Golem Media

BERKELEY, CA

Golem Media

1700 Shattuck Ave #81

Berkeley, CA 94709

www.golemmedia.com

© Copyright 2009 Josephine McCarthy

All rights reserved.

No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission in accordance with the provision of the copyright act 1956 (as amended). The moral right of the author has been asserted.

ISBN: 978-1-933993-94-2

“The Eternal One has made a covenant oath with us,

Asherah has made a pact with us.

And all the sons of El,

And the great council of all the Holy Ones.

With oaths of Heaven and Ancient Earth.”

AMULET OF THE 7TH CENTURY BCE FROM ARSLAN TASH

Dedicated to Philip Dunbar: a true Adept

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to all the adepts who have worked with me and helped me in various ways over the years, particularly John Plummer, Margie McArthur, Toni Paris, Peggy Brewster, Joann Keesey and Anthony Thompson.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: Initiation and Consecration: Methods

Chapter 2: Receiving Consecrated Lines from Deities

Chapter 3: The Consecrated Line of Divinity Before the Abyss

Chapter 4: The Creation of the Inner Temple

Chapter 5: The Building and Maintenance of the Egregore

Chapter 6: The Use and Development of Polarity in the Lodge

Chapter 7: The Calling and Development of Initiates

Chapter 8: The Dynamics of Work in a Magical Lodge

Chapter 9: The Structure Behind the Inner Realms

Chapter 10: The Structure Behind Ritual and Magical/Ritual Objects

Chapter 11: Longer Term Implications of Being the Hierophant

FOREWORD

BY ALAN RICHARDSON

You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of books that describe real Magical Orders with insight and clarity—and two of those were written nearly 80 years ago. You can count on the fingers of two hands the number of magicians around today who completely understand that real Orders are not judged by badges, certificates, glam robes, solemn rituals and impressive grades. This is all Hobby Magic, which is even more draining than Hobby Politics and just as self-serving.

I knew a magician once—now long since dead—whose naiveté pulled him into the more Disney-like aspects of Magical Orders. Let us call him Frater A. Physically he looked like the French magus Sar Peladan, and had all of that cranky individual’s concerns with sex, power, secrecy and control. Frater A however, had a tendency to alienate anyone who tried to get close to him by his unfailing ability to grab the wrong end of the magickal stick, no matter how it was handed to him. He was dogmatic, somewhat pompous, inflexible, yet very very good at working on psychic levels. If he ever did a Banishing, then ye gods that place got Banished! No-one ever doubted his sincerity, or his commitment, and his sheer bloody-minded determination to walk every inch of what he saw as his true Magickal Path. No-one could fail to admire him for that.

Yet the one area in which he showed an almost bashful innocence and bewildering stupidity was when he talked about his Order. He became like a little boy, and his face lit up like a lovesick teenager when he spoke about his Order. He wore its logo on his briefcase, and his personal notepaper. I’m sure I saw him wearing a t-shirt bearing its legend, and you could imagine that his duvet cover and pillowcases were similarly emblazoned.

When he spoke about the senior Adepts within said Order his voice went a bit hushed, with deep respect bordering on veneration. He had done some essays on abstruse aspects of the Colour Scales, from the Kabbalah, and ‘They’ had approved. When he said that, you could almost hear him capitalise the word ‘they’; it was almost as if something within him bowed. More, to his almost ineffable delight, ‘They’ had invited him to the main temple in a faraway land, to discuss certain things with him. I don’t think I’ve seen a man so excited, or in such awe about his potential progress within his beloved Order.

All he had to do now was raise the airfare, and find a place to stay when he was over there. Onward ever inward!

Of course, when he returned outwardly tanned but inwardly ashen, the denouement was as total as it had been predictable. He was honest enough to admit that the Order, when you finally got to the higher echelons, was nothing more than a money-making scam, and its Adepts rather dodgy businessmen who wouldn’t know their athames from their elbows. He stuck to working among British stone circles after that. At least you know where you stand with them.

Fifty years before this Dion Fortune had railed against this sort of thing. She had been especially scathing of ‘certain American organisations’ which she saw as being little more than moneymaking rackets, and she refused to call them Orders. It was also she who pointed out that many of the temples within the legendary Golden Dawn were like flat batteries, attended by greybearded ancients, and not connected to anything vital on inward levels.

At the other extreme was Frater 0, this being the name that the curmudgeonly mage William G. Gray took upon himself for his disastrous initiation into the Society of the Inner Light. Later, when he decided to express his own attitudes and experience with respect to such things as Orders and Inner Plane Adeptii, he wrote in the very first line of his Magical Journal: “The Mysteries are a Consciousness-Pattern workable on both sides of the Veil, so that participants from each state can meet and co-operate with each other.”

In other words, you have to be connected with something. It is not about poncing around in a circle and gathering plaudits along with initiatic grades. It is about learning to connect with energies and entities that exist within, and can be contacted in a mutually effective way. He went on to add:

Behind any type of Occult Group, a main objective is to get in touch with Beings and Intelligences of a different (and one hopes higher) order than our human selves. It makes little difference whether we call them the spirits of our ancestors, angels, demons, guides, or what. The underlying motive is similar whether Mrs Bloggs of Balham seeks her defunct Auntie Kate, or Frater Ipsissimus invokes the All-Highest Himself in the most splendid Lodge available. Each tries to reach beyond themselves towards what we call ‘Spirit’, and have personal contact with ‘spiritual’ beings in an intelligent way.

That’s what it’s all about, in essence, though very few self-styled magicians are plugged into anything more vital than their egos.

In short, this is one of the very few intelligent books written about genuine Magical Orders. In it, Josephine McCarthy gives us some startling, eye-opening and at times disturbing insights into how true Orders work, and how we might connect with them. This is the real thing. She shows how the individual can, with right attitude and application, make his or her own links with these inner surges of Otherworld consciousness, for lack of a better description. She shows what you might experience, how you might handle the contact and develop it, with the likely pitfalls that human vanity and ego can create — and also what you should avoid and run screaming away from!

Trust me, this will become a classic.

—Alan Richardson

Author: Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune: The Logos of the Aeon and the Shakti of the Age

INTRODUCTION

‘The Hierophant is a human bridge between Divinity and Humanity. The Hierophant is the Keeper of the Greater Mysteries and is the one who keeps the deepest contact with Universal Divinity while still being human.’

In today’s magical/spiritual world which has great emphasis on money and power, magical groups/lodges can degenerate quickly. The magical lines begin to manifest power struggles, attacks, fundamentalist thought, and sometimes even a parasitical use of the student’s energy by the leader. The catapulting of magical groups into the public eye and popular new age culture has made it very difficult to sustain a quiet magical lodge of the Mysteries that is not drawn into the glamour and industry of the ‘alternative’ culture.

Similarly, in the last 100 years, a loosening of public moral opinion has made it easier for more experimental groups to delve into the more controversial areas of magic such as drugs and sexuality. While the breaking of such taboos and the willingness to explore less socially acceptable approaches to magic is long overdue and very brave, it also has a great deal of degeneracy of its own that can trap the practitioner if they are not careful.

As magicians of the 21st century, we all have a responsibility to resist the commercial tides, to step back and analyse exactly what is happening in the inner and outer magical worlds. From that analysis needs to come a ruthless cutting away of actions that degenerate magic in its many forms, and a willingness to reassess a given magical path to see if the actual practicalities are still in harmony with the original intent of the lodge.

There have been many brave attempts to move ritual magic closer to nature and bridge the large gap between ritualists and traditional witchcraft for example. Some have been successful, some raised interesting questions and some created stepping stones for future generations. Similarly certain magical lodges have moved to close the gap between religion and magic, reopening doors that have been closed for millennia.

I feel that in today’s world, long term practitioners have a responsibility to ‘do their bit’ by recognising the commercialisation and titillation of magic and doing something, however small, to help redress the balance and to initiate the next phase of development in magic. That is already happening in many places around the world.

One of the ways forward to offer service is to restore some of the more ancient ways of approaching magical inner work, particularly in the creation of magical lodges/groups and attempt construction methods without all the dressing that tends to create so many problems. This book is my offering to the pot — it is a concise handbook for adepts wishing to start a magical group from scratch to filter out all the old, degenerate and parasitical lines.

This book covers methods of reaching for inner magical lines of inner contact and power to bring them through into initiatory/consecrated lines. The book also looks in depth at the methods of building the inner temple and the egregore. The techniques in this book are not a ‘how to’ for practitioners/initiates/priests; rather it is book that explores alternative ways for the Hierophant/Magus/Magister to approach the inception and development of a fully contacted magical lodge. It is the structure behind the technique which is looked at and approached in a different light which is more harmonious with our 21st century consciousness. It is aimed at long term adepts or priests wishing to establish clean foundations for the future.

The methods in this book are a culmination of nearly twenty years of work in which I have nearly blown myself up many times and certainly created a few messes with ill thought out experiments. I have survived to tell the tale and pass on what actually works without killing anyone.

Clearing and changing the surface details only goes so far before there comes a day when the sleeves need to be rolled up and the whole thing torn down so that it can rebuilt from scratch.

Note: The visionary and ritual work in this book is designed to be undertaken by a group of adepts over a specified length of time. It is not designed for individual practitioners, and for an individual to attempt such a level of work alone is absolute folly. The work is structured to uphold a group, not an individual; and I strongly advise against using any of the work in this book without the structure and combined energy of a group.

CHAPTER 1:

INITIATION AND CONSECRATION

Many of the lines of initiation and consecration that run through magical lodges, groups and spiritual organisations are weakened over time by inner changes that are often the direct result of degeneration and contamination of the line. Some are affected by the group ceasing to connect with the inner order and thus becoming an exoteric group and some are affected by larger intelligent parasites, usually attracted by an unstable or unbalanced egregore or leader.

All of these problems are natural degenerative occurrences in magical lines and happen after decades or generations of imbalance. Just like our bodies live and die, magical lines that are dependant upon humanity also degenerate and die. It is a natural clearing mechanism that composts the old and out of that fertiliser comes new lines and new blood.

The foundation and cornerstone of a new magical group or lodge are its founding adepts and the inner lines that they carry. They become the shoulders that the future generations stand upon so they must be solid, dependable and powerful enough to hold the line firm. The integrity and structure of the line is the first building block of a temple or lodge because without it there is no clear constant flow of power from inner to outer and vice versa.

This is where the Hierophant begins her work in the founding of a magical lodge/group, by reaching into the inner worlds for a line of initiation/consecration that brings with it tools to build for the future. Where you go and what type of line you get depends upon what sort of magical lodge you are trying to birth and what it will be used for.

DIFFERENT LINES OF POWER

There are a variety of ways that this can be done but the biggest consideration that should be pondered is do you want a line that already exists no matter how ancient, or do you want to begin a whole new line? If you reach for an ancient line then you have to be prepared to filter out modes of operation from that line that are no longer appropriate for our culture and that do not complement the intent of the lodge. Any baggage held in that line will come through and will have to be processed by the future generations of the lodge.

Sometimes it is worth it as some ancient lines carry a great wealth of knowledge and skills that they wish to pass on to the future generations. If they have not been worked with for Millennia, they tend to be untainted by our more modern problems of commercialism, societal degeneration and religious programming. But they will inevitably carry the age old weaknesses of humanity if they had an outer expression, and those weaknesses are greed, power, and ego. One has to decide if the hard clearing up work would be worth the effort for the fruits that could potentially come out of such a line.

Another approach is to create a whole new line. This sidesteps the human issues and instead confronts the Hierophant with deity or angelic issues instead. The use of the deity is needed to build an anchor for the line to keep it solid, to enliven it, and to hold it together so that it works. Each subsequent generation builds upon the last so that within a hundred years you have a respectably sized and powered line that could potentially last for millennia. The only problem with such an approach is that the fruits are not truly seen until generations after the death of the founder.

If you work from the foundation of a deity, then you also get into issues of agendas and powers that are part and parcel of deities. They will form what flows through the line and will, to an extent, dictate how that line works. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective and also on the shelf life of the deity. What is accepted today as a deity exchange may not be acceptable in a thousand years time. This is why people come up against problems when dealing with ancient deities as they often ask us for things that we cannot give, like our first born child or the heads of 100 goats. When you tell them that we don’t do things like that they get offended and take the huff.

The most powerful method of creating a new line is when the Hierophant reaches back beyond deity, reaching through the angelic threshold for Divinity. Bringing the power of Divinity (usually polarised) through into a line and then consecrating the foundation group with that line is one of the ways that deities are created. There are many different types of deity and this is one of them; humans who have drawn upon the breath of Divinity and brought it through themselves.

The first group that is consecrated gets the full hit of power, and this is another important inner dynamic. When a certain power has not had an expression in the outer world before or at least for a very long time, its first expression is often intense and carries a high level of power. The more that power is connected with and mediated, the less the power impacts as it flows through in the human world. This means that the first group that are consecrated with such a line are filled with an immense amount of power which they then can use within their magical life. These ‘first groupers’ usually become inner contacts after death and work with the priests/esses of future generations. In the past, such first groupers have often ended up being deified in one way or another after death, which is generally very unhealthy for all concerned.

This aspect of pulling through a new line from Divinity creates a potential nightmare of a problem. It is possible for the Hierophant or ‘first grouper’ to become unstable under the burden of such power and he can begin to believe himself to be a god. When this happens, he will present himself as a god, display great power/inner ability, and often is accepted as such so he becomes deified by the people around him. You can just see the parasites lining up to feed off of that scenario.

So before a Hierophant decides how he is going to build foundations, he has to decide what path the lodge/temple and its members will take. That question is not an intellectual one, but a spiritual one. The line and group should be a response to the magical and spiritual needs of the world that we live in, not an exercise in empire building.

Which then takes us to the questions of why do we do magic? Who do we do it for? And how should we do it? These questions are fundamental to the choices that will later be made and they should be asked carefully and answered truthfully as the answers to these questions will affect magical/spiritual generations to come.

Just to add to the complexity of the process of line building, there is a weird dynamic in magic that often plays out quietly in our world and I am sure many who read this will have been witness to such a happening. That ‘happening’ is where someone creates a fake tradition, people start working within it, contacts move in, and it starts to work. It takes on a whole life of its own that is shaped by the intentions of those who operate within that ‘tradition’. The main downside of this phenomenon is that what comes through and develops can be random, open to parasites and usually has no real inner checks and balances. Such a scenario can then get degenerate very quickly. They usually end up being popularist ‘traditions’ that feed an egregore which in turn is drawn upon by parasites who manipulate the ‘initiates’ into modes of behaviour that will feed them.

So back to the questions: Once the Hierophant has answered the main foundation questions, what then? The next logical step is to begin the explorations regarding possible lines alongside choosing a small group of suitable people to ‘plug’ into that line i.e. the choosing of the first priests/esses who will become the founding family of the outer line.

Sometimes the inner contacts will reach out to a sensitive person who can perceive them and the contacts will ask for their line/path to be awakened in the human world. Sometimes it is a conscious communication on the side of the adept, sometimes it is not. When it is not, the adept will find herself passively mediating a line that wishes to express itself and the whole structure flows out of the adept like a free flowing river without the adept having full comprehension of what is happening.

If this happens and the adept is willing, then it is best to go with the flow and let the inner contacts do the major structuring. To do this takes a great deal of trust and if the adept has good ethics, then corrupt lines cannot usually come through. Just as a person cannot really be hypnotised to do something totally outside of their personality, an adept cannot be forced to bring through a line that does not work in harmony with their sense of ethics.

One other consideration that should be closely looked at before embarking upon the task of bringing a power line into the physical world is the question of how permanent do you want to make that line and what levels of power do you wish to be responsible for when passing on such lines to others? This boils down to the difference between consecration and initiation. Usually magical temples/lodges will have both in their ranks.

There have been numerous discussions over the years as to what an initiation is and what a consecration is, and those discussions have yielded many differing opinions. For me, I feel that such difference of opinion is simply down to semantics, so what do people mean when they say initiation and consecration? These words mean different things to different people. So for the sake of clarity, the following is just my personal use of the words to reflect a specific meaning.

INITIATION

When I use the word initiation, I am referring to the ritual tying in of a human to a magical collective for a span of time. This can be the time that the person is a member of the lodge, or for that person’s lifetime, or for a specified time length after which the initiation is no longer valid etc. Initiation works by marking the person from an inner point of view which identifies them as being ‘of’ a certain line.

With that initiation, they agree to certain modes of behaviour, work, and responsibility. If they wish to move away from the group for any reason and stop practicing as an initiate, or are dismissed from the group, then the inner mark is wiped off and they are no longer a part of the collective.

While they are a part of the collective, the inner mark or brand will identify them to inner contacts and other initiates with inner sight and it will also give them access to the egregore (and vice versa: it is always a two-way street). The initiate can remove this mark by formally leaving the group and wiping the mark off of themselves, or it can be done to them (Catholic excommunication is a mainstream example of this). Upon the death of the initiate, the mark automatically dissolves as it was a part of the person’s physical makeup, i.e. it was a part of that life only.

CONSECRATION

A consecration is something much deeper than initiation — it ties the soul of the human into a line that they will forever be a part of. It will emerge in other lives in a variety of ways and it cannot be removed. The consecrated person becomes ‘one’ with all other consecrated people in that line throughout time, able to draw upon the knowledge and power of any and all of them. The depth of access to such line is limited only by the consecrated person’s own imposed limitations.

The downside is the carrying throughout time of any burdens that such a consecrated line holds and it becomes the responsibility of the consecrated person to load share, clean up, regenerate, and progress the line in a positive direction. Because consecration happens at such depth, there are often angelic beings that are involved in the process and these beings can be tapped into if a consecrated adept wishes to redeem a line or develop it.

The usual and healthiest way to balance a lodge out is to have a mix of consecrated adept priests/esses, and initiates. However one has to be very careful in the operating structure of the lodge to ensure that such a mix does not turn into a hierarchy. Such a power structure breeds egos and arrogance and stifles true magical development. Sometimes the most powerful member of a lodge is a new initiate. I have seen this dynamic over and over, so one has to be careful when building a lodge operating structure to ensure that the dynamic allows for such organic expression.

THE CHOOSING OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS

Just as there are many ways of connecting to or creating a line, there are many different methods for bringing together the founding group of adept priest/esses who will hold the consecration and develop the line in the future. The three most prominent ways of bringing suitable people together are the outer shopping list, the inner shopping list, and unconditional acceptance.

The outer shopping list is literally that. You list what qualities you need in your founding members to develop the lodge and then you go out looking for them. The inner shopping list is where you go to the power that anchors the line that you will be passing on, i.e. the deity, the ancient priest/ess hood, or the polarised Divinity. You ask for the people who would be the most appropriate for the healthy survival of the group be put in your path or brought to you.

The actual process of gathering together a founding group can take anything from weeks to years depending on how the dynamics are going. The one true rule in this process is do not rush it or cut corners — however long it takes, let the founding process unfurl in its own time. If you opt for the unconditional option, you may at first wonder what the hell the inner contacts are thinking when they send you someone whom you feel is inappropriate. Be very careful not to judge because when you let go and trust, it is fascinating to see what appears to be a wholly inappropriate person blossom into a most solid and powerful priest/ess. It has happened to me many times and it still blows me away. The only thing to be truly cautious with is age. Someone under the age of thirty is not going to be stable or mature enough to carry the burden of a line — the older and more life experience they have under their belt, the better.

CONSECRATION FROM ANCIENT TEMPLE LINES

Temple lines are the easiest to connect with as they are already set up to work with and for humanity, and they usually already have a line of power waiting to be passed on to people in the human world. When you decide that you are looking for an ancient temple line, it would be a good idea to look deeply into the history and the subtext behind the history to ensure you truly know what you are getting into. If it is a line you already have a working connection with, then chances are all will be good. If it is a line unknown to you then it would be a good idea to get to know them first and work with them for a while to see how they truly operate in our world.

If the line still has echoes in our world, i.e. ruins of temples, burial grounds, deity statues that they once worked with, you can tap into those constructs to see what is behind them and how the power operated in history. Such research will give you clues as to any weakness within the line and may also offer information, usually in their oldest myths, on how to avoid corruptions and degenerations with that flavour of power. Be very careful not to take the first history that you find as the complete truth because often history is re-written many times, not only on the subjects of kingdoms, but also in respect of religious and magical orders.

The ancient Egyptian story of Set or Seth is one very good example. On a first read, the god is presented as a negative being, which is reinforced by the modern day connection with popularist magical groups. This being has become trapped in the monotheistic dance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘light’ and ‘dark’. And yet if you dig deeper with this deity and begin to work in a visionary aspect with him, what emerges is a much more profound, powerful and ancient deity (possibly once human) connected to the balance of the Abyss: he is an octave of the Keeper of the Abyss.

The first step to connecting with an ancient line is to make initial contact with them to see if they are willing to accept you and work with you. You can connect with inner lines through time jumping, Abyss visions, or power bridges. At the point where you have connected with them and both sides are happy with each other, then it is time to begin the long preparations for taking on the line itself. As the Hierophant will be the foundation carrier of the line, he will have to be willing to take on not only the first blast of power that will come through, he will also take in to his being one of the inner adepts. This merging with an inner adept creates a unique well of knowledge and power that subsequent consecrations will flow from.

It is important though to understand that such merging is usually for life, will change the fate of the Hierophant far more than a consecration would, and would basically mean that he is carrying around the consciousness of another being within him for the rest of his life.

HOW DO YOU FIND THESE LINES?

Wherever there are inner contacts there are lines of consecration in one form or another. The most ancient lines can be found at the edge of the Abyss. This is where human expression is withdrawing away from the human realm and will soon be lost forever, so these temples and contacts tend to be very old. There are temple lines in various places down and up the Abyss and also in the desert of the Abyss where they will appear as temple ruins. As you get closer to them in vision, a guardian will show you how to access them if you meet their criteria.

By accessing various temples/priesthoods near the Abyss, you sidestep a lot of dogmatic and heavily tangled inner constructs. There are literally hundreds of inner temple constructs that have well trodden visionary paths to them; and when you approach a temple in such a way, you can potentially pick up any imbalance that has been created by the outer group/lodge that uses that path. The Abyss is the back room of the universe, so it doesn’t have all the outer dressing from humanity, which makes for a clearer contact. But if you have access to inner temples via different visionary routes, and they are what you are looking for in terms of consecration lines, and they like you, then that is a possible way to work.

Inner lines can also be found by time jumping, i.e. going through the void to go back in time to the inner contacts when they had outer expressions in our world. So for example if you wished to connect into the line of priesthood connected with Tefnut, then you would focus on a known temple and priesthood in time as you pass through the void. If you are successful, you will appear to them in their own time and they will see you as an inner contact.

To gain a consecration from them you will need to access their inner temple as well as their outer temple simultaneously, which can be a terrible strain — it’s not the easiest method, but the results can be interesting. Because you are accessing a priesthood that is in physical manifestation, you could potentially be also accessing any imbalance or power struggle that they have. The upside is that you have a line that can be worked with through time: if they still have temples standing, even if they are in ruins, you can join them in ritual out of time by being in the outer temple ruins while also being in vision in the inner temple and outer temple in their time also. It’s a hell of a stretch and usually makes you nauseous, but it’s as much fun as bungee jumping.

PREPARATION FOR CONNECTING TO A LINE

There are a variety of preparations that need to be attended to before anyone attempts to take a clean foundation line (and inner adept) into themselves. The first and most obvious is the cleansing of the vessel. The adept’s body must be free of drugs, alcohol, animal product, and medication, as nothing can be in the body that would distort or alter the contact as it flows in. The preparation is usually 6 weeks which gives the body time to dump its toxicity and for the resonance of animal flesh or product to be flushed from the body.

The need for no animal flesh is not about any moralistic or animal rights issue, it is the affect upon the filter of the spirit that consuming dead flesh has as it will block or distort the contact as it comes through. On completion of the work, the contact is in the adept and the line is in place. After a period of readjustment, the Hierophant and inner adept can decide if it is appropriate for the magical line to eat meat or not. The decision should come from the power dynamics of the line as opposed to any philosophical reason.

The other important preparation is of the mind. Going into the void on a daily basis and staying there for a good while prepares the Hierophant and the lodge adepts by creating a still quiet space that the line will fill. It also furnishes one with a solid unconditional foundation that the inner adepts can build on.

Becoming reclusive for a period of time before the work is also a necessity to ensure that the worker does not come into contact with larger parasites or outer infections that would weaken the body. The moment the decision has been made and the inner adepts connected with, a huge upsurge of power will begin to build that will become very visible on the inner planes: this can potentially make the worker vulnerable to all manner of beings that may try to stop the work from going ahead.

Whenever a Hierophant or adept makes a new and powerful connection with an inner line of priesthood, it changes the dynamics of the flow of inner and outer power to the land where the worker resides. This can create a panic in parasitical or unhealthy beings who feed off the imbalance and disconnection of the land and community. By bringing through a powerful line, the worker will be given the ability to make major changes to their inner and outer environment. There will possibly be quite a resistance to that and the adept needs to be ready for that resistance. It can manifest in a whole variety of ways (I suddenly started getting attacked by dogs and followed by weirdos who were being ridden by parasites). So staying home with a pile of good books can be a good idea.

It is important that the body is clean and the worker is ready for action, because then the games begin. It takes two or three days to wholly complete the connection so the worker needs to have the uninterrupted time and space to work in. Have someone field telephone calls, visitors, have people prepare food and generally ensure that the worker has no distractions. It is also a good idea when doing this type of work to abstain from sex: working at such a level of power will create a porthole and lots of beings will want to manifest themselves through the gateway that sex can open. You will have enough on your plate without having to field other beings wanting a piece of you.

The first task of the Hierophant is to go in vision to the inner temple where the line resides and be ‘cleared’ from an inner point of view of any parasites, contacts, or any energetic imbalances that might threaten or damage the line. The moment you arrive at the inner temple with that intention, you call upon the angelic being that is the filter for that inner temple to manifest before you in vision. Once the being appears, you step into the being and surrender yourself to their actions. The angelic being will strip from you anything that needs to not be there and will prepare you to accept the line.

Upon being stripped, you ask the angelic being to place you before the angel of judgement so that all outer connections in your life can be balanced — this is a very important step in the process. As the founder of a line, you will potentially carry a massive amount of power and responsibility which can potentially adversely affect the people closest to you. Unlike an exorcist, you do not have to disconnect from everyone you are connected to but you must have a balanced fate that cannot rebound on your family and loved ones.

If you have outstanding issues, i.e. things that you have done that have hurt people and you have not rebalanced that scale, then now is the time to do that. You stand before the angel of judgement as you would in death and ask the angel what you need to do to bring yourself into a state of balance. The angel will blow the knowledge into you and will take off any threads that link you to other people.

The completion of the vision will be followed by the need to sleep for a few hours so that the first round of contact can deepen itself and any rebalancing from the angel of judgement can unravel itself as you dream. Note: the reality of the unravelling process can take months or even years, but once the ball is rolling the process works out of time from an inner point of view which allows the true work to begin. One just has to be alert and mindful to the rebalancing manifestations as they emerge, and acknowledge them.

As soon as you awaken, go back in vision to the inner temple to initiate the next step. Re-entering the temple will initiate the next phase, which is to bring one of the inner adepts into yourself. They may or may not stay with you, depending on what you both decide, but it is necessary to merge at least temporarily while the foundation line is being anchored into you.

Upon entering the temple, call out for the inner adept who is willing to work with you to come forward. When you are ready, allow the inner adept to step into you and wait while the soul of the adept falls away from you and is carried into the death cycle by an attending angel. This action leaves the spirit/inner landscape/collective knowledge and personality of the inner adept within you, but their deeper soul goes back into the ‘recycling’ of life and death. When you are sure that the inner adept is securely within you, leave the temple and pass into the void. Stay in the void for a while to give your body time to adjust to carrying another being within you.

When you have finished the vision, then it is time to eat a small light meal and go back to sleep. Sleeping is very important in this process as 50% of the inner work happens when your conscious mind is switched off. Sleep enables the deeper contacts to commune with you and also helps the body adjust to the impact of the power. Do not pay any attention to night/day, time, or schedules, sleep when you have to and work when you have to. This way the work is not interrupted by unnecessary adherence to clocks and ‘bedtimes’. After a sleep, you may need to eat again as working with such power levels may make you hungry. Eat small meals or snacks but avoid large meals that will ground you too much and could cut the contact.

The next phase is the settling of the inner adept and the preparation for the inner line to be connected. This is done by simple meditation. Sitting in silence and turning inwards allows you to observe the inner adept, feel into their personality and knowledge, and basically get to know them. Talk to them and listen to what they have to say, answer their questions and allow them to look into your mind so that they can see the world from your perspective. It is all very strange at first, having another being looking out of your eyes and listening to your thoughts, but you will adjust to it so that eventually it becomes a part of you and you will slowly lose the everyday awareness of it. It only becomes apparent to you again if they suddenly go silent or leave, which can be quite disturbing: you become used to being more than yourself. You will know when the bonding session is done and it is time to go and connect with the line.

When you go back in vision to the inner temple to pick up the line, go via the void and stay in there for a little while, allowing your spirit and the inner adept to adjust in preparation. Accepting a consecration without a physical human to pass it to you is exhausting and can have quite an impact on the body, and you need to be ready for that. It will not affect you straight away as the power build up will give you a false sense of energy, but that tide will fade off within 24 hours of finishing the work so you need to be prepared for the crash. It would also be a good idea to prepare for the mental and emotional impact of the line and the inner adept. The body could possibly react to the joining and you may find your body chemistry will need some time to adjust. Keep a diary of changes to your mood and health, and give the whole thing time to settle in its own way.

Once you are in the temple, the inner adept will begin to guide you by nudging you from within. The priest/ess that is going to consecrate you will approach you and will ask you again if you are sure you wish to carry this burden. If you reply yes, then the priest/ess will place their hands upon your head and the line will be downloaded into you.

It may take some time, or it may be over in a minute, so do not break the connection until the priest/ess steps back away from you. They will then possibly do things to you to open your sight up so that they can teach you things. This can be translated by your imagination by seeing them blow into your mouth, or poke your eyes: the brain will try to interpret what is happening, so keep a mental note of what they appear to do: their actions will be your clue as to what they actually did do to you.

