I'm guilty of a terrible crime. If I belonged to an Order, a militaristic organization of magicians with a hierarchy of supervising rank and file to whom I would be accountable, I'm sure I'd frequently be demoted for Conduct Unbecoming a Magician.
Fortunately, I belong to no such Order. There's no person who has been through more initiations in charge of me. There is no committee of flesh and blood to which someone can report me. There is no chain of command that I must obey.
There is no code of conduct.
People have these rather stupid ideas of what someone who is "into magic" should look like. They have these ignorant expectations of how Adepts, Masters, and Illuminated Saints ought to behave. They think we should all be like Jesus, turning the other cheek, striving to be gentle and kind, never cursing, never harsh, never subject to raw emotion. As a result of the refinement of the process of the great Work, we're supposed to be Heroes, with the powers of the Gods and the approachability of mortals.
I've met some really powerful magicians, folks who are incredibly illuminated. You can feel the power of their spheres radiating outward from them into the universe around them. Talking to them leaves the weak-willed fawning and gibbering like tweens at a Jonas Brothers concert.
They get angry, depressed, and violent like anyone else. When they do, the world has suddenly collapsed for these dweebs, and they're left looking like the little girl dressed up like Princess Padme-Amidalla in the Natalie Portman interview video I posted a while back.
Now don't be all thinking I'm bitching about people that I think I'm better than. I'm not. I have these stupid pedestals in my heart and mind that I put people on too. I'm no better. I've learned to take it in stride when my heroes turn out to be human, though. I've lowered my expectations. I try to remember some basic things when I meet people I think are really cool:
- Jesus took a shit. Daily. Even his digestive system was perfect.
- Siddartha farted in his hand and sniffed it.
- Penor Rinpoche declared Steven Seagal a tulku.
These three little precious jewels serve to remind me not to set unrealistic expectations on people that they can't live up to.
WTF does any of this have to do with Iamblichus?
It has a lot to do with the opening he made in his refutation to Porphyry: HERMES, the God who presides over language, was formerly very properly considered as common to all priests.
Hermes, the god who presides over language. Patrick Dunn has provided a better explanation than I can about the role of language and symbol in magic in Magic, Power, Language, Symbol: A Magicians Exploration of Linguistics. If you haven't read it, you should. We who are Hermetic Magicians are priests of the god of Language. As a Christian, a believer in the Word of God made flesh, I am even more aware of my role as priest to this god in my magical practice.*
Language is symbolic of something else. There's a difference between the words we use and the things we refer to, the meanings of the words. Different people have different meanings for the same words.
It's important that we understand that words and our interpretations of them are not the things they represent. Hierophants, for example, are simply "interpretors of the Mysteries." They aren't perfect ascended masters, wizened and ready to do everything perfectly in every interaction with every person. There is no job description for Hierophant that includes "having reached my idea of what a Hierophant should be." Anyone who can interpret the mysteries in a way that provides initiation into the mystery to those seeking his or her advice is qualified. If you expect your Hierophant to be perfect, you're in for a shock.
The same is true for any spiritual mentor. If the person you're learning from is in the flesh, they are capable of being wrong about things. Don't deceive yourself, or you'll be running head first, full speed towards disappointment. Keep your definitons real, your expectations managed, and at the same time strive for the ideal, knowing that the words, symbols, and entities we interact with are representative of the ideal, not the ideal itself.
* No, I don't have Hermes as a god before God. That's against the Law.
I've come across more than one magickian that can teach people and provide insight into what someone is doing is wrong to get them better results, but are just fucking morons when it comes to their own introspection and what they are doing wrong to relate to others on a personal level, even though many would fawn over them.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, although I do think that cursing is mostly a waste of time. Except if it's for defensive measures and even then it's pretty easy to craft a construct 'sling shot' the attack back at whatever douche is hexing you.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, although I do think that cursing is mostly a waste of time. Except if it's for defensive measures and even then it's pretty easy to craft a construct 'sling shot' the attack back at whatever douche is hexing you.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, although I do think that cursing is mostly a waste of time. Just at the GD - gawd what a pack of losers those morons were - to see how 'magikal warz' are wank fests. Except if it's for defensive measures and even then it's pretty easy to craft a construct 'sling shot' the attack back at whatever douche is hexing you.
ReplyDeleteRiley,
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you're posting your comment on the right post? I don't think I mentioned cursing in this post.
To build off of Gordon's comment, another type of magicians we can despise are those who pretend to have something to teach but rely on vague and meaningless statements to hide their true ignorance. Or we could just do magic and ignore those who don't live up to our artificial standards, which is what I've begun to do.
ReplyDeletethis probaly isen't very helpful, but I happen to believe there is a code of conduct, its called the conscience. Gods Humorous attempt at a user manual.
ReplyDeleteAlso glad to see you posting more, it is nice to read your ravings, uh, I mean insightful and esocteric meanderings ;D
Fin, I wholeheartedly agree about the conscience being the guide. What I meant was that there is no standard by which Masters must be judged. Any attempt to judge them (or anyone else) by human standards is an instant fail.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Tupac, only God can judge me.
I can agree with that, its not like there is a grading system. because that would be ridiculous, but i think they can be recognised from their 'light' their pressence, the effect they have on the world/you, just by virtue of existence (in a non egotistical way) like a filter in a fish tank. (i just expanded on that but it didn't read well so I deleted it)
ReplyDeleteBut yes I think in some ways we can recognise what they are, the way we can feel the wild when we look at wild animals. Ofcourse I've only ever met one person like that, and my opinion isen't the most authentic source of arcane wisdom.
More often than not I see people on similar paths and am semi-dazzled at their burgeoning light, then they do something completely human and end up with their foot in their mouths, and thats when I realise that I probably look the same to them., and I've learned that that's the way to adepthood... Failure, and refusal to quit. Every great Artist was an amateur at some point and they drew a lot of crappy still lifes before they found their true selves, but then there are some not destined to be artists but art appreciator and thats where my metaphor breaks down I'm afraid.
On a side note was thinking about your most recents posts about the body of light, and remembered seeing pictures of Jesus with rainbow light rays permeating his heart chakra, its probably a connection you have already mad, but i thought I'd share.