Teacher Lesson 4
Sep. 22nd, 2022 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ecosophia
Here's the fourth lesson for the 5° grade of Teacher, including the solo version of the Spring Equinox ceremony. Enjoy! * * * * *
The next four lessons of the Teacher Grade will include, among other things, instructions for solo practice of the four seasonal ceremonies of the Fellowship, the two equinox and two solstice ceremonies.
Spring Equinox Ceremony
This ritual should be performed within 48 hours at most of the moment of the equinox, which you can find online or in any almanac. It is around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere. The ceremony is performed as follows.
Set up the altar with all four candles on it, place a chair in the west facing the altar, and open the temple in the grade of Seeker with the opening ceremony.
Speak aloud the following words.
“The Spring Equinox has arrived, and the Sun and Earth renew the bonds that unite them. In this time of balanced powers, I invoke the blessings of the powers of nature upon myself, the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose, and the Earth.
“In the world of nature, the winter has ended and the Sun has completed half his long journey toward the north. The streams are full of water from the melting snow and the spring rains; sap rises in the trees and flowers begin to bloom. Birds return from their winter dwellings far to the south as life wakes from its time of sleep.
“The ancients knew this season as the seedtime of the year, not only for the farmer and the herder but also for those who stand at the gates between the Seen and the Unseen. They recognized at this time the power of the thought held in the mind’s clarity and the word spoken upon the wind’s breath; they called down wisdom from the Sun and called up power from the Earth to illuminate their minds.
“Therefore the work of this season begins from the quarter of air.”
Face east. Visualize the presence of the elements of air and water in their quarters, and feel the polarity between them. Say: “East; West. Air; Water. The realm of the Mind; the realm of the Heart. May they enter into the great harmony.”
Visualize the presence of the elements of fire and earth in their quarters, and feel the polarity between them. Say: “South; North. fire; earth. The realm of the Spirit; the realm of the Body. May they enter into the great harmony.”
Visualize the presence of all four elements in their quarters, and feel the complex fourfold relationship among them. Say: “The realm of the Winds; the realm of the Flames; the realm of the Waves; the realm of the Stones. May they enter into the great harmony.”
Say: “By the hawk of May in the heights of morning, I invoke the air and the powers of the air! May their blessings be with all beings during the season to come.” While saying this, imagine a blazing star at the zenith, almost infinitely far above the temple.
Face south, and say: “By the white stag of the summer greenwood, I invoke the fire and the powers of the fire! May their blessings be with all beings during the season to come.” While saying this, imagine a ray of light descending from the star at infinite height to the golden sphere of the Sun, blazing at zenith above the temple, high above but much closer than the star.
Face west, and say: “By the salmon of wisdom who dwells in the sacred pool, I invoke the water and the powers of the water! May their blessings be with all beings during the season to come.” While saying this, imagine the ray of light descending further from the blazing Sun to the sphere of the full Moon standing at zenith above the temple, high above but much closer than the Sun.
Face north, and say: “By the great bear who guards the starry heavens, I invoke the earth and the powers of the earth! May their blessings be with all beings during the season to come.” While saying this, imagine the ray of light descending from the shining Moon all the way to the temple itself. The entire temple is seen to be filled with rainbow-colored light, which radiates outward in all directions.
Face the altar. Say: “In this season of spring may the Sun send forth his rays of blessing; may the Earth receive that blessing and bring forth her abundance.”
Be seated and enter into meditation, taking the season of spring as your theme. When you have meditated for a time, cast a divination using any divinatory method you prefer, and take it as a guide for your work during the season ahead. Perform the closing ceremony to finish.
* * * *
At this stage the eleventh chapter of The Kybalion may be studied with advantage.
CHAPTER XI: Rhythm
Symbolism:
Grade: 7°, Adept
Emerald Table: “This is the strong fortitude of all fortitude, overcoming every subtle and penetrating every solid thing.”
