LBRP
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I'm not sure I'd say that it's Hadit that crosses the Abyss. The Abyssal experience would be an abandonment of Hadit into the Ocean of Binah, I'd have thought: individuality is saturated and dissolved into a vast Understanding. Ultimately, yes, it would be Hadit doing it (I think...) but recall Crowley's descriptions in the Confessions. He was not conscious, in the conventional sense, of a dividual self during that intense work with G.C. Jones.
I found getting to understand the LBRP came from practice, not from knowing all the 'stuff'. I've always found the Peh/Samekh info bothersome and distracting, to be honest.
I look at the LBRP as a way of parsing out or analyzing the personal self. I don't get too hung up on the elemental attributions of the sephiroth, I just allow the Names and Archangels to represent the elements of their Quarters, as they have done for centuries, well before the HOGD started up. We conventionally say Yesod is Air because it's on the Middle Pillar, but it's also watery. Netzach also does a kind of double duty, both as fire expressed on the personality level, and as an earth-related sephirah. It's green, after all, and being at the bottom of the Pillar of Fire, it's receptive to the sephiroth above it. It feeds 'information' to Malkuth through Qoph (subconsciousness - remember Qoph is the back of the head, and the cerebellum).
In my own work, I simply see Raphael as Air, and as therefore representing information or realization. Gabriel is Water, and is thus deep understanding. Mikhael is Fire and thus divine energy. Auriel presides over Earth, and is thus about formation and finalization. Gabe and Auri are receptive to their opposites, Raph and Mike. The Names set up the primary orientation of the temple, and the Archangels step down the energy or summarise it.
I re-center and balance myself through this, and that allows me to release whatever I'm hanging onto. There are levels to that process, and I wouldn't like to try and summarize it all in a few paragraphs. It would vary a bit from practitioner to practitioner, I'd say, but it should be an energized exercise, and not mumbled.
I do find it helpful to allow consciousness, or the centre of mental activity, to shift a little (or a lot) to the Archangels. The realer they are, the more I can release whatever's hanging me up.
The center, as I understand it, is not what's in front of me, but what's at the center of me. Hadit (in this exercise) is the absolute core of my own being, at the heart. To the extent I can become Hadit, or allow it to Be, and thus give up any effort at 'being in control', the ritual is effective. To the extent I try to force it to work ... it doesn't.
The pentagram is Spirit ruling over the four elements, yes. I also see it as an expression of the human form at its ideal best. Which is, I feel, what happens when Spirit is in charge.
In L.V.X.,
Edward
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Actually, Hadit doesn't exist at all without Nuit. "Had! The manifestation of Nuit."; "Nu! the hiding of Hadit." Note also that Nuit achieves Hadit as the Scarlet Woman.
I think its good to a degree that people involve themselves in study at this level. Past a certain point, there are many pitfalls. For instance, unless the "chosen one" is united with Nuit - no one here can achieve Hadit. Hadit extends from the ascension of the prophet, and not just anyone. The Deity exists on multiple levels, as does the very real and very true prophecy of BOTL - but its also case specific. This is the fundamental problem with modern OTO and such. They are devoid of leadership, and the very highest grade among any of them independent of Hadit is Adeptus Minor. Furthermore, I don't see any evidence for that grade. What you have is a mish-mash of intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals, and many of which have a chip on their shoulders. To turn the work of saints and God no-less into a personal play-pen is a very real danger.
Also, astral projection is a very real phenomenon. You go places and effect changes in physicality - in the so-called real-world. Unless you have achieved this ability, you haven't made it off of Malkuth. And, furthermore, even if you didn't, that doesn't mean anything. Its the pursuit of power that trips people. This is not the point of any religion. I didn't have a choice and that is what the Book of the Law is really about. More accurate is to say that I had a choice, and my choice was the creation of The Book of the Law so as to leave me with no choice. IT WASN'T fun and games nor 'exploitation and profit'.
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@Virgil said
"Actually, Hadit doesn't exist at all without Nuit. "Had! The manifestation of Nuit."; "Nu! the hiding of Hadit.""
Right, out of the Void comes the Black Flame and return to the Void it does. Like Yin and Yang, you cannot separate the two. Yin/Dark/Receptive. Yang/Light/Active.
