Contemplation

Carl McColman has been making some great blogs about Contemplation and its purpose in our "modern" world. This ties in nicely with the topics I have been covering with my work colleagues.

Get on it, check it out, start from the beginning @

http://www.carlmccolman.com/2013/09/26/the-archbishop-and-the-community-theologian/

Pax,
MvdV

Simple Masonic Magical Structure

Image pinched from Scarborough Lodge #1214 website www.scarboroughlodge.co.uk

Have a room, orientated East -West (can be symbolically orientated, merely think of the directions set in your mind)

Have a central table/altar on which is placed

• A Volume of Sacred Law of your choice
• Compass (nautical or builders)
• Builders square

Have a kneeling stool or cushion in front of the table/altar

A chair in the 'East'

Start from the West of the table facing East and perform your opening ritual of choice. I use a ritual based on the opening of a Regular Lodge (Western Australian Constitution) plus some other Order material I find matches up.

I also use incense and candles within the ritual as well as a 20 minute meditation in the Emblems of Mortality/Chamber of Reflection before the ritual proper begins.

Once the area is cleared, you can commence.

Identify your goal: I usually work for wisdom, understanding, stability and fraternity. The desired outcome must match up with the spirit of Freemasonry, (Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth) or else your asking the wrong system. If you want power and shit, try a system that aims for that, Freemasonry has earthly power, but only through achieving its true goals (Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth) and the love of Wisdom.

I draw a Tracing Board on the floor in the East of the Table/Altar (I use a movable board for this) using Masonic Symbolism based on the goals of the ritual and within the framework of Masonic Ideals.

Perambulate the table/altar three times, kneel before the table/altar in the West facing East and invoke the name of your deity (I use Masonic names, I would suggest you do too GAU, GGU or TMH) 

"Oh TMH, may you place blessings on this your humble servant in this request. May you give me an increase of Faith, Hope and Charity so as I might further your Greatness and the reflected greatness of this Order. As the Moon reflects the majesty of the Solar body, may I/we become lights in the Darkness"

Open the VSL at your preferred passage, selected before hand to resonate with your intentions. Place the tools on the VSL (as represented in Masonic symbolism) and read the Verse that you need for the ritual.

Rise, perambulate three times and finish in the East (technically it is three &1/2 perambulations) use the Grand Royal Sign three times giving "All Glory to TMH".

Sit in your chair and visualise the power coming down into you as per the Kabbala and associated rituals, (use your own research here peeps, I'm not going to make it too easy for you). Link your power with that of the VSL as a conduit to TMH, joining within you and blending the two streams, creating a greater amount of energy than that you or the VSL can generate on your own. (Multiple individuals in this ritual obviously join in the power raising)

Visualise your goal, I tend to vocalise at this point and use a variety of ritual passages and stories from various rites I am a member of to express my goal and focus in on the intent beyond/behind the ritual.


When you have finished your work, finalise the conduit, close the ritual the way that you like, linked to the opening and reflecting on Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. Confirm you adherence to your God/s and secure the secrets you have been engaged in.

Erase the Tracing Board using water.

Bless the space and the participants.

Blow out the candles and tidy up. Do not leave the room set up and go for a cuppa tea straight away, clean it up and remove it all as soon as you finish.

Bless the space a second time, then go have your party pies and sausage rolls and high fives all round.


Yes I know this is simple, yes it is easy, that is why I put it up here, nothing revolutionary or mind blowing, just an easy ritual to help engage with Masonic Symbolism.

Pax.

MvdV

Depression and Magic

The correlation between my depression and my magical practice are pretty clear and concise.

The more depressed I am and more triggers are pulled, the less magic I do.

I guess it has something to do with the nature of depression, as an illness depression stops motivation, reduces efficiency, creativity and motivation to achieve goals. All of these things are vital to a magical system.

As I am currently on a down cycle and having to work against the tide, my magical system and practice has taken a beating. But the system itself is the solution and I intend (alongside mainstream Western Medical solutions) to use ceremonial magic to correct my balance and get back on track. We'll see where I end up this time around.

