Three Paths in Western Occult Tradition — Baal-Hiram

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Three Paths in Western Occult Tradition

Written by Baal-Hiram

In the Western Occult Tradition, there are three Paths: the Path of the Theurg (operational path), the Path of the Mystic (inner path), and the Path of the Knight (outer path of virtue and charity). These traditional variations of virtue in Western Esotericism are conveniently considered in accordance with some occult discourses set forth in 20th century Russian Martinist Grigory Ottonovich Mebes' "Encyclopedia of Occultism".

In Lecture III of the "Encyclopedia of Occultism", devoted to the analysis of the symbolism of the Third Arcana, Mebes gives the following reasoning:

“It would be appropriate to add examples of analysis of some typical turners to the description of the Arcana. First, I’ll give a hint of a turner such as a descending triangle. The Theosophical Turner - Archetype - Man - Nature - evokes in us the theological scheme of the three Hypostases: God in God, or God the Father; God manifesting in Humanity, or God the Son, and God manifesting in Nature - God the Holy Spirit.

According to this triple scale of manifestations of the One Deity, in which the middle term neutralizes the extremes (Man connects Nature with the Archetype), I allow myself to point out three types of the search of the God by the soul: there are souls seeking God the Father through the metaphysical ways; souls seeking God the Son in their hearts and through uniting with groups of people in the name of this search; and there are souls who seek God by contemplating nature and reconciling with its immutable laws. They are all seekers of the Holy Spirit.

You will learn more about this in the Secrets of Kabbalah. ”
Based on this text, I intend to build all my further reasoning.
I suggest a scheme:

1. The Path of the Theurg - Souls seeking God the Father in metaphysical ways.
2. The Way of the Mystic (aka the Way of the Heart) is a soul seeking God the Son in their heart and uniting groups of people in the name of this search.
3. The Way of the Knight - Souls who seek God by contemplating nature and reconciling with its immutable laws are seekers of the Holy Spirit.

Now we can better understand why the Paths are related to the definitions in this order and not otherwise. The Theurg's path implies, in reality, the path of operational metaphysics. Through Theurgic operations, invoking Angels, special techniques involving fasting, prayers, and the use of secret signs and formulas, the Theurg, or Cohen, approaches Reintegration in order to know God the Father through the Son, which is achieved when the degree of R + is in blissful vision.

The path of Mysticism is focused on the study of the “Book of Man,” by purifying one’s spiritual heart and knowing the spark of God that is hidden in this heart. This Spark is the part that must be reintegrated into the Body of the New Adam - God the Son.

The Way of the Knight is intended for those who wish to study the laws of Nature. Those who follow this Way devote a lot of time to the study of those or other occult sciences that they choose for their specialization. So, in addition to bringing to the world the noble ideals of virtue, ethics and morality, those who have chosen the Path of Knighthood improve their knowledge of external occult manifestations by studying the "Book of Nature". These may be alchemists who prefer laboratory practice and spagiria or astrologers who prefer to study the connection of world processes with the positions of celestial bodies; these may be Tarot researchers who are devoted to the study of the Arcana as the Archetypal Principles of Nature and Adam Kadmon . Those who follow the path of spiritual Knighthood also better understand their own internal manifestations by studying the external manifestations of the Arcana of Occultism, and by applying the law of analogies about the likeness of Microcosm and Macrocosm. Thus, finding in Nature the foundations and principles of the Laws of Perfection, such practitioners find the same in themselves. This analogy is precisely the Laws of Virtue, the ethical and moral laws of Mankind. Those who follow these Laws and contemplate them in the outside world receive the blissful Vision of the Image of God reflected in Nature and in Humanity, and through this vision they already ascend to the Prototype, i.e. God.

Teurgia.Org explains: 1 Martinism 4 Astrology 8