Cabala: Tiphareth to Geburah, the Path of Balance
Tarot: Arcanum XI, Justice
Geomancy: Laetitia—Jupiter in Pisces
Text:
“Everything flows out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right, is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.”– The Kybalion.
The great Fifth Hermetic Principle–the Principle of Rhythm–embodies the truth that in everything there is manifested a measured motion; a to-and-from movement; a flow and inflow; a swing forward and backward; a pendulum-like movement a tide-like ebb and flow; a high-tide and a low-tide; between the two-poles manifest on the physical, mental or spiritual planes. The Principle of Rhythm is closely connected with the Principle of Polarity described in the preceding chapter. Rhythm manifests between the two poles established by the Principle of Polarity. This does not mean, however, that the pendulum of Rhythm swings to the extreme poles, for this rarely happens; in fact, it is difficult to establish the extreme polar opposites in the majority of cases. But the swing is ever “toward” first one pole and then the other.
There is always an action and reaction; an advance and a retreat; a rising and a sinking; manifested in all of the airs and phenomena of the Universe. Suns, worlds, men, animals, plants, minerals, forces, energy, mind and matter, yes, even Spirit, manifests this Principle. The Principle manifests in the creation and destruction of worlds; in the rise and fall of nations; in the life history of all things; and finally in the mental states of Man.
Beginning with the manifestations of Spirit–of THE ALL–it will be noticed that there is ever the Outpouring and the Indrawing; the “Outbreathing and Inbreathing of Brahm,” as the Brahmans word it. Universes are created; reach their extreme low point of materiality; and then begin their upward swing. Suns spring into being, and then their height of power being reached, the process of retrogression begins, and after æons they become dead masses of matter, awaiting another impulse which starts again their inner energies into activity and a new solar life cycle is begun. And thus it is with all the worlds; they are born, grow and die; only to be reborn. And thus it is with all the things of shape and form; they swing from action to reaction; from birth to death; from activity to inactivity–and then back again. Thus it is with all living things; they are born, grow, and die–and then are reborn. So it is with all great movements, philosophies, creeds, fashions, governments, nations, and all else–birth, growth, maturity, decadence, death–and then newbirth. The swing of the pendulum is ever in evidence.
Night follows day; and day night. The pendulum swings from Summer to Winter, and then back again. The corpuscles, atoms, molecules, and all masses of matter, swing around the circle of their nature. There is no such thing as absolute rest, or cessation from movement, and all movement partakes of Rhythm. The principle is of universal application. It may be applied to any question, or phenomena of any of the many planes of life. It may be applied to all phases of human activity. There is always the Rhythmic swing from one pole to the other. The Universal Pendulum is ever in motion. The Tides of Life flow in and out, according to Law.
The Principle of Rhythm is well understood by modern science, and is considered a universal law as applied to material things. But the Hermetists carry the principle much further, and know that its manifestations and influence extend to the mental activities of Man, and that it accounts for the bewildering succession of moods, feelings and other annoying and perplexing changes that we notice in ourselves. But the Hermetists by studying the operations of this Principle have learned to escape some of its activities by Transmutation.
The Hermetic Masters long since discovered that while the Principle of Rhythm was invariable, and ever in evidence in mental phenomena, still there were two planes of its manifestation so far as mental phenomena are concerned. They discovered that there were two general planes of Consciousness, the Lower and the Higher, the understanding of which fact enabled them to rise to the higher plane and thus escape the swing of the Rhythmic pendulum which manifested on the lower plane. In other words, the swing of the pendulum occurred on the Unconscious Plane, and the Consciousness was not affected. This they call the Law of Neutralization. Its operations consist in the raising of the Ego above the vibrations of the Unconscious Plane of mental activity, so that the negative-swing of the pendulum is not manifested in consciousness, and therefore they are not affected. It is akin to rising above a thing and letting it pass beneath you.