I have been immersing myself in Jung's 'Red Book' which comes in a readers version if you are short of change, like me, and it has been useful for instruction and giving me ideas for operations and ceremonial goals. Biblical work with the Apocropha and Torah have been useful, especially the Book of Tobit, which if you are a Rose Croix Mason, you should be familiar with.

I will be travelling to Jerusalem in December and I cannot wait to be in that place, visit those places and do the things I can. I have been connecting with the Old Testament and attempting to get to the heart of why this YHVH chose who it did and how they reacted to Him. Never really a fan of the New Testament, the recycling of the OldTestament yet denying its validity always rang false with me. I don't mind the shift and love the role of Christ. I just would prefer a bit more respect for Jesus' historical, cultural and central identity.

I thorough recommend the Chumash with Rashi and the Daily Torah available from Chabad.org as tools towards understanding. Remember, the Torah has 70 facets, not just one!

Pax

MvdV

Lives of the Saints

I have been working with a system recently that is based on the 'Catholic' system of worship.

By Catholic, I mean the literal translation of the word to "Universal" and I use this idea as the basis of my system.

A sense of Universal acceptance of all and attempting to reconcile myself to follow the "Path" (path is a poor word for the feeling I am trying to convey and that term makes me a bit sad on the inside, much like the "Journey" reality television participants talk about) that is part of my role in the universe. The feeling is linked to compassions, grace, 'being in the now' (the Taoist ideal of Wu Wei) and the servant role emphasised in the Christian Tradition. Universal belonging and acceptance of the vastness of that that is me and not me.

Many of the outcomes of this magical system have been identifying links, intuition, opportunities, self-actualisation blinks allied with unfolding a greater identifying of the greater skein of life. Appreciating doors to opportunities and taking some, rejecting others and maybe even creeping through the occasional window I may not have seen through earlier.

By utilising meditation of the Christian tradition (yes it exists and I have a bit of info on it if you want) with the mystical lives of the saints and proto-saints of the places where Christianity and other traditions mixed and mingled (Ireland, Spain etc). These saints are focused on because of the nebulous nature of their stories, we know there are gaps and blending in their realities. There is ambiguity about their existence and relationship with pre-Christian deities/worship systems. I also incorporate some symbols from Afro-Caribbean systems, because of their use of Traditional Roman Catholic symbols.

This magical work is based on ambiguity and the unknown. It is pretty much the opposite of the Masonic Work I usually undertake, but a change is as good as a holiday!

Pax

MvdV

Waite for it....

LXXIV

"That truth is at the bottom of a well is with some people a sufficient justification for allowing it to remain there..."

LVI

"The expression of the greater truths may be possible without cynicism, but the sardonic mood is inevitable..."

XCI
"A surface of commonplace often enables a man of genius to escape observation..."

III
"The last lesson of a liberal education is that, at least in the ordinary course, there is nothing that matters..."


A.E. Waite,
Steps to the Crown

While he may be difficult to read due to his approach to prose. Waite remains one of the luminaries of the Modern Western Tradition.

The above is from a book of aphorisms he presented which I would commend to you as something to enjoy and re-read over the years...

Pax,

MvdV

Post- Presentation Post

Well, it went surprisingly well.

It was actually received quite well, and in the spirit it was offered.

I used a 'Catholic' emphasis that allowed a lot of members of staff to think that it was acceptable within the Catholic context. I used Catholic and Eastern examples and Saints to emphasise how 'mainstream' Christian contemplation on the word of God is.

If you would like an outline of what I presented, please feel free to contact me via this site/Google+ and I'll forward it too you.

In other interesting things, I came across this site today while doing some google-fu on "Magical Schema".

http://witching.org

A great Meta-Data project on early Witchcraft in England.

Pax

MvdV

Keeping it quiet...

As an Esotericist, I find working in an Evangelical Christian School to be a little bit of a challenge sometimes. Scrap that, it's a challenge ALL the time. The inability of some of my peers to even get close to understanding non-literal readings of Scripture is mind boggling. They are all fantastic, caring, charitable and loving educators who have a great love for Jesus, but they struggle when confronted with a different point of view. As a result of this I have kept my membership of Freemasonry, interest in the Occult and the Western Mystery Tradition a bit of a silent fact. I have not denied it when asked about it by students and staff (I do wear a Masonic ring), but I have not advertised the fact openly to my peers. It's sad, but I don't want to come into my office and find flyers and pamphlets on my desk trying to 'save me'. I am already saved and need no help staying in that state.

