Esoteric Studies and the Work

Do esoteric studies have any place in the Work? Of course! The Work itself is called Esoteric Christianity, with the emphasis on both words. We believe that much of what Jesus taught was never written down, but preserved in an oral tradition which was driven underground due to persecution from religious authorities. As that danger receded, so the secret traditions were gradually allowed to emerge. But only in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were conditions favorable to releasing greater amounts of knowledge into the public domain. 

The Work, the Sufi sciences, the Tarot, the Kabbalah and astrology were all part of this great stream of "lost knowledge" which surfaced en masse at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

As a practising Jew, Jesus certainly knew all about the Kabbalah, gematria and astrology. Although there are many warnings in the Bible about using astrology and occult methods for divination, they and other studies are perfectly permissible when used to achieve more understanding, both about oneself and the Universe. Jesuits and Franciscans use astrology, the enneagram and the kabbalah in this way. The Kabbalah, for example, teaches that the ten sephirot on the Tree of Life are the energies of God, which are released to the world in an intricate dance of permutation and transmutation. By studying them, we can find our own personal path as well as better understand the workings of the hidden realms of heaven. The Kabbalah says that each soul has its root in a particular sephirah, and by studying that sephirah we can better understand our own self and its special mission in this life.

In the Work, we don't attempt to use these studies in order to change anything in the world. We know we cannot "do". We can, however, deepen our understanding of how we think and react, we can begin to change ourselves accordingly, and we can better understand how events and processes in the external world are actually brought about. When we become more conscious, our circumstances do begin to change. As more and more people achieve higher states of consciousness, the world as a whole will reflect this change. This is the only way, G taught, that the planet will ever change for the better. Political attempts to bring it about are doomed to failure, although they may stave off catastrophe for a while. But a change in people's collective consciousness is the only certain way to achieve any real, lasting progress. That is part of our responsibility in the Work, and it is vast.

With my teacher, Marian, our Work group studied the Kabbalah, learning the Hebrew alphabet and its correspondences so that we could practise gematria and understand some of the hidden meanings in the Bible. We studied the Tree of Life in depth, and found many connections and implications that we had not suspected, all of which greatly helped our personal work.

We studied the Tarot, using the private writings of Marian's own teacher, Beryl Pogson, and the book "Meditations on the Tarot", by an anonymous author whom I recently learned was Valentin Tomberg, the anthroposophist who converted to Catholicism. Tomberg's depth of understanding was profound. He writes about mysticism, about the different layers of meaning in the Tarot, and of how we are to understand each card in the Major Arcana. He relates the whole to Christianity, and shows how, through studying and working on ourselves in relation to the Tarot, we can see our own level of Being and the direction in which we need to move. He also points out the dangers inherent in such studies, and how to avoid becoming ego-inflated, which is always a problem for students of the Tarot  and similar subjects.

In addition to all this, we studied Plato; the neo-Platonists such as Marsilio Ficino who, in the Renaissance, led an outpouring of suppressed, underground knowledge into the consciousness of the time, in spite of repeated attempts at suppression from the church authorities; Dante; Goethe; Shakespeare; the New Testament in Greek; and astrology.

The Nicoll groups have always been known for their scholarly approach to esoteric studies, and have led the way in promoting them. Not all groups studied them at such depth, but we all worked on them with the aim of increasing our knowledge and understanding. 

But there are, as I've said, dangers in studying these matters. The church always warned of the problems inherent in divination. First, we may be wrong, and cause unwonted distress; second, we may be right, and succumb to ego-inflation, as Tomberg pointed out, which cuts off our spiritual progress; and third, relying on these methods takes us away from reliance on God, and this is the greatest danger. 

In the Work, we learn to accept that what happens to us comes from the Will of God, through Conscious Humanity. In order to change our lives, we have to change our level of Being. There are no magical short cuts, and in any case we don't necessarily know what is best for us. Jesus told us that whatever we asked for in His name would be granted us, but that implies some understanding of what He wants for us, and we need to subject our own small wills, composed of little, insignificant, contradictory I's, to the great Will of God, which arranges things for our best and highest good.

For example, I frequently use astrology to help me see patterns in my own life and the lives of my family. Rather than looking at how events are likely to unfold, which, for the above reasons, is a rather foolish and simplistic way to practice astrology, I like to concentrate on the birthchart and on progressions and transits relating to the natal planets. These changes indicate psychological states, and can help me understand what's really going on during particular periods of time. I do consider general conditions, such as retrograde planetary periods, noting how they might affect events in my own life and what I can do about it, but this is very different from trying to predict the future. Nothing is written in stone, because everything depends on our attitudes. Astrology can help, but, as Max Heindel says, "The stars only incline, they do not compel".

The birthchart is a map of the Essence. As such, it's invaluable for understanding our own Essence qualities and challenges, as well as those of other people. We look at the Sun in particular, its sign, house and the planetary aspects to it; but other factors, including the Rising Sign, the Moon and the placement of other planets, are all important in the overall makeup of the Essence. 

Using astrology rightly brings huge benefits. Simply contemplating the chart can bring insights. The more we study it, the more we are shown, and so it is with the other esoteric subjects I've mentioned in this post. All are invaluable when used aright.

Overall, however, as humble seekers we remember we are dependent on God for whatever happens to us. He it is who created the stars and planets, who inspired the artists of the Tarot and the philosophers of the Kabbalah. All comes from, and returns to, Him, the Source of all.

In the Work we know too that every event, however pleasant or otherwise, that happens to us is meant for our benefit, to increase our consciousness. And as long as we remember this, we may study esoteric subjects as much as we like, for they will do us nothing but good.