The Separation of Science and Mysticism: A Detriment To All?

As many of my treasured readers may know I have been taking an abundance of mathematics and physics courses over the past two years while getting my Master's degree in bio-medical engineering. I am pretty sure at this point, that the ghost of Sir Isacc Newton has begun haunting my brain, scraping his chains through the halls of my cerebellum. For anyone who has taken at least Physics I and II and Calculus I and II, you will know that Newton pretty much has his named stamped on everything from his "Three Laws of Physics (which form the foundation from which most other physical laws/theories are defined) to "Newton's Method" ( a method for finding successively more precise approximations for the zeros of real functions in Calculus). For all intensive purposes we could say that Newton for the most part, invented Calculus ( although this is highly debated as another scholar during his time was working on the fundamentals of Calculus but from a different perspective). However, in terms of what we as students learn in university it is Isaac Netwon's principles in both mathematics and physics that govern the majority of material that is taught. But what is never spoken about is that Newton was also a famous alchemist and mystic. In fact, the majority of what we study in science and mathematics today were discovered by great intellects who were also mystics, alchemists, and magicians...Giordorno Bruno, Pythagoras, Plato, Poincare, Einstein, Descartes, Kepler, Bach, Roger Bacon, Pascal, Copernicus, Albertus Magnus, Geber, Paracelsus. This list is far from complete and leaves out the many mystical thinkers who have made great contributions to other important areas such as literature, music, and art that so highly influence us today.

Contemplating this and studying the universe from both a magical and scientific perspective it seems obvious to conclude that humans are functioning with limited knowledge on both sides of the fence. Limited because these famous scientists and mathematicians combined their work with techniques, and teachings that gave them a more complete understanding of the nature of reality which has now been separated from thier discoveries. Where they were praying, meditating, and connecting with the Spirit to uncover the mysteries of the universe and nature, we are left with the bare-bones of what they percieved. Where they were eating the hot, sumptuous pie just barely cooled from the oven, we are left with the crust (which is exceptionally tasty), but not the filling or its freshness. These masters were getting in touch with higher states of consciouness that helped them to uncover some of the many wonderful principles that we exploit today in our inventions, studies, experiments, and discoveries.

Albert Einstein for example, used to use a personal technique that he uncovered when he was working on the Special Theory of Relativity. He would sit in a chair with a metal ball and a metal bowl. Thinking of his question or what he was working on he would let himself drift off to sleep. Just before he would fall asleep he would enter that state of consciousness between waking and sleeping which is totally unbounded by the intellect, this is known by some to be transcendental consciousness, the dialectic, hypnogogia. In this state he would uncover the answers to the mysteries that he contemplated, unrestricted by the intellect, emotions, and sensations and attachments to the physical world. When he began to transition into the sleep-state the ball would drop into the bowl and wake him up so that he remembered what he uncovered. Although one of the world's greatest physicists, Einstein believed he could get in touch with the underlying unity of existence to unveil its true nature and make some of the most important discoveries to physics since Newton himself.

The seperation of science and mysticism didn't happen during the Age of Enlightenment, but has been a part of intellectual thinking since antiquity and has affected our studies of mathematics and science from its inception. Pythagorean cults are a perfect example. Although no writings exist from Pythagoras himself (he beleived in the concept of "mouth to ear" that still lives in the Golden Dawn tradition today). We do know by cross-referencing the writings of his students that Pythagorous was a mystic, mathematician, musician, and astronomer who did not see the seperation between these subjects but instead viewed them as being bound by a unifiying principle. He taught unification with the Spirit though harmony, humility, honor, and the contemplation of the infinite through numbers and music. It wasn't until after his death that two "Pythagorean Schools" emerged, one that focused soley on his mathematical and scientific teachings and the other which focused soley on his spritual teachings. It seems that the separation of holistic knowledge into bits and pieces was fated from antiquity.

If we begin to research and study the life-works of many of the scholars listed above, it becomes quite clear that the physical knowledge that we have obtained from their works is but a mere reflection of the spiritual principles that they uncovered simultaneously. "As Above, so Below" is the great spiritual edict, or as many a Golden Dawn magician may say, "Kether is in Malkuth and Malkuth is in Kether". If we contemplate these teachings of pure math or physics or chemistry from the view point that there is a reflective side of these subjects, a new world, a more complete world, begins to open itself up to us.

