Goal: To find the state of consciousness within yourself that intuitively knows the best possible action for you take moment by moment for both yourself and the world around you, and practice being in that state as often as possible.
Question: If such a state of consciousness exists and is so great, why aren’t we in it more often?
Reason 1: We don’t know that state of consciousness exists unless we experience it, and to experience it usually requires practices that activate that part of the mind (such as meditation, intuitive bodywork, drugs, tantric sexuality, etc.)
Reason 2: From the time we’re born (and possibly even in other lifetimes if you believe in reincarnation), we have traumatic situations happen to us that give us more emotions than we can handle at the moment. These feelings get stored within, and we unconsciously engage in behavior patterns that protect us from feeling and releasing these feelings. These behavior patterns make us feel that their way of navigating the world is right ALL THE TIME instead of happily and intuitively following the needs of the moment.
The part of ourselves that intuitively knows the best possible action is in competition in each and every moment with each and every one of these conditioned behavior patterns, and it is PAINFUL when you act against these patterns because you begin to release the repressed emotions they protect. The more moments we choose to act in accordance with these restrictive inner patterns, the more of our inner space they take up until our lives become more and more insular unless healed directly through therapeutic practices (be they conventional talk therapy or the kinds of techniques mentioned in this and other magickal books – ideally both).
Please note that these are my take on other practices’ definitions of things. I again don’t argue that these are complete definitions, but rather how I use these terms for specific relevance in my practice. While I encourage you to expand them to fit your own needs, I merely want to note that when I use these terms in my books, this is what I mean.
Higher Self/Holy Guardian Angel (abbreviated HS/HGA) – the part of your consciousness (whether you believe it’s physical, metaphysical or both) that intuitively knows the best possible action to take in each moment within the limits of your physical mind and body, and that pushes you to do so. It recognizes that each moment is different and calls for a different response, even if the same behavior works in most situations. It is by following the intuitive push of this part of consciousness that we live the happiest life possible. In addition to this, the state of consciousness in and of itself is pleasurable in a way comparable to a more focused, lucid buzz on alcohol or other mild drugs.
Other names in other systems: God Self, True Self, Best Self, Holy Guardian Angel, Reiki/Essence of Being, Metaprogramming Circuit, Divine Spark, Christ (or Christ Self), Dwarf Self, Atman, Divine Spark (and many, many more). It is useful for success in this practice (whether you believe it all the time or not) to read any religious texts and substitute God for this part of consciousness – in doing so, most religious stories become examples of people over time following this intuitive inner voice.
Lower selves – parts of the Higher Self that perceive themselves to be separate due to previous trauma and/or repetition. Basically, when we have an experience that emotionally overwhelms us to the point we can’t handle it in the moment, part of our Higher Self tucks the feelings away for later and creates a rigid, guarded, sub-personality to protect it until later confronted, released and thus healed.
The lower selves are these sub-personalities within us. They believe that one way of approaching reality is ALWAYS right, and when you act outside of their comfort zone, you will start to feel very emotionally uncomfortable as the repressed emotions they protect begin to leak out (often called “being triggered” in modern parlance). The more moments you give in to them, the more of the Higher Self they absorb, and the more your life will feel like these false perceptions of reality are “true” instead of seeing that each moment is uniquely different and acting accordingly.
It is a primary part of this practice to use therapy and the techniques presented in mine and Crowley’s works to deliberately trigger these old feelings, bring them to the surface and release them, and then in doing so allow the false personalities of the lower selves to rejoin the whole of the Higher Self, leading to a permanent increase in baseline happiness.
Also called: complexes, karmic patterns, burdened parts, sin/restriction, ego selves, Byosen/imbalance and many others. Euphemisms for the painful work of integrating the lower selves back into the whole of the Higher Self/Holy Guardian Angel by releasing the repressed pain they hide include crucifixion, Dark Night of the Soul, and Crossing the Abyss.
As Crowley states in Magick in Theory and Practice, “Basically, the Great Work is the solution of complexes.” In my interpretation, he means very specifically this process of self-healing for the ultimate goal of intuitive self-expression.
