OBEAH AFRO-CARIBBEAN SHAMANISM

"In and around the world of the supernatural, the occult, and the underground dark-eddies of things spiritual, there are mystics, shamans, tribal elders, wizards, sorcerers, spellcasters, diviners, necromancers, witches, and all other types and kinds of controllers and purveyors of occult abilities, drawing strength and operating in other dimensions along the edges of the conventional plane. In the realm of all those practitioners the most powerful, the most dreaded, and the most feared is the Obeah."

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/obeah.html



OBEAH

AFRO-CARIBBEAN SHAMANISM

the Wanderling

THE WORD OBEAH: What Does It Mean, How Does It Work?

Obeah, as practiced in Jamaica and the Caribbean, takes the USE OF and KNOWLEDGE OF ancient occult powers orginally handed down over the centuries by word of mouth from the remnants of a once very powerful and celebrated SECRET religious Order emanating from a remote age that has long since been lost in the mist of time. Over the centuries most of the original tenents became watered down, with the less powerful versions of Obeah incorporating various modifications of occult spellcraft as once practiced mostly by tribal people who spoke Ashanti from West Africa. However, the most secretive, powerful and dreaded purveyors of present day Obeah comes undiluted from the old Order. Practitioners of same will sometimes use the less volatile aspects of their brethren, but usually operate well beyond the confines of any traditional witchcraft, sorcery, shamanism, voodoo (voudon), or tribal magic.
It is a dying breed shrouded in secrecy, with the most powerful versions known and practiced only by a select few. Even fewer ever truly enter the ranks of Obeah and able to successfully wield its will and awesome scope unscathed. An Obeahman can use ANY system and fuel it with the power of Obeah without the danger of disrespect FOR the gods, but, depending on circumstances, not necessarily without repercussions FROM the gods --- and especially so any untrained high level assult against the natural order of things. Obeah is potent, compelling and in the wrong hands, both deadly and dangerous. It's secret lies in its POWER. Even white light shields can and do weaken, collapse, or be rendered impotent, buckling under to another's stronger power when pitted against each other in tests of strength.
Many years ago I was apprenticed under a Jamaican man of spells called an Obeahman. I learned that in the scheme of things all things must return to a balance. If you create any movement in the normal flow of events somehow somewhere there must be a return to the equalibrium. Simply put, if you act as the Medium between the person wanting a spell given and the person receiving the spell, the person wanting the spell is responsiblefor the consequences. If, on the otherhand, you are the perpetrator of the spell for your own reasons on your own behalf, then YOU must accept and bear the consequences. Nothing is free, there is always a payoff somewhere. It is worth considering when you start casting about spells or interfering with the normal flow of events. Spoken from experience.

Justice is not postponed. A perfect equity adjusts its balance in all parts of life. Oi chusoi Dios aei enpiptousi, -- The dice of God are always loaded. The world looks like a multiplication-table, or a mathematical equation, which, turn it how you will, balances itself. Take what figure you will, its exact value, nor more nor less, still returns to you. Every secret is told, every crime is punished, every virtue rewarded, every wrong redressed, in silence and certainty. What we call retribution is the universal necessity by which the whole appears wherever a part appears. If you see smoke, there must be fire. If you see a hand or a limb, you know that the trunk to which it belongs is there behind.Ralph Waldo Emerson -- "Compensations"

The more pure and spiritually developed a person is (especially if they are actively working towards real spiritual advancement) the more attention they will attract from the negatives to pull them down (see Mara). In other words, the potential of any aspirant generates their level of negative opposition, plus their level of positive assistance, as set by Karmic Law. This is the natural way of things, and is part of the reason why real long-term spiritual development is so difficult. And this is also why those that achieve any significant level of spiritual / psychic development usually live fairly difficult lives, or have a painful past.
Robert Bruce -- "White Light Shields"

The First Law of Thermodynamics, a cornerstone of classical physics, states energy always presents itself as being "fixed." That is, energy can be exchanged between the system of interest and its surroundings, however, the total energy of the system PLUS the surroundings remains constant. Nevertheless, in spite of the "rules" observed throughout history in classical physics, in quantum physics, energy can and does appear and disappear out of nowhere spontaneously.
Anna Jones -- "Apportation Revisited"

"There is a powerful connecting force between events. We may not understand it scientifically, but spiritually we know it is so."
Yasutani Hakuun Roshi -- "A Biographical Note"

"Power is one of the first barriers you must pass in becoming a Man of Knowledge (Shaman). Power is intoxicating. Magic and Siddhi create a drunkenness that is very tricky to sidestep. What you wish for comes true, like Aladdin and the Genie."
Jeffrey Ellis -- "DreamingAwake"

"All the details about how to dig up plants --- not using a metal tool, using branches from tree-friends of the plant, and even apologizing to the plant-spirit every time for taking them and assuring them that someday the diviner's own body will serve as food for them "so, all in all, the plants and ourselves are even" --- are all things my uncle taught me."
the Wanderling -- "The Informant and Carlos Castaneda"

"(In) the Psychic World of supersensuous perceptions and of deceptive sights. . . . No blossom picked in those regions has ever yet been brought down on earth without its serpent coiled around the stem."
Madame Helen Petrovna Blavtsky -- "The Great Hall of Learning and Wisdom"

"The serpent coiled around its stem" means that in the product or outcome of those practices, i.e., the "blossom picked in those regions," --- the occult, the psychic world, etc. --- there is a price to pay...that is to say, lurking beneath or behind every outcome there always exists some sort of catch, a serpent coiled around its stem, either for the purveyor, the recipient or both.


