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Diaryland
Re: Abramelin Operation July 11, 2008 @ 4:30 p.m.
...there's no need to be all formal and latin with us. I appreciate the respect, but a lot of times I find it silly and oxymoronic that all these prophets taught us to call each other family, and even THAT we had to turn into official titles! Its a habit I'm hoping the esoteric community will get over, so we can ditch the pomp and just enjoy each others minds and hearts :)
"Success is a journey: not a destination." This operation began long before you formally initiated it, and it will continue long after you think you've concluded it. The Way is the Never-ending Road and Story - its the Path that we all walk upon. A ritual like Abramelin is just meant to kick it into high gear.
I also have to spend time now reading the Psalms. That entire way of
thinking is alien to me.
All the more reason to seek to understand it and become comfortable with it. That's more power to YOU.
All the guilt and dependence on another instead of oneself is something I am not used to, and in some ways even find repulsive. But as a magician is supposed to do, I am jumping straight into the "spirit" of things and adopting any mindset and paradigm that will help with my working.
The guilt is tangential to the heart of the psalms, but it helps to consider it as a very personal kind of feeling in relationship to a personal god. The ancient Israelites had a much more intimate relationship with their god than the later exoterics who assimilated their works. Judaism is not like a lot of Christianity where there is this giant gap between us and God and we have to depend on all this intervention via priests and angels and saints and the holy family to communicate with a totally abstract deity.
Judaism, at least in its earlier forms, was a very practical religion in which Yahweh was very familiar and intimate. You got to know your god not as some abstraction, but in a very personal way - as a friend, guardian, and guide. He wasn't just God -- he was YOUR god, and you could converse, argue, and depend on him just as much as he on you. So when you felt guilt and sought atonement, it wasn't so much a cosmic thing, I believe, as it was a personal one - you offended your friend, mentor, and protector. Israel is married and bound to Yahwah inextricably, and so for us, its all very personal.
As far as depending on another, you already do so -- its just a matter of acknowledging it. We are all part of an interdependent universe -- from the most lofty Deity down to the smallest atom. None of us can or do exist in true isolation. Our ego robs us of true being, wisdom, understanding, and happiness by confining our minds to its own particular version of things. We seek to break that hold by humbling ourselves and acknowledging our dependence on the Great Wholeness of which we are all a part. In a greater sense, we ARE THE I AM (Eheieh asher Eheieh), but until that consciousness becomes second nature, we appeal to the Divine Fullness as one who has become separated from it and seeks Reunion.
And I am definitely taking your advice on reading up on the religous aspects and background of the Abramelin as well.
William Dever and Richard Friedman's books are excellent if you want to learn more about the history, archeology, and linguistics behind the Jewish Bible (Tanakh) and religion. There's also a lot of good information around the web on the background and nature of Abramelin specifically - Aaron's articles are really good, and look also for an article called "An Abramelin Ramble".
I am an initiate in the Western Ceremonial Tradition and as such am required to study lots of this stuff, even if I don't personally agree with their ethics or whole belief system. But there is still much to learn and I have far to go, even after this rite.
Most of us on here are Western Trad ourselves, and pretty much all of us have been exposed to it through our upbringings and living in the western world. Try not to look at the study so much as a chore, as a chance to solve mysteries and to gain insights that will empower you in your work. Ask questions while you study, such as "why did they arrive at this belief? Why the emphasis on these precepts? What's the meaning and method behind this particular practice? What would it have been like to live in that milieu? What did they experience? How does this relate to my experience?" etc. Engage with it actively -- make it personal and wrestle with it like any good yeshiva boy! So often in the West we've been taught to just absorb knowledge passively, but the whole spirit of Judaism is about critical thinking, questioning, and contending with God and the world for the sake of Justice and Truth. Don't settle for anything less -- to do so is a disservice to these traditions.
Wish me luck!
I do more than wish you luck - I wish you peace and wisdom, and total fulfillment :)
David
"Details in the Fabric" - May 31, 2009
Not So Quick Questions - April 6, 2009
The Morning Stars - Lords of the 15 - April 9, 2009
Sincerity and Faith in Magic - April 10, 2009
Not So Quick Questions (2) - April 14, 2009
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