Trouble with Duality for Pagans and Witches

Duality and dualism, as well as thinking and behaving in an opposing manner has pretty much saturated our culture and has become ironically something of a multi-faceted theme in our current world. This has become lionized by the statement “it’s Us against Them!” and it has given people a polarized and mythic prism in which to engage the world. We saw this in the second world war where the Axis powers were ultimately defeated by the glorious Allies, who soon afterwards had an inglorious falling out. Then the cold war with its theme of western capitalism fighting against eastern communistic aggression lasted for nearly 40 years. Now we have Christians against Muslim terrorists, liberals against conservatives, atheists against fundamentalist Christians, secularists against people of faith, Pro-Choice against Pro-Life, aggressive gays pushing their agenda for civil liberties against the strenuous objections of die-hard straights, blacks against whites against browns and everybody else, the list is nearly endless. Pick a side, and somebody will stake their life and its purpose on the opposing faction. It’s a carnival of human stupidity!

We can watch endless hours of so-called news TV and get sucked into this kind of political Kabuki theater, aligning ourselves with our favorite pundits and expressing outrage at the supposed insurgent antics of the opposition. In fact there doesn’t appear to be a loyal political opposition anymore, just the hated opponents. We now see those with opposing views as somehow imbued with “otherness” that seeks to contaminate us with their obvious and odious evil intentions. Our reflexive repulsion at the extreme qualities of this opposition is really nothing more than all of us seeing through the mirror very darkly, indeed.

We see ourselves allied with angels and fighting against the demonic hoards here in our own communities and homes. Such a pageantry is most distressful, but underlies something much more sinister and compelling. The public is being completely hoodwinked by the power elite who have disguised this mythic battle in terms that ignites people’s fears but not their minds. If we continue to idle away our time fighting these imaginary battles, then we will be easily led to our ultimate destiny, to be slaves of the corporatist machine. Instead of an epic battle between good and evil there is just a cold, ruthless grasping for power and a cynical tarring and pillorying of straw men and imaginary evil adversaries. These so-called enemies are actually figments of our imagination, but they serve to hide the business as usual activities of those in power.

Sometimes I find myself ignoring the news for days because I have found that the persistent noise and distraction is so pervasive as to be nearly unavoidable. I also try to ignore Face Book news stream postings for the same reason, since it pains me to observe so many obviously good people falling prey to malicious disinformation and maudlin mendacity. I have to sadly shake my head when I see how some people are so fixated on all kinds of idiotic conspiracies, but I also realize that critical thinking is often in short supply or non-existent. However, the way out of this terrible Manichean world catastrophe is to realize that there are never just two opposing opinions about any issue. To force yourself to think of a third, fourth or even more points of view to any given hot-ticket issue is to be liberated from this awful political and social dualism that plagues our post-modern world.

None of this is revelatory, as such polarizing sentiments and perspectives have been known to materialize at certain times in the past, and I might add, all too frequently. Yet to step outside of this pandemonium-like din even briefly is to find a kind of empty and peaceful solace, a place where one can think, rationalize and apply some critical thinking skills to the real issues of the day. Still, what this means is that we can all see the damage that duality is wrecking upon our media saturated world, and that duality by itself is the greatest vice and obstacle for all thinking and reasoning people. So, when I say that duality isn’t good for pagans and witches, I also mean that it isn’t particularly healthy for anyone. Taken to extremes, polarized thought can even temporarily cause a rational and sane person to become violent and dangerous, not to mention what it can do to a crowd of people. Before we slip over the edge from hotly opposing views to violent insurrection, let us pause, take a breath, relax, and let go of our ardent and cherished beliefs for just a moment.

Ah, that’s much better, isn’t it? You can feel the tension drain away, and the awful things that you were thinking are now quite plainly, awful. You can also see that such carrying on does nothing more than throw gasoline on a small fire, making it a much bigger fire. As you stand with a clear head and begin to philosophize, you will no doubt wonder how we got into this mess in the first place. I wonder that quite often myself. It makes me somewhat afraid for the future, and I am quite the optimist.

The source of all of this social polarization and sorting out is nothing more than a collection of media based corporations that are intent on selling themselves in the most sensational manner possible. It is, therefore, attributed to their greed that they amplify small inconsequential matters into huge crises, and this becomes the order of the day, every day of the week. Yet this is a theme that is all too familiar to anyone who has ever been forced to go to church and listen to some pastor rant and rave about the sinful world we live in. Having heard such sermons, we will undoubtedly know the source of this duality. It is a major and important part of Christianity, especially Protestant Evangelism. Nothing compells a sinner to be repentant and remorseful (and also cough up some money for the offering basket) than a good old fashioned verbal exhortation of hell-fire, wicked sinners, the blessed saved, and the end of days. But if you are a pagan or a witch and you are not a believer in this mythic tale, then certainly you should resist and even deny it as relevant.

If denying the whole mythic theme of guilt, redemption, eternal damnation, and the constant warfare of good and evil locked in mortal conflict is an important affirmation for pagans and witches, then the rest of the dualistic opposition that has so seduced our society should also be deemed irrelevant and emphatically dropped. There is no need to be sectarian about our pagan beliefs and practices, since that is a contradiction of what it is to be a pagan. To us, all Gods are valid and true, or they are all invalid, including our own. So, pagans and witches shouldn’t see the world as a constant war between good and evil. Instead, we should see the world as being a natural confluence of light and darkness, each blending into the other to create the harmony of day and night, and the perfection of the natural world. We accept Nature as it is, and we don’t try to color or taint it as something other than what it naturally is. Animals don’t need to know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, but we humans have had to adopt certain codes of conduct and behavior. Otherwise, as the most dangerous creature on the planet, we would destroy ourselves and all living things.

The natural way is what the Chinese call the Tao, the Way of Nature, which has no premeditation or contrived manner of being. It is the way of the uncarved block. Following such a path would cause us to judge things and events only when sufficient information has presented itself, otherwise we would remain neutral and uncommitted, silent but resolved. Thus, we would judge everything individually and would avoid heaping things into too generalized of a category. What this means is that we would no longer play into the games of polarizing beliefs and myths, but would instead try to independently judge a thing using our own reason and logic.

If someone were to say that gay men are an evil menace to our Christian values as a society, we would ask them to prove that all such men could be so generalized, and that our society is steadfastly secular (not Christian), and for good reason. If another person said that the secular society is engaging in a persecution of the Christian faith, we would respond that there is no proof. We still have churches where people are peacefully gathering on Sundays, there is still Easter and Christmas on our nation’s calendar, and people are behaving pretty much as they always have done. We would question these many false claims and find no evidence for them, and we would say that they cannot be facts - only hearsay urban myths.

If enough people did this, then the cable news channels would find themselves out of business. At least if pagans and witches took this kind of perspective to heart, then suddenly, we would no longer be one of the partisans in the ever-present social conflict. A real solution is to actively question everyone and everything, but quietly and internally, at first.

There was a cool saying that was passed around in the late 60's, almost to the point of it becoming a meaningless metaphor. It was supposedly first stated by Timothy Leary in 1967 (at the Human Be-in gathering), words of wisdom spoken by the Godfather of LSD and the High Priest of psychedelics. He said, “Turn on, tune in and drop out!” I would recommend that my fellow witches and pagans follow this advice. We should turn ourselves on to the many sacraments and joys of life, then tune in to nature and what is really going on in our world, and then we should drop out of the partisan rat-race that’s eating everyone else alive.

The actual quote was: “Like every great religion of the past we seek to find the divinity within and to express this revelation in a life of glorification and the worship of God. These ancient goals we define in the metaphor of the present — turn on, tune in, drop out”

Still, the most important thing to do is to remove yourself entirely from the polarizing media circus that is happening out there and focus on the simple and direct things that are really important. Whenever you come across a heated and polarized discussion, or two warring viewpoints at odds with each other, try to think of a third, fourth or even a fifth perspective. Bedevil your family, acquaintances and even strangers with these other perspectives whenever and wherever possible. Never lose your ability to remain a free thinker, capable of independent and deep critical insights, and empowered with the ability to know personal truth from social bullshit. And most importantly, never lose your sense of humor. Because in the end, all of this noise and cacophony is just the sound of change, and also the fear of change.

May you forever avoid the curse of duality!

Frater Barrabbas    

Nature of Spirits - Angels and Demons

Frater Rufus Opus recently wrote that demons are elementals, or that they have elemental qualities. This is in his article about demonic agendas, and you can find it here. While some might think that this is a neat and tidy way of defining the nature of these spirits, I have to disagree with what he has written. (I also hope that I have understood exactly what he has written, too.) It really has to do with the nature of Angels and Demons, and whether either can be considered as nothing more than simple, mindless intermediaries of the Godhead, or as the Greeks would call them, the Daimones.

