Thoughts About Occult Training and Education

I wanted to put down a few more thoughts about the whole self-training, self-directing and self-initiation discussion that has been going on between a few traditionalists and myself. Some good points have been made in my private conversations and I wanted to share them in this thread before I moved on to other topics. I am not trying to flog a dead horse by continuing to discuss this issue and there are some drawbacks to being completely aloof and independent from any traditional organization. Being a trail blazer makes such an individual something of a hero, but there is also a high cost to electing such a path, and that, in all fairness, also needs to be covered.

Yes indeed, I mostly followed the path of the independent and creative trail blazer and pretty much invented my own system of magick. As I am putting into effect the very last pieces of the puzzle for the first seven degrees of the Order of the Gnostic Star, which also happens to represent my own particular path of growth, I can marvel at what I have accomplished.

However, what I have accomplished has taken me a total of 40 years, and I haven’t even begun to work on the levels of the high adept or master magician (degrees 8 - 10). I certainly have some material, ideas, communications from spirits and other things that I can use to start developing this lore, but at this point most of it is pure speculation.

Not only that, but I probably spent several years tracking down leads during that period that led to nowhere, and I have discarded more lore than I eventually kept. Some experiments provided me with negative proof and forced me to drop or radically alter what I was doing in order for it to be successful. There was quite a bit of trial and error throughout the years, including a fair amount of error or inclusive results. Usually, those of us who are independent talk about our successes and pretty much ignore our failures. You can trust me when I tell you that there were a lot of mistakes, errors, bad practices, erroneous lore, all of which had to be mitigated in order for me to achieve success.

These days I can rely on the fact that the new lore that I develop has a high probability of success, but that’s because I have been researching and writing ritual lore for four decades. That experience has helped me know what will work and what will fail, and I can avoid writing rituals that won’t function as I had planned them to. Still, I can make mistakes, but they are usually minor and easily remedied. That, of course, was not the case when I was starting out, and it remained a problem until I had developed an array of successful ritual lore that I could rely upon, a process that took me a good 15 years to achieve.

Another factor that I had to deal with was the fact that the ritual lore that I had developed and successfully used in the early 1980's was very idiosyncratic and based on my own personal pagan and occult system of beliefs. Some of those beliefs were erroneous and needed to be corrected, while I had to ultimately justify the rest of the lore when I sought to make it useable to trial members of the new magical order that we had collectively founded. What this did was force me to rewrite all of the ritual lore using the agreed upon occult beliefs and philosophies of the Order. That effort took me another four years, and then I just continued to build the new ritual lore on top of that foundation. However, when I look at the original rituals that I wrote up between 1981 and 1983, I can see how inappropriate much of that ritual lore would be to someone who didn’t share a lot of my intimate occult beliefs.

So, if you add up all the of years it took me to develop a powerful and generalized system of magick that was useful to more individuals than myself, the final total is something in the area of 20 years - of that, 15 years was spent on the foundational ritual lore itself. That time period represents the span of time from when I first developed my unique system of magick and when it was finally fully capable of being used by people other than myself. We are talking about me having to spend an enormous amount of time and effort creating something that was actually already in existence. The foundational lore that I have developed would have been accessible to someone who had joined a traditional Golden Dawn organization, especially if it also had a robust and well developed second order. Thus, I spent many years reinventing the wheel. I had no choice because there wasn’t any Golden Dawn order for me to join, and there weren’t any published books (like David Griffin’s “Ritual Magic Manual”) that showed in detail how to perform magic using the Golden Dawn system.

Do I regret all the time that I spent creating a new system of magick? Absolutely not! However, would I recommend that anyone else spend their time in this present day, with all of the available material and groups at their disposal, building a system of magick from scratch? My answer is actually no, I wouldn't recommend anyone trying to build their own system of magick. If someone had a special calling and felt compelled to follow this path, I would wish them well, and perhaps they might take less time than I did because there is such more information available.

However, considering that it takes only four years or so for someone to master the Golden Dawn system and undergo the rigorous curriculum and receive mentoring and guidance from experienced adepts, I believe that to be a much better way of mastering the western system of magick. Compare four years to approximately 15 to 20 years and you will easily see that there’s really no comparison at all. If I were starting out today, I would join the Golden Dawn and get my foundational knowledge fully established, and then once that was completed, I would be able to experiment with completely new forms. I would have the same competence and expertise that I have now, yet without having used up two decades of my life in getting there.

Traditional organizations are important for beginners and intermediate students, and they will therefore be around for many years in the future. One could also say the same thing about fully developed adepts. (I would be foolish to turn down an open offer for the comradery, help and assistance of an existing tradition if they would accept my particular way of working magick and my present accomplishments.)

