Three Steps To Heaven - The Baptist - S Head
Three Steps To Heaven - The Baptist - S Head
Three Steps To Heaven - The Baptist - S Head
By Alan Chapman
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Step 1
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Sounds good. Where do I start? Perform the Support Practices everyday: Basics 2: Magical Diary; Basics 3: Exclusive Concentration; Basics 4: Inclusive Awareness; Basics 5: Ritual Magick; Basics 6: Sigil Magick; Basics 7: Banishing Basics 8: Entity Work Basics 9: The Qaballah Basics 10: Astral Travel Basics 11: Rising on the Planes Basics 12: Divination Then when you're ready for it, it's time for Step 2: The Core Practice of Magick.
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states can be enjoyed for their own sake. However, once a degree of success has been attained, the practitioner should either change their practice to Inclusive Awareness or the Core Practice of magick, or include Inclusive Awareness or the Core Practice alongside Exclusive Concentration. Exclusive Concentration alone will not lead to enlightenment.
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Zen Ten Ox herding pictures. See Step 3 for an outline of the process from a magical perspective. As a process, enlightenment is ongoing, and therefore Inclusive Awareness should be practiced for life, unless substituted for an equivalent method of achieving enlightenment (see Step 2).
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Basics 7: Banishing
The Point To get rid of any unwanted manifestations, from evil spirits you might have summoned to unsavoury emotional states. The Practice There are many, many banishing rituals, some complex, some very simple. A banishing should be performed before and after every ritual, unless of course you want whatever might be lurking/has been summoned to stay. The Simple Banish with Laughter 1). Laugh. Although forced at first, and a little bit weird, eventually you'll be able to laugh on command in a genuine fashion. Smudge 1). Burn some sage and waft it around, asking your ancestors and spirit helpers to aid you in cleansing yourself and the place, and removing any evil spirits. The Complex The Star Ruby The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram The Gnostic Pentagram Banishing Ritual Of course, you can always make one up. Simply drawing a pentagram in the air at the cardinal points works just fine, although this is incredibly unimaginative.
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Similarly, in the case of a sexual sacrifice, an orgy isnt necessary (but if youre going to be at one anyway, what the hell?). Simply anointing the entity with sexual fluids from a dedicated act of masturbation is adequate. It must be stressed that both blood and sex sacrifices should only be used in extreme cases they guarantee exceptional results, but if used frequently some spirits will expect nothing less in the future and then where do you go from there? 6). Once youve said everything you need to say, thank the entity and say goodbye. 7). It is customary to perform a banishing ritual here. Expected Results It must be remembered that non-human intelligences can only communicate through what is available if you dont have great visionary ability, dont expect the entity to pop up and shake your hand. If all you do is address the entity, give an offering, ask for help and give thanks, without any visible manifestation or a booming voice or objects floating around your room, the magick will still work (unless, of course, youre rude and expect something for nothing). If you want more than a one-way conversation, it can be prudent to offer a means of communication when working with a spirit, such as a divinatory device like a pendulum or Ouija board. Another good means is to ask the entity to communicate with you through your dreams, or to allow the entity to manifest through your body (otherwise known as channelling, invocation or possession). Unless an entity has a special interest in you (this does happen), it may take a while before the entity starts visiting you spontaneously or helping you out at times of need without being asked. This is when the real benefit of forming a relationship with a non-human intelligence becomes apparent.
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[1] If you choose an entity that would love to ruin your life and your mental well being, make sure you work with it in the traditional method, or with some other form of protection. As an example, there is a group of spirits known as the Goetia (to be found in The Lesser Key of Solomon The King) that traditionally require various names of God, a triangle for the spirit to be conjured into, and a circle for the magician to stand in, for the protection of the magician. I have encountered numerous magicians who think such protection is superfluous, their argument usually being other cultures dont need protection to interact with their spirits. But thats because their spirits arent the Goetia. It is true that many African/Carribean/Brazilian traditions (such as Quimbanda or Voudon) interact with spirits that share similar names and seals with Goetic spirits, but these spirits are still not the Goetia. If you want to work with the Goetia, then work with the whole of the Goetia. If you work with the Goetic demons without protection, they will fuck you up. Badly. If you want to work with spirits the way other traditions do, without protection, then work with spirits that do not require it.
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Expected Results All the points made under The Point. Note: The Qaballah does not prove anything. The Qaballah is a perfect symbol system, capable of describing the totality of the universe, but it is not an objective science. For instance, if I were to discover my name has the same numerical value as the word Messiah, it does not prove that I am the Messiah. The Qaballah is simply a demonstration of the relationship between symbols. The most I could say in this instance is that I am just as much God as the Messiah is, and that the Qaballah has provided a perfect symbolic expression of Immanance!
