An initiation is a ritual beginning
into a particular tradition. Within the Golden Dawn it becomes
particularly important because it requires you to experience the
equivalent of psychic surgery. An initiator has to link the
candidate to their Higher Self, to what is called “the tradition”
and also the egregore of the group and the spiritual force behind the
Order.
This is tough magic and unfortunately
appears to be the most glamorous, which is why everyone wants to do it. It is the sort of thing that a
person standing on the sidelines thinks they can do but rarely can
and there is a reason for this.
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| Not a DIY manual for a tradition |
For the initiator to be able to
initiate within a tradition, they have to be members of that
tradition. This sounds obvious, but most of the time is one of the
rules that is quickly ignored for the sake of expediancy. There are
a lot of groups which are formed by someone with a cursory reading of
Regardie's Golden Dawn. Actually this attitude is one of the things I
am responsible for encouraging. I think that if people want to run a
group then the only way they will find out how it operates is to set
one up and see.
However I need to qualify that now.
Over the years I have come to the conclusion that only works when you
are starting a new tradition yourself. I do not believe it works
where you are taking an existing tradition, such as the Golden Dawn
and trying to start your own group.
There are lots of Golden Dawn groups
out there which you can join and train to the right level that you
are allowed to initiate, you do not need to self start and indeed it
is not desirable.
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| Using Untrained Hierophants results in some fairly strange 0=0 initiations |
Within the Golden Dawn system the
minimum level that a candidate can even think of initiating is the
ZAM grade 5=6. It is specialist work and requires extra training.
The Golden Dawn provided a series of instructions called the Z
documents which were a basic outline for the 5=6 grade and covered
the 0=0 initiation ritual. However these were instructions for
ordinary members so that they could work out what was really going on
in these initiations and apply them to their own magic. Heirophant
work was specialised and was often carried out under the training of
the Chief Adept. The role was considered so important in Whare Ra
that Hierophants were rarely changed and picked up additional magical
experience that they passed on to their students. All this added up
to a considerable corpus of material which often differed from the
Zdocs or even other Hierophants.
If a person has not been through the
tradition to the 5=6 level then they have not had the various aspects
of their sphere of sensation opened to the various powers. There are
more to the grade initiations, for example, than initiation into the
elements. They open the person to different powers and levels and
give them access to forces that they might not have had before. The
outer order is about integrating the person so these forces do not
overwhelm them.
For example, in the 1=10 a person will
find that they will be initiated into the forces connected to their
12,1st and second houses. If they cannot control their finances or
ignore there physical health or personal hygiene then these issued
will become exacerbated until they do.
While this is not a popular view of the
grade system, as many people seem to think that the adoption of outer
order grades should be automatic, it is also possible to fail a grade
completely. This happens when the personality cannot take the load
of that grade and starts to fragment. Normally it simply shuts down,
reverts to the behaviour patterns and goes no further. Other times
it explodes in a form of self-destructive mental breakdown. In the
old days the person would be held at that grade until they had
resolved their problems, or, as was more likely, they would leave in
a personality storm. These days orders are more inclined to let the
person carry on up the ladder of the Order in the hope the problems
will go away.
The problem usually flares up in the
Portal Grade where the person has another go at balancing it. If
they fail again they rarely get another chance and usually exit from
the Order.
At the 5=6 something else happens to
the student. It is here they are opened up to the traditions deeper
spiritual levels, they also have a personal experience of their
higher self. The lower self, which they have been working on for
years, is pushed downwards and greater control is given to their
Higher Self.
It is from this position, and only from
this position, that a person can initiate into the First Order.
If any of the grades are missed, or a
person failed their initiation and they attempt to initiate, they
will be using the symbolism of the rite to initiate into their own
ego because that will remain the dominant force.
The universe might step in and assist
their victims and help them have a spiritual experience from the
exercise, but it will only go so far. It will for example assume
that the student needs to learn discretion. Instead of treating a
magical order like a game, or a club, they will learn the hard way
that opening up to ego-driven and disconnected people ultimately
leads to doom.
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| The Grand Order of the Envelop and Post Box had a tough initiation |
It is not over egging the pudding to
note that initiation not only can stuff you up it can make you very
well. One initiation I know of resulted in the candidate being put
in hospital. The initiator did not believe that the problem was
their fault, they simply blamed the student. The problem was an
initiator who failed their Portal grade and was doing their utmost to
avoid Godforms within a ritual because he/she was an atheist.
So when you join a group it is vitally
important to ask your initiator “who trained you?” If they say
that they have a signed lineage back to the Priests of the Sun of
Atlantis, or that they are the head of a tradition which trained all
the great magicians, stop them there. Ask them “where did you
personally get the training that takes you to states which are at
least 5=6 and a point that you can initiate me?” After all you
cannot initiate someone into a spiritual place if you have never been
there. If they have had no training to that level, it is safer to
give them a wide berth. It is a bit like saying I can fly you to
London if you trust me... but I dont know where it is and I don't
have a pilot's licence.
I would be equally concerned if someone
is not sure what they are doing, but they have to start somewhere.
This attitude is common in groups which are formed by reading
Regardie. This is a bit like going to a brain surgeon and him
admitting that he has no experience, but he will learn a lot while he
is in your skull.
