THE DIVINE SCIENCE Why Pursue Theurgy?

2011

Why Pursue Theurgy?

Therearemanydifferentformsofmysticismintheworld,andwiththeadventoftheInternetand theeaseofmodernglobaltravel,everyhopefulseekerhasthebenefitofshoppingaroundforthe systemwhichsingsmosttohim.SolongasthecleargoalofthesystemistoreachGod,andthereis evidencethatotherspursuingthatpathhaveachievedasmuch,thenitisasafesystem.Inthatrespect, nopathisbetterthananyother.Nomatterhowoldornewitsfounding,howlargeorsmallits following,orwhichcountryithailsfrom,ifitcansuccessfullyproduceadeptsthenalliswell.Apaththat maybelongerforonekindofpersoncouldbethequickestforanother.Solongasuniversallawis upheldbythesystem,thereisnorealdifferenceintheend.Itisonlythedetailsofthetripitselfwhich aredifferent. ItisthesedetailswhichthebrowsingSeekerwindsupdecidingupon.Theydonotmakethesystem betterorworseinthelongrun;theysimplysettheatmosphere.Thestudent,then,candecidewhat kindofatmospherehewouldratherprogressin.Wewillprovideafewofthereasonsthatpeoplewho choosetopracticetheurgymaypreferittoadifferentapproach.

CulturalFamiliarity
TheurgyhasitsstrongestappealtothesocalledWesternWorld.ManybelievethattheWest lacksitsowndistinctformofspirituality,andthereforewinduppursuingorientalformsofmysticismfor nobetterreasonthanthat.Inreality,thetheurgicpathisalivingtraditionwhichhasbreathedlifeinto almostallwesternmythologies,andwasthedrivingforcebehindmanyoftheWestsbestthinkers. BenjaminFranklin,GeorgeWashington,ThomasJefferson,FrancisBacon,andIsaacNewton,arejusta fewofthemorewellknownwesternstudentsoftheurgyoritsbranches.Asformativeassuchfigures astheyhavebeeninthecreationandshapingofourmodernworld,therearealsochampionsoftheurgy furtherbackinantiquity,whowereequallyformativeofwesternculture.Pythagoras,Plato,Socrates, Anaxagoras,Proclus,Damascius,Aristotle,Virgil,Cicero,Homer,Orpheus,andmanyotherfamous classicalfiguresweredirectlyconnectedtotheurgicmysteryschoolsintheirowntime.Thefamous Medicifamilypracticedit,asdidthefounderoftheBritishSecretServiceandexpounderofAlgebra, JohnDee.ChristianRosencruetzencountereditinthefabledBookM.,whichprofoundlyinfluenced himselfandParacelsus,andthereforesteeredthecourseofEuropeanmysteryschoolsandmedicine alike.ThefamousphilosopherphysicianDescarteswasinitiatedintoitspractices,aswasthethinker whoproposedtheideaofuniversaleducationalstandardsuponwhichmodernschoolingwasbased, JohannComenius.Thesearesimplyafewexamplesofhowtheurgy,asacurrentandlivingtradition, hasbeenpresentallalong. Copyright20102011TheDivineScience|www.thedivinescience.org 1

THE DIVINE SCIENCE Why Pursue Theurgy?

2011

Seeingthis,andrealizinghowrootedinthefoundationsofwesternculturetheurgyis,onecanbegin tounderstandthereasonthatmanypeoplefeelaspecialaffinityforit.Itis,onecouldsay,inourblood. Thewesternculturalupbringinghasnurturedit.Fewpeople,withoutspecialstudy,canvisualizeKwan YinorKwanDiifcommandedto,ornameoutthearticlesinthehandsofGanesha.Fewcansay affirmativelyhowmanyheadsBrahmahas,whatVirabhadrasfacelookslike,orevenwho,withany detail,ShivaorVishnuare.Avalokteshwarisunknowntomostpeopleoutsidetheorient,thoughquite famouswithin.ThelifeoftheBuddha,andotherimportantthings,arenotinherentlyknowninthe occident. Yet,ifasked,mostcouldimaginewhatZeuslookslike.Withouthavingapparentlystudiedit anywhere,justfromgrowingupintheWest,theaveragepersoncouldtellyouwhetherPoseidonisthe godoftheseaorofthemountains.Theycould,ifpressed,tellyouwhoHadesis.Manycouldevengive ageneralideaofwhattheTitanswere,whocastthemoffofwhatmountain,andthenameofthe chamberinwhichtheywereencased.BasicdescriptionsofHerculesandOdysseus,bothimportantin theurgy,couldbeprovidedbyalmostanyoccidentalperson.EvendetailsliketheTrialsofHerculesand theTrojanHorsecanbeatleasttoucheduponbymany. Infactuntilquiterecently,onewasonlyconsideredculturedifhehadatleastacursoryknowledge oftheGreekmyths,poets,andphilosophers.Becauseofthat,eveniftheydonotquiteknowwhois who,orcannotgivemanydetails,almosteveryonereadingthiswillatleastrecognizethenamesof Zeus,Poseidon,Hera,Athena,Artemis,Cupid,Kronos,Gaia,Ares,Hades,Hermes,Apollo,Achilles, Hercules,Agamemnon,Hector,Paris,HelenofTroy,andOdysseus,allofwhichplaysomemannerof roleineitherpracticalorcosmologicalconsiderationswithintheurgy.Thereadercanprobablyimagine acentaur,minotaur,pegasus,ornymph.Allofthissubtleculturalinformation,storedinthefarreaches ofthemindsomewhere,makestravelingthetheurgicpathalittleeasierthansomeothers.Itisa languagewhich,ifonlyvaguely,youhavebeenacquaintedwith.

