S
Sophia
Guest
29
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=39118
THE ADVERSARY
Posted By: FraterR.S.
Date: Monday,
3 November 2003, 12:13 p.m.
All of my postings so far have used the symbolism
of Western Esotericism to express a point of view.
In this article, I intend to write about a subject that often comes up
whenever the Western Esoteric or Occult method is discussed,
namely EVIL.
Here in the West, the prevailing Christian mindset
has attached the name Satan to the concept of evil,
a word that is deriv
d from the Hebrew ShTN or Shatan
meaning adversary.
At this point, an interesting philosophical question immediately arises
in so far as who or what is The Adversary?
In his writings,
Aleister Crowley pointed out that the deifying of Satan or Satan
ism was merely a puerile attempt by inferior intellects
to systematize a bunch of discordant concepts that promote imbalance.
Perhaps then imbalance is The Adversary?
But since the Spiritual Path is about adjusting our daily inner imbalances
so as to be in harmony with the flow of the world around us,
perhaps then the thought that we are each a separate entity struggling
for some sort of victory is the adversary?
I will pick up this thread of reasoning again shortly,
but first I would like to take a moment and present
how Magickal Philosophy views the emissaries
of evil or The Demons.
To the Ancient Practical Qabalists,
it was believed that Magickal operations
in general were performed by consorting with Demons
under the protection and supervision of one's Holy Guardian Angel.
In order to connect with this Angel,
an Initiate into an Ancient Mystery School woul
d begin
by first withdrawing from the world of mundane affairs
for a period of sev
eral months,
during which time they would then become involved
in a program of hermetic study and purification rites.
Upon completion of these studies, it was traditionally believed
that if the person had been committed to following the will of God
they would be rewarded with a communication
from their Holy Guardian Angel.
Following this Angelic contact, certain classic talismans
could then be used under the protection of the Angel
to invoke the Demons who had power over particular spheres
of human endeavor.
For instance, if one wished to attain a wife then the appropriate talisman
would be used to invoke the specific Demon in charge of that type
of manipulation.
The overall belief system at work here was that the Demons
were to be the servants of humans and the Angels were
to be the supervisors of the Demons.
It was therefore consider
ed both stupid and deadly
to attempt to engage the Demons for their help without first
having the protection of one's Holy Gu
ardian Angel.
What I have written in the previous paragraph will no doub
t sound more than a little superstitious to many of you,
however, if Demons and Angels were to be translated
as being inner manifestations of the self rather
than outward phenomenon,
then a Demon would correspond to lower human nature
or basic desire and an Angel would be analogous to our Higher faculties.
As a result, it would then be logical to assume that in order to attain
what we truly need it would be necessary for each of us to first embrace
our Higher Nature
and then make our lower nature subservient to it.
Such a Psychol
ogical deconstruction should not be demeaning
to the power or efficacy of Magick, instead it should serve
to illustrate the wisdom of the Ancients
in that they knew where true power resides,
speci
fically within the self.
Yet wherever there is potential power,
there will always be a struggle for control.
Within the individual, this struggle is
between the more
noble aspects of human nature
(Love, honor, honesty, and respect)
and the lower aspects of what it means to be human
(fear, anger, greed, and dishonesty).
In my journey, I have come to recognize that all hate is self hate,
and love is not really possible until we each learn to first love ourselves
as individuals.
Picking up once again on the thread that I had introduced earlier
, it would seem at this point that the best way to identify
The Adversary might well be to look at one's self in the mirror.
Another name that is sometimes a euphemism for Satan is Lucife
r,
which is derived from the Latin words Lux or Light and Fero or
To Bear, thus Lucifer was The Light Bearer.
Because of the bad press also wrought upon the name of Lucifer,
the ske
ptic might ask,
What exactly was the nature of this light that Lucifer brought
to humanity that would have an association to EVIL?
The illumination Lucifer
brought was the ability to choose.
Is there potential evil in that?
Of course there is because some people will choose
to do the wrong thing, though I think it should also be pointed out
that what goes around comes around.
In other words, imbalance will always be its own reward.
If you don't believe me, try intentionally overdrawing
your checking account.
What it all boils down to is that if God is to be considered
supremely powerful then Satan or Lucifer
would necessarily have to be part of his plan.
With that in mind, the brunt of responsibility
for the ba
dness or EVIL in the world would then fall
squarely upon the shoulders of each individual human being
in that every one of us would be forced to choose between
doing good or evil.
Th
is aspect of choice is a very frightening concept
for many people,
because it is an awesome responsibility
to accept that our thoughts and actions
have an effect that increases exponentially
with e
very person we deal with.
In the Waite/Smith Tarot, the card of The Devil
is the archetypal image that represents making the choice
to master the lower aspects of our human nature.
This is illustrated within the card by the fact that the chains
which secure the man and woman to the pedestal
upon which the Devil is perched are very loose
and could easily be lifted over their heads.
As a result, it would then be logical to conclude
that if we remain chained to the imbalance The Devil represents
it is because we have chosen to do so.
If EVIL is then a choice; what will you do?