Please note that this term/concept does not apply to the physical drives to eat, drink, have sex, etc. While “lower,” is used in many practices to describe bodily drives, in my practice, any bodily drive is considered more or less neutral and potentially useful. The goal is not to repress them but to find outlets for them in the moment that are actually healthy, which can’t fully be done until the inner blocks defined here as lower selves or complexes are reconciled and can no longer compete with the Higher Self/Holy Guardian Angel in a given moment.
Perhaps the best way to look at each moment is a tug of war between the bodily drives, Higher Self, and lower selves. By these definitions, the “best” expression in a moment will be one where the Higher Self guides you intuitively to express the bodily drives in a manner that is healthy for all around you, and the “worst” scenario is one in which a lower self guides you to repress the bodily drives called for in the moment to reinforce old defensive patterns.
Note that from my point of view when Crowley says that the only two important goals of his practice are attaining Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel and Crossing the Abyss, how I will read and interpret them (regardless of what they may or not mean in addition to my definitions) is that the first step represents being able to distinguish the voice of the Higher Self/Holy Guardian Angel when doing inner work to the point where you can ask It direct questions and get direct answers. The second step of “crossing the Abyss” represents the process of deliberately triggering lower selves so that the old emotions they protect can be released in awareness, and the parts of the Higher Self/Holy Guardian Angel that were being used to protect them can be integrated back into the greater whole of yourself.
By this definition, it is not so much that your Holy Guardian Angel disappears when you’ve fully “Crossed the Abyss,” but that Its voice and your own are now so integrated as to be one. Because of the deliberate triggering of inner repressed content, it is highly recommended that those undergoing my practice supplement with seeing a qualified therapist that can help them process the traumas that emerge.
True Will – Any moment in which you act in alignment with your Higher Self/HGA (whether accidentally or on purpose), you are by definition doing the best possible thing you can do in each moment. In each moment you’re doing so, you are said (in Thelema) to be doing your True Will, or the Will of God. The results of doing the True Will are said to be Love (even if sometimes this is tough Love that triggers other peoples’ lower selves – never purposefully but because people that are restricted become very uncomfortable among the free). Love in this sense is defined as the word agape, which means a unitive sense of being interconnected with others, and dissolving intuitively and ecstatically into whatever tasks are in front of you in the moment.
From this concept we get the “Law of Thelema,” which is “Do What Thou Wilt Shall be the Whole of the Law; Love is the Law Love Under Will.” In this “Thou” is your Higher Self/HGA, and since your Higher Self/HGA will do different things in different circumstances to create this result of Love, the only real Law is to tune into and follow your Higher Self/HGA.
Note that this is also an interpretation of the Golden Rule of Christianity: Love thy Lord God with all thy Heart Mind and Soul, and Love Thy Neighbor as you Love Thy Self. In this “God” is the Higher Self/HGA. If you Love IT totally, you become capable of actually loving others (they come in that order for a reason).
The path of the True Will in other systems is defined by similar concepts such as the Tao, the Dharma, or Ainsin Reitsu Mei (Reiki), and of course many others. It is important to distinguish (as Crowley will often use both definitions interchangeably) that the True Will is not a singular act like writing a great novel or founding a spiritual practice. It certainly includes these larger works, but it is any moment in which one has acted in accordance with what the HS/HGA would do.
Soul/Psyche – Terms I will sometimes use for the combination of the Higher Self and lower selves of an individual. When addressing folks that believe in systems of reincarnation, I’ll sometimes distinguish between the parts of the soul/psyche present in this incarnation by calling it the “incarnate soul,” and the parts not presently in incarnation as the “disincarnate soul,” but my teachings overall are not concerned about whether or not life exists beyond physical death.
Likewise, I will call the inner world where we go to meet our soul/ psyche either the unconscious mind or the astral realm, and for those that believe in life after death I’ll distinguish between the inner astral and the outer astral. Again, however, whatever other realms may exist are not a concern of this system. What is a concern of this system is the healing of the lower selves and expression of the Higher Self in every plane of existence they might inhabit, starting with this human realm in which I’m writing this.
