by Marcus Katz
[ILLUS. GD1-1-6c Cipher Example from Original Golden Dawn Manuscripts]
This is the first – usually, although not exclusively – experience for the initiate which is truly out of their hands, or appears to be so. It is often experienced as an ‘act of Grace’. However, the experience is catastrophic. This can be seen on the map by noting that the path leading from this sephirah has The Blasted Tower tarot card upon it; The Hanged Man reaches up to Geburah – the sephirah sometimes called Pachad or ‘fear’ – and, as Crowley warns, this is the first time that the initiate ventures off the Middle Pillar.
So following the long solution of the Theoricus work, culminating in a primary mystical experience, it rapidly turns into a state of upturn, uncertainty, confusion, and turmoil. The Blasted Tower path must now be trodden; everything must be analysed, refined, considered, and shaken. Now the initiate has experienced something which cannot be formulated just in terms of ‘logic’ (Hod), so must start to widen their experiential knowing, between emotional and mental experience. At the same time, they must begin to manage how this affects the sephiroth that they have already passed through – the activities of Malkuth and the psychological world of Yesod.
The Practicus stage is, as one initiate termed it, the ‘Long Plod to God’. It is often characterised by a wavering in the work, long dry periods, study periods, and rich experience which seems not to lead anywhere, defying expectations. However, throughout, the initiate cleaves to the only constant; the universe has spoken, and they have heard – they are truly the ‘Owner of the Word’, the title of the grade.
As a Monoceros de Astris (‘unicorn of the stars’) the work of the Practicus is to be “inured to hardship” and continue upwards whilst the “unicorns” destroy the “town-lands of heaven.” The unicorn here is seen as a symbol of “virginal strength, a rushing, lasting, tireless strength.”[228]
Philosophus (PhLMVNI)
This means ‘a certain one’. Eventually, ricocheting between Hod and Netzach, trying to regain the experience which was given inbetween Theoricus and Practicus, the initiate simply exhausts themselves again and comes to rest in Netzach. This is on the passive pillar, and they realise that all their activities will avail them not. They must simply surrender. This is a challenge for many and initiates a new phase in the work, the like of which is unique to every individual – perhaps here more so than any other phase.
The word PhLMVNI comes from a root meaning to ‘distinguish’ as in ‘set apart’, ‘sever’, ‘separate’. The initiate commences a new level of devotion – sometimes characterised with a religious or mystical context – to something outside them. Whether this is seen as the god Pan, God, Anubis, the Higher Self, the Archons, or any other formulation is less relevant than the state itself. The Self calls out beyond itself. Thus begins the Portal which starts to lead one to the work of the Adept grades.
With gematria, the word equates to 216, which is an important number with multiple words, including IPSVS, the ‘word of Maat’ in the work of Soror Nema; DBIR, the Holy of Holies; GBVRH, Geburah on the Tree of Life, and RAIH, ‘proof ’, ‘evidence’.
As a Pharos Illuminans (‘lighthouse of illumination’) the Philosophus continues to act upon their values and strives to maintain congruency between their values and actions. In this they become both the light and the house – illuminating others by virtue of their striving. In a sense they are also self-guiding, even to their own self-destruction. The apparently awkward wording of a ‘lighthouse of light’ is actually a useful koan-like rendition of the nature of this grade. How can the illusion become real? How can one lift oneself out of oneself? How can one align oneself to something unknown?
So we can see in these Hebrew titles a continuation of the graduated ascent narrative with specific experiences, challenges and work identified for each step of the way. When overlaid in the vast correspondence schema of the initiatory work, they become even clearer as they are compared to their location on the Tree of Life, illustration through tarot, correspondence to the stages of alchemy, and their various astrological and other correspondences.
THE WORK OF THE GRADES
“I prefer spiritual practices to be self-determined, self-apparent, un-regulated, indeterminate, unwritten, unstudied, unprecedented, devoid of content, without ritual, silent, personal, and only to be shared on special request.”
— Eric Muhler[229]
Aleister Crowley developed these grades into a comprehensive schema of initiation for the individual within the system of the A∴A∴. However, his presentation of this schema was often subject to his financial and spiritual states, so was rarely set in stone.
There are specific descriptions of the schema made in such works as Liber CLXXXV, Collegii Sancti. This lists the work and oaths of the grades to Adeptus Minor.
The work of the grades beyond Adeptus Minor is sketched out in the essay, ‘One Star in Sight’.[230]
We will here review the work expected of the lower grades in terms of the oath one takes and the practical work involved. We will also refer to the ‘qualities’ the aspirant was expected to bring to the grade, as given on their certificate. These will be further explained in subsequent volumes of The Magister. In this system there is an additional outer grade of the Probationer, preceeding the Neophyte. Crowley also replaced the Portal stage of the Golden Dawn with the Dominus Liminus, the ‘Master of the Threshold’. This connects the grades of Philosophus (Netzach) and Adeptus Minor (Tiphareth) and heralds a significant waiting period for previous work to consolidate and the next grade to become obvious.
