The Will in Magick

Colin Wilson identified the importance of the Will and points out that life in modern society has taken away our need to truly know and use this essential inner force:

“Modern civilization induces an attitude of ‘passivity.’ When a Stone Age hunter set out to trap wild animals, he was aware of his will as a living force. When the prehistoric farmer scored the surface of the earth with a crude plough, he knew that his family’s survival through the winter depended on his effort, and his will responded to the challenge. When a modern city dweller walks down a crowded thoroughfare, he feels no sense of challenge or involvement. This city was built by other people; all these shops and offices are owned by other people. He can get through an ordinary day’s work in a state approximating to sleep. Most of his routine tasks are carried out by the ‘robot.’ There is neither the need or the opportunity to use the will.”

Various definitions and descriptions of Magick use Will in attempting to convey the meaning, processes or intention of the magickal arts. For example:

• Aleister Crowley – “the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.”; “Every intentional (Willed) act is a Magical act.”;
• Dion Fortune: “Magic is the art of changing consciousness at will.”
• Eliphas Lévi: “Would you learn to reign over yourself and others? Learn how to will. How can one learn to will? This is the first arcanum of magical initiation…”
• Edward Berridge (V. H. Frater Resurgam): “To practice magic, both the imagination and the Will must be called into action, they are co-equal in the work… The Will unaided can send forth a current… yet its effect is vague and indefinite… the Imagination unaided can create an image… yet it can do nothing of importance, unless vitalized and directed by the Will.”
• Paracelsus: “determined will is the beginning of all magical operations. It is because men do not perfectly imagine and believe the result, that the (occult) arts are so uncertain, while they might be perfectly certain.”

Both Eliphas Lévi and Paracelsus put great emphasis on the Will; Eliphas Lévi in his statement that “learn[ing] to will [...] is the first arcanum of magical initiation” and Paracelsus stating that “determined will is the beginning of all magical operations.”

E.E. Rehmus in The Magician’s Dictionary notes that Will and Imagination are the two natural human powers for altering reality.

Émile Coué formulated four laws of Imagination and the Will:

1. When the will and the imagination are antagonistic, it is always the imagination which wins, without any exception.
2. In the conflict between the will and the imagination, the force of the imagination is in direct ratio to the square of the will.
3. When the will and the imagination are in agreement, one does not add to the other, but one is multiplied by the other.
4. The imagination can be directed.

In Flying Roll V (Thoughts on Imagination) Edward Berridge noted similar points to Coué:

• Imagination creates a form on the Astral or some higher plane.
• This form is as real and objective to beings on that plane, as our earthly surroundings are to us.
• This form may have only a transient existence, productive of no important results; or it may be vitalised and used.
• To practice magic, both the Imagination and the Will must be called into action.
• The Imagination must precede the Will in order to produce the greatest possible effect.
• The Will unaided sends forth nothing but the current or force.
• The Imagination unaided can create an image and this image has an existence of varying duration; yet it can do nothing of importance.
• When the Imagination creates an image and the Will directs and uses that image, marvellous magical effects may be obtained.

In Flying Roll II (Part III Three Suggestions on Will Power) Florence Farr describes a method for cultivating the Will by use of a visualization:

“imagine your head as centre of attraction with thoughts like rays radiating out in a vast globe. To want or desire a thing is the first step in the exercise of Will; get a distinct image of the thing you desire placed, as it were, in your heart, concentrate all your wandering rays of thought upon this image until you feel it to be one glowing scarlet ball of compacted force. Then project this concentrated force on the subject you wish to affect.”

In Flying Roll VI, S.L. MacGregor Mathers adds:

“I would suggest that: – Before bringing the scarlet ray into such intense action in the Heart, as is explained by her, that the Adept should elevate his thought and idea to the contemplation of the Divine Light in Kether, and considering Kether as the crown of the head, to endeavour to bring a ray from thence, into his heart – his Tiphereth through his path of Gimel and then to send the scarlet ray into action; the effect will be powerful and the process safer: otherwise there is a risk to the heart, and a risk of fever, if it be frequently done.”

Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary makes the following observations relating to the Will:

“called laws of nature are the action and interaction of the combined consciousnesses and wills which pervade the kosmos. The will pours forth in floods of light and life from the primal Logos. … They … descend, plane by plane and cycle by cycle, into the depths of matter, from which finally they arise again towards their primal source. In this progressive descent and ascent, will is made to manifest in keeping with each plane or state of consciousness which it enters. There is, therefore, the one fundamental kosmic will-ideation, breaking into innumerable streams of willing entities during periods of manifestation, and thus it operates in myriad ways…”

“In the composite human being — the microcosm — there are the divine, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, animal, astral, and even physical wills. The old maxim ‘behind will stands desire’ accounts for the paradoxical influence of this colorless force which is used to energize both good and evil motives. … The origin of good and evil lies respectively in the harmony and the conflict of wills in the kosmos.”

“The ancients held that any idea will manifest itself externally, if one’s attention (and Will) is deeply concentrated upon it; similarly, an intense volition will be followed by the desired result … For creation is but the result of will acting on phenomenal matter, the calling forth out of the primordial divine Light and eternal Life.”(SD 2:173)

The Will upon the Tree of Life

Flying Roll XX describes the location of the Will (both Human and Divine) upon the Tree of Life, as the Constitution, or Elementary View, of Man. The Yechidah, located in Kether, is called the Divine Consciousness and the Divine Will, while the Ruach, located in Tiphereth, is the human Consciousness and the human Will.

The Willed Act

Assagioli's Star Diagram

The formulation of the Willed Act is given by Roberto Assagioli in his book The Act of Will:

1. The Purpose, Aim, or Goal, based on Evaluation, Motivation, and Intention
2. Deliberation
3. Choice and Decision
4. Affirmation: the Command, or “Fiat,” of the Will
5. Planning and Working Out a Program
6. Direction of the Execution

Assagioli assigned seven categories for the qualities of the Will:

1. Energy – Dynamic Power – Intensity
2. Mastery – Control – Discipline
3. Concentration – Attention – One-Pointedness – Focus
4. Determination – Decisiveness – Resoluteness – Promptness
5. Persistence – Endurance – Patience
6. Initiative – Courage – Daring
7. Organization – Integration – Synthesis

Assagioli's Egg Diagram

Assagioli’s Star Diagram shows the relationship between the Self and the Psychological functions.

1. Sensation
2. Emotion-Feeling
3. Impulse-Desire
4. Imagination
5. Thought
6. Intuition
7. Will
8. Self

Assagioli’s Egg Diagram is a map of consciousness depicting various levels and aspects of consciousness.

1. The Lower Unconscious
2. The Middle Unconscious
3. The Higher Unconscious or Superconscious
4. The Field of Consciousness
5. The Conscious Self or “I”
6. The Higher Self
7. The Collective Unconscious

The Will in Kiaism

Kiaism Diagram - Austin Osman Spare

Kiasism was the magickal system of Austin Osman Spare. It represents no specific way for personal development and/or any sets of instructions but requires the person to devise his personal system of philosophy or magic. Kiaism regards Belief and Desire as the great duality. In this system, Ego is a part of Self belonging to one Being while Self encircles the whole Being. Each “human” Being wills the desire. This desire imagines a new belief and belief by means of conceptualizing new concepts forms the Ego. Spare names these conceptions, “the ramifications of belief” which form different personalities for corresponding Ego. But the mentioned will is a partial one. The Will (emphasized by capitalizing) lies in the realm of Self – pertaining to Kia.