I am not expecting to be treated differently when my peers 'find out' I am different to their norm, but I know I'll be treated differently... If you know what I mean.

Members of staff are on a roster to do a Staff 'Devotion' on either a Monday or Friday morning. We do one a year and it is a bit of a big deal. The Admin are looking for something that adds to the Christian focus of the school, and emphasis of prayer, a Christian teaching or something that can be used to point at how the majority view of the school is the right one.

I intend to do a devotion on the importance of Christian Meditation/Mysticism and how we can spend time in communion with God without asking for anything. Just hanging out, getting to know God and what God is like. This may involve introducing them to some concepts they may find tricky; Saints, Mysticism etc etc. But I feel that a focus on just being and spending time trying to figure out what we are in the light of our relationship with God. This focus on relationship can turn us from a me first, gimmy gimmy relationship with the Divine and work towards a partnership, much like the relationship we need to cultivate with other forces/gods/essences/eminations etc etc I have laked about earlier.

We'll see how that goes...

Pax,

MvdV

Prayer

The Martinist point of view succinctly put together by Constant Chevillon.
Enjoy

† † †

Prayer by Constant Chevillon
(Constant Chevillon, Sovereign Grand Master of the Martinist Order, assassinated in Lyon, France, in 1944, by the French Militia on the pay of the Nazi invaders.)

Prayer is the only true and holy magic. Ceremonial magic, too often, places the will at the service of pride. Prayer, on the other hand, is a very humble aspiration of the finite towards the Infinite. A person praying resembles a desert striving to become a meadow full of flowers and, furthermore , he does not demand-he beseeches.

However, common men ignore all that prayer involves. For the overwhelming majority, to pray is to say words with the lips and sometimes with the heart, the ardor corresponding to the intensity of their desires; or to bow in a temple or oratory in order to entreat, from an anthropomorphic God and according to their own wishes, free gifts, entirely material, like health, wealth, success or love. Thus, we pray nowadays as did the Jews of yore, wishing to exchange manna for the onions of Egypt.

Certainly a prayer asking for the goods of this world is, of course, permissible. To address the merciful Father, asking Him to guard us from physical misery, is an homage to His almighty power. We forget, however, only too often, the words from the gospel: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Justice and everything else will be given unto you."

Prayer should not intend only to break the infernal circle of destiny; it is far more elevated and noble. It is a superhuman lifting up towards the Divine splendor, as well as kneeling-it is unspeakable ecstacy-facing the Ineffable Charity.

To be able to pray in this manner, it is necessary to become silent within. Free oneself from all evil thoughts, even from simply negative ones. It is necessary to put feeling, understanding and reason in tune with the spirit, to enter into a passive state in order to allow Divine activity to be realized within. It is necessary to shed indifference and coldness, to make a holocaust of one's own being, and to project above any human selfishness, a prodigious call of love.

Then the channel of Beatitude opens itself in its sublimity. Two currents project themselves towards each other. The first, ascending current carries man into the bosom of God; the second, like a celestial river, descends upon the earth to make the soul conceive into a pregnancy of eternity. How that finite being, that nothing, lost in the ocean of Being without boundaries and place, is carried up to the confines of the Absolute. A mysterious operation through which, once, the Son of God became the son of man, repeats itself in its inverse sense. Distance becomes non-existing. The human nature, now transfigured in an incomprehensible union, embraces the Will of God, His Justice and His mercy.