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create a door with the necessary attributes (such as the appropriate colour, symbol, and material peculiar to Malkuth) to take you there. 5). Be sure to return your astral body to your physical body at the end of the practice who knows what might happen to it left unattended Duration A good half hour everyday until basic competency is achieved (i.e. you always experience the astral plane and yourself from a first person perspective, and the body of light is good and solid). Then explore as often as is required. Expected Results Mastery of the astral plane.
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Step 2
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Unfortunately, many magicians miss the point of SP, believe CP is just another SP to pick and choose from, and get lost mastering an almost endless list of techniques from all manner of traditions, before finally giving up either through boredom, the apparent lack of progress promised by magick (after ten years of object concentration, why havent I crossed the abyss yet?), or the seduction of a more coherent and convenient tradition. However, mastery of SP is not required just familiarity! Once the lines are connected, the angel can speak why spend years polishing the phone before picking it up? Crowley organised the grading system for his magical order in line with the Qabalistic Tree of Life, and prescribed a number of SPs for each of the spheres on the tree to reflect their nature (for instance, the grade of Practicus relates to the sphere Hod, and his task is to master the Qaballah). These preparatory exercises will certainly furnish the aspirant with the requisite skills to contact the angel, but we need not work with these specific exercises, nor base our SP regimen on the tree of life. For alternative SP, please see the Basics series in the Grimoire (note: a much more comprehensive and in-depth investigation of SP will be given in my book Advanced Magick for Beginners, due to be published by Aeon Books in September 2008), or those exercises given in Peter Carrolls Liber Kaos (specifically Liber KKK). The Nature of Core Practice My initial approach to CP was very much based on the postmodern attitude of Chaos magick and the magical material I had at hand the works of Aleister Crowley and Austin Osman Spare. I intended to practice CP for nothing more than an increase in personal satisfaction, namely magical power (a la postmodernism), and performed the act in a stripped down ritual format (a la Spare). I believed CP was a one off operation that would lead to the spectacular manifestation of my future magical self, or the gaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel (a la Crowley). The operation was a success, but I have come to learn through direct personal experience that my conception of CP was grossly off the mark. A number of years of working my angel have shown: - The Holy Guardian Angel is not simply a discrete entity that requires conjuration; He or She has always been with you, is with you now, and always will be you need simply consent to the angels presence and action in your life. - For CP to be effective it must be a daily practice. CP is the habitual surrender of the self and eventual union with the angel. - The result of CP is not the manifestation of the angel as a vision, an increase in magical power, or the discovery of your true nature or function, although these may very well occur as an expression of the presence and action of the angel in your life; the result of CP is engagement with the spiritual of metaphysical process outlined in
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all genuine magical traditions that will result in eventual illumination or enlightenment. This is the Great Work of magick. In light of the above, the approach of working with the HGA as presented in current magical culture is wildly misleading and nothing short of unhelpful. How many magicians have attempted to gain the Knowledge and Conversation of the HGA by sustaining the performance of an elaborate ritual for a number of months, only to be disappointed when the angel didnt appear in a puff of smoke? In order to present the practice of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel in its true light, and our magical heritage as a relevant and accessible tradition, Ive developed a new method of CP based on my understanding of the Holy Guardian Angel, and my experience of such magical acts as Vipassana and Centred Prayer. Method The Core Practice (CP) of Magick is a very simple method in which you open yourself to the Holy Guardian Angel and consent to His or Her presence and action in your life. Although CP appears to be a meditative method, it is not a concentration practice. It relies on intention rather than attention, and the attitude is one of openness. 1). Choose a sacred symbol of your intention to consent to your angels presence and action within. This can be a word, meaningless or otherwise, or a visualised sigil. Note: it does not matter what the actual symbol is, only the intention that the symbol represents. However, do not change the symbol you have chosen during a sitting. 2). Sit comfortably with your back straight. Sitting in a chair is fine. Close your eyes, and then introduce the word or symbol of your consent to your angels presence and action. You do not need to continually repeat or visualise the symbol once is enough to establish your intent. You may find it helpful to begin by stating I consent to the presence and action of my Holy Guardian Angel with the sacred word/image n. 3). When you become distracted, whether by thoughts or other sensations, repeat the sacred symbol. The attitude is one of openness the intention is not to stop thoughts, emotions or physical sensations from arising, and so these should be allowed to come and go as they please, so long as you do not become distracted and your intention remains clear. 4). Sit for a minimum of 15 minutes a day, eventually building up to an hour plus. The more sittings a day, the better. You are not thinking about your angel during CP - you are giving the angel a chance to manifest. The angel is not any word, idea or perception in itself, and so it may manifest in any number of ways. Its presence however is unmistakable, and may feel luminous, expansive, empty, divine, etc.