Tarot and the Will

The Magician - from the Rider-Waite Tarot deck

Paul Foster Case, the founder of Builders of the Adytum and a well known occultist, summed up the two principles of Will and Imagination in the symbolism of The Magician tarot card. Case wrote, “The primary manifestation of Spirit is Will, of which Attention – the wand – is the essence, and to which Memory – the wallet – is closely linked. Wisdom, having for its essence Imagination – the rose – is the secondary expression.”

Correspondences

Celestial Bodies

• Mars, Sun, Mercury

Chakras

• Sahasrara
• Anahata (Also a connection with kalpa taru, the wish-fulfilling tree)

Gods

• Vili (Norse mythology), brother of Odin.

Human Body

• Pituitary gland relates to human will
• Thymus gland
• Pineal gland
• Heart

Magickal Element

• Fire

Sephiroth

• Geburah
• Tiphereth – Lower (Human) Will
• Kether – Divine (Higher) Will

Symbols

• Sun (Sol) – symbolises the power of the human will (source: A. Leo)
• The Psychosynthesis ‘Will’ Personality Type symbol of Roberto Assagioli

Tarot Cards

• Trump: 1 – The Magician
• Suit: Wands

Zodiac Sign

• Aries

References

• Symbolism and Astrology: An Introduction to Esoteric Astrology. ‘A. Leo’, 1914
• Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary Online Edition

External Links

• The Will Project A comprehensive exploration of concepts relating to the Will.
• Will; Imagination; Will and Imagination – A Three Part series on Will and Imagination from a Magickal perspective.
• Cultivation of Will A exercise in the use of Will.

Etymology

From the Indo-European Root wel- meaning to wish, will.

Translations

• Arabic: إرادَه
• Chinese: 意志
• Czech: vůle
• Danish: vilje
• Dutch: wil
• Estonian: tahe
• Finnish: tahto
• French: volonté
• German: der Wille
• Greek: θέληση, βούληση
• Hungarian: akarat
• Icelandic: vilji
• Indonesian: kemauan
• Italian: volontà
• Japanese: 意志, いし (ishi)
• Latvian: griba
• Lithuanian: valia
• Norwegian: vilje
• Polish: wola
• Portuguese: vontade
• Romanian: voinţă
• Russian: воля
• Slovak: vôľa
• Slovenian: volja
• Spanish: voluntad, albedrío
• Swedish: vilja
• Turkish: istenç, irade

Coinciding with an interest in magic, today there is also increased attention being paid to transpersonal or depth psychology, a trend initiated by Jung and further examined by psychologists such as Roberto Assagioli (1888-1975). The word transpersonal means that which transcends the personal or the individual. Transpersonal psychology takes a more spiritual approach to the human dilemma, and does not reject the idea of the soul – rather, it embraces it. A true system of transpersonal psychology must examine the highest aspects of the unconscious and take a philosophical as well as pragmatic approach to human evolution.

Seeing that psychoanalysis was an incomplete system, Assagioli developed his own form of therapy and called it psychosynthesis. Psychosynthesis accept the idea of the soul, the libido, and the imagination as essential aspects of the human being. It also includes the use of symbolism and allegory to initiate alchemical change and psychic integration.

May I emphasize the fact that the elements and functions, coming from the superconscious, such as aesthetic, ethical, religious experiences, intuition, inspiration, states of mystical consciousness, are factual, are real in the pragmatic sense … because they are effective … producing changes both in the inner and outer world. There they are amenable to observation and experimentation, through the use of the scientific method in ways suited to their nature; also they can be influenced and utilized through psycho-spiritual techniques.

Assagioli defined the parts of the psyche (see Figure 6, below) as:

1. The Collective Unconscious, a surrounding psychic “membrane” which permits constant and active interchange between all parts of the psyche and with the general psychic environment. It is the common primordial symbols, images, and metaphors of all humanity – the part of the soul that is shared. Archetypes of the collective unconscious include extremely primordial god images such as the Mesopotamian Apsu and the Greek Chaos.
2. The Higher Self or the true transpersonal self which is above and unaffected by the thoughts from the mind-stream or the sensations of the body. It is that pure consciousness, the core self, that underlies all other aspects and functions of the psyche as well. All personal energy and consciousness issues from this source. Archetypes of the higher self include omnipotent sky gods such as the Babylonian Marduk, the Greek Zeus, and the Hebrew Yahweh.
3. The Conscious Self or “I” is the ego or point of self-awareness. It is the seat of personal identity that we organize our field of awareness around. Its function is to coordinate the vast amount of interior and exterior information that we acquire and to act as a intermediary between our internal and external realities. Experience is processed by the ego through various functions such as the emotions, the senses, the intellect, and the imagination. To carry out these duties, the ego relies on discrimination, reason, and certain defense mechanisms that often conflict with other aspects of the psyche, sometimes posting obstacles to growth and healing. Archetypes of the ego include all deities who have “walked between the worlds” of life and death (conscious and subconscious), such as the Sumerian Inanna and the Egyptian Osiris.
4. The Field of Consciousness, which contains the ego, is the incessant flow of observable images, feelings, thoughts, sensations, and impulses. Archetypes of this region include several groups of deities with a variety of attributions: wisdom (Enki, Thoth, Hermes); love (Hathor, Aphrodite); war (Horus, Ares); pleasure (Bes, Pan); etc.
5. The Higher Unconscious or Superconscious is the transpersonal level of the unconscious – containing higher intuitions, inspirations, latent psychic functions, and spiritual energies. It is here that the higher self expresses itself in various forms through archetypes. The ordinary person is usually unaware of these forces and archetypes until they are brought to light during the process of self-realization. Archetypes of the superconscious include the first gods of a pantheon, such as the Greek Titans or the Norse Giants.
6. The Middle Unconscious is an inner region similar and accessible to that of the waking consciousness. This contains all things in our field of awareness that we are not normally aware of, but that we can become aware of. It is an unconscious matrix that underlies the conscious mind where the mental activities are “incubated” before their birth into consciousness. Archetypes of the middle unconscious include all deities who are associated with prophecy and oracles, such as the Greek divinities Apollo and Gaea.
7. The Lower Unconscious contains fundamental drives, primitive urges, inferior dreams, and complexes. This is the personal unconscious which is the storehouse of hidden memories, repressed psychic content, and the shadow personality. This part of the psyche is accessed by working with hypnosis, trance, and imagery. Archetypes of the lower unconscious include all underworld deities, such as the Sumerian goddess Ereshkigal and the Greek divinities Hades and Persephone.

Figure 6: Assagioli's Model of the Psyche

If we were to add anything to Assagioli’s model it would be the body, or manifest psyche, which must be considered in a holistic psychology. Mind and body are interrelated extensions of one another. Just as physical discomfort can affect the mind, the mind, through focused visualization, can affect the body. Archetypes of the manifest psyche include all earth deities, such as the Egyptian Geb, the Babylonian Ninhursag, and the Greek Demeter.

