Test your occultist

This article could be seen as a continuation of occult customer awareness one and two.

Throughout my time in the occult regions of cyberspace I've come across many people. My interactions with them allowed me to part ways with many misconceptions I've had about occultists prior to beginning my magical path. One of my greatest misconceptions was that occultists were generally better than everyone else. By this I don't mean I considered them as having god-like powers, even if I've met a couple of people who can affect reality to great degree with their mind alone. But I didn't consider the latter to be god-like either.

What I mean is I thought they were better morally, psychologically, etc etc and, above all else, spiritually. By spiritually I mean I thought of them as having a broader perspective over reality than the rest, a perspective that covered both seen and unseen aspects of Creation itself. I was wrong all the way.

While I came to understand the occult path will eventually lead one to express their true self (on their path towards their Higher Self) as best as they can, I've noticed the opposite occurs in some cases. The more such people have been walking this path the more hypocritical their nature. It seems that even encountering muchly superior, transcendental beings did not help them cast aside that nature. On the contrary, in some cases it seems to have enforced it, those people using such an "over the top" achievement as paint to cover their many flaws of character. 

 

On the other hand, some of us have gradually been manifesting their true self and are proudly doing so every day. I for one am proud af and I'm not ashamed whatsoever whenever I'm acting in ways many would find appalling. More than once have I been called despicable, obnoxious, sly, wicked, fiendish, scoundrel, pervert, wacko, childish, immature, and much more and, while many times I've been called as such by people who were totally clueless about why I was acting that way (even at times when I at least hinted), I'm fine with it. For too long I've been ashamed of myself for not acting like my true self. So besides being proud about it, I'm also happy af and I'm not about to change that, especially since I managed to achieve it by working the method I present in The Magick of Astrorelationships on myself.

But anyway, let's get to the testing part. It's tied to the unseen aspects of creation. More explicitly, to esoteric symbolism. Now, I'm not necessarily referring to alchemical symbolism because not all occultists are Doctor Mirabilis to understand the highly complex nature of those images and glyphs. It's one thing to look up the meaning of the Green Lion online, but understanding its essence is another thing altogether. Regardless, you'll find many occultists displaying more exoteric than esoteric mindsets. By this I mean their perspective is more focused on knowledge most laymen could easily access and so their mind interprets various multilayered concepts more thought the eyes of someone who's solely interested in the mundane side of life.

For example, let's take the Bible. It should be obvious that the words of scripture have many layers of meaning, from the lowest level of the third house to the highest level of the ninth. We can safely assume that your average street punk would understand certain passages in their most basic literal form alone, if they'd even be able to do that, while a philosopher or a cleric would understand their more subtle nuances, each based on their personal considerations, beliefs, etc. Regardless, both the punk and the other two would likely understand the exoteric meaning of those passages. An occultist though, should try to figure out their esoteric meaning even if by using contemplation and imagination - they can always appeal to spirits to provide insight.

Take the story of Cain and Abel, for instance. Cain murdered his brother out of jealousy God preferred the latter's offering. We are told Cain offered "from the fruit of the earth" (plants) while Abel sacrificed "the firstlings of his flock" (animals). Now, some occultists may tell you that means God preferred shepherds over those who sow the land and I recommend you look over their statements. But if an alleged occult superstar would tell you that then I recommend you turn your back to them altogether and seek answers somewhere else for any possible occult related question you may have.

Here is another take on this biblical story and I will speak about it with the help of Valdemar W. Setzer. Setzer said in "An antroposophical introduction to the human organization":

"Let us not proceed here with much more on Evil; it is just worth mentioning that it has various aspects. The more visible ones in our days are: 1. The tendency, most common in our days, of totally separating humans from the spiritual worlds, turning them totally to matter, and making them consider themselves as animals (e.g. in evolutionary Darwinism) or, even worse, as machines. 2. The tendency of totally separating the human being from matter, turning him into a spiritual being without consciousness and freedom. This form manifests itself partly in everything that deals with diminishing consciousness, as irrational enthusiasms or fundamentalisms, psychotropic drugs, advertisement, etc. In this case, according to Steiner, 'the world loses the human being.' These two influences want to conquer the human being to themselves, and in general work together, although representing opposite poles. 3. The simple destruction of the human being, as may presently be seen in genocides, wars, the easiness with which people kill each other, the destruction of the physical body through various forms of pollution, etc. (In the age of the Consciousness Soul, wars do not correspond to the present human organization; the correct way of resolving conflicts – personal and between states or peoples – is through negotiations)."

