Copyright © 2007 by William R

Problems in the Study of Magic, Part V

Introduction

In the following essay, I am describing the akashic and mental planes of the cosmic letter J. This material also deals directly with the question of what constitutes a genuine cosmic religion. As such, it pertains to a major problem in the study of magic—namely, how do you share magic with other people? How do you build a community with it? What values would that community have? What kind of people would it contain and what would bind them together?

The mental plane presents a description of what might inspire such a community to share and work together.

The Cosmic Letter J

One who has the wings of a man and the wings of a woman also is in himself a womb of the world; and being a womb of the world he continuously, unendingly gives birth.

Lao Tzu

Preface

In the following essay, much of what I am writing is summary and review. Some of it appears in other essays. It is the level of integration that is different.

On the mental level, for example, I attempt to correlate the ecstasies of the four elements with the practice of magical equilibrium. This presentation is identical to laying the foundation for a genuine cosmic relation. This may seem like a glamorous activity, something to present on youtube.com or a talk show like Oprah. But it is not. There is just too much hard work involved extending over a life time. Consequently, other than to satisfy curiosity, it will neither appeal to nor be of use to anyone except those who are already highly dedicated and committed to mastering the basic exercises.

Akashic Plane

Franz Bardon describes the cosmic letter J on the akashic plane as being the expression of the highest, all-embracing love. He also says that practicing the J on this plane enables an individual to understand and to experience this love.

As with the other cosmic letters, it is helpful to ask questions and do some thinking about these letters before, during, and after practicing with them. This action attunes our consciousness to these cosmic vibrations. It sets us up to gain insight and to understand their meaning and application.

The questions we might immediately ask about the letter J are:

What is the highest, all-embracing love? Have I felt it? Can I imagine it?

I have pursued these themes in some of my writings (see Mystical Fables, not yet out). A young man has a moral conflict. He can’t decide between his wife and his mistress. His attempt to solicit the help of an old wizard fails. But he is told to ask the old wizard this question in order to solicit the wizard’s help: What can you tell me about the mysterious love that underlies the universe? The wizard can not resist and spend weeks telling the young man stories about the spiritual evolution of the human race. The stories start with the beginning of the universe and end with an answer to the question—what is the ultimate destiny of mankind and how is it found?

It is said that human beings are a microcosm reflecting in themselves the greater macrocosm, that is, the universe. If you look at the universe from the point of view of science, it is vast, very physical, but governed by the laws of physics. When you gaze at the stars at night, and the two hundred billion galaxies beyond, do you think that the universe is cold and hostile or is it teaming with life? Do you think like Beethoven in quoting Schiller in the 9^th symphony, “Brothers—beyond the starry vault must dwell a loving father.”

And so we might ask,

What is the mysterious love that underlies the universe and what part might it play in revealing the destiny of the human race? In other words, how is love woven into the elements of nature—earth, air, fire, and water? How about chemistry, physics, electro-magnetism, astrophysics, etc.

In another book I am writing there is an ancient practice called The Great Rite which celebrates the act of creation in which god and the goddess were joined. The high priest and a young woman unite during the Great Rite to reenact this celebration. The young woman is trained and selected based on her ability to embody the Goddess of the Earth both through sacred dance and in performing sex magic with the high priest. This rite stands at the center of this civilization and is inspired by a spirit of the earthzone referred to as Ubarim after whom the kingdom is named.

A young warrior magician, however, comes to believe that the young priestess belongs to him and not the high priest. The Great Rite is better celebrated as an act of love between two people rather than as a sacred ritual uniting a society. The question then is:

What would our society be like if it were founded and shaped by the love that stands behind the creation of the universe? How might such an attempt go wrong if fanatics or self serving or even the most devote high priests tried to use high magic to fulfill this vision? How might it be done right?

In other writing, I refer to the great world teachers as those who have entered the sphere of the sun with their consciousness. They know what it is like to be one with the universe. Consequently, when they assume human form to teach mankind they often do so by accepting great limitations on their powers in order to enact a drama that conveys a particular spiritual theme to mankind. If you follow Joseph Campbell’s understanding of mythology, he describes those like Buddha, Christ, Moses, Krishna, etc. as doing precisely this. The question then becomes--

For what purpose have I entered life? What story does my life tell? If I were inspired by the highest love, what purpose would my life reveal?

The cosmic letter J on the akashic level is about love, union, conception, and completion. Like another cosmic letter—UE—its voice says, “I create, I inspire, I guide/I make all things new in the fullness of time.”

Imagine that in the moment you die your soul mate, your spiritual and divine consort, appears to you and he or she says, “I have always been with you and beside you ever step of the way. All you needed to do was to use your spiritual senses to realize that at the center of your heart I have been, am, and will be one with you forever.” The cosmic letter J is saturated with this kind of inspiration.

Some die for the touch of love because it is so rare. Others’ hearts grow bitter, hard, or cold because their love has grown old. By contrast, the cosmic letter J envisions a sea of love that embraces the universe. Its depths can not be measured. It is everywhere. It is in the air, in water, in earth, in fire—in every element is hidden the taste of its presence. Every sensation bears witness to its existence. The letter J gives you a different perspective, one not based on intellect but on experience.

Investors in the United States want to believe that there is a benevolent Federal Reserve Chairman, (now Bernanke), watching over the U.S. economy. Investing, like life, always embodies risk. But to assume risk it is very helpful to imagine that the risk you take will prove to be worthwhile in the end.