The next thing that we may deduce (or debate) is that not only is the corpus of out scientific knowledge incomplete, but possibly the corpus of our magical teachings. Is it so far fetched, to look at the study of something such as electro-magnetic fields and associate them with the way that magical current flows during hand-on healing techniques? Chapter X of The Kybalion concerning polarity begins, "Everything is dual, everything has poles, everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same, opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree..." For those of you who may have studied electricity, current, and electric fields this may sound similiar to you. Protons and electrons have an equal but opposite charge. Protons having a positive 1.67*10^-19 charge and electrons having a negative 1.67*10^-19 charge. These elementary particles are governed by Newton's "Third Law of Action and Reaction" which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Not only does this govern the movement of objects in the macroscopic realm but also the behavior of particles in the microscopic realm. The fact that these two particles are equal and opposite are the reason that atoms are held together and that molecules are made.Next comes what is known as an electric field where a distribution of charge (a bunch of charges bundled up together) causes what is known as an electric field. A single particle has an inner or outer pointing electric field, but it is the distribution of charge that causes things such as electric current.

Now let's look at this from an esoteric point of view. How many of you have under-taken the study of an energy healing technique or been the recipient of one and thought "Wow, I can feel this energy flow out of my hands" or "I can feel you touching me even though you are inches away from my body"? Is is so hard to make the connection that these energies may behave similarly to what we study in science? That there may be some type of energetic current or distribution of energetic particles causing this flow and that we may turn it on and off by at will? We spend a great deal of time honing our magical will in order to control these energies.Combined with a more specific understanding of how these energies work we could allow our will to turn into a sharply honed knife. And what about distance healing? Could quantum physics govern the principles of healing from far away? What about the discussions of the astral plane, where things such as time have no meaning? In the realms of quantum physics time is totally transcended, in fact the results that we receive from our experimental studies in quantum mechanics are totally dependent upon how we observe them because they deal with a plane of existence that is nothing but potential. Does this sound familiar?

Now this post is not meant to prove the connection between science and magic. I think that has been well written and well documented. The point that I am trying to make is that not only are we as a species of intelligent beings doing ourselves a great disservice by poo-pooing time honored and proven techniques (meditation, yoga, magic, etc..) that can help us to gain greater physical knowledge, but that we as magicians may not be utilizing all the knowledge that is available to us either. (Yes, I believe a physics book could be part of your grade material if used in the proper way) I have often heard it said by modern day mages that if science was only willing to take on the studies of esotericism our discoveries would grow exponentially. But I have rarely heard it spoken of the other way. However, over the past two years I have come to believe that when the separation of science and mysticism of an individual's teachings and discoveries takes place not only does the scientific community suffer, but spiritual community does as well. It makes complete sense that one should study chemistry along with alchemy, or physics along with ritual magic and meditative techniques. Knowledge is universal. It is one, it is not meant to be separated from itself into pieces. You cannot bake a pie with just a crust or just a filling, you need both. Please tell me your thoughts...

Nosce Te Ipsum

VH Soror FSO

Repost From Nick Farrell's Blog: 10 Signs an Occult Leader Has Lost The Plot

Nick nails it on the head!

http://nick-farrell.blogspot.com/2011/03/10-signs-that-occult-leader-has-lost.html#comments

Grow A Pair...

Throughout my entire life I have always been searching for a deeper connection with the spirit. This had led me to be apart of a variety of groups throughout the years that have included a yoga ashram, a Golden Dawn Order, and a martial arts school. All were very different in thier teachings, but all the same in thier search for the spirit.

Besides seeing the similarity in results that were yielded as one began to study the deeper aspects of each, I also noticed another peculiar similarity in these groups. In every organization, the closer I got to the "inner circle", the more I would begin to hear stories about the leader taking advantage of people, using them for thier money, thier time, doing things to emotionally disturb them etc...this often left some people feeling disgruntled and hurt leading to them leave, whereas others thrived and became happier. Hmmmm, what was the difference? Were the others, including me just blinded by the 'cultish" powers of the leader? No, I don't believe so...I think now I have learned the truth.

My favorite book is The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus, a book that purifies the individual just by reading it. It is very powerful, an advanced book only I believe, to be read by ones who are studying the greater and more subtle mysteries, those who are really looking to extinguish the ego, learn true humilty in the Lord, and are accustomed or feel drawn to being purified by a slightly harsher path. I would not suggest this to an Outer Order member, and only to those who have a strong ability to discern between right and wrong.

