The Second Time Around

[ecosophia]

A few days ago I finished working my way through one of the correspondence courses I've studied -- the original Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD) course, to be precise. No, it wasn't the first time. I've gone through the complete three-year OBOD course of study four times now, and I have every intention of doing the same thing several more times before I wind up this incarnation. Not everyone does this with occult correspondence courses -- in fact, I don't think I've met anybody else who does this -- so it occurred to me that it might be helptul for me to say a few words about why this is a good idea, and why in fact you're missing most of the value of any kind of study program if you only go through it once. 

Most people I know who read at all have favorite books, which they like to read over and over again. I certainly do.  Partly that's because you never get everything that's going on in a book if you only read it once, and the richer and more skilfully written a book is, the more you can be sure of missing the first time through. Yet there's more to it than that. 

When you read a book you're literally climbing inside someone else's thought processes. (That's one of the extraordinary powers of written language.) A book is a sequence of thoughts arranged in order by the author, and as you read it, you think those same thoughts in the same order. In the process, if the book is any good, you get to experience a way of looking at the world that isn't the one you're used to. A good novel, or for that matter a good nonfiction book, shows you what things look like from the perspective of someone else's mind, and that in turn stretches your own mind and shows you different ways of making sense of the world. By reading it again, you get better at experiencing the world in new ways -- and the more often you read it, the more you learn. 

An occult study course -- again, if it's any good -- does exactly the same thing, but with the additional boost of practical exercises. To study such a course is to go through a set of structured ideas and inner experiences meant to help you stretch the range of your consciousness. You will get more out of it the second time than you did the first. You'll be coming to the exercises with some experience, and so that'll make them more effective, but you'll also be coming to the ideas in the course with a mind that's already been stretched a bit to include them, and so you can go deeper and reach further. 

So if you've taken an occult correspondence course already and it's been sitting in a box ever since, consider taking it out and working through the whole thing again from the beginning. You won't regret it. The same is true, by the way, of study programs published in book form -- yes, including mine. Give it some thought. 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I’m having fun on my first time around with (mostly) your material.
Good to know there is much more of the same ahead.
Rhydlyd

[youngelephant]

Many years from now I could see myself doing LRM again. There's something fun about walking back and forth and touching the walls for no reason besides will training.

Something something spiral model of self actualization/realization beats linear in my experience.

Don't drop it from the windows sill

[(Anonymous)]

Is that as thick as it looks or is like that because is that type of carbon copy one-side, thick paper?

Re: Don't drop it from the windows sill

[ecosophia]

I don't know -- I found it online and it made a good image. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

As somebody who has reread your main druidry books three times since starting to work the curriculum last month, this post really hits home. I knew the difference between reading and doing, what I didn't expect was how many layers of deeper meaning and connection there seems to be. In either case; good luck on your OBOD course, and thank you for your DMH course.

[(Anonymous)]

About halfway through my second pass of The Great Crash. Listening to smart people has an inoculation effect, and as a result I found myself completely turned off by some of the podcasts I have been following. When you read someone with great insight and a wicked sense of humor it is always worth covering again, and saves saved me a lot of time and emotional energy that would normally be diverted by unoriginal empty headed prattle

[ecosophia]

Excellent! Galbraith would be delighted.

[(Anonymous)]

Is there a benefit because you did something else in between?
Would there be any benefit from starting the practices over if one has stayed with the same practices and reread the book several times without starting the practices over?

Also, whoever thought of reading something worth reading only once? Once is for mere entertainment that wasn't very good! Or the back of cereal boxes, but I don't buy cereal anymore. Do people actually read worthwhile books merely one time? I'm boggled by the idea.

BoysMom

[temporaryreality]

Well, a sample size of one here, but because I'm kind of slow at picking up more from the DMH beyond the 3 basics, I revisit those three basics now and again and always find something I've dropped or didn't get the first read-through, or some reminder of what it is I'm actually supposed to be DOING (vs. what I think my practices are).

So, not exactly what you're asking, but I've found it valuable to just keep going back.

