Self Initiation.
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93,
Does anyone here on this forum have an opinion about Self Initiation?
I know.
I am asking for opinions, on a loaded question and opinions are what I am going to get. 
So, with that being said. I believe from my personal meditations that the path of attainment is the Path of Return. That is, starting in Malkuth and working ones way up thur the Sephiroths and Paths on the Tree of Life to Kether, the Crown. The hero's journey.
There are two ways that I know of on how to do this. The first is to join a group such as T.O.T or Aspirants to Light and ritualistically travel the Sephiroths and paths of the Tree of Life. The second is thur personal meditation. OK, I just realized there is a third. Both. Group and personal work.
Self Initiation, I believe can be done thur the consistent use of the Tarot in ones personal meditation. Starting in Malkuth and working ones way up or inward to Kether.
Each Sephiroth is given a planetary attribution which in turn can be given a Major Arcana Card. This is the way I see it today.
Kether: Atu 0 The Fool. The Root of Air.
Chokmah:Atu 20 The Aeon. The Root of Fire.
Binah: Atu 12 The Hanged Man. The Root of Water.
Chesed: Atu 10 The Wheel of Fortune.
Geburah: Atu 16 The Tower.
Tiphareth: Atu 19 The Sun.
Netzach: Atu 3 The Empress.
Hod: Atu 1 The Magician.
Yesod; Atu 2 The High Priestess.
Malkuth: Atu 21 The World.Each path on the Tree of Life connects two Sephiroths and if taken in reverse order, one would start in Malkuth and work up to Kether.
So this could be represented with 22 sets of three cards.
The first and the last card in the set of three would be Sephiroths representing the planetary attributes and the middle one representing the Path connecting them.Thus:
- (21 The World-Malkuth) (21 The World) (2 High Priestess-Yesod.)
- (21 The World-Malkuth) (20 The Aeon) (1 The Magician-Hod.)
- (1 The Magician-Hod) (19 The Sun) (2 The High Priestess-Yesod)
- (21 The World-Malkuth) (18 The Moon) (3 Empress-Netzach.)
- (2 The High Priestess-Yesod) (17 The Star) (3 Empress-Netzach.)
- (1 The Magician-Hod) (16 The Tower) (3 The Empress-Netzach.)
- (1 The Magician-Hod) (15 The Devil) (19 The Sun-Tiphareth.)
- (2 The High Priestess-Yesod) (14 Art) (19 The Sun-Tiphareth.)
- (3 The Empress-Netzach) (13 Death) (19 The Sun-Tiphareth.)
- (1 Magician-Hod) (12 Hanged Man) (16 The Tower-Geburah.)
- (16 The Tower-Geburah) (11 Lust/Strength) (19 Sun-Tiphareth.)
- (10 W of Fortune-Chesed) (10 W. of Fortune) (3 Empress-Netzach.)
- (19 The Sun-Tiphareth) (9 The Hermit) (10 The W of Fortune-Chesed.)
- (16 The Tower-Geburah) (8 Adjustment) (10 The Wheel of Fortune-Chesed.)
- (16 The Tower-Geburah) (7 The Chariot) (12 The Hanged Man-Binah.)
- (19 The Sun-Tiphareth) (6 The Lovers) (12 The Hanged Man-Binah.)
- (20 Aeon-Chokmah) (5 Hierophant) (10 The W of fortune-Chesed.)
- (20 The Aeon-Chokmah) (4 The Emperor) (19 The Sun-Tiphareth.)
- (12 The Hanged Man) (3 The Empress) (20 The Aeon-Chokmah.)
- (19 The Sun-Tiphareth) (2 The High Priestess) (0 the Fool-Kether.)
- (12 The Hanged Man) (1 The Magician) (0 The Fool-Kether.)
- (20 The Aeon-Chokmah) (0 The Fool) (0 The Fool-Kether.)
So this is my question.
If a sincere aspirant worked alone apart from a group, could the aspirant Initiation them self thur there personal work with the Tarot and the Tree of Life?Love is the Law Love under will.
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93,
The issue for me, when I tried this, was that the initiator (me) had no connection to an initiatory current. He had a bunch of theories, several books on Qabalah, and a sincere intent. But he didn't have a clue what he was trying to tune into. So, he (me) initiated his candidate (also me) into .. well, nothing very much except a bunch of <i>ideas</i>.