The global market, however, is best served when each investor makes his or her own informed and intelligent decisions. When you are good, you oversee your own investments. When you get better, you oversee others’ investments. When you get very good, you run a mutual fund or other investment vehicle containing billions of dollars. When you are wise, hopefully, you become something like Bernanke who is the chairman of the Federal Reserve and whose decisions to some extent influence the global economy.

The same applies to life. You can be benevolent but others still have to make their own choices. According to the story we have, one of the great moments in the history of prophecy on earth occurred with the Oracle of Delphi told the Spartan king, in response to his inquiry, that either Greece would be conquered or the king of Sparta would be mourned. And so we have the story of battle of Thermopylae.

You can give others council, wisdom, and inspiration, but they still have to make their own choices. King Leonidas chose to sacrifice himself. Life often involves sacrifice and in this case, against staggering odds, the Oracle and King Leonidas turned out to be right about how to protect Greece.

We all oversee our own lives. We watch over and to some extent do our best to protect those who are close to us. When you get very good and truly wise, there are, no doubt, many openings in this universe for those who are willing to oversee, guide, and inspire entire planetary civilizations. You can be very loving and, indeed, embody the highest love. But unless you wish to become a spiritual dictator you have to allow people to make their own choices. Without risk, choice, and experience, learning is not possible and life has no opportunity to flourish.

The four aspects of the Mysteries are to will, to know, to dare, and to keep silence. To love is to dare. It often requires great courage. To dare is to accept the world as it is and also to strive to turn it into what it can be. The question then is,

What kind of courage is employed by those who are inspired by the highest love? What motivates them to be willing to give of themselves? How do they pull it off?

At the risk of boring some of my readers, I write about the letter J as it is used in the magic formula J-CH-W by a magician in long ago Atlantis:

EXT. SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ROOFTOP—MOMENTS LATER

HE’AD’RA

(speaking word of power)

Jaaaaa

With the sound of “Jaaa” an opal light of dark violet, red, blue, and green intermingling expands across the sky.

MONTAGE

All manner of spirits from all seven planetary spheres including the Angel of Death, arch demons, the 49 judges of Saturn, the elementals, and many other spirits from many realms and domains are surprised and astonished as they are held captive and bound by He’ad’ra’s voice.

The spirits turned their faces toward the third planet from the sun and to the continent of Atlantis and then to He’ad’ra.

Hurled and caught by a cosmic power of concentration, like the swirling tides of a cosmic whirlpool in a cosmic sea, their voices join. The united spirits appear before He’ad’ra as a bright flame with a whirlwind of colors whirling within it. These cast a dark red glow that melts, twists, and cracks the columns of marble and the floor.

As they presented themselves in front of He'adra in a column of light, they speak as one in an unearthly calm, in an eerie, quiet, and childlike voice:

SPIRITS

For what purpose are we called?

On the akashic level, the cosmic letter J involves a great union and joining of all beings under the law of love in order to fulfill a divine purpose. In order to do this, the character called He’ad’ra was granted a gift from God earlier in his life:

MONTAGE: INT. BEDROOM—LATE NIGHT

He’ad’ra sits up in bed amid a lucid dream. Blurry lights around him transform into myriads of stars, nebula, and galaxies. He gets out of bed and stands up as the walls disappear. M100, at first appearing as a small spiral galaxy, expands into a gigantic galaxy of white, blue, and red stars that rotates beneath him and then drifts through his legs.

EXT. AMONG GALAXIES—NIGHT

He’ad’ra’s room seen faintly illuminated amid the stars.

GOD (off screen)

Of all those who dwell on the earth, it is only within your heart I am free to appear.

Ask of me, therefore, whatsoever you will in the heavens above, upon the earth, or beneath the earth and I will grant it to you.

HE’AD’RA

May my will be in harmony with Your own--that all my actions in service to others may arise from the One Light and serve the purposes of Divine Providence.

GOD (off screen)

Because you ask for neither wealth, fame, nor anything for yourself at all but only to benefit others, your power shall be without limitation--your voice shall be like My own. There shall be none like you, neither before you nor after you in the history of the world.

The above is part of a dramatic presentation involving the cosmic letter J. My story is fiction but the magic I describe in the story is not.

In practicing a cosmic letter on the akashic level, the task is to first place one’s consciousness on the akashic plane, that is, penetrating through space and time. And then one identifies with Divine Providence in accordance with the specific qualities of the cosmic letter.

Through experience, we gain a sense of what our individual purpose is in life. But here on the akashic plane, we put aside our personal identity. We imagine ourselves to be pure spiritual being.

The cosmic letter J on the akashic level is a divine celebration. It is the union of the God and Goddess. It is a union of everything that exists throughout the universe.

It is the union and bliss by which the universe was created. And it is on-going. There is no end to it. Creation is taking place in every moment.

Whether it is the Hindu Swami mastering his chakras, the Tibetan Lama practicing his yidams, or the Zohar and the Quabbalah with the name of the Elohim that is a masculine noun with a feminine plural ending—the divine is seen in union with its opposite, with its consort, in every moment. This is one way to comprehend this kind of love.

In his work on ritual magic, Bardon describes the symbolism and use of the magic circle and wand. By standing at the center of the magic circle, the magician unites the four elements and joins his will to God. At the end of his book on basic practices, Bardon has the student imagine that he embodies the four divine qualities of spirit. He practices uniting his consciousness to these four qualities both in an impersonal way and by also identifying with them in the form of a personal deity. These practices are prior in Bardon’s system for working with the cosmic letters.