The Hermetic Master, or advanced student, polarizes himself at the desired pole, and by a process akin to “refusing” to participate in the backward swing, or, if you prefer, a “denial” of its influence over him, he stands firm in his polarized position, and allows the mental pendulum to swing back along the unconscious plane. All individuals who have attained any degree of self-mastery, accomplish this, more or less unknowingly, and by refusing to allow their moods and negative mental states to affect them, they apply the Law of Neutralization. The Master, however, carries this to a much higher degree of proficiency, and by the use of his Will he attains a degree of Poise and Mental Firmness almost impossible of belief on the part of those who allow themselves to be swung backward and forward by the mental pendulum of moods and feelings.
The importance of this will be appreciated by any thinking person who realizes what creatures of moods, feelings and emotion the majority of people are, and how little mastery of themselves they manifest. If you will stop and consider a moment, you will realize how much these swings of Rhythm have affected you in your life–how a period of Enthusiasm has been invariably followed by an opposite feeling and mood of Depression. Likewise, your moods and periods of Courage have been succeeded by equal moods of Fear. And so it has ever been with the majority of persons–tides of feeling have ever risen and fallen with them, but they have never suspected the cause or reason of the mental phenomena. An understanding of the workings of this Principle will give one the key to the Mastery of these rhythmic swings of feeling, and will enable him to know himself better and to avoid being carried away by these inflows and outflows. The Will is superior to the conscious manifestation of this Principle, although the Principle itself can never be destroyed. We may escape its effects, but the Principle operates, nevertheless. The pendulum ever swings, although we may escape being carried along with it.
There are other features of the operation of this Principle of Rhythm of which we wish to speak at this point. There comes into its operations that which is known as the Law of Compensation. One of the definitions or meanings of the word “Compensate” is, “to counterbalance,” which is the sense in which the Hermetists use the term. It is this Law of Compensation to which the Kybalion refers when it says: “The measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.”
The Law of Compensation is that the swing in one direction determines the swing in the opposite direction, or to the opposite pole–the one balances, or counterbalances, the other. On the Physical Plane we see many examples of this Law. The pendulum of the clock swings a certain distance to the right, and then an equal distance to the left. The seasons balance each other in the same way. The tides follow the same Law. And the same Law is manifested in all the phenomena of Rhythm. The pendulum, with a short swing in one direction, has but a short swing in the other; while the long swing to the right invariably means the long swing to the left. An object hurled upward to a certain height has an equal distance to traverse on its return. The force with which a projectile is sent upward a mile is reproduced when the projectile returns to the earth on its return journey. This Law is constant on the Physical Plane, as reference to the standard authorities will show you.
But the Hermetists carry it still further. They teach that a man's mental states are subject to the same Law. The man who enjoys keenly, is subject to keen suffering; while he who feels but little pain is capable of feeling but little joy. The pig suffers but little mentally, and enjoys but little–he is compensated. And on the other hand, there are other animals who enjoy keenly, but whose nervous organism and temperament cause them to suffer exquisite degrees of pain. And so it is with Man. There are temperaments which permit of but low degrees of enjoyment, and equally low degrees of suffering; while there are others which permit the most intense enjoyment, but also the most intense suffering. The rule is that the capacity for pain and pleasure, in each individual, are balanced. The Law of Compensation is in full operation here.
But the Hermetists go still further in this matter. They teach that before one is able to enjoy a certain degree of pleasure, he must have swung as far, proportionately, toward the other pole of feeling. They hold, however, that the Negative is precedent to the Positive in this matter, that is to say that in experiencing a certain degree of pleasure it does not follow that he will have to “pay up for it” with a corresponding degree of pain; on the contrary, the pleasure is the Rhythmic swing, according to the Law of Compensation, for a degree of pain previously experienced either in the present life, or in a previous incarnation. This throws a new light on the Problem of Pain.