SHAMANIC ZEN MUSINGS: The following are five relatively interesting stories, one regarding the outcome of the awsome powers and devastation wreaked by an Obeah wronged in the late 1700s in Jamaica; two modern day accounts involving an Obeahman and the Wanderling, also in Jamaica; and two as an example of similar spiritual powers personified, only in comparison, involving east Indian yogis drawing from a similar power source of their culture, the supernormal perceptual states called Siddhis, rather than Obeah:

My very first encounter with an Obeahman occurred long before I began my apprenticeship under the Jamaican man of spells I eventually studied under. Although I had been in Jamaica for some time I had never heard of Obeah or an Obeahman until the day a Jamaican friend of mine and I were taking a trip across the island in his car. We had gone to Montego Bay along the north coast for several days and on our return trip to Kingston my friend decided it would be quicker as well as more fun if we took a short cut through some of the cane fields. We were doing about eighty miles per hour when we passed a little old man on the side of the road walking with a wooden staff and carrying a bundle over his shoulder. My Jamaican friend immediately hit the brakes and screeched to a halt telling me the old man was an Obeah and leaving him to walk so far out in the middle of nowhere would be bad luck. Since his vehicle was a small little two-door British car, to show respect due the Obeah, I got out and squeezed into the small rear seat allowing him to sit in the front. Soon we were back up to speed cruising the back roads of the cane fields at about eighty miles per hour. Then, all of a sudden the engine started to cough and sputter, eventually just dying and stopping to run altogether. We coasted to the side, my friend got out and asked me to get into the drivers seat to try and start the engine as he fiddled with stuff under the hood. Two or three times we tried and the car refused to start. The Obeah got out and went to the front of the car, and, although the hood obscured my view somewhat, I could tell he tapped the engine a couple of times with his staff. My friend asked me to try it again and immediately the engine fired up. The next morning my friend was late to work. He said after we left the Obeah off where he requested and me home, he went home. However, when he got up the next morning his car refused to start and that it acted exactly the same as it had in the cane fields. When he got it to the shop to be repaired the mechanic showed him the ONLY thing he could find wrong with it. A spring in the carburetor was physically broken and with that spring broken the car could not run under any circumstances. The mechanic replaced the spring and the car started up and ran perfectly.

The second story is about an extraordinary event that took place in Jamaica in 1780 involving an Obeahman sentenced to death for his practices. The Obeahman swore that the island would suffer major calamities if he was put to death. The authorities were unmoved by his threats and he was burnt at the stake. Aftwards, on October 3, 1780, the worst hurricane to ever strike Jamaica hit the island. Besides the severity of the storm, the island suffered a series of earthquakes as well --- the quakes totally demolishing every building in the parish of Westmoreland where the Obeah lived. The inhabitants left alive found themselves faced with famine and dysentery because all the fields and crops had been destroyed and the water polluted. A full account of the event is covered in THE WORD OBEAH: What Does It Mean?.
The third story is written by and from W. Somerset Maugham's book A Writer's Notebook:

In India a Yogi wanted to go somewhere by train, but having no money, asked the station-master if he could go for nothing; the station-master refused, so the Yogi sat down on the platform. When it was time for the train to go it would not start. It was supposed that something was wrong with the engine, so mechanics were sent for and they did all they knew, but still the train could not go. At last the station-master told the officials of the Yogi. He was asked to get in the train and it immediately started.

The fourth story is also from Maugham, but comes from his novel The Razor's Edge:

An Indian Yogi came to a bank of a river; he didn't have the money to pay the ferryman to take him across and the ferryman refused to take him for nothing, so he stepped on the water and walked upon its surface to the other side. The Yogi (telling the story) shrugged his shoulders rather scornfully and said, "A miracle likethat is worth no more than the penny it would have cost to go on the ferryboat.(see)

The fifth story returns to the Wanderling and the experience that led to the beginning of his apprenticeship under the Obeahman high in the mountains of Jamaica:

The Obeah squated down without changing eye contact, peering at me with an astounding set of eyes that seemed to shine deeply from within with a mysterious, intense light of their own, and said, in his heavy Jamaican patois, "You have felt the breath of the Dark One." "Yes, once," I said, "many years ago," refering to an incident in the military when I literally felt the boney fingers of the Shadow of Deathbrush across my soul. "Why didn't he take you with him," the Obeah asked? "I don't know," I responded, shrugging my shoulders.
The Obeah poured a warm tea-like broth into two small bowl-shaped cups without handles. He took one and gave me the other, gulping down the liquid while motioning me to do the same. (see)
He asked me what I liked about Jamaica. I told him things like the weather and the people. Then he asked again what I liked about Jamaica. But now I wasn't able to answer. It was like my mind had grown so huge that trying to focus on something as minuscule as a few words to string together into a sentence had become an impossible hardship (click to continue)...

THE BOY AND THE GIANT FEATHER


INCIDENT AT SUPAI
A SHAMANIC JOURNEY OUTSIDE THE TRADITION

At the very bottom of the page is another incident regarding the Obeah and the Wanderling, as the Obeahman saves the Wanderling teetering on the edge of death from the ravages of Dengue Fever.
Think what you will all you modern day folk. Continuing now with the very special work on Obeah by Azoth Kalafou:

OBEAH
AFRO-CARIBBEAN SHAMANISM
(Afro-Shamanistik Witchcraft)


By: Azoth Kalafou Obeah is one of the more unknown and obscure African traditions of Sorcery. While Santeria, Umbanda, Candomblè are getting a broader and broader reputation Obeah is still veiled in a great deal of secrecy, which is understandable when you view the complexity in this earth-religion. The word Obeah or Obi is itself a word obscured and clouded in secrecy (see). Although an Obeahman can be thought of as a Sorcerer or a cross between a voodoo witchdoctor, medicine man, root doctor, and Carlos Castaneda "Teaching of Don Juan" occult spiritualist (i.e., Don Juan Matus who learned of the black arts through a Diablero, a shaman-sorcerer with evil powers said to have the ability to shape shift), the most understandable meaning of the word Obeah can be translated as "occult power," meaning a powerful engine used to empower spells for witchcraft as well as other forms for practical magic and communication with the gods.
It is thought that the Ashanti and the Dahomeyans are the carriers of the wisdom of Obeah. That it was slaves from west and-north-Africa that brought this current of power to Jamaica and Trinidad-Tobago. The tradition of Obeah captures several lines of occult transmission. The Obeah it self is best seen as an multi-different source of extreme power. In a way, in that Obeahmen have been around and practicing their craft for centuries, and long before the term came into popular culture, the Obeahmen are the TRUE Chaos Magicians since they can use any system they want and fuel it with the power of Obeah, without the danger of disrespect for the gods. In Trinidad you will find Obeah blended with Muslim faith with Hinduism and Christianity. Also in Sierra Leone there are certain tribes which declares themselves as Muslim but who use the Quran to perform powerful magic with the help of Angels and Djinns. Similar traditions are to be found in Trinidad-Tobago as well. In the succession I belong to Obeah is blended with Orisha worship, which is the most common manifestation of Obeah. Orisha worship in Trinidad has two main fractions "Spiritual Orisha" which are very Christian in its practical way. They also avoid blood-offerings. The other one "Baptist Orisha" is a more pure and ancient line of Orisha-transmission who accept blood-offerings and function very much like Orisha-worship you’ll meet elsewhere in the world. Still I might add that Voudon (Voodoo) is perhaps the closest "brother" to "Baptist Orisha" (for more on Orisha see The Seven African Powers).
Obeah is close to witchcraft, but it also includes many elements easily recognizable as Shamanism. This is the very core of Obeah, the shamanistic techniques that are used at initial stage of obtaining knowledge, on a more developed level the practice developes into forms of worship easily recognized within voudun. The impulse of Obeah is the witchcraft-part.
Obeah can be viewed as "a Tower of Power", an enormous vault of Intelligent-Power (similar in scope to Joriki in Japanese) that can be communicated with by the Obeah in special and secret ways. The Obeah inhabits All, that's why it is no problem to blend it with other traditions. For more along the same lines see Sudden or Gradual Enlightenment: APPENDIX.

THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS:

In Obeah related to Orisha worship you can become an Obeahman or a Obi-man. This signifies that your pathway is particularly dark and evil. Usually the Obeahmen sooner or later will move to secluded places and perform dark forms of magick mainly connected to the Dead. The Orisha of the Obi-men are called Bones. Bones is the King of Death, and has many features in common with Ghuede of the voudon pantheon, and oddly enough, the Prince of Darkness, Mara in the Buddhist religion. Another deity of great importance is Oduda, which means "The Black One," a complementary mirror-figure of the male King of Death, or "Dark One". She is the principle balancing and most of all - complementing Bones. In features she is closely linked to Maman Brigitte and also resembles the Hindu-Indian Mother Kali (Kali-Ma) in her aspect as Dhumavati and Baghalamukhi combined. The spirit known in the outer world as Anima Sola is also of great importance, but my vow of silence restrains me for telling much about her in the open.

He squated down without changing eye contact and said in his heavy Jamaican patois, "You have felt the breath of the Dark One." "Yes, once," I said, "many years ago," refering to an incident in the military when I literally felt the Shadow of Death brush across my soul. "Why didn't he take you with him," the Obeah asked? "I don't know," I responded, shrugging my shoulders.The old Obeahman to the Wanderling, high in the mountains of Jamaica.(SOURCE)

It must be understood that the path of Bones is a special path not suitable for anyone. The path has a tendency to turn the practitioner of his magic into anti-social beings who inhabits what can look like a disrespect for the life of human beings. The initiation of Bones is only given to those who truly belong in this path of empowerment. The access offered to the wisdom of existence and how to change it relies on the practitioners ability to recognize his or hers own heart of hearts in a manner that draws proper cells of attunement close to the practitioners of the Dark Luminosity of Self and the Light of Death. The path of Bones is lethal in the way that he gives his children tools and formulates of a direct and instant function that infuse the ability to severely destroy whatever comes in the Obeahmans path. I have heard stories about Obeahmen who charge people only a few pennys to kill off someone, like they really want to just kill for the sake of killing. These are rumors, maybe a few occasions has given rise to this rumor – since the danger inherent in solely working with the forces of Night and Death is evident. But the same rumors also surround Paleros, without having much substance in them – with of course, a few exceptions.
It is proper to mention vouden at this juncture since Obeah in practice is very similar to vouden. But there are some differences. For instance, Satan is personified in this tradition as all the princes of Hell are. This is due to the great influx of western theurgical teaching and the importance stressed on kabbalah and gematria. The differentGrimoires are frequently used by the Obeahmen, like Grimorium Verum and Goethia as well as the VI and VII Books of Moses (it should be mentioned, traditionally it is said that Moses only wrote FIVE books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The other two books, which are claimed to be written by Moses, contain the witchcraft of Egypt from the time of Moses). Both of these books have an especially great importance since Moses is seen as the snake-charmer and among the greatest of magicians having turned a wooden staff into a snake in front of the Egyptian pharaoh. The snake or serpent in the Egyptian language was called Ob and most likely the root for the word Obeah. See The Word Obeah: What Does It Mean, How Does It Work?. Techniques of shamanistic quality are frequently used together with methods ascribing to traditional witchcraft.The way of the Obeah-man is a crooked one but a path that leads to Attainment of Self. Much of this is shrouded in secrecy and it still will be. This is only a taste for the truthful eyes of wisdom to get even wiser.

WITH A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO:

• © The Lodge of UR 1997
• DOCTEUR AZOTH KALAFOU

The following account with the Obeah is from Consulting Mediums:

For those of you that may be familiar with the Wanderling and his interactions with the shaman man of spells called Obeahman high in the mountains of Jamaica you may recall that when a young girl from the village was hit by a car, the parents, who could not afford a regular medical doctor, opted to have their daughter taken to the Obeah. The Wanderling and another village member carried the girl in a sling-like hammock slung between two long wooden poles up the hazardous mountain trail to the Obeahman's abode. During that several hour period, although breathing, the girl never regaind consciousness. The Wanderling was not allowed to go into the Obeah's hut because he was white, nor were any of the rituals performed observed, that is, if any at all were performed. The next morning the Wanderling ended up clear down the mountain and didn't exactly see what happened to the girl. About two weeks later she was seen to be playing with other village childern as though nothing had ever happened. No marks, scars, scraches, casts or anything else. Many months later the Wanderling contracted Dengue fever and laid in his bed sweating in pools of water, delirious with a high fever, not eating, and basically unable to move. A villager happened by and reported how sick he was to a village elder. He inturn passed word to the Obeah. Under NO circumstances had the Obeah ever been known to leave his mountain lair, everyone in need of his services ALWAYS had to go to him no matter how serious the situation. However, much to the suprise of everyone in the village and others for miles and miles around, within a few hours of hearing of the Wanderling's condition he showed up on the veranda. He would not enter his house, again because the Wanderling was a white man, but he did remove spiritual items and herbs from his Medicine Bag called an Oanga Bag and perform a set of rituals that included spreading sand and ashes in a circle, casting bones into the circle, sitting Buddha-like doing some chanting and using smoke that waifted throughout the house. The next day the Wanderling was up and around, sore, and except for a substantial loss of weight and weak from having not eaten, OK. The Obeah was gone.
The day after the Obeah departed and following a night of heavy wind and rain, the Wanderling, conscious but racked with pain, for the first time in days was able to move and hobbled himself out onto the veranda. Barely able to stay upright he stood before the shaman's circle, and despite the storm of the night before, the circle was still in place just as it had been left by the man of spells. An ever so slight breeze came up and spread across the veranda floor twisting itself into a small dust-devil-like Vortex encompassing the Wanderling's bare feet and legs with the ash and sand of the circle. As the twisting breeze climbed his body the pain dissipated eventually disappearing altogether along with the wind.

