Meditation Demystified 1 (Asana)

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

The training of the mind is central to the curriculum of the A.'.A.'. and can fit nicely into practically any spiritual tradition due to its non-sectarian, empirical nature. Crowley wrote extensively on the subject, and his 'Eight lecture on Yoga' is a classic that I think anyone wishing to take up the practice should acquire.

There is, as Crowley notes, more nonsense written about yoga, than about anything else in the world. I can only echo him when he states; "There is nothing mysterious and oriental about Yoga". I would venture that despite recognising this fact, he himself wrote a fair amount of nonsense on the topic, and going by an examination of Liber E seemed to regard yoga as a branch of athletics where the aim is to gradually deepen ones pranayama and lengthen the time spent in asana.

Having gone through these practices and also trained in another school of Raja Yoga I am pretty confident in stating that there is no goal to this practice; meditation is as useful as drinking wine and listening to Mozart. It serves no purpose, you won't get anything particularly useful out of it, you do it because you 'dig it', and Alan Watts puts it. Reality is an acquired taste and most of us are engaged in various forms of escapism much of the time. If your yoga practice is producing visions and strange effects then you are not in fact meditating, but in fact doing something else. 

It should be noted though that Liber E is really no more than an aid-memoir, and the student should really discuss methods with her supervisor who should be in a position to advise. I would also recommend enrolling in formal sessions of yoga or zazen, if these are available, since nothing beats first hand instruction. 

Meditation is central to the A.'.A.'. curriculum, so I want to address the topic in as simple a way as possible. While I have stated that meditation is useless, it is interesting. Just as our Mozart and wine connoisseur will learn to discern nuances and details inaccessible to the tyro, the meditator will also in time come to appreciate the movements of the mind in ways not apparent, and in this way acquaint himself both with the mind and with reality as it is in itself, and this constitutes illumination. 

While the Hindu tradition says a lot about Yoga that the practitioner can only confirm or deny by experience, I feel that it has the potential to be misleading. This is because it starts from a religious perspective, positing a definite doctrine and cosmology and expecting experiences to conform to this. For the A.'.A.'. student this may also be the case and he is liable to ascribe all sorts of meaning and mileposts to his 'results' based on a Thelemic understanding of things. Personally I prefer the zen approach, which does not assume anything or set definite goals, but proceeds empirically, is entirely observation based, and (in my opinion) better suited to the 'method of science', that the A.'.A.'. purports to teach. However, Crowley knew little of zen (at least he wrote little about it, if anything except indirectly when he discussed Taoism) and his Buddhism seems based largely on reports of 19th century commentators who interpreted it as a sort of nihilistic, world denying death cult. But that's a different topic, I digress...   

In this post I would like to outline my approach to meditation and yoga. I will not discuss here things like astral travelling or the spirit vision, which do not really relate to meditation and in fact serve the opposite purpose. Meditation is not about 'transcending' the real world. Nor is it about going on intense inner journeys or safaris in ones' own mind or on the astral planes. It is not about getting outside the body, talking with spirits or angels, and most definitely not about obtaining visions. While meditating these things, if they arise, should be considered breaches in the magicians circle. The Japanese word for them is Makyos, and they constitute the hallucinations and mental distortions that arise in the course of meditation. They can easily be mistaken for results by the inexperienced practitioner, but are best brushed aside. As a rule of thumb, the meditator should ignore anything that arises in his meditation.

While astral work and the rest are part of the A.'.A.'. curriculum, and necessary for formal progress in that system, they have the potential to do damage to the initiate, to 'loosen the girders of the soul', and are purposely destabilising. Meditation serves as a counter balance, a tether in ordinary life. This is why, immediately after the completion of the 1=10 grade, in which the aspirant is purposely shaking things loose, she is expected to step up her meditation practice and get well and truly grounded. The practices given for this are those of meditation, specifically Raja Yoga but other options are, in my opinion, perfectly fine.

1: Posture

The first thing that needs to be done is the stilling of the body. The practitioner wants to be able to think (or not think) without undue disturbance from the body, something that will be essential when she comes to tackle Pranayama and Dharana later on. The classic practice for this is Asana. A look at Liber E shows a range of postures, derived from classical sources. They all have their potential benefits and drawbacks. rather than go through each exhaustively I will discuss what I feel a good asana should consist of.

Crowley states that an Asana is that which is 'steady and easy'. It is then any posture that keeps the body upright, preferably with minimal external support, and allows for total relaxation. The spine should be upright and straight, and definitely not leaning on the back of a chair. The breathing should be totally unencumbered. I like to sit cross legged, but in such a way that the knees are not twisted, so full-lotus is out. Knee joints only have limited torsional strength, and once they give way they will always be weak, so a position in which they are neither twisted, nor hyper-extended is best. The Dragon, otherwise known circles as Seiza, can be useful if taught correctly, which it usually isn't. In the dragon posture, care must be taken to not slump back onto the heels and the body should be aligned so that the weight is directly between the knees and ankles, not over one or the other. While many traditions involve long periods in this posture, it can get uncomfortable, particularly if you have a large frame. 

The spine should be straight whatever asana is chosen, and the head upright, facing forward, with the eyes either straight forward or gazing gently at a spot on the floor two metres from you, assuming you are sitting on the floor. You should not be looking down, as this tends to withdraw awareness. In zazen the eyes are not closed, but do not look at anything in particular. Closed eyes will cause the awareness to withdraw and mental traffic to increase, and the intention is not to block out the world around you, but to become part of it. If you wish to escape reality then there is always alcohol, sleep, or TV. 

I like to use the half lotus posture, sitting cross legged on a small cushion, left foot over the right knee, spine straight and hands cupped in my lap in a mudra, left hand over right, both palms up and thumb tips lightly touching. A small cushion under the bottom can help elevate the body a little, assisting the posture. If the weather is cold a blanket across the knees is also useful. Once the posture is assumed it should be perfectly balanced. Spine straight, as it the head were being lightly pulled upwards by the crown. The neck, shoulders and arms should be relaxed. The chest should be neither thrust out or collapsed inwards. After ten minutes or so an unbalanced posture will become painful at the point of greatest strain, typically the lower back. You can always adjust and in time and a little experiment the best posture will become apparent. 

The place of practice should be quiet, clean and uncluttered with no cold drafts and little to draw the eye. I like to face a wall and will sometimes burn a little incense. Music it not required since the objective is presence in the here and now, with little to distract and only the mind and five senses for company. Avoid anything extra and anything that might draw the mind into mystical speculations or internal ruminations. The mental attitude is as important as the physical one, and in asana the best way is to not try to stop thoughts, but to be aware of them in the same way as you would be aware of birds singing.

