New Board / Influence of Achad

[Michael Staley]

After years of being largely seen as a "failed disciple" of Crowley, there is at last growing interest in Achad's work, and now seems a good time to introduce a board for discussing the influence of Achad on Kenneth Grant's work.

Kenneth Grant and Gerald Yorke started working together in May 1948, between them making typed copies of Crowley's diaries and papers before they were shipped to Germer. At this time, Yorke was involved in a copious correspondence with Achad, a correspondence which continued to the end of 1949. In November 1950 Yorke asked Grant to make typed copies of the correspondence with Achad, as a result of which Grant began to take an increasing interest in Achad's work.

There are accounts of Achad's life and work in The Magical Revival and Cults of the Shadow. In a chapter in Cults, Grant concluded that although there was much of interest in Achad's work, there was no sign of the Aeon of Truth and Justice, the incoming of which Achad had announced on 2nd April 1948. Grant was already reconsidering this conclusion when he heard from Margaret Ingalls concerning a communication she had received from, she said, the Aeon of Maat. In the next volume of the Typhonian Trilogies, Nightside of Eden, there are many references to the Aeon of Maat and to a Priestess in Ohio who had sent him the document, Liber Pennae Praenumbra. In the next volume, Outside the Circles of Time, Grant went further, considering Achad's work against the background of The Amalantrah Working and its central image of the Egg.

There are a multitude of strands and themes to be considered when it comes to comparing and contrasting the work of Grant and of Achad, and I hope that we can make a start on this in this forum.

[JMH]

Apart from the references in the work of KG, I have yet to delve in the work of Frater Achad. I hope this new board will spark my interest to do so and I know for a fact that between the minds of this community, We can compile some captivating data.

[chapter53]

Has anyone read the Cornelius book on Achad? "Crossing the Abyss, into the Aeon of the daughter". I picked it up a while back to learn some basics of his system before the new Starfire book comes out.

[Deleted]

Cordial greetings, Sir Staley!
I thank you sincerely for your response on my musings about Frater Achad. In these last few days so much has happened in my world; consequently, I simply had to review yet again some of my views, especially those that have to do with Fr. Achad.
I must admit that my "diagnosis" of his being a case of monomania can't, after all, stand the test of Truth.
If anything, I spoke too soon, the text still needed to be absorbed, let alone understood properly.
However, by employing that unfelicitous turn of phrase I had in mind first and foremost a certain technical "tone" of his, present as a signature in all his letters.
His mental acumen, however, is formidable, his concentration admirable. If anything, in these letters he comes across as something of a secret chief of sorts, his secretiveness, his reservation all point (me) in that direction. What I lament, however, is a certian non-transparency when it comes to the U.B.
Within the limits of his "mission" his expression, as manifest in his various works, is rather diverse, I agree.
His motivation in joining the U.B., if I am not mistaken, was a certain lack and one-dimensionality that he perceived in the (Curriculum of the) order of Astrum Argenteum. I find it somewhat difficult to concur on that that particular point but I also understand, in my way, what he meant.
He wanted to embrace into the loving fold of mystical ripeness as much people as possible. In this sense I remember AC's criticism of him while he was still Fr. V.I.O. - he warned him of being too sentimental, even going so far as to prognosticate a possible future turn to the dreaded LEFT-HAND path, sentimentalism being a "form of egoism."
I have similar problems. Which is why, among other things, I identified, even against my rational will (so to speak), so closely with Frater Achad. I have been waiting for years for this book to come out, anticipating it, hoping for whatever clue it may provide.
For instance, believe it or not, I went through a rather severe case of "madness" myself. It lasted form 2011 e.v. to 2018 e.v. Seven long years spent in the "loving embrace" of the Christian Orthodox Church. Even going so far as to apply for monkhood - which didn't materialize, luckily so.
By the inscrutable will of Gods I regained my sanity rather quickly once the seven long years elapsed, about my 48th birthday in fact, the end of March; but I remember vividly the agonies I went through: on three separate occasions regaining sanity for a few months - just to be plunged back into the mire of sentimental "morality" tainted with aversion, to put it mildly, with respect to the Book of the Law.
Obviously, my views about myself underwent a significant change after such an episode. Nowdays, I don't dare make any pronouncements that sound too certain. Having experienced on my own skin the horror of a shifting psyche - how can I? How can I vouch for myself and say I am 100% it won't happen again? I can't. Obviously, I feel it won't happen again, the whole experience being an important part of my personal initiation, and yet I can't deny the fact that I also feel I have irreparably wasted seven long years; time irretrievably lost, time that could have been elswhere employed with great(er) profit.
I look forward to a future exchange of views.

P.S. 93 As to the "batty" word - that is an expression someone else, can't remember exactly who, first used in reference to Fr. Achad. When I found out what it means, my reaction was similar to yours and I am glad you reacted the way you did.
I should clarify that it does not describe what I think of him and/or his work. English being my second language,
I had no idea its conotations can be so offensively pejorative. In fact, I was under the impression that it was a rather mild expression but, then again, I am rather "batty" myself (vide supra).
I hope you (and the rest of the forum members) will accept my apologies. 93 93/93

[PW PV 113]

I would like to post something into this part of the forum relating to The Incoming of the Aeon of Maat, but am having difficulty organising my thoughts, because the web of influences is quite complex. I do have a practical point to make, but in framing it, I’m getting drawn into so much wider contextualisation that it’s becoming too lengthy and detracting from my point – yet at the same time, without the context it doesn’t have much significance. Maybe I’ll separate it into two posts with a practical part later.