True initiation means the triggering of something wholly beyond what we can access consciously. A good initiator, working in an established tradition, would know how to locate that kind of Light. Someone started a bootstraps effort would not.
It could all work out, but there would be a tremendous need for an open mind and an open heart.
93 93/93,
Edward
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Frater Deen, 93,
Every 'real' (ie, valid, effective, or contacted) occult order or organization is in touch with a specific flow of energy or energies. and the members use these in their work. Initiation is partly a process of opening an individual to such energies, and partly one of making some degree of these energies available to the newly opened initiate.
Using the Tarot and the other techniques you mentioned would certainly open up some degree of awareness. And, I assume, some rare people are 'already there' and can validly open themselves to an initiatory current. But for the rest of us, much of the reason for joining a fraternity is to be around people who have a broader or different perspective to our own. Trying to attain to higher consciousness, and higher levels of energy generally, when we also have to deal with our private anxieties, repressed desires and other things that block energy on multiple levels, is not easy.
I would assume that for most people, self-initiation produces an initial burst of confidence, followed at a certain point by a realization that things are going in circles. That was my experience. Either that, or change is very slow, and certain basic assumptions we've started with are never effectively challenged or revised.
A reboot, which is what initiation might be compared to, won't be too effective if voltage can't get to all the areas where data is stored.
93 93/93,
Edward
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93 Edward,
Thank you for taking the time to answer this post
I had to sleep on your response from yesterday. But, what I got from it was, an initiatory current is some type of linkage to something Greater than our little self.
It makes good sense, that a contacted Order allows there initiates to work with energy's that they wouldn't normally be able to access alone. A fast track of sorts for the initiate. If one is working by oneself, you can only make so much progress no matter how hard you try.
Thank you Edward.
Love is the Law Love under will.
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Yes, thanks a lot Edward! That explanation made me want to seek out AMORC here in Sweden. Are they a good choice from what you guys know though? They were the only ones except satanists I could find that's closer than England/Spain/Germany as far as I know.
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AMORC has some good material but is definetly not Thelemic, but very Christian/Rosecrucian oriented. Over that I would suggest BOTA study courses. From what I've heard, they are excellent.
I actually heard a rumor that in the highest level of AMORC, the main "secret" teaching is "Do what thou Wilt shall be the whole of the Law." I dont know if this is true, does anyone know? My mateials cut off at the degree just before the last.
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Thanks for answering DavidH! I decided to give SRC a shot. They have an office a few hours ride away from here, so it works fine. I realized, since my reason for joining a lodge is the one Edward gave above it doesn't seem to matter to me which one at this early stage.
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@Fraterdeen said
"93,
Does anyone here on this forum have an opinion with Self Initiation?
I know. I am asking for opinions, on a loaded question and opinions are what I am going to get.=========
Furthermore is it possible that one can work one's ways up the grades of the Tree by oneself? If not then why not?
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I live smack in the middle of the midwest with not a Thelemite in site. Everything I have had to do has been self-study. In the pursuit of that, a fellow Theurgist and I created a message board where we try to pursuit threads on self-work. Honestly it was originally going to be around the AA system, but we understand that one cannot really be in the AA unless it is official, so we do what we can using what is out there and available - The site is heurgy.10.forumer.com if interested.
This forum however I should note is obviously my main source of non-book knowledge, as this is the closest I can currently get to being in the company of Thelemites.
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i passed the student exam for the A' A' and was assigned a neophyte who live clear on the other side of the country. then after not hearing from him much, and just waiting around, i found out he had left the order. i got assigned a new neophyte who lives almost as far away, and though i have plans on going o meet him, it will be quite some ime before i can, so i am beginning the probationer stuff on my own, and then when i take the oath, ill just be that much further along the path. i dont see anything wrong with going it alone tho. in the A' A' i have joined, u only know one other person, and that is the person above you. well, after becoming a neophyte, u may be assigned a probationer. they also have no meetings or anything like that. i think that basically the great work and conversation with nes holy guardian angel is a very personal experience and can only be done alone. i think that help and advice is all anyone can give. sorry if i babble, but it's early and i havent slept.
good luck on ur journey, brother.
