural element in the above as being merely the fruits of a diseased mind, there is no reason to doubt the truth of the story. mr. blair also met with some strange cases of religious hysteria, which became manifest in outbursts of weeping and bodily convulsions, but which he attributed to the devils "playing the ape, and counterfeiting the works of the lord" he states that one sunday, in the midst of public worship, p. 93 "one of my charge, being a dull and ignorant person, made a noise and stretching of her body. incontinent i was assisted to rebuke that lying spiri

iff of youghal in 1642, and mayor in 1647 and 1660. the rev. james wood was appointed "minister of the gospel" at youghal, by the commonwealth government, at a salary of 120 per annum; in 1654 his stipend was raised to 140, and in the following year he got a further increase of 40. he was sworn in a freeman at p. 130 large in 1656, and appears to have been presented by the grand jury in 1683 as a religious vagrant. 1 furthermore, it seems possible to recover the name of the judge who tried the case at the cork assizes. glanvill says that he took the relation from "a copy of an authentick record, as i conceive, every half-sheet having w. aston writ in the margin, and then again w. aston at the end of all, who in all likelihood must be some publick notary or record-keeper" this man, who is a

tted to bridewell. but i have not faith to believe it was anything but the hand of god. i have committed the girl p. 172 to bridewell, where she shall stay some time" 1 at one period in their history that peculiar people, known amongst themselves as the society of friends, and by their opponents as quakers, appear to have been most troublesome, and to have caused a good deal of annoyance to other religious bodies. not unnaturally their enemies credited any wild tales which were related about them to their detriment, especially when they had reference to their doctrine of the influence of the spirit. dr. more, in his continuation to glanvill's book, has in the sixth relation an account of a man, near cambridge in england, who was possessed by an evil spirit which led him to do the most extr

ISIS UNVEILED

re implanted in our common nature. we have personally known such god-fearing priests and clergymen, and we have always avoided debate with them, lest we mi^t be guilty of the cruelty of hurt- ing their feelings; nor would we rob a sin^ layman of his blind con- fidence, if it alone made possible for him holy living and serene dying. digitizecoy google vi authors preface to volume ii an analysis o^ religious beliefs in general, this volume is in particular directed against theological chnstianity, the chief opfmneot of free thought. it contains not one word against the pure teachings of jesus, but unsparingly denounces their debasement into pernicious ecclesiasti- cal systems that are ruinous to man's faith in his immortality and his god, and subversive of all moral restraint. we cast our ga

holic altar alone, one-fourth as much! we will not mention the multitude of smaller sects, communities, and extravagantly original little heresies in this country which spring up one year to die out the next, like so many spores of fungi after a rainy day' we will not even stop to consider the alleged millions of spiritualists; for the majority lack the courage to break away from their respective religious denominations. these are the back-door nicodemuses. and now with hlate let us inquire. what is truth? where is it to be searched for amid thb multitude of warring sects? each claims to be based upon divine revelation, and each to have the keys of the celestial gates. is any one of them in possession of this rare truth? or, must we exclaim with the buddhist philosopher "there is but one t

sis untbiled well in thus making a timely assertion of independence; for if it be not done 800q, it will soon be too late to be done well' when a mate- rialistic doctrine is repudiated so strongly by two such materialists as huxley and maudsley, then we must thhik indeed that it is absurdity itself. among christians there is nothing but dissenidon. their various churches represent every degree of religious belief, from the omnivorous credulity of blind faith to a condescending and high-toned deference to the deity which thinly masks an evident conviction of their own deific wisdom. all these sects believe more or less in the immortality of the soul. some admit the intercourse between the two worlds as a fact; some entertain the opinion as a sentiment; some positively deny it; and only a fe

, scouop-edged pantaloons. an english traveler having presented the 'mediatrix' with a green silk parasol, the grateful population of the amtadini, accompanied by the village-priest, went in procession to the spot. they managed to stick the sunshade, opened, between the infant's back and the arm of the virgin which embraced him. the scene and ceremony were both solemn and highly refreshing to our religious feelings. for there stood the image of the goddess in its niche, surrounded with a row of ever-burning lamps, the flames of which, flickering in the breeze, infect god's pure air with an offensive smell of olive oil. the mother and son truly represent the two most conspicuous idols of monoiheittic christianity! for a companion to the idol of the poor amtadini of bari, go to the rich city

it. all was in vain, the old kdy felt sure that dimitry was killed, she began to have mn as ca said for him daily at the village church, and ainyed the whole digitizecoy google is isis unveiled but ranoe then, although the three succesidve emperora have been pious men, their will haa been respected, and the images and aainta have remained quiet, and hardly been spoken of except as connected with religious worship. in poland, a land of furious ultramontanism, there were, at different times, desperate attempts at miracle-doing. they died at birth, however, for the argus-eyed police were there; a catholic mirade in poland, made public by the priests, generally meaning political revolution, uoodshed, and war. is it then not permissible at least to suspect that if in one country divine miracle

JASMUHEEN THE FOOD OF GODS

ve yet i was always hungry for more. it took decades to discover what this hunger was for as a teenager it seemed i had it all. a loving family, a healthy body, good grades at school, popularity and friends, a quick mind and sound reasoning skills, independence and even lots of love. it took awhile to isolate and discover where this hunger was coming from, and then to work through the maya of the religious minefield to fulfill what i found was a hunger in my soul. it was as if my soul had a voice that kept crying out to me in the silence and saying there is more! there is more! and i want you to have it, i need it, you need it! having finally discovered how to feed all aspects of myself via the nourishment sources we discuss in chapter 6, i have come to witness the tendency that many have

rth and plant prana in his path of studying pranic energy for healing. both of their research was discussed in the ambassadors of light book as is the research of many other doctors who have been studying the pranic field. i recently asked dr sudhir shah what led him into studying the field of solar nourishment and he answered: nature. i had an opportunity to monitor prolonged fasting as per jain religious method of shri hrm (hira ratan manek) for 411 days; on scientific basis. that led me to postulate alternative ways to sustain a body when a person is not on routine food-calories. there was only one explanation i.e. cosmic energy utilization. in his first hypothesis on the subject he wrote: out of all cosmic sources, the sun is the most powerful and readily available source and has been

pter 9. divine nutrition: the madonna frequency& the food of gods with jasmuheen 53 sounds 6. a) the taoist healing sounds for emotional tuning and organ cleansing, b) programming codes including the perfect health. balance. weight. image code. why and how to apply it. divine nutrition program. technique no. 9: a) the taoist healing sounds: taoism, along with confucianism, is one of the two major religious traditions that have shaped chinese life for more than 2,000 years. broadly, a taoist s attitude towards life can be seen in the accepting and yielding joyful and carefree sides of the chinese character. this attitude offsets and complements the moral and duty conscious purposeful character ascribed to confucianism. taoism is characterized by a positive attitude towards the occult and th

to be sincere and from the heart. attitude is also one of the most important areas of consideration for obtaining the nourishment we need. research has proven that people who think positive live longer and also that those who eat less live longer. in a recent interview with dr shah that i did for my free online magazine, the elraanis voice, he writes: attitude decides the progress of a person, a religious commune, an institute, a house or a family etc. the importance of attitude can t be overemphasized. a quote from charles swindoll should suffice. the longer i live, the more i realize the importance of attitude on life. attitude to me, is more important than facts. it is more important than past, than education, successes, than what other people think or say or do. it is more important t

n the basic virtues like truth, honesty, non-violence, and maybe even celibacy (or faithfulness in marriage, if married. as jainism says, these virtues should be reflected in all 3 levels i.e. thinking, speaking and action. moral health needs to be applied to all 3 levels. divine nutrition: the madonna frequency& the food of gods with jasmuheen 122 (2) attitude decides the progress of a person, a religious commune, an institute, a house or a family and the importance of attitude can t be overemphasized. in general one needs an emotional attitude of serenity and compassion that always considers another person s viewpoint. truthfulness and thorough kindness are two virtues, which if developed fully and expressed can change a human being from a simple person to a saint or rishi. ideally we ca

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

renown has filled, and whose mystical doctrines (assumed or supposed, have puzzled the ages; in the intenser degree, still, in the present time; as the inquisitive reception of the authors first edition of the rosicrucians abundantly proved. dr. ginsburg says of the cabala, or kabbalah (regarding the mysteries of which the rosicrucians claimed to be the only true exponents, that it is a system of religious philosophy, or more properly of theosophy, which has not only exercised, for hundreds of years, an extraordinary influence on the mental development of so shrewd a people as the jews, but has captivated the minds of some of the greatest t viii preface thinkers of christendom in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. it and all that refers to it therefore claims the greatest attention o

pretends to be and nothing more. it should be mentioned that the peculiar views and deductions to be found herein were hinted at as demonstrable for the first time by the same author in the year 1858, when a work entitled curious things of the outside world was produced. let it be understood, however, that the author distinctly excepts against being in any manner identified with all the opinions, religious or otherwise, which are to be found in this book. some of them are, indeed, most extraordinary; but, in order to do full justice to the speculations of the hermetic brethren, he has put forward their ideas with as much of their original force as he was able; and, in some parts of this book, he believes he has urged them with such apparent warmth, that they will very likely seem to have p

interior light, which assume form, not according to arbitrary laws, but according to the state of mind. this interior light, if we understand plato, unites with exterior light in the eye, and is thus drawn into a sensual or imaginative activity; but when the outward light is separated, it reposes in its own serene atmosphere. it is, then, in this state of interior repose, that the usual class of religious, or what are called inspired, visions occur. it is the same light of eternity so frequently alluded to in books that treat of mysterious subjects; the light revealed to pimander, zoroaster, and all the sages of the east, as the emanation of the spiritual sun. bohmen writes of it in his divine vision or contemplation, and molinos in his spiritual guide, whose work is the ground of quietis

ages, as his powers augmented and his eyes saw, until, towards the last grades (as he himself grew capable and illuminate, the door was closed upon all afterpressing and unrecognised inquirers, and the admitted one was himself lost sight of. chinese pagodas. 89 there was a great wave to the westward of all knowledge, all cultivation of the arts, all tradition, all intellect, all civilisation, all religious belief. the world was peopled westwards. there seems some secret, divine impress upon the world s destinies and, indeed, ingrained in cosmical matter in these matters. all faiths seem to have diverged out, the narrower or the wider, as rays from the great central sun of this tradition of the fire-original. it would seem that noah, who is suspected to be the fo, foh, or fohi, of the chine

and not least, the countless churches rise, in the latter-day dispensation, sublimely to the universal signal, in the glorifying, or top, or crowning cross; last of the revelations! in the fire-towers of the sikhs, in the dome-covered and many-storied spires of the hindoos, in the vertically turreted and longitudinally massed temples of the bhudds, of all the classes and of all the sects, in the religious buildings of the cingalese, in the upright flame-fanes of the parsees, in the original of the campaniles of the italians, in the tower of st. mark at venice, in the flame-shaped or pyramidal (pyr is the greek for fire) architecture of the egyptians (which is the parent of all that is called architecture, we see the recurring symbol. all the minarets that, in the eastern sunshine, glisten

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

obvious reference or necessary position. all men of renown had two things, courage& conviction, often so much that they were ridiculed. this man opens& invites same merely by saying what his observations, records& data have shown him, whatcannot be escaped. there are, of course, such men who like the one that would not permit himself to view the planets circling the sun lest it interfere with his religious "dogmas of the day" an example of the way such things develop is our experience in classifying falling objects. our first thought was that this was a minor field which could be disposed of with a casual perusal. not so. it soon developed, as the pattern began to evolve, that we could not coordinate these onslaughts from the sky, nor interpret them, unless we gave consideration to their e

force cut by forcecutters, then, end to end, side for side they would "match" perfectly when cut from same quarry. both ways were used. a shortcut later used was rock-welding. rock-welding, ie. molecular-electronic-field blending was used as the signs of the great war approached as an emergency speed-up measure. the fortress (so-called by archaeologists, who admit no types of building other than religious, military, and occasionally residential) of sacsahuaman is on a mountain top overlooking modern cuzco. it is noteworthy as one of the earliest works showing the construction of walls by grinding and fitting stones, in situ. these walls are also noted for the very large stones which make up the lower of three tiers, and it is these in which we are more interested (see fate, vol. ii, no. 1

K AMBER THE BASICS OF MAGICK

ngless. selection and interpretation of your sensory inputs is essentially an automatic, mostly subconscious function of the mind. the program or map which the subconscious follows as its reference point is called a _model. the model is a subconscious mental photograph of how you believe the world looks (ie. worldview, mindset, egregore, or belief system. it was built up from an early age by your religious and cultural background through interaction with family and others. it contains your experiences, attitudes, and habits. and whether you realize it or not, most of your behavior, thoughts, feelings, and habits are based upon and conditioned by that model; even personality. the model is one of the mind's master programs. change in behavior generally requires a change in the model. these l

thy yellow selfish thought lemmon high intellect bright gold logical thinking brt. red-yel. spiritual thought green empathy gray-green deceit, jealously greenish-brown jealousy emerald green unselfish resourcefulness the basics of magick get any book for free on: www.abika.com 22 foliage green sympathy& empathy brt. apple-grn strong vitality brt. turquoise deep sympathy& compassion blue devotion (religious feeling) gray-blue fetishism light blue noble spiritual devotion dark blue religious feeling brt. lilac-blu lofty religious idealism violet spiritual psychic& spiritual faculty white purity/protection .pa thoughtforms and spirits whenever we concentrate our thoughts, we draw psychic energy together. this is called a thoughtform. usually the energy dissipates as soon as we break the conce

is always true in magick, but it does illustrate the point. and another reason not to use magick to affect the weather is that it might foul it up in other parts of the country (world. 6) finally, magick ritual (or any magick or occultism) is very dangerous for the mentally unstable. if you should somehow 'get out too far, eat 'heavy foods' as previously discussed (lesson on chakras) and use your religious background or old belief system for support. but remember too, that wierd experiences are not necessarily bad experiences. review questions 1) what is creative visualization? 2) list the basic parts of a ritual. 3) what is invocation? research topics (for independent study) 1) examine the differences between western magick and oriental magick. 2) how do medieval grimoirs follow the basic

KARR DON NOTES ON EDITIONS OF SEFER YETZIRAH IN ENGLISH

sted in sy s initial segment; on the interrelationship of the letter families (i.e, mothers, doubles, and simples) as introduced in the second segment. the next addition to our list is in many regards the ultimate: a. peter hayman, sefer yesira: edition, translation and text-critical commentary (t bingen: mohr siebeck, 2004. hayman s introduction discusses the text of sy and its treatment by both religious and academic commentators. consideration of four pre-kabbalistic commentaries* leads up to hayman s the earliest recoverable text of sefer yesira and the three recensions. this earliest recoverable text has been created [by hayman] as a theoretical exercise in order to try to penetrate into the processes which led to the formation of the multitudinous texts of sy which have come down to

al scroll of the torah is written in straight lines of black ink letters separated by white spaces, the parchment, itself. the black letters are clearly visible, so the black is the 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

ligieuse 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 translation based on sossnitz but so thoroughly overhauled that it is, in effect, a new translation, by john c. wilson, bell publishing company, 1940. this edition reprinted, new hyde park: university books, 1967; and secaucus: citadel press, 1979. in kabbalah: new perspectives (yale university press, 198

r on halevi, see israel efros, some aspects of yehudah halevi s mysticism and some textual notes on yehudah halevi s kuzari, in studies in medieval jewish philosophy (mentioned above) yochanan silman, philosopher and prophet: judah halevi, the kuzari, and the evolution of his thought (albany: state university of new york press, 1995) diane lobel, between mysticism and philosophy: sufi language of religious experience in judah ha-levi s kuzari (state university of new york press, 2000. chapter 4 (titled the sefer yetzira) of joseph dan s unique cherub circle (t bingen: mohr siebeck, 1999, begins the literature of the unique cherub circle is devoted, almost exclusively, to the interpretation of sefer yetzira. although we do not understand the main aspects of the circle s pseudepigraphical fr

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

nahman (nahmanides) and (4) r. jacob ben sheshet. on the gerona circle, see ek (pp. 34-36, ok (pp. 365-475, and moshe idel fs article, gsome remarks on ritual and mysticism in geronese kabbalah, h in the journal of jewish thought and philosophy, vol. 3, issue 1 (1993. other references: 1. r. ezra ben solomon. altmann, alexander. ga note on the rabbinic doctrine of creation, h in (idem) studies in religious philosophy and mysticism (ithaca: cornell university press, 1969. includes excerpts from r. ezra ben solomon fs perush eal shir ha-shirim and a letter to r. abraham on god fs garments.in english. brody, seth. commentary on the song of songs= perush eal shir ha-shirim. kalamazoo: western michigan university, 1999. along with r. ezra fs commentary are the ghidden midrash to the book of lam

