The Esoteric Meaning of the Twelve Days of Christmas

The esoteric meaning of the Twelve Days of Christmas has been known since ancient times - actually, since before Christmas itself, since, prior to the birth of Christ, the Winter Solstice and the rebirth of the Sun were celebrated as sacred mysteries.

Everyone knows the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas". It's sung and illustrated everywhere you turn during this season.

But why twelve days? What is the importance of this period?

As I've tried to show in previous posts, this length of time has great significance. The twelve days were always a time of feasting, celebration, joy and goodwill. Christmas, and the festivals that preceded it in ancient Egypt, Babylon, Rome, Greece and all over the Northern Hemisphere, was never just one day. 

Only in modern times has mankind forgotten the real meaning of the winter festivals, turning them into orgies of consumerism. Few now remember what it is they are supposed to be celebrating.

Esoteric studies in astrology and astronomy showed ancient philosophers - which, of course, included first and foremost the Sarmoung Brotherhood - that this time of year was exceptionally sacred.

From the farthest reaches of the Universe, energies sent to Earth now are of the very finest, most spiritual nature. They are sent to all forms of organic life, and convey the ideal pattern that the year's unfoldment is meant to bring. They proceed from the heavenly realms closest to the Most Holy Sun Absolute, and reach us in their undiluted form only at this time.

Seeds now dormant in the earth receive the pattern of their growth. This genetic pattern is inherent within the material from which the seed is made, yes, but the vivifying energies of the season that follows the Winter Solstice are essential for the seed to germinate.

Likewise, the animal kingdom also receives the energies needed for continued growth and for new births to occur.

In the case of Man, the three-brained being, these energies are intended to reach our Essence at this time. They will allow Essence to understand the pattern of its growth during the coming year. They will nourish the new birth that takes place at Christmas and allow it to unfold in the intended direction. Essence may now receive these vivifying, nourishing, creative energies deep within, but only those who are conscious will be able to use them for their own transformation.

Indeed, for many three-brained beings their Essence has become surrounded by a thick "crust" of Personality, and even False Personality. In these cases, the finer energies of the Twelve Days fall on stony ground and are lost.

For those of us trying to awaken, however, then as well as attempting to live in an atmosphere of joy and to keep our emotional balance amid the conflicting energies of Earth that surround us now, our spiritual growth depends on our consciously assimilating and cherishing these sacred energies. Without them, no growth takes place. 

If we have prepared well during Advent, the new birth in Essence that takes place at Christmas now receives everything necessary for its own growth and wellbeing, so that our whole planetary presence will be able to attain a higher level of understanding during the coming year. What's more, our Essence will be strengthened so that in time it may direct our actions, using Personality to achieve its aims, rather than the other way round. 

This is our Aim in the Work. 

The concentrated period of Twelve Days lasts until January 6th, the time when traditionally the most intense celebrations of Christmas come to an end. It's considered unlucky to take down one's Christmas tree and decorations before that date, at least in England, and this tradition embodies the ancient knowledge of the importance of this time.

For many, indeed, the holy energies of Christmas continue to resound, though in an attenuated form, right through to February 2nd, Candle Mass.

The meaning of these dates is that, on January 6th, the increased time and strength of the Sun's rays= is visible in the heavens. What we have celebrated in our earthly world is now apparent above, and we can relax somewhat in our efforts to encourage the Sun to be reborn!

But the sacred energies I've described will continue to be transmitted, even though the planet Earth now moves out of direct alignment with those furthest reaches of the galaxy, right through until the beginning of February. Then, the increased light of the Sun becomes more and more obvious, and the emphasis in the natural world is towards physical growth and reproduction.

In ancient lore, the Earth is seen as completing one breath during the cycle of the year. We can see this in certain Work diagrams. The Earth begins to breath in, as it were, at Midsummer, and the breath is retained throughout the period of the Winter solstice. Then, during the Twelve Days of Christmas, the gentle out-breathing begins, until the complete exhalation takes place at the next Midsummer.

During each solstitial period, approximately four days, the Sun literally appears to stand still; this is the meaning of "solstice". At this point, the Earth is "holding its breath", leaving a space of time at the end of the inbreath, when the breath is retained, and again at the completion of the outbreath.

Such teaching is found throughout esoteric studies, and can be traced in the Egyptian, Babylonian and Greek Mysteries. It was well-known to the Sarmoung Brotherhood, of whom I firmly believe the Three Wise Men were members.

It was lost to the world for many centuries, though kept alive in underground traditions. It resurfaced for a time during the Neo-Platonic revival at the Renaissance, and again in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which was a period when much real knowledge was again given to the world; this, of course, is supremely exemplified by the Work.

Knowledge, we are told, becomes more available when our planet is passing through critical periods, times of extreme stress and danger. It is given out freely so that those who can respond, and contribute to the evolution of life itself, may play their part.

All our teachers in the Work, from Gurdjieff and Ouspensky on through Dr Nicholl, Mrs Pogson, Marian and others both known and unknown to the public, have transmitted such knowledge to us.

We honour their memory and continue the great tradition when we practice what they taught. And right now, celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas and responding to the sacred energies most present now, is our Work task.

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Eve, and the sun is descending behind a bank of cloud over the Fens. The village shops are about to close. A few cars chase along the B roads, hoping to get home before dark; lights are coming on in all the farmhouses and cottages dotting the brown, ploughed fields.

Christmas Eve, and once again the world awaits a miraculous birth.

Christmas Eve, and the King's College Choir is getting ready to begin the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols that has been part of the English Christmas for decades.

For me, the sounds of the first carol, invariably "Once In Royals David's City", mingled with the scent of baking mince pies, heralds the real start of Christmas.

And for the last 25 years, the time I've been sober, Christmas has been a very happy, joyful, family festival, every moment of which I can recall with perfect clarity on Boxing Day morning!

Each Christmas in the Work brings with it the hope of a new birth for us, personally, as well as for the wide world and for everyone else on the Fourth Way. That new birth will, we all devoutly wish, bring new growth in Essence, new possibilities for the following year, that more and more we will live according to our deepest nature, our Real I, that particle of Conscious Humanity that longs to direct our lives according to the Will of the Absolute.

As we who are in recovery as well as in the Work know so well, it's all too simple to let the wish to Work become submerged in everyday worries and concerns.

Now, at this blessed, sacred festival of the Holy Birth, let us all draw sustenance from the memory of past Christmases in the Work, past Christmases in sobriety. Let us withdraw a while from the busy, fussy Personality I's, in ourselves and in others, and remember why we are really here on Earth, this planet that is very far down in the Ray of Creation.

We are here to transform, and to be transformed. To ascend the ladder that connects our earthly selves with the heavenly realm, to become a cell in the body of Conscious Humanity.

The Northern Hemisphere of this little planet now tilts towards the furthest reaches of outer space, beyond the edge of our galaxy, and brings us the chance to receive the highest levels of spiritual energy from those unimaginably far away stars.

Let us receive them in our Essence, and let Essence bring forth a new birth of understanding.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

A Short(ish) Post on Advent and Second Force

Advent can be a potent time for Second Force to manifest.

It's bound to happen this way. If we have a strong First Force, then a strong Second Force will rise to oppose it. We must look to the Third Force, the Reconciling Force, to resolve the conflicts and problems that are all too common at Advent.

What is our First Force at this time? Obviously, for those of us in the Work it will be preparing to celebrate Christmas, both in the inner and outer worlds. For people in life, without any religious faith, Christmas preparations will consist merely of material goods. Buying presents, stocking up with food and drink, decorating the home, going to Christmas parties - all these are part of life's Christmas rituals.

And they surely apply to Work students, too. We need to show on an outer level what Christmas means to us spiritually; we want to share our celebrations with others, and to experience that much-needed New Birth in Essence.

But for those in the Work, the inner preparations are much more important. For Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Advent is a time of extra spiritual reading, extra prayers, extra efforts of fasting and abstinence, and so it must be for us.

 For Christians, the season of Advent is quite distinct from that of Christmas itself. Advent is that quiet season of expectation, anticipation, and hope. Catholic churches will cover their statues and artwork with purple drapery, as in Lent, to symbolize the fact that Christ has not yet been born in the liturgical year.

On Christmas Eve, for the Midnight Mass, the churches will be decorated, and will display the traditional Crib for the arrival of the Christ Child. The Child will be symbolically laid in the manger during the Midnight Mass ceremony, and then Christmas will truly begin.

In the UK, which retains so many Catholic traditions, we celebrate the entire season of Christmas through to January 6, Twelfth Night. Only then do we take down our Christmas tree and other decorations. Superstition has it that it's bad luck to remove them before that date - and in many Catholic countries the end of the season is marked by Twelfth Night parties and gifts, just as in Shakespeare's time.

When I lived in the US, I noticed with dismay that many Christmas trees were thrown out on December 26th - our Boxing Day. There they lay, forlorn and abandoned, as if Christmas had consisted in only that one day. For many Americans, and increasingly for many Britons too, that has become true. Christmas is one day - then on to the orgy of spending on Boxing Day! There is no time to digest the new impressions that should be falling on Essence during Christmas.

