Violations of &"spiritual laws&"?
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Crowley once said that to attempt to gain material things by spiritual methods when material things could be gained by material methods was a violation of "spiritual laws".
What are these spiritual laws?
Where did the concept of them come from?
Are there some laws beyond "Do What Thou Wilt"? -
@Frater Pantha said
"Are there some laws beyond "Do What Thou Wilt"?"
"There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt." - CCXX III:60
616
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@Frater Pantha said
"What are these spiritual laws?
Where did the concept of them come from?"They're not written down in any one place - which is probably why he articulated one of them. BTW, he doesn't mean "law" in the sense of "statute that someone is enforcing," he means "law" in the sense of "codified observation of reality," viz., a "law of nature."
Just as "physical laws" ("Laws of Nature"), such as the Law of Gravity, require physical senses to make observations (or secondary devices which extend or amplify the physical senses), so do "spiritual laws" require spiritual senses to make observations (or secondary devices which extend or amplify the spiritual senses). Therefore, to observe and discuss these, one has to have matured far enough in spiritual growth to be able to make direct observations of the trans-material aspects of the universe.
"Are there some laws beyond "Do What Thou Wilt"?"
Beyond? No, probably not. But there are thousands of corollaries. One of the characteristics of the enaction ("doing") of True Will is that it has to be possible within the actual conditions of the universe. Therefore, to understand the circumstances for the enaction, one has to educate oneself at least a little in how the universe is constituted.
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Thanks for some food for thought.
I know that things are not always as they appear, but it does appear that some have success using spiritual methods to gain material things. Also, Crowley used methods of magick for material gains according to some of his diaries. Why would he do this if he knew it was against the laws of nature/"spiritual law"?
I normally have no interest in working for material gain (by magick or material methods). Not because I am wealthy, but because it doesn't seem very important to me. Sometime earlier this month it occurred to me that I could put to very good use some material structures that I cannot afford right now. It has me wondering about the different methods for material gain. I have other things to concern myself with, but some material things can be of benefit to more than me. -
I was thinking that everything that you do is doing what you will at the moment. It's a choice.
That's why its so important to do what you will all the time consciously. The true will manifests itself eventually and in purer form with every attempt.
Manifestation of material things is one of the steps to achieve this understanding of what your true nature is. It doesn't work after a while like it did in the beginning. It is as if the Universe feeds you when you are a babe, When you are a baby, when you are in need, someone (mother) provides. But as you get older part of parental responsibility is to expect you to learn to eat on your own, cook on your own, and shop on you own. What you are taught is that things are possible, not just easy, and there is joy in being independent of others and being able to serve them at the same time.
At the beginning, though, the use of focused attention on manifesting what you want seems like a joyous miracle. Works for a time, not always. Part of the path.
In L.V.X.,
chrys333 -
@Frater Pantha said
"I know that things are not always as they appear, but it does appear that some have success using spiritual methods to gain material things. Also, Crowley used methods of magick for material gains according to some of his diaries."
I'm going to assume that, here, by "spiritual means" you mean "magical means." There are many layers of a possible answer for this - I'll try to hit the main ones. There are nuances especially arising from the fact that it's the magician's (conscious and unconscious) underlying motivation that matters more than anything else.
The main rule is that you should not use purely magical means for such purposes without having first given it your sincere "best shot" using means more immediately (practically) related to the issue. For example, it's totally missing the mark to attract the sexual interest of a woman when you haven't even bothered to try to strike up a conversation with her. However, it would be entirely appropriate to use magick to increase your own courage and ability/willingness to communicate (making a change in yourself) in order to accomplish that.
So, for example, most of Crowley's magick-for-money work done when he was destitute and had no other evident means available to him. This falls within the definition. Skinner, in introductory remarks to one of Crowley's diaries, also has documented that these tended to be the workings at which Crowley failed most often.