I employ the term “mindless” because it is a defining adjective that I have used when talking about elementals. Even if one is using the supposed “Hermetic model” to define the natures of demons, my own personal experience (and that of many of my associates) has shown me that these supposed infernal spirits are quite intelligent. So, it would seem that either elementals are keenly intelligent (contrary to my experience) or demons are quite limited and dumb. That is, if there are any congruence between them at all. Allow me to explain my point.

Now just because some authors (or grimoires) have given an order to the Infernal Hierarchy that is elemental doesn’t equate those spirits identically with “elemental forces.” It is an ordering structure, and like all ordering structures (or maps, for that matter), the order is not to be confused with the identities that are being so ordered. These ordering structures are a kind of analogy, not an actual physically based taxonomic ranking. You could also organize the Goetic demons according to the astrological decans (which I have done), and probably would learn more about them (from an astrological perspective) than you would by assigning them an elemental hierarchy. Of course, this is just my opinion. Needless to say, however they are organized it doesn’t mean that the organizing structure is synonymous with that which is being organized. It is just a matrix or model structure that human minds use to understand the complexity of the spiritual world, which can’t really be intellectually grasped in the first place.

So, what are demonic spirits? For that matter, what are angelic spirits? Using the most simplistic perspective we should see them as embodying a force as well as a highly evolved intelligence. They are ultimately emissaries of the One that has no attributes or even a name, but more directly, the agents of various Godhead attributes, or what some would call the Gods. Like a living and activated symbol, they can be focused to a single point, multiple points simultaneously or effused into an overall general attribute of the Godhead. Actually, they exist as all three of these qualities simultaneously as well as other mysterious qualities, some of which might be altogether unknown to human nature. This is why a magician might summon one of them into appearance and then fully engage with that entity, even though what has been summoned is just an active link or a single (fractional) instantiation of the overall symbolic being. This whole matter is a profound paradox, as are all things that reside wholly within the world of spirit.

What I have stated above is true of both angels and demons; they are analogous beings to each other. The difference between them has to do with their specific loci, although that is not a particularly useful term when talking about the world of the spirit. We can project onto the world of the spirit the structures that we find in our own world, namely, the threefold domains of celestial spheres, the geographic structures of the earth, and the chthonic underworld. All of these domains are actually a kind of symbolic topology, which should be viewed as similes or analogies and not actual physical locations. The locus for angels are the celestial spheres, the locus for earth spirits (not to be confused with elementals, I might add) is the geographic domain of material place, and the locus of the demons is the chthonic underworld. Each of these loci have their own qualities, but neither should be given the value of good or evil (or any other limiting quality), since they are actually beyond both good and evil. All of these structures are just mental models to help us differentiate and distinguish what is, in reality, a formless unity known as the One.

Since many demonic names have within them the corrupted names of ancient pagan deities, then we can consider them to be demi-gods, and in some African Traditions, they are seen exactly in that light. Additionally, elemental spirits are below the influence of the planetary intelligences, while higher spirits, such as angels, demons, and sect-based intermediaries have the aspect of intelligence to crown their beings. I have joking referred to elementals as “dumb” or “mindless” because they operate below the level of intelligence and function as animated forces to be imprinted and directed by the magician and then allowed to operate on the simple goal to which they have been applied. They are incapable of thinking about that directive or mitigating it if something changes. They will therefore either hit their mark or miss it entirely. Elementals represent the emotional and passionate energies that all higher creatures are subjected to, but without any of the guiding forces of rational thought or intellect that can direct and control them. That controlling attribute is represented by the will and the assumed godhead of the magician.

(A useful analogy of the basic four-fold Elemental Spirits can be found in the court cards of the Tarot. There are 16 cards within the matrix of an element base being qualified by an element crown. However, there are other elemental systems, such as the 64 Hexagrams of the I-Ching, or what I call Elemental Gateways. If one were to apply the concept of broken and solid lines (like the I-Ching) to Geomancy, then 256 individual Octagrams would be produced. Anyway, you get the idea - elementals consist of the four elements and nothing else.)

This is the quixotic nature of the elemental spirits, and since I have worked extensively with them for so many years I believe that I can make some important judgements about them. They are quite useful and simple to generate. They can be assembled like building blocks, but the are not overly effective, particularly for long term workings. However, no angelic or demonic being that I have ever summoned has been quite as one-pointed and lacking in intelligence as an elemental. For this reason, I have to reject Frater R.O.’s theory that demons are elementals. If that were so, then the magician wouldn’t need to take such great care when establishing the binding agreement with demons.

However, I believe that such care should be taken no matter what spirit is being invoked. Still, this means that the magician is dealing with an entity that has quite an evolved intelligence and is able to not only reason as we do, but also deal with ambiguities quite effectively , often to our ultimate dismay. How we are able to summon such an entity has more to do with the fact that there is a Deity residing in our core, and that Godhead within us is analogous to the Absolute Deity. (Some would say that they are equivalent.) Since spirits are, by definition, emissaries of the One, they are also emissaries to each of us who has realized, however briefly, our inner Godhead. Yet to treat spiritual entities with a respectful attitude is nothing less than treating one’s own inner Godhead in a respectful manner, too.

Magicians should deal with chthonic spirits in a respectful and careful manner particularly since the underworld is the source of all material wealth and material potential. It contains the essence of transformative evolution as well as the mysteries of life and death, good health and material well-being. These qualities (provided by chthonic spirits) are even more important to life in the material world than what the celestial spirits might provide. Yet just as angels give a powerful perspective of the higher celestial domains and its visionary and prophetic potential, the demons wield the powers and wisdom of the underworld.

Magical workings that incorporate either angels or demons will produce a powerful spiritual transformation within the magician, and this should be a sign that all such spirits are an active embodiment of the One. They are agents of the challenging ordeals (demons) and ecstatic visionary insights (angels) of a magician’s progress from his or her individual nature to the ultimate reality of the final Godhead ascension. These spirits and this kind of magick is far beyond the workings of the elementals, so we can dispense with any claims that they are one and the same. I might be breaking with tradition in making these definitions and building this view of the spirit world, but it is based on many years of continued praxis and an even longer period of study.

Frater Barrabbas

Whence Cometh Spring?

April has come and there are only a few indications that anything much has changed from winter to a verdant spring. It is a cold and lifeless spring so far, which is probably just as confusing for the returning geese as it is for the humans and creatures that have endured the long winter. While the snow is slowly receding, the lakes and ponds are still iced up, and only the brilliant sunshine seems to indicate that the season has indeed changed. We got an early spring last year and this year we get to experience a very slow transition, which will likely extend winter like conditions into May. This is not unusual for this part of the country, but it is somewhat depressing. The receding snow only reveals a brown and lifeless undercoat with no indication of any kind of new life. Also, the spring peepers are mostly silent, although I have heard, from time to time during the sunny afternoons, some singular croaking somewhere in the fields.

(Of course, as I was writing this article, Mother Nature dropped a couple of inches of wet sloppy snow on the land, and it looks again like a winter-scape. Well, so much for spring! I guess we’ll have to wait a few weeks for warmer temperatures in order for all of the snow to completely disappear. It is depressing in a way and also a slight shock to one’s sensibilities. The supposed end of winter had many starting to come out of their months long hibernation, but now they have receded back into the winter-like torpor. Welcome to the tundra-like experience of the northern Midwest plains.) 

The long harsh winters make all of us here in Minnesota avid seekers of any sign of spring, sometimes even desperately. Some will even wear shorts when the temperature gets into the late 40's or early 50's. My career workload has finally dropped down to just maintenance, and I am now contemplating a period of self-study and training to assist me in making the transition from my current project to future projects once this one has lapsed. I have also put together my resume and sent it to the corporate leaders as requested so that they can find new prospects for me to be assigned, and I have also indicated that I am willing to relocated, provided that the relocation package is reasonable and helpful.

This means that my tenure in the tundra is nearing an end, since my company has now indicated that they are open to relocating key employees once again. This is how I managed to move every few years back in the 1990's and into the early 2000's. I have decided that I will pursue employment possibilities in other locations by undergoing yet another corporate move. I have endured six corporate relocations, but this time I am a home owner and not a renter. It will obviously be more complicated than previously. Since I have proven my value quite dramatically in the last several months to my corporate overlords, I am quite certain that I will be getting a new project to work on in the months ahead, and also, a relocation deal.