In the Work, while we too must make material preparations to celebrate Christmas, they take second place to our spiritual life. We may increase the length of our meditations, add extra readings from Scripture and Work books, and make special efforts to remember ourselves as we go about the bustle of everyday life.

No matter how far ahead we have tried to prepare for Christmas, however, there is always Second Force during Advent. We meet it in the outer world, in the form of travelling delays, crowded shops, fatigue, lack of time. It's important not to become identified with any of that. Instead, we find we must make extra efforts to remember ourselves in the midst of all this apparent chaos.

In our inner world, however, no matter how difficult our outer circumstances may be, Advent can always be a fruitful season. Gurdjieff said that when the outer world presented him with "roses, roses", then in his inner world there were thorns. And vice versa! He asked his students which they thought he preferred.

 He was trying to show them that the struggle with Second Force can serve to increase our wish to be, to keep the aim of experiencing a New Birth in Essence. Second Force is difficult, even painful at times, but it is necessary, otherwise we grow slack and complacent.

Whether we meet it in the right way, of course, depends on keeping the Third Force of the Work in our consciousness. Christmas, for us, is not simply a time for parties and celebrations. It is that, of course, and quite rightly, though in Work groups not too much celebration takes place before Christmas Eve; but inwardly, the joy we hope for at Christmas is the result of constant efforts to remember ourselves in the preceding weeks, creating the higher hydrogens that allow our Higher Emotional Centre to speak to us.

It is in that Centre, symbolized by the Virgin Mary, that Christ will be born in us. That Centre is pure of any negative emotion, which is why the Blessed Virgin is such a powerful symbol for us. She is Immaculate, as is our Higher Emotional Centre. Nothing dirty, nothing spoiled by life, touches her.

For people without any spiritual beliefs, Advent and Christmas can become a very negative time. There is bound to be a good deal of stress, because of the importance of the celebration to come and all the expectation we place upon it. And conversations can run negative because of this - people can begin talking about how they hate Christmas, how the stress is making them tired and ill, and so on.

In our Work groups, Marian always gave us the task of turning these inevitable life conversations around so that a potential negative energy was transformed and the situation redeemed by our goodwill. No matter what other Work tasks we had, this was always extremely important.

Without the Third Force of the Work or of Christian Love, life takes over during Advent and Christmas and makes them barren of hope. Presents are never up to expectations. Parties end in fights and disputes. Hangovers, quarrels, family separations - all can bring about more entropy and more chaos in life.

But with the Work as our Third Force, we can transcend the latent negativity and any stress we are experiencing, and use the extra effort to create a beautiful and fulfilling Christmas birth.

May the Christ Child be born in you this Christmas!

Hanukkah,Advent and the Cosmic Cult of the Sun

Just as Christians celebrate Advent and the birth of the Divine Light in human form at Christmas, so Jews celebrate Hanukkah during this season. As I write this post, we're in the second day of the eight-day Hanukkah festival, which children particularly enjoy because they get to eat doughnuts, chocolate coins and pancakes, and receive gifts each evening at the lighting of candles.

Hanukkah is the celebration of the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC. The temple had been defiled by the Greeks, reflecting the way Greek philosophical ideas were also starting to undermine the religious faith of many Jews. The Greeks believed in the power of logical thinking above all else, and used this belief system to try to weaken the spiritual faith of the Jews.

The Maccabeans defied the authorities and cleansed the Temple. Their redemption of this holiest of holy places necessitated lighting the precious space with an oil lamp, or Menorah, but when they had retaken the Temple they found that there was enough oil for only one day. The ritual had to continue for eight days, but although there seemed little hope of that happening, the Rabbis went ahead and lit the first lamp, showing their faith in God.

And then, the story goes, God performed a great miracle. The oil, which had been kept pure and undefiled during the times of spiritual darkness, miraculously burned for eight days. The entire Temple was cleansed and dedicated once again to the worship of God, Yahweh, the great Spirit beyond all human comprehension and logic.

Without Hanukkah, we would have no Christmas. If the Jewish religion had died out, there would have been no Jewish Messiah, no Jesus Christ. It would have been as C.S. Lewis describes the fallen land of Narnia, "Always winter but never Christmas".

Today, the festival of Hanukkah is celebrated in Jewish homes around the world with the lighting of candles, increasing by one every night, until finally all eight candles in the special Hannukiah, or Hanukkah menorah, are burning brightly.

The ceremony is accompanied by prayers and songs, and special foods are eaten - specifically, doughnuts and potato pancakes, or latkes. These foods are round and golden, and remind us of the round foods eaten at Christmas, to encourage the Sun to return. Gifts of gold foil-wrapped coins are exchanged, small symbolic Suns.

These facts, together with the emphasis on the importance of light in the Hanukkah story, hint that although there is a religious story, as well as a piece of verifiable Jewish history, attached to the festival, its origins must lie much further back in time, reflecting the universality of solar worship and the importance of the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere.

If the Sun dies, then life is extinguished. If there is no inner light, spiritual life perishes. The festival of Hanukkah reminds us of the supreme importance of the external and internal Sun in our lives. And this links us once more to Advent and Christmas, and to our primal need for light in both forms.

We also celebrate Advent with carols and candle lighting. In this celebration that anticipates the coming of the great Light of Christ, however, we also find echoes of the very ancient solar religious cults that our own ancestors followed.

Many Christians are horrified at this suggestion - that various elements combine in our modern religious celebrations - but to me, this only underlines the deep, archetypal forces of spirituality linked to the cosmos which play a paramount part in the world's great religions.

When you reflect on the importance of the harvest and of the crucial need of the Sun to bring about new growth, then the threat of the "death" of the Sun, which happens every year at the time of the Winter Solstice, must have terrified our ancestors.

They would therefore come together for huge seasonal festivals at sacred sites, would feast and sing and offer prayers to the gods, and generally - and horrifyingly, to us - accompany their rites with sacrifice. If there had been a good harvest and if the weather had been fine, the gods might be appeased by an animal sacrifice, but if the harvest had failed, especially if the weather had been particularly bad, then the elders of the tribe might conclude that a human sacrifice was necessary.

It would have been considered a great honour to be sacrificed for the good of the tribe. Such sacrifices took place throughout Europe, including the British Isles, and we may trace their rituals through the perfectly preserved "bog people" that have been discovered at archaeological sites. That they were ritual sacrifices may be seen from the fact that three types of killing were used: usually stabbing, poisoning and garotting. The power of the number three was considered very great in many ancestral religions, so a sacrifice had to be carried out in triplicate.

Perhaps the king or chief of the tribe, if his powers were waning along with that of the Sun, would accept the need to be sacrificed. Sometimes an important man or woman would volunteer to become the sacrifice. But there was a universal belief that human sacrifice was the only way of appeasing the gods when their wrath was evident, or when the powers of the Sun God himself seemed to be diminishing. The heavenly gods must be fed by animal or human blood.

Only with the coming of Christianity did these dreadful practices cease.

In some of our current Christmas carols, we may trace the outlines of a ritual long abandoned, but still half alive in the memory of the tribes.

The most obvious example is one of my own favourite carols, "The Holly and the Ivy".

First, a bit of background: Druids, the priests and priestesses of the Celtic religion, held many beliefs about trees. Each tree had an important role to play in the spiritual world as well in the physical realm, and a whole language was based on the meaning of each tree. The name "Druid" can be derived from the Celtic word for a wise person, "wid" or "wit", and the word for oak, "der" or"derry". So the Druids were the wise ones who gathered by the oaks, and performed rituals for the benefit of the people.

"The Holly and the Ivy" clearly reflects this practice, together with the shamanistic beliefs of the worshippers of Cernunnos, or Herne, the mighty hunter. Animal foods were vital in the winter, and the god of hunting must be invoked to help continue the tribal food supply. The deer must be made to run into the tribal hunting grounds, and you can hear this in the words of the hymn.

I'm going to italicize the "ancient" words, which I believe represent the ancestral rituals that preceded the coming of Christianity, and you can see what I mean here:-

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.

The holly bears a berry 
As red as any blood,
As Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good.

O the rising of the Sun
And the running of the deer -
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.

As a child, I wondered what on earth the deer had to do with Christmas! And the answer, of course, is nothing! But the deer had everything to do with the old religion, and the seeking of the tree spirits and the god of hunting to sustain the tribe. Shamans would even don antlers and act out the ritual of hunting, as is still carried on today in the Horn Dance of Abbots Bromley, in England.

The first verse is clearly the start of a very old song about the tree spirits, and then comes the mention of blood, symbolizing sacrifice. Very shrewdly, the early Christians replaced the second half of the second verse, and of all subsequent verses, with the Christian doctrine, as in,  "As Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ ...".  There is no room to quote the entire carol here, but if you can get hold of the words, you'll see what has happened.

They also replaced the second half of the chorus, which is repeated throughout the song, with "The playing of the merry organ ..."; again, this banished the old religion and brought the song firmly into line with Christian practice.

Nevertheless, the sudden irruption of the "running of the deer" into a Christmas carol is in its way as shocking as the quick switch in Monty Python's famous Lumberjack Song! You know, the song which starts out with the very butch, macho lumberjack chopping down trees, and soon brings in his enjoyment of putting on women's clothing, etc., etc. Both songs are a kind of subversion of the original meaning.

