Alan Chapman Podcast

In a beautiful web of synchronicity, while searching for podcasts regarding 'The Great Work' or 'Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel', i came upon an episode of the Buddhist Geeks podcast, featuring author Alan Chapman, detailing how practicing various traditions of Western Magick led him to Enlightenment, or an experience of Non-Self. Turns out he is responsible for openenlightenment.org, as well as thebaptistshead.co.uk, and this podcast had been recorded in the town in which i am living, currently, Boulder, Co. My friend sent me the link for openenlightenment about a month ago, knowing my predilection for magickal thinking, and resistance towards Eastern philosophy.

I find this intriguing, in that almost every occult work worth its salt (or mercury) will start off with suggesting, insisting really, that the student begin a meditation practice, before getting into any of the work involved in the book. The idea is, if operating from a small self, a personal ego, yr magick is going to be pretty ineffectual.

Then i came upon a working, called 'The Sacred Magick of Abramelin the Mage,' whose goal and final result was the Knowledge and Conversation of the Guardian Angel, which was getting to know, and have a relationship with, yr idealized self, and yr purpose on this sphere in this lifetime. Turns out to be pretty similar, or a similar result, to Buddhist non-mind practices, and things cracked open for me, realizing that i didn't have to be someone else BEFORE starting the dismantling process.

Thankfully, i've always kept at least a spark of willingness to shatter, to tear down the structures of my life and mind, in that i had a calling to do so and my life run on personal will had resulted dissatisfactory results. Got my nose back into dusty old occult tomes, my ass back on the meditation cushion, and my life has begun to change in new and unexpected ways.

Lastly, one of the topics discussed here, was Chapman's experience with Chaos Magick, and how with chucking out belief structures, that they are interchangeable, can be pretty nihilistic. My mind got rather goopy and elastic, i did a great deal of dismantling, but had not really replaced it with a working faith, or a discipline or practice. My thinking got progressively smaller and more mundane, as the claws of adulthood tore into my consciousness, and i've had to reinvigorate my passion and curiosity and imagination, to get back on this path.

Its very cool, to hear someone's experience who is further along the path. Hell, its cool to know where the path is, at all. I'm looking forward to delving further into his website's, and exploring this path, in general.

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