The Four Powers Ophidian People carry upon them the mark of Our People. This mark upon the Spirit carried within the Beast is seen by spirits and Adepts alike. It is seen and understood, and depending upon the allegiance with which one identifies oneself, is recognized as the mark of a Great and Terrible Purpose of Justified Will, or feared as a mark of true Freedom of Spirit and Soul. This is the mark of true initiation, and it cannot be copied, forged, or manufactured. It is given by trials and ordeals. It is earned. It is a brand that is seared upon the Aura of the Seeker of the True Mysteries of Her. It is not erased by Death. It is enhanced by it. It is interesting when one discusses what has been called the four Powers of the Sphinx how little people understand about them. Knowledge, Courage, Will, and Silence…how interesting that Knowledge is listed first. One can think about how Knowledge can mean what one’s head is filled with; what one learns through words, reading, talking. But, what is it to “know” something? What does a person really know? If one reads the words or thoughts of another, who “knows” what those words say? The reader? Does he now know what those words discuss? Why, because he read the words of another man? Where did the writers “knowledge” come from? There is a different kind of knowing. There is a voice that is often difficult to hear, but it speaks through the currents of the other three Powers. It speaks to us from a place of long history and that is the recurrent experience of incarnation. That is the longevity of Spirit. This Knowledge does not come from other men or from the brain of our own animal selves. This Knowledge is the Brand of Spirit. This is the First mark and it is there at birth. Or it is absent. Either sign is instructive. When an Ophidian knows something it is often a different sort of a thing to say than when other people say they know something; the Knowledge of the Sisters of the Lineage, for example; or the Knowledge of a Therion. This Knowledge cannot be taught as one would expect in the modern age that one teaches knowledge. It cannot be taught, but it can be uncovered, or a person can be taught how to remember their knowledge, or how to begin to hear what it is that is being said to them. What is this animal that has the body of a lion or beast, and the head of a woman? What are these powers that she guards as she lays upon the doorway into the Mysteries? This guiding presence upon the body of an animal is divine Spirit, and each Spirit has a Will upon which it acts. This is simple enough, but what is this Courage that is spoken of? And what part of this creature has Courage? What frightens this great beast so much? When one considers Courage, one must also consider Fear. There is a decision made by every individual very early in their lives and that is the basis by which they will be driven through their lives: is it by Fear? Or is it by Will? The majority of people are driven by Fear, and this is the force that informs and directs their behaviors and their decision making their entire lives. No place is more evident of this then the Spiritual or Religious focus of a person. Is the person a slave, or is the person an autonomous being? The majority of people are slaves, who choose to be driven by Fear, and that is the majority of Religion that exists today — pens and shackles of Fear. A person who has even the smallest bit of Knowledge within them will not choose Fear, but will Choose Will. When one chooses Will, one chooses Spirit. One chooses the Serpent. Is it no wonder everyone else fears the Serpent? A person who chooses Will, therefore, is a person who, despite having fear, and uncertainty, and doubt, will nonetheless align themselves with even the smallest whisper from their Spirit, despite the screams and threats that surround them of damnation and other types of enslavement reinforcement. The greatest fear an animal carries is that of Death. This is necessary for the animal to remain motivated to survive even in the face of desperate odds. This gift of Mars, the Survival Instinct, can consume a human animal to the point where he sacrifices his Will in order to try to find a way to stay alive — usually forever. Those who have Courage learn to stand upon the threshold of Death, and learn that the Emblems of Death are part of the Greater Path of the Initiate. We die many times, and this is our Strength, and this is part of what others fear about us. But perhaps the thing that the uninitiated fear the most is Silence. For is Silence not the language of Death? And is Silence not the dwelling place of both the Greatest of Spirits, and the most terrifying of the Demons? The Voice of Silence is both the ability to listen, and ability to not speak. What we hear in Silence is quite different then the stillness one needs to hear it at all. This is part of the Knowledge, and the result of it. This is part of the Courage, and why one must have Courage. This is the path of one’s Will. This is the Darkness of the Underworld, and therefore this is the Brightest of all Light. The sign upon one’s lips, the Sign of Silence, is both a warning and a message. This is the language of the Gods, and it is only through initiation that most can learn to understand it. It is through initiation that the Emblems of Death are borne and worn upon us. This, then, is the mantle borne by the Initiate, as our bodies stand naked before our Gods, so marked by Fire, so marked by Death. - *667*, Thelema.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 06:08:38 +0000
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