Cicero - Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition_Part 01

nitiation means lito begin" or embark upon something new. It is the
beginning of a new phase or outlook on life; the passage into a distinctly
new type of existence. The characteristics of this event are
marked by an expansion of the mind to include an awareness of
i:!1iliilS6 higher levels of consciousness. Initiation represents spiritual
growth; the commencement of a new life committed to an entirely new set of principles
from those of mundane society. Initiation is the precursor of immortality.
Humankind has the potential for immortality, but only obtains it when men and
women align themselves with that immortal spiritual essence that underlies all
aspects of the manifest universe; that same spiritual essence which is too often
ignored by the great majority of humanity. Obtaining that rare and splendid
essence is the supreme objective of that part of the Western Esoteric Tradition
known as magic. The goal of all magical processes is the purification of the natural
human being-thatis, the extraction of the pure gold of spiritual Selfhood from the
husk of the outer personality.
Magic is a spiritual science. It is a specialized system of discipline which
has a spiritual rather than material goal. This is a personal science that is based
upon the fundamental knowledge of the true human being which lies beneath the
illusion of the outer, secular human. Ceremonial magic incorporates a process of
memorization and ritual which results in the direct stimulation of the Will and the
exaltation of the Imagination. The final objective of all this is the purification of the
lower personality and the realization of an elevated state of consciousness,
wherein the magician's ego enters into a union with his/her own Higher Self and
ultimately with the Divine. Every action, idea and utterance in any ceremony is
designed to bring about this final conclusion. Each and every detail of the ritual
itself, including banishings, circumambulations, evocations and invocations,
serves to remind the operator of this single goal. "For theassault on theHolyCity,
every sense andeveryfaculty isdeliberately mobilized, andthewhole individual soul ofthe
operator must enterinto theact. "1 Every impression, by means of a Hermetic and
Qabalistic system of associated ideas, is made the beginning of a sequence of
related thoughts which culminate in the ultimate aim of the ceremony. When
emblem after emblem has infiltrated the mind of the magician, and the ritual act
has stimulated his/her emotions to a fever pitch, then the absolute moment of
1 Israel Regardie, The Tree ofLife, pg. 107.
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