And the thing Jow wrote about celestials and K&CHGA that I read the last time I could get my head above the waters of my mundane job, it's on my mind:
Also if I am risking EVERYTHING in my life, I want a return at least equal to what I put in. If the risk is no home, no family, no job, and no sanity, I want the literal cash and prizes at the end of the book. I want my ass to fly, be invisible, demolish city walls, and have all the powers of a living God on earth. If I risk everything material, and human in my life, my whole material life's work, in an epic gambit for spiritual power and success, I want an epic reward. I do not want something that is "really useful". Also, I do not want it to be a product of some spirits I've bound into servitude. I want that shit to be MINE.I love Jow. To pieces. He and Deb make me happy in spite of my own weird shit, like the rest of the people I consider friends.* That's partially why it's got to be said:
This is quintuple the case if what i want is a Mystic Union type experience. There are easier, safer, quicker less expensive, and more trustworthy ways of getting that.
Also, the working highlights a problem with Celestial spirits. That problem is, that they are Celestial. They are alien to our experience. This can be problematic when said spirit is re arranging your life, and putting your feet to the fire.
Jow, really? What the fuck, man?
Literal cash prizes? Yeah, you get those. Flying invisibly through the air demolishing city walls? Yeah, you get that too. And living god on Earth? Really!?
Yes! Motherfucking Yes! Yes, yes, exactly that, YES!
Ahem.
That, too, is yours as a result.
FFS.
That's why we do this shit. And it's not just one lifetime, one incarnation, one instance of awareness, it's for "everyone else" too, a bit. And it lasts fucking forever. FOREVER.
Hell, font don't matter.
for. ever.
And the Celestials are not alien to our experience. "THEY" are our brothers and sisters. They are our family. They are us, only without the flesh suit and all its concerns. They are us. We are them. Spirits in a material world. Thye have never been flesh, never been matter, but they have an intimate conscious understanding of what "flesh" and "matter" really means, an understanding that we need to remember to be whole.
We already know the material life and lifestyle and all its concerns. Being human makes that imperative, and it's part of the deal. We agree to pay attention to that in exchange for the experience of being incarnate. It's not something we thought about beforehand, I don't think, but it's something I think we owe ourselves. Getting rich and well-laid is the least we can do out of gratitude to the Holy Spirit, for Christ's sake.
But remembering who we are and where we come from is important. The "Holy Guardian Angel" concept wouldn't even be possible if we weren't gods. Why the hell would a spirit of that power and ability assist us if we weren't essentially fucking awesome? We're totally worth it.
All that superhero Neo-controlling-the-Matrix bullshit, I fully believe it's possible. It's not easy, it takes some serious fucking work and intense devotion, and a lot of practice, and I'm not speaking from full experience, just partial, but I swear to God the First Father, if that's what you want to do, I believe it's possible. I've done weird shit consistently, and while I pursued it, the weird shit got weirder. I saw no boundaries of what could be done, with practice, and training by the HGA and other relatives in the Extended Celestial Family. I didn't get that far, there are stories of folks who've gone further. I know I will go further.
I think what worries people (I'm no longer talking about Jow or Skyllaros, but instead a mashup of all the people I've ever talked to and imagined talking to) about this process is the fear that they'll lose their shit. Relationships, jobs, positions of comfort or respect, the results of a lifetime of study and practice... They're afraid to put that shit up on the chopping block in exchange for the potentially empty promise of a "better" life. Especially when they see people who have allegedly been through the process talking about life as if they were still human, still struggling with being enlightened and kind and happy and successful, and remembering to manifest the lifestyle they want all the time. There's no obvious difference in the lives of the magicians with K&CHGA and those without. Except the ones who've been through it have stories of pain and sacrifice.
It's true, the fires of the Sun burn away a lot of shit in your life. Solar initiations can suck.
But nothing burns that you need. K&CHGA, the process of attaining the Supernatural Assistant, it's not about the things you think matter, it's about the things that really matter. The flames of the Sun are processed through the ritual, intelligently, by someone who loves you entirely because you are who you are. The heat of the Solar flame is directed specifically to the things that need to be refined, purified, tempered in your life.
If the person you're with is the person you're meant to be with, the processes of the Work will result in the two of you being more tightly bound, more securely together, more focused on your reason for being together than ever before. It strengthens relationships that are good, it only destroys the ones that suck. I promise.
If your career path is right for you, it will only get better. If it's wrong for you, you'll find yourself in a new career path in no time, amazed that you made it through the rough spots.
It might hurt, transitioning between one lifestyle and another, it might be scary for a while, but the result is a refined, tempered, strengthened, repaired foundation for you to build upon.
