ASPECTS OF A MAGICAL QUEST IN NATURE SPIRITUALITY
Toyin Adepoju
My exploration of spirituality and magic has consisted in a combination of ideas and practices from Western and African thinkers and systems.
Dion Fortune's Concept of Triune Initiatory Formation
The following conception by the influential English occultist Dion Fortune has been central to my spiritual and magical quest: "The fully initiated adept should have the three fold contacts of mystic devotion, occult wisdom and the primitive nature forces".I disagree,though,on the nature forces as being necessarily primitive, because they can be encountered at various levels of depth and refinement.It seems her understanding of nature forces cannot be fully accommodated in terms of that phrase,though,as demonstrated by her book on Avalon and on natural centres of power in some of her essays as well as her dramatisations in her novelsThe Sea Priestess and The Goat Foot God.
This description of a triune intiatory formation has guided not only my study and practice of Western spirituality,both mainstream and marginalised, but is central to my study and practice of classical African spiritualities.In fact,my individualistic study,without direct access to the techniques of the tradition,of the aspect of African spirituality represented by Bini nature spirituality was inspired by Fortune's description in The Training and Work of an Initiate of two approaches to what she describes as the 'mind side of nature': through ceremonial magic and through an appreciation of nature's beauty.I used both with a focus on the aesthetic dimension of beauty.The results emerged in terms of what Fortune describes as an important outcome of magical practice: a permanent extension of consciousness.
Exploration of Nature Spirituality in Benin-City
This was facilitated by the fact that I carried out my explorations in the Nigerian city of Benin,which has an ancient tradition of leaving inviolate sacred trees and groves in close proximity to the structures of civic life-roads,homes,offices,and other forms of contemporary civilisation.Walking round the city,one is able to contemplate these natural shrines,exposing one to the magnetism,as Fortune would describe it, generated through their natural endowment and through what might possibly be centuries of ritual.It was such a powerful experience I had to go on sabbaticals from this practice for years at a time to allow my mind to adjust to the new perceptions the practice generated.
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.
Cultivating Relationships with Trees
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.
Iroko Trees as Striking Centre of Power and their Use in Projection of Consciousness
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.
Human Sacrifice and
Questions of Ethics and Humanity in Relation to Access to Magical Power
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 so as to avoid any further contamination of my mind with such soul destroying and dehumanising suggestions.
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.
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