Principles of Kaula III-IV

Lesson III - IV - Breaking the red pots Category: Religion and Philosophy Breaking the [Red] Pots Lesson I ended on a "humanistic" note. The next section strikes a very different tone. The contrast may give you some insight into the difference or similarity between "us and them"; "then and now". The way an ancient texts such as the KJN appears to switch between "high" and "low" concerns is not unique to the Kaulas. It is a feature of many late classical magical systems - see for example the Greek Magical Papyri. KJN now moves onto a topic whose title would have been instantly recognisable to a magician of the late Classical world. To the modern mind this discussion of practical magick and its sometime malific uses seems strangely discordant after previous more ’humanistic’ philosophy. Magicians of India’s "Iatro-Tantrik" period were often asked to prove themselves in ’battle’ - and some say they each tried to outdo each other in terms to the powers (siddha) they claim to wield. I was taught that competence in this area is contingent on diligence in the more gnostic, meditational techniques of the KJN. This results magick is therefore the fruit or vindication of ones spiritual growth. Even so I feel very ambivalent about this chapter. Are the formulae complete - difficult to say. Here’s an example: "Meditating on Shakti as "Bindu-Nada" and drawing together both darkness and light as dissolved into the effulgence of the birth-circle (janmastha), one should meditate that such a thing occurs in the body of the object. In half a twinkling of the eye the person may be paralysed." This section includes positive and malific results magick. The above "spell" seems to presume some prior knowledge - which is probably given elsewhere in the KJN or that the magician was assumed to possess.

[In construction - E&OE - feedback please] Sahajanatha (Mogg)