Magik & Magi

You may have noticed the k in the word magik. Our Mystery School uses this spelling for various reasons, the first of which is because it is close to the original Greek and Persian words.  The word magic derives from the Greek word magikos, meaning “powers of the Magi” but the Greeks took it from the older Persian word which meant “controlling the elements.” Spelling it with a k distinguishes the spiritual workings of magik from stage magic with its hats and rabbits. The latter should really be called “illusion,” and “sleight-of-hand,” but the word magic was erroneously applied to stage illusion to give it more credibility and mystery.  This caused a few true magik-workers to use the -ck spelling (magick) to differentiate between the two, but our School uses an even purer spelling:  M A G I K. This keeps us from being associated with Aleister Crowley, the infamous member of the Golden Dawn who was supposedly the first to use the magick spelling back in the early 1900’s.  However, some say Eliphas Levi, the French Occultist, was the first to use that spelling twenty years earlier than Crowley.  Many occult experts accuse all teachers who use Crowley’s spelling (magick) of being “Crowley-ites.”

Wanting to be as close as possible to the original greek Magikos, and not being Crowleyites in any shape or form, our School spells the word as magik. In the textbook reading assignment for this lesson there is a nice definition of true magik which will make all this clearer. The author of our textbook uses the -ck spelling.

As members of the Mystery School we are each on the path to become a Kristian Mage (male or female), Magus (male), Maga (female). Of course you don’t have to refer to yourself as one of these terms, but it is something you may end up becoming.

Who were the original Magi?

The Magi were a priestly caste in ancient Persia, also called Chaldean Magi. They are thought to have been followers of Zoroaster, the Persian teacher and prophet who lived around 600 BC. Professing the doctrines of Zoroastrianism, the magi practiced a libations ritual, pouring milk, oil, and honey over a flame while chanting prayers and hymns. Gradually, the religion of the magi incorporated Babylonian elements, including astrology, demonology, and magic. (The word magic is derived from the word magi.) By the 1st century AD, the magi were identified with wise men and soothsayers. Thus, the biblical magi who came from the East to worship the infant Yeshua  (see Matthew 2:1-12) were called wise men.  Reference: MSN Encatre article 4-2-2001

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There is a noticeable Hindu influence in the ancient rituals of the magi. Pre-Zoroastrian Persia had the same pantheon of Gods as India (Indra and Mithra etc.). The Zoroastrian magi converted over to worshipping the one wise God preached of by Zoroaster (Ahura Mazda is the name of this one god) but in their rituals they still used milk and honey over a flame, just as the Hindus did 10,000 years ago and still do today. Hinduism really influenced a lot of cultures, languages and religions.  The terms Indo-European and Indo-Persian indicate some of these important blendings and mergers. Later the semitic Jewish people, the Hebiru or Eberu (“Hebrews”), adopted concepts like dualism (a good god and an equal and opposing evil god), the devil and perhaps this “milk and honey” motif from Zoroastrianism via Hinduism.  Early on Judaism evolved into non-dualism, (the evil entity is not a god, not equal with the one God, but is still a pain in the arse). Just so, Hinduism evolved into Advaita (Non-dual) Vedanta religion for the “elite” but still Dvaita (Dual) Vedanta for the “masses.”

Overmind Thinking

Overmind thinking is God-Thinking. Organizing and thinking about your universe (or multi-verse) in fours encourages your mind to wrap itself around the big picture, around everything-at-once. Overmind thinking is big-picture thinking. Perhaps the Divine processes information (thinks) this way.

Don’t be dismayed if you are not sure what we are talking about here. Just keep reading. Each lesson is supposed to take a week to complete, so it’s a good idea to get into the habit of reading over the lesson each day, even if it seems easy. The spiritual-magikal parts of your mind are empowered by repetition. The more times this information travels over the highways and by-ways of your mind, the stronger and more substantial those pathways become. Physiologically, you are training your neural synapses, those tiny little connections in your brain, to light up more quickly. Psychically, repetition activates your Overmind thinking, getting you warmed up to expand your spiritual-magikal life. Every time you review your magik studies, you are getting your mind ready for god-thinking.

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Making
the Sign of the Cross

If you were not raised Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, you may still have seen people from those religions crossing themselves. They hold the fingers of their right hand (always the right hand!) in a certain hand shape, then touch their forehead, chest and shoulders. What are they doing? This sign is nowhere described or even mentioned in the Bible. Yet the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches are the oldest Christian churches on the planet, tracing their roots back to the earliest Kristians, the direct followers of Yeshua. Maybe they “remember” something the rest of Christianity doesn’t.

Over the centuries, many of the original Kristian teachings and traditions have been warped, suppressed and violently removed. But making the sign of the cross, the equal-bar cross (not a crucifix) is indeed an ancient practice. It has its roots in Kabala, ancient Jewish mysticism, hinted at in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) and taught by Jesus/Yeshua.  There is little doubt that Master Yeshua himself taught the making of the cross to his pupils. You will almost certainly recognize the words that go with this magikal making…

Note:  the G sound in Vih-G’dew-Lah and Vih-G’boo-Rah is a hard G as in “good”, not a soft G as in “George.”

