Prayer

The Martinist point of view succinctly put together by Constant Chevillon.
Enjoy

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Prayer by Constant Chevillon
(Constant Chevillon, Sovereign Grand Master of the Martinist Order, assassinated in Lyon, France, in 1944, by the French Militia on the pay of the Nazi invaders.)

Prayer is the only true and holy magic. Ceremonial magic, too often, places the will at the service of pride. Prayer, on the other hand, is a very humble aspiration of the finite towards the Infinite. A person praying resembles a desert striving to become a meadow full of flowers and, furthermore , he does not demand-he beseeches.

However, common men ignore all that prayer involves. For the overwhelming majority, to pray is to say words with the lips and sometimes with the heart, the ardor corresponding to the intensity of their desires; or to bow in a temple or oratory in order to entreat, from an anthropomorphic God and according to their own wishes, free gifts, entirely material, like health, wealth, success or love. Thus, we pray nowadays as did the Jews of yore, wishing to exchange manna for the onions of Egypt.

Certainly a prayer asking for the goods of this world is, of course, permissible. To address the merciful Father, asking Him to guard us from physical misery, is an homage to His almighty power. We forget, however, only too often, the words from the gospel: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Justice and everything else will be given unto you."

Prayer should not intend only to break the infernal circle of destiny; it is far more elevated and noble. It is a superhuman lifting up towards the Divine splendor, as well as kneeling-it is unspeakable ecstacy-facing the Ineffable Charity.

To be able to pray in this manner, it is necessary to become silent within. Free oneself from all evil thoughts, even from simply negative ones. It is necessary to put feeling, understanding and reason in tune with the spirit, to enter into a passive state in order to allow Divine activity to be realized within. It is necessary to shed indifference and coldness, to make a holocaust of one's own being, and to project above any human selfishness, a prodigious call of love.

Then the channel of Beatitude opens itself in its sublimity. Two currents project themselves towards each other. The first, ascending current carries man into the bosom of God; the second, like a celestial river, descends upon the earth to make the soul conceive into a pregnancy of eternity. How that finite being, that nothing, lost in the ocean of Being without boundaries and place, is carried up to the confines of the Absolute. A mysterious operation through which, once, the Son of God became the son of man, repeats itself in its inverse sense. Distance becomes non-existing. The human nature, now transfigured in an incomprehensible union, embraces the Will of God, His Justice and His mercy.

Then prayer reaches such summits, how unimportant appear the terrestrial things! The words of Chrysostom are aglow in their severity: Vanity of vanities!-All is Vanity! Riches...Vanity! Honors...Vanity! Human power...Vanity of Vanities! Everything disappears under the blazing breath of the Paraclete-nothing remains there except the immense furnace of love:

FONS........VIVUS........IGNIS........CARITAS

Are only saints able to lose themselves into this mystical transport, neighboring the beatitude? No. If peace is with him, every man of good will is capable of reaching there, because every prayer is holy when it relies upon faith and hope-even measured by human standards. O you of humble heart and pure in spirit, do not become discouraged in spite of the apparent sterility and inefficacy of your prayers. If you ask for temporal favors, do not be surprised if you do not receive anything. The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and your desires mean very little when compared with the eternal gift which, unknowingly, is granted you.

Pray, therefore, in heights of ecstacy, for yourself and for others; but above all pray for others, recalling the last vision of Denis (often identified with Dionysus the Areopagite), who, on the eve of being tortured, was thinking in his prison about the salvation of humanity. Jesus came to comfort him and said to him: "If you pray for others you shall be heard." Now, if God can pay a hundredfold for the least alm given to the poor, in His name, how will he repay the fruit of your prayers?

The Foolishness of an Un-Self-Actualised Knowledge Sprout

Circular logic is circular

Logically, circles are circular

Circular logicians circle logic

Circles logically circle logicians

I love Occult arguments, those who follow their obligations have no need for attack or defence... But the aggressor, by attacking the other, denies and attacks himself.

Pax

MvdV

Be intense....

I have a busy life.

I am married with three kids (two under 6), I work full time in education for which I commute 50km a day (approximately for 2 hours a day, I love traffic), with frequent after hours responsibilities with students and staff. I train 3 times a week in the Martial Arts, twice a week in the gym pushing iron and I am an active Freemason with membership in several orders. To round it off, I am also studying a Postgraduate Theological qualification at University.