The Hermetists regard the chain of lives as continuous, and as forming a part of one life of the individual, so that in consequence the rhythmic swing is understood in this way, while it would be without meaning unless the truth of reincarnation is admitted. But the Hermetists claim that the Master or advanced student is able, to a great degree, to escape the swing toward Pain, by the process of Neutralization before mentioned. By rising on to the higher plane of the Ego, much of the experience that comes to those dwelling on the lower plane is avoided and escaped.
The Law of Compensation plays an important part in the lives of men and women. It will he noticed that one generally “pays the price” of anything he possesses or lacks. If he has one thing, he lacks another–the balance is struck. No one can “keep his penny and have the bit of cake” at the same time. Everything has its pleasant and unpleasant sides. The things that one gains are always paid for by the things that one loses. The rich possess much that the poor lack, while the poor often possess things that are beyond the reach of the rich. The millionaire may have the inclination toward feasting, and the wealth wherewith to secure all the dainties and luxuries of the table, while he lacks the appetite to enjoy the same; he envies the appetite and digestion of the laborer, who lacks the wealth and inclinations of the millionaire, and who gets more pleasure from his plain food than the millionaire could obtain even if his appetite were not jaded, nor his digestion ruined, for the wants, habits and inclinations differ. And so it is through life. The Law of Compensation is ever in operation, striving to balance and counter-balance, and always succeeding in time, even though several lives may be required for the return swing of the Pendulum of Rhythm.
* * * *
The following text from the Gnostic Lessons is presented for your reflection, meditation, and study.
GNOSTIC LESSON FOUR
The Order of Reader
The training of the Reader is dedicated to the analysis of your mental life, and to the sense of sight. As we become more mentally aware of who we really are, we gain insight into what makes us tick, what drives us to do what we do. This insight leads us to search deeper within ourselves. There we discover peace, love and light—the peace which passeth understanding, the love of the Divine and all that is, and the light, which is the Light of the World and the light which is us.
We use our sense of sight to read the word of man and the Word of the Divine. We use it to see the world of man and the World of the Divine. As we refine our sight, we begin to see what is really there. We see the Love of the Divine in everything, the rocks and mountains, the plants and flowers, the birds and animals, mankind and life. We see the light behind the thing. We begin to see this world as the spiritual world it is.
It's important to begin the process of opening and developing your third eye while serving as a Doorkeeper and learning to become a Reader. The third eye is part of your subtle body. It is located roughly where, in your physical body, the base of your nose meets your forehead. The opening of the third eye is a gradual process, beginning with a dim sense of “something present” and developing from there.
Your spiritual growth depends in part upon your being able to perceive and work in the Astral World. Until your third eye opens you're basically blind in the Astral. Don't let that bother you. As you practice the techniques you have already learned, your third eye will open more quickly than you might expect. The work with the elements you have done in previous grades is meant to help you begin to open the third eye, and so are many of the other practices you have studied.
You have already learned that you are more than your material body, and that you are more than your emotions. Now you must learn that you are more than your ideas and thoughts. Many people identify themselves with their ideas and thoughts, and so the fear that they might be wrong about something cripples their ability to deal with life. We’re all wrong about many things, all the time. As children of the Divine we still have much to learn about the universe and about ourselves, and that means that right now we’re still wrong about a lot of things. Get used to it. We have all eternity to learn and grow into the truth that will set us free.
In ancient times just as in the present, the Reader of a church or temple has always had an important place. It was his work to read the sacred narratives aloud, so that others present were instructed and inspired. In the same way, you must learn to communicate the wisdom teachings of the world to yourself and to others through study, reading, and most important, through the way you live your life. Teaching by example is always the most effective way of education.
The Office of Reader is associated with the faculty of sight. As a Reader it is your task to see clearly what is written, whether in books, or in the faces or hearts of other people, or in the Unseen. The lessons on developing the intuition you studied in the Sojourner grade were originally developed as a way of preparing candidates for the Order of Reader, though they came to be taught more generally in the later history of the Universal Gnostic Church. You may find it useful to review those lessons now, and put more time and effort into developing your own intuitive talents.