Over the course of the last few months I have still not engaged in any ordeals or extensive magical workings. It has been a period of reading, research, pondering over the meaning of this or that, and a lot of self-examination. Lately, this has become very productive indeed, since I seem to have stumbled upon a mother lode of insightful and thought provoking treasures.

Two lines of thought have guided my steps recently. These thoughts have produced two different directions for research, and they have both now converged together. The first thought was that if the Chaldean Oracles would represent an actual sacred book, at least for the late Classical period of Neoplatonism, then having the original Greek language version would be very helpful. I wanted to find this text because it would fit in with my thoughts about building up a completely Greek version of the Qabalah. To build a Qabalah, one needs to have sacred writings in the basic language proposed - in this case, Greek. So, I began to search for a book that contained the original Greek language version of the Chaldean Oracles. It turns out that there was only one book that fit this requirement and it was long out of print.

My other line of thought was that somehow Neoplatonism could be completed by adding some strains of Indian Philosophy to it. I have long felt that there was something very important missing from Neoplatonic philosophy, and that “something” can be identified by a simple concept. As a practicing ritual magician and witch, I have long known of the fact that there is within me (and every other human being) a Deity, which I have called the God/dess Within. This concept is analogous to the Indian concept of the Atman. However, according to Advaita Vendanta, there is no difference between the Absolute Godhead and the Individual Godhead, where it is said that Brahman and Atman are one (and indivisible). (I have discussed this idea previously in an article, and you can find it here.)

What that means is that we all have within us a direct path to the realization of our own Godhead as revealed in the One. Assumption of the Godhead is one mechanism to developing this realization, but what it means is that there is no complete separation and distinction between the Absolute Godhead and the Godhead within each and every human being. This is quite a profound realization and, I might add, it doesn’t appear in the various Neoplatonic writings where the distinction between humanity and the Godhead is quite rigorously enforced. This is why Neoplatonism talks about the theurgy of  “ascension” as a method of returning to the One. However, it would seem that returning to the One is actually not possible for anyone but a very small minority. In Indian Philosophy the concept of “returning” doesn’t exist. It is more of an internal revelation (a transformation and a spiritual evolution); it is, in a sense, discovering what was a fact inside of oneself from the very beginning. I believe that this distinction between Indian and Neoplatonic philosophy is also to be found in the practice and experience of modern witchcraft and paganism, or at least where Godhead assumption (as the Draw) is central. 

So over the course of the last few weeks I have been very busy reading and studying the books "Chaldean Oracles" by Ruth Majercik and the anthology "Neoplatonism and Indian Philosophy" edited by the late Paulos Mar Gregorios, which I might declare is very heady stuff. Yet the combination of these two perspectives is helping me to make a breakthrough of sorts.

I believe that Neoplatonism and Indian Philosophy are both monist systems developed within a pagan religious environment. However, Indian Philosophy has had a much longer and continuous evolving life-span. In fact, I suspect that Indian philosophy made breakthroughs that Neoplatonism might have made as well if only it had continued in the same spirit and direction over the course of centuries instead of being uprooted from Athens and Alexandrian and then slowly waning in the remote fastness of Harran.

Another distinction is that Indian Philosophy is, for the most part, a living religious and philosophical tradition, where the praxis that represents its foundation is still being worked today. This is so unlike Neoplatonism, which has had to be reinvented based on a lot of fragmentary lore. I believe that it might be possible that certain schools of Indian Philosophy, such as the Indian Tantras, could be used to help complete and evolve Neoplatonic philosophy to a more complete and mature form, and perhaps even help to formulate a comprehensive praxis. That is my belief and the intention behind my work, however, we will see how it works out in the months ahead.

One thing that is tragic about the Chaldean Oracles as they exist today (and it’s something that I hadn’t fully realized) is that this work exists only in fragments. The complete text has never been found. What we have are the quotations that other late classical authors have written about it and these quotations were preserved to the present times. However, at least now I have those remaining fragments in their original Koine Greek. Ms. Majercik's book has been out of print for years and is only available as a scanned copy that can be downloaded from the internet. I realize that downloading a copy (as I have done) is to facilitate a process that I can’t fully condone, but the only copies that are available are being sold for over two thousand dollars. I could also maybe get a copy through inter-library loan and then wait for weeks if it does show up, but this was the quickest way to get a copy. I am hoping that someday the author or publisher will deem to reprint a new version and make it available to everyone who wants a copy.

Yet I am once again quite taken with this mysterious work. If ever there was a book of sacred writings for Hermetic Pagans, it was the Chaldean Oracles. This book was produced through a form of magical skrying, where the senior Julian acted as the magician, and his son, the skrier. As quoted from Ms. Majercik’s introduction, “The Chaldean Oracles are a collection of abstruse, hexameter verses purported to have been ‘handed down by the gods’ (theoparadota) to a certain Julian the Chaldean and/or his son, Julian the Theurgist, who flourished during the late second century C. E.” She goes on to say that the oracle verses were derived from the theurgic techniques of calling and receiving. It is, therefore, quite singularly amazing that these verses derived from theurgic rituals were regarded as authoritative from Porphyry to Damascius (3rd to 4th centuries). Even so, what has come down to us today are just some of the verses, or at least the most important or profound of these. We also don’t really know the sequence that these fragments originally occurred in the original work, and it can only be hoped that some future discovery will locate a complete copy of this work.

Still, what fragments we possess have always astounded and perplexed me, but Ms. Majercik's commentaries are the most illuminating that I have ever read. The Gnostic sect, the Sethians, particularly were engaged with this work and its inspirations can be found throughout those Naghamadi texts that have survived. We can see the effects of this work in the magical texts of the Greek Magical Papyri, too.

With these books in hand, I feel like I have some pretty profound answers to some questions that I have been asking for quite a long time. I will write all of these musings up in my blog in the very near future.

Frater Barrabbas

Pagans and Christians

Recently, Sam Webster wrote an article on Patheos where he said that basically, you can’t worship Jesus Christ and also be a Pagan. It would seem that he believes them to be mutually exclusive. What he means is that if you are a Christo-Pagan then you are behaving in such a manner where you are not being true to the spirit of either religious tradition. It does remind me of a saying in the New Testament, where the visionary Jesus declares in Revelations 3:16 “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” This, of course, is a warning to those who would pose as Christians but not be passionate or true about their faith; that such individuals are even worse than out-right deniers. It is a harsh unequivocal declaration that would pose a kind of terrible sorting of Christians nearing the mythical end-times. Curiously, I have found Sam’s article of a similar nature, seeking to sort out true Pagans from the pretenders. You can find Sam’s post here and read it for yourself.

On the surface it would seem reasonable to request, or at least address the issue, that Pagans worship as Pagans and Christians worship as Christians. It would also seem to address the issue that Paganism and Christianity are strategically different enough that they should not be mixed. I have known a number of Witches and Pagans who feel strongly that those individuals who, for whatever reason, still adhere to the actual worship of Jesus Christ cannot in all good conscience consider themselves witches or pagans. Superficially, I would have to agree with this perspective, but only if we are talking about the idealized traditions of Christianity (of the Evangelical mind-set) and Modern Pagan reconstructionism.

Of course, when you consider the wide and massive variety of beliefs and practices that actually exist, the idealized perspectives become nearly useless. In the end it doesn’t really matter what anyone believes as far as organized traditions are concerned, particularly if that belief is based on authentic religious experiences. Another problem with this perspective is that it doesn’t take into account that there are quite a few versions of Christianity and even as many different perspectives on Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, the Saints, Angels, and every other attribute of that faith as there are individuals practicing it. This is also becoming quite true of Modern Paganism as well, and it just becomes nearly impossible to establish borders and generalized definitions if the population of the faithful doesn’t fit at all within those definitions.

What seems to be driving Sam Webster is a phenomenon that is quite local to the United States, where there is a united and seemingly threatening religious political faction that is bent on making all members of the population conform to a single theological and politically conservative mind-set. Of course, this faction represents many individuals who are frightened of any social changes as well as inimical to the basic freedoms of religion accorded to everyone in a secular political society. However, this faction only appears to be united, and in fact, it is itself quite fragmented.

Additionally, this faction represents only a small minority of overall Christians living and practicing their faith in our country. It is doubtful that this highly conservative faction of Christians will ever hold sway over the nation and they will likely remain an ever dwindling part of the population over time. This is not to say that there isn’t any danger to our society from the actions of Christian right-wing religious fanatics and their apparently misguided beliefs and political machinations, so we should be diligent in enforcing our right to worship as we see fit without any outside interference. I also don’t agree with Mr. Webster that belief is central in Christianity, since there are a number of levels of religious experience and participation in Christianity (as there are in other religions), and that belief by itself represents only the most basic and superficial level. I would have to say that faith is much more powerful in Christianity than belief, especially if it is faith based on authentic religious experiences.