Logos - A term in Crowley’s system that defines a word spoken by one that has integrated themselves enough to speak the “word of God.” It is said in his system that one that does so will define an entire aeon of human development.
I do argue that everyone has a unique flavor or Essence to their soul/psyche through which they learn, teach, and demonstrate Love in the universal, Agape sense of the word. However, though it is rare that one actualizes themselves enough using the techniques of my or other’s teachings to do so, it is something that each individual can and should strive for and accomplish via integration of their lower selves, and following the intuitive direction of their HS/HGA.
Crowley’s Logos is Thelema which means Love accomplished, taught, and learned through Will. Mine is Surrender, meaning my teaching allows Love to be accomplished, taught, and learned through Surrender. Yours will be different, and even if you use me, Crowley, or any combination of teachings as your starting point, your works will demonstrate your unique Essence as defined by your personal Logos.
Enlightenment – In this system it is reaching a point where the bulk of your lower selves have released the painful feelings they were protecting and been reintegrated back into your Higher Self (so you’re just one “whole” or HOLY Self again). This does not mean that bad things will never happen to you and you won’t get upset by them, or that you have super powers, or can do anything that you didn’t know how to do before. It just means that your normal state of mind is one of peaceful bliss where you get an intuitive sense of exactly what to do without thinking about it (you’re high on life, in the “flow state” of many paradigms).
Note that in this state, our feelings are actually simple cues of what is/isn’t working, because they’re not confused with a bunch of repressed stuff from the past. In short, you’re at a point where you’re doing your True Will all the time.
This is not the end of your work, even if you achieve this step. You must then take whatever talents you have and develop them and new ones to actually express the unique Essence of your Higher Self in the world. This is often painful, as the world around you is likely corrupt in some way, and either won’t care at all or be directly resistant or hostile to you for not bowing to its mores. This can be traumatic enough to either create new lower selves, or trigger ones so deeply buried that you didn’t even know you had them. Still, by this point you should have enough tools and experience to heal them with less trouble, helping you return to what is now a baseline state of general bliss.
Spiritual Subdivision – A term I use to distinguish my more psychologically centered spiritual practice from those that take the inner experiences one will have as literal, transpersonal encounters from entities that exist on other planes of reality. In my practice, any god, spirit, entity, energy center, or metaphysical plane that one encounters in inner work is being treated as an interaction with the part of our soul/psyche that corresponds to our understanding of that concept. I call these filters of focus Spiritual Subdivisions.
So if, for example, I do a ritual to invoke the goddess Nuit, and I do it successfully enough that I have an inner experience (such as a vision where I see this character personified and talking to me in my mind’s eye), I am understanding this to mean that I am talking to the part of my soul/ psyche that corresponds to my definition of what Nuit represents.
The reason that I am such a stickler for this concept is that whether or not we do occasionally encounter transpersonal entities in our mind’s eye, we are still processing them internally, through the soul/psyche that lives in the deeper realms of the unconscious mind. Consequently, the health of the soul/psyche will say a lot about how these inner messages get translated.
The failure of most magickal orders to understand this is the reason that some people will literally lose their minds when they undergo certain initiations and rituals, and that others will do the same and have the most blissful experiences of their lives. It really depends on if the Spiritual Subdivision that one invokes brings up a part of the soul/psyche integrated into the HS/HGA, or if it brings up a part that is fractured into a lower self. The smaller the Spiritual Subdivision, the more likelihood of getting one or the other. The bigger the Spiritual Subdivision, the more likely you are to get a mix of both.
This is why when starting inner work, the only Spiritual Subdivision you want to invoke is the HS/HGA. All you’re doing when you do so is entering the inner world of your unconscious, and telling your soul/psyche “I only want to deal with the part of you that is integrated and healthy.” Once you are able to do so easily, clearly, and reliably, you have attained “Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel” by my definition. From there, It can guide you to use whatever Spiritual Subdivisions make sense to focus on specific parts of your soul/psyche, largely for the purposes of either further integration or waking up parts of your consciousness you didn’t know existed
I wish to be clear that this distinction of seeing most spiritual concepts as Spiritual Subdivisions of the soul/psyche instead of actual extant entities or parts of some astral “energy body” is for me a practical rather than judgmental one. While this practice is the one that has worked best for me, I still engage in other spiritual practices that treat the “astral realms” not as the unconscious/ subconscious mind, but as literal metaphysical places that we interact with through our internal worlds.
