The Magister 1

by Marcus Katz

  [ILLUS. Syriac Bible Tree of Life]

  In Malkuth, the grade of Zelator, we see the image of the Grail, the cup, being connected to the Heart of the Christ figure on the cross. This is symbolic of the heart of the Zelator, the enthusiasm being awakened – already from the Tiphareth centre which is also drawn to the same position on the Christ figure. The Golden Dawn stated that the lower grades in a sense “quitteth not Malkuth” and that in Tiphareth, the grades were subdivided into recapitulating each of the lower grades. Here we see that idea in diagrammatic form – indeed, there is a ladder with rungs in the grade of Tiphareth, as we see in this illustration.

  In Yesod, we see the grade of Theoricus. There is now a figure bearing the weight of the world upon his shoulders. This is the same world that we see below the Tree of Life in the illustration, lit by the fire which has now become the slow burning fire of calcination in the life of the Adept. The Theoricus has realised that the world is their own projection, and must exhaust this state before making any progress. The line is drawn to connect this sephirah to the genitals of the figure, indicating the generative nature of this grade as well as its primary attachment to sexuality. The remaining illustrations will be covered as we progress through describing each grade in their respective volumes.

  There are many reasons to follow teachings and experiences of the WEIS. The most of all is that even if the world is a material, non-spiritual and ‘entirely as it appears to be’ place, to which the ultimate end for all of us is simply termination, then those of us practising the WEIS will have more fun, more interest, more expansive experiences, higher highs, and lower lows than most. Then we’ll die just like everyone else.

  THE CLOUDS ASTONISHED: A HERMETIC AND GNOSTIC UNIVERSE

  There are other reasons to follow this path, and it is a path of historic tradition. We sometimes see something other than what appears to be happening in our everyday life – a glimpse of another reality, one infused with spiritual depth and a quality of life that has no equal in mundane experience. Although many shrug off these experiences and return to their normal state, for some of us these moments provide insight into a more desirable world – one in which we truly experience ourselves and Nature in unity and truth.

  This experience and seeking is neither new nor ancient; references to such matters occur in the oldest texts of mankind and the latest popular films alike. Let us take an experience where time appears to stand still, and the mind begins to function in an almost godlike manner, transcending everyday experience and effecting superhuman change. We see this in the 1999 film, The Matrix, where the hero, Neo, achieves the ability to stop time and even halt bullets flying through space at the exact moment he accepts the nature of the reality in which he has been imprisoned. We also see this in an ancient Gnostic gospel (more on Gnosticism later) attributed to James:

  At the hour of the Nativity, as Joseph looked up into the air, ‘I saw’, he says, ‘the clouds astonished, and the fowls of the air stopping in the midst of their flight ... And I beheld the sheep dispersed ... and yet the sheep stood still; and I looked into a river, and saw the kids with their mouths close to the water, and touching it, but they did not drink.

  These moments lead to fundamental questions: what is real and what is going on? Who and what are you? Why are we here, and what – actually – is here? Where does time come from? Why are we unhappy? What is change and why does it hurt? These questions and all those others are what lead us at last to the Crucible – the place where we test ourselves and our apparent knowledge of the universe in which we have found ourselves.

  It is our profound wish that you test yourself and make your own historia – enquiry – into the nature of yourself and the universe. To this end we have provided this and subsequent volumes, combining teaching, practice and contemplation in order to assist your enquiry.

  On the Loss and Recovery of the Soul

  We first learn two Greek words, which you will not often find in modern books on esotericism or magick, but which are fundamental to our initiatory tradition: ἀνάμνησις (anamnesis) and μετάνοια (metanoia). These ideas are a touchstone and foundation to all later work and it is important that we learn them now for later reference as we progress.

  Anamnesis: The Loss of Forgetfulness of the Soul

  Anamnesis literally means ‘recollection’. It is a term used by Plato and by the later commentators on Plato, called the Neo-Platonists. In our context here, it signifies that the work in which we are engaged is to bring about a state which we already exist within – not a new state which must be created out of nothing. We aspire to a pre-existing state, not a new one.

  Therefore our work is one of subtraction, not addition. We do not – and must not – fall into the trap of doing more, thinking more, buying more, for its own sake. We aim to strip away the illusion (seek beyond the Veil of Isis, if you like), not to add more illusions on top of the present one. Thus, all rituals and practices are tools – steps on a ladder – and nothing more. Those who get trapped by their own ego are to be seen discussing the ‘correct’ way of performing rituals, or mired in the minutia of the performance, and never transcend the tool itself, which becomes another trap.

  Our process is one of exhaustion. We rule out the dead ends and blind alleys, until what is left is the inevitable and easily taken strait and narrow way. As the author Philip K. Dick put it, “The Exit Door Leads In.”[166]

  Here follows a parable of our intended work in the Crucible.