If you're lighting Hanukkah candles during this week, or lighting candles on an Advent wreath each Sunday, please spare a thought for our poor ancestors, ignorant of the true nature of God and of spirituality, but aware that above all we humans need Light.

Our bodies and souls depend on it. And we must prepared to make great sacrifices in order to increase the Light in the world.

Advent: Waiting for a New Birth in Essence

At this time of year - the end of November and the start of December - the Earth is in a very quiet, dormant state.

When we look outside, we see that leaves have fallen, the trees now rear their skeletal arms to the sky, while the grass has stopped growing and few plants keep their greenery. To the unobservant eye, everything seems dead or dying.

Yet this is not quite true. When we look closely, we see tiny buds forming on shrubs, waiting for the days to lengthen again and the sun to reappear. There is the promise, but not yet the fact, of new birth.

The conscious men and women who planned the major religious festivals for the Northern Hemisphere chose this time to celebrate the birth of the Saviour, the Christ, Light of the World, leader of Conscious Humanity. Since prehistoric times, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, has been the point when human beings held feasts and rituals to urge the dying Sun to return.

Excavations at Stonehenge, Avebury and elsewhere, have - as I mentioned in the post on November - shown that huge gatherings took place during the seasonal rituals. Enormous heaps of animal bones and broken pottery testify to the great "barbecues" of prehistory, accompanied, no doubt, by ritual drumming, chanting and shamanic rites, as still take place in Siberia and the tundra.

When the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ was selected, the winter solstice was the obvious choice to inaugurate a new feast. It would take place at the same time as the previous religious rituals, because it was the natural, cosmic season for new birth, new hope, to be celebrated. And so we have Advent, the season of waiting, leading up to Christmas, on December 25th; the date on which the length of time the Sun shines can be almost imperceptibly seen to increase.

All the festive accoutrements of the West testify to the solar past of these rituals. We eat mince pies and Christmas puddings and Christmas cake - all traditionally round, to imitate the shape of the Sun and show how much we hope for its increase. We set fire to the Christmas pudding, to show the Sun what we wish it to do, as though reminding the great star of its chief duty. We even hide gold or silver coins inside it, miniature Suns, to be discovered and held up to the Sun by the children of the family.

We hold family feasts, as men and women have done from time immemorial, to strengthen our spirits and to welcome and "encourage" the newly reborn Sun, the Christ, to illuminate the Earth.

Of course, I'm describing the customs and traditions that I grew up with in England, but all over the Northern Hemisphere there are similar actions and symbols that relate to the same idea. I have no idea how residents of the Southern Hemisphere celebrate Christmas! Their yearly cycle is the opposite of ours, and the major religions all developed in the Northern Hemisphere, giving a different cosmic flavour to our celebrations.

In the Work, we look to the period of Advent and Christmas as the time when we prepare to celebrate a new birth in Essence.

This description puzzled me when I first came into the Work. How could Essence have anything resembling a birth? Surely it was there, fixed, for all time?

I began to understand the mystery after some time in the Work, when I had actually experienced some growth in Essence. Of course, this is not limited to the Advent and Christmas period, just as Christ's coming into the world may be experienced at any time during the year, when we remember all that Conscious Humanity has done for mankind.

At Advent, however, the Earth is in a propitious place for self-remembering and for receiving higher influences.

If you think of the way the Earth orbits the Sun, and how it is tilted away from the Sun during our Winter season, we can see that this means a corresponding shift towards the orbits of other planets in the solar system, and beyond that, to the galaxy itself.

And, as the yearly cycle brings us to the time of Sagittarius and Capricorn, the Earth is positioned in such a way that it is actually closer to different parts of the galaxy.  In the period from the beginning of Advent to the Feast of Candlemass, the orbit of our solar system crosses the orbit of the Dog Star, Sirius. Since our Sun orbits Sirius, it can be said that in some ways Sirius is the "Sun" of our own Sun. Influences from that very high realm reach us directly now, as we are closer to Sirius itself.

It's interesting to remind ourselves that Gurdjieff sometimes spoke of the need "to bury the dog deeper", as he was writing "All and Everything", and that some scholars think he may have been referring to the influence of Sirius here.

In any case, these very special cosmic influences, which include the unimaginably fine substances from which Essence itself is made, come to us most of all at the season of Advent and Christmas, right through to the beginning of February and the celebration of Candlemass.

During this period the cosmic position of the Earth is most propitious to working on ourselves. Efforts made at this time will be helped by the galaxy itself, making it the most suitable and likely time for a new birth in Essence to take place.

What does this mean for us?

We know that for Essence to grow, to experience new birth, it must be fed by Personality. And Personality feeds Essence when we work against our habitual little I's, our negative emotions, our worries, our habitual likes and dislikes.

Advent, therefore, is the traditional time for sacrifices to be made. Many Orthodox Christians eat a vegan diet in these four weeks, giving up their attachment to meat, fish and dairy foods. In the West, Catholics generally undertake some sort of voluntary fast or abstinence, and, just as in Lent, make extra donations to charity with the money saved, thus symbolically feeding Essence (love, or caritas) by the sacrifice of Personality (our habits).

As all this takes place, Essence begins to grow, experiencing an expansion of its capabilities. No longer limited by these petty I's, Essence may express itself more freely in our lives. The Essence within, often pictured in art as a small child or a baby, begins to grow and mature. Eventually, it will be able to direct our lives for us, so that we live according to our Essence needs, not according to what our Personality wants, or even - heaven forbid - according to the dictatorship of False Personality.

What we wish is for Essence is to be able to express itself in us, until, after many long years of work, our lives are shaped by the pattern that Essence knows is right for us. And this will be to live according to our Fate. To live according to the will of Real I, which is reached through Essence, and is the truly sacred place where we meet with the God of our understanding.

Essence in us is so often neglected, its needs and desires relegated to the background as we become caught up in the passions of the Personality and False Personality.  At the time of Advent we begin to understand that it can grow only from what is truly humble within us, not from the puffed-up False Personality or the Know-it-all Personality.

It's no coincidence that the Feast of St. John the Baptist takes place at the exact opposite part of the yearly cycle from that of Christmas, on June 24th, Midsummer Day. In the Bible, St. John symbolizes the full potential of the human Personality. Of him, Jesus says that he is the greatest of all the children of men, but of himself, John - recognizing the limitations of Personality - says only that "He (Christ, Essence) must increase, while I must decrease". No clearer example could be given of the relationship of Personality to Essence. There are many very useful I's in Personality, but even the greatest of these I's must subordinate itself to the rulership of Essence.

This truth is pictured in the True Myth of Christmas, where the Cosmic Christ, the Logos of God, comes to us not through the pomp of a royal palace, but in the lowly, neglected, overlooked stable. And this most royal of all births takes place at midnight, in darkness, unheralded by mankind, amongst the lowliest of people.

 Kings visit Him, to be sure, for they must acknowledge their place in the cosmos as servants of the Most High, just as even the highest, most developed I's in Personality must give way to the rule of Essence.

But it is the humble creatures, Mary and Joseph, the animals and the shepherds, who are the first to hear the angelic voices and to bow to Essence.

At Advent, we move more deeply within and concentrate our Work on helping Essence to grow. This is the real meaning of the season, and the entire Universe moves to help us when we do so.

Why we neither seek nor offer occult divinations in the Work

Sometimes people are confused about the difference between the "occult" and the "esoteric". It's easy to see why. If you have no experience of the latter, but genuinely seek knowledge, you will come across bookshelves in libraries or shops where everything of this nature is mixed up together. Tips on how to develop your "psychic abilities" (read "imagination"); how to get what you want (again, read "imagination" and "wishful thinking"); and how to tell fortunes for profit and enlightenment, all jostle for space beside copies of "In Search of the Miraculous", Gnostic texts and mystical writings.

Everything that Ouspensky called "imaginazzione, impressonazzione, illusionazzione" is for sale alongside the truth. Beginners may be forgiven for getting confused.

How shall the serious seeker distinguish between them?

When we've been in the Work for a while, we develop a feeling for the false versus the true. We call it a matter of "taste". The Work, together with other mystical traditions, gives one a completely different taste from the world of the fortune teller and commercial psychic. Entirely different I's are involved. People may begin with the false, but if they have Magnetic Centre they will see through it and find their way to the Work.

The study of esotericism, whether esoteric Christianity, the Cabbalah, or the poetry of Rumi, is concerned with working on one's self and one's Essence. It shows how to separate the false from the real. Students learn to discern the difference between the False Personality and the Personality, and between these constructs and the real part of their psyche, the Essence. This is long and arduous Work, but there is no alternative.

In popular books on magic, Tarot, angel cards, and so on, this distinction is never made. Instead, the practice of wishful thinking is encouraged and the student is urged to believe in his or her psychic abilities, to see the unreal as if it were real. The truth that we cannot "do" is denied. Self-deception reigns.

What's more, when someone asks for a divination they are really asking for a shortcut to knowledge. It would be irresponsible for anyone in the Work to indulge them. The knowledge they seek can only be achieved by painstaking Work on themselves over long periods of time, and if people are told something before they are ready, they will not be able to act upon it. It's the equivalent of taking a drug to get high, a quick fix. Real knowledge exists, but must be paid for through spiritual Work.

