We have looked at the train of thought that is the basis of the Hermetic Mages belief that everything in nature is governed by an underlying Law and Order. We have explained how this Law and Order, which we have called 'The Will of God' is the basis for the motive behind occult Initiation and Advancement. By Initiation and Advancement, it is asserted, we mean any process specially designed to mature the human soul to the point that it surpasses (to the extreme) commonly known and accepted human ability. Lastly, we have pointed out that such a process, no matter what it appears to be on the outside, how it is delivered (if you like), it must be based on a formula which is an image of the Divine Will, the one underlying law we call evolution.

Now let us look specifically at the formula and how it manifests in the life of the average Initiate.

In order to understand the mechanism of the formula of Initiation it is first necessary to know something of the simple structure and dynamic of the human psyche. In its simplest form the mind is bi-polar. One portion is exterior and outward looking and is referred to as the conscious mind - or the 'awake' mind. On the other side of the coin we have the interior focused or unconscious mind - the 'sleeping' mind if you like. The conscious mind is the seat of the ego, ones 'I'ness, or sense of self identity. The unconscious is the repository of memory, primarily, but also the holding place for all that is rejected as not being 'I'. The basic attributes of the conscious mind do not need explaining here. We are all familiar enough with that part of ourselves to the degree necessary to make our point. It is the unconscious with which we must concern ourselves, not only as the seat of all our repressed mental material but also as the throne of our personal power.

The unconscious might, therefore, in our minds eye, be imagined 'personified' as two persons living inside us. One is like an angel of light and the other is like a devil. These are what magickians call the dark and light mirrors of the soul. Psychologists refer to them as the shadow and the self. By whatever name we refer to them they are always and forever two forms of conscious intelligence that live within us, from the shallows of mental activity to a very deep level, and are the basis of our humanity. These two selves are experienced in a very mild way during the average progress of life in the manner of the tips of two very large psychological icebergs. In times of great stress or worry, hate and fear, the dark shadow self emerges to show itself more clearly. On the other hand during times of great compassion or empathy, deep knowing or revelation the light self displays its nature.

For the most part, as far as the average person is concerned, it is an important task in life to constantly keep pushing the dark nature down into the unconscious. This is what psychologists call repression. The dark nature is composed (partly) of all the difficult and traumatic memories and experiences of earlier life. It contains all of those fears, anxieties and shame producing memories we desire not to recall or feel again. So we spend a lot of time finding ways to push all of that down out of the way.

Now, and this is the important part, the Initiate is faced with the task reversing this process as the first step on his magickal journey. He must enter the Darkness and seek out that which Homo Normalis avoids with a vengeance. In other words the initiate is faced with attempting to succeed in a maneuver that goes against everything he has learned and accepted as a human animal. The wisdom of alchemy has described this process in its symbolic language thus:

'Putrefaction is the beginning, key and great mystery of our Arte.'

The alchemist must seek out and cleave to the mystery of the unconscious like a bridegroom to his bride. For such a reason did the alchemist recognize the Dark Mother, the black Isis or Madonna, as the patron Saint of his Great Work, the personification of that process which ushers the Initiate into a deeper communication with the unconscious.

With this knowledge in mind the ancient Priests of the Mystery schools designed methods of training, of Initiation and Advancement, which were intended to draw out the repressed contents of the unconscious, or alternatively, to guide the candidate into the Darkness of that underworld … as the first step in the process of liberation from the slavery of ignorance concerning the true nature of Self.

That this is the cold hard fact concerning the novitiate training of schools who work for the maturation of the soul every advanced Adept knows well and accepts. It is the novice who finds it difficult to accept and deal with this natural process … and the weak and unprepared who turn aside from the Royal Road in fear of the first stage of the Work. Therefore, no matter what path the aspirant is guided to, or chooses, in order to attain the summit of human potential, if its first step does not involve acceptance of and control over the unconscious then it is not occult training.

Now, it should be understood, that the esoteric science of Soul Maturation considers that. Like it or not, we all, eventually, will evolve to a point where this process must be braved. In other words it is a natural process … part of the dynamic of evolution.

The motive behind this mechanism of nature is simple and quite logical. A human, an average human, is so because his mind is divided into two very distinct fields in conflict, and he stands in between them struggling to find and maintain equilibrium. The fool who bends with a bias towards insanity has given up on this struggle, thus allowing his psyche to fall into corruption and further fragmentation. The accomplished occultist, on the other hand, is an individual who has polished the two mirrors of his soul and reintegrated them - thereby experiencing reality as a complete unit in its totality - relatively speaking. The process of the Great Work, then, might be said to be the Initiates struggle to recombine, to 'wed' - in the words of the alchemist - the opposing sides of his nature.