In Buddhism it is said that the path of Tranquillity-Concentration-Absorption can lead to supernormal powers (e.g., extrasensory perception, knowledge of previous lives, teleportation, etc.). All of the attainments of this path, however, are considered Samsaric. Buddhism holds that absorption by itself cannot lead to Nirvana. It is, rather, the path of Mindfulness-Insight that is said to lead to Nirvana. The mastery of "access concentration," however, is said to be an effective means to more stable mindfulness, and the mastery of the higher absorptive states is said to be an effective means to deeper insight.
Buddhism teaches that after a practitioner achieves a certain degree of realization, spiritual power develops. A person at the level of an Arhat is said to possess six supernatural powers. Even so, it is understood that it is through Enlightenment that supernatural powers are manifested, rather than that supernatural powers enhance Enlightenment. Furthermore, it is acknowledged as well that supernatural powers are not attainable exclusively JUST by Buddhists and Buddhists only. It is possible for anyone who has deep religious and spiritual cultivation to develop some kind of "super-normal powers." (source)

DARK LUMINOSITY

WE DO NOT HAVE SHAMANS The Case Against "Shamans" In the North American Indigenous Cultures

Click here for: SHAMANIC JOURNEYING
Click here for: SHAMANIC TRANCE STATES
Click here for: STOP THE DISTANT ROWBOAT USING JUST YOUR MIND
Click here for: POWER OF THE SHAMAN: Where Does It Come From, How Does It Work?


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PALEROS:

PALO MAYOMBE is an African Diasporic religion that originated in the Congo region of Africa. Practice and worship in Palo is centered around prendas, which are consecrated pots that contain sticks, bones, dirts and herbs that are sacred to particular gods and goddessess of Palo. Prendas are very powerful in the hands of a trained Palero, and can be utilized to perform nearly any function. Paleros work withAllys or Spirit Guides --- not be confused with Spiritual Guides --- to obtain information and wisdom, as well as with lower spirits that serve a variety of functions. These lower spirits are sometimes referred to as perros, or dogs.
PALEROS are Palo priests who are feared by many because of their practices of brujeria, or witchcraft. They serve as consultants to dead spirits who they believe have the power to do almost anything the Paleros bid them to do. For quick results, Paleros use human bones and skulls to call upon the spirits represented by them. Because they deal in actual human remains, both the spirits and the Paleros are thought to have superhuman strength.

POWER OF THE SHAMAN

Somerset Maugham is playing a little fast and loose with the writer's privilege with the quote, referring to the main protagonist as a "Yogi" and the story seemingly taking place in Hindu India. It is actually an ancient Buddhist parable revolving around the Buddha, with the Buddha questioning the use of (waste of) psychic powers on something so trivial as crossing a river when a ferry boat was available for practically nothing.

The Corpus Hermeticum

translated by G.R.S. Mead

XIII. The Secret Sermon on the Mountain

<This dialogue is in many ways the culmination of the whole Corpus, summing up the theory of the Hermetic system at the same time as it provides an intriguing glimpse at the practice. The focus of the dialogue is the experience of Rebirth, which involves the replacement of twelve Tormentors within the self by ten divine Powers, leading to the awakening of knowledge of the self and God.

<The "Secret Hymnody" (sections 17-20) is presented as a litany for worship, to be performed twice each day, at sunrise and sunset. It's interesting to note that while the sunrise worship is performed facing east, the sunset worship is done to the south; Egyptian tradition from Pharaonic times onward saw the west as the direction of death.

<The usual difficulties with the multiple meanings of the Greek word logos appear in the translation, compounded by Mead's awkward style. Additionally, one of Mead's few evasions can be found in section 12, where he relates the twelve Tormentors to the "twelve types-of-life". This should more simply, and more accurately, have been translated as "the twelve signs of the Zodiac". The Theosophical distaste for astrology may well have been involved here. - JMG>

1. Tat: [Now] in the General Sermons, father, thou didst speak in riddles most unclear, conversing on Divinity; and when thou saidst no man could e'er be saved before Rebirth, thy meaning thou didst hide.

Further, when I became thy Suppliant, in Wending up the Mount, after thou hadst conversed with me, and when I longed to learn the Sermon (Logos) on Rebirth (for this beyond all other things is just the thing I know not), thou saidst, that thou wouldst give it me - "when thou shalt have become a stranger to the world".

Wherefore I got me ready and made the thought in me a stranger to the world-illusion.

And now do thou fill up the things that fall short in me with what thou saidst would give me the tradition of Rebirth, setting it forth in speech or in the secret way.

I know not, O Thrice-greatest one, from out what matter and what womb Man comes to birth, or of what seed.

2. Hermes: Wisdom that understands in silence [such is the matter and the womb from out which Man is born], and the True Good the seed.

Tat: Who is the sower, father? For I am altogether at a loss.

Hermes: It is the Will of God, my son.

Tat: And of what kind is he that is begotten, father? For I have no share of that essence in me, which doth transcend the senses. The one that is begot will be another one from God, God's Son?

Hermes: All in all, out of all powers composed.

Tat: Thou tellest me a riddle, father, and dost not speak as father unto son.

Hermes: This Race, my son, is never taught; but when He willeth it, its memory is restored by God.