I will cover some of the methods of breathing in detail later, when I discuss Pranayama, but for simplicity you can breath gently through the nose, follow the feeling of the breath or count each breath cycle from one to ten. Breathing should be soft, natural and easy. We are not trying to control anything at this point but instead allowing the body to  adopt its natural activity. Essentially, movement of the chest is minimal, let the stomach expand and contract lightly and easily, there should be no gasping and the breath should be deep and slow just as if you were asleep. 

While there is no point in waiting for Asana to be perfect before moving on to Pranayama, I would consider this the fundamental practice, the one on which all others are build, and probably only the really important one since it contains all of the critical elements of body and mind. These days it is the one practice that I do most often, and it really is the cornerstone of my practice.

A word on asana relating to the zelator grade of A.'.A.'.. As per tradition, she must sit in her asana for one complete hour without moving, shifting or scratching, in order to be formally passed to the grade of practicus. In order for this to be possible she must have selected a posture which is comfortable, balanced, and relaxing. One hour is a long time to sit entirely motionless and if your posture isn't really good by the time you go for testing it's going to be hell. Remember also that asana isn't a competition, and while an hour is mandatory for the A.'.A.'., in daily life you need not sit this long. I typically sit for 10-15 minutes, occasionally longer. One thing I do insist on, is that during the test, the examiner sits with the zelator, also in their asana, for the whole hour. Not only does this demonstrate commitment on the part of the examiner, but also gives support to the zelator and enables them to sit, not with the feeling of being watched, but in the common experience of sitting, which is something I feel is missing from the solitary life of an A.'.A.'. aspirant.

Love is the law, love under will.

 

Outgrowing Thelema

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

A little over a year ago I was talking with a friend and brother and I informed him that I was no longer a Thelemite. At the time I didn't entirely know what that meant, I only knew it to be the case. I was no longer saying Resh, facing Boleskine, doing Star Rubies or even reading Crowley's works. His philosophy, while interesting, no longer seemed, or seems real to me, and no longer touches me on any deep level. I am no longer a Thelemite, although it is part of my makeup. But then so are a number of other traditions.

I have now been actively involved in the A.'.A.'. for coming up to ten years. I have memorised Holy Books, performed magickal ceremonies and workings, invoked under the stars with wine and strange drugs. I spent 5 years in the OTO, leaving when it became apparent that they were not really 'doing the work', but instead engaged in an elaborate laarp (an understanding that hit me like a flash right in the middle of my II* initiation ceremony), and was rapidly being infiltrated by the alt-right, cleft by identity politics, intrigue and accusations of sexual misconduct as well as battles for hegemony a sort of thelemic hegemony contentious factions, and in general becoming entirely secular in its concerns. If that's organised Thelema I wanted none of it.

Though I have been involved in occultism since my teens, Thelema didn't really take off for me until my 20's. One fine, clear night in the very early spring of 2001 I was approaching my 21's birthday. I recall thinking that I was unhappy with where I was in life, having left school at 16 with only a single GCSE to my name and no discernible future. I had spent a lot of the time taking hallucinogenics and doing magic. All I really knew was that I didn't want to still be in that loop in ten years time. I recalled that night Aleister's words: "If you want to change your luck, you have to do something out of character". I took him at his word, and to the shock of most of my friends I signed up for 4 years in the British Army, where I was involved in surveillance and target acquisition and did two tours of active service.

That got the ball rolling. You could call it an act of Will, i.e. probably the first thing I had ever done that wasn't an automatic response to circumstances. But get the ball rolling was all it did, and it was several years before I learned to steer. When I got out of the Army I immediately went into autopilot, very nearly getting married to an alcoholic and settling down to a life that promised nothing but mediocrity and boredom punctuated by drunkenness and resentment. Luckily Uncle Al came to the rescue again and by way of escapism I began reading Thelemic works again and started quietly looking into the A.'.A.'.. After a betrayal of trust on her part I left my fiance, skipped town, joined the A.'.A.'., and the following year enrolled in university, where I spent eight years training to be a scientist.

Now looking back it appears something of a roller-coaster ride since that starry night 19 years ago. I am of course thankful for the Thelemic mindset. It gave me a lot of grit and determination. It is for this that I selected the motto 'Pertinax' (Stick to it). As far as the Outer College work goes, persistence is key. As in life, if you want to attain a set goal, persistence is key. Yet I maintain now that I am not a Thelemite. Not any more, at least not in the strict sense.

In terms of Doctrine, much of the bells and whistles of Thelema no longer ring true for me. I don't believe the reception story, I personally think that Crowley wrote Liber Al whilst on a sort of mental high or ecstasy, something that he himself said he was capable of. It's full of his style and bluster and I see no reason to believe a preaterhuman consciousness dictated it. I do however accept the basic premise Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, and that Love is the law, love under will, and the metaphysical concepts described as Nuit, Hadit, and Ra Hoor Khuit, so perhaps I'm a Thelemite afterall, but these are only words to me, they point to things but in themselves are misleading. Babalon to me is overly sexualised and tends to short circuit the end it is intended to serve, defeating its own object and causing the mind to focus on the distractions of procreation. As for the A.'.A.'., well, there clearly are no Secret Chiefs. I agree with my supervisor that the A.'.A.'. is a spectrum of consciousness that anybody can plug into. The mundane order by that name that Crowley founded is only a syllabus and a structure. Nonetheless the spectrum of consciousness remains, and many of us have been successful in implementing the syllabus he gave and integrating it into our lives to great success.

The last couple of year have been about burning up old karma. About neutralizing the effects of previous causes, and what Castaneda called 'erasing personal history'. The sum total of my actions over the last 19 years is rapidly approaching completion. This is by no means permanent, and like anybody else I have to plan for inevitable change. Unlike before however I have no defined goals, the HGA didn't leave further instructions beyond what I am doing now. I have no True Will as such. One of the first things that happened when I was admitted as a 5=6 is that the HGA, up until that point a constant guide and companion, disappeared. The vision and name obtained prior to that proved empty signs, fingers pointing to the moon. I had my marching orders back in 2015, which I duly obliged, and by doing so found myself exactly where 16 year old me had dreamed I might end up, although at the time it was only a fantasy. It is now down to me to reach my own understanding, without having it given to me by an apparent outside force, and I am fine with that.