Looking at that I am amazed that I even got one of my magical goals completed, let alone starting to create the system I have been working on over the last 18 months. The system itself is going okay and is focused on using experiences from outside of 'magic', harnessing it, and using it at a later date in a ritual/magical manner. For example, attending a Masonic ritual and using the energy or intent of the ritual after the event in a more focused way in a magical ritual to achieve my goals.

But my post today is not about my system. Or magic per say.

It is about being intense and getting the most out of life as you humanly can.

I have a lot of commitments, my wife and I often joke about how we have to cheat on our other commitments to spend time together, our discussions about our days are fleeting things, captured in the time between going to bed and the end of a cup of Milo after tucking in the kids/finishing working. We go out to dinner with each other now and then and often go for walks and do other things together. It's not a totally absent relationship, but our lives are balanced against our other interests.

I love it. I wouldn't want my life to be any other way. I don't want to live my life by the "Keep Calm" memes floating around the interwebs, I want to go full pelt and smash life in the face (in an intellectually appropriate way of course). I will do well at my job, complete challenging studies, be a loving husband and an engaged Dad who plays with his kids all the time.

My magic allows this, it enhances my awesome life and gives me energy, insight and opportunities to live it the way I want to. I am grateful to it, my teachers and those I interact with both in the physical and not.

I am content. I am powerful. I am at peace.

Pax

MvdV

Lent and the damage done

Well the Lenten season is here, Ash Wednesday and onwards to the glory of Easter reminds us of the suffering of Christ in the desert and brings to the front of our minds the 'transgressions' and lost opportunities to better ourselves in the past 12 months. I for one look forward to Lent. It is a hungry time which serves to sharpen the senses. There is nothing like an empty stomach to bring the important things in life to focus.

Fasting is a regular practice of mine and is an important part of my spiritual regime, it makes the time I invest in something when I am fasting important. I don't have as much energy or attention span so it needs to count, I can't wast my time with irrelevant activities.

Fasting also brings meals with family into a greater prominence. Breaking bread with the family at the main meal of the day increases the joy and attention given to the meal; I value what I have missed which increases my enjoyment of that time.

Magically I work towards creating a 40 day cycle of prayer and effort towards a goal. I have identified my goal and am building it around a rosary based cycle this year. we'll see how it goes.

Lent is a time to value that which you may take for granted, starve yourself of it and appreciate it when you get it back. Focus on the absence of that thing in your life and find how you feel without it.

Pax,

MvdV

Effing the Ineffable...

I came across the description in the title in the context of working in the Western Mystery tradition from the Masonic Society forum a while back and it pretty much sums up one of the major issues of working with the Mysteries.

The difficulty of transmitting the knowledge and experiences you have to others in a meaningful way.

There has been a fantastic outpouring in the past of artistic work around religious, spiritual and related experiences which in my opinion is one of the best ways of transmitting experience. In the Masonic context, the Tracing Boards, the Lectures on the Tracing Boards, the Lodge Room and the Rituals themselves outline the experiences that are Freemasonry in artistic and symbolic ways. The fact that the Lodge is not complete without some of these symbols being present is an indication to the importance of symbols to the practice of our Esoteric art.

My magic, as well as that of many traditions, relies on the ability to communicate with things that are beyond our understanding. God, Gods, Goddesses, Spirits, Platonic Bodies, the list goes on. We cannot begin to comprehend what they want from us. We may think we know, but we really cannot understand them. It is impossible for a Butterfly to understand an Eagle, or a Zebra, but we keep fooling ourselves as to our level of knowledge of what the powers we interact with want. We may think we know what we want from them, but the chances are what we get is what we need, not what we want. I have been crushed by the powers that be, only to be more than I was before, but unable to really explain it or articulate the occurrence to others. This is where the need for strong communication is required and the art of our science comes into play.

I undertook art at High School as part of my entry to University and I have not lost my appreciation of how art changes and influences us subconsciously. Perhaps this is the only way to impart true understanding of what we do in the Esoteric, by subtly interacting with images and themes at a level beyond the rational mind. I use the Masonic Symbols mainly and incorporate the structure of the lodge in my ritual work. This is because I am familiar with the symbols and it is my personal belief/culture/life system which I connect with. Use yours.

I am starting a new project built on this appreciation of symbolism that represents a more practical aspect of my magic. We'll see how it goes and hopefully I get some good results. Meanwhile, I encourage you to visualise what you have experienced and put it into the physical world (obviously symbolically, it would take years to fully represent some experiences) to impact with your everyday life.

Pax,

MvdV

That which is in the heart of my hearts...

