RAWN'S SELF-HEALING ARCHAEOUS
© 1997
Until fairly recently, the most common philosophy underlying the treatment of disease was the idea that healing could be best accomplished by strengthening the body's own natural mechanisms of self-repair. The vision of today's western medicine however, has shifted focus from strengthening the human body, to artificially regulating it; and from healing the human body itself, to destroying the bodies of specific invading organisms. Perhaps in moderation this is a wise and appropriate tactic for our times -- times in which it seems the human immune-system faces insurmountable challenges -- but dare we head so recklessly and with so little forethought, toward completely writing-off our bodies' own natural powers?
I for one, say "no". I think we must cherish and nurture these powers. If we combine them with our western medical approach, perhaps then we will find the ability to transform apace with our changing environment. This at least, has been my particular approach to healing, and it is a bias which you will find echoed throughout this Archaeous.
Healing is a topic which concerns me both practically and philosophically. For example, I do not equate "healing" with "cure", though I really like it when they coincide! I see that struggle, pain, and death, are each as healing in their own ways as are ease, pleasure, and re-birth.
They are all inevitable in life, so for "health" to really mean anything, I believe it must encompass them all and empower one to creatively adapt to them all. To me, "health" does not equal "living forever". My personal sense of health, is defined by the quality of my life, not by its duration.
Self-healing is a part of my magical practice. As such, my approach to self-healing is as varied as the magical Traditions I have practiced -- multiplied, of course, by my unleashed imagination. The specific techniques of the Self-Healing Archaeous, stem directly from my work with Franz Bardon's excellent book, "Initiation Into Hermetics".
Like Bardon, the Archaeous defines three "bodies" which correspond to three "realms": Mental, Astral, and Physical. The healing effects of the Archaeous are achieved through the conscious manipulation of these three bodies, and most especially, through their integration.
At every step in the Archaeous, one works in conscious cooperation with the pathways of influence and power which Nature herself provides. The technique mimics one of Nature's most essential processes: Integration + Separation + Re-integration . . . the rhythm of life itself. To this fundamental equation, is added the practitioner's own magical will, along with the focus of healing.
Prerequisite to beginning work with this Self-Healing Archaeous, I recommend that you undergo a sincere process of self-discovery. We each come to know ourselves by our own unique paths -- some with concentrated effort, some with apparent ease, some only by graduation from the "School of Hard Knocks", etc. -- so I won't presume to dictate how you specifically should go about this task. It is imperative that you understand however, that for healing effects to reliably result from the Archaeous practice, you must have first healed (by whatever means) the most basic wounds which frighten you away from self-knowledge. If these wounds are still raw within you, then please address them prior to pursuing the Archaeous. Otherwise, the Archaeous may prove distressing to you, and you will risk manifesting only the negative pole of the healing continuum.
When approached from a well grounded and honest knowledge of one's self, the healing effects of the Archaeous will be affirmative of one's inner health, and will directly externalize it. As is Nature's way, what you sow, will determine what you eventually reap.
RAWN'S SELF-HEALING ARCHAEOUS
Stage #1) Healing through discerning and integrating your three bodies --
Integrating the Physical:
Situate yourself comfortably.
Turn your attention to your feet and relax them completely. Intimately experience every physical sensation that your feet relay to you at this moment.
Slowly move your attention up your legs, relaxing and connecting with each vein, muscle, bone, organ and patch of skin. Continue upward in this manner till you have established a clear and relaxed awareness of your entire physical body.
Though certainly healing in its own right, this primary step of connecting closely with your physical body, is a common one and therefore is not counted among the Archaeous' thirteen enumerated "levels" of healing. In effect, this step corresponds to zero and, quite appropriately, it is where the Archaeous both begins and ends.
Integrating the Astral:
With your awareness thus spread evenly throughout your physical body, expand your focus outward a few inches till you sense your astral body's vibrant energy. Though difficult to adequately describe, once it is encountered and experienced, the feeling of the astral body's "bright" energy will be unmistakable.
Generally, it is physically stimulating -- for some people, it is dangerously so. Therefore, it is best to approach a conscious sensorial contact with your astral body, in controlled and small increments. Begin with just a few brief moments of contact with this energy, and then immediately restrict the focus of your awareness back down to the dimensions of your physical body.
Whatever energy you feel stimulating your physical body, must then be consciously integrated into your physical muscles, bones, organs, skin, etc. By mentally guiding this bright astral energy into your physical body, into your very cellular structure itself, you effect the first level of healing in the Archaeous.
Acclimate your physical body to your astral energy slowly. Your goal over time, is to be able to comfortably sense your entire astral body and consciously integrate it into your physical body. Your focus at this point is not to be upon "astral travel" or the separation of your astral form from your physical; rather, it is to be exclusively upon the integration of the two.
Again, a note of caution is in order: The astral body acts as a matrix for the physical body. Its bright energy is the medium through which the mental body determines the nature of its physical vehicle. The character of the astral energy, is that it is shaped by