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readoldthings In The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5, Verses 38 to 48, Jesus says:
Here we come to some of Jesus's best known and most easily ignored words.
They are not easy words, and following this path is not easy. But I believe that what Jesus is teaching here is the very highest sort of spiritual development-- and spiritual warfare. Let's illustrate that point by example.
The Magical Battle of Britain
Beginning in 1939, the English Occultist Dion Fortune led a series of magical workings designed to ensure a British victory in World War II. Her method was fairly straightforward-- she and her circle would send out a letter and a theme for meditation once a week to all the members of their organization. On Sunday, the recipient was to open the letter and study its contents, and then, at 12:15-- that is, at high noon on the Day of the Sun-- to face London and enter into meditation on the theme indicated.
At one point, Fortune received a letter urging that she and her group carry out magical attacks on German leaders. Her response is worth careful study:
Fortune was not a pacifist and did not demand that the British lay down arms. She did insist, however, that the spiritual work to be done in aid of the war effort consist entirely in works of healing and blessing. And why?
Note her opening line: "Nothing and nobody is altogether evil." This is because-- to state the very obvious-- everything which exists is. That is, it has being. Being is derived from the One, which is the same as the Good and which we also call God. Therefore, to exist at all is to possess a kind of goodness. The work of the true initiate, then, is not to destroy things, because to destroy is, necessarily, to rebel against God.
Healing is a very different thing. To heal literally means to make whole. Wholeness is another way of saying oneness; every whole consists of a unity of parts, and that unity is an expression of oneness and is therefore derived from the One. If Germany exists, it is because God wills that it exists, and God does not will evil. If Germany is acting evilly, then the solution is to heal Germany, not destroy it. A regenerated Germany rising up in strength and greatness is a Germany expressing Oneness, Goodness, and Godliness through a particular filter-- the filter of the German nation.
The Magical Battle of America
I very often think of these lines with regard to the present political impasse in the United States. What would happen if partisans on either side of our divide were to say to one another, "We do not wish to destroy you, but to perfect you?" This country consists of many different subdivisions-- regional, ethnic, religious. What if we had a politics which said "Blacks, Jews, WASPs, Irish and Scots-Irish, Italians, Apaches, Germans, Mexicans and Scandinavians; New Englanders, Appalachians, New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians, High Southerners, Deep Southerners, Westerners, Mid-Westerners, Californians, Cascadians, and the Cubans of Miami; Protestants, Catholics, Jews again, Mormons, Pagans, Wizards and Radicals; Rednecks, Hippies, Yuppies, Cowboys-- each of these is a particular expression of Americanness, and America is a particular expression of Godliness. We are all in this together, like words in a sentence spoken by God. Without exception, all have sinned and fallen short and owe repentance to God and one another; all have triumphed and achieved greatness and are worthy of celebration. All have their own particular struggles, wounds of the past and besetting sins, but we can lean on one another, and all of us can lean on God. We will not force the values of Berkeley onto West Virginia or Charleston onto Minnesota, but we will instead support each in leading the life proper to it in its own proper place, so that each may achieve its own greatness."
How would that change our political discourse?
A Story
Some years ago I was living in a house with 4 or 5 roommates. We were all friends and got along well with one another. Then we had a very bad falling out, and we came to hate one another. It was so bad that I couldn't be in the house alone with them. I got off of work at 5:00, but my girlfriend, who lived with me at the time, got off at 7:00; I would wait downtown for her, so that we could go home together.
One day I left work and I was feeling extremely angry. It was the kind of anger that doesn't go away, no matter what you do. And I tried everything-- think about something else, take deep breaths, you name it.
I wandered into a coffeeshop, thinking that a cup of chamomile tea might at least calm my nerves. I sat down with my tea, and I remembered that chamomile is a Solar herb and used in rituals of blessing and spiritual protection. That gave me an idea.
