A Thirteen Petalled Rose, a Cup of Blessing.

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32086234312911671742012-01-27T13:59:26.090-06:00A Thirteen Petalled Rose, a Cup of Blessing.A little, and likely little posted to, blog about spirituality, theurgy, kabbalah, philosophy, theology and just about anything else that might float across my mind.Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-67302628207546499832012-01-27T13:58:00.002-06:002012-01-27T13:59:26.100-06:00The Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition Conference 2012 - Call for Abstracts

The Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition Conference 2012July 14-15, Milwaukee, WICall for Abstracts:Since 2001, the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition (JWMT) has worked to publish diverse perspectives on the occultisms, magical practices, mysticisms and esotericisms commonly known as the “Western Mystery Tradition.” The JWMT is expanding the work of the web journal through its first

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-979719595695959652012-01-02T12:42:00.002-06:002012-01-02T12:44:46.845-06:00A Feast of Light

(Yes, I know, I'm a little late with this.)"The sun ... not only furnishes to those that see the power of visibility but it also provides for their generation and growth and nurture though it is not itself generation. ... In like manner, then ... the objects of knowledge not only receive from the presence of the Good their being known, but their very existence and essence is derived to them from

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-77022417162496054802011-07-07T12:34:00.003-05:002011-07-07T14:14:00.103-05:00On Initiation. Again. Also, on Worlds and Such.

This subject seems to come up a lot. One might begin to think it's important or something. I won't go into the "initiation means 'beginning'" thing again (wait, I just did, never mind). Instead I want to look at the idea of various spiritual worlds and their relationship, if any, to esoteric initiation. The general reference here is this blog post: http://gyllenegryningen.blogspot.com/2010/04/

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-85830032915679379532011-04-26T08:04:00.004-05:002011-04-26T13:52:35.094-05:00Wealth and Poverty

I went to the Tenebrae service and mass at the parish of St. Michael the Archangel, of the AJC. No, I'm not a Gnostic, or a Christian for that matter, but they are my friends and brothers and sisters. One of the readings touched on the nature of Christ as servant, which lead me to thoughts of the nature of Malkhut and it's relationship to the rest of the sefirot.Malkhut is called "poor" (Heb: dal

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-43494014230894945112011-02-05T09:03:00.003-06:002011-02-05T09:44:32.058-06:00Wherein I talk about doing stuff

Last night I "participated" (read: hardly said a thing) in a Gnostic skype conference call that some of you reading this may have also participated in. We talked about the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, which, as it turns out, may or may not actually have been written by Gnostics. As you probably know, I'm neither a Christian nor a Gnostic, but a second cousin twice removed, a kabbalist and a

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-78151440000811552042010-04-24T07:39:00.004-05:002010-04-24T08:20:58.649-05:00Initiation and Myth

Initiation is one of the favorite topics of magicians. Just go look on your bookshelf and I'm sure you'll find any number of books that devote at least a few pages, if not an entire chapter, or in some cases the whole of the book on the subject. Go ahead and look. I'll wait.Back? Alright, my turn, then.Normally, the academic in me would spend the next forty or fifty pages defining both of the

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-20871852761379810022010-04-10T07:39:00.004-05:002010-04-24T12:28:40.269-05:00Invocation

Iablichus of Chalcis on theurgic invocation:But not even in the case of the invocations is it through the experiencing of passion that they link the priests to the gods; it is rather in virtue of the divine love which holds together all things that they provide a union of indissoluble involvement - not, as the name seems immediately to imply, inclining the mind of the gods to humans, but rather,

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-31087990266107314792009-12-27T13:11:00.002-06:002009-12-27T13:31:08.607-06:00Divination and Prophecy

To be honest, this isn't the post I have been planning in my head. That post has to do with the three phases of approaching the Shekhinah, as mentioned in the Zohar, as an analogy for coming to know the Higher Self. That one will have to wait. Instead this was inspired by some recent reading. I have been going through a book by the late W.E. Butler (whose books I highly recommend, especially if

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-42790159352613836092009-08-10T22:14:00.005-05:002009-08-10T22:28:00.198-05:00Considering Mystery Schools

This has been prompted by a post made by Frater Yechidah concerning the apparent death of the esoteric lodge system. Now, I'm a fan of the lodge system, yes, there are problems sometimes, but there are problems with every form of education depending on how its done and who's being educated.One of my thoughts on this, though, is about mystery schools being mystery schools. Classically, there were

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-28109750426018692892009-08-03T13:03:00.003-05:002009-08-03T13:29:36.918-05:00Spirital and Moral Growth

This has been an issue of my for some time now and, as a blog is a cheap form of therapy, here it is.I have read the biographies of countless mystics it seems. For those of you who are really interested in the subject I highly recommend Fr. William Harmless's Mystics. Beyond this, of course, are the actual writings of these mystics. While there are a great many similarities, and a great many

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-31886812693322537172009-08-01T22:42:00.002-05:002009-08-01T22:53:00.702-05:00A bit of routine

