The others, the mages, the theosophists, the cabalists, the spiritists, the hermetics, the Rosicrucians, remind me, when they are not mere thieves, of children playing and scuffling in a cellar. And if one descends lower yet, into the hole-in-the-wall places of the pythonesses, clairvoyants, and mediums, what does one find except agencies of prostitution and gambling? All these pretended peddlers of the future are extremely nasty; that’s the only thing in the occult of which one can be sure. ~ J K Huysmans, Là-Bas

On the positive side, I want to thank those who have taken the trouble to donate something. It is not the money per se, but rather the expression of value that counts for me.

For some reason, we’ve been experiencing negative psychic attacks recently. When we wrote that resisting the temptation of materialism is the task of the human race, immediately someone falsely assures us that materialism is the path to true spirituality.

Then a nihilist, unable to recognize any higher spiritual values, assumes we act simply out of unthinking passion.

Those I can understand; a man knows where his enemies stand. But attacks from friends are much different. In the Divine Comedy, Lucifer is at the absolute centre of hell, with Judas, Brutus, and Cassius for company. For there is nothing worse than betrayal by one’s friends. Sometimes they object to what I’ve written, often vociferously. In most cases, they are incapable of understanding, so they are prone to misunderstanding. Nevertheless, the following events have actually happened. Despite it all, I don’t like to give up on my friends; so I live in the hope that something higher will arise from the rubble.

When someone calls me “stupid”, conceivably I could gather my IQ scores, SAT results, college transcripts, etc. to refute that claim.

When someone calls me a “psychopath”, I could send him a comprehensive psychological profile that I have from several years ago, which would show my mental health to be free of that and similar disorders.

When someone claims I am ignorant of esoteric matters, then I am put into an awkward position of having to boast of spiritual attainments, a task which is in itself an inner contradiction. But in all cases, the better response is to “turn the other cheek”, since a defence just makes words said in anger become a permanent barrier.

This month I’ve also been called mediocre, an assclown, Luciferic, emotional, nunnish, unable to learn … and there is still a week left.

Role Playing

There is the mistaken impression that esoteric studies are based on some secret knowledge, hidden from others. Valentin Tomberg, however, makes a distinction between a secret and an arcanum.

Secrets are only facts, procedures, practices, or whatever doctrines that one keeps to oneself for a personal motive, since they are able to be understood and put into practice by others to whom one does not want to reveal them.

You see, it has nothing to do with esoteric attainment; rather, it is a means to retain control and power. Those who are in on the secret can use it to identify in and out groups. At its worst, it only feeds the urge for self-inflation. For these reasons, we prefer to keep everything in the open.

It is not the text or the book that ultimately matters. The text is merely the reflection of the pure act of intelligence, as revealed in the Magician Arcanum. It is only possible to reach the pure act through spiritual exercises. Otherwise, as Tomberg points out, you are only doing philosophy at best, or just role playing at worst.

Our first goal here is to promote the ideal of self-mastery and to show ways to achieve it. This requires control of thinking, feeling, and willing. This control can only result from a purification of one’s thinking, feeling, and willing. Without such purification, the mirror will be perturbed, and its reflections will distort the pure act of intelligence.

I have known and spoken to, in my travels, gurus, lamas, anthroposophists, theosophists, freemasons, rosicrucians, priests, gurdjieffians, Jungians, charismatics, channelers, and so on. Even giving the benefit of the doubt, many of the followers are role playing, i.e., they enjoy the fantasy of spiritual attainment without having to do the work. They try to act as they think a spiritual person should act. They dress a certain way, adopt a new diet, say the right words, while leaving their inner life untouched.

In actuality, you would not readily identify an initiate even if he crossed your path. He would have no reason to reveal himself to you, unless you expressed a sincere interest in the teachings.

Living under a Death Sentence

you will die, die in horror, die for ages, you will burn in hell like no other ~ recent text message sent to me

It is interesting living under a death sentence. Every morning, I hear the gallows being built, but someone else is executed and I have a reprieve for the day. The disease has no cure, other than a transplant. The kidneys will fail, gradually poisoning all the other organs until they each shut down. It will indeed be a horrible death, and I’m sure the woman who cursed me will be happy to read this news.

I have no bucket list. I’ve accomplished everything in life that I planned for, perhaps not always to the extent I had hoped, but it’s been close enough. Two-thirds of the visitors to this web site are under the age of 35; my advice is to do what you want to do now, and not later.