The chief problem that I have with what Sam Webster is saying is that he is holding up a model of Christianity and saying that it is a religion of oppression, and that its Triple Deity is somehow malevolently disposed towards non-believers. Christianity is not a monolithic religion, and its various spiritual attributes are defined quite differently, depending on the sect, organization, time-period, geographic location, etc. The Roman Catholics of antiquity, or the middle ages, or the Reformation are not the same Catholics of today; these are different groups of people operating under different time-periods who espoused a different set of overall values. While the majority of people in the U.S. today are mainstream Christians, a much smaller percentage belongs to what would be considered the most conservative and fundamentalist of religionists. To equate the whole population of Christians with the beliefs and activities of this small minority is analogous to making prejudicial judgments about Islam based on the actions of a handful of Salafi jihadists.

 

Time changes everything, including very orthodox religious organizations. If anything, the religions functioning in the world today are actually a lot more tolerant and peaceful than they have been for quite some time, despite the villainous activities of a small minority. There are heinous crimes committed by religious groups and institutions that go against the sentiments of world justice, just as there are with nations and their actions. The world is not perfect and religious persecution still exists in pockets of our world, although it has diminished considerably over the centuries. Mr. Webster seems to have taken the slights and the inconvenient events of living and working in a nominally Christian U.S. society and amplified them to point where it would seem that we are living in a nation that is persecuting and is overtly hostile to non-Christians. Are there certain levels of discrimination experienced by Pagans and Witches living in the U.S.? Yes, but what they have endured hardly matches what Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, Women or the LGBT community have experienced over the course of the last several decades.

In regards to my own religious and magical practices, I am not a Christian. I don’t, for instance, worship Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, or pay homage to any of the Saints. However, I have appropriated Christian liturgical rites and adapted them for my own use. I also work extensively with the Qabalah and the entire hierarchy of Angels, as well as Demons and other spirits, although certainly not in the same manner as either Christians or Jews. So, Sam Webster could judge that I am behaving like a creditable Pagan should behave, but he would have to overlook the borrowing and appropriation that I have made from Christian beliefs and practices. Since I happen to know that he is a Thelemite then I wonder if he is also against the Gnostic Mass, since its basic structure and function was also appropriated by Crowley from the Christian Mass.

While I might agree with some of what Sam Webster has said, I don’t feel that anyone can place boundaries on what is definitive in regards to Paganism or Christianity. Our world seems filled with heterodoxic adherents who have taken beliefs and borrowed them from nearly every tradition and sought to build something for themselves that is meaningful and spiritually fulfilling. As time goes on, this blending will probably only get worse, profoundly blurring the boundary between creeds and sects to the point that any kind of sociological definition would have to be considered absurd.

Where does this mixing up of religious traditions lead us? Who can say with any authority today who is a true Christian or who is a true Pagan? As a ritual magician, I believe that ultimately we end up at the point of being religious and spiritual individuals, practicing our own personal creed and belonging to a sect of one. Where we find points of unity, then these should be considered the foundation for a greater re-unification, and the newly emerging sodality would not be recognizable as any of the traditional religious organizations that are now being engaged. 

We live in a Christian-based culture with national holidays that are suffused with Christian themes, so it almost seems impossible to be able to completely exclude oneself from the traditions and heritage that are endemic in our culture, and this despite the fact that we are supposedly living in a secular society. While what Sam wrote did strike a cord within me, it also demonstrated that what we don’t need is to formulate any kind of sorting process between true pagans and the rest of the syncretistic masses who would happily join us in our public rituals and celebrations.

If there must be a definition of Paganism then it must be made in such a manner that it includes everyone who wants to be included, and that it discriminates against no one. If we have learned anything in the last millennium or so, it is that tolerance and mutual understanding should be our principle values in dealing with our own pagan diversity as well as the diversity of other faiths. What we don’t need is sectarian sorting, discrimination, or absolute definitions of how and whom a Pagan or Witch should worship as their attributes of Deity. We are still working out the details of our theology and practices, and establishing harsh limitations at this point makes little sense to me.

I do applaud Sam Webster for publishing his opinions for everyone to read and ponder, and some of what he says does resonate with me. However, the harshness of his judgments against a single monolithic faith is nothing less than counter productive. If we want other religious communities to respect and give us credit for being an authentic religious creed, then we need to accord them the same respect and credit. If someone wants to engage in a syncretistic search for personal spiritual truth, then who are we to either criticize or denigrate that approach? Obviously, within Modern Paganism, there should be room in the temples of our hearts for all Deities, creeds and spiritual perspectives, since that is the way of paganism from ancient times.

Frater Barrabbas

What I Don’t Like About Wicca

This article will undoubtedly upset some people, but I felt that I needed to clearly state my opinions and insights on this topic so there is no confusion as to where I stand. While I am a member of a lineal tradition of British Traditional Witchcraft, also known as Wicca, I feel that there are definite pros and cons to engaging with this tradition. Perhaps what I have a problem with has more to do with how covens and groups are managed than with the actual lore that is practiced by them. My readers should be aware by now that even though I am a member of this tradition, I believe that it should be reformed, revised and constantly updated. My reasons for believing this is because Wicca is a very new religion and it has not yet achieved a level of development or depth required in order for it to take its place with the other world religions. I don’t see that as a bad thing, in fact I see it as an opportunity for the Witchcraft movement as a whole to continue its evolution and development. There is still so much more to know and experience in regards to defining witchcraft and linking what we do know about the past with the present.

First of all, I would like spend a few paragraphs detailing what I like about Wicca and why I think that it is worth reforming and evolving. I haven’t given up on this tradition, but I suspect that my ideas and insights are probably contrary to the way that it is practiced or adhered to in the present times. I don’t disparage my tradition and I don’t like other writers referring to it as the McDonald’s of Witchcraft, or “McWicca,” as some have decided to call it. There is more than enough that is good and useful in Wicca to build a greater foundation over time, but other practices and traditional lore deemed erroneous or irrelevant should be changed, modified or discarded to help further its evolution and deepening its religious significance. Instead of discarding the whole tradition as some in the Old Craft Tradition would have it, I believe that reform, revision and adding new lore would go a long way to making Wicca into a continuing, viable and cutting edge religious tradition.

Here are some of the points that I would like to make in defense of Wicca, showing that there are some things which are very useful and good to be found in that religious tradition. Let me list them here for your consideration.

1. Everyone has to start somewhere. Since the magnitude of books and materials that are available to the general public is quite massive, it would seem that anyone who wishes to engage with a nature-based spirituality as popularly defined in our culture would find themselves involved in Wicca. Many of the people now engaged in Wicca are either solitary practitioners or informally involved in a group. These groups and individuals represent the uninitiated or self-initiated masses who likely represent the larger proportion of the total adherents. Sometimes these individuals will form groups and declare themselves to be a coven, but whether or not they receive recognition from the formal groups and traditional lineages is another matter altogether.(More about this later.)

2. There is a certain consistency within the beliefs and practices that make up Wicca, whether in formal or informal groups. Since much of the general lore of the Book of Shadows (and other sources) is either published or available online, then if a group of practitioners desire to form a coven and practice as a group there is more than enough material to help them build a basic foundation. They might not have an initiatory pedigree to establish their legitimacy, but their overall practices are consistent with vetted individuals and groups within the legitimate coven-based traditions. What this means is that Wiccan training has a certain consistency and conformity whether or not individuals and groups are practicing within an initiatory lineage. The difference, in my opinion, is that those witches who are operating within an initiatory lineage will have a bit more depth, intensity and (hopefully) the advantage of experienced and mature teachers. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

I have found over the years that to discredit a practicing witch because he or she lacks a proper traditional initiation seems more like a terrible conceit and a means of discrimination than really evaluating what that person has actually accomplished. Instead of basing an evaluation of a practicing witch on talent and merit, they are judged by who initiated them and from what lineage, if any. I have met both competent and incompetent spiritual leaders (High Priestesses and High Priests) in my own and ancillary traditions, and I have met some truly gifted individuals who are wholly outside of the traditional initiatory lineage structure.