Now I am here, and by a much stranger route than I would have imagined. Nearing the completion of that particular karma, there is nothing left to will, no right or wrong path, only decisions that I make in the presence of the eternal. From here it's less about True Will and more about momentum. I am like a planet cast out of its original orbit around its birth star, out into the wilds of space. How far I go and how fast depend on momentum built up, and whether I hit something in the meantime; life can always throw a curve ball. 

I am less inclined to force anything, let alone set my will going in any particular direction. I have become more acquiescent, reflective. "Behold where thine angel hath led thee", now jump! My daily study and practice is that of Zen, and the Christianity that I was originally brought up in, now understood afresh from the perspective of an initiate. The significance of the crucifixion, original sin and other core elements beyond the mass of cultural accouterments and biases added to it from its inception in the 1st century. Not that I believe it in any literal sense, only that I understand the formula and can thus accept it as a praxis. A deepening appreciation of existence as it is, rather than what I would like it to be. Presence, mindfulness really, and a connection to life on its own terms, as per the Golden Dawn 5=6 ceremony: "even as we are bound to the cross of suffering", the only way to get on with life is to accept it, warts and all, without evasion or fear. I suppose I am reaching middle age, being 40 this year. Gone to seed, as a younger, more condescending me might have said, with a slight sneer no doubt. I will never be the sort of Christian that the church likes, an obedient sheep, and I am probably a poor sort of occultist, not rejecting Christianity wholesale as I did in my youth, but instead wearing it like an old jumper, a bit ragged and sometimes itchy, with holes and stains, but undoubtedly comfortable.

While I myself am no longer a Thelemite, I don't disregard it's value. Thelema is like a dose of salts, it gets results, and quickly. Anyone who takes up Thelema as a core philosophy should hold onto their hat. For those stuck in a rut it's just the thing, as well as for those indoctrinated with the more pernicious fundamentalist sorts of religion I would recommend a prescription of Thelema, as well as to anyone who's life has stalled and looks set to crash on takeoff. For this reason I continue to work within the A.'.A.'. system, as a spectrum of consciousness rather than a dogmatic position' Let others make a new religion of Thelema, I am quite content to just quietly tend my own garden.

Love is the law, love under will.

An Order of the Spirit

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Those starting out on the path often meet with confusion when they discover that contrary to their expectation of a singular Order known as the A.'.A.'., there are in fact dozens of A.'.A.'.'s. They then find themselves faced with the task of discernment: which is the 'real' one? Endless sleuthing then ensues, chasing paperwork chains, trying to verify claims and endless conflict in the lower planes. This conflict arises even among so-called initiates claiming their bit of the sand-box here in Malkuth. It really is endless and cyclic, and serves as a fantastic winnowing pan, but sooner or later we have to move on if we are to advance in the way of the Spirit.

You see, A.C. was quite clear when he stated that the A.'.A.'. has existed since time immemorial as an Order of the Spirit. My own experience and that of others that I have spoken to confirm this, we work not within mundane or even yetziratic spheres, but in fact much higher up the tree of life. While we that work within this or that lineage descended from A.C. must take care to preserve his outer rules and guidelines for consistencies sake, in reality it is not this or that person or group who will initiate an aspirant, but the Spirit of Wisdom itself. Sometimes a student will struggle under the confines of the formal system and its technical requirements and be held back. Or conflicting with the personalities of supervisors will withdraw altogether. If he is wise he will realise that these things are of the lower planes in the world of action, and that the Spirit of Wisdom continues in the background irrespective of these issues that occupy us so deeply.

Of what I have seen of aspirants over the years, including myself, those who take their oaths seriously and get 'hooked up' as it were, tend to continue in the work whether they plan to or not. Movement between lineages happens, those who formally leave continue alone because it is in their nature. Occasionally people re-join outer orders when they are more properly fitted or other wise get moved from place to place. My supervisor now isn't my original supervisor, since she withdrew formally about 5 years ago and I was obliged to seek another connection, in the outer at least, and I wasn't going to call it a day just because she had. We can never tell where we will be fitted to the chain. Since the world of action requires a special patience and maturity that often only develops away from others solitude is needed.

Once the hook is in, as it were, the aspirant is like a fish on the line; the spirit moves in him and he is drawn inexorably up the tree of life irrespective of conditions in the outer world, the spirit often has little regard for the letter. The signs are there if he knows how to look and whilst an A.'.A.'. aspirant has to pass various practical and written tests and complete technical work in order to be formally admitted to a grade, real initiation does not necessarily abide by these rules. One of the most difficult jobs in an outer order is attempting to marry up formal and actual initiation. Usually an aspirant will have actually obtained a grade quite some time before being formally admitted. On the other hand, once this actual admission is recognised by the aspirant it usually serves as a catalyst for them to complete the work, so I like to let them know when they are ready, it gives that extra impetus needed to reach the next summit!

While I hold with the opinion that if a person expects to teach A.C.'s system to others he should have learned it thoroughly himself. I also have to concur that the 'Real' A.'.A.'. is much broader and deeper than the syllabus set out in Crowley's writing, and in fact is a school with many colleges where students study many different topics and methodologies. This is not an Order of rules and regulations, of strict deadlines and exact copying of the work of dead men, this is an Order of the Spirit of Wisdom! Wisdom guides and teaches, not other men and women who are, when all is said and done, no more than fellow pilgrims on the road!

A promising aspirant may have difficulty in settling into a formal Order with its rules and syllabus of technical teachings. Not to say that these things are bad, they work for some and the Outer College curriculum is a fantastic primer to initiation in general, but each must come to the work in his own way, answering the call as he understands it. As we hear occasionally, there are many Brothers and Sisters of the A.'.A.'. who never hear of such an Order existing. I would only add, that there are also many members of formal orders who never enter the Order of the Spirit and instead fixate on mundane works, spending their lives in tribal groups and never really ascending beyond this burning ground of Malkuth. When a finger points to the moon, you don't look at the finger.

Our task then becomes one of making ourselves fit, learning to listen, wait watchfully for the movement of the Spirit of Wisdom within us and in those who we work with as aspirants. Not only watching, clipboard in hand to make sure they (and we) meet certain prescribed criteria so that we can put a tick in a box, which can lead to little more than a heightening of the judgmental attitude that I feel precludes real communion between people. Rather we watch for the movement of the spirit that signifies real progress, a movement that marks out aspirants as surely as the brand on the forehead which he receives when he is admitted to the order. Learning to recognise this requires real humility and discernment, since we must always be careful that we don't fall into a doctrinaire interpretation of things and thus exclude the Spirit entirely, for the simple reason that it is easier to understand written and formal rules and we lack the subtlety to discern the spirit. We do not try to bring the Holy Order down to our level; on the contrary it is our responsibility to rise up to meet it. 