So, in the Work, while we study the Tarot, the Cabbalah, Sufism, the Gnostics and other esoteric writings, we never perform divinations. Some Work students may find this ban difficult, especially if they have carried out such practices in the past. Nevertheless, they must be renounced if the student truly wishes for enlightenment. All genuine esoteric, mystical paths, from Zen to Sufism to esoteric Christianity, make the same demand.

I've personally known a number of Work students who began with the false, but in time saw why they had been asked to stop these practices. Those who were willing to persevere were grateful in the end, because they realized how dangerous was the path they had been treading before they met the Work.

What we do before we encounter the Work is not held against us, as long as we have not deliberately harmed another. The damage we may have done to ourselves, however, must be repaired by our Work, sometimes at cost to the teacher, who will have to expend more energy in helping these students.

Yes, we study the esoteric, but we use the knowledge contained in esoteric writings and arts solely in order to better understand ourselves and the nature of reality.

 If we carry out divinations for other people, and especially if we make a charge for them, it inevitably feeds the False Personalities of both the practicioner and the client.

 Feeding the False Personality leads to pride, vanity, deception and self-deception. And deception - lying - kills Essence. So those involved will destroy their ability to Work on themselves and will harm others.

While there may be some truth in the divinations that are given, the ability to see clairvoyantly is not within one's own power to manipulate, and readings often mix truth with error so that the end result is confusion.

And by cultivating these lower level, astral-plane phenomena, one is, whether knowingly or not, opening oneself to the possibility of being manipulated by demonic spirits that work through the psychic and seek to mislead and misinform. This is a very real risk. If allowed entry, these entities may cause the unfortunate seeker to crystallize wrongly and to become an "immortal thing". Such a person would be in Hell. They would see their error and long to change, but they would be unable to do so without much suffering and remorse. And even then, change would not be guaranteed. It could be too late.

Suppose, however, that an accurate result is given by a divination. What is the harm?

Firstly, the practicioner's False Personality will inevitably become inflated, his or her self-importance growing at the expense of his Essence. And secondly, the reader or the client may come to rely on such phenomena instead of seeking the truth through hard personal Work, which is the only way to enlightenment.  Addiction to "magic" and psychic practices is a real mental illness. I have written previously about ritual addiction, and everything I said in that Post is also true of divination.

A rabbi of my acquaintance who lives in Jerusalem has worked with many such patients, and not all can be cured.

There is no shortcut to spiritual Work on oneself.

 The Work is known as the way of accelerated completion, because illumination may be attained within one lifetime instead of during countless incarnations. But it is nevertheless a strenuous path, which demands huge efforts. The path of the psychic diviner seems like a shortcut, but it is a path that leads downwards and towards entropy. It is the exact opposite of the Fourth Way. The two are completely incompatible. This is the difference between the "occult", as it is popularly known, and the "esoteric", as studied and practiced in the Work and elsewhere.

There are, however, many people who do receive intuitions from a higher source without having recourse to methods of divination.  They may belong to the Work, or they may come from another tradition. Such people claim no special powers. They use their knowledge for another's good and they never charge for doing so, nor would they advertise themselves or seek any praise for it. They keep silence about these matters, and you will not find them plying their wares for gain or recognition.

They know that the abilities they manifest come from beyond them, and are not owned by them. They are grateful to their Higher Power for enlightening them and for using them to help another, but they would never imply that it is due to their own personal worth or ability. Indeed, they sometimes go to great lengths to show others that they are, in fact, simply ordinary, powerless mortals like everyone else, so that they will not be perceived as some sort of "guru". Hence, it does not feed their False Personality.

That such higher guidance exists cannot be doubted. Anyone who attends a Twelve Step meeting will see it in action.

 God often speaks through other people to help us, and whether we are the recipients or the agents of higher knowledge, we are humble and grateful. There is no pretense at special knowledge, and no ego-inflation.

In these conditions, there is no danger at all.

Question: If someone has practiced divination in the past, whether by Tarot, Cabbalah or any other occult method, could they later be authorized to teach the Work?

Answer: Yes, as long as they have renounced these practices.  In this case, the knowledge they had acquired in studying the Tarot, the Cabbah, and so on, could be useful in the Work, as they could assist their own students in studying these complex subjects. I have known a number of such students who went on to become teachers and who have used their past to good effect. They can help students to understand exactly why the path of divination is opposed to the Work.

 If they went back to practicing divination, however, their teaching permission would automatically be revoked. They would show they did not understand the difference between the occult and the esoteric, and that they were mixing up these different levels in an ignorant and dangerous fashion. They would mislead others, and endanger their own spiritual progress.

As the Dervish in "Meetings With Remarkable Men" says:-

Cursed be the one who does not know, yet who presumes to show others the way.

Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell

"What will survive of us is love" 

- Philip Larkin

Throughout November, Catholics all over the world are pondering the mysteries of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell.

In the Work, of course, we are advised to keep our minds constantly on the thought of our own death. This, Gurdjieff says, will help to counteract the terrible disease of procrastination. 

And although November is the month when we are bidden to concentrate on the reality of our passing away, Catholics also remind themselves of this fact every time they say the "Hail Mary" prayer, which we pray at least once a day, and many more times than that if we are saying a rosary. 

The particular line in question is: "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death".

We know that Conscious Humanity designed the world's great religions, and that the various festivals and their times of celebration accord with cosmic energies. In November, the year is drawing towards its darkest point. The harvest has been gathered in, and gales blow the last traces of autumn leaves from the trees, leaving the land bare and stark. As we process inexorably towards the Winter Solstice,  the time of greatest darkness,  we may recall that our ancestors chose this time to slaughter much of their livestock and salt it to provide food for the winter months to come. In some countries, November is called the Blood Month. No wonder that the reality of death is pondered now.

In the Christian year, November culminates in the triumphant festival of Christ the King, to remind us that, despite the outer darkness and decay, Christ has conquered death, and so may we.

Then, the year continues with the beautiful season of Advent, when in the Work we remember the need for something new to be born in us, born in our Essence, which alone will survive death.

What will be destroyed at death? False Personality, certainly, which is unreal, a cruel and stern, false slavemaster which holds many of us in captivity until the moment of our death, when it dissolves completely.

It has to be so: who would take their False Personality with them into eternity? Imaginary I, of course, wishes to prolong its own sham existence and does its best to convince of us its power and its determination to survive. But it is composed of unreal, negative emotions and I's built out of fear and anger. It could not possibly be allowed to enter eternity.

Think for a moment: What is it that you would have survive of yourself? Which I's do you think are worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Do you, in fact, have any I's which would be allowed to enter? Many people do not, and if they are solely based on False Personality, then they will not survive death in an individual form.

Then there are the I's in Personality, many of which can be useful in the Work. Without a strong Personality, Essence cannot develop. Personality must grow and strengthen so that it can enable us to deal with life, and life's problems, and so that it may protect and feed the immature Essence developing within.

At the moment of death, our Personality is no longer of any use to us, however. For what will enter the Kingdom of Heaven and survive after our physical death is, of course, our Essence, and within our Essence, our Real I.

And if Essence has remained undeveloped throughout our lifetime, it cannot have any individuality. It will return to the "melting pot" from which new three-brained beings are constantly created. Without individuality, it cannot manifest itself in any particular form, and so cannot attract a particular body, a particular life.

Our task, then, is to develop our Essence to the point that it rules our life and guides our destiny.

When Essence matures, it knows what needs to be done to complete our spiritual development. It chooses the right conditions for us to live on this planet, and after the end of this life it may continue to grow and develop in higher spheres. To continue its journey, however, Essence may see that another life on Earth is necessary, and it will choose its next lifetime in accordance with its spiritual needs.

Marian and Mrs Pogson insisted all their students read Plato's "The Story of Er," and the Gnostic "Hymn of the Robe of Glory". In these two works we see the state of the soul between lives, and the task it must complete in order to return with honour to the place from whence it came.

We come to this Earth in order to overcome certain very specific problems and to contribute to the evolution of humanity. Essence knows what our task is, and selects the best way for us to fulfil it. But in the process of reincarnating, the newborn baby becomes once again a helpless creature, dependent on the goodwill and spiritual maturity of those around it, and in every lifetime our Essence must once more undertake the arduous and perilous task of becoming conscious.

If we have worked on ourselves in previous lifetimes, the right circumstances for our development - which may be harsh or soft, physically easy or very difficult - will be selected for us before we are born. We will have access to a certain "spiritual memory" that lies within a developing Essence, and we will meet the Work sooner in this lifetime than before.

If we have lived as Good Householders, we will reap the benefits in our next lifetime. We may encounter the Work, and finish our necessary tasks so that we may then be free to leave this planet and continue our spiritual journey elsewhere.

 Or we may, if we have reached a high level, choose to reincarnate in order to be able to help those beings still trapped in illusion. Only the greatest saints or bodhisattvas reach this level of development, and have this choice. We may be sure that Gurdjieff was among them: this is why he came. But any one of us has the chance to evolve to this level.

