Chapter Two

In the previous chapter we can understand how the Qabala of Hermetic Science views Natural Law and the extent of its government. One of the fascinations for the Alchemist and Magickian alike, in past ages, was the discovery of how the Primal Rule expressed itself in the various departments of Nature. These hearty explorers would physically and psychically investigate objects and subjects, tracing chains of ideas or dynamics back from symptoms to causes, and vice-versa, in order to gain greater understanding of how the One Law became the many Laws which govern the various objects and subjects in our reality.

They were very, very, successful in their investigations. They learned that Natural laws developed along definite paths which produced various calculable classes of law, and thus phenomena.

Under the weight of the knowledge they obtained about the secret classes and functions of Nature the ancient Sages gathered what they had learned together into ordered bodies of knowledge, which we might call arcane colleges. As their understanding of Natural Law grew these early occultists understood that there was a purpose to creation. From a detailed understanding of the nature of this purpose the most conscientious of these Sages developed an agreement that it was the only honourable thing they could do to align their activities with the Primal Purpose. This great understanding required them to abandon the illusion of free-will and to sacrifice their personal desires in preference for those of the Supreme Will.

From their investigations along the lines of this new philosophy the Magi learned that each human individual is itself a centre of expression for some aspect of the One Desire. That in order to align oneself with that Desire one must discover what particular portion of the infinite activities of the Supreme Will one has been apportioned in this incarnation. This has been called 'Discovering ones True Will' by some modern initiates and 'Discovering ones True Mission in Life' in common language.

So a regime of instruction was created, based on their knowledge of Natural Law, which would guide the student of the Mysteries to a point where that 'True Will' could be clearly understood. This training involves introducing the aspirant to the fundamentals of esoteric philosophy. Tuition is given in two parts. One involves the intellectual learning of the laws underlying our present reality. The other takes the student through a series of practical exercises which are designed to demonstrate the reality of the whole philosophy. These practical exercises also provide the student with, in embryonic form, certain 'tools' which he can use later to put what he has learned into practice and thereby grasp knowledge of his life's mission. This entire process, in no matter what actual form it takes, is called 'The Lesser Work' or Opus Minore by Hermetic Mages.

A student who succeeds in the Minor Work can be said to be one who has not only grasped the basics but, more importantly, has accepted their truth and developed a degree of understanding as to how he should now go about dealing with his life if he is to honour that Truth. In other words, the Lesser Work should reveal automatically to the aspirant the nature of Truth, but most likely not the Truth itself. This form of Truth when grasped by the aspirant provides its own validity. The Truth speaks for itself, we might say. Nevertheless understanding the Truth, the nature of the Supreme Desire, on any level is not enough to succeed in the Lesser Work. The deciding act is one in which the aspirant either honours that Truth by cleaving to the Path of 'attainment', or fears the implications of the Truths impact of his life and rejects, consciously or unconsciously, any further significant growth.

The student who sees his understanding of the nature of the Truth as a great gift, a major worthy revelation, and desires wholeheartedly to raise himself up to meet the challenge to obtain kinship with that Truth, then enters the second level of training, which we refer to as 'The Great Work', specifically. To simplify a description of the Great Work, of which the lesser is a necessary part, we might say that it is the deliberate act of aligning oneself with the Will of the Supreme in order to take conscious, and therefore accelerated, part in the Supreme Beings Desire to know and experience everything It can concerning its own Nature.

One the other hand, he who fears the implications of the Truth about our existence, because of an imperfect understanding of the nature of Truth, is destined to languor in the wasteland which exists between ignorance of the divine and constructive knowledge of Truth. This is a painful place to be, for it means either having to live with the shame of abandoning the path and trying to maintain sanity, or in anger, turning the little and imperfect knowledge one has gained from the initial training towards satisfying the self. This is a form of black magick, for, by definition, it rejects the ideal that we are nothing of ourselves but rely on a greater power for our being.

Experience has shown, in our magickal tradition, as well as those of other times and cultures, that those who enter into occult training and fail to recognize the liberating power inherent in the Nature of Truth never, in the present incarnation at least, rise from their lowly station of selfish magickal orientation. Their soul becomes stained through the imperfect vision of the Truth they obtained, and that stain shows itself in their physical presentation, their attitude and their work. Therefore did the classic and ancient Sages of our Work declare in all faith that Initiation into the Hermetic arte was a dangerous endeavour for the unwary, exclaiming as they did that only three goals were open to the Initiate: untimely death, insanity or success. Taking this into consideration, and the fact that many who dare to investigate the deeper regions of our arte fall victim to one of the first two fates, then it is no wonder, accepted and understood, why the common man fears magick and rejects involvement in even the slightest discussion of the subject.

To Chapter Three