ravenest
DING! The bell rings, Umbrae and Aeon tag out and go to their corners, Similia and Ravenest take their place. Whats this? They are just standing their talking ... the crowd is starting to boo ...
Ah yes! Is their any one here that has NEVER developed or changed their opion? Indeed, they do not 'drop out of the sky' fully formed (unless you find it in an old German manuscript stuck between the pages of an old book in an old and mysterious bookstore ). The same thing is in magick. Some ideas that seem in conflict are actually models of understanding your reality when you are at a different stage. Eg. It may be best to protect and contain yourself when starting out with magical work with an LBR or even just a magic circle. It can be a safe little place where the nassties cant get in and get ya. A bit like a fence to keep the nasty dogs next door out of your yard and out of your face. As one develops there is a different formular. One's circle is equilibriated by OPENING each quarter to the varient elements and balancing them with their opposite. One is a formular of devision, the second union; fear and love (note hate and love ). That's when you beam love at the 'nasty' dog next door, after a while, you treat it like a balanced magician ... you are its master, but actually it is just a part of you that can be absorbed by love. They will flop and go legs up for a rub (given enough time patience and love) as long as you are clear and centred in yourself ... and pure ; "Brethren! Purify your hearts!" (Rite of Saturn). One formular is banishing sorta like LBR the other is like Liber Reguli.
WOW! Look how much time and effort and navigating blind alleys he saved you! of course, you might want to explore those alleys yourself and come to the same of different conclusions. Some get it from reading a book, some from life expereince ... the REALLY thick ones (like me) need it all spelled out, acted out, with magical drama, incense, regalia .... bang, bang, bang ... hammer the point home into BOTH conciousnesses.
The TIME and location that influenced much of Cowley's early work and the result of that may be irrevelent to a lot of us, we might go straight to the Tarot, but some might want to know how that particular clock tics and pull it apart right back to his birth.
Yes! And here begins the difficulty of achieving some type or form of balance. I am (was) an Xtremly lunar type. Most of my work was lunar. When I joined the OTO I was somewhat derided by SOME ' self-appointed peers'. THEY didnt need anybody telling them what to do. ( I had previously come to the later male opinion that I was NOT the supreme centre of my universe and that there were things ' beyond and above' me - I wasnt that smart after all!) Part of my curriculum was to do Liber Resh, a very Solar based meditation. I would never have thought to do that myself. Even others in the order didnt do Resh with the reason that it wasn't their thing. (A bit like signing up to do a karate course but refusing to learn footwork and body placement ... sorta). I didnt know! I just did it. After a while the solar started to balance my lunar and I started to become more in balance. I guess it's like a scale, once it starts to tip the weight is more on that side, it starts to slide and increase the force on that side and before you know it the inertia and momentum has become v.difficult to stop or change.)similia said:I think is really true, we are all attracted to what best sits with the predjudices we already have.
similia said:Many things appeal to me so I focus on them, many don't and so I discard them. One thing I've been thinking about about lately is the time of some of Crowley's writings. Like any body of work there is change that comes with time, the opinions of elderly Crowley, are not the same as the writings of young Crowley.
Ah yes! Is their any one here that has NEVER developed or changed their opion? Indeed, they do not 'drop out of the sky' fully formed (unless you find it in an old German manuscript stuck between the pages of an old book in an old and mysterious bookstore ). The same thing is in magick. Some ideas that seem in conflict are actually models of understanding your reality when you are at a different stage. Eg. It may be best to protect and contain yourself when starting out with magical work with an LBR or even just a magic circle. It can be a safe little place where the nassties cant get in and get ya. A bit like a fence to keep the nasty dogs next door out of your yard and out of your face. As one develops there is a different formular. One's circle is equilibriated by OPENING each quarter to the varient elements and balancing them with their opposite. One is a formular of devision, the second union; fear and love (note hate and love ). That's when you beam love at the 'nasty' dog next door, after a while, you treat it like a balanced magician ... you are its master, but actually it is just a part of you that can be absorbed by love. They will flop and go legs up for a rub (given enough time patience and love) as long as you are clear and centred in yourself ... and pure ; "Brethren! Purify your hearts!" (Rite of Saturn). One formular is banishing sorta like LBR the other is like Liber Reguli.
You are about to dive into his scattered attempt. It appears to me his magick was a 'work in progress'.similia said:So some of us will be attracted to his earlier opinions, and some of us his later. I think finding consistency in anyone whose approach to life was to meticulously record and publish each thought is an impossible feat.
similia said:I've was reading an article from Poke Runyon this week, and he carries on rather a lot about Crowley's published experiments with the Goetia (obviously, Runyan being all about the Goetia). runyan focusses on Crowley's early failure to bring a spirit to visable appearance, as a sign that Goetic work is hypnotic; and also Crowley's introduction to the Goetia (where he identifies the spirits as portions of the human brain) as justification for a psychological approach to Goetic work. Both stories contradict Crowley's later published work where he claims success with the methods, and says it really doesn't matter if the spirits are real or imagined.
WOW! Look how much time and effort and navigating blind alleys he saved you! of course, you might want to explore those alleys yourself and come to the same of different conclusions. Some get it from reading a book, some from life expereince ... the REALLY thick ones (like me) need it all spelled out, acted out, with magical drama, incense, regalia .... bang, bang, bang ... hammer the point home into BOTH conciousnesses.
Perhaps, but I think we all (in one way or another) agree that it is all developmental. Make the human however you want ... just dont change the bone structure too much or you might end up with a dog (perhaps this is Aeon's 'complaint' - I mean WHAT you are trying to point out as a negative Aeon, not that you have some type of unbalanced or pathological condition ). Also, how far can you go along WITH AC's development? In the degree structure of many magical socieites one may find you hit the ceiling ... you find your level of evolution, in relation to your lifes mission (or true will). Sure you can do the rest of the ceremonies but people often find a lot of it is easy, done before, know that ... until WHAM! You come up against it. Either work / punch through (or absorb with love ) - however thou will and can or work on it for the rest of the incarnation.similia said:Maybe the key for some people to find value in Crowley, is to focus on one particular "era" of his work. His later work would more easily fit with the tarot as that is when the tarot was created, so comparing it to his early writings is bound to cause conflicts.
The TIME and location that influenced much of Cowley's early work and the result of that may be irrevelent to a lot of us, we might go straight to the Tarot, but some might want to know how that particular clock tics and pull it apart right back to his birth.