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

e: the kabbalists of gerona.rabbi azriel and rabbi ya fakov bar sheshet h. pachter, mordechai. gthe root of faith is the root of heresy, h part i of pachter fs roots of faith and devequt: studies in the history of kabbalistic ideas (los angeles: cherub press, 2004. safran, bezalel. grabbi azriel and nahmanides: two views of the fall of man, h in rabbi moses nahmanides (ramban: explorations in his religious and literary virtuosity, edited by isadore twersky (cambridge: harvard university press, 1983. 3. nahmanides. abrams, daniel. gorality in the kabbalistic school of nahmanides: preserving and interpreting esoteric traditions and texts, h in jewish quarterly review, vol. 3, no. 1 (tubingen: j. c. b. mohr [paul siebeck] 1996. dan, joseph. gnachmanides and the development of the concept of e

- boston: brill, 2005. shulman, yaacov dovid. the ramban: the story of rabbi moshe ben nachman. new york. london. jerusalem: c. i. s. publishers, 1993. stern, josef. problems and parables of law: maimonides and nahmanides on reasons for the commandments (ta famei ha-mitzvot. albany: state university of new york press, 1998. twersky, isadore (ed. rabbi moses nahmanides (ramban: explorations of his religious and literary virtuosity. cambridge: harvard university press, 1983. wolfson, elliot. gby way of truth: aspects of nahmanides f kabbalistic hermeneutic, in ajs review, vol. 14, no. 2 (cambridge: association for jewish studies, 1989. gthe secret of the garment in nahmanides h in daat: a journal of jewish philosophy and kabbalah #24 (ramat-gan: bal-ilan university, winter 1990. weisblum, mo

ny to spain: numerology as a mystical technique, h in journal of jewish studies, vol. 47, no. 1 (1996. ghypostatic wisdom and imitatio dei: kabbalistic traditions of attaining wisdom, in kabbalah: journal for the study of jewish mystical texts, volume 17, edited by daniel abrams and avraham elqayam (los angeles: cherub press, 2008. altmann, alexander. g ethe ladder of ascension, f h in studies in religious philosophy and mysticism (ithaca: cornell university press, 1969. brody, seth. ghuman hands dwell in heavenly heights: contemplative ascent and theurgic power in thirteenth century kabbalah, h in mystics of the book: themes, topics, and typologies, edited by r. a. herrera (new york: peter lang publishing, inc, 1993. avraham ben alexander of cologne. kether shem tov: the krown of the good

KASAK VEEDE UNDERSTANDING PLANETS IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

1 tablets of sumerian period give us very interesting material but unfortunately no astronomical or astrological texts. though some texts have been thought to originate from former periods, they have been only found in later copies, making dating extremely difficult. the oldest existing texts about stars, one astrological and one astronomical, both come from the old babylonian period. analysis of religious texts has led some scientists to suppose semitic or even west-semitic origin for the concept connecting stars and earthly phenomena, because akkadians (the term is hereby used to denote linguistically close semitic peoples. babylonians, assyrians and their predecessors) take a much more personal approach to gods than sumerians. on the other hand, the akkadian use of sumerian names of con

KETAB E SIYAH

ject of fear and hatred, and all the misfortunes of men were attributed to my malevolence. i was mocked, ridiculed, scorned in every way as a monster of vile and loathsome aspect, and i was taunted and despised as satan, cruel enemy of the benevolent and merciful god. great was my anguish and anger at the undeserved misery and confusion of men. when in fact they did turn to me, it was in fear and religious terror. for they dared invoke my name only in the desolation of night, and oft i was sought not for knowledge or inspiration, but for hysterical and indulgent release from the confines of the godly life. but i and my fellowship answered men, and we spoke to them of our common bond, and the pronouncements of the god-churches were rejected in our midst. even as god was terrifying in awesom

LAITMAN M FROM CHAOS TO HARMONY

e will only be able to perform it by achieving unity among ourselves. our return to israel under threat was part of nature s plan, and thus gave us the opportunity to discover for ourselves our inner need to unite, and to create a nation that leads humanity to wholeness. it is no coincidence that we are currently failing to create a united society in israel. we are divided into sects: secular vs. religious, left vs. right, ashkenazi vs. sephardic, natives of israel vs. new olim (immigrants) and so on. all our efforts to unite have thus far been futile; the social gaps are deepening, and hatred and alienation worsen. a recent survey disclosed that even today, 57% of the 176 from chaos to harmony israeli public believes that the state of israel s existence might be in danger due to unfounded

LAITMAN M KABBALAH REVEALED

on average, more than 6,000 children perish each day from diarrhea caused by polluted water. in many parts of the world, violence and terrorism have become the favored means to resolve conflicts. hence, there is deepening insecurity in both rich and poor countries. islamic fundamentalism is spreading throughout the muslim world, neo-nazi and other extremist movements are sprouting in europe, and religious fanaticism is appearing the world over. thus, our very tenure on this planet is in question. however, global breakdown is not mandatory. we can turn the tide, and the following scenario, too, is entirely possible: as the latter part of this book will show, we can pull together and pursue shared objectives of peace and sustainability. business leaders can recognize the groundswell of chan

LAITMAN M KABBALAH ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND

egoistic) forces (klipot) of the right and the left lines of the spiritual ascent. thus, where kabbalah discusses the subject of placing limitations on oneself, it implies a preliminary stage of working on the self: making an attempt to reject the idea of self-gratification using one s own willpower. the roots of all different types of faith, of all spiritual tendencies, of all groups, and of all religious philosophies can be traced to the various klipot. these surround the left and the right spiritual pure lines, which are sustained through the process of seizing-grasping (ahiza) or through drawing nourishment (yenika. but the goal of any task is to attain the middle line, to rise to the infinite that has no end or boundary, thus attaining- 156- attaining the worlds beyond the perception

ive it. four fundamental outlooks because we lack concrete information about the structure and function of higher, elusive notions we cannot feel, we permit ourselves to philosophize and argue about how they might be constructed and how they might function. this is similar to children s arguments over who is right about some completely unknown subject. inner qualities and outer aspects- 195- when religious, secular, scientific and pseudoscientific philosophies try to define "soul" and "body" they all focus on four fundamental outlooks: religious all that "exists" in any object is its "soul" each soul differs from another by its qualities, known as the "spiritual qualities" of a person. souls exist independently of the body before the body s birth, before being garbed in the body, and after

object is its "soul" each soul differs from another by its qualities, known as the "spiritual qualities" of a person. souls exist independently of the body before the body s birth, before being garbed in the body, and after the body s death. the latter is a completely biological process of albumen breaking down into its parts (the notion of a "believer" is not the same as the notion of one who is religious. thus, the death of the physical body does not affect the soul itself, but only serves to separate the soul from the body. the soul represents something eternal, since it is not composed of materials from this world. by its nature, the soul is undivided. it does not consist of several parts, and therefore cannot be divided, cannot disintegrate and, ultimately, cannot die. the physical, b

iological and medical experiments that are now able to revive the body or its parts. but the body in a state like this is no more than an independently existing biological object, composed of albumen substances. the factor that determines various personal qualities is the soul, which descends into the body from above, as in the first approach. the difference between the dualistic approach and the religious point of view centers on the fact that the religious approach proposes that, just as the soul endows the body with life, it also bestows upon it intellectual and spiritual qualities. the dualistic point of view argues that the soul bestows only spiritual qualities on the body, since it is evident from experiments that the body can exist by itself, without the help of any additional upper

tence of material substances and their properties. thus, it is reasoned, since there is no soul, the human intellect, as well as all other properties of the human being, is the result of the body that generated it. the view is that the body is a system that controls its characteristics by sending commands through electrical signals via nerve conductors (a non-believer is not the same thing as non-religious. non-believers say that all the sensations of the body occur by the interaction of nerve endings equipped with outer stimulators. the sensations pass via the nerve conductors to the brain, where they are then analyzed and classified as either "pain" or "pleasure" the mind reacts to a particular organ in response to whether it perceives it as painful or pleasurable. in addition, it is bel

LAITMAN M KABBALAH SCIENCE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

d a bridge connecting several milestones in the evolution of science. these milestones have significantly affected our approach to life. the scientific revolution that occurred during the 16th century brought radical changes in our thought patterns. at the time, researchers believed that theories must be tested against experiments and observations. they also cautioned us to avoid mythological and religious explanations. at the center of scientific thinking was an analysis of reality, and the search for scientific answers to age-old questions. until then, these topics had been ascribed to a divine power. k a b b a l a h, s c i e n c e, a n d t h e m e a n i n g o f l i f e 10 in his book, mathematical principles of natural philosophy (1687, isaac newton (1642-1727) proposed a theory of mech

l a h m e e t s q ua n t u m p h y s i c s 80 and essentially false. such a possibility always exists, theoretically, but quantum mechanics has thus far proven itself as the must successful scientific theory in the history of science, passing more rigorous tests than any other theory to date. hence, it is highly unlikely that it will be essentially refuted* at its origin, science was based upon a religious worldview, perceiving the world as a living entity where diverse spiritual forces operated, such as ghosts and demons. later on came modern mechanical science that determined that the previous theory was a complete fallacy, and that the world could best be understood by using the mechanical principles of physics and chemistry. mechanical science determined that there were no ghosts or de

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

f the group and the teacher below the barrier. therefore, lo lishma is a conscious advancement toward the purpose of creation, as much as one can be aware of it when the creator is in fact still completely hidden. t h e t h o u g h t o f c r e a t i o n 39 there is not a single word in kabbalah about the situation that precedes the appearance of the point in the heart. in that situation, both the religious and the secular prefer the literal part of the torah. when a person s point in the heart is inactive, and there is no desire to develop it, the torah serves only to assure one of eventual rewards- both in this world and in the next. such a state is not regarded as lishma or lo lishma. there isn t even a name for it. it is simply a way of satisfying man s need for self-assurance, justifyi

xplains it in the language of pictures, but not a single word of it speaks of our world. it does, however, make use of words to explain the structure of the spiritual world and how it dominates us. because the spiritual world is the world of emotions and has no words, we use languages such as the language of the bible (pentateuch, the language of legends (agada, the language of the talmud (jewish religious laws, and the language of the kabbalah (sefirot, which is the most precise of all, in order to explain and describe that world. for that reason, most kabbalists use the language of the kabbalah. within the kabbalah are several sub-languages as well: the language of the lights, the language of the vessels, gimatria (use of letters as numerals, matrix, drawings, etc. because in each genera

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. kabbalah, however, leads to the attainment of the upper world. r i t ua l q: how does kabbalah relate to customs and rituals of judaism? a: before the soul is revealed, man doesn t feel any inner need for spiritual development. at that stage, man must only obey laws and customs, but does not belong to spirituality. th

rm the same mechanical mitzvot as an ordinary believer would. these two are not connected. you can ask great experts in mitzvot, great ravs, and they will tell you that they don t know kabbalah. you don t have to know kabbalah in order to keep mitzvot. t h e k a b b a l a h e x p e r i e n c e 62 t wo s e t s o f ru l e s q: judaism or kabbalah? that is the question! a: judaism is a collection of religious rules that dictate how to conduct ourselves in our world. other than what we must know, such as how to provide for our livelihood, how to behave, dress, or how to raise a family, kabbalah teaches something more. the kabbalah tells what we must do besides providing for the natural needs on the corporeal-human level. a person must observe 613 laws. why? there is no rational answer. these l

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 rituals. moreover, the wisdom of kabbalah intensifies both the desire to receive and the desire for knowledge, based on self-awareness and the attainment of the upper world. other religions, 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 cert

LAITMAN M THE PATH OF KABBALAH

her from one who pretends to be such. these days, everyone wants cheap and easy fun, quick answers, and quick solutions. people can easily be misled by eloquent speakers and overlook the properties of spiritual guidance, which by nature are not theatrical. if that is the case, how can we identify a spiritual teacher in this generation? a spiritual teacher may be proficient in many fields science, religious laws and customs, education, etc. however, it is not enough to know what is written in the kabbalah books to become a spiritual guide. such a person can only understand the wisdom, and our sages warn us: wisdom in the gentiles, believe torah (light) in the gentiles, do not believe. the word gentile refers not to a non-jew, but to an egoist yet to be corrected. such a person may display i

es first. t h e pa t h o f k a b b a l a h 318 the correction of all other nations and their physical and spiritual peace and well-being depends on the success of the correction of the jews. this is described in great detail in the introduction to the book of rahoz (item 66 through the end. q: how is the perception of the creator among kabbalists different from the perception of the creator among religious people? a: a religious person believes that there is a superior force that governs man and determines all the laws that man must follow. kabbalah is different in that it adds to the above the opportunity of man to feel his creator. g o d q: where is god in the wisdom of kabbalah and what is his function? a: reality consists of two elements: the creator and creation, or as we normally cal

ions? 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, 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 psy

eed to disconnect the mind in order to feel whole? 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 betwee

LEADBEATER C W THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY 2E

mphasized that the same laws hold good on the other side of the grave as on this, that in both states we are equally in the presence of god, and that where that holy 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 pictu

hich their one desire was not for salvation but for advancement in evolution, because such advancement brought them greater power to do effectively the hidden work which god expected of them? 45. i am not suggesting that every one in ancient egypt was altruistic, 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 e

nues 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 or plaintive, but always thrilling- how shall i describe something so absolutely without parallel in our puny modern times? the common dress of all classes in egypt was white; but in contradistinction their religious processions were masses of splendid, glowing colour, the priests wearing vestments of crimson and a gorgeous blue supposed to represent the blue of the sky, and many other brilliant colours also. the life of ancient egypt, as indeed of modern egypt, centred round the river nile, slow-flowing and majestic, and richly decorated barges were used for all purposes of transit, and also for the

sions were masses of splendid, glowing colour, the priests wearing vestments of crimson and a gorgeous blue supposed to represent the blue of the sky, and many other brilliant colours also. the life of ancient egypt, as indeed of modern egypt, centred round the river nile, slow-flowing and majestic, and richly decorated barges were used for all purposes of transit, and also for the celebration of religious festivals. on these the priests were arranged in certain symbolical figures, standing or sitting; and all wore the colours appropriate to the particular aspect of the deity which they symbolized. 47. not only were solemn sacrifices offered to the gods upon these barges at altars wonderfully adorned with flowers and precious embroideries, sometimes built up by stages to a hundred feet or

ur lady- each of whom is a channel and representative of his order according to the level of his development. the celebration of the ritual of isis, for instance, always attracted her attention, and invoked the presence of angels of her order, who acted as channels of the divine blessing in that wondrous aspect 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

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

interpretation goes, the authentics have ventured but little further than a moralization upon the symbols and ceremonies of masonry as an adjunct to anglican christianity. 11. the anthropological school 12. a second school, still only in process of development, is applying the discoveries of anthropology to a study of masonic history, with remarkable results. a vast amount of information upon the religious and initiatory customs of many peoples, both ancient and modern, has been gathered by anthropologists; and masonic students in this field have found many of our signs and symbols, both of the craft and higher degrees, in the wall-paintings, carvings, sculpture and buildings of the principal races of the world. the anthropological school, therefore, allows a far greater degree of antiquit

d in masonic lodges to-day. 13. the anthropologists do not confine their studies to the past alone, but have investigated the initiatory rites of many existing tribes, both in africa and australia, and have found them to possess signs and gestures still in use among masons. striking analogies to our masonic rites have also been found among the inhabitants of india and syria, interwoven with their religious philosophy in a way which renders entirely impossible the idea that they were copied from european sources. masonic scholars have by no means exhausted the facts which may be discovered in this most interesting field of research, but even with our present knowledge it is clear that rites analogous to those we call masonic are among the most ancient on earth, and may be found in some form

eme antiquity of rose-croix as of craft and arch signs and symbols, and the same may be said of the signs of many other degrees as well. it is quite clear from the researches of anthropologists that, whatever may be the precise links in the chain of descent, we in masonry are the inheritors of a very ancient tradition, which has for countless ages been associated with the most sacred mysteries of religious worship. 17. the mystical school 18. a third school of masonic thought, which we may call the mystical, approaches the mysteries of the craft from another standpoint altogether, seeing in them a plan of man s spiritual awakening and inner development. thinkers of this school, on the record of their own spiritual experiences, declare that the degrees of the order are symbolical of certain

expected of them, and were entirely unsuited for it. i had to repeat that part of the consecration afterwards with the proper material. 98. the purpose of the mysteries 99. in the hidden life in freemasonry i have already written briefly of the purpose of the mysteries(*op. cit, p. 34) i said there: 100. the mysteries were great public institutions, supported by the state, centres of national and religious life to which people of the better classes flocked in thousands; and they did their work exceedingly well, for one who had passed through their degrees- a process of many years- thereby became what we should now call a highly-educated and cultured man or woman, with, in addition to his knowledge of this world, a vivid realization of the future after death, of man s place in the scheme of

most secret and sacred place of the temple. thou wouldest peradventure demand, thou studious reader, what was said and done there: verily i would tell thee if it were lawful for me to tell, thou wouldst know if it were convenient for thee to hear; but both thy ears and my tongue should incur the like pain of rash curiosity. howbeit i will not long torment thy mind, which peradventure is somewhat religious and given to some devotion; listen therefore, and believe it to be true. thou shalt understand that i approached near unto hell, even to the gates of proserpine, and after that i was ravished throughout all the elements, i returned to my proper place: about midnight i saw the sun brightly shine, i saw likewise the gods celestial and the gods infernal, before whom i presented myself and w