Assagioli’s division of the psyche is remarkably similar to the Qabalistic model of the soul. Like Jung he saw the pressing need for all human beings to achieve a balanced inner integration and true self-realization, and he outlined a system for achieving this goal in four stages:

1. Thorough knowledge of one’s personality. This includes a frank analysis of all parts of the psyche, both conscious and unconscious, including the shadow. Psychoanalysis is the method used by the therapist for this objective. (In magic and alchemy it is the first half of the equation solve et coagula – dissolve and coagulate)
2. Control of the personality’s various elements. After having discovered all parts of the psyche, we must take control of them. According to Assagioli, one of the most effective ways of achieving this is a method called disidentification, which aids in the dissolution of harmful complexes whose newly freed energies can be controlled and used toward more positive ends. Dispelling these complexes requires the methods of objectification, critical analysis, and discrimination. (In magic, the shadow aspects of the psyche are collectively called the evil persona – they must be recognized, subjugated to the magician’s higher spiritual will, and their energies transmuted and employed for the completion of the Great Work.)
3. Realization of one’s true self: the discovering or creation of a unifying center. The intermediate link which, if focused on and identified with, allows for the integration / unification of the lower and higher selves, and freedom from selfish interests and personal limitations. A point of connection between the individual and the divine self, which is reflected and symbolized in that point.
4. Psychosynthesis: the formation or reconstruction of the personality around the new center. Once the unifying center is found, the next step is to gradually and systematically build a new “ideal” personality around it in an organized, purposeful manner and with clear, achievable goals in mind.

Practical psychosynthesis commences with the construction of this new personality. This process involves the active utilization of all available energies and the transmutation of unconscious and previously latent forces – development of those aspects of the personality which are weak or insufficient. It is accomplished through techniques of auto-suggestion, affirmation, visualization, and by the systematic training of the less developed functions of imagination, will, and memory. Finally, all the various psychological energies and functions must be coordinated as the new personality achieves a stable organized form.

There are many levels in this process of transmutation and self-realization, and as stated earlier, they are not always entirely pleasant. It is a multi-faceted process which includes several stages – the elimination of impediments which block the flow of energies between the superconscious and the lower realms of consciousness, evolvement of latent or dormant higher functions (memory, will, imagination, etc.), and stages where the ego must yield to the work of the higher self and withstand the stresses and unavoidable discomfiture that the process requires.

In magic, this is the spiritual discipline of the Great Work and reunification – the second half of the solve et coagula formula of alchemy. It represents our goal to “become more than human,” or in less mystical terms, to become the best possible human being we can be, evolving to our fullest potential.

Various methods and tools are employed in psychosynthesis, just as they are in other transpersonal psychologies. In psychosynthesis, the focus is always on a holistic approach to treatment, and all techniques used are subservient to the health, well-being, and psychic integration of the individual. The keeping of a diary, dream analysis, free association, hypnosis, group analysis, psychodrama, relaxation, meditation, music therapy, autosuggestion, humor therapy, chromotherapy, disidentification, visualization, development of the will, utilization of the symbols and metaphors, transmutation and sublimation of sexual energies, and development of the imagination are but a few of the methods used to obtain self-realization.

One of the goals of psychosynthesis is to integrate the superconscious, as much as possible, into the conscious and unconscious realms. Numerous metaphors for this process of self-realization and self-integration can be found in the language of the alchemists. What spiritual alchemy describes as the transformation of lead into gold is simply another way of describing the transmutation of the mundane into the spiritual, discord into harmony, and the personal into the transcendent.

Recommended Links:

• Israel Regardie
  Biography of Israel Regardie by Chic and Tabatha Cicero.
• Llewellyn New Worlds of Mind and Spirit. the World’s Oldest and Largest New Age Publisher.

I was driving home one day after visiting my sister Sue, musing to myself that it was about time we held a workshop. The subject that seemed so obvious was The Healing of the Inner child as we constantly talked to our respective clients about the importance of this issue. [We both work as Reiki Masters and Spiritual Healers facilitating others to heal themselves.] I made a mental note of my thoughts to tell her, needless to say I forgot about it.

Two weeks after that drive during a nights sleep I had the most vivid dream. Sue and I were back in the bungalow that we had grown up in, as I looked around in the dream Sue was curled up asleep, suddenly there right in front of my face was a little girl. I only was aware of her face, she had coppery very curly hair that framed her wide pale freckly face, and her eyes were almond shaped, green and set wide apart. The skin on her cheeks really drew my attention it was blue, red and yellow and mottled these colours all blended. The little girl stayed in front of me until I had drunk in every detail of her looks, she made sure I would not forget her. I then woke up and could still see her in my minds eye.

The next day Sue and I were to meet up at my Healing Garden where after a while we began to talk about holding a workshop and how we would go about it. I remembered the little girl and began to describe her in detail to Sue. Immediately very clearly in my head I got the message that she was The Deva of The Inner Child. Sue and I were to say the least astounded and delighted!

The afternoon discussion came to a close and we were prompted to go into a meditation to the Stone Circle [this is where we often go for healing and information] .The Stone Circle was full of people when we got there, we both received some healing energy and Sue when she came back had also met the Deva of the Inner Child and was told how delighted the Deva was that we were going to hold a series of workshops.

The Deva has been around prompting us ever since. The following Tuesday Sue wanted to do some gardening but was not allowed to until she had drafted some posters for the workshop. I was at my weekly Reiki share when it came into my head very strongly to make a vibrational essence for the healing of the inner child. I had actually been thinking of making a different essence [I am a flower essence therapist and producer]. So my thoughts turned to wondering about what emotional aspect that this essence would be for. The Reiki share finished and we all went home. I went straight to bed as I prepared to go to sleep a host of thoughts to do with the inner child came flooding into my head, I had to get up and get a pad and pencil. The word reassurance rang out strongly ….that was it, that was the crux of what the essence would be about. I then connected specifically to speak to the Deva and asked if she would help in making the essence. [It is not unusual to have spirit help to make essences, they are not always flowers]. Two days later it was made written up and posted to my webmaster to put on my website. I then thought that I would write up how this all occurred the pen just flew across the paper.

The Devic kingdom is absolutely vast and includes every aspect of our lives, from Devas who hold the blueprint for the plants on the planet to Devas of our homes, gardens and relationships, the list is endless and surprising. We humans could not actually exist on this planet in our bodies without assistance from this realm.

The Deva showed herself as a representation of a little girl because this is a picture I would be comfortable with, the Nature spirits show themselves as fairies because this is how humanity will accept them ,they are actually bands or frequencies of energy.

For Sue and I the story will continue as we hold our courses and we look forward to the unexpected.