The specialist initiation training is
preferable, but if a person has been working on their spiritual self
then often they can wing it, particularly if they are getting the
sort of contacts they need to build a real magical order. But if that
is the case they must have a lot of experience to get the depth of
contacts required.
The Untrained Hierophants conducting the 0=0 Initiation looks fun though I do prefer to keep my feet firmly on terra-firma! ;)
ReplyDeleteI’d be curious that in setting up new traditions from within the GD system i.e. following Regardie’s tome and starting afresh what makes some groups work and others fall flat on their faces? Is it simply some are sincere seekers who don’t get lost in ego-inflation along the way or are the ones that make a mess of their Temple and initiations prone to doing so from the start?
Thats possibly beyond the scope of the post above but I believe I noted a distinction between those using Regardie as the big black tome of the Golden Dawn and therefore infallible and those who use it to ignite and begin a search for the wider Tradition?
I do like how this post highlights the terrain of the initiating officer a bit more. Much to consider and think about.
Hi Nick,
ReplyDeleteA wonderful post detailing so many important things. Thanks.
I think a lot of people do not quite realise the potential problems with, as you say the 'magical surgery' that GD initiation actually is. I give an example on MOTO about a Hieriophant who 'forgot' the Godforms and inner work required to put down the Evil Triad in the 0=0, and would attempt to do so from his own will. His initiates all bore the same magical and then personal problems because of this. And there were nothing to be sneezed at.
I cannot agree with you more concerning the need for an initiator, in the GD/RR et AC, tradition to be well prepared. My teacher outlined this in three main areas (1) their own initiations, (2) their own magical Hierophantic training (including inner contacts) and (3) their own successful personal navigation and integration of the spiritual effects of the initiations into their daily life. All three are required.
The Z docs are but a start and the few excellent Orders I have had close contact with over the years have material that builds on the Z in droves. So anyone coming in and thinking they can read a few books and do it themselves without a lot of prep will come a cropper for sure.
One of the things I have seen done over the years is someone gets initiated into a few Outer grades, or to Portal and then for whatever reason leaves and start their own group. They automatically assume an Inner role in that group and are not ever initiated into it, and thus their initiations in turn will suffer.
Also people often leave groups for personality reasons, which are not the best motivations I think. I did not particularly 'like' most of the senior members of my initiating group, but I respected them. To leave a group based on our personality likes and dislikes, or any ego reason, is stupid as it sets up the ego-personality as king.
Your analysis about the effects of the initiations, shutting down, portal re-activation etc is spot on, I think. I hope a lot of people read your words carefully. I was still under the impression, mistaken so it seems, that most Orders would still hold people back in certain grades until the integration was complete. This is really essential, as we all unfold uniquely in our own way and time. Allowing someone to move forward without integration is stupid, stupid, stupid. If someone leaves 'cos they are not allowed to move forward in these cases, that would be damnably stupid, as not only is the integration incomplete but the ego is again made king.
Regardie has to wear a lot of this, with his 'a couple of hundred Watchtower ceremonies = Adeptus Minor equivalent' nonsense. And other writers who think if you can 'control the elements' at will = Adeptus Minor. So you get these folk who pick up Regardie's Ceremonial Magic or whatever and they are doing the Watchtower for a few years, with no training, no inner work etc., Then later they form a group, they're the most 'experienced' and are suddenly a 5=6 and initiating folk. No personal initiations, no transformation and no Hierophantic training. Again, bloody stupid.
Thanks :)
Very good educational post, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI can attest to some of what you're talking about here from the perspective of being an untrained hierophant. A number of years ago I performed an initiation on a friend who was also my apprentice in the work. I thought I was ready to do this, and that he was ready.
ReplyDeleteHis experience of the initiation was extraordinary and deep and powerful, and I think he benefitted enormously from it; he's never told me otherwise, though I've asked several times if it served him well.
But afterwards, as we shared food and grounding afterward, a curious feeling began to settle over me. He settled into this new role quite easily, and wore the initiation well. He left to go home, and this curious feeling broke through me, from fingertips to the top of my head to the soles of my feet. I became aware of meridiens and channels through my being and through the air around me. Something of electricity, something of blood flow, something of chi, something of spiritus. And I had a sense of several powerful voices saying, "Well, that was stupid. We initiated him because you were the one asking... but now we have to do the work on you that makes what we just did allowable."
I didn't sleep that night, as forces and foci and energies passed through me and around me. Yikes. I got wired in more ways than one. And the last thing I remember about it, shortly before dawn, was "Don't do this again until we tell you, you can." And I saw signs in that moment, which I understood to be signals that permission was granted.
I feel enormously graced by the experience, and recognize that what I was told was correct: It WAS deeply stupid. And I have not since heard the voices, nor received signs that permission has been given.
So I agree with you that initiation is best done by trained initiators. It's the reason that Tibetan Lamas give empowerments, and Christian bishops ordain priests and deacons; and shamans train shamans, rather than just letting anyone to perform these acts. I think I was stupid, and deeply lucky, and it was only because I performed the initiations with high intentions for the candidate, and a humble approach for myself, that I didn't do obvious or lasting damage to either of us.
But that night was one of the most frightening moments in my life as a magician so far.
This is the meaning of true (initiatory) lineage, rather than mere paper (institutional) lineage, the former being where you get someone in the know to tell you the hidden visualizations and mental directions of energy that the Hierophant needs to use for best effect.
ReplyDelete