LEFT HAND PATH AND RIGHT HAND PATH

rity, the middle pillar of balance, and the right hand pillar of mercy. while this usage of the terms is still current in some occult circles, many occultists now see the left-hand path as encompassing all modern occult practices, while the right- hand path is considered to encompass traditional religions, such as christianity, though most christians would disagree with such a classification. new religious movements which describe themselves as followers of the left-hand path inverted much of the symbolism that they associate with the more "traditional" right- hand path, such as the following biblical passage: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. and he shall set the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left- matthew 25: 32-33 ta

ual, 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 different religious views. defenders of the dichotomy reply that the terms may still be useful when it comes to examining the effect that different religions hav

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

rstand as an attempt to surpass all personal boundaries tends to ignore the point that some boundaries if deliberately and carefully maintained, can be extremely useful for magical work. it is such fine distinctions which separate the magician from the mere dissolusethe final volume in his magisterial study of the history of the devil, jeffrey burton russell contemptuously dismisses contemporary, religious satanism as represented by anton szandor lavey, the church of satan, and the temple of set. russell, obviously irritated by what he characterizes as satan chic, asserts that satan is by definition evil. hence modern satanism s effort to recover the positive satan of the romantic poets is inherently meaningless because it contradicts itself. alternately, in the same section where he disco

rced to make choices about what was and what was not incorporated into the following pages. my overarching criterion was whether or not particular phenomena were part of popular culture. at the same time, i made a number of important exceptions to this rule. for instance, out of a desire to include a multicultural/cross-cultural component, i included entries on the devils and hells found in world religious traditions (christianity was not given a separate entry because the great bulk of the information contained in these pages derives directly or indirectly from the christian tradition) i also included brief entries on a significant number of fallen angels a kind of who s who in hell as well as entries on certain topics from older western folklore about satan and witches. with the exceptio

as well as entries on certain topics from older western folklore about satan and witches. with the exception of a few older theologians like aquinas, i have largely ignored formal theology. the reader will also find treatments of a handful of traditional literary figures who have helped shape our images of the prince of darkness, such as milton and dante. and because of their influence on modern, religious satanism, i included material on romantic writers like blake and other literary figures like baudelaire. beginning in 1966, religious satanism emerged out of the occult subculture with the formation of the church of satan. anton lavey, founder of the church, was indebted to a number of different sources for his synthesis. especially important were: 1. traditional folklore about the devil

2. certain romantic poets who, as a literary device, created a noble, promethean satan at odds with the dehumanizing aspects of modern society and traditional religiosity. 3. the ritual magic tradition, particularly as that tradition was interpreted by the occultist aleister crowley. 4. and a wide variety of popular culture sources literature, film and music about the devil. despite the fact that religious satanism has always been a tiny movement, a significant number of entries provide information about this phenomenon and its background traditions because of the disproportionate public interest in real satanism. during the course of compiling this encyclopedia, i also gathered demographic data on contemporary practicing satanists. the report of my findings from this research is included

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 as a serious religious (as opposed to a purely literary) movement. furthermore, however one might criticize and depreciate it, the satanic bible is still the single most influential document shaping the contemporary satanist movement. whether lavey was a religious virtuoso or a misanthropic huckster, and whether the satanic bible was an inspired document or a poorly edited plagiarism, their influence was and i

LIBER LXI

themselves, but knew that the true way to attract the notice of such was to equilibrate the symbols. the temple must be builded before the god can indwell it. 22. therefore by the order of d.d.s. did p. prepare all things by his arcane science and wisdom, choosing only those symbols which were common to all systems, and rigorously rejecting all names and words which might be supposed to imply any religious or metaphysical theory. to do this utterly was found impossible, since all language has a history, and the use (for example) of the word<<spirit> implies the scholastic philosophy and the hindu and taoist theories concerning the breath of man. so was it difficult to avoid implication of some undesirable bias by using the words<<order< circle<society<<brotherhood> or any other t

LIBER CCC KHABS AM PEKHT

ormer organization is coordinate and practical, and concerns itself with material things. but remember this clearly, that the law cometh from the a a, not from the o.t.o. this order is but the first of 1 [part iv of book 4 was not published as originally intended. the equinox of the gods was retroactively declared to be book 4, part iv some years after publication. t.s] khabs am pekht 7 the great religious bodies to accept this law officially, and its whole ritual has been revised and reconstituted in accordance with this decision. now then, leaving the book of the law, note, pray thee, the following additional suggestions for extending the dominion of the law of thelema throughout the whole world. 1. all those who have accepted the law should announce the same in daily intercourse .do wha

LIBER DCCCXI ENERGIZED ENTHUSIASM

testant countries art, if it exist at all, only exists to revolt. let us return from this 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, g

m which meditation gives. and further, in the sacramental and ceremonial use of the sexual act, the divine consciousness may be attained. vi the sexual act being then a sacrament, it remains to consider in what respect this limits the employment of the organs. first, it is obviously legitimate to employ them for their natural physical purpose. but if it be allowable to use them ceremonially for a religious purpose, we shall find the act hedged about with many restrictions. for in this case the organs become holy. it matters little to mere propagation that men should be vicious; the most debauched roue might and almost certainly would beget more healthy children than a semi-sexed prude. so the so-called gmoral h restraints are not based on reason; thus they are neglected. but admit its reli

taken in obedience to real passion; for passion, as its name implies, is rather inspired by a force of divine strength and beauty without the will of the individual, often even against it. it is the casual or habitual.what christ called gidle h.use or rather abuse of these forces which constitutes their profanation. it will further be obvious that, if the act in itself is to be the sacrament in a religious ceremony, this act must be accomplished solely for the love of god. all personal considerations must be energized enthusiasm 7 banished utterly. just as any priest can perform the miracle of transubstantiation, so can any man, possessing the necessary qualifications, perform this other miracle, whose nature must form the subject of a subsequent discussion. personal aims being destroyed

the gross taste of the wine of the sacrament, so must the celebrant suppress even the minutest manifestation of animal pleasure. of the qualifying tests there is no necessity to speak; it is sufficient to say that the adepts have always known how to secure efficiency. needless also to insist on a similar quality in the assistants; the sexual excitement must be suppressed and transformed into its religious equivalent. vii with these preliminaries settled in order to guard against foreseen criticisms of those protestants who, god having made them a little lower than the angels, have made themselves a great deal lower than the beasts by their consistently bestial interpretation of all things human and divine, we may consider first the triune nature of these ancient methods of energizing enth

six i found myself at pompeii, passionately kissing that great grave statue of a woman that stands in the avenue of the tombs. even now, as i wake in the morning, i sometimes fall to kissing my own arms. it is with such a feeling that one should go to a ball, and with such a feeling intensified, purified and exalted, that one should leave it. if this be so, how much more if one go with the direct religious purpose burning in one's whole being! beethoven roaring at the sunrise is no strange spectacle to me, who shout energized enthusiasm 9 with joy and wonder, when i understand (without which one cannot really be said ever to see) a blade of grass. i fall upon my knees in speechless adoration at the moon; i hide my eyes in holy awe from a good van gogh. imagine then a ball in which the musi

LIBER DOMINI

other with a mad frenzy, let them compete in sports of bloodshed and treachery. watch them as they kill each other in the most ingenious of ways. observe as those who would consign me to the fires of hell endure a hell fashioned by their own blooddrenched hands. my laughter can be heard among their decaying corpses comment: the belief in absolute truth and moral clarity has ensured the countless religious wars and persecutions of history. it is ironic that the religions which have the strongest belief in absoluteness and righteousness have been the worst perpetrators of these slaughters. those who feel the strongest about hell and the torment of sinners are the most likely to create such a hell right here on earth. 9. draw a circle upon the ground. stand inside and mutter worthless words

LIBER E

. h grituel et dogme de la haute magie. h gthe book of the sacred magic of abramelin the mage. h gthe goetia. h gthe hathayoga pradipika. h erdmann's ghistory of philosophy. h gthe spiritual guide of molinos. h gthe star in the west h (captain fuller. gthe dhammapada [s.b.e. series, oxford university press. gthe questions of king milinda h [s.b.e. series. g777. vel prolegomena &c. h gvarieties of religious experience h (james. gkabbala denudata. h gkonx om pax. h 3. careful study of these books will enable the pupil to speak in the language of his master and facilitate communication with him. 4. the pupil should endeavour to discover the fundamental harmony of these very varied works; for this purpose he will find it best to study the most extreme divergences side by side. 5. he may at any

LIBER LLL PARADIGMAT PIRATE

ienced sadist, however, as you don ft want to be injured by someone else fs incompetence. there are also simpler methods for entering into a state of pain gnosis on your own, involving just a small sewing needle and a little knowledge of anatomy. the jesuits taught me this trick; it fs called gstigmata h (after the spontaneous bleeding from the ankles, wrists and side experienced by the extremely religious in imitation of a crucified jewish rebel, and they use it to form a sympathetic link with christ. stigmata are done by locating the main nerve entering either hand at the wrist. the magician places a needle into this bundle of nerves. the pain will be instantaneous and overwhelming. this connection is responsible for the wonderful dexterity and mobility of the human thumb. during an actu

LIBER LXI VEL CAUSAE

themselves, but knew that the true way to attract the notice of such was to equilibrate the symbols. the temple must be builded before the god can indwell it. 22. therefore by the order of d.d.s. did p. prepare all things by his arcane science and wisdom, choosing only those symbols which were common to all systems, and rigorously rejecting all names and words which might be supposed to imply any religious or metaphysical theory. to do this utterly was found impossible, since all language has a liber lxi 6 history, and the use (for example) of the word .spirit. implies the scholastic philosophy and the hindu and taoist theories concerning the breath of man. so was it difficult to avoid implication of some undesirable bias by using the words .order .circle .chapter .society .brotherhood. or

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

s, o.m, and another, the authority of the triad, who in turn have delegated it unto others, and they yet again, so that the body of initiates may be perfect, even from the crown unto the kingdom and beyond. 32. for perfection abideth not in the pinnacles, or in the foundations, but in the ordered harmony of one with armthe sword of song [liber lxvii] first published society for the propagation of religious truth .benares [i.e. boleskine, foyers, inverness] 1904 e.v. reprinted in vol ii. of crowley.s collected works society for the propagation of religious truth 1906 e.v. this electronic edition (layout &c. based on the collected works printing) first hastily prepared by frater t.s. for sunwheel oasis, o.t.o. 2001 e.v. re-proofed and corrected edition issued by celepha s press august 2003 e

, awake, o sword of song! my strength this agony of the age win through; my music charm the old sorrow of years: my warfare wage by iron to an age of gold. the world is old, and i am strong. awake, awake, o sword of song* the name of siegfried.s sword. introduction to .ascension day and pentecost. not a word to introduce my introduction! let me instantly launch the boat of discourse on the sea of religious speculation, in danger of the rocks of authority and the quicksands of private interpretation, scylla and charybdis. here is the strait; what god shall save us from shipwreck? if we choose to understand the christian (or any other) religion literally, we are at once overwhelmed by its inherent impossibility. our credulity is outraged, our moral sense shocked, the holiest foundations of o

n the metric system with the great pyramid. but see piazzi smyth. henry morley has even the audacity to claim shelley.shelley!.as a christian .in spirit. talking of shelley:.with regard to my open denial of the personal christian god, may it not be laid to my charge that i have dared to voice in bald language what shelley* as represented by his encylop dia article; not in such works as .limits of religious thought..a.c. an astronomer whose brain gave way. he prophesied the end of the world in 1881, from measurements made in the great pyramid. iv the sword of song sang in words of surpassing beauty: for of course the thought in one or two passages of this poem is practically identical with that in certain parts of .queen mab. and .prometheus unbound. but the very beauty of these poems (espe

nk 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; and that plunged as we are in the midst of jingoism and religious revival, we may be standing on the edge of some gigantic precipice, over which we may cast all our impedimenta of lies and trickeries, political, social, moral and religious, and (ourselves) take wings and fly. the comparison between myself and the masters of english thought i have named is unintentional though perhaps unavoidable; and though the presumption is, of course, absurd, yet a

mpasse. practical advice. advice to poet.s fat friend. pentecost 25 still you.re young yet, scarce forty.we.ll hope at three score you.ll be more of a singer, and less of a whore. each to his trade! live out your life! fondle your child, and buss your wife! trust not, fear not, street straight and strong! don.t worry, but just get along. i used to envy all my balti coolies21 in an inverse kind of religious hysteria, though every one a perfect fool is, to judge by philosophic criteria, my lord archbishop. the name of winchester, harrow, or eton22 makes them not two inches stir. 125 they know not trinity, merton, or christchurch; they worship, but not at your back-pews-high-priced church. i.ve seen them at twenty thousand feet on the ice, in a snow-storm, at night fall, repeat their prayer23

LIBER SAMEKH

2 (intro. f.i. regardie. dallas, texas: sangreal, 1969; reprinted york beach, maine: weiser, 1980, 1992, 1998. the sangreal edition has a number of omissions in part ii; the one major one was restored in the first weiser printing, the remainder in the 1998 printing. commentaries on the holy books and other papers. see equinox iv (1. collected works (3 vols. foyers: society for the propagation of religious truth, 1905-1907. reprinted des plaines, illnois: yogi publications society, n.d (1970s. the equinox. crowley was managing editor for all of vol. i and the first five numbers of vol. iii (vol. ii was not published and not intended to be published, it was described as ga volume of silence h, and wrote most of the contents. i (1. london: simpkin marshall, hamilton, kent& co, march 1909. i

vols; english trans. by a.e. waite as transcendental magic, london: redway, 1896; revised edition london: rider, 1923; various reprints. majercik, ruth (trans/ ed: the chaldaan oracles. leiden: e.j. brill, 1989. mathers, s.l. gmacgregor h and crowley, aleister (eds; mathers f gtranslator h credit is spurious: goetia vel clavicula salamonis regis. foyers, inverness: society for the propagation of religious truth, 1904. facsimile reprint london: equinox, 1976. facsimile reprint including crowley fs holograph annotations and marginal doodles, thame, oxon: first impressions, 1992. re-set reprint with additional editorial material, york beach, maine: samuel weiser, 1995 (ed. by william breeze. preisendanz, karl (ed: papyri graca magica: die griechischen zauberpapyri (2 vols. leipzig: teubner

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

efully copying the marks of metal pouring that was used for such axes to the south in europe. a hypothetical culture associated with these axes and an even more hypothetical immigration of persons with them from europe is known as the boat-ax culture. around 1000 b.c.e. the scandinavian bronze age begins, and from this same period there are numerous spectacular rock carvings, which may have had a religious purpose. the scandinavian iron age begins circa 500.400 b.c.e, and its first stage, up to around the beginning of our era, is known as the pre-roman iron age, despite incipient trade with the roman empire. around the beginning of our era we begin to get runic inscriptions from scandinavia and the continent in a language that is identifiably germanic, and in scandinavia the so-called roma

folded in 1262.1264. but from the time of the settlement. iceland was gfully settled h by 897 according to learned authors of the twelfth century.until then, iceland functioned as a commonwealth in which judicial power was in the hands of a group of chieftains, and there was no king or other central authority. these leaders were called go.ar (sing, go.i, and although the sources rarely show much religious activity on their part.and what they do show may not be reliable.the term clearly incorporates the word for ggods. h therefore they must have had some sort of religious function. go.ar had gthingmen, h who owed them allegiance and whom they in turn helped; every free man had to be some go.i fs thing-man. the word gthing h( ing) means assembly, and one of the duties of a go.i and his thin

sigurdarson, jarl of hladir, a notorious pagan. eilif composed thorsdrapa, a complex and difficult account of thor fs journey to geirrod. besides these poems treating mythological subjects, there are numerous other relevant texts and fragments. a poem like sonatorrek (loss of sons) by egil 16 norse mythology skallagrimsson, the tenth-century hero of egils saga, may tell us something about his own religious attitudes. gran has robbed me greatly, h he says, alluding to the drowning death of one of his sons. in skaldic poetry, thor is the most frequent mythological subject. the most tantalizing of these are two verses addressing thor in the second person, both probably from the last years of paganism in iceland. skaldic poetry is valuable not just for the direct exposition of mythological sub

bout odin. snorri starts the euhemerism in this text by reporting that odin was constantly victorious, which led his men to believe that if he had gblessed h them before battle they would emerge victorious, and they began to call his name when they were in trouble. from this they introduction 23 got relief, and all their consolation was in him, as snorri puts it, using vocabulary that is strongly religious. so end the first two chapters. chapter 3 of ynglinga saga mentions odin fs long journeys away and the story of his brothers vili and ve taking his inheritance and his wife frigg during one particularly long absence. chapter 4 of ynglinga saga offers the fullest account of the war between the asir and vanir, understood here of course as a historical conflict. the exchange of hostages is

edly a late text (an idol of) frey is pulled about in a cart accompanied by an attendant, female in this case. frodi, who shares many characteristics with frey, was also pulled in a cart, and a time of great peace and prosperity was associated with both frey and frodi. although there does not seem to have been a separate priestly class, the introduction 33 term go.i, as suggested above, implies a religious function for the leaders of icelandic society before the conversion to christianity. as a roman, tacitus used the vocabulary of his own era and therefore called the man who accompanied nerthus a gpriest, h but he could easily have been something like a go.i, a person of status and a secular leader on the days when the goddess was not present. it is the ggo.i h who notices when the goddes

