What is the criteria for Adeptship? This is a good question which has arisen recently on the blogosphere. I will try (for a change) to answer it briefly, using the model of the Golden Dawn system of initiation.
First of all, one has to remember that in the very word “Adept” there is contained a vide range of levels of spiritual attainment. In the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn, or Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (R.R. et A.C.), we have three distinct levels of attainment; minor, major and exempt adeptship. The preceding Grades, the so called “Elemental” Grades and the preliminary Grade of Neophyte, all serve to prepare the initiate for the minor level of adeptship. Thus “adeptship” often only follows after the entering of the Inner Order.
Thus the first step or level of attainment of adeptship is of a lesser nature, properly attributed to the 5°=6° Grade of Adeptus Minor. This grade is associated with Tiphareth and involves the “Vision of the Mystery of Crucifixion”. Spiritually this means a species of sacrificial death to facilitate a later spiritual rebirth or regeneration.
Another important criterion for being an Adept is that it designates a person who fully has committed himself or herself to the Great Work, which has its goal of “purification and exaltation of the Spiritual Nature so that with the Divine Aid the Adept may at length attain to be more than human, and thus gradually raise and unite himself to his higher and Divine Genius”.
Furthermore there has since the publications of Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie been understood that this minor level of attainment of adeptship also involves the so-called “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel”, a term which lately has been heavily questioned by certain Adepts of the Golden Dawn community.
Personally I do agree that a good criterion for the full attainment of the level of Adeptus Minor means a conscious rapport with the Holy Guardian Angel and I also, contrary to some contemporary Golden Dawn Adepts, agree with Israel Regardie that it is the equivalent of the Higher Self or Divine Genius of the Magician.
I do believe that there are ample evidence contained in the Ritual “U” (The Microcosm – Man) that substantiate the notion that MacGregor Mathers & Co. actually did believe in the possibility of a conscious union with a Guardian Angel as being part of spiritual attainment, and the Angel in turn being associated with the Higher and Divine Genius.
Thus the specific term “Knowledge and Conversation...” may have been coined by Crowley (if this actually is true), but nevertheless he got the philosophy behind it from his teachers in the Golden Dawn. One must understand that Crowley in many of his works and attitudes were heavily influenced by his experiences of the brief encounter with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its Adepts. Regardie viewed his old teacher as being above all a Golden Dawn Adept.
But to return to our subject matter of adeptship we have to remember that we also have several levels even of this Grade of Adeptus Minor, called “sub-grades”, ranging from Neophyte Adeptus Minor (N.A.M.) to Adept Adeptus Minor. These sub-grades serve to repeat the Outer Order process anew but on a higher spiritual level, as a part of a continuous alchemical process of Solve et Coagula.
Thus even a N.A.M. is an Adept – as every level has its beginning phase and ending phase; there are beginners of adeptship and there are fully fledged Adepts. Still both kinds belong to the same Collage of the Adepti, and they all meet together in the Sancti Spiritus as one Rosicrucian brotherhood.
So one properly cannot use the spiritual attainment equivalent of the “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel” as an absolute criteria for designating or recognizing an Adept per se. But a minimal requirement is the mastering of the Outer Order level teachings, both in theory and practice, and a basic level of Elemental equilibrium in the Sphere of Sensation (aura or energy body), and finally the commitment and devotion to the Great Work as stated in the clause above.
My own personal contribution to all of this, based on my own and other’s experiences, is that a fully fledged Adept also is someone who has gone through and successfully come out of a Dark Night of the Soul. With “successfully” I mean meeting and dealing with the unconscious contents which arises during the Dark Night, and finally experiencing the Golden Dawn of spiritual awareness which arises from that.
This Dark Night of the Soul syndrome may be experienced any time during the Outer Order process, but often occurs at the level of Lord or Lady of the Portal of the Vault of the Adepti, or in the early phases or sub-grades of the Adeptus Minor Grade. As in all alchemical processing, it is also a recurring phenomenon and will recur as many times as it takes to relieve the Soul from its dark unconscious contents and finally lead it to the level of Exempt Adeptship.
