As Above So Below is an axiom many of us are familiar with. But what does it actually mean?  What comes of embracing such a cosmic concept?  To me it means: as it is written in the Stars of Fate Above, So shall it be Below on Earth.  Is this not a statement that we are bound by Destiny as laid out by Dame Fate, by our Gods…Written in the Stars to be read by Occultists, Seers, Astrologers, those who know how to read the Heavenly language of Fate?  I am on board with this form of Divine Order, but only as it shows the tracks of Fate that lead us upon the path of least resistance…the predisposition of Spirit & Cosmic Tides as they will enact upon us and push us down a certain path.  But the question for us who make magic is: are we bound to our Destiny, the Authority of Fate?  Is not the making of Magic, the turning of Fate…rewriting of the Stars?

If I were to accept, embrace, believe in and endorse something outside of myself as holding definitive Authority and Power over me, then I would be bound by Fate.  But I can bring change to the quality of my own Spirit by Will.  And then being in a different state, I can shift the quality of spirit in the Cosmos about me.  I can change the world by taking responsibility for my cosmos and shaping it.  My Spirit can become contagious and infect the quality of the world about me and finally the expression of Dame Fate herself!  The principle of As Within, So Without can change our karmic stars of Fate.

For most folks in the west, Karma is seen as being the consequence of one’s actions.  What goes around comes around.  Yes, by our actions we become the architects of our reality.  I am good with this interpretation of Karma as long as it does not become binding.  But, like Destiny, Karma can be viewed as being both binding and inviolable.  Going to the root culture of Karma: when I was in India, it was explained to me that people cannot convert to Hinduism because if it was their Karma to be Hindu, they would have been born Hindu.  If a person were to convert, where in the Caste System would they be placed?  As Karma is the base concept upon which the Caste system is founded, one cannot change the Caste one is born into; it is your Karma that placed you there.  I realized that Karma in that system cannot be changed, and politically it brings a resignation and acceptance of social standing to millions of Hindus.  This marriage of Caste and Karma serves a similar political agenda as one I grew up with in Britain.  Being born into a working class family meant I should learn my predestined place and accept it.  Well, that didn’t go down well for me back then and still doesn’t!  I do not bend the knee to the definitive bindings of Fate or Karma, though I see and respect both as worthy adversaries.

So then, how to battle Fate?  Well, I am a lover not a fighter, so I choose to woo Dame Fate, change the music and lead her in the dance on occasion–something I learned from my Spirit Father Cerne!  How do you do that?  By changing the quality of your Spirit within and sharing your heart with the world about you!  Live as you have the world to be!  Embrace the tides of change and the great adventure of life that brings never-ending evolution and insight!

We may not be able to change the length of our lifespan, but we can change the quality of it, the experience of it.  We can even increase the experience of time within the framework of time itself.

As Within, So Without also means that how we treat others affects the quality of our own Spirit as we create the world we live in from within our true core.  People spending their time and energy pulling others down rather than engaging in the art of co-creation, end up living in the cosmos of their own making, built from the inside out.

Looking for the answer to life, magic, power or control as something to be found outside of oneself is where we lose our way. We live in a time of accessible information on any subject we seek.  The whole idea that simply being in possession of secret mystical information brings status is frankly amusing… if not a wee bit baffling!  Yet wagging that carrot is still commonly used to manipulate. Over the years I have found that even when wanting students to grasp simple core mysteries, I just can’t give them away!  I often call the process of teaching the Craft “the Art of passing and receiving what cannot be given.”  You could put all the gems of Art into the lap of a seeker and it would not serve them one iota!  But a person who shifts their awareness to where they truly grasp what they hold within, will inherit a Cosmos of Mysteries, given by Self to Self.

In my book we need to look to the leaders and teachers that inspire people to live free, to think and to love and to make magic that serves some real purpose.

Copyright: Griffin Ced  9/26/2014