While serving as Readers, you are expected to thoroughly examine your thinking and address any weaknesses you find. None of us can know everything there is to be known, nor can we be sure of thinking clearly and coming to accurate conclusions in every case, but we can work toward those goals. Reading books that make you think is one very good way to help yourself grow mentally. Journaling is another way: by letting ourselves write down our thoughts freely, without suppressing or editing anything, we learn more about how we think and can identify ways in which we can improve our thinking.
Most of the time, if we have trouble thinking clearly about something, the trouble is rooted in our feelings. Most of the time, in turn, problems with our feelings are rooted in our habitual thoughts and beliefs! If we believe we are inadequate, for example, that belief becomes the anchor for feelings of depression and misery, and these in turn help feed the belief that we are inadequate.
The work of the Octagon Society, which was recommended to you earlier in these lessons, is one way to break this vicious circle. If you have not already taken up that work, you might consider it now. If you have already done the work, this might be a good time to review it and to see if you can release more of the burdens of your past.
We all function as Readers in our lives. We constantly read our surroundings, the people we encounter, and our own thoughts and feelings and experiences. Sometimes it is appropriate for us to read aloud from those sources of wisdom, for the benefit of others. At other times it is appropriate for us to remain silent. It is said we speak with others with our mouth, but we speak to animals by our actions and with plants with our emotions. It is further said we speak with the Divine through our thoughts and we listen with our inner ear. Our inner ear is our intuition.
Your Work as a Doorkeeper
While you prepare yourself to become a Reader, you remain a Doorkeeper as well as a Cleric. Continue to make prayer a part of your daily life, and to perform the sacraments of blessing and naming whenever you have the opportunity to do so.
You may also find it useful to look for opportunities to open doors for other people and to discover what doors other people are opening for you. Make it a regular practice to examine the troublesome people in your life. They trouble you because you have a door to open for them or because they have a door to open for you. Meditate and ask the Divine to reveal to you what door you need to open for each troublesome person or what you need to do so they will open the door for you. Pray for Divine guidance in dealing with them. Try to determine what it is you need to do for all the troublesome people in your life.
Another approach is to ask these people what you can do to serve them, or to help them; ask them what they need from you. It often happens that when we ask other people how we may help them, the Divine intervenes in their lives to help us identify what we need to do to resolve the current situation.
Opening a door is always providing a service. Sometimes all we need to do is point these individuals in the right direction because the door is already open. Other times we need to do something, provide some service for them. Often times all we need to do is learn how to accept them and forgive them so they can get on with their lives.
Whatever is required to open the door for them is our responsibility to discover. It's part of the work we need to do to resolve this situation, to balance the karma. There's no judgment involved. You're not a bad person because you have a debt to repay. The troublesome people in your life are not bad people just because you owe them something, because you need to open the door for them.
The Sacrament of Teaching
Many Christian churches practice the sacrament of Confirmation for people who have been baptized, whether as infants or as adults. In Confirmation the individual commits to membership in the church and to obedience to its teachings. The Universal Gnostic Church does not do this as we consider that commitment to be a wholly personal matter between the individual and the Divine.
For those individuals who wish to make a public commitment to their faith, we encourage clergy of the Universal Gnostic Church to use the sacrament of naming, which was discussed in the previous lesson and is one of the duties of the Order of Doorkeeper. The ceremony of naming, when used for this purpose, can be expanded by giving the person receiving the sacrament a space to state, to the clergyperson and to anyone else present, the commitments that he or she is making at that time.
The sacrament assigned to the Order of Reader, rather, is the sacrament of teaching. Once you have completed the requirements for this Minor Order and become a Reader, you have the right and duty to perform the sacrament of teaching for other people under the auspices of the Universal Gnostic Church.