The coffeeshop had a single-use bathroom with a door that locked, and it was relatively clean inside. So I took my tea into the bathroom, locked the door, and did the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. Afterward, I stood in the light, surrounded by flaming pentagrams and the four archangels, and I felt compelled, I do not know by what, to say the Lord's Prayer. At the line "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us," I stopped, and found myself repeating the line over, and over, and over. Then I finished the prayer and took up the chamomile tea. I dipped my fingers in it, and drew crosses on my forehead and on the backs of my hands.
Then I went back to my seat and entered into meditation, resolving to meditate until the tea on my head and hands dried completely.
In meditation, I visualized each of the roommates that I was angry with, one at a time. I pictured the entire conflict as clearly as I could from their perspective. Once I had a clear sense of their perspective, I called their image to mind again and said "I understand that you can only be who you are. I am sorry for my part in our conflict, and I forgive you for yours." I then thanked them for the friendship that we had at one time, released the image, and moved onto the next person.
When I entered the coffeeshop I was so angry I was shaking. By the time I left I felt like I was floating in an ocean of golden light.
Strangely enough, when I finally got home, my roommates greeted me politely, for the first time in weeks, as though nothing was wrong.
I won't tell you we became friends again after that-- We didn't and we couldn't. But the fight was over.
Likeness
Jesus tells us to be perfect, as our father in Heaven is perfect; this is how we become children of God. Remember that he has used this term before, in the Beatitudes. And remember that, from our perspective, things are not like one another by coincidence. If something is like another thing, it is because it is participating in the very being of the thing that it is like. By becoming like God, we ourselves become Divine. "Therefore," says Plotinus, "Let each become godlike and beautiful who wishes to see God and Beauty."
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Here we come to some of Jesus's best known and most easily ignored words.
They are not easy words, and following this path is not easy. But I believe that what Jesus is teaching here is the very highest sort of spiritual development-- and spiritual warfare. Let's illustrate that point by example.
The Magical Battle of Britain
Beginning in 1939, the English Occultist Dion Fortune led a series of magical workings designed to ensure a British victory in World War II. Her method was fairly straightforward-- she and her circle would send out a letter and a theme for meditation once a week to all the members of their organization. On Sunday, the recipient was to open the letter and study its contents, and then, at 12:15-- that is, at high noon on the Day of the Sun-- to face London and enter into meditation on the theme indicated.
At one point, Fortune received a letter urging that she and her group carry out magical attacks on German leaders. Her response is worth careful study:
Nobody and nothing is altogether evil, therefore it is never justifiable to try and destroy any person or thing by direct action, but only to open a channel whereby spiritual forces are brought to bear upon the problem. This is the meaning of Our Lord's command to leave the wheat and tares to grow together till the harvest. Hate is an evil thing in itself, whatever its provocation, and to call it righteous indignation does little to improve it.
Our work is a work of healing, and no hate must come of it. We look to see a regenerated Germany rise up in strength and greatness as well as goodwill and peace. On this great earth of ours there is room for all if they will only co-operate.
Our work is a work of healing, and no hate must come of it. We look to see a regenerated Germany rise up in strength and greatness as well as goodwill and peace. On this great earth of ours there is room for all if they will only co-operate.
Fortune was not a pacifist and did not demand that the British lay down arms. She did insist, however, that the spiritual work to be done in aid of the war effort consist entirely in works of healing and blessing. And why?
Note her opening line: "Nothing and nobody is altogether evil." This is because-- to state the very obvious-- everything which exists is. That is, it has being. Being is derived from the One, which is the same as the Good and which we also call God. Therefore, to exist at all is to possess a kind of goodness. The work of the true initiate, then, is not to destroy things, because to destroy is, necessarily, to rebel against God.
Healing is a very different thing. To heal literally means to make whole. Wholeness is another way of saying oneness; every whole consists of a unity of parts, and that unity is an expression of oneness and is therefore derived from the One. If Germany exists, it is because God wills that it exists, and God does not will evil. If Germany is acting evilly, then the solution is to heal Germany, not destroy it. A regenerated Germany rising up in strength and greatness is a Germany expressing Oneness, Goodness, and Godliness through a particular filter-- the filter of the German nation.