  Parable: The Discovery of Darkness

  She had lived in this room since her eyes were opened and her voice gave forth words in which the room had found its description. It was a well-lit room, for which she was glad, and she made it so increasingly. There were many sources of light, it seemed, both within her control and not.

  There were globes that spun lazily out of reach, with their dark green hue and random glimmers; candles whose flames burnt straight as hot spearheads; lanterns and torches; bulbs that beckoned and beacons that bloomed; an array of incandescent shafts that cut through the still air. In such a room she came to be, and made her home.

  All in avoidance of shadows, which she feared and hated.

  Oftentimes, should a source of light give up its fragile hold, she would replace it with another. In this manner she came to understand that there could never be enough light in the room; once full, adding further light made no difference. In this there was revelation.

  And finally, she came to see that the sources of light were never exhausted.

  So slowly, fearfully, she put out the lights, one by one; some by a mere whisper of breath, and they fluttered out like bright butterflies, others took trials to reach and break. Others required subtle craft and trickery, puzzles in the making and breaking. Yet others went of their own accord, only to return later, renewed and resplendent.

  So it came that there was only one solitary light left, one flame burning in the centre (perhaps, it was hard to tell in that final absence of other light) of the darkness. Surely she had made some mistake; the dark and the doubt assailed her. But she had come to a place of no choice; that light would surely not sustain her for long. So she reached out and placed her hand on the flame, killing it before remorse could claim her, or some other sudden emotion. And once that last light was extinguished, it seemed as if her very life had gone with it.

  In that darkness was seen a light; a crack around a door. A door leading out.

  Metanoia: The Recovery of the Soul through Initiation

  Metanoia literally means ‘changing the mind’. Here it refers to the magical process of initiation – a word which means ‘to begin’. Throughout life, you may glimpse initiatory moments, where insight provides a sense of a new way of looking at the world. Initiations are the fundamental stages – steps and building blocks of magical progress – mapped in our tradition to the Tree of Life.

  In Christian theology, metanoia is often seen as a form of repentance, and in psychoanalysis it is view
ed by Jung as a form of breakdown and recovery in the healing of the psyche.[167] In our context, it is a combination of both these levels, psychological and religious – the process of initiation restores a level of awareness that transcends previous states by being more consistent, comprehensive and congruent to the universe, albeit brought about by a breakdown of the previous psyche and a new viewpoint on the previous state.

  In each of our grade volumes we will look at an illustration of this process of change, referred to in our system as the ascent narrative. The most present symbol of this process and method is the ladder – which will we see in many forms. However, here we depict the pilgrim reaching out of the known world into the worlds beyond, in a woodcutting dated from around 1888 or earlier, called the Flammarion woodcut.

  [ILLUS. The Pilgrim “Peering through the Cosmic Sphere,” from L'atmosphere: Meteorologie Populaire, Paris 1888, Camille Flammarion]

  Traditions and Paths

  The WEIS comprises an evolutionary synthesis of many paths and traditions, some of which are, in turn, mutable and have many variations. This makes it difficult to precisely define what is commonly understood by Western esotericism. Does it include New Age ideas about dolphins and crystals, or Eastern ideas about chakras? Does it involve magic, and if so, what does that term mean? If I am initiated into one group, can I transfer my learning to another group?

  In the OED, we are not overly concerned with definitions; a broad experience will suffice for a while until we look for clearer signposts. However, we should note that the teachings stem from sources in the Western philosophical and religious systems, even if they were divorced from those systems over time and sidelined out of the mainstream.

  These systems include those denoted in general by the terms Gnostic (religious), Hermetic (magical) and Neo-Platonic (philosophical). It is in these wide currents of thought that Western esotericism runs, enabling us to form concepts such as ‘many worlds’, ‘initiation’ and ‘hierarchies’, and to make practices such as ‘ritual’, ‘divination’ and ‘visualisation’.

  We will very briefly point out a few of the concepts drawn from these three systems, which are covered in more detail in following volumes of the Magister.

  Gnosticism

  Although there were no groups actually calling themselves Gnostic, there were a body of sects and groups around the time of Christ which developed an astonishing multitude of philosophies about the world. These systems, later labelled heretical and expunged from Christian belief, represent a more direct path of mystical experience, and have been grouped together as Gnostic on the basis of their stress upon the import of individual salvation through direct knowing – or gnosis. The Western esoteric tradition takes this more Gnostic approach by equally stressing that one must experience the world directly as an exemplar of the hidden reality – the true meaning of occult.

  Another common Gnostic idea which is shared by many of the variants of the Western esoteric tradition is that the world as it appears is an illusion or is not real. The Gnostics talked of a Demiurge – a ‘creator’ God who created the manifest world as a sin against the ‘true’ unmanifest God. Hence, the world as we live in it is a prison of the soul. This is an ancient idea that has been given a contemporary gloss by authors such as Philip K. Dick and films such as The Matrix.