With the letter J, the three sense concentration involves the note of G#, a cold watery sensation, and dark opal with the colors of red, green, violet, and blue. The red is power in all aspects. The green is very similar to what I describe in the cosmic letter G--it is personal harmony, satisfaction, wealth, and success along with the blessing of Divine Providence.

The blue is Jupiter’s sense of generosity, an expansion of life possibilities, and the enlightened mind. It is all aspects of wisdom and knowledge. The color of violet is cosmic consciousness. It is being everywhere and within everything. It is the original purposes of life in their purest forms.

The cold watery sensation is like the magnetic fluid that holds and unites these four divine qualities of spirit. Like the magnetic fluid, it is utterly receptive, open, and empty. It easily can contain anything within itself--nurturing, preserving, and animating it.

(Note: The cosmic letters often employ a dynamic tension between the three sense concentrations in order to produce their creative power. For example, with the letter D the cool color of blue is combined with the hot sensation of fire. Or, with the letter N, the hot color of red is combined with the sensation of cold water.

With the letter J, the water cold sensation acts like the magnetic fluid that encompasses and joins four different colors. You have oneness amid diversity. The note of G# also occurs with the cosmic letter S. As I sense it, the note produces a steady state and balance in a vast space. It embodies equilibrium. This is in dynamic contrast to the fire in the letter S which is expanding and explosive in power. With the letter J in combination with the water, the G# assists in uniting and stabilizing the diverse qualities of the four elements.)

In practicing the cosmic letter J on the akashic plane, there is a sense of uniting oneself with the essence, the life, and the spirit at the core of every being. It is uniting oneself with every deep purpose in life.

You can probably understand then that in mastering the cosmic letter J there is no need of magic circle or wand, no need for ritual or ceremony. No need of priest or temple. In one of my stories, the Goddess of the Earth says to Le’ah’e,

GODDESS OF THE EARTH

(walking toward them)

Four billion years I have watched over and tended this planet. I created life. No religion comprehends Who I Am, though it is I who grant permission before each appears.

(walking up to Le’ah’e)

Your innermost desires are the same as my dreams:

To have children who can see through the eyes of the stars,

who unite all opposites, the constellations themselves, into one song of love.

(beat)

Will you shine with my light?

Be anointed with my beauty?

Speak with my voice?

LE’AH’E

Yes.

GODDESS OF THE EARTH

Two things I require:

Establish justice upon the earth

(beat)

And do as my Beloved and I do—

(passionate)

make the world new.

LE’AH’E

How do I do this?

GODDESS OF THE EARTH

Create a religion without rituals, priests, or temples in which love, wisdom, power, and justice are equally honored and pursued.

You could say that those who practice the cosmic letter J on the akashic plane are indeed practicing a genuine cosmic religion, one in harmony with the universe, one that embraces all divine purposes, and one that seeks to master omnipresence—to be an all-embracing love that senses, joins with, protects, and celebrates the original inspiration and inner spirit that is at the core of every being.

On such a level as this, like I say, there is no need of wand or magic circle. When you speak, your words speak from and with the force of the life that is at the core of any being. Under this law of love, you are free to join with any being in the universe to fulfill a divine purpose. Such is the nature of Divine Providence and all-embracing love.

There are jokes on Wall Street such as if the Federal Reserve Chairman—Bernanke--were to get in a car accident on his way to work the stock markets around the world would close three to five per cent lower at the end of the day. Like I say, businessmen need to feel that their economies are stable and that if there are problems a benevolent presence will protect them.

A teacher in a classroom sets the tone and the quality of the classroom by the power of her voice. It is not just done by command and authority. It is through sympathy, empathy, and persuasion. When she is good, the students are convinced that she looks out for their best interests. If she is very good she actually cares about them in that way.

You can practice the letter J on the akashic plane. This level of awareness penetrating space and time can be practiced in your own spiritual space—the J in this case expands your aura but it is only your own aura that is involved. You can also practice the cosmic letter J on the akashic plane of the earthzone--within the aura of the planet earth. Here the J is slightly different. You can get a sense of how the higher spirits channel the influences that reach the earth from certain degrees of the Zodiac. That is how Bardon describe the 360 spirits of the earthzone in his book on evocation. In their meditations, these spirits extend their influence across the entire planet. They are inspiring, protecting, and benevolent.

There may not be very many on earth who are listening. But the inspiration is there. Practicing the cosmic letter J in the earthzone you can get a feeling of what it is like to be one of these spirits and one with all life on earth.

There are three more levels--the mental, astral, and physical levels- for practicing the letter J. What I wrote today came out of four hours of meditating on the J on the akashic plane. Obviously my procedure involves a lot of meditation and a small amount of writing. Over the next few weeks I will try to describe my experiences with these other planes as well.

As you notice, I am making an effort to find connections between personal love and cosmic love and also between intellect and intuition. In other writings, I describe in detail the difference between the electric and magnetic fluids. These are primal and spiritual energies analogous to masculine and feminine. With the cosmic letter J we find the creativity and vision that derives not from the separation but from the union of these opposites. Or, as William Blake would say, to taste this ecstasy is to taste divinity.

