Over on another blog, there has been an explosion of talk about the Counter Initatic Force (or Counter Initiatory Force if you prefer that term). Reading that particular blog, one gets the impression that all the other Golden Dawn Orders, students and members who do not condemn the actions of Nick Farrell, Pat Zalewski, and all their enemies are trapped in the Counter Initatic Force. If you are not with them, stoning their enemies alongside of them (figuritively speaking), then you too are being manipulated by the Counter Initatory Force, having your strings pulled by some giant invisible puppet master who insists that humanity be kept in the dark. After all, they are the only legitimate esoteric Order and the Counter Initiatic Force is determined to stop their progress of bringing people into the eternal Light.
Or at least, that is what it reads like to me. There is nothing like standing in a circle of fire while the dark forces howl outside to bind a group of magicians together.
Now, I will admit that the Counter Initiatory Force exists. It is called the dark side of the sephiroth. It is one of the reasons that the snake and serpent are used as symbols of the process of initiation. One can summon the Light side of a sephiroth without also summoning its Dark side. One cannot gain the power to heal without also gaining the power to harm. The poison comes with the ascension.
But honestly, the whole idea that the Counter Initiatory Force is manifesting primarily as flesh and blood human beings writing lies about them is a little too much. I am not saying it could not happen, but it sounds too much like something out of a fantasy movie or comic book for my personal tastes.
Then again, I live in another universe. I live in an universe where the Counter Initiatory Force arises from within. It is not the outside world that you have to worry about. It is yourself and the darkness that lays deep within oneself. Don't worry about other human beings. Worry about yourself stopping your own initiatory process. Worry about your own vices, such as greed and laziness.
The typical way that I see this manifest is the number of people who undergo initiation, have their world fly to pieces, and then cry that something went wrong---they drop out of the system, and attempt to put the genie back into the bottle.
It is not that something went wrong---it is their life was imbalanced in the first place, and the process of initation started to clean out the dirt and grime. If you have spent your entire life walking on your head, then all of sudden being placed upon your feet is going to feel mightly strange. For most people, comfort and unchanging familiarity is the goal---not the exciting world of change and spiritual struggle.
Yes, there is a Counter Initiatory Force, but its name is not Nick Farrell or Pat Zalewski.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
8 comments:
Hi Morgan,
this an excellent post - THANK YOU. I hope folk take its message to heart. I could not agree with you more about its theme.
Yes, I have enjoyed watching the cut and pastes appear on the 'other blog'. You finding it all somewhat like 'fantasy movie or comic book' is interesting. As I noted on Facebook a while back, the style of writing on the website of 'the other blog' reads like the adverts in 60s Marvel comics :)
One of the other things I have found disturbing about the 'counter-initatic force' hype is the dire religious overtones, the need to choose well or imperil yourself forever. Compare:
"You must understand that this is no joke. Your Eternal Soul hangs in the balance." (the 'other blog').
with
"Unless you take this spiritual battle you are in most seriously, you will perish in the end. The stakes could not be higher! Eternal souls hang in the balance." (http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/eternity1.htm)
Nice.
I likewise have found the whole "Counter Initiatory Force" discussion rather interesting, especially in light of the way that it has been consistently presented on this 'other blog'.
What appears to be going on is the deliberate of a redefinition of the term "Counter Initiatory Force" to suit a particular world view. We have seen this already on the same 'other blog' with terms like "Traditionalist" and "Reconstructionist".
Like Peregrin, I find the particular verbiage used in reference to this "Counter Initiatory Force" frought with what appears to be marketing verbiage and key words. Phrases like "Your Eternal Soul hangs in the balance." are clear indicators of this.
While I do agree that there is a "Counter Initiatory Force" that takes place in each and every grade after undergoing an initiation within the GD System, it is not some malignant force bent of control of the Initiates as some puppet master behind the scenes. The Counter Initiatory Force is the dredging up of those negative aspects that relate to the grade itself that must be worked through by the Candidate. These often relate to the Sephira in question as well as to the particular Element (for those Elemental Grades and above). These Forces must not only be fully explored, but overcome and fully integrated into the Sphere of Sensation in a balanced healthy manner in order to allow the Initiate to advance along the path.
Presenting this "Counter Initiatory Force" as it is on the 'other blog' I think shows a rather narrow and limited understanding of the Forces involved in the Initiation Process. This includes the implication that these Counter Forces are not at work in Initiations with those organizations that are fully contacted by Inner Planes Contacts, Secret Chiefs, lineaged charters, etc.
This line of reasoning is wholly incorrect, because ANY proper initiation produces these Counter Forces, as mentioned above. Working through these Counter Forces is part of the Work, the Solve et Coagula of the Initiate. This Work is part of what helps to make the Initiate "more than human" in my opinion.
In LVX,
Samuel
Thank you. This makes total sense, and it's hard to imagine that the counter-initiatory force is specifically incarnate in specific persons.
I'm reminded, though, of the Midrashic story of Abraham bargaining with God, in which Abraham convinces God that as long as the world contains thirty-six persons who are good, God will not destroy the world. Abraham then takes it a step further and asks if it has to be thirty-six people who are intrinsically good, or if it has to be thirty-six people who are being good at that moment. God agrees that it can be the second of these — thirty-six people in the world doing something good at a particular moment in time is totally doable, and it gives us all a little bit more ability to breathe easy.
I think there is a difference between counter initiatory force and foiling a leader's plans to lie to his own order.
Yes there are counter initiatory forces and these are the things that prevent you connecting to your higher. Ego is probably the biggest one. The lower self which thinks its important strangles the connection to the higher until that can push it down and make it manageable. I think there is an outside force, but it is not counter initiation it its counter evolution.
Excellent post and excellent reply by Frater Peregrin!
FYI, the disturbing component here to me as a Jew is the direct quoting of Jihadist doctrine as expressed by Pakistani Brigadier General S.K. Malik in his treatise on The Quranic Concept of War. Preface by A.B.K Brohi, Pakistan's former Ambassador to India; in it he states:
When a believer sees that someone is trying to obstruct another believer from traveling the road that leads to God, spirit of Jehad requires that such a man who is imposing obstacles should be prevented from doing so and the obstacles placed by him should also be removed, so that mankind may be freely able to negotiate its own path that leads to Heaven.” To do otherwise, “by not striving to clear or straighten the path we [Muslims] become passive spectators of the counter-initiatory forces imposing a blockade in the way of those who mean to keep their faith with God.
@Peregrin "poison of God"? = best article u ever read, and u dont explain why? Just like u dont explain, neither does this author. It's just more atheistic cuz I said so nonsense.
Think About These Things
Mr. Knight, I am actually a Wiccan. I guess my lack of quotes from a holy book must make it look like I believe in nothing. But seriously, I think that one is in trouble once one has to start quoting a holy book to make their point.
Post a Comment