An “Occult Blind” is the concealment of hidden and symbolic meanings of secret arcane knowledge within couched terms of a “Secret Language”. Occult Blinds are used to satisfy those who might be idly curious or seeking power and influence over others and in seeking Occult Secrets will read advanced magical manuals but who will be tricked by believing the surface meaning of the carefully written text and will then leave satisfied thinking they have gained high level powerful knowledge and believing also that they understand the secrets of practical occultism. In this way through the use of the Secret Language the true meaning behind the Occult Blind is cunningly concealed and protected so that only the most devoted occult student or genuine seeker of inner truth will spot the hidden meanings for they have as it is said “Eyes to See” and “Ears to Hear” for they can “Read Between the Lines”. In this way a whole sub system of high level spiritual knowledge and wisdom is carefully preserved but available to all who have done the necessary preceding groundwork. The beginner can read the most advanced manual yet they will only pick up the surface meaning, whereas the Initiate or Adept will get quite a different meaning and interpretation depending upon their own level, previous experience and knowledge. It is however said that the real secrets of Higher Occult Knowledge cannot be simply learnt from books for they have to be tasted through experience and digested over long periods of time and accordingly the knowledge will gestate Within and reveal deep mysteries for the seeker in the future. Occult Knowledge and Secrets are accumulate in their net effect and gradually the pieces of a massive mystery puzzle will come together for those devotees who persist upon the Quest for Higher Spiritual Knowledge.

For example the Spiritual Quests for the Holy Grail, the Elixir of Life and Alchemy and the Gold or the Philosopher’s Stone are all not literal quests to be taken as they stand, in order to be understood properly it must be realised that they are allegorical and full of metaphores. The real meaning of these Mystical and Magical Quests is carefully hidden and concealed for they represent Magical Initiatory Systems and Paths that are Inner Journeys whose results will be Life Changing and may bring about a total transformation in terms of our consciousness and in how we live our daily lives. Therein is of course a clue to the key for the fact that these Spiritual Quests exist suggests that since the dawn of time the average human being does not live truthfully nor in alignment with the principles of the Absolute Divinity. These Quest are all about coming to know the Reality and Truth behind and about the very existence of man and woman upon the Earth in relation to the smallest DNA molecule through to the entire Cosmos itself. These High level Secrets will eventually reveal the Inner Revelation of “As Above So Below” and the Lightning Flash of personal Enlightenment will bring Unity and a connectedness to ALL THINGS within. Life is amazing but how much better it is when you “Come to Know” what it is all about for then you can begin “Truly Living”.

Occult Blinds are employed to convey Higher Knowledge and Wisdom to the Initiates without revealing these Secrets to the uninitiated who might profane the Mysteries or do harm to themselves or to others. For this reason the Spiritual Path also unfolds in stages through a series of minor Inner Initiations that will eventually lead to the Initiation Proper and eventually to Advanced Adeptship for some. Also no one else can Initiate you for the Initiation takes place within – it is an internal process of personal empowerment. Much garbage is talked about with regard to Initiation and the Blind Seeker of Truth would think it was the formal Ceremony of Ritual Initiation that conferred power to them, however this is not the case as a Ceremonial Initiation is simply a formal gesture that suggests Initiation may or may not have already occurred. There are many Initiated people who have not really got a clue about Higher Knowledge as equally there are extremely Advanced Adepts who have never been through a formal Initiation Ceremony. Initiation can only ever take place Within us it is not conferred or given to us by others. As the acclaimed Occultist and writer Dion Fortune once said “There is One Initiator” and by this she meant YOURSELF for she also was employing an Occult Blind as this fact was also once a High level Occult Secret. Even today there is a gross misunderstanding about the processes of Initiation particularly in what is termed as “The Craft of the Wise” a misnomer indeed in many instances that I have seen across the years.

Nostradamus for example had to conceal his Occult activities or he would have been tried for Sorcery by the Inquisition under their so called “Divine Authority” conferred upon them by the then all powerful exoteric church authorities. The Prophecies of Nostradamus, or Quatrains as he termed them, were all cleverly written, encoded and encrypted into anagrams and further they were written in mixed languages including French, Portuguese, Greek, Latin and Qabalistic Hebrew. Yet even in these more enlightened times there is still a disturbingly unenlightened tendency for people to attempt to read and interpret the prophecies and work of Nostradamus as it stands. The Prophecies of Nostradamus cannot be taken at value but must be read “Between the Lines” so as to speak for they are a clever and intriguing puzzle indeed. This same practice of reading between the lines has to be applied to Hermetic Texts, Gnostic Literature and all quality Esoteric, Mystical and Occult Literature for there are “None so Blind as Those who Cannot See”. It might be added also that there are those who cannot see and also those who will not see and this is something worth gently reflecting upon.

Occult Language and terms are in a somewhat perilous condition today with regards to the existing terminology that they employ. Modern Occult Language or parlance is an idiom composed of Ancient Sanskrit terminology that has been through Western processing through the application of Theosophist Wisdom, this also has been merged with archaic or barbarous jargon that has it’s origins in the Ancient Mystery Traditions of Egypt, Greece, Chaldea, Qabalistic Hebrew, Mediaeval Alchemy and bastardised Latin. Added to this adventurous esoteric language melting pot is also terminology from modernist Christian Mystical literature, psychological terms, the principles of Cosmogony, and increasingly new terms from physics and metaphysics. Thus Occult Language, terminology and parlance is pretty much a complex study in it’s own right even with the matter of Occult Blinds put to one side. It is no wonder that the Adepts say even today that “The Mysteries are well guarded and protected”. The Occult Language in it’s own right is a kaleidoscope philosophy which requires much sorting out before it will even reveal the beginnings of a coherent and meaningful pattern. When Kenneth Grant for example wrote that “the Alchemists Metals were living substances” he refers to the erotic secretions especially those of women, this in turn is a pointer to the Mysteries of Tantra or The Yoga of the West. Whilst Kenneth Grant’s late mentor Aleister Crowley referred to the Elixir of Life in his book Magick In Theory and Practice as “The highest form of the Eucharist is that in which the Element consecrated is One. It is one substance and not two, not living and not dead, neither liquid nor solid, neither hot nor cold, neither male or female. So Crowley was referring to the Eucharist or Christian Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ as the united sexual fluids and secretions of man and woman during sexual intercourse.  Yet how many Christians that attend the conventional church would realise what exactly they were religious celebrants of and how many of the clergy would also know the significance that they were celebrants of the reproductive life force. Odd then that prudishness has often ruled unrivalled within the Christian Church for it’s celebrants perhaps do not practice that which they are preached as a belief system.