Mental Plane

Bardon says that the letter J on the mental plane “expresses the mystery of rapture or ecstasy in its highest form.” Practice enables one to master the ecstasies that belong to each of the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—seen in consciousness, intellect, will, and in love. An individual learns how to evoke one or all of these ecstasies at will.

From Bardon’s other writings we know how important attaining magical equilibrium is—that is, arriving at a balance of the four elements in one’s astral body. In working toward magical equilibrium, we get to know the elements as they already exist within us. We study their operations with great care.

The practice of magical equilibrium involves, for example, associating negative emotions such as anger, revenge, arrogance, depression, laziness, etc. with a particular element. And then one conscientiously works to turn that negative quality into something positive.

(Note: There is a certain leeway in ascribing a specific quality to one element. Insensitivity for example is a weakness in the water element but an individual can be insensitive because he is too intellectual, too willful, or too focused on the material world to notice what other people are feeling. You have to use your own discretion in deciding which element goes with which quality.

Also, some of the qualities listed belong more to the astral plane and others belong more to the mental plane. In discussing astral equilibrium, we are discussing emotions that belong to an individual’s personality. If someone says, “I love you,” it is possible he is speaking of an astral feeling as in “I am overwhelmed with awe and longing whenever I think about you.” This is an astral response as is typical of falling in love.

The “I love you” could also be a mental body response as in “In so many ways we are like each other—we are completely compatible, in sync, and in harmony with each other.” In other words, the person is saying, “I like the idea of our relationship. It works. It makes sense to me.”

But when the mental plane becomes very strong, there is always going to be an astral effect. If you feel ecstasy on the mental plane, you will almost always experience very powerful feelings on an astral level as well. Using one’s mind to change negative astral qualities to positive qualities is basically using the mental plane to change the astral. In this sense, the practice of attaining magical equilibrium involves equally the mental and astral planes. For this reason, I am linking the description of the ecstasies on the mental plane to the process of changing the astral qualities of the elements.)

There are various methods Bardon recommends for developing astral equilibrium. You can use autosuggestion—you repeat to yourself as in an affirmation that you have the positive quality you are after. You can use will power to simply stop a certain kind of action. And you can mediate on the opposite quality.

In terms of methods, autosuggestion and affirmations seem to belong to the air element. It is cognitive psychology—you remind yourself with words and ideas of the way you want to be. This method is more intellectual. Using will belongs to the fire element. Meditation is more like the water element.

Behavioral methods seem to belong more to the earth element. If you are trying to eat less sweets you can modify your behavior by simply eating a little less each day. You do not have to do much in the way of thinking, feeling, or using your will. You simply focus on changing your behavior in a slow way that does not cause pain but inevitably brings about change.

In a book I am doing on undines, I summarize various ways to mediate on an element:

“There are different ways of making a feeling, a spiritual presence, or an inner truth our own. You can use the method of focusing—notice the feelings that a description of an experience awakens in your body as you read or speak the words. Open to the feelings and let them transform as they vibrate, echo, and expand within you.

You can use contemplation—let the words be your guide as you let them sink into your mind leading to you a place of dream and vision beyond the limitations of thought and reason.

You can the method of dialoguing—let the feeling within the words appear to you as a person with whom you can speak and who speaks as you listen. Discuss your different perspectives and ask the tough questions.

You can use invocation—let the words raise your awareness to a higher level so that you feel closer to something greater than your self and that now has greater access to you.

You can use evocation—speak the words as if you are the one who wrote them and that what they mean rises from the core of your being.

You can use meditation—open your mind with care and concentration so that the vibration of the words (their essence, the light and life within them) become a part of your mind, your body, and your soul.

You can treat them like poetry (as poetry and words of power existed in ancient times)—the sounds and imagery speak to your heart and imagination of and with the primordial powers of creation. How? Similar to meditation, you become very still like a mirror, like the surface of a still lake, like open space through which sun and moon light appear. And then with more feeling than is typical of meditation you let what is in front of you appear within you so that you overcome the separation.

You can use path working—somewhere between daydreaming and waking up within a dream begin an imaginative journey that moves between who and where you are and what you wish the world to be.

Or, to sum it all up, you just become the thing you are concentrating on.”

If we meditate on the opposite quality of a weakness in an element, we are focusing on a positive quality of another element. It might be helpful, therefore, to discuss the elements in terms of when they are positive and quite strong. This also leads us toward a discussion of the ecstasy of the individual elements.

Some spirits of the earthzone such as the spirit referred to as Jvar specialize in magical equilibrium. Jvar may have an individual who has trouble with a certain element practice embodying a strong, positive quality of that element or of another element that has an influence over the first

If you feel oppressed and obsessed, Jvar may have you meditate on the element of air. The air sensation in this case may be an astral energy that feels light, weightless, at ease, balanced, and free. Its emotional qualities are feeling playful, happy, content, sensitive, alive to each moment—appreciative and full of wonder, looking at life as if you back in time at Stratford watching the first showing of one of Shakespeare’s plays. This is touching on the air element in its ecstasy—in this case, artistic inspiration.

In other words, Jvar is attuned to overcoming the negative quality not only by working with the opposite positive quality. He is also advising an individual to become familiar with the ecstasy within each element.

The negative often has a hold upon us because we have not yet become familiar with the genuine beauty and pleasure that each element contains. Our limited experience keeps us in bondage or in a jail. The key to freedom is to understand and experience the creative magic that is a part of the positive qualities of each element.

