Heavens Within Earth

Ave, Good Jupiter and his Archangel Tzadqiel have seen fit to bless me with some inspiration and direct knowledge....and have pointed me in the direction I need to finish the book I'm working on (which, of course, has material I've created myself and from public and published sources). Which is beyond cool. I've been working hard and doing a TON of research into the roots of Alchemy--learning different methods that have been used to complete the Great Work by Adepts of different cultures (David White's "The Alchemical Body" is an absolute must read, by the way. Thank you's to my dear brother VH Fra SR for the recommendation!), and trying to penetrate into the process behind all of the different practices. The fundamentals, the roots of the Work. I have been blessed with an excellent Alchemical Master, who instead of simply saying this=this, has given me small keys and nudges so that I'd discover as much as possible on my own. This has been invaluab...

Just a quick note. There are a ridiculous amount of Alchemical writings that are packed with nonsense. It's min-boggling. So.....I think we're duty-bound to share with each other the available and published texts that are clearly written by an initiate. The ones with proper understanding of the substance and the goal. The one's I've found to be particularly solid are Philalethes, Ripley (especially his 12 Gates), Paul Foster Case, and Basil Valentine. Lu-Yen's Secret of the Golden Flower pretty much nails it as well. This is from the perspective of one working Hermetic Internal Alchemy, and not external analogical Alchemy. Which is still awesome and still effective; just not as effective nor as powerful in the working as direct Internal Alchemy...from what I've surmised. My primary Alchemical mentor has experience with Spagery, Internal Mineral, and External Mineral alchemies, and seems to have found value in the lot.  For external alchemy, I can't imagine...

Ave, So, in some Alchemical systems, there is a very important step that involves the rising of the Saturnian force from the interior Metal at the base of the spine. (This relates to the 8th operation, and the Sign Scorpio within the system outlined by Paul Foster Case.) This step is the Putrefication, during which the personality is reduced into the Black Powder, and "destroyed". This step is an important one before Incineration, which is referred to as the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel in Magical circles. This isn't quite as horrifying as it sounds at first blush. What it does is destroy the Soul's identification with the personality as the Self; in the end you are still You--as you have always been--but you become aware the "You" isn't your personality, but that you  operate through  the personality. It's important to understand that this isn't a purely psychological thing; it is a phenomena that involves the nerve-centers that corr...

Ave, Fraters Argent and theScribbler have some interesting new points and opinions to make about this debate, as does VH Fra SR . I'm pretty much in total agreement with Fra Argent. (You should be reading his blog, if you aren't yet, and Fra Jow's as well). Also, in partisan fashion I just posted links to the dudes I primarily agree with. Here's another set of perspectives . Also, check out Fra RO for interesting input as well. I think Patrick Dunn's insistence that there is no such thing as magical "energy" is incorrect--not because his ideas aren't sound, or because his model doesn't work. His ideas are sound, and they do make sense if one is working from a definition of the term "energy" that is the same as that of modern science, and completely bereft of context. Which would be silly....in my opinion. What we are really debating is whether subtle energies are an actuality. The inner fires, the Holy Ghost, the spiritual Virtue. H...

Ave, This was the highlight of Pantheacon and a major landmark in my magical career. An absolutely incredible experience! My wife and I took Initiation into the Great Rite on Sunday, and both the teachings and the current are rich and powerful. I'm somewhat at a loss to communicate all my feelings about it. It opened doors for me on a number of levels. The Great Rite initiation is built around empowerment and  instruction in Inner Alchemy. The techniques of Western Inner Alchemy are not imaginative, they aren't pure visualization. They are physical and visceral. They work directly upon the physical body to refine the Prima Materia, and they are wonderfully effective. It was a wondrous moment for me; having all of the emblems and manuscripts I studied over the years open up in new ways....beautiful. I was able, without ceremony or ritual, to manipulate my body's energies and enter into ecstatic states. I can do so at will, using the practices I have learned--nowhere near...

Ave, So, I took a much-needed break from all this energy jibba-jabba (which I'm guilty of starting...been a great conversation though!) with my peers to attend Pantheacon. Gentleman, pardon me for not replying and joining in the latest conversation on your blogs (VH Fra SR, Fra Jason, Fra RO, and Fra Jack), I've been super busy. Anyway, I think enough's been said for everyone to know everyone else's position. We'll all just call it what it is, and we'll argue about it again in a couple of years. Haha. Veles just posted an awesome Terry Pratchet quote: "The plural of Wizard is Wizards, the plural of Witch is Arguement." Hilarious and true, except Wizards (or Magicians, or Sorcerers....) should be right there with the Witches.  Some insightful things said. I'm going to resist writing another essay about why my viewpoint is clearly more awesome than yours, and move on. Them's is jokes, ya'll. Panthecon was a very interesting experience. ...

Goodness. Half of the fun just got sucked out for me. Damn. I was looking forward to getting beautiful, high-res photos of some of our occult luminaries. This sucks....because people have cell phone camera's now, and they will take photos. No one's identity is being protected....now they'll be outed with crappy photos instead of nice ones. Ha. Oh well, what can you do?