So, it would seem that having a good pedigree and an iron clad vouch doesn’t determine whether a witch is capable or competent. I sometimes think that pedigrees appear to be more of a status symbol or a place to harbor the markings of an elitist cadre within the larger group of adherents rather than an indication of any amount of actual superiority. Having access to great teachers and working within a coven of experienced and spiritually mature individuals would doubtlessly further any beginner’s spiritual growth. Yet there is no guarantee that any traditional coven operating within a verifiable lineage will be more capable of providing this kind of quality guidance than a group that is outside of any verifiable lineage. One the best covens that I have ever had the grace to work with consisted of individuals who were not part of any established lineage-based tradition whatsoever. They managed to make traditional lineage based witches and covens look poor by comparison.

3. Classical witchcraft establishes a good foundation for the acquiring and adopting of both high and low forms of magic. Even though some religionists within Wicca are seeking to erase magical practices from their liturgical work, witchcraft is fundamentally a system of working magic as well as a system of pagan nature worship. They seem to go hand to hand. I have found that witches make really good ritual magicians once they are able to make the transition from performing initiations, esbats and sabbat rites to experimenting with different kinds of energy based or spirit based ritual formulations.

4. Wicca is grounded in earth-based religious beliefs and practices. Witches learn to love and venerate nature, and they have an innate grounded-ness that is often missing from ceremonial magicians. Nature is also the source from which they acquire an understanding of the meaning of life and the mysteries of birth and death, whether in plants (and the seasons), animals or humans. The cycle of light and darkness represents the changing diurnal cycle of night and day, the lunar and the solar cycles, and the oceanic tides. These cycles represent the basic and most fundamental pattern that is used to establish an overall spiritual and magical discipline, and this pattern is likely the oldest known to humanity.

5. Feminine based spirituality has its natural roots in classical witchcraft, and a woman’s power to create human life is regarded as one of the greatest and miraculous occurrences in nature. Thus, women in witchcraft are given a special honor and veneration that is rarely found in other western religious organizations. There seems to be a natural connection between women, the earth, the cycles of the moon, tides and the seasons, and the magic of sustaining and maintaining all life where required. Life and death are seen as just parts of the greater cycle. The concepts of evil, sinfulness, or that nature is somehow bad or corrupted, causing the modern stigma of conscious duality are completely absent from this creed. There is no devil nor is there any hell. Worshipers are not held in ransom to otherworldly punishment, and that all of the positive elements of life are seen as the grace of the earth perfectly balanced and imbued with spirit.

6. Believe it or not, Wicca does offer an authentic portal into the earth-based mysteries of life and death, light and darkness, and the spiritual evolution of all living things. This earth-based spirituality defines life and the greater world as a living part of the manifestation of the Deities who are fully invested and integrated into the material world. Spirit and matter are joined together to formulate the powerful mysteries that operate in the earth. Sacred sexuality and sacral nudity are the required tokens for admittance into this domain. Darkness is the veiled shroud of the mysteries and the underworld, marked by the Stang, is the place where they are depicted in myth and ritual allegory. The key that opens the gateway of the mysteries is, of course, ecstasy, and there are an unlimited number of ways of achieving that sublime state (and all of them are holy). In that underworld are to be found all of the treasures of the earth, the potentials of individual and collective fate, the revered ancestors and their hidden teachings, and the source of all life, which is known as the well or grail-cauldron of our spiritual and material beings.

Now that I have covered all of the things that I consider to be important and authentic in Classical Wicca, let me now discuss those things that I consider to be either erroneous or counter productive. From the list of six things listed above you can see that there is a great deal which makes Wicca relevant, beautiful, inspiring, and also empowering. However, we have just started our journey and there is so much more to this religious and magical tradition than what has been determined so far. Obviously (at least to me), we have many more discoveries and advancements to make before Wicca becomes a fully matured religion.

What I don’t like about Wicca:

1. Covens are usually organized into a hierarchical structure where one or more individuals rule (whether benignly or tyrannically) over the rest. In traditional lineage based covens, these positions would be held by a High Priestess and a High Priest. However, this traditional structure was put into question (in the late 1970's) by the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft, and also by many individuals who are currently working through informal groups or as individuals. There is something to be said for an egalitarian approach to organizing a group, where consensus rather than rule by fiat is practiced. Since I have been really burned in the past by having to deal with either incompetent or power-crazy coven leaders, I have decided that the only group structure that I will tolerate is one that is based on consensus. I have defined how such a group would function, and I have given it a name - a Star Group. (You can find where I have previously defined this kind of group in one of my articles here.)

2. Classical Witchcraft, or BTW Witchcraft, tends to be conservative and inflexible in regards to managing and maintaining their lore. While it’s good and marginally useful to document one’s core tradition and distinguish it from additions and modifications, ultimately, this historical exercise fails to keep a rigid distinction between core based lore and innovations. Also, considering that the supposed “core” was someone’s innovation developed at some time in the recent past, religiously maintaining that core becomes an exercise wholly irrelevant and prone to errors. I know for a fact that many of the witches of late 60's and early 70's weren’t really very careful when it came to documenting their lore, especially the Alexandrians, so what is being conservatively maintained now was someone’s innovation just a mere 40 years ago or less.

However, what I think is really important is based on authenticity rather than legitimacy. Does the lore work and is it sensible? Can you explain it simply and easily to others. Does it require some convoluted narration or has to be bolstered by the excuse “we have always done things this way - it’s our tradition.” If the lore works, where it can be easily explained and there isn’t a better way of doing it, then it should remain as part of the core; but if it doesn’t work, then it should be replaced or discarded. You can keep an extensive record of everything that is kept or put aside if that is your desire, but what is practiced should be powerful, elegant, useful and relevant. In this guise, revisionism and reform are not only possible, they are most desirable.

3. High Priestesses and High Priests for life. In the BTW, when someone is elevated to the third degree and becomes an officiating priest or priestess, then it is expected that they hive off and form their own coven and group. Their elders have vested in them the privilege and the responsibility to be a spiritual leader over their own group. Now, whether those elders made this judgement based on a real insight into their students’ personalities, or ensured that they would behave appropriately through rigorous testing and training, or that the elevation was merely given due to excessive flattery, obsequiousness or forms of bribery would be completely unknown to those individuals who decided to be members of that coven. It’s often like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’ve got until you take a bite, and by then it’s too late to put it back. You either chew it up and swallow or spit it out.

According to the by-laws in Classical Wicca, coven members are supposed to vote with their feet if they find their coven leaders to be wanting. Yet no one seems to talk much about the pain that they have endured, the overall bad feelings they have towards the system, or even that they can get black-balled out of their tradition by vengeful and unscrupulous leaders. In my opinion, hierarchy should be abandoned in Wicca for consensus and the flexible role of facilitators acting for the group instead of authority figures. Mentors or teachers should be temporary arrangements, and every member of a group should be considered equal regardless of their achievements.

4. Part of the theology of Classical Wicca is dependent on a Goddess and a God, and this can be quite limiting. This is a religious formulation that has been called a Duo-theological system. Some have tried to argue that this deity pairing is quite ancient, but it is actually a very recent and modern rendition. Ancient pagans believed in many deities, both named and even unnamed. Their religious practices had three levels of activity that consisted of state sanctioned deities and rites associated with the city-state or mystery traditions, family deities, ancestors and spirits associated with the home and hearth, and personal deities associated with the individual. A pagan might be devoted to one specific deity (called henotheism), but seldom was he or she strictly devoted to two deities, or a male and female pair. Additionally, the triple goddess was never mother, maid and crone, and there is no ancient record of the oak king battling the holly king to mark seasonal transitions. 

These are modern adaptations, and while they might serve a useful purpose, the more ancient and historically verifiable facts of western paganism are more compelling and likely more powerful. I have found the duo-theology of wicca to be a useful model for defining a kind of monism, which consists of the union of all being. This is because the Goddess and God are in perpetual sexual union and thereby through their ecstasy, they are perfectly emulating the One. However, the ancient pagan deities were typically omni-sexual, representing a richer and more complex model that more accurately emulates nature and human behavior. What modern witches need to do, in my opinion, is to incorporate more of the actual ancient practices into their modern core praxis.

5. When I started my religious career of becoming an initiated witch back in the 1970's, the historical gospel was that Witchcraft was the “Old Religion.” We believed that we were engaging in an ancient practice more venerable and legitimate than Christianity itself. We saw the burning times as the attempted unsuccessful conquest and persecution of pagan witchcraft, even though it was much more complex than that. Yet over the years, this belief in an ancient providence has been pretty much shown to be erroneous by historians, especially in regards to British Witchcraft. Ronald Hutton has shown in his book “Triumph of the Moon” that witchcraft in the U.K. is a recent creation, and that witchcraft as a religion didn’t exist in the previous ages. What did get transmitted down from antiquity to today are the artwork, folk traditions and the occult and magical practices, but even these have been modified and revised over the long centuries.