Before you leave the temple, they will possibly show you other parts of the temple where you can come in vision to study, to ask questions or to be healed. They will show you sigils and may give you a specific sigil to work with in conjunction with the line. Usually there will be a sigil for you alone to use, and one for the whole line to use. The sigils are keys that will allow entry into many inner places. They mark you as a member of that temple line so that other beings will understand what and who you are. These sigils can also be protective and many sigils are beings in their own right: they are fragments of deities, angelic beings or demonic beings that work with the line.

Sometimes the priest/ess will ask you to have the personal sigil marked upon your physical body. The sigil will already have been placed upon your spirit and it may need to be mirrored in the outer worlds. If so, you will need to consider having the sigil tattooed somewhere on your body; where it will be made apparent by the inner adept.

The placing on the skin of a tattoo sigil changes you permanently. The sigil, like the inner adept, becomes a part of you and allows you to access the power and the being behind the sigil. Because of the importance of such an action, the tattooist needs to be someone who can mediate the right type of power. Finding such a person can be a nightmare, so it is best to turn over to the inner contacts and ask them to lead you to the right one.

When I needed a sigil placing on me, I asked them for direction as to who should do it. They told me to look by the sea, so I got a list of tattooists that worked by the sea not too far from my house. Looking down the list I saw one had a phone number with a number combination that I use in magical work. Huh… So I booked them. When I got there I was pleased to see the inner contacts had done their job well. The tattoo artist was a mid 50’s man with a statue of the Holy Mother behind him with a candle going and none of the obnoxious music that is usually played in tattoo parlours.

The completion of the communications with the priest/ess will enable you to withdraw from the temple, pass through the void and return to your body. When you have finished the vision, once more you will need to go and sleep to allow the line to deepen itself. You will feel the line within you and all the people in the past who have carried that line. As the line begins to unfold within you, it quickly becomes apparent that you can access the knowledge that is held in the line as you will begin to ‘just know’ things.

You will also probably be impacted by the power of it all, and that impact usually rolls in the day after the working. The impact can be quite daunting as you are the first to carry that line in a long time so there will be a lot of power backed up within you. The healthiest way to resolve that is to quickly (within 48 hrs) organise a gathering of the founding members of the group and go through the process of consecrating them. (It is best to organise this in advance, before you start the initial contact work.)

They do not have to go through the full session that the Hierophant does as the group becomes the first to receive the human to human consecration contact. Because they are the founding group, their consecration will be deeper so that it confers powerful roots within them to uphold the line.

To do this the group need to be taken in vision to the inner temple. To prepare the room, have a single altar in the east with a candle flame or bowl of water to be used as a tuning focus. Tune the altar to the power in the centre of the inner temple. Prepare the group by taking them into the void for a length of time and once they are settled and focussed, then take them to the inner temple in vision.

The Hierophant will be the bridge for a variety of contacts so this will be yet another strain upon her body. She and they will need to be able to operate in vision with eyes open and while moving around. When everyone is assembled in the inner temple, they must open their eyes while staying in the vision of the inner temple. The Hierophant stands before the altar which is tuned to the inner temple and allows the power of the temple to flow into the room. One by one she asks the members to approach her and stand before her.

They will first need to be ritually stripped/exorcised of any beings or imbalances so that they are clear vessels. Using her inner voice, the Hierophant calls upon the appropriate inner adept to use her as a bridge to consecrate the person before her. She will feel the inner contact reach through her and when she is ready she will place her right hand upon the head of the member before her. The inner adept will use the Hierophant as a bridge, enliven the spirit of the member and tune them to the inner temple. As a founding member, the inner adept will also pour a specific skill into them and the Hierophant will most likely ‘see’ it go in and know what it is.

When the inner adept has finished, the Hierophant utters the words “(name)…I consecrate thee in the name of (insert temple line name) to the service of Divinity and to the upholding of the sacred line that flows through thee.” The outer utterance seals the inner action into the body and spirit of the person.

When the next person comes up, it quickly becomes apparent that each person is being consecrated by a different inner adept, so that the specialist skill set that has survived in the inner temple will be dispersed between the founding members to ensure a solid outer foundation for the line. When the last person has been consecrated it is time for the task of blending the line. This is only done once and only with the founding members. After that all the founding members will have a full line within them and what they individually pass on to others will be complete.

The group stand in a close circle so that each person can touch the head of the person next to them. The group once more goes in vision to the inner temple and starting with the Hierophant, everyone places a hand on the head of the person to their right until the circle is complete and unbroken. The Hierophant initiates a flow of energy into the person to her right, letting power pass through the hand into the group member. As the energy is flowing and opening doorways, the inner adept that is within the Hierophant passes from the Hierophant into the next person, pauses, and then passes into the next person until the contact finally returns to the Hierophant. As the inner adept passes from person to person, they weave the individual consecrations skills in each person into a braided line that then flows through the whole group. When the inner adept reaches the Hierophant, he will have gone through every person in the circle and ensured that each person has all skills braided into them.

This action opens up and combines all the various skills and lines that have been downloaded into the group so that every person has a fragment of the power that runs through each person. The group becomes a magical hive and the line is complete. All of the founding group are now connected at a very deep level and when one is in need, the others will be drawn upon or alerted.

The Hierophant and the founding group members now all carry the complete line, and the Hierophant has taken on the inner contact which allows the inner temple to express itself through the outer temple. It is the responsibility not only of the Hierophant, but of the whole founding group to ensure that the Hierophant does not allow the power to go to her head or distort her in any way. The first group is the foundation hive that everything will flow from, so it needs to work like a hive. All work for each other in service and all protect each other.

When the Hierophant dies or becomes too ill to continue, the inner contact will leave the Hierophant and will either take up residence in another priest/ess or will leave the line altogether. It is not necessary for the line to have an outer expression of an inner adept all the time, it is only crucial in the founding stages.From this point on, all founding members will be able to consecrate others, so it is very important that they are disciplined and work within the agreed structure of the lodge/group. This prevents the corruption or weakening of the line.

CHAPTER 2:

RECEIVING CONSECRATED LINES FROM DEITIES

If the Hierophant decides that it is in the best interests of the group to create a whole new line, then there are a few different methods that can be employed depending on what kind of structure the group is using, and the type of work/service the group will be undertaking over a longer period of time.

The benefits of working with a new line were discussed briefly in Chapter 1 along with the problems that such a new line can create. Overall, a new line brings with it a fresh power that is untainted by human interaction and can be formed at the very beginning to complement the current and future civilisation that the magical line will operate through.

The most common ways of founding a new line are a) through connection with a deity, b) through connection directly with polarised but as yet unformed divinity, and c) through Shamanic/land contact that does not directly involve a deity. Each has its problems and benefits, but the long term picture should be the deciding factor, regardless of what the short term difficulties may be.

WORKING WITH DEITIES

If the Hierophant decides to create a new line through connection with a deity, then the first action would be to choose the right deity for the job. Sometimes a deity will already be trying to make contact with the Hierophant, or the Hierophant may have been working for a substantial amount of time with a specific deity so the creation of a new line becomes a natural progression of long-term foundation building.

The main considerations to take into account when working with a deity are: is that deity able to operate sufficiently in the modern world and will they be compatible with the long term plans of the magical order? Sometimes it is not enough for a deity to be powerful and willing to work with humanity, their power expressions must also be taken into consideration when planning a line. For example, I worked with Kali for many years, but I would not dream of bringing through a line connected to her; we are in a time of destruction and to bring through such an active destroying deity at this time would narrow the work of the line down to destruction and death. So unless that was the purpose of the line (to end civilisation as we know it), working with such a deity would be a bad move and would result in a large body count pretty quickly.

The other point to think carefully about is the polarity of the deity. Most people think that a goddess is best served by women and a god best served by men. While this can indeed be true sometimes, there are times when the deity requires a priesthood of the opposite sex that it can polarise its power with. Usually there will be one priest/ess who is of the same sex as the deity who will act as an embodiment and who will allow the deity to move into them. Most of the other attending priests/esses would be of the opposite sex: that is often not a good balance for a magical lodge that has a more or less equal amount of men and women in its ranks.

There is another problem which often rears its head when a magical group aligns itself to a deity, and that is when the boundaries between a magical lodge and a spiritual temple become blurred as this can get confusing and difficult. A religious/spiritual temple is built around the deity, for the deity and is dictated to by the deity. A magical lodge works with a deity as contact, but the deity is not worshipped or allowed free rein with the group.

If the Hierophant still wishes to work with a deity, then it has to be made clear right from the beginning what the power dynamics are to be and where the boundaries lie. This is acceptable to some deities and not to others. Some deities are happy to be part of a working group, whereas some deities want total control and subservience. Once they are ‘in’ the lodge and the line holds their power, they can be near impossible to get rid of if it all goes wrong; so caution is really important!

Some of the best deities to work with are the ones who have once been human as they are sort of a midway point between an inner contact and a deity. There is very little in outer history as to which deities have been human (except in Christianity); but from an inner point of view, they are usually pretty easy to spot.

The other action which can also mitigate some of the more difficult aspects of working with a deity is to reach through the deity for the element of Divinity that is behind them. That way you get the filtered power of the deity but with the deeper quality of the Divinity that flows through them. A prime example of this is the Mithraic deity. If you wish to work with Mithras, then instead of just connecting with the deity, you would reach through the deity to the solar power behind the filter. Pulling the solar power through the deity filter gives you access to the full solar power but with the ‘operating system’ of the deity filter. This ensures that you can talk to them and bargain with them, but at a deeper and more powerful level than if you communed with the deity alone. If you are going to work this way, then reaching for the elemental power through the deity needs to be kept in mind when working within the structure that is outlined below.

The final consideration as Hierophant is that the power of the deity will have to pass through the body of the Hierophant and that body will have to be able to contain the elemental power of the deity without becoming physically ill. The first foundation member of the line will have to bring the deity into themselves which can have a massive impact on the body and mind. Although the deity does not normally stay permanently within the Hierophant (though that is possible, but normally just a fragment remains), the joining itself initiates permanent changes, as does the internal absorbing of the elemental power.

Using Mithras again as an example, if a man brings that power into his body, particularly if that man is in the prime of his testosterone/sexuality output, then the solar power of that deity will increase that sexual power a thousand fold. That can have devastating consequences as too much testosterone can send a man literally mad, or at least make them very violent and unstable. This is not a good foundation to build a long term magical line upon. It would make far more sense for the initial foundation member in such circumstances to either be a gay man or a woman. This would counter balance the sheer power of this deity and bring the solar energy into a vessel that tempers it and can transform it into workable magical power. So the gender, the age and the sexuality of the Hierophant must be a major deciding factor on which deity is to be used to anchor the line.

CREATING A LINE FROM A DEITY

The initial preparations for drawing a line from a deity are almost the same as the preparations listed in Chapter 1. The differences are the preparations to work with the deity both in the group and the Hierophant. As soon as the choice has been made, both the Hierophant and the foundation members need to begin building lines of communication with the deity on a daily basis. From the very outset it is important to make sure that all communications with the deity are in the manner of communion with a respected co-worker and are not ‘worshipful’ in any way.

The communication is best done through visions and dreams based around the inner temple where the deity resides, and should relate to the future path of the group. It is also advisable to find out what the payoff for the deity is as they rarely do anything for nothing. It must benefit them somehow in equal reciprocity so that the group does not become beholden to the deity or indebted. A sure way to avoid a lot of the pitfalls is to give the deity a very narrow brief and stick to it.

The line should not wholly depend upon the deity for its survival rather the deity should be one of the keystones. Once the line has a couple of generations under its belt, it will begin to get a big enough swell of power and skills within the egregore that the interaction with the deity becomes stable and simple. In reality, this is what usually happens if the group maintain the structure of a magical lodge. Though more often than not what starts out as a magical lodge gets turned into a religion, so it would be wise to structure the path ahead to ensure that such a dynamic does not happen.

One way to avoid that massive pitfall is to only have two founding members who are aware of the deity connection. The initial workers would be the Hierophant and the two members, with the rest of the group excluded. The down side of this is the secrecy. If you cut out some founding members from the truth of the foundation, then you create shaky foundations and power hierarchies. This is one of the problems with some contacted magical lodges, the anchor of power is often kept secret from all but a chosen few which creates elitism and subsequent power struggles. It is not possible for the Hierophant to shoulder the knowledge alone as the power mediation takes more than one person.

For myself I found (after being burned a few times) that working with the deity through a sigil rather than an image or vision acted as a great filter as it allowed the power to flow without intrusion of a personality. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea as you have to be hyper-focussed and there is no way to get into chatty communication with the deity, but it does give access to the power and knowledge if you can let it flow through you at a deep level. It is also a method that does not exclude any founding member, as all get to take an equal role in the creation of the line.

THE WORK

The group, having prepared themselves and having built up a communication with the deity which is balanced, will be ready to get to work. An altar will need to be placed in the appropriate direction for the deity and will need only a flame, stone, or bowl of water upon it, and a bowl of consecrated oil. To the side of the altar place a piece of board or wood, and a dish with paint and a small paintbrush. The colour of the paint should be a colour that is linked to the deity.

The first step is to go in vision as a group to the inner temple where the deity resides. Rather than go through the void or the Abyss, it is better to go through the ‘front’ door, i.e. down through the underworld, up into the stars, into the caves or mountains, wherever it is that the deity traditionally lives. Take gifts with you (gifts that exist in the outer world, which will then be burned or put in a lake) and each member of the group communes silently with the deity to prepare for the work. The deity will tell each person a fragment of the knowledge behind the line, so it is important that the group talks around after the vision, saying everything they saw and heard regardless of how trivial they think it might be.

The next step is to go back into the temple again. The group goes behind wherever the deity presents him/herself and begins to create a doorway. This is done by literally breaking a hole in the wall behind the deity and building a doorway, hanging a door and putting a lock on it. Each member then stands in front of the door and breathes over it, putting a fragment of their life breath into the door.

The finished door is shown to the deity who will immediately mark it with a large sigil: take note of the sigil, this will be one of the keys for working with this deity and will need to be marked upon a board during one of the visions. At this point, the group needs to stop and eat. A light meal (no meat) and rest are important as the door building is harder than it sounds or looks. The impact may or may not hit straight away, but it will hit!

Make sure everyone is rested and ready for round two before embarking on the next vision. Two upholders must be chosen and they will become the hinges of a doorway, so they will need to sit on either side of the Hierophant during the vision. Two guardians will need to be appointed, as will two openers of the way.

The group go once more into the temple and to the door. The door is opened and the Hierophant stands on the threshold of the door with the two group members chosen as hinges on either side to uphold her. Two other members go through the doorway to act as clearers of the path and the two guardian members wait to come up behind everyone who walks through the doorway, The deity is called to join the pattern of the new line and the deity walks into the Hierophant, pausing for a short while before passing through the Hierophant and into a tunnel. The clearers of the way walk down the dark tunnel, leading the deity until they come to a ledge. It will quickly become apparent to everyone that they are on the ledge of a tunnel in the Abyss — this is the back door to the temple of this deity.

The deity stands upon the ledge and begins to call in a strange tongue. The deity is assembling an inner group of contacts to work with the group and they will probably be a mix of non human beings (angelic beings, faeries, ancestors, demonic beings, elementals etc). As the deity calls, the sigil appears over the entrance to the tunnel, so that anyone travelling the Abyss will be able to identify this entrance to the tunnel of the temple.

Beings start to appear by climbing up onto or dropping onto the ledge and the group members take a being each by the hand, because to go through the tunnel of the deity, the beings need to be upheld by a human. The tunnel will give them access through the temple to the human world, and beings can only bridge into the human world if invited by humans. (This is another good reason to really know your deities, i.e. what sort of beings do they work with and hang out with.)

Once the beings are in the tunnel, each being must be led by the hand by a group member and led to the door of the temple. The Hierophant stands in the doorway and asks the deity to move into her. The Hierophant must be supported on either side by the two hinges of the group, both in vision and in body by having the members on either side of the Hierophant place a hand upon her shoulder.

The deity passes into the Hierophant, and the beings that were called from the Abyss pass through the deity/Hierophant and into the temple. It will take a little time until they have all passed through and are safely in the temple, at which point the Hierophant steps forward into the temple while keeping the deity within her. The two guardians go and stand on the threshold of the front entrance of the temple and do not allow anything or anyone to leave the temple.

The rest of the group must now lay down both in vision and in body and go to sleep while still in the vision of the temple. The only ones who stay awake are the guardians who must stay physically awake while the group sleep. This is a time where the group must collectively sleep: the weave of the beings begins as the line of connection between deity, beings and humans begins. The contacts will be picked up in collective dreams, and the work will settle itself in the consciousness of the group.

The moment everyone has awoken, they must immediately be aware that they are still in the temple at a deep level and get straight back to work. Now that the deity and the Hierophant are one, it is time for the first passing on of the line though physical touch. Building up the vision of the temple again, the group become aware of the beings in the temple, the dual nature of the deity and the Hierophant, and the structure of the temple. The Hierophant, while remaining in vision, will need to go and stand before the altar.

One by one, while maintaining the vision, the group members go and stand before the Hierophant who will first cleanse them of all beings, all parasites (a basic cleansing/exorcism), before laying hands upon them. The Hierophant will feel the deity within her reach through and touch the group member before her. Power will flow through the Hierophant and into the group member, thus consecrating them. The Hierophant must maintain that touch until she feels the deity withdraw the touch of power from that person. When it is finished from an inner point of view, then just as listed in Chapter 1, the Hierophant utters the words of consecration including the name of the deity over the person while marking their foreheads with the sigil of the deity using the consecrated oil.

After everyone has been consecrated, the Hierophant marks her own forehead with the sigil of the deity. When the consecration is completed in the outer world, then the founding member group need to take upon themselves the burden of the weaving of the line: they will uphold specific powers and contacts that will eventually be woven into the egregore so that future generations can access the contacts safely.

Starting with the member who was first consecrated, they go once more to stand before the Hierophant while still maintaining the vision of the temple. The Hierophant places a hand upon their head, a foot upon their foot and allows the power of the deity to build within her. The Hierophant then calls upon one of the beings who came out of the Abyss to come through the filter of the deity/Hierophant and into the member. The Hierophant will then be urged by the deity to either breathe over or into the member’s nostrils, allowing the spirit of the being to enter them.

The consecrated members will then need to sit down and absorb the knowledge of the being and its inner abilities. Each being provides the group with a specific skill set and inner ability that can be developed and brought out over time by the member that it inhabits. The skills are specifically for the building and powering of the line and are not for any personal gain or magical agenda.

When everyone is marked with the sigil and has a being within them, then the sigil itself needs to be sealed with power. To do this the Hierophant physically picks up the paintbrush while remaining in vision in the temple, and paints the board with the sigil. When it is painted, she places her hands over the sigil and allows the deity to flow into the sigil. By placing the deity in the sigil rather than in a person or an image, it keeps the power of the deity usable without personality. The deity will be present through the sigil and also in the inner temple. There will be a fragment that remains within the Hierophant until death and the Hierophant will be forever changed by the union. Some of the deity’s power, knowledge, and experience will be absorbed by the body and will be accessible to the Hierophant. The sigil is then placed upright on the altar and will become one of the power tools that allows the power to flow through the line and through the lodge.

At this point, most of the initial work is completed and the company needs to stop, close the vision and eat. While eating a communal meal, it would be wise to talk around what happened, how did they feel, what are the powers of the being within them etc. Through talking, the beings within emerge and begin to make themselves known by speaking through the members. The emergence can sometimes take a while and unfold over days or weeks, sometimes it is instant.

Each group member will now be holding an inner contact/being and a specific set of skills that will help to build the line and the magical lodge. You will notice that there was no action at any point that asked for specific skills to be passed to the group: in the creation of a new line it is impossible for us as humans to fully grasp the long term development of a line and the skills that will be needed. Such a shopping list is best left to the deity who will call specific beings based upon what they can offer in the long term.

Over the coming weeks and months, as the group begins to build the lodge and the line, the necessity for the acquired contacts will become apparent. It will be important for the Hierophant to keep a close eye upon the group members to make sure no one struggles too much under the burden of carrying the inner being/contact, and that each member has as much support as necessary for them to be able to make full use of the skill set that has been placed within them.

Because all of the group carry a being of the Abyss, it will pull the group close together and certain dynamics will need to be watched for. While the members carry a being, they must be very careful to not enter into relationships with each other that did not exist before the work began. Such relationships can be driven by the beings that they carry, and a difficult and emotionally devastating tangle can happen very easily in such scenarios.

It will not take long for the inner beings to discover that they can to some extent manipulate the emotions of the host, and some of them may try to engage with each other by feeding false emotions to the host. This means that any relationship that develops in this time cannot be trusted to be a true relationship as human emotions are easily manipulated and the beings are usually not aware or are not concerned with the fallout that such a relationship can cause.

The other problem that can arise out of such a union is a child. While carrying an inner being, most humans become extremely fertile and any child that comes from such a union has a really strong chance of not being a human soul. This action used to be purposely manipulated by Hierophants of the past to bring through specific beings of power into a child that could then be trained and controlled. Such an arrangement is not socially acceptable or advisable in today’s world.

If two members do get strongly attracted to each other, they should seek counsel with the Hierophant immediately who can then help the hosts deal with the emotional rollercoaster that such an attraction can cause. All members need to be aware of this potential minefield and not allow themselves to be swept away by power and emotions. A reassessment can be made after the beings have left the group and returned back to the Abyss. After a settling period, any real attraction will still be there and can be acted upon. If the attraction was simply a manipulation, then it will fade once the beings have left.

Although there may be many good reasons to keep the inner contacts for life, it is best that the group, along with the Hierophant, agree to a specific time span or job list after which the inner beings are taken in vision back to the Abyss and an outer ritual of disconnection is performed. If the group do decide to keep the contacts until death, then there falls a great deal of responsibility upon the shoulders of the Hierophant and the doorkeepers/hinges to monitor and support the hosts for the rest of their lives. There are so many things that can and do go wrong, and so many power trips, dead ends, etc that will pull the host away from the true task at hand and send them down the path of deification and power abuse. It takes a truly strong will and clear heart to hold a long term powerful non-human contact without allowing any degeneration of personality.

After the work has been completed, the group will need to stay together for another 24 hours, if possible, just to let the power levels slowly lower and for the hosts to get used to their new additions without having to field the outside world. This gives time for normalisation which is very important if the group members have non-magical partners or partners who are not involved in the work. Reconnecting too soon may allow the inner being to take a more dominant role within the host which could be a disaster in a relationship. The host needs to learn how to prevent the being from taking an inappropriate amount of control, and for both host and inner being to work out boundaries before the host goes back into the outside world.

Usually within a week of this work, the group should be ready for action and energised to begin the construction of the inner and outer temple, and to create pathways for future initiates and priests/esses.

This method of work, as you can now see, is fraught with death traps and problems, and needs to be approached/handled with great intelligence and care. However, the magical benefits that can potentially be reaped from this work if approached correctly are truly mind-boggling. When you look back through ancient history, you will start to see the signs of this work — although it is never usually written about, it can be spotted by its fruits, bitter or otherwise.

Note: Just to reiterate, in the future, when the hierophant is sure the line is stable and the group structure is in place, then it is best for the group members to go to the Abyss via the temple and let the beings within them go. They are not there under duress, rather they are beings that are willing and have offered to work with humanity for the sake of the deity. But most conditional beings will try and opt to stay in a human body if they can, and such an arrangement can be seductive for both being and human. Because of the immense power involved and the amount of ways it could go wrong, the being should not be held in the body for any longer than needed.

CHAPTER 3:

THE CONSECRATION LINE OF DIVINITY BEFORE THE ABYSS

If the Hierophant really, really wants to push the boat out for all time, then tapping into the powers of Divinity before the Abyss and drawing a consecration line from that power is about as foolhardy and inspired as one can possibly be. This is probably the deepest form of consecrated lineage that it is possible to bring through into humanity and it is one that lasts the longest. It is also the most dangerous thing to attempt and most times will result in at least some physical injury.

However, this work is powerful in its purity and steps back beyond the division between lodge and temple. It is a line of pure Divine power that needs no magic or worship to define it, as it is the true power of the universe manifest. By anchoring a human line of consecration to that power, you awaken within the consecrated priest/ess the true power of Divinity and all that such power reveals to the soul. The line between priest and magician vanishes, and the consecrated one simply becomes a mediator of power.

If the Hierophant was planning on building a temple and line that would work with Golden Dawn rituals and Wiccan love spells, this method of building a line is probably not the right one. This method is probably most suited to magical lines that have a full understanding of the flow of Divinity through nature, through magic and through our selves. By manifesting that power through a consecrated line we create a bridge through our humanity so that we can better connect with and understand the immensity of the Divine power that is around us and yet so poorly understood.

If this method is used for a lodge/group, then it is important to understand that the power line that the consecrated priest/ess will carry will bridge the role of priest/magician. Also, the consecrated person will probably be called upon by the inner worlds to act in both roles at some time. That does not mean that the lodge becomes a religious temple, rather the lodge becomes a doorway for the deeper mysteries that an initiate can immerse themselves in, rather than a magical lodge of service or a temple of worship.

The development of a consecrated line using this technique will, therefore, build a lodge of the inner/Greater Mysteries. The Hierophant and founding group will need to be aware of the responsibilities that go with such an immense undertaking. It is a minefield simply by nature of the levels of power involved, so it is a step that needs to be thought about very carefully.

The other dynamic that plays through such a line is the fast inner development of the founding members which can be awe-inspiring or terrifying, depending on how you view it. The ability to have any control at all over what happens in the lodge is quickly taken away from the members. What happens instead is that the natural flow and order of the universe is the only dynamic that can be used in the lodge without the power becoming unstable. As humans we are used to having certain levels of control over what we do and who we are but when that is taken from us we flounder unless we can surrender and trust. This was one of the inner mysteries of the near eastern religions that became distorted quickly into an outer dogma which controlled and suppressed.

A lodge that carries such a consecrated line will most likely develop into a lodge that operates at a deep magical level as a hive mediator for Divinity within humanity and nature. No outward discernable service will be apparent so the true service of such a lodge will be to work without knowing what they are doing or why. While this can seem strange to most humans, it is a deep dynamic of power whereby we become fulcrums for massive waves of power that sweep through time. It is these tides of power that create foundations for future civilisations, future waves of humanity and for destruction where it is needed.

There is no surface service like healing, death work etc because the work of an inner mystery lodge deals with the creation and destruction of the universe in its varied octaves and forms. This form of a lodge holds little glamour — no one ever knows what you do, or why you do it. Nothing is seen, nothing is spoken and the adepts and priest/esses are truly a mystery and pass among the crowds unseen and unrecognised. There is no hierarchy, no badge, nothing to be proud of, and nothing that can be used for personal gain: the power octaves are just too high to be used for individual focus. Because of this, very few groups in history have ever built these types of lodges, but some have and because of that selfless action we have access to deep levels of knowledge and power that have not manifested in our world for a very long time.

If the group and the Hierophant have considered all the downs and ups of such work and still decide that they wish to turn their lives over to the work of the Inner Mysteries then the preparations must begin.

THE PREPARATIONS

Because the work is so much more powerful than the other forms of creating a line, the preparations need a bit more care and attention, and require a much longer preparation time. The cleansing should start on the first new moon near or after the winter solstice and will involve a body, life, and spirit cleansing.

Because the adepts and Hierophant are going to be taking pure Divine power into themselves, their bodies and lives need to be balanced enough to be able to take the strain. Anyone who is old or sick should not attempt this and if any of the founding group becomes very ill during the preparations, then they can still work in a supporting/guardian role but they must not take on the full power. Any adept who attempts this must truly be an adept (not someone with the title after a weekend course), they should be over the age of 30, have a good deal of inner experience under his belt and have worked with angelic, demonic, and deity consciousness to a level of ease.

The first round of preparation begins with the body. All animal products, all mind altering substances, all medications, and all toxic substances must be eliminated. Any medicines needed should be herbs, homeopathy etc that do not ‘bully’ the body into behaving a certain way. This cleansing is not about being ‘pure’, but is about ensuring that the body chemistry, particularly in the bowel and brain, are balanced and able to take impact. The endocrine system and the brain with attendant neurotransmitters take the full impact of this work so these parts of the body need to be adequately prepared.

The person will need to gain some weight if they are thin because the impact on the body can be immense with this work and if the body has little ballast and fuel it will buckle under the strain. I attempted a similar action while weighing a light 7 stone (98lbs) and paid for it with permanent body damage. I have learned since to let my body tell me when it needs ballast and to not be swayed by societal fashions. This does not mean that the adept should pig out and get fat while eating his favourite cream buns, it means that the body needs to be suitably stocked with what it needs and no more. For women that means body fat on the thighs, inner legs, breasts, and hips. This is the estrogen storage area and the estrogen protects the body against inner impact. For men the weight distribution is more dispersed and there is a greater need in the men to have some muscle mass as testosterone functions through the deep muscle. So the men need to go for long walks!

Unhealthy weight will show in both men and women by carrying ‘upfront’ on the upper abdomen. Not only does this signal high cholesterol, it is also a type of fast burning visceral fat that inhibits certain levels of inner power from distributing through the body.

The body of the adept once basically clean, needs to become in tune with the power of nature as the threads of power that will be woven into them are powers that speak to and with nature in all its glory. One way to do this is to go out in storms, in weather, and commune with the storm. Do not try to affect it or draw it to you, just be with it and ‘listen’ to its power and be aware of its communion with the land. Similarly, regular visits to the forest, the sea, the desert, any local expression of the power of nature will help. Sit with power and let it talk to you. Feel yourself blend in with it and become a part of it and this will slowly heighten your inner sensitivity which will come in handy later on.

Upon gaining a good level of sensitivity, then it is time to start putting it into practice to exercise and deepen it. Go to a local zoo when it is a quiet time and be with the animals. Feel their distress, confusion, and feel their mental illnesses brought on by imprisonment. Feel their intelligence and spirit, feel their needs and wants, and feel their personalities. When you have a good connection with an animal, reach out from an inner point of view and take a portion of its suffering into yourself. Do this with as many animals as you can until you are full of their suffering. When you can take no more, sit down somewhere quiet and go into the void, let their suffering go and wait a while in the peace. The moment you feel your heart is still, draw out of the void the power of Divinity and go back around the animals that you helped and mediate that power to them — do not try and form it, rather just let it be whatever it needs to be.

This exercise not only prepares you for taking on and dispersing the suffering all around you, which is a side product of the work, it also teaches you to mediate Divinity without trying to form it in any way which is a major hallmark of the Inner Mysteries. You have no control over the power, where it goes or what it does: you are a doorway, nothing more.