3. Tat: Thou sayest things impossible, O father, things that are forced. Hence answers would I have direct unto these things. Am I a son strange to my father's race?

Keep it not, father, back from me. I am a true-born son; explain to me the manner of Rebirth.

Hermes: What may I say, my son? I can but tell thee this. Whene'er I see within myself the Simple Vision brought to birth out of God's mercy, I have passed through myself into a Body that can never die. And now i am not as I was before; but I am born in Mind.

The way to do this is not taught, and it cannot be seen by the compounded element by means of which thou seest.

Yea, I have had my former composed form dismembered for me. I am no longer touched, but I have touch; I have dimension too; and [yet] am I a stranger to them now.

Thou seest me with eyes, my son; but what I am thou dost not understand [even] with fullest strain of body and of sight.

4. Tat: Into fierce frenzy and mind-fury hast thou plunged me, father, for now no longer do I see myself.

Hermes: I would, my son, that thou hadst e'en passed right through thyself, as they who dream in sleep yet sleepless.

Tat: Tell me this too! Who is the author of Rebirth?

Hermes: The Son of God, the One Man, by God's Will.

5. Tat: Now hast thou brought me, father, unto pure stupefaction. Arrested from the senses which I had before,...<lacuna in original text>; for [now] I see thy Greatness identical with thy distinctive form.

Hermes: Even in this thou art untrue; the mortal form doth change with every day. 'Tis turned by time to growth and waning, as being an untrue thing.

6. Tat: What then is true, Thrice-greatest One?

Hermes: That which is never troubled, son, which cannot be defined; that which no color hath, nor any figure, which is not turned, which hath no garment, which giveth light; that which is comprehensible unto itself [alone], which doth not suffer change; that which no body can contain.

Tat: In very truth I lose my reason, father. Just when I thought to be made wise by thee, I find the senses of this mind of mine blocked up.

Hermes: Thus is it, son: That which is upward borne like fire, yet is borne down like earth, that which is moist like water, yet blows like air, how shalt thou this perceive with sense - the that which is not solid nor yet moist, which naught can bind or loose, of which in power and energy alone can man have any notion - and even then it wants a man who can perceive the Way of Birth in God?

7. Tat: I am incapable of this, O father, then?

Hermes: Nay, God forbid, my son! Withdraw into thyself, and it will come; will, and it comes to pass; throw out of work the body's senses, and thy Divinity shall come to birth; purge from thyself the brutish torments - things of matter.

Tat: I have tormentors then in me, O father?

Hermes: Ay, no few, my son; nay, fearful ones and manifold.

Tat: I do not know them, father.

Hermes: Torment the first is this Not-knowing, son; the second one is Grief; the third, Intemperance; the fourth, Concupiscence; the fifth, Unrighteousness; the sixth is Avarice; the seventh, Error; the eighth is Envy; the ninth, Guile; the tenth is Anger; eleventh, Rashness; the twelfth is Malice.

These are in number twelve; but under them are many more, my son; and creeping through the prison of the body they force the man that's placed therein to suffer in his senses. But they depart (though not all at once) from him who hath been taken pity on by God; and this it is which constitutes the manner of Rebirth. And... <lacuna in the original text> the Reason (Logos).

8. And now, my son, be still and solemn silence keep! Thus shall the mercy that flows on us from God not cease.

Henceforth rejoice, O son, for by the Powers of God thou art being purified for the articulation of the Reason (Logos).

Gnosis of God hath come to us, and when this comes, my son, Not-knowing is cast out.

Gnosis of Joy hath come to us, and on its coming, son, Sorrow will flee away to them who give it room. The Power that follows Joy do I invoke, thy Self-control. O Power most sweet! Let us most gladly bid it welcome, son! How with its coming doth it chase Intemperance away!

9. Now fourth, on Continence I call, the Power against Desire. <lacuna in the original text> This step, my son, is Righteousness' firm seat. For without judgement <other translators read this "without effort"> see how she hath chased Unrighteousness away. We are made righteous, son, by the departure of Unrighteousness.

Power sixth I call to us - that against Avarice, Sharing-with-all.

And now that Avarice is gone, I call on Truth. And Error flees, and Truth is with us.

See how [the measure of] the Good is full, my son, upon Truth's coming. For Envy is gone from us; and unto Truth is joined the Good as well, with Life and Light.

And now no more doth any torment of the Darkness venture nigh, but vanquished [all] have fled with whirring wings.

10. Thou knowest [now], my son, the manner of Rebirth. And when the Ten is come, my son, that driveth out the Twelve, the Birth in understanding <literally "intellectual birth", noera genesis> is complete, and by this birth we are made into Gods.

Who then doth by His mercy gain this Birth in God, abandoning the body's senses, knows himself [to be of Light and Life] and that he doth consist of these, and [thus] is filled with bliss.

11. Tat: By God made steadfast, father, no longer with the sight my eyes afford I look on things, but with the energy the Mind doth give me through the Powers.

In Heaven am I, in earth, in water, air; I am in animals, in plants; I'm in the womb, before the womb, after the womb; I'm everywhere!

But further tell me this: How are the torments of the Darkness, when they are twelve in number, driven out by the ten Powers? What is the way of it, Thrice-greatest one?

12. Hermes: This dwelling-place through which we have just passed <i.e., the human body>, my son, is constituted from the circle of the twelve types-of-life, this being composed of elements, twelve in number, but of one nature, an omniform idea. For man's delusion there are disunions in them, son, while in their action they are one. Not only can we never part Rashness from Wrath; they cannot even be distinguished.

According to right reason (logos), then, they <the Twelve> naturally withdraw once and for all, in as much as they are chased out by no less than ten powers, that is, the Ten.

For, son, the Ten is that which giveth birth to souls. And Life and Light are unified there, where the One hath being from the Spirit. According then to reason (logos) the One contains the Ten, the Ten the One.

13. Tat: Father, I see the All, I see myself in Mind.

Hermes: This is, my son, Rebirth - no more to look on things from body's view-point (a thing three ways in space extended)... <lacuna in text>, though this Sermon (Logos) on Rebirth, on which I did not comment - in order that we may not be calumniators of the All unto the multitude, to whom indeed God Himself doth will we should not.

