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ecosophia
Here's the third Gnostic Lesson, which is the material covering the second of the UGC's minor orders, the Order of Doorkeeper. The work of this lesson, like the last, should take you at least a month. Again, it's seemingly very simple, but the simplicity conceals unexpected lessons. (The image is another illustration from Jung's Red Book. He had an extraordinary gift for painting.)
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Gnostic Lesson Three
The Order of Doorkeeper
The training of the Doorkeeper is dedicated to the analysis of our emotional life, assigned to the soul or psyche by some classical Gnostics. Throughout the course of this lesson, emphasis will be placed on heightening both your physical, emotional (psychic), and spiritual intuition; we hope also to impart to you, the seeker, useful techniques for harnessing and controlling your emotions to aid in the quest for spiritual enlightenment. We are not our mere physical beings, we are more than creatures of matter. We also possess an emotional self.
This realization is an important step in our spiritual evolution. The realization that we are more than our physical bodies is but the first step. The second, and often more difficult step, is to also realize that we are more than our emotional bodies. It is easy to become blinded by our emotional state of the moment, to forget who we really are. As Doorkeepers, we remind ourselves that we really are spiritual beings and know we are more than just our body and the emotions we experience.
In ancient times the doorkeeper of a church or temple had important duties. He was expected to guard the door during sacred rituals, preventing any interruption of the work, and he was also responsible for welcoming honored guests and recognizing the spiritual standing of anyone who approached the temple or church door. In the same way, you must learn to guard the doors of your mind, closing those doors to interruptions when those are inappropriate, welcoming insights and inspirations from the Divine, and recognizing the value of thoughts and feelings that present themselves.
The Office of Doorkeeper is associated with the faculty of smell. We need to learn to stop and smell the roses for it is through smelling the roses we begin to fathom the truth that we are more than the emotions we feel. A whole new world opens up to us as our sense of smell rises into the subtle realms. Fragrances take on more meaning for us as we learn to appreciate both their delight and their higher vibrations.
While serving as a Doorkeeper, you are expected to thoroughly examine your emotional health and address any weaknesses you find. One way to begin doing this is to meditate on the feelings of shame, blame, and guilt you feel concerning events in your past and present. Consider whether this would be a good time for you to explore the practices of the Octagon Society, the introductory stage of the Order of Spiritual Alchemy, which deals with our emotional life and offers a way of healing to release outworn emotional problems.
Most of our emotional problems are rooted in feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, unworthiness, helplessness, hopelessness, and ineffectiveness. These feelings are in error as we already know. But we need to forgive ourselves for doubting our own gifts and abilities. We need to forgive others for helping us feel this way about ourselves. We need to accept Divine forgiveness and make ourselves whole.
We all function as Doorkeepers or in our lives. We must sometimes aid others in working through their own negative emotions and experiences. We function as Doorkeepers for these individuals and allow them to step over the threshold to continue their journeys. We open the door or gate for them and they can enter into a new phase of their spiritual path. Likewise, other people are keeping the door closed to us until we work through our own issues. Then the door opens and we may proceed.
On an esoteric level we function in a similar manner. None may pass through the door we guard until he or she resolves her or his issues with us. The password required is the message to be delivered, a request for acceptance or forgiveness, or the issue to be settled between you. Opening the door is a sign we received the message and we forgive this person or the issue has been settled.
Your Work as a Cleric
You do not cease to be a Cleric when you begin training as a Doorkeeper. More generally, each minor order you receive adds to the previous order, rather than replacing it. As a Cleric, you will benefit by continuing the practice of daily prayer, and performing the sacrament of blessing as often as you have an opportunity. You will also benefit by continuing the practices involving food and exercise set out in the previous lesson. Make these practices a regular part of your daily life and you will reap their benefits.
The Sacrament of Naming
Most Christian churches practice the sacrament of baptism for infants. The Universal Gnostic Church does not practice infant baptism because it places a high value on the autonomy and freedom of the individual soul. Only when a person has reached the age where he or she can make a thoughtful decision to make a personal commitment to a given faith is baptism appropriate.
However, it is entirely appropriate to formally name and bless an infant, and to commend the infant to the protection of the Divine. In the Universal Gnostic Church we confer a name and blessing to infants with the sacrament of naming. The same sacrament may also be conferred on people of any age who wish to take a new name, or to mark an interior change of being, thinking, feeling, doing or intending or the start of something new. This is one of the duties of the Doorkeeper, who opens the door to a new name and new life through the sacrament of naming.
Once you have completed the requirements for this Minor Order and become a Doorkeeper, you have the right and duty to perform the sacrament of naming for other people under the auspices of the Universal Gnostic Church. Whenever you exercise this function, keep a record of it. In this record include the name of the person and the circumstances in which the sacrament was requested and carried out.
The ceremony of naming is quite simple. Prepare a small quantity of holy water in advance. Find out from the person to be named, or the parents or guardians of an infant, what name will be conferred and what name, if any, will be used to invoke the Divine; this is theirs to decide and not yours. Put on your alb. Pray, silently or aloud, asking the Divine to bless the person you are about to name. Then pour a small amount of holy water on the head of the person being named and say, “I name you (name) in the presence of (name of Deity). May the blessing and the protection of (name of Deity) be with you all the days of your life.” If the naming ceremony is for an adult, and the name is being taken for some specific purpose, you may add: “...for the purpose of (name the purpose).” Follow with a prayer of thanksgiving, silent or aloud.