The Secret Occult Language has many names such as the Green Language (Langue Vert), the Language of the Birds, the Twilight Language, Closed Language. Twilight in Sanskrit is “Sandhyabhasa” and this too is a secret name for the Twilight Language of esoteric terminology in which Tantric Knowledge and Sacred Texts are recorded, it is also sometimes termed as “Intentional Language” as it can often lead to several different interpretations. Sandhyabhasa” itself is said to be an “amalgam of Sanskrit and Bengali language”. Very similar Hidden Language as already alluded to is included within the Bible and can be interpreted and made use of through the Qabalistic System of the Tree of Life. Alchemists, Occultists, Tantrics, Gnostics, Hermetic Heretics and the like have long written down their mysterious secrets in carefully couched and veiled terms that may only be grasped by those understand the symbolic hints, prompts and guarded explanations – this being the reason why Initiation Rituals are or at least should be guarded and secretive. In the East menstrual fluid is spoken of as “Red Wine” and the Lingam and Yoni are called “Thunderbolts” in Tibet (the “Bell Ghanta”). Many advanced occult secrets are hidden within Gematria or numbers. Also in Taoist Wisdoms the Uterus becomes the “Deep Veil” and the Vagina becomes “The Mysterious Gate” and other terms such as “Union of Skilful Means and Profound Cognition” may offer esoteric insights – this being a secret codified term about the transmission of secret techniques and images that are based upon sexual energy or Kundalini – it is a way of referring to the sexual union between a Man (Means) and a Woman (Cognition) who are Adepts, all very highly secret stuff whose real significance is known only to Initiates of a certain calibre and degree. This being much the emphasis of the point of the Secret Language for nothing can be taken to mean exactly what it says at a surface level – it has to be regarded at a far deeper level and then the inner truth of the matter will be revealed and the Higher Mysteries may begin to become clear over a longer period of time.

The Twilight Language is especially constructed and structured language that works upon more than one level or indeed many levels, indeed it is fascinating to think that Magicians and Occultists throughout the ages have formed their own Mystical Language. It is an obscure language with a set of surface meanings as well as a possible whole series of concealed or hidden meanings. It is the concisely structured language which teaches the Mysteries of All things and Unveils the Most Hidden Truths if you can interpret it aright. The Twilight Language is pretty much universal in it’s scope and it is said to be the “Most Spiritual of all the languages”.

The writer David Ovason suggested that this Secret Language also known as Green Language can be translated into French to read as the “Langue Vert”. Now in French he suggested that as “Ouvert” means “Open” if you convert “Ouvert” to “Vert” then you get the opposite meaning which can be interpreted as “The Closed Language”. Thus we might conclude that this Secret Language is an overt way of offering something concealed and couched within innuendo or inference. The Occult Secrets are cleverly concealed within their own meaning. Nothing then in written Occult Sacred Texts and Magical Instruction Manuals should ever be taken solely at face value. The more malicious of the Occultists such as Aleister Crowley for example actually used the Twilight Language in a very misleading manner. Crowley firstly used filthy and lewd metaphores to scare away the weak and the prudish from Magical work, also he put in extremely dangerous pitfalls for the unwary on the basis the Adept would spot the Occult Danger whereas the Inept would get into very serious trouble quite quickly! However, Crowley saw these Dangerous Blinds and misuse of the Twilight Language as quite legitimate as ultimately in his view people got the form of Enlightenment that in his opinion they most deserved. That is the real importance of being aware of Occult Blinds and the Twilight Language – to use a legal term “Let the Buyer Beware”!

How then might this Twilight Language be structured? Well I myself for example use capitalisation where a CAPITAL LETTER would not usually be appropriate for I am giving a particular word enhanced EMPHASIS!!!  Anagrams can also be used such as AMORC which means The Ancient and Mystical Order of the Rose Cross which holds the secrets of Ancient Magical Orders going back to Hiram’s time in Ancient Egypt, the Ankh or Key to Life, the Rose and the Cross, the Rose with 32 petals representing the 32 Secret Paths of the Tree of Life – a Rosicrucian is “Born Again” or an Initiate. 32 Paths is a Qabalistic Blind for there are 22 Paths and 10 Spheres upon the Tree of Life. A word or phrase may also be Reversed for example “Am I to find God in a DOG?”. Logical words can be substituted for illogical words thus the odd sound of the written text would alert the reader that something secret was being said or implied. Anything out of context in an Occult Book is noteworthy and worth deeper consideration. Missing letters or extra letters in words are also significant for the esoteric writer is emphasising a point – they are giving Know-Ledge about Dis-Ease if you get MY ddrr-iifftt. The real meaning of Twilight Language can be extremely complex indeed. A very subtle trick was to use a word that either sounds like or mimics another word e.g. “Reading this article could bring you a real PAIN” meaning “Reading this article could bring you a real GAIN”. Old or outdated phraseology can also be Twilight Language for example “The modern Briton would read this article” would be immediately noticeable to an Adept’s Eagle Eye. Qualifying words can also be important for example “The Eagle Eyed Mage realised the significance of the Eye on the Tarot Fool’s leather satchel”. If the lower case where used where you would expect to see upper case lettering then again someone is perhaps emphasising a point. Unusual abbreviations might also be pointing the way to arcane knowledge.

This Twilight Language might seem to be a real pain to the seeker of Occult Secrets but it can also be really helpful once you learn and grasp how to spot and interpret an Occult Blind. When you can spot a Blind straight off then Higher Knowledge is immediately highlighted and available to you to use or discard in accordance with your own Taste, Discernment and Discretion. MY ARTICLE IS FULL OF LIES THAT ARE TRUE.

After Word : -

“MY ARTICLE IS FULL OF LIES THAT ARE TRUE.” might have been appreciated by Crowley who once wrote a “Book of Lies” it of course means that nothing on the Physical Plane can be an Absolute Truth for so much lies behind it upon the Inner Planes that even explanations of the Truth here on Earth would ultimately be Lies upon a Higher non physical Plane. To present your own version of the Truth you have to produce an approximation in language, archetype or symbol that other people might possibly be able to relate to themselves, but ultimately what is presented can never really be the real whole truth of the Matter. Truth is “Experiential” and at best we can only ever present an approximation of it. When we find these “Experiential Truths” we also find that ordinary language cannot accommodate them adequately and we cannot simply write down the Truth for others, so Experiential Truths have to be “couched in terms”. Intuition is a higher ability than psychism and Intuition is simply put JUST KNOWING - the “Inner Tuition” as Adepts might say in the terms of the lavishly rich and avante garde Twilight Language.

This article originally appeared in the Inner Light Journal, Vol. 23 No. 3, published by The Society of the Inner Light.

The word thelema (θέλημα) is classical Greek, signifying the appetitive will (desire) and sometimes sexual desire. In early Christian writings the word to usually refers to the will of God, but is also for to the human will, and also the will of the Devil.

In the Renaissance, Dominican monk Francesco Colonna wrote the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, in which the protagonist, Poliphilo, has two allegorical guides, Logistica (reason) and Thelemia (will or desire). Colonna’s work was influential on the Franciscan monk Francois Rabelais.

In the 16th century, Rabelais wrote two novels, Gargantua and Pantagruel, in which he featured a fictional Abbey named Thélème. The only rule of this Abbey was “fay çe que vouldras” (“Fais ce que tu veux,” or, “Do what thou wilt”).

In the mid 18th century, Sir Francis Dashwood inscribed the adage on a doorway of his abbey at Medmenham, where it served as the motto of The Hellfire Club.

Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) was an English occultist and writer. In 1904, Crowley claimed to have received The Book of the Law from an entity named Aiwass, which was to serve as the foundation of the religious and philosophical system he called Thelema.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the was a great deal of interest in the human will, with numerous books appearing and proposals for a psychology of the will. From various sources, magical to mundane, exercises have been written so that individuals may become aware, experience, and develop their will.

