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Tarot graphic copyright: B.O.T.A.
The Western Mystery Tradition
Light In Extension!
Hi, My name is Peter. I have researched, and been actively engaged, in some of the spiritual traditions of this planet. I have been a Buddhist monk in South Korea for 3 years, been involved with the Hindu tradition, with the Western Qabalistic/Hermetic way, and, lately, also with the Native American way. I have also engaged in various kinds of modern psychotherapy/ consciousness exploring paths. I have created this web site to give you some information on the Western Mystery Tradition, and other traditions as well. I hope you will benefit from the information contained herein. If you find there is too much text to read on this first page , I would advise you to go to my Links page. Another page you might find intesting is the Commentary page, where there will be comments and quotes on present day events.
Kadeeschday
(With beauty before you,
With beauty behind you,
With beauty above you,
With beauty below you,
May you walk your path in beauty)
Peter
Above the entrance to the Temple of Delphi it was written:
Man, Know Thyself
Underneath was written:
Nothing in Excess
This web-site is dedicated mainly to the Western Mystery Tradition and the practice of it as a way to
learn more about oneself, and the truths of the universe. It will, hopefully, also act as a bridge between the
Western Mystery Tradition, and modern ways of working with the body and the psyche, as found t. ex. in the work
of Chech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, and in techniques like Body Harmony and Bioenergetics. I have also included
some links to sites that reflects my personal outlooks and experience with life, and there will be a few links
to sites of the Eastern Tradition as well. Particulary the Advaita Vedanta and Saiva Siddhanta schools of Hinduism
has the exact same goals, (as well as many similarities in practice). Finally there
is links to Native American spirituality, which I believe has a lot to offer to Western civilization.
The wisdom of the ancient mystery schools of Egypt, Chaldea, and Greece did not disappear with the burning of the library in Alexandria, and later, the Inquisition. The philosphy survived as a current lying under the mainstream of Western culture. In the 16th and 17th century it surfaced again as the Rosicrucians and Freemasonry.
Also,the veiled allegories of the Alchemists often revealed psychological processes, as the founder of analytical psychology,C.G.JUNG, discovered.
In the late 19th century the tradition was revitalized by various fraternal and occult societies, of which the most famous is the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This Order disintegrated more or less at the beginning of this century, but today several Orders exists which work in the Golden Dawn tradition. Israel Regardie, who published the teachings and rituals of the Golden Dawn, was himself a practitioner of Reichian therapy (from Wilhelm Reich, disciple of Freud, who was the first in modern times to systematically work with the "armour" of the body and it's relations to various emotions} , and he always emphazised the importance of psychotherapeutic work for people who work in the initiatory traditions. Today much has happened since the time of Wilhelm Reich, and a lot of different techniques and therapies are offered. Of these I can especially recommend the Holotropic Breathing of Stanislav Grof and Body Harmony,but there are as said a lot of techniques being offered out there, and one has to find out for oneself what works best for one. Also, the Native Americans have a lot to offer Western civilisation, helping us to re-connect with the Earth again. Check one branch of them out at http://www.nativeamericanchurch.com
As one works with the powerful techniques of the magical traditions of the Qabalah and Hermeticism, it is common to experience various kinds of temptations and psychic states, so it is beneficial to work with gaining self-insight and individuation through therapy, at least at the start of one's practice.
When it comes to occult wisdom there are some signs to look out for when examining various schools and teachers and one of them is the financial aspect: any teacher or school which charges money for the teaching itself has immediately condemned itself/himself as a fake.
In the famous Fama Fraternitatis, the famed Rosicrucian manifesto which created such stir in 17th century Europe the first rule of the Brothers of the Rosy Cross was: "That none of them should profess any other thing than to cure the sick and that gratis".
Freely is the wisdom and teachings received and freely is it passed along. Of course physcical organisations has to take some fee from their members for buildings, printing costs, postage and all the like but these kind of expenses are always very reasonable.
Another thing to be careful of are organisations where blind faith in leaders or dogmas are required. Freedom of thought is very important for any spiritual progress. Humor is another important quality along with a lack of self-righteousness and narrow-mindedness.
A LIGHT SHINING IN THE DARKNESS
If you would like to see what modern day mystery schools can offer, I will especially recommend Builders of the Adytum , which offer a correspondence course of a very high quality in occultism (occultism means "that which is hidden", there is occultism of a more dark nature, and there is the occultism of light and love. This web-site is propagating the latter).
Builders of the Adytum was founded in the 1930's by Paul Foster Case, a former leader of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the United States and Canada. B.O.T.A. offers a premium class correspondence course on Tarot, Qabalah, Alchemy, and esoteric Astrology with the option of groupwork in many parts of the world. To see if this is something for you visit B.O.T.A.'s web-pages. Paul Foster Case's style of writing is very intense and condensed; it's is marvelous how much he can say in just a sentence or two. This is occult knowledge of the highest caliber. And it is occult knowledge with a very practical psychological perspective originating in the ancient mystery tradition and at the same time being very relevant to the modern world and mentality. Paul Foster Case's books "The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order","The Tarot - A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages", and "The Book of Tokens - Tarot Meditations" are all highly recommended! The Book of Tokens has often been termed the Bhagavad Gita of the West.
The Hermetic Philosophy has it's name from the Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegistus. The saying "As Above, so Below" originates in the The Emerald Tablet of Hermes. The Hermetic books containing the collected occult knowledge of ancient Egypt is ascribed to him. The Tarot is described in ancient Egypt as "The Book of Thoth",Thoth being another name for Hermes. Thoth was the Egyptian God of Wisdom.
Much of present day occultism has it's roots in the Egyptian Mysteries. Behind the stories of the Gods of Egypt much esoteric psychology lies hidden, like in most mythologies around the world. The Greeks has been said to have made a religion out of their psychological understanding, which is why modern researchers into the human psyche has found it so easy to use the various Greek myths like Oedipus, Elektra, and the story of Amor and Psyche.
On the Links-page there will be links of various kinds, please DO check it out!
MAY LIGHT BE EXTENDED UPON YOU
Hope you have enjoyed this site: feel free to
write with comments or questions.
PS: IF ANY LINKS ARE DEAD OR HAVE MOVED, A NOTICE ABOUT IT IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED!
© 1997-2002
