Spring Cleaning! We all seem to do it at roughly the same time each year. Most of us aren’t even aware that we do this annually. We seem to intuitively know that we are about halfway through Winter and preparing for Spring. We may pass by some blossoms and see the first stirrings of new life and growth. We see North America watch the groundhog come out of its burrow to predict the weather for the rest of the season. The Neopagan community celebrates Imbolc with the goddess Brigid and the Christians celebrate Candlemas. There are a host of other celebrations and rituals from different traditions and religions. But what do they all have in common? Continue reading Purification and Spring Cleaning
Month: January 2017
The 4 Lettered name and the Elements
In the previous post, the Natural Order of the Elements, it was seen that there are reverberations regarding correspondences throughout a magical system of placing the elements in their natural order. It must be stressed that one set of correspondences should be consistent throughout a system. Magical systems throughout time have observed the natural world and what was within the magicians themselves. That being said, one of the first issues that comes to the forefront is the attributions of the 4 lettered name of Omneity, the Tetragrammaton, to the elements. Continue reading The 4 Lettered name and the Elements
Elemental Subtle Body Activation
Most systems of magical training usually begin with some type of subtle body work. It forms one of the foundations of magical work and training to prepare one to be an instrument for the Divine. In Western Esotericism this subtle body work is usually a simple version of the Middle Pillar Exercise or one of several variations of activating the Chakras. The different versions of the Middle Pillar Exercise can be found in sources related to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. An often neglected version, and one highly recommended to look at, is the Greater Middle Pillar Ritual found in John Michael Greer’s Circles of Power. Many systems employing the Middle Pillar follow a pattern of simple to complex, usually by visualizing different colors and adding different names and images to each sphere, depending on the “grade” within the system. Several different chakra activation exercises can also be found in some of the schools descended from Paul Foster Case following a pattern of the 7 Hebrew Double Letters and the planets of astrology. Some schools in the Western Mystery Tradition use the Eastern method of awakening the chakras as well. Each has an immense value on their own and in relation to the rest of the given magical system they are a part of. There are several other possibilities to work with in relation to the subtle body based on the Sepher Yetzirah and the Hermetic Qabalah. The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy is an invaluable resource to explore different systems that are used throughout the world.
Continue reading Elemental Subtle Body Activation
Harmony, Correspondences, and The Natural Order of the Elements
The principle of correspondences is one of the mainstays of any magical system. In the West this is one of the first points of magical philosophy to be learned in one’s magical training along with 6 other principles that have been summarized quite well in the Kybalion, a Neo Hermetic text. The Kybalion has had a great influence on the modern Western Mystery Tradition as it is practiced today. Most systems, in one way or another, teach about the 7 principles outlined in the Kybalion. The principle of correspondences summarized, states that things in the physical world are a reflection of the things in the spiritual worlds Continue reading Harmony, Correspondences, and The Natural Order of the Elements
The Western Mystery Tradition Term
To some, the term Western Mystery Tradition conjures up images of esoteric lodges performing some group ritual or initiation and possibly some mysterious religious activity in ancient Greece. To others, it may have to do with practices handed down from their spiritual, and sometimes familial ancestors perpetuating a tradition Continue reading The Western Mystery Tradition Term