Black Lives Matter!
The Climate Crisis is real, urgent and existential!
Stay safe - wash your hands, practice social distancing and wear a face mask in public, and follow informed medical advice - and be considerate towards those at risk or in situations of vulnerability (including economic).
I have been writing about improving the world through a range of means on my blogs: this blog has been focused on spiritual and psychic means, including strengthening BPM units and clearing nonBPM units, and meditation to generate BPM energy (and units, if you know enough). This has been done before - particularly during times of crisis. (See also this excellent analysis on the topic.)
World War II was probably the biggest global crisis before our current situation, and during those terrible events, there were a number of people undertaking magickal work, including Dion Fortune - as outlined in the Gareth Knight edited book “The Magical Battle of Britain” (my copy pub. Skylight Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-908011-45-9), which I reviewed here. Ms Fortune directed her team through a series of 136 weekly and 19 monthly meditations; at the end of this, she was exhausted and that work is considered to have contributed to her death, but a change for the better had been accomplished.
Coming back to the present, the climate crisis has been our World War III for some time, and we also have the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the zoonotic SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus (there are other novel coronaviruses), on top of that.
Now, we already have a lot of people doing a lot of work on making the world a better place (including before the current crises - and I’ve found this group working at following [and adapting] Ms Fortune’s techniques and purposes), but I would like to extend my contribution to also include a series of weekly - or near weekly - meditations along the line of those directed by Ms Fortune, work which goes beyond my initial response.
This post is this week’s contribution.
This Lesson: No. 79 - Responsibility
We’ve touched on this several times already, but with a focus more on the responsibility - spiritual, ethical, and moral - of individuals, and as members of a group.
There’s another level to responsibility, and that is when you are trying to accomplish a major change, or are leading a group.
At that scale, responsibility is obviously not only for yourself, it is for the wellbeing of those also attempting to aid or take part in the achievement of that goal, and the effects of those actions. This is a major burden that Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi knew well.
A fair few people know of their long lasting efforts towards civil rights in the USA (and elsewhere), freedom of coloured people in South Africa, and the freedom of India respectively, but I suspect many do not know how thought, effort and care went into achieving those goals.
Dr King at times pleaded with US Presidents for some sign of progress before the frustration of people of colour (that’s the modern term; my understanding is Dr King used “the Negro”) in the USA boiled over - which was prescient, but unfortunately unsuccessful. One of my favourite peace authors, Paul K Chappell, has written a fair bit about Dr King’s deep understanding of peace, and how to achieve it. I also understand he was becoming more “forthright” (radical) in his work to achieve freedom for his people as time went on. He was murdered, but his spirit had not been broken by the struggle - worn out, but being exhausted is not defeated.
Nelson Mandela impressed me with his journey towards working with his captors in order to change them, something well illustrated in the film “Invictus”.
Gandhi (who had his flaws - serious ones) also changed along the way, from being committed to being part of the British Empire, to being resolutely pro-India alone - but without hating the British, and wanting to have good relations with the British after Indian independence (illustrated in the film “Gandhi” - which misses the flaws linked to above).
Gandhi also felt and acted on concerns about those who were responding to his exhortations - which was something Dr King and Mandela also felt. Dr King sought to prevent violence by desperate people of colour in situations of unendurable deprivation and cruelty, and Mandela was jailed for blowing up electrical infrastructure - which was done in part to prevent others taking even more extreme violence. Gandhi undertook fasts to attend to stop violence (and for other purposes).
In all cases, however, the violence of those against these three movements far exceeded anything they did.
Whites in the USA had been abusing, raping, and killing black people for centuries - at Tulsa, they had even used air bombardment!
Whites in South Africa had committed similar atrocities - for instance, Sharpeville, Soweto, Sophiatown, and so on.
Gandhi was “radicalised” by the slaughter of hundreds of peacefully demonstrating Indians at Amritsar - committed at the direction of whites.
(Such massacres have happened elsewhere as well - for instance, Turin [Italy, 1922], Peterloo [UK, 1819], Sichuan [China, 1640s], Paris [France, 1792], Gippsland [Australia, 1800s], “banana massacre” [Colombia, 1928], La Matanza [El Salvador, 1932], the Acqui Division [Italy, 1943], Andijan [Uzbekistan, 2005],and Hama [Syria, 1982].)
Changing society to a fairer place is seen as a threat by those who are directly or indirectly (think of a remora attached to a shark and living off scraps of food as the shark feeds) comfortable, powerful or puffed up with a false self-importance as a result of that wrongness.