Wicca is a modern religion although it has pretensions of being based on antique pagan spirituality, but in some cases, actual antique lore is only now finding its way into the modern practices. What I would like to see is a lot more of this activity occurring, perhaps even rivaling what has been going in Heathenry for the last 20 years. Also, if Wicca is a modern religion, then witches acting as conservative religionists in these still formative times would seem to be highly misplaced and misdirected. In my opinion, our work has only just begun, and there is much that we can learn from studying and researching history as well as experimenting with new lore in a coven setting.

6. In the BTW, coven politics, self-glorification (Queening), and divisive inter-coven witch wars have marked the community pagan turf of a number of large cities. All of this can be shown to be rooted in the cult of personality that lies in the foundation of the hierarchical coven structure. When there is one or two absolute rulers in a group, then the members of that group jockey with each other for status and power. It seems like a common behavior amongst us hominids, and Classical Wicca tends to bring out the worst in some people. Over time, I found that I learned to hate the internal politics of such groups because it always got in the way of getting anything done. This was true even when I was supposed to be the High Priest, since like parenting, it required the consistent agreement between the two leaders in order for something to get done. Decisions from the defacto leader were usually ram-rodded into place regardless of the opinions or feelings of the members, which the leaders could ignore if they thought it prudent to do so. Believe it or not, ruling by consensus is actually so much easier because everyone is eagerly united in the work that must be done.

In some traditions of Wicca, it is proper for a High Priestess who has hived off at least one coven from her own to wear a garter with two buckles, representing her own coven and the one that hived off from her. Over time and with the accumulation of more buckles, a High Priestess could be elevated to a Witch Queen, and such an elevation included a kind of coronation, called a Queening. Of course, there is always a lot of politics involved in a coven hiving, such as strings attaching the new coven to the old coven hierarchy. In the domain of a chain of seeming ownership, no one is free except for the highest ranking Queen, and the individual initiates in any of these linear covens don’t even own their initiatory grades and spiritual progress.

The High Priestess has become a surrogate mother who coddles or punishes her brood as she sees fit. She has the habit of treating her initiates as children regardless of their previous knowledge or experience. Of course, what goes along with this overweening pride is a greater estimation of personal worth and authority. Ironically, when such egotistical individuals deal with each other in the greater community outside their organizations then the potential for conflict is greatly magnified, since each is striving to be a greater power and authority than the other. At some point something has to give, and the results are often an acrimonious exchange occurring over many months or even years. This conflict is called a “witch war” and it is often a sad and tragic event in the life of any community. Yet such conflicts occur only because of the oversized egos of the local coven leaders.

Some of the towns that I have previously lived in had a history in its pagan community of some witch war that had occurred between the leaders of different groups. What remained afterwards was a splintered and shattered community of opposing groups who would never have anything to do the other factions. Pagan community gatherings were segregated by faction, and each would spend a lot of time vilifying the other faction. It was all a terrible waste of time and effort, and instead of having a wonderful unified pagan community, that town had instead two or more bitterly opposed factions. Still, the source of the conflict was usually just a few individuals or less, and I believed at the time that if the rest of the community rejected them, then there wouldn’t be any conflict or factions. It was all based on self-glorification, which I think is inherent in hierarchical organizations that don’t have any kind of accountability to its members. If there was anything that I would change in BTW Wicca, it would be this fascination with hierarchy and self-glorification. In my eyes, all witches are equal, and all witches are just witches, nothing more.

Self-glorification can also create a barrier between a coven of initiates and a group of students who are studying and preparing to be initiates. I am referring to the so called inner and outer court structure, which seems to be a way of extending and glorifying the grade of initiate. Back in the 1970's there was no inner and outer court as far as I am aware. You were either initiated into a coven or you weren’t. Uninitiated members could be invited to attend sabbats and lore sanitized esbats; but usually a person was either elected to be a member or rejected within a lunar cycle. The first degree was a trial initiation, and if someone found that Wicca wasn’t their cup of tea, then they could leave with no harm being done.

From what I understand, an outer court is a holding area used for training dedicants and keeping an eye on them for a year and a day to make certain that they will turn out to be proper witches. Someone could spend a year and a day preparing themselves and then get deferred or rejected when it came time to be initiated into the coven, perhaps just because of politics or someone’s ill will. I have heard arguments from some High Priestesses that the outer court is necessary to ensure that an initiate doesn’t embarrass or shame the coven leadership with bad judgment or outrageous behavior. Of course that assumes that the reputation of the coven leadership was a sacred commodity to be maintained at all costs, and that the initiate wasn’t capable of being responsible for themselves.

What it really says is that the initiate doesn’t even possess his or her own initiatory process. They are treated as children, and in the case of an outer court, there is even a kindergarten or pre-school level to undergo. Needless to say, if I were starting all over and was presented with an outer court requirement in order to join a coven, I would just tell them thanks but no thanks. If they didn’t think I was good enough to be an initiate, then I would find some group who would want me to be a member of their tradition. I could also remain solitary and not experience any huge loss or missed opportunity. Being solitary is far better than being in a bad coven, and trust me, I know this to be true. This might also explain why so many witches are solitary and self-initiated, since there is little to be gained by the possibility of being degraded and dis-empowered by some overly self-important coven leader.

Anyway, I have discussed in detail what I don’t like about Wicca, and I have balanced that assessment with those things that I do like. I still consider myself a Witch in the BTW arena, but I greatly doubt that I would ever be a member of a Classical Wiccan coven. I would be happy to help facilitate a Star Group anywhere and anytime, but not a hierarchical coven structure. I believe that human nature being what it is, there is just too much temptation to abuse the absolute authority inherent in the priest/ess role associated with Classical Wicca. These are, of course, my opinions, and you are free to agree or disagree with them. However, these opinions are based on many years of experience as well as experimenting with different kinds of group structures. Since I am at heart a revisionist, I have felt that experimenting with different group structures and dynamics was just as important as trying out new magical techniques. I believe that I have profited by these experiences, and I seek to share them with you so you might profit as well.

Frater Barrabbas

Five Trials in the Path of the Magician

In a recent article where I talked about the differences between magick and mysticism, I said that the dark night of the soul wasn’t a crisis factor in the life and path of the magician. It is a real ordeal for the mystic, but not for the magician. Allow me to quote the pertinent sentence in that article, since it is going to be the topic for this article. (You can find that article here.)

“Magicians usually don’t experience the Dark Night of the Soul. They have plenty of other types of spiritual crises to deal with. I’ll talk about those in a future article.”

So, the time has come to talk about the fundamental spiritual crises in the career of the magician who is following the Western Mystery Tradition. I have determined that there are five major ones but there could others, although not quite as severe but no less difficult to resolve. These five trials are: fear, arrogance, indolence, grandiosity and hubris. These issues may seem innocent enough and certainly many people who are not magicians are afflicted by them. However, to the magician who is actively seeking to fully realize and unite his or her spirit with the absolute Godhead, these five trials are quite poisonous and deadly.

 Unlike the mystic’s terrible “Dark Night of the Soul” these trials are forever ongoing and represent a potential pitfall to all magicians following the western path. What that means is that you don’t overcome one and never have to experience it again. These are not singular events, but they are singular issues that plague most magicians throughout their lives. The severity of these issues is dependent on the personality of the magician. In some cases a magician may have a much more difficult time resolving one of these key trials than any of the others. In some cases one or more of these trials may never become a pivotal issue in the life of the magician. In my opinion, this is the norm for the typical practicing magician - most of the trials are minor affairs except one of them becomes a really “big deal” at some point.

You could also assume that the more psychologically flawed magician will experience a series of spiritual crises involving many more of these trials than what would be typically expected, and that those crises will be more severe and difficult to resolve, if they can be resolved at all. Sometimes at least one of these five spiritual crises will be so severe that it will force the magician to cease all magical activity and make a hasty exit from being a real magician, or it could just stop cold all of the spiritual and magical progress that a magician has made over the years of practice.

Maturity and discipline are important antidotes to most of these trials, as well as openness, integrity, positive intent and personal objectivity. Yet it often seems that many magicians lack these mitigating qualities, and some seem to be far more flawed than the average person. You could say that magicians are colorful and unusually eccentric individuals, amusing to know and to socialize with, at least until they hit one of these trials and it causes them to undergo a spiritual crisis. Then they aren’t so amusing or fun to be with.