The sacrament of teaching may be performed in many ways and there is no set ritual for it. By this stage in your studies you have learned many things that you can teach to others, and it is your place to pass on those teachings to anyone who wants to receive them. Please note, however, that you cannot require anyone to learn from you. No matter how much you think that someone needs to learn what you have to teach, you must give them the freedom to choose otherwise.
In many situations the best way to teach is simply to teach by example. If you live a life of wisdom in harmony with the Divine, those who need what you have to teach and are ready to receive it will be drawn to you. There is an old proverb that says, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” It is just as true that when the teacher is ready, the student appears. If no students appear for you, consider the possibility that you are not yet ready to teach them. If this upsets you, you may be trying to teach people as a way to exercise authority over them and to bolster your own ego. This does no good for you or anyone else.
Ceremony of Commitment for a Reader
Once you have put at least a month into the work outlined above you will have completed the traditional requirements to become a Reader in the Universal Gnostic Church. This title confers no special privilege upon you. It doesn’t give you the right to tell other people what to do, or to preen yourself on your supposedly superior spiritual status. It simply reflects a commitment on your part to enter into a relationship with the Divine and to bless the world around you.
The ceremony is optional but we suggest it to you as a way of honoring your acceptance of the work before you. It's a ceremony of commitment, which affirms that you understand what it means to be a Reader and accept whatever the Divine may ask you to do. In order to perform this ritual, you will need all the same items you used in the your Cleric and Doorkeeper ceremonies of commitment. The one difference is that you will wear your alb, since you are already a Cleric.
The ritual itself consists of seven steps.
Step One is setting up your temple. As a member of the Grade of Teacher in the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose you should prepare the space for the standard opening ritual.
Step Two is preparing your altar. Again, you should use the altar of the FHR for this purpose. All four candles should be placed on the altar.
Step Three is to open your ordination in an appropriate manner. The opening ritual you have learned should be used for this purpose. Open the temple on the Grade of Teacher. Then follow the opening ceremony with a prayer in which you thank the Divine, using whatever name you prefer, for all the gifts bestowed upon you. Ask for Divine blessings upon this holy space, the holy altar, the holy items placed upon the altar and ourselves. Ask the Divine to be present and to accept you as a Reader. You may use a spontaneous prayer, or write out a prayer in advance.
Step Four is to vow to the Divine to uphold the office of Reader and to serve as a Reader to the best of your ability; and then ask the Divine to assist you in keeping and fulfilling these vows.
Step Five is to purify yourself with holy water. This is done by dipping your fingertips into the water and using them to moisten your eyelids, your ears, your nostrils, and your lips with holy water. Dip your fingers into the water between each of these. While purifying yourself, say something like this: “I purify my senses so that I will be able to perceive the spiritual realms of existence, so help me (name of the Divine being used).”
Step Six is to anoint yourself with holy oil on the eyelids and on the lips. In anointing yourself, say something like: "I anoint myself to perform all the duties of a Reader, so help me (name of the Divine being used).”
Step Seven is to close the ceremony. First say a prayer of thanksgiving, thanking the Divine for the blessings that have been conferred on you. Then close the temple in the Teacher Grade with the usual ritual, and go about the rest of your life.
Please note that the point of this ritual is not to impress anybody, including yourself. You gain no special status nor any authority over other people by becoming a Reader. The point of the ceremony is to humbly and sincerely communicate with the Divine, take your vow, and bless the work the Divine will hereafter ask of you. Having completed the ceremony you are a Reader. You are now ready to go forth and do such work as the Divine asks of you.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-09-23 01:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-09-23 02:24 am (UTC)John Gilbert himself set up the version of the minor orders he taught on the assumption that each person would go through the whole sequence, but if you just wanted to be a reader, say, he'd have you become a cleric and then go straight to reader. That was his style. For my part, I'd recommend that you consider taking the whole sequence, but I won't insist on it.