Interfacing with the Maat energy seems to increase incidence of synchronicity and increases the pace at which insights occur, and Kenneth Grant certainly found that. Given that, it’s surprising that there isn’t more interest, but I don’t feel the Maat current as operating independently of the Aeon of Horus, but instead I think it’s realistic to acknowledge that both energies run together, as others also acknowledge.

Frater Achad’s work also has the re-evaluation of attributions on the Qabalistic Tree of Life as a major feature, and I would consider the work of William Gray alongside that aspect. Given Crowley’s influence on Grant and Jones (and Western Occultism in general) it’s not surprising there is some resonance between them, although Kenneth tuned into Maat more from Nema who also arguably did more to flesh out the potential meaning of a Maatian-system, even if Fr Achad detected it first.

This is quite without the colouration from other commentators who enjoy both similar and yet further influences, and with whom I might be in agreement on some points while not on others.

Over time one should anticipate that present developments will be interpreted increasingly in terms of Maatian Aeonics. Consider the social justice movement – be it for sexual, racial or other forms of equality, and the emphasis on truth, contrasted with the advent of false news used by reactionary forces. These are widespread Maatian phenomena that are less adequately explained by the energy of the Aeon of Horus than they are by either a combined force, or the two forces running concurrently. But they share the common theme that the old world order will be destroyed while also being renewed – at the present time, the role of the pandemic in re-ordering society seems to fit this well too.

I’ll say something on the technical/practical side of the Qabalistic Tree of Life as it relates to Maatian dynamics in a bit.

[PW PV 113]

In The Incoming of the Aeon of Matt, there are references to the paths of Aleph and Lamed around pages XLII-XLIV.

Because of there being multiple arrangements in play, which I’d like to acknowledge in their diversity, in terms of both spheres and paths, I’ll spell out which paths and Sephirothic connections I’m referring to based on the typical arrangement, noting that re-assignation of the paths has profound implications for the psyche and that there are assumptions built into any assessment of the intricate energy patterns of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

The following refers most specifically to Maatian energy on the path of Aleph, Atu 0 – The Fool, found between Kether and Chokmah. Whereas the Fool is typically taken to represent a free onrushing of enthusiasm, it seems to me that the clue to Maatian dynamics is the reabsorption, which is on the same path but with the flow from Chokmah to Kether.

The standard practice of a Middle Pillar meditation energizes the Sephira from the Crown downwards to the base, in a sequence of five spheres. On completion of that flow, there are several ways of cycling that energy, again dependent on philosophy and needs. I’ve never found it very practical to use the Middle Pillar in reverse direction – and I wouldn’t conflate it with rising on the planes which is more a question of forming a solid light body and then moving with it through space. However, you can do the following, which is much better in the physical; that is to say on the ground; rather than in the imagination.

In terms of practice, the Priest/ess makes such preparations as deemed necessary. This would typically include stressing the environment, by directions, with signs, movements and names, in pairs and other groupings - lots of ways of doing this.
The standard practice, operating with a physical tree of life, flat on the ground, is to start with Malkuth and progress up the middle pillar, resting in Kether – I wouldn’t be prescriptive there about what format any operation might take – and to return via the Lightning Flash, which will take you sequentially back to Malkuth, intoning the God Names as you travel there and back; choices over the extent to which you include Angelic names, letter tracing and so on is part of the beauty of the system.
Close, or whatever you need to do to balance it out/absorb it/send it, in your system.

In order to access the path of the Fool as noted above, the method of ascending the Tree of Life by the Lightning Flash in reverse can be used. This means Aleph will be the final path you tread before absorption into Kether, and return via the Middle Pillar - the mention of absorption in TIOTAOM is really what prompted me to highlight this method.

Between Chesed and Malkuth, there is really no change - it’s true in this method that you also tread Lamed from Tiphareth to Geburah, but the critical aspect here in terms of Maatian energy is on Aleph. Also significant is the connection between Chesed and Binah, because in (what has become in Western Occultism) the standard layout of the ToL, there is no connection between these paths, nor is there a direct connection between Chesed and Binah on the Perfected Tree for example – and if you use that, you lose the dynamics between the pillars at Daleth/Venus, Teth/Leo and Pe/Mars. It is also of course the route of the developmental method for crossing the Abyss, and raises another area where Fra Achad and Fra P crossed swords that we won’t go into.

I put a couple of other little tweaks in there myself. The main one relevant here is AShRH as a feminine form of Tetragrammaton, which gives Asherah - Elohim as a divine name in Binah, balancing Jehovah. Others include different ways in and out of certain spheres - practitioners may evolve the method to suit their own systems, which is why I acknowledged at the start that there are numerous arrangements out there – but I think if you want to experience Maatian energy, accessing Aleph by the reverse Lightning Flash is one way

Bon voyage