[ecosophia]

I'm not sure if there's any benefit or not to doing something else in between, though that's usually what I do. My natal Sun's in Gemini, which makes it hard for me to stick to a single option. ;-)

If you've stayed with the same practices, it's not necessary to start them over again, though you can always compare what you're doing to the instructions and see if things have drifted.

Literature as Initiation

[cs2]

JMG, I've completed Newyddian in the Dolmen Arch course, and am now six months into Damcaniwr. I was thinking of doing one level per year. Do you think that is too slow?

I've also bought two additional translations of the Mabinogi to read alongside Lady Guest: Sioned Davies and Patrick Ford. Reading three versions and taking detailed notes soothes my bookworm mind. I'm thinking I might be able to work through the DA course multiple times using different myths, like if I do the Tale of Taliesin next time.

Can a person reach Gwynfydd by using such a narrow curriculum? I do not feel drawn to try multiple courses or systems. I could easily do the DMH & DA the rest of my life, just really thoroughly. I've read other occult texts, but have not worked through them, and didn't feel the need to. If myths are a stencil for relating to the gods, are these courses too a stencil for inner transformation, and thus doing even just one super diligently can still get you to the same place?

Re: Literature as Initiation

[ecosophia]

If that approach works for you, by all means stick with it. The Dolmen Arch system isn't narrow -- as training programs go, it's pretty broad-based, with a variety of exercises and philosophical perspectives -- and it can take you all the way if you follow it steadily.

Re: Literature as Initiation

[cs2]

That is wonderful to hear. I am keeping very detailed notebooks on all of this, so if my version of this path culminates into something I can communicate to others, then I'll write that book.

So far it really feels like I'm doing something concrete and tangible. DMH+DA, with tons of journaling through all of the emotional and psychological tension I've been carrying around. I get periodic karmic challenges that my Ogham confirms. Something I've been putting off will come up in the queue and show itself center-stage in my life. I'll work through it, and just when it has dissolved enough that I think it's gone, another thing will move forward in line.

It's too vague to wrangle properly right now, but I am walking a path where language learning and fiction writing is a spiritual endeavor and an offering to the gods. And since I write on high-quality journals made by local bookbinders, every day I am reminded that I want to learn this craft and help local craftsmen survive.

I'm on a path, because I am content and the angst of finding a path has dissolved. I just wish I had a closer relationship to the Welsh gods. Instead I'm almost completely working with my guardian angel because I haven't experienced the gods directly except for a couple of possibly fluke moments.

Re: Literature as Initiation

[(Anonymous)]

A meditation in contrast; The conventional wisdom in several occult circles is that outside teachings can only drive your development part of the way, roughly into gwynfydd. Once you've reached that point, there is still much useful lore to be worked with, but the actual course of study is essentially self directed. This might be naive optimism on my part, but I think DMH alone would be enough to get you into Gwynfydd.

Things coming on and off the queue, and getting shuffled; this is real growth. Linear progress is something that exists only in the minds of bureaucrats and accountants, not in nature. I'm in the middle of the same scenario myself, right now.

The path you describe as vague, in my mind, is so essential that it doesn't have a proper name. Writing and speaking were once considered magical acts. Writing takes a mental form, elucidates it, then impresses it into physical form. Reading takes a physical form and can connect it to the mental realm. Allegedly, being literate in ancient egypt also qualified one as the bottom form of priest, even in the absence of any other initiations. More exotically, start looking into Confucian and Taoist mysticism, I doubt you will find anyone more literarily oriented in the entire world. The Confucian concept of salvation is even called "The rectification of names".

As for bookbinders, I'm not there yet, but I would love to take up that art; and it only recently stopped being a holy art. Look at the incredible effort put into making bibles in the middle ages for an obvious example, but it was never so constrained. Similar efforts were regularly put into private prayer books or, even more amusingly for modern observers, meditation manuals. School texts, in sharp contrast to the modern day, also received this treatment. They tended to become lasting household treasures. This didn't die out quickly with the rise of materialism either, look at the patriotic fervor that surrounded publishing around the American revolution, or even later mass-market paperbacks. The quality might be lower, and the over spirituality lost; but the underlying motive of incarnating an idea and giving it the strongest possible body to do its work in, is still there.