LOGOMACHY OF ZOS

own to myself except in ego. i am a configuration of all the multitudinous compositions, and knowing not myself fully how can i know much of other selves and the gods? but the o- n>b 2 9"d- e. z..q 2# v( is a function of the all-remembering soul: so believe from your necessities, which alone obtain response and recompense. whether of good or evil. nightmare: how dreadful is this place; is it some religious hereafter? xk 2- g' 7e. 5. v o( b- 5! faecia( 2 o. h..1. 5* 2 f' 5..q which sprang order by separateness and every inequality, with the supreme attainment of individuality and ego. wisdom is the realisation of the mysterious incomprehensibility of all things, whoever the designer; and all the partial disclosures of knowledge prove this. if i was begotten of all yesterdays then ego (made

allows the procreated design for birth. for space cannot contain emptiness. always developing, extruding, drifting, and forcing deposits into the closets of time as correlatives; accumulating and re-shaping to drift again in some stream of air or water. what is conscience? from our likes and dislikes made law, it assumes a beauty-reflex of our inherent values of good and evil, forming a personal religious culture begotten by the training of our ids. our will proceeds from and is formed by preceding efforts, and so our further deliberati z@ o e. 5: v #5..15! v% e 6( s 2. to control our instincts by transference. what is the nexus of cause and effect? one answer is by the question: what stimulates cause to effect? to illustrate: i desire to make a pot, and from ide. p..1. x..q (i 5..1]%d( x

tance of a particular thing. t..1 k. 5! o 2..1( d% n- w=h hv. x 5. ever crystallize his desires as potentially fulfilled. progress depends not in running away from nature, nor in combating it, but in imitating it by our synthesis. nature is sufficiently plastic to give contexture to all probable desire. when we seek more extensive form. poor ideas need extravagant arguments to hide their poverty. religious revelation is mainly hyperbole and promise without contexture of immediacy, and so almost worthless. artists gave it what life and merit it had. over greater things we scrawl as gamin, an absurd or vulgar calligraphy exhibiting our mean motives. our ideologies have become a superstructure of mud rococo superimposed upon the classic work of paganism or nature. remove the conjunctions from

utistic 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 feeding on paraphrenic print and other literary trivia that bleat daily of democracy, or freedom, to rob them. the dignity of man is that he is an individual capable of thinking and acting with virtue as from equity; from birth his chances are

LUCIFERIAN SORCERY

ritual knife called the al-dhamme which means bloodletter. the ritual itself moved on with the sorcerers dancing to the chant of iwwaiy, which they moved widdershins around which brought ecstasy and the winding sheets covered them. they used the al-dhamme to sacrifice a rooster by cutting its throat, then marking themselves with a small cut. the ceremony would sometimes begin again by dancing and religious ecstasy. the rabbana (their lord) is considered close to the blacksmith. the blacksmith, within the european craft itself is the symbol of tubal cain, the first of the witch blood. tubal-qayin2 as it is sometimes spelled is the blacksmith whose forge is the heart of the witches sabbat craft. the child of asmodeus (called often samael) and lilith, is considered the bringer of gnosis to hu

LUCIFERIAN SORCERY AND SET TYPHON

d in. pace was known in the 1960's as a priest of set and anubis, and later became a high priest of gerald gardner's coven in south london. charles created two known manuscripts of his lectures and teachings, which were based on his own sethanic cult of masks. pace was presenting a luciferian aspect of wicca which would provide an actual initiatory ground, rather than a dogmatic and unchallenging religious doctrine "necrominion" and "the book of tahuti" were two manuscripts which survived pace, authored in the late 1960's and early 70's 'necrominion' was based around the sethanic cult of masks, an ornate sexual magick rite known as "ankh-ka, the five fold kiss and material on the hermetic tarot which lists different attributes than aleister crowley's own coherent thoth deck `the book of ta

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

ere tenebras [science will defeat darkness. motto of the free university of brussels (p.f.l. s alma mater) this page intentionally left blank preface america is becoming more and more isolated fromthe rest of the world. this statement is true enough politically and ideologically, with the faulty intelligence used to justify the 2003 war in iraq, now known worldwide, and the increased influence of religious thinking in the conduct of government affairs, starting at the presidential level with george w. bush. 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

ill-inspired initiative to enact legislation regarding the teaching of science, particularly in an area perceived as questioning the validity of a literal interpretation of the bible. the consequences of this legislation and the trial were that, for a time, america was seen as a scientifically backward country, particularly in europe. there, the issue 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 kno

ld be devoted to the teaching of divine creation stories that fall outside the realm of science. others are advocating the teaching of intelligent design, a philosophy that attempts to pass itself off as science. 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

l part of one sacred book, the bible. this is where america runs the risk of becoming isolated from the rest of the world, and not just politically. worldwide, an enormous majority of believers in the bible no longer interpret the hebrew story of creation literally only christian fundamentalists do so. this is their right, of course. on the other hand, it is not their right to try to impose their religious views on others, especially where science is concerned. in doing so, these people, if successful, will clutter the science curriculum with misleading, unscientific issues, something our country does not need. neocreationists and proponents of intelligent design usually prefer not to make reference to the bible. but in the final analysis, their goal is the same: they want to put an end to

origins and evolution of homo sapiens 85 5 the origins of life and the cosmos as evolutionary themes 109 6 evolution of the dna world and the chance events that accompanied it: 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

MACNULTY W KIRK KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY

formation 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 be sacred. while encouraging each

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 allegory and illustrated by symbols."1 as might be expected of a society of religious men, th

; and it was published "with a certain measure of grand lodge authority."11 andersons constitutions is, in many ways, a reflection of his personal views. it contains a romantic history of freemasonry which traces the masonic tradition right back to adam. in other aspects it publishes many useful and previously existing regulations such as those prohibiting the discussion of politics and sectarian religious discussion. it also sets out masonry's requirement for the belief in a supreme being. as we consider the period in which anderson's constitutions were published the name of john byrom requires our attention. byrom was a fellow of the royal society, and he is known for his collection of curious geometric drawings. this remarkable collection has been analyzed thoroughly by joy hancox in he

ation is different. the duke of sussex was an unusual person. severely asthmatic in his youth, he was prevented from following the military career usually pursued by younger sons of the royal family. as a child, he had been raised in germany where the climate was thought to be more suitable for his delicate health. while there, he had received an excellent education; and he was known to be deeply religious. he was also a scholar with a very deep interest in judaism. in fact, he was a real judeophile; and he spoke, read and wrote hebrew. by the time he became grand master he had accumulated a significant library which included a collection of original hebrew manuscripts. these were forty-four in number; and at least eleven were classical kabbalistic works. figures 5 through 7 show the index

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

rt to justify the dictates of the will. thus the mind creates elaborate systems of thought simply to prove the necessity of the thing willed. genius, however, represents the state wherein the intellect has gained supremacy over the will and the life is ruled by reason and not by impulse. the strength of christianity, said schopenhauer, lay in its pessimism and conquest of individual will. his own religious viewpoints resembled closely the buddhistic. to him nirvana represented the subjugation of will. life--the manifestation of the blind will to live--he viewed as a misfortune, claiming that the true philosopher was one who, recognizing the wisdom of death, resisted the inherent urge to reproduce his kind. click to enlarge the tree of classical mythology. from hort's the new pantheon. befo

ce of greek wisdom. the last was patterned after the shadow 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 incomprehen

nds since the beginning of the world. departing, these illumined philosophers left their formul that others, too, might attain to understanding. but, lest these secret processes fall into uncultured hands and be perverted, the great arcanum was always concealed in symbol or allegory; and those who can today discover its lost keys may open with them a treasure house of philosophic, scientific, and religious truths. click to enlarge the orphic egg. from bryant's an analysis of ancient mythology. the ancient symbol of the orphic mysteries was the serpent-entwined egg, which signified cosmos as encircled by the fiery creative spirit. the egg also represents the soul of the philosopher; the serpent, the mysteries. at the time of initiation the shell is broke. and man emerges from the embryonic

d taught in simple language. they depend almost entirely upon the ministrations of the shepherd. the apostle paul said that these little ones must be fed with milk, but that meat is the food of strong men. thoughtlessness is almost synonymous with childishness, while thoughtfulness is symbolic of maturity. there are, however, but few mature minds in the world; and thus it was that the philosophic-religious doctrines of the pagans were divided to meet the needs of these two fundamental groups of human intellect--one philosophic, the other incapable of appreciating the deeper mysteries of life. to the discerning few were revealed the esoteric, or spiritual, teachings, while the unqualified many received only the literal, or exoteric, interpretations. in order to make simple the great truths

d pan (deities representing the procreative energies, the wise recognized in these marble statues only symbolic concretions of great abstract truths. in all cities of the ancient world were temples for public worship and offering. in every community also were philosophers and mystics, deeply versed in nature's lore. these individuals were usually banded together, forming seclusive philosophic and religious schools. the more important of these groups were known as the mysteries. many of the great minds of antiquity were initiated into these secret fraternities by strange and mysterious rites, some of which were extremely cruel. alexander wilder defines the mysteries as "sacred dramas performed at stated periods. the most celebrated were those of isis, sabazius, cybele, and eleusis" after be

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

inst the forces of dissolution and darkness manifesting as rival doctrinal factions within her bosom. it was not till the fifteenth century that the actual cult of witchcraft became established as an entity in the mind of the church's "instrument of justice" the inquisition. this cult was in fact based upon traditional witch beliefs, but strung together in a way reminiscent of the accounts of the religious rites that the church had chosen to believe were celebrated by the recently defunct heresies of the past two centuries. joan of arc was burned a witch and consorter with the faeries in 1431, and in 1484 pope innocent viii formally declared war on all "witches" in a papal bull. this was closely followed by the inquisitors kramer and sprenger producing their infamous handbook on witch find

the past, under the banner of the old gods. most of the witch processes that remain to us now are simple and unsophisticated in comparison with the starry wisdom of the lost lore of the watchers, fragments of which are daily in the process of being rediscovered through "legitimate" scientific research. in fact our present-day witch magic is decadent. a patchwork quilt of historical odds and ends, religious flotsam and jetsam, but containing in the midst of that welter of confusing symbolism enough of the old secrets to make the processes work if properly pursued. the methods nowadays may seem to some childish, hit and miss compared with the original starry wisdom, but modern witches believe that despite the accretions and maybe distortions of the past sixty centuries, there still remains a

e area that the various churches have sought to dabble their fingers, it is with these institutions that we witches take issue in principle. ironically, you will find that all the innovators and founders of said religions were revolutionaries in their time who took issue with their parent religions and were usually labeled heretics of one sort or another for their pains. so enough of all the cant religious, political, nationalist, whatever. overboard with the lot of it. and this is where your little gesture comes in. no, we are not going to ask you to burn a draft card or an american flag; the time-honoured tradition of repeating the so-called lord's prayer backwards is all you have to observe. whether you are or were a practising christian, buddhist, jew, mohammedan, parsee, hindu, whatev

een 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 religion from which your words of power derive, in the case of the cabala, judaism, or maybe unorthodox christianity. however, always remember, it is only the awe, the shiver of emotional excitement, aroused by the na

e average witch as extremely clumsy and, as such, highly unsuitable for performance. not only are they closely bound up with judeo-christianity, but they are also always bogged down with endless preachy pages of invocation, as you will see if you ever consult one, which, far from awakening the deep mind of the operating witch, will generally tend to send it even more securely to sleep. apropos of religious beliefs, the modern witch tends to "reserve judgement" generally; there are those who devote themselves entirely to the fertility cult of habondia and her horned consort. this is by no means universal, however. the gods are there if and when you need them. but more of this in a later chapter. as a witch, you do not necessarily have to worship any complete and permanent hierarchy of super

MEANING OF MASONRY

ighty god before rehearsed i charge thee, thou thief to restore the goods again immediately or else the wrath of god may fall upon thee& force thee to come immediately. amaythe meaning of masonry by w.l. wilmshurst foreword freemasonry has had many great scholars who devoted their time and talents to the philosophical exposition of the character of the craft, the meaning of craft symbols, and the religious aspects of the fraternity: albert pike, robert freke gould, fort newton, albert gallatin mackey, and w. l. wilmshurst. walter leslie wilmshurst (1867-1939) was a mystic with a practical knowledge and profound understanding of the religions of the world. the meaning of masonry discloses the real purpose of modern freemasonry and clearly states the true body of teaching and practice concer

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

d its philosophy. were this achieved the masonic order would become, in proportion to that achievement, a spiritual force greater than it can ever be so long as it continues content with a formal and unintelligent perpetuation of rites, the real and sacred purpose of which remains largely unperceived, and participation in which too often means nothing more than association with an agreeable, semi-religious, social institution. carried to its fullest, that achievement would involve the revival, in a form adapted to modern conditions, of the ancient wisdom-teaching and the practice of those mysteries which became proscribed fifteen centuries ago, but of which modern masonry is the direct and representative descendant, as will appear later in these pages. the future development and the value

ose his order exists. he finds, indeed, that it is" a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols" but that explanation, whilst true, is but partial and does not carry him very far. for many members of the craft to be a mason implies merely connection with a body which seems to be something combining the natures of a club and a benefit society. they find, of course, a certain 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 religio

der different veils; but since the ultimate truth the mysteries aim at teaching is always one and the same, there has always been taught, and can only be taught, one and the same doctrine. what that doctrine was, and still is, we will consider presently so far as we are able to speak of it, and so far as masonry gives expression to it. for the moment let me merely say that behind all the official religious systems of the world, and behind all the great moral movements and developments in the history of humanity, have stood what st. paul called the keepers or" stewards of the mysteries" from that source christianity itself came into the world. from them originated the great school of kabalism, that marvellous system of secret, oral tradition of the hebrews, a strong element of which has bee

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

an should explore and understand. since the dawn of history the training of sorcerers 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

502 in france there was a peasant named pierre burgot who was tending to the sheep in his herd. from the woods rode three men each dressed in black and deathly pale. the leader of the men, who called himself moyset, told pierre that his men would watch over his herd and give unto him a great fortune if he would obey his wishes. pierre agreed and in their next meeting moyset inquired upon pierre's religious beliefs. upon finding that pierre was one who accepted christianity he commanded him to reject jesus christ, the holy virgin and his baptism. burgot then accepted his suggestions and gave an oath by kissing moysets' hand, which was as cold as the hand of a corpse. it was years later when the rider returned and gave burgot an ointment to smear upon himself. this 14 14 act was done along w

able to uphold the strength and character of self through will is able to master his or her own universe. he or she can live as they will, creating or destroying as they wish, and relishing all that makes life worth living. this is why change is a wonderful thing, why the dancing egyptian god besz is a chief symbol of the sorcerer, because the form is constantly changing and evolving, each act a religious movement of life and joy. even more to the sorcerer s benefit is that in modern society change is an accepted part of life. this means we can move behind the scenes, do our will and not be harassed for our different or strange behavior, save the magickian is not running about hurting others. da ath can be opened by the words zazas, zazas, natsatanada zazas (words that are said to have be