A well-known saying quoted in the Work is "Blessed is he who hath a soul, and blessed is he who hath none, but woe and sorrow to him who hath it in conception". 

In other words, creatures who have no possibility of acquiring a soul in this lifetime, such as the birds and animals, live in many ways more freely than do we three-brained beings. They don't have to worry about spiritual matters - they fulfil their destiny by living as nature created them to do. Human beings may choose to live in this thoughtless, mechanical way, and if they don't know any better, they won't agonize over lost possibilities. Their individuality will not continue after death.

And blessed are the saints and those who have reached a higher level of development, who can truly be said to have souls, or, as the Work says, Higher Being Bodies.  At this level we become better able to help God in His tremendous Work. We experience real freedom, and real, lasting, positive emotions. We know and understand our place in the great Ray of Creation.

But those of us in the middle - that is, most of us - are in the process of creating our souls, our Higher Being Bodies. Essence may guide us, but too often we fail to listen, and drown out its voice by mechanical behaviour. 

Yet, before we die, we must achieve the state of a developed Essence. That is our most urgent task. When we do so, we have nothing to fear from the Four Last Things.

And Larkin was right: in Essence we can reach Real I; and Real I is love itself, and light, and truth. And all of this is what will survive.

The Benefits of a Pilgrimage: a Personal Story

Why do we go on a pilgrimage?

To visit a sacred site as a pilgrim - part holiday, part festival, part spiritual retreat - is something we humans have done since the beginning of our history.

In Great Britain, you can trace the pilgrim routes to Avebury, Stonehenge, Arbor Low, and many, many more Neolithic sacred places that have been in use for 6,000 years or more. The earliest sign that a particular location was considered sacred was the discovery, near Stonehenge, of three huge wooden pillars, like totem poles, stained bright red in the midst of what had been a clearing in the great forest that covered the hills.

What activities were carried out there we cannot know. At Stonehenge itself, however, as well as at the other sites erected at about the same time, archaeologists have found large piles of animal bones that have clearly been gnawed by human teeth. They think that men and women, whose own remains show that they came from many parts of the British Isles, gathered there at special times: Midwinter, Solstice, Harvest, and Spring. The monuments themselves were of a sacred, symbolic nature, though what was the nature of the spirits they represent is anyone's guess. Harvest Gods; storm Gods; fertility Goddesses? The spirits who lived in the Sun, the Moon, the stars? All these and more, no doubt.

And there was a physical, festive side to pilgrimage, then as well as now. For besides cooked animal bones, later pottery fragments show that fermented beverages were also drunk - in other words, the pilgrims worshipped their gods or goddesses and then went on to celebrate a huge barbecue!

Drinking, feasting and worshipping: these acts, though probably not in that order, have been common to pilgrims since human beings first began to settle the land and farm it.

Today, we know that many of the most beloved sacred sites in the United Kingdom were pagan before they were Christian. I'm sure this applies to many sacred sites around the world, but I'm talking about those I know best, the ancient gathering grounds which have seen hundreds of generations of pilgrims and are still in use today

In the southern part of England, you can trace the growth of these sites along two major ley lines, the Michael and Mary Lines, described in the excellent book "The Sun and the Serpent" by Hamish Miller and Paul Broadhurst.

For most of my life, since the late 1960s, I've dowsed the ley lines and venerated the sacred sites around Glastonbury, Avebury, Stonehenge and the Rollright Stones. They are very powerful accumulators and distributors of earth energies. Anyone with a strong intuition and open mind may learn to dowse. I use special copper rods for the purpose, but there are some parts of England where the lines themselves disperse amongst watery sites and are impossible to trace, and one such area is the Fens of East Anglia, where I live now.

The most sacred site here is Walsingham, where the two national shrines to Our Lady of Walsingham are located, one belonging to the Anglican Church, the other to the Roman Catholic Church. In prehistoric times this area, too, was sacred to pagan goddess worship. You can understand why when you make your way along the slightly raised meadows and by the many streams that water the site; the whole place exudes sacred feminine energy, very peaceful and soothing, like balm to a troubled soul. A fine, diffuse, watery light pervades the air, and earthy scents rise from the ground.

The history of Walsingham, which has been a Christian pilgrim destination for a thousand years, is very interesting; most of it is available on the internet, and I won't repeat it here.

To me, as a Catholic, the most beautiful part of Walsingham is the 14th century Slipper Chapel, which has been beautifully restored and now contains the fine statue of Our Lady of Walsingham. St Mary is here shown as a Saxon maiden, strong and firm, carrying her divine Son in her arms and proudly showing Him to the many generations who've come to seek help at this much-loved site.

Royalty visited Walsingham, along with many hundreds of thousands of ordinary men and women, seeking consolation and help from the Mother of God who promised the founder of Walsingham, one Lady Richeldis, that nobody who sought Mary's help there would return empty-handed.

The tyrannical king, Henry VIII, destroyed as much of it as he could when he wrenched England away from her Catholic faith and seized control of the church's lands and buildings. Oliver Cromwell finished off what Henry had started, but two hundred years later a change of heart by the leading churchmen and the gifts of some very generous benefactors made possible the restoration of this healing, beautiful place.

Recently my husband and I made our own private pilgrimage to Walsingham. We needed a sanctuary of peace and restoration while we sought advice around some difficult decisions we needed to make. And we didn't leave empty-handed! The blessing of Walsingham, its beauty, peace and tranquillity, gave us the surroundings we needed to go deep within and to ponder with our Higher Centres what would be the next steps on our journey through life.

We realized that next year we will need to move house so that we can live closer to our children. As we are both growing older, and my husband will retire in January, we are looking for somewhere where we can have more contact with our family, and also where we can live close to the sea as well as to beautiful countryside. The prospect of moving house, though, with literally thousands of books and a garage load full of heaven-knows-what old furniture and possessions, some belonging to kids who left home long ago, is daunting. But what we took from our pilgrimage to Walsingham was the confidence that this is our right direction, the "very next thing", as Mrs Pogson says, and that we will be helped at each step of the way.

In confirmation, on our return we discovered that a distant relative had left us a small legacy. It will help with our moving expenses, of course, but even more than that, it helped us to see that this really is the correct way for us to go. It was as though Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, had reached down from heaven to ensure that we really did not leave empty-handed! Spiritually and physically, we left refreshed and comforted.

Chaucer wrote of April being the time when "folk long to go on pilgrimages". For us, it was the lovely Autumn season, of rich leaf colours, woodsmoke, and golden harvest that saw our pilgrimage. Walsingham is not far from the sea, and the sound of the waves and the seabirds lifted our spirits, while the many excellent farm shops of Norfolk filled our bodies with fine food!

A pilgrimage is a very important journey. It can nourish every centre. In a way, our whole life is a pilgrimage, but in the individual journeys we make to sacred places, we gain new impressions - the favourite food of Essence - and our spirits are regenerated.

We are seeking God; we are seeking rest for our souls; we are seeking ourselves. A pilgrimage is the chance to live for a while in a higher state of consciousness, remembering ourselves and our aim, as we take in the sights, sounds and energies of the sacred site.

Ideally, we would be able to see each day, each moment, anew, without the baggage of the past. If we could do that, impressions would always fall upon Essence, and everything would indeed be more vivid, as Gurdjieff said. Each new day would be a pilgrimage. As we are, we need to set aside special times for these experiences.

A pilgrimage is not simply a holiday. It is that, of course, but it is so much more. A pilgrimage may be a journey to Walsingham, or Jerusalem, or to the tomb of Rumi.

Reverently undertaken, it will always lead back to the centre of our being, where alone we are truly at home.

Addiction: Could It Be A Chief Feature?

When they learn that I'm a recovering alcoholic, people in the Work sometimes ask me whether that's my Chief Feature. More, they assume that if anyone has an addiction - and there are many more of us addicts in the Work than you would suppose, because students are often unwilling to admit to being an addict or alcoholic in the context of their Work group - then that addiction must be their Chief Feature.

I disagree.

In my own experience, which includes many years of counselling addicts and alcoholics in a rehab centre as well as for a GP surgery, addiction is not someone's Chief Feature. Rather, it is the way in which a particular Chief Feature may be manifested. 

If you observe the behaviour of an addict or an alcoholic (and for the sake of clarity, I'm going to use the term "addict" here to cover both), you'll see that driving the addiction is a particular set of negative emotional responses to life situations. Those negative emotions may well disclose the addict's Chief Feature.

What's more, the Chief Feature also shows itself in the denial and the excuses an addict will make for not tackling their addiction by, for instance, joining a Twelve Step group or entering rehab.

For example, in my own case, my alcoholic drinking was fuelled by a longing for emotional wellbeing and a yearning for the stability of a loving relationship. Nothing wrong with that, you may say, and I'd agree - so far. But in addition, I was envious of those who seemed to me to have achieved that state, and my envy was aided by a sort of deep-seated naivete which meant that I trusted that sooner or later events would arrange themselves in my life so that I could be happy. And in the meantime, I drank. Envy and naivete were the twin negative emotions that powered my addiction. 

And naivete was perhaps the worse of the two, strange as that may seem. 