Through the winter the adept will need to work on being healthy with the adjusted diet while building the levels of sensitivity within and preparing the soul for the impact of the work. The other preparation that is advisable over the winter is the adjustment of the personality. It is easy, particularly in a post Christian world, to fall into a trap of purity and denial with this work. This work attracts people who like control in one form or another, which also means control over themselves (me? A control freak? Nah…). This can be a good thing or a bad thing. It can be good in that the extreme discipline that is sometimes needed can be there, but bad in that such self denial can become a form of impressive martyrdom which becomes a badge and a glamour within itself; so tread carefully.

The personality and ego is something which truly drives us in the world and should not be denied in any way. It is healthier to be aware of it, of how it is something that allows you to operate successfully in this world, but it can also become a monster that controls you and destroys everything around you. A step towards preparing the personality for the Inner Mysteries is to begin to watch your personality and see how it operates. Be truthful with yourself in your observations and see how your personality tries to dodge things that can be difficult or unseemly.

Take responsibility for yourself and your immaturities by recognising where they come from, what they are trying to do and how you can achieve what is needed without allowing the personality to drive it. The ego and personality can be a powerful tool if it does not control you. Ego, like imagination, is one of the vehicles that drives us in the inner worlds and it becomes a juggling act to recognise what is harmless about your personality and what is harmful. Life is full of payoffs and if allowing part of your personality or ego to play out in a harmless way achieves a major job, then all is good. If the ego is playing out in a way that is taking over or abusing power, then it is not good and needs reining in.

By the spring the adepts should be ready and chomping at the bit to work. The last round of preparations should begin 4 weeks before the spring equinox. A weekly or twice weekly meeting of the group would allow the adepts to begin to build the visionary work that will facilitate the bringing through of the line. The initial action that will be needed will be for the group to go to the Abyss and ask the Keeper of the Abyss to place them before the angel of Judgement: this surrendering ones self to the re-balancing of this angel is a major step in most powerful inner work — the slate must be wiped clean before the vessel can take on Divine power.

While stood before the angel, all past actions will be weighed, along with actions done to the adept. If the balance is off, or the adept has not learned certain lessons as a result of actions, then the angel will gather up the strands of fate and weave them tightly so that the entire adept’s fate will be played out quickly and the books will be balanced. Another way that this angel can balance books is to weigh up the actions and then cast judgement. The judgement will have a consequence for the adept that the adept must be willing to accept the consequence and to learn from it. From this point on in time, the adept will have an immediate fate pattern, i.e. anything he has done while knowing it is wrong. The adept will have the rebalancing action in his life almost straight away. Similarly, any negative action directed at the adept will be tempered by a balancing action put in his path. This works for both good and bad actions.

The next step, after all the balancing work has been done, will be the building of a deep inner temple to filter the line. Most other methods of bringing through lines already have inner temples connected to that line in place, and the groups normally only need to build an inner temple to express their lodge work in the inner worlds. But in this instance an inner temple needs to be built before the line is anchored so that it has the deep inner temple as a first filter to pass through. Later the group will also need to build another inner temple that will be an inner meeting place for the priests/esses and initiates that is connected with the lodge work.

The creation of the deep inner temple can be built up over a series of work sessions that will also prepare the adepts for the line work. The Hierophant and the adepts will also be placing a part of themselves in the inner temple. When a deep inner temple is first formed, fragments of the builders are left in the building for future priests and priestesses to communicate with and learn from. The leaving of this fragment will not harm an adept because having parts of themselves in various places is all part of the work.

THE BUILDING OF THE THRESHOLD INNER TEMPLE

To begin the building, pass through the void and emerge out in the desert near the edge of the Abyss. This landscape is what is expressed through the Tree of Life with the Abyss to one end, Malkuth or life in the middle, and death at the opposite end of the desert to the Abyss. Beyond the Abyss is Divinity, beyond death is Divinity; they loop around to each other and are a part of each other.

Out in the desert the Hierophant calls upon the Sandalphon to assist the group in the creation of a threshold temple. The Sandalphon walk with the group to the edge of the Abyss and stand upon the edge of the Abyss. There they call in all directions for helpers. Angelic beings of all kinds come from all directions and prepare to work. The Hierophant is prompted to begin to weave the shape of the inner temple using the hair of the angelic beings around the group. The workers also join in, using their own hair along with the angelic hair to build an intricate pattern of platonic shapes that interconnect. Each pattern is a wall of the temple and each wall can be built over a session, so that the work is spread out over a few sessions. Upon completion of the walls, the group take turns to speak their birth names over the hair walls, leaving a fragment of their personality and history in their breath and their hair.

Once the building is complete, the temple should take on the shape of one of the platonic solids which gives it harmony and balance and also makes it harder for someone to hack into. In the remaining time up to the line work on the equinox, the group can prepare by gathering three or four times in the last week to go in vision and be in the temple. Once there, the group members mediate the stillness of the void into the temple so the temple has shape, angelic and human consciousness and also the void flowing through it. This will prepare the structure for what is to come and will also form it in to a vessel that can contain power without distortion.

The actual anchor work of the line should be done over a two day period that straddles the equinox, with a third day for decompression afterwards. It would be best if the group can be in one place for the whole three days without disruption and with meals etc provided so that no one has to worry about practicalities.

ANCHORING A DIVINE LINE

The group is best prepared at the beginning of the first day if a series of visions are done to connect with the void, the underworld and the stars, just to give orientation to the body and to begin a ‘stretching’ process for the spirit. An altar will be needed in the centre of the room with the use of a focus element to pass through (a flame, stone or bowl of water). Normally, the Hierophant would initiate the work by taking on the role of the one who will carry the biggest burden, i.e. the line itself, but in this case the burden is far too much for one human to carry and is best equally distributed throughout the group. The Hierophant however will be the voice of the visions and will lead each vision for the group.

Some inner stretching will need to be done before it is time to get to work. This can be achieved by working in vision through the element on the central altar and passing through the flame/stone/water into the void. There the workers let go of anything left in them that does not belong with them before stepping out of the void and beginning the walk through the desert to the edge of the Abyss.

At the Abyss, the adepts must be willing to surrender their life if necessary and put the fate of their souls in the hands of the universe. With this surrender, the adepts step out off the cliff of the Abyss and walk without aid to the other side. Gathered at the other side, they will be confronted by a deep mist that is full of power. At this point all the adepts and the Hierophant hold hands both in vision and physically and the group forges forward as one collective being towards the foot of Divinity. The reason for this is that to step before Divine Being alone is suicide; the burden must be shared equally between the workers who will become the foundation.

The collective group steps into the mist and walks forward. The mist becomes thicker and more powerful with each step they take until it is so thick it becomes an almost solid mass that they can hardly penetrate. The group must push on, pushing against the power of the mist until it takes every inch of their strength to move slowly forward. After what feels like an eternity, the mist vanishes and the group find themselves in a space which is both very light and very dark at the same time. The brain will probably not be able to interpret this part easily and the group must focus hard not to lose the contact.

The group must step forward once more with the intention of merging with the absolute darkness that is in the light. Without trying to form imagination pictures, the group steps forward and each member of the group opens their spirit up to the darkness, letting it flow through each member of the group until they are full of the darkness. Each cell in the body will respond and the body’s alarm systems will probably panic at this stage. Each adept should hold fast and not be tempted to break the contact. When the group are filled with the darkness, they will need to stay in it for a while to let it seep into their understanding and to commune with the darkness.

When the Hierophant feels that everyone is complete in the darkness, then it is time to open the awareness to the absolute light. The same experience is gone through once more — the group step forward into the total light that is within the darkness and they let it flow through them, filling them and lightening up the whole of the body’s endocrine system. The group should spend time in the light, feeling its power and feeling how it interacts with the darkness that is within them.

The light and the darkness must be held equally within each of the group. While staying in the space of the Divinity, the group needs to go to sleep to let the vision deepen. As everyone sleeps, even if it is for a short while, the polar energies of Divinity merge through the bodies of the adepts and prepare them for the patterning that is to come.

Upon awakening, the vision must be picked up again so that the workers find themselves once more within the light and the dark. From the power of the light and dark comes an angelic being that carries two threads of power. The angelic being is the filter for the unformed Divine power and creates a bridge for the lines of power to pass through. The two lines are tied into the centre of the adept’s bodies by the angelic being, so that each person has a light and dark thread woven deeply into them.

The angelic being turns each adept around and walks them back through the mist to the edge of the Abyss. Once there, the angelic being blows into the eyes of each adept to open their vision so that they no longer see as a human, but as an eternal being. Each of the adepts appears as a complex pattern of platonic solids, lines of script and threads connecting all the shapes together. The dark and light power weaves through the shapes lightening and darkening them so that the pattern has a true balance of light and dark within it. The light and dark threads hold all the stars, all life, all the elements, and all time: the polarisation of Divinity without form. On the threshold of manifestation, Divinity combines itself with the eternal pattern of the adept so that they become as one: humanity and Divinity entwined at the edge of the Abyss.

While holding the inner image of the pattern with the light and dark power, the adept steps out over the Abyss. The instant both feet are off the ground, the view before them on the other side of the Abyss changes from desert to the world, with its cities, nature, people, and themselves. Between the adepts and the world is a blanket of stars and planets that the adept must navigate to get back to the world.

As the adepts step back on to the solid ground on the edge of the Abyss, the deep inner temple appears with its patterns of hair and breath. The adepts step into the temple and let their patterns merge with the pattern of the inner temple. The adepts stand in the centre of the temple and watch as the patterns and shapes intermingle, strengthen, and take on a collective wholeness. That will be a good time for the workers to take a break. Instead of coming out of the vision via the void, the workers simply open their eyes while keeping awareness that a part of them is still in the temple. This is time to eat and share experiences.

After food, the group would probably benefit from some time out in nature or alone with their thoughts. If it is nearly evening, then the work should be paused for the day to be picked up in the morning. The merging of the two patterns is something that needs time to ‘cook’ on the inner, and that is a good opportunity for the group to rest and relax. The merging will deepen within each adept in sleep and each person may feel more than a little impacted in the morning.

The following morning, after a light breakfast, it will be time to pick up the work and bring in the next stage of merging. The group already have a part of themselves in the deep inner temple, so to begin the vision, the group only needs to be aware of the patterns and allow the image of the inner temple to build in their minds. The temple and the interwoven patterns of themselves should become strong images; and when they do, the group can resume work.

Each adept stands in the centre of the inner temple and reaches his arms out to bring the inner pattern back into and upon him. The adepts are once more aware of the dark and light thread that is still connected to them and that vanishes over the Abyss and into the mists. The adepts begin to walk slowly, as if to the beat of a deep drum, carrying the pattern with them like a giant construct all around them. The threads trail behind them as they walk, each person carrying a huge patterned structure made up of platonic solids and links. The inner temple is left behind, though parts of it remain in the adept’s pattern just as part of the adept’s pattern stays in the inner temple.

The walk takes them down the Tree of Life which is also the stars and planets. They feel the pattern that they carry change and adjust to different powers as they pass each planet on their path to the earth before them. As they pass through the moon, each adept will sense the interweave of their family line and ancestors which enhances the pattern and strengthens it. The adepts step onto the earth, finding themselves walking among cities, forests, fields and rivers, as though each step takes them many miles. The pattern changes everything it passes, and the pattern interacts with everything around it. Every change, no matter how minute is felt by the adept at a very deep level. It soon becomes apparent to the adept that they have the ability to affect change simply by interacting with life through the pattern.

As they walk, the adepts have the sense that they walk through time and through their own lives — they become aware of versions of themselves in various times as they pass by. It is important at this phase not to get distracted or drawn into what you are seeing as this is simply a passing through life and must not be interfered with.

Before the adepts appears a raging river and beyond the river rise high mountains whose peaks vanish into a mist. The adept steps into the raging river and walks through the water to the other side. As they climb out of the water the adepts will notice that the pattern they carry has changed a little, but the dark and light threads still trail behind them, connecting them to the other side of the Abyss. This is the river of death and the mountains ahead are the burdens that must be scaled before life can be renewed. As the adepts walk to the mountains, parts of the pattern drop away from them and melt into the earth. As they climb the path up the side of the mountain, other parts of the pattern change while yet more bits drop away. Climbing the mountain, the workers become aware of the amount of tangles, dogmas, and dead ends that spiritual and magical paths can have, and ways to clear through such tangles become apparent to the adepts as they climb higher and higher. With each understanding, a new part of the pattern renews itself.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain where the mist is, the Hierophant instructs everyone to lie down in the mist on their stomachs. Angelic beings emerge out of the mist and begin to work on the adepts and the patterns. They comb their fingers through the bodies of the workers and through the patterns, ensuring that everything is in order and ready for rebirth into the world. While they comb, the angelic beings recite over the adepts and the recitation burrows itself deep into their minds so that one day they will remember the power that is being passed on to them.

The moment everyone is completed, the angelic beings push each adept off the edge of the cliff at the top of the mountain; and instead of rolling down the hill and into the arms of the angelic Keeper of the Abyss, which is what happens to people in death, the adepts find themselves passing through the void and emerging back into the outside world. When they emerge though, they find they are extremely large and the pattern they carry all around them is even bigger and shines brightly with dark and light power. They realise that they are out on the land some distance from the building where their bodies are working and as they begin to walk across the land like giants so their feet sink into the earth, so that they are walking through the land rather than upon it. As the land and the patterns interact, the land changes as does the pattern: the land and pattern of Divinity begin a conversation.

The adepts slowly make their way back to the building where they started, interacting with the land and animals as they go. Coming back into the room, they have to make themselves small enough to fit into their bodies while still being able to uphold the pattern around them. The threads, which link them to the Abyss, are still trailing behind them.

At this point the Hierophant stands up while still in vision and goes to stand before the central altar. All the other workers hold the vision and wait while the Hierophant calls upon the Sandlaphon to help the adepts adjust their shape and absorb the pattern and power of Divinity within them. The angelic contacts appear at the altar, which signals the Hierophant to open her arms out and work with the angelic beings in vision to ‘fold up’ and assimilate the pattern of power into her human form. The two threads are altered so that, instead of trailing behind her, they now emerge out of the void in the centre of the body and weave their way down the arms of the Hierophant like two snakes. The lines go through the void to the edge of the Abyss and will stay connected for the rest of the person’s life. When the Hierophant has finished, the adepts go to the altar one by one until each person has assimilated their power and patterns and the threads are readjusted to come through their centre and down their arms.

These threads are the polarised powers of Divinity before form and when the adept works in vision, consecrates people, or even touches them or an object magically, these two Divine powers will work through and with them to bring about change. When the adept consecrates someone, these two lines of polarised Divine power will pass into the consecrated person to enliven them and connect them to the pattern of the inner temple at the edge of the Abyss. Upon consecration, the new priest/ess will become a literal part of the inner temple and the lines of Divine power will flow through them.

Once all the adepts have worked with the angelic beings, this phase of the work is over and the workers will need to relax. It is best to have a day together to decompress and get used to the sense of inner power and the two lines. Although there will be no issue with inner beings as is so prominent in the deity work, it is still an impact that needs adjusting to. The body is now irrevocably changed and will react to life in a very different way.

The powers that flow through each of the founding adepts are immense and the adept will have to learn how to develop and mould the powers to work with the lodge. Because of the two threads of power, certain aspects of nature will respond powerfully to the adepts, including weather, animals, and fault lines. This was why it was so important through the winter to be out in nature a lot, communing and getting to know the tides, feels, and flows of nature’s powers.

Because of this access to power, it is important that the Hierophant keeps a close eye on the founding members to ensure that the power does not go to their heads and that they wield it wisely and safely in the work of the lodge. The power is not meant to be used outside of the service of the lodge and the work of the adept. If an adept is tempted to use the power for personal means or power trips, some really hard lessons will be learned very quickly.

The power does not switch on like a Disney light bulb, rather it is a deep stirring and awakening that surfaces when triggered or needed and then it is truly immense. It is the power of storms, of death, of life, of earthquakes, of the seasons, and of the collective mind of humanity. This is why, when such a method for founding a line is used, the line/lodge will work with the very deep powers of change in the world rather than surface service.

The group will need time to decompress, discuss, and rest. They should then part for a week to allow the power to settle into everyday life. After the break, it will then be time for the group to begin the next phase of building for the lodge.

CHAPTER 4:

THE CREATION OF THE INNER TEMPLE

Once the consecrated line of the lodge has been anchored and the founding members of the group have the line within them, then it is time for the next phase of the foundation work in the creation of a magical lodge, which is the building of the inner temple.

The method that is used to build the inner temple and the form of construction depend mainly on what it will be used for and by whom. If the consecrated line has ancient inner contacts, then the temple needs to reflect that and have an access point for those inner adepts. If the line has beings that have come from the Abyss, then the temple needs to have a doorway to their level of the Abyss and to the inner temple of the deity that drew them in. If the line is connected to Divinity at the edge of the Abyss, then the temple will need to be a step down power-wise from the deep inner temple built of angelic patterns.

USES OF AN INNER TEMPLE

An inner temple is a necessity for a magical lodge/group to operate at a level of full power as it is the filter, doorway, meeting point, and information library for the majority of the inner work that a lodge will do. It is a place where beings of different realms can come together, a place where power can be shaped, and where major magical actions can be instigated safely and filtered out into the outside world. It is a higher octave of the outer temple and the two complement each other.

It is important for a temple to remain intact for a long time because hundreds of years after the builders have gone, the contacts, magic, and power will need to stay there to be worked with by future generations. To maintain the integrity of the work, the temple must be stable enough to survive long time spans and various waves of workers. To retain that stability, the foundations of the temple must be solid and well built so it is worth taking the time to ensure that everything is in place as it should be.

The inner temple operates on many different levels when constructed properly, and becomes a one stop shop for the magical group that is operating through it. To ensure that the construction is done properly it is wise to keep in mind all the various uses of the inner temple and ensure as each layer is put together so that the access points for people and power are in place for each use.

Power flow is one of the foundation uses of the inner temple. It becomes a filter for very deep universal power, tempering the force of that power as it is drawn through the temple and mediated out into the world, or used to construct something within the temple. Usually, there is only one type of universal power that is pulled through an inner temple, i.e. star power, fire, solar, underworld fire, water, destruction, creation etc. Those powers reflect the deep Divine power that has just taken on a quality or form that affects the outer world in one way or another.

Theoretically it is possible to have more that one power running through an inner temple, and to have two powers that complement each other creates a very stable useable power. I have not personally worked with more than two powers in a construction project like this, so I cannot talk from experience but it is theoretically possible to build an inner temple with multiple levels of power from many different sources. Two was enough for me!

The temple then operates as a threshold to other worlds, a centre for collection of knowledge and contacts, a building/working space, a place of regeneration, a threshold to Divinity, and an operating centre for the egregore.

THRESHOLDS TO OTHER WORLDS

When constructing an inner temple, the fact that it can potentially open out pathways to many different places should be taken into account. A well constructed inner temple will be a central point from which paths and doors lead to different temples, worlds, and powers. All of these places and powers will have some connection to the main powers that are being pulled through the inner temple. So for example: if you are using the power of the sun in the temple, then the main feature will be a fire that can be stepped through to access anywhere that is remotely connected with the lines, people, powers, deities, and civilisations that blossomed throughout time under the influence of that solar power.

As every power flows both ways, any priest/ess throughout time that is connected in some way to that solar power will be able to find their way to the inner temple that you are constructing. So you begin to see the layers upon layers of networks built with beings and powers flowing back and forth throughout time. You also begin to see that the Hierophant really needs to have a wide experience in various inner worlds and magical lines/inner adepts so that the temple construction is not limited by the Hierophant’s lack of knowledge. To counter that worry however is the fact that once a solid stable beginning has been built and a specific power has been pulled through, beings connected to that power will begin to join in and will add sections onto the temple. This dynamic used to fascinate me — every time I would work in the inner temple I would find an area that I didn’t construct and yet was blossoming as a powerful side temple with contacts, beings etc flowing through it.

If you approach the building of the inner temple with a sense of it being an organic construct that can be added to by others and that can grow organically, then the temple will become far more than you could have ever imagined. The basic form of the original construction acts as a filter which stops unhealthy or unwanted powers/beings/contacts getting in; so, with the frequency of the temple set, only beings on that frequency will find it. Also, other inner temples on a similar frequency, regardless of when they were constructed, will connect with the new construct enabling inner contacts and magical workers to flow from one temple to the other. Connecting doors are easily built and some develop naturally as part of the power flow. Over time the temple can develop into a central communal area that opens out through time and throughout the worlds. This keeps the inner education of the adepts strong and healthy as they are constantly, over generations, exposed to new worlds, new powers, and many different contacts. This is in direct contrast to some of today’s magical lodges and religious churches that work with a fixed inner temple which houses only a handful of contacts that do not change over time. Such an inner temple fossilises very quickly, freezing the advance of the inner work with it.

A CENTRE OF KNOWLEDGE

One of the other main functions of an inner temple is to provide a central location for the connected knowledge of the magical line. The established connection organically extends to other similar inner temples so that the stored knowledge and powers merge to create a vast repository of knowledge, contacts, and history. To some, this concept is historically known as the Inner Library (used by Dion Fortune and W G Grey) and is also what was known as the Akashic records, a concept first bandied around by the Theosophists.

A section of the construction is aimed at the intention of building an inner library and if the frequency of the work is compatible, then it will resonate with all other inner libraries that are part of the collective knowledge of humanity. So by building in that frequency, the inner temple library will open out onto the main collective library, but will retain some of its autonomy. This is an important factor to remember when doing the construction; the intention to keep some autonomy with the library is important.

If it is totally absorbed by the collective, then it becomes too overwhelming for the adept to access the knowledge intentionally; the large library quickly overwhelms the psyche so to extract information becomes a major struggle. If some autonomy is kept, then the magical knowledge that is pertinent to the line is easily accessible and the structure of the joined but autonomous library automatically produces an inner ‘librarian’ who can help the adept search the bigger communal library. (The librarian is part of the inner octave of the ‘separate but a part of’ dynamic; it is essentially a filter.)

The actual knowledge stored in the inner repository comes from the knowledge of each adept connected to the lodge, including the knowledge of their ancestors, which is stored in their blood. The inner repository holds the knowledge of the inner contacts that are connected to the lodge, plus all the knowledge of priests/esses of other lodges that are in the same stream of power. All beings that flow through the line, all ancient adepts, all deities, basically any conscious being that is connected to the line has their knowledge mirrored in the inner repository. The way that it works is that a fragment of that being stays in the inner temple and that fragment holds all of their knowledge. When lodge members die, a part of them passes into the inner temple and that fragment of them holds all of their experience, knowledge, and wisdom. So when you read a book or a scroll in the inner repository of knowledge, you are in actual fact communing at a deep level with an inner contact.

The repository can be used to learn about the powers of a deity, a line of adepts, a quality of magic, methods of working, constructing, healing, mediating etc. It becomes the inner training school for the adepts where they can tap into lines of work and absorb information into themselves that will unravel in time.

THE PREPARATION FOR CONSTRUCTION

The main preparation that needs to happen in the construction of an inner temple is the designing of the structural pattern that it will all centre around, and the mirroring of that pattern in the outer temple. So for example, some groups use a four directional pattern with an altar in each direction in the outer temple, or a five directional with four altars one in each direction and one in the centre. There are patterns of three, of two, of one, with or without threshold pillars, with or without acknowledgement of the cross quarters: the possible patterns are endless. The pattern should be chosen to complement the powers that run through the consecration line and to flow in harmony with the work that will be done over a long period of time in the lodge.

So for example, if the consecrated line is anchored in Divinity, then a single altar will probably be sufficient and will be simple enough for the line to flow unhindered. If the line uses deities, then the altars will need to reflect the direction that the deity traditionally is aligned to. If you are working with an inner priesthood then again the altar would be aligned to that priesthood, and if you work with more than one then you begin to work with multiple altars in a balanced pattern, i.e. the four directions.

In Chapter 3 the consecration line from Divinity had two threads, polarised powers of light/dark that can be focussed by using two altars, one for each power, or a single altar where the two powers are brought together. If using two altars, then they would need to be a part of a triangular pattern, as that is the pattern that expresses the relationship between those polarised powers as they flow down the Tree of Life from crossing the Abyss (pos/neg/void).

In times past, people imagined inner temples into being by using visuals of great temple constructions — the temple of Solomon was reproduced many times in the inner worlds by magical groups in their quest to find the perfect temple. I feel that we as a collective magical mind have moved on somewhat from that period and that we have the capability, if we let go of old patterns, to forge newer more organic and harmonic patterns that have less to do with the constructs of humanity and more to do with the constructs of the universe.

When you look at nature, be it a grain of salt, a strand of DNA, a snowflake, a particle, you begin to see the reoccurring patterns that flow through nature: they are balanced, mathematically pure and geometrically harmonised. This is why when you look at an angelic being at its depth, you see platonic solids which are some of the building blocks of the universe.

It would make sense to approach the construction of the inner temple in the same way, through harmonic frequencies, harmonic shapes, and the reoccurring patterns of nature. This in itself opens out huge amounts of power that are available for the construction. One of the main building ‘materials’ is angelic consciousness, and instead of approaching the angelic being by a human given name and visual appearance, we can connect and work with the being in its harmonic form, which is platonic shape and harmonic sound.

Working in that way, the visual filters that are normally put upon an angelic being which would therefore encase its power are cast aside and the angel is worked with in its pure form so none of its power is wasted or lessened. This in turn allows the angelic being to express its full potential in the construction, which brings lots of surprise gifts with it including doorways, protections, and contacts.

When the group has decided what outer pattern is to be used in the outer lodge, and have laid that pattern out in the lodge where the work will be done, then it is time to begin the inner work.

BUILDING THE INNER TEMPLE

Set the working room up in the pattern that the lodge will use and put the altar/s in place. If there is only one altar, then the Hierophant should sit before the altar; if there is more than one, place a worker in front of each altar. Using an element (candle, bowl of water, stone) as a focus, begin the vision by going into the void. The group needs to spend some time in the void dissolving their own structure and spreading out throughout everything — in the void the soul has no boundaries.

The Hierophant reaches out in the void for the root of the power that will flow through the temple (Divinity, stars, underworld, sea, sun, moon etc): as soon as the Hierophant focuses that intent a small movement will be detected within the depths of the void. The Hierophant moves the group closer to it and it grows into a power that streams out of the void. The group get a hold of the power or immerse themselves in it and flow out of the void with the raw power as it manifests in the physical world. The group will find themselves on the threshold of the inner landscape of that power and it is here that it will take form before fully manifesting physically.

The space is like a void but isn’t — it is full of potential and you will be surrounded by the power that you followed. In this space you become aware of the consciousness of the power that is all around you and you recognise how that consciousness expresses itself through the external expression as stars, or the sun etc. It is this level of raw power that you work with rather than the fully manifested power because besides being safer it is also less contaminated by past temples.

Before you begin construction with this power, you need somewhere to anchor it to and that fully depends on what power you are working with. If you are working with the stars, moon, or sun, then you would work out in the stars. If you are working with Divinity, it would be in the desert near the Abyss. If you are working with the Underworld, then it would be down the Abyss rather than down through the planet. The reason for this is that accessing the underworld by going down in to the earth is the finished ‘front’ door with all its filters in place. To do construction, you need to use the back door where there are no filters, so that you can put your own filters in place.

Because the place where you are holding the power is on the edge of the void, you can focus it anywhere. When you think about the place of anchor and build its image all around you, that action brings the edge of the void to that place. The point at which the edge of the void and the place of anchor are joined is the time to start building. There are a variety of angels who work with this type of construction and they are safer than some of the other more powerful conditional beings that would be willing to work with you.

Standing on the threshold of the void, call for the Sandalphon to come and work with you on the foundations. As these beings step out of the void hand them threads of the power as it streams out of the void and show them the pattern that will be used in the outer temple. The Sandalphon will tell you to grasp them and as you do, they turn into mud, rock, and mortar which you then use combined with the raw power to build the walls.

Be aware of what shape you need to build because the shape should be compatible with the outer pattern. The Sandalphon give the first layer of the inner temple boundaries and definition as that is what the Sandalphon are about: physical manifestation and foundations for humanity.

The outer shapes of the walls and floor are built ready for the web of power to be impressed upon the walls and the internal structure that upholds the roof needs to be in place. That internal structure upholds the heights of what the temple can achieve, the powers impressed upon the walls are memory and knowledge, and the foundations are the barriers, container and base line filters.

The internal structure is made up of two of the biggest angelic beings whose job it is to make sure that humanity never extends closer to Divinity than humanity is ready for. They are two beings who have opposing powers and, when put together, they create a seesaw with humanity as a fulcrum. One angel stops destruction, one angel stops creation and that allows us to be balanced in the middle — it basically stops us becoming gods.

To bring in this internal structure, the Hierophant calls upon the Archon and the Aeon that stand before humanity and God, and asks them to uphold this temple before the void. After a moments silence, a great wind will rise out of the void and will appear as a whirlwind that whips around the foundation structure. Then a second whirlwind emerges, its wind flowing in the opposing direction. The two whirlwinds fight each other around the foundations until they settle in the centre of the space and become two spinning tops that are magnetised: they cannot leave each other but they cannot touch each other.

Two of the group members who will become the pillars of the temple step forward and stand inside the two spinning tops. The whirlwinds flow through them and fill them with the archangelic power.

The two members assume the position of the internal support, which is hands crossed at the wrists, outstretched and holding on to the other person’s hands in the same position: this makes a figure of eight. Then right foot forward so that both right feet touch and foreheads together so that the two bodies make a horizontal and vertical figure of eight.

The Archon and the Aeon whirlwinds flow through this pattern and begin to take the pattern upon themselves. They begin to take on human form, with their legs touching, their hands crossed, but instead of touching heads, they outstretch their wings above their heads so that the wings touch to complete the vertical figure of eight.

The establishing of the two angels enables the two members withdraw from the whirlwinds, separating their arms first. As their arms/hands break apart, it opens a doorway between the angels where inner adepts, beings and angelic consciousness that works with the power being used can come through.

One by one, starting with the Hierophant, then the two pillars, and then the others, they each reach in to the opening between the angelic beings and pull out a thread. The threads are woven into the walls of the temple and as the workers weave, they start to see what is on the end of the thread. The consciousness on the end of the thread begins to commune with them and may even manifest themselves in the temple, offering service to the group.