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In CP, you let go of any perception or sensation when it catches hold of your attention by repeating the symbol. At some point, the will begins to habitually turn to the angel during the practice and it doesn't need a sacred symbol anymore to affirm its intention. It is no longer attracted to the thoughts that continue to arise and pass, so whereas the imagination and memory may persist in manifesting themselves, the will feels a certain peace and union with the angel. It should be remembered that reflecting on or enjoying the presence of your angel is not the practice of CP; these can be distractions too, and must be allowed to arise and pass with any other sensations. For a discussion of the results of performing CP, and an outline of the metaphysical process initiated by CP, please see Crossing the Abyss: How to do it and what to expect (Step 3). A Practitioner Asks for Advice A novice started performing CP at the beginning of April 2008, initially for 15mins a day, later increasing the sitting time to 25mins. In June, he e-mailed me with some questions, and I am reproducing my answers here as I feel they may be helpful: Q: I sit upright with my back straight and after mentally saying my word, try to just quietly observe my thoughts. A: When you say 'observe my thoughts', is this the reason you are sitting? You need to remain conscious of the reason you are sat there at all times, and it is only when the feeling goes of 'waiting' or 'taking a back seat' to the presence and action of the holy guardian angel (the attitude is one of surrender) that you remind yourself of your intent with the sacred word. So you can be aware of thoughts doing their thing, but your focus should be on the correct attitude. I hope that makes sense - you're essentially doing nothing, but remaining open, and when you forget to be open and present, you remind yourself. You intent must be clear. Q: During my meditation I often find my attention had wandered, sometimes for seconds, sometimes for minutes. A: I sometimes find it helpful during meditation to repeat the phrase: 'I consent to the presence and action of my holy guardian angel with the sacred word: whatever', as a means to attaining the correct attitude. Q: I find that in practice I am in fact resting my attention on the breath going in and out my nostrils. This is because of a practice I learnt many years ago, and it seems to aid in the concentration process. Is this okay? A: No. Although it is fine to be aware of the breath, your attention should really be with maintaining the correct attitude, as outlined above. Q: I am not sure if I've had any communication from my HGA . My dreams have been fragmented and difficult to remember.
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A: The truth is you may never receive the classic 'vision of the HGA' using this method, because the aim isn't to conjure the HGA to visible appearance or to receive a dream. You're allowing the HGA to take over the reigns, as it appears to be doing (the reader has enjoyed some 'direction' since beginning the practice). However, should you desire such a result, once you are sure that you are practicing the meditation correctly, and you actually become aware of a feeling of presence (you'll know when this occurs), ask your angel to contact you via dream or by some other means. Ultimately however, the vision is something that the angel bestows upon you, should it deem it necessary.
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Step 3
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attain to enlightenment or the completion of the Great Work and yet still remain egotistical, sociopathic shit heads. What is the Absolute? Its important to understand that there are many metaphysical events besides the absolute, such as various trances, states of absorption caused by concentration exercises, visions, psychic and magical experiences. None of these events, including those experiences that result from the absolute, are the absolute itself. If it comes and then goes, it is most assuredly relative. Being beyond the relative and subjective, the absolute is not really an experience as such, as there is no experience or experiencer so to speak, but to refuse to talk about it on these grounds is firstly to risk failing to recognise there are techniques and an identifiable process that can lead to the absolute, and secondly, to reduce the Great Work or enlightenment to nothing but the intellectual realisation that words are inadequate for accounting for reality. I will therefore be referring to the absolute as an experience for convenience sake. The absolute occurs as part of the metaphysical process, which proceeds in stages, and it isnt something that can be practiced like a trance state and experienced at the whim of the ego. At first, the absolute will occur during the process as a peak experience, or as a momentary blip in reality. As stated earlier, what happens during the blip cannot really be accounted for with language, but the most useful term Ive found to describe it is the Buddhist Theravada concept of emptiness, although the experience really isnt anything like an absence, a negation, a void or a nothingness. I urge you to go and experience it for yourself and youll see what I mean. The results of experiencing the absolute may include but are not limited to: overwhelming bliss, a sense of coming home, an increase in compassion, the realisation of the Truth, perfect happiness and all round good times. If that isnt reason enough to want to cross the abyss then I dont know what is. Eventually the magical developmental process will lead to the occurrence of emptiness as a plateau experience, when emptiness becomes progressively more obvious during real-time, fading in and out of the 'background' of reality, regardless of whether you are in the temple meditating or eating your lunch in the canteen at work. The final stage of the process is the occurrence of emptiness as a permanent adaptation i.e. instead of identifying with an unknown, the self know finds its centre of gravity with emptiness. The divide between the relative and the absolute is abolished and the Great Work is accomplished. In the metaphysic of magick there are three grades that designate the three stages of the process. After crossing the abyss and the occurrence of emptiness as a peak experience, the magician becomes a Magister Templi, or a Master of the Temple. When emptiness occurs as a plateau experience, the magician attains the grade of