14. Tat: Tell me, O father: This Body which is made up of the Powers, is it at any time dissolved?

Hermes: Hush, [son]! Speak not of things impossible, else wilt thou sin and thy Mind's eye be quenched.

The natural body which our sense perceives is far removed from this essential birth.

The first must be dissolved, the last can never be; the first must die, the last death cannot touch.

Dost thou not know thou hast been born a God, Son of the One, even as I myself?

15. Tat: I would, O father, hear the Praise-giving with hymn which thou didst say thou heardest then when thou wert at the Eight [the Ogdoad] of Powers

Hermes: Just as the Shepherd did foretell [I should], my son, [when I came to] the Eight.

Well dost thou haste to "strike thy tent" <i.e., be free from the physical body>, for thou hast been made pure.

The Shepherd, Mind of all masterhood, hath not passed on to me more than hath been written down, for full well did he know that I should of myself be able to learn all, and hear what I should wish, and see all things.

He left to me the making of fair things; wherefore the Powers within me. e'en as they are in all, break into song.

16. Tat: Father, I wish to hear; I long to know these things.

Hermes: Be still, my son; hear the Praise-giving now that keeps [the soul] in tune, Hymn of Re-birth - a hymn I would not have thought fit so readily to tell, had'st thou not reached the end of all.

Wherefore this is not taught, but is kept hid in silence.

Thus then, my son, stand in a place uncovered to the sky, facing the southern wind, about the sinking of the setting sun, and make thy worship; so in like manner too when he doth rise, with face to the east wind.

Now, son, be still!

The Secret Hymnody

17. Let every nature of the World receive the utterance of my hymn!

Open thou Earth! Let every bolt of the Abyss be drawn for me. Stir not, ye Trees!

I am about to hymn creation's Lord, both All and One.

Ye Heavens open and ye Winds stay still; [and] let God's deathless Sphere receive my word (logos)!

For I will sing the praise of Him who founded all; who fixed the Earth, and hung up Heaven, and gave command that Ocean should afford sweet water [to the Earth], to both those parts that are inhabited and those that are not, for the support and use of every man; who made the Fire to shine for gods and men for every act.

Let us together all give praise to Him, sublime above the Heavens, of every nature Lord!

'Tis He who is the Eye of Mind; may He accept the praise of these my Powers!

18. Ye powers that are within me, hymn the One and All; sing with my Will, Powers all that are within me!

O blessed Gnosis, by thee illumined, hymning through thee the Light that mond alone can see, I joy in Joy of Mind.

Sing with me praises all ye Powers!

Sing praise, my Self-control; sing thou through me, my Righteousness, the praises of the Righteous; sing thou, my Sharing-all, the praises of the All; through me sing, Truth, Truth's praises!

Sing thou, O Good, the Good! O Life and Light, from us to you our praises flow!

Father, I give Thee thanks, to Thee Thou Energy of all my Powers; I give Thee thanks, O God, Thou Power of all my Energies!

19. Thy Reason (Logos) sings through me Thy praises. Take back through me the All into [Thy] Reason - [my] reasonable oblation!

Thus cry the Powers in me. They sing Thy praise, Thou All; they do Thy Will.

From Thee Thy Will; to Thee the All. Receive from all their reasonable oblation. The All that is in us, O Life, preserve; O Light<,> illumine it; O God<,> in-spirit it.

It it Thy Mind that plays the shepherd to Thy Word, O Thou Creator, Bestower of the Spirit [upon all].

20. [For] Thou art God, Thy Man thus cries to Thee through Fire, through Air, through Earth, through Water, [and] through Spirit, through Thy creatures.

'Tis from Thy Aeon I have found praise-giving; and in thy Will, the object of my search, have I found rest.

Tat: By thy good pleasure have I seen this praise-giving being sung, O father; I have set it in my Cosmos too.

Hermes: Say in the Cosmos that thy mind alone can see, my son.

Tat: Yea, father, in the Cosmos that the mind alone can see; for I have been made able by thy Hymn, and by thy Praise-giving my mind hath been illumined. But further I myself as well would from my natural mind send praise-giving to God.

21. Hermes: But not unheedfully, my son.

Tat: Aye. What I behold in mind, that do I say.

To thee, thou Parent of my Bringing into Birth, as unto God I, Tat, send reasonable offerings. o God and Father, thou art the Lord, thou art the Mind. Receive from me oblations reasonable as thou would'st wish; for by thy Will all things have been perfected.

Hermes: Send thou oblation, son, acceptable to God, the Sire of all; but add, my son, too, "through the Word" (Logos).

Tat: I give thee, father, thanks for showing me to sing such hymns.

22. Hermes: Happy am I, my son, that though hast brought the good fruits forth of Truth, products that cannot die.

And now that thou hast learnt this lesson from me, make promise to keep silence on thy virtue, and to no soul, my son, make known the handing on to thee the manner of Rebirth, that we may not be thought to be calumniators.

And now we both of us have given heed sufficiently, both I the speaker and the hearer thou.

In Mind hast thou become a Knower of thyself and our [common] Sire.

THE SEVEN HERMETIC PRINCIPLES

    "The Principles of Truth are Seven; he who knows these,
    understandingly, possesses the Magic Key before whose
    touch all the Doors of the Temple fly open."--The Kybalion.

The Seven Hermetic Principles, upon which the entire Hermetic Philosophy is based, are as follows:

    1. The Principle of Mentalism.
    2. The Principle of Correspondence.
    3. The Principle of Vibration.
    4. The Principle of Polarity.
    5. The Principle of Rhythm.
    6. The Principle of Cause and Effect.
    7. The Principle of Gender.

These Seven Principles will be discussed and explained as we proceed with these lessons. A short explanation of each, however, may as well be given at this point.

1. The Principle of Mentalism

    "THE ALL IS MIND; The Universe is Mental."--The Kybalion.