Where the threads of beings have been anchored to the walls, doors appear that will lead off to the inner temple/realm of the beings that came out of the opening between the angels. These doors are filtered tunnels that will allow visitors and workers of the inner temple to access many different places in the course of their work. All the realms and temples that work with the same base power are interconnected and can be reached through the tunnels.

At that point the temple needs to be enlivened so that the consciousness of humanity can operate through the temple with full understanding, and the temple will then be in harmony with humanity and the outer world. To do this, the Hierophant goes to the crossed hands of the archangelic beings and places his hands upon them. The Hierophant then asks for the harmony of time and space to be brought through into the inner temple in the form that will work for humans. The group members must be stood around the temple with the two pillars stood in front of the Hierophant. It is not necessary to mirror this physically: it is enough for it to be done in vision.

The Hierophant then turns around so that his back is to the crossed hands of the angels that have the opening between them. A power builds up behind the Hierophant as power begins to surge through the opening. The power builds to a point where the Hierophant has trouble staying on his feet when something from behind them grabs the Hierophant by the hair and pulls his head back.

The Hierophant is commanded to speak. The Hierophant opens his mouth in the vision and out comes many harmonic sounds that take shape. The two adepts who are the pillars take up the shapes and use them to create altars, pillars, doorways, ceilings, floors, chairs etc. More and more sounds appear and some rise up to the ceiling and take up the image of star constellations. The sounds also take on the shapes of sigils that form on the doorways and upon the floor. These are sigils that will be mirrored in the outer temple.

Upon completion, the very last sound is breathed by the Hierophant into an element that is on the altar, be it a flame, water, or stone. The last utterance is breathed over and into this element which becomes the sacred doorway in and out of the temple.

When all is finished the group pass one by one through the element and emerge back in the outer temple. When everyone is back, if the element is a flame, it is blown out. If it is water, it is poured away on the earth; and if it is a rock, it is covered over with a cloth. The group will need to eat and rest now for an hour or so before the next round of work begins.

The use of angelic power as harmonic sound is a very interesting power to work with. It mirrors the ancient mystery of the harmonics of conception and death, and can be worked with consciously in the outer temple through chant and other uses of sound. Sound is a very important tool in inner work and can be used for many different things to affect the environment or the consciousness of a being.

Once the group has rested then it is time to stabilise the doorways, create a front door, connect to the realms of death, and make sure there is access to the Abyss. Although it is not strictly necessary to have an access point to the Abyss and indeed many groups do not work with the Abyss at all, I have found over the years that inner temples that are directly linked to the Abyss in one way or another tend to have a more stable foundation.

The other connection that the inner temple needs to have is direct access to the void from the inner temple. This is like having an inner window open and ensures that everything stays fresh and healthy: it draws out unhealthy powers and allows healthy fresh and unformed power to flow a little bit through the temple.

BUILDING THE PATH TO DIVINITY

A doorway is built on the wall to one side of the central element, and another door is built directly opposite. The first door is built by drawing the sigil of the lodge upon the wall with the intention of reaching the void. The void within all substance overpowers the wall and as the door opens, the Hierophant steps through and finds himself in the void. Within the depths of the void appears a simple stone narrow walkway that vanishes into the depths of the void.

The Hierophant walks the pathway, vanishing into the nothing until he comes to a stone platform. Standing there, the Hierophant becomes aware of the immensity of power within the void and the potential for all creation: this is the true power of Divinity. Everything that ever was and ever will be is here in its threshold potential. The hierophant bows and withdraws, walking back along the walkway and back into the temple.

He walks directly across the inner temple to the door on the opposite side, laying his hand upon the sigil of the lodge and opening the door to the pathway to Divinity within everything. The Hierophant steps again into the void and walks a narrow stone pathway that builds as he walks.

The pathway emerges out in a beautiful garden full of birds, animals, plants, insects, rain, sun and wind. Unable to step off the platform, the Hierophant is allowed to look at the beauty of Divinity within every living thing. Everything shines with the inner power of Divine substance, everything is in balance and everything flows in harmony. The Hierophant is allowed to look and to bring adepts here to stand in peace in the balance of the garden. The Hierophant withdraws and returns back into the inner temple and then into the outer temple, ready for the next phase.

GUARDIANS

For the next session, the group should use the element on the altar as an access point through the void and into the inner temple. To do this, the members see the element with their inner vision and then step into it. By stepping into it they find the void that is at the centre of all substance. This is a doorway through the void and by stepping out of the element on the other side, the members emerge into the inner temple.

The group gathers around the inner temple altar with the element before them and one by one they reach into the void within the element and pull out a guardian. This is done by sheer intent because when a worker is in the inner worlds in a temple constructed by angelic consciousness, any action with intent is amplified many times over. By simply focussing the mind on the need for temple guardians for the front door, the consciousness of the group is steered towards the realm where those beings can be reached. The element that holds the void within it acts as the gateway between the two realms, allowing beings to flow back and forth into the temple.

The guardian beings become the shape of the door, with a being for the threshold, a being for the lintel, beings for the two doors and a being for the lock. The members gather and place their hands upon the beings while visualising a door with hinges, threshold and locks. Beyond the door, there are steps leading away from the temple and emerging in the landscape of the realm that the temple draws its power from, i.e. the underworld (earth), the desert (sun), the sea (moon), a mountaintop (stars) etc. The steps leading away from the temple merge into the landscape which mirrors a landscape on the earth. This makes sure that there is front door access to the temple throughout time for other humans to be able to access the temple, or at least to find it should the elemental doorway ever be forgotten.

The guardians are told by the Hierophant that only people holding the sigil of the consecration are to be allowed into the temple and that if any human or parasite tries to gain entry, they should be blocked and she should be notified. The guardians acknowledge this as they reach out and touch a part of the Hierophant’s body. In the future this body part or area will burn or feel very strange if the guardians are trying to contact or warn him.

Now the back door must be built. This is the door that allows beings connected to humanity, regardless of what beings they are, to be able to be brought into the temple to work. This back door opens out onto a tunnel that emerges in the Abyss and will allow beings in the Abyss to be able to see the temple back entrance. It will be fully guarded but without Abyss access, bringing other beings into the outer temple will be more dangerous and much harder work. If they are brought into the outer temple by passing through the inner temple, then they are automatically filtered and checked by the guardians.

The back door position will usually be hidden so that casual access to the Abyss cannot be blundered into in the future by initiates. The Abyss can be a very dangerous and powerful place and access that is too easy is not a good thing. The best place for a back door is behind any deity or altar or in a far corner: the group will have to dig into the walls to create an opening with the intention of building a back door to the Abyss. A hole is dug out of the wall and the group chant or hum deep harmonics to awaken the powers within the walls. The Hierophant and the two pillars step through the hole and walk down the tunnel until they reach a ledge that juts out into the Abyss. Standing on the edge of the ledge, the Hierophant calls upon the Keeper of the Abyss to bring a guardian for the back door of the temple.

The Keeper will appear near the ledge and will bridge a being that will become the guardian of the back door. The guardian will stay at the mouth of the tunnel while the rest of the group go back down the tunnel and to the opening that gives access to the inner temple. The door to this opening will not really be a door; it will be more like a veil. The harmonics of the walls that are also sigils can be grasped like fabric. The two adepts who are the pillars stand one on each side of the hole and grasp the sounds/harmonies of the wall, pulling them together over the hole like curtains. The harmonics will operate through the sigil and the veil will search for the sigil within each being trying to gain access through this door. Only those with the sigil will be allowed to pass. Back inside the temple, the building work is now done and the group will need to rest for a little while. The best way to seal the work is to use the inner temple and to establish it within the outer temple.

FINAL STAGE

The group need time to rest and eat before the final stage can be finished. Again, using the element upon the altar, the group go one by one through the element, passing through the void and into the inner temple. As they arrive in the inner temple they become aware of their bodies sitting in the outer temple and of the element on the altar and of any other altars in the directions. The Hierophant opens one of the doors within the temple that leads to other temples/realms, and calls for an inner human contact to come and work with the group through the inner temple.

When the contact comes through the doorway, the Hierophant falls silent and each adept takes it in turns to physically stand up while still in vision and walk to the altar. Keeping awareness of being in both temples at once, the adept stands before the altar and builds up the vision of the inner contact on the other side of the altar. The adept communes with the inner contact, asking questions and talking advice: all of the group members should spend time in communion with the inner contact. When the group has finished, they withdraw from the inner temple and then clear the element to close the work. The inner temple will now need establishing upon the inner planes by regular use. It is like beating a path through the jungle; even though it is constructed, the use is what firmly roots it in the inner worlds.

First the adepts should go into the temple and explore the different realms through the doorways so that they become used to who is where and when. Then the inner library should be established in a section of the inner temple, which should be a room which has many doorways leading off to other temples where the priest/esses can flow back and forth freely, bringing their knowledge with them. The inner library will also become a part of the temple egregore once the egregore container is constructed.

The more the temple is used, the bigger and more powerful it will become. It is an organic consciousness that will grow and change over time depending on the interactions it has with humanity. Initiates can be brought into the temple to learn and to gain access to other realms. Adepts can go through the temple to the Abyss to do deep exploration work and to make connection with beings that will help in the deeper work of the mysteries.

The Hierophant can continue to work on developing the inner temple with the group to open out access to the death realm, and to the inner landscape of the land. The inner temple becomes a stopping off point, a meeting point, a place of learning, of resting and healing, and of powering up. It is a junction between worlds where many powerful beings can come together out of time to work on large projects, and the temple becomes a filter for Divine power as it is pulled into the temple to be transformed for the outer world. And finally, the inner temple becomes the inner landscape of the outer temple, keeping the inner and outer power in balance which is then reflected in the balance and power of the group that works through the temples.

CHAPTER 5:

THE BUILDING AND MAINTENANCE OF THE EGREGORE

The next phase of work in the building of a new lodge is the creation of the vessel for the egregore. Some magical lodges do not purposely form the egregore, rather they let it form naturally out of the group mind and energy, relying on the inner contacts of the lodge to manage the egregore. In practical terms, that has resulted in some egregores becoming feral, and some being used by unscrupulous leaders to energise themselves and their own agendas.

When the egregore is formed in a specific fashion and has a filter in place, then that action can help to sidestep some of the issues that these constructs can create. If it is filtered and contained, it is much harder for parasites to take over and also hard for a lodge member to fashion it to their own use.

So what is an egregore?

A lot of what has been written about egregores speaks from a stand point of psychology which I think limits the understanding of how these power collectives work. Also I am not a psychologist, so I will talk from a standpoint of magic, not psychology.

When a magical group gets together and does inner work, which is essentially working through the imagination to manipulate energy, the energies of the group and the structures of their imagination, their knowledge, and their histories join together in the inner worlds in a natural ‘congealing’ of consciousness. If it is left purely to nature, the collective energy builds slowly over time and can be tapped into a resource by the group. But because it has no filters, boundaries or structure, it can also be tapped into by any being that comes along and spots it. This frequently happens when parasites spot what they see as a yummy pot of energy and stop by to feed. Once they discover that the energy is potentially a two-way stream, which all egregores are, the parasite begins to feed the lodge member information and visions in an attempt to encourage communion which to them is an output of energy. This happens if the magical work is also left unfiltered and unstructured.

Some sure signs that a magical lodge is being fed off by an egregore parasite are that the members will be gaining inner information that is trite but what they want to hear, and the other sign is that they will all be very tired a lot of the time once they are away from the lodge. If the egregore is being fed off by the lodge Hierophant as opposed to an inner parasite, then you will get the symptoms of a group who cannot think for themselves, who are weak and who constantly defer to the leader whom they treat like a god. The leader himself will have seemingly boundless energy and charisma which is fed by the egregore, but they will actually output very little magically. It becomes a feeding station for a messiah ego.

Sometimes an egregore can become very big if the organisation that it is connected to is big and in such cases if it is unguarded, a large being can move in and begin to operate it. This can become very dangerous because not only is the energy flow a two-way thing, but also the thought patterns that flow from the group to the egregore and from the parasited egregore to the group. A large egregore ridden by a powerful intelligent being can influence a vast number of people into certain ways of unhealthy thinking which becomes the exorcist’s worst nightmare.

The way to avoid a lot of these problems is to structure a vessel for the egregore and have good filters in place. This is one of the many purposes of the inner temple which is to act as a filter and vessel for the egregore. If there are checks and balances in place for the egregore, then there is less chance of it going wrong. The checks and balances also need to be in place in the outer lodge in the form of advised patterns of behaviour and shared responsibilities.

When working correctly, an egregore is an amazing tool and addition to a magical lodge. It amplifies the power of the work, it shares out the impact of power, it builds upon collective knowledge, and facilitates the storage of that knowledge which becomes the inner library. The inner library is an expression of a function of the egregore and while ever the egregore is given shapes and faces to act as an interface/filter, it cannot be hacked so easily.

The egregore also helps by gathering together all the available energy from all group members and focussing that power on a particular job. This is a very important dynamic for deep and powerful work so that the burden is shared out through the egregore and no one person takes the full impact.

There is also a strange energy dynamic with egregores that I do not fully understand but I have observed over and over, and that is that when the egregore has ten people powering it, it holds the power of a hundred people. The group power or energy is somehow magnified many times. When I first came across this, I wondered if it was a parasite that was manipulating the egregore to get people to do things. But when I looked closely, there was no such being involved and I realised I was looking at some strange power dynamic that is triggered by certain types of work.

This can have wonderful or terrible consequences depending on what the egregore is being used for and who is driving it. This is why it is so vitally important to have checks and balances in place at the very beginning of the construction.

Another thing to think about is that the egregore, when left to natural construction, can survive for a very long time after the lodge has ceased to be. An egregore has an energy dynamic in survival terms that is very similar to an inner temple, so it can survive unused for hundreds of years or longer. That raises interesting questions regarding the links to people’s energies and how deep those links go regarding the spirit after death and the genetic inheritance of power lines. The more I looked at egregores that had been allowed to just do their own thing, the more I became aware that we have a responsibility to form and filter these power sources, and have checks and balances in place.

As an exercise, many years ago I took a group through the inner worlds to look at the egregore of the Roman Catholic Church. It was a very sorry state of affairs to observe as it appeared as a huge egregore (and I mean really huge) that was feeding off guilt and suffering. When we got closer to the egregore (which had beings parasiting and operating it), we felt the weight of the negative emotions that the egregore fed its members in the form of guilt and the need to suffer. The egregore then fed off the emotions that this burden produced. It was heavily parasited but there was also an internal use of the egregore power that connected into the Vatican — it was all extremely unhealthy.

WHAT IS THE PRACTICAL FUNCTION OF AN EGREGORE IN A MAGICAL LODGE?

An egregore is basically a storage facility for energy, knowledge, and memory of the group actions. It amplifies the power of the group work and is particularly useful when it comes to new initiates. It powers their work so that their techniques are successful, which in turn encourages the initiate to continue their studies. It is also a knowledge store that the initiate can tap into to expand their studies, which also helps the next generation to develop their work further in exploration.

The other interesting thing about an egregore is that when it is filtered through the inner temple, it will also draw upon the knowledge of all the other adepts in the other temples that are connected to the line so that the knowledge available to a worker can potentially become great.

The egregore is also protective as it operates within a set structure, so the egregore can be tuned to watch over the entire group members at all times and any work that is undertaken by the lodge is filtered and guarded by the power of the egregore. The downside of all of this is that the adepts can become reliant on the group energy and knowledge which can encourage laziness and an unwillingness to protect, energise, and educate themselves. Such an attitude towards the work becomes a self-culling mechanism whereby the adept begins to feel himself to be all-powerful and all-knowing. This usually precipitates power demands which end up with the adept being excluded from the group. When this happens the adept is thrown back on his own power and knowledge, so if he has been relying on the egregore, his knowledge and power will not be very advanced at all. It can be a massive but needed wake-up call.

A while ago I was asked about the possibility of tapping into old egregores where the group disbanded in the past but the egregore still exists, and I replied that this is possible but unhealthy. Any patterns or poor foundation which resulted in the group falling apart will be pattern inherent within the egregore. Any use of such an egregore will result in the same patterns being played out once more.

THE BUILDING OF A VESSEL FOR THE EGREGORE

The best way that I have found to manage an egregore is to have a container for it and filters in place from the very beginning of the inception of the group. This can be done through the inner temple construction and can become a part of the inner temple itself, which has a lot of checks and balances inherent within it. It gives the egregore structure as opposed to a face — some groups create a human image or impose a façade of a deity to hold the egregore, and to my mind that is just asking for trouble. Doing such a thing is basically creating a situation whereby a thought form or actual deity can take over the egregore and it can end up running the group for its own agenda. By containing the egregore inside the building structure, the group can sidestep that sort of issue.

When you are approaching the design of a container, it is wise to have separate containers for the energy and the knowledge, so that the two can be used in tandem as a working method, but the two powers are not within each other. This again cuts down the likelihood of the whole thing being taken over by intelligent beings for their own use. One way of approaching that is to have a centre of knowledge where the members go to study, have teachers, and dispense knowledge, like the inner library. Similarly, a container for the energy should be part of the inner temple, but a unit that is just for the energy storage. It can be constructed to look like a container or tank, but that will limit its capacity, or it can be contained within a natural element like stone or water or fire. Water is a wonderful refreshing, energising element that can soak up energy and hold it, and it is compatible with our bodies which have a high percentage of water. This way, when the energy is drawn upon, our bodies can process it easily and naturally with minimum impact.

Stone can also store energy and heat, and can be very grounding — such a container may be appropriate for groups that are working with the nature, the earth, standing stones and mountains. However the density of the energy form can be heavy for the group to hold when they work and that would need to be taken into consideration.

Fire is also an interesting container of group energy and one that I have worked with before in this context, but what I did find is that when you draw upon that energy for work, the human body responds to the input of power by burning up. Fevers or inflammations are not always a good idea when you are in the middle of a massive magical project!

To begin the construction of the egregore, the consecrated foundation group along with the Hierophant go to work in the inner temple. As is always the case in magic, focus and intent is everything and this is a point that needs to be held to throughout this working.

In the inner temple, the container for the energy will need attending to first. It would probably be best to have the container in a separate space within the temple, like a large room or chapel off to one side. That can be built by calling the Sandalphon at the elemental threshold of the void, as they are coworkers and builders.

The Hierophant chooses an area off to one side of the temple and begins to stretch a doorway out of the walls by using his hands and voice. Once a gap has been created, the others can join in to stretch the walls out into another space, and the Sandalphon join in to create walls and floors. The container must not be too ‘contained’ — it needs to be able to allow the void to flow in and out of it to keep it healthy and balanced. This is the use of the void as unformed Divinity, which does not allow any Tom, Dick, or Alien to access it. But it will allow elemental power to flow back and forth thus giving the angelic thresholds access to the egregore to keep it clear and uncorrupted.

To explain the construction, I will talk through it using the element of water and the power of the stars, as these two powers are strong, uncorrupted, and are in purely natural forms in our world that our bodies understand and can process.

The constructed space consists of three walls and a floor. The Hierophant stands to the area with no wall facing into the nothing, which is the void. Two members stand on either side of the Hierophant and in physical reality they each put a hand upon the shoulder of the Hierophant to uphold her energetically.

The Hierophant then calls upon the angelic being Arariel (which is a hive being) to flow into the temple to provide a vessel for the egregore and the Sandalphon join in the call to give it strength. The Arariel appear out of the void and flow into the space as water, falling like a waterfall and filling the space like a lake. The water flows in and out of the void like a constant blood flow until the lake fills to a suitable depth. In the future, the egregore will grow with the lodge so that the lake will grow bigger and bigger, potentially becoming a sea if the lodge grows and survives for long enough.

The Hierophant and the group of adepts stand upon the edge of the waters and each places their right hand into the water. They feel the power of the Arariel flow through them, affecting the water within their bodies and filling them with a sense of peace and wisdom. As the Arariel flow through them, the group become aware that the angel is ‘copying’ their human energy and mirroring that energy into the water so that all the energy patterns of the group have are mirrored in the lake.

One by one, each adept sips a bit of the water and then slowly allows herself to slip into the lake and float in its peace. As she floats, every experience that she has ever had flows into the water — every illness, ever power surge, and every energy imprint flows into the water which copies and holds them like a recorder. The strength of the angel flows into her, filling her and changing the frequency that resonates through the water in her body, bringing her to the same frequency as the lake. As she looks up, she see stars that reflect down into the water and the power of the stars flows down into the lake, strengthening and energising the water. This use of stars instead of a constructed ceiling allows a much greater storage of energy and allows for different types of energy to flow through this place. One of the destructive things that can happen to an inner egregore container is if it is built in too rigid a manner which makes it unable to flex with universal power — such rigidity breaks the container and ultimately can break the group.

After a while of drifting, the angel tells the adept to climb out. As the adepts climb out, each person puts a bit of her spit into the lake to consciously give back of their fluids to the collective.

Upon completion of the exchange of energy and fluids, it is then time to ask for guardians to watch over the lake of power to keep it safe, clean, and focussed. The Hierophant utters across the water for the Arariel to offer their guardians to flow into the lake, to keep it healthy and strong. As the group watch the water flowing out of the void and into the lake, they begin to notice fish swimming out of the void and swimming around the lake. These are the guardians that work with the Arariel in sacred places; they are the Keepers of the ancient altars, the guards of Divine power, and the watchers of energy. The Hierophant and the group carefully wade into the lake and stand among the fish, stretching their hands out to allow the fish to swim over them or under them, to make contact and communion. The fish commune with the group, telling them of any needs they may have and giving the group adepts sounds that will be projected to the group if the lake is ever in danger.

The adepts of the lodge will be able to come here in vision if they need to draw upon large amounts of power for work, or if they are in desperate need of an energy input for a magical reason. However, because the vessel for the energy is an angelic being, it will guard the power so that if a member should try to breach the lake to draw upon it for their own selfish energetic usage, they will be attacked by the fish (who are ancient and aggressive temple guardians). Most of the time though, once the inner temple is merged with the outer temple, this lake will operate on automatic and the group workers will not be always aware of it. When the inner temple is merged with the outer temple, a container of water or a small waterfall or tank with fish should always be in the temple and kept clean and fresh and this outer expression of the vessel will reinforce the inner containment of the egregore.

That is also the time to build the door and lock it. Again, using the Sandlaphon, a door is constructed with the body of the Sandalphon and the lock is triggered by the consecration sigil — only those who hold the sigil in their inner pattern will be able to gain access to the lake.

Now the second part of the container for the egregore must be constructed. This can make use of the knowledge receptacle that was created during the building of the inner temple which is the inner library. Going to the inner library in the inner temple, the group adepts and the Hierophant place their hands upon one of the walls, and ask the walls to part to allow a guarded opening to the void. The group then use harmonics to change the power of the wall so that an opening appears with the void on the other side of it.

The Hierophant, standing on the edge of the void, calls upon the angel Raziel to become the guardian and Keeper of the inner library. A great wind flows out of the void into the temple and in the wind appears Raziel, the Keeper of magic, knowledge, and wisdom. The angel flows into the space and begins to fill the walls, the books, the doors, as well as the void entrance and the temple door. The angel becomes a part of the library and as you walk around the space, you will feel the angel’s power all around you as it protects the knowledge within the library.

The entrance to the void is kept open in the library so that knowledge can flow out of the void and into the consciousness of the people who frequent the temple. Often an altar is constructed just before the edge of the void which can act as a filter and anchor for knowledge to pass in and out of the void.

A being will appear who will identify themselves as the librarian: this being is a guardian that works with the angel Raziel as a Keeper of knowledge. The librarian hands each member a book and asks them to write their name as the title. Each member is then asked to put a drop of their blood upon the book that holds their name so that the book will hold all the collected knowledge of that person. This begins the process of the library storing the knowledge of the lodge so as each new person is consecrated or initiated into the group, a book will appear in the library with his or her name upon it. They will not need to go through the same process with the blood upon the book — that is a foundation action that tells the angelic being what the intention of the group is. Once it has figured out the intentions, it will then continue the action automatically with each new person that is initiated into the lodge.

This action creates a container for the group knowledge and the angelic being stops the stored knowledge from being misused, trapped, destroyed or taken away. Because the space has a direct access to the void, all knowledge that is passing into the general human consciousness will also appear in the inner library. It also allows all knowledge throughout time to potentially flow into the library, and discoveries that the group make will be accessible through the void to other groups who work on the same frequency of magic. It is important to have this two-way flow — freedom of knowledge and the willingness to share wisdoms is all part of the balance of a magical group which helps to keep the group in a sense of service and to focus on deeper issues.

One of the symptoms of an unhealthy group is where the leader insists on trapping and keeping the knowledge to himself, while drawing upon everyone else’s knowledge like a parasite. This type of leader often puffs himself up as something special and grabs the power, thereby putting himself upon a large pedestal where he can rule and control the group. The use of the Raziel in the library is a step towards stopping that from happening, as the Raziel protects knowledge from those who should not have it, and makes sure that those who should have it get it. This dynamic is a very important ingredient to put into the building of the egregore container.

The group needs to orientate the inner temple with the egregore containers by simple intention building. The group go back into the main part of the inner temple and, while standing in a circle at the centre of the temple, they begin to walk around the temple, acknowledging the various entrances and doorways to the library, the lake, the Abyss tunnel, and any other sections of the inner library that have been built. Walking around the temple, touching each door, and thinking about what is behind that door allows the thought intention to become impressed upon the building and strengthens it as a structure.

The group begin to see the detail of the inner temple, i.e. its walls, the height, colour, shape, decoration, pillars, shapes of the doors — but at the same time, seeing elements of nature running through those structures so that it does not become a rigid building that can limit the flow of power. The walls will have sound harmonics, platonic shapes, and the impressions of humans upon it. The ceiling may be of the stars and space, the floor maybe earth or natural stone, with the pillars being trees. This introduction of nature ensures that the structure has flexibility and organic life flowing through it so that it can flex and bend with the various flows of power that will come through it. It also allows for the wisdom of nature to become a part of the inner temple, which will act as a buffer from human stupidity.

When the vision work of establishing of the lake and library is finished, the group should break for a little bit. After a rest, the next stage of the work is the superimposing of the egregore container in the inner temple with the outer temple and group. This is the act of bringing the inner temple and containers into physical connection and should be performed so that the inner temple, its contacts, and the power of the egregore are established right into the fabric of the outer temple.

If the group does not have a permanent building to use as a temple space, then the anchor for the inner temple can be expressed through the sacred objects of the temple, i.e. a consecrated altar, a consecrated vessel for water, a book with the names of each member and the ritual implements. All of these things can be connected to the inner temple and containers, and can become outer expressions of the inner structure.

The Hierophant and adepts should assign a librarian who works in depth in the inner library and also keeps the outer books, a Keeper of the Vessel who works directly with the egregore and also looks after the outer vessel of water in the lodge. The Hierophant should take responsibility for the altar at the edge of the void and the altar in the lodge.

In times past, the Hierophant would have taken control of all the ritual belongings, but that opens doors for control issues and power grabbing. The sharing out of responsibility ensures a safer distribution of power and adds to the checks and balances. It also side steps an attitude the Hierophant may have that no one other than he is capable of holding power or responsibility — this attitude is the first indication of a distortion of power in the Hierophant and must be addressed.

The altar is the first thing that should be tied in and that is done by assigning an outer altar that will be permanently used in all the temple activities. The group prepares by having the altar with the element upon it and also having to hand the vessel, the book, and the consecrated ritual implements that the group use as part of the temple rituals.

The group go back in vision into the temple by way of the element/void and while they are in vision they stand with eyes open and circle the central altar. Each member of the group places their right hand upon the person next to them and the last person places a hand upon the Hierophant. Then with eyes closed, the group see with their inner vision the altar in the inner temple with the Hierophant placing his hands upon it. The Hierophant then physically puts his hands upon it and sees the physical altar and the inner altar become as one.

The Sandalphon that are in the structure of the inner temple emerge from the walls and place their hands upon the group to become thresholds for deep Divine power within substance, allowing it to flow through the group and into the Hierophant. When the Hierophant feels enough of the build up of power, he releases the power of Divinity within substance into the inner and outer altar.

While holding the vision, the Hierophant draws the sigil of the consecration over the inner and outer altar while saying, “I consecrate thee as a vessel of Divine substance, to the service of this lodge (name), the service of the inner worlds, and the service of Divine universal power.” Be aware that the Divine power that flows into the altar is pure universal power; it is not a power of a particular god or deity. To link such a power into an altar is the beginning of a religious movement and can open the door for a deity to hijack the group.

On completion of the altar, it is time for the lake to be tied into the outer temple. The vessel that holds water in the outer temple takes on the role of the cauldron or grail: the containment of regeneration and universal power. This use of such a vessel brings into the play the filter of the spiritual cup that has dominated spirituality in the northern hemisphere for thousands of years (back to the Beaker People), and such a filter ensures that the egregore energy storage in water is kept within the spiritual and magical confines of the grail.

The vessel is filled with consecrated water and is placed in the hands of the Keeper of the vessel while keeping the vision of the inner temple going. The Keeper of the vessel holds the vessel while in vision the group goes to the door of the lake and request entry. Upon placing their hands upon the door, the guardian recognises their sigil of consecration and the doors swing open. The vessel Keeper and the Hierophant enter first and the Hierophant’s job is to watch the door and keep the vessel Keeper safe while they work. The rest of the group gathers around the lake to be witnesses. The vessel Keeper calls upon the angel Arariel to assist in the transformation of the vessel into the container of the lake and the angel commands the vessel Keeper to step into the lake while holding the vessel.

The Keeper steps into the lake and dips the vessel into the lake among the fishes. The fishes each swim up to the vessel and nudge it to acknowledge it and the water of the lake flows in and out of the vessel, blessing the vessel and the consecrated water. One of the fish merges into the Keeper, leaving the mark of the fish upon the skin of the keeper. The vessel Keeper then drinks of the water both in vision and physically — she then opens her eyes and takes the vessel around to each of the group and gives them a sip of the consecrated water. This action binds the group to the lake through the vessel and establishes the vessel as the container of the lake. The vessel is brought before the angel for completion. Arariel places its hand over the vessel and the Keeper places her hand over the vessel. The Hierophant then places his hand over the hand of the Keeper and the power of the angel flows into the vessel through the two human filters.