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Redd Fezz, 93,
In my last post I wrote:
"I look at the LBRP as a way of parsing out or analyzing the personal self."
That's not a good way of putting it, since what's being parsed out is anything but 'personal'. That's why we use God-names and the Archangels. The LBRP is dealing with the Universe/Nuit on a somewhat elemental or microcosmic level, but that's still a pretty big game.
I agree that Nuit and Hadit are interdependent, and that one makes no sense without the other. That's self-evident. But I can't see any way to grasp what that inter-relationship is all about without dealing with them separately first.
So one way of looking at the LBRP is that with it, we ritually set up a version of Nuit, with sacred 'somethings' in all the main directions. We start from the centre by making the Qabalistic Cross, and then we work back to that centre after having discovered the vast Periphery, the final discovery being Hadit-within as we intone 'Amen'. In this sense, it's a ritual of the interplay of Hadit+Nuit. Maybe I was slower to grasp this than most people are, but the day that clicked I found the ritual flowed much more easily.
93 93/93,
Edward
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That sounds about right.
I just drew the 6 of Wands and so looked up THE FOUR SIXES in the Book of Thoth. Interesting reading! Then, I read the description for 6 of Wands -- not so interesting, but not terribly boring, either. In THE FOUR SIXES, the point is made that Tiphareth is the only Sephirah below the Abyss that communicates directly with Kether. This is self-evident looking at the TOL, but somehow reading it clicked with what we've been discussing, including your last comment, Ed, which relates to the rest of THE FOUR SIXES comment as well. Good. After LBRP and MPR, what's the next ritual I should attempt?
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@Redd Fezz said
"After LBRP and MPR, what's the next ritual I should attempt?"
Perhaps start yoga along with these two rituals, instead of focusing on a new ritual right away. Spend some time with these three things before moving on to something new. Except Liber Resh. Do you do that?
These rituals take time to start creating changes. And you need to develop more than just the outer forms of the rituals. Do them every day without fail. Allow the visualizations and sensations to develop organically as your understanding of and connections to the rituals develop. You can burn yourself out, while getting little positive result if you rush through rituals to quickly without securing your foundations first. I learned that from personal experience and pretty much ended up starting all over again from scratch.
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"Octagram"
Was that a joke, Virgil?
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Hi Everyone,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Virgil, I have some questions about several statements
">For instance, unless the "chosen one" is united with Nuit - no one here can achieve Hadit. Hadit extends from the ascension of the prophet, and not just anyone. The Deity exists on multiple levels, as does the very real and very true prophecy of BOTL - but its also case specific.
"Could you clarify each of these statements?
"> This is the fundamental problem with modern OTO and such."
Of course, the above requested clarification might help me to understand.
">They are devoid of leadership, and the very highest grade among any of them independent of Hadit is Adeptus Minor."
I’m really trying to understand this…
"> Furthermore, I don't see any evidence for that grade.
"????
"
> What you have is a mish-mash of intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals, and many of which have a chip on their shoulders."Is this information gained from experience or unfounded opinion? If the latter, it is getting very close to what some people might consider slander.
Love is the law, love under will.
Thanks,
Fr. Z. T.
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I checked out Virgil's website and it looks like he's created his own organization based on Liber AL. But, so far, I've read all of Virgil's comments on this board and none of them seem to jibe with the lucid explanations in Crowley's own comments found in The Law Is For All.
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The Tarot designs on Virgil's site are quite beautiful. I can't relate the imagery to any concepts of Tarot with which I'm familiar, though, whether Christian, Thelemic, or general pagan.
Virgil, you seem to be operating from your own private Cosmos, and the usual criteria of Hermetic Qabalah apparently don't apply there. Have you crushed an universe, so that only the incommunicable remains?
Edward
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Hi -
Zo - yes and no to all questions. Meditation on the origin and root-cause will illumine my statements. I have nothing personally against anyone involved in the study of the mysteries. I despise thieves.
Redd - in a personal sense, it is my book. Crowley was a scribe and prophet, but he never found the key - nor could he.
Jim - thanks for the compliment. The OPQ Tarot is a living Journal. All cards are based upon lucid vision upon the paths.