Love is the law, love under will.

The Vision and the Voice

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

Having been working through the A.'.A.'. system for most of a decade now I've gotten pretty familiar with most, if not all of the writings of Aleister Crowley's writings. As I have gone on, I have more and more branched out and explored areas of mysticism that Crowley never wrote much about, or at least only touched on briefly. Other things he seems to have completely missed, or else ignored. These omissions have largely carried over into the writings of his predecessors, who unsurprisingly follow similar veins of thought and arrive at similar conclusions. It has become the thing to try to emulate Crowley, to obtain his visions, his 'heights of ecstasy', and to understand the path in the way that he did. Along with Thelema as a system; a Victorian era occultism, Jungian psychology, dream analysis and other visionary experiences are a big part of the A.'.A.'. system, so they are important as a basis for a spiritual education of this type. However there comes a time when the book needs to close on these things, some distance gained, as a way of getting perspective and developing as a person along lines derived from ones karma, if you like, rather than the forced growth of a vine trained to a frame for the convenience of the gardener.

The more my own practice deepens, the more I realise that this stuff really is only the preliminaries of the spiritual life. The Neophyte is encouraged to work with astral and etheric forces. By doing so she opens up the doorway to Yesod via the path of Tau, and from there becomes a denizen of the astral realm, that of the instincts followed by an incursion into realm of the mind, of concepts and images, and at a deeper strata the realm of emotions and socio/sexual programming, in short the things which for many of us make up our personalities, who we are, or who we think ourselves to be.

The best way to view a mountain isn't from the summit, but from a distance. In terms of practice, a lot of what I do these days is less about climbing to the summit of who I am, but of getting sufficient distance from it to be able to appreciate it, both in itself and in relation to the landscape in which it sits. Thelema is very individualistic, as is modern western culture. The 'individual' takes centre stage in his or her own drama. Given the inevitability of death and the disintegration of the body, and with it the individual, this is vain worship of a false idol. Modern society all but forces this worship, making it the default position. We worship vapidity and temporariness and spirituality of all stripes teaches us to hope implicitly for an afterlife of some sort, a continuation of the individual after the death of the body, either by resurrection or reincarnation, both speculative at best, driven more by hope than knowledge. We focus so much on our individuality that we lose sight of our person-hood, as members of humanity, and the fact that we are social creatures who only really derive meaning in life from our relationships with others, a fact that should be more apparent now in these days of mass self-isolation where the importance of our connections is brought to the fore. 

Even the wisdom of the ancients, from paganism to yoga and anything in between, are all drafted in to propagate the cult of the self. All point towards the improvement of the self, a becoming,...but becoming what? All change is a process, but a process is not necessarily an improvement. It strikes me that as individuals the only thing we are all undeniably becoming is rotten flesh in a casket, the very idea of becoming when married to the idea of the individual is doomed to failure, because it is founded on a delusion, it is to be married to a ghost.

Rather than becoming, and focusing on the individual, focusing on myself and MY path, perhaps it is better to simply observe the process of constant change. Increasingly my inclination is to just be, just exist with no special aim beyond the task before me. Birds sing, flowers open to the sun, the moon goes and returns in eternal cycles, this is True Will in action. As a biologist it is apparent to me that organic life is a constant cyclic dance, interacting with the minerals of the soil, the air around it, and all fueled ultimately by the sun or, in a very few cases, by the heat at the centre of the earth. In the Soto zen tradition the idea of becoming, linked to the idea of self, is seen as illusory, a fantasy that does nothing but compound our stuckness. The central practice of zen, meditation, is about sitting in quiet awareness as an expression of Buddha nature, not intent on becoming a Buddha, but simply existing. In Tai chi chuan the form in its intricate flowing movements is an expression of the Tao, Koichi Tohei taught that meditation is an expression of the universal mind, and the author of the Psalms writes: "Be still and see that I am God!"

This vision, that is no vision, since it reflects off of nothing, this voice that rings like the deepest silence. Light shines in darkness and the darkness does not comprehend, because the darkness is the 'individual', the ego and the mind which is opaque, not permeable to the light, and so does not comprehend it. The daily round of practice, meditation and mindfulness serve best now, like sinking into deep water, into sleep, like dying, "as an acid that eats steel, as a cancer that utterly corrupts the body, so am I unto the spirit of man!" Or, "And I said, Now have I begun: this is the change of the right hand of the most High". The rest is silence, and the eternal glimmer of distant stars.

Love is the law, love under will.

Outer Order Grades 6: Dominus Liminus

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

"Let any Philosophus be appointed a Dominus Liminus".

The status of the Dominus Liminus can be thought of as a sub-grade of the Philosophus. This is not quite accurate however, and in practice this grade bears more resemblance to the Probationer grade, or that of an 'Adept in waiting'. Not being officially assigned to a Sephirah, this grade resides in the region of the Tree of Life called Paroketh. The name of the grade translates as: Lord of the Threshold, and as such the Dominus Liminus is one who again waits at the door, but this time the door is that of the Inner Temple, that of the Rose Cross, as signified by the emblem he wears on his breast.

This grade is situated at the intersection of Peh and Samekh, and is essentially a grade of harmonisation. Having traversed the pillars of severity and mercy he returns to the middle pillar, since it is along this grade that real progress is made. There is no set time limit for advancement to the subsequent grade, which can occur at any time that authority confers it.  

The Dominus Liminus is encouraged to meditate deeply on the path. This is a grade of integration and of bringing to fruition the work carried out so far. In previous grades the aspirant has been assessed by his supervisor at the conclusion of each grade, but here things are different, the tests too critical, and he is instead assessed by Preamonstrator of the A.'.A.'.. I would like to say that assessment is by committee, in that the Dominus Liminus is recommended for advancement into the Order of the Rose Cross by his supervisor, there may or may not be some debate, but ultimately the final decision lies with the Preamonstrator, or else the senior active initiate.

The Dominus Liminus is expected at this point to take up an office in a temple of initiation, and to facilitate this he is issued a copy of Liber Mysteriorum which contains the Temple Initiations of the Outer College. This takes care of his memorisation task and will also help to integrate the essential keys of the outer college curriculum and give structure to his work, furthering his central task of harmonisation. He may well have served in the temple prior to this grade, and in particular a Philosophus may well have served the Order in this capacity, fulfilling the requirements for both grades.