The angel steps back and the Keeper physically places the vessel on the outer altar while also placing it on the inner altar. The vessel is complete and will stay with the altar as an outer expression of the lake. It will be filled with consecrated water while ever the group is working and it will be the responsibility of the vessel Keeper to consecrate the water and keep the vessel clean and safe. The Keeper may also choose to bring out the mark of the fish upon their skin in the form of a tattoo.

Next it is the turn of the book to be tied into the library. The book should contain all the names of the members of the lodge, and as new members are initiated so their names will be added also. The book Keeper or librarian picks up the book and holds it while doing the vision. The group leave the lake and go to the door of the library. Again the adepts, starting with the librarian, put their hands upon the door and the door opens as their consecration sigils are recognised.

In the library, the inner guardian of the library comes forward and the outer librarian offers the book of names to the guardian, stating that these are the names of those who hold knowledge and wisdom in this place. The book in vision is taken by the guardian and placed on a lectern in the centre of the library. The book is left there and acts as a filter for all members of the lodge, gathering their knowledge and distributing it throughout the library. It also acts as a reference index and as a container for the knowledge of the group, acknowledging each named member as a part of the inner library. The group take turns to go up to the lectern and look in the book for their names — they will also see the names of other books at the sides of their names which give reference to their life’s work in this life and in others. Note: the true birth name of each adept and initiate should be used, not any made up or magical name.

Once each member of the group has connected with the inner book, the outer book is put on the altar. After the vision is finished, it will be placed in a holding box and kept safe by the book Keeper. Each new initiate will be listed in the book and anyone who leaves the lodge and wishes to give up their initiation will have their name removed both in the outer and the inner book. If initiates leave the lodge but continue the work on their own path, their names should stay in the book.

The book and the vessel are now the outer manifestations of the egregore container, and the altar is the anchor in the outer world of the inner temple. If the group uses ritual implements that are consecrated, then this is a good time, while in vision, to take the ritual implements into the inner temple and place the inner versions of the implements in their rightful place in the inner temple. Keepers of the implements can be assigned and they will be responsible for the upkeep and work of the implement. The use of a variety of Keepers shares out the power and responsibility around the founding members of the lodge which is another action towards safeguarding against power grabs and control issues with the Hierophant and subsequent leaders. This is extremely important when dealing with the egregore. The Keepers should be chosen by the entire group on the basis of their balance, maturity, and stability.

In the unlikely event the egregore is breeched at sometime in the future, the outer containers can be cleansed and exorcised to rid the inner containers of parasites and bindings. If the temple is mobile, i.e. it has no set home, then it is very important that the containers are kept safe along with the altar and ritual implements. Although ideally they should all remain with their Keepers, this can practically become a problem when trying to pull the temple together for work. It is best that they are all kept together as a unit by the Hierophant but their ritual upkeep and use in the temple is governed by the Keepers.

CHAPTER 6:

USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF POLARITY IN THE LODGE

The understanding and use of polarity in a magical group or lodge is very important to the long-term health and stability of the inner and outer magical line. The balance of power between the people, the beings, and the lodge dynamics are very important, as without that balance one form of power begins to dominate the magic, which in time degenerates it or can even destroy it.

When polarity is talked about in a magical context, most people think about the priest and priestess, the male female polarity, which brings the magic into balance. Yes, that is terribly important in a lodge, but it is not the only form of polarity that needs to be in balance.

When you construct an inner temple and bring through a consecrated line, the chances are that the powers used will have been of one realm or inner direction. For example the methods in this book that relate to the construction of the line, inner temple, and egregore all use angelic powers, Abyss Divinity and inner elements. These are all very powerful streams of consciousness and are all one type of unconditional inner power. That is offset to some extent in practical terms by the human elements within the magical lodge and the fact that the lodge is an outer physical expression of the inner temple, which anchors it and gives it ballast. But the sheer level of inner power that is used when creating such structures needs a great deal of anchoring and counter balance within the outer temple.

This can be achieved by working in the outer temple with some deep conditional beings, some of which would be defined as demonic in today’s world. By rooting the physical temple in the depths of the underworld through repeated underworld visionary work the lodge can achieve a balance of power. This coupled with a balanced polarity within the working group will help to sustain the balance of power within the lodge for generations to come.

DEMONIC GUARDIANS

If the lodge construction incorporates angelic consciousness, then beings from the other side of the coin are needed to balance the power and stabilise it. This can be done by using elemental stone beings, human beings (who are dead with their body buried in the lodge), or demonic beings. I am concentrating on demonic beings for this section because killing someone and walling them up in the temple is not socially acceptable these days, and the use of elemental beings should not need much explanation. The use of elementals produces a weaker counter balance to angelic beings but they are safer.

Using demonic beings is riskier but is also a much better counter to the angelic powers. The lodge should have a balance of light and dark, conditional and non-conditional — demonic beings rebalance the unconditional powers of the angelic structures. They also keep you and the lodge on their toes: if you have a demonic being swanning around the temple you have to be very clear in your mind about what you are doing and why. Any weakness will be taken advantage of and any chance of manipulating lodge members will be tried. In days gone past, this problem used to be sidestepped by binding the demonic beings to the will and service of the Hierophant indefinitely.

Well, I’m not that into slavery and I am certainly not into binding another being just because I may get tempted by them. Curtailing the freedom of a being that hasn’t done anything wrong just in case it might make me do something wrong is a step backwards in spiritual evolution. It is better to work with the being and use the situation to strengthen the will and discipline of the adepts and it also facilitates a deeper understanding of these beings which is really necessary. Such an example was laid before us in the time of Christ and of course was completely ignored along with many other deeply profound spiritual wisdoms.

Demons are best put to work as guardians because they are powerful, can be nasty and they make sure, if they are paid well, that nothing gets into the lodge that should not be there — god help anything that tries. In the early ancient temples, these beings were worked with (as opposed to bound) and they were and some still are very effective guardians that will unleash all sorts of unhealthy and unwanted situations on those who would breach the temple. As time went on, the ancient priesthoods found it was cheaper and easier to bind them, so they did. That was a symptom of a much wider movement within the sacred temples of degeneration, power grabbing and greed, all of which contributed to their demise. When you tap into the inner temples of those times, the guardians are still bound (unless you let them go…teehheehee) and they are not happy about it.

But if you go further back to very early temple structures, then the guardians you find are not bound but are employed in service and some are committed by devotion to certain temples. I found this quite shocking at first — years ago I came across an ancient inner temple to a particular Goddess and found demonic beings guarding her. They were there out of total love and devotion to her and were willing to be there throughout time for her. This was the beginning of my understanding that demons are not terrible wicked things, they are just very powerful scary conditional beings that are often not much good for our wellbeing. But they do have a valid place in the universal order and can be worked with.

In our day and age we must tread very carefully if we are to work with demonic beings to polarise the angelic power, mainly because the world around us is so corrupt. Therefore most initiates coming into the temple will have been touched by such corruption and will need support to develop an internal discipline. This is not about morality, as I keep stressing in my writing, as none of these dynamics have anything to do with morals but with a balance of power within the initiate. We are in a society that is ‘dog eat dog’ most of the time — greed, power and lust are everyday energies that are all around us, and our society is encouraged to consume, work and not bother about the person next to us. A lot of people struggle against that and fight for another way to be; and when that dynamic plays out in the new initiates, they will need support, education and guidance. Morality is a culturally constructed baby step towards balance. After the first step comes self responsibility and the understanding of cause and effect. The demonic beings within the lodge can be a part of that education.

BRINGING IN A DEMON AS GUARDIAN

To bring in a demonic being as guardian, the first step is to find an outer vessel for it. Having a demonic being without an outer form running around a lodge is begging for trouble — if it has no form, there is nothing to contain it and nothing that you can grab if it gets out of control.

So working with a form helps the being contain itself and also gives it a vocabulary by which it can express itself. This can be seen in use in Tibetan temples where the demon guardians are painted onto the walls — the inner beings are embedded in the walls (albeit trapped and bound) as barriers or guardians and their outer form expresses their inner abilities (sharp teeth, many eyes, weapons etc). So if you are using more than one demonic being, they can be painted onto the walls.

Usually though, demonic guardians are held in statues that express their power and abilities. The statue becomes the vessel that anchors the being in this realm and allows it to flow into the lodge unhindered. If they are placed within the vessel and the demonic being is a lesser demon, i.e. closer to humanity, then they tend to not stray too far from the outer vessel. This is why it is important that the vessel has adequate power expression, i.e. many eyes, teeth, arms, weapons etc so that it can do its job. If the temple is sealed, particularly if the inner temple is sealed and then is merged with the outer temple, the demonic being cannot leave the temple boundary.

If it is a larger demonic being, then it is best to bring them only into the inner temple precinct and not the outer temple itself. The outer temple can have a statue, which acts a window, but the demonic being is only invited into the inner temple, not the outer world. Usually, this contains them within the inner temple, where they provide protection, guardianship, and polarised power balance. For a demonic being to be in the outer world, it has to be invited by a human. While it is in the inner temple, if the inner temple is merged with the outer one, it will be able to affect things in the outer temple itself, but will not see anything beyond the outer temple: the outside world will be unseen to it.

So you have your statue or vessel. First you need to exorcise it and clean it so that it is truly an empty vessel. Then it will need customising and probably some touch up work with paint etc and the painting of the lodge sigil on the bottom. Ensure it is clear, clean and ready to work, at which point the founding members and the Hierophant gather in the temple to work. One founding member should be assigned to care for and be the Keeper of the being once it is in place.

The group go into the inner temple in vision, with the statue on or aside the main altar. The vision then leads through the back door of the temple into the Abyss tunnel and walk until they get to the ledge. As they stand upon the ledge, the Hierophant calls for the Keeper of the Abyss to come and help the group. The Keeper of the Abyss will appear as a massive human being that stands within the Abyss. He will hold out his hand for the group to climb onto. Once everyone is on his hand, the Hierophant asks the Keeper to take them all to a place within the Abyss that holds demonic beings who would be willing and appropriate to work as guardians in the inner temple.

The Keeper will carry the group down the Abyss to a ledge and place everyone carefully on that ledge. Beyond the ledge will be a dark tunnel and the Hierophant leads the group down the tunnel to the chamber beyond. When the group enters the chamber it would be wise to remember that you are all in the realm of beings that have been attacked on a daily basis by some strands of humanity and may or may not be friendly towards humans. Usually though, the Keeper will not put you in harm’s way for no good reason, but will guide you to an order of demonic beings that have a history of working with humans in an appropriate way.

In the chamber the Hierophant addresses the beings present and tells them that they are looking for a being willing to be a guardian for an inner temple. If one steps forward, then the negotiations begin. These are conditional beings and do not do anything for nothing. They may work for nothing if the lodge is undertaking deep planetary work that naturally involves them somehow, or major clean up work that they can get involved in or are already involved in. For example, when society is breaking down, demonic beings are akin to bacteria — they feed off the decay and speed the process up. It is all part of nature and has its balance. So if the group is involved in that type of work, then they will most likely work happily with you.

If not, then you need to bargain around the matter of wages. Some lesser demonic beings are happy with energy food (sugar, honey, coffee), some want shiny things, some want blood, some want exposure to certain elements (full moon, the sea, fire etc). Pete and I once worked with a demonic being that fed off fire magic, which was really handy because at the time we were having tons of fire magic thrown at us by an unstable magician and the being just ate it all up happily. Job done, demon paid.

The Hierophant must be sure that they can deliver what the demonic being wants as payment and it must be something that can be given ethically and willingly (no virgins, puppy sacrifices, or babies!). When the negotiations have been bashed out and everyone is happy, then it is time to take the demonic being into the inner temple. To ensure that the demonic being does not trigger off any current guardians within the temple boundaries, the Hierophant must pull out one of their hairs (if they don’t have long hair, any founder that does will do) and tie it around the wrist of the demon. Going back down the tunnel, when the group and the demon gets to the ledge, the Hierophant calls upon the Keeper to take them back to the tunnel of the inner temple.

If the demon is wanting to work with the group because the group work is something that the demons are involved in, then it may be a situation whereby the demon is brought into the group as a member. As a conditional being, the demon can be consecrated into service and will be bound by the same rules and powers as the humans. The only down side of this is that once consecrated to the line, that is it for however long the temple exists. These are the types of demonic beings that you meet in the very ancient Egyptian temples: demonic beings that have been consecrated into the service of a temple or deity.

The decision to do such a thing should lie between the Hierophant and the demon. The Keeper of the Abyss, as an angelic human bridge, can also be consulted for advice, which will be balanced and impartial. If the consecration is the right thing to do, then it must be done of the ledge of the tunnel by the inner temple. The Hierophant places a hand upon the demon, exorcising it, cleansing it, and then consecrating it into the temple line.

When the group arrives at the door of the inner temple, either the demon will be consecrated and therefore will be given full access to the temple, or the hair of the Hierophant given freely on the wrist of the demon will give it access so long as it is standing with the Hierophant.

When the group are all in the temple, it is time to prepare the vessel for the demon to take up residence in. Regardless of whether it is consecrated or not, it will reside in the vessel as it will give it form to work through. The main difference is that if it is consecrated, then the demonic being will be taken into the outer temple as well as the inner temple and will be brought into our world to work with the group.

The Hierophant stands in vision before the vessel that is on the inner altar and also stands physically before the outer vessel on the altar. The demonic being stands behind him in the inner temple and the Hierophant places his hands upon the vessel. The Hierophant calls upon all the powers that run through the consecrated line and upon the powers of light and dark equally balanced within the line. When the power is suitably built, the Hierophant opens himself as a doorway and pulls the demon through himself, through his hands and into the vessel. When the demon is fully in the vessel, the Hierophant marks the forehead of the vessel using consecrated oil with the sigil of the consecrated line. He then asks the demon what its name is. The name will filter through the mind of the Hierophant and its name is breathed over the vessel. This will be the name that is used to address the being in the future, both physically and in vision.

The Hierophant then charges the demonic being within the vessel with its tasks, telling the being what will be expected of it and what it will receive in return. These words are spoken in the inner temple with the inner voice, and simultaneously in the outer temple with the physical voice.

It is wise to remember when doing something like this, that although most of the work is done in vision and therefore in the imagination, it is still real and very dangerous. If the group has been successful, there will be a very powerful conditional being living in a form inside the temple and this being will need attending to. It will be the job of the Keeper of the demon to make sure the demon has what it needs and what it was promised, and in return to tell the demon what needs doing. The Keeper will have to be very careful and disciplined in their approach towards the demon and not be taken in by any temptations or plots the demonic being might try to hatch as sometimes these beings get bored and will try to have fun at your expense.

The other very important thing to remember when you have one of these beings in the temple is that when the temple is being cleaned and exorcised that you don’t inadvertently exorcise the working demon out of the temple. Not only does that flush a lot of work down the drain, it tends to piss them off quite a bit too (been there, done that one).

If the group and the demon work within their boundaries, the demon will be great ballast for the temple and a pretty effective guardian, and the demon gets to play out in the outer temple and get fed. Everyone is happy.

HUMAN POLARITY

If the Hierophant is sure the temple structure and beings are balanced and polarised, it is then time to think about the human element within the lodge. In times past, a lot of magical lodges/groups were predominantly men with the occasional woman as a figurehead/goddess stand-in, or as a seer. The original Golden Dawn took a step away from that dynamic by having powerful women in the group, but their polarity dynamic was still off, which created problems.

In today’s magical world, most groups have a mix of male and female; some groups dispense equal power between the sexes and some lodges do not. Some magical groups go to extremes, for example goddess temples run mainly by women, magical ritual groups that are nearly exclusively young men etc. All of these dynamics have their advantages and disadvantages.

For the long term balanced health of the lodge, it is important to have a good balance of polarity both physically and magically. The issues of balance within magic bring up all sorts of interesting magical issues regarding sexuality, power, status, and ability, all of which can have a devastating effect on the long term health of a lodge if they are not adequately addressed.

PHYSICAL POLARITY

The first issue is physical polarity: the balance of men and women. That does not mean that there needs to be an equal amount of women to men, just that there needs to be all variants of power expressed through the lodge on equal footing. It is also good for the balance of the lodge if there are variants in sexuality within the lodge such as gay or lesbian members, bisexual members, celibate members, as well as active heterosexual members. This is not a physical issue but a power mediation issue as two levels of polarity flow through a human: the physical expression and the sexual/power mediation expression.

The physical body of a woman, regardless of her sexual orientation, brings though power in a specific way; the same is true for a man (although in both instances there are always awkward ones who don’t fit the stereotype). If the woman has had her womb removed, that changes the power dynamic (but not if she has had her tubes tied), as does the issue of whether she is still ovulating or not because post-menopausal women bring through a completely different power to fertile women.

The same issue comes up regarding men who have had their testicles removed (i.e. after testicular cancer): the power dynamic changes and their power mediation method is unique to them. This is not true however of men who have had a vasectomy as their power dynamic does not change so long as the testicles are producing sperm.

So already, before you begin to take sexuality into account, the lodge has potentially five differing types of human mediation. The interplay between the different dynamics can be mind boggling and if harnessed correctly can greatly enhance the inner abilities of the lodge.

The first step is to understand the different qualities that each sexuality variant brings to the lodge. The power roles of an ovulating woman and a testosterone man are obvious and centre on raising power for regeneration, opening gateways, bridging worlds, and bringing through beings. The balance between the man and woman must be equal — any attempt for one sex to dominate the other, regardless of which way round it is, can potentially damage the power dynamic. Although sometimes the power tension between sexes can itself raise power, if it is not allowed to degenerate into fights. Because of this need for equality between the two fertile bodies, it is helpful if the Hierophant has an adept of the opposing sex to work with and who is given equal status and respect.

Within that equality there are dynamics of tension and struggle, which when worked with maturely can open doors to power.

If the Hierophant does not have an equal of the opposite sex to work with, then a deity of the opposite sex can be worked with in the lodge, but then the usual problems encountered when working with deities must be navigated. In many lodges, the magus/Hierophant often chooses a younger less experienced partner that is easy to dominate, mould and parasite off of. That is not the same as a younger partner who is a magical equal and who is treated as such. The Hierophant, regardless of whether they are male or female, must think very carefully about the partner that he or she chooses to work with to ensure that the partner can not only hold their own in the work but is also fully confident in their own knowledge. This sidesteps all the dark holes that can be fallen down when choosing a weaker inexperienced partner.

The same is true for the rest of the lodge. It is the responsibility of the Hierophant to ensure that working partners within the lodge are more or less equal in their strength and ability. Outer knowledge is not so important, but inner ability is. Outer knowledge is a peripheral skill whereas inner ability, strength, and experience is of the utmost importance to ensure that a weak link does not damage the whole group during a major working.

That dynamic does change however when a more experienced adept takes on the responsibility of guiding a younger less experienced initiate. Care has to be taken with the adept that he does not unconsciously take advantage of the initiate and end up playing power games. Guiding an initiate is a very important responsibility that should be taken very seriously. If they do start a relationship up outside of the lodge then that is their business. But inside the lodge, working partners must be equal regardless of what relationship dynamics play out outside the lodge.

The same must be said for gay and lesbian members as the sexual dynamics are straight forward and the same rules of equality and respect should be enforced. Power and tension can be built between varieties of combinations of sexuality but it must be understood that the use of sexuality for polarity tension and power is not the same as sexual magic, which is a different issue again. It is about using the power generated through hormone output and the affect that such output has on the rest of the group members, which in turn defines how the power is handled.

It is also important that such dynamics do not overstep the boundaries of working partnerships. A powerful working partnership must be respected by the other members of the lodge and not be a target for other members to play out sexual tension dynamics as part of power games or manipulation — such immaturity has no place in a fully contacted working lodge. The sexual power dynamics in a lodge can be complex, powerful, and potentially dangerous and should be approached carefully.

The sexual power dynamics between gay and straight men or lesbian and straight women can be interesting and complex at a very deep level in magic. Each form of sexuality brings a certain quality of power to the table and when you have a wider range of sexual expressions within the group, then the potentials for magical work are enormous. Again, it has nothing to do with actual sex; it is simply the quality that a certain form of sexuality brings to the table. When the Hierophant understands all the different dynamics that the lodge has, then it is easier for the Hierophant to suggest work sections, partners and tasks to the appropriate people.

When the lodge has celibate members working within the group, then the lodge is presented with a different dynamic again and can be used to great advantage in magical work. It is all about experimenting to learn how power works through us and how the group dynamic fits around that.

Problems can arise when a member does not really understand their own sexuality or is sexually confused. This lack of internal clarity can be a weak link in magical work, which is why it is always best that the adepts of the lodge are older and have already ironed out a lot of their internal issues. Usually, by the time most magical people are getting interested in more powerful and deep magical work, they have already gone through a variety of magical experiences and groups, and have experimented with sexuality, drugs and power.

PHYSICAL POLARITY AND MEDIATION

The magical dynamics of physical polarity are more straight forward and are not littered with the landmines so common with sexuality issues. The physical body of a human mediates power a certain way regardless of the sexual orientation. So an ovulating woman mediates one type of power, a post menopausal or a woman who has had a hysterectomy another type of power, men mediate power another way and castrated men mediate yet another form of power. It doesn’t change according to how they feel or think, it is just pure simple physical dynamics. There are some people who do not fit into these comfortable stereotypes and the Hierophant needs to be sensitive to the dynamics that some members can bring to the table because such people can be sources of great power and should not be shoehorned into a stereotype.

A woman who is ovulating and has a womb has the ability to take another being into herself in a certain way. The estrogen in her body protects her system so that it can hold two spirits or more at once for a long time — she can hold, bridge and birth beings of any order. Women who are not producing estrogen at a fertile level, i.e. menopausal women or women with their ovaries removed, cannot draw beings into themselves in such way so easily. A woman who has ovaries but no womb can draw in beings but has no vessel to process the power to form, which can become very dangerous. Their abilities are different as they still have small amounts of estrogen which protect them, but not enough for bridging. They are however, much more able to reach into places and access different worlds and times — this is one of the reasons why, traditionally, old women were seers. Some women in their forties may notice that reaching into such worlds is easier before they ovulate, but after ovulation they get more of an energy kick back from such work.

Men are excellent catalysts and callers — their inner power is designed to call a being down into the vessel of the woman, to hold large amounts of power and to focus that power in pinpoint accuracy. Younger men can raise a good deal of power but are often unstable with it whereas older men can balance that power out and rein it in, controlling it and riding that power so that it does its job properly. Older men are also very good at creating patterns and do not fall into the trap that younger men do of getting lost within the patterns and ending up stuck in a dead end. The older men can create pattern, power it, and step back to let the woman fill it with consciousness; so, together, with such a combination of power abilities within a lodge, it gets very interesting!

For a healthy lodge, it is apparent then that a combination of both sexes of various sexual preferences and different stages of life gives a full rounded quality to a lodge that keeps it strong.

POLARITY PATTERNING

Another consideration within the lodge on the issue of polarity is the positioning of men and women during the work — the physical positioning of people around the lodge while certain work is happening is very important. Strong solid and earthy people make good door keepers, people sitting in a direction would be best worked with a person of the opposite sex sitting opposite them, sometimes the dynamic of heterosexual and homosexual working in opposites can be powerful — it is all something that should be explored by the lodge and the results worked with actively.

There has been a variety of things written over the years regarding sexuality, polarity, and magic and I personally feel it is best to practically experiment as a group rather than work with old rules and stereotypes. It is also important to take careful note of what dynamic creates what magical conditions, but the bottom line is respect, polarised balance, and proper boundaries.

CHAPTER 7:

THE FOUNDATION FOR THE CALLING AND DEVELOPMENT OF INITIATES

When a Hierophant and founding group build a new lodge, a lot of care goes into the inner constructions, but what is often overlooked is the inner calling of initiates. The drawing in of potential initiates for training to be adepts is often just left to chance, word of mouth and, these days, public advertising through workshops. This is all fine if the lodge is going to operate in a simple public training way, but it does not furnish the lodge with the souls needed for deep work over a long period of time. If the lodge/group purpose is to take on large long term powerful projects that serve magical structures over generations, then more care is needed to light a beacon for the true searchers to find the group. It is also important to put the inner call out for the qualities the lodge potentially needs to fulfill its goals.

Straight away, with such an agenda, you can see the pitfalls lining up, ready to fall into. This approach can very easily become an elitist filtering system which sabotages the project early on. Much care, thought, and ethics need to come into play the minute the group decide to involve such magical methods for bringing in initiates.

So what is the calling all about? The calling is just one part of a sequence of acts that bring in initiates for training in the present, sets up pathways for future seekers, and also calls out through the Abyss for certain inner contacts, adepts, and teachers to reincarnate so that they can work with or in the lodge in the future. It does not manipulate or force any souls to come; rather it creates landing lights and beacons for present and future seekers.

Because we have such a short life span, and within that life span a fairly short understanding of long term magical patterns that operate throughout time, we are not always the best judges of what qualities are needed in future generations, nor indeed in present generations, to furnish a solid and long lasting line that will not corrupt. A new lodge built from scratch has the potential to be a foundation for the long term development of the mysteries in a way that can be of service to the outer world as well as the inner worlds throughout time. The action of bringing together adepts, teachers, healers, magical workers, guides, and exorcists who commit themselves to the furthering of humanity through the mysteries and through wisdom should be the main intention of the calling.

The shopping list for the qualities needed to achieve such an undertaking are beyond our everyday awareness. Our limited culture and spiritual understanding cannot begin to perceive what is truly needed; indeed we may even balk at what is really needed as it will most likely, at some stage, conflict with our own opinions.

To gain the skills needed to make such a calling we need to employ a variety of beings to work with us through the Hierophant, the foundation members and through the consecrated line. It is a team effort and we, as humans, are the most insignificant members of the team. The understanding of needs is best reached by input from the polarity extremes of the powers that the lodge works with and also input from the inner contact/elders. The knowledge is put into the Hierophant not in the form of words, but in harmonies — it is harmonics that call souls into being, not words.

Because we live in a corrupt and conditional world, the first section of the harmonic will need to come from the depths of conditionality: the depths of the Abyss. The long term patterns of civilisations are to rise and then slowly collapse and the job of the lodge within that is to ensure that the inner mysteries continue untouched by such power dynamics, and serve nature, humanity, Divinity and the inner worlds regardless of what is going on in the outside world. The politics of civilisation are not the concern of the lodge — the responsibility of the adepts is to make sure that as humans we contribute and bridge the power needed for necessary change to occur, whatever that change may be: it is unconditional service.

The beings in the lower Abyss, usually referred to as demons, are beings that are heavily involved in the rise and fall of civilisations so they are some of the best beings to ask for an opinion as to the qualities needed for humans to take up the mantle of work. On a surface level, and indeed in the surface world, demonic beings are a dangerous and corrupting force. In the Abyss which is their own territory, they display more balance and are able to ascertain what the adepts are trying to achieve — it is in their interests to offer good advice.

THE VISION TO COLLECT THE HARMONICS

The vision will need to be conducted by the founding group as well as the Hierophant. Although it will be the Hierophant asking for the help, the powers are so strong in these places that it will take the group energy to make the vision safe and workable. The vision is long, dangerous and very draining, so the group need to be properly prepared for the work and be able to rest afterwards.

The first step for the group is to go down the Abyss and ask the Keeper of the Abyss to take them to an area where there are demonic beings who work through the creation and destruction of civilisations. It is safest to access the Abyss through the back door of the temple and it would be wise to take a gift as an offering. It would also be prudent when first stepping into the void to access the inner temple, for the group to call upon the Sandalphon and ask them for armour to protect the group. They will give the group suitable body cover to keep them safe not only from the demonic beings, but also from the sheer force of the power deep down in the Abyss.

In the Abyss area and the chamber where the demonic beings reside, the group need to be constantly on guard in all directions as these beings, although willing to work with humanity sometimes, are still dangerous and unpredictable. Once the Hierophant is stood before a being willing to offer advice, the Hierophant states that he is looking for a harmonic frequency to call out for future initiates of the line, to have a harmonic that will be polarised with the other power harmonics of the angelic, ancestral and Divine lines. The demons, if they decide to help, will put their heads back and make a sound, a deep heavy sound that the Hierophant needs to absorb within him so that his body remembers. This is a very important dynamic in the work of calling — it is the body that remembers the frequencies, not the memory.

As soon as the Hierophant has the sound, the gift should be given to the being and the group then need to leave quickly. These beings are governed by the need to disrupt humanity and they will start to have an effect on the group pretty soon. The group leave by calling the Keeper of the Abyss to the ledge and asking the Keeper to take the group to the angelic beings that are also a part of humanity. These are an interesting group of angels referred to as the Nephilim and they are beings who have gotten some pretty bad biblical press in the past. They are a hive of angelic beings that are also of humanity and as such they have a pretty good understanding of how humanity works and why.

Again the group are dropped on a ledge in the Abyss which is the back door to a realm where the Nephilim can be found. The group seeks out these beings and again ask for a harmonic. This harmonic is a direct counter balance of the demonic sound and when the two sounds are put together, a power tension is created that is the beginnings of a doorway.

The moment the sound is gained by the Hierophant, the next harmonic is needed from the elders, who were once human (they were adepts in their own time), and who are guardians of the mysteries at the edge of the void. They are also on the edge of the Abyss and are getting ready to move across the Abyss beyond humanity’s reach. They are adepts that are from thousands of years ago and they have a very good understanding of what works and what doesn’t over a long period of time. These guys have been patiently working with humanity for hundreds of generations so they have seen it all. Their inner temple is on the level with the desert of the Abyss, our realm out of time, and instead of being put on a ledge by the Keeper, the group are carefully placed at the foot of a great temple that teeters on the edge of the Abyss.

Inside, the Hierophant once more asks for a sound, a harmonic to call initiates to the line for current and for future generations. A sound is given, as human advice is given to another human. One or more of the adepts may come forward and ask to be consecrated. If this happens, what they are actually offering is to stall their well earned rest and be connected into the lodge so that they will be reborn and find their way to the lodge in the future. If one of them is selfless enough to offer this, it is a great honor. The cycle of life and death is not a pleasant one and these beings have already given a great deal of themselves to humanity, which will have also meant enduring a great deal of suffering. The Hierophant should consecrate any adept that asks and the group then exchange gifts and knowledge with the adepts in the temple. The Hierophant of the great temple will then call the group to a side chapel.