If we look at #1 in the above quote, we notice that an aspect of evil is making humans consider themselves as animals. In his book Inner Order Teachings of the Golden Dawn, Pat Zalevski mentioned that evil occurs when a lower plane ascends into a higher one and corrupts it (or tries to corrupt it - can't remember his exact words) - i.e. the Qliphoth into Malkuth. This does not mean animals try to corrupt humans into thinking they're animals, but that lower planes of existence act on humans in order to make them think as such. But, as Setzer said:

"The existence of Good and Evil is absolutely essential for the development of human freedom: the latter has no sense without the possibility of choosing between both. If we did not have this possibility of choosing, we would still be unconscious in Paradise, among 'little angels with pink gowns playing lyres, what a boredom!' as ironized in his lectures by the late Dr. Rudolf Lanz, certainly the greater intellectual introducer of Anthroposophy in Brazil. Thus, Evil was a necessity! As Mophistopheles answers to Faust, when asked who he was: 'Ich bin ein Teil diejen'gen Kraft, die stets das Böse will, und stets das Gute schafft' ('I am a part of that force who always craves for evil but always ends up doing good'). The problem is that those 'evil' spiritual beings do not have any problem forcing humans in whatever direction." Whereas before he said Good cannot force humans to follow the path of cosmic evolution. 

Setzer mentioned that the biblical image of Paradise had man unconscious and without having developed an individuality. He associated this state with the Vegetable Kingdom and later he mentioned the Ether Body as being responsible for it. 

"Besides their Physical Body, plants also have an Ether Body, consisting of a super-sensible 'substantiality' (...) Due to such an Ether Body, plants have life and all its manifestations: inner growth, gaseous exchange (partially associated to photosynthesis), reproduction, tissue regeneration, and a typical plant form (it is always necessary to start from the observation of more complete general cases, instead of peculiar transitional forms, which should be understood as having the more general ones as basic ones), with root, stalk/trunk/branches, leaves, flowers and fruits, organic tissues, birth and death.

The Physical Body of a plant has a form which is quite distinct from a mineral precisely because of the action of its Ether Body – the presence of the higher element modifies all the lower ones. The Ether Body interacts with the environment through the Physical Body of the plant. Therefore, one single plant species may show somewhat different forms according to diverse regional conditions (e.g. being more or less high or thick, getting to develop flowers or fruits, etc.)

Since it is the super-sensible Ether Body that gives life to a plant, and produces all its vital manifestations, I conjecture that present-day materialist science will never reach a comprehensive understanding of plant processes and forms."

To simplify things, animals have an Astral Body in addition to the Physical and Ether, while humans have Higher Soul Members and Spirit in addition to the former. We can see that a human being has the Mineral, Vegetable and Animal consciousness within him or herself while at the same time being above the other Kingdoms - God created Man to rule over Creation. But what about Cain and Abel?

When considering the above we can interpret their story symbolically. Since the story occurred after Man had been "cast out" of Paradise, both Cain and Abel were flesh and blood humans that, alongside the Higher Soul Members and Spirit, also had the other Kingdoms within themselves. Thus, besides their Physical Body that represents the Mineral Kingdom, they also had Ether and Astral Bodies representative of the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms. So when they made their sacrifices, Cain sacrificed his Ether Body so to speak, while Abel sacrificed his Astral Body. Since the Ether Body represents the consciousness of deep sleep that lacks individuality, it is thus our remnant of Paradise.

"The Fall into matter was not a human initiative. In fact, if at that time he was unconscious of himself, and had no freedom, as portrayed in the image of Paradise, the human being could not be responsible by what was wrongly denominated 'Original Sin'. In German, the expression is somewhat more adequate: 'Erbsünde', 'Inherited Sin' – the descendants of those primitive humans inherited their fall into matter. Divine beings were responsible for this fall! Now humans should again have a contact with the divine worlds, but by their own, free conscious decision. They may count with the help of divine beings, that is, beings who do not have physical bodies, having 'higher' constituent members than humans. For this, humans should, in freedom and in full consciousness, look for them."

When Cain sacrificed plants it was symbolic of his Ether Body and, since cosmic evolution requires humans to return to their divine state after experiencing conscious existence in the flesh, it seems logical God was displeased with this sacrifice since the Ether Body is the link to Paradise and acts as a reminder for humans of the direction we are supposed to take. So, in doing so, Cain practically severed his ties to Paradise and chose a solely material existence by choosing his Astral Body. As we have seen, the Astral Body represents the highest consciousness in animals, but humans possess even higher levels of consciousness which they can use to progress on the cosmic evolutionary path. It can be see as Cain corrupting his superior human nature and regressing to a lower form of consciousness, likely induced by his lower animal nature.