In a sense, then, practicing the cosmic letter J on the mental plane involves many different things. It is as study of four elements in their ecstasies, true. It is also a study of magical equilibrium, of turning negative to positive. And it is a study of the ideals that motivate and inspire human beings. The individual ecstasies are something sacred—they take us out and beyond our individual identities and unite us with something greater and more powerful than ourselves. In this sense, the letter J on the mental plane is an introduction to a genuine cosmic religion.

Different religions have grown up around these elemental experiences and turned them into spiritual ideals—love and compassion, enlightenment and wisdom, divine will and justice, and divine purpose and accomplishing works that are of enduring value. Religions, however, rely heavily upon tradition. For example, it takes religions hundreds if not thousands of years to form a consensus about what is sacred. This is important because the members of a particular religion feel a compelling need to agree on what is at the center of their tradition. In the process, religions have been shaped by historical, cultural, philosophical, economic, and political considerations. And as a result they have rituals, doctrines, lineages, hierarchies, and priests.

In pursuing magical equilibrium, by contrast, our concern is not with belief, doctrines, or traditions. Our primary focus is on the activity of the elements in our personalities. Our daily lives are the spiritual training ground.

We ask questions such as: How does my mind work? What is the depth and richness of my feelings? What are my goals and what strengths and virtues do I need to acquire in order to attain and to maintain them? Where am I with my intellect, will, feeling, and consciousness? What might these become if I deepen and transform them?

In studying the ecstasies of the four elements in our own astral and mental bodies, we are exploring the connections between our individual microcosm and the greater macrocosm. We are bringing ourselves into harmony with the laws of the universe. The feeling of completion that arises is not just personal and satisfying. It is a magical action. The depth of this vision of what life is capable of being takes us beyond our cultural traditions to a universal, global, and finally to a cosmic level of awareness.

(Note: I often get questions about the difference between the elements in Chinese acupuncture and the elements in hermetic magic. And one scientist used me as an example of a modern person who still uses an archaic system that approaches nature in terms of four elements rather than viewing it from the perspective of modern science.

I have no objections to science. I love science. Scientists, however, seem very unaware of the capabilities of the mind. As a spiritual anthropologist, I have been studying the varieties of spiritual and psychic experience for the last thirty five years. The most creative research in telepathy is taking place not among psychics but by the U.S. military. With so much technology at our fingertips we barely need to refine our senses to attain mind to mind contact. Scientists have already attained direct, wireless communication between the brain and computers. Some would like a computer chip inserted in each person at birth so a government can tack the whereabouts of each person. Who needs telepathy? You can call just about anyone on a cell phone and ask them what they are thinking.

There is actually no need to refer to four elements. Mentifil, the gnome, for example, studies the electronic oscillation in most of the elements found in the periodic table. Nonetheless, physical matter, liquids, gas, and fire have certain general characteristics which make them convenient reference points.

We could just as easily say that modern scientists use an archaic and childlike system of classification--one unified field of matter, energy, and life are separated in arbitrary ways and then referred to as biology, zoology, physics, chemistry, astrophysics, astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, etc. Everything that exists has an electronic vibration. When you are clairsentient, you can perceive this directly with your mind. Scientists simply have not developed this kind of sensitivity. If they did, the process of discovery would be accelerated as direct perception is added to scientific observation.

The undines are specialists not just in the H2O molecule or water as it exists in nature. They can increase or modify the qualities of a magnetic field at will. All the same, it took a great number of astrological variables acting in just the right way to produce water as it exists on our planet--a very rare occurrence among the billions of stars in our galaxy. Alien scientists arriving at earth would probably exclaim, “Look at how the water element penetrates and shapes every aspect of this planet’s life, geology, and atmosphere.” I think the ancient scientists might have had an edge in understanding the uniqueness of the water element on earth by assigning it a primary place in their system of classification.

The salamander Itumo can do the same with electricity and lightning as undines do with water. The entire biosphere is receptive and subject to being modified by an awareness that penetrates it with the powers of the mind. A sylph like Cargoste can put back the onset of an ice age by twenty to fifty years by altering the route of the jet stream and other atmospheric phenomena.

Scientists along with politicians and businessmen often employ high levels of intuition as well as psychic powers as they go about their professions. They simply are unaware of when they are using these “magical” powers. Instead, they are considered to be brilliant, gifted, charismatic, or inspired. I find that using the four elements to describe heightened states of awareness is a very useful tool. It seems far richer and more complete in its explanatory power than anything I have yet found in modern psychology.)

The Ecstasy of Fire

Do you know what it is like to explode

From the core of your being—

To be a flame of white light

Reaching down from the sky

And up from the earth

And to celebrate this art within your heart?

I will tell you:

It is bliss unafraid of emptiness

It is love unafraid of loss

It is desire burning so hot

It annihilates the shadows within the lover’s heart.

Wherever there is an abyss, a chasm, or a gulf

Within nature, between one heart and another,

Or separating mankind from the divine—

My joy and delight will suffice

To pierce and shatter the darkness of any night

So you may find the path across.

From the salamander Itumo

In regard to transforming the negative qualities of fire into something positive, consider anger. There are entire curriculums relating to anger management. Individuals can be ordered to anger management by a judge who then reviews the individual’s degree of participation in the court ordered program. Part of the training is to become aware of a series of increasingly intense sensations and emotions that lead one to act without thinking. In other words, you simply train to be more conscious by observing what you experience rather than remaining unconscious.