In this side chapel, the wall falls away into the void and the two Hierophants stand side by side on the edge of the Abyss. The inner Hierophant calls for the powers of Divinity that manifest through humanity to appear out of the void. Slowly out of the nothing a human appears that shines like the sun, has the stars all around them and is clothed in the forest. This human sings a short song, a few notes over and over that the Hierophant of the lodge sings back to them, to make sure that he has got it. Once the Hierophant has the notes, the being withdraws back in the void and the group prepare to leave the temple.

As the group exit the temple, they find themselves stood on the edge of the Abyss and the Keeper of the Abyss appears. It is now time to put all the sounds together into a harmony and call the future initiates to the line. The Keeper picks the group up in his hand and holds them up high in the Abyss with the Hierophant in the centre. The group combines their strength by putting a hand on the person next to them and then finally on the Hierophant so that they are all connected.

Looking up, the group see stars and as they look down the Abyss, they see the Earth. The group realise that souls are falling past them on their journey towards incarnation upon the earth. The Hierophant begins to sing the harmonics to the stars and the stars give off their own sounds — the angelic consciousness of the stars also work in harmonics. The group watches and listens as the stars align themselves into constellations that have sounds.

The sounds are sung in harmony with the song of the Hierophant and the combination of songs creates a vortex for souls to fall through on their journey towards life. The vortex is a landing strip that resonates through the Abyss, guiding magical souls towards an incarnation of magical service. The souls that are drawn by these harmonics will eventually be born and will make their way though life to the lodge. The harmonic song will continue to resonate through the Abyss, as there is no time in this place — it will stay there and can be strengthened by the use of the song in the lodge.

As the group come out of the vision by way of the inner temple, they pause briefly in the inner temple and use the harmonies as a chant, both in vision and physically. The chant reproduces the harmonics, sending them out into the world which will echo the song in the Abyss, It will slowly build up a beacon in the lodge that will attract seekers already out in the world and near the lodge — the song will resonate with their inner landscapes and souls as they search in visions and dreams for their way ahead.

NEW INITIATES

Many lodges put up a variety of physical filters such as interviews and application forms to weed out inappropriate aspirants, but some of these filters can end up also filtering out people who have the skills needed by the lodge, i.e. skills which are currently dormant, or not obviously presented. Then there are other aspirants who fit the bill completely on paper, but in practice do not really furnish the needs of the lodge.

The problem with such filters is that they are put in place by humans and as humans we have a limited understanding of the inner dynamics and how they flow. So for example one particular prominent UK lodge demands a person be heterosexual, have a job, have a certain set of morals, must live in a certain place, have certain religious leanings and then must commit to learning outer court work to be examined by a panel before they are considered for entrance.

You can see the logic behind some of the demands, but other demands display a complete lack of understanding of power dynamics in today’s world as the criteria were obviously put together for a different age and a different world. That list of criteria filters out gay natural priests/esses, people who live on a private income (such as Dion Fortune did), people who have moved beyond religion, people who understand religious and moral codes to be about society and not God. Another pitfall with the criteria design encourages people who can memorize certain lessons and reproduce them in a way that the examiner likes — this potentially filters people who have the skill to challenge, think or develop in a unique way.

That method of criteria potentially filters out the most valuable possible initiates who may find their way to the lodge — it is no wonder many of these lodges have degenerated down to exclusive magic clubs and elite correspondence courses. There are ones who do not work that way and they tend to have a better chance at allowing long term magical development that is not littered with agendas.

If the Hierophant uses the inner harmonic call through the Abyss, in the lodge, the inner temple and across the Tree of Life, then it will bring people to the door that have heard it and therefore have the necessary skills. The ‘Calling Down’ the Tree of Life is a vision whereby the Hierophant and the group stand with their back to the Abyss and walk down the desert pattern of the Tree of Life, singing the harmonics as they go. When they reach Malkuth, they continue walking which takes them into the outside world. They sing as they walk out of the desert and down the street to the lodge, still in vision and still singing — it leaves a trail of harmonics bridging the inner and outer worlds and literally beats a path to the door.

So, when people do turn up, they will have inner skills, which is great. That does not guarantee however that they will stay, or even survive the training. It is up to the founders and the Hierophant to create a learning environment that is stimulating and which operates in a way that acknowledges skills already developed and honours them. Some lodges insist that no matter what skills you have, you must start at the beginning. This is a waste of time and a prime example of limited vision — the flexibility to be able to tailor training to the skills, or lack of, in each potential initiate is paramount to developing strong adepts.

The lodge must also ensure that it is not just a training school unless that is its primary function. Because of the commercialisation of magical groups, lodges/groups in general no longer take on mammoth tasks or undertake long term service; instead they go around in circles in money making classes, workshops, correspondence courses and grades. Some lodges do undertake limited long term work, but sometimes it becomes locked exclusively in the hierarchies of the ‘elite’ grades. What they do not understand is that such action is a self-cull. The contacts eventually lock them out, or the contact line becomes very narrow and unhealthy. Any new contacts or fresh powers that are carried by new young untrained but natural potential initiates are lost by the outer filter. So there is no fresh or unusual power breathed into the lodge for undertaking long term powerful work.

Basic learning is a small part of a lodge’s activity — 25% at the most. The rest of the lodge is about soul development, service, construction, inner tasks, and the wider longer term service to the inner line that runs through the lodge.

The phase of the initiate should be one of learning and development so that they can work towards being an adept at some point, and dedicating their lives to magical work if that is what they wish. So what does an initiate need to know? What training do they need? In reality the mix of knowledge needed is complex and yet also simple. A lot of the initiate’s training will happen out in life once they begin to walk the path of the initiate. Their strength, endurance, ethics, inner stability, and patience will all be tested out in life and polished through life events. These are major skills needed over time in service to the inner mysteries.

The outer skills needed are the ability to work in vision, the ability to understand the process of divination, the discipline of ritual, and the ability to mediate power. All of these skills are practical skills that cannot be learned from books or correspondence courses. I have personally found that taking an initiate through the inner worlds; for example to experience the Tree of Life by walking its power and seeing it in action, seeing the Abyss work and seeing the angelic structures, and then the initiate then goes to read a book about it, it all makes true and deep sense. If it is just studied in a book and then approached in meditation from an intellectual perspective, the power and depth of that place is truly lost to the initiate.

I feel the mysteries are best approached first from an inner point of view and then an outer one. To do that the initiate needs to be versed in various techniques of visionary work which are skills that come with practice and practical application in the group work.

The process of divination is important to an initiate, particularly if they do not have natural sight. A lot of divination techniques, such as tarot and oracles, are drowned in mystical shadows and complex patterning, which is really not necessary. It is the responsibility of the Hierophant to make sure that, if the adepts are teaching initiates, the skills passed on are straight forward, no nonsense practical operational skills without “woowoo” dressing. As the initiate begins to work in any depth with their operational skills, the true mysteries of the tarot etc. begin to emerge in the consciousness of the student. As always, the key is to learn to do it, get confidence in it, get curious about it, then start to read about it and question what you read.

The discipline of ritual and power comes from the initiates joining the adepts in ritual work and learning how to take power from the inner worlds and mediate it to the outer worlds. It is nearly always best to pass on these techniques to initiates by having them work alongside adepts rather than in a group of just initiates and a teacher. The reason for this is twofold: resonance and safety. When you work alongside someone who has a particular magical skill that you do not, by working alongside them the frequency that they are working at is picked up by your spirit at a very deep level, so that the skill is passed on by resonance not by detail.

Having done something with an adept, then you can do it too, but it must initially be done with someone who already has the skill. The other issue with this is safety — a lot of power mediation and some ritual can impact an initiate if they are not prepared for it. Mediating power can be like carrying blocks of concrete — it has a massive impact on the body if the body is not used to it. Therefore, by working alongside adepts, not only is the technique learned but the load is shared out between people who have good ‘inner muscle’. This enables the new initiate to experience the power work without getting blown out. It also gives space for talented new initiates to be able to work at a higher speed, allowing their natural abilities to become apparent so that they can be trained properly. It also allows for inner adepts manifesting through a young initiate to be recognised.

This means that a major part of the training of the initiates should involve ritual and visionary magic in all the worlds/realms and with all the different beings, using mediation, communication and service. By joining in with the adepts they will experience the worlds, get to know the contacts and pick up all the resonances needed to do the work of the future. Working this way can also sidestep a lot of issues of superiority, hierarchy, and pecking orders. The adepts are respected for their work, as are the initiates.

It is also prudent to note that when a Hierophant runs the lodge this way it will allow a certain dynamic to come into play which is a major part of the mysteries that our current age of status does not allow for. And that is the dynamic of the old teacher in a new body. This happens over and over in magical groups where there is space for it to happen, and, if the group is using the inner calling of the Abyss, they must be prepared for this to happen over and over.

An initiate, sometimes a new one, with very little background in magic will join the group, join in the visions and immediately make deep and powerful contact with inner beings and deities. They will be able to access many different realms, find inner teachers with ease and will just ‘know’ things. If the adepts teach them one lesson, they will come back with the learning of a hundred lessons. This is the rebirth of an old adept, and the lodge’s job is not to teach them but to help them remember. The way to do this is by the usual method of allowing the initiates to work with the adepts and to not put limits upon them.

The one thing they will need is to learn how to pace themselves. I have had a few initiates like this in my time, where they were far in advance of my inner knowledge but they just didn’t know it. But when I opened doors for them to see, they sometimes dived in too quick and got burned. I learned that my responsibility was to guide them in how to operate within a body that was not used to magic even though the soul was. They had to learn all over again how to pace themselves, how to clean themselves, and how to re-energise. If these old adepts are carefully guided and supported, the payback for the lodge is immense. These old souls carry a depth of ancient knowledge that can be of use in service to the inner mysteries — they just need help to get back up to speed and have support in the outside world.

Often the older souls do not resonate well with modern life and will need some help to find coping strategies for dealing with the outside world. This often happens when a soul has repeatedly come back into a monastic or temple setting, and then in this life is born into a secular commercial world. It is a terrible shock to their systems and it can have a physical impact upon them. They often need to learn how to protect themselves, how to feed themselves and how to go out among people without getting their energies eaten alive. All of these skills are the sort of thing that the adepts need to pass on to the initiates, rather than Kabbala 101.

THE INNER DYNAMIC OF INITIATION

So, when an aspirant turns up at the lodge, what do you do with them? And how do they get there in the first place? The pathway to the lodge needs to be very carefully attended to, as it can go wrong very easily. Open classes that are free or cost-only are one way to keep a door open for possible initiates. The issue of money comes up over and over in magical circles and there are many different opinions about it. My personal attitude about it is that magic should not cost money; a spiritual path to the inner mysteries should not be for sale. Once profit comes into being, then it slowly begins to mould what is done, it dictates that the most popular class be taught rather than the most needful, and in our world of greed, it becomes a part of that whole structure. Many people do not agree with me and many adepts think that they have worth and people should pay them what they are worth. Many years ago I used to teach for money by travelling and teaching all over the USA. I slowly watched what it did to the magical work, to the training, and to the people I was working with. It was not the right thing to do and the system did not work. It took a while to get out of but as soon as I did, the magical work became very powerful and those who needed to work with me got to me.

If a class is done for expenses only (or free if there is no real expense), it makes it accessible to anyone of any income which is very important, as it does not put a poor person in the embarrassing situation of having to ask for discount or a free place. The lodge itself should be a shared expense in that the costs of running the lodge should be an equal responsibility of all who work within it.

But once people have found the lodge through classes, what then? This is the dodgy phase — it is tempting for the Hierophant to cherry-pick people to invite for initiation, which is a mistake. You cannot tell who is going to blossom by their initial performance and in fact I have been constantly caught off-guard by people who I would not have thought would blossom but do, to the point of real deep and wonderful power with solid commitment.

The initial phases of teaching usually filter out anyone who is not going to be suitable. As an initiate candidate does visionary work in the inner worlds, the inner contacts begin to work with and through them and that always triggers change. That change will either spur them to commit to training and more work, or it will filter them out and they will not want to return.

So if the Hierophant gets a few people wanting to look deeper into initiation from the public classes, then drawing together the adepts and other initiates to do some basic underworld, over world, death and inner temple visions, coupled with basic ritual structures, use of implements etc, that type of work will filter out those who are just not in the right place. Those who stick with it and come back for more are the ones who should be then walking the path to initiation. After a few months of joining in visions, the aspirant should be ready to be accepted as an initiate. Note that the role of an initiate is one of learning and developing; it is not a badge of completion, status and power.

THE INITIATION

The ceremony should be done during a full day gathering, which will allow the aspirant to really get a taste of deeper work. The initiation should probably come later in the day when the power has built up suitably to bridge the energies needed for the initiation to straddle both inner and outer worlds.

The initiation itself is a mark acknowledging that the person is a member of the lodge in the outer world, is in training and has access to the inner temple as well as the inner contacts. Some lodges do not allow their initiates to have connection to all the inner contacts, a privilege that is kept for an elite few adepts — I find that very distasteful and evidence of power grabbing. The Hierophant of such a group is stating that they alone know what is best for people: a very high pedestal indeed.

The initiate will keep the mark while ever she is connected to the lodge. If she leaves the lodge with the intention of discontinuing the work, the mark will be wiped off her inner pattern. If she intends to continue magical work just in a different stream, the Hierophant may wish to leave the mark on the initiate, therefore furnishing continued support of the fellowship to the individual. The mark allows the initiate to draw upon the strength of the egregore and allows access to the collection of group knowledge.

For myself, I have never wiped a mark off of anyone — I see such initiation as a part of a longer path a person has to walk and it is there to help them on their way. If they can still access the energy and knowledge of the collective, then it will help them to develop in their own way on their own path. The inner mysteries have their own way of working and we are merely servants to the greater power.

The initiation itself should take place in both the inner temple and the outer temple. The group goes in vision into the inner temple and then while still in vision, they open their eyes and conduct the ritual in the outer temple. The Hierophant marks each aspirant with the sigil of the lodge upon their foreheads and does the same action simultaneously on the inner body of the aspirant in the inner temple, while verbally welcoming them into the group. The initiate is then introduced to the inner library, where she can go and study and connect with an inner teacher.

The initiate will probably stay an initiate for a very long time — adepthood is something that does not come lightly or quickly. It comes when the initiate has all the disciplines, knowledge, skills, maturities and strengths to conduct whatever magical actions are needed, in whatever realm necessary, to do a specific magical job without help or support.

I cringe when I read so called commercial mystery schools offering a weekend course that ends in adept hood. What is the point? A fancy title? Most true adepts do not take on a title, they just are who they are and they get on with their work.

The protection, development and training of initiates is one of the most positive, demanding, and fulfilling jobs that a Hierophant has to do, and it is the one that teaches the Hierophant the most.

CHAPTER 8:

THE DYNAMICS OF MAGICAL LODGE

When a lodge/temple has been established from both an inner and outer point of view, and there is a good foundation of adepts, initiates in training and aspirants, it is very easy for a magical lodge to fall into the trap of becoming a training school and not much more. That is fine if that was the intention all along, but then it is a school and not a lodge.

The function of a lodge is primarily to do work, and any training should be aimed at new initiates to bring them up to the standard of adepthood so that they can participate in the work of the lodge and operate as a full member. In the commercial world of expensive training, there is a great deal of temptation for the lodge to just become a glamorous school where very little real work is actually done.

SO WHAT IS THE WORK OF A LODGE?

This depends on whether it is a lodge of the lesser or greater mysteries (or both, if it is big enough). The lesser mysteries are concerned with providing the spiritual and magical community and sometimes the wider community with healers, priests/esses, exorcists, birth and death workers, teachers, seers and mediators. It is the external arm of the mysteries that function in the outside world, creating bridges between the inner worlds and the outer worlds for specific functions that serve the people of today.

The greater mysteries work with much deeper patterns of service over a longer time period — the lodge operates with the longer term patterns of power as they flow into the outside world. They function within the patterns of fate within a civilisation, the bridging of Divinity, the communion and balance of different realms/inner beings, and the bridging of knowledge from the inner to the outer worlds. The greater mysteries also act as a filter between longer term patterns of humanity and Divinity.

It is important that an adept setting out on a path of service to the greater mysteries first spends time in the service of the lesser mysteries to give the adept a deeper understanding of humanity and of their own limitations and qualities.

The training system designed for the initiates should reflect these forms of service through the lesser mysteries, exposing them to work in service so that they can gain practical experience and wisdom. Solid foundations of training based upon service will give the initiate, and later the adept, a strong grounding in the work of the lodge, which will uphold them in the face of great power and unknown inner territory. If the training of the initiate is too theoretical and not based upon practical work experience, or if it cuts corners, skipping over the harder and less glamorous parts of training, then the foundations of the initiate will be weak — weak foundations make a dangerous tower.

Because the training needs to be so thorough it will take time, which potentially presents a trap that so many lodges fall into by putting all of their energy into training and nothing else besides.

To avoid this problem, the training system should be designed to work alongside the practices of the lodge rather than become the major practice in itself. One way to do this is to ensure that the training involves resonance, i.e. working with someone already adept in their particular field; and by working alongside such an adept, learning by example and inner tuning. Full practical application of the skills learned by working alongside the adepts is also important. Regular application of the skills learned builds a solid practitioner of an art. That ensures that any theoretical knowledge learned by an initiate soon becomes a practical reality — this is very important because in magic, as in any other art, theory and practice are often two very different things.

There will be a wide variety of abilities, skills, and aptitudes within the initiates and the training should allow for such variance. There will be some who appear for training who are obviously old adepts in new bodies, and some who have never, in any life, been anywhere near magic before. The training should be flexible enough to allow an old ‘returnee’ to pick up the threads and continue with their work, or to take a complete beginner and slowly walk them a step at a time.

A pattern for such training is to basically pass the initiate from adept to adept who teaches the initiate about their specialist subject matter. Doing this, without grades, tests etc creates a bonding between the members of the lodge and is a more natural way of learning.

A non rigid system without grades is also a healthy way to work for the Hierophant and the adepts as it encourages people to strive for skill rather than status and a badge. It is important from the moment a person first walks through the doors of a lodge that there is no real hierarchy, only jobs. Too many leaders put across their absolute superiority as a magician, stating that their level can never be reached and therefore the adepts and initiates are kept weak and unskilled. They are tempted by offers of higher and greater initiations, but reminded that the highest one can only be held by the leader: what a load of bullshit.

The Hierophant must be willing to allow the adepts and initiates to make mistakes, make messes, make bad decisions and learn from them. The role of the Hierophant is to guide, encourage, advise and above all, to be happy to let the adepts progress beyond the level of knowledge of the Hierophant. The next wave of students should always end up with greater skills than their teacher; if that happens then the teacher knows that she has done a good job.

THE OUTER WORK OF THE MAGICAL LODGE

The outer work of the magical lodge should be organic, very loosely organised and low key. If something is highly controlled, high profile with rigid operational methods, it will very possibly crumble or degenerate quickly. The whole idea of training people is to get them out into the world ‘doing’ and developing their own work. People do that best when they have a support network quietly ticking in the background, but are free to be able to use and develop their own methods, to choose when, where, and how to work with minimum restrictions from the lodge. That way, the work takes on the many different aspects of the personalities of the practitioners which keeps it growing, changing, and balanced.

A magical lodge or group that gives out certificates, has a society to join, has set rate and rules that the newly qualified person must follow quickly becomes a business. Such organisations tend to encourage people to tow the party line, tick the boxes and not think for themselves — it also turns a mystery into a product or service for sale.

Once an initiate has trained and lived up to the level of adept, he should be proficient in visionary magic, seership, healing, exorcism, ritual, death work etc and particularly good at one or more skills. These skills are not there to earn the adept a living and this is a very important dynamic — an adept should have a job or other source of income that does not come from magic. Many disagree with me, but I have seen far too many good adepts damaged by charging for their skills — sooner or later the money begins to dictate what work should be done and with whom, which is a fatal downhill slope.

If an adept is willing to act in service, then the inner contacts put the adept in the path of those who need help, they also ensure that the adept has everything he needs to accomplish his work. One of the other traps that can happen with charging money is that it becomes full time work or an advertised service so the adept ends up doing far too much work with people who really do not need it. That ends up leeching the adept’s energy, closes down certain contacts and in the long term, can make him ill.

If the initiates are trained to trust the inner worlds, then the paths are laid and the work the adept is guided to is never more than is needed and never before it is needed. The adept quickly gets used to this dynamic as it opens a whole new world for him where he begins to see how magic can truly flow into the world in a gentle, subtle and quiet way. No gurus, no miraculous healers, just someone turning up when the need is there and getting the job done. No pandering to people’s wants, no people leeching energy out of curiosity, no performing monkeys. It’s all very simple.

If the adepts have the freedom to just go out and do as needs doing, then the Hierophant becomes a stable resource in the background available for advice and support, but not controlling or demanding loyalties. This makes the whole thing very organic — it grows in natural directions where the strengths are allowed to blossom and each adept forges a new path in their field of expertise while giving back to the lodge by helping the upcoming initiates. This also means that the initiates are taught by many adepts at different times, usually ones out working in the ‘field’.

And if the lodge has no dogma or creed, just intention and technique, then there are very few agendas and the adepts are able to mould to their communities which makes them far more accessible to a wider range of people. An adept should be able to work with a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Wiccan, Ritualist, Pagan, whatever… it really doesn’t matter as the work should not be religion or belief based. If an adept is properly trained by both inner and outer training, they can slot in anywhere and be of service in their specialised field to anyone.

The majority of outer court work falls into two categories, A) the healing umbrella and B) the helping umbrella. The healing umbrella covers hands-on healing, working with the dying and the dead in the death vision and with death preparation, inner midwifery, ritual/ceremonial work for rites of passage etc. The second category of helping usually covers seership/divination, exorcism and clearings, finding lost things, protection and sealing things, and acting as a bridge between the living and the newly dead. So the lodge members involved in these outer court subjects will be either learning, doing or teaching.

It is interesting that when someone learns a specific skill and then offers that skill in service unconditionally without charge, how people in need are slowly brought to them. It is never more than the person can handle and is never more than is needed.

THE INNER WORK OF THE LODGE

This is where a lodge can truly come into its own, through the working with the deeper inner mysteries, so long as the work is actual work and service, not tourism in the inner worlds. So many visionary groups these days seem to go into the inner worlds, meet a being or two, look around, say thanks and leave; this is not very useful and certainly not work. Getting into the inner worlds is not enough, it is important that you go and work.

The work of the deeper mysteries that is done in lodges is usually work that may not fruit for decades or even hundreds of years — it is selfless work for the planet, the inner worlds and humanity. It can cover almost anything, but most of the time it centres around the land mass that the lodge is based upon, working within the Abyss to keep the beings in balance, or working to clean up and rebalance the civilisation that the lodge is a part of.

In practical terms that can mean pulling large long-term parasites off and out of political centres of power, out and off of war zones, working on the land after toxic dumping, bomb testing or atmospheric science vandalism, taking energetic tap roots out of the land that were put there by predatory religious or political groups, removing large demonic beings from positions of world power, working with the inner landscape of the land to help preserve species or trees/plants for the distant future, cleaning up the human line from ancestral baggage. The list is long, complex and full of very difficult long-term projects that need trained groups over time to take up the mantle and work unconditionally and without agenda.

That is that hardest part of such work, which is to do what is necessary to regain balance without imposing an agenda, no matter how well intentioned it may be. That can be very difficult for groups, particularly when they feel they have a ‘truth’. Any deep inner work with a purpose driven from a point of a ‘truth’ agenda is just adding to the chaos and mess (the inner workings of the British Israelite movement is a good example). We as humans cannot possibly even begin to understand the long term waves of power that flow through our universe. All we can do is pick up the trash, wash the paths down and put the cat out. Mostly the work is clean up and preservation work so if humanity has made a mess, then some human somewhere needs to clean it up, and it is usually spiritual or magical communities that do just that.

To do this sort of work, the adepts need to have a full understanding of the all the various inner realms, their front doors, their back doors, the beings that inhabit them and the forces that flow through them. To gain this sort of knowledge the adepts need to be able to work in death, in the underworlds, the stars, the inner temples, the Abyss and all its various access routes, the void, the stellar realms, the planetary inner landscapes, the past and the future. The adept also needs to know all the various types of beings, how they operate, what they do and why.

The structure of a group working in this way needs to be carefully thought out as the work is long term, often over generations and is dangerous in a variety of ways. If the Hierophant plans carefully and lays down good foundations, a healthy group structure can possibly last a long time. The secret I think is in the sharing of power but with strong leadership that is not autocratic and controlling: strong leadership is about taking responsibility, setting a good example and guiding rather than instructing. If there is no real leadership, what happens is that a group devolves down into endless discussion, very little action and lots of power games, if there is too much leadership then the group becomes weak, unable to take initiative, and unable to handle power.

If everyone within the group has a set responsibility where the buck stops with them, and their specialist skills are recognised and acknowledged, then it begins to work like a brother/sisterhood and not like a political party. It the group is hobbled by silly dogmatic rules, belief systems, agendas, limitations, judgements and putdowns, too much structure and red tape, then it will implode pretty quickly. The group needs elbow room; it needs freedom to think and no ladder of power/status to climb through manipulation. The tales of power shuffling in the Tibetan temples would truly turn your blood cold.

If some group members want to branch off and fly the nest, the Hierophant should be right behind them helping, advising and backing them. The willingness to let go is also a major part of the long term survival of the work — if the groups grow outward, the work will stay fresh and powerful and, if there is support, there is no need to cut off the roots. The lodge should grow outwards like children, with each group having their own independence and yet able to rely on home if they need it. When a parent group clings to its members, the group rots from the inside out.

So what if a break-off group takes the knowledge and decides to stop doing service, instead using the power for themselves? Well, that is their choice and they will obviously need to learn about inner power and how it works. That lesson is not for the Hierophant to teach — the inner world contacts are more than capable of teaching anyone whatever it is they need to know. An adept makes a decision and they need to live with the consequence for good or bad, and it is not up to the parent group to cast judgment or take action.

MAINTAINING A GROUP WHILE DOING DEEPER MYSTERY WORK

When a Hierophant initiates a series of deep longer term workings with their adepts, the Hierophant takes on a certain role of responsibility for the spiritual and physical wellbeing of the group. Long term or deeper inner work has many different spiritual and physical impacts upon a person and the group adepts need to be prepared, briefed and ready for those impacts to help lessen them. It is up to the Hierophant to keep a close eye on the group, not only for their health but their emotional well being too. Magic can impact the brain and cause all sorts of emotional imbalances to surface, it is one of the by products of deeper work. As the body interacts with power it begins to change and the body uses the power residue to resolve unhealthy patterns within the mind or/and body. This can surface in many ways and emotional crisis is one of them.

The best way to approach a series of powerful workings, or the beginning of a long term path of work, is to have the adepts physically and spiritually prepare in advance and be ready to support their bodies with whatever is needed. If the work is going to be long term then a preparation would need to be at least six weeks in advance, if it is a shorter span of work but very powerful then a couple of weeks before should suffice.

The preparations should include reassessing or altering diet, sleep patterns, medications and drugs. They should also include time alone, time in nature, preparatory meditations and the visionary quest for tools, armour and helpers. The preparations are not always about cleaning oneself up. If the adept is doing very heavy ‘down’ work, a very clean and light diet might not be enough to give the adept the ballast needed for heavy work. The preparations should be relevant to the work that is being undertaken and not come from a ‘health’ formula; similarly the visionary preparations should be tailored to the work at hand.

The emotional and physical instability that can come as a result of deep continuous inner work need to be very carefully watched for by the Hierophant so that early signs the adept might not see for herself can be picked up. Usually the first sign of strain will show in the emotions, so if an adept is not solid enough to handle a body of work they will emotionally buckle fairly early into the work. The Hierophant will begin to see defensiveness in the affected adept, mild passive aggression that was not there before, or withdrawing from conversation and being unwilling to talk to the group about the work they are undertaking. They are most likely to have been blocked from the work by the inner contacts and will be embarrassed to say so.

If a person is not in a mentally or emotionally healthy state to undertake a body of work, the inner worlds will shut down on them pretty fast and they will blank out at each vision. This is not the same as going very deep beyond visuals which is a different dynamic. Blanking is literally that — it is a total blank with no power, no sensation, therefore the vision simply just does not work. This is a safety mechanism which protects the individual from going mad.

If this is happening, the adept needs to be taken out of the group and given outer court work to do to support the team until they recover and get stronger. It can be a very difficult thing to do, both for the Hierophant and the adept, but common sense needs to prevail and safety must come before feelings. On the adept’s side the understanding that sometimes our bodies are just not up to it for one reason or another is a hard but necessary one, and the Hierophant’s responsibility is to pull out anyone who is drowning, no matter how much it might upset them. That way, the adept lives to fight another day and she gains a deeper understanding of her own body and inner weaknesses that need strengthening.

There are many reasons why the body may shut down including a festering infection that has not yet surfaced, hormonal changes, stress, toxicity, exhaustion — the list is long but any one of these conditions will be magnified greatly if the adept continues to work. In extreme cases, it can be the tipping factor on a delicate energetic scale that is trying to hold serious disease at bay.

Later into the work, the power build ups and the exhausting work may show through squabbles within the group, and it is helpful to recognise this as a natural energy dynamic. When power builds up, it grates upon the personality weakness of the person and usually outs through conflict. If left unchecked, the aggression or despair that can ‘out’ can be extreme and very damaging both to the group and the individual. One way to avoid such a dynamic is to ensure that every adept is fully conscious of such a dynamic and is also very well aware of her own weak spots. Awareness and understanding is half the battle, therefore if you know it’s not really a true emotion but a side effect of power, then patience, understanding and sometimes being able to hang on for grim death with the finger nails really helps. Each adept stays aware, so no one person falls apart and they all hang together like a bunch of strung-out monkeys.

If possible, while undertaking such powerful work, the adepts would do well to have some type of physical therapy to support them as they work, such as acupuncture, reflexology, or massage; generally, something physical will restore them. This is where it is always good to have some of the adepts who specialise in healing not involved in the heavy deep work. They can support the workers, and adepts can take turns in such service.

When the lodge has such a powerful undertaking as long term magical work, it is important that not all the founder members or more experienced adepts work. Some need to not work so that they can keep an eye on the rest of the group and that also ensures that there is at least one experienced adept who is not getting fried, who can then be available for anything else that comes along. It is also important for the lodge to always have a stable core of adepts and/or a Hierophant who is not working deeply and thus acts as an anchor for the rest of the working group. Someone has to be watching the weather and tending the phones….