The energy centered practice of Omnimancy is an example of one where when I’m speaking of the “astral,” I’m referring to the “outer astral” of some transpersonal space. Whether this is actually true or not, pretending it isn’t only makes that particular practice more difficult to engage in. Likewise, me pretending it is makes doing my practice that much more difficult at times. So when I do magick, I qualify when I want to use a Spiritual Subdivision and when I wish to attract someone floating by on the outer astral.
Always remember that when dealing with work as subjective as magick, different processes will get different results and all are valid as long as the desired results are achieved. The objective “truth” doesn’t matter – only that what framework of belief you used led to you getting the subjective results that you desired. As Crowley’s Book of the Law says, “Success is thy proof!”
My argument, then, isn’t that transpersonal, metaphysical realms don’t exist. In fact, I’ve had many inner experiences that suggest that they do (despite remaining ultimately skeptical and uncertain on the matter). Instead, I merely wish to state that focus in my practice is on integrating the incarnate portion of the soul/psyche. To do so, it is important to distinguish that this is the part of you that you want to work with, so that you aren’t getting any external distractions of any kind.
Mythos of Operation – a term I use to describe the framework of reality in which a person is presently using to view the world. Unlike many religions and systems that unfairly and impossibly expect individuals to conform exactly to someone else’s belief structure and act as if it were universally true, I see belief as a fluid, useful tool that can help your life in a way that works best for you.
For example, I have already stated in other sections that most of the time, I take a secular, psychological view of the inner experiences my practice has produced. When I engage in other practices, however, it is useful to me to pretend (and who knows which is actually true) that things like deities, energy, the astral plane, and so on literally exist on other dimensions.
The primary mythos of operation I engage in when walking around in normal society is an agnostic one, where I view the things that occur in my head during spiritual work as primarily phenomenological experiences that are reflections of my own psyche, and that when I die, my consciousness will simply cease. When actually engaging in spiritual practices of any stripe, however, I believe that the mythos of reincarnation dictated to me in many of my inner visions and reinforced through other practices such as Omnimancy is true and that when I die, the part of me I call the incarnate soul/psyche will re-merge with the part of me that I call the disincarnate soul/psyche and continue adventures on the outer astral plane.
In general, my philosophy regarding belief is that “God is never either/or; God is always both and more.” This is just a catchy way to rephrase Crowley’s statement that when one expresses a belief, they only assert a limitation. In other words, each belief is like viewing all of reality (God) through the lens of a microscope. This is very useful for focusing in on what you need to focus on, but never reveals the whole picture.
Process of this (and many) spiritual practices aimed at my form of “Enlightenment”:
This process in action is very similar to Crowley’s VIAOV formula, and can be seen as one of many ways to interpret this formula. A description of Crowley’s take can be found in his Magick In Theory and Practice.
When I say “formula,” or “magickal formula,” I am referring to an idea originated by Crowley where every letter in the name of a god, phrase, or even jumble of letters represents a part of an interior process. In order for this to actually be true, one has to take the time to rationally associate certain letters with certain concepts and/or parts of the soul/psyche. If one has done so successfully, when they engage in exercises that bring them in touch with the soul/ psyche, that formula can be used as a way to program the soul/ psyche to play out the process that the formula represents on an unconscious level.
Note that in Crowley’s system of Gematria/ sacred math the VIAOV formula adds up to 93, which is the number of Thelema. In this interpretation this means that anyone engaging in this process (no matter whether they identify as secular or any religion, even Christian) is a Thelemite, even more so than those that call themselves Thelemites and don’t engage in this process.