The ideal nowadays seems to be that old people should strive for nothing more than playing games and sports. If an old person dives out of an airplane, that gets praise. But if he learns how to pray, no one cares. It takes some seriousness to prepare for death. One learns to focus on eternal ideas, not transitory events. Accumulating novel experiences is no longer of much interest. Notice the delight experienced by young children with each new experience. That is proper for that age, but not for the mature.

The point is that I no longer need to make long term plans, so I have decided not to create Gornahoor: The Space Odyssey Edition. Instead, I shall maintain this edition for a while longer. The topics may well change, however, as will be explained at the end.

I’ve taken care of my personal possessions, to be shared amongst my family. There are two remaining tasks that I still need to assign, although I have not yet identified the trustees.

• The first is the disposal of my library, which would be of great value to a researcher in the topics covered here. There was someone who was willing to take all the books (a couple of thousand), but she has recently lost interest in that.
• The second is someone to maintain the web sites and keep them online for 10 years.

Retrospective

I was planning to include a complete retrospective look over the past 10 years of this blog. However, it would have involved bringing in names of others, which may be one-sided and unfair. Maybe a full history can be made on another day.

With 1100 articles posted on this and our sister blog, you can imagine the thousands of hours spent on this. I have no help. I do the programming and maintenance. I designed the logo and created the motto. I’ve interacted with many people, which is an education in itself.

In any given month, there are 5 to 10 thousand visits from more than 100 countries. Those who complain that we should focus on more sectarian issues, need to take that into account. Tradition knows no such boundaries, at least not on the spiritual level. Our own personal commitment is not hidden, but that does not hinder mutual communication.

For a time, Gornahoor was synonymous with Julius Evola. We’ve quoted him and made many translations available. However, that ship has sailed, now that he is quoted by Steve Bannon and “respectable” conservative web sites. His solution is a dead end, so that is why we moved beyond him a few years ago.

Extending Christian Hermetism

Our task has been to serve the living Tradition, which has been assigned by Valentin Tomberg to his unknown friends. To that end, we have described the various manifestations of that Tradition throughout time and space. We have also introduced a great many authors who have contributed to that Tradition. The goal has been to entice others to want to serve that same Tradition. We have been quite open with that material, since it hides itself from those unable or unwilling to understand it.

As a matter of principle, it is problematic to earn one’s living from Hermetic teaching. It can lead to subtle distortions based on the need “give the customer what he wants”. At its lowest, it is a form of simony, i.e., selling spiritual knowledge for a price. In the olden days, a Hermetist might take the role of a street performer or horse trader. In that way, he could travel from village to village without arising suspicions, and meet with other Hermetists. It would also provide a modest income. That was a motivation for the Tarot cards. Books were too expensive and bulky to travel with. So a deck of cards that encapsulated the teachings in symbolic form was a boon.

Curiously, there have been several attempts over the years to assert control over that Tradition. I have been approached by people claiming to be interested in the topics covered here. But eventually they try to influence and control the content. Anger and disappointment then follow (not from me, from them). I don’t know why they don’t make their own thoughts available online, probably because they aren’t as interesting.

They have even infiltrated the study groups in the past. That is why there is now an open group and a private group, the latter by invitation only. The open group is learning concentration without effort through self-observation exercises derived from the writings in the Philokalia.

The private group is studying the Meditations on the Tarot. Private does not mean “secret”; just that the exercises are of a different nature.

We are planning, given sufficient interest, to start up a Euro group at a time more convenient for those living in European time zones.

Recently, someone has been hectoring us every now and then to rewrite or even remove certain posts, to delete comments, or to block links. It made no sense, until she recently told me why:

I thought it necessary to free Tomberg from rightist view and people who follow you

That is absurd. No one has the authority to decide who can read this blog or comment on Tomberg. First of all, we don’t have any political or religious tests to join our groups. Instead, we rely on the Law of Affinity; that will bring the right people together if they belong together.

Choosing a Path

In a recent comment, Mikkel asked a very good question:

How does one truly understand what “I want”? Due to the story of my experiences of my life, I find that I am more blind to this unfortunately in periods of distress.

Only by coming to that realisation, is it possible for a man to seek a way out. Most men live in ignorance of their real nature and what is truly good for them.

The Parable of the Coach explains our situation: our body is inefficient, our emotions are uncontrolled, our intellect is asleep, and there is no one in charge. Hence the coach moves without purpose or goal, in random directions.

It may happen that a more awake coachman may pass by and offer help. Usually the help is refused. Nevertheless, some few, due perhaps to karma, fortune, or grace, are willing to accept such help.

It sounds simple, except that in our world there are many offers to help, most asking for money. So it is right to be sceptical. People may spend more effort in choosing a car mechanic or doctor than in their spiritual development. It is reasonable to know what results to expect. The answer is an improvement in one’s thinking, feeling, and willing functions. You should ask those who have been helped previously about their experiences. The results should be permanent, not just some emotional high after a rousing lecture.