Why? Because it stopped me from seeking help when my drinking was obviously getting out of hand. I naively thought that I couldn't be an alcoholic because I was an intelligent, middle-class woman in a good job, with a nice house, high-achieving children, and a respectable lifestyle. For goodness' sake, I was in the Work! People like me couldn't possibly be addicted - could they?

Of course they could. I was. And when I finally saw through all the self-deception, all my misplaced trust that life and other people would help me sort out my problems, when I realized that my drinking had brought me to an absolute rock bottom in my life - then, and only then, was my naivety broken, and I took the immense step of telephoning AA. That was the start of my recovery. I've told my story in my memoir, "A Raging Thirst", but this is the bare outline of what happened.

In other addicts, it may be pride that prevents them from seeking recovery, pride that stops them admitting they are addicts. Pride that propels their social life, pride at being the "life and soul of the party", or the yuppie with the biggest stash of cocaine. After all, it does give a certain social standing among one's peers. 

What a pity that sooner or later, instead of the cheerful, outgoing soul of the party they imagine themselves to be, they realize that their friends just see them as poor old Jim, who always passes out on the sofa. Or silly Jane, her nose dusted with white powder and hopelessly in debt to her dealer, desperately trying to maintain her self-respect as her non-addict friends eventually abandon her to her addiction.

In the Enneagram, each point, each number, is given a "passion" or "addiction",the terms varying according to which book you read.

These emotional addictions, the place to which we habitually gravitate under stress, varies from anger to sloth, by way of pride, deceit, envy, avarice, fear and gluttony. These negative emotions are the rallying point for the real Chief Feature, although it's important to point out that these terms are very broad brush-strokes which can't portray the subtlety of a real life Chief Feature. Years of patient self-observation in the context of a Work group, and with the help of one's teacher, eventually show one the exact pattern of one's Chief Feature, how it manifests, how it interacts with others, and how it spoils everything we touch.

And this real Chief Feature, which underlies our whole False Personality and causes us to act mechanically, self-destructively, is what drives our addiction to alcohol or drugs.

The actual addiction is a set of very tenacious and very strong I's, which latch on to alcohol or drugs as a means of satisfying the distress and discomfort our Chief Feature causes us in everyday life.

Addiction in this sense is partly genetic and partly due to the environment. For instance, if you have a predisposition to alcohol addiction (which can tentatively be linked to certain genetic markers), but you grow up in a teetotal society, you might instead become addicted to cocaine or marijuana. 

The genetic pattern we inherit means that in many ways we addicts can be said to have "a skin too few". We don't make enough of our own endorphins to feel at ease in life, or our receptors don't process them adequately. We crave a relief that other people don't seem to need. And when this craving combines with our Chief Feature, we have the perfect setup for the defiance of the addict who believes he "needs" his drug of choice, that he can't function without it, that it's what helps him deal with his problems, rather than being the source of most of those problems.

I once took Richard Rohr to task - not in person, but in a review - because he states in his book on the Twelve Steps that everyone is an addict. In a sense, of course, he was right. And he made that blanket statement because most people do have "addictions" of some sort, from obsessive hand-washing to venting anger or eating too much chocolate, and by identifying these addictions and the thinking that propels them, his audience could better understand the way the Twelve Steps work.

So far, so good. But to a real addict, suffering torment in the early days of recovery, it seems a mockery to equate his ordeal with the temptation felt by an overweight lady in the presence of a Mars bar! The Mars bar may be eaten with relative impunity. In the end, the consumption of excess sugar and fat will make one put on weight, but it will be a slow process. Nobody wrecked a sweetshop because of their craving for sugar! Nobody gets into a fight outside a supermarket because they've just consumed two candy bars!

And if the overweight lady does eat the Mars bar, so what? She has another chance to go back on her diet immediately afterwards. The slip doesn't kill her. She won't die from giving in to her craving.

But if the alcoholic succumbs to his own craving and picks up that first drink, it may well turn out to be the start of his final binge, the one that leads to his sordid death in a shop doorway, choking on his own body fluids. Or to a despairing act of suicide when he realizes what he has done.

Or the cocaine addict, giving in to the urge to score one more line, may drop dead of a heart attack. That is a very real possibility. The gene for this response has been identified, and I have it myself, so I'm very glad I couldn't afford to be a cocaine addict in my time of desperation.

Surely we can all agree that these addictions are different not just in effect, but in kind. One carries the imminent danger of death, while the other costs only money or causes a temporary health problem.

When the addict comes to write his moral inventory, he will surely discover his Chief Feature; if he's not in the Work he will not call it by that name, but will see it as a major character defect which drives his drinking career, and which must be overcome before he can achieve sobriety.

I wish more people in the Work had the courage to admit their addiction to their teacher and to their group. Gurdjieff helped a number of alcoholics, one example of which is given in "Meetings With Remarkable Men". He did not despise us, and neither should anyone else in the Work. Gurdjieff showed great compassion towards alcoholics, his understanding being, as usual, far ahead of his time. If anyone in a Work group today admits to an addiction, they should expect to be treated likewise.

And if one day addiction is talked about openly in groups, it will help us come closer to understanding its relationship to our personal work, and lead us more surely towards discovering our own Chief Feature.

When Someone Leaves the Work

There have always been those who drift in - and then out of - the Work. In Work language, they're called Tramps. They have no Magnetic Centre, but they are attracted by passing novelties and see the Work as another possible interest. When it becomes clear that they are not going to be carried along in a group as a passenger, or when they themselves lose interest, they leave. They have never been part of the Work, so they can't be said to have left it.

If a student leaves the Work after having studied it and worked on themselves for a while, however, the problem is usually that the Work has touched a sore spot. The Work has "trodden on their corns". And, instead of staying in front of the problem and working with their offended I's with the help of their teacher, the student simply decides to leave. It is huge disappointment to the teacher when that happens, because such a state of discomfort, if persevered with, can bring enlightenment.

But if the conflicted student leaves, he now becomes a problem for the group. He poses a danger: what should be done about him, so that he won't threaten the work of the group?

In earlier days, the direction was simple. If someone left the Work, they must be avoided. The remaining students were to have nothing to do with them. 

Why? Because, harsh as it sounds, this was the best solution.

To understand this school rule, we need to see what actually becomes of the person who's left the Work; how do they behave, and why would they pose a danger to the others?

We know that the Work penetrates through our Personality to our Essence, and on the way it illuminates the problems of the False Personality, which must be dissolved. The False Personality surrounds Personality like a crust, but Essence recognizes the truths of the Work, and desires that the crust should be broken. 

With perseverance and courage, the Work touches the outer parts of centres, then reaches the middle parts, and finally the inner, where real transformation may take place.

But at any time before that transformation has occurred, the False Personality - and especially the Chief Feature - knows it is under threat, and will try to defend itself. 

Sometimes it does so by persuading the student that he must at all costs leave the Work - that the Work is dangerous (which it is, to all that is false and unreal in us), and threatens the student's survival (which it certainly does not, unless the student is too identified with the False Personality to see beyond it).

The False Personality and the Chief Feature can gang up against the Personality and Essence, as it were, so that a real inner battle takes place. And sometimes the student, desperate to end a trying state of conflict and unwilling to take the advice of their teacher and Work colleagues, decides the only way to escape from it is to leave the group.

And for a while, indeed, the conflict may seem to subside. But not for long. If the student has been really touched by the Work, his Essence knows that it has tasted truth. And Essence longs for that taste to be renewed and continued, because the truth brings light, and light brings healing.

The student is then in a constant state of battle. And, having left the group and cut himself off from his teacher, he has no help in conquering the False Personality.

For a while, his Work memory may carry him, but not for very long. In such a state, he needs more than intellectual knowledge and memory; he needs real help in the form of spiritual energies, those higher hydrogens which the group has helped him to generate within himself, and the energies of the teacher, who has supported and nourished him hitherto.

Without that support, the student will be lost. He can no longer work on himself.

To attain any feeling of peace, however spurious, he must at all costs convince himself that he did the right thing in leaving.

And there lies the danger for the rest of the group. 

In attempting to calm himself and justify his actions, he will try to draw others into the battle, against the Work and against the teacher. If he can persuade other people to join him in leaving the Work, his False Personality and Chief Feature will stay quiescent and his Real Conscience - which longs for the Work - may be silenced, at least for a while.

So he will argue against the Work with the students who remain, if they are foolish enough to meet with him. These days, a blanket ban is impossible to enforce, but common sense and respect for the group and their teacher means that most students will voluntarily avoid the company of the dissenter. If by chance they do meet, sensible students will refuse to discuss the Work with the one who has abandoned it, because they no longer share the same values. 

They know the Work is too precious, too valuable, for them to wish to put themselves at risk of losing it.

Sometimes students who leave after several years will persuade themselves that they can carry on working by themselves, but as we have seen, such work cannot long continue. It is no longer sustained by the teacher, no longer nourished by the group. They may pretend to themselves that they are working, but that is all it is, a pretence. At the deepest level, they know that.

Occasionally, students may try to form a breakaway Work group. It, too, will be a fake, a counterfeit. The ex-student cannot create a real Work community, because he has voluntarily cut himself off from the source. Without an authorized, experienced teacher - someone capable of conducting the spiritual energies of the group and of adding to them with their own higher hydrogens - the group becomes a shadow play. 