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

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

leader is the god of the universe. we have been lead to think that theslaughter of human beings in the name of god is a divine act. and all through these passages is the reference to more than one god. a perfect exam-ple follows:thou shalt not revile the gods (exodus 22:28) scholar and genius, ignatius donnelly wrote of the tribulations: it sounds like the cry not of a man but of a race, a great, religious, civilized race, who couldnot understand how god could so cruelly visit the world.and from comyns beaumonts the riddle of prehistoric britain: the prehistory of the atlanteans and the race of adam possessed peculiar similarities. thesupermen of plato s island were drowned in a flood like the adamites, the giants of old time,men of renown, the men whose thoughts became wholly evil, destro

nflict. many seem-ingly incomprehensible motifs and anecdotes from the worlds legends can be madelucid once the reader knows what is really being implied. and this was comprehendedby the american master of the pre-diluvian epochs, ignatius donnelly, who demon-strated his discernment, concerning the terrestrial tribulations, when he wrote:it sounds like the cry not of a man but of a race, a great, religious, civilized race, who couldnot understand how god could so cruelly visit the world. this fact can be corroborated by a close reading of the old testament. in it, we hear ofthe strange meeting moses had at the burning bush. this has long been a point ofconjecture, but can easily be explained when the imagery is replaced by fact. jehovahannounces to mosess question, i am the god of thy fath

d coleman).remember, that every living person is homo atlantis, possessing both pure alien and purehuman dna. however, children are born all the time who have the strong dna of thelemurians. the human proclivities and sensibilities are then pronounced in them. in the tra-dition of their ancestors, they go on to become the great poets, artists, musicians, philoso-phers, architects, film makers and religious teachers who grace our world. some live longand prosper, while others die young. some drive taxi cabs and busk in the streets. somedance while others heal, some pray while others tell jokes. some have long hair and tattoos,some rot in jails, and some plant gardens. some change the atomic frequency of the universeatlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation141 epilogue: time to ch

e general mind,enhanced by the gullibility of ignorance, the masses have slipped under the force of a victim-ization that is both pitiable and tragic. the forces of religion have thus exerted their ruler-ship over a vast segment of humanity and virtually provided the masses with theirconventional ideas and concepts as to the meaning of the world ordeal (alvin boyd kuhn,ultimate canon of knowledge)religious thought has detached itself from nature and searches in the illimitable areas offeeling, thought, and wonder for what understanding these may yield it. with no guides,checks, clues or competent intelligence to recognize truth, imagination all too readily con-jures up wayward, extravagant and strange surmises as to the presence and intervention offorces not naturally operative..religion i

MICHAEL W FORD THE VAMPIRE GATE

astovidad is a demon of death, who has great powers given to him by ahriman. he is called the evil flyer. az [avestan/pahlavi] called concupiscence, az is represented as primal sexual hunger, that which eventually devours all things. az is also related to menstruation (the kiss of ahriman causes menstruation in women) and is a destroyer through chaos. az was connected with sexual hunger but also religious doubt, which relates her to a luciferian spirit who broke the chains of dogma by the black light, the torch of self-perception of being. az also represents lilith as the goddess of the beasts of the earth, the very mother of demons and sorcerous beings. az was said to be created in the zurvan myth as a black substance like coal, which would devour all creation, manifesting her as a vampy

ient hebrew texts relating to the devouring process from a symbolic and ritualistic approach. no matter what name the adversary has been called by, from the ancient persian cult of yatukih sorcerers ahriman or angra mainyu, his bride jahi or az, to the hebrew samael and lilith, the luciferian current has remained strong beneath those ancient cultures. liber hvhi is a grimoire written from ancient religious texts such as the avesta and various cabbalistic writings. the result is a powerful luciferian ideology and methodology of ritual and daily-life practice which transforms the mind into the spirit of the adversary. liber hvhi: magick of the adversary liber hvhi explores the qlippothic spheres, ritual sorcery based on the ancient cults mentioned in the avesta of yatuvidah, daeva-yasna (dem

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

looking for wisdom, stop reading, be good to thy neighbor, pay your taxes, and go watch tv. if you re looking for knowledge, proceed. as much respect as i have for the habits of discerning individuals (with even the nerve as to profess to be one, i also know that crying "prove it" and "i have to see it to believe it" is a response just as emotional as it is intellectual (especially regarding the religious, esoteric, and paranormal "i have to see it to believe it" is the sort of thing usually uttered by the fool whose head is filled to the brim with countless things he considers "truth" but was never there to witness. does this fool question world war 2 as an actual event (granted the fool in question was born after 1945. does the aforementioned dolt question the newspaper s sports section

es that allowed the king to join with the gods after death; they were essentially stargates to the heavens, where one could be transformed into a god. instead of masses of men dragging large, perfectly cut stones from--michael wynn's "the soul travelers" 18 quarries miles away, the egyptians say that magicians effortlessly cut, and lifted the stones into place. the pyramid texts, the oldest known religious texts, state that the pyramids were built to 'throw open the doors of the firmament and to make a road' so that he [deceased king] might 'ascend into the company of the gods. the egyptians also claim the pyramids were built by magicians who used words of power to effortlessly levitate huge stones. the mayan pyramids, although thousands of miles away and built (allegedly) thousands of yea

monly known as vampires. like all spiritual development, the vampiric rite is irreversible, but unlike the great work, it requires the selling of one s soul to satan; after the vampiric rite, the individual has no chance of redemption, and no chance to enter heaven. from this fact have vampires been rightly labeled the damned. theories and interpretations regarding the mark of the beast abound in religious and conspiracy circles but, in the occult, this phrase has only one meaning: permanent spiritual transformation. it is said that those endowed with the mark of the beast can shape shift into hideous creatures at will (and take on personalities of a more chaotic sort. the fruit of eden has just as many interpretations (and in just as many circles, but in the occult this fruit represents m

on such forms of identification, as the move for totally electronic currency begins. atheism, and other beliefs lacking spirituality, will continue to rise; the people of the future only concern themselves with the material. you will witness strange new practices in christian, catholic, and islamic churches; they will begin to resemble festivals and marketplaces more than places of worship. those religious people who are unwilling to liberalize their principles will be pegged as dangerous fanatics and fundamentalists. as life for the commoner becomes increasingly unbearable, he seeks to use drugs to escape from it; the depression he attempts to banish is the result of a healthy person, living in an unhealthy environment, not the reverse. and since taking a pill, smoking dope, or drinking a

MICHAEL W FORD NOX UMBRA

w-manifestation of ahriman, the persian- zoroastrian sorcerous being who was evil, or adversarial chaos embodied. black magic has long been viewed as a self-centered and selfish area of study, which often causes obsession and destruction. this, if looked through a rhp (right hand path) or path of disillusion (i.e. christianity) this is accurate according to the belief structure. keep in mind that religious pathways such as christianity hold no adversarial view piont rather than the extremes of the exact opposite side- which is not a natural point of study in itself. can the buddhist understand christian thinking inherently and objectively? yes, this path allows psychologically the ability to perceive and understand other views, while still limiting material control and destroing the self i

l point of study in itself. can the buddhist understand christian thinking inherently and objectively? yes, this path allows psychologically the ability to perceive and understand other views, while still limiting material control and destroing the self in the natural order. could christians understand a buddhist view point-as a majority, no. can a lhp (left hand path) practitioner understand the religious doctrine of christianity- yes, while most of us find subservient behaviour abhorrently disgusting. yet christians still view our walk as the opposite of what it actually is! a luciferian loves life, seeks to strengthen it by self-perception devoid of unnecessary egotistical thought. the sethian/luciferian understands life is a great opportunity to come into being as something greater. th

MOODY RAYMOND A LIFE AFTER LIFE

en to the surprise of some highly sophisticated, well-known and certainly accomplished physicians. all of these patients have experienced a floating out of their physical bodies, associated with a great sense of peace and wholeness. most were aware of another person who helped them in their transition to another plane of existence. most were greeted by loved ones who had died before them, or by a religious figure who was significant in their life and who coincided, naturally, with their own religious beliefs. it is enlightening to read dr. moody's book at the time when i am ready to put my own research findings on paper. dr. moody will have to be prepared for a lot of criticism, mainly from two areas. there will be members of the clergy who will be upset by anyone who dares to do research

ife and who coincided, naturally, with their own religious beliefs. it is enlightening to read dr. moody's book at the time when i am ready to put my own research findings on paper. dr. moody will have to be prepared for a lot of criticism, mainly from two areas. there will be members of the clergy who will be upset by anyone who dares to do research in an area which is supposed to be taboo. some religious representatives of a denominational church have already expressed their criticism of studies like this. one priest referred to it as "selling cheap grace" others simply felt that the question of life after death should remain an issue of blind faith and should not be questioned by anyone. the second group of people that dr. moody can expect to respond to his book with concern are scienti

t broadly familiar with the vast literature on paranormal and occult phenomena. i do not say this to disparage it, and i feel confident that a wider acquaintance with it might have increased my understanding of the events i have studied. in fact, i intend now to look more closely at some of these writings to see to what extent the investigations of others are 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 doctri

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 academic and professional background is somewhat diverse-some would say fractured. i at

ns, expressed a sympathetic attitude toward the question, and waited. to my amazement, i found that in almost every class of thirty or so students, at least one student would come to me afterwards and relate a personal near-death experience. what has amazed me since the beginning of my interest are the great similarities in the reports, despite the fact that they come from people of highly varied religious, social, and educational backgrounds. by the time i entered medical school in 1972, i had collected a sizable number of these experiences and i began mentioning the informal study i had been doing to some of my medical acquaintances. eventually, a friend of mine talked me into giving a report to a medical society, and other public talks followed. again, i found that after every talk some

MORALS AND DOGMA

n 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 science of the spheres and heavens. the former, theref

is a misuse of words. it is a _tesserated_ pavement, with an indented border round it. the pavement, alternately black and white, symbolizes, whether so intended or not, the good and evil principles of the egyptian and persian creed. it is the warfare of michael and satan, of the gods and titans, of balder and lok; between light and shadow, which is darkness; day and night; freedom and despotism; religious liberty and the arbitrary dogmas of a church that thinks for its votaries, and whose pontiff claims to be infallible, and the decretals of its councils to constitute a gospel. the edges of this pavement, if in lozenges, will necessarily be indented or denticulated, toothed like a saw; and to complete and finish it a bordering is necessary. it is completed by tassels as ornaments at the c

: that it presents but an imperfect image of their brilliancy, the ruins only of their grandeur, and a system that has experienced progressive alterations, the fruits of social events, political circumstances, and the ambitious imbecility of its improvers. after leaving egypt, the mysteries were modified by the habits of the different nations among whom they were introduced, and especially by the religious systems of the countries into which they were transplanted. to maintain the established government, laws, and religion, was the obligation of the initiate everywhere; and everywhere they were the heritage of the priests, who were nowhere willing to make the common people co-proprietors with themselves of philosophical truth. masonry is not the coliseum in ruins. it is rather a roman pala

th, is to make, greater the spiritual glory of the race; that whosoever aids the march of a truth, and makes the thought a thing, writes in the same line with moses, and with him who died upon the cross; and has an intellectual sympathy with the deity himself. the best gift we can bestow on man is manhood. it is that which masonry is ordained of god to bestow on its votaries: not sectarianism and religious dogma; not a rudimental morality, that may be found in the writings of confucius, zoroaster, seneca, and the rabbis, in the proverbs and ecclesiastes; not a little and cheap common-school knowledge; but manhood and science and philosophy. not that philosophy or science is in opposition to religion. for philosophy is but that knowledge of god and the soul, which is derived from observatio

nd the rabbis, in the proverbs and ecclesiastes; not a little and cheap common-school knowledge; but manhood and science and philosophy. not that philosophy or science is in opposition to religion. for philosophy is but that knowledge of god and the soul, which is derived from observation of the manifested action of god and the soul, and from a wise analogy. it is the intellectual guide which the religious sentiment needs. the true religious philosophy of an imperfect being, is not a system of creed, but, as socrates thought, an infinite search or approximation. philosophy is that intellectual and moral progress, which the religious sentiment inspires and ennobles. as to science, it could not walk alone, while religion was stationary. it consists of those matured inferences from experience

MOTTA MARCELO THE COMMENTARIES OF AL

the first "he says we are not god" the first explained. at once, the second snapped "atheist" the utter lack of sense of humor is a characteristic of 'black brotherhood. a magister might have said the same thing but with a twinkle. there are certain analogies between 'black brotherhood' and paranoia, but while paranoia is a mental disorder 'black brotherhood' is of dadth, and much more dangerous. religious persecutions, throughout history, were always the result of a man reaching the threshold of the abyss through the discipline of a particular faith, and then fearing to jump. his disease would then affect, telepathically and magically, those of his faith, with results such as holy inquisitions, crusades, and others. 5. help me, o warrior lord of thebes, in my unveiling before the children

a, ta chhi, pasiphae, clytaemnaestra, helen of troy, and in more recent times joan of arc (by shakespeare's account, catherine ii of russia, queen elizabeth of england (he means, of course, the great elizabeth the first, george sand. against these we can put only emily bronte, whose sex-suppression was due to her environment, and so burst out in the incredible violence of her art, and the regular religious mystics, saint catherine, saint teresa, and so on, the facts of whose sex-life have been carefully camouflaged in the interests of the slave-gods. but, even on that showing, the sex-life was intense, for the writings of such women are overloaded with sexual expression passionate and perverted, even to morbidity and actual hallucination. sex is the main expression of the nature of a perso

ociate the concept of spiritual purity with sexual abstinence. sexual abstinence is 'good 'only in the athletic sense. and some biological types experience no good effects from it. some athletes copulate more during and after an athletic event than normally, and perform just as well or better for it. this is a matter to be decided strictly by personal judgment. to establish sexual abstinence as a religious rule for all, indiscriminately, is insensate "yet there are those who have dared and achieved thereby (see liber 175. certainly: but others have achieved without it, and anyway, once you achieve, why not outgrow the old toys and go on to other things? we take judaism as an example only because the sexual morality preached in the west is essentially old testament stuff it is useless that

ld have married jewish women and sterilized only the men. germany might have won the war, then. but the nazis were stupid. they were as stupid as old testament jews. when a book is the only book that by chance is preserved and by design transmitted throughout fifteen centuries, it may well become the book. the bible is one of the most brutish, most cruel, most fanatic cultural records extant. its religious fables are either naive or fatuous. it has neither the loftiness of the pyramid texts nor the human compassion of the sumerian. ft has neither the subtlety of the chinese classics nor the psychological depth of the hindu. but it was the only book the west knew for centuries and look at the record of the west during those centuries! indeed "unite by thine art so that all disappear. unite

merian. ft has neither the subtlety of the chinese classics nor the psychological depth of the hindu. but it was the only book the west knew for centuries and look at the record of the west during those centuries! indeed "unite by thine art so that all disappear. unite not destroy. unite together under the banner of an enlightened humanity, free of all the ignorant idiocy of national, cultural or religious prejudice; free to experience the grandeur of our true identity as radiant stars within the body of our lady nuit. any self-concept that falls short of this is utterly fallacious. 48. my prophet is a fool with his one, one, one; are not they the ox, and none by the book? crowley, who knew the attributions of ain, and its mystical meaning, had become troubled since the dictation of verse

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS E

ture. thus we hear of wild beasts tamed, of mighty rivers arrested in their course, and of mountains being moved by the sweet tones of his voice. the theory here advanced may possibly prove useful in the future, in suggesting to the reader the probable basis of many of the extraordinary accounts we meet with in the study of classical mythology. and now a few words will be necessary concerning the religious beliefs of the romans. when the greeks first settled in italy they found in the country they colonized a mythology belonging to the celtic inhabitants, which, according to the greek custom of paying reverence to all gods, known or unknown, they readily adopted, selecting and appropriating those divinities which had the greatest affinity to their own, and thus they formed a religious beli

eed that by the bones of their mother were meant the stones of the earth. they accordingly took up stones from the mountain side and cast them over their shoulders. from those thrown by deucalion there sprang up men, and from those thrown by pyrrha, women. after the lapse of time the theory of autochthony (from autos, self, and chthon, earth) was laid aside. when this belief existed there were no religious teachers whatever; but in course of time temples were raised in honour of the different gods, and priests appointed to offer sacrifices to them and conduct their worship. these priests were looked upon as authorities in all religious matters, and the doctrine they taught was, that man had been created by the gods, and that there had been several successive ages of men, which were called

dedicated to her were in rome, one being erected on the aventine, and the other on the capitoline hill. she had also a temple on the arx, in which she was worshipped as juno moneta, or the [43]warning goddess. adjacent to this shrine was the public mint.[18] on the 1st of march a grand annual festival, called the matronalia, was celebrated in her honour by all the married women of rome, and this religious institution was accompanied with much solemnity.[19] pallas-athene (minerva. pallas-athene, goddess of wisdom and armed resistance, was a purely greek divinity; that is to say, no other nation possessed a corresponding conception. she was supposed, as already related, to have issued from the head of zeus himself, clad in armour from head to foot. the miraculous advent of this maiden godd

as her especial duty to protect the state and all peaceful associations of mankind, which she possessed the power of defending when occasion required. she encouraged the maintenance of law and order, and defended the right on all occasions, for which reason, in the trojan war she espouses the cause of the greeks and exerts all her influence on their behalf. the areopagus, a court of justice where religious causes and murders were tried, was believed to have been instituted by her, and when both sides happened to have an equal number of votes she gave the casting-vote in favour of the accused. she was the patroness of learning, science, and art, more particularly where these contributed directly towards the welfare of nations. she presided over all inventions connected with agriculture, inv

nds this charming story, which was a favourite theme with all the classic authors. page 59 it is very possible that the poets who first created this graceful myth merely intended it as an allegory to illustrate the change of seasons; in the course of time, however, a literal meaning became attached to this and similar poetical fancies, and thus the people of greece came to regard as an article of religious belief what, in the first instance, was nothing more than a poetic simile. in the temple erected to demeter at eleusis, the famous eleusinian mysteries were instituted by the goddess herself. it is exceedingly difficult, as in the case of all secret societies, to discover anything with certainty concerning these sacred rites. the most plausible supposition is that the doctrines taught by

