Experience of the inner worlds: a course in Christian Qabalistic magic.

268 Pages·1975·49.682 MB·English

by  KNIGHT, Gareth

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EXPERIENCE OF THE INNER WORLDS

Experience of the
Inner W orlds
A Course in Christian Qabalistic Magic
Gareth Knight
A HELIOS BOOK
1975
Copyright © 1975 Helios Book Service (Publications) Ltd.
ISBN 0 900448 19 9
Published by Helios Book Service (Publications) Ltd.
8, The Square, Toddington, Cheltenham, Glos.
Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd.
Frome, Somerset and London
Artwork by Linda Wheeler, Smile Design,
Holy Trinity Vicarage, Trinity Green, Gosport, Hants.
6 Well, now that we have seen each other’ said the Unicorn
‘if youll believe in me, I’ll believe in you. Is that a bar­
gain ?’
‘ Yes, if you like’ said Alice.
Through the Looking Glass—Lewis Carroll

AUTHOR’S PREFACE
My aim in this book has been to provide a system of occult teaching
and practice that is founded on a framework of Christian tradition
and belief.
I realise that there may be many who would consider occultism
and Christianity to be incompatible, and there are others who
might wonder why I should bother.
However, until the late nineteenth century Western magic and
occultism was firmly based on Christian tradition, from the Florentine
magicians of the Renaissance to the Rosicrucian Brotherhood,
Robert Fludd and Eliphas Levi. Before that, the Hermetic literature,
allied to the theology of pseudo-Dionysius, was an amalgam of the
divine revelation of Christianity and the highest spiritual insights of
the pagan Mystery tradition. The great mystical vision of Dante; the
contributory streams of other ‘people of the Book’ (the Old Testa­
ment)—whether Jewish Qabalism, or the Alchemical, Courtly Love
and Holy Grail traditions from Islamic sources; all combine in a
rich tapestry that forms the occult and mystical heritage of the West.
That the science and art of magic should have become divorced
from orthodox science and orthodox religion is, in my view, re­
grettable. Magic is deprived of some rational discipline and guidance,
science loses its soul, and religion much of its vitality.
It is my hope that this book will enable a body of students to
recover the threads of a vital tradition that is an indispensable part
of our spiritual and cultural birthright. To use the book to greatest
advantage, the serious student should read it through at leisure or
fairly quickly, then proceed to do the exercises—about one chapter
per month—preferably night and morning—and using extracts from
the chapters as readings.
It is important that the order of studying the exercises and chapters
is preserved.
I wish to record my thanks to the Reverend Tony Duncan for his
helpful midwifery during the long gestation of the manuscript, and
viii Author's Preface
for his ready permission for it to be built around the exercises first
formulated in his essay on mysticism entitled The Lord of the Dance.
Also to the band of volunteers who have validated the exercises and
have worked through the manuscript with me, particularly Michael
and Brenda Bartholomew, Loanne Lee Miller and Calla Haack. On
the basis of this work I hope to construct a supervised course of
practical study, details of which may be obtained from me via my
publishers.
Thanks are due also to the pseudonymous Douglas Warren from
whose The Sword in the Sun (not yet published at the time of my going
to press) are drawn the extracts at the head of the exercise sections as
also the ‘angelic’ scripts.
Finally, my thanks to my family, Roma, Richard and Rebecca,
who have, in their understanding and forbearance, helped immeasur­
ably in the preparation of this book. May it be a help to others in the
degree that they have been a help and inspiration to me. Amor vincit
omnia.
Easter 1974 Gareth Knight
CONTENTS
I THE SPHERE OF LIGHT 1
Occultism as a branch of science (p. 1)—‘mystical’ and
‘magical’ defined (p. 2)—armchair cosmology (p. 2)—
borderline sciences (p. 3)—the spirit of scientific enquiry
(p. 5)—investigation of the inner worlds (p. 5)—Jung and
alchemy (p. 6)—monism and theism (p. 7)—Theosophy
(p. 8)—revealed and natural religion (p. 8)—animism
(p. 9)—pagan mythology (p. 10)—ancient philosophy (p. 10)
—Alexander's world empire (p. 11)—oriental religions (p. 12)
—y°Sa (P- 14)—common sense or pictorial science and
religion (p. 15)—pantheism (p. 16)—EXERCISE (p. 17).
II THE FIERY SPEAR 20
The Old Testament as revelation (p. 20)—supernatural and
mythologising elements (p. 21)—a ‘chosen race’ (p. 22)—
JHVH worship and nature gods (p. 23)—the prophetic tradi­
tion (p. 25)—the symbolism of sacrifice (p. 27)—the signifi­
cance of the Last Supper (p. 28)—the message of the Messiah
(p. 29)—the fallen’ will (p. 30)—God the Father (p. 31)—God
the Son (p. 33)—the Transfiguration and Resurrection (p. 34)—
the Body of Christ (p. 35)—the Bride of Christ (p. 35)—
St. Paul (p. 35)—the pagan mysteries (p. 37)—Mithraism and
Christianity (p. 37)—early Christian heresies (p. 40)—
EXERCISE (p. 41).
III THE SERPENT FLAME 44
The Holy Spirit (p. 44)—gifts of the Spirit (p. 45)—super­
normal powers (p. 48)—Holy Spirit movements (p. 49)—
Jewish visions of a New Age (p. 49)—Gentile visions of a New
Age (p. 50)—Joachim de Floris (p. 53)—Frederick II (p. 55)—
the New Jerusalem as the Church (p. 56)—the psychic centres