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Magus; and with the permanent adaptation of emptiness, and the accomplishment of the Great Work, the magician assumes the final grade of Ipsissimus. How do I cross the abyss? There is only one act a magician can do to the cross the abyss, and that is to gain the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel (see Step 2). The Holy Guardian Angel is the embodiment of the absolute. The Holy Guardian Angel is a means by which the relative self or ego can interact on its own terms with that which is above the abyss. Once the knowledge and conversation is attained (note: once initiated however, this is an ongoing process), or the magician has entered into a dialogue via vision and synchronicity with the angel, the magician will be led through the developmental process, which occurs as a cycle with stages, with the angel providing the right teachings and techniques at the right time. This usually means a daily meditational practice, but when I crossed the abyss I went through the first cycle using a daily ritual of sun worship. As a relative entity, it follows that there will be methods relative in their usefulness for each magician at each stage. In other words, it's different strokes for different folks. The practice given in Step 2 combines both meditative and Holy Guardian Angel work. Its daily practice will facilitate both the Knowledge and Conversation and the process of enlightenment. So how do I actually gain the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel? Being the absolute, it doesnt follow that the relative self or ego can command the angel to appear or make contact; rather, it is the angel that must initiate the conversation, for the angel transcends but includes the magician. The correct attitude to be adopted then is one of surrender the magician must open himself up to the absolute, to give up all he has, has been or will ever be in favour of the knowledge and conversation of his angel. The relative self or ego must take a back seat if it is to begin the process of union with the absolute. Step 2 is a daily rite for performing the Knowledge and Conversation, but alternatively a devotional ritual involving the surrender of the self to the angel can be constructed and performed daily, for the rest of your life, or until instructed otherwise. Note that the surrender must be genuine if the relative self or ego doesnt really want to let go then you are wasting your time. Of course, for most people this does take practice, hence the rather lengthy traditional invocations of the angel such as the one given in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. It may be that the relative self has a number of issues preventing the correct practice of surrender, and these will need to be addressed before success in the work can be expected. Similarly, if the magician has no real magical skill or experience, how is the angel to affect communication?
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Before attempting to gain the knowledge and conversation the magician should have a good solid grounding in the basics, especially divinatory methods, dream and visionary work, plus a degree of intimacy with synchronicity. See Step 1. In Crowleys order of the A..A.., we find a magical syllabus for practicing magick peculiar to each plane of experience in order to prepare the magician, and grades are conferred based on the acquisition of competency at each level. However, it should be made explicit that these grades do not describe the metaphysical process as the three grades above the abyss do. The grades below the abyss are simply designations of magical competency within certain areas, and are only ever conferred by man; those grades above the abyss describe a process independent of the accomplishments of the relative self or ego, and can only be given, as it were, by the absolute. In other words, you do not need to engage with Crowleys A..A.. grading system, or attain each of the grades below the abyss, before attempting to gain the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. The absolute and the metaphysical process are not a system, and they are not dependent on any syllabus or on any ones opinion of it or you. If you want to join the A..A.. proper, you need only gain the Knowledge and Conversation. Since Crowleys day practical magick has moved on somewhat, and if you want a good solid practical magical education in order to prepare yourself you could do a lot worse than taking up the pseudo-tradition of chaos magick for a few years. How do I know Im crossing the abyss? To recap, crossing the abyss is going through a metaphysical process, starting with the acquisition of the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and ending with the occurrence of the absolute, or emptiness, as a peak experience for the first time. The division, or the abyss, between the relative and the absolute will have been crossed for the first time, and as this can only ever be said to occur once, the crossing of the abyss is necessarily a one off event. While it is true that the metaphysical process doesnt end there, and that the magician will cycle through the same process again and again, the attainment of the experience of the absolute is akin to losing your virginity you can never go back, nor can you say you lose your virginity each time you have sex thereafter. If it helps, you can consider crossing the abyss as being deflowered by God. The metaphysical process is made up of a three-part cycle, consisting of a plateau, a trough and a peak. It is the successful completion of the first cycle that constitutes crossing the abyss, and you can expect the following: The plateau is a period of novelty, where magical practice is interesting and progress is steady. Insights come easy, and the plateau culminates in an event I like to call www.thebaptistshead.co.uk