In World War Two, killing Hitler alone wouldn’t have changed anything - he, as with all other despots, had made sure to reward and then control those who did his bidding with those rewards (see also this film). It’s all a variation of the stereotypical mafia threat: “nice X, hate to see Y happen to X”. Hussein, the al Assads, Amin and Museveni, Mugabe - they and all the others “look after” their mates, and expect blind loyalty and support in return.
In nonphysical realms, those who are misusing power, influence, and control are also going to be resistant to change - and they will resist as intelligently and actively as they can, as I’ve outlined in earlier lessons.
Some of their reactions are predictable - which, in the physical world, is used by people like Gandhi to provoke a reaction that can be used to gain broader support in the world and shame those British with a conscience. That was violent and dangerous at times (e.g., Dharasana), but Srdja Popovic wrote about the modern version of that where humour is used to provoke a range of less violent (hopefully non-violent) reactions that progress matters towards your goal.
Humour shares one of the advantages of clearing: it “weakens”, in that it reduces the nonBPM power/strength, people, and both makes any nonBPM reactions les strong as well as making nonBPM reactions less likely.
In some cases, predictable reactions are counterproductive - such as the Greens going to and phone banking into Qld before the last election.
Your responsibility also includes avoiding the reasonably foreseeable potholes.
That will be difficult, as many think it is not a pothole but a valid tactic - which was covered in some of the West Wing episodes (e.g., the discussion on “taxing enemies” in “We Killed Yamamoto”).
and despite that, you have to accept the reality that you won’t always - or even often please everyone - or even most, necessarily. Don’t operate for favour: operate for what is BPM.
There is a scene in the film “The Core” where one character tells another that they won’t be a leader until they can take responsibility for the things that go wrong, as well as the things that go well - until they have experienced failure.
That is an important consideration - how do you handle failure/being wrong?
When I was planning the physical Rangers of the Inner Plane, one provision was that all leaders were only acting until they had demonstrated their ability to recover from a major error, failure or problem.
I don’t support making a major error, failure or problem (the vernacular in my first draft was much shorter … ) - it is, as I’ve already emphasised, important to do all you can to avoid those.
But, equally, it is also important to accept that we are all imperfect humans in an imperfect world, and thus mistakes WILL happen from time to time, and what matters is how you respond to those.
It is important to accept errors and their consequences - including, speaking generally, the consequences of breaking the law. (Which is part of good civil disobedience of the type shown by, for instance, Gandhi’s campaigns [which were built on disciplined non-violence] and those who broke the USA’s racist “whites only” barriers in the 1960s - they broke those laws knowing they would be abused and arrested, and had prepared by practising accepting being abused and arranging legal defence.)
Errors of doing that lead to not succeeding in a spiritual goal - or seemingly “succeeding” because of bad means - will lead to “bad” consequences. Apart from those spiritual goals not being met, there may be flow-on consequences such as opportunities that would have occurred had you succeeded not occurring.
You cannot avoid that, but, in addition to doing what you can to avoid failure, you can and should avoid toxic positivity, and you can and should do what you can to make journey as rich, rewarding and safe as is reasonably possible.
If you choose the cowardice of not acting, ALL outcomes are bad - you won’t even have the incremental good from having helped some people with training etc along the way.
When I was running the Rangers as a physical group, all people in charge of groups were only acting commanders until they showed can recover from genuine (Not a pretend “here, I’ll stuff this up so you can see I can recover from deliberately induced “mistakes”) stuff up.
So, all told, you should engage with the world - humbly, using all the skills and gifts you have / can develop / can access in others, and adapt as needed along the way, including addressing both changes in circumstances, and changes that are necessitated by mistakes.
Naturally enough, this week’s sigil is Responsibility, but you should also look at the Group Leadership sigil.
Exercise AI- Physical world groups
Establish and check protection, and then do your initial self-assessment.
Do your combined basic energy work drill, which is, as a broad summary:
- Exercise A - self care (Week No. 46);
- Exercise B - links (self work) (Week
No. 47);
Exercise C - links (partnered - whether physical or nonphysical) (Week No. 48); - Exercise D - objects (self work) (Week
No. 49);
Exercise E - objects (partnered - whether physical or nonphysical) (Week No. 50); - Exercise F - energies (self work) (Week
No. 51);
Exercise G - energies (partnered - whether physical or nonphysical) (Week No. 52); - Exercise H - rescuing cooperatives (self work) (Week
No. 53);
Exercise I - rescuing cooperatives (partnered - whether physical or nonphysical) (Week No. 54); - Exercise J - rescuing uncooperatives (partnered - whether physical or nonphysical) (Week No. 55).
In addition to the skills directly practised, the partnered exercises have practised your ability to work constructively with others. Both sets of skills will now be developed (and pay particular attention to the skills in the lessons on proficiency, countering adaptations, and evolution [which included the “this course as a blog” links] ), but with a focus towards working in larger groups, which in turn have a focus on changing the world. These will be based on the Rangers of the Inner Plane, which is no longer physically active (other than me), but is still working on the nonphysical.
