Book of Law Study Group 1.38

Grigori

A funny line this one.

"He MUST teach, but he MAY make severe the ordeal"

So the teaching is a requirement, perhaps as suggested in the last thread so that you may learn more deeply. As well as more incentive to evangelize the text ;)

But making the ordeals severe is optional. Is this line just appealing to masochism, or qualifying how important the teaching is by giving permission to make the lessons especially difficult to drive the point home. Though at the same time, perhaps it is saying that the lesson need not be difficult, as its not a MUST, just a MAY.
 

cardlady22

Maybe a warning that the student is the main variable? It may be hard if the teacher discerns it is necessary?

Just for kicks, I placed a word on each of the spheres:
(spellings from ifdawn site)

keter- He
kochma- must
binah- teach
chesed- but
gevurah- he
tipharet- may
netzach- make
hod- severe ~*~ This is the point we're on for the sets of 10, right?
yesod- the
malchut- ordeals
 

ravenest

cardlady22 said:
Maybe a warning that the student is the main variable? It may be hard if the teacher discerns it is necessary?
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Sure, I'd go along with that. Teaching in general but particularly magical / initiatory 'teaching'. But with this in mind, you better be sure that you have one darn good and well-balanced teacher! One that isn't laying a trip on you.

But there is more; the 'teacher' might decide to make the ordeal harder to drive the point home through a particular barrier, or unbalanced tendancy.

The reverse might also apply, I have ceratinly made the 'ordeal' 'easier' in some initatory ceremonies, especially when dealing with the elderly ... as well as being infirm (one particular person) I felt that they had already passed through relevant ordeals in their life.

On another occassion I made it tough ... really tough, I knew the candidate would not only handle it, I knew they would appreciate it and if it wasnt tough enough they would probably go out and find a way to make it tougher (they did anyway) .

If the teacher has 'stuff' with the person whereby they might be doubting this judgement being influenced by unresolved relationships or feelings between them, then they shouldnt be 'working' with them in the first place.

Crowley did choose to make some initatory ceremonial ordeals tough or severe for some (depending on culture and climate ;) ), some get freaked out by them, some laugh at them, (although, in the long term Jane Wolfe seemed to appreciate them) and some of the ordeals aren't enacted officially nowdays as they are are against the laws of some countries.

Regardless, when undertaking movement on this path, you will generate your own ordeals ... and you yourself will (conciously or not) invoke the level of severity, either needed for evolution or to highlight certain unbalances.
 

Aeon418

ravenest said:
The reverse might also apply, I have ceratinly made the 'ordeal' 'easier' in some initatory ceremonies, especially when dealing with the elderly ... as well as being infirm (one particular person) I felt that they had already passed through relevant ordeals in their life.
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Glad you brought that up. The "real" ordeals occur in life situations. Ceremonial ordeals are more like an intiation into the ordeals. Sort of like a first taste before the real deal.
ravenest said:
some of the ordeals aren't enacted officially nowdays as they are are against the laws of some countries.
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The A.'.A.'. Neophyte ritual, Liber Troa, is a good example. There are parts of that initiation that some people might think are a bit erm........ Guantánamo Bay.
As for the Zelator initiation, well being locked up in complete darkness for three days and three nights is probably enough to freak anyone out. :laugh:

I'm not surprised that some lineages of A.'.A.'. swap Pyramidos for Troa, and skip Cadaveris altogether.
ravenest said:
Regardless, when undertaking movement on this path, you will generate your own ordeals ... and you yourself will (conciously or not) invoke the level of severity, either needed for evolution or to highlight certain unbalances.
Click to expand...
Exactly. The earthly teacher or guru is only a symbol of the real Teacher, the HGA, who manifests through the paths of Yod/The Hermit and Lamed/Adjustment. The Light on the Path and the Ordeals on the Path.
 

Yygdrasilian

On Strife

A characteristic of transcendental experiences appearing in accounts from cultures around the world is the severe ordeal presented by a class of ‘spirit beings’ I like to refer to as: The Surgeons. Crowley, I believe, depicts them guarding the Path in atu 18:The Moon. A manifestation of one’s own ego reflected back upon itself in the most gruesome & terrifying forms imaginable. The ‘death’ experience in the Hero’s Journey is a threshold guarded by these... jackals. They are the fire & torment burning off the psychic residue of mortal existence that no One carries aCROSS the BRIDGE.

All too often the experience is suger-coated: presented merely as a symbolic death preceding the new you -minus the intense physical and existential torment One must endure to penetrate the Virgin barrier standing between what once was and what has yet to be. But, as any old school shaman will tell you: undergoing the ordeal won’t feel very symbolic when The Surgeons are decorating their altar with your entrails: Cruelty (9 swords).

The turbulence caused by the petty demands of an ego enslaved to the Elements lends the Surgeons whatever power they possess. They must teach you... this much is certain! Yet the severity of the ordeal is in direct proportion to One’s attachment to those ego-trips unwilling to relinquish control. Ultimately, the Spirit who Triumphs over the elements is a distillation rectified by this process: an essence liberated from the mutual dependence of the ego & the surgeons upon each other for the continued existence of a delusion.

Thus, the word of the Law is Θελημα.
 
AGM Thoth deck - different borders Book of Law Study Group 1.49