There are two extremes when it comes to deciding what Grade one has in an esoteric Order. One is severe training where a person spends years in a Grade and is tested to an inch of their life. The other extreme is where the only thing that matters is if they paid the dues and fees for the Grade. Both extremes result in getting a piece of paper that says you are of a particular Grade.
The same thing happens with Charters and Warrants. Just because a group has a Charter or Warrant, it does not mean that the holder(s) of it actually got any training to go along with it. In fact, it is more likely that they just paid some money to get it.
Therefore, in my opinion, it is best to treat those who brag about having Grade certificates and Charters and Warrants with caution. Watch their overall actions, and weigh their teachings--don't take those pieces of paper at face value. While an Adept can't help but be human, they also can't help being an Adept. If you watch carefully, a person's true level of attainment eventually rears its ugly head.
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6 comments:
Yes, unfortunately a lot of people put great weight in titles, grades, certificates, charters and warrants, but they mean nothing if the work was not done to attain them.
As you suggested, it is by people's words and actions that we know if they have attained anything or not. I'll take a "neophyte" with real knowledge and experience over a paper-waving "adept" any day.
LVX,
Dean.
you guys keep ruining my plans to get rich selling paper adepthood.
I would only add that titles, grades, certificates, charters, warrants, etc., are, at best, indicators of conditions at a particular moment in time. Someone may have earned a degree, but through years of ignoring what had been earned, that paper is no more than wall paper.
It's terrible to conclude that the value of a group or individual should be based on "what have you done for me lately," but I think that is so. By which I don't mean what has a group or individual simply given you, but rather, what have they provided to give you the opportunity to learn?
Very often, I receive email asking me to recommend an individual or group. As a general policy, I simply do not do this. Someone or some group that is quality today may turn into a megalomaniac or a cult tomorrow.
The solution is simple: Matthew 7:16 "By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"
I have to agree with both Dean and Don, one can certainly tell who is doing the Work based upon their words and actions. No piece of paper can cause or motivate a person to actually do the Work.
Ditto to most of what is said here.
I would also say, however, that obtaining a charter, however done can IN THEORY provide a linkage, thin as it may be, to an egregore on the mental level - i.e. a group of people now recognize in their minds that Joe Blogs is head of an Order.
However, this is only useful if the person has already done the solid magical work to make use of the egergore.
Having recently read about a GD Imperator giving our 'provisional charters' to any group of three people, sight unseen, we can see some folk do not have clue about how magic actually works!
The problem with titles and certificates is that the ego eats them up. The pride that comes with such attainments is a dangerous thing to someone on a spiritual path, being that pride is the root of all sin.
I think this is why humility is such an important theme for the Adept. Generally we attribute Pride to the Sun, and the solar forces are quite prevalent to the Adeptus Minor, making them even more prone to Pride and, if they aren't careful, eventually Vainglory.
It is a difficult thing to do, but I find the best answer to this problem is to renounce such titles in your own mind, and to truly think of oneself as a Neophyte.
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