Control of thoughts provides a complimentary exercise to the Yoga prevalent in this grade. Exactly how this is carried out depends on the aspirant who is left to himself in all things. One example might be to adopt separate personalities, and at a physical signal such as the wearing of a ring, adopt one or the other. This is a very difficult practice to maintain for long periods but can prove useful in highlighting where the personality is still dominant, veiling the Self.

The harmonising of knowledge is a difficult thing to assess. Really I would regard this as a work of synthesis. Previously in each grade the aspirant has worked in a specific manner and on particular subjects. The 1=10 concerned himself with ceremonial, hermetic science and all the paraphernalia and objects of occultism, the 2=9 became a Hatha Yogi and so on. The Dominus Liminus is not limited by this, and rather than being partial and deliberately focused on one area of attainment he instead finds his own natural balance where the four broad areas that he has worked on become synthesised into a single praxis according to his own nature. It is for this reason that Initiates of this grade or above may seem a little idiosyncratic in their approach, making them difficult to pin down. What is actually happening here is that the Dominus Liminus is maturing, gestating we might say, in his own silence and according to the inner prompting of the Angel which increasingly is his sole guide in these matters.

This brings us to, Lighting the magick Lamp. We read in Liber A:"This shall he accomplish secretly and apart, without asking the advice or approval of his Adeptus Minor." Refers not only to the practical but the inner requirements. The Dominus Liminus constructs his own lamp and places it within his own temple, where it burns without wick or oil, being fed by the Aethyr, which is to say, from this point he is left to his Angel and should refer ever more to that inner light. To facilitate this the practices of Raja Yoga again will play a key role.

He is expected to bring his Yoga to a higher standard still; Dharana leads naturally to Dhyana, subject and object while still distinct, are at the same time one. Pratyahara begins and consciousness is withdrawn from the senses by profound relaxation, and may well be facilitated by the practice of Mahasatipatthana learned in the 4=7 grade. Where this practice involves a separation of the senses, Pratyahara goes one step further and is removed from the senses. This is not to say unaware,  since consciousness continues, and with a though you can a return to full waking awareness. But within the practice itself is silence, the mind is turned inwards to the secret depths of ones being as if you were at the bottom of a well, something like the space on the edge of sleep, only controlled, balanced, liminal, a door between the worlds, only not the worlds of dream on the threshold of sleep, this is Paroketh, the threshold of Briah, the creative world. The Dominus Liminus will need this liminal space if he is to enter the next grade, since it is here that communication with the Holy Guardian Angel takes place, in silence, withdrawn from the world and even from oneself, where vision proceeds not from the light of the things of the subconscious, but of the Logos itself, the light of the Aethyr.

I recall this grade as a quiet time in my Outer College work. Where the previous grades had been full of activity, suddenly I was left with little to do except digest and reflect. Aside from the aforementioned tasks I worked on commentaries on the Holy Book chapters that I had memorised, and also continued to work on the adaptation of Liber Samekh that I had begun as a Practicus. The effect was not unlike that of a student who, having completed his finals now awaits the exam boards decision. There was also a regular sense of being questioned, almost interrogated by an unseen person or persons questioning my right to be where I was at the threshold, which is consonant with the statement in part 5 of the task of this grade "his mastery will be often disputed, though he knoweth it not".

The transition from this grade to the next was silent, almost imperceptible, as if at a given point my perspective changed of its own accord, the lamp lit as if by itself, and a light ascended to the darkness.

This brings to an end my brief exploration of the Outer Order Grades of the A.'.A.'., a work that covered just under four years of constant daily study and work. On the whole this exercise has been something of a recapitulation on my part, not unlike the work of synthesis carried out as a Dominus Liminus. While some of the ideas and images here may not chime with what others have written, and there is sure to be some disagreement, I hope that there might also be some common ground, and that this account might be of use to somebody considering the path or already on it.

Love is the law, love under will.

Outer Order Grades 5: Philosophus 4=7

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

As before, there is no ritual admitting to the grade of Philosophus. Now entering the third of the yetziratic triad the new Philosophus will now have build up considerable momentum. Furthermore, he will have lost some excess weight in the form of outmoded thinking and attitudes. Having been put through ordeals both of the body and the mind he is ready for the next stage of the process.

Netzach corresponds to the planet and Goddess Venus, and refers to love, more properly Agaph, which we can handily think of here in it's original sense of brotherly love. Where Hod was the library of the temple, Netzach is more of a social space for interactions with other beings, quite possibly a bar, and there may be alcohol, exotic dancers, and other forms of intoxication around with which to lubricate social interactions. Many people stay here all there life, and it is easy to see why! The usual translation of the name Netzach is 'victory', which gives us another insight into Venus, since in ancient times the goddess of love was also goddess of war. Aphrodite was reputed to be the mother of the warrior Achilles, and while we all know him for his weakness in the ankle, from which we draw the name of Achilles tendon, if we re-read the Iliad it becomes apparent that peerless in warfare, his real weakness was of the romantic kind, and was the cause of his dispute with the king Agamemnon which almost cost the Greeks the Trojan war.

The task of the Philosophus is as follows: "To obtain control of the repulsions and attractions of my own being". This compliments that of the previous grade, vacillations being essentially sideways movements, repulsions and attractions are movements forward and backwards, towards and away. This describes in one sense timidity and aggression, what we shy away from and what we head towards vigorously, as well as what repels or attracts us about other people, for the Netzach grade is essentially outward looking. A pattern begins to emerge, and this is summarised by the symbol that distinguishes the Philosophus, the Calvary cross of the elements, which now has a sturdy base with which to touch the earth and is fully extended in all four directions (see the top of this post).

This grade is related to the socio/sexual conditioning of the aspirant. This is the Sephirah not simply of love, but of who and how we love. It is also the sephirah of hate and conflict. The work of this grade seeks to uncover deep drivers of behavior beyond the merely intellectual. The instinctual drives, what you love and what you hate, and how you respond to the world around you. In the Zelator grade something similar is carried out in the physiological training of Hatha Yoga and a good yoga instructor or ones supervisor will be able to test this. In Netzach something similar occurs in the life of the Philosophus as a result of his grade work, and he will be able to adapt this principle of self-testing to obtain insight into his repulsions and attractions, thus enabling him to begin to exercise some control over them. 

