thorhammer
Next question. I'm hoping this will spark a good discussion that might even be helpful to others down the track.
I practice yoga, in the sense of the modern fad for yoga-as-fitness. I also practice yoga in the sense that Crowley discusses in the beginning of Liber ABA (I haven't made it far in yet
), though not well. I work hard at it though. I have always seen the use of the body as a magickal act, and thus my physical life is a constant sacrament, always being perfected and tweaked towards what I feel is the ultimate in Niyama (loosely, clean-living). Hence my understanding of movement as meditation is deeper than most; karate, tai chi and yoga have all played an instrumental part in my spiritual formation.
In the use of my body as a magickal tool/weapon, I have come to realise recently that in the practice of Western esotericism/magick, there are a number of different aspects of physicality, aside from sex magick which I am not going to touch on (please do me the courtesy of leaving it out as far as possible - it will only confuse me here). These aspects are:
1. yoga in the Crowleyan sense (one asana practiced for the purpose of focusing the mind)
2. the drawing of sigils and marks such as for Goetic daemons and the Pentagrams, Hexagrams, Mark of the Beast etc.
3. the assumption of God-forms
4. the signs of the grades, of L.V.X., N.O.X., Mater Triumphans etc.
I *get* 1. and 2. I'm working on 1. and making good progress from a standing start; the use of 2. has always been a part of my (romanticised) imaginings of ceremonial magick. These I'm cool with.
3. is difficult for me. I've practiced a little with Hoor-Pa-Kraat after reading Rodney Orpheus' Abrahadabra and I found it a very tiring and challenging but ultimately somewhat successful practice. I need to keep working on it, but I don't know enough about the other Gods to work with them as well, and I know that using only one will skew my growth. Also . . . what's it for??? What's the point of it??? Halp!
4., though, is the biggest thing for me. Reading the descriptions of rituals (let's use Liber Resh vel Helios as the example) gives me the impression that one makes the gestures then speaks. I watched a video on youtube recently that I think ceewayne recommended, of the Star Ruby being performed, and the guy doing it made a flurry of movements with his arms that made him look like nothing so much as Michael Jackson and I fully expected that dodgy eighties pirouette to come out. Then he began speaking. I personally got the sense during performing the rituals (Resh again) that the signs are meant to accompany the words. So when I do my dawn Resh, I make Isis Mourning (L.) along with "Hail unto thee . . . strength"; Typhon (V.) with "Who sailest(/travellest) across . . . helm."; and Osiris Risen (X.) with "Hail unto thee . . . night." Now, I know that someone will say do what's right for me, and I am, but I have a broader question.
What the hell do they all mean? In the example of Resh, I can see the three signs as enacting the story of Osiris' death etc, which is okay. I won't even get into the question of how "Old Aeon" that feels to me. But what about the rest of it? I guess I want to know what intent to inject into the making of these signs, as I find them difficult to do with anything approaching meaning. If I'm not feeling ridiculous, that's only because I'm getting inured to the ridiculousness of them.
Wisdom, please?
\m/ Kat
I practice yoga, in the sense of the modern fad for yoga-as-fitness. I also practice yoga in the sense that Crowley discusses in the beginning of Liber ABA (I haven't made it far in yet
), though not well. I work hard at it though. I have always seen the use of the body as a magickal act, and thus my physical life is a constant sacrament, always being perfected and tweaked towards what I feel is the ultimate in Niyama (loosely, clean-living). Hence my understanding of movement as meditation is deeper than most; karate, tai chi and yoga have all played an instrumental part in my spiritual formation.In the use of my body as a magickal tool/weapon, I have come to realise recently that in the practice of Western esotericism/magick, there are a number of different aspects of physicality, aside from sex magick which I am not going to touch on (please do me the courtesy of leaving it out as far as possible - it will only confuse me here). These aspects are:
1. yoga in the Crowleyan sense (one asana practiced for the purpose of focusing the mind)
2. the drawing of sigils and marks such as for Goetic daemons and the Pentagrams, Hexagrams, Mark of the Beast etc.
3. the assumption of God-forms
4. the signs of the grades, of L.V.X., N.O.X., Mater Triumphans etc.
I *get* 1. and 2. I'm working on 1. and making good progress from a standing start; the use of 2. has always been a part of my (romanticised) imaginings of ceremonial magick. These I'm cool with.
3. is difficult for me. I've practiced a little with Hoor-Pa-Kraat after reading Rodney Orpheus' Abrahadabra and I found it a very tiring and challenging but ultimately somewhat successful practice. I need to keep working on it, but I don't know enough about the other Gods to work with them as well, and I know that using only one will skew my growth. Also . . . what's it for??? What's the point of it??? Halp!
4., though, is the biggest thing for me. Reading the descriptions of rituals (let's use Liber Resh vel Helios as the example) gives me the impression that one makes the gestures then speaks. I watched a video on youtube recently that I think ceewayne recommended, of the Star Ruby being performed, and the guy doing it made a flurry of movements with his arms that made him look like nothing so much as Michael Jackson and I fully expected that dodgy eighties pirouette to come out. Then he began speaking. I personally got the sense during performing the rituals (Resh again) that the signs are meant to accompany the words. So when I do my dawn Resh, I make Isis Mourning (L.) along with "Hail unto thee . . . strength"; Typhon (V.) with "Who sailest(/travellest) across . . . helm."; and Osiris Risen (X.) with "Hail unto thee . . . night." Now, I know that someone will say do what's right for me, and I am, but I have a broader question.
What the hell do they all mean? In the example of Resh, I can see the three signs as enacting the story of Osiris' death etc, which is okay. I won't even get into the question of how "Old Aeon" that feels to me. But what about the rest of it? I guess I want to know what intent to inject into the making of these signs, as I find them difficult to do with anything approaching meaning. If I'm not feeling ridiculous, that's only because I'm getting inured to the ridiculousness of them.
Wisdom, please?
\m/ Kat