If you know a little bit of Hebrew and are wondering about the Hebrew inconsistency above, read this.

Passwords & Occult Sign Language

This hand-gesture, making the sign of the cross, is one of the oldest occult sign-language forms.  The words to this hand gesture are your first password in the Esoteric Mystery School, and were used as a password by none other than the early Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches.  Feel free to memorize the words in Hebrew, too, but you are only REQUIRED to know the password in English.  The phrase, “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”  is known as the Doxology of the Lord’s Prayer. In esoteric circles it is also called “the Catechumen password.”  In ancient days, when Kristianity was an underground movement punishable by death, someone might casually say to you in conversation or during a business transaction, “Lead us not into temptation,” or “Deliver us from Evil”, You would then be expected to immediately respond by saying the above password, the Doxology phrase.  If you didn’t, they would know you weren’t one of them and would carefully refrain from discussing Kristianity. Some initiates would cross themselves at the mention of Evil and might or might not also speak the words of passage while doing so.

Besides as a password sign, why make the Sign of the Cross?

The soul is said to anchor itself in the chest. The chest cavity is also called the soul cavity in esoterica. When you make the sign of the cross over your soul cavity, you are affirming your link to the four corners of the Universe (or multi-verse). You are also protecting yourself from negative energies and entities. You may have heard terms like, “making the sign against the evil eye,” and “warding off evil.” These were everyday phrases in the Middle Ages, showing an ever-present fear of both inner and outer “demons,” fear of evil and fear of the negative aspects of the personality. When you cross yourself, you are “warding off evil,” actually protecting your soul.

When you perform certain rituals or affirmations you are communicating with the higher, deep and ordinary minds, as well as announcing to the universe.  When making the sign of the cross you remind all aspects of your self to utilize the sacred marriage between head and heart (we touch the head first and then heart). Touching your shoulders then makes it clear to all and to the Universe that you plan to put into action that marriage of head and heart.  The arms are a symbol of the Work.  We have been called to service, to the holy Work.  We make a circuit, a polarity, when we unite head and heart (mind and emotion, intellect and compassion).  We show we really mean it when we put that knowledge (gnosis) and conviction to work.  Just like your grandmother said, actions speak louder than words.  Thus making the sign of the cross is an ancient affirmation reminding us to actualize the sacred marriage, to use our spiritual know-how in a hands-on way.

Hand Positions

Making the sign of the evil eye means crossing your fingers, like people do when they say, “cross your fingers,” or “jinx.” Making a special hand gesture and then hoping all will be well is an ancient practice steeped in the occult and ancient wisdom traditions. An old sect of the Russian Orthodox church, called the “Old Believers” actually cross their fingers almost in the “jinx” position when they make the sign of the cross.

Three or four? hundred years ago the Russian Church tried to stop them from using that specific sign language hand-gesture because Tikhon, the Russian Pope (called the Patriarch), learned that the crossed fingers were a “pagan” hand gesture. The entire empire was forced to switch to a newer hand position:  the thumb-pad touching the pads of the first two fingers, with the ring finger and pinky folded toward the palm. All those who didn’t switch to the new way were persecuted, and many were even executed. A few held firm, fled the country or hid out in the hills.  Thus the Old Believers still exist today in Canada and remote parts of Russia. The new hand position is still used by the entire Eastern Orthodox Church: Russian, Greek, Coptic, Antiochian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Georgian and Armenian. These are some of the oldest Christian Churches in the world, older than the Roman church by centuries. When making the sign of the cross, Roman Catholics hold the right hand flat and all four fingers together as they touch forehead and shoulders.

In Kabbalah, the Bible magik system studied by Jewish and Christian occultists, there is yet another finger/hand position. Kabbalists hold the hand with index finger in the pointing position, as given in the exercise above. Another difference in the way Catholics and Eastern Orthodox make the sign of the cross is which shoulder is touched first. Catholics tap their left shoulder first, Orthodox their right. In Christian and Judaic Kabbalah, it is customary to tap the right shoulder first, though some schools do teach left-first. Touching the left shoulder first is a sign that a school’s teachings aren’t as accurate. Many instructors will deliberately teach pupils the “mainstream” left-shoulder-first method in order to keep the ancient way for inner circle students only.

Yeshua is often shown in classical art with his hand in blessing posture in this cross-fingered hand position. HIS ring finger and pinky are lowered to touch the palm, making the finger cross stand out (and for other significant reasons which we’ll explore in later lessons). Such finger and hand positions are called mudras (MOO-drahz) in Sanskrit, the sacred language of ancient India.

Please try all of these hand positions when you cross yourself. See which one(s) seem best for you. The gestures can all become part of your sign language vocabulary, each one to be used at different times, for different purposes. Be sure, however, to touch the right shoulder first. This will identify you as an adept of the esoteric Way, a member of Yeshua’s Church of the Way.

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Basic
Magik:  A Practical Guide

Time for a little textbook reading.  Please click here and read the first excerpt (pp. 3-13) from Basic Magick: A Practical Guide by Phillip Cooper.

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