I recently had a series of conversations with a woman who told me about some teaching she had been following for the past 8 years. Although the teaching seemed sound, her thinking and emotional life were disordered. Her thoughts were confused, irrational, paranoid. She was often depressed, even suicidal, in emotional turmoil in many ways. I often asked her why her spiritual teachings haven’t seemed to help her, but she always avoided an answer.

I say that not to criticize the woman, but rather to question the efficacy of her chosen path after 8 years. On the contrary, I have compassion for anyone undergoing unnecessary suffering; there is enough cause for genuine grief in the world with adding to it. In our groups, we expect much quicker progress than that. I have seen it over and over for many years. I offered her that alternative, but apparently not even love can penetrate a mind stuck in an idée fixe.

Avoid cults. Apply this test when in doubt:

A cult is easy to join, but hard to leave. A free group is hard to find, but easy to leave.

If the goal is self-mastery, then clearly you cannot surrender your will to someone else. You need to understand your situation and learn to choose your own goals. Simply being told what to do is useless. Either you will dislike the advice and leave the teaching, or else you will like the advice and not bother with the exercises.

A contrary approach is offered by many others. Typically, it will include spiritual counselling, for a fee. The counsellor will then tell the student his karmic tasks and what his life goals should be. To repeat, the student needs to determine that on his own, even if it might require a little encouragement. I have never seen that approach work very well.

Uniting Hermetists

I’ve always hoped for a loose coalition of Hermetists, each developing the Hermetic Tradition in its own way, despite the attacks described above. These different groups would cooperate in various ways, without regard for border. Tomberg’s description is what I have in mind:

Spiritual exercises in common form the common link that unites Hermetists. It is not knowledge in common which unites them, but rather the spiritual exercises and the experience which goes hand in hand with them. If three people from different countries were to meet each other, having made the book of Genesis by Moses, the Gospel of St. John, and the vision of Ezekiel, the subject of spiritual exercises for many years, they would do so in brotherhood. … What one knows is the result of personal experience and orientation, whereas depth, the level one attains — disregarding the aspect and extent of knowledge that one has gained — is what one has in common.

A few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised when an old friend, whom I hadn’t heard from in several years, contacted me. She said she had been reading Gornahoor for years. When she mentioned that she was participating in a Christian Hermetic group in Europe, I got excited. I immediately assumed that was part of my vision of a world-wide community of Tradition.

She generously shared some writings with me, with which I was previously unfamiliar. They dealt with the chakras and the action of the hierarchies on them. Of course, I noticed right away how that would develop the ideas expressed in Tantra Vidya. In that work, it was demonstrated that the chakras are intimately connected with the planets, in an interior sense, representing transcendental forces.

Therefore, when she suggested using the teachings in our study groups, I was willing to

The author of these writings claimed that much of it came from communications with Rudolf Steiner, Valentin Tomberg, and other not named, from their post-mortem states. Now Steiner expressed the rule, when he was alive, that one must learn to distinguish the essential from the non-essential in our thinking.

From our perspective, the source of the material does not matter, whether it was channelled or found in a cave in Tibet. That is non-essential. What is essential, then, is the actual teaching, not any claims to a private revelation. The living Tomberg tells us how to evaluate a teaching:

There are mirages above, as there are mirages below; you only know that which is verified by the agreement of all forms of experience in its totality—experience of the senses, moral experience, psychic experience, the collective experience of other seekers for the truth, and finally the experience of those whose knowing merits the title of wisdom and whose striving has been crowned by the title of saint.

In other words, blind belief based solely on authority or on unverifiable claims are not helpful on the Hermetic path. Too much emphasis on unusual or fantastic experiences will discourage students who should be content with slow but steady progress. Steiner, in Knowledge of Higher Worlds, warns several times about the expectation of fantastical experiences, for example he writes:

it is imperative to extirpate the idea that any fantastic, mysterious practices are required for the attainment of higher knowledge. It must be clearly realized that a start has to be made with the thoughts and feelings with which we continually live, and that these feelings and thoughts must merely be given a new direction.

Moreover, it is best to observe the Hermetic principle, “Be Silent”. Boasting of spiritual attainments, even if they are true, is not helpful. Steiner, in the same book, verifies that thought:

know how to observe silence concerning your spiritual experiences.

For reasons unclear to me, my friend decided to abruptly end that collaboration. And not in a polite way, but in a hail of insults. Nevertheless, the idea of international collaboration is good, so we remain hopeful.