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=39118
THE ADVERSARY
Posted By: FraterR.S.
Date: Monday,
3 November 2003, 12:13 p.m.
All of my postings so far have used the symbolism
of Western Esotericism to express a point of view.
In this article, I intend to write about a subject that often comes up
whenever the Western Esoteric or Occult method is discussed,
namely EVIL.
Here in the West, the prevailing Christian mindset
has attached the name Satan to the concept of evil,
a word that is deriv
d from the Hebrew ShTN or Shatan
meaning adversary.
At this point, an interesting philosophical question immediately arises
in so far as who or what is The Adversary?
In his writings,
Aleister Crowley pointed out that the deifying of Satan or Satan
ism was merely a puerile attempt by inferior intellects
to systematize a bunch of discordant concepts that promote imbalance.
Perhaps then imbalance is The Adversary?
But since the Spiritual Path is about adjusting our daily inner imbalances
so as to be in harmony with the flow of the world around us,
perhaps then the thought that we are each a separate entity struggling
for some sort of victory is the adversary?
I will pick up this thread of reasoning again shortly,
but first I would like to take a moment and present
how Magickal Philosophy views the emissaries
of evil or The Demons.
To the Ancient Practical Qabalists,
it was believed that Magickal operations
in general were performed by consorting with Demons
under the protection and supervision of one's Holy Guardian Angel.
In order to connect with this Angel,
an Initiate into an Ancient Mystery School woul
d begin
by first withdrawing from the world of mundane affairs
for a period of sev
eral months,
during which time they would then become involved
in a program of hermetic study and purification rites.
Upon completion of these studies, it was traditionally believed
that if the person had been committed to following the will of God
they would be rewarded with a communication
from their Holy Guardian Angel.
Following this Angelic contact, certain classic talismans
could then be used under the protection of the Angel
to invoke the Demons who had power over particular spheres
of human endeavor.
For instance, if one wished to attain a wife then the appropriate talisman
would be used to invoke the specific Demon in charge of that type
of manipulation.
The overall belief system at work here was that the Demons
were to be the servants of humans and the Angels were
to be the supervisors of the Demons.
It was therefore consider
ed both stupid and deadly
to attempt to engage the Demons for their help without first
having the protection of one's Holy Gu
ardian Angel.
What I have written in the previous paragraph will no doub
t sound more than a little superstitious to many of you,
however, if Demons and Angels were to be translated
as being inner manifestations of the self rather
than outward phenomenon,
then a Demon would correspond to lower human nature
or basic desire and an Angel would be analogous to our Higher faculties.
As a result, it would then be logical to assume that in order to attain
what we truly need it would be necessary for each of us to first embrace
our Higher Nature
and then make our lower nature subservient to it.
Such a Psychol
ogical deconstruction should not be demeaning
to the power or efficacy of Magick, instead it should serve
to illustrate the wisdom of the Ancients
in that they knew where true power resides,
speci
fically within the self.
Yet wherever there is potential power,
there will always be a struggle for control.
Within the individual, this struggle is
between the more
noble aspects of human nature
(Love, honor, honesty, and respect)
and the lower aspects of what it means to be human
(fear, anger, greed, and dishonesty).
In my journey, I have come to recognize that all hate is self hate,
and love is not really possible until we each learn to first love ourselves
as individuals.
Picking up once again on the thread that I had introduced earlier
, it would seem at this point that the best way to identify
The Adversary might well be to look at one's self in the mirror.
Another name that is sometimes a euphemism for Satan is Lucife
r,
which is derived from the Latin words Lux or Light and Fero or
To Bear, thus Lucifer was The Light Bearer.
Because of the bad press also wrought upon the name of Lucifer,
the ske
ptic might ask,
What exactly was the nature of this light that Lucifer brought
to humanity that would have an association to EVIL?
The illumination Lucifer
brought was the ability to choose.
Is there potential evil in that?
Of course there is because some people will choose
to do the wrong thing, though I think it should also be pointed out
that what goes around comes around.
In other words, imbalance will always be its own reward.
If you don't believe me, try intentionally overdrawing
your checking account.
What it all boils down to is that if God is to be considered
supremely powerful then Satan or Lucifer
would necessarily have to be part of his plan.
With that in mind, the brunt of responsibility
for the ba
dness or EVIL in the world would then fall
squarely upon the shoulders of each individual human being
in that every one of us would be forced to choose between
doing good or evil.
Th
is aspect of choice is a very frightening concept
for many people,
because it is an awesome responsibility
to accept that our thoughts and actions
have an effect that increases exponentially
with e
very person we deal with.
In the Waite/Smith Tarot, the card of The Devil
is the archetypal image that represents making the choice
to master the lower aspects of our human nature.
This is illustrated within the card by the fact that the chains
which secure the man and woman to the pedestal
upon which the Devil is perched are very loose
and could easily be lifted over their heads.
As a result, it would then be logical to conclude
that if we remain chained to the imbalance The Devil represents
it is because we have chosen to do so.
If EVIL is then a choice; what will you do?