Now, some have objected to this notion of having this criteria and how it should be gauged by the Order in question. Some even assert that there is a danger in associating any interior states with an outwardly conferred grade. But my experience says to me that it is quite easy to detect if one experiences the a Dark Night of the Soul, and thus also if one has come out of it and spiritually matured in the process.
The “Dark Night of the Soul syndrome” is the easiest detectable, at least by persons whom themselves has experienced it, and one of the earliest encountered in the initiatory process. It is not the equivalent of such lofty spiritual states as “illumination” or “knowledge and conversation..”, but it surely is a prerequisite to it.
Of course there have to be some kind of basic relationship between the tutor and student (initiator and initiate) to be able to spot it. There also has to be some sort of structure in a Temple where “spiritual (or initiatory) counseling” is provided with. Thus, just getting together in Temple meetings won’t be enough to spot this, besides being absent from participation if it has come to that.
In my Temple I have regular meetings with my students to keep track of their initiatory progress. In this I use my understanding of and experience of counseling and psychotherapy.
Thus I don’t agree with the notion that there shouldn’t be any relationship between spiritual advancement and grade advancement. As an example, there is a huge difference between the initiatory process in the Outer Order and that of the in the Inner, from a purely spiritual perspective. The themes are completely different. This for me is evidence enough that there is a real spiritual initiatory process going on in initiation and theurgical work.
S∴R∴
First of all, one has to remember that in the very word “Adept” there is contained a vide range of levels of spiritual attainment. In the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn, or Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (R.R. et A.C.), we have three distinct levels of attainment; minor, major and exempt adeptship. The preceding Grades, the so called “Elemental” Grades and the preliminary Grade of Neophyte, all serve to prepare the initiate for the minor level of adeptship. Thus “adeptship” often only follows after the entering of the Inner Order.
Thus the first step or level of attainment of adeptship is of a lesser nature, properly attributed to the 5°=6° Grade of Adeptus Minor. This grade is associated with Tiphareth and involves the “Vision of the Mystery of Crucifixion”. Spiritually this means a species of sacrificial death to facilitate a later spiritual rebirth or regeneration.
Another important criterion for being an Adept is that it designates a person who fully has committed himself or herself to the Great Work, which has its goal of “purification and exaltation of the Spiritual Nature so that with the Divine Aid the Adept may at length attain to be more than human, and thus gradually raise and unite himself to his higher and Divine Genius”.
Furthermore there has since the publications of Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie been understood that this minor level of attainment of adeptship also involves the so-called “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel”, a term which lately has been heavily questioned by certain Adepts of the Golden Dawn community.
Personally I do agree that a good criterion for the full attainment of the level of Adeptus Minor means a conscious rapport with the Holy Guardian Angel and I also, contrary to some contemporary Golden Dawn Adepts, agree with Israel Regardie that it is the equivalent of the Higher Self or Divine Genius of the Magician.
I do believe that there are ample evidence contained in the Ritual “U” (The Microcosm – Man) that substantiate the notion that MacGregor Mathers & Co. actually did believe in the possibility of a conscious union with a Guardian Angel as being part of spiritual attainment, and the Angel in turn being associated with the Higher and Divine Genius.
Thus the specific term “Knowledge and Conversation...” may have been coined by Crowley (if this actually is true), but nevertheless he got the philosophy behind it from his teachers in the Golden Dawn. One must understand that Crowley in many of his works and attitudes were heavily influenced by his experiences of the brief encounter with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its Adepts. Regardie viewed his old teacher as being above all a Golden Dawn Adept.
But to return to our subject matter of adeptship we have to remember that we also have several levels even of this Grade of Adeptus Minor, called “sub-grades”, ranging from Neophyte Adeptus Minor (N.A.M.) to Adept Adeptus Minor. These sub-grades serve to repeat the Outer Order process anew but on a higher spiritual level, as a part of a continuous alchemical process of Solve et Coagula.