Another principle that may apply here - and will apply for some people in some times - is that, if you set out with the goal of getting powers, you likely will get them - and then all further inner progress will stop (maybe for a lifetime, but usually only for a period of time until you discover and disengage the character wiring that led you down that original road). On the other hand, if you simply work on your own spiritual advancement, "powers" tend to appear, usually at a point consonant with the symbolism of the grade being worked and soon after the point that you lose desire for the powers.
Another context in which such workings are "allowable" is for training purposes.
The more "exceptions" one allows, the more deeply one is called upon to be examining, insightful, and honest about one's own motivations, whether greed or laziness or some other weakness in oneself is at work. For example, do you want to use magick to get money because you're too lazy to work available overtime? (That's a superficial example, but should make the point.) To use magick in this context would confirm your belief in your own weakness, at a very deep level of your being (the level you have to touch to make whatever inner plane contacts you draw on).
So you're right - appearances are sometimes deceiving, and some of the things that matter most on this issue aren't going to be evident to other people looking in from outside. It's moderately good work if you make these matters evident to yourself - it's part of the ongoing task of self-awareness.
I should add that it is sometimes complicated to know where to draw the line on magical vs. non-magical - I especially don't want to turn this thread into a debate on that definition with the usual, predictable set of posts on the subject. The question before us isn't, "What is magick?" A useful guide is that the more you personally involve yourself in the solution - your own presence, actions, etc. - the more "consistent with Nature on all planes" will be the undertaking. There are also methods that (for purposes of distinction in this present thread) I would call metaphysics rather than magick, which mostly deal with making a clear choice of what you are pursuing and effectively send a metaphysical message to the universe and its inhabitants of your choice. The universe then responds in kind.
"Sometime earlier this month it occurred to me that I could put to very good use some material structures that I cannot afford right now. It has me wondering about the different methods for material gain."
Ah, here's a very important clue! Money is rarely the answer or the desired result. It is usually the MEANS to the REAL answer or desired result. Don't focus on the means - focus on the real desired outcome!
Money makes us crazy. Or, at least, we're crazy when it comes to money. It's intimately connected to psychological roots of power and sex and severa lother Mars-themed ideas. - Money is really energy previously expended, concentrated into a material and exchangeable form, and that can be reconverted back into energy. For example, you exert energy and earn money, which you then give to a handyman so that he will expend energy on your behalf that you don't have to expend (you already did it to earn the money).
But usually we don't really want money. Instead, we want what we think the money will give us. We see it as the means to another end. But in magick there should rarely be any consideration of the means, only of the end - let God, the Angels, the Universe, etc. determine the means! So, if you need "some material structures that I cannot afford right now," and you see the relationship of these to your progress, your self-understanding, the unfolding of your life, and/or your survival and well-being, then put your attention on THOSE things instead. Maybe the result will be money to buy them, or maybe somebody will give them to you, or maybe you'll suddenly understand a different approach, etc. etc. etc. - the universe is infinitely creative.
Just be clear on what your real motive is. An example that taught me so much: Years ago I agreed to collaborate with a friend to impregnate her. Though I got into the idea of becoming a father, and we both expected me to be involved in the future from a thousand miles away, it wasn't the stated goal. The goal was for this single woman to conceive. Over the months of our collaboration, I also did magick with the goal of making her a mother. It never occurred to me to do any magick to make me a father - that would have kinda gone a long de facto with success in what we were doing. After 5 or 6 months, the magick succeeded: She was reunited, out of the blue, with the daughter she had given up 20 years earlier. The exact result sought in the magick had occurred - just not the result we consciously were working toward.
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Thank you for sharing this insightful response Jim.
It is always a real pleasure to read your post. 
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It certainly helps to be able to look at it from a different angle. By looking at it in this new way I can still have no real interest in money.
Your points about focusing on the outcome are right to the heart of the matter. To do anything else limits the numbers of ways a goal can be achieved. It makes perfect sense that I not limit or tie the hands of the forces of the universe.
Thank you for the helpful information Mr. Eshelman. -
You're welcome
It probably goes without saying that this general principle applies to the right view of (probably) all areas of magick.