The organization structure of such traditional organizations might change, as would the method of communicating and outreach, but the fundamental purpose of these traditions as teaching bodies will in no way fade from the occult scene. If for some reason occult colleges and traditional orders would completely disappear from the western world then I would judge that world to be very poor and forsaken indeed. Anyway, that’s my final opinion on this matter, and I hope that we can all agree that getting good training is vitally important for any magician at some point on his or her spiritual path. Being completely independent and reinventing the wheel (as I have done), although quite possible, would likely take the average magician and occultist far too long to be useful.

Frater Barrabbas  

Magickal Teachers - Paying for Occult Instruction

There have been some recent blog articles on whether an occult teacher and magician should be “kept” by his or her community so that he or she may focus exclusively on the mastery of magick and its dissemination to the masses. One individual has mentioned that he would like to actually become wealthy or comfortably well off while practicing magick full time. Since I have a full time gig that I love and enjoy, which I might add, financially rewards me handsomely, I guess I am little startled by anyone wanting to somehow live off of students or consulting clients. For me, this is not really something that I am seeking, but I do know others who not only have started up a business that instructs and consults others in occult matters, but also allows them to do it as their only means of support. My Tantra teachers are a case in point, and I have nothing but honor and appreciation for the work that they are doing.

However, one thing that I have learned over the years is that spiritual seekers generally don’t have a lot of disposable income, so teaching and writing books becomes, for the most part, a money losing proposition. It quickly becomes paramount that in order to live off one’s vocation as an occultist and spiritual teacher, one needs to gather together a large group in order to sustain a viable and consistent income. What this also means is that the larger the group of adherents one gathers, the less each individual receives of any kind of extensive attention or personal coaching. So there is a balance to be considered between large groups or small groups, lots of personal attention or just rudimentary encounters.

Spiritual and occult empires tend to be money making machines that ultimately cheat individuals out of getting what they think they need from a teacher or guru. Large organizations are not able to tend to the intimate needs of spiritual seekers, so the question becomes what kind of impact is the teacher interested in providing one’s community at large? Obviously, if the teacher is seeking to become wealthy teaching the occult, then he or she will seek to build an empire, and will become yet another large organization that absorbs people’s money without seeming to give them what they really are looking for.

Perhaps the most important consideration that an erstwhile occult and magickal teacher can determine is to define what is meant by being materially wealthy or well off. Is it a requirement for working magick, and how much is enough? I have found that even new age adherents find this a very sticky issue to ponder - some have no qualms of seeking as much material wealth as they can, others are much more humble or ethical.

When working some very powerful invocations many years ago, one of my personal aspects of Godhead told me that my material circumstances were of no concern as long as I was able to do the spiritual and magickal work that was expected of me. This, of course, not only concerned my material situation, but also whether or not I had a relationship, friends to associate with or was enjoying my life. These considerations were my own and had no bearing on the work, as long as they didn’t interfere with it. What I deduced from this surprising statement was that for me, material solvency and personal happiness were my own responsibility. I had to find a balance between doing the work and seeking to materially advance myself. In finding that balance, I discovered that what I require to live on was much more rudimentary than I might have realized if I were not continually seduced by the power of materialism and the need to acquire goods and amass wealth. The secret to a successful occult career is to know the value of what one has and to know when enough is enough. Sometimes this lesson is cruelly and tragically dispensed by events, both foreseen and accidental.

I decided long ago that I was not interested in putting together a large occult organization because I find that I relish extensive individual contacts and also seek to guard my privacy. Since my background is witchcraft, there are strong taboos against charging fellow initiates for instruction and guidance, so I have walked a careful line between dealing with the public at large and teaching those who have received initiation from my hand. Once someone is an initiate in my tradition of witchcraft or magick, they are no longer amongst those that I can or would charge for instruction or guidance. We are supposed to offer our services free of charge to our brothers and sisters, and I would agree with this approach, since it instills a higher degree of ethics and eliminates the possibility of initiates exploiting each other. This is true amongst fellow initiates, but does not apply to those who are not initiated, the outsiders or cowains. It is also true that products such as occult supplies, books or other crafted items can and should be charged for by initiates to other initiates, since there is no such thing as a free lunch even amongst spiritual brothers and sisters.

One of the things that I dread the most would be a situation where I would become a parasite to a group of unwitting seekers. You could imagine it as a kind of giant tick, siphoning off the life force of other living beings and spreading corruption and disease in the process. Such a concept is quite revolting to me, so I would steadfastly avoid putting myself in that kind of situation. Since I am a human being with virtues and failings who is really no better or worse than anyone else and not some kind of omniscient ascended master, it would be profoundly dishonest for me to pass myself off as such, and expect others to take care of my needs or to cater to my ego centered gratifications.