Failure to resolve one of these trials completely and to keep it in check is a certain prognosis for overall magical failure. Sometimes a magician must retire from magick for a while in order to allow his or her personality to resolve internal struggles and issues before attempting to continue. Often such a failure will transform a viable practicing magician into nothing more than an armchair magician, where he or she will attempt to hide and obscure this shameful fact from other magicians. Ironically, such an armchair magician will then begin to display still other excesses as he or she begins the slow, slippery, painful descent into illusion and later, self-delusion.

Now that we have discussed the importance of resolving these five trials, let us now examine each one in turn, and also discuss the pertinent manner in which a magician might overcome such a pitfall. All of these trials can be overcome with some effort, objectivity and even a bit of humility. Self study and analysis is an important key, and so is peer review.

Fear - this is really broken into different trials yet both are related. There is the fear of failure and also the fear of success. Often this issue reveals itself to someone who is more apt to read about magick than actually performing it. Such a one will have succumbed to either one of these fear-based trials. However, once the magical practitioner has experienced a successful working or two, then the fear of failure soon passes. A good mentor can help the beginning student overcome his or her fear of failure, and instill in them personal confidence and belief in the magical process. However, the fear of failure can haunt even the most experienced magical practitioner, and it can become so strong that it will cause him or her to be incapable of working magick.

Fear of success is more troubling and difficult to resolve. I have known a few occultists who have shown a great deal of fascination with magick but who would never work a single spell for any reason. The idea that magick is real and can actually make things happen is just too much for their world views to integrate. These kind of people are just not cut out to be magicians, and happily they usually know it. When someone like this engages with a group magical working they often claim to have experienced nothing of import, or sometimes the opposite happens, where it actually scared the living daylights out of them. My advice is to leave such individuals out of any teaching group or group working since they will only frustrate and annoy even the most advanced teacher.

Perhaps one of the most mitigating aids for the practicing magician who is afflicted by a fear of failure is to understand that not all magical workings will succeed, and that there can be many reasons for failure. While it’s easy to blame the tool, technique, timing, intention, or the will of the magician or that of the associated Godhead, sometimes the probability of something happening is just too low to make any effort successful. Also, all magical actions need to have associated mundane actions in order to properly bend the laws of probability. You can’t just work a spell and sit on your butt expecting the results to miraculously drop into your lap. Another consideration, which is seldom discussed, is that a single magical action, such as a working, may actually require a battery of workings performed over a longer period of time. Trying something just once and then giving up when it fails to produce the desired result reveals a certain amount of ambiguity within one’s intent and a lack of passion and discipline to see it through.    

Arrogance - this is where power corrupts and intoxicates the practicing magician. Once magicians have demonstrated a certain competency in their art, and other magicians appear to admit that fact as well, then there is the possibility that they will start to think of themselves as superior to others. A magician who is succumbing to arrogance begins by assuming that non-practitioners are somehow inferior, and it later grows to include everyone else who is a practitioner. They will denigrate the practices and opinions of other magicians and elevate themselves above and beyond all other human beings. They will close themselves off from their peers and even their friends, lovers and family. I actually once knew a magician who referred to those who weren’t magicians as “mortals,” as if to say that he was somehow immortal. I didn’t try to put him to the test, but I did remark on his misplaced and extreme arrogance.

The experience of magical power can be quite intoxicating and personally gratifying, but all magicians must exercise a certain amount of restraint, and they must understand that the glory of magical power can actually be a distraction from more important things. The difference that magick makes in the material world is actually slightly better than average. While it is possible to produce a “black swan” moment, it is not very probable that such a thing will happen by itself, or even after a great deal of effort over a long period of time. The evolution of a magician causes him or her to realize that wisdom is more important in the long run than material gratification. Wisdom becomes in itself a powerful tool that helps the magician to deal with the burdens particular to his or her path. In time, power becomes far less important than spiritual realizations, insights and the accumulation of personal wisdom. The difference between a young magician and an old magician is that magical power is longer important or even a factor in magick to the mature practitioner. It often seems to be the proclivity of the young and immature magician, who fancies that power is the solution to all of life’s difficulties.

Indolence - this is a subtle issue that usually affects the undisciplined or the older and experienced magician. Fatigue, boredom, procrastination, excuses and idleness are the bane of anyone, but they can stop a magician’s progress dead in its tracks. While it is true that life can and often intervenes into the magician’s magical process, delaying and putting off important projects, it can also become something of a terrible barrier. After having worked magick over a long period of time, a magician can run into dry periods of inactivity, or an all-consuming activity in other areas of one’s life. This does happen, especially if the magician doesn’t have the privilege (or onerous burden) of being able to function as a magician all of the time.

However, like dealing with breaks in concentration during meditation (or ritual work), it is important to be able to pick things up again after the busy times are past. It is also important to maintain some kind of disciplined practice, even if it's just a few minutes a day, or some simple ritual celebrations briefly done over the weekend. Losing the groove of a magical discipline will require the magician to re-establish it, and that will not be easy to do. Inertia is always a force that magicians must reckon with when they seek to perform any kind of lengthy set of workings. It is pernicious and not so easy to overcome, but it is more often the trial of an older experienced magician than one who has just begun his or her magical journey.

Grandiosity - this trial is often much more obvious to others than one’s self. Because a magician is so engaged with his or her art, and with the extension of the self into Godhead, it becomes very easy to slip into a state of narcissistic ego-inflation. We are human after all, and we all suffer from human weaknesses and vices to a lesser and greater extent, but the petty ego can and does engage in magical phenomenon to the extent that it glorifies itself at the expense of anything and anyone else. We have all witnessed individuals who are elevated to higher classes or positions in life, and then observe as it all goes to their head. For those of us who have been in witchcraft covens, we have heard of or experienced first-hand spiritual leaders becoming egotistical and overbearing. Yet this also happens to the magician as well, and in fact, all too often! The intoxicating effect of personally and periodically experiencing spiritual phenomenon, and also directly engaging and assuming a Godhead, can and does completely go to one’s head.

Additionally, claiming great accolades and spiritual accomplishments can make you feel like a god amongst mortals, but the truth is that spiritual and magical accomplishments are relative and only make sense to the individual who has achieved them. Claiming to have crossed the Greater Abyss might impress your magician pals, but it’s something that can’t really be objectively evaluated, and often the one claiming it is possibly self-deluded. I have found that such high level accomplishments are usually so subjective and inexplicable that someone who has truly undergone them is seldom able to talk about them, let alone brag about them. Proof of such accomplishments is often subtle, and ironically they cause one to show a greater overall compassion, sensitivity and personal humility.

Grounding is very important in these situations where ego-inflation occurs, and also a bit of peer review helps, too. Other magicians can spot ego-inflation a mile away, but only if it’s someone else who is behaving so. Keeping oneself in an objective state is difficult, but certainly not impossible. Delusions of Godliness can be easily mitigated if one believes that everyone has within them an aspect of Deity, which the Hindus call the Atman. We are all equally a part and one with the absolute Godhead, so none is more gifted or entitled than another. If the spirits are bowing before you and telling you that you are indeed God Almighty, then you can sagely nod your head and reply “and so is everyone else.” Effectively dealing with this issue is perhaps one of the reasons why I believe that it is so important for each and every magician to have some kind of peer group to judge their work and objectify their experiences.    

Hubris - this is the illusion of wisdom, or what I call, the false-wisdom acquired by dint of age. Over a long period of time each and every magician faces this trial, and if they fail, then they succumb to over-confidence and a belief in their own infallibility. This issue is usually accompanied by the statement “I can do anything” or “I can do no wrong.” These might sound silly to the average magician (and even more silly to the non-magician), but it represents a long period where the magician has either wittingly or unwittingly avoided being challenged by something or someone. He or she has become something of a fossil, and while it might be true that anything could be accomplished, nothing ever really is accomplished ever again.

After many years of piling up magical pedigrees and the personal accolades of others, it seems only natural for such an esteemed magician to just rest on his or her laurels and assume that he or she is infallibly competent. Whether by indolence or a long period of arrogance, sometimes a magician just succumbs to his or her own fame and glory. There doesn’t seem to be any need to be challenged nor does there appear to be any kind of formidable challenge on the horizon. Of course, this is an illusion, since there are always challenges and new things to discover or try.

Yet sometimes magicians begin to believe in their own social propaganda, and it becomes for them something of a final monument to their own supposed greatness. They have retired to the magical monastery and because there is nothing left to learn or try, they ossify and dissolve into the legend they have become and also, I might add, the delusion of who they are. Their words are pompous, full of obvious and trite “truthiness” and their active spiritual and magical practice ceases to be relevant or even useful to others. In fact it just ceases to be altogether. Such individuals hide behind their published works and media personalities while their inner worlds crumble and fall to waste.

