The Temple of High Magic: Hermetic Initiations in the Western Mystery Tradition

By

Ina Custers-van Bergen

An Excerpt: Back to the Roots*

Pathworking

The  pathworkings  in  this  book  are  not  chosen  at random. They are  stories whose  images are very carefully chosen, and whose images have been used in our culture  for centuries: accidentally and deliberately,  in fairy tales and folk stories, in mythological stories and in normal  speech. These  images have  specific  effects on the Inner World.
    At  the moment  that  you  project  yourself  inside the  story,  your  emotions  and  feelings  will  interact with the story. These movements in the Inner World have  the goal of  stimulating certain processes  in  the consciousness.
    This  form  of meditation  is  specific  to  Spiritual Magic and affects  the daily  life of people. This meditation method  is practiced with  the  symbols  that  are classically connected to the Sephiroth and the paths of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

The Robe of the Magician

To  give  you  an  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  ritual  clothing  and  the experience  this gives,  I will  take you with me on a pathworking  journey. First, prepare  yourself  for a meditation. Take  care  that  you will not be disturbed during the exercise. Make sure that you are comfortable. First relax and stabilize your breathing into the rhythm of  four counts in, hold two, four out, hold two. When you  look toward the black of your closed eyes,  imagine  looking  into the blackness of a starry night.  In your mind, look downward, and you will see that your feet are standing on a floor with black and white tiles.
    Now  the  floor  appears  to  be moving.  It  seems  to  stretch  out  in  all directions. You are highly impressed by the wideness of the landscape, and it only stretches  itself out  farther  in all directions.  It becomes bigger as you are aware of your own heartbeat. You see that, slowly, stars start to appear  in the space above you and below you. Now you clearly hear the voice of a female guide:
    "I will take you with me to a place on the Inner Planes where you will be clothed in Divine robes. It is important that you lay down your common clothes. Take off your clothes and cleanse yourself with  the Waters  that come down from Heaven."
    To your amazement it starts to rain softly. The black and white floor starts to change shape, and stairs develop in black and white. The water starts  to  reflect  the  starry  heavens. You  decide  to  undress  yourself  and bathe in the basin that forms at your feet. You decide to drench yourself in the basin.
    When you come out of the Waters, it has started snowing. In spite of the white flakes that descend on your skin, you do not feel cold. Together with the white flakes of snow, a golden spider descends on a thin thread. The spider hangs before you, and she weaves the snowflakes into a pattern. To your amazement, the snow crystallizes on your skin into a silk robe that is decorated with the most beautiful ice flowers.
    "I dress you in the purity of a winter night. This absolute purity is the state of your soul when you cleanse yourself in the primordial source of the universe. To take care that your core remains pure as  long as possible, I will now weave a mantle of concealment for you. This I weave from velvet threads, black in color, which I will spin out of the starry night."
    You watch how the spider works: she tears threads out of the night and, where she pulls them out of the surface, little holes form in the velvet black depth. The spider tells you:
    "Because I weave the mantle of concealment, an activity is generated. Everywhere  that  I  take  threads  from  the  night,  a  void  is  created. This nothingness will fill itself. The cosmos always returns to its state of balance, and the emptiness that is caused because I weave for you your mantle of concealment will fill itself with fate. And now watch how the emptiness fills itself with star fire. In this way a horoscope is created. Do not fear, because fate will strengthen your soul and give it more splendor than ever."
    The spider finishes the beautiful black mantle that is woven from the starry night.
    "Now we need the materials with which to fasten this mantle onto your white robe."
    The  spider  starts  to work  again,  and  she  plucks  fire  from  the  stars of  the  Zodiac  from  the  heavens,  and  attaches  sparks  of  stellar  fire  on a brooch. The  jewel  radiates, and as  you watch  it  you have  realizations without understanding where they come from.
    "See  here,  the  jewel  of  wisdom," the  spider  says.  "This  appears  to me an excellent brooch  to pin  the mantle of  concealment onto your  left shoulder. Now we need another pin to fix the right side."
    The spider looks into the night sky and says thoughtfully: "The mantle of concealment will embrace you and protect you with the Understanding
of  the Great Mother."And promptly a  supernova  explodes  in  the dark night, a blood red explosion against the deep black background.
    "Ah . . ."the spider says. "Of course! The mantle is pinned on the right side with a black  rose with a blood  red heart:  the  symbol of  the Great Mother."The spider takes the explosion out of space and weaves it into a brooch of black obsidian with a kernel of blood red star ruby. This she uses to pin the mantle at your left shoulder.
    "You are now dressed  in the regalia of the novice. All other pieces of clothing of the Heavenly Man are woven by me when you have earned them yourself. You need  to create  the warp of  the  threads by your aspiration, hope, and prayer. The woof you create by endurance, sound thinking, and sweat. The regalia of the Initiate are hidden in the secret spaces that you find at the sides of the road of the Ladder of Light."