Monday, December 29, 2008

The Reality of Things - Second Edition

I am in the process of reformatting The Reality of Things into a Second Edition. The reason for the change is that I am removing references to the Order of the Red Path. The Preface to the Second Edition will explain everything and so when I have finished writing that I will post here.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Overdue Updates

Been a little out of action lately. Moved house, moved office, started up a web design business, took over a pre-school....you know, all in a normal day kind of thing. Anyway, I have been published in Spellcraft magazine over in Australia. So, if you can get your hands on the mag, get issue #10 - Cyberwitch. http://www.spellcraft.com.au

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Onward

Well apart from having killer flu at the moment, I am now busy on the next book, Into the Black Kingdom, which outlines and discusses all of the practices necessary withint he 1st degree and Field of the Black kingdom within the Order of the Red Path. I am also waiting to hear if I will be published in the Australian magazine, Spellcraft. Holding thumbs for that. Looks like a really good mag - http://www.spellcraft.com.au

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Reality of Things - NOW AVAILABLE


IT'S HERE!!!!! WOOHOO

My book has finally been published and is available through Lulu, links provided below.

The Reality of Things by Lee 'Red Oak' Johnson
http://www.lulu.com/content/2310784

Also available in Large Print/Format:
http://www.lulu.com/content/3282408


Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Order of the Red Path has officially opened its doors. Anyone interested will be asked to join the Aspirant group where they can learn more. If they the become interested and wish to join the Order, they will reviewed and upon acceptance, inducted into the Order. The following is an overview of the Order.

What is the Order of the Red Path?

It's probably easier to begin by asking what the Order of the Red Path (ORP) is not. It is NOT a Tradition, in that it does NOT follow a certain Pantheon or local God and Goddess structure. It is however a model for spiritual progress that draws on different mystical systems and creates bridges between those mystical systems. It is not a new system, many have found similar correlations and bridges and are using and teaching them.

The aim of ORP is to progress both spiritually and mystically, in an informed and structured manner. Many people are now seeking the Mysteries on an individual level, and so it is the aim of ORP to provide some guidance to such people and still allow them to work as independent figures on their own spiritual path. The basis of the system draws on archetypes which the individual can use to map his or her own traditional leanings, although specific deities will be alluded to from time to time. These archetypes are five in number, relating to the Pentagram, which plays a very large part in the Red Path, they being Daughter, Son, Mother, Father and Child.

The progress starts with a person working in Malkuth on Tree of Life, takes them into Yesod where they enter the Underworld, journey through the Underworld Tree and find the Light, the Child. They also find their Fetch Beast and then progress up to Tiphareth where they find their Fetch Mate or Holy Guardian Angel and progress from there is wholly dependent on the person and the True Will which is realised as soon as Knowledge and Conversation with the HGA is formed.

The structure that takes place in ORP is mainly due to this progression. When first wishing to join the Red Path you will be brought into a group of like minded individuals with the same aim. You will be shown how to work in Malkuth and prepare yourself for the movement into the Underworld Tree, extending from Yesod. Once you begin to move within the Underworld, you will move into a new group where people of that same level are working to gain what is necessary in that area of the progression. And the same will happen again when you move into Tiphareth, and again when moving beyond, when you raise the Child to Daath and over the Void.

When first joining ORP at 1st degree level (into the Field of the Black Kingdom, beyond the level of Aspirant), you will be inducted to the Order and connected to the Egregore. The Degrees are as follows:

Aspirant
0 Degree
This is the Seeker of the Paths, the one that is new to the Occult, Magick, Mysticism and Witchcraft. The Aspirant’s task is to read, learn, ask questions and become accustomed to the ways of the Magician and Witch on a basic level. It is suggested that the Aspirant take one year do learn, and then if they still require passage into ORP, they can request it.

Field of the Black Kingdom
1st Degree
The member is inducted into the Order and connected to the Egregore. This is where the member forges the Magickal Body, connects to the Power of the Land.

Field of the Red Roots
2nd, 3rd and 4th Degrees
The member progressing into learning about the Astral Realms, but this Level is mostly focused on the areas of the Underworld, or Elfhame, the Lands of the Pale People. The member will attain the Fetch Beast/Familiar Animal here and will Journey into the Lands Within.

Field of the White Splendour
5th, 6th and 7th Degrees
From there the member of ORP will begin to perform Evokational Work and will work toward Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel, or Fetch Mate. Once this union or marriage has been attained, True Will is then known.

Field of the Golden Child
8th and 9th Degrees
This is the movement beyond the Void and it is very dependant on the members own True Will and the direction they are supposed to go. This level is split into two degrees because the member can either choose to move back down the Tree and discover more, or move across the Bridge and beyond the human experience.