Psychosynthesis, a branch of Transpersonal Psychology, features the concept of will as a central function of the human psyche. Roberto Assagioli, founder of the Psychosynthesis movement, synthesized his spiritual wisdom with contemporary psychoanalytic and psychological knowledge, writing a book entitled The Act of Will. In this book, a culmination of Assagioli’s lifelong research into the Will, he proposed the Will Project to thoroughly investigate all aspects of the Will.

It is from these and other sources that the thelema exercises collection has been taken (some slightly adapted), and released into the public domain in an act of goodwill, that anyone interested in personal development may benefit from inclusion of these exercises into their daily life.

• Thelema Exercises Blog
• Thelema Exercises Book (free at Scribd)

The inevitable question is, what does it mean? What does it symbolise? And how do I find out?

Dream symbols have often been dealt with in books that collect together hundreds or even thousands of symbols and attempt to ascribe meaning to them. Likewise there are various resources for common (and less common) occult and mythological symbols. These may all be useful, but they seldom have much in the way of personal symbolism – what it means to the individual.

Before delving in to personal meanings, it is worth noting that symbols and signs can be viewed, from an occult perspective, from many different levels. This is especially true of everyday events. The dog barking next door may well be just that, a mundane experience of a bored dog barking. That is one level – a mundane explanation that the dog is bored.

The random encounter we have with someone scary along a darkly lit street may just be a random encounter with a less civilised human, but on a slightly deeper, more esoteric level, it may well be a manifestation of our shadow side – and something we can learn from.

Other events in our lives may even be viewed from a mythological perspective.

It is therefore possible to view symbols on more than one level at a time, if we choose to do so.

On a personal level, the meaning of a symbol may be very personal to us. It may be very different to the meanings ascribed in books or the interpretations of other people. It isn’t so much that our meanings are right or wrong when compared to the alternative meanings. It simply means that our own personal interpretation, and whatever we can learn from it is different and personal to us.

There is plenty of merit in working with our own interpretation of symbolism. It allows us the opportunity to work intuitively, rather than analytically. It allows us to work with the personalised dimension of a symbol (or symbolic event), as well as explore other interpretations. This gives the framework for seeing similarities and differences in the interpretations and perhaps drawing even more conclusions.

If we rely primarily on our own interpretation then we are not risking putting our faith in someone else’s beliefs, as we have no real way to know that they are right (especially if they try to claim that we are wrong). We can accept and work with their version of things, as well as our own, which allows two separate levels to explore. It has to be kept in mind that it isn’t the symbol itself that is so important, but what is actually symbolises – and especially what it means for us. It is our personal journey that is the most important, and it is essential that we know how to read the signs and symbols for ourselves, and not rely on other people or entities. Keep in mind the old saying about not being able to see the woods for the trees.

To explore the personal interpretation of a symbol we may already have some kind of idea what it means to us. We may have some kind of vague or strong feeling surrounding it. We may feel we just ‘know’ what it means for us, perhaps as many experiences where the symbol or symbolism has occurred.

If we have no idea, or want clarity on the meaning, then an easy way is to use some light meditative practice. This can be as easy as closing your eyes, and imagining the symbol, and ‘reading’ anything we can from the symbol. So, perhaps it was the dog barking. With eyes closed you imagine the dog barking, and allow an image to form of this bored dog yapping away. Perhaps a word comes to you… lonely. That is one part of the symbol – there may be more. Depending on what we want to do, we may stick with what comes first, or we may look for more symbolism. It is often considered that whatever arises first is the most important, and should therefore be worked with. As a personal meaning, we would instant start applying the meaning in our own lives. So – “lonely” – how does that fit in my life? When do I feel lonely? When have I felt lonely? How does it feel when I’m lonely?

If you have the ability to draw the symbol, especially if it is fairly simple in design, another method can be employed. On a small square or rectangle of card (approximately the size of a playing card or tarot card) the image is drawn or painted. Sitting or lying comfortably, look intently upon the image for a few minutes, or as long as you feel is necessary to imprint the image upon your mind. While staring at the symbol you may also concentrate on your breathing, and imagine breathing in and assimilating the image as you inhale. When you feel ready, close your eyes. If you have stared for a sufficient period of time you will see a glowing version of the symbol (probably in inverse form) before your eyes. You can work with the symbol from here in various ways, talking to it, willing it to reveal its secrets to you. Or you can imagine that the symbol is a doorway, or inscribed on a doorway, that you can pass through, and use it as a gateway through which you can journey into a magical realm to explore the symbol in depth. This technique is known by various names, including pathworking (originally this was exploring the paths between the Sephiroth on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life), astral projection, shamanic journeying, or conscious dreaming. It is a very powerful way of exploring symbols, and can be done with Tarot cards, Runes or letters of the Hebrew or Enochian alphabets, Tattva cards, or anything else you choose.

Remember, with either technique, the most important factor is your own intuitive wisdom. Feelings and sensations can be far more revealing than thoughts. To become proficient at discovering the personal meanings of symbols takes time and practice, and skill and wisdom to avoid reading too much into a symbol that is actually more straight forward, or ascribing meaning that isn’t there. The symbol is there for you to learn from, and the meaning you decipher is right for you. It isn’t necessarily going to make sense to other people, as it is personal, intuitive, and not necessarily a rational or intellectual process – it is ultimately creative and holistic!

It can be useful to keep a journal when doing work with symbolism, and keep notes on all your experiences relating to each symbol. This can allow you to see recurring themes in your waking life, or in dreams and meditations.

X != X.

Grandfather Hollis Little Creek

In the 90’s Grandfather Hollis Little Creek came to Sedona Arizona. He began to share the way of his people. Grandfather Hollis was the Chief of the Martin Clan of the Red Lakes Anishinabeg. We would come to hear him speak and he would just sit there waiting for someone to ask a question. It took us a while to get it! Grandfather taught us to carve the red stone into Sacred Pipes. He took us into the Stones Peoples Lodge and someone asked him,” Can you die in there”. Hollis said, “I can’t think of a better place to die than in the womb of the EARTH MOTHER!”  Grandfather Hollis Little Creek is no longer with us now. He passed his teachings to a hand full of seekers who now have the responsibility to carry these teachings. John Armbruster was one of those seekers and would become the driving force in creating a village of like minded seekers. John was the first person I met in Sedona he was my Chief and I was his fire keeper.

Schnebly Hill Medicine Wheel

John went up to Schnebly Hill one day and began to play his drum. Someone heard him and cam to join him. (You are not a chief because you want people to follow you. You become a chief because you do what your heart tells you and others see this and join with you to do that.) When John was finished drumming he then built the Schnebly Hill Medicine Wheel where we would gather for our full Moon Ceremonies. People from around the world would hear of this and gather with us as we created this Medicine Wheel Ceremony through trial and error. Grandfather Hollis would tell us, “You need to create your own ceremonies. The ceremonies of old do not fit these times. If you are to be a village you need your ceremonies that work for you”. Our numbers grew to the hundreds and it was time to come together as a village so John and his loving companion Cynthia Hopkins call together the Encampment Gatherings.

