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  • Are You Illuminated - Phil Hine

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    Chaos magic(k)

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    Chaos magic(k)

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    129 tayangan8 halaman

    Are You Illuminated - Phil Hine

    Diunggah oleh

    333carlos333
    Chaos magic(k)

    Hak Cipta:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Unduh sebagai PDF atau baca online dari Scribd
    Tandai sebagai konten tidak pantas
    dari 8
    2 PHIL HINE ARE YOU ILLUMINATED? ‘Magic 1s often reterred to n terms of being a path. a spi itual quest, a voyage of self-discovery, or an adventure. Honever you wart to dress it up, one point is clear, it is a ‘means of bringing about Change. For this change to be effective, it is important that you be able to set the effects fof your magical work within a centext—to be able to make sense of them ard integrate them into a dynamic interac- tion with a moving, kid universe. Initiation is the term which magicians use to examine this process of integration, and //fumination is one of its most important by-products. This raqpiras a cence [hniasunr tantirst) of whee yous hee been, and where you are “going.” At times these anchor- points will seem to be solid, ané at ethers, ephemeral and faint. Initiation is the term which magicians use to examine this process of integration, and flumination is, fone of = most important by products. INITIATION AS A PROCESS There appears to be some misunderstanding over what exactly the term “intiation” means. Occasionally one bumps into people who consider themselves as “int: ates” and seem to consider themselves somehow above" the rest of humanity. Particularly irritating are the sef-styled “initiates” who let drop teasing bits of ebscure information and then refuse to explain any further because ther audience are not “initiates” The term itself seems to crap up ina wide variety of contexts—people speak of being imitated nto groups, onto @ particular path or cf inating themselves. Some hold that “initiation” is only valid ifthe person who confers itis part of a gen- Line tradition, others that it doesn’t matter either way Dictionary definitions of initiation allude to the act of begining. oF of setting in motion. or entry into something One way to explain initiation is to say that it is a threshold of change which me may experince at different times four lives, as we grow ‘and develop. The key 12 initiation is recognizing that we have reached ‘such a tutning point, land are aware of being in a petied af transition hetusen aur past and avi Bie The conscious awareness cf entering a transitional state allows us to perhaps, discard tehavioral/emational pat terns which vill be no longer valid fer the “new” crcurn stances, and consciously take up new ones, ‘What magical books often fai to emphasizeis that intiaton is a process. It doesnt just happen once, but can occur mary times throughout an individual's Ife, and that it has peats (itiatery cises), troughs (black depression or the “dark night of tne sou”) and plateaus (wne‘e nshingmuch ‘seems tobe going on). Beceming auare of your own cycles of change, and how to weather them. is a core part of ary developmental process or approach to magical practice. The key elements or stages ofthe intiation process have been exzensively mapped by anthropologists such as Joseph Campbell. While they are mostly used to describe stages of shaman intiaticn, they are equally applicable to other areas of life experience. CRISIS AND CALL | shamanic societies the first stage of the initiation process is often marked by a period of personal crises and 2 “cal” towards starting the shamanic journey. Most of us are quite happy to remain within the conceptual and philosophical boundaries of Consensus Reality (he every: fay world) For an individual beginning on the intiatory Journey, the crisis may come 2s a powerTul vision, dreams, cr a deep [and often disturbing) feeling to find out what is beyord the limits of normal ife. it can often come as a result of @ powerful spintual, religious or political experi- ence, oF as a growing esistertial discontent with life. Our sense of being a stable self is reinforced by the “walls” of the social world in which we participate—yet our sense of Uniqueness resides in the cracks of those same walls Initiation is @ process which takes us “over the wall” into One way to explain it iation is to say that it of change which we may experience at different times in our lives, as we grow and develop. the Lnexpiored teritories of the possibilities which wo have only haligiimpsed. This frst crisis is often an Unpleasan experience, as we oegin to question ana become dissatisfied with all that we have previously held dear—work, relationships, ethical values, ‘amily life can all be disrupted as the individual becomes increasingly consumed by the desire to “journey.” The internal