This group will also be one which is fluid and not static. This means that as time progresses the model of the Red Path itself could shift and grow and certain things may be replaced. The universe is forever in flux and motion and never still and as Fate weaves the Wyrd, the course of the steps may need to adjust slightly to better fit in with the new strand of the warp and weft that takes place. It would be no good going forward if you are fixed to a model of progression in a particular manner and kept in that fixed state, only to find that the language of the Age has changed, and you are still stuck in that static framework. This is possibly where many groups have fallen down in the past century.

The Red Path is also NOT New Age Philosophy as we may commonly assert to what New Age means. The Red Path follows the language of the New Aeon which is the New Age, but finds itself in the Hidden Mysteries as opposed to airy, fairy butterfly wings.

In order to gain access to the Order of the Red Path, or just to ask questions, please email Grand Master Red Oak on mabonis@yahoo.com

Monday, May 19, 2008

Faerie: Dread and Awe

A brilliant article from Robin Artisson, as always.

Faerie: Dread and Awe
http://www.robinartisson.com/faerie.html

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

The Reality of Things - Part Two is ready

Just to let everyone know that Part Two is ready and waiting patiently for download :o)

Everyone in South Africa, please contact me directly on mabonis@yahoo.com . This is an ebook that can be mailed directly to you for R36.

http://www.lulu.com/content/2310761

Thanks,
Lee 'Red Oak' Johnson
The Red Path Store - http://www.redpath.imagitronix.co.za

Friday, May 2, 2008

The Reality of Things - Part Two available within the week

Part Two of the book is complete. All that is needed now is some proof reading and the cover, which shouldn't take too long, so expect it sometime next week. It is filled with great info about the pentagram, hexagram and extends on the energy centres that were briefly discussed in Chapter 4.

The reason for making the book available in parts is because it will give people a chance to obtain it for a small fee rather than waiting for the full book, which will come later. The first part, as you know was free for download to give you a taste of what is to come. Trust me when I say that part two is even better. I hope will enjoy this journey with me, and I hope that it brings you as much pleasure reading it as I am having writing it.

Frith,
Lee 'Red Oak' Johnson
http://www.redpath.imagitronix.co.za

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Price Reduction

The Sigil Craft Audio Workshop download has been reduced in price from $11 to $6.25 - http://www.lulu.com/content/2099525

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Facebook group

If you are on Facebook and would like to make friends of a Pagan nature, then come and visit this group. There's other thingimibobies that get posted daily also.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11479527364

Left and Right

A peice a just wrote that forms part of the chapter on the Pentagram discussion for my book. Enjoy, comment, go wild.

Now to the first question that we asked above, “Isn’t the Inverted Pentagram a symbol of evil?”. Quite simply, no it is not. Most widely, the Inverted Pentagram is found to be associated with Satanism. The main reason for this is because it is a path that follows the Left Hand Path (LHP), whereas the Upright Pentagram is used within the Right Hand Path (RHP). The difference between the two is very simple, although many people try to interpret in so many different ways, and those interpretations are usually based on out-dated definitions from a Victorian Era where things of a “non-Christian” nature were seriously frowned upon. The difference, to put it into very basic terms for now, is that the RHPers put Spirit above, moving upward into the Heavens, putting the Spirit before the Flesh and chasing that specific dream, whilst the LHPers places the Spirit beneath, moving down into the Earth and so placing the Flesh before the Spirit. Again, we find many false interpretations of this. Many will try to convince you that chasing the Flesh is to delve into the sinister acts of sexuality and other morbid pursuits that do not involve evolution or Enlightenment. Wrong again. In order to move upward to the Godhead, we first need to move downward into ourselves. We need to go into the Dark Places within the Inner Worlds and discover Self, and eventually find, and place our hands on the Graal which shines like a Light in the Darkness. Once we have the Graal, the union of the Lower and Higher Self can then be sought as the Marriage of the Son and Daughter is complete and the Child born, moving us up and beyond the Creative Void. This may all seem like jargon and useless words at this point, but as you move on, it will make more sense as the pages of the book fall one after the other, and the story becomes clear to you. We should not be seeking to use only the left hand or the right hand, we should be seeking to use both hands together. How does that old adage go? “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”. Well now I hope you know.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

The Power Within

There is a force that permeates everything in the universe. It is a force that threads its way in and out of the land and everything on it, within it, and above it. It directs all things and is constantly forming. Some call this force Energy, some Wyrd, or Power.

If we look at this force in terms of what the Anglo-Saxons called Wyrd, we find that it is a force that is constantly being formed before us. With each step that we take, the path before us is being woven and created. This is not a fixed path right to the day we die, because the Cosmos itself is never still, forever changing in a state of motion and flux, and so our lives are the same, as we are a part of that Cosmos, intimately connected to it and therefore, we are it. So we change and move in the same manner in order to move with the Cosmos. As soon as we try to move in a different direction, we find ourselves slamming into a brick wall and getting very frustrated with life.