NAGEL CARL AMAZING SECRETS OF OCCULT POWER

r of importance. if you find yourself constantly interrupted when you attempt to cast a spell, you should know that occult reasons are the cause. probably you should attempt some other means of obtaining what you seek (take a look at another spell, or reconsider your actions. thank you letter #1 i never thought i would see the day when i would be using witchcraft to help me. i am not particularly religious, i have an open mind, but my life has improved over the last 3 months since i followed your advice. i am writing to tell you how grateful i am. i know the spells work. i have had lots of small sums of money to keep me in food and clothes, which i had never bargained for. and the man i want is with me and loves me. signed: susan a, co durham, england. practical witchcraft having now defin

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

association accepted members who were not practitioners of the trade. 5. the association displayed and highlighted its character of universalism. 1 2 introduction this study of freemasonry looks at both its specific history and the influences and events that have left their imprint over time on its formation and evolution. as such, it includes an examination of various spheres social, juridical, religious, and philosophical that have conditioned these events. from a chronological perspective, the most certain sources of freemasonry have emerged as the following: 1. the roman collegia, the remnants of which remained in the west following invasions and survived in the east as institutions discovered by the crusaders at the end of the eleventh century. 2. the ecclesiastical associations of b

timate cause of these objectives, however different from one another they may appear in the various stages of their evolution. this is an exemplary illustration of an important truth: faith lives only through works and works are worth only the faith that moves them. part 1 the origins of freemasonry from ancient times to the middle ages 1 the ancient corporations: colleges of builders in rome the religious character of the ancient corporations the corporative organization of labor goes back to distant antiquity, and associations of builders are among the most ancient. when humans abandoned the nomadic lifestyle, they formed builders associations to erect durable shelters, protective ramparts, and temples in which to worship their gods. architecture became an art a difficult one demanding u

rming states. the association proved necessary because isolated individuals were incapable 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: college

h in imagination, the ancients were able to poeticize the actions of daily life and give their professional occupations a celestial aura. thus were born the mysteries of the different trades.1 the cult of the ancient builders must have been of a distinct scope, for the noblest object of their labor was the construction of temples in which the gods were worshipped. in addition, human dwellings had religious significance. rituals were an indispensable part of their construction. among the romans the home was the temple of the lares gods. this was true for all ancient peoples and still survives in the traditional societies of the east "the dwelling was not an object, a 'machine to inhabit: it was the universe that man built in imitation of god's exemplary creation, the cosmogony."2 the home w

the dionysians made symbolic use of the tools of their trade. at certain times they threw banquets during which the most skilled workers were awarded prizes. the richer members gave help and assistance to the indigent and the sick. in greece the dionysians were organized in the same way, and solon's legislation gave them some special privileges.4 it is important to note that banquets have held a religious and sacred significance from the time of greatest antiquity. even the members 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 o

ONYX TABLET OF SET

r 21, 1975 by march fong eu, secretary of state #756672 endorsed/filed in the office of the secretary of state of the state of california october 20, 1975/march fong eu, secretary of state/by james e. harris, deputy] i. name of this corporation shall be temple of set. ii. the purposes for which this corporation is formed are (a) the specific and primary purposes are to operate an organization for religious purposes (b) the general purposes and powers are to have and to exercise all rights and powers conferred on non-profit corporations on the laws of california, including the power to contract, rent, buy or sell personal or real property; provided, however, this corporation shall not, except to an insubstantial degree, engage in any activities or exercise any power that are not in furthera

a monica, california 90404 vi. the authorized number and qualifications of members of the corporation, the different classes of membership, if any, the property, voting, and other rights and privileges of members and their liability for dues and assessments and the method of collection thereof, shall be as set forth in the by-laws. vii. the property of this corporation is irrevocably dedicated to religious purposes, and no part of the net income or assets of this organization shall ever inure to the benefit of any private persons. upon the dissolution or winding up of the corporation, its assets, remaining after payment or provision for payment, of all debts and liabilities of this corporation shall be distributed to a nonprofit fund, foundation, or corporation which is organized and opera

and no part of the net income or assets of this organization shall ever inure to the benefit of any private persons. upon the dissolution or winding up of the corporation, its assets, remaining after payment or provision for payment, of all debts and liabilities of this corporation shall be distributed to a nonprofit fund, foundation, or corporation which is organized and operated exclusively for religious purposes and which has established its tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code. viii. any action required or permitted to be taken by the board of directors under any provision of law may be taken without a meeting, if all members of the board shall individually or collectively consent in writing to such action. such written consent or consents shall be fil

r without the state of california where it is qualified to do business, as its business may require and as the high priest may from time to time designate. article 2. affiliation section 2.01. the corporation shall not be a member of, or affiliated with any organization or institution. section 2.02. an individual member of the temple of set may be a member of, or affiliated with another primarily religious organization or institution during i membership status only. section 2.03. an individual member of the temple of set may be a member of, or affiliated with another initiatory organization or institution as long as, in the evaluation of any iv+ member, such membership does not conflict with or take precedence over membership in the temple of set. article 3. membership onyx tablet: ot.o,by

ent records. thank you for your cooperation. sincerely yours /s/ milton cerny milton cerny chief, ruling section 2 exempt organizations branch technical branch california state franchise tax board exemption state of california franchise tax board sacramento, california 95867 (916) 355-0392 october 17, 1975 in reply refer to: 344:rp:gp/g temple of set p.o. box 243 santa barbara, ca. 93102 purpose: religious form of organization: corporation accounting period ending: december 31 organization number: d-0756672 to4s* based on the information submitted and provided, your present operations continue unchanged or conform to those proposed in your application, you are exempt from state franchise or income tax under section 23701d, revenue and taxation code. any change in operation, character, or p

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

plot against the ageing re, he transformed the goddess hathor (the sacred cow of fertility) into a raging lioness, sekhmet. her bloodlust brought plague and death into existence. this goddess, who could only be appeased by being made drunk, gradually became revered under a more gentle guise as the cat goddess bastet. the domestic cat was regarded as sacred to her, and many cats were mummified in religious rituals. young girls were often nicknamed kitten. but cats were also trained for the hunt, and are depicted in egyptian art retrieving birds felled by their masters throwing sticks. the greeks identified bastet with artemis, goddess of the hunt (see pp. 36 37, and herodotus describes her annual festival as an orgy. osiris, isis, and horus 16 like the greek demeter during her search for p

and mashyoi. zurvan worship of the unified god zurvan became a heresy of zoroastrianism, which regards ahura mazda and ahriman as having existed in duality from the beginning of time. barsom twigs barsom twigs are sacred and a symbol of priesthood. zurvan gave them to ahura mazda, in recognition that he was his true son. their use was spread by the god sraosha( obedience, who is present at every religious ceremony. he is embodied in men s prayers and hymns, which he takes to heaven in a chariot drawn by four white horses with golden hooves. maturity these figures represent mature human beings. when the world is recreated at the end of time, all adults will be brought back to life at the age of 40. ahura mazda sun emblem this glazed brick relief from the sixth or fifth century bce was foun

ete and his meeting with the royal princesses; ariadne giving him the reel of thread to help him; his success in killing the minotaur, and his departure with ariadne but the ship still carries black sails of mourning, anticipating the end of the story. the labyrinth t he labyrinth was named after the cretan double-headed ritual ax, the labrys. it may be that such an ax was used in the lost cretan religious mysteries to which the minotaur story must relate. the maze is clearly a plan of the underworld, to which the hero (theseus) must descend with the help of the maiden (ariadne. the link continues when minos, at his death, becomes a judge, deciding people s fate in the afterlife. mazes appear on cretan vases, coins, and frescoes, and ritual dances were probably performed in maze patterns

er s iliad and may have its roots in a real conflict in the 12th century bce. in the homeric tradition, the war was waged by the greeks, led by agamemnon, to recover helen, his sister-in-law, who had eloped with paris. the first nine years were inconclusive, but in the tenth, troy fell. fooled into thinking the greeks had given up, the trojans took in a huge wooden horse, left, they thought, as a religious offering. when the city gates shut, the greeks hidden inside sprang out and sacked troy. aeneas (see pp. 66 67, a trojan prince, escaped and founded the roman state. legend tells how his great-grandson brutus gathered and settled with the remains of the trojan race in britain, then inhabited by just a few giants. there he founded the city of new troy later known as london. odysseus retur

y to betray and kill his father. after the battle of camlann, lancelot went back to england and saw guinevere once more. she told him she was resolved to enter a convent, for through our love that we have loved together is my most noble lord slain (le morte d arthur, thomas malory. lancelot entered a hermitage, only leaving it when he learned in a vision that guinevere was dying. by embracing the religious life, lancelot finally redeemed himself. eshu the trickster 86 eshu statuette this wooden carving of eshu is part of the costume of an eshu priest and is designed to be worn hooked over the shoulder. it shows eshu dressed as a priest with an eshu statuette (like itself) over its left shoulder. eshu s contradictory nature is shown by the fact that the carving has two faces, the second one

PHOSPHORUS

er mirror, symbolizing the opposing 14 gnosis of the adversary. this is the waking initiation into the path of the witch, the devil s kiss of awakening. you may in turn use the caul to cover your head (see nox umbra) and dance widdershins in a circle. as you do this, your pulse rate will increase, you will sweat and grow very hot. as you move and envision the luciferian path opening before you, a religious ecstasy will take you and guide your visions refer to the sufis by idries shah and the maskara (revelers) who blacken their faces and assume bestial forms during their sabbat dance. in this instance, you will begin an in-between (crossroads) journey unto the mysteries and reality of the witches sabbat. envision a gateway opening forth a shadowed figure arises before you this is the black

PHOSPHORUS THE SHADOWING FORTH OF LUCIFER

t of it they kneeled in devotion. it was the light that showed their souls to their destiny. in devotion they received wisdom which became faith, religion. what lucifer had brought to them, shined godlike in front of their psychic eyes. owing to lucifer they had god. it means to disunite heart and mind if god is considered as lucifer's enemy. our educated don't raise the perception of the mind to religious devotion, they paralyze the enthusiasm of the heart. for those who are searching for the light of the spirit lucifer shall be a messenger. he won't talk about a faith that is alien to perception. he won't flatter into the hearts to avoid the guardian of science: he shall respect him. he won't preach piety and divine bliss but will show ways for the knowledge to change into divine sensati

PIKE CUMMINGS THE SPURIOUS RITES OF MEMPHIS AND MISRAIM

bination of the ancient mysteries; it taught the first men to render homage to the deity. its dogmas are based on the principles of humanity its mission is the study of that wisdom which serves to discern truth; it is the beneficent dawn of the development of reason and intelligence; it is the worship of the qualities of the human heart, and the repression of its vices; in fine, it is the echo of religious toleration, the union of all belief, the bond between all men, the symbol of the sweet illusions of hope, preaching the faith in god that saves, and the charity that blesses. thus it will be seen that this rite,which purports to be it continuation of the ancient mysteries, and pretends to contain a vast amount of instruction, does but announce the aim and mission of modern free-masonry

he craft. according to brother dudley wright, all doubt as to the illegality of the antient and primitive rite had been settled on april b c and b d, b i h b,when a concordat was arrived at between the ancient and accepted rite for england, wales, and the dominions and dependencies of the british crown, the grand lodge of mark mater masons of england,wales, etc, and the great priory of the united religious and military orders of the temple of england and wales, by which any member of these three bodies becoming or continuing a member of the antient and primitive rite was ipso facto excluded from any or all of these bodies.33 despite this decree, a charter was granted, in b i h c, for a sovereign grand body for great britain and ireland,which was formally inaugurated by harry j. seymour,gra

PRELUDE TO THE BLACK ARTS

alf-truths and outright lies, handed down from various and sundry authority figures. the fact is that most people simply don't know what to believe, and if they believe anything, it is probably based upon falsehood. after all, the lamp of truth has burned pretty dim over this last age. the object here is to remove all of the built-up trash that can be a hang up such as old guilts, limitations and religious snags. all you need is to lose your confidence as one of these weaknesses catches in your throat, and you will have failed in your purpose. all you would then have to show for your trouble is a hungry demon with which to contend. of course, you can skip this section it you want. removing mental mine fields yes, all of your life, you have been fed a steady stream of pap, designed to contr

ly and a bunch of paper to fit it. now, work backward from right now and write down everything of importance that ever happened to you from this very moment until you were a scrawny, little kid. then sort through it, looking for anything that might ruin your eternity. yes, recount every action and inaction, positive or negative back to day one. then, delete your limitations, fears, taboos and all religious nonsense and limitation, as any of those things could be harmful to your health while performing ritual black magick. it would be just your luck to have some solicitous spirit jump up right in the middle of your ritual and cry "but you are just as guilty as she" now, if instead of assuming the proper posture and commanding "die, son-of-a-bitch" you instead inquire "i am" then all is lost

RABBI MOSHE WISNEFSKY APPLES FROM THE ORCHARD THE ARIZAL ON THE PARASHAH

ruction of the second temple. although z feir anpin and nukva are undergoing constant changes regarding their stage and state of development and union, these changes occur in the context of specific time cycles or progressions. there is, for example, the daily cycle, the weekly cycle, the monthly cycle, and the yearly cycle, etc. all the changing natures of these times, which occasion the various religious observances associated with them (prayer, shabbat, rosh chodesh, holidays, etc) are caused by the changing states of development and coupling of these partzufim. z feir anpin is the male and nukva is the female; their coupling produces goffspring h in the form of the divine beneficence that grants existence and proper functioning of reality. the more developed and unified they are, the m

seeks to divert the individual fs attention from divine matters.sometimes with material indulgence, sometimes with substitute forms of spirituality.in order to aggrandize his concern with and focus on himself. this subterfuge can express itself very refined ways, also, such as abstract intellectual or artistic pursuits, utopian pursuits, or even the pursuit of good deeds.if done as an escape from religious obligation or for non-altruistic motivation. in most people, their conscious mind is a blend of mostly animal ego and some deep desires of the divine soul seeking to surface. the result of this is that most secular human artistic (and even scientific) creation and innovation is largely an expression the basest human/animal drives, although, as we said, the element of the divine soul seek

revelations caused by the elevation of the sparks, as is known. for [the redemption will not occur] until all the gsouls h are released from the gbody h of evil, and ascend every day into holiness. our sages state that gthe son of david [i.e, the messiah] will not come until all the souls have been emptied out of the body, h5 referring to the celestial storehouse of souls (this is one reason why religious jews seek to have as many children as possible) here, this phrase is being used allegorically, the gsouls h meaning the sparks of holiness hidden within the coarse gbody h of evil. this is alluded to by the words guntil kadesh, h meaning, until they ascend and become sanctified to come afterwards into this world as gweekday souls, h as is known. kadesh means gholiness. h [this sentence m

lination does not [fully] enter the person until he is 13 years old, his limbs are used to [following] the evil inclination from the day he is born. the gevil inclination, h the drive each of is born with toward fulfilling our material needs and focusing mentally on ourselves, is present from birth. in contrast, the altruistic ggood inclination h enters consciousness slowly, beginning with proper religious education and blooming fully at age 13 for boys and 12 for girls. thus, the evil inclination is at a distinct advantage, having accustomed the individual fs body to taking its orders for 12-13 years. when a person desires to repent, he ggoes out to war against his enemies, h i.e, the evil inclination and the limbs of his body. g cand g-d, your g-d, delivers it to you c h refers to the ev