The core practice of the Philosophus is that of Bhakti Yoga, which is Yoga by devotion. The precise Bhakti referred to here is para-Bhakti, or pre-bhakti, and is encompassed in the practice of Liber Astarte, a text which instructs in the building of a devotional practice aimed at a specific deity of the aspirants choice. He is also tested in his devotion to the order, but as other writers on the matter have stated, he will by now probably have demonstrated a considerable degree of devotion just by getting to this advanced grade! Crowley writes in Liber Astarte that the practice is better if the deity selected for devotion is one whom the aspirant has no particular love for, and in fact antipathy might be better to begin with. Again this refers to the main task of the grade in which the Philosophus must be ruler of his repulsions and attractions to the extent that he is able to maintain equanimity with regards to his likes and dislikes, thus freeing him from another potential barrier to the realisation of his True Will, being his own personal preferences! In any case this pre-Bhakti is deliberate, targeted, and trains the aspirant in devotion as a principle in itself, not out of instinctive passion, as he might be devoted to a desirable partner, but to willed devotion. We can look at this work as a precursor to 'love under will'. 

The ritual work designated for this grade is Liber V vel Reguli, also called the ritual of the Mark of the Beast. After learning and practicing this ritual for a while, I used it to construct my own ritual of the same type, which I dubbed Liber co, This went on to become my 'Act to represent the Universe', of which more later. He also applies himself to chapters 5 and 6 of Liber O, which instruct in rising on the planes, which is not tested here but should be noted down as usual in the diary, which will give some indication of the quality of the work, which covers the path of Samekh, and Art: leading directly from Yesod to Tiphareth along the middle pillar.

The practice of evocation is assigned to the 4=7 grade and is attributed to the path of A'in. The Devil, with the Goetia being the go-to text. However other texts can and should be looked in to. My approach was to use the Goetia method as a basis, but by this time having obtained certain magickal keys of my own I departed from an exact replication of those methods and instead utilised my keys in harmony with tradition, constructing a lamen, talisman and triangle of art in keeping with my then understanding of ADNI and the names, signs and numbers so far received, and used these in my evocations. It is worth noting that in harmony with what I wrote earlier about Netzach and the socio/sexual drives of the aspirant, this work is by definition a bringing out what is within, so beyond the simple ability to summon a medieval demon to poison your enemies cow or enchant his wife, which is child's play compared to the purpose of the Great Work, the work of evocation summons and bring to the surface the demons of ones own hidden drives and compulsions, which you then have the job of reigning in and bringing into the service of your will. My advice: don't forget to consecrate your triangle of arte! 

The third path to traverse is that of Nun, and the tarot card Death. The practice here is Mahasatipathana, essentially a form of introspective mindfulness. The reason for attributing this to the path of Nun will be apparent once you begin the practice. This practice is really an analysis by detached observation, first of the body followed by the mind-body connection, the thoughts, the impulse of though (pre-thoughts perhaps). The practice can begin in Asana, lying down, or walking, with detached notice being taken of each arising 'skanda', perhaps joined with the phrase 'not this, not this' (neti neti). The four domains in Satipatthana are (Body, feelings, mind, and dharma, which Patenjali divides into Yama (constraints) and Niyama (observances)). You will note here the commonality here with the task of the grade. Mindfulness then becomes another tool for obtaining control over ones repulsions and attractions, and is thus death to the wandering ego that thinks it is in command but is in reality a victim of circumstance, drawn or repulsed like iron filings to a magnet.

Liber DCCCXIII vel ARARITA is a beautiful book which indicates something of key importance to the 4=7 grade. As usual the Aspirant chooses a chapter to memorise. These chapters are short, only fourteen verses each. I would advise study of the whole book for some time before deciding which chapter to commit to memory, since the message contained is a key to understanding the whole grade from the position of equilibrium of the middle pillar.

The wand of a Philosophus, constructed of solid copper and gold-plated brass and formed according to Liber A.

The Philosophus cuts the magick wand (See above), and in accordance with Liber A, uses it in an act to represent the universe. For me this was a ritual act, which as mentioned above, I called Liber co, pretentiously subtitled THE RITUAL OF THE UNIFICATION OF THE ONE WITH THE ALL IN THE FORM OF THE UNIVERSAL FIRE. Since I had been re-reading the Chaldean Oracles at the time, and A'sh you will recall is both fire and that which is burned up in the fire, and encapsulated my understanding of the universe as a self creating, self immolating process at the time. The Philosophus can create whatever act he wills here, the supervisor need only get the gist of it and see that it is in harmony with the overall trajectory of aspirants work.

Some words finally on the ordeals of the grade. Formally, the Qlippoth here is called Orev Zarak, translated by Crowley as 'The Ravens of Dispersion'. This name evokes the aftermath of battle when the ravens descend to devour the corpses that only that morning were proud and belligerent young men, bringing to mind a haiku penned by the wandering poet, Matsuo Basho:

Summer grass,
Of warriors splendid dreams,
The aftermath.

We can reflect on what Basho saw here, at the site of the destroyed capital of Fujiwara, nothing left but ruins and the bones of the dead among the summer grass. You will recall that Venus is a goddess of both love and war, exciting men to passion not only of love but of conflict. Nationalistic pride leads to slaughter, a fight over a girl outside a bar leads to a visit to A&E or the morgue: it's all the same to her once the ravens are flying. 

This grade is essentially outward looking and social. Practically speaking the challenges are those of emotionalism and failure to regulate our response to our environment. Believe it or not these responses and ingrained habits are not absolute and can be changed with conscious training. After all, if such change was impossible then the whole theory of Magick would be in question, the person who feels that they cannot change these things is anything but a magician! 

A way to think about our repulsions and attractions is in terms of likes and dislikes. If you have a lot of likes and dislikes this indicates that you are easily manipulated by your environment. We have probably all had occasions where we meet people that we irrationally dislike; it could be a mannerism or a habit of speech, but is quite often unjustified when we analyse it. The same applies to picky eaters and those with finicky tastes such as the child who will only eat bread with the crusts cut off: a healthy appetite enjoys all manner of food. 

Not that Venusian behaviour is of itself a bad thing, but it can be addictive and can lead to any of the traditional vices. Addiction to socialising itself can indicate a similar reliance on environment to regulate our feelings, as can an intolerance to crowds, which is something I have struggled with, being more of a compulsive hermit. We can also be drawn into cycles of pleasure leading to the abuse of intoxicants or behaviours which can be destructive both to our bodies and our family lives. As initiates we are responsible for ourselves and our own behaviour in response to such things, and cannot blame others or the world around us for our own actions. 

