Why Grades Are Important in the Golden Dawn
Grades in the Golden Dawn are based on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. They constitute both preparation and permission to work "higher" levels of the Tree of Life.
The Tree of Life is a way to look at the universe - where universe includes "everything" exterior and interior, and not just what astronomers see and catalog. The universe inside as well as the universe outside.
The Tree of Life doesn't exist as an object in itself, and I personally doubt every aspect of the universe can be crammed somewhere onto the Tree without also popping up somewhere else in slightly different form, or overlapping. Life just doesn't seem to work in such "neat" categories. On the other hand, the Tree of Life is a darn good approach to self-development and a lot - a very large lot - of the everyday universe (exterior and interior) can be associated in a pleasing, harmonious, and/or rational way onto the Tree of Life. Hey, everyday we have to choose what we focus on and what we ignore, and the Tree of Life is a set of rules and principles on how to focus on things in the astral plane.
Other good road maps/models are astrology and the trigrams and hexagrams of the I Ching. Unfortunately there aren't, to my knowledge, any good initiatory systems based on those two models. Certainly there aren't any systems as readily accessible to the Western student as the Tree of Life. Actually, most the planets are attributed to the Tree of Life so a good way of working with them is to study the Tree of Life.
Part of Golden Dawn practice was known as "path working" and involved self-directed meditations up the Tree of Life. As the practioner moved along different portions of the Tree of Life, he/she had to give the Grade Signs to progress beyond the guardians posted at each portal. Sometimes the meditations were so vivid as to constitute "waking dreams" and this is what "astral projection" is really all about.
Personally I believe you can jump right in at any path, any sephiroth (the paths are the tubes between the circles, the circles are the sephiroth) and have a meditation or astral experience. However, it is also clear that the quality of the meditation experience will improve vastly if you start at the bottom and "walk" your walk up the Tree; consider the paths and sephiroth you have to transit as a necessary "warm up" exercise. Similarly, I believe the Grade Signs and initiations are not essential to path working, but add immensely to the quality of the result. The more you immerse yourself in the system, the better the results, much better than jumping in cold.
In short, the Grades and their initiations are similar to school; it helps to go through the process a step at a time. As the teachings and experiences of each Grade sink in, the next Grade becomes more accessible. The initiations bring everything to a focus.
The Tree of Life is a way to look at the universe - where universe includes "everything" exterior and interior, and not just what astronomers see and catalog. The universe inside as well as the universe outside.
The Tree of Life doesn't exist as an object in itself, and I personally doubt every aspect of the universe can be crammed somewhere onto the Tree without also popping up somewhere else in slightly different form, or overlapping. Life just doesn't seem to work in such "neat" categories. On the other hand, the Tree of Life is a darn good approach to self-development and a lot - a very large lot - of the everyday universe (exterior and interior) can be associated in a pleasing, harmonious, and/or rational way onto the Tree of Life. Hey, everyday we have to choose what we focus on and what we ignore, and the Tree of Life is a set of rules and principles on how to focus on things in the astral plane.
Other good road maps/models are astrology and the trigrams and hexagrams of the I Ching. Unfortunately there aren't, to my knowledge, any good initiatory systems based on those two models. Certainly there aren't any systems as readily accessible to the Western student as the Tree of Life. Actually, most the planets are attributed to the Tree of Life so a good way of working with them is to study the Tree of Life.
Part of Golden Dawn practice was known as "path working" and involved self-directed meditations up the Tree of Life. As the practioner moved along different portions of the Tree of Life, he/she had to give the Grade Signs to progress beyond the guardians posted at each portal. Sometimes the meditations were so vivid as to constitute "waking dreams" and this is what "astral projection" is really all about.
Personally I believe you can jump right in at any path, any sephiroth (the paths are the tubes between the circles, the circles are the sephiroth) and have a meditation or astral experience. However, it is also clear that the quality of the meditation experience will improve vastly if you start at the bottom and "walk" your walk up the Tree; consider the paths and sephiroth you have to transit as a necessary "warm up" exercise. Similarly, I believe the Grade Signs and initiations are not essential to path working, but add immensely to the quality of the result. The more you immerse yourself in the system, the better the results, much better than jumping in cold.
In short, the Grades and their initiations are similar to school; it helps to go through the process a step at a time. As the teachings and experiences of each Grade sink in, the next Grade becomes more accessible. The initiations bring everything to a focus.
posted by Wm Blaker, printer at 9:21 AM
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