These opposing sides are the conscious and unconscious, light and dark, inner and outer, male and female, passive and aggressive, the temporal and eternal.

The first step in the Great Work is one which deliberately manifests the inner conflict in the outer world. Although every initiate is expected to meet this trial sooner, rather than later, no two individuals experience the first open battle with the unconscious in the same way. The process itself is archetypal and organic. That is, it is an abstract pattern we all follow - but just as no two flowers of the same genus grow and look the same no two 'shadow dramas' are the same on the surface.

It is also true that it is not only Initiates who go through this process. Some gain access to the Shadow by so-called accident, others by paths such as psycho-analysis, drugs, trauma, etc., which are similar, but not as far reaching in the potential, as occult training. Each 'way' has its genre of experiences too. The path of occult Initiation is therefore, to a degree, predictable within certain limits. For most students of the occult who are Initiated into a group or system that is deliberately designed to powerfully effect soul maturation, and is delivered effectively, the first confrontation with the Shadow is, 75% of the time, precipitated within the first 24 months of instruction (experience shows).

Experience has demonstrated that the novice is most often seen to have his first significant struggle with the unconscious, his personal demon, when he begins to commit himself to serious esoteric study for the first time. Often it is only the 'idea' of studying with the intention to mature his soul that is enough to 'upset' his Shadow and cause it to rise to the occasion. The Shadow knows by instinct, or possibly through foreknowledge, that 'effective' training is a threat to the continuing successful maintenance of its way of life. Like a wild animal backed into a corner it tries, sooner or later, to make a move on the Initiate. Its plan is to do whatever it can to cease the Training thereby regaining control of the Initiates will - and it will go to any lengths to succeed. The most common ruse is usually one, or a combination, of four things:

(1)         To convince the candidate that he is mentally/emotionally/physically incapable of carrying on with training.
(2)         To evoke an overpowering (seeming) irrational fear of the process in the candidate.
(3)         To cause the candidate to develop a degree of unsavory behaviour that will lead to his expulsion from Training, or
(4)         To convince the candidate that he is knowledgeable enough in occult matters that he might alter his Training program if he sees fit, thereby causing it to be ineffective or unsafe. (This maneuver on the part of the student is a conscious or unconscious belief that he is more knowledgeable than the tutor or the system/tradition which he is studying too, and is therefore a rebellion against or resistance to the tutor/system/tradition to some degree.)

Experience shows that point three above is the most common cause of Training failure in seriously effective systems. Point four is the most common in average systems which have the possibility of being effective, but which are hampered by mediocrity (lack of discipline) in both the instruction, instructors and students.

It is often quite amusing for the tutor to see a cool headed student completely devoted to Training exclaim with sure defiance that he will never fall victim to any or all of these four traps and then quite unconsciously do so within the first year of Tuition. What is not so amusing is to witness the high percentage of students who are turned back from making any further 'real' progress in their studies because they fail to recognize their predicament, when floundering in trouble, and deal with it appropriately. This, largely, is due to a lack of information available to the aspirant about the unusual predicament of esoteric Training. It is, therefore, our understanding that if one is informed beforehand one is more likely to be objective about the misfortunes accompanying the first Shadow attack and handle the matter with the type of honour and respect that lead to experience of the second stage of the formula.

It takes a knowledgeable and experienced tutor with great perseverance and tolerance to guide another human through the early stages of such Training. The integrity of such Training in a group must be protected with carefully designed contracts (oaths), rigid rules and individuals who are skilled enough to enforce them carefully. Without such rules and obligatory precautions the student who fails in the first stage may do irreparable damage to the group or the privacy within which a good teacher-pupil relationship must operate. Without such regulations those who pass through the threshold of the mysteries in damaged condition may never begin the process of attaining liberation for want of a safe environment and well established boundaries within which to work. The evidence of the necessity of that which we put forward here is easily found in the environment one sees existing in many of the more public schools of esoteric knowledge. Where strict rules and cautious guidance are lax or entirely inoperative or non-existent one finds groups of occultists in the full throws of Shadow dramas bickering over every little unimportant thing, lost almost entirely from the opportunity for further growth in that situation.

It is truly unfortunate circumstance that so much of the understanding of this first process is lost to those who are in outer authority within the Western Mystery Tradition. Students, groups and the entire Tradition suffers for want of an education in a matter which in the past was a secret guarded very closely and today can be read about in great detail in many good books on Jungian psychology.

To The Introduction