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

erein. this extensive and clarifying narrative demands rereading again and again. the golden dawn is a "system" of discovering, dialoguing, and even negotiating with the collective unconscious and is not a religion, philosophy or even a cult. as the candidate is about to take the obligation of the neophyte, the hierophant assures him or her that "there is nothing contrary to your civil, moral, or religious duties in this obligation" furthermore, the hierophant reminds the candidate to respect all religions, for each contains a spark of the divine. the key theme in both the neophyte grade and the ritual of adeptus minor is that of being brought to the light. this light is also referred to as l.v.x. in the introduction to volumes 111 and iv of the golden dawn, regardie's excellent analysis o

l weeks, read edition contained herein. i would this gives the student an overview of not only the hermetic order of the allow this material to settle deeply or associating any variety of images the first knowledge lecture and then the hebrew alphabet and its correspondences, knowledge lecture. within this system, of religion or sect. its letters are considered doorways into the inner world-teric religious organization. a convenient place them on "flash" cards, not unlike 51, zealand, and power: isquieting poignancy. r2d nze king must die-:dge from the victorian k- i-7g life. i am convinced g; 11-ork. work blindly, i rh in itself has absolute zrk. and hard work it is:neophyte cere- f r ?rentually being linked &e- lowing suggestions. for c- iti on to the original -5 careful readin

, we should be acquainted with-the details for <15> example of the line of descent from, say, 1614 to 1865. current within the present day order was the belief that at various dates within the period named, the order as an organised body of students ceased to exist. instead, there was an oral continuation of teaching from isolated initiates here, there and everywhere, until more recent times when religious and political conditions did not militate against the advisability of formulating a group. with the institution of a definite body, the original system of grades was re-established, and the systems of alchemy, the qabalah andmagic once more were taught to zealous, aspiring neophytes. as a cloak to their activities, they likewise continued in the early agreement of the order which was "fi

e sole import attached to the word"initiation"in this connection is that of the formal acceptance of a boy at puberty, for example, into the communal life of his people. moreover, jane e. harrison, sir j. g. frazer and a host of other excellent scholars have provided us with a wealth of anthropological data so far as the greeks <32> and romans of another day are concerned. some knowledge of their religious rites and observances is displayed. the daily habits of the people are carefully noted and recorded in many a tome. they also describe, though more haltingly and with rather less confidence, the circumstances surrounding the ancient mystery cults. the symbolism of these mysteryreligions was, we see, in certain aspects uniform. all were dramas of redemption, plans of salvation, ways of pu

n principles of the philosophy of their mysteries, none felt it incumbent upon hiiself to record in black and white the practical details of the magical technique. hence it is, in the absence of a description of the practical elements of these rites, that our scholars, anthropologists and philosophers do not feel inclined to attach much significance to the ancient mysteries other than an ordinary religious or philosophic one. that is, it is their belief that ordinary notions of an advanced theological or philosophical nature were promulgated therein. for i may add in passing the complete esoteric technique of initiation has never previously passed into open publication. it has been reserved in all secrecy for initiates of the sacred schools of magic. while various documents explaining the

RELIGIOUS TENANTS OF THE YEZIDI

er key of solomon (the goetia) trans. s.l.mcgregor mathers, ed by aleister crowl.m during our stay at mosul in 1842-44, we made several excursions among the yezeedees, visiting all their principal villages in the neighbourhood, and holding frequent intercourse with the beads of their community. in 1850 we resided for two months at ba-sheaka, where we had an opportunity of witnessing many of their religious rites and ceremonies, and of gleaning a mass of information respecting them which i shall now proceed to lay before my readers. the family name of the tribe is d seni (pl. duasen) by which title they are frequently spoken of both by christians and mohammedans. they themselves also use the term, but can give no other account of its origin than that it is the ancient appellation of their r

(pl. duasen) by which title they are frequently spoken of both by christians and mohammedans. they themselves also use the term, but can give no other account of its origin than that it is the ancient appellation of their race, which according to their account existed in these parts from time immemorial. whence they sprung, from what source they derived their creed, what is meant by many of their religious observances, are subjects upon which the yezeedees of the present day are thoroughly ignorant. in physiognomy they resemble the coords, whose language is in general use among them, and i think it cannot be doubted that p. 112 they are of the same stock with this people, and descendants of the ancient assyrians. the origin of the name of "yezeedee" by which they are more commonly known, i

p some among them have learned from the christians to support by a quotation from the 150th psalm. their tunes are monotonous in the extreme, and the strain, though sometimes plaintive, is generally loud and harsh, and would be deemed any thing but melodious to one accustomed to the solemn harmony of our church music. twice a year they make the pilgrimage to sheikh adi, where they celebrate their religious rites with great rejoicing and festivity. mr. layard was present on one of these occasions, and describes the uncontrollable excitement which prevailed among those present during the performance of the kaww ls. fr. 1 the above, so far as i have been able to learn, forms the substance of their direct worship of the supreme being. the adoration of the run by the yezeedees may be regarded a

of the country has, i have no doubt, some connexion with this superstition. for the same reason they consider fish moob rak, i.e. blessed, the term which they apply to every thing sacred, and which reminds one of the aghiasmata of the greeks. i have been informed that only a few of the lowest classes among them ever eat any produce of the waters. the above rites and ceremonies form the sum of the religious worship offered up by the yezeedees to the good deity. they have no forms of prayer, and it is shocking to any christian mind to bear them allow with the utmost indifference that they never pray. i have frequently urged upon them the duty of acknowledging their dependence on god on the ground of common gratitude, natural instinct, and what they admit to be due p. 118 to any earthly benef

d ba-haz ni, the adjoining village, being the two places where most of the shaks exist, they are the great scene of yezeedee festivities. i was absent in the tyari country when the chief rites were performed, but mrs. badger having accompanied my sister and mr. rassam on a visit to ba- sheaka, took several notes of the proceedings on that occasion, which i shall insert here as illustrative of the religious customs of the yezeedees, and as introductory to the succeeding remarks on their worship of the evil principle "april 18th, 1850--we took a walk through the village this morning, and noticed a small enclosure which was erected by a yezeedee last year, and who is said to have been incited thereto by the evil principle in a dream. the promise made to him if he obeyed was, that all persons

RITUALS OF THE SOCIETAS ROSICRUCIANIS IN ANGLIA

g enabled to produce more andwonderful effects, he is brought nearer to god and his perfections; but perfection is obtainable onlyin the spirit when beyond these realms.as rosicrucians we are laborious, frugal, temperate, discreet and true, and. while acknowledgingourselves lovers of truth and virtue we neither dream of, hope for, nor endeavour to make anyreformation in the world through abstract religious dogmas.yet we exclaim, how glorious are the creator222s works; we watch the germinal powers of the planttransmute the fixed air and the elementary base water, into grass or leaves; and then feeding onrituals of the societas rosicrucianis in angliasecond section colour blue22 these, the organic principle in the animal exercises a chemistry most wonderful and stupendous, forthe unseen agen

ssence of fire: the holy andperpetual fire which was under the constant care of the virgin priestesses, whose services of puritywere preserved in the doctrines taught in persia, egypt, greece and italy, and were termed 'perpetualwatches' or 'watch lights, this observance is still maintained in the persian, roman and hebrewfaiths. it is their 'ignis aeternus, the holy ceremony of fire pervades all religious systems, being auniversal symbol in worship, a visible representation of the spirit of the invisible. for as fire iseverywhere, so god is everywhere, about us and in us, and thus we are god-lighted men. this wasthe teaching of the fire-worshippers, who claimed the discovery of the eternal fire, or thus to haveapproached their master in the 'immortal light. the comprehension of all this

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

. the book shall justify the affirmation, and the affirmation is this: there was and there still is a potent and real magic; all that is said of it in legend is true after a certain manner, yet contrary to the common course of popular exaggeration it falls below the truth. there is indeed a formidable secret, the revelation of which has once already transformed the world, as testified in egyptian religious tradition, summarized symbolically by moses at the beginning of genesis. this secret constitutes the fatal science of good and evil, and the consequence of its revelation is death. moses depicts it under the figure of a tree which stands in the midst of the terrestrial paradise, is in proximity to the tree of life and is joined at the root thereto. at the foot of this tree is the source

magical secret, as we shall show later on. this absence of epics continues till our romance of the rose; but the rose-symbol, which expresses also the mysterious and magical sense of dante's poem, is borrowed from the transcendent kabalah, and it is time that we should have recourse to this vast and hidden source of universal philosophy. the bible, with all its allegories, gives expression to the religious knowledge of the hebrews only in an incomplete and veiled manner. the book which we have mentioned, the hieratic characters of which we shall explain subsequently, that book which william postel names the genesis of enoch, existed certainly before moses and the prophets, whose doctrine, fundamentally identical with that of the ancient egyptians, had also its exotericism and its veils. wh

was not committed to writing until a later period and under veils even less transparent. thus arose a second and unknown bible, or rather one which was not comprehended by christians, a storehouse, so they say, of monstrous absurdities for in this case believers, involved by the same ignorance, speak the language of sceptics but a monument, as we affirm, which comprises all that philosophical and religious genius has ever accomplished or imagined in the sublime order, a treasure encompassed by thorns, a diamond concealed in a rude and opaque stone: our readers will have guessed already that we refer to the talmud. how strange is the destiny of the jews, those scapegoats, martyrs and saviours of the world, a people full of vitality, a bold and hardy race, which persecutions have preserved i

te which can be held in the hollow of an infant's hand; ten figures and twenty-two letters, a triangle, a square and a circle: such are the elements of the kabalah. such also are the component principles of the written word, reflection of that spoken word which created the world! all truly dogmatic religions have issued from the kabalah and return therein. whatsoever is grand or scientific in the religious dreams of the illuminated, of jacob bohme, swedenborg, saint-martin and the rest, is borrowed from the kabalah; all masonic associations owe to it their secrets and their symbols. the kabalah alone consecrates the alliance of universal reason and the divine word; it establishes by the counterpoise of two forces in apparent opposition, the eternal balance of being; it alone reconciles rea

istianity has inscribed its name. we have therefore no wish to attack christianity: far from it, we seek to explain and accomplish it. intelligence and will have exercised alternately their power in the world; religion and philosophy are still at war with one another, but they must end in agreement. the provisional object of christianity was to establish, by obedience and faith, a supernatural or religious equality among men, to immobilize intelligence by faith, so as to provide a fulcrum for virtue which came for the destruction of the aristocracy of science, or rather to replace that aristocracy, then already destroyed. philosophy, on the contrary, has laboured to bring back men by liberty and reason to natural inequality, and to substitute wits for virtue by inaugurating the reign of in

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

its devouring head beneath the foot of a virgin, the type of initiation .that virgin who presents a little new-born child to the adoration of three magi and 6 the ritual of transcendental magic receives from them, in exchange for this favour, gold, myrrh and frankincense. so does doctrine serve in all hieratic religions to veil the secret of natural forces which the initiate has at his disposal. religious formulae are the summaries of those words full of mystery and power which make the gods descend from heaven and become subject to the will of men. judea borrowed its secrets from egypt; greece sent her hierophants and later her theosophists to the school of the great prophets; the rome of the caesars, mined by the initiation of the catacombs, collapsed one day into the church, and a symb

rving the popes of the middle ages who opposed religion as a check upon the absolute power of kings; but he protests with the revolutionary centuries against the servitude of conscience which the pontifical keys would enchain. he is more protestant than luther, since he does not even believe in the infallibility of the augsbourg confession, and more catholic than the pope, for he has no fear that religious unity will be broken by the malevolence of courts. he trusts in god rather than roman policy for the salvation of the unity idea; he respects the old age of the church, but he has no fear that she will die; he knows that her apparent death will be a transfiguration and a glorious assumption. the author of this book calls upon the eastern magi to come forward and recognize once again that

st beforehand, he also was afraid, not for himself but for his comrade. many persons will say that it is difficult and even impossible to attain such resolution, that strength in volition and energy in character are natural gifts. i do not dispute it, but i would point out also that habit can reform nature; volition can be perfected by education, and, as intimated otherwise, all magical, like all religious, ceremonial has no other end but thus to test, exercise and habituate the will by perseverance and by force. the more difficult and laborious the exercises, the greater their effect, as we have now advanced far enough to see. if it have been hitherto impossible to direct the phenomena of magnetism, it is because an initiated and truly emancipated operator has not yet appeared. who can bo

l; he sums also the whole science of characters in two signs, the macrocosmic and microcosmic stars. it was sufficient for the adepts, and it was important not to initiate the vulgar. paracelsus therefore did not teach the ritual, but he practised, and his practice was a sequence of miracles. we have spoken of the magical importance of the triad and tetrad. their combination constitutes the great religious and kabalistic number which represents the universal synthesis and comprises the sacred septenary. in the belief of the ancients, the world is governed by seven secondary causes. secundii, as trithemius calls them. which are the universal forces designated by moses under the the septenary of talismans 43 plural name of eloim, gods. these forces, analogous and contrary to one another, pro

the sick about to fall under the scythe of saturn; and orders, consecrating the priesthood of light, is marked more especially by the characters of the sun. almost all these analogies were observed by the learned dupuis, who thence concluded that all religions were false, instead of recognizing the sanctity and perpetuity of a single dogma, ever reproduced in the universal symbolism of successive religious forms. he failed to understand the permanent revelation transmitted to human genius by the harmonies of nature, and beheld only a catalogue of errors in this chain of speaking images and eternal truths. magical works are also seven in number (1) works of light and riches, under the auspices of the sun (2) works of divination and mystery, under the invocation of the moon (3) works of skil

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

een an unconfirmed rumor that britain has a well-established 'esoteric' research group under governmental control. whatever the true situation at present, such matters may be traced back to at least as early as rd john dee,[7] who was cartographer, seer, astrologer and cryptographer for queen elizabeth i. kirk, however, was not remotely interested in militaristic applications, for he was a deeply religious and mystical man, and a hard-working, active clergyman devoted to the betterment of his flock. but there is a further element to kirk, for in addition to recording fairy lore and celtic belief, he undoubtedly lived through such belief himself. kirk was a seventh son, such as were widely believed to be susceptible to magical and spiritual dimensions. despite his important role as a church

ns were not potential tools of espionage, nor were they simply barbaric or primitive superstitions, or what today we call 'folklore. for kirk the second sight and the fairy race were realities, though he could and frequently did make very careful distinction between such realities and common superstition or debased magical practices. thus his work, though it never departs too far from an orthodox religious framework, is more in the tradition of merlin, dee and nostradamus than we might realize at first glance. http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_1.htm (4 of 8 [10/9/2001 12:33:52 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 1-9) figure 1. human and otherworld entities introduction 6 to this general connection we can add one of the classic examples of seership and contact with the fairy rea

support a deeply philosophical or metaphysical argument and not with the intent of making a definitive or preliminary collection of gaelic beliefs in its own right. the techniques that kirk uses to present his case are those of the philosopher and scholar of his period, and they are easily overlooked by the modern reader, even by the trained folklorist, as they derive from a type of classical and religious education and training in logical presentation no longer used today. we shall return shortly to the ultimate aim and nature of his argument. second, he is not presenting 'evidence' of the second sight, not even in the manner undertaken in the letter that he quotes from lord tarbett (pages 39-45, or in other contemporary or later collections of such evidence. the sight itself is presented

ing of his text for the bishop. this brings us to kirk's stated purpose in writing the book, which was to counter atheism and materialism (page 47. http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_10.htm (1 of 8 [10/9/2001 12:34:12 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 10-18) introduction 11 thus we have the remarkable situation in which a clergyman, writing in a period in which violent revolution and religious war were barely over, produces a carefully reasoned argument of the existence of another world, mirroring our own. he then proceeds to demonstrate that the unquestionable presence of the second sight, even in unwilling or unwitting persons, reveals this other world and its normally invisible inhabitants. this, he says, will counter the growth of atheism and materialism, for it is proof p

ith the evidence from scotland in the forms of techniques and examples, but from biblical evidence (carefully cited in chapter and verse, and classical precedent. there is also more than a hint that kirk, as an episcopalian minister albeit superficially politically reformed by a mainly presbyterian dominance in scotland, sought to counter some of the repressive bloodthirsty attitudes of christian religious extremism. he felt that his proof of another dimension and its inhabitants might lead to a more civilized and truly christian accommodation of other people's beliefs. in this sense the secret commonwealth is not only an unusual text, but probably a very daring one. kirk's arguments are so well reasoned and go supported by biblical precedents that it would have been difficult to accuse hi

