Thanks Cornelius.
I very much appreciate your taking the trouble to read and respond to my post.In a world with so much to offer,particularly in cyberspace,having people read your posts and furthermore,take the trouble to respond to the post,thereby expending valuable energy and time,in the human context in which time is non-replenishing and,like energy, must be used in terms of opportunity cost, is much appreciated.
As the influential English occultist Dion Fortune observes,the occultist does not live in exactly the same world as the non-occultist.Central to living in both worlds is maintaining a balance of perception and ethics.In some of those groups,for example,a broad range of issues only dimly appreciated,if at all, by the non-occultist are discussed which involve a range of ethical significance.One has to decide for oneself one's ethical stance on such issues,in relation to one's understanding of the meaning of one's life.
My vocation as a mystic and my introduction to magic through the ethical vision of the Marvel comics Dr Strange series,along with the novels of Dennis Wheately, influences reinforced by the magical philosophy of Dion Fortune,in the context of an immersion in the ideals of compassion and transcendence of the mundane through perceiving existence in the context of eternity exemplified by Christianity,Hinduism and Buddhism strengthen my vision in relation to issues of access to and use of power.
Interestingly,the more delicate contexts with which I have engaged in my spiritual and magical quest are not hinted at in that post you responded to.These contexts are my relationships with trees and groves in and around Benin-City.To explain that to a degree,I need to describe some of my experiences with that city.
One of my ambitions is to return to Benin and its surrounding settlements,seeing it with eyes more sensitive to the value of that centre of spirituality and magic, seeking out not only people to learn from but places to learn from.These places are human constructed and natural shrines,along with natural centres of power which might not be in use as sacred places.
One can learn so much from simply keeping company with a tree,particularly certain kinds of trees, in a receptive state of mind.On writing this I find it might take a significant amount of text to explain this statement,and I might not be ready for that now, so I might leave it unelaborated.These relationships can range from the diffuse nature devotion of English Romanticism exemplified by William Wordsworth,which from my limited but admiring understanding of Wordsworth, venerates nature in terms of a general sense of the numinous(one of my favourite words),to a relationship with a tree,a grove and other natural forms as entities with which one communicates as you do with another human being, only the communication is non-verbal but yet consists of the passing on of ideas,as suggested by the writings of Susanne Wenger from her sojourn near and in the Osun forest for about fifty years,and by Awo Falokun Fatunmbi,who has clearly been very well trained by his Ifa teachers in Ode-Remo.
As Fatunmbi correctly states,one of the most effective sources of spiritual empowerment is cultivating a relationship with an iroko tree,a legendary species of tree in Yoruba and Bini philosophies of nature and lore.This is because,as I understand it, the tree naturally generates and projects a very strong field of energy that reaches a significant distance from its location and beceause the tree is easily susceptible to communication with humans.With some consistent effort one can use the tree as a means of projection of consciousness between locations.From my experience I conclude that these locations could be wherever one is and the location of the tree itself,perhaps thereby enabling a meeting of such projected consciousness of different people to take place at the energy field constituted by the location of the tree.A friend of mine speculates that using such an energy centre as an enablement perhaps one could travel to other planets or dimensions.
I did not continue exploring the tree because of an experience I had from trying to communicate mentally with it. Any time I thought of the tree,even when I was not near it, an inchoate idea would form in my mind until after some time,perhaps weeks,the idea crystallised and it was a suggestion to sacrifice the life of a particular person.On account of the horrendous character of the idea i was sure it did not come from my mind but from the tree.As from that time on,I made sure I did not even look at the tree whenever I passed by it.
It is important to discuss such experiences so as examine their ethical implications and their significance for forms of access to magical power and opportunity.Dion Fortune asserts that a serious practice of the occult inevitability brings one to making choices about good and evil.