This week’s exercise continues the theme of responsibility by reminding you that you have legal obligations - especially if you have a physical group, but even if you don’t.
A recent court case made clear that the owners of websites are responsible for comments posted by others - which, as I don’t have time and energy to moderate comments, is why I have never allowed them (and yes, I was aware of the legal risk before the court decision, but there is also a moral duty). Online bullying is also a problem, which is another reason I have not allowed comments - and I point out that I could be the target of said bullying.
I have a duty of (reasonable) care towards those who read this work, which is one of the many reasons I have emphasised self care, protection, and a gradual progression in this work. There are also topics I have not covered because I consider them potentially dangerous without adequate supervision, or dangerous for some people even if properly supervised.
I have done that not only out legal obligation, but also out of spiritual (or moral/ethical if you can’t handle the word spiritual) obligation - out of agape style love.
Now, as far as physical groups go, the laws governing such matters differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. I couldn’t try to cover those even if I did have legal qualifications (which I DO NOT), so, if you wish to organise a physical group, GET COMPETENT LEGAL ADVICE FOR YOUR JURIDICTION.
I saw someone I knew decades ago sued and bankrupted by a former student, so don’t trivialise this matter.
When I was running physical groups, I tried allowing people to donate what they thought my work was worth until one person took advantage of that to never pay for anything, and I was always careful to ask for feedback. The reasons I stopped running those groups included abuse of my pets, disrespect of my home, abuse, and attempted blackmail. However, I, my home, and my possessions are protected by the law, so remember that the law goes both ways, and those you work with also have responsibilities and duty of care.
So, when you are getting legal advice, don’t forget to also ask about what protections apply to you as well.
One of the most important aspects of this is safety - physical safety, emotional safety, and so on. If you are inviting people to your home, you should think about, perhaps, checking your home against standards used for aged care homes - things like are your floors levels, are there risks of slips/trips/falls, are there head height (for all heights) hazards, and so on? The expectation goes beyond what you would consider acceptable for yourself, and you should be considering all levels of physical ability (e.g., wheelchair access?).
Again, take this seriously, and GET COMPETENT ADVICE.
Your obligations also apply to any online activities performed by your group.
Your obligations also apply to nonphysical activities, but I would hope you have noticed that by now :)
On that, the work I have written about is nonphysical: if you want to take physical action about anything, including, perhaps, discriminatory laws, that is a matter entirely outside the topics of these lessons. If you wish to incorporate nonphysical action in back-up of physical action, however, then, by all means, consider and adapt what is in these lessons.
Despite all that I have written about this, the rewards are generally worth it - be patient, allow people to progress at the rate that suits them, make sure there is lots of safe and inclusive discussion - and clarify values around things like veganism, polyamory, religion etc when considering people for membership . . . not for reasons of exclusion, but for reasons of “reasonable accommodation” - which is an obligation that applies to other members as well.
And also remember to automatically, quietly, without a fuss, clear ALL nonBPM units that you may become aware of during all discussions - or any group work, really.
Do your final self-assessment and restorative work, re-check yourself (get help if you need it), and then close your chakras, centre yourself and close your aura, use the banishing version of the LBRP to close circle, ground and release all excess energy; and make sure you are grounded and closed down - implement your Psychic Emergency Action Plan if necessary.