   This week, one of my colleagues at the school where I work gave a devotion about prayer. Now, prayer is a funny thing, it is many things to many people and is one of the things that is encouraged by most religions as something that is a worthwhile way to spend our time.

  My colleague focused on the idea that prayer can be a quick commune with the divine and that God will know what we want before we know it ourselves. He used a quote from Jesus that advises on how to pray, right before Jesus gives his apostles the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6: 7. My colleague only focused on verse seven which talks about the Pagans babbling who sought to be heard with their long communication. My colleague was trying to encourage the students to even spend a small moment thinking about their relationship with God, he emphasised that they didn't have to be eloquent of a dissertation, just their heartfelt attention to God.

   I personally would focus on the six verses before verse seven, that condem those who attempt to impress everyone with their piety, praying on street corners and the synagogues to be seen by men. Jesus tells us to go into our homes, lock our doors, fall to our knees and in secret pray to God. Our prayer is to be the simple form of the Our Father.

   Magically this is an indication of my personal practice, I don't claim to be powerful of have all of the answers, a fast track to power or anything like that. I also don't give much though to those who claim to. I do have some associates who are powerful, powerful people, but they wouldn't admit it to anyone. It's the Australia way I guess... I am however able to do rituals that allow me to interact with higher orders of consciousness and engage with the hidden power behind all of the world in a small way. I am happy with my work and using Masonic pattern and systems is where I find myself more often than not.

   I attended the Grand Installation of the Grand Lodge of Western Australia of Free and Accepted Masons the other week, there was no real magic to be found in the ritual, nothing of substance bar the obligation of the Grand Master and his Deputy. It was an open evening with guests and even the Govenor of WA being present. I could feel the difference in the whole approach to the evening. I could not percieve the powers flowing through the ritual as it usually does for me.

  I was not disappointed by this as it was a public event, on the street corner shouting loudly to the world. I had not expected magic and I was actually glad it was not present.

Pax

MvdV

Knowledge+Wisdom=Understanding

  In my previous post, Freemasonry was described as a non-magical but useful organisation which has aided and supported magical undertakings. My key point was that by becoming able to think in an esoteric way the Mason can begin to understand the importance and relevance of hidden things, the occult. Freemasonry's esoteric thinking is created by the learning and recitation of ritual, engaging in research and discussion of the Craft with Brothers.

      An organisation in the USA (mostly, there may be members elsewhere) called the Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE) can also be used to explain the importance of thinking in a different way to move beyond your physical world.

     I am not a member of the NGE and the opinions here expressed are my own. I strongly encourage you to explore their literature and conduct your own investigation. As I tell my students, don't just take my word for it. I have nothing but peace in my heart for the Gods and Earths and am on the square with them as far as I know. If any member reads this and is not happy with my opinion, hit me up in the comments section, changes will be made.

    The NGE can be described as an offshoot/evolution of the Nation of Islam. They believe that all Asiatic Black Men are Gods and women Earths. The Nation of Gods and Earths represents the 5 percent of the population who have their eyes open and refuse to support the system (the 10 percent that know the truth) that keeps the remaining 85 percent ignorant and in mental chains (members of NGE are also known as 5 Percenters). A central part of the teachings of the NGE is Divine Mathematics and the Divine Alphabet. There are attributes given to numbers and letter. For example, 1= knowledge, 2=wisdom, 3= understanding. 1+2=3 therefore, Knowledge + Wisdom = Understanding. You get the picture. Google is your friend.

     While I do not agree personally with all of the lessons provided by the NGE, I have a great deal of respect for their methods of creating esoteric thinking. By ascribing symbolic meaning to all letters, words, sentences and numbers, they force their members to think in a conscious way about what they are saying, how they think and view things. If you watch NGE youtube vids (I recommend princenamor7777, he is a great guy) you will pick up a style of speech and the way of thinking common to members. They also advocate an alternate way of viewing the world and attempting to engage in life hacking and other related activities.

     By forcing a re-routing of the language centres of their members, the NGE is able to change their members/participants perspective on the reality in which they live. While NGE is not a magical organisation, it is part of breaking the chains of their former repressed though patterns.

     There are many organisations who use a system similar to or on the same basis as Divine Mathematics and Divine Alphabet, I can think of a couple of examples from the Golden Dawn and Enochian point of view and it is a system that can be used by all inside and outside the Nation.

Attributes and symbols are the bread and butter of the magical individual.

We use the ordinary to construct the extra-ordinary.

Pax

MvdV