Another aspect of the training is to learn to intervene on your own behalf. When you notice you are about to act with anger you take a time out. You break the otherwise automatic sequence of behaviors which amount to preprogrammed actions. You think make a conscious decision about the outcome you wish to happen.

In Honolulu, every divorcing couple who has children is ordered to divorce meditation. The mediators make the well-being of the children the central issue in the divorce process. In both these cases, society has institutionalized and demanded that individuals work to transform themselves by, in effect, striving toward greater balance in their emotional life and mental attitudes.

Before even practicing the cosmic letter J we can ask questions and explore the universal aspects of the four elements in terms of the treasures of life and spirit they contain. Again, consider anger. Anger may flair up unexpectedly for an individual. Like road rage, someone is driving down the highway completely relaxed and at ease and someone suddenly cuts him off. He may overreact and do something completely foolish or even dangerous. In another situation, he may feel threatened when another individual simply expresses a genuine feeling of doubt or anxiety about something affecting both of them.

The anger can be ascribed to the fire element. You could say it appears because the individual’s will power is weak or deficient—the fire element is underdeveloped so that he feels he has to overreact in order to compensate. You see this all the time with individuals whose minds are already made up. They are obstinate and inflexible—they blindly assert themselves to appear to be firm and decisive.

Or, you could also say that the anger results because the fire element is too strong and unrefined—the individual feels compelled to act. He has lots of fiery energy. But in this case also he lacks the experience necessary to make a good choice.

In a sense, the anger is a signpost, a warning, and an invitation. It is saying, “Consider how much more dynamic and in charge of your life you would be if you actually embodied more will and power. Right now you feel impotent in certain situations. You are out of control. What if you had more direction and your sense of purpose were more powerful and profound? Would you waste a moment of your time in on being angry when you have such great things to do with yourself?”

What is it like to experience the ecstasy of the fire element in terms of will? What would it be like to feel that you have a will power equal to if not far greater than anyone you have ever met?

In literature and drama, this issue about will power is often at the center of a story’s conflict. The bad guy is striving to have power over others. Now a screenplay writer has to love all his characters or they just don’t come across well.

Rowling in her series on Harry Potter has a bad guy called Lord Voltmort. But this bad guy is one-dimensional. There is no room to feel any sympathy for him. He is a cliché. He just wants power and the power he wants serves no purpose.

The problem with this presentation is that the bad guy only exists to spur the good guys to act. Without him, there is no story. He exists so that everyone else can run around discovering who they really are and doing heroic things in order to defeat him.

One of my very favorite characters in literature is Senator Palaptine/the Sith Lord in Star Wars. The Sith Lord can disguise his power so that even Jedi can not sense who he is. And he does something right: he feels that the galaxy should be organized and run more efficiently. The Jedi seem incapable of such vision.

The problem with great bad guys is that they all seem to have the same character flaws. They are manic depressive or schizophrenic. One moment the Sith Lord disguised as Senator Palpatine is the height of reason, diplomacy, consideration, and even handedness. The next moment in one of his video conferences he is nearly hissing with rage, arrogance, and hostility.

The bad guys are impatient. They rarely wait till just the right moment to make their move. They are arrogant which leads them to overreact or underestimate the opposition. They just do not see the world clearly.

And above all else the bad guys have the character flaw of needing to be recognized. They want to show the world or the galaxy just how great they really are to make up for all the suffering they have gone through or all those years of being in hiding and unappreciated.

So what if the bad guy did not have these character flaws? What if he was consistent, patient, and judicial in his temperament so that he always strives to see the world clearly? And what if he was actually humble so that he realized holding power is a sacred honor and great responsibility—so that he is content to accomplish all his purposes by remaining hidden and acting from behind the scenes?

I ran this by one of my consultants and he said, “Then you would have a good guy instead of a bad guy.” And there it is. To make an interesting and convincing bad guy you have to give him some good qualities. Similarly, to make an interesting and convincing good character you have to mix in some weaknesses, failure, and bad attitudes.

And there you have life. Sometimes the good guys with one or two character flaws are as dangerous as the bad guys. Nixon could establish détente with China and Russian but he was paranoid. He was willing to cheat when it came to maintaining the democratic process.

Some people loved Bill Clinton. But while he knew that Al-Qaeda was training 25,000 terrorists in Afghanistan, his government was unable to act because he was undergoing the process of impeachment. A weakness for women brought about 9/11. I ask seriously, who is worse? Those with malice and a tiny bit of power who seek to kill and to destroy or someone running the most powerful army, intelligence organization, and economy on earth but whose political impotency enables 9/11 to happen?

The Sith Lord is dangerous because he makes a great attempt using his psychic powers to empathically understand others. He likes to use force. But he absolutely loves to control others from within by actually understanding what motivates them.

Look at how he turned the young Anakin, soon to be Darth Vader, to the dark side. “We will be following your career with great interest,” says the Sith Lord in the guise of Senator Palpatine. Did the kid ever have a chance? The Sith Lord was more interested in Anakin, understood him far better, and monitored his inner and outer movements more carefully than Anakin’s own Jedi master.

Using empathy to understand others is a good thing except in the hands of someone with evil designs. What is great about Palpatine is that he is more empathic than anyone else in the galaxy. He actually runs his organization through an inner psychic connection to his followers. What is bad is that he abuses the power.

