PRESEBTATION: Vancouver Pagan Pride Day 2006

I have chosen today to address two completely different subjects. The first subject is the ever contentious issue of unity in and within the Magical Communities.

How is it possible to create unity in the Magical Communities? It’s readily apparent that everybody has something bad to say about somebody. “Wiccans are frivolously fluffy”, “Ceremonial Magicians have an arrogant superiority complex”, “Paganism is nothing more than an excuse for social deviance”, “white-lighters are Christian wannabes”, “Satanists are perverse and deluded juveniles”, and the slanderous list goes on. How can there be any cohesion at all, under conditions such as these, where members of every tradition each condemn the others. The term “Magical community” is an oxymoron in this light, and has always been its own worse enemy. Through constant infighting, we desperately snatch defeat from the jaws of any kind of victory.

Finding unification in common cause is not a feasible solution. There are way too many differences between the perspectives and goals of either working groups or individuals within the initiated body. Yet at the same time something is needed so that we can coexist, so we can each follow our paths toward attainment, without undue interference or intolerance.

There is a simple solution to this dilemma, yet it’s not without its difficulties. Let us begin by asserting that every initiate, every seeker after wisdom and light, every Gnostic, every naturalist, every practitioner of wise-craft and every illuminated star is an ally. Every individual who throws off the bindings of blind faith propagated by that big business called organized religion is an ally. We do not have to agree with or approve of methods or means. We do not have to agree on perspectives or advocate behavior.  We do not have to collaborate with each other in some grand design. No! But since we have all been grouped into a stereotype by the uninitiated masses, classified as social misfits, a minority group that hovers in the shadows at the fringe of society, watched out of the corner of a wary eye — misunderstood — we have an opportunity, if not an obligation, to support the individuals’ rights to seek and discover the way that suits their needs and natures, whether stumblingly or with calculation born of experience.

If each person here and now decides to refrain from wasting their energy verbally abusing others in the Magical Community, then it removes an oppressive weight from the shoulders of those trying to find their way to an along their chosen paths, and the tide of the battle turns for the magical solitary and group alike. If every person here verbally challenges the slandering of  other initiates, whether by brother, sister, friend or stranger, then each initiate, regardless of tradition, or lack thereof, stands to gain the advantage of progressing their attainment without the stress and headache of…well to put it bluntly, being crucified or burned at the stake! 

Initiates have enough of a challenge before them in dealing with the attitudes and perceptions of the common-folk — the uninitiated — the blind-folk that hinder all societal growth, who would use ignorance and fear to condemn us, that we can ill afford to expend our own energies resisting on that front while gnashing our teeth at each others throats at the same time. This only reinforces the need to root out infighting. 

Please, please, please do not misunderstand the message I’m trying to convey. I am not advocating that we accomplish a result by following a single banner, and not by uniting in common cause, or in creating a universal registry, and certainly not by putting our differences aside, or something as inhuman as universal mutual acceptance. All of these options are unrealistic and would contradict the very nature of what it is to be indivisible and individual. 

We will accomplish the required level of harmony simply by refusing to condemn or slander our initiated fellows, in private or public.  

Without further ado we now radically change gears to the second, not so contentious issue: What is Hermetics?  

Before I answer that with a simple straightforward definition, let me begin by saying what Hermetics is not. It is not a hidden path of greatest mystery found only by those who have been prepared by three consecutive life-times of preparation in the Magical Arts, it is not the lost philosophical teachings of Atlantis past down from aliens manipulating humankind, and it is most certainly not the secret cabal whose covert actions control and shape the destiny of humanity.

Simply put, Hermetics is a spiritual journey of the individual seeking enlightenment through the systematic investigation, understanding and application of the laws of nature and the universe.

Traditional Hermetics is based upon the wisdom of the ancient adept Thoth-Hermes that was delivered to humankind in the earliest words which were engraved upon what is known as the Emerald Tablet, which is also called the Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus (or Hermes Thrice-Great). Supporting this solitary work, after the fact, is the Corpus Hermeticum, written by a Magical Son-Adept of Hermes around the same time as Alexander the Great had placed the original tablet in the Library of Alexandria. 

The history of hermeticism, put within very simple parameters, asserts a regognition that all Magical and Mystical origins can be found within Shamanism. History purports that the first adept created the first alphabet, a symbol-set to represent concepts, both general and specific, and using these symbols, left behind a talisman that embodied all initiated wisdom in seven short rubrics. The emerald tablet became the foundation of every magical tradition that followed, flowed from, or evolved from Shamanism.

The principles of the Emerald Tablet are easily and readily followed by the individual or a group, and even by political rulers, including some who have founded countries based upon Hermetic values and formulæ.

Hermetic Magicians do not recognize any kind of superiority of one system of initiation over other methods, but rather come to see all paths as the same permutation or result of the One Mind and One Thing. 

One of the highest principles of the Hermeticum is the opinion that a spark and reflection of divinity exist in every man and every woman. With this established as a fundamental understanding, it is viewed as the right of every individual to aspire to that divinity, and to do this in their own way, using their own methods and walking their own paths. 

The Invisible House Society, of which I am a member, stands as only one Hermetic Society out of the many that are currently in existence. Now for my own shameless self-promotion, I have studied and practiced Hermetics for the majority of my life and have recently written a work on the subject in the form of a progressive working handbook. Anyone interested in acquiring this Hermetic workbook can see me after I step down, and I will give you a card so you can find a copy of my book at Chapters or Amazon. I have display copies and I have brought a few with me for sale. Anyone interested in finding out more about the Invisible House Society can also take a card and check out our web site and join our online egroup board. We also hold open weekly meetings for anyone interested in attending. Membership is not required as all meetings are open to any member of the Magical Community.