There is an element of stoicism in this: the aspirant, having hopefully begun to experience the fruits of meditation will be in a position to go beyond the judging mind and the human tendency to discriminate and blame and instead will have begun to develop what another school calls a 'spirit of non-dissension. This attitude is what is meant by the often misunderstood injunction to "love one's neighbour as oneself", not as passive, servile acceptance of hurt or injustice by which a coward convinces himself of his virtue, still less the silent harboring of the words and misdeeds of others in our hearts, which is mere endurance and leads only to resentment and the internalisation of strife, but  is the expression of an open, magnanimous attitude, as that of the sea that accepts all tributaries into the wave-less depths of the heart. 

Between birth and death,
Three in ten are following life,
Three in ten are following death,
And men just passing from birth to death also number three in ten.
Why is this so?
Because they live their lives on the gross level.

He who knows how to live can walk abroad
Without fear of rhinoceros or tiger.
He will not be wounded in battle.
For in him rhinoceroses can find no place to thrust their horn,
Tigers can find no place to use their claws,
And weapons no place to pierce.
Why is this so? Because he has no place for death to enter.

(Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - chapter 50)

A look at the book 777, column 50 shows us that the transcendental morality associated with Netzach is unselfishness. Just as the Practicus is bound to an adherence to reality as it is in itself (truthfulness), the Philosophus is bound to realise unselfishness, which is an expression of Bhakti yoga. This is the original meaning of Agaph, brotherly love, which is not to say you need to like everybody you meet, but should work to maintain a positive attitude despite the behaviour of others. The Ordeals of the grade can also take on a sexual character that requires a deep understanding and control of the reproductive instinct. The approach is much the same, Agaph implies absolute respect for other persons as "members of the body of God".

My supervisor regards this grade as the one most likely to blow a fuse in the aspirant and the one responsible for more casualties than any other. Most of us with the best will in the world, even when we are capable of controlling the foundations and vacillations of our being, have our work cut out when it comes to our repulsions and attractions. In most situations where this gets put to the test will find that we have acted without thinking as our socio/sexual circuits take over, revealing us to be little more than semi-aware automatons programmed to flee, fight, procreate or eat according to deeply ingrained responses of desire, anger, love, hatred and the rest. 

To my mind, the best weapon for this fight, and the core practice to carry out all throughout the Philosophus grade is that of mindfulness. The aspirant has demonstrated courage as a Zelator, and shown insight as a Practicus, and an incisiveness which like a razor can, if held with a cool eye and steady hand, cut painlessly into the tender flesh of the aspirants deepest fears and desires which he has exposed by his evocations and which will, unless he is prepared, run riot in his life. Here, perhaps more than ever, I am inclined to agree with Israel Regardie's assessment, anybody approaching initiation needs their head examined!

Success in this work entitles the aspirant to add the red petaled rose of the Spirit to the cross of the elements, which is the symbol of the willing crucifixion of the Self in the world. The developed Philosophus may then take the oath of a Dominus Liminus, returning him to the middle pillar in preparation for the final stage of the Outer College work.

Love is the law, love under will.  

Outer Order Grades 4: Practicus 3=8

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

There is no ritual admitting to the grade of Practicus. This is probably because the ceremonial initiations are reserved for movement between the four qabalistic worlds as vertical shifts in consciousness, which is not the case here. The Practicus has taken a shift in perspective that can appear quite dramatic, but he nonetheless remains in Yetzirah. The difference is now more of a change in perspective than an entirely new vantage point, the same story of the tower, but a different window. It is worth thinking of the three grades of 2=9, 3=8 and 4=7 as a unit, set as they are in the Ruach below Tiphareth. The Zelator has made the first vertical shift along the path of Tau, the next vertical shift will be via the path of Samekh, which joins Yesod to Tiphareth. These three grades can be thought of as sub sections of Yetziratic consciousness, they correspond to instinctual/territorial, intellectual/conceptual and emotional/sociosexual centres of the initiate.

Hod corresponds to the intellect, the initiate has made his way to the library of the temple. This sphere is ruled by the god Mercury. Once admitted the new Practicus fixes the 48 rayed hexagram, with the eye of Horus, to the hood of his robe.

This is a difficult grade to write about adequately, it's multi-faceted nature makes it shift and change rapidly and it is difficult to pin down, much like the quicksilver of its patron deity. Technically speaking the initiate of this grade has made a shift to the left hand pillar of severity, an unbalanced position, and thus given to extremes of expression if care is not taken. There are three paths to be traversed as part of the work here which all head to Netzach. They are Qoph, going from Malkuth via the path of The Moon, Tzaddi, starting from Yesod via the path of The Emperor, and Peh, going from Hod via the path of The Tower. The tasks associated with these three paths are the mastery of divination, the methods of expansion of consciousness, and the destruction of thoughts. 

The central task of the Practicus is: To obtain control of the vacillations of my own being. Simply put, the Practicus must learn concentration, one-pointedness, and singularity of purpose. His greatest aid here is the practice of Yoga, and in particular Dharana and Pratyahara. Much of the reading material prescribed for this grade points in the same general direction. Several instructions can be gleaned from Liber E, but as with the methods prescribed for the previous grade I would advise the Practicus to seek out formal training under somebody who knows what they are doing. In the very least one's supervisor will be able to offer guidance.

The practice designated for the expansion of consciousness is called Liber Batrachophrenoboocosmomachia (DXXXVI). Personally I would start with the simpler meditation of Dharana, and when some proficiency is obtained, start with Liber DXXXVI. For this practice I spent considerable time learning the constellations, using apps and online resources and plotted the paths of the planets so that I could then visualise these clearly. Getting outside under the starts is ideal but care must be taken not to let emotions and thoughts of 'the beauty of Nuith' overcome the mind. Now is a time for rational thought, not flights of fancy! This is clearly a very advanced practice and good results will only be obtained if the prior work in the fundamentals of meditation has been sufficiently rigourous.

At this grade the Practicus is expected to complete his Qabalistic training. The texts given here are Liber 777 and Sepher Sephiroth. If the Tarot has been thoroughly learned then this will be a great help at this point. I would expect the major correspondences for the tree of life; the ten spheres, twenty two paths and four worlds, to be memorised, as well as the values and meanings of the Hebrew Alphabet. More information can be obtained in Liber O. There is a deeper meaning here, which is found in the literal meaning of the word 'Qaballah', which refers to a reception.

