Maat, Mysticism, and Magic (a few thoughts regarding)
The other day, I saw what I thought a rather misguided statement. Maat was imagined in a very unscientific way. There were only two temples to Maat that we know of. The other gods lived by maat. The individual comes to the support of Maat. The great gods come to the support of Maat. Maat doesn't come running after anyone who doesn't pursue Her with study, rectitude, and diligence. If you want Maat to prevail in a situation or a nation, it is necessary to recruit Ra, Thoth, Horus, or one of the gods who actually comes to the defense of Maat. People who start talking too much about what Maat will or won't do tend to end up making big mistakes, like the Amarnan king. If you want to see Maat on Earth in your lifetime, you have to invoke the god Who has chosen you and ask the best way you can support Maat. You can't choose Maat for T shirt slogans and expect Her to behave like a puppet who compurgates prejudice because you are uncomfortable.
I once had an acquaintance who had good knowledge on a variety of magical topics. But, he imagined a conflict between magic and mysticism. There really isn't one, naturally, but there can arise one, artificially. A group exploring the supernatural becomes inauthentic if it teaches mysticism in grades where it should be teaching magic. Mysticism is information that is purportedly about the afterlife, but contains encrypted arcana about situations in the physical experience of life and its mastery through metaphysical psychology. Any real esoteric society starts out with mysticism or the yogic exercises that will make a disciple fit for praxis, and eventually proceeds to the magic of causing desired changes in the world. If a group dwells too much on mysticism, then it is actually fake, because, as Tibetan yogis have declared, overevaluated concepts are a source of death in the human experience. And, any mystical idea that can't be scientifically demonstrated becomes a political statement when students are expected to accept it as fact, without delving into the magical formulae that are hidden within it.
Most of what an Egyptian mage needs to know about magic is hidden away within the Funerary Rites. To become active in the practice of life magic, a certain amount of botanical wisdom is required, but with the metaphysical posture is needed a layer of supernatural expertise in affecting the physical plane. For a magical practice, one needs access to satsang, sadhu, guru, and shastra, just as in Yogic life. It is not only study, prayer, and meditation, but also through fellowship with other scribes of the House of Life that Egyptian shamans acquire the necessary gnostic intuitions to decode what is in the obscurely worded scriptures. Today, the problem hasn't been so much where to find books and commentaries about magic, but people with real experience who can be trusted at least to the point where the seeker can, through fellowship, glean some instinctive insight about magical matters. One can read books about martial arts, but this information comes together when the student can see skilled practitioners in action and gain good enough access to find answers to their specific questions.
So, if I were part of a group that simply sat around a lotus pond listening to music and there were not political weights added to this or that idea regarding the afterlife, then it would remain a pure phenomenon. Simply being in the presence of other people who venerated Lord NoferAtum could become a catalyst of mystical and magical insight, however gentle. But, if the group made no promises that it couldn't keep, it could remain pure. It could be a beacon of spiritual light and a non strenuous opportunity for creative people to interact and perhaps grow their connections toward the goal of saving themselves and the Earth.
I once had an acquaintance who had good knowledge on a variety of magical topics. But, he imagined a conflict between magic and mysticism. There really isn't one, naturally, but there can arise one, artificially. A group exploring the supernatural becomes inauthentic if it teaches mysticism in grades where it should be teaching magic. Mysticism is information that is purportedly about the afterlife, but contains encrypted arcana about situations in the physical experience of life and its mastery through metaphysical psychology. Any real esoteric society starts out with mysticism or the yogic exercises that will make a disciple fit for praxis, and eventually proceeds to the magic of causing desired changes in the world. If a group dwells too much on mysticism, then it is actually fake, because, as Tibetan yogis have declared, overevaluated concepts are a source of death in the human experience. And, any mystical idea that can't be scientifically demonstrated becomes a political statement when students are expected to accept it as fact, without delving into the magical formulae that are hidden within it.
Most of what an Egyptian mage needs to know about magic is hidden away within the Funerary Rites. To become active in the practice of life magic, a certain amount of botanical wisdom is required, but with the metaphysical posture is needed a layer of supernatural expertise in affecting the physical plane. For a magical practice, one needs access to satsang, sadhu, guru, and shastra, just as in Yogic life. It is not only study, prayer, and meditation, but also through fellowship with other scribes of the House of Life that Egyptian shamans acquire the necessary gnostic intuitions to decode what is in the obscurely worded scriptures. Today, the problem hasn't been so much where to find books and commentaries about magic, but people with real experience who can be trusted at least to the point where the seeker can, through fellowship, glean some instinctive insight about magical matters. One can read books about martial arts, but this information comes together when the student can see skilled practitioners in action and gain good enough access to find answers to their specific questions.
So, if I were part of a group that simply sat around a lotus pond listening to music and there were not political weights added to this or that idea regarding the afterlife, then it would remain a pure phenomenon. Simply being in the presence of other people who venerated Lord NoferAtum could become a catalyst of mystical and magical insight, however gentle. But, if the group made no promises that it couldn't keep, it could remain pure. It could be a beacon of spiritual light and a non strenuous opportunity for creative people to interact and perhaps grow their connections toward the goal of saving themselves and the Earth.