Then prayer reaches such summits, how unimportant appear the terrestrial things! The words of Chrysostom are aglow in their severity: Vanity of vanities!-All is Vanity! Riches...Vanity! Honors...Vanity! Human power...Vanity of Vanities! Everything disappears under the blazing breath of the Paraclete-nothing remains there except the immense furnace of love:

FONS........VIVUS........IGNIS........CARITAS

Are only saints able to lose themselves into this mystical transport, neighboring the beatitude? No. If peace is with him, every man of good will is capable of reaching there, because every prayer is holy when it relies upon faith and hope-even measured by human standards. O you of humble heart and pure in spirit, do not become discouraged in spite of the apparent sterility and inefficacy of your prayers. If you ask for temporal favors, do not be surprised if you do not receive anything. The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and your desires mean very little when compared with the eternal gift which, unknowingly, is granted you.

Pray, therefore, in heights of ecstacy, for yourself and for others; but above all pray for others, recalling the last vision of Denis (often identified with Dionysus the Areopagite), who, on the eve of being tortured, was thinking in his prison about the salvation of humanity. Jesus came to comfort him and said to him: "If you pray for others you shall be heard." Now, if God can pay a hundredfold for the least alm given to the poor, in His name, how will he repay the fruit of your prayers?

The Foolishness of an Un-Self-Actualised Knowledge Sprout

Circular logic is circular

Logically, circles are circular

Circular logicians circle logic

Circles logically circle logicians

I love Occult arguments, those who follow their obligations have no need for attack or defence... But the aggressor, by attacking the other, denies and attacks himself.

Pax

MvdV

Be intense....

I have a busy life.

I am married with three kids (two under 6), I work full time in education for which I commute 50km a day (approximately for 2 hours a day, I love traffic), with frequent after hours responsibilities with students and staff. I train 3 times a week in the Martial Arts, twice a week in the gym pushing iron and I am an active Freemason with membership in several orders. To round it off, I am also studying a Postgraduate Theological qualification at University.

Looking at that I am amazed that I even got one of my magical goals completed, let alone starting to create the system I have been working on over the last 18 months. The system itself is going okay and is focused on using experiences from outside of 'magic', harnessing it, and using it at a later date in a ritual/magical manner. For example, attending a Masonic ritual and using the energy or intent of the ritual after the event in a more focused way in a magical ritual to achieve my goals.

But my post today is not about my system. Or magic per say.

It is about being intense and getting the most out of life as you humanly can.

I have a lot of commitments, my wife and I often joke about how we have to cheat on our other commitments to spend time together, our discussions about our days are fleeting things, captured in the time between going to bed and the end of a cup of Milo after tucking in the kids/finishing working. We go out to dinner with each other now and then and often go for walks and do other things together. It's not a totally absent relationship, but our lives are balanced against our other interests.

I love it. I wouldn't want my life to be any other way. I don't want to live my life by the "Keep Calm" memes floating around the interwebs, I want to go full pelt and smash life in the face (in an intellectually appropriate way of course). I will do well at my job, complete challenging studies, be a loving husband and an engaged Dad who plays with his kids all the time.

My magic allows this, it enhances my awesome life and gives me energy, insight and opportunities to live it the way I want to. I am grateful to it, my teachers and those I interact with both in the physical and not.

I am content. I am powerful. I am at peace.

Pax

MvdV

Lent and the damage done

Well the Lenten season is here, Ash Wednesday and onwards to the glory of Easter reminds us of the suffering of Christ in the desert and brings to the front of our minds the 'transgressions' and lost opportunities to better ourselves in the past 12 months. I for one look forward to Lent. It is a hungry time which serves to sharpen the senses. There is nothing like an empty stomach to bring the important things in life to focus.

Fasting is a regular practice of mine and is an important part of my spiritual regime, it makes the time I invest in something when I am fasting important. I don't have as much energy or attention span so it needs to count, I can't wast my time with irrelevant activities.

Fasting also brings meals with family into a greater prominence. Breaking bread with the family at the main meal of the day increases the joy and attention given to the meal; I value what I have missed which increases my enjoyment of that time.

Magically I work towards creating a 40 day cycle of prayer and effort towards a goal. I have identified my goal and am building it around a rosary based cycle this year. we'll see how it goes.

Lent is a time to value that which you may take for granted, starve yourself of it and appreciate it when you get it back. Focus on the absence of that thing in your life and find how you feel without it.

Pax,

MvdV