Of course, if the remaining students are secure in their own group, and respect their teacher, they will not be easily persuaded to leave it for an imitation. But, until that deep transformation takes place and raises the state of Being, each Work student harbours I's that doubt and question the Work. Normally, such questions will be discussed with the teacher. But if the stage of doubt coincides with meeting a discontented former student, then real damage may be done to those who remain.

This was the reason why the ban was instituted. 

The best course of action today, if we meet someone who has left the Work, is to simply decline to discuss it with them. We change the subject, refuse to argue. If we think the ex-student has real regrets over what he has done and sincerely longs to rejoin the group, we refer him back to the teacher. It may be possible that someone feels true repentance and has completely changed his attitude towards the Work. If so, he might be allowed back into the Work, though not into the same group as before. He will probably be placed in a different group altogether, and will have to start again.

Actually, this happens very, very rarely. In the real world, most students who leave the Work don't dare face the agony and remorse of conscience that genuine repentance brings. They would rather keep trying to convince themselves - and others - that they were right all along. And this is a tragic end to their Work life.

We know that meeting the Work is a great privilege. It comes only to those with Magnetic Centre, and only for a space of three lifetimes. After that, our chance to work on ourselves in the Fourth Way will be permanently over.

And we don't know in which lifetime we are currently living. Is this the first time we have met the Work? Did we meet it in a previous life? In two previous lives? We cannot be certain. Therefore, let everyone who values the Work and who wishes with all their heart to remain in it, stay strong in the face of temptation.

This is the inner battle, and we have the help of all our Work teachers, from Gurdjieff to the present, to help us win. And we have the great sustenance of Conscious Humanity, who, in their compassion, long for all those who are in the Work to be transformed. 

Borderline Personality Disorder - When the Chief Feature Seems to be the Entire Personality

Chief Feature is sometimes easy to spot, but at other times extremely elusive. And sometimes, as other Work writers have pointed out, the Chief Feature seems to be the whole of the person! As a counsellor as well as a Work teacher, I believe this happens when the person concerned has a so-called "personality disorder", which affects their entire personality and their false personality. And with personality disorders, it's hard to distinguish where personality ends and false personality begins - hence the confusion.

Most people with personality disorders aren't interested in the Work. Those suffering from Narcissistic, Anti-Social, or Histrionic disorders - as well as many more - tend to blame other people for all their problems, and see no reason why they themselves should change. They are not usually depressed or unhappy, and neither the Work nor counselling attracts them.

But there is another type of disorder I want to consider here: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Those who suffer from it often feel unhappy and dissatisfied with themselves. They sense there's something not right about their own psychological makeup, if only because they so often experience painful depression or anxiety, and they want to change. The Work attracts them because of the opportunity it offers to bring about a radical shift in their psychology. But their illness often prevents them from working on themselves in depth, when the Work begins to touch the inner parts of centres, because of the distress that looking within and observing themselves can cause.

Nevertheless, the BPD sufferer can benefit from the Work - if both they and their teacher understand the disorder and work with it.

For this to be possible, counselling is almost always necessary either before beginning the Work or for periods during the student's Work life; to avoid role conflict, counselling should take place with someone other than the Work teacher, and the Work itself temporarily suspended for the duration of the counselling.

In these conditions, BPD students can become valuable members of the group, and may even go on to become Work teachers once their inner world has been reordered and healed. Their condition may eventually lead them to great compassion and insight towards others with psychological problems.

But what exactly is BPD?

Although it has long been recognized, the condition came to public notice some years ago, when a number of psychologists theorized that the late Princess Diana suffered from it. And although we can't be certain that she did in fact have BPD, she certainly displayed a number of telling symptoms.

There are nine diagnostic criteria for BPD, and to be diagnosed with this illness the client must display at least five of them. In no particular order, because all are of equal importance, they are:-

An abnormal fear of abandonment or rejection;
A pattern of unstable, intense personal relationships which alternate between extreme liking (or loving) and extreme devaluation and belittlement of the people with whom they interact;
Identity problems: a marked and persistently unstable self image and sense of self;
Impulsive behaviour in at least two of the following areas: overspending; sex; substance abuse; reckless driving; binge eating; self harm; gambling. The person places themselves willingly into harm's way, sometimes by choosing to be around substance abusers or alcoholics, or reckless drivers;
Recurrent suicidal thoughts or behaviour;
Marked and severe mood swings, such as depression, anger, irritability or anxiety, which last a few hours but rarely more than a few days (unlike bi-polar patients);
Chronic feelings of emptiness and worthlessness;
Displays of inappropriate, intense anger, and difficulty controlling the expression of anger;
Signs of paranoia, sometimes of paranoid rage, usually when under stress; the patient falsely imagines that friends or others close to them are attacking them.

Additionally, though it's not a criterion for diagnosis, it is remarkable how often the family of a BPD sufferer contains alcoholics or drug abusers, and this has led some researches to conjecture there may be a genetic link.

It has also been suggested that the part of the brain corresponding to this disease can be demonstrated; researchers in this field say that the left brain, and possibly the fusiform gyrus, may show signs of change that correlate with this illness. Of course, we cannot say from this whether such brain changes, if they exist, cause the illness or result from it.

The effects of  the above symptoms are apparent in the life of the BPD sufferer, which is usually marked by a series of broken relationships. Sudden breaks occur when the BPD sufferer imagines hostility in a close relationship (see the second and ninth symptom above); anger and even rage may be expressed, friends are abruptly dropped, family members are avoided.

The broken relationships are the result of the BPD patient's behaviour, which can be extremely distressing. Friends and family members are quite unaware of what they may have said or done to provoke such a hostile reaction - indeed, in reality they may have done nothing. But, faced with the BPD sufferer's anger and belittlement, they may feel they have no choice but to protect themselves by ending the relationship. Such breaches may be lifelong, since the BPD patient, lacking insight into the effects of their own behaviour, rarely apologizes.

To apologize would be to acknowledge having done something wrong, and this possibility is too upsetting to be faced.

The BPD sufferer has a deep, distressing feeling of emptiness, of utter worthlessness, due to inadequate mothering as a child. The mother rejected or seemed to reject the child, who then internalized the rejection and believed himself to be at fault. As an adult, the BPD sufferer is always looking for signs of rejection, abandonment, or negative emotions in those close to them, which obviously has a very distorting - sometimes fatal - effect on their relationships. They never quite feel they belong anywhere.

Studies have demonstrated that, when shown photographs of faces expressing various emotions, the BPD client is likely to interpret a neutral expression as being angry. Skewed perceptions of this sort can easily pose great problems in daily interactions, as even a mild expression of disagreement or a dissenting word often seem to these clients to be aggressive or rejecting.

Additionally, seeking for a sense of self worth can lead the BPD to try out many activities, ideas and philosophies, although usually they do not last long because none can bring the inner reassurance and calm which the sufferer so badly needs. Hobbies are eagerly taken up and then rapidly abandoned. Solutions to distress are sought in therapies such as diet or exercise; timetables and plans are made; sometimes expensive equipment is purchased; then, the next month, a new "remedy" is found.

But, difficult as this condition is for the sufferer, there is hope for those willing to persevere, and counselling can be very fruitful for this type of client.

The type of therapy chosen is usually a method that works with the cognitive skills, or the Intellectual Centre. Prolonged psychoanalysis can be counter-productive, because the client is led back into the past and easily gets stuck in it. Moreover, since BPD clients are usually likable and possess good verbal skills, the therapist can be led into colluding with them, believing that there really is nothing much wrong with their client and agreeing that it is all the fault of other people that their relationships are so difficult!

Using cognitive skills, however, the client can be helped to see patterns of black and white thinking, of recurrent anxious or angry thoughts and feelings, and to observe the effects of their own actions on other people. This type of therapy (CBT) can help the client to reduce the severity of negative emotions and to include the Intellectual Centre as well as the Emotional Centre in conducting relationships. Of course, these are Work terms, not those used in counselling.

A relatively new type of therapy - Dialectical Behaviour Therapy - is actually quite similar to the Work technique of self-observation, and can be very helpful to BPD sufferers. The client is encouraged to stay in the present moment, to be mindful of their thoughts and feelings, and of their physical state when experiencing them. Over time, the BPD client may learn to control intense emotions, to reduce destructive and self-destructive behaviours, and to improve their relationships.

One problem faced by BPD sufferers is they are often completely unable to see the effect that their own behaviour has upon others. They may insult and attack people, especially if they feel that their own beliefs and ideas are threatened, reacting with paranoia to any type of disagreement. In their own mind, these aggressive reactions are completely justified, and they cannot understand why friends, colleagues or family members are hurt and distressed by them. The day after they have attacked someone verbally, they may completely "forget" what they have done, and expect the other person to be as pleasant and friendly as ever. They are bewildered when this does not happen.

Of course, the "forgetting" is a defence mechanism, or a buffer, a form of repression which enables the BPD patient to bury their own destructive behaviours below the level of consciousness. The sufferer cannot bear to feel that he or she has done something destructive, or that people may be hurt by them, because this realization could trigger the fear of abandonment which always underscores every relationship. Ironically, this behaviour may bring about the very rejection they seek to avert.