RUBY TABLET OF SET

hievements, correspondingly, were in areas such as astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and architecture. egyptian religion and art tend to be oversimplified in many modern treatments, due in part to the absence of verifiable data in later history until the deciphering of hieroglyphics by champollion in 1822. because of the destruction and despoliation of ancient egyptian records and works of art by religious fanatics of later eras, it is estimated that modern archaeologists have at their disposal less than 10% of that country's cultural creations from which to reconstruct its values. classification: v2- 102- 1 author: michael a. aquino vi date: october 1, xix revision: january 1, xxiv html revision: oct 07, 1997 ce subject: philosophy reading list #1 #2, 16l, 16m the egyptians perceived the

olved with human fortunes on a daily basis. hence the "life experience" of a mesopotamian was as much magical as it was rational. whereas the egyptian political system was strongly centralized and monarchic, the earliest mesopotamian cultures tended to be localized and democratic, with kings or military leaders being selected by elders when emergencies arose. the transcultural "binding force" was religious tradition. permanent monarchies are assumed to have arisen because of increasing external threats to local tribes, coupled with ambition by would-be dynastic founders. in mesopotamia the role of the city-state king was similar to that of the egyptian pharaoh, except that the king was responsible to the gods for the running of the kingdom, and himself was not considered one of them [fewer

mulford sibley (author of #16a) comments "one of the most striking tendencies in the four hellenistic schools of thought was the effort to separate the study of ethics from that of politics. whereas in the classical thinkers the good for the individual and the good for the community had to be pursued together, post-classical thought often implied their fission. the individual's salvation. to use religious terminology already employed in the second century. was attainable apart from political justice. his ends lay beyond the goals sought by princes and judges" pre-christian rome early rome was characterized by a mixed constitution, with political participation by elite executives (consuls, aristocrats (patricians, and the masses (plebians, the latter two groups having representation in the

ater and lesser complexity, so are the universal laws. at the top is eternal law, which more or less equates with the mind of god. accordingly it is intelligible only to god. next is natural law, which is eternal law to the extent that human reason can detect consistencies in it. here would be found "scientific laws" while natural law is comprehended through reason, divine law is revealed through religious revelation. through christ and the christian church. divine law and natural law "rank" more or less side-by-side. lowest on the scale is human law, a term which encompasses laws which mankind makes in imitation of and towards the "good" perceived in/revealed by natural and divine law. the "three drives" which tempt man away from goodness are (1) wealth (2) carnal pleasure, and (3) honor/

he excused all incidental excesses in a state only if an ultimate, common good could thereby be more quickly and thoroughly attained. the reformation by 1500, as a consequence of the invention of the printing press, europe possessed an estimated 9 million books, as opposed to fewer than 100 thousand hand-wrought manuscripts ca. 1450. the exchange of ideas was accelerated, and with it criticism of religious, political, and social norms. classification: v2- 102- 10 author: michael a. aquino vi date: october 1, xix revision: january 1, xxiv html revision: oct 13, 1997 ce subject: philosophy reading list: 16a, 16l, 16m the reformation, usually dated ca. 1517 to ca. 1648 (end of the thirty years' war, was a 16th century religious movement aimed at correcting real or assumed abuses in the roman

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

f some supernal entity that had its being at least halfway between the mortal and the divine? more than halfway, many would have argued, for gibreel had spent the greater part of his unique career incarnating, with absolute conviction, the countless deities of the subcontinent in the popular genre movies known as "theologicals. it was part of the magic of his persona that he succeeded in crossing religious boundaries without giving offence. blue-skinned as krishna he danced, flute in hand, amongst the beauteous gopis and their udder-heavy cows; with upturned palms, serene, he meditated (as gautama) upon humanity's suffering beneath a studio-rickety bodhi-tree. on those infrequent occasions when he descended from the heavens he never went too far, playing, for example, both the grand mughal

ch he had placed demurely over his face, while his new husband, babasaheb mhatre, reached lovingly towards him to remove the fabric, and gaze at his features in a mirror placed in his lap. this dream of marrying the babasaheb brought him awake, flushing hotly for shame, and after that he began to worry about the impurity in his make-up that could create such terrible visions. mostly, however, his religious faith was a low-key thing, a part of him that required no more special attention than any other. when babasaheb mhatre took him into his home it confirmed to the young man that he was not alone in the world, that something was taking care of him, so he was not entirely surprised when the babasaheb called him into the blue office on the morning of his twenty-first birthday and sacked him

fidence that had made it instantly identifiable and becoming narrower, undecorated, purified. eventually the letters stopped, but saladin heard from other sources that his father's preoccupation with the supernatural had continued to deepen, until finally he had become a recluse, perhaps in order to escape this world in which demons could steal his own son's body, a world unsafe for a man of true religious faith. his father's transformation disconcerted saladin, even at such a great distance. his parents had been muslims in the lackadaisical, light manner of bombayites; changez chamchawala had seemed far more godlike to his infant son than any allah. that this father, this profane deity (albeit now discredited, had dropped to his knees in his old age and started bowing towards mecca was ha

e thought. they want to behave the way they have seen hijackers behaving in the movies and on tv; they arc reality aping a crude image of itself, they are worms swallowing their tails. but she, the woman _knows. while dara, buta, man singh strutted and pranced, she became quiet, her eyes turned inwards, and she scared the passengers stiff. what did they want? nothing new. an independent homeland, religious freedom, release of political detainees, justice, ransom money, a safe-conduct to a country of their choice. many of the passengers came to sympathize with them, even though they were under constant threat of execution. if you live in the twentieth century you do not find it hard to see yourself in those, more desperate than yourself, who seek to shape it to their will. after they landed

searches the world for statues of alien gods, to attract new pilgrims to the city of sand; but in this, too, they have competitors. down in sheba a great temple has been built, a shrine to rival the house of the black stone. many pilgrims have been tempted south, and the numbers at the jahilia fairgrounds are falling. at the recommendation of abu simbel, the rulers of jahilia have added to their religious practices the tempting spices of profanity. the city has become famous for its licentiousness, as a gambling den, a whorehouse, a place of bawdy songs and wild, loud music. on one occasion some members of the tribe of shark went too far in their greed for pilgrim money. the gatekeepers at the house began demanding bribes from weary voyagers; four of them, piqued at receiving no more than

SAPPHIRE TABLE OF SET MAIN

it be "taught" to those of lesser initiatory degrees. like the ii and the iii, it is something that the individual must seek for himself and attain through the illumination of his will. hence the title of this letter "those who seek shall find" and thus again the meaningful use of the term "recognition" as opposed to promotion. the term "master" is one of preeminent honor in all of the artistic, religious, and philosophical pursuits of mankind. a master is one who comprehends, who knows, who possesses all skills. appropriately a master is regarded by others as a teacher, even though be may regard himself as a "student" of his calling. in magic and metaphysics, the master is one who understands those things which others call "occult" or "mysteries. he author: michael a. aquino vi temple of

in magick in theory and practice, states that it is a degree "wholly free from all limitations soever, existing in the nature of all things without discriminations or quantity or quality between them" in an "ideal" golden dawn context, an ipsissimus is one who has finally and completely merged his consciousness with that of the god/universe, thereby attaining the ultimate goal of all conventional religious systems] within the methodology of the left-hand path, then, this degree has an almost 180 opposite meaning. it describes an individual who has severed his connections with the ou altogether, existing thereafter only in the pu. thus he has no more use for logic, or for magic, because in a 100% pu environment everything is as he nonconsciously desires it to be. the pu adapts itself instan

public representative of the temple of set. i will publish articles and books on the temple of set (and other onically relevant material. i will write on setian philosophy, uralic traditions, runemagic, my personal/initiatory past, gurdjieffian work. according to my current plans my first (finnish language) book will discuss "21st century religion. it will give an essentially setian vision of the religious consciousness of the 21st century. it will include a suggestive outline of the philosophical principles, cosmological approaches, psychological models etc. that i claim will be current in the 21st century. the essential thing is the open, eclectic, individualistic approach to all phenomena (well, this is too long to be described here in any meaningful detail- but i'm sure i'll discuss th

SAPPHIRE TABLET OF SET

it be "taught" to those of lesser initiatory degrees. like the ii and the iii, it is something that the individual must seek for himself and attain through the illumination of his will. hence the title of this letter "those who seek shall find" and thus again the meaningful use of the term "recognition" as opposed to promotion. the term "master" is one of preeminent honor in all of the artistic, religious, and philosophical pursuits of mankind. a master is one who comprehends, who knows, who possesses all skills. appropriately a master is regarded by others as a teacher, even though be may regard himself as a "student" of his calling. in magic and metaphysics, the master is one who understands those things which others call "occult" or "mysteries. he author: michael a. aquino vi temple of

in magick in theory and practice, states that it is a degree "wholly free from all limitations soever, existing in the nature of all things without discriminations or quantity or quality between them" in an "ideal" golden dawn context, an ipsissimus is one who has finally and completely merged his consciousness with that of the god/universe, thereby attaining the ultimate goal of all conventional religious systems] within the methodology of the left-hand path, then, this degree has an almost 180 opposite meaning. it describes an individual who has severed his connections with the ou altogether, existing thereafter only in the pu. thus he has no more use for logic, or for magic, because in a 100% pu environment everything is as he nonconsciously desires it to be. the pu adapts itself instan

public representative of the temple of set. i will publish articles and books on the temple of set (and other onically relevant material. i will write on setian philosophy, uralic traditions, runemagic, my personal/initiatory past, gurdjieffian work. according to my current plans my first (finnish language) book will discuss "21st century religion. it will give an essentially setian vision of the religious consciousness of the 21st century. it will include a suggestive outline of the philosophical principles, cosmological approaches, psychological models etc. that i claim will be current in the 21st century. the essential thing is the open, eclectic, individualistic approach to all phenomena (well, this is too long to be described here in any meaningful detail- but i'm sure i'll discuss th

SATANGEL

ds are smeared with the blood of infants, the chief of the army of hell. arch-demon corresponding to kether. the name has been compared with the punic root mlk, meaning offering and sacrifice. morail (grimorium verum. a subordinate spirit of lucifer. has power to make everything in the world invisible. morpheus (greek, morphe, meaning form, shape. the son of hypnos, the lord of dreams. of no real religious significance, although called in some forms of incantation. muisisin (grimorium verum. a subordinate spirit of lucifer. has power over great lords; he instructs them in all that passes in the republics and the realms of the allies. murmus, murmur, murmux (goetia, 54th spirit. formerly of the order of thrones, now a duke and earl commanding 30 legions. appears as a warrior riding a griffi

SATANIC BIBLE

[iii [iv [v (air--book of lucifer- the enlightenment i. wanted: god- dead or alive ii. the god you save may be yourself iii. some evidence of a new satanic age iv. hell, the devil, and how to sell your soul v. love and hate vi. satanic sex vii. not all vampires suck blood viii. indulgence. not compulsion ix. on the choice of a human sacrifice x. life after death through fulfillment of the ego xi. religious holidays xii. the black mass (earth--book of belial- the mastery of the earth i. theory and practice of satanic magic (definition and purpose of lesser and greater magic) ii. the three types of satanic ritual iii. the ritual, or "intellectual decompression, chamber iv. the ingredients used in the performance of satanic magic: a. desire b. timing c. imagery d. direction e. the balance fac

the carnal side of humanity. there seemed to be nothing spiritual about his "church. as i listened to lavey talk that first time, i realized at once there was nothing to connect him with the occult business. he could not even be described as metaphysical. the brutally frank talk he delivered was pragmatic, relativistic, and above all rational. it was unorthodox, to be sure: a blast at established religious worship, repression of humanity's carnal nature, phony pretense at piety in the course of an existence based on dog-eat-dog material pursuits. it was also full of sardonic satire on human folly. but most important of all, the talk was logical. it was not quack magic that lavey offered his audience. it was common sense philosophy based on the realities of life. after i became convinced of

rces. and third, the compleat witch, a bestseller in italy, but, sadly, allowed by its american publisher to go out of print with its potential unfulfilled. lavey's spreading out from organized church activities to writing books for worldwide distribution has, of course, greatly expanded church of satan membership. satanism's growing popularity has naturally been accompanied by scare stories from religious groups complaining that the satanic bible now outsells the christian bible on college campuses and is a leading causative factor in youngsters' turning away from god. and certainly one suspects that pope paul had lavey in mind when he issued his worldwide proclamation two years ago that the devil is "alive" and "a person, a living, fire-breathing character spreading evil over the earth

causative factor in youngsters' turning away from god. and certainly one suspects that pope paul had lavey in mind when he issued his worldwide proclamation two years ago that the devil is "alive" and "a person, a living, fire-breathing character spreading evil over the earth. lavey, maintaining that "evil" is "live" spelled backward and should be indulged in and enjoyed, answers the pope and the religious scare groups this way "people, organizations, nations are making millions of dollars off us. what would they do without us? without the church of satan, they wouldn't have anybody to rage at and to take the blame for all the rotten things happening in the world. if they really feel this way, they shouldn't have blown us out of proportion. what you really have to believe instead is that t

what you see may not always please you; but you will see! here is satanic thought from a truly satanic point of view. the church of satan san fransisco, walpurgisnacht 1968 prologue the gods of the right-hand path have bickered and quarreled for an entire age of earth. each of these deities and their respective priests and ministers have attempted to find wisdom in their own lies. the ice age of religious thought can last but a limited time in this great scheme of human existence. the gods of wisdom-defiled have had their saga, and their millennium hath become as reality. each, with his own "divine" path to paradise, hath accused the other of heresies and spiritual indiscretions. the ring of the nibelungen doth carry an everlasting curse, but only because those who seek it think in terms

SATANIC RITUALS

ide he can call the names of the gods of the abyss with freedom from guilt and immunity from harm. the resultant feeling will be most gratifying. but there is no turning back. here are the rites of lucifer. for those who dare remove their mantles of self-righteousness. anton szandor lavey the church of satan 25 december vi anno satanas concerning the rituals fantasy plays an important part in any religious curriculum, for the subjective mind is less discriminating about the quality of its food than it is about the taste. the religious rites of satanism differ from those of other faiths in that fantasy is not employed to control the practitioners of the rites. the ingredients of satanic ritual are not designed to hold the celebrant in thrall, but rather to serve his goals. thus, fantasy is

hose who disagree with the non-christian definition of satanist, as set forth in the satanic bible, should examine the basis of that disagreement. it surely stems from one of two sources "common knowledge" or scripturally founded propaganda "satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years"-the ninth satanic statement-is not limited just to the religious organization referred to as "the church" how convenient an enemy the devil has been for the weak and insecure! crusaders against the devil maintained that satan, even if accepted on an anthropomorphic basis, was neither so evil nor so dangerous that he could not be personally vanquished. and so satan has existed as a convenient enemy to be employed when needed-one who could be beaten by

ere occasionally prone to take part in heretical rites, it is understandable when one considers the social conditions at the time. for centuries in france many men became priests because they were from upper class families and the priesthood was de rigeur for at least one son of cultured or well-to-do parents. the first son became a military officer or politician, and the second was sent off to a religious order. so controversial was this arrangement that it produced a catch phrase "le rouge et noir" if one of the young men happened to be of intellectual bent, which was often the case, the priesthood provided virtually the only access to libraries and avenues of higher learning. it was to be expected that the hermetic principle of "as above, so below" and vice versa would apply to gifted a

s the usual quota. what is remarkable is that, unlike die shunned forces of darkness so often encountered in mythology and religion, russian devils were regarded with great reverence and/or enjoyment. for this reason, the christian church had a very difficult time fighting the devil in its eastern rite. the persistence of satan, especially among the muzhiks (peasants, in the early days of russian religious orthodoxy required a revamping of the old gods that made roman christian transitional techniques pale by comparison. unable to banish the old gods of russia by simply turning them into devils (most were benevolent devils, to begin with, the christian policy makers supplied their own tailormade satan as a sort of catchall evil force. the old russian gods of wrath and pleasure were relieve

efs, thereby placing both the simple muzhik, who cherished the good old devils, and the educated, in mortal fear of any remnant of dark forces. thus a satanic underground that was carefully cloaked in christian trappings was bound to develop in russia. those who entered such sects were either driven by emotion alone (the followers) or by emotion and reason (the leaders. by the nineteenth century, religious severity had reached its zenith, with virtually all of russia adhering to the orthodox church. but the old gods were preparing a vehicle of retaliation: the men of "god" were revealed, as in other countries, as the real villains, but they were so steeped in their holy selfrighteousness, they were unable to imagine their own disintegration. out of the morass of "goodness" flickered an occ

SATANICON

farian wisdom and black art, the creator and the barbarian will experience strength and the development of a will of power! satanicon: the book of evil, touches all facets of life and death. in satan s honor! adrian clavex the blackstar church 1993 ce the year one of the age of evil -1- book i: the writ of an antichrist -2- the denouncement of theism: diabolical and xian so many are as infants to religious thought and understanding. so many wander for so long in the gray realm of uncertainty questioning, seeking answers (with good reason; and then searching some more for the truly acceptable. the recognition of truth and value in religious philosophy must begin with personal understanding: looking inward not outward (especially not toward religious doctrines which espouse an unproven/unpro

! we must educate our children about the falsehoods and dangers of the doctrines of deceit and their insidious effects u