Regarding the welsh gods, have you tried talking to them? I had zero connection to them when I took up DMH and was a bit overwhelmed with how readily they started responded when I tried praying to them. I admire your work with the guardian angel though, a bit jealous even! Sadly, I can't seem to work with mine. I'd love JMG's opinion on the subject, but I'm pretty much convinced I don't have one.

Re: Literature as Initiation

[cs2]

Thank you for your reply, and my apologies for not seeing this. I have dreamwidth set to email me any direct responses, but that apparently doesn't apply to anonymous accounts.

It's good to know you think DMH alone could reach Gwynfydd. I've been trying to notice how I am operating on instinct. So for example, the SOP is a powerful and potent tool, but I have felt zero inspiration to consecrate wands or do some of the other magical practices later in the book. My path is apparently filling up alllll these journals, haha.

Things are definitely coming off the queue, yes. And shuffling, if I only somewhat address an issue, it'll come up again. I don't know whether this counts as karmic culmination or just regular karmic processing, but I tend to see the next thing coming as I wrap up my current challenge. I spent so much of my life in early adulthood just trying to pay my rent that I couldn't process much of anything, so I'm doing it now.

Your explanation of reading and writing taking mental and physical forms blew my mind and I'm going to have to think on this for quite a while, thank you. I'd already been trying to think of it in terms of CosDoc-style cascading down the planes, so your additional note is going to help with that.

The creation of a book as incarnating an idea and giving it to subsequent generations, aaaah I'm getting my mind blown again, thank you!

I have a pet theory about people who feel they may not have a guardian angel. Huge brick of salt, but here we go.

Occult theory posits two kinds of guardian angels: an emanation of the Solar Logos and people who have karmic ties. My pet theory is there's both.

Your emanation of the Solar Logos will protect your soul no matter what happens to your body. Check both ways before crossing the street. They won't stop you from going splat. They'll just protect your soul while you splat.

The second category is broad and covers all cultural equivalents of guardians: Japanese ancestors, Western grandmas that promise to watch over their grandchildren, post-human people with karmic ties, all of the above. These are the people who might intercede and help your Higher Self warn you that you're about to step into traffic. This is also the category that might be working double shifts while the human population is so high. So if you're connecting with the Welsh gods, your guardian angel might just be good with that and not focusing on connecting directly with you. Could be totally wrong, who knows.

Before this essay gets too long, feel free to message me directly on dreamwidth if you want to know more about how I work with my guardian angel. And in exchange, I'd love to hear how you hear from the Welsh gods, if you're willing to share. Or if you just want to reply anonymously here, that's fine with me too. Again thank you for your comment.

[(Anonymous)]

Ten years ago I read your book Paths of Wisdom. It was the first ever occult book I read and it stretched my mind in unfathomable ways - prior to that Ihad no idea it was
possible to see the world in any other way than the modern materialistic world view and that despite a relaxed Christian upbringing. Since then, I’ve read more from you, other occult authors and other traditions. Now I’ve gone full circle and am in the process of rereading and PoW and following the exercises diligently. The book is familiar and yet I’m getting so much more out of it this time, the big difference is that I’m now reading it slowly and taking my time to read any reread passages again and again. I’m not even sure what is driving me to do this, but it just feels right.

Thank you for writing this great book!

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome, and thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

Morning John,
That’s very helpful advice. As I’ve mentioned before I’m working my way through the current OBOD course and nearing the end of the Ovate grade. What I have done, is go back and redo each grade once I reached the end of them, and there is no doubt I notice things I didn’t on the first pass. This is particularly the case with the exercises. I can see going back over the whole 3 courses again would have even greater benefits. I have also found reading your Cosmic Doctrine posts alongside the course has resulted in unexpected synchronicity from time to time resulting enhanced understanding and development of the consciousness. To my delight.
Regards
Averagejoe

[ecosophia]

Nice! The OBOD course has enough meat in it to keep a practitioner busy for years. That's fascinating about the Cos.Doc. posts -- on my next pass through the OBOD gwersu I'll look for parallels.