The Golden Dawn assigned a minimum period of nine months to this stage, and in practice it has been found to take between one and five years to fulfil the conditions of the grade.
The Probationer to the A∴A∴ was expected to gain “a scientific knowledge of the nature and powers of [their] own being.” They were further expected to bring “reverence, duty, sympathy, devotion, assiduity and trust” to the order.
As we have seen with all Crowley’s work, these words are not chosen lightly; they are based upon a kabbalistic and initiatory scheme. The Probationer has not yet attained the qualities of the grades of initiation on the Tree of Life, so they have to bring them out of themselves. As the initiate works up the grades, it is seen that they have to bring those same qualities, less each one, corresponding to their previous grade, until at Adeptus Minor, only “reverence and duty do I bring.” This then gives an indication of the requirements of each grade:
Neophyte: Trust;
Zelator: Assiduity;
Practicus: Devotion;
Philosophus: Sympathy;
Adeptus Minor: Reverence and duty (after the attainment of the Holy Guardian Angel).
In terms of experience, these wordings are extremely appropriate and not to be missed whilst ‘hidden in plain sight’. Often the apparently chance wording of initiatory structures conceals an obvious simplicity when such has been experienced, but which remains veiled to the casual reader or ‘armchair magician’.
The practical work of each grade follows appropriate kabbalistic correspondence:
Neophyte: To perfect control of the Astral Plane;
Zelator: Asana and pranayama (posture and breathing);
Practicus: Intellectual training (specifically kabbalah);
Philosophus: Moral training.
During the stage of Dominus Liminus, the candidate would be expected to work with pratyahara (observation of one’s thought processes) and dharana (uniting of object and subject). In the revised grade system of the OED, we place the equivalent practice to pratyahara earlier in the work.
In working these methods at the appropriate grade, the initiate is attempting to gain the following powers:
Probationer: A scientific knowledge of the nature and powers of their own being;
Neophyte: Control of the nature and powers of their own being;
Zelator: Control of the foundations of their own being;
Practicus
: Control of the vacilliations of their own being;
Philosophus: Control of the attractions and repulsions of their own being;
Dominus Liminus: Control of the aspirations of their own being;
Adeptus Minor: To attain the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
The paths on the Tree of Life were also indicated by Crowley as having correspondence to the work of each grade. So, for example, in Malkuth, at the grade of Zelator, one would have access to the paths of The Last Judgement, The World and The Moon, corresponding to Meditation Ritual CXX, control of the Astral Plane, and methods of divination, accordingly. These will be outlined and described in full in the next volume of The Magister.
The Probationer had a simple list of tasks which would take up to one year to complete, including the making of a magical robe, chosing a magical name or motto, and memorising select chapters of Crowley’s writings. It is of interest that they could follow any practice “as seemeth him good.” At this stage, the initiate must be allowed to explore their own natural tendencies, as these (and their reactions to them) are the prima materia for later analysis and work.
THE VISIONS OF THE GRADES
Louise B. Young writes in The Unfinished Universe that “the universe is unfinished, not just in the limited sense of an incompletely realised plan but in the much deeper sense of a creation that is a living reality of the present.”[231] In the Platonic conceptualisation of time as “the moving likeness of eternity,” we sense this as our own incompleteness when we consider ourselves as entities within this ‘moving likeness’.
We sense that we are unfinished, moving towards something, or perhaps away from something, in the dance that is depicted upon The World card of the tarot. Into that dance of sleep, a singular light shines, awakening us if we look into it and see what is beyond. In the Tarot of Everlasting Day, this is illustrated fully on that particular card and between the sleeping Fool and the Light of the World are 10 steps – the grades of initiation.
In the magical path of the via exhaustio, we proceed on the basis that each of these ten grades contains a different state of awareness – and a different perspective – which is only true until the next grade is attained. Each grade contains its own questions, its own illusion, traps and challenges. Each grade contains a novelty – a magical, esoteric or mystical experience that has never been experienced before by the candidate. This novelty may or may not coincide with the initiation of the grade – it is sometimes underestimated (as the candidate has no context into which to place its import) and then can only act as a slow burning fuel or seed for eventual realisation and initiation.
We cannot know the destination other than what it is not, what we have already exhausted or demonstrated untrue in our experience. A candidate’s position in the initiatory structure can be best determined by the questions that concern them, not the answers that they think they have understood.
We ourselves are an unfinished universe, and we make our way up the Tree of Life to recall and create that completion. As we do so, our vision opens up to evermore comprehensive, consistent and congruent experiences and states. These are described in key stages as the visions of the sephiroth.