An example that I like to provide people with is to imagine yourself in a small boat going downstream in a river. In the river are rocks. Some are beneath the surface, others project above the water line. As the boat goes down the river, it is guided by the current. This is the manner in which our lives go. We flow with the Current of Life, and as the Wyrd is being woven before us to form each step that we take, so it forms the Current that we allow ourselves to flow with. It takes us, it guides us, it directs our steps to the places where we need to be moving toward.

If however, whilst in this boat, you decide that this is not for you, that you want to decide what your life will do, then you can put the oar or paddle in the water at the back of boat and move it so that the boat changes course. But what we must remember is that we need to know where the boat is going before we can change the course in that direction. We also need to remember that even as we change that course with the oar in the water acting as a rudder, that those changes will be slight, and all the while we are still being pushed downstream by the current. So it is a case of altering the woven pattern in slight movements rather than one large forceful motion.

What will happen if we try to move against the Current? Well, think of the boat in the river again. Imagine trying to change the direction in order to move from the point you are, directly to the river bank. As you move the boat in that new direction, the current of the river will slam against the sides and will force the boat to roll, throwing you out and causing you to roll in a tumult of water.

This is what most people try to do as they do not like the idea of sacrificing themselves to a force that is directing our lives. However, when we try to move directly opposed to Wyrd and to the Power, then we find our lives becoming a tumult of never ending tumbles. We all like to have control of the things that go on in our lives. There is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we need to give in order to get. When battling against something such as a force that controls and directs the entire Cosmos, we don’t stand much of a chance.

What also needs to be remembered is that the Cosmos is moving in a particular directly. All of the millions of people on this planet are all moving in that direction because they are all elements of that Cosmos. For one person to try and move against that actual flow, will only result in them being pushed sideways in that direction. The Cosmos is not going to wait for you to figure it out and then get in line, it will just carry on flowing and will take you along with it, kicking and screaming.

As difficult as this may sound to you right now, it does not mean that you are completely abandoned to fate. As in the example above, you can steer the boat with light movements to alter the general course. Take an example of this. If you are in the middle of a large, close crowd of people that are all moving in the same direction, you can continue in that direction, but move to the left or right by stepping in front or behind the person next to you. The new perspective you gain will be different and will affect your immediate surrounding, but you are still moving in the same direction to the same final destination.

Of course, Wyrd will present you with some road blocks from time to time so that you can’t step to the right or left at any given moment, but this is due to the fact that your own personal wyrd will not allow you to do so because to move in that direction may alter something that you must experience in the future in order to get to your own personal place.

As Shrek said, Ogres are like onions with many layers. So too are people and so too is the Cosmos and Purpose. There is the point where you are now, the point where you want to be, and the point where you must be. The Cosmos is also at the point where it is now and the point where it must be. But each point that must be, leads onto a new point that must be. In order for the Cosmos to get to where it is going, each element of the Cosmos must be in its right place at each given moment.

But what, you may be asking, does this have to with the Power within? That “within” being within the body of the person. When we take a good look at Power and Wyrd, we find that all things are connected. You can imagine it as one body that has many cells with lines of energy between them, connecting them to each other and when viewed from a distance, they are all one body, one consciousness, moving in unison.

However, this Power moves into the body in a particular fashion. Many cultures will suggest that it enters the body at the will centre, the point that the Oriental people call the tan tien. However, it is the Oriental people, the acupuncturists and the soft martial artists that have buttoned it down the best.

Two main types of energy enter the body, Yang Qi from above, into the head at the point GV24 (SHENTING(Spirit’s Hall)) , and Yin Qi from below in the earth, entering in the base of the feet at the acupuncture point KID1 (YONGQUAN (Rushing Spring)). The two energies run through the body and meet at the girdle that surrounds the waist and goes across the tan tien point. The point where most suggest the energy enters the body. The tan tien point in question is CV4 (GUANYUAN (Hinge at the Source or Gate Origin)) From the name you can come to understand why people consider this the point where energy enters the body. It is the hinge, and it connects to sections and allows them to move together, the door and the door frame being the obvious illustration. Without the hinge, they are not connected and they do not move in unison.

From there, the energy is circulated around the body, first moving up the back in the meridian called the Governing Vessel which extends from the tail of the spine, just behind the anus (GV1 - CHANGQIANG (Long Strength)) up the spine, over the head and ending inside the top lip at the gum (GV28 - YINJIAO (Gums Junction)). The second meridian is the Conceptor Vessel, moving from the perineum (CV1 - HUIYIN (Perineum)), located between the genitalia and the anus, to the bottom lip (CV24 - CHENGJIANG (Contains Fluid or Receives Fluid)).