This Principle embodies the truth that "All is Mind." It explains that THE ALL (which is the Substantial Reality underlying all the outward manifestations and appearances which we know under the terms of "The Material Universe"; the "Phenomena of Life"; "Matter"; "Energy"; and, in short, all that is apparent to our material senses) is SPIRIT which in itself is UNKNOWABLE and UNDEFINABLE, but which may be considered and thought of as AN UNIVERSAL, INFINITE, LIVING MIND. It also explains that all the phenomenal world or universe is simply a Mental Creation of THE ALL, subject to the Laws of Created Things, and that the universe, as a whole, and in its parts or units, has its existence in the Mind of THE ALL, in which Mind we "live and move and have our being." This Principle, by establishing the Mental Nature of the Universe, easily explains all of the varied mental and psychic phenomena that occupy such a large portion of the public attention, and which, without such explanation, are non-understandable and defy scientific treatment. An understanding of this great Hermetic Principle of Mentalism enables the individual to readily grasp the laws of the Mental Universe, and to apply the same to his well-being and advancement. The Hermetic Student is enabled to apply intelligently the great Mental Laws, instead of using them in a haphazard manner. With the Master-Key in his possession, the student may unlock the many doors of the mental and psychic temple of knowledge, and enter the same freely and intelligently. This Principle explains the true nature of "Energy," "Power," and "Matter," and why and how all these are subordinate to the Mastery of Mind. One of the old Hermetic Masters wrote, long ages ago: "He who grasps the truth of the Mental Nature of the Universe is well advanced on The Path to Mastery." And these words are as true today as at the time they were first written. Without this Master-Key, Mastery is impossible, and the student knocks in vain at the many doors of The Temple.

2. The Principle of Correspondence

    "As above, so below; as below, so above."--The Kybalion.

This Principle embodies the truth that there is always a Correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of Being and Life. The old Hermetic axiom ran in these words: "As above, so below; as below, so above." And the grasping of this Principle gives one the means of solving many a dark paradox, and hidden secret of Nature. There are planes beyond our knowing, but when we apply the Principle of Correspondence to them we are able to understand much that would otherwise be unknowable to us. This Principle is of universal application and manifestation, on the various planes of the material, mental, and spiritual universe--it is an Universal Law. The ancient Hermetists considered this Principle as one of the most important mental instruments by which man was able to pry aside the obstacles which hid from view the Unknown. Its use even tore aside the Veil of Isis to the extent that a glimpse of the face of the goddess might be caught. Just as a knowledge of the Principles of Geometry enables man to measure distant suns and their movements, while seated in his observatory, so a knowledge of the Principle of Correspondence enables Man to reason intelligently from the Known to the Unknown. Studying the monad, he understands the archangel.

3. The Principle of Vibration

    "Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates."--The
    Kybalion.

This Principle embodies the truth that "everything is in motion"; "everything vibrates"; "nothing is at rest"; facts which Modern Science endorses, and which each new scientific discovery tends to verify. And yet this Hermetic Principle was enunciated thousands of years ago, by the Masters of Ancient Egypt. This Principle explains that the differences between different manifestations of Matter, Energy, Mind, and even Spirit, result largely from varying rates of Vibration. From THE ALL, which is Pure Spirit, down to the grossest form of Matter, all is in vibration--the higher the vibration, the higher the position in the scale. The vibration of Spirit is at such an infinite rate of intensity and rapidity that it is practically at rest--just as a rapidly moving wheel seems to be motionless. And at the other end of the scale, there are gross forms of matter whose vibrations are so low as to seem at rest. Between these poles, there are millions upon millions of varying degrees of vibration. From corpuscle and electron, atom and molecule, to worlds and universes, everything is in vibratory motion. This is also true on the planes of energy and force (which are but varying degrees of vibration); and also on the mental planes (whose states depend upon vibrations); and even on to the spiritual planes. An understanding of this Principle, with the appropriate formulas, enables Hermetic students to control their own mental vibrations as well as those of others. The Masters also apply this Principle to the conquering of Natural phenomena, in various ways. "He who understands the Principle of Vibration, has grasped the scepter of power," says one of the old writers.

4. The Principle of Polarity

    "Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its
    pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are
    identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet;
    all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be
    reconciled."--The Kybalion.

This Principle embodies the truth that "everything is dual"; "everything has two poles"; "everything has its pair of opposites," all of which were old Hermetic axioms. It explains the old paradoxes, that have perplexed so many, which have been stated as follows: "Thesis and antithesis are identical in nature, but different in degree"; "opposites are the same, differing only in degree"; "the pairs of opposites may be reconciled"; "extremes meet"; "everything is and isn't, at the same time"; "all truths are but half-truths"; "every truth is half-false"; "there are two sides to everything," etc., etc., etc. It explains that in everything there are two poles, or opposite aspects, and that "opposites" are really only the two extremes of the same thing, with many varying degrees between them. To illustrate: Heat and Cold, although "opposites," are really the same thing, the differences consisting merely of degrees of the same thing. Look at your thermometer and see if you can discover where "heat" terminates and "cold" begins! There is no such thing as "absolute heat" or "absolute cold"--the two terms "heat" and "cold" simply indicate varying degrees of the same thing, and that "same thing" which manifests as "heat" and "cold" is merely a form, variety, and rate of Vibration. So "heat" and "cold" are simply the "two poles" of that which we call "Heat"--and the phenomena attendant thereupon are manifestations of the Principle of Polarity. The same Principle manifests in the case of "Light and Darkness," which are the same thing, the difference consisting of varying degrees between the two poles of the phenomena. Where does "darkness" leave off, and "light" begin? What is the difference between "Large and Small"? Between "Hard and Soft"? Between "Black and White"? Between "Sharp and Dull"? Between "Noise and Quiet"? Between "High and Low"? Between "Positive and Negative"? The Principle of Polarity explains these paradoxes, and no other Principle can supersede it. The same Principle operates on the Mental Plane. Let us take a radical and extreme example--that of "Love and Hate," two mental states apparently totally different. And yet there are degrees of Hate and degrees of Love, and a middle point in which we use the terms "Like or Dislike," which shade into each other so gradually that sometimes we are at a loss to know whether we "like" or "dislike" or "neither." And all are simply degrees of the same thing, as you will see if you will but think a moment. And, more than this (and considered of more importance by the Hermetists), it is possible to change the vibrations of Hate to the vibrations of Love, in one's own mind, and in the minds of others. Many of you, who read these lines, have had personal experiences of the involuntary rapid transition from Love to Hate, and the reverse, in your own case and that of others. And you will therefore realize the possibility of this being accomplished by the use of the Will, by means of the Hermetic formulas. "Good and Evil" are but the poles of the same thing, and the Hermetist understands the art of transmuting Evil into Good, by means of an application of the Principle of Polarity. In short, the "Art of Polarization" becomes a phase of "Mental Alchemy" known and practiced by the ancient and modern Hermetic Masters. An understanding of the Principle will enable one to change his own Polarity, as well as that of others, if he will devote the time and study necessary to master the art.