Will power

[(Anonymous)]

John
I’ll give you an example of one of these synchronicities. During the Ovate course during one exercise where I casted off any regrets of the past I received a gift of a globe with a disk inside it like a gyro scope. I eventually deduced the globe represented the material human form, the disk the soul which is protected within and rotates with each turn of the cycle of the year. Months later I read your cosmic doctrine post about restraint/limits and will power and I realized the globe represented the same thing! Astonishing.
Regards Averagejoe

[boccaderlupo]

That "climbing inside another person's thought processes" may be one reason why people react so badly to things that challenge their fundamental worldview. Although it's still weird that, these days, such an allergy seems so widespread...

Axé,
Fra' Lupo

[ecosophia]

My take, for what it's worth, is that most people have never experienced themselves -- only the simulacrum of themselves that's marketed to them by the corporate media and mass culture generally. That simulacrum is the only identity they know, and it's tied up intimately with a set of approved opinions. Face them with contradictory opinions and they're left staring into the void -- at risk of losing the only self they've ever known.

[(Anonymous)]

This calls to mind Blaise Pascal:
"We are so unwise that we wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think of the only one that does. The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me."

Order of Operations

[(Anonymous)]

I am just now about to finish up your LRM course, and have bought CP because you suggested that that was "next" (along with reading Paths of Wisdom). Should I perhaps do LRM over again before I go onward, or is either way a fine idea?

Re: Order of Operations

[ecosophia]

I'd encourage you to go on to Circles, work with the material in it for a year or two, and then go back and do the LRM course again. You'll get much more out of it that way.

[guillem66]

Maybe there is more than that?

I have come to think that spiritual practice makes spirit alive in the world, so by doing a practice with the deepness and continuity you are sugesting, one could say you are enchanting yourself strongly with that given spiritual identity.

[ecosophia]

There's a lot more to it, and yes, that's part of it. I just focused on one aspect!

[sidneyspath]

Repeating, revisiting. This makes me feel good. I know it's true; life experience magnifies learning, and unlocks instruction. ~ Sidney

[(Anonymous)]

I am going through the Paths of Wisdom curriculum, and it has been quite a challenge, mostly due to my ADHD which makes it very difficult to be consistent. Also in the last few sessions I've gained some insights which put the first sessions (which I did many months ago) in an entirely new perspective. Because of this I've decided to go through the whole tree in meditation and pathwork once (what I've been doing so far), and when I'm done I'll go again, but I'll prepare some kind of document where I have each session programmed, with space to log the work done. This will include the further stages in which I meditate on multi-sphere themes, like "kether from chesed" and all that.

It's very weird to see how even with this very disorganized and not very consistent practice my perspective has been transformed as much as it has from where I was almost three years ago. I can't imagine what doing it properly would result in.

Some Poor Correspondence

[goatgodschild]

This does sound incredibly interesting, although the courses I have attempted previously have gone terribly wrong. Probably because they were online Neopagan groups, which had the couples running them break up in chat...always an ugly thing.

OBOD Course - Original vs Current

[bhakti]

Are you aware of any major differences between the original OBOD course and the current course?

I'm in the process of going through the current OBOD course and am wondering if there are any areas I should be aware of. (per your note to another user - John, I'm planning on adding the SoP to the standard ritual.)

Re: OBOD Course - Original vs Current

[ecosophia]

There were apparently a lot of changes, but I don't know what they were, since I took the old course and never did anything with the new one.

[snaegl]

Re-working courses is very, very helpful. I've done this with Jason Miller's Hekate I and II twice now (amazing material, but very niche and thus simple [not easy!] to go through multiples times). I have not yet done it with any Druidic material as I'm still working my way through the OBOD Druid grade lessons...and then will hopefully begin working through either AODA or Dolmen Arch or CGD. I'm looking forward to reviewing OBOD as I explore these other Druid Revival systems.

[(Anonymous)]

thank you very much for this john very interesting i have followed a very similar journey myself and can relate to the sentiments which you have from what you have said here this sounds a very good way to study