Eventually, the world catches up to them and shows them to be shallow, incapable of change and ineffective curiosities of a by-gone time. If they are greatly challenged by someone or something, they naturally fold up and attempt to escape to their place of retreat, although not without experiencing a fair amount of humiliation for themselves and their followers. I have seen this happen a number of times to famous people in witchcraft, paganism, magick and the occult. It is sad and poignant, but it isn’t necessarily a product of old age; it is just hubris, plain and simple.

The way to escape this plight is to never give up growing or seeking out new challenges. When you have mastered a particular path or tradition, then move on to another tradition where you know very little. Never be afraid of being humbled or experiencing what it’s like to be a beginner all over again, because you will profit greatly by periodically having this experience. Additionally, having a real peer group (or a group of equals) is far better than having a group of sycophantic followers. While a peer group will tell you when your ideas are stale or that you are a presumptuous old windbag, followers will never engage in such a discourse simply because they want something and have to be ingratiating in order to get it. A peer group has nothing to lose if they tell you that are suffering from hubris, and that you, so to speak, need a good swift kick in the ass to get moving again.

So, for that reason, I prefer a peer group. If I take on students, I quickly let them know that I am just a student like them. I also tell them that it is likely that they will out do me and acquire greater knowledge than I have ever done if they at least start at the point where I am right now. They can stand on my shoulders and push the envelope of occult knowledge to even greater heights than I ever did, standing on the shoulders of other great men and women who I learned from in my past.

Another important thing to realize is that you are never really done with your studies or practices. There’s always something new to learn, experience or realize, and nothing stays the same - everything is always changing. Because of this, we, too, must change, always and continuously until our last days. I hope to be still working magick, reading, studying and writing to the very last day of my life. I hope someday in the future, while taking my last breath of life, to be saying to myself, “but there is so much more to learn and master, if only I could live a little bit longer.” Thus to quote the infamous starship captain on Galaxy Quest, “never give up and never surrender!”

Frater Barrabbas

Afterthoughts - Paganicon 2013

A Bitter Cold Vernal Equinox to you, too.

 Well, I made it through another Paganicon, although this year my attendance was very brief compared to last year. I didn’t get a room at the hotel, and I was only able to stay a few hours on Saturday and Sunday. Weekends are usually the only quality time that my girlfriend and I have together since she started her clinical training in a town that is a two hour drive south from our home. Also, I had other responsibilities to attend to, such as getting back to feed and let out our dog. As long as Grace is undergoing this educational process, my ability to go on any extended trips is quite limited. The weather was also pretty odious, even for the Twin Cities, and it was yet another factor. I have never been a big fan of the northern winters, and this year my patience has been really taxed.

I only got to attend one workshop besides my own, and that was one presented by Brandy Williams on the topic of “Pagan Theurgy,” which also covered a brief history of Neoplatonism. I missed out on Orion Foxwood’s workshop, “Candle and the Crossroads” because of a need to tend to some mundane concerns. I managed to sneak in and get around 10 minutes of his talk, but then didn’t want to disturb the talk by trying to go back, and by then it was nearly over. I also got to talk a while with Brandy and share some thoughts and ideas about magic, occultism, Thelema and being a part-time author. I didn’t get a chance to chat with Orion, which was disappointing. I would very much like a chance to chat with him, but there have been few opportunities when we have met previously, mostly at Pantheacon. He is an inspirational individual, and I have many questions to ask him and topics of mutual interest. Perhaps some day we will get that opportunity, particularly if I continue to make myself available for gatherings.

Brandy Williams is quite an excellent author and writer. I have secretly modeled my literary ambitions after hers, and I have often admired her, at least from a distance. So she has kind of functioned as a role model for me, starting out as an Immanion author and continuing to write and publish for other publishers as well. I was very delighted to spend some of my precious time talking with her about various subjects. Her approach to magick, paganism and occultism is nothing short of inspirational. I got a number of ideas and thought provoking insights in my mind just from attending her class on Theurgy. I was happy to acknowledge to myself that the system of magick that I use has all of the points of Neoplatonic Theurgy amply covered, including statue animation. It appears that a number of us are getting very deeply into Iamblichus and the writings of the late pagan Neoplatonists, knowing that they represent the point in time where we should pick up their work and continue moving it into the far future.

I got to tell her that my pet idea is that the Indian esoteric philosophers of the golden age of Indian culture, which occurred as Rome slipped into the dark ages, seemed to continue on where the Neoplatonic philosophers had left off in Harran. Where Iamblichus stated that the human soul can never be of the same substance or level of being as the Gods, the discipline of Advaita Vendanta showed that the Godhead in every man and woman is commensurate with the absolute Godhead (“there can be no difference between Brahman and Atman”). I sense that there is a continuity of the esoteric strain of philosophy from Europe, to Harran, and thence, to India, where it continued to thrive and grow. Perhaps we in the West can finally complete Neoplatonism by considering Indian esoteric philosophy to be its crowning achievement. I will have to think more about this interesting insight. 

Lunch on Saturday was spent with my friend Steven Posch who I consider to be one of the living pagan treasures in our community of Paganistan (a term he has famously coined). He is a pagan poet of great renown, an excellent public liturgist, rabble rousing Jewitch and all around excellent gadfly. He is also avidly pursuing the secrets of the late demise of Baltic paganism only recently becoming available to the west, and in this area, he is acquiring a great deal of authentic pagan lore, ostensibly to pad out his own particular linage and witchcraft practice. He’s one of the few who actually knows how to count to 20 using the Witchcraft language. Lunch with Steve is always full of interesting conversation and banter.

My friend Paul Rucker, who is something of an illuminating pagan artist, along with Helda HedgeWalker and others hosted a visual presentation at the Sacred Gallery Space. While Paul was quite busy and I only saw him in passing, the Sacred Gallery was quite an exquisite exhibition of pagan artists. I sat in the gallery, which was a converted suite, for a short while fully galvanized by the beauty and artistry of the paintings and works of art carefully placed over most of the wall space. It was done tastefully and to great effect. I am only sorry that I couldn’t tell him how much I liked and appreciated what he and others had accomplished.

I also got to hang out for a little while with a group of young friends. In talking with them and spending my last lunch with them, I found that perhaps I am not so much a dinosaur as I had thought. In the beginning of my autumn years, I probably do have something of importance to pass on to younger members of my pagan and wiccan community. We will see if I have any relevant thoughts or ideas in the decades to come when I am nothing more than a forgotten monument in some graveyard.

My class was very sparsely attended, but at least those who attended were very engaged with what I was teaching and understood what I was attempting to communicate. They were a bright group of individuals, and they also bought a number of my books as well. I have been selling my copies of MARM volumes 1 though 3 at a huge discount because the MARM Omnibus edition should be coming out in the next few weeks. In the next couple of months I will reprise a more extended version of my Practical Qabalah in Brief workshop at the local occult bookstores and see if more people will be interested in attending. Based on that experiment, I will either move forward with putting together a weekend long intensive workshop, or I will consider the Qablah not be a good topic to try to teach in the Twin Cities.

A final note - my travels to and from the Paganicon hotel were made more precarious by a freak winter storm that happened on Friday. I had to leave quite early Saturday morning to make the 32 mile trip to the hotel, and the roads were not sufficiently cleared to make the trip easy. In my neck of the woods (literally) the roads were hazardous and even the freeway system was not completely clear. Thankfully, the traffic was light, but it was a slightly harrowing trip to get to the hotel in time to deliver my presentation. After that morning trip, the roads were quite clear and bare, even though the weather was quite cold. Here it is nigh on the Vernal Equinox add it feels more like January weather. I have noticed no signs of spring and it is likely that winter will continue well into April, which is not an uncommon thing. Only the brightness and warmth of the sun betrays the lateness of the season, and then it can only be experienced while sitting in a car, where the inside heats up to coatless temperatures rather quickly.

I have to say that I am quite over winter, even though nature hasn’t caught on to my mood or up to my expectations. Such a winter that we have had only makes me long for warmer climates. I guess you could say that I am wishing to leave the Twin Cities and when I have these kinds of impressions, the reality is not too long in coming. I sense that I might just get an opportunity to move somewhere else in the next couple of years. I had not previously felt that way, but I do feel it now. I will take it as a kind of omen and as I have said, time will tell how it all turns out.

Frater Barrabbas