  Neo-Platonism

  The Neo-Platonic philosophers provide much of the groundwork and structure in which our thoughts in esotericism are placed. As mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) remarked, we are all, in our Western thinking, “footnotes of Plato.”

  The doctrines of Neo-Platonism provide us our occult ideas of hierarchies – and hence ‘realms’ (for angels or demons, devas or fairies), correspondence – and hence the rationale of much ritual, and the relationship of the soul to the universe.

  Hermeticism

  The revival of teachings labelled ‘Hermetic’, ascribed to the ancient philosopher Hermes Trismegistus, was seen as so important during the Renaissance that one of the leading scholars was taken off a project translating Greek philosophy to translate the Hermetic writings that had been rediscovered at that time.[168]

  These writings are compiled in a work called the Hermetica, although the central teachings which have been taken into esoteric teaching are succinctly presented in a brief text called the Emerald Tablet. This work contains the source for the famous line “as above, so below” which appears in alchemical works and then later in most esoteric teachings. We present below the whole text of the Emerald Tablet for your study and contemplation.

  The Emerald Tablet

  We provide below one translation of the Emerald Tablet, a short text which provides a summary of Hermetic teaching. It is an unusual text which has survived and permeated many works, whilst remaining ambiguous. It is certainly a text which should be contemplated rather than studied; reflected upon rather than analysed. If you take up this reflection, you may wish to record your responses in your journal.

  The Emerald Tablet

  True, without falsehood, certain and most true, What is Below is like what is Above; and what is Above is like what is Below; for performing the miracles of the One Thing.

  And as all things were from the one, by the mediation of the one; so all things were born from this one thing by adaptation.

  Its Father is the Sun, its Mother is the Moon, the Wind carried it in its belly. Its Nurse is the Earth.

  It is the father of all the perfection of the whole world. Its power is Absolute.

  If it is turned into earth, you will separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, smoothly and with great cleverness.

  It ascends from earth into heaven, and again descends to earth, and receives the power of those things above and those below.

  In this way you will have the glory of the whole world!

  Therefore all obscurity shall flee from you.

  It is the strong fortitude of all fortitude; because it will overcome every subtle thing and penetrate every solid.

  In this way the world was created. From it there will be wonderful adaptations, of which this is the method.

  And so I am called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the Philosophy of the whole world.

  What I have said concerning the operation of the Sun is completed.[169]

  THE INITIATORY MAP OF THE MAJORS ON THE TWO TREES

  In this section we will sketch out the map of the initiatory journey as depicted in its earliest stages of magical progress, and then alternatively from the viewpoint of mystical and spiritual experience. The two maps here are simply two views of the same journey – perhaps the latter is from a higher perspective, yet both provide useful models. They will both be examined in more detail in subsequent volumes, which might be considered 10 further vantage points from which we can pause and view the same landscape.

  There are a multiplicity of arrangements of the 22 tarot Major cards and their positions on the 22 paths of the Tree of Life. It can be seen as an ‘ultimate secret’ that there is some ‘true’ or ‘initiated’ arrangement that will explain everything to everyone, an esoteric equivalent to a Grand Unified Field Theory or Theory of Everything. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case – there are as many arrangements of one map to another as one cares to construct. The question is their pattern and their utility; on what relationship are the correspondences created and what purpose do they serve? I covered this briefly in our work on the Waite-Trinick Tarot and wish to return to it here in more detail; presently two maps, one magical (the Golden Dawn arrangement) and one mystical (the Waite-Trinick).[170]

  The Golden Dawn ‘magical’ model is based upon a relationship of numerical attribution to the Tree of Life, layered with astrological and Hebrew letter correspondences, whereas the Waite-Trinick ‘mystical’ model is based upon correspondences to Waite’s version of Christian mysticism, allied with the kabbalistic mysticism of the Sepher Yetzirah, or Book of Formation. There is a third map I wi
ll come to consider – the ‘transcendent’ model – which we detail towards the final volume of The Magister.

  These maps provide a route plan for life lived according to their principles. As both a map and model they are predictive and can be used to formulate our route more effectively. They are also ‘self-generating’ maps in that our experience becomes a living feature of the map itself, and sometimes the map projects itself in a surreal fashion into our life.[171]

  Alternate versions of this map may be discovered in a number of works, including Charles Stansfeld Jones (Frater Achad) and William G. Gray, both of whom, amongst many others, have ‘restored’ the correspondences to their own particular mappings.[172]

  Each of the three Trees of Life we will describe – the Tree of the Dawn (Golden Dawn/magical), the Tree of the Sanctuary (Fellowship of the Rosy Cross/mystical) and the Tree of Everlasting Day (OED/transcendent) – can be considered the scaffolding which supports the Work of the Worker, and then is dismantled when that work is complete. They provide a framework for the recognition of what is the important signal amongst the noise; that which must not be allowed to become part of the noise itself – for in that moment, all is lost.