To understand the 'ACTUAL' knowledge you will have to wait and/or join me. If not, then not. It doesn't matter to me. I'm just being responsible.
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93 Everyone,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Virgil, with all due respect, that's merely an evasion.
It's no problem if you don't want to answer. I'll respect that. Usually though if one comments on a subject one should be prepared to respond the subsequent questions otherwise why post in the first place?
Love is the law, love under will.
Fr. Z. T.
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Redd Fezz, 93,
Virgil's site isn't working right this evening. He might be updating or amending it. Last evening, I clicked on the hexagram with a key on the left of the home page. Then, by clicking on the sub-headings under Hathor, I came to the Tarot imagery.
I agree that this thread is no longer about the LBRP. Virgil has, quite ingeniously, swung the attention to himself, mostly by dropping obscure or oracular hints then not responding. Either we are open to his ideas (whatever they actually are...) or we can remain in mystery and darkness. That means any of us who are not supportive end up in the wrong.
I don't want to play somebody's games ad nauseam, but I have to concede he has gotten attention. Following your suggestion, I'm opening a 'Virgil' thread in General Discussion, just to try and clear the air.
93 93/93,
Edward
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Clarification
On Virgil's website, you can also click on Living Journal, then click on the hexagonal design in a circle over on the right.
Edward
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I guess I'll continue in this thread instead of creating a new one since my question is about the LBRP.
I've performed it to an extent that it feels like I've taken strong psychedelics - there's a sensation, like an energetic charge about my entire body that closely resembles that of the body load I've experienced while using psilocybine or LSD. I'm sorry to bring drugs into this (I haven't interpreted the forum rules to mean it's forbidden to discuss them, but I haven't seen anyone else write about them either, so I feel uncertain about it I admit), but I have no better means to compare my experience.
What I'm getting at is that I feel it is too intense for my taste and I want some advice about whether or not you think I should continue practising magick at all and some advice about what to do to "discharge" if that's possible.Let me explain the symptoms better: after two LBRPs with about 1-2 hours interval I almost felt like I was tripping heavily and had some pretty disturbing sensations during meditation directly after the first one. I came very far very fast in meditation compared to the experiences before starting to do the ritual this thoroughly. When I tried to sleep about an hour later I started to drift off, but not into what felt like drowsiness of sleep, but rather as if I was fainting. This has happened to me several times after doing the LBRP and every morning afterwards I wake up feeling pretty exhausted (any clues as to why?). This seems strange to me since the LBRP (which I blame for this) shouldn't do anything but banish negative magnetism as I understand it.
I've read that it enhances the aura and also the mood set one had before doing it, so if scared => scared to death, angry => pissed off etc., right? Well, even though I calmed down with a relaxation ritual before doing it the second time (which I did to make sure I hadn't attracted any negative spirits/charges/whatever, something it certainly felt like while trying to sleep) I lit up like a flash of electric energy; it was like my whole body had been thoroughly nudged all over against some surface causing static electricity and my hair stood on end, heavy body load sensations and increased heart rate. Later I had itches here and there, but the most important thing about the entire experience was the INTENSE energy boost I got. It was as if time went faster and I had to do things in slow motion to sync my environment regularly.Now, I've done the LBRP about once every night, followed by 30 minutes of meditation, for about a month or so (perhaps less and I've missed a day here and there every once in a while) and even if these sensations have been mildly (hence that word) present until now tonight was a BREAKTHROUGH and without doubt the most intense magickal experience I've ever had. And to return to drugs again (sorry), I had thought I could use that as a good indicator of what my mind was capable of putting up with. E.g. I've once taken 5g psilocybine and made it through fine aside from some hypertension here and there, but conclusively it was definitely positive experiences I don't mind repeating occasionally for the rest of my life, so with an attitude and capacity (or lack of) like that, would you say I have what it takes to practice magick (i.e. if you could relate to the symptoms described here would you continue?)?
And the second question again was, do you have any advice if I want to stabilize my mind so as not to experience these intense bursts of magick (to make experiences more analogous than digital, so to speak)?Oh, P.S. I'm also seeing light flashes in my peripheral visual field more or less constantly since doing the LBRP (which doesn't bother me), if that could help in making a judgment.
Thanks in advance!
