Assumption of God-forms.
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@ThelemicMage said
"I suppose one could say that the Egyptian pantheon was the first spirituality compatible with the human spirit."
Highly unlikely. For example, the Hindu pantheon (just to pick one) was either just as early or approximately so, and no less compatible with the human nature and the demands of vivid and distinctive imagery.
"I mean, how is one to assume the form of Enlil, a god of Creation who wanted to do away with humans before our potential was realized?"
More to the point, I think, is that first we had to evolve well past the beginnings of Ruach consciousness to have the psychic distinctions. When we were still substantially in Nefesh consciousness, there was no visualization of such things - it was just the nature of experiencing the world, like traffic and advertising. One had to be routinely removed from that reality before it made sense to have a practice for the purpose of uniting oneself to it.
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@gerry456 said
"Jim is that the bicameral mind theory?"
Not literally, but it's consistent with it. (So, let's say it's more or less.)
It's simply the known evolution of consciousness that Qabalah traces, from seemingly inert matter, through raw mechanical sensory input, to Nefesh development and evolution, to Ruach emergence (let's say, emergence of a distinctive ego-center), and so on.
I wrote a fair bit about this in the early chapters of my book Visions & Voices, while talking about the aeons.
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@Jim Eshelman said
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More to the point, I think, is that first we had to evolve well past the beginnings of Ruach consciousness to have the psychic distinctions. When we were still substantially in Nefesh consciousness, there was no visualization of such things - it was just the nature of experiencing the world, like traffic and advertising. One had to be routinely removed from that reality before it made sense to have a practice for the purpose of uniting oneself to it."Excellent point. When we civilized people go out in nature, it seems like a blank canvas to us - we don't know what we're seeing, so we can get into a no-mind state that's refreshing to the mind.
To primitive people though, looking at nature would have been somewhat like looking at a city is to us - the advertising the images, writing and symbols everywhere. To primitive people,they would "read" nature like a book, they knew the names of all the things, the spirits inhabiting them, etc. - i.e. it was a symbol-rich environment to them,rather than symbol-poor, like it is to us.
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@gerry456 said
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I don't know man, read his instructions in Liber O. Its nasal inhalation and exhalation as well as visualization.
The more"freaked out" the better."
@Liber O said
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The Magical Images of the Gods of Egypt should be made thoroughly familiar. This can be done by studying them in any public museum, or in such books as may be accessible to the student. They should then be carefully painted by him, both from the model and from memory.
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The student, seated in the "God" position, or in the characteristic attitude of the God desired, should then imagine His image as coinciding with his own body, or as enveloping it. This must be practised until mastery of the image is attained, and an identity with it and with the God experienced.
It is a matter for very great regret that no simple and certain test of success in this practice exists.
"Neither nasal breathing nor "freaked out" result are part of the practice, as given.
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@ThelemicMage said
"I mean, how is one to assume the form of Enlil, a god of Creation who wanted to do away with humans before our potential was realized?"
Probably in much the same way one might work with Zeus. Before Prometheos stole the fire of Olympus and gifted it to the mindless clay creatures down on earth, Zeus wanted to scrap the whole thing as a bad effort and start over. But, once Promo enlivened us with the divine spark, there was no stuffing that cat back in Pandora's Box. So Zeus unleashed his spleen all over the poor titan's liver, pouted and brooded for a few millennia, sent a flood to kill off most of the race, and then evolved into the somewhat benevolent Thunder-Father that we know him as today.
Enlil isn't so much different.
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@Gnosomai Emauton said
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@gerry456 said
"nasal Neither nasal breathing nor "freaked out" result are part of the practice, as given."
""Assumption of God forms" and "Vibration of God names" are not the same thing? One is not an extension of the other?
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Gerry, these are two separate technics adjacent to each other. Often used together, but not necessarily.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"Gerry, these are two separate technics adjacent to each other. Often used together, but not necessarily."
Yes I just went back to Liber O when my man Gnosamai pointed it out to me and I saw that strictly speaking, they are not the same thing and can be isolated practices.
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@Jim Eshelman said
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As for other pantheons - yes, after you've mastered the specific assignment, it's normal to spread out and try other things. In particular, the Hebrew angels and archangels make up a substantial percentage of the forms used."
AC writes
*III
- The Magical Images of the Gods of Egypt should be made thoroughly familiar. This can be done by studying them in any public museum, or in such books as may be accessible to the student. .*
... but the 7 Archangels and Angels don't appear to have a standard image. People, throughout the centuries have just assumed that they look like male adolescent Caucasian catalogue models only wearing white robes and having big white wings. That's not much to go on whereas the Gods of Egypt were painted in full regalia and colour on temple walls.
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@gerry456 said
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@Jim Eshelman said
"As for other pantheons - yes, after you've mastered the specific assignment, it's normal to spread out and try other things. In particular, the Hebrew angels and archangels make up a substantial percentage of the forms used."
AC writes
*III
- The Magical Images of the Gods of Egypt should be made thoroughly familiar. This can be done by studying them in any public museum, or in such books as may be accessible to the student. .*
... but the 7 Archangels and Angels don't appear to have a standard image. People, throughout the centuries have just assumed that they look like male adolescent Caucasian catalogue models only wearing white robes and having big white wings. That's not much to go on whereas the Gods of Egypt were painted in full regalia and colour on temple walls."
To the student of the yoga of the west (qabalistic magick, Golden Dawn tradition, et al), there are standard forms. You should learn them. The angels are described by the spellings of their names.
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@gerry456 said
"Are there any internet resources with colour code descriptions?
I'm out at the moment, is it in Jim's 776 1\2 book?"
I don't own 776 1/2. Why would one need an "internet resource." It should be in all your qabalah (my preferred spelling). Have you not read anything by Regardie? I don't think he goes a book without mentioning it.
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@Takamba said
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@gerry456 said
"Are there any internet resources with colour code descriptions?I'm out at the moment, is it in Jim's 776 1\2 book?"
I don't own 776 1/2. Why would one need an "internet resource." It should be in all your qabalah (my preferred spelling). Have you not read anything by Regardie? I don't think he goes a book without mentioning it."
I've got Regardies TOL.
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Might want to check out a site not selling stuff.
IE:Wikipedia (Yes, even!)
"To anthroposophists, Samael is known as one of the seven archangels: Saint Gregory gives the seven archangels as Anael, Gabriel, Michael, Oriphiel, Raphael, Samael and Zachariel.[citation needed] They are all imagined to have a special assignment to act as a global zeitgeist ("time-spirit"), each for periods of about 360 years.[14] Since 1879, anthroposophists posit, Michael has been the leading time spirit. Four important archangels are also supposed to display periodic spiritual activity over the seasons: Raphael during the spring, Uriel during the summer, Michael during the autumn, and Gabriel during the winter."