On the other hand, Abel sacrificed his Astral Body, which symbolizes the animal instincts and impulses that would prevent humans from using their Higher Soul Members on the path of cosmic evolution. God was pleased by this since we have seen that an aspect of evil is to make humans think of themselves as being animals. Not that God hates evil, otherwise evil would not have existed in the first place, but by considering themselves as animals people walk that path backwards. There is more to Creation than the physical world and I've discussed the role of the twelfth house in the respective article in Asteria Unveiled.

We have Abel's sacrifice being repeated in the Bible. Abraham sacrificing a ram was symbolic of the beginning of the Age of Aries, whereas in the Age of Taurus the symbolism of the bull was ever present - the Apis bull, for example. Since Easter is being celebrated today in some parts of the world and it will be celebrated here next Sunday, it's worth mentioning our boy Jesus was said to be the lamb of God who sacrificed himself for the world. The lamb is the most gentle form of the ram, the symbolism here being that the wild animal instincts have been tamed as humans were at the dawn of a new Age.

The gospels mention quite a few works of good ol' Jesus. One such tale is that of the of the five loaves of bread and two fish. Any simpleton could think Jesus had pulled another of his woowoo tricks when he multiplied the bread and the fish to feed those hungry bastards. While this level of understanding exists and should not be mocked, there is more to it. The five loaves of bread are representative of the five Elements that make up Creation and, of course, humans. The two fish are of course a symbol of Pisces, marking the beginning of that Age, and we have seen this symbolism throughout the tales about Jesus. So what our boy was doing was actually a symbolic act of spreading word Creation has entered a new cycle and is operating according to that cycle's paradigm.

 

On a curious note, people in my neck of the woods eat lamb meet for Easter (although I do not). I am unaware how this "tradition" became established here since it is a remnant of a bygone Age and, despite rightfully thinking low of my people in many respects for a multitude of reasons, I am aware of our profoundly spiritual essence. That essence is beyond customs and traditions that are either made-up or borrowed, but it seems this lamb eating thing could be something we've borrowed from others at some point during our tumultuous history. 

 

The funny thing is the church here, whom I mostly despise for a multitude of reasons as well, constantly remind people of the symbolism surrounding Pisces. Major religious holidays here are preceded by periods of religious fast during which time people are to abstain from eating meat and animal products. This is not for dietetic purposes but to cleanse the Astral Body although the priests here wouldn't tell you that. Anyway, the fast before Easter is the longest fast period in the religious calendar here, but there are a few days throughout that fast when people are allowed to eat... you guessed it: fish. 

 

As a curiosity, look back in history and observe what happened to the civilizations that held on to symbolism of past Ages long after those Ages were over. The Egyptians got screwed in favor of the Israelites. The Minoans perished altogether and so on. But enough digressing. 

It is interesting Setzer quoted Rudolf Steiner. I'm far from being knowledgeable in the history of the Golden Dawn, but Dr. Robert Felkin had sought out Steiner and the two apparently had extensive discussions. I could very well be off in regards to the details surrounding the two people's meetings and what they discussed, but I think I remember Felkin considering Steiner as being some kind of Master. Additionally, Steiner's teachings found their way to the SM. And, if I'm not mistaking, Zalewski is very familiar with the SM's teachings.

Of course, I'm referring to the Robert Felkin, the guy who created the Stella Matutina, the longest lasting offshoot of the original Golden Dawn and a guy who ended up being of a high grade within the Order. It is pretty clear to me Felkin thought greatly of Steiner and did not perceive him as being some kind of New Age weirdo. And Steiner was all into that Vegetable and Animal consciousness, Ether and Astral Body, etc. 

So if one of the main representatives of what is undoubtedly the most representative magical order of modern times sought Steiner, then what Steiner taught was not the kind of bs self-important whatnots of our time preach to their followers. Therefore, whenever such doubtful figure offers answers on a level of understanding any moron out there possesses, they are merely trying to come across as knowledgeable and in no way are they trying to help their fellow human being evolve consciousness-wise. Instead, they are trying to impress them so that the latter would eventually seek their services (for which they would have to pay). They are no different than those who, although actively working with planetary forces, don't believe those forces affect life on Earth; or maybe they're one and the same ;)

 

In conclusion, whatever occult knowledge regarding conjuring spirits and such occultists possess, that knowledge can be accessed by non-occultists with ease even if the latter might understand very little of it. It is my opinion occultists should delve more into knowledge not so easily available, knowledge that would help them gain a greater understanding of the world around in its complex diversity. By putting that knowledge to use their results are likely to improve. 

 

While I don't consider my interpretation of the biblical story as being something far out, I imagine you'll notice the difference between what I came up with and what some alleged occult authority figure actually said - step up your game, mofuckas!  

Hate on, dum-dums!

The Great Gazoo