Do
what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Like
many aspirants, I started out, not just in the A\A\ but in occultism in general,
absorbing the traditional structures and forms of Western Esotericism. For me
this really began with early exposure to Wicca, primarily from the Gardnerian
tradition, then Paganism more generally and from there into the tarot, then the
Golden Dawn system, which led fairly quickly into Thelema.
In
such a pipeline it's natural to absorb certain correspondences, systems of
symbols and other magickal technology such as astrology, the Tarot, the
Hermetic Qabalah, on into the Theology and philosophy of Thelema itself as
described by Crowley, and later his successors who sought, with varying degrees
of success and originality, to clarify and systematise. Thus, in some circles
Thelema has become a fixed thing, a definite system in itself with little room
for interpretation, while in others it is looser, given more to personal
interpretation, and yet others hold that delicate middle ground between these
extremes.
From
the perspective of an A\A\ aspirant, a fairly
encyclopedic knowledge of these things is more or less expected. By the time I
began as a Probationer 0=0 I had already long since learned most of the major
correspondences and rituals by heart. Learning from an instructor in the sense
of them 'teaching' you the fundamentals and showing you the ropes, simply
didn't happen with me, and so I didn’t really think too much about pedagogy and
tradition until later on, when as a Neophyte 1=10, I took on my first students.
Only then did I begin to understand that absorbing the system is not the same
thing as transmitting it.
That
was a long time ago now too. Students have come and gone; mostly gone it has to
be said. I would not call myself a particularly good teacher, if my students
voting with their feet is anything to go by, but I have on the whole tried to
balance helping them to understand the A\A\ as a tradition to pass
on, and addressing the need for flexibility and adaptation in their own path
and practice. This is mainly because I view my role not so much as that of a
teacher, but as a witness. I am not there to be anybody’s master, but simply to
hold them accountable for their own path and practice. Perhaps I am mistaken
and such people require more guidance, in which case they had better find it
elsewhere.
The
distinguishing feature of the A\A\as a system is the one-to-one
nature of the system. An aspirant knows only their supervisor, and any students
they may have assigned to them. There are no peers to rely on or compare
ourselves to. Our grades matter to nobody outside those already mentioned. To
my mind the most important thing for the aspirant is steady progress, not so
much in the spiritual sense (since there really is no progress), but in the
sense of continuing to learn, grow and develop as initiates.
The
path is essentially practical, empirical, and based on seeing what works. That
is not to say that existing theory doesn’t matter. It does matter, being
musically literate will make you a better musician, just so being magickally
literate will make you a better magician. It is for this reason that students
are instructed to learn the basic rituals of the Golden Dawn tradition via
Liber O and elsewhere, to learn the system of correspondences of the Holy
Qabalah, and the columns of names, words, and other things found in Liber 777.
These are the building blocks of the Western magickal traditions and they
comprise a common language with which to communicate with others, and to
create a coherent internal magickal universe. However, as the cliché goes, the
map is not the territory, and at some point, we all have to draw our own maps,
explore new territory.
On
the other hand, the work of the Order is exploratory and empirical. Anyone who
spends any time in the A\A\ system will realise that
prepackaged occultism is really not what we are about. Not everybody thinks the
same way, and while certain patterns exist aspirants will have a more or less
individual approach to things like practical magick, ceremony, their approach
to mysticism etc. Ability differs too, often due to simple physical
limitations. For example, my knees, as I’ve gotten older, don’t let me sit in
The Dragon posture for extended periods, so I don’t. Others may find that
trance-states are better attained via music or via imagery and colour, or by
movement, and this will also influence the nature and expression of any
'results' they might obtain, and methods organising energy, of ‘energised
enthusiasm’ differ with the individual. Likewise, some may more or less discard
the Golden Dawn patterns altogether and get more out of other methods;
Witchcraft, Shamanic practices, Zen Meditation, Tai Chi, to name just a few.
The A\A\system must to some extent be
adaptable to the varying types of aspirants while maintaining its core
framework and conceptual structures.
It
should be clear from this that the A\A\ is not a one-size-fits-all
system. But it is a system, and if people don’t like it there are others just
as good, that might better suit them. The A\A\ is when finally considered,
rooted in the Western esoteric traditions, with and injection of Eastern
methods in the form of Yoga and Advaita, opening up possibilities in other
areas of oriental thought. Despite this flexibility it does have to have a structure
and a method by which training is conducted and progress assessed if it is to
have any meaning.
My
approach may best be described as this: The A\A\ system has set tasks laid out
in the Oath papers and in One Star in Sight, and those tasks can be tested
practically. For example, if I want to be sure a student has memorized their
verse of Liber LXV, I have them recite it to me. If I want to test their astral
vision, I devise a practical test for that. For Asana, I don’t really care
which posture they have chosen, only that they can be ‘steady and easy’ for one
hour in that posture. I set benchmarks, and ensure that the student knows what
these are, but I don’t really mind how they get there. For example, I completed
by Zelator 2=9 training due to my practice of Aikido, a form it has to be said
that contains many concepts incorporated from Raja Yoga which was already
tested practically in the dojo over years and afforded a high degree of
mind/body unification. This essentially fulfilled the basic requirements of a
firm foundation required in the grade of Yesod. The Asana test was relatively
easy after all that, and my supervisor at the time, herself a martial artist,
understood what I was doing and accepted it as meeting the spirit and technical
requirements of the grade, despite not being literally included in Crowley’s
system.
There is another form of assessing students, but this is not so much the formal testing of abilities, but of observing the students attitudes, thinking, way of living in the world, their whole way of being. But this is a difficult matter to discuss generally, and really depedns on interacting with, and getting to know them as people and as initiates, to give an indication of exactly where they stand in Tree of Life. But this is a whole topic in itself.
However,
as a teaching system we must have a standard of measurement, a continuity, and
we cannot expect to teach what we ourselves have not learned. Therefore,
the A\A\ cannot be simply a
free-for-all but a certain amount of measurable testing is necessary. Written,
verbal and practical testing must ensure that aspirants have absorbed the
essentials of the system, the framework so to speak, which means they can
accurately transmit the same to any students they may have with minimal distortion. But
at the same time, we must develop a methodology both flexible and adaptable
enough to grow and develop, while also being rigid enough to add much needed
structure and coherence to the Great Work. If we were to just do whatever we
liked and casually set our own standards there would be no point continuing In
the A\A\ as a system. In fact, it
wouldn’t be a system at all, and would dissolve into meaninglessness, and empty
form with no substance.
So,
we must preserve the essential system of the A\A\, its basic texts and traditions,
its Thelemic outlook and spirit as a vehicle of initiation in the New Aeon.
While at the same time recognising that not only does knowledge advance; we
have better sources than Crowley for Yoga for example, and there are multiple
translation and interpretations of magick and occultism that were not available
100 years ago. We don’t want to preserve the Order as a museum piece, a sort of
play acting of Victorian ceremonial magick, but a living tradition with feet
firmly grounded in the reality of our lives, root that go much deeper. But also,
with eyes that see, ears that hear, a mind that thinks, and the institutional
adaptability to take on new knowledge, take advantage of advances in
scholarship, science, knowledge generally. And this while adhering to the
fundamental spirit of the A\A\ as a vehicle for the training
of adepts able to actively and intelligently, in their own particular sphere,
participate in the service of Humanity which is the final reason for the Orders
existence.
Love
is the law, love under will.
Pertinax
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