Etikettarkiv: H∴O∴N∴A∴

Soon the time has come for the Vernal Equinox of 2021. On the 20:th of March 2021 (in Sweden), the earth’s orbit around the sun has taken us here again. What once stood at the beginning of its growth, has blossomed and spread during the summer, rotted to nourish the soil in the autumn and laid to rest during the winter and, so to speak, paved the way for what is to come. 

From the Sol Invictus (ie the Winter Solstice) in late 2020, the Sun King once again began to regain his throne piece by piece in order to create enough light and heat at the Spring Equinox on 20:th of March 2021 for nature to start growing again. However, there is still a long way to go before the seeds that have just become buds will come to full bloom to enrich nature again. 

What then does this have to do with what we in this case call ”the restrained knowledge” and why do we choose that parable right now? 

To explain this, we beg to answer the latter question. Recently, especially through various social media, podcasts and blogs, criticism has been directed toward Orders and societies who is considered to possess the so-called “secret material” or “hidden knowledge”. By secret material is meant documents, writings, study materials, books, teachings, etc. that have not yet been made public and published for the general public. The critics usually accuse the Orders to withhold important knowledge that should be published or doubt the possession of such knowledge. Furthermore, these people want to claim that the only reason why there has even been secret knowledge is that one could previously be oppressed if it was discovered that one possessed a certain knowledge. Today, it is considered by critics that such a measure is completely superfluous and that the only reason for knowledge to be withheld now is the potential, financial gain and legitimacy that may exist in possessing this material. 

H∴O∴G∴M+R∴ wants to respond to this criticism by an explanatory analogy. However, we first want to confirm the criticism. It is not without merit. There are plenty of orders, companies, associations, people who claim to possess secret knowledge and these charge well for this ”knowledge”. Not infrequently, it becomes something out of a personal cult and in the end quite miserable conditions. There are many who, in the hope of increasing control over their circumstances, have lost their capital, the ability to think critically and the ability to decide over their own lives. Often there has never been any ”secret knowledge”, only the egocentric or financial motives of a person or group. So far, the critics are right. It is also true that one aspect of keeping secret or withholding material is the risk of repression. In most countries of the world today, this is an unnecessary precaution. 

However, there are other aspects that justify the retention of unpublished material. We will not go into all of these aspects here but limit ourselves to one of them. 

H∴O∴G∴M+R∴ holds esoteric material that is unpublished. We have chosen to follow our predecessors in not making these into public material for what we consider to be a good reason. One of the absolute biggest reasons for this can be compared to the Sun’s apparent orbit around the earth, its equinoxes and solstice and how nature is affected by this. Imagine a seed or sprout, either on a tree or in the ground, that has the ability to grow strong and bloom. This may seem simple but the fact is that it is only under the right conditions that this can happen! If the seed is exposed to too fast or strong heat, it can become bad harvest or completely destroyed. It is through the slow warming of the earth and nature that the opportunity for growth exists. Of course, there is vegetation that can withstand a faster heating, but it is far from everything in the plant kingdom that has that ability. If too much heat were to be added, the balance of nature would be disturbed. 

Now compare and equate the Sun with Knowledge and the Vegetation with The Occult Student. We see that every human being has a spark of divinity within him, a seed. When the student first gets the esoteric knowledge revealed to him (the Winter Solstice), everything is in its infancy. Through a slow heating, ie through a reasonable amount of given knowledge and which slowly increases, the student is given time to grow stronger and stronger. At the vernal equinox (ie when the student has come a little bit on the way and have learned basic knowledge), the seed has begun to grow and peeks out of the ground, but is still sensitive to heat. Since esoteric knowledge often needs to be experienced practically as well as contemplatively to be truly understood, it requires time (just like a seed in the earth). If there is too much knowledge and too soon, the student may become overwhelmed or lack the required pre-understanding, you simply learn wrong. It is also the case that our tradition is based on gradual initiations and these ceremonial ”markings” often give many, deep impressions. The candidate often undergoes (through introspection) a process of self-degradation and construction and it takes time (and sometimes support) to get through this with a good and healthy result. 

This is accompanied by theoretical knowledge that is presented in the form of the grade material. This knowledge is intended to create an understanding of the process and a further development that only comes into its own right if you have gone through certain previous ”steps”. It is precisely this material that in the wrong hands and at the wrong time in the initiation process (if the recipient of this material has even undergone any esoteric initiation) can be more harmful than useful. If this happens, you can at best have the opportunity to, so to speak, ”rewind the tape” and start again from the point where your understanding is. In the worst case, the student is caught in the illusion that he ”understands everything” and when he then wants to spread this misconception, the effects can be devastating for its recipients. The sun’s rays have thus been applied incorrectly. 

We as heirs and bearers of a Western mystery tradition have made promises to always use the wisdom we have acquired for good purposes. To not disclose the unpublished documents we hold for the uninitiated mass. We are not prepared to take on the ”karmic guilt” of negligent distribution of material. Our ambition is to, like the wheel of the year, allow the divine seeds that exist to grow strong during a slow but steady heating. Like a Golden Dawn starting a new day and a new life. 

With these words, we wish you all a happy Vernal Equinox!