Receptiveness is key to this grade, a quality that is signified by the forging of the Magickal Cup, in which a number to represent the universe must be discovered by the aspirant and adequately described. Since a symbol and a word to represent the same have already been discovered by the aspirant the number should be consonant with these. This receptiveness is described in the Japanese axiom, that the mind should be "like the calm smooth surface of the water, that reflects the moon and a flying bird", that is to say, the surface is so still and serene, that no ripple disturbs, and a bird can be readily distinguished from the moon. This means that the movement of the mind does not obscure reality as it is in itself, only then can real reception take place. Success in this task is signified by the cup and its number. 

The Practicus must memorise the whole of Liber XXVII, Liber Trigrammaton. To understand this book a study of both the I Ching and the Theosophical system contained in the book of Dyzan. The book itself while obscure is short, and should not take long to memorise. I used imagery and visualization to help in understanding the interaction of the trigrams, as you can see below:

Which, while admittedly imperfect, serves to order the mind via the visual cortex by way of a mandala summarising the book..

Liber HHH (SSS) consists of a practice of kundalini yoga. It is not really possible to force kundalini activity, and really this activity can arise without the aspirant being aware of it, being indicated only in its results. I found I started to have occasional activity long before reaching this grade so it is not restricted to the Practicus. Nonetheless the practice here should be carried out and the results noted.

As for the destruction of thoughts, a little to say on this matter. Quite frankly the only way to really destroy thoughts is to commit suicide, since thought continues even in deep sleep, so the literal destruction of thoughts is not indicated here. The study and practice of Liber XVI (Tvrris) is best carried out once proficiency in the practice of Yoga and Liber HHH has been obtained. The Practicus will also have by this point we hope, completed his Qabalistic training, including the excessive use of gematria. We can think of gematria as qabalistic koans, that is paradoxical problems that use the mind against itself, so that the only way out for the hapless aspirant is to overcome the thinking apparatus itself, and thus escape from the ruins, which we will cover now.

The Practicus task goes well beyond the technical qaballah, to the structure of the mind itself. He should, if he is performing his meditations properly, begin to discern this structure more clearly. He will be in a position to see how and where thoughts arise and how his conceptual framework structures his thinking. Once he begins to discern the limits of his thinking, it follows that breaking out of it becomes a possibility, and thus the path of Peh begins. The image of the tower suggests that all could come crumbling down at this point, blasted by the Eye of God, which is in reality his own inner vision freed from conceptual limitations. Old and outmoded patterns of thought begin to fall away, self delusions, sometimes comforting ones that protected him from less pleasant aspects of reality or shore up a wavering ego may also crumble. This may encompass a loss of faith, a loss of certainty, a lack of reliance on assumptions that previously gave some security. This can be quite threatening to the ego invested in these things, thus the Practicus will experience this grade with discomfort insofar as he is invested in his preconceived conceptions.

The negative aspect of this grade is known as Samael, The Litigation or the False Accuser. This can be seen as a negative reaction of the ego to the dissolution indicated above. If the aspirant is stubbornly unable to let go of outmoded concepts, to shun truth that doesn't flatter his vanity, to ignore reality in favour of a comforting falsehood then he has fallen into the Qlippoth of Samael. Another expression of this qlippoth is the wrong use of knowledge. One aspirant described it to me as a harsh coldness with a lot of severity. I will say that Mercury can be rather blunt and logical, inexorably so in fact, and when taken to a qlippothic extreme, devoid of Agape, Samael is the one who comes up with 'final solutions' to problems, with no thought for the human cost.

The transcendental morality of Hod is Truthfulness, (Liber 777 column 50), which is must more than the refusal to tell a lie but encompasses ones whole demeanor and what we communicate to others, as well as the things we tell ourselves. This truthfulness is implied throughout all I have discussed so far, seeing reality as it is, unvarnished, direct perception. I found that personal integrity was also thoroughly tested at this grade. I found myself in situations where I could have lied to save my own skin, or used (misused) logic to free me from responsibility or the need for honesty. The mercurial mind wants to protect itself and keep the ego from being bruised and so is quite capable of weaving a fiction in order to deceive itself and others. There are of course good reasons to lie at times, when doing so thwarts evil, but doing so in order to cushion oneself from reality and responsibility is never anything but a misuse of the mind. The mind is like a sword in the scabbard, it must be kept sharp and rust free, but it must always be used sparingly and is worse than dangerous unless you have it by the hilt. An important aspect of this grade then is the right use of the mind.

For the Practicus, equilibrium in action is key to his task. We know that he must control the vacillations of his being. We can envisage a spinning top which is stable so long as it keeps spinning. So with the mind, it never stops until death, so we must endeavor to make this movement as smooth as possible. The technical methods to achieve this are those of Yoga, but also encompass his way of life which should become balanced and harmonious. Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and proponent of Zen meditation wrote: "Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony". To my mind this is the ideal mode of life for an initiate, and particularly the Practicus whose mind, an increasingly sensitive tool responding to the slightest touch, must like an astrolabe be allowed to find its own balance. The methods of doing this will vary from student to student and each must find his own balance according to his station in life. It will be obvious that this task has much in common with what I wrote above regarding the magickal cup, essentially approaching the same issue from a slightly different direction.

The final strand of work that the Practicus should be familiar with in that of Invocation, that is, bringing outside forces in. There are a number of ways that this can be accomplished, from purely qabalistic using the hexagram rituals, to more obscure methods. It is essentially up to the Practicus. My Supervisor advised Liber Chanokh and the Enochian system. Liber 418 gives an account of Perdurabos' adventures in this area, from which much of Thelemic doctrine is derived. This system deals with beings that we do not fully understand, but loosely refer to as angels, that is messengers. This system is more complex than the Tree of Life system that he will be accustomed to, but can be an interesting foray into paths less trodden. My supervisor also suggested at this point that I begin to work with Liber Samekh, which was designed as an invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel. In structure this ceremony is like an elaborate version of the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram, complete with Enochian calls and signs. I adapted this heavily using my own symbol, name and number to represent the universe, and modified some of the barbarous names of invocation.

The Practicus advances to the next grade at any time that authority confers it. That is, as usual when he has completed his allotted tasks he submits his diary to his Philosophus who then administers any exams. He recites Liber XXVII and signs the necessary paperwork, and advances directly to Netzach on the pillar of mercy.

Love is the law, love under will.