Note too that meditation and intuitive bodywork are but two tools to engage in this process. There are as many out there as there are individuals, so try as many techniques as you can and see what works for you. My system is designed to articulate a process of self-healing and expression and provide a few tools, not provide the end all, be all answers to the universe. Success is thy proof!
It is worth noting that once an area is free of lower self/ imbalance, you may still end up going through this cycle in relation to that part of consciousness many times in terms of learning new physical skills. This will be discussed in greater depth in the commentary through the language of the reverse “VOAIV” formula.
Remember that the intuition of the HS/HGA can only move the body to do what the body knows how to do. It might need you to learn more things to express It better! Also, never pretend that you are “done” with this process. You could go years without facing a lower self in your daily practice, only to have events in your life trigger ones that are so buried you take them for granted. Your HS/HGA knows when you’re ready to face something and when you are not. Trust It and the process I will now describe as your only compass. For more in depth analysis of this concept, see my book Templar of the Ruby Star.
Phase 1 (V=The Hierophant=Taurus=Fixed Earth=Organizer of the Body) – This is a phase in the work where nothing seems to happen. You engage in your daily practice, and you know that you desire to change your life internally and externally on some level, but it feels like you’re just not making any progress. In terms of my practice or any other, you may go through this phase for a long time until you get the hang of meditation, intuitive bodywork, ritual magick, or whatever else you’re using to even access the inner world to do this work. As you become more advanced, you’ll find yourself often returning to this phase when the integration of your Higher Self becomes more “normal.”
Boring as this phase is, it’s necessary to prepare us for the roller coaster of the other phases. Remember, if you are truly following the intuitive guidance of your HS/HGA (which is all this practice is) It will not give you more than you can handle, and within this It will guide you to what you need at whatever phase you are in.
Note too that once you reach a phase where you have integrated many of your lower selves, this process still presents in terms of learning new skills. This phase in such a case would be the awareness that you need to learn a skill you don’t presently possess to do the things that you must do (Taurus, organizer of the Earth).
Phase 2 (I=Hermit=Virgo=Mutable Earth=Communication with the body) – This phase is generally marked by a positive inner experience that sets the bar for what you can achieve. Like the Hermit you have gone within to an area that corresponds to a part of your body, and your Higher Self has given you a glimpse of what the corresponding part of the soul/psyche could feel like if it was reintegrated. You may get insights during this time, or it may correspond to one of the initiatory styles of various spiritual practices.
For instance, you might get an internal acknowledgment for how far you’ve come. You may get something that is like a riddle or puzzle box you must unpack. Or something unique but positive only for you. This is like the carrot that will motivate you to run forward to the not so pleasant next step. In situations where this represents learning a new skill rather than integrating a lower self, it would represent an initial breakthrough in your learning process where a part of you “gets it,” but hasn’t figured out how to repeat it easily.
Phase 3 (A=Fool=Air/Spirit) – This phase is what is known as “The Dark Night of the Soul” or “Crossing the Abyss.” It represents where you have come into direct contact with the parts of yourself and your life that limit you from achieving the bliss presented in the previous step.
On the outside, this tends to manifest as frustrating life situations where you feel stuck facing that which triggers the repressed emotions of a specific imbalance/ lower self, or are forced to develop a skill you don’t have and just can’t seem to make progress on. On the inside, you will meet these frustrations and feelings head on, either in terms of the negative emotions coming to the surface, or direct encounters with personifications of the lower selves on a spiritual/ archetypal level.
There is no sugar coating this process. It sucks. You are being forced to confront situations within and without that make you face the most painful parts of yourself, and your Higher Self will not manufacture a chance for escape. Go inside, you have to face it. Go outside, you face some version of it. Meditate and pray to your Higher Self like crazy to help get through this, because the only way out is through. There is no turning back. But if you make it to the other end and integrate the imbalance/lower self or finally push through on the skill you’re trying to learn, you enter the next, blissful phase.
Phase 4 (O=Devil=Capricorn=Cardinal Earth=Instigator of the Body) – This is the phase where thanks to the painful integration done in the last step, you have reintegrated either all or part of the lower self/imbalance back into the whole of your Higher Self. The rush of the bliss from Phase 2 returns, but now it is more permanent (or, you’ve become competent in whatever frustrating new skill you were learning).