LinguisticFamiliarity
Languageis,itself,anotherreasonwhypursuingtheurgymaybepreferableforsomepeople.Ifyou speakalanguagebasedonLatin,thenyoulikelystudiedGreekrootwordsatsomepointintime,evenif justasachild.SinceGreekisaprimaryinfluenceonLatin,andLatinaprimaryinfluenceonthemajor occidentallanguages,nearlyeveryonewillbefamiliarwithsomeofthewordsused.Pronunciationwill comemorenaturally,andmemorizationofimportantterminologywillthereforebeeasier.Asan example,spiritualpracticeiscalledaskesis.Clearly,askesisistherootofthewordascetic,andfrom thisanideaofitsmeaningcanbeglimpsedwithoutanyspecialeducationbeingneeded.Another importantwordinourtraditionishypostasis,andagain,manypeoplecanfigureoutitsbasiclikely meaningbylookingatit:hypomeansbelow,andstasisreferstoastateofbeing.Itbecomes relativelyeasytoremember,then,thathypostasisreferstoastateofbeingwherethestudentis experiencingwhatisunderallthings.Therearemanyexampleslikethistobehad,anditallservesto illustratewhytheurgymayfeelmorenaturaltosomepeoplethanothersystems. Pursuingthislinguisticfamiliarityisthelikelyabilityofthewesternstudenttobeabletoproperly pronouncethegodnames,wordsofpower,andotherrelevantintonationsorrecitations.Thismakes practicingthethingsrecitedwithintheurgysaferforthestudent,whocanstandonsurerground.The spokenmagicalformulaeutilizedintheurgyareprimarilyvowelcompositions,pronouncedinwaysthat mostoccidentalpeoplewillbeatleastlooselyfamiliarwith,andeasilyenoughlearnedunderproper Copyright20102011TheDivineScience|www.thedivinescience.org 2

THE DIVINE SCIENCE Why Pursue Theurgy?

2011

direction.Theyweregivenbythegodstotheseersofthistradition,toprovidethemwithpowerful formulaesuitablefortheirearsandtongues. Somewhatoppositionaltothis,thereisasortofobsessiongrowingamongstspiritualseekersinthe west,particularlyamongsttheyouth,withyogicmantras.Peopleliketotryandlearnthem,topractice japa,tosingthem,cleanthehousetothemplayinginthebackground,gettatooesofthemwrittenin sanskritontheirarms,anddrivetheircarswiththemplayingonaCD.Itisespeciallytrendytorecite themduringmeditationandthelikes.Thesemantras,whichhaveleakedintothegeneralpublicand havetherebeensuitablyabused,areextremelyancientandinherentlysacred,despitehoweasilythey maybefoundontheinternet.Theyshouldneverbeusedwithoutmantradiksha,underthedirect instructionofaguru.Tomispronouncethemevenslightlycanhavedevastatingresultsforthewell meaningstudent.Foranoccidentalperson,theirproperpronunciationisnearlyimpossiblewithout yearsoftraining,studyingsanskrit,andlearningfromaguruwhogivesmantras.Thedetailsand complexitiesofthesanskritlanguageareverydifficulttograspforsomeonewhodidnotgrowup aroundit,abletodistinguishbetweenthemanysubtlevariationsofconsonantswhich,toanuntrained ear,canoftensoundlikethesameletter;yettoatrainedear,theyareinarguablydifferent.Itisnot spiritualtositaroundchantingmantrasyouhavenoideahowtopronounce;itisdangerous,andto Hindusandyogiswhomayoverhearyou,itisofteninsulting.

TheurgyisUniversal
Agoodfinalreasonwhysomeprefertheurgyisthat,asastudent,youwillnotbepressuredtoact likesomeoneyouarenot.Yourlikelihoodofbeingacceptedbyyourtheurgicpeersdoesnotchange basedonhowAsian,Indian,NativeAmerican,African,Egyptian,European,American,etc,youmaylook oractuallybe.Youdontneedtowhereatogaorcarryastafftofitinbetter.Wedontrequireyouto growyourhair,stopshaving,eatcertainthings,orpraytocertaingods,sincetheurgyisandhasalways beenauniversalsystem.YourenotcoolerifyouknowsomeGreekorLatin,andattemptingtolearn someEgyptianwilllikelyonlymakeafoolofyou,notearnfavorinyourteacherseyes.Youarefinejust thewayyouare.Ifyouknowsomeothersystem,youwontbelecturedonhowitwasinfluencedby theurgy,orhowtheurgyissoancient,thebest,themost,etc.Thismakestheurgyasmootheraddition todailylifethansomeothersystemsmaybe.Thoughhighlydemandingofyourattention,itisnot demandingofyourappearance. Seeingthistobethecase,wemightalsomentionthatthoughmuchofthisarticlewasfocusedon whyoccidentalpeoplemayfindagoodhomeintheurgyasopposedtomoreforeignsystems,this certainlydoesnotmeanthattheurgyisexclusivelyoccidental.Thecorepracticesoftheurgycanbe foundspreadthroughouttheentireworld.MastersfromPersia,Egypt,India,andChinahave,for example,allcontributedsomethingtothetraditionoverthemillenia,throughcommonexposuretoone another.Therearealso,inallcornersoftheworld,magicalsystemsofmysticism,whichmaybeseenas thesameapproachtospiritualitythattheurgytakes.Thoughtheurgyitselfspecificallyreferstothe GrecoEgyptianformofmysticism,therearemanyancientsystemsthroughouttheworldwhichvirtually mirrorit.Thusthepeopleofallnationsandculturesaresuitableforitspractice,andbothcanandhave takenthispathalltheway,unitingthemtotheirFatherinheaven.

Copyright20102011TheDivineScience|www.thedivinescience.org