You mentioned Aleister Crowley.The history of Western magic from the 19th century can not be discussed without a substantial examination of the seminal contributions of Aleister Crowley.He was a magician par excellence,a significant poet,novelist,a painter,a noted mountain climber and competitive chess player.He brought clarity of communication,analytical depth,intellectual range, an eclectic scope that ranged between Western and Asian thought and practice and a boundless ense of adventure, to the practice of magic.His spirit wil never die particularly as long as there are people to read his autobiography,his poetry,his novels,to appreciate his unique Tarot deck, and his expositions of magic.
He had his problems but they seem to have emerged more from his personality than from his practice of magic as this is demonstrated by the philosophies and techniques he adopted.
thanks
Toyin
On 29 July 2010 21:05, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:
Toyin,
If I didn't tell you that I'm worried about some of the devious groups
that you have mentioned, then I'd be lying to myself. I'm sure that
I'm not the only one who is worried. Other good friends and well-
wishers must be equally worried.
To tell you the truth, ever since you mentioned this guy Aleister
Crowley, some time ago, I've been worried about you.
Please tell me that it isn't so
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=iceweasel-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&&sa=X&ei=e9xRTNr2OYaUOOvCsdUE&ved=0CBoQBSgA&q=Aleister+Crowley&spell=1
On Jul 27, 9:34 pm, toyin adepoju <toyin.adep...@googlemail.com>
wrote:
> I get the impression that online groups that openly discuss theory and
> practice in African or Africana derived spiritual traditions are not easy to
> find.Out of the few I have found it seems fewer still are active. .The
> active ones I belong to are Orisa Ifa Olodumare,Followers of Ifa
> Orunmila,African-American Wiccans,Black Power Satanism,Credo
> Mutwa,Tewagi-Schools
> of Unified Learning and Voodoo-l.
>
> I tried to join a particular one that looks active,Temple of the Luciferian
> Vampire, but without success
>
> Of the other groups I belong to Evocational Magics is a very rich group that
> welcomes different traditions and some practitioners describe their
> experiences with African Diaspora spiritual traditions.
>
> The limitations I have had with finding groups that discuss experiences and
> theory in Africana(both African and African Diaspora) traditions is
> highlighted by my experiences of getting banned from or cautioned partly for
> posting Africana material to groups which ostensibly have to do with
> spirituality as a whole but which in practice are centred on Western
> traditions.
>
> The open discussion of knowledge is central to how knowledge grows. Africans
> need to discuss their explorations of spiritual realities so they can
> contribute to each other's knowledge and that of the world.
>
> Again,the West seems to be ahead of Africa in this regard as they have been
> in science,technology and the development of widespread forms of
> writing.Western magical and divinatory traditions have been central to the
> development of Western science.They also provide possibilities of a variety
> of ways of arriving at knowledge that people can draw on in various aspects
> of life.
>
> At the centre of the Western approach to practical magic and mysticism,not
> only religion,is the gradual development of an intellectual and practical
> tradition led by practitioners and scholars.
>
> It is most thrilling reading the accounts of spiritual/magical practice in
> Evocational Magics,Joy of Satan and its subsidiaries such as Advanced
> Meditation,in Solomonic etc.The efforts of members to analyze their
> experiences and informing assumptions is also most eye opening.Such sharing
> and analysis is at the centre of the development, systematization and
> dissemination of knowledge.
>
> I am eager to find more groups where practitioners of Voodoo,Orisa
> traditions,Bini spirituality and other Africana centered traditions etc
> come together to discuss their explorations.
>
> It would be wonderful to hear more from the Africa/Africana traditions
> regardless of the race of their practitioners.
>
> It would be particularly valuable to learn about personal experiences that
> demonstrate or suggest encounters with aspects of existence not ordinarily
> accessible to human beings such as altered states of
> consciousness,invocation of spirits,divinatory experiences,healing,spiritual
> combat,unusual dreams,projection of consciousness,astral travel,spirit
> visitations,journeys to other dimensions,communication with inanimate forms
> of sentience such as trees and other natural forms,among others.
>
> thanks
> toyin
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