Thus even a N.A.M. is an Adept – as every level has its beginning phase and ending phase; there are beginners of adeptship and there are fully fledged Adepts. Still both kinds belong to the same Collage of the Adepti, and they all meet together in the Sancti Spiritus as one Rosicrucian brotherhood.
So one properly cannot use the spiritual attainment equivalent of the “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel” as an absolute criteria for designating or recognizing an Adept per se. But a minimal requirement is the mastering of the Outer Order level teachings, both in theory and practice, and a basic level of Elemental equilibrium in the Sphere of Sensation (aura or energy body), and finally the commitment and devotion to the Great Work as stated in the clause above.
My own personal contribution to all of this, based on my own and other’s experiences, is that a fully fledged Adept also is someone who has gone through and successfully come out of a Dark Night of the Soul. With “successfully” I mean meeting and dealing with the unconscious contents which arises during the Dark Night, and finally experiencing the Golden Dawn of spiritual awareness which arises from that.
This Dark Night of the Soul syndrome may be experienced any time during the Outer Order process, but often occurs at the level of Lord or Lady of the Portal of the Vault of the Adepti, or in the early phases or sub-grades of the Adeptus Minor Grade. As in all alchemical processing, it is also a recurring phenomenon and will recur as many times as it takes to relieve the Soul from its dark unconscious contents and finally lead it to the level of Exempt Adeptship.
Now, some have objected to this notion of having this criteria and how it should be gauged by the Order in question. Some even assert that there is a danger in associating any interior states with an outwardly conferred grade. But my experience says to me that it is quite easy to detect if one experiences the a Dark Night of the Soul, and thus also if one has come out of it and spiritually matured in the process.
The “Dark Night of the Soul syndrome” is the easiest detectable, at least by persons whom themselves has experienced it, and one of the earliest encountered in the initiatory process. It is not the equivalent of such lofty spiritual states as “illumination” or “knowledge and conversation..”, but it surely is a prerequisite to it.
Of course there have to be some kind of basic relationship between the tutor and student (initiator and initiate) to be able to spot it. There also has to be some sort of structure in a Temple where “spiritual (or initiatory) counseling” is provided with. Thus, just getting together in Temple meetings won’t be enough to spot this, besides being absent from participation if it has come to that.
In my Temple I have regular meetings with my students to keep track of their initiatory progress. In this I use my understanding of and experience of counseling and psychotherapy.
Thus I don’t agree with the notion that there shouldn’t be any relationship between spiritual advancement and grade advancement. As an example, there is a huge difference between the initiatory process in the Outer Order and that of the in the Inner, from a purely spiritual perspective. The themes are completely different. This for me is evidence enough that there is a real spiritual initiatory process going on in initiation and theurgical work.
S∴R∴
Care G.H. Frater S.R.,
SvaraRaderathank you for expanding and clarifying your thoughts on this topic on your own blog. I was hoping you would do this.
I agree with pretty much all you say. Obviously there are spiritual processes and these are intensified in the Inner and also different from the Outer.
I still find two things problematic, which you do not advocate but which can stem from the ideas you describe - which are pretty standard across the GD.
Firstly, the idea that a person at a higher grade is more spiritually advanced than someone in a lower grade. I know of several instances where I personally would judge the reverse. I am sure you would not advocate that ALL Adepti Majore are more spiritually advanced than ALL Adepti Minore and less advanced than ALL Adepti Exempti.
Secondly, the use of inner faculties to judge the level of spiritual advancement. Of course, I know exactly what you mean when talk about detecting if someone has undergone the Dark Night; and in fact I have found in many groups, spiritual and otherwise these people naturally are aware of each other.
However, since there is no objective outer criterion for this state of being, we need to rely on internal perception. I am aware that all judgements and perceptions are filtered by my own consciousness. I could be wrong (as I often am about things).
For this reason I try to avoid acting too much on internal perceptions of 'spiritual advancement' (though still having the perceptions). Only a perfect being can be sure of its perfect perception. That's why at the final analysis, I leave states of spiritual unfoldment between my students and peers between them and God.