These periods will generally be ones of considerable energy, creativity, insight, and happiness where it feels like you’re shining more brightly than you’ve ever shined. This energy will indeed motivate you to “instigate the body/earth” to rearrange your outer life to reflect this new inner bliss. When the new outer/inner bliss settles in to the point where it feels normal rather than euphoric, then you are on the next step. If regarding learning a new skill rather than integrating a lower self, this is the phase where you “get it” in a way that demonstrates consistent, outer competency.
Phase 5 (V=Hierophant=Taurus=Fixed Earth=Organizer of Body) – This brings us back full circle to a phase where nothing seems to happen. The bliss of the last phase feels normal, and the outer world is being organized to correspond to your new inner happiness in a way that feels normal as well. You’ll now enter a phase where you need to just keep up on your practice until the next aspect of yourself you need to work on or skill you need to learn is revealed.
Note that once one goes through this cycle and the new baseline of happiness becomes normal, this does have positive effects on even physical health. With less emotional stress inside, your body has more energy to help fight and prevent illness, and heal itself when damaged. You’ll also have that much more awareness of the moment, which will make you less prone to accidents where you were internally distracted by the negative feelings trapped by the imbalance.
Thus this makes an excellent supplement to any western medical treatment on a level western science can’t measure. You will occasionally see really wild, positive results, but these will occur by accident as a side effect of this work. It is not the goal of this work. Again, do not quit or ignore a professional medical or mental health treatment as a consequence of this practice, even if it makes you feel better (especially for things such as taking prescribed medications). Verify all health-related results professionally, and certainly see a trained mental health professional to supplement especially your “dark night of the soul” phases.
Please again note that these positive effects on physical health are quite different than the miracle working claimed in many systems. While positive side effects to the physical occur, they occur as a side effect of the removal of spiritual/psychological stress within. Do not ever tell someone or yourself that they should stop consulting their doctor or stop taking medication because of this practice – unless you yourself are a qualified health professional in that field and have backed up these insights with western science as well. This includes anti-depressants and medications for mental illness.
Also note that this process is one we are all going through to some degree at all times, whether conscious of this process or not. For those that do not deliberately engage in therapy or a practice like this one (especially if they engage in frequent practices that try to distract from or avoid dealing with their inner world), their progress will be slow to almost glacial paces. However, you’ll start to realize once you take up this kind of work deliberately that this process cycles quickly (though often not as quickly as you’d like).
Though I divide my teaching workshops into levels, that is only because there is so much material to cover that it has to be done piecemeal. There is no level that can’t be done from the start. Nor does taking the courses in each level ensure that you’re actually able to do the work of that level. The only true measure of a person’s development is the degree to which they’ve integrated their lower selves/imbalances, and the degree to which they’re able to express their HS/HGA to the world.
Note that people with traumatic pasts (in this lifetime or even others if you believe in reincarnation) will begin this work with little or no Higher Self/Essence to speak up, because so much of this Self/Soul/Psyche consists of lower self imbalances/behavior patterns. Other tools (especially therapy, and also additional practices like ritual magick of the A.A and Golden Dawn systems) may be needed to supplement my intuitive bodywork practices until there is enough HS/HGA developed to follow intuitively.
Others with more fortunate lives will find that they are largely integrated already, and the major focus will be developing techniques that help them express themselves. Everyone is different.
Either way, I highly recommend supplementing my practice with therapy from a qualified mental health professional. When you’re in the “Crossing the Abyss/Dark Night of the Soul” phase, your life will be miserable to a point where you won’t be able to think objectively. Having someone that can is invaluable and necessary.
How quickly you advance is between you and your HS/HGA. I can make recommendations, but as far as you are concerned, your Higher Self is the absolute authority for making decisions. It is not the authority for other people. But for you, It is God.