I might say K&CHGA is "useful," but not necessary, but that's because I think too many people have presented it as the penultimate goal of magic rather than an early stage. What I'm not saying is how fucking beautiful K&CHGA really is. I'm not talking about how my life changed forever in that moment. I'm not talking about how I get money on demand, or how I've learned to fly invisibly through the Aires, breaking through the walls that really stand in the way. SPOILERS!
Could I have reached that without K&CHGA? Who knows? Not me. I think it's possible, but I wouldn't EVER trade K&C for any alternative. It's great. Totally worth the risk of pain.
Cause if you think you won't suffer the pain of having the things you're attached to threatened if you don't attain K&CHGA, you're not really thinking about what you've seen.
* There are maybe 12, at any given time. I'm sure that's probably a coincidence.
"They're afraid to put that shit up on the chopping block in exchange for the potentially empty promise of a "better" life."
ReplyDeleteExactly! ;) I totally agree. Both afraid and unwilling. I fully realize this may be completely silly to you.
I do like what you have to say about the Celestials being our brothers and sisters, and our natural state of awesomeness.
However I don't trust anyone like that when it comes to adding and subtracting things from my life. Even if they might be right about what they add or subtract. Even if I'd be better off.
I do appreciate that the Celestials do generally wait to get your consent before tinkering with your life, though.
I will also give ascent that "nothing burns that you need". My needs are very few. Just because I don't need it, doesn't mean I am not enjoying it right now, and would rather continue enjoying it.
A lot of it comes down to trust. I just don't trust them like that. It is possible that will change, but for right now, not so much.
Now why is it that approximately 3/4 of the world's magicians, sorcerors and mystics haven't even heard of the HGA and do just fine without it?
ReplyDeleteAdesh!
-Aghor Pir
Aghor, is that true?
ReplyDeleteStripping off the naming conventions and looking at the practical role the HGA plays in a magician's life, is it accurate that 3/4 of the world's magicians, sorcerors and mystics do not work with a primary familiar spirit who serves as a "go-between" between the magician and other spirits, or provides training, guidance, and empowerment to the magician?
this sounds alot like the classic shamanic sickness experiences. Your life gets torn asunder only to be rebuilt and in hindsight, what was removed was actually more obstacles then benefits, but it also opens you up to greater things, and more rapport with whoever started it, but also with other spiritual beings.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you stripped away naming conventions and looked for magicians, sorcers and mystics who have a primary familiar spirit who they turn to for most things, I would say it is pretty common, at least based upon what I have read.
@Jow, I understand where you're coming from. There are things and people I wouldn't risk for a ritual. I quit doing "demon" magic, after all, to protect my loved ones and my finances.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm content with living with everything on the chopping block. It's my comfort zone. I trust the constancy of the spirits (including my own) more than I trust my current understanding of them, or anything in my life.
RO, yes, that probably is true.
ReplyDeleteBuddhists, Taoists, Hindu's, and Witches throughout the world probably do not.
Furthermore I find the direct equation of the HGA with the Head Spirit in ATR's to be incorrect. The Head Spirit is usually divined for you by someone else, and is one of the mysteries of the tradition like an Orisa or Loa. It is not personal and many people will have the same head spirit. Furthermore you have situations all the time where the heads of a house will divine what someones head spirit is saying for them, and which in turn runs contrary to the will of the person.
There are other distinctions that make it less of a good fit, but to be honest I am not prepared to get into a debate about ATR practices online.
You know RO, if you're talking about a primary familiar spirit, then many religions and spiritual paths have that. I am just not convinced that it's necessarily the HGA. For example in Hindu Tantra you have an Ishta Devata (a beloved deity you adopt or are initiated into), in Buddhist Tantra you have a yidam you are initiated into. They all act as familiar spirits. But is it the HGA? Not necessarily so. My Ishta Devata is Shiva in Hinduism. My yidam in Buddhist Tantra is Tara. My primary Nkisi which I received in Palo is Zarabanda. My Orisha in Santeria was divined to be Yemaya - I never was crowned in Santeria though I received the Guerreros (warriors). As an initiate of multiple traditions can I say that all these familiar spirits or deities are the same as my HGA? No. They are all distinct spirits as is my own HGA and my Supernatural Assistant. The only thing that unites them is that they all are assisting me on my life path and I haven't detected any animosity between them. At least that's how I see it.
ReplyDelete@RO, the ridiculous part was when I was younger that is exactly what I was desperate to do. The obstacles that would come up would come up hard and I would have to back off.
ReplyDeleteNow when I have the potential to build a life where I could have the time, I really don't want to do it at all.
I give you a lot of credit for having that much trust. I just don't trust anyone like that.
