“My imagination can set no limit to the possibilities of Science, or of Art: our own Great Work is evidence of that.”
— Chapter 79 from Confessions
Quote featured at PROGRESS ANARCHY COMMON SENSE from the Ministry of Information.
Tag Archives: Great Work
The Tree
The Tree: A Jungian Journey: Tales in Psycho-Mythology by J Marvin Spiegelman, a 1982 paperback from Falcon Press, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.
“Henry Miller, the author of Tropic of Cancer and numerous other works of major stature, states:
‘For me it was like sailing down a stream whose shores and everything bordering them was as familiar to me as if I had dreamt it a thousand times. I say familiar, but not stale. Rather like encountering in your sleep old dreams which you knew by heart but had not dreamt for many and many a year. Therefore extremely vivid and exciting. Or I could put it another way and say it was like presenting the quintessence of all one’s spiritual experiences.’
Israel Regardie, the Western World’s foremost authority on occultism and magic, states:
‘Here is the whole Jungian corpus in a nutshell, spelled out brilliantly in the form of original stories, fables, myths and parables. Each is beautifully written, intriguing, commanding one’s full attention. Spiegelman is highly imaginative, a truly creative psychologist.
He deals symbolically with the process of individuation, the growth to be oneself, the movement Godward. As such, it is the story of the Great Work, the noblest story and Work of them all, told with simplicity and deep sincerity.'” — back cover
Pearls of Wisdom
Pearls of Wisdom: Gems from the Journal Black Pearl by James A Eshelman, from College of Thelema, is due to be released in August, 2013, and may be of interest.
“‘Seek the New in the Old ~ Seek the Old in the New.’ That was the motto of Black Pearl, College of Thelema’s biannual journal published 1997–2002. Author James A. Eshelman contributed 100 articles during one of the most prolific periods of his career. This anthology gathers over 40 essays, many of them substantially updated and expanded, and some of them never previously published.
Pearls of Wisdom ‘seeks the new in the old’ through a magnificent cache of wisdom teachings from one of Thelema’s most insightful, creative teachers.
This is the ‘director’s cut’ of Black Pearl – and more!
An Introduction to Thelema — the ground shifting world-view of Aleister Crowley – explains Thelema’s core principles of Will, Love, and Star, then expands on the nature of True Will and Love Under Will; Thelema’s pantheon of gods; and the New Era of Aspiration now opening before us. The rest of the book is organized in 7 parts:
It’s in the Basics ♦ Magick ♦ Qabalah ♦ Thelema
Sexual Mysteries ♦ Holy Guardian Angel ♦ The PathFor example, one section (‘Magick’) explores a dozen topics of ceremonial magick, including traditional and newer forms of the pentagram and hexagram rituals, Sun adorations, new adaptations of classic initiation rites, the ancient art of evocation, and a new ritual for becoming a purer reflection of your deepest spiritual ideal.
Chapter 32, The Magical Record of Brother Proserpinus, is a modern tale of a brother of A∴A∴ who undertook the Great Work and succeeded. Four times the size of excerpts published in Black Pearl, this is the centerpiece of the book.” [via]
Living Thelema
Living Thelema by David Shoemaker is unexpectedly available already in softcover ahead of the planned Aug 25th, 2013 release date.
Living Thelema: A Practical Guide to Attainment in Aleister Crowley’s System of Magick by Dr David Shoemaker, of the Living Thelema podcast, the International College of Thelema, and a Hermetic Library anthology artist, is due for release in September as hardcover or special edition with leather binding by Ars Obscura, and in August in a variety of formats, is available for pre-order.
“The system of spiritual attainment developed by Aleister Crowley is notoriously challenging in its scope. Adapted from the popular podcast segment of the same name, Living Thelema brings a welcome approachability to Crowley’s material, without diminishing the depth of the system. The author focuses on the practical and experiential aspects of the path of Thelema, allowing the reader to grasp the true transformative power of the system.
Beginners and advanced practitioners alike will find much useful advice here, as Shoemaker brings his characteristic down-to-earth style to bear on topics such as ritual and meditation practices, sex magick, astral projection, psychotherapy for magicians, the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and that pinnacle of attainment known as the crossing of the Abyss.
The author’s background as a practicing psychotherapist allows an entirely unique fusion of esoteric wisdom and cognitive science. Living Thelema is an invaluable handbook for any modern magician.”
“TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part One: Tools for the Journey
An Introduction to the Qabalah
The Holy Guardian Angel
The True Will
Getting Started with a Basic Magical Regimen
The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram
The Lesser & Greater Rituals of the Hexagram
Liber Resh vel Helios
Methods of Ritual Construction
Asana & Pranayama
Meditation & Visualization Practices
Astral Projection & Control of the Body of Light
Devotional Practices
Liber Samekh & the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel
Sexual Magick & Sexual MysticismPart Two: Perspectives on the Path of Attainment
The Methods & Tools of A∴A∴
Tarot & the Path of Initiation
Initiation & Tetragrammaton
The Chakras
The Role of the Ego in the Great Work
The Formulas of LVX and NOX
The Right Use of Magical Power
21st Century Alchemy
The Practical Use of Alchemical SymbolismPart Three: Life Outside the Temple
Patterns & Cycles in Magical Practice
Dreamwork
Relationships
Qabalistic Coping Techniques
Psychotherapy
The Anima & Animus
Cognitive Therapy for Magicians”
Nicolas Flamel et le cimetière des Innocents
“Au cours de cette sixième étape du ‘Voyage Alchimique’, nous pénétrons avec Patrick Burensteinas, alchimiste et scientifique, au sein du mystérieux laboratoire où doit se former la fameuse Pierre Philosophale. Pour nous aider à en percer les secrets, Nicolas Flamel, célèbre alchimiste parisien du Moyen Age, aurait figuré l’essentiel des opérations du Grand Oeuvre sous une arcade du cimetière des Innocents à Paris, mais elle a été détruite au XVIII° siècle, avec tout le cimetière. Nous la reconstituons ici grâce aux nombreux témoignages qui l’ont décrite.”
“Nicolas Flamel and the Cemetery of the Innocents
In the sixth stage of the Alchemical Voyage, with Patrick Burensteinas, alchemist and scientist, we enter into the mysterious laboratory where the Philosophers Stone has to be made. To help us to perceive its secrets, Nicolas Flamel, a famous Parisian alchemist from the middle age, would have mainly figured out the process of the Great Work under the arch of the Innocents cemetery in Paris. It was destroyed in the 18th century, with the entire cemetery. Thanks to many testimonials, we will make this arch alive again.”
Commentary (ΜΒ) on ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΒ Dust-Devils in Liber CCCXXXIII, The Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley.
“The Masters of the Temple are now introduced; they are inhabitants, not of this desert; their abode is not this universe.
They come from the Great Sea, Binah, the City of the Pyramids. V.V.V.V.V. is indicated as one of these travellers; He is described as a camel, not because of the connotation of the French form of this word, but because ‘camel’ is in hebrew Gimel, and Gimel is the path leading from Tiphareth to Kether, uniting Microprosopus and Macroprosopus, i.e. performing the Great Work.” [via]
ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΑ Corn Beef Hash in Liber CCCXXXIII, The Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley.
“In V.V.V.V.V. is the Great Work perfect.” [via]
Commentary (ΚΓ) in Liber CCCXXXIII, The Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley.
“Both ’23’ and ‘Skidoo’ are American words meaning ‘Get out’. This chapter describes the Great Work under the figure of a man ridding himself of all his accidents.” [via]
Sabazius has posted his address to the 8th biennial National OTO Conference
Sabazius has posted a new page to the Invisible Basilica, “Address delivered by National Grand Master General Sabazius Xº to the Eighth National Conference of the U.S. O.T.O. Grand Lodge, Manifest Thy Glory, Saturday evening, August 6, 2011 e.v., Dearborn, Michigan“:
“How can there be any higher measure of success than to understand and realize ones own divine essence, and to manifest its glory? To accomplish the Great Work? To do your True Will as a god upon Earth? The wealth, status and fame so coveted by some are mere vain baubles in comparison: drugs to soothe a blind ego that cannot perceive, or will not recognize, its own essential divinity.
You partake of the same divine nature as the world’s wealthiest plutocrats, the world’s most powerful dictators, the world’s most beloved celebrities, and the world’s most impoverished beggars.
True kingship is realizing this.” [via]
ζ De Natura Sua Percipienda from the Book of Wisdom or Folly in The Libri of Aleister Crowley
“even the Will to the Great Work may be misunderstood of Men; for this Work must proceed naturally and without Overstress, as all true Works.” [via]