Nave Enlightenment. Nave Enlightenment can include, but is not limited to, the following phenomena: trance states, dissolution of boundaries, visions of bright light, feelings of bliss, oneness, vibration, love, great enthusiasm for Non-dualism, the belief youve experienced God/the Tao/the Truth, the belief enlightenment has occurred as a single event, as opposed to a process. The trough quickly follows Nave Enlightenment, and practice becomes difficult and unpleasant. The success enjoyed during the plateau is gone, and the magician can experience any number of negative emotions, at varying degrees of intensity, in regards to perception itself. The trough can include, but is not limited to, the following phenomena: feelings of fear, disgust, and hate, desire for deliverance, psychosis, unpleasant bodily sensations, and sleepiness. The trough is sometimes referred to in other systems as the Dark Night of the Soul, and can last anywhere from a few hours to a number of years, the latter usually as a result of buying into the Nave Enlightenment event. The Peak arrives with a gradual equanimity towards phenomena: peace is made with perception. Magick is no longer the slog it was during the trough, and a certain feeling of mastery prevails. The peak reaches a climax with the occurrence of the absolute as a peak experience, and this marks the attainment of a grade, being the grade of Magister Templi if it is the magicians first time through the cycle. The cycle then begins again, and it usually takes a few more cycles with peak experiences before the absolute occurs as a plateau experience and the next grade is attained. So far, so good. Everything Ive said isnt too dissimilar to many other developmental models, but what sets crossing the abyss apart is the fact that it is a magical event. As such, the cycle doesnt just manifest in an emotional or perceptual way, but on many other planes of experience too. During the crossing you can expect all kinds of bizarre synchronicities, magical visions, manifestations and interactions with entities. It goes without saying however that there will be one entity you will have to deal with during the crossing, and that is the denizen of the abyss, Choronzon. Choronzon can be considered the embodiment of what is experienced during the trough: fear, disgust, and most especially confusion. How Choronzon will manifest, both as an entity and on other planes, is unique to each magician, but how to deal with him is the same for all. He should be met with silence and acceptance, and the same goes for the fear, paranoia and confusion that will arise in his presence. Your angel will provide instruction in any specific rituals that might need to be performed. For an account of my meeting with Choronzon, please listen to my podcast Crossing the Abyss Part 2: The Encounter with Choronzon, which can be found at www.thebaptistshead.co.uk. It is often said that crossing the abyss is a terrifying event but this isnt necessarily the case. The trough can last anything from a few minutes to a number of years and
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can vary greatly in intensity with each individual. Apart from my encounter with Choronzon, crossing the abyss wasnt really all that terrifying. You might be wondering why, if you can achieve the Great Work or enlightenment through other much simpler, less poetic systems of attainment, such as vipassana or Zen, you might want to consider attempting the Great Work the magical way. The answer is simple: the Holy Guardian Angel is the fastest, most efficient means of metaphysical development I have ever come across. Working with the angel means progress is no longer a question of conscious deliberation, and the angel is in the position of knowing your self better than you do. Who better then than the angel in providing instruction? The fact that the magician undergoes transformation on the basis of magical vision does not mean the magician is any less engaged with fundamental insight, or simply dealing with the content of his mind rather, the relative self is afforded the opportunity of dealing with the process of insight on its own terms in a dualistic fashion, being the complete antithesis of the life denying asceticism of most systems of purely meditative practice. Conclusion The abyss is the divide between the relative and the absolute. To cross the abyss, the relative self must engage with the absolute, by attaining the knowledge and conversation of the holy guardian angel through a habitual ritual of surrender (see Step 2). Once this is attained, the magician will begin the metaphysical process of union with the absolute, which occurs in cycles made up of three stages. The first time through the cycle is known as crossing the abyss, and the magician can expect to go through a novel plateau with a trance event known as Nave Enlightenment, a trough with an encounter with the denizen of the abyss Choronzon, and a peak with the occurrence of the absolute for the first time. The magician will then have attained the grade of Magister Templi. With repetition of the cycle, eventually the absolute will occur as a plateau experience, and the grade of Magus will be attained. Further repetition will eventually lead to the occurrence of the absolute as a permanent adaptation, the Great Work will be completed and the magician will have attained the grade of Ipsissimus. Obviously, there is a lot of work involved. So what are you waiting for? Go and get deflowered!
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