There is however a gap in these circuits or meridians, often referred to as the Two Heavenly Circuits. This gap is in the mouth, and although the place where you connect it is in a slightly different place, it is between the two meridian end and start points, i.e. between GV28 and CV1. The way we connect this gap, or circuit, is to relax the jaw so that the lower jaw is just behind the upper and the teeth are apart, and then touch the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth, moving it along the top palette until you find the soft bit.

Now although this is usually the one that is mentioned, the same also takes place to a lesser degree with the other end and start of the meridians. I say a lesser degree, and it is why there is not a lot of attention placed on it, because there are muscles that connect the two points, not like the gap in the mouth between the gums. There is however a way in which these points can be connected. It is done by simply squeezing the buttocks and pulling them in, and at the same time you can squeeze the perineum muscle in the manner that you would stop the flow of urine. However, pulling the buttocks in is usually sufficient. It also causes the spine to become straight and so the flow of energy can better move up that meridian.

One practice that is found in a lot of cultures is variously named the Fire Breath. The simple outline of this is that you take a deep breath in and then as you breath out slowly, you imagine a fire moving from the pelvis area at the base of the spine, up the spine, moving further with each breath until it gets into the head and fills the forehead. You then connect the circuit in your mouth and breath it down the front, running from the top palette like liquid gold and dispersing throughout your body, healing and revitalizing your organs and coming to settle again in your pelvis area. As you breath out you can also hiss like a hot poker going into cool water and letting off steam.

The San Bushmen have a ritual dance called the Giraffe Dance. When the dance is performed energy from outside the body enters the pelvis and is then called !Num. As it heats in the pelvis it rises up the spine as steam and fills the head where it becomes Kia. As the dance continues the Elders explain the reaction as a small death where they then explode into a million pieces and fill the universe, spreading themselves everywhere.

Likewise the Taoists will speak of a cauldron filled with water in the pelvis that heats up and steam moves up the spine into the head. As it collects in the head it forms a rain cloud and rains back down the body into the cauldron where it heats and rises and the cycle continues. However, if the circuit is not connected in the mouth, then the cloud collects and grows and because the head cannot expand, it will start to cause headaches, light-headedness, nausea, etc. Mostly a feeling of not feeling grounded and rather unbalanced.

There are in fact many ways in which we can look at the energy in the body, from the meridians to the energy body spoken of by Carlos Castaneda. We can also look at the aura and the chakras, although these are outside the actual physical or energy body and so don’t necessarily pertain to this discourse. However, energy is immense, it is everywhere, in everything, and whether it is inside or outside the body, it is all the same. Everything is energy, atoms put together through Consensual Reality in order for us to experience what we call, the world. But energy can be moved and directed, as long as we understand the principals and know how.

The Soul is Immense

When we speak of the soul we usually view it as a separate body to our physical state. A part that lives within us but can move beyond us. However, there are no separate parts to what we are, we merely consider them separate in order to comprehend them.

The soul can be split into different areas or parts. The Heathens considered the soul to be made up of eleven parts, all having their specific function, but being of the same body. One of those parts was also the physical body, and also included the mind. So, although there are parts, they are all one.

Amongst these parts is also the Fecce, Filja, or in Modern English, the Fetch. Most describe this as being an animal, but can also appear as a human of the opposite gender to the person it belongs to. In most Traditional Pagan circles this incorporates both, leading to a Fetch Beast and a Fetch Mate. The Fetch Beast is the animal nature of the person. It is the Guide and Guardian, and when venturing into the Otherworlds, it is the one that aids you. Some will call it the Familiar, but not to be confused with a pet cat or dog that most New Age people are referring to, this is far more indepth. The Fetch Mate is the other half of the soul and of the opposite gender to the person in physical form. Two halves of a whole if you will.

To go further we also have mention of the Holy Guardian Angel (HGA). In many ways, this is the Fetch, and resides in the Heart of the Body and in Tiphareth on the Tree of Life. Although there are arguments that the HGA and Fetch are not one in the same, I am still not completely convinced. The HGA is said to be the connection between the physical body and the Divine. However, the union of HGA, or True Self with the physical to bring about Knowledge and Conversation is the same as the Marriage between person and Fetch. Once this happens, True Will is known and progress toward Godhood is closer.

But all of these parts are not parts, they are of the same “body”. Everything is connected and One. We are all Everything and No-thing, as is THE ALL. We are the individuals we consider ourselves to be and that which is Everything. The only separation that occurs is that which we consider separate in order for our minds to cope with the immensity of this fact. We attempt to connect to these different parts, but we never actually connect, as this would indicate a separation has taken place. All we really do is come into realization of how big we are, step by step. And once all is realized, we allow ourselves to accept the truth which has always been…we are ALL.