Previous meditations in this sequence are:
01. Introduction, definition of the problem(s), and Realisation; 02. Determination; 03. Together; 04. Caution, respect and integrity (aka cunning); 05. Momentum; 06. Insight; 07. Preciseness; 08. Progress; 09. Learning;
10. Purposefulness; 11. Conciseness; 12. Measurement; 13. Faith; 14. Proficiency; 15. Alliances; 16. Countering adaptations; 17. Motivations of the nonBPM; 18. The humanness of the flaws that underlay opposition; 19. Undetectability;
20. Evolution; 21. Perspective; 22. Wisdom; 23. Tradition; 24. The outmoded; 25. Persistence; 26. Discernment; 27. Paleo-emotions; 28. Inspiration (bringing out the best in individual people); 29. Inspiration (bringing out the best in oneself);
30. Ally; 31. Inspiration (bringing out the best in groups); 32. Cooperation: the counter to subservience; 33. Humility: the counter to arrogance; 34. Imbalance and balance; 35. Spiritual opportunities from spiritual distancing; 36. The spiritual needs and opportunities of the climate crisis and the environment; 37. The spiritual challenges of entangled issues; 38. Knowing what changes need to be made now and on a long term basis; 39. How to find a direction for a constructive, evolutionary response;
40. Knowing when and how to adopt a chosen direction / action; 41. How to work with the various levels and aspects of oneself; 42. How to work with the various levels and aspects of others; 43. How to work in a group or movement; 44. How to work in a group or movement at a distance; 45. How to work in a group or movement with ethics and integrity; 46. A central, unifying image; 47. How to avoid group think - or a nonBPM group mind / “egregore”; 48. The allure of power; 49. The challenge of servant-leadership in this unevolved world;
50. Managing up - including spiritually; 51. The long term benefits of planting a seed; 52. The short term need of decisive, quick, and strong action; 53. Differentiating between short and long term needs - and finding a holistic solution; 54. Finding a more spiritual solution; 55. Finding a psychic solution; 56. Lessons from war; 57. Gathering intelligence; 58. Astral undetectability; 59. The battlefield - or psychic topography;
60. Preparing - building strengths and numbers; 61. Preparing - planning tactics, strategy and grand strategy; 62. Nonphysical allies; 63. Other aids; 64. Force concentration; 65. Unity of effort; 66. Reinforcement and reserves; 67. Fire and manoeuvre; 68. Clearing and healing in detail; 69. Defence in depth;
70. “Hedgehog” defence; 71. Manoeuvring; 72. Direct contest; 73. Flanking; 74. (Ethical) distraction / deception; 75. Attacks from within; 76. Make haste slowly; 77. Withdrawal; 78. Healing casualties.
The Meditation (see here, here, and here) broadly consists of:
(1) use appropriate
and responsible techniques (see here, here, here), prayer and ritual (e.g., here) to establish and check protection (re-do the protection, or re-schedule the
meditation, if you don’t feel safe and secure);
(2) establish
a personal connection to your Higher BPM
influences;
(3) visualise
the sigil (see above) for this work. Think of what this work
means for you as you do so, then, when you feel you have fully tuned in to the
meaning of the sigil, see it as a portal or doorway (you could open it like
a door [close it behind you], simply pass through it, visualise yourself
shrinking and passing through the centre, or whatever else works best for you),
and travel through to to a place created by the visualisation of yourself and
others for this work. That place should have:
(a) a visualisation of the workplace you
personally prefer - something you can change, if you wish, as you yourself
change; and
(b) a shared visualisation of a device to astrally
share our knowledge, something developed in a previous project (still
active astrally): a visualisation of a large, green,
multifaceted emerald. Large: around half the size of the Moon; multifaceted
- billions, for all people who wish to be part of this at any time; green -
largely tied up with the previous project, but has connotations of nature and
growth. One of those facets is yours - choose whatever location and
shape you wish (and you may change that as you change [grow] over time),
but in the interest of humility and sharing, see it at around human - or human
aura - size;
(4) flush one’s aura with green (R0, G102,
B0), blue (R0, G0, B204) and
purple (R153 G0, B204);
(5) fill one’s
Heart Chakra (and maybe one’s Earth
Star, Solar Plexus, Third Eye and Crown Chakras) with green, blue
and purple; send a weave of three
streams of this colour from the Chakra(s) to the visualised gigantic, multi-faceted emerald through your
facet until you see your energy enlivening other areas of the emerald and can feel
similar energies flowing back to you;
(6) visualise
the rune / bindrune;
(7) generate feelings
of love, peace, joy and respect;
(8) strengthen
those feelings (energies);
(9) radiate
those energies to the world for nine to eighteen minutes;
(10) then, on
Sunday, also perform the additional meditation work for around 15 minutes or so:
contemplate the topic, and the spiritual (i.e., nonphysical)
implications of it, and seek insights and understanding. Do not be distracted
by thoughts of physical actions - those are necessary also, but this exercise
is about the nonphysical, in the broadest possible sense, and the focus should
be on nonphysical actions, energy flows, symbols, and the like, all with the
intention of bringing about a change for the better. As a second stage, if you
wish, you can meditate on any physical actions which may be necessary, but get
the spiritually focused work done first;
Also on Sunday, perform
the exercise(s) as set out in this post;
(11) when you
have finished your work:
(i) send the
thought of any knowledge you wish to store or share through your portal into
the group visualised emerald;
(ii) return
back through the sigil;
(iii) close your
chakras, centre and ground yourself and close your aura, use the banishing
version of the LBRP to open circle, ground and release all excess energy; and
make sure you are grounded and closed down – eat, if you need to, or seek help
from someone capable and trusted; and
(iv) make sure you are yourself again - free of any
lingering attachments or (misguided) ideas of being subservient,
respectful of yourself and your integrity as you should be of others.
WLNGRHDMT
Black Lives Matter!
The Climate Crisis is real, urgent and existential!