There is a mythic quality to the great spiritual teacher and I have found that the best teacher for me has been the occasional guide, gifted lecturer or insightful friend. In all of the years that I have practiced ritual magick and investigated various occult organizations, I never once found someone that I would consider a master or one in which I would invest my entire spiritual search. For me, such an individual probably doesn’t exist. I have not yet been contacted by any secret chiefs, masters or secret immortal organizations, and I greatly doubt that any such individuals or groups exist in the real world. Such lessons as I have learned have been best apprehended by my own work and effort, even when given advice or guidance by others. Often these insights or advice have been freely given, or perhaps I attended some lecture or workshop and paid a small fee. I tend to avoid those who charge exorbitant fees for their knowledge unless I am absolutely certain that what they offer is critical, unique and important to me. Needless to say, I have very seldom applied for any expensive teachings and I don’t think that I have missed out on any opportunity for real personal growth. 

Spiritual egalitarianism and the establishment of Star Groups, where each member is a valued and equal representative of the group as a whole, is something that I have a vested interest in pursuing and promoting. It’s part of the by-laws of the Order of the Gnostic Star, so it’s obviously something that I must incorporate into my workings when engaging and involving other people. This means that the property of the group is to be shared equally amongst all of the members of the group. It also means that no one either charges or expects any kind of exchange for the gift of guidance or knowledge. Members are treated equally and with respect regardless of their previous experience or level of development, and teachers are nothing more than temporary facilitators who freely give their wisdom and insights for the good of the group. This would apply to both the supplying of temple space, equipment, supplies, books and other materials for the achievement of any group working. The group may extract dues from members, or it may rely on members freely offering goods or services, but the expenses met are considered donations whatever their source, and are the concern of the whole group and not just one or a few individuals. Egalitarianism is something that is difficult to learn and sometimes even harder to maintain, but it is essential if a group is to function as an integrated collective of equal individuals.

Another consideration is mentorship. In order to truly teach someone how to work magick, it requires taking them into a magick temple or grove and sharing the experience of working magick. This process of sharing must be done a number of times for each of the many different magickal workings. This is done in order for the complex system of magick used by the Order to be properly inculcated so that students are able to perform it without any help or guidance. We are talking about quite an investment of time and effort on the part of the teacher as well as the student. In the system of magick that I work, once an individual is initiated, they can no longer be expected to pay for their instruction, and mentoring becomes a very personal and intimate exchange. If experiences are shared, then certainly some of the expense of the workings can also be shared. But I would find it quite unethical to charge such an associate for my time or effort.

Correspondingly, a mentor can only do so much, it’s really up the student to master the work and become proficient in magick. So it’s expected that students will not only engage in shared workings, but will also perform their own and keep a consistent effort going during the training period. Mentorship should also be a temporary situation, having an allotted set of tasks, a finite period and duration. This keeps the relationship from becoming an open ended state of dominance by the mentor over the student. It should be expected that the student, whether less knowledgeable or capable, will either fulfill their objectives or not, and either way, they are respected and valued by the teacher. This also means that the period of personal teaching must end at some agreed upon point, where the teacher and student become independent of each other. This allows the student to either move on or to retain their association with the teacher, but now as an equal and respected contributor.

As you can see, spiritual egalitarianism and mentorship can only be sustained by small groups, allowing for the greatest amount of personal and intimate exchange between members. For this reason, the by-laws of the Order state that temple groups should have no more than a dozen members, since a larger group would not only have logistical issues for meeting and performing rituals, but that individual exchanges would become too limited and brief. It requires a mentor to properly train and teach another individual how to work very complex ritual workings, so a small group can facilitate mentors and simultaneously practice group rituals for the advancement of all members.

So when these considerations are examined and adopted, as I have, one might ask, what area is left for the teacher to teach and be paid or supported for his or her efforts? The answer is the general public - those who have not yet decided to pursue a specific path of magick and become an initiate. In fact the teacher and writer becomes a kind of gateway threshold that separates the serious and dedicated student from the superficial seeker. Often it takes time to make such a decision, where a student needs to have a fair amount of exposure to books, lectures, workshops, personal experimentation and meeting individuals representing groups before deciding to become an initiate. The teacher who facilitates these materials and gatherings for the general public has every right to charge for them whatever amount they think is appropriate and acceptable. The public will decide over time if such expenses are reasonable or egregious, voting with their feet if they find a teacher to be charging too much for what he or she is offering.

A final note: this is a very complex issue that has many deep layers to consider and think about. As a member of an existing organization that has rules, and also because I was initiated and trained as a witch with certain guidelines and expectations, I am not as free as others to charge for my services. But I believe that I am giving as much as anyone else to those who are interested in the occult practices of ritual magick. When someone decides to become an initiate and seeks me to be their mentor and initiator, then the rules must change to support spiritual egalitarianism and personal freedom.

Frater Barrabbas