A further problem for BPD sufferers is their lack of good boundaries. They easily become codependent and place too much reliance on other people. They can quickly become over-familiar with others, too, and try to impose their own beliefs and ideas upon them. The closer such a person becomes, the more the BPD feels he has the right to insult them and ignore their feelings. And he genuinely cannot see why such conduct is offensive and harmful, so he cannot resolve conflicts by apologizing and adjusting his own behaviour.

With all these problems, the BPD may still be a fun, lively friend, and a good companion, always providing that others make allowance for her sometimes destructive conduct. In counselling, BPD clients can make good progress and may eventually succeed in changing their behaviour and their attitudes to gain real insight and to maintain good relationships. Their experience of mood swings can make them empathic and compassionate friends and helpers, as long as they avoid codependence.

In a Work group, an unhealed BPD student is a liability. I have had two BPD students. One had actually once been a student of Beryl Pogson, and was excluded from Mrs Pogson's group because of his paranoid attitudes and attacks on other students. Of course, he did not inform me of this fact when he applied to join my own group! I later learned of his history from Marian Davison, my own teacher, and then I understood why this student was so difficult.

I possessed the private records from Mrs Pogson's meetings, and from them I saw that he had not changed at all in 20 years. He was making exactly the same objections and offering the same harsh judgements in my group as he had done with Mrs Pogson.  He had no insight into his own false personality and its effects on others, and was incapable of working on himself. After a few meetings I had to ask him to leave - and he was extremely angry with me for doing so. He really could not see himself as others saw him, and this was his tragedy.

Another BPD student, however, has done very well.  She realized from her own observations that she had many problems, but she had a strong Magnetic Centre and truly wished to work. From time to time she would temporarily leave the Work group in order to have counselling from a therapist experienced in helping such clients, and eventually she gained much insight. Her level of Being began to change, and I believe that one day she may become a Work teacher. If she does, her illness will have given her the advantage that being a Wounded Healer brings.

Dementia - Some Gurdjieffian Thoughts

With dementia reaching epidemic proportions today, most of us know someone with this terrible disease. And we would all wish to avoid succumbing to it ourselves. While there's some limited medical advice on the subject - the usual exhortations to a healthy life, including eating a sensible diet, exercising, learning new skills and so on - scientists really don't know how to prevent it.

As with most diseases, there seems to be both a genetic component and an environmental influence. We can do nothing about our genes - yet - but we can certainly change other factors.  And I wondered whether Gurdjieff's advice on the use of centres could help here.

As you'll recall, he warned that if we overuse one centre, whether it be the intellectual, emotional or instinctive/moving, that centre would "burn out" faster than the other two. He called this "dying by thirds". Might this apply to the development of dementia? Are dementia patients those who both have the relevant genes and who have also relied too much on the use of the intellectual centre?

As far as I know, no studies have been carried out with this idea in view.  Although Gurdjieff's ideas are still considered "fringe science" by some, the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), based on Jung's concept of the four psychological functions, certainly has credence in most circles. Why then should scientists not study the course of dementia in a longitudinal survey, focussing on those who identify as mainly "Thinkers" in the MBTI?  Such studies could be very fruitful.

In fact, a few years ago, one such study did conclude that those who had apparently "overused their memory function" in youth (the study's words) were more likely to develop dementia than those who did not. And this bears out Gurdjieff's theory. But more work needs to be done to confirm these results. The patients concerned all had one of the dementia genes, and so did those of the "control" group, but it was only those who had studied particularly strenuously in their early years who developed the disease.

Of the three people I know personally who have developed dementia, all three seemed to me to be intellectual centre types, though this sample is far too small to be of general use.

But another Work idea seems to me to be of great importance in the progress of dementia. That is: if personality is stolen by this horrible disease, what is it that will be left behind?

The answer would appear to be: either False Personality or Essence.

Can this be borne out by observation?

I think it could. But we would have to know the subjects very well to be able to judge what has happened. In the three examples I'm about to give, I was able to watch quite closely what happened to their psyche as the disease worsened. And the results surprised me.

First, the "good" example, the patient whose Essence seemed to emerge as the disease stole away the other parts of their mind.

This was my maternal uncle, a very bright, intellectual-centre person (an Enneagram 7), who remained alert and intelligent into his 90s. In his mid-80s, he learned to use a computer and mastered the Portuguese language sufficiently well to be able to oversee his sister's estate and negotiate with her Maltese and South American lawyers. That he was able to do this at such an advanced age astonished everyone, but throughout his life Uncle R. had shown great initiative and intellectual capability.

Although he didn't believe in a traditional religion, my uncle was the finest example of a Good Householder that I've ever known. Along with his second wife, he faced many reversals of fortune due to circumstances beyond his control. The family had to relocate and my uncle find new work while in his 50s, and while raising a family in difficult conditions, yet he managed to do so with good will and without ever becoming depressed or resentful.

He simply did his best in every situation to take what life had flung at him, to bring good from difficulty, and to support his family as well as various charities that were dear to his heart. I often stayed with him, and I never once heard him express a negative emotion. He was, to me, exactly what a Good Householder should be, and I have no doubt that he will reach enlightenment very quickly in his next life - or even sooner.

Dementia struck when he was 92. He began to forget names and events, and got lost when driving close to his home. Eventually, as the illness continued, he stopped recognizing some old friends and family members. He began to need help with the simplest tasks of living, and because my aunt could not cope alone he had to have nurses and carers come in each day to look after him.

All through this he has never once complained. He smiles frequently, seems quite content with his very limited state, and expresses gratitude to all around him. Like a contented child, he allows others to care for him and relishes the company of his wife and children, even though he doesn't always remember their names. He is one of the most loving, compassionate people I've ever known.

And what I see in him now is his Essence. His personality has vanished, there is absolutely no False Personality left, and he is pure, childlike Being. But he radiates a Presence that a child does not possess. You know you are in the company of an adult, even though he cannot express adult thoughts, and you also feel you are in the presence of goodness. Everyone remarks on this.

On the other hand, both the other people I've known well deteriorated emotionally as well as intellectually when dementia took hold.

One woman, who'd experienced severe depression as an adult, was in her pre-dementia days a model middle-class housewife. Brought up in a large house with servants, she often complained about the lack of help she faced as a married woman, but nevertheless kept her home immaculate. Her children were well-dressed and well-fed, her husband's clothes were always beautifully ironed and pressed, and her manners towards all were impeccable.

When she began to exhibit signs of dementia, however, her behaviour became quite shocking. She would swear at friends and family, hit her husband in public, wander confusedly around the neighbourhood, and hallucinate.

When she could no longer be cared for at home she was placed in a very good nursing home, but her behaviour grew even worse. She had to be restrained because she would physically attack or throw objects at the staff and other residents. She cursed her nurses and doctors with real venom, and in her rare quieter moments would curl up and whimper on her bed.

She had regressed to early childhood, but she was a "not OK child", in Transactional Analysis terms. What was left of her seemed to be her False Personality and a very under-developed Essence.

Likewise, I watched another woman, of similar background, undergo identical deterioration as she became more and more unwell. She too hit out at the people caring for her, cursed and insulted everyone within hearing range, and exhibited only False Personality I's. And what was most worrying was that this 85-year-old lady had been a Movements Teacher in the Work. As her mind was gradually taken from her, I would have expected her Essence to emerge, as has happened with my uncle, but no: there was still so much False Personality left that it completely swamped whatever remained of her Essence.

I don't think these cases are due to gender differences; I merely have a very small sample, so it's very hard to draw any conclusions from it. But we all know of the state of Iris Murdoch, the philosopher and novelist who became the "poster lady" for dementia. In her last stages it appeared as though she, like my uncle, became pure Essence.

So what, if anything, can we say about the possible influence of the Work on dementia? With a sample of this size, very little, unfortunately. But it does seem that people who live as Good Householders and who as a result become more balanced may have a smoother descent into dementia, if they are unlucky enough to experience that disease.

In the case of the Movements Teacher, I did not know her full state of health. It's possible that cancer, from which she also suffered, had begun earlier to steal her mental health; that it was this illness, and not her dementia, which had "stolen" her brain, and by pressing on the areas associated with negative emotions had reawakened them after many years of dormance.

As for the other lady I have described, I don't think she ever undertook any psychological or spiritual work. She was unhappy in life, and remained so. She made no efforts to change her state, and her dementia revealed the full extent of her troubled mind. No trace of her Essence could be seen as she gradually lost her reason.

I only wish we had more studies so that we could better understand the illness.

In their absence, all we can do is to try to become balanced men and women, avoiding the overuse of any one centre, and never letting a day go by without working on ourselves. If we are to suffer dementia, perhaps it will a part of our Fate - a very unpleasant one, perhaps, for all concerned, but nevertheless in some way conducive to our own development.

Or perhaps our illness will provide the occasion for our families to develop compassion. It could even be that this is a task we accepted before we were born, so that others might be helped through our sacrifice.

The two ladies whom I mention above have since died, their deaths coming as a release. We cannot know the state of another's spirit, but we do believe in a loving and merciful God.  We can be sure that He has them in His care now, and that they no longer suffer.