The following list is that given by the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley as the key visions of each of the sephiroth and hence grades of ascent in the Tree of Life and the WEIS:
Malkuth: Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel
Yesod: Vision of the Machinery of the Universe
Hod: Vision of Splendour
Netzach: Vision of Beauty Triumphant
Tiphareth: Vision of Harmony
Gebruah: Vision of Power
Chesed: Vision of Love
Binah: Vision of Sorrow
Chockmah: Vision of God face-to-face
Kether: Union with God
The most immediate implication of this list is that the experience of the Zelator, the grade assigned to Malkuth – the first after the Neophyte, beginner phase – is that of the HGA. This seems to make no sense in that the knowledge and conversation of the HGA is the work of the grade of Adeptus Minor in Tiphareth.
However, here is concealed a powerful and mystical secret, in that the Zelator is indeed having a constant vision of their HGA, it is simply that they are not awake to this truth – and the knowledge and conversation is an awakening to that communion rather than a sleeping vision of it at Zelator.
In each of the subsequent volumes of The Magister we will explore these visions in full.
Conclusion Part One
This concludes the first part of Volume 0 of The Magister on Kindle. The following two parts continue the sketching out the curriculum of study for students, we look more closely at the Golden Dawn work from the original archive papers, outline the connection between psychology and magick, and then provide rituals and exercises in order to get you started on this profound path of western spiritual development.
We provide a brief outline of the contents of the subsequent two sections below and we look forward to continuing this epic journey into magick with you in the Crucible Club, into which you are cordially invited in the spirit of a magical life.
In the second and third sections of the MAGISTER on Kindle, we cover Rosicrucian teachings and the knowledge lectures of the Golden Dawn, drawing on original and often unpublished manuscripts. We develop the mystical teachings through the second section and in the third section present many more exercises and rituals for the student.
Magister Volume 0 Part 2
On Those Things Which Call Us To Awakening
Jerusalem’s Furnace: Concerning Graduated Mystical Experience
The Stages of the Journey
The Court Before the Tabernacle:
Zelator (Malkuth)
The Sanctuary or Forward Area of the Tabernacle:
Theoricus (Yesod)
Practicus (Hod)
Philosophus (Netzach)
The Holy of Holies:
Adeptus Minor (Tiphareth)
The Mercy Seat and Solomon's Throne:
Adeptus Major (Geburah) and Adeptus Exemptus (Chesed)
After the Passing Over:
Magister Templi (Binah), Magus (Chockmah) and Ipssisimus (Kether)
The Alchemical Amphitheatre
On Dreams and States of Consciousness
The Guardian on the Threshold and the Inner Guide
The Invisible College
On Initiation and Calcination
Vignette: The Mystical Explosion
Exercise: Examining the Zelator
The Secret Ladder
The Sound of the Trumpet: The Original Intention of the So-Called ‘Rosicrucian Manifestos’
Historical Context
Authorship
The Fama
The Confessio
The Chymical Wedding
The Mirror of Wisdom
Symbology and Metaphor
Study of the WEIS
The Nature of the Debate
Western Esotericism, Rituals and Knowledge
The Problem of Magic and the Occult Treatments of the Magical Orders
The Teachings of Individual Esoteric Teachers and Followers
The Teaching Work
Conclusion
The Academic and Esoteric Encounter
The Birth of Academic Studies of Western Esotericism
The Dangers of Monolithic and Historical Analysis
The Insider / Outsider Problem
The Issue of Secret Knowledge
Definitions of Western Esotericism
The Contemporary Milieu
Conclusion
The Ascent Narrative
The Ascent Narrative in Christian Mysticism
The Ascent Narrative in Kabbalah
Curriculum Studies Applied to Western Esotericism
Introduction: Curriculum as Model
Methodology: Analysis of Curriculum
Analysis of Content
The Self in Education
C
urricula as Content
Purposes
Content
Procedures
Evaluation
Differences Between Secular and Esoteric Curricula
Builders of the Adytum (BOTA): The Creation of a Curriculum
The Teachers: A Case Study of Florence Farr
The Aim and Structure of the Golden Dawn
Light Before the Dawn: The Sat B’hai and the Gold and Rosy Cross
The Sat B’hai and the August Order of Light
The Influence of the Gold and Rosy Cross
Westcott’s Western Mystic Doctrine
Mathers and the Book of Concealed Mystery
History
Foundations at 17 Fitzroy Street
A Society of Hermetic Students
The Devastating but Priceless Secret
The Construction of the Curriculum
The Knowledge Lectures and Flying Rolls
The Flying Rolls
List of Rolls and Authors
The Rituals
The Ladder and the Golden and Rosy Cross
Evidence of Student Engagement in Western Esoteric Education
Problems of Delivery of Material
Qualification of Knowledge
This is Reserved for a Higher Grade
The Failure of the Golden Dawn
Alumni of the Golden Dawn
The Strange Reward
Magister Volume 0 Part 3
In the Shadow of the Bright Circle: The Relationship Between Modern Ceremonial Magic and Psychology
Strange Prisoners
Naturphilosophie and Jung, the Development of the Unconscious
