Re: [BardonPraxis] silence

["Rawn Clark" <rawnclark@...>]

Dear Alex (and Martin),

>> Even if this is not wrong at all, for my morality it is - should I
ignore my little inner voice..?
Eh.. I'm pretty confused... again :) <<

Obey your inner voice, above all else. :)

>> For some time I've been wondering about this 'silence' thing. What
exactly should we be silent about? <<

Here's an excerpt from my commentary that might help:

"Silence: This is probably the least understood of the "four pillars".
Some take this injunction to mean that absolutely no word of magic or
one's experience with it should ever be mentioned, but this is not the
case. If this were so, then why, for example, would Bardon have written
and taught as he did? At its root, silence addresses two concerns: the
personal ego and the sanctity of magical experiences. The part of our
human ego that requires approval from others must be contended with by
every student of magic. Here, silence about the nature and extent of
one's magical experiences and abilities is very handy. If we start
bragging about how all-powerful we are, then we feed this ego need and
we become distracted from our higher purpose. By maintaining our
silence in this regard, we avoid inflating this part of our ego and make
it much easier for ourselves to contend with it. Also of note is that
magical experiences are of a very intimate, personal nature. Their
intimacy is easily violated when we speak the details of these
experiences to another. Such a violation subtly diminishes the import
of these experiences and does the student a disservice. Personally, I
have no problem discussing the rudiments of magic, but never do I relay
the intimate details of my own experiences. I have found this
advantageous to my own rise and recommend this tact to you as well.
This form of silence builds a very powerful charge of intimacy into your
experiences that is unattainable in any other way."

>> In the first case - why so many people write to such discussion
groups..? In this way we unveil our secrecy - everyone can tell if we
are _interested_ in magic or not. From questions we ask it is possible
to tell at what stage in magical development we propably are. <<

This is a unique setting in that we are discussing issues of practice
and theory with our peers. So long as this doesn't become a matter of
bragging or one-up-manship, and you don't reveal the intimate details of
your practice, then this doesn't violate one's magical secrecy. For
example, it's okay to perhaps say how many items there are in your
negative mirror but it would be inappropriate to list those items.

>> And about not telling anyone about our "practices" - should we lie to
our loved ones whed they ask why do we get up so early in the morning or
why do we sit motionless for couple of minutes... Or maybe we shouldn't
answer their questions at all..? Ignore them? <<

Lying is not an expression of love, it's deceit. There is no reason to
hide who you are unless you live in a situation where you would be
persecuted for your beliefs and practices. When it is possible, I
strongly advise that you do inform your loved ones -- especially if they
ask -- what you're doing and why. You don't have to go into great
detail but it is wise to let your loved ones know about such an
important part of your life. It's inevitable that they will notice the
changes you're going through as you pursue this work and it's better if
they hear from you what is causing those changes, instead of them
feeling left out and wondering what's going on.

Listen to and obey your inner voice and you will not go wrong.

My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
13 Jan 2003
rawnclark@...
rawn@...
http://www.ABardonCompanion.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BardonPraxis