It is also important in long term powerful work that the adepts work in teams that rotate and that every adept has a shelf life in the work. This is really important for a variety of reasons. Working too long on a project can literally kill someone and can at least disable someone as the human body was not designed to work with those levels of power over a long time. It is also very tempting for the work to become all consuming in someone’s life so it that becomes really personal. It can become dangerous for the soul to become so deeply entangled in a long-term issue and can lead to a soul becoming trapped in a particular pattern throughout lives. Better to give a couple of year’s service and then back out and let the younger ones take it on for a while.

Once an adept has given a decent span of time to the work, the Hierophant should haul her out of the project and assign her to teaching or outer court work for a while to recover. That way the adept regenerates and is ready in the future for more deep work. In the long term this ensures that the work will be consistent, powerful and sustained.

If the working group has a partnership of adepts working together, either married or long-term lovers, then the Hierophant has an added responsibility to watch over them, checking that the work does not damage their relationship. Often people say that love cannot be damaged by magic but I would beg to differ as I have watched it for myself. Yes, magic will break up a relationship that is past its due-by date, but that is not what I am talking about.

Deep long term magical projects create a great deal of strain that is not normal. If the strain starts to ‘out’ through a relationship it will do a great deal of damage that would not have been an issue if magic had not been in the picture. The power will build up behind little things and make them seem big, creating seemingly enormous emotional hurdles for the couple to navigate. The power will also gravitate to a sexual relationship and the inner contacts involved in the work may try and take advantage of the sexual power between couples. This is not done with any malicious intent; they see power, and they try and use it — simple.

If the couple are aware of the dangers and pitfalls before they begin the work and are supported by the Hierophant and founder adepts who all keep an eye on them, they will survive well. It is also a good learning curve to experience such deep work as a couple and see how the inner worlds try to play out power interactions through sexual union. That awareness in itself can go a long way to teach and mature a magical couple.

It also gives the lodge a strong working couple which is a powerful asset in any magical work — there are things that couples can achieve in magic that groups could not possibly dream of.

THE ROLE OF INITIATES IN THE GREATER WORK OF THE ADEPTS

While the adepts are working hard on long term projects, the lodge has the opportunity to give the initiates some good practical experience, enhancing their training and giving the adepts some well needed back up help.

When a group takes on a round of powerful and arduous work, there is a need to uphold the boundaries of the group, watch out for parasites, guard the doors, prepare the temple for work, clean up the inner mess afterwards, and work on the adepts to rebalance them. Sometimes the initiates can help by sitting in meditation in the inner temple to uphold the group when they are doing dangerous work. It is important that the initiates are involved in the work of the lodge from a practical point of view from the word go, so that they learn a work ethic instead of getting wrapped up in their own ‘enlightenment’ and the next ‘learning’ hit. True development comes from rolling up ones sleeves and getting on with work rather than umbilicus-gazing and book-flipping.

It is up to the Hierophant and the adepts who are not engaged in the round of work to organise the initiates, guide them, lead them, inform them of what is happening and support them while they support the adepts. They will learn a great deal while working this way and will also be energetically tuned by the inner worlds for work in the future. Magic works through resonance, so if the initiates are working on the boundaries of the deep jobs, they will be picking up the magical skills of the adepts without even realising it.

When the initiates ask questions about the deep work, it is best, if at all possible, to be truthful and straight forward with them rather than the usual, ‘oh you are not at the right grade to know that yet,’ comment. The mysteries have a self-edit mechanism: no one can learn a secret of the mysteries until they are ready. You could put it all in large print with lots of pictures but if a person is not ready to receive them, then the wisdom of the mysteries will go straight over their heads. This is why in true reality the mysteries are never hidden, because they don’t need to be. You just don’t see them until you are ready to see them.

By taking the attitude of openness and freedom of information, the wisdom goes to those who need it, regardless of their age, experience or title, and it also does away with the age old hierarchy of secret knowledge, funny handshakes, secret passwords and all the rest of that infantile pap that people get so wrapped up in. The truth and the protection of that truth is far less glamorous and much more powerful — no one ever gets to the mysteries before they are ready to absorb them properly.

If the initiates are treated in this way, you will end up with well-trained, experienced and enthusiastic initiates and adepts who are ready to work instead of being bogged down in power games, lusting for power, or stuck in ego traps. The inner work itself has a filtering mechanism so the more visionary inner work an initiate does the more likely it will be that unsuitable candidates will be weeded out.

The whole progression of the lodge depends on the Hierophant’s ability to refrain from getting sucked into a power role instead staying firm and solid with the work, and resisting the temptation of power that will be wafted under their noses.

CHAPTER 9:

THE STRUCTURE BEHIND THE INNER REALMS

When magical workers go into the inner worlds, they usually use visionary structures that have been in place for hundreds if not thousands of years. The Hierophant, if she is trying to avoid all the baggage that goes with the old magical/mystical systems, must be able to understand the structures behind the visions, so that new paths can be laid and new systems constructed.

Most Western Mystery magical systems use Kabbalah as one of the major patterns in the practice and execution of magical ritual and vision. The initiate spends years learning the pathways, the spheres etc, and that information can be used in a variety of magical ways. Some systems work a little with the Abyss, and in the last hundred years various magicians have been looking a little closer at the construct of the Abyss, mainly in the search for demonic power.

The Tree of Life and Abyss system is a clever construction that can act as a fulcrum for all the patterns of the other realms, giving access to the stellar realm, the angelic realm, the future and past landscape, the ancestors, the faery realm, the deep underworld, death, and the homes of ancient deities and demons. In my previous books I have talked a little about the Abyss and the Tree of Life, but in this chapter I want to go into more depth to look at the natural foundation that these constructs are built upon. This is useful for the Hierophant as she begins to build new doors, new paths and new temples — they then connect into the reality of what is actually there in the inner worlds without having to rely on old systems like Kabbalah, Hermetic magic and so on. That way the Hierophant does not repeat past mistakes and take on old baggage.

THE TREE OF LIFE

The Tree of Life has been almost done to death in modern magic and yet still is not used anywhere near its full potential. It is generally used in isolation to everything else around it, therefore cutting its power off at the knees. What we understand as the Tree of Life is the human inner pattern for our place in the universe — it points out where we come from and where we are going, not in a philosophical way, but as a real road map. So, if you throw away all the Judaic language, all the patterns, all the paths, all the attributes that humans love so much in their striving to understand, what are we left with? We are left with the inner landscape of our existence from our perspective.

The Abyss sits between form and formlessness. The TOL takes us from formlessness to form, and beyond the TOL is our life path, which ends at the river of death. When we enter the inner realms in vision, there is a particular vision that we perceive a desert with the Abyss at one end and the river of death at the other. It is talked about in poetic terms over and over in ancient texts, and yet we never seem to make the connection. The TOL patterning developed in Kabbalah is a human attempt to make sense of it, to explain why and how, but as usual with all theoretical patterns, the simplicity of the reality gets lost somewhere in the details. So rather than get confusing, I will call the reality of the TOL the ‘desert’, saving the title of ‘Tree’ for the Kabbalistic usage.

Every being in existence in our world has their own version of the ‘desert’. Every being in existence can use that desert to access worlds, beings, Divinity and themselves in various times of their life. Every being that physically manifests in our world has a ‘desert’ parallel to ours, every being in our universe that does not manifest physically in our realm is perceived as above or below our level of the desert depending on their density and conditionality. It’s just how our brain (but not conscious mind) interprets something that is so multi-dimensional and converts it into something that we can understand. Such understanding is the first step to being able to work with such structures. That what we see is simply our feeble brain’s attempt to be able to process the information in a way that our conscious and unconscious minds have been genetically programmed to cope with, is a realisation that is critical to working at such deep levels. The truth of the whole structure is way beyond our ability to grasp.

Future generations will probably be able to forge on and peel away yet another layer of imagery, but for our generation I think just dropping the age old systems with their dogmas is doing pretty good. So the desert without TOL dogma is what we have.

In the desert certain beings can be accessed, for example the beings that function normally in our universe. These would include angelic beings that are filters, guardians and workers in our physical world, also included are faery beings, recent ancestors, elementals, inner adepts, and some deities that are still within our consciousness.

Knowing that, the Hierophant can build back doors to these realms from the area of the desert most connected to those realms. So for example if you wanted a back door to some inner adepts from a very long time ago, then you would go close to the Abyss as they are slowly making their way back to formlessness. If you wanted a back door to beings that work with sickness and death, the door would be near the death river.

They are back doors because the desert and the Abyss are the backrooms of our universe. This is where all the running around is done, where power is made, used and recycled, where Divinity prepares for manifestation and withdrawal. The front doors are out in our world from a visionary sense, so we would approach the front door of the ancient adepts by walking along the land that they lived upon long ago and entering a temple they once built. To get close to death, you would find the front door to the underworld, access to which is down through the earth and rocks below your feet.

So everything both physical and visionary (visions, myths, stories) that is a part of the world around us, becomes a potential front door. We as humans in human form are front doors — mountains, rivers, caves, temples, stone circles, stars, they are all front doors. But they all have back doors too and those back doors open out onto the desert which is also a level of the Abyss. The desert is our layer of the Abyss. When you go to work with a being that does not either physically manifest or normally reside in spirit form in our world, you would have to find its layer of the Abyss which would mean going up or down, depending on what type of being they are.

When the Hierophant builds a new system, they need to be able to fully understand the structure of the back doors including what they do, how they are built and how they affect us. That way, the Hierophant can build a whole new structure from the inside out, starting from the back door back room part and building outwards into the physical world. That way the system is stable and has roots, as well as all the inner pathways already built in.

So back to the desert — across the Abyss is Divinity preparing to come into physical form. On this (our) side of the Abyss reside the deities, angelic beings etc that are a physical part of our world and at the direct opposite edge of the desert is the river of death. Beyond the river of death is the mountain of repose, which is basically an area of recycling, and beyond the mountain is the Abyss. When we look across the Abyss from the vantage point of the other side of the mountain, we see the desert of life and so the whole cycle completes itself. It is at that point, as beings deep in death, that we realise we are on the ‘other side’ of the Abyss: we are in the realm of Divinity without form.

The Abyss is a crack that goes through all worlds, both up and down, in and out, and is the route that Divinity takes when falling from nothing into everything. All the ‘deserts’ or areas/landscapes of all beings can be accessed via the Abyss, which is the back door to everywhere in our inner and outer universe.

So, with that in mind, the Hierophant can basically build any inner structure that gives human access to virtually any realm or type of being. By anchoring it in the desert/Abyss, the structure has solid roots in a real realm that give it foundations, contacts, and access to Divine consciousness which are the building blocks of a magical, spiritual, or mystical structure. The key is not to bog it down in dogma, secrets, mystique, or psychobabble, all of which humanity loves so much. If the Hierophant can build a simple system that accesses realms and beings, as well as helping workers on the path to their own spiritual understanding, they will have constructed a truly magical path worthy of walking.

Constructing from this place will give initiates and adepts the chance to work from the inside out, to work with the power of Divinity without all the dressing that down-powers it and without all the glamour that filters it and hides it. It also gives the workers a chance to work face to face, as it were, with many powerful beings that would normally not really be accessible from the ‘front door’ method of magical work. It levels the playing fields, takes off the costumes and gives humans a chance to prove that they can function at high power without go-betweens, stories, and silly dresses.

BACK DOORS AND FRONT DOORS

So what is all this back door and front door business about? The front door of a realm is the access point that humans use to get from their place in time and the physical universe to the inner realm that they are trying to reach. So for example, the front door to the Barakiel is a frozen bolt of lightning that a person can climb up into the stars where they find a path that leads to a gathering place or temple. Other examples are: the front door of the Ancestral realm which is a stairway or tunnel down into earth that leads to a cave where the ancestors sleep, the river of blood that takes one back through time, the grand stairs up the face of a step Pyramid that take one into a temple with an inner sanctum, and the crack in a rock or hill that leads to the faery realm; these are all front doors to different realms and times.

Back doors are the routes by which the power and beings of different realms all come together in one pattern that Divine power flows through — it is the vast filtering system which takes raw power and turns it into places, people, and beings. The back doors give access to the point where these places and beings come together in the great pattern of existence.

An adept who has worked through the front door with full knowledge of where they are going has the potential to discover that there is another path/door that will take them beyond the surface dressing, leading them to the face of Divinity and the pattern of existence — it will take them home.

So each temple, each inner place, if constructed properly will have a back door somewhere, which is a very important point to remember; all of these places that we find in the inner worlds are essentially constructs that were built at some point by a magical team or natural process, possibly human, sometimes not, for the people of the future to use. They are not an illusion, they are not a figment of imagination, nor are they a reality within themselves — they are interfaces designed to provide us with a step on the path that was walked before us. The interfaces are masks that real powers wear so that we can recognise them.

That is why we treat everything we see in vision as real, because in a way it is. It is the same process our brain uses to create images for the every day world around us, but in reality the world really doesn’t look like that. It is just our way of understanding what is around us — we do not see energy, piles of cells, particles and electricity; we see trees, humans, and dogs.

BUILDING FROM THE INSIDE OUT

There are many ways of building inner structures, including from the inside of an element outwards, from a front façade backwards, from the void and then from the back door. Constructing from the back door means that the builders start at the universal pattern (desert and Abyss) and build outwards towards the physical world, from the inner to the outer. This gives it an anchor and automatic access to many different places but the downside is that it needs builders who all have a good deal of experience working in and with the universal pattern. If the builders are not acclimatised to that pattern, the sheer force of the power that flows through that threshold of consciousness can do considerable damage to the human body.

If the Hierophant wants to build an inner temple for humanity to use, one that would access Divinity, inner contacts etc, then she would build the back door in the desert and then build on from there. If the inner construct is a place to work with ancestors, then the Hierophant would have to go down the Abyss to the ancestors’ level and build the meeting place from there. Similarly if a temple/contact building was to be a place to work with angelic beings, the builders would have to start by going up the Abyss to the angelic realm and build down and out, just as the ancestral place would be up and out. Its access has to go to the human level for the human workers to be able to flow back and forth.

The building starts with the intention and the back door. From there a tunnel is constructed that will open out into the temple/area/structure and from that area a further tunnel of threshold is built that will hold a front door which in turn opens out into a landscape that is of the human realm.

The idea of this type of construction is that when the initiates and adepts work in this temple, they work within the building, its contents, and its contacts. Some will move on to another temple when they feel they have exhausted all they can find or learn. Some will continue to dig deeper, to search behind the construct, to search for power and Divinity. Those that do such work will find the back door, go through it and end up at the Abyss. That is the beginning of a whole evolution of spiritual awakening when the person finds the thresholds to all beings, all realms and beyond that, to Divinity without form.

One of the secrets that keeps the construct in place for a very long time in human terms is simplicity, so the least detail and the more natural the expression of the construct, the longer it will weather the changes to humanity. The less pot holes, crannies and containers it has, the less chance there is of unsavoury beings successfully moving in and taking over.

In the chapter on temple construction, you will notice that the egregore energy store was a lake which is a natural holder of power and information that will be recognised by many generations to come. The library on the other hand which holds books, scrolls, tablets, disks etc is more tied to civilisations that use writing, but the inner contacts who are represented by the books are also potentially present to communicate with those who do not use the written form. It can also be constructed as a place where elders gather and dispense their knowledge to those who visit them, basically serving the same purpose as a library.

If too much detail is added on to the constructions, particularly detail that is from our time and consciousness, it limits who can use it and can potentially end up confusing people in the future who may not recognise a lot of the imagery there. The Hierophant would be wise to think carefully about everything that is added and why, and think about how it will be interpreted in the long distant future. I am sure that most people reading this will have gone into an ancient construct in the inner worlds at some point and will have been nonplussed at some of the very strange things that they saw there. If the visitor does not understand what they are looking at, they cannot use it.

When constructing a back door, which is usually made up of angelic consciousness that will guard and filter it, it is also good to think carefully about how you present the door. It can simply be a door, which is obvious, but can make it too accessible to those who are not in the right magical stage of development to tumble out into the Abyss. Or it can be a more natural presentation of the angelic being coupled with the clue that it is a threshold of great power that leads to somewhere closer to Divinity. It also makes it less obvious that it is a door and would take someone who was willing to commune with the being to realise what it actually is. This allows the human to get into conversation with the angel who can in turn be more forthright about its purpose and what lies beyond, thus allowing the human to make more informed decisions.

One good way of presenting them in such a case is as pure elements, such as a flame, a whirlwind, a stone or an open sea. Some seekers will see the element and commune with it, finding that it is in fact a door and pass through it. Others will marvel at the sheer power of combined element and angel, and will work with what that angel can bring through itself — a potential preparation for the power that lies beyond.

PATTERNS

The universal pattern is made up of patterns, as are beings, humans, everything that has form of any kind. These patterns can be used in their bare form rather than presented as buildings, angels, doors, flames etc. This is a deeper and less penetrable form of temple building which brings together the patterns that create the power vortexes, thresholds and containers, but does not give them a façade.

Again the builder would start at the Abyss or desert, and would pull together the shapes and threads that are angelic power to create a threshold and form the patterns of access to humanity beyond that. It is the least recognisable form of temple building and will only be accessible as a container and threshold of power to those who truly know its real nature. To outsiders who stumble across it by accident, they will simply find a series of platonic solids, shapes, and lines hanging in the inner worlds. They will touch it and feel its power, but the understanding of what it is and what it does will be kept from them.

To construct in this way is the hardest way of working and is only really used when the temple or container is destined to hold a great deal of dangerous power that must be kept away from the blundering explorer at all costs. And yet for those who are searching for a way to work that is closer to the reality of our existence, it makes the most sense — we are putting patterns of power and expressions of Divinity in form.

Such a construct can be easily used to manipulate workers. Because there is no visual or living interfaces, there is no way for a worker to know exactly what the temple is and what it is doing, so if it is just power, then there is no way for a worker to know what that power is actually doing and they would have to trust the builder implicitly to be honest with them.

Such simple but powerful constructs can be used for all sorts of things such as powering something up, feeding, blocking, manifesting or destroying something: no-one but the builder would ever really truly know what it actually was doing. Because of the realities of human nature that makes them very dangerous constructs.

For that reason alone, if a Hierophant wanted to build something like that for a specific purpose, it would be good to have the whole group work on the construction, so that the intent is shared and understood. I personally think that if a Hierophant chose to build such a construct for a purpose, it should be built, worked with, and then carefully dismantled so that it could never be misused. Such a focussed construct is like a needle point or a nuclear missile which is pointed at one thing and does its job. To then leave it lying around or visited with vague intent is just madness. If a construct is for the long term and for multiple uses including education, healing, etc then it is best to build a more human friendly construct that would be accessible to workers at all different stages of development.

There is a sort of midway version that can use platonic shape and patterning to create a temple that can be entered, such as a pyramid, sphere or cube and they will have nothing in them as the shape and power is all that is needed. These forms of temples are not of much use for training initiates in that there are no cues to learn from, no interfaces to commune with and nothing that is familiar to help an initiate take a step further.

Such a patterned temple is best used as a working temple that has a specific purpose where workers gather, do their job and then leave. The shape alone serves as a container for the egregore and the choice of shape depends very much on the angelic consciousness being used to construct it. The down side is that it cannot be communicated with and it is not so accessible to inner contacts to interface with.

Outer versions of these types of working temples can be seen in our world through history, i.e. the Kaaba, a cube temple which is an externalisation of paradise, the great pyramid of Giza is another example. They are working spaces with very little cues, few interfaces and a great deal of power.

So the choice of construction depends very much on what it will be used for and by whom and for how long.

THE DIFFERENT REALMS OF THE ABYSS

In recent years people have begun to explore the Abyss after centuries of staying far away from it because of propaganda and religious dogma (it’s hell, it’s the place of evil, it’s where all that is bad lives etc). The dogma was there to stop people accessing what is truly a powerful and deep inner realm that will expose people to real power and Divinity in many different forms. If people know about and have worked with the powers we call the Abyss, they cannot be so easily taken in by magus bullshitters.

The Abyss is seemingly endless, goes up and down, inside and out, and holds access to every being that is in our manifest universe, both inner and outer. All realms end here, any expression of Divinity flows through and takes their forms from here: it is the best place in the inner worlds to learn how it all works.

The Abyss works loosely on the dynamic of conditional/manifest/density/ through to unconditional/non manifest/ethereal. Divinity polarises here from unformed to formed, neutral to male/female, and neutral to negative and positive — the Abyss is like a filter or a Play Doh machine that takes unformed power and gives it form.

As humans we need to approach the Abyss from our own understanding of existence and humanity, that way we don’t get eaten. If we approach the Abyss with an eastern spirituality concept of everything is love and light and just needs enlightenment, then we will be torn to shreds pretty quickly. If we approach it from a psychology angle that it is all in our minds and all that is there is our own demons, then boy are we in for a ride.

It has to be approached as a real place, with real beings, some who will eat us or tear us apart, and some that won’t. There will be some beings that haven’t a clue what we are, and some beings that will want to climb inside us and share our lives. There are also beings who will teach us, help us, and tend us when we are in need, and beyond all of that is Divinity, both within reach and out of reach. So if approached with a human reality check, the same approach we would take to exploring the Amazon jungle, we will stay safe and hopefully not get bitten, eaten, or worn.

It is a place where very ancient beings that no longer roam our world can be reached — their consciousness still exists, just as ancient deities and former waves of humanity do and this is the place where those powers and beings can be reached. The ancient landscape of the earth is layered under our desert and the landscape of the future is above the desert waiting to sink into being. Accessing all of these places and beings is possible; it just takes focus and energy.

When we go down the Abyss to reach beings that are far back in our past, we begin to get into areas where the consciousness of those beings is aggressive, bloodthirsty, and predatory — why? Well, think about dinosaurs for example. Our planet’s history is littered with extremes of massive aggressive beings that would terrify us, and little vegan humans that lived peaceful natural lives. It is a history of extremes and those extreme powers still exist, huddled down in their inner reality that to us is down the Abyss.

Also, what we perceive as down the Abyss is the realm of beings we often identify as demonic. These beings have their own realm which can open out with a front door into our world, just as angelic beings do. Working down the Abyss brings us through the natural filter of the pattern, which prepares us and puts us on a more even keel with these beings so that we can interact a little more safely, even though they are still dangerous. The same is true of working up the Abyss with angelic beings.

The one thing to remember with all these levels of the Abyss is that each level is an echo of our desert, which means it has Divinity across the Abyss, the area which is the inner power expression of their outer realm and beyond that is their form of death and recycling. In the case of angelic beings, there seems to be no death, just a holding pattern or place of silence. Most other beings have a death/recycling area, except the time concept is very different to our own.

When the Hierophant begins to work in these realms, it is wise to remember the structure, lay out, flow of power, front door/back door, tunnels, Keepers and all the other factors that present themselves to us as humans. Any of these realms can be worked in, be built in or have buildings that access them, if approached correctly. The main thing to remember, particularly if the Hierophant is in these realms in vision and has less experienced people in tow, is that the more manifest the power is, the more contained and formed it is. It is safer to interact with and there is less chance of someone getting burned.

If the structure behind the interface is understood, the interface itself can be worked with to the fullness of its capacity and then the interface itself can be moved beyond so that eventually the workers are operating without the need for an interface and are getting closer to the reality of the pattern and beyond. The magical structure will continue to blossom and mature if its workers and students do not fall into the trap of creating a dogma around the interface but instead retain an understanding of what that interface truly is. With more understanding, the people within the magical structure will grow spiritually and magically over the generations without becoming followers or founders of religions or paths. To achieve this and sustain it is truly magical.

CHAPTER 10:

THE STRUCTURE BEHIND EXTERNALISED RITUAL AND MAGICAL/RITUAL OBJECTS

Most lodges/groups and individuals who conduct rituals often do so without much thought as to what is actually happening; what is it they are really doing? We perform actions without thinking about such things, concentrating more on the success of the endeavour and the amount of energy it will take.

But when you are working from scratch, designing a whole magical system, there needs to be a clear understanding of what is happening during a magical working; what is going on behind the scenes? Where do the inner contacts come from in ritual? Where does the power come from? How does a magical action cause something to happen?

We are raised in a culture of experts who all know better and would prefer that we leave the important questions and difficult jobs to them. That attitude has also become pervasive in magic with so many people quite happy to bumble along doing rituals for this or that without actually thinking if it will work and, if it does, how?

Add to this the egocentricity that became a major factor of magic from 1888 upwards — lots of ‘know better’ Masons who were the direct result of the age of enlightenment generations before, deferring to a greater ‘secret’ master/s. The next generation included the spice of psychology, with the ‘it’s all a part of our mind’ philosophy. Decade after decade we have all taken the secrets of the previous generations, done the rituals, done the work and made the same mistakes. This is what happens when an old system is inherited: we gain old attitudes.

In the last few decades we have been encouraged more and more to think for ourselves, to not take old systems without much thought but to be able to choose whether new or old is the best for the job at hand. This has produced some wondrous and disastrous results, which at least shows that people are doing for themselves!

This is very important when building a new magical lodge from scratch — everything must be rebuilt from the ground up including the ritual system, patterning, and magical methods. The reason for this is not about being new for the sake of it, but that you need to know exactly all the components that are going into it. It is also important that a new lodge is fresh and uncontaminated — old patterns carry old baggage and old parasitical behaviour.

To clarify better when I talk about ritual patterns, I do not mean the written or spoken word which is often created specially for an event, I refer to the underlying pattern that is used, a pattern which is often passed from one generation to another.

WHAT IS A RITUAL?

A ritual takes power from the inner worlds, puts it into a shape, and uses it for a purpose. When you are disciplined and trained/experienced in magic and inner work, your actions take on a different level of power to someone who is not involved in the inner worlds very much. The deeper the inner work, the more power comes through the externalised actions. There is a very curious dynamic about magic that to affect the outer, it needs a passive inner flexibility within the practitioner, and by passive, I mean really passive. The less inner focus that is put on an externalised action the more powerful it becomes.

This dynamic only works with a magician who has long-term experience of working in the inner worlds at different levels and in different realms. My theory is, when you work for a long time in the inner worlds with contacts, the dynamic of ‘doing easy’ between outer person and inner contact kicks in to being. This means that the human does what is easy for them, but near impossible for an inner contact and vice versa. It is not difficult for a human to move a cup, walk from A to B, light a flame or use a voice. Likewise, the inner contact can easily open an inner gate, send power to X or trap a being. The inner contacts are good at moving energy around, opening/closing inner access points and bringing in/sending away inner beings etc.

So, when both sides of the fence are up to speed, some pretty cool work can be done. But that does not explain the dynamic of ritual actions, just which unseen partners are sometimes working with us.

RITUAL ACTION AND INTENT

When a person performs a ritual of any type, the ritual affects and interacts with everything around it (hence take out the cat before doing an exorcism). Certain ritual actions gather in energy by attracting power to the pattern, other rituals call in beings. Some rituals make it impossible for beings to stay in the space, whilst others affect the life pattern of the person they are focused on — the list is as complex and intriguing as human nature itself.

Intent is a major part of ritual, so if you think of something, the power gathers behind that thought. If you hold a thought with focussed outer intent, a great deal of power becomes backed up behind the intent, ready to be used. The use of the mind is like an inner muscle and if it is worked regularly in the correct way, it becomes very strong, flexible, and able to do heavy things. Magic deals with the part of our world that is not solid, but it is a part of the world that drives the solid. The mind does the same thing; the mind drives our bodies, but it can also drive everything else around us.

The fascinating thing is that our minds can affect things that are not connected to us physically and it is one of the lost treasures in our modern psychologised world. A trained thought pattern can affect things separated from the body or immediate surroundings of the thinker.

This is one of the great mysteries that psychology has destroyed, as it taught us that our thoughts affect only ourselves and beings that talk to us are really just a deeper part of ourselves. That is not a whole truth — yes the deeper parts of ourselves talk to us, but then so do beings outside us, totally unrelated to us; they can affect, communicate, and interact with us through our minds. Mainstream psychology told us that such a concept is not true, so we stopped believing and, as a result, magic slid further away from our reach.

When I was growing up, I saw people think at other people and make them very sick, I saw people chant other people to death, sing them out of their homes and marriages. I never bought into the psychology thing because I knew from being a brat that it wasn’t true. That freedom enabled me to grow in magic and also taught me to respect such a dangerous skill.

On a happier and more practical side, the other thing that happens during ritual patterning is that some of the inner contacts that you regularly work with come along for the ride. When they see your focussed intent, they realise what it is you are trying to achieve and join in to help, using their skills in the inner worlds as you use your skills in the outer world.

When someone who has not worked much or at all in the inner worlds does an outer ritual, there are one of two things that can happen. It either works in a sort of haphazard fashion or it doesn’t work at all. If someone has a bright energy, that energy will attract faeries, parasites, and elemental beings that are in the area and they will wonder what the hell he is doing. If they have a sense of humour, are bored, or realise they can get a meal out of it, they will join in the ritual, do the inner part and off it goes.

This haphazard use of inner contact is particularly dangerous, as it leaves the person doing the ritual wide open to anything that comes along. When you engage in a ritual you open to the inner realms and ask them to do something. You have no idea what type of being you are inviting into your energy field and basic 101 book protections will not stop a hungry parasite if he sees a hot steaming dinner. People honestly think the ritual happens with no payoff and that thanking the universe will suffice — wrong…..

This is one of the points of importance for the Hierophant when she is designing the training system for initiates: they need to know the inner and outer dynamics of ritual from day one so that they fully understand the implications of their thought patterns and their ritual actions.

EXTERNALISED POWER AND ACTION

Some outer ritual actions draw inner world energies into an image or object so that even though they have no physical substance, the contact can be interacted with through a physical object. This is something that has been in magical technique, be it formalised magic or Shamanic/tribal magic, for millennia. It is probably one of the very oldest forms of high magic that can have a powerful impact upon an individual, a community or a landscape.

A good working example of this is sand paintings, the use of which can still be found in the Navajo Hogan and the Tibetan sand Mandalas. The ritualist slowly creates a pattern, which often includes images of spirit beings, demons or holy people. The work is done with ritual intent, sometimes with the use of chant, storytelling or ritual poetry and, as the ritualist works, the inner beings are drawn to the work by the sounds and the energy. The intent will particularly draw in beings that are causing a particular problem like sickness, mental illness, bad luck or curses. As the beings get closer, the picture intrigues them and impels them to go into it, where they become trapped in the images and patterns. Once they are fully trapped within the pattern and the pattern is finished, the painting is destroyed and the sand thrown to the wind or into a river thus breaking up the hold of the being on the physical world and casting it to the elements, back to where it belongs.