summons may be consciously quashed or ties to refuse "the call’ to shamanic training—no small thing, as it may lead to further crises and even death, One \ery common experience of people whe fee! the summons in our society is an everpowering sense of uxgency to either become “enlightened” er to change the world in accor: ance with emerging visions, This can lead to people that may have been formerly charneled into work or rela- tionships is directed tonards taking up spiitual practices and becoming mmersed in “spiritual” belief systems, The “newly awakened” individual can be (unintentionally) as bering and tiresome as anyone who has seized on a messianic belief system, whether t be politics religion, or spirituality It is often diffcutt, at this stage in the cycle, to Understand the reaction of family, friends and others who may not te sympathetic to one’s newfound direction or changes in lifestyle. Often. some of the more dubious reli- gious cults take advantage of this stage by convincing young converts that “true friends” ete., would net hindor ‘them in taking up ther new life, and that anyene wno does rot approve, is therefore not a “true friend.” ‘There are a wide variaty of cults wrich do well in terms of converts frem yeung people wino are in a period of trans. tion (such as when leaving home forthe fist time) and who are attracted to a belef/value system that assuages their Uncertainties atout ‘ne world Anotner of the problems often experianced by those feeing the summons tejoumey isa terible sense of isolation or alienation from ene’s fet oms—the inevitable resut: of moving to the edge of one’s culture, Thus excitement at the adventure is often tinged with regret and lass of stability or unconscious participa tion with one's former world, Once you hae begun the process of disentangement from the everyday world, tis hard not to fee! a certain nastal ga tor tne lost former ite in which everything was (seemingly) clearcut and stable, with no ambiguities or uncertaintes. a threshold common response to the summons to departure isthe Journey inte the wilderness—of moving away from one’s fellows and the stability of conscnauel roelity, A proto: shaman is likely to prysically journey inio the wilderness, vay fom the Secursy of tribal realty, and trough ths 1s, possible for some Westemers, the constraints of modern living usually mean that for us, this wandering in the waste is enacted on the plane of ideas, values and beliefs, herein we look deeply within and around ourseWves and lection everything. perhaps denuing suiny ferm secial relations as well Deliberate isolatien from one's fellows is 2 powerful way of loosening the sense of having fxed val les and beliefs, and social deprivetion mechanisms turn Up in a wide varity of magical cultures. ‘THF INITIBTODY SICKNESS. In shamanic cutures, the summons to journey is often heralded by a socalled “initiatory sickness,” which can either come upen an individual suddeniy, or creep slavly tupon them as a progressive behavioral change. Western observers have labeled this state as a form of “divine madness,” or evidence of psychopathciogy. In the past, anthropologists and psychologists nave labeled shamans, as sctizophrenic, psychetic, or epileptic. More recently, western enthusiasts of snamanism (and anti-psychiatry) have reversed this process of labeling and asserted that, ait wine s “ people as schizophrenic, psychotic or epileptic are proto- shamans. Current trond in the study of shamanism now recagnize the former position to be ethnocentric—that researchers have been judaina shamanic behavior by westem standards. The onset of initiatory sickness in tribal culture is recognized as a dificult, but potentially Useful developmental process. Part of the problem here The Dark Night is a way of bring! Tradition, this experience is reflected is that western philosophy hes developed the idea of “ordinary consciousness.” of which anything beyend this range is pathological, be it shamaric, mystical, or drug- induced. Fortunately for us, this narrow view is being rap ily uncermined. Individuals undergoing the initiator sickness do sometimes, appear to suffer fom fits and “strange” behavior, but there is an increasing recogrition that itis a mistake to sweep- ingy attach western psychiatric labels orto them (so that they can be explained aviay). Shamans may go through a period of readjustment, but research shows that they tend to become the nealthiest people in ther tibes, tunctionng very wel as leaders and healers. Transitional states showing similar features tothe initiatory sickness have been identfied i other cultures’ mystical land magical practices, which wostem researchers ro beginning to study, as practices from other cultures gain popula n ine west. THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL St.John of the Cross, 2 Christian mystic, wrote of this experience: Ii). puts the sensory spintual appeties to sleep,

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