One of the actors who played the Sith Lord said the Sith Lord was hard to play because all he wanted was pure power and so he was pure evil. This misses the point. Power is itself a divine virtue. It grants you the ability to change the world. Instead of being helpless or possessed by good intentions (well meaning, devote, sincere, etc.) but otherwise completely impotent, you actually get to make a difference. And making a difference in life is part of what being alive is all about.

As I have said elsewhere, if you have power you can change things. If you act with wisdom, the changes you make are harmonious and fair. If you act with love, what you do heals others and allows them to feel more alive. And if you act with divine purpose your works endure through all ages of the world.

Back to the question of anger. If you make the fire element positive by developing your will power you do not remain angry for long. This is because being dynamic and in charge of your self means you strive to make the best of every situation you enter. So you do not waste time on non productive emotions.

On the other hand, if you work with the opposite of anger and fire, namely, water and feeling you possess more empathy for others and more inner serenity. You do not experience anger because you are no longer impatient. You do not become hostile because a person or situation does not match your expectations. Instead, you accept life as it is before you start to change it.

I am capable of great anger. But it is hard for me to remain angry because of my empathy. I can actually understand the point of view, feelings, and experiences of anyone. Immediately seeing both sides of a conflict tends to reduce the amount tension.

If you combine both fire and water in good measure, then you have sympathy for others and you remain focused on accomplishing the most and getting the most out of a situation. Great leaders do not avoid asking others for sacrifice. They simply convince others that what they are asking for serves an important purpose and it is being done for the greater good. And even when you are the one being asked to make the sacrifice, the individual with power will convey to you some of his fire and water: he will show you that he understands what you feel and he will transform your feelings by making you feel appreciated and valuable.

In the books written by Carlos Castaneda, the Yaqui sorcerer Don Juan said that in order to face the unknown, the Nagual, a young apprentice often must undergo servitude to a petite dictator. The petite dictator is anyone who tries to totally dominate others and subject them to his will. In fighting to be free of this dominating individual, a student of magic learns to develop his own will power. He is witness to power in its negative aspect and must in turn exert tremendous will in a positive way to overcome it.

But this is not just about developing one’s will power and distinguishing positive from negative. It is about a requirement necessary for facing the unknown. To face the unknown, a student needs to be bring all the resources of his being into play in order to overcome an obstacle. Similarly, to enter the divine world, you need to have total will power and conviction at your disposal so as not to rely upon the support of society and the rules relating to custom and conformity.

The positive fire element will at some point ask of us if we are ready to gather all your resources and focus them through our wills so that we are ready to accomplish a spiritual purpose. The petite dictator—your boss, your spouse, your parent, your religion, a gang/organization/group of some kind—will attempt to control every aspect of your life. This attempt at control is not just accomplished through external pressures. It will use bribes, bait, rewards, or a job offer as well as coercion, threats, blackmail, guilt, shame, and whatever else it can use to take advantage of your weaknesses.

In a similar way, a religion may try to act as a jailer, warden, judge, policeman, prosecutor, and parole officer. If you show any guilt, uncertainty, doubt, or fear they will grab hold of you for your own good. They offer safety and a community, friendship and solace, so you can get on with your life. In their own eyes, they exist to protect you from your self.

You are free of the petite dictator when you are able to just walk away. It is not easy but you have decided to pay the price that is required to be in charge of your self. You no longer feel tempted, threatened, or afraid. You have come to understand the dictator’s limitations. Sometimes the petite dictator plays the role of guarding you from the unknown. They are the “guardian of the threshold” to the mysteries.

These guardian/priests/ministers/evangelists/religious teachers are in the depths of their hearts terrified of the unknown. They have stood at the boundaries separating conventional wisdom from the mysteries of life and they turned back because their fear was too great. But if in fact you are free of fear and you embody a purpose that empowers you to go where they can not go, they will no longer attempt to interfere. They glance into your eyes; they will listen to your voice; and with a body to body, soul to soul, heart to heart exchange of on a subliminal level, they will say in effect, “You may pass. Go with God speed. What you attempt to do will never even enter my dreams.”

In a nutshell, you can take all the struggles in your life involving will power and consider them to be tests offered to you so that you will be ready to enter akasha, the fifth element. It will take all of your will power to enter the divine world but this is as it should be. Those who take into their hands the powers of creation should fully understand both the positive and the negative and the purposes that are served by each.

Bardon gives examples of the fire element in its negative aspect to which I add a few. They are anger, rage, jealousy, hatred, hostility, animosity, vindictiveness, irascibility, gluttony, insatiable, irritability, intemperance, bent to destruction, oppression, intolerance, aggression, accusing, blaming, self-righteousness, fanaticism, passive-aggressive, manipulative, controlling, domineering, etc.

In the positive qualities of fire are activity, enthusiasm, firmness, courage, eagerness, foresight, assertive, direct, spontaneous, and resolution.

We might explore the ecstasy of the fire element by referring to its more refined aspect—the electric fluid: In brief, the electric fluid is hot, burning, expansive, dynamic, intense, powerful, and explosive in sensation. It has the capacity to produce great light.

This can also be expressed in a negative fashion. As such its burning and consuming power acts to dominate the wills of others. It tortures and torments, hazes and subjugates. It absorbs others’ wills into itself. It utilizes every means possible to corrupt, divide, undermine, and enslave others to its purposes.