Solar Adoration – Thrice/twice daily – ideally sunrise, past noon and sunset.Morning – Face South, Afternoon – Face East, Evening – Face NorthBlessed art thou O holy Bride Groom, who has taught us to discern between Day and Night.(Optional prayer. In kabbalistic tradition the morning prayer is associated with Chesed/Abraham, the afternoon prayer with Gevurah/Isaac and the evening prayer with

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-84995884054091643092009-07-06T12:35:00.003-05:002009-07-06T12:54:35.580-05:00The Circle

I am not certain, to be honest, just how long the circle has been a magical symbol. I will presume that it has been so just on this side of eternity. At least by the time of Socrates and Plato it has been a symbol of the micro/macrocosm, as evinced by the Socratic description of the Ouroboros as a fully self-contained reality. The magic circle used by many ceremonial magicians, as well as Pagans,

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-87874046554413743102009-05-21T10:05:00.002-05:002009-05-21T10:08:06.905-05:00Dirk Gently

I tend to take the Dirk Gently approach to certain purchases and the acquisition of occult paraphernalia. So, after a year of not looking I finally found a good enough tree branch for the Gevuric rod. Now, if sterling and gold rings of particular design were as easy to find.

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-1184239645333931292009-04-14T22:17:00.003-05:002009-04-15T20:35:30.907-05:00Thaumaturgy and Theurgy

I'm hoping that getting this on here will also mean that I get to sleep sometime sooner than an hour from now.A thaumaturge is like Michelangelo below, painting an image on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. A theurgos is above, painting an image in the mind of Michelangelo to be painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-12105419961682746842009-03-03T14:31:00.003-06:002009-03-03T14:41:47.876-06:00Humility, again

I'm not sure why this topic is sticking with me; I had intended to write something about the "magical names" that occultists take instead. At any rate the previous post on the subject seems incomplete; its one thing to talk about humility, about being humble, but just what is the beasty?I'm entirely certain I can answer the question. I'm not sure I know what humility is, but I think have a good

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-42483995366122785642009-02-26T21:25:00.004-06:002009-02-26T21:29:13.960-06:00Humility and Sympathy

I sometimes find myself asking, well, myself, does God have an ego, is God arrogant? My instinct on this would be "no, God doesn't have any reason to be arrogant or egotistical, its not in the nature of Ayin to be anything that is quantifiable." Then I ask myself "Then why are there so many occultists who are 'doing the work' egomaniacs? Where is the humility of simply being one's own Self?"I

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-80903662218187447852009-02-15T12:16:00.004-06:002009-02-15T13:09:27.674-06:00More process

Two in one day! I know, I know, I promised that this would be infrequently used. Such is life.What is the process like? I think originally this is what I was going to write about, but I guess I needed to get that other bit out of the way first. Part of the process and all that.I shall wait for the groans to subside . . . ready?I can't, or at least wont, make a "this is how it is for everyone,

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-31711133394449123542009-02-15T09:00:00.003-06:002009-02-15T09:38:32.946-06:00Its all about the process

I mean, really, its called a "path" for a reason, right?While I perhaps understand the desire for instant change towards a spiritual life I've never really understood the expectation, I presume its a weird, Western adolescent post Modernism thing part of the species is going through. But, yes, its a process; we are becoming who we are really are, trying to strip off the aggregate of false ego

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-89676891939926665882009-02-05T13:13:00.005-06:002009-02-15T13:43:43.004-06:00Belief, Faith, Intellect and Reason

I have, in my "working" library, the Modern Catholic Dictionary, written, or at least compiled, by Father John A. Hardon, S.J.. This was published in 1980. It claims to be the first new Catholic dictionary published since the second Vatican Council.Its amazing what you can find in the "Dead Book Sale" of a small community college.I found four entries to be quite interesting, those on faith and

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-60055598293384289912009-01-29T14:08:00.004-06:002009-01-30T10:47:44.365-06:00The Regalia of Ezekiel's Chariot - Part II

But that's all vary vague, which rather matches my thoughts on the subject I'm sure, and doesn't get to the heart of the matter, though it perhaps hints at its spirit. I have been thinking of magical tools of late, because I've been designing my own.Again.The regalia are somewhat similar to what most might expect, at least outwardly: Chalice, Rod, Sword and Ring. Yeah, not your father's elemental

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-81930679968577732342009-01-29T13:43:00.003-06:002009-01-29T14:30:52.724-06:00The Regalia of Ezekiel's Chariot - Part I

I have been thinking about magical tools of late. No, not that kind, I mean the "weapons" made famous by the Golden Dawn and subsidiaries. Well, kind of. I'll get to that later I suppose. Usually, I don't share my views on the subject on the various fora I'm on, largely because my experience and thoughts on the subject are so completely different from those around me that my disagreement with

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208623431291167174.post-81957440000409687262009-01-21T18:59:00.002-06:002009-01-25T10:01:57.837-06:00A Cup of Blessing

The Zohar begins with a description of a rose, containing both red and white. The rose is a reflection of a cup of blessing, from which flows the holy shefa or "everflow" as Rabbi Gikatilla put it: the ever flowing blessings of El Elyon. The rose has thirteen petals, one for each of the thirteen attributes of mercy, and rests upon five leaves, like the five fingers of the right hand that holds

Brother B.h.D.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12107164402295666876noreply@blogger.com0