I've been reading and working through the Black Work courses, and have been approaching the solar initiation with a little bit of trepidation due to the fact that fire does indeed burn. The fear though, I've noticed, is more a fear of change and the unknown than it is a fear of the burn itself. I had very similar feelings when I first joined the military and headed off to basic training.
ReplyDeleteGiven the return on investment, I am willing to risk most things in my life. I am confident that, even if I don't fully understand it at the time, I will not lose anything that has a true need in my life. I'm hoping that the burn itself will help me to be rid of some of the dross that has accumulated in my life while I've been neglecting my duties in kingdom maintenance.
Interesting, I think we have pretty different perspectives here... I am working to bring my thoughts into order and will reply. Before that can u help me understand what type of beings you refer to with Celestails (might be a translation issue for me?). Is it planetary angels as opposed to e.g. chthonic beings?
ReplyDelete@Jason, As I went through the things you said were differentors between head spirits and the HGA, I found a lot of things that I've acutally run into in Agrippa regarding the "Genius" and in my own life regarding not wanting to hear what the HGA has to say and others having to tell me, and so forth and so on, but like you, I'm not prepared to debate ATRs online as such by any means. I'm not equipped to do more than talk about my understanding and interpretations and experiences, and how I relate all those things. Online folks forget that I don't claim to be an authority on anything except my own understanding and experiences too easily.
ReplyDelete@Aghor, I love you. :) I was TOTALLY disappointed that you stopped blogging. But I get it.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the primary essence of what you're saying, the key question is, "Is it the HGA?"
I don't even believe that the HGA is "the HGA." To me, "HGA" is a label representing a spiritual role, an office more than any one entity or interpretation. It's probably not the best way to do things, generalizing a term that has a specific meaning and context and saying it's "the same thing" as any other specific term with specific contexts and definitions.
But the label "HGA" has been taken out of context and applied to a lot more by Crowley and the Golden Dawn, so it's not just the familiar you get from the Abramelin rite any more, it's "the Atman" according to Mathers, which a lot of folks would deny. Today the "HGA" label has become more of a mythical signification than any particular entity that everyone agrees on the definition of.
That's terrible English right there, sorry, I'm in a hurry.
Anyway, to me, it's a high level label indicating a Spirit with many roles, some super-celestial, some terrestrial, and a lot that fall in between. The key differentiator between this spirit and say, the Archangels, is the specific relationship between it and me that is personal, direct, and individuated.
@Fr. Acher, yes, when I say "Celestials," I mean the spirits who reside "above" the Elemental Kingdom. Planetary spirits, *some* gods, the entities of the pleroma, the Archangels and Angels of the Eighth Sphere (Fixed stars, Mansions, constellations, etc.), and above.
ReplyDeleteAs always - thanks for sparking this discussion, Jow and RO! Here is my reply with a slightly different view on the subject: http://www.myoccultcircle.com/blog/some-thoughts-on-the-rewards-of-magic.html
ReplyDeleteI would agree that it is likely that many traditions do not work with anything that could be even construed as a HGA. However, i counter that with the idea that just because they do not work with it or know of it, this does not make it any less real, or important for the individual that work with it in their traditions.
ReplyDeleteTake an electrician working on high power lines, an electrician that works on household appliances, an electrician that works on wiring new homes, and an electrical engineer. Each of them work in the field of electricity, and each of them works to control and mold electricity to their needs. However, each one will have a different tool box, different perspective on the electricity they work with, and even different safety equipment. They may not even be aware of some of the tools or safety equipment used at the other end of the work spectrum than themselves. Just because the electrical engineer with his goggles, gloves, and sterile environment has no idea that the high power line technician wears a suit made out of conductive material which is connected to the helicopter he sits on and is attached to a special wand he holds in his hand, does not mean that the suit does not exist. It just means that for his purposes and in his field of study and work, he has no need to know of it or use it, it does not serve him any purpose. Should he decide to study other fields of electrical work to broaden his base, he may come across it, even if he will never use it.
A middle eastern magician will say that no magic can take place without a Jinn intervening. And yet, how many people here have never worked with a Jinn and had success?
My own spiritual perspective is that i believe there is no you and i, there is only the Divine, and all lives and all matter and all "celestials" and all spirits are nothing more than the Divine seeing itself from various perspectives. Thus, when each life looks up and attempts to see the "matrix" they will each see it differently. Like a color blind individual looking at a red ruby which to them appears greyish purple. We are both looking at the same gem but it appears completely different to us, or even to the blind individual who feels it and never sees it. You can hold the ruby in front of them all day and unless you tell them to touch it, they will never know it is there, and their life will not change one way or another for its being there or not.
I think my writing has become a bit confused, but i am in a hurry and my laptop is dieing :p I hope you get the general idea of my thoughts...
Thanks