Personal Notes on the Nature of the Ritual Practice

[part of the "diary"]

    These ritual practices are a form of "holy magic".   This means that their intention is not the material evocation of invisible beings, but rather the seeking after the immaterial communion between the practitioner's soul and spirit, and the beings of higher worlds.  The "object" of these practices is to evolve the spirit and soul of the practitioner toward the goal of making it suitable for the reception of "grace".

    Holy magic is not superior to any other form of magic practice.  It is just one choice the individual can make, among a cornucopia of choices.  The ideal in this case is after the future Maitreya Buddha's approach - that of combining prayer and meditation into a single Practice.

the Rituals

basic ritual (br): Recitation of the Our Father, the Apostle's Creed, and the Rosary, followed by reading the Foundation Stone Meditation, and concluded by the practice of that Meditation's three principle exercises: 1) regain the spiritual past - practice spirit recollection; 2) find the light of the future - practice spirit meditation; and 3) share in the glory of the fleeting present - practice spirit penetration.  This work creates the atmosphere, and may take place any time during the Day, and not necessarily all at once.  It is crucial to start with the Our Father, at least, on awakening.  Its parts can be spread throughout the Day, each done just before some other aspect of the Practice.

active reading (ar): Study according to the classic model of education:  the trivium: grammer, rhetoric and dialectic; and the quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy.  Special emphasis is placed at this point in the incarnation on Barfield's What Coleridge Thought; Whicher's Projective Geometry; Klocek's Weather and Cosmos; and, Adam's Space and the Light of Creation.  Use of internet resources is appropriate.

general meditation (gm): Seeking to unfold the "living thinking" (after the indications of Steiner, Kuhlewind and Ben-Aharon).  In "living thinking", the spiritual act at the basis of cognition is brought out into the fully conscious light of day - for it is just here that the promise is made that He waits as an aspect of His Return.  Only through Him can one make the journey of the Prodigal Son and return Home, to the source, to the Father.

meditative writing (mw): The application of "thinking" in the service of humanity, through the exposition of themes drawn forth from the spirit (it thinks in me; learning to think on one's knees) in response to the needs and hungers of the "other", the thou.  It is here, through the joining of the creative forces of the word with the being of the good (the conscience), that allows what one speaks and writes to manifest as real magic - i.e. service.  No other "power" is needed or justified, unless Providence provides additional gifts.  This aspect of the Practice follows after the discipline of phenomenology pioneered by Goethe.

daily practice (dp): This practice acknowledges the centrality of the Day, and within the Day, of the Moment.   When is Now.  DP consists of first accepting with gratitude that which Circumstance requires as Work.  One has one's share of the burdens of the world to bear.  Time spent on one's self in sterile pleasures is to be avoided.   However, this does not mean that relaxation and renewal are not ultimately fruitful.  It is here that the distinction between the essential and the non-essential is needed - we can ask: Which of our deeds, both spiritual (thoughts) and material, is to become an aspect of the Eternal?

Moreover, social demands cannot be ignored either.   That which the "thou" needs, calls forth something essential from the soul and spirit that can be evoked in no other way.

DP also includes the managing of the personal world view, or paradigm.   This self constructed thought world is also a creative act, and the images evoked there, over time, are destined to become the very substance of the future purely Ethereal Earth - the New Jerusalem.

pure exercies (pe):  These exercies vary from Day to Day and are optional - i.e. matters of the moment and opportunity.  For example, Bardon's quabbalah exercises can be done, as well as his various exercises concerned with the Elements.  It all depends upon what demands the day makes and what time is available for this element of the Practice.  Also various Steiner exercises promoting sensitivity of the feelings, as well as working with the desire/mind nexus according to the Four Noble Truths.  In the same vein, Christ's teachings are frequently applicable to given social situations, and their expression ought to be considered a part of the Practice.  Mostly these exercises are a kind of soul or spiritual yoga, in that they stretch and exercise either the astral or the mental body according to which exercise is taken up.  In addition, Practices involving the Light or the Elements can be undertaken according to the Needs Providence places before one during the course of the Day.  One can always silently aid other human beings by these methods.
 

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