The Magical Battle of America
I very often think of these lines with regard to the present political impasse in the United States. What would happen if partisans on either side of our divide were to say to one another, "We do not wish to destroy you, but to perfect you?" This country consists of many different subdivisions-- regional, ethnic, religious. What if we had a politics which said "Blacks, Jews, WASPs, Irish and Scots-Irish, Italians, Apaches, Germans, Mexicans and Scandinavians; New Englanders, Appalachians, New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians, High Southerners, Deep Southerners, Westerners, Mid-Westerners, Californians, Cascadians, and the Cubans of Miami; Protestants, Catholics, Jews again, Mormons, Pagans, Wizards and Radicals; Rednecks, Hippies, Yuppies, Cowboys-- each of these is a particular expression of Americanness, and America is a particular expression of Godliness. We are all in this together, like words in a sentence spoken by God. Without exception, all have sinned and fallen short and owe repentance to God and one another; all have triumphed and achieved greatness and are worthy of celebration. All have their own particular struggles, wounds of the past and besetting sins, but we can lean on one another, and all of us can lean on God. We will not force the values of Berkeley onto West Virginia or Charleston onto Minnesota, but we will instead support each in leading the life proper to it in its own proper place, so that each may achieve its own greatness."
How would that change our political discourse?
A Story
Some years ago I was living in a house with 4 or 5 roommates. We were all friends and got along well with one another. Then we had a very bad falling out, and we came to hate one another. It was so bad that I couldn't be in the house alone with them. I got off of work at 5:00, but my girlfriend, who lived with me at the time, got off at 7:00; I would wait downtown for her, so that we could go home together.
One day I left work and I was feeling extremely angry. It was the kind of anger that doesn't go away, no matter what you do. And I tried everything-- think about something else, take deep breaths, you name it.
I wandered into a coffeeshop, thinking that a cup of chamomile tea might at least calm my nerves. I sat down with my tea, and I remembered that chamomile is a Solar herb and used in rituals of blessing and spiritual protection. That gave me an idea.
The coffeeshop had a single-use bathroom with a door that locked, and it was relatively clean inside. So I took my tea into the bathroom, locked the door, and did the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. Afterward, I stood in the light, surrounded by flaming pentagrams and the four archangels, and I felt compelled, I do not know by what, to say the Lord's Prayer. At the line "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us," I stopped, and found myself repeating the line over, and over, and over. Then I finished the prayer and took up the chamomile tea. I dipped my fingers in it, and drew crosses on my forehead and on the backs of my hands.
Then I went back to my seat and entered into meditation, resolving to meditate until the tea on my head and hands dried completely.
In meditation, I visualized each of the roommates that I was angry with, one at a time. I pictured the entire conflict as clearly as I could from their perspective. Once I had a clear sense of their perspective, I called their image to mind again and said "I understand that you can only be who you are. I am sorry for my part in our conflict, and I forgive you for yours." I then thanked them for the friendship that we had at one time, released the image, and moved onto the next person.
When I entered the coffeeshop I was so angry I was shaking. By the time I left I felt like I was floating in an ocean of golden light.
Strangely enough, when I finally got home, my roommates greeted me politely, for the first time in weeks, as though nothing was wrong.
I won't tell you we became friends again after that-- We didn't and we couldn't. But the fight was over.
Likeness
Jesus tells us to be perfect, as our father in Heaven is perfect; this is how we become children of God. Remember that he has used this term before, in the Beatitudes. And remember that, from our perspective, things are not like one another by coincidence. If something is like another thing, it is because it is participating in the very being of the thing that it is like. By becoming like God, we ourselves become Divine. "Therefore," says Plotinus, "Let each become godlike and beautiful who wishes to see God and Beauty."