Smell and Intuition
The sense of smell is the first that seems to manifest itself as we work our way through the Gnostic Lessons. You may already be aware you smell things more often and intensely since starting your studies.
This process of opening up your psychic sense of smell—clairflairance, to give it its proper name—will continue as you work your way through the Gnostic Lessons. You can quicken this development by consciously paying attention to the things you smell on a day-to-day basis. Being more aware of smells in both the physical and psychic worlds is a spiritual practice that helps the student raise his or her vibration to higher levels.
"Take time to smell the roses" is common way of telling others to slow down and pay attention to life. It's also good advice to the spiritual traveler. As we slow down we become more peaceful and calm. In this state our sense of smell is heightened. Paying attention to the things we smell in this state increases our ability to use our sense of smell and it increases our spiritual vibration.
A good practice is to stop doing whatever we're doing several times a day. Relax and breathe deeply for a few seconds. Then pay attention to the smells around us. This can be done while sitting, standing, walking or resting. It doesn't matter when, where or how we "stop to smell the roses." What matters is that we consciously take the time to do so.
As you persist in this practice you'll start to smell things you don't remember ever smelling before. This is natural. As you pay attention to any of your senses, that sense will perform better for you. Paying attention to anything increases our awareness of the object of our attention. Paying attention to our sense of smell increases our awareness of the myriad smells around us.
As you pay attention, you become more aware. You'll also start to smell things that aren't physically there. For example, in the dead of winter without a flower in sight, you may experience the smell of roses. This impossible situation of smelling things that aren't actually there may confuse and concern you in the beginning. Don’t worry, this is merely a sign you're developing your clairflairance. Just enjoy the moment.
The first psychic smells will probably be the result of spirits bringing you these things in the astral world. If you smell roses, somebody on the other side is bringing you roses. If you smell a barnyard, somebody on the other side is reminding you of something. Whatever psychic smells you experience have a meaning and a message. If you want to develop your psychic senses, pay attention to these things and look for both the message and the meaning.
If you pay attention to your sense of smell you'll experience psychic smelling for yourself. Once you experience smelling something that isn't there you'll naturally shift your attention to looking attentively for somebody to approach your door. It's natural. It's part of growing spiritually. It's part of your duty as a Doorkeeper.
Practice being aware of your sense of smell. Expect clairflairant experiences and look for the person or persons coming to your gate or door. Be aware. Be prepared. Be ready to accept whatever the other person brings into your life and open the door for that person.
Opening the door or gate for others means that you give them the thing they need to continue their spiritual journey. This may be advice or counsel but it could also be acceptance, forgiveness and love. As soon as you give whatever it is the other person needs from you, he or she will continue on his or her spiritual journey and so will you. Until you give the other person whatever it is he or she needs from you that person may continue to need something from you. Needy people can be a thorn in your side.
Anytime you have needy people in your life, your best approach is to relax, breathe deeply and become aware. In this state, ask the Divine to help you open the door for this needy person or these needy people. Pay attention. Be receptive. Accept whatever it is the other person or persons bring to you. Open the door.
Other senses will also become active in this way. As you advance through the Gnostic Lessons all your senses of smell, taste, touch, hearing and sight will open psychically. When you perceive something out of the ordinary with any of these senses, pay attention as you're probably being asked to serve your duty as a Doorkeeper. Once you become attuned as a Doorkeeper, your duty will include being a Doorkeeper for the rest of your life. Actually, you always had and always will have that duty, you're just more aware of that fact when you complete your attunement as a Doorkeeper.
Ceremony of Commitment for a Doorkeeper
Once you have put at least a month into the work outlined above you will have completed the traditional requirements to become a Doorkeeper 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 Doorkeeper 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 your Cleric ceremony 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. This is done in the same way as in the Cleric ceremony.
Step Two is to establish sacred space around your chair and altar. This can be done in any way you prefer. If you are a student of any magical or esoteric tradition, for example, the opening ceremony you use for that tradition is appropriate for this.
Optional ceremony for sacred space: If you do not have some other way of establishing sacred space, one option is to provide yourself with lit incense in a burner and a cup of water. Take up the cup, and circle around the outside of the space, dipping your fingers into the water and flicking droplets around the space. When you are finished, say, “May this place be purified in the name of (whatever name you use for the Divine).” Put the cup down, pick up the incense, and circle around the outside of the space, carrying the incense with you and waving the smoke around the space with your free hand. When you are finished, say, “May this place be consecrated in the name of (whatever name you use for the Divine).” This completes the ceremony.
Step Three is to open your ordination 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 Doorkeeper. 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 Doorkeeper and to serve as a Doorkeeper 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 at the base of each palm, just past the wrist, in the location of your Essene Healing Jewels. In anointing yourself, say something like: "I anoint myself to perform all the duties of a Doorkeeper, 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 extinguish the candles, put everything away, 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 Doorkeeper. 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 Doorkeeper. You are now ready to go forth and do such work as the Divine asks of you.
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Date: 2023-08-05 04:50 pm (UTC)