Thanks again, for this essay :)
Care Frater Peregrin,
SvaraRaderaThanks four your reply. You have given some food for though.
Firstly you asked if I "would not advocate that ALL Adepti Majore are more spiritually advanced than ALL Adepti Minore and less advanced than ALL Adepti Exempti."
No I wouldn't. I'm talking about a ideal state where there is synchronicity between Grade Advancement and Spiritual Advancement. However, this doesn't alway occur.
But in Spiritual Progress, as in all kinds of human progress, one often take one step back and two forwards. Thus sometimes entering into a higher Grade, such as between Portal and Adeptus Minor, can make someone going through a period of regression to later on advance even further than ever before.
I remember how my own Temple members had a hard time with coping with my own "Tiphareth" process after entering Adeptus Minor. They surely regarded me as becoming a nuisance rather than Adept. It had a detrimental effect upon the Temple. However in time a coped with the Solar forces and went along on the path. I just hope that people have forgiven me since then for being such a "pain in the ass".
So each Grade creates its own test and tribulations where the individual going through and struggeling with them becomes unbalanced, at least for a period.
People finding themselves in the Dark Night are often regarded by their peers as "neurothic" or even worse, sometimes bordering on "psychotic". The Dark Night has a strong component of regression, but regression in the service of the Self (to use pshychoanalytic terms).
Unfortunately I have seen to many Adepti Minory not being able to handle the Solar current and subjugating to their ego, thus eventually falling out from the Path of Return. Unfortunately I have also seen to many people not coping with the Dark Nigh. In the worst case scenarios it may become really ugly. But if it wasn't hazardous it wouldn't be a initiatory process, would it?
The Adeptus Major Grade has even greater challenges and hazards, so I guess the fall is even greater there when one doesn't pass the tests and are able to integrate the forces correctly.
Secondly you bring up question of the hazard in judging or gauging someone's interior state of spiritual attainment from the outside. You are correct. It cannot be measured by objective terms. You can only use subjective judgements based on experience.
Like in psychoanalysis, magic and initiaton is hermeneutics, i.e. it involves interpretation. It is both an science and an art.
Thus like in all hermeneutical processes the subject (i.e. the initiate) must be the one making the actual or final interpretations. The teacher or initiator may only be there as an aid in this interpretation, using his knowledge and experince of initiation and giving some context to be able to better evaluate the situation.
So the "judging" part is rather the result of consensus between two individuals having a discussion and learning experience. The teacher and initiator must always nurture humility on his part. It's not an easy task, obviously.
In Licht, Leben und Liebe
S:.R:.
Hej Tomas/SR,
SvaraRaderaVille bara lämna en hälsning och tacka dig för en fint arbete med din blogg!
Jag har ägnat en del av Kristihimmelsefärdsdagen åt att läsa på den (vet inte hur jag hamnade här... måste ha varit via Google, och nåt sökord?).
Speciellt har jag fastnat för dina resonemang kring andlig utveckling och psykologisk teori och praktik... (t ex som här om depressivitet och "själens mörka natt" + i ditt inlägg "Psykoterapi och Golden Dawn", dina överväganden kring olika terapeutiska skolor, och om hur finna en terapeut m m!)... som jag upplever som ovanligt sansade, initierade, och angelägna, för att dyka upp i de här sammanhangen. Men det är kanske mest mina fördomar, för du skriver någonstans att åtminstone inom din organisation lägger många vikt vid sådant, utbildar sig till terapeuter etc?
Jag delar ditt intresse för dessa områden coh tycker det är spännande att försöka förstå dem i ljuset av varandra, och hur de hör ihop, och du har mycket klokt att säga om detta
Bästa hälsningar,
Stefan
Hej Stefan,
SvaraRaderaTack för dina snälla ord. Det är alltid roligt att råka på personer som delar samma intressen som en själv. Vi är ganska få som delar just dessa (ockultism och psykologi) i kombination.
In Licht, Leben und Liebe
S:.R:.