The Encampment Gathering

I was not at the first Encampment. I was working on a project in California. You might ask Cynthia Hopkins about that. However I was at the next seven and the power of these gatherings was amazing. Everyone responsibility for something they were good at and somehow every job had someone who was good at that. We built a Sweat Lodge and a Medicine Wheel. We had a kitchen stove built out of rock, mud and steal fence post. Those who had a special craft would teach their skill.  Grandfather Hollis would have his camp set up across the creek keeping his eyes on all of us. At sun set we would start the fire for the Medicine Wheel Ceremony. There would be a hundred or more people gathered to work as one to fulfill goal of each Circle.  After the Medicine Wheel Ceremony some of us would go into the Sweat Lodge and some of these Lodges would last until sun rise. Others would gather around camp fires, make smor’s, sing songs and just talk well into the night. I could write a book on the gatherings and perhaps I should but we need to keep moving.

A Great Lose

After the 8th Encampment Gathering some of us had moved on. John had gone to teach at several collages. Many of us became Sun Dancers at a number of locations around the country.  Those who were still around like Mario Cruz, Cynthia Hopkins and Walter Iron Pipe would pour Sweats and run the Medicine Wheel Ceremonies on Schnebly Hill. At the end of the “All My Relations Sun Dance” in 1998 I was also asked to speak to the people and I did so for the next 3 years. During that time I was away, I got word too late that Grandfather Hollis had passed. It was too late for me to go to him….. Than just a few years later John Armbruster died in 2004, he was only 54 years old. I was able to return to Sedona to preside over Johns Crossing Over Ceremony with Cynthia.  While on the journey to Sedona I received from creator 2 Red Tail Hawks, 2 Great Horned Owls, A Coppers Hawk and a Barn Owl, all of which were used in the Ceremony. If you were there you know who received them.

The Elders Gathering

Grandmother Daisy contacted me in the summer of 2005 and asked me to attend the Elders Gathering in Ohio. The Gathering was held on a private farm. It took much work to set up the space and build the Sweat Lodge. It seemed we worked more then we talked. We realized how much we had received from Grandfather Hollis Little Creek. This was not an easy gathering. Events took place that seemed to shatter the circle. The Sweat Lodge it seemed was dishonored. The next morning I arrived early and the Lodge called to me to sit inside. A Grandfather Rock asked me to pick it up and told me to break it in half. I did so, “Now break me again and again and again”. After breaking this Grandfather into many pieces with my bare hands it than told me to put it back together again and so piece by piece I did. “Now go tell the people of this” The grandfather told me.

A Grandfather Teaching

That morning we came together in a talking circle several people had some important things to discuss about the issue around last night’s Sweat Lodge. I sat there quietly holding this Grandfather Rock waiting for the opportunity to speak. We were to the point of falling apart as a group when they gave me a chance to speak. “This morning a Grandfather called to me and asked me to break it.”  I broke the rock in half and down to all the smaller pieces as I had done earlier. Then the Grandfather told me to put it back together, I told them. So as I had done earlier I put the rock back together. Everyone watched in amazement as the Grandfather looked as if it had never been broken. I than stood up and walked to each person in the circle as I took the Grandfather apart again handing each of my friends a piece of this Grandfather Rock telling them, “This is the part of the village that you are”.  The Grandfather had broken into just enough pieces for everyone at the circle to receive one including myself. “As this Grandfather has come back together so can we,” I told them and then I sat down.

A New Chief

After lunch we gathered again in the talking circle and it was time to honor everyone with gifts. Grandmother Daisy and Grandmother Micheala began to gift a number of people. When they came to me they were joined by Jolene Daisy’s sister. They called me Grandfather and I stood up as they handed me a large black cloth that was covering something. I removed the black cloth to receive a shield that made of Kangaroo hide with a Phoenix painted on it. The shield was made by Jolene White Buffalo Spirit Woman who would become my loving companion from that day forth.  They were then joined by Grandfather Joseph Many horses as they announce to everyone there, “This is our New Chief!” Grandfather Joseph Many Horses then spoke of our friendship and of the Sun Dance that we both attended.

Gifts for All

I was then moved to gift everyone gathered although I had little to give in that I had traveled to the gathering on my motorcycle and had little more than my clothing and Sacred Medicine’s. I took my Red Tail Hawk fan out of its hilt made of buffalo hide and skin. I began removing each of the feathers as I passed one to each of who were gathered but not to all as there were not enough. So to Grandmother Daisy and Grandmother Micheala I gave my only two white Eagle tail feathers that I received from a living Eagle. To Dale Young who had brought this gathering together I gave my Sun Dance Eagle bone whistle. To Grandfather Joseph Many Horses I gave my Buffalo hilt that was made from the same piece of leather that I used to make Chief Joseph (Duke) Big Feathers, Buffalo skin shirt. The Shirt was worn at Bill Clintons Presidential Inauguration.  Chief Joseph (Duke) Big Feather was Medicine Chief for the “Two Feathers Medicine Clan” and sponsor of the “All My Relations Sun Dance”.  Shortly after this day Chief Joseph (Duke) Big Feather would also leave us.

During the Rodney King Riots in L.A. in 1992 I was walking past 20 or so gang members in south central L.A. none of whom saw me or noticed me on any level. I was asking CREATOR, “How can I help? What can I do to bring this riot to an end?” The CREATOR answered, “Rain would help”! So I went to my Medicine Wheel in Idyllwild, CA. I activated my crown Chakra and made it spin in a counter clockwise direction at what seemed light speed. I called forth all the moisture within 500 miles with the help of some elemental Angles. Within hours it began to rain for the next 5 days. After 36 hours of rain the National Guard left L.A.

You can astral project your compassionate heart to your local schools so the children will fill loved. If they fill Loved they won’t want to kill each other. As a healer you can travel into your client’s body and look for problems and send green healing heart energy to that problem.

“Greater things then this shall you do” our brother told us. What are you doing? I have been doing as my brother asked me to do. I have been shown how to do these things and I can pass this wisdom to you. Ask and you shall receive!

For information contact us at: w.soaringeagle@gmail.com

Let’s consider the possibility the artist with only one frame to express this event did so as a metaphor. He may have been trying to present the idea of something relating to Jesus rising. Could it have been his vibration? Could Jesus have become so filled with LOVE that his atoms began to vibrate faster moving him out of our realm of perception? If he did rise into heaven and the rising was a vibration, than is Heaven here on Earth? Could Heaven be in a different dimensional realm here on Earth and if we fill our hearts with enough LOVE can we then simply vibrate into that realm of Heaven on Earth. This is precisely the point I’m trying to make. Not as a theory but as a firsthand experience.

Fear is what keeps us here in this third definitional reality. Fear of our government, our fear of the tax man, not being loved and most of all fear of GOD. He might just cast us into a fiery pit. Fear not but fear itself. What is fear other than an emotion if fear is even real at all? Consider the night sky is the darkness in the sky real. Are there not billions of stars shinning their light in every direction. We cannot see ultra violet, infrared, and x-ray. We are not vibrating at a frequency which allows us to see this level of light, much like we can’t hear a dog Wessel. Fear is an illusion that exists only in the individual who is facing the unknown. We are afraid of what we cannot see or know.

Most of us are familiar with the law of attraction. It has been debated around the world and put into practice by many. There have even been whole workshops devoted to just this law and we’ve found that it works for some, but not others. Why is this so?