5. The Principle of Rhythm

    "Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides;
    all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in
    everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the
    measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates."--The
    Kybalion.

This Principle embodies the truth that in everything there is manifested a measured motion, to and fro; a flow and inflow; a swing backward and forward; a pendulum-like movement; a tide-like ebb and flow; a high-tide and low-tide; between the two poles which exist in accordance with the Principle of Polarity described a moment ago. There is always an action and a reaction; an advance and a retreat; a rising and a sinking. This is in the affairs of the Universe, suns, worlds, men, animals, mind, energy, and matter. This law is manifest in the creation and destruction of worlds; in the rise and fall of nations; in the life of all things; and finally in the mental states of Man (and it is with this latter that the Hermetists find the understanding of the Principle most important). The Hermetists have grasped this Principle, finding its universal application, and have also discovered certain means to overcome its effects in themselves by the use of the appropriate formulas and methods. They apply the Mental Law of Neutralization. They cannot annul the Principle, or cause it to cease its operation, but they have learned how to escape its effects upon themselves to a certain degree depending upon the Mastery of the Principle. They have learned how to USE it, instead of being USED BY it. In this and similar methods, consist the Art of the Hermetists. The Master of Hermetics polarizes himself at the point at which he desires to rest, and then neutralizes the Rhythmic swing of the pendulum which would tend to carry him to the other pole. All individuals who have attained any degree of Self-Mastery do this to a certain degree, more or less unconsciously, but the Master does this consciously, and by the use of his Will, and attains a degree of Poise and Mental Firmness almost impossible of belief on the part of the masses who are swung backward and forward like a pendulum. This Principle and that of Polarity have been closely studied by the Hermetists, and the methods of counteracting, neutralizing, and USING them form an important part of the Hermetic Mental Alchemy.

6. The Principle of Cause and Effect

    "Every Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause;
    everything happens according to Law; Chance is but a name
    for Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation,
    but nothing escapes the Law."--The Kybalion.

This Principle embodies the fact that there is a Cause for every Effect; an Effect from every Cause. It explains that: "Everything Happens according to Law"; that nothing ever "merely happens"; that there is no such thing as Chance; that while there are various planes of Cause and Effect, the higher dominating the lower planes, still nothing ever entirely escapes the Law. The Hermetists understand the art and methods of rising above the ordinary plane of Cause and Effect, to a certain degree, and by mentally rising to a higher plane they become Causers instead of Effects. The masses of people are carried along, obedient to environment; the wills and desires of others stronger than themselves; heredity; suggestion; and other outward causes moving them about like pawns on the Chessboard of Life. But the Masters, rising to the plane above, dominate their moods, characters, qualities, and powers, as well as the environment surrounding them, and become Movers instead of pawns. They help to PLAY THE GAME OF LIFE, instead of being played and moved about by other wills and environment. They USE the Principle instead of being its tools. The Masters obey the Causation of the higher planes, but they help to RULE on their own plane. In this statement there is condensed a wealth of Hermetic knowledge--let him read who can.

7. The Principle of Gender

    "Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine
    and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all
    planes."--The Kybalion.

This Principle embodies the truth that there is GENDER manifested in everything--the Masculine and Feminine Principles ever at work. This is true not only of the Physical Plane, but of the Mental and even the Spiritual Planes. On the Physical Plane, the Principle manifests as SEX, on the higher planes it takes higher forms, but the Principle is ever the same. No creation, physical, mental or spiritual, is possible without this Principle. An understanding of its laws will throw light on many a subject that has perplexed the minds of men. The Principle of Gender works ever in the direction of generation, regeneration, and creation. Everything, and every person, contains the two Elements or Principles, or this great Principle, within it, him or her. Every Male thing has the Female Element also; every Female contains also the Male Principle. If you would understand the philosophy of Mental and Spiritual Creation, Generation, and Re-generation, you must understand and study this Hermetic Principle. It contains the solution of many mysteries of Life. We caution you that this Principle has no reference to the many base, pernicious and degrading lustful theories, teachings and practices, which are taught under fanciful titles, and which are a prostitution of the great natural principle of Gender. Such base revivals of the ancient infamous forms of Phallicism tend to ruin mind, body and soul, and the Hermetic Philosophy has ever sounded the warning note against these degraded teachings which tend toward lust, licentiousness, and perversion of Nature's principles. If you seek such teachings, you must go elsewhere for them--Hermeticism contains nothing for you along these lines. To the pure, all things are pure; to the base, all things are base.

The Kybalion, by Three Initiates: Chapter 12

Taken from: The Revolution of Everyday Life: The Reversal of Perspective

The shock of freedom works miracles. Nothing can resist it, neither mental illness, remorse, guilt, the feeling of powerlessness, nor the brutalisation created by the environment of power. When a waterpipe burst in Pavlov's laboratory, not one of the dogs that survived the flood retained the slightest trace of his long conditioning. Could the tidal wave of great social upheavals have less effect on men than a burst waterpipe on dogs?, Reich recommends explosions of anger for emotionally blocked and muscularly armoured neurotics. This type of neurosis seems particularly prevalent today: it's survival sickness. The most coherent explosion of anger has a great chance of being a general uprising.”

Raoul Vaneigem

Valuable Quotes

“Much is achieved by our mind through faith, which is a firm belief, a fixed intention, and a complete absorption of the operator or recipient, and it assists in every matter and lends strength to every deed we wish to do; so that what may be called an image is formed inside us of the power to be assimilated and the thing to be performed in us or by us.  Therefore in every work and application we must employ a strong desire, must stretch our imagination, and must have the most sanguine hope and the firmest faith, for this contributes very much to success…” – Agrippa