Cicero - Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition_Part 01

TheZelator Grade 171
Far from being a superstitious practice, the art of divination reveals itself
as a spiritual science that seeks to discover the divine meaning behind "chance"
events. Divination has existed as a tool for psychic well-being and spiritual health
long before modern psychology was born, although the later science has often
borrowed heavily from the former.
Ever since human beings first realized that there were Higher Powers
beyond the Physical world, we have tried to communicate with these Forces.
Prayers and invocations to the gods and goddesses developed out of the human
desire to talk to the Divine-to worship them and ask them for guidance and
intervention. Ritual trance and meditation developed out the human desire to let
the gods talk to us-to enrich our lives with a higher form of Wisdom. Divination
developed as a way to interact with the gods. It was a method by which humans
could interpret and understand the Will of the Divine.
Divination can open up the mind of the diviner to wonders of the spiritual
world and the invisible universe which is behind the visible universe. Also, the
different methods of divination are good exercises for developing the student's
powers of intuition and imagination.
The art of divination is a process of spiritual growth through which the
diviner attempts to uncover what specific forces are at work in a given area of the
astral realms. Itis the art of acquiring psychic information with the help of physical
accessories such as Tarot cards, skrying mirrors, crystals, pendulums or similar
psychic aids. Properly done, divination can determine which underlying energies
are at work in a specific region of the invisible universe. However, any information
obtained in this manner is to be used as a guide or a road map only-not
as an undeniable destiny carved into stone. Divination is an art that takes much
practice in order to become proficient, yet practice is exactly what is needed in
order to fine-tune the psychic powers of the diviner. The beginning student
should not worry about whether or not the answers given in the divination are
always correct. The important thing is that the student gradually increases his/her
astral powers of perception with each reading.
One very important principle in any form of divination is the Law ofCorrespondences.
This idea states that there is always a correspondence between the
many planes of Being. The Hermetic Axiom states this idea in the words: "As
Above, so Below. As Below, soAbove." This Law is called into use whenever we apply
symbols to mean certain things.
For example, in Tarot a cup is used to symbolize the Womb of the Divine
Mother. A cup and a womb are definitely not the same thing. One is metal, the
other is flesh and blood. Yetthey both have the same essential quality of containing
and nurturing life. In a sense, they have a similar cosmic reality.
Another example of the Law of Correspondences is when the metal gold is
used to indicate the Sun, or silver for the Moon. Itwould not be right to say thatgold
is the same as the Sun or that silver is the same as the Moon. But the two metals and
the two Planets are both symbols used to describe the same two divine realities.
The Law of Correspondences helps initiates apply various meanings to
visible symbols, enabling us to better comprehend the divine nature of things