This being said, there are definite ways that people are at different phases of integration. Note that these titles are not ones that anyone else other than you should care about. Going around saying you’re a “Templar of the Ruby Star” isn’t going to impress anyone. What will is the natural flavor of your Essence being expressed in the world as a result of doing this work. I list these phases of integration as a sort of self check to help gauge where you are.
Note that at no point does the work cease – it only changes shape from facing internal challenges to developing outer skills that better express the Logos of your personal Essence, and as stated, some lower selves are so ingrained that they are taken for granted until very late in one’s lifetime.
This is why the only official titles conferred upon students in my system are Stella Rubea Initiate (SRI) and Senior Stella Rubea Initiate (SSRI). These titles merely state that you have received these levels of instruction. They give no indication that this process has matured you or made you better than anyone else in any way.
I encourage those who are practitioners of other Thelemic systems such as the A.A or OTO to take a similar approach. There is the outer indication that you have received a ceremony of initiation from whatever order in question, but these only matter as far as one has used them to do the work of inner integration and expression of their HS/HGA.
Level 1, The Uninitiated – Most systems will have nasty words for this phase like “profane.” Gnostic Christians (in my interpretation) called them Virgins, my Higher Self calls them Whores or Beasts of the Land since they are at the mercy of impulse and social conditioning. This is the majority of people that have never had an inner experience that can be described as spiritual, and are essentially living at the whim of whatever hand physical destiny has brought them. There’s a lot of talent here. Think of everything society has ever done, because most people spend their whole lives in this phase and turn out fine. But they’d be even better integrated, find life even happier, and make their lives connect to the greater whole of humanity if they did the work described here.
Level 2, The Initiate – Crowley called those in this phase initiates. The Gnostic Christians called them Baptists. My Higher Self calls them Witches or Warlocks, because they are thrust into the well of their inner, unconscious minds to either drown or swim. This is the phase where a person has had one or more spiritual/inner experiences, but has not yet found a system to consistently classify, organize, or advance using them.
Unless one is deliberately engaging in practices like meditation, intuitive bodywork, ritual magick, etc., most people will only have spiritual experiences as a direct result of (and possibly symptoms of) trauma or mental illness. Random experiences as a result of drug use are also common entry points into this phase.
Despite Crowley arguing that initiates are superior to those in the previous phase, I find this to be seldom the case. This is like the ugly adolescence of spiritual development. Your outer world is starting to match the content of your inner world, but your inner world is a mess. Many people do not find or develop a system to help them further advance, and end up either controlling others over the pretense that they have divine authority, or using the language of metaphors for one or more spiritual systems as defense to justify their mental illnesses. This ranges from “I can see auras, and your aura is so bad I don’t even have to talk to you or face the reasons that you make me emotionally uncomfortable” to “My inner guides told me its within spiritual law to sleep with you against your will and/or manipulate you out of your money.”
Don’t be that person. Try as many systems as you can until you find the daily practice that works for you. Then stick with it until you reach the next step. In the meantime, remember that the goal of most spiritual practices is to heal the self so that you feel better enough about being alive to make life better for yourself and others, not existing in a state of superiority and self-avoidance.
Level 3, The Adept – Crowley calls this phase the adept. In Gnostic times, you were not considered a Christian until this step because you didn’t have regular access to your personal Christ/Higher Self. My Higher Self calls this the phase of the Great Beast or Sacred Whore because the beast of your body is now moved by your Higher Self instead of external forces or your lower selves/ imbalances. You have reached this phase when you can distinguish your Higher Self from your lower selves in inner work and have some means of communicating directly with your Higher Self and listening to Its guidance. Those that have achieved this phase have thus by my definition attained “Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel.”
Once you have reached this step, there is no inner authority except your Higher Self. It will never guide you to harm/kill others except under extreme circumstances such as war and self-defense (if it does it’s not your Higher Self but a lower self), but It will tell you to organize your life in the way that is best for you (which may make others uncomfortable if they liked the less actualized version of you better). This organization will include both expressing the Higher Self by developing or utilizing your physical talents and entering inner and outer situations that force you to reintegrate your lower self patterns/ complexes quickly. The goal of each of my levels of instruction is to get you to the point where you can reach this level of development quickly and efficiently, and minimize the first two painful levels of integration.
