Tatwa scrying
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Crowley didn't seem too think much of tatwa scrying, though as a member of member of the Golden Dawn he must have been trained in the practice. Yet throughout all of his works, the only reference I can find is his mention of using them as a focus in the practice of concentration. Why was it that he felt this basic practice should be left out of his training regimens?
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The GD use of tattwas for that purpose wasn't because skrying the tattwas has any intrinsic value, but just to have something cool to give people to practice on. They're good for this, but hardly the only thing - more or less any real symbol can be used. That sort of thing is very much part of the curriculum.
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yes I suppose that is true, I can recall one such example from Kenneth Grant's Remembering Aleister Crowley.
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BUt where in the cirriculum oof the A:.A:. would this technique be introduced? In your book the Mystical and Magical System of the A A, you suggest that the Probationer gain some practical experience with Liber E and Liber O, but to me the simple practices of scrying seem like they should be learned before the more advanced techniques of ceremonial and astral projection that are presented in Liber O (in particular I am talking about the setting up of a magical temple based n lines from 777 and the fomulation of the body of Light). So where in the A A cirriculuum does one learn the practice of exploring symbols through scrying?
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@AEternitas1 said
"BUt where in the cirriculum oof the A:.A:. would this technique be introduced? In your book the Mystical and Magical System of the A A, you suggest that the Probationer gain some practical experience with Liber E and Liber O, but to me the simple practices of scrying seem like they should be learned before the more advanced techniques of ceremonial and astral projection that are presented in Liber O (in particular I am talking about the setting up of a magical temple based n lines from 777 and the fomulation of the body of Light). So where in the A A cirriculuum does one learn the practice of exploring symbols through scrying?"
I wonder if it's because of the G.D.'s approach that you think of the Tattwas as a preliminary or 'basic' etc. They're just another symbol set, like many others such as, say, the Hebrew letters, planetary 'mystic seals' from the kameas, traditional mystical diagrams, lineal figures, and many others. (And substantially the same technique was used by AC for skrying the 30 Aethyrs.)
All of this is native to the work of the Neophyte, and may, of course, be taken up by the Probationer (who has in front of him or her most of the Outer College curriculum plus a Superior who is at least a Neophyte).
The basic technique is introduced in Liber E which, however, was not intended to be used in isolation but, rather, in conjunction with direct instruction from a teacher.
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Interesting, so what you are essentially saying is that once the student has built a degree of success with the practices of concentration given in Liber E, their instructor may then introduce them to the method of obtaining visions through symbols? Or did you intend to say Liber O?
You are right, my view does seem to be biased by the old oerder teachings, so far as considering scrying a "basic" or introductory technique. But nonetheless it is so basic, it does seem, to me at least, a good place to start. But it is not the technique of scrying the tattwas that Iam talking about specifically, but the method of scrying by symbol in general, which over all seems like a very basic technique.
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@AEternitas1 said
"Interesting, so what you are essentially saying is that once the student has built a degree of success with the practices of concentration given in Liber E, their instructor may then introduce them to the method of obtaining visions through symbolks? "
I misstated. I should have said Liber O. Insert "Liber E and Liber O" above and it all applies. (Sorry.)
"But it is not the technique of scrying the tattwas that Iam talking about generally, but the wethod of scrying by symbol in general, which over all seems like a very basic technique."
See Liber O, penultimate section. It mostly talks about astral work in the "just getting out" sense, and doesn't focus on "where are you going." But the next step is the "where are you going."
I'm not sure if this is a digression, or responsive to your post...: I touch on the underlying elements of this in Chapter 4, "Skrying in the Spirit Vision," of my forthcoming book Visions & Voices (due to be released from the bindery about today). [PS, notice I said "underlying elements," not technique - there's plenty about technique available in existing books, and it would have been a distraction to go into it too deeply.] One of the more useful remarks in that section is the distincti\on that these experiences are usually characterized as mystical, especially when they are spontaneousl but that a vision also is rightly characterized as magical if it is produced at will and its theme is intentionally selected. That's the implication in the word skry to begin with, i.e., that it is an affirmative scrutiny - it has an intended target - which distinguishes it from, say, passive mediumship (or any other variant of "just go get whatever you get" training.) - I then spend a couple of pages talking about the underlying mechanism, before devoting the last 12 pages of the chapter to factors that affect and modify the magician's experience of the skrying adventure.
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That certainly helps answer my question and your book certainly sounds like one I am going to buy!