A law is absolute. If it is a law, it should work for everyone. Right? There is more to this law than meets the physical eye of course. The debate has only touched upon the law, focusing more on the objects of desire and how to attain these objects than the subject who perceives and makes life happen. To fully understand the law of attraction, we need to understand its origin. That origin begins and ends with you. The world lives in us and is perceived by a body -mind system we have created.

We have always been creators, and we continue to create every day of our lives. Our mind is the tool we use to paint the world, but most of us don’t have full control of our brushes. Most of us live at the level of the body- mind system, believing that is who we are. We allow this system to run the show. We lose sight of the fact that the body – mind body system is our tool, a tool of our own making; a tool that allows us to create and live in this world as we travel through life having the experiences we so want to have.

We’ve become lost along the way, the human mind regularly moves from one desire to another, trying to find fulfillment, trying to regain our original state of bliss. We forget that is who we are. We are bliss itself. We are Sat Chit Ananda, existence, knowledge, and bliss absolute. This is our true nature, for we are powerful beings living in a world we have created and surrounded by other parts of ourselves that do reflect ourselves back to us.

At any moment, we can take the reins and run the show. We are all sleeping, but we don’t know we are until we wake up. So, as we take on the body- mind system, we forget our true nature. We become what our deep driving desire is. Desire is the cause, and birth is the effect. This world of duality is sustained by the law of cause and effect, the law of karma.

Once we accept our birth, countless desires are born, as we move away from the true self and into the world. These desires will be fulfilled in this lifetime or a future lifetime… that is the law. This process of birth continues until all desires are exhausted. These desires become exhausted, as we try on different roles, achieve our goals, and attain the objects we seek, bringing us to the realization after each desire is met, we are still no closer to the state of eternal bliss.

It is a state we catch glimpses of as we achieve a goal, but it is a temporary bliss, it never lasts. We then look in a different direction, inward. We start to ask ourselves the bigger questions of life, like who am I? What is the purpose of this life? Where do I fit into the scheme of things? We start to desire to know the Self and awaken to our original state, as we know all desires are fulfilled in this lifetime or future lifetimes.

The universe conspires to teach you about the self. It draws you into life situations that will satisfy your desires. A friend might bring you along to a yoga class. You might meet someone who is involved in an ashram and visit later that month. A guru might be there who speaks to you. Indeed, out- of- nowhere situations will present itself to you, so you may learn more about the Self, because your desire to know the Self has been awakened, and the universe is answering that call.

The universe always answers. However, our mind often becomes scattered, running in different directions, which is why our life reflects chaos. When all desires cease, even the basic desire to know the Self, we are able to merge with the supreme Self. Desire is what veils the Self and sustains the illusion, allowing the Self to experience its creation.

What is your deep driving desire? We seem only to know the immediate desires that surface when we are in constant contact with the world. Most of these desires are material ones… I desire to be rich, I want a huge mansion, a fancy sports car and more… but what is the underlying goal of all these desires? We think that when we have many material objects, we will be happy, but when we get them, we realize they bring only a temporary happiness that does not last. True happiness is spiritual in nature, not material.

You will never find permanent happiness in the objects of the world; the only place to find happiness is within yourself. Schopenhauer says “It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.” You need to look within to the subject that perceives the object; this is where your focus needs to be. The subject is the perceiver, the part of us that is eternally happy and satisfied; it cares not about material gain or the lack of it.

When the perceiver becomes our internal reference point, our anchor, we are always happy and satisfied. The mind becomes calm, yet able to move within the world as a productive creator of life. Spiritual evolution is marked not by your knowledge of the scriptures or how much you are able to renounce, but by stability of the mind. When the mind becomes stable, it allows you to move in the world as a conscious creator, not a victim of circumstance. We start to use the mind as a tool to create the world around us. We use our intellect to make evolutionary choices, and we keep the body healthy, so we can use this birth to realize the “Self”, the ultimate goal of life.

At the core of our being, we are actually whole, the Supreme Self, the Atman which is cloaked in the body- mind system. The Atman is what animates the body and allows it to perceive and act. It animates the mind and lets it feel and allows the intellect to think and contemplate. Yet, the type of perception, action, feeling, and thought that comes from the body- mind and intellect will depend on one’s inherent nature or vasanas. Your present vasanas set the pattern of your life, and only self-effort can modify or change that pattern. It is a choice only human beings have.

Vasanas are unmanifested seeds of action that lie dormant as your potential nature. These seeds wait for the right environment before they will grow, and when that right environment presents, they take root and grow into the proper manifestation. Your vasanas come from and are a result of the past. Your past actions produce your present vasanas, and your present vasanas produce further actions. This cycle continues until all desires are exhausted. When all desires cease, we merge with the Supreme Self. Here we exist in eternal bliss. It is the state we are actively searching for in the world. It is the ultimate goal of human life. That state is here within us; there is no need to search outside, for we carry it everywhere we go.

But how do we find this bliss? With all the desires that keep bubbling up to the surface of the mind, how is it possible not to have desires? But let’s not go down that path of thinking yet, for most of us are not ready for the ultimate goal. We still desire many objects of the world, which is why the law of attraction is so attractive… Many of us still like the play. So let’s play with the world as a conscious creator.

The whole universe that springs forth from the Supreme Self also resides in you, for you are a creator. When you created this world, you spoke its language and told it what you wanted it to do and be for you. You received just what you asked for, but to fully experience the creation, you had to lose yourself in it, forget how powerful you were. You are now asking to become a full participant in your life story, and the universe is listening.

We can all speak the language of the universe. We do so every day; its language is vibration. When you raise your vibration, the universe matches it and sends it back with an experience that matches the vibration. When you lower your vibration, the universe does the same; it does not discriminate. So how do you raise and lower your vibration? With your thoughts… where do your thoughts come from? Your mind.

Here it gets tricky because the mind is a product of your vasanas, and your vasanas are the primary cause or source of desire, thought, and action. This is why when you hold a thought about what you think you want, other thoughts combat that thought because it might not be in line with your inherent nature. That’s not to say that the law of attraction does not work. What I am saying here is that we have to master a lot more than your thoughts because those thoughts won’t stay in line with your desire if the desire is not in harmony with your inherent nature.

A person who is an environmental activist will not wake up one day and wish for more of anything that might ruin our earth. He has awakened to his purpose, now anything he desires from this place will manifest easily as he is in harmony with his higher calling. It would then be against his inherent nature to wish for a gas guzzling car etc… The same is true of us. If what we wish for is something that is not in line with our inherent nature that something will not manifest. Our inner dialogue will be at war with what we wish for. You see our desire has to be believable to ourselves before the universe, our source of material abundance, can believe it and provide you with it.

Most of us are not sure what our inherent nature is because we don’t really reflect or contemplate the Self. We really need to look at who we are, or more accurately we need to look at who this person is that we’ve created. We need to look at our ego or created self and analyze it to see what desires we can safely absorb and play with in our lives. Then we can move forward and manifest our life to be in line with our inherent nature. We can play in this world where we exist and be a conscious creator of life. We are powerful beings enveloped in this body – mind system, live from your true self and the world becomes your playground.

- Chitra Sukhu