Level 4, The Master – Most practices will call someone in this phase Master, Buddha, Christ, King, Queen, Monarch or some other title that denotes one that has integrated the majority of their imbalances/ lower selves back into the whole of their Higher Self. They have become “Holy” in the sense that “Holy” means “whole.” There is no distinguishment between Higher or lower self now – just one Self (again, how I interpret the HGA disappearing when you “cross the Abyss”). At this point, your voice and Its voice are one. When you speak or do anything, it is largely going to come from a place of spontaneous intuitive expression from your Self instead of a preconceived plan, and like the Fool in the Tarot, you’ve got confidence that your Self is going to lead you to that best possible action moment by moment, and your feelings will be good indicators when things are or aren’t working. Most systems will end here, but mine has one more step to come.
Please note too that there is never really a phase where you have no lower selves. Even when one has reached the phase that this level of integration describes, it denotes that the majority of the inhibitive lower selves of an individual are balanced, and the HS/HGA state of consciousness is now what feels “normal.” While it may be years before another one emerges, never discount that possibility. Remember that some traumas can be seeded as early as birth, and consequently will just seem like part of who you are until properly uncovered. Likewise, you may have spent much of your time doing inner work and little pushing it outward, which is why my HS/HGA suggested the next level of integration.
Level Five, The Templar of the Ruby Star/Grail Bearer – This term was given to me by my Higher Self. The Templars were historically said to be spiritual in a way that combined spirit and body. The Ruby Star is (among many other things) the Third Eye or seat of the Spiritual Self (Higher Self/ Essence). Another term for this phase could be the Grail Bearer, for it is the sole duty of one in this phase to bear the grail of their Essence to others in the form of their personal Logos. This means that they have to have one or more physical talents developed as a medium to express all the inner work they’ve done.
Note that one can reach the previous phase by sitting in isolation and not doing much more than integrating imbalances/lower selves (as is the case of many monastic traditions). If this is all they did to get here, this phase will prove just as difficult as the previous ones, as they’ll now be required to develop actual life skills that make it seem like doing this kind of work has value to others. Granted, this work will still be along the lines of what gives them joy because it will be recommended by the Higher Self. In short, it is the act of doing the True Will all the time, seeing inner bliss that expresses itself in all aspects of life as normal, and more negative emotions as now reliable indications that something is wrong and needs to be examined via whatever interior processes got you there to begin with.
Notice that even once one reaches these final phases, your work is never “done.” There are always new skills to learn, and new traumatic life events that either cause new lower selves or unearth ones so buried that they needed intense external stimuli to emerge. The biggest difference in the later phases is that the happy, intuitive bliss of doing intuitive bodywork will be your normal state of mind, and negative feelings will be a roadmap to go within and process what is wrong.
It is also worth noting that sometimes when one reaches this phase internally, their HS/HGA may give them a magickal name or title reflective of their Logos, and how that Logos is used to create Love in the Agape sense. As discussed previously, the Logos defines the unique Essence of the HS/HGA. Since my Logos is Surrender, the magickal name given to me by my HS/HGA in my inner work is “Cedamus Amori” which is a very rough translation of “Surrender to Love.” This indicates that I learn, teach, and express Love via the method of Surrender. This tracks, as my practice for 20 years has primarily consisted of meditating to enter a deeper inner state, saying “I surrender completely to my Higher Self, as we are one, Thy Will be done,” and then letting It guide me to intuitive bodywork.
Please note that this is very different than the use of magickal names in orders such as the Golden Dawn or Crowley’s A.A. Whereas these organizations have their initiates rationally construct magickal names to articulate their aspirations, the kind of magickal name I’m describing (sometimes called by me the “Templar name”) is one of a certain degree of inner attainment granted by the only authority one truly has – their Higher Self. You may never get one or need one – that is up to your HS/HGA. Either way, remember that these phases of inner integration are meant only to be self checks on your level of development. They should not matter in any way to others except for the behaviors you engage in that creates the Love I discuss.
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