The ordeals
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Apologies if I just had a realization which is old hat, but prompted by a discussion in another thread, I was thinking about:
- The fool readeth this Book of the Law, and its comment; & he understandeth it not.
- Let him come through the first ordeal, & it will be to him as silver.
- Through the second, gold.
- Through the third, stones of precious water.
- Through the fourth, ultimate sparks of the intimate fire.
Suddenly I thought about the Neophyte and Zelator initiations in A.'. A.'. (of which I am not a member, but of which Jim has written a bit, though obviously not ritual spoilers).
"come through the first ordeal" [thus becoming a Neophyte] ... "silver": Silver = moon = Yesod; the Neophyte "Has to acquire perfect control of the Astral Plane." (One Star in Sight).
"Through the second" [thus becoming a Zelator] ... "gold": Gold = sun = Tiphereth = the Second Order and the Knowledge & Conversation; the Zelator "begins to study the formula of the Rosy Cross.." (One Star in Sight). And certainly the Sephirah straight above Yesod on the middle pillar is Tiphereth (as opposed to the "next" Sephirah which is Hod).
Continuing the line of thinking, the third "ordeal" would be the initiation into Tiphereth, and the Adept would then at the Book as "stones of precious water". An illusion of the Abyss? The next several Sephiroth? (If one maps YHVH onto the Tree, "water" could indeed be the second triad of sephiroth, i.e. Chesed/Geburah/Tiphereth itself.)
The fourth "ordeal" would then likely be the Abyss, and then having come through it, the Master would then perceive Liber L "properly" as an archetypal, Atziluthic expression ("ultimate sparks").
Is this old hat or am I on to something? Or am I just on something?
--Shawn
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Notch it up about one step (the First Ordeal being the attainment of Yesod) and you've pretty much got it.
See Crowley's remarks in the New Comment on these verses. He lays it out quite splendidly.
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@Vadox said
"Do ordeals teach you to not do ''this'' again(do it in proper way), or they pass when you out-expierence them?
How exactly they are triggered?"Primarily, ordeals disclose you to yourself. They also test you (which is much the same thing sometimes, and sometimes a different thing).
Ordeals arise from your being out of sync with the truth about yourself and your environment. They would arise much earlier if we weren't all stubborn asses with the ability to resist the truth. Over time, various things trigger them; for example, (1) the tension or pressure of the gap increasing to the point where we aren't strong enough to sustain the lie or ignorance any longer, (2) loss of strength so that we aren't strong to sustain the lie or ignorance any longer, or (3) a desire to get past our bullshit and stare at what's so, which makes us open to dropping the lie or ignorance.
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@Jim Eshelman said
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@Vadox said
"Do ordeals teach you to not do ''this'' again(do it in proper way), or they pass when you out-expierence them?
How exactly they are triggered?"Primarily, ordeals disclose you to yourself. They also test you (which is much the same thing sometimes, and sometimes a different thing).
Ordeals arise from your being out of sync with the truth about yourself and your environment. They would arise much earlier if we weren't all stubborn asses with the ability to resist the truth. Over time, various things trigger them; for example, (1) the tension or pressure of the gap increasing to the point where we aren't strong enough to sustain the lie or ignorance any longer, (2) loss of strength so that we aren't strong to sustain the lie or ignorance any longer, or (3) a desire to get past our bullshit and stare at what's so, which makes us open to dropping the lie or ignorance."
Jim, I think you bring up a good point. The individuals who don't pursue these endeavors, no matter how meek those endeavors may be, e.g seeking the truth about our own lives and why we are even here, is how many of us got here. I always said to myself, "Why isn't the first thing one thinks is important, is finding their own 'truth' about why they are here?". We are born into a world that we don't understand and into (some of us) Western Culture. Which is spreading even into the far reaches of what we used to consider to be cultures that still placed emphasis on spiritual matters and now they are losing themselves in the mundane Western matters (Dancing with the Stars as a PRIORITY). By Western Culture I'm not referring to Western Spiritual Systems but just depravity which emphasizes ignorance in any way. Even then though, my personal opinion is that if you have internet access and the will to find some truth there really should be no excuse. The question is then, Why are we not all born with the thought process "Why am I here?" and why do so many people accept what they are told, but then complain later on " Man! Religion is bullshit...blah blah". Of course it is (Not Religion per se) but the idea that spiritual matters cannot be pursued in this world now, that you should just take so and so's word for it on the pulpit. What's really terrible about it is that people who are close to me in my life have had many negative experiences in their youth that turned them away from seeking such answers and that to me, is a valid excuse in a sense but worthless none-the-less. If you want the answers you can find them, it just takes work and passion. I believe that at this stage in our evolution we NEED to go find these answers as a race and individually. It's like a house on a foundation that is sinking, the foundation being repaired by finding the answers and experiencing them, so that you obtain the wisdom of yourself FOR YOURSELF.