The secret of the ritual action is covered in mystique and people are told that the picture is destroyed because nothing is permanent. The being is taken from where it has been causing problems and compassionately put back into the world of its own element.

Sometimes ritual paintings or images are used in more or less the same way. They are painted in such a way as to attract a being which is then absorbed into the painting. The image is then pinned to trap in the demon or spirit and the image is burned — the being is cast into the element of fire, away from where it was causing problems.

Another example of outer ritual action with inner results is the construction of a sacred image of a deity or spirit and the use of song, speech and intent to draw a being into the image. That image is then worked with magically as a window to that being. It can also be used to trap a being in and keep it there — this is how some demon traps work.

All of these actions are outer physical actions using mental intent and no intentional inner work, therefore action done by a person with the right skills and intent is enough for it to work. The dynamics of this work can be very useful in the building and maintenance of a lodge, but the skills can be put to terrible misuse and the Hierophant needs to take care to supervise any adept working in this field within the lodge to ensure that the adept works with compassion and respect for all beings.

It will be necessary to teach these dynamics and skills to initiates training in the skills of healing and exorcism, which is where these externalised actions usually come into play.

INNER CONTACTS IN RITUAL

When the Hierophant is training initiates in ritual, they will learn how to work with inner contacts through ritual, as opposed to in vision. When you meet an inner contact through vision, you have either gone into their realm, or met them in a half way place in the inner worlds. When you work with an inner contact in ritual, you call them to you, working with them in a combination of outer action, intent and passive inner vision (using inner vision in your own realm).

There are a variety of inner contacts that work this way, usually former human adepts, or human adepts alive in their own time/place. If the pattern has been set down correctly, each working direction will have been anchored into a line of consciousness so that when the initiate works in ritual in that direction, an adept from that line working in the inner worlds will join the initiate in the work and assist. If the lodge line is anchored in a specific priesthood line, then usually the contacts from that line will engage in the work of the lodge. If not, the work can potentially draw/call upon any human adept who can pick up the signal; usually one who is working in a similar stream will come through as an inner contact to assist.

It is also an important part of the initiates training to learn how to be an inner contact while still living. A Hierophant or one of the adepts would set up a vision whereby the initiates would go through the inner temple to answer an inner call from a group in the same magical line, past, present or future, and step into their outer lodge to work as inner contacts in the ritual. These inner contacts can be a valuable resource for the Hierophant when building and strengthening a lodge: many hands make eco-friendly light work….

So it is important to understand the inner dynamics of these inner contacts when building the ritual pattern foundation in the lodge. It needs to be done in such a way that the gates are accessible to living adepts in their own time, regardless of when that is, so that the work can be woven across time. This is very important when the lodge is undertaking long term projects that have a deep magical impact upon the land.

CREATING A RITUAL PATTERN FOR THE LODGE

When the lodge is first being put together, the Hierophant will have decided upon a ritual patterning for the inner and outer temple that will be used in all ritual work. As I discussed earlier, it can be a single central altar pattern or 2, 3, 4, or 5 directions — it all depends on the type of work the lodge will undertake and what beings are to be worked with.

There are a few different ways the ritual pattern can be anchored and we looked at one way while building the inner temple. The following is a straight forward method which anchors the ritual pattern in the temple and leaves it ticking in the background, ready for use at ritual time.

The first thing that needs attending to in a building project is the decision of which pattern to use. Really, simple is more powerful. While a complex 6 pointed star can be very impressive, when laid out in a temple and used in rituals, it can end up limiting the work to what is connected with that symbol and nothing more. It is often best to choose the pattern based on the natural powers around the temple and what elements are used the most by the lodge. If you stick to basic natural flows, you don’t back yourself into a ritual corner as far as developing the work goes; a bit of foresight can go a long way.

So for example, if the Hierophant wants to work with a polarity of positive/negative, male/female, a north south pattern would suffice and other things can be built on to that. The temple would be set up with an altar in the north and one in the south. It can be enhanced by one in the centre, or it could be used in the form of a triangle with the 3 altars creating the pattern. A four directional layout is also a popular pattern with an altar in each direction. Sometimes one in the middle for the void works well, or just a simple single altar in the centre, which is usually the most powerful as everything and anything can be pulled through it.

With the pattern settled, basic altars need to be placed in each direction with the access element upon them and nothing else. The group begin by sitting in a circle with the altars in the directions (and no one sitting in front of an altar) and they go into the void in vision, going in as deep as they can.

While deep in vision, the first adept gets up and goes to the first altar whilst maintaining the inner vision of the void with their eyes open. The choice of which altar to work with first will depend upon the directional patterning that is being used in the magic itself.

At the altar, the adept reaches in vision through the void to the directional power that the altar is representing. Once they have connected with that power, they then reach a little further for an inner contact, particularly one connected to the line in the temple, and brings the contact through the void to the other side of the altar so that the altar becomes the threshold of those two worlds.

The inner contact and the outer adept both place their hands upon the altar and draw in the power of that direction. They let it flow through them into the altar where the two streams of power from the inner and outer adepts entwine.

The adept now thanks the inner adept, steps away from the altar and moves on to the next one. As soon as the first altar is clear, the next adept goes up to it and repeats the same process. It builds through the unique mediation of each adept so that the directional lines weave through each person, creating a pattern of power that imprints itself upon the altars and the fabric of the building.

At that point, the group needs to solidify the pattern in the room. This is done by firstly sitting in silence in meditation, seeing the pattern in the room and seeing the power flow out of the first direction, followed by taking up the flow of the ritual patterning as it goes around the room and back out through the first altar again.

These flow patterns can be worked with in a variety of ways to bring different powers into the temple to be then used for a working. If the group is sending power out into the world to do something, it would not return to the first altar but would be directed from the last altar out into the world.

The pattern must be established in the room so that it can be used in ritual regularly so that the minute anyone goes up to an altar to work, the power and contact will switch on almost immediately. The more it is used, the stronger it gets and over generations a massive amount of power can build with it.

If ritual implements are used, and once they are consecrated, they will live on the altar upon which they were consecrated and where their power is most relevant. It would be wise however for the Hierophant to think very carefully about the distribution of power tools around the directions — the powers that flow through certain directions are very specific in some ways. So for example: a consecrated sword placed in the north is going to be tuned to death and destruction; not a cool idea. And if any young would-be magicians read this and think it’s a cool idea, I would say go ahead and see what happens. Just don’t make any long term plans as power flows through you first.

PUTTING A RITUAL TOGETHER

So as the pattern is established in the temple it will dictate to a certain extent how rituals are designed and executed. They would have to be in harmony with the pattern and the powers. A two or three directional pattern which is based upon polarity and yet is used in ritual with just one power quickly becomes imbalanced. If a group were to weave male and female polarity into a room where only solar male deity work is done is just begging for a fight.

The ritual needs to reflect or at least acknowledge the powers in the room but it doesn’t mean you are tied to a single pattern — the pattern must flow in harmony with what is there. It can be a very good exercise in planning for initiates to write a simple ritual which works within the patterning of the temple, using the powers, inner contacts and directions. This makes one think carefully about how powers interact and how simplicity can be used effectively to bring through large amounts of power.

The one pitfall that a Hierophant will have to watch out for when training initiates in ritual work is to ensure that it is not all drama but is simple, to the point, and completely relevant. It must be linking in with the inner contacts and powers to achieve something; otherwise it just becomes a piece of elaborate theatre which doesn’t actually do anything. The default dynamic is usually the more powerful and connected the ritual is, the simpler it becomes.

If a ritual is over-wordy, the focus is pulled to the words and detracts from the power which can end up confusing the inner contact. If there is no movement in the ritual, i.e. it is all conducted from one point (like a sand painting), then the words become more important, as they join with the action.

If there is movement, such as walking from one altar to another, the patterns made by the act of walking become a major part of the ritual and the words take on a lesser role. If the ritual has movement from altar to altar and then ritual action at the altar, maybe with ritual implements, then that focuses most of the power and the words are simply used at each threshold to call in the contact. Sometimes there is no voice at all and the whole ritual is conducted in silence so that any communion is done through inner vision while walking and handling the implements. That is a form of ritual that bridges the inner and outer and it was one of my favourite methods of working.

When using speech, don’t have the initiates sit down to do a bit of creative writing, otherwise the focus is on the speech and the initiate will be more bothered about their performance and what people think of the ritual than with getting on with the job. It also takes power away from the work if the ritual is rambling. It must be written from within the context of the job. If it is a focussed patterning with movement and implements, the verbal should be short and to the point. If it is ritualised drama, then the speech is far more important.

The Hierophant’s job in the midst of all this is to ensure that the power pattern in the room is upheld, that the bridges are working, the inner contacts are there, and the access routes are properly filtered.

This is the other point to remember when designing a ritual pattern for a temple — make sure the directions worked in are compatible with the guardians of the magical line which runs through the lodge. They need to be able to do their job of guarding anyone who works in the temple, and to do that they need a bridge into the temple; therefore each ritual should have a starting element that connects with the guardians and the inner contacts. Eventually a ritualised action will develop which does that job but it will need to develop slowly through the use of intent, call, and action.

INNER RITUAL

The other form of ritual that the Hierophant will need to establish in the lodge is inner ritual; that is to say, ritual that is undertaken completely in vision in the inner temple. The inner ritual is built up and conducted purely in the minds of the workers along with inner contacts and nothing is done in the outer temple. That can be expanded usually by repeating the ritual a second time in vision in the outer temple; and then finally the physical ritual is done in the outer temple while conducting the visionary ritual in the inner temple, so the two are brought together and worked at the same time.

This requires a great deal of concentration and is probably best left to the adepts, as the power strain can get to be a little too much for initiates. Stretching in two places at once while weaving power takes a lot of inner flexibility and to expect someone to do that sort of work after a small amount of training is to put them in danger of outer injury. To attempt a bridging of power in that way needs inner flexibility, focus, inner strength, grounding and the ability to ‘spread out’ the soul without weakening oneself.

When a ritual is conducted on the inner, it takes far more physical energy than if the power was dispersed through the muscles by movement. The Hierophant needs to take into account the physical affects of ritual when working with groups in the lodge, and to keep an eye on the health of the workers, to ensure that no one is over-stretching themselves.

Moving inner power with the mind can take an enormous amount of physical strength, particularly if the work is deep; hence the esoteric monks who used to have to do physical work and physical training first before they were allowed to do deep visionary meditations. The body must be prepared for physical impact and the best preparation for that is to ensure that the outer body reflects the same condition as the inner — the outer body should be flexible, strong and healthy. I’m sure that anyone who is reading this who has spent time working in-depth with me over a couple of days can remember what their body felt like the day after the work was finished…. I know I can!

The physical impact of ritual can be profound if the body is not properly attended to and if the work is ongoing over a period of time, it is the responsibility of the Hierophant to ensure that any workers involved in the work are aware of the physical impact as well as ways to minimise the damage. The more of an inner focus there is in the ritual, the deeper the power, hence the harder the impact on the body.

One way for a Hierophant to help minimise the impact on the workers is for the lodge to provide or be involved in a physical discipline like martial arts, yoga, tai chi etc. It helps if everyone does a similar discipline so that everyone’s bodies are on the same frequency.

PHYSICAL CONNECTION

This is a dynamic that the Hierophant should discuss with the working group before it undertakes any major work program/responsibility: when a group work together, their bodies begin to synchronise.

When a group of humans work magically in inner work over a period of time together, their bodies begin to tune in to each other. This can manifest in a variety of ways, from women timing their bleeding together to people sharing symptoms and beginning to connect deeply with each other.

This can end up being a problem if some of the members are particularly sensitive — they can end up taking on the physical strain of others, i.e. load sharing. This can be a major problem in a lodge if a worker load shares a lot; they will end up taking the strain of the whole ritual upon themselves without realising they have done so. This needs to be watched for very closely with a working group.

The other problem that can crop up in this situation is where a person takes on the symptoms and emotions of another worker. This happens when a person is not really capable of holding the work, their burdens will spill out and the nearest sensitive person will get the strain. This is why it is vitally important that any group working on a major powerful path of work are healthy and well balanced. Any sickness, disability or emotional problems can potentially be poured out to the working group to carry and that is not acceptable. The strain of the work is enough without having to carry your neighbour too!

If someone is sick, they should not be allowed to work. If someone is going through a major emotional crisis, they should not be doing the heavy work. Some inner work however is very good for emotional strain and it is best to allocate them to help in some training work for the initiates. The Hierophant needs to be watchful of her workers and trainees and quietly keep stock of everyone’s well-being. In a way, playing the role of the Hierophant is like being a parent to a large family, so you become the centre of responsibility for learning, well-being and nourishment.

In the end, ritual action, be it physical or visionary, is the movement of universal life force from A to B to achieve something. This basic dynamic is something that must be kept in mind at all times to ensure that it works; that the person/people conducting the work have sufficient life force to do the work and that their life force recovers properly after the work.

It is also important when moving life force via ritual that your intent is clear and to the point as you are playing with the power of the universe, so you need to be aware of what you are doing with it!

CHAPTER 11:

LONGER TERM IMPLICATIONS OF BEING THE HIEROPHANT

Taking on the responsibility of being a Hierophant is no easy task and is a responsibility that does not go away even if the person quits magic and takes up knitting. The weave of power in the position of Hierophant is such that it permeates all aspects of the soul, the echoes of which can be heard for millennia.

When a Hierophant develops a consecrated line, he takes on responsibility for those adepts and initiates for the length of their lifetime — even if the consecrated person stops practicing magic they are consecrated for ever. So when ever something powerful or dangerous happens to an adept or initiate of that line, it will tug on the energy of the Hierophant. When consecrated people walk away from magic, it doesn’t stop just because they have; it settles in to a deeper more subtle mode where the person is slowly manoeuvred from situation to situation to supply an inner demand. When a consecrated person is put in the middle of a powerful tangle that could take them into very difficult territory and they cry out for help, the first person to get the inner call is the Hierophant.

So it is wise to take into account, before rushing off to become the Hierophant, just what a responsibility and burden it truly is. Most people who take up the mantle are not fully aware of what they are getting themselves into, and once there are there, there is no backing out. Besides the energetic tie to consecrated people, the Hierophant also carries the burden of the lodge and its many magical workings. If the group drop the energy, it will fall to the Hierophant. If the inner temple is hacked, it will affect the Hierophant before it affects anyone else.

The other burdens of responsibility that fall upon the Hierophant are to keep an eye on everyone in the lodge in matters of health, happiness, training, safety, food, general well-being — it is like being a parent to a lot of people. Unfortunately there are some who become heads of groups/lodges and focus primarily on making money for themselves, and set themselves up with almost pop star status. The two parasite desserts of ego and greed disengage any hope of the magus/leader truly achieving anything of true lasting worth. They usually care little about their group or indeed very little about their work. The road to such ruin is a very wide one and it is bypassed in the very beginning by sticking to one’s intent and putting the group/work before anything else.

CONTROL

The other major stumbling block for the Hierophant is the issue of control. It’s a sticky one as it is not straight forward and simple. If the group is run as a democracy, then the decisions are being made by people who may or may not understand the complexities that underpin certain magical issues. It also can also end up with very little being done and the decisions reached are potentially the popular ones rather than the necessary ones.

The other extreme is the Hierophant having absolute control and then abusing it, which leaves the group with the choice of ‘put up with it or leave’. Having such control is an easy hole to fall down and does not give room for the Hierophant to allow people to make mistakes, take responsibility, or have a say in decisions.

For myself, I think the best way is to have the final say (as I would be carrying the burden), but that the group’s adepts all have specific responsibility within their areas of capability in the temple/inner temple. The Hierophant could use passive governance, i.e. encourage discussion, encourage joint solutions, give the workers space to make non-fatal decisions, and not assign anyone with lodge status other than ‘adepts’ and ‘initiates’. Having hierarchies beyond what is totally necessary creates a disharmony and encourages distracting but meaningless goals. It is better to recognise each person’s strengths and abilities, and honor them for that, and to also recognise a person’s weak area and help them to recognise it so that it can be strengthened.

It is also important that the Hierophant does not head every bit of work, that he takes a back seat in some of the work, or refrains from doing parts of the work altogether so that he can keep an eye on the group in general. If the Hierophant heads all the work, the adepts do not get the chance to lead work, do exploratory work, create, build etc. It is very important that the adepts who are capable can learn those skills so that they can pass them on to the next generation. A working lodge that has adepts working to the highest levels is a lodge that will survive for a very long time.

OLD AGE

If the Hierophant has allowed the adepts in the lodge to flourish fully and they have strengthened fully, then the transition of power for the Hierophant in old age is easy and smooth. The hardest thing for the Hierophant is to come to the understanding that they have become too old to carry the burden of the lodge and that it is time to hand on to someone younger and more in touch with the world of the time.

If done properly, the transmission of power should go smoothly so that the Hierophant can stay in the background as an honoured elder which also teaches the younger members of the lodge the importance of the wisdom (and crankiness) of the elderly and it teaches them how to respect and honor their elders. It is not common in today’s western culture to keep your family elders close but to put them away in ‘kennels’ which I find extremely odd.

The elder of the lodge should be cared for, respected, consulted for their wisdom, and different way of thinking, and to help them kept up to date on what is happening. It is the responsibility of the retired Hierophant to be just that, ‘retired’, and to honor the new Hierophant by letting the reins go. Too many Hierophants cling to power, even after they are dead, because they fear that the newer generation cannot do things properly. That is a symptom of not accepting the flow of time: power and knowledge go up and down in waves; it is part of the larger pattern of how consciousness works. So the Hierophant needs to understand that while it may be true that the younger upcoming pups may not know what they are doing, that is not the business of the retired Hierophant. It is the job of the inner contacts to quietly steer the ship over longer periods of time and they should be trusted to do just that.

If the lodge is solidly contacted, then inheritance of power will not be an issue. The inner priesthoods are good chess players — you don’t always see the moves coming, but they do work well. If the new Hierophant does not seem up to the job, then it is up to the inner contacts and the lodge to deal with that, not the retired elder. The letting go is very important from a magical point of view for the longer-term magical health of the lodge and the elder.

Sometimes the power in a lodge needs to lull for a generation, sometimes it is just a situation where the elder does not recognise the ability of the new Hierophant, or that they forget just how clumsy they were when they first became Hierophant. Because the twists and turns can get so complicated, it is important when a person of power retires and hands on the mantle, that it is done completely and without reservation.

The letting go is more than a psychological lesson, it is a preparation for the next step in the development of the old Hierophant — if they let go of the old job, the new one can be stepped into easily and smoothly. If not, what can happen is that after death the retired Hierophant tries to maintain control as an inner contact. But trying to keep an outer control from an inner perspective is really unhealthy. It can end up with the lodge having to banish what essentially has become a troublesome ghost; they are not truly an inner contact as they have not allowed the natural transition to happen. This damages the soul of the dead person and puts the new Hierophant in the terrible position of having to banish their elder.

All of this can be avoided if the Hierophant recognises when they have become too old for the responsibility and offers to step down into an honorary role. By letting go internally, the inner power flows out of them to the new Hierophant which creates a space in the old Hierophant for what is coming next.

THE PASSING ON OF POWER

The ‘Passing On of Power’ ritual is a very important part of the letting go and moving on process, and it also prepares the new Hierophant for the burdens that they will undertake. Taking up the mantle of new Hierophant is not just an outer action, it is an inner undertaking too which carries a great deal of inner burden and responsibility with it.

Essentially, the old Hierophant has to take the new one in vision back to the beginning of the creation of the lodge line, back to the very anchor of power that the founding Hierophant used to create the consecrated line. The old leader takes the new one in vision and recreates the original action with the new one, so that the new Hierophant essentially becomes one with the founder. This is one of the hidden mysteries in the Vatican — the Pope becomes Peter in a very simple private working where a monk of a specific order bridges the new pope to the first one. It is done as an outer ritual, but it is essentially the same thing.

When the Hierophant takes the new one in the vision, they speak out exactly where they are and what they are doing, and the new one joins in so that they are both doing the action of anchoring the line. It ties the new Hierophant to the anchor power and to that founding moment in time.

Once that is done, then it is time for both of them to go into the inner temple. Stood before the main inner altar, the old Hierophant places their hand upon the head of the new, both physically and in vision, and allows all the wealth of inner knowledge to flow from the old to the new. This is not a flow of intellectual knowledge; it is a flow of inner knowledge gained from years of working with Divinity, angelic beings, and inner adepts. It is passed on to the new Hierophant and will lay dormant until needed.

The completion of the flow of inner knowledge and power heralds the time for the new Hierophant to take the old one to the point of ‘letting go’. This is an inner action which has major outer implications for the development of the old Hierophant in preparation for work after death. It is an octave of a specific action that happens in death, but it is conducted within life.

The new Hierophant takes the old one to the lake of the egregore and walks them through the egregore to the edge of the void. There, the Hierophant turns around to look at the egregore/lake and says goodbye. He steps off the threshold of the void and falls into nothingness, letting his life experiences fall away from him, letting the ties to the egregore break, and their tie to the mantle of Hierophant fall away. The old Hierophant stays silently in the void for a time before gently coming out of vision.

After that working, the old Hierophant no longer holds the power of the lodge, the new one does. Although the old one has disconnected at a certain level from the lodge, there is a deeper connection that still lives, but is beyond form and only kicks in after death.

DEATH AND THE INNER WORLDS: WORKING WITH THE LODGE

Once the old Hierophant dies, so long as they have let go of everything, they will go through their recycling process pretty quickly, usually in days, and will be ready to work in the lodge as a true inner contact. The ability to be able to do this comes specifically from the ability in life to let go — it is one of the inner dynamics of the mysteries that when you let go: you lose nothing that is needed. If you cling, you lose everything. That is why in life it is good to constantly give and let go of things you really do not want to let go of as it stops the clinging and hoarding that is so destructive in magic.

When the old Hierophant has gone through the primary death path, then they bypass the rest of the death journey and step into the pattern of the inner lodge. By letting go, the ego and life personality of the Hierophant easily falls away, leaving behind the deeper soul with its magical knowledge and strengths. Sometimes, when the strength is complete and balanced, he can take on some of the ‘dressing’ of the life that he led so that he can be recognised by the lodge members. That usually is best to do only when he has truly let go of everything, so that it does not limit him or pull him back to a life that no longer exists.

If the old Hierophant joins the lodge as an inner contact, he will be able to be accessed by the initiates for learning and guidance in the library, for council with the new Hierophant at the lake/egregore, and for general guidance or joining in the work of the adepts in the main temple.

The service as an inner contact is not for ever and it is difficult from a living perspective to know how long that contact will be there. Therefore it is important for the new Hierophant to work with the old to learn as much as they can just in case the old one passes deeper into the void. I worked with a very interesting inner adept for a few years who presented himself in his young form, and he taught me a great deal. Then one day, without warning, he told me I would not see him again as he was going back into life. I never did see him again but I was very thankful of the time and teaching I was given.

CLEANSING THE LODGE AFTER DEATH

When the Hierophant is getting older, he must appoint a death guardian from among the adepts. The job of the death guardian is to deal with the magical aspects of the death both for the person who has just died and for the inner and outer temples.

The death guardian will need to deal with the personal magical items of the Hierophant and make sure they go to the grave with him, that the body is blessed, the death vision is conducted for the soul, and that the new Hierophant works with them in the death work.

When the Hierophant dies, the temple must be closed immediately and no-one should go into the inner temple or outer temple until the death guardian has cleared everything. All elemental gateways must be closed and any flames must be extinguished, any vessels of water emptied and any stones taken out and buried. This is a very important ritual action to stop the lower self of the Hierophant trying to find its way back to the lodge in the first instance of the shock of death. This is vitally important if the death was swift and the old Hierophant was not given the chance to disengage slowly from life.

If there is a slow death, then the death guardian will work regularly with the dying person taking them in and out of the death vision in preparation. If the soul is properly prepared, then the lower self and personality will crumble immediately as some of it will already be in the void. If the death is unexpected and swift, it can be a shock to the system and the base self reaches out for what is powerful and familiar.

To stop that from contaminating the lodge, all doorways must be closed, all activities ceased, any pictures of the Hierophant taken down and put away, any mirrors covered etc. It is helpful to burn frankincense, myrrh and leave a CD going of Tibetan or similar chants of the skeleton dance, or music that has a clearing effect. These actions drive away any base clinging that might happen and will cleanse the lodge.

The cleansing and stripping of the outer temple should be completed before burial and once the body has been buried, then a further 10 day wait should be undergone before the lodge is opened again. Once opened it should be cleansed, purified, and retuned from both an inner and outer point of view. A vision to re-establish the consecrated line will need to be undertaken by the lodge members which can be achieved by going around the directions to the altars, connecting with the inner contacts, and establishing new elemental gates/flames etc.

The new Hierophant will hopefully already be in place. If not, then the fall back is the ‘chosen box’. It is the responsibility of the Hierophant to always have a name in the ‘chosen box’, naming who they think would be the best new Hierophant of that time. As they watch people develop, the name may be changed and it is one of the Hierophant’s responsibilities to make sure that name is kept up to date.

If the choosing is post mortem, then the new Hierophant will have to do the vision of the anchor of the line in vision with the old Hierophant once they have appeared in the inner temple: it is a different dynamic doing it this way, but it still works. As soon as the lodge is back to normal, work should commence straight away and the old Hierophant will most likely make an appearance when they are ready.

THE NEW HIEROPHANT AND THE HALL OF ELDERS

It is important for the new Hierophant to establish themselves quickly and solidly, marking their own path as needs be, without the feeling of having to be seen to be different. It is important that on-going work is continued and new work is commenced. The ‘back to business but with a fresh flavour’ will ensure the lodge survives and does not mummify or fall apart.

Responsibilities as the first new Hierophant include the building of the hall of adepts. When the first Hierophant of a line has died, an inner temple that will house the dead Hierophant and all others that come after is an important structure to secure the very long term survival of the work. It becomes a temple offshoot to the main one, and it houses all the specific wisdoms of the Hierophants. As a Hierophant withdraws from the main inner temple, they retreat back to this more obscure and timeless place that is accessible to a wider range of magical workers throughout time who find them. It holds the essence of the consecrated line and keeps it from contamination so even if the main inner temple degenerates, the hall of the elders stays clear.

To build this hall, it has to be built out from the main inner temple which acts as a foundation and lends to the power of the construction. A doorway near to the back door is built which has stairs leading upwards away from the level of the main inner temple. The stairway emerges out at the desert of the Abyss and the Sandalphon are called to assist in the construction.

The new Hierophant and the adepts work with angelic contacts that the Sandalphon call and a temple is built in the desert with a front door onto the desert so that any adept can find it. The construction methods are similar to the main temple, but it has no egregore, no library, just a single space where the inner adepts/Hierophants can gather.

This is a place that is deeper in to the inner realms than the inner temple so it has less form and there is less interaction for people visiting there. It is like a threshold between the void and the desert where the elders stay to hold the threads of the work and stop it vanishing completely into the void. From an outer/physical point of view, usually only the living Hierophant would go to this place as long as the lodge exists, and this keeps the hall focussed.

The Hierophant can go there for advice, learning, and joining — a living Hierophant is the sum total of all the Hierophants that have been in that line, so it becomes a little like a group mind that holds the line of magic in the inner consciousness of humanity. Once the lodge is no more, the knowledge and work of the lodge will be stored in this place for others to find over time and work with. It has its own angelic filtering on the doors which will only allow those who are called there to gain access. Once the lodge has died, the elders of the hall put out a call throughout the worlds for anyone who can pick it up to gather the work and re establish it in the outside world.

This is one of the reasons why only the Hierophant goes here and not the other lodge members — it is a condensed and preserved space of the magical line which can be easily damaged. It becomes a parallel to the anchor of the line, a sort of an echo of the anchor power. It is not immortal; rather it will live in the inner worlds for as long as there is a humanity to pick up on it. As humanity dies off, or the consciousness becomes so different that it is no longer compatible, then it will fade into the Abyss where it will no longer be accessed by anyone. It will slowly cross the Abyss and merge with Divinity.

The living Hierophant has a responsibility to go there periodically to learn, update, and keep it alive through interaction, and it is a place where much deeper powers can be reached. Living humanity has its limits as to how deep into the inner worlds it can go without beginning to lose its hold on life. The hall of the elders is a midway stage for that deep power. The inner elders can reach much deeper into those realms and act as a go between if necessary.

A recently dead Hierophant will need escorting into the hall from the inner temple and they will pass between the hall and the inner temple for a considerable time (or not if they have been called back into life) but eventually they will fragment with their deepest part going into the hall and the rest of their consciousness going into the void. If the hall has been around for a very long time, then some of the Hierophants that can be reached in there will be composites of a few generations. They merge together into eras of work so that when you talk to a group of say five of them, you are probably working with at least fifty in real terms.

SUMMARY

The responsibility of a Hierophant is staggering if it is approached in real terms, and it alters the soul forever. It is not a role to be taken lightly but it is a role that will develop the soul at a very deep level and will have a lasting effect in the realm of magic one way or another for a very long time. Such dedication to work is rapidly dying in the modern commercial world of magic, hence this book. Too many lodges are run as clubs and too many are run as businesses or hobbies — the true line of deep magic in the Western World is growing thin. Just as the mystery and power of the sleepers is fading, so is the power of the Hierophant.

And yet it is the most wonderful gift any human can give to the world, to give of themselves as a bridge between worlds. They stand between the Archon and the Aeon as a fulcrum for humanity in its quest for a path home to the Divine nothing.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: Initiation and Consecration: Methods

Chapter 2: Receiving Consecrated Lines from Deities

Chapter 3: The Consecrated Line of Divinity Before the Abyss

Chapter 4: The Creation of the Inner Temple

Chapter 5: The Building and Maintenance of the Egregore

Chapter 6: The Use and Development of Polarity in the Lodge

Chapter 7: The Calling and Development of Initiates

Chapter 8: The Dynamics of Work in a Magical Lodge

Chapter 9: The Structure Behind the Inner Realms

Chapter 10: The Structure Behind Ritual and Magical/Ritual Objects

Chapter 11: Longer Term Implications of Being the Hierophant