For the negative electrical fluid, the light is there but it lacks purity and clarity—the vision is distorted and twisted. The faith and conviction are there but are often expressed in a degraded form as arrogance and self-righteousness.

In terms of the positive, you could say that independence, strength, courage, conviction, faith, will, determination, dedication, self-reliance, self-mastery, uprightness, clarity, order, adaptability, practicality, planning, productivity, excitement, exhilaration, creativity, and vision are qualities that are present when the electrical fluid is operating successfully. (For more on the electric and magnetic fluids, see lava.net/~pagios/archetypes3.htm --The electric and magnetic fluids/Four feminine archetypes/the story of Eros and Psyche)

Put briefly, then, part of the ecstasy of fire is exhilaration, excitement, enthusiasm, conviction, and a profound sense of purpose. The ecstasy of will is feeling that you are aligned with the forces of life. The momentum unfolding the universe is flowing through your will.

A man does what he needs to do. The ecstasy here is being in touch with the deepest and greater power within you. Without this you can not be who you are meant to be. With it, something of the radiance, brilliance, and life giving power of the sun is shining through you.

Think about the sun for a moment. If its light were a song, the sun is singing in concert with every other star in the universe. Yet its song is original and arises from the depths of its being. If you can get inside this, if you can sense what the spirits of the sphere of the sun feel, the level of joy is incomprehensible. I would be willing to call this joy ecstasy.

Looking back, when I experienced the height of my despair when I was in a Tibetan monastery or living by myself in the Rocky Mountains, there were these odd moments that came to me. I felt my life was totally without meaning or significance. And then I would stop at Baskin Robins and have a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream. And this astonishing feeling would overcome me—I sensed how incredibly beautiful life was. It was like being for a brief instant transported to the sphere of the sun where the joy is beyond comprehension.

This did not explain my despair or depression to me. But it did help me keep my priorities straight. I had certain questions I wanted answered about the divine world and I felt empowered to keep searching—that the price was worth paying to find those answers.

A Jew I knew who was a psychic asked me about the question of suffering. But this is not an academic question. For the spirits of the sphere of the sun you either become healed if you are hurt or you seek to heal those who are still suffering. For the sphere of the sun, anything can be recreated new. Despair, for example, when it is really profound is almost identical to cosmic consciousness. This is because you are experiencing total detachment from individual identity and an emptiness that is so open it can embrace anything. St. Columba, for example, talked about the degree of his despair before he experienced the presence of God. (see my story on St. Columba: lava.net/~pagios/columba.htm)

Like I say, the ecstasy of fire enables you to set your priorities. You focus on your goals. You try not to allow the small things to disturb you. The point is to accomplish your mission and this you can do if you feel this ecstasy within you. It accompanies you every step of the way.

Of course, I realize my discussion about the ecstasy of fire is rather metaphysical and refined. We can talk about ecstasy in more prosaic terms. Contrast my approach to the ancient Greeks. The Greek city states had a habit of fighting each other during the summer and taking a break during the winter.

It is no surprise, then, for the Greeks to have this saying, “Men love war more than food, sleep, or women.” In modern times, some say the task of a man is to find some sort of productive work that is as exciting and captivating as sex. When he does so he attains a balance between his instincts and his role in society.

Consider those activities that engage a 100% of your attention and which are exhilarating, giving you that thrill of power that arises from the core of your being. The question then is

Can you find a productive activity through which you can focus the deepest primal powers in your self and also the full force of your personal and spiritual will?

If you can do so then you know something of the ecstasy of fire.

Though I am not discussing the elementals in this essay, in passing I would like to quote from my book on nature spirits. The elementals are rather unique in that, being composed of only one element, they clearly embody the primary qualities of that element:

In the fire element is an exuberant power.  The beings who reside in fire, the salamanders, seize each moment with zeal in order to dissolve the obstacles blocking their path to fulfillment.  Such fiery will destroys all fear and apprehension.  For the salamanders, each moment presents the opportunity to purify, strengthen, and expand the power of will.

The Ecstasy of Air

My mind is the sky--

Pure, clear, and open.

Its air flows through my chest,

Its winds are my breath.

In the air element is found clarity of mind and the attainment of

freedom. The air element is so vast and expansive, so

encompassing, those who are illuminated by its wisdom vanquish all confusion and overcome all attachment. The beings who reside in the sky, the sylphs, enter each moment seeking to attain and to abide in complete harmony.

The Zen master knows when a student gets a koan right. He witnesses a new flower blossoming. The air is filled with the fragrance of light.

Franz Bardon says there is an ecstasy of intellect created by the cosmic letter J. Some of us are given a taste this ecstasy in college. If we are lucky, a few of our college professors strove with diligence to teach us how to think clearly. They promoted a love of scholarship. They demonstrated through example how to be concise, to the point, and persuasive. They illustrated how to argue both sides of a question in order to assess and understand different points of view. They showed us how to weight evidence in support of a theory. They taught the value of observation and experimentation.

If you were really lucky, you may have run into one of those individuals like the man who discovered how to splice genes. He said something interesting in regard to our topic: “There is no greater pleasure than the thrill of scientific discovery.” Now that man was anointed with the ecstasy of the air element.

In the Western world, we have scientists whose passion enables them to dedicate themselves for a life time to scientific research. And their research transforms the world.

But we are after magical equilibrium. We want to know how to make the air element stronger, more positive and refined.