In it there are many stories of monks who seek to purify themselves through various devices such as humiliation, scourging, extreme fasting, hard labor etc...the writer of this book does not suggest these techniques to the majority of people, even most monks who are reading this book. However, there are stories of a not so extreme nature, such as the monk who was told by the Abbot to stand behind him in silence for all of dinner to teach another humilation, or the Abbot who lied to two monks who had been getting very close and told them each that the other was disfaming them to the others; he did this so that they would remember not to be attached to lustful feelings but turn closer to the Lord.

These stories, brought something to light that had be rumanating in my mind for quite some time...if spiritual leaders were to behave like this in a world outside of a monastary, they would be called a cult leader. On the internet we have people bitching about a possible small rite of "bloodletting" in one of the Orders, yet today monks stand for over twenty four hours in vigil regularly on Mt. Athos. I would take the former over the latter when it comes to pain. Why is it o.k. for this to occur in a monastic environment, but not one in the outside world?

The Golden Dawn system, and many others are pure and true systems in thier own right. They are powerful systems of transformation that can take you to hightened levels of spirituality very quickly. They will get you into a deep connection with the Divine. But, you must interact with the system, not just stand there hoping it wafts some divine knowledge at you. This is the main difference bewteen the people who thrive and the people who don't, the ones who do are taking each situation and turning it into a growing experience, they are acting on the environment. They are making choices based on growth. The one's who don't are letting the environment react on them, letting it victimize them.

When we are in the Outer Order, we go to classes, we sit and absorb everything, maybe we even start to volunteer for a few things. Are we seeking our own knowledge? No, we are learning the rubricks of a system....usually during this phase there are very few problems with people feeling like they are belonging to a cult..of course not! you are having everything handed to you....The system is serving you!

Then, we move into the Inner Order or inner circle close to the Chief or Sifu. Now, it is your time to serve and to work. On top of that the majority of your training is placed within your hands. You must take the rubricks that you learned and begin to delve deeper into the mysteries...because your real education is between you and God. Usually, this is the point where problems occur. Most people have a hard time transitioning from being spoon-fed to having to walk on thier own two feet. In fact, many people resist this to the utmost of thier being crying things such "I work all day at the Temple"and you never give me any new material!"

O.k., (let's take the GD for example) what have you done with your current material? Have you worked with every single Senior, consecrated your tools more than one time each, scryed the Vault walls, done more than a few Shem workings?....I could go on. The initiate is trapped in an ego obsession that thier teachers, must continue to baby them...Non, mon frere! We want you to truly succeed. Pull up your boot straps, get in the Temple and start contacting your Higher Genius! The Greater Mysteries have to do with depth, not breadth. The people who are thriving in this environment are the one's who take it upon themselves to explore the nuances in the system going to thier mentors when they have questions, leading them to get new material.

This leads me to the second point. People who are usually having this problem also tend to have another problem...being a "Yes Man". They want to please the master, so that they can be in good standing, get special treatment, laud thier position over the others. They want this so much that they will do anything for the master. To them thier progress in the group is based on being in good standing with the leader, not on actually doing the work. So, you know what happens? They are asked to do and do and do...until they become so fed up with doing every little thing, they leave the group in a huff talking about how much of a cult leader that person is. You know what I say?

Grow some balls. Get your priorities right. Assess why you are really doing this work. If you are here to be lauded over, you are going to get hurt. If you are here to get special attention, it will be fleeting. If you are stretching yourself too thin, then learn to say no. If you feel as if you were asked to do something that went against your values, then refuse. If you don't its because your afraid (of confrontation, disapointment, being kicked out). Use the circumstances that are placed before you in your work to help you change, to make better decisions, to learn when to sacrifice and when to stand down. Use your work to get in touch with your Higher Genius so that you will know when the difference is.

The people who run these groups are human. They are apt to fall into sin from time to time. Does that mean that you should throw your path out the window? No, it means you should stick up for yourself, stay true to your vows, and if there is corruption be brave enough to face it and make a change. Have you evern thought that these difficult situations could be being placed in front of you so that you can grow? If, on the chance you do run into a situation where you feel you must disagree and you get kicked out, well, then you will know you really were apart of a cult, and you just did youself a favor.

Nosce Te Ipsum