CM Corner

[TeaDidikai]

So- this is going to be an ongoing thread about Ceremonial Magic, alt-religious scenes, Thelema and the magic and mysticism in YHVH's faiths.

Does this belong in the Rehab Guild?

Rehab Guild Home

Welcome! This guild is for those Gaian Pagans who have been afflicted with the dreaded Fluffy Bunny curse, for those who are interested in helping the FBs on their way to becoming at least seminormal Pagans, or for anyone who has a question on various types of Paganism, divination, or anything like that. You can ask questions, give advice, or simply chat.

I'd argue that "anything like that" includes CM.

Now- I know we had/have at least two CMers in the guild I respect. I hope this draws out more.

But for now- I'm going to start off simple and slow:

Given that the bulk of Western Civ is raised in a YHVH-Faith-Based Household, I am curious why more people who were raised in such households did not look into CM before leaving the faith. I realize that for a lot of people, they leave because they aren't "filled" or because they are interested in magic, or are called elsewhere- but for those who are searching, or for those who had problems with the Fan Club and not the god- why not look into CM?  

[Fiddlers Green]

The quality of a deity is reflected in the followers that it deigns to allow.

There are a fair number of people who left in disgust...
Disgust at the fan club... which easily becomes discuss for the entity that allows it.

I'm not even going to touch on my Christianity isn't exactly a YHVH based faith arguement... it's old and not terribly interesting anyway.

There are many allegedly God of Abraham worshipping households where ignorance is the watch word of all matters beyound accepted sciences. Willfull ignorance... or, more often, demonization. When the only human sources one has for the will of their deity (especially in a revelatory faith, where direct gnosis is scripturally supported) say that all such studies are satanic... it makes reconciling the two difficult. By the time the seeker has learned that they were being fed personal prejudices and fears, some of which directly contradict the scripture of the faith... they have become so disillusioned with the whole quagmire that they want nothing more to do with it. Further, they may wish a disassociation from what they previously were.

Also, aside from the salad bar style practiced by Golden Dawn inheritors, a fair amount of Ceremonial Magic is entirely secular. It has nothing to do with divinities (save possibly personal apotheosis), at least not on a worshipful level. Deities, especially law based ones like YHVH, take on more and more trappings of the shackles that are holding the mystic down, preventing him/her from realizing the truth... The Fruit of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden being a forbidden delicacy takes on a whole new meaning... It ceases to be original sin... and it becomes an act of repression... the consumption of that fruit was no evil... it was children of Shem's first steps to gaining their birthright... to realizing a potential their maker never desired them to have. As one gains more in the way of Gnosis (and by this I mean True Sacred Knowledge... Divine Knowledge... that which would be considered the realm of divinities) other beings may seem less and less relevent. Reverence becomes resentment or respect... not respect for something greater... but respect for a peer. And I have found few of our prideful Western Civilizations who will bow in supplication to a peer with anything save resentment.

And then there are the entities out there which get pissy for being called on their BS. And there's nothing quite as funny as an impotent godling ranting and raving. whee  

[TeaDidikai]

Very interesting perspective.

Although- it does amuse me, the symbolism I see peppered in the post is very close to what some of the HaSatan followers have spoken of. wink  

[Fiddlers Green]

That similarity is worth note.

It is one of the reasons which I have seen that people may have difficulty following religions that are law based, while striving for personal enlightenment or power.

Then again, it could be as simple as someone identifying the religion of their youth with the restrictions and ignorance of their youth...

Of course, this is all speculation, or anecdotal recountings on my part.

My personal changes, methinks, are not even vaguely related to the norm for the matter... and the fact that my house was more animistic than Abrahamic while growing has made my own experiences invalid for this study.

Just curious... what symbolism that I recounted bears semblance to HaSatani commentary?
Most of the quips I littered in there are the comments that I most recall from asking a similar question to others, in times past.  

[TeaDidikai]

Fiddlers Green

Just curious... what symbolism that I recounted bears semblance to HaSatani commentary?
Most of the quips I littered in there are the comments that I most recall from asking a similar question to others, in times past.

Most of your commentary on Law Based Deities I have heard from a different friend with your same given name.

The noteable difference is that within that group, they argue that YHVH intended for mankind to take from the fruit in order to offer up Will as the sacrifice. It just didn't work out for the individuals who decided that Gnosis enabled them to be a peer and not a servent.  

[Fiddlers Green]

Interesting.
I'm not surprised you've heard it before, as I said, it's the parts I can recall from mystics who have felt impelled to turn away from the god of Abraham.

Hmm... The rest of that also fits fairly well with some beliefs that cast Adonai as the Demiurge. ninja  

[TeaDidikai]

Fiddlers Green

Interesting.
I'm not surprised you've heard it before, as I said, it's the parts I can recall from mystics who have felt impelled to turn away from the god of Abraham.

Hmm... The rest of that also fits fairly well with some beliefs that cast Adonai as the Demiurge. ninja

In some of the formulas that ascribe gender to the names of YHVH- the "Presence", also known as Shekhinah is suggested to have been the "Serpent".  

[Fiddlers Green]

TeaDidikai

In some of the formulas that ascribe gender to the names of YHVH- the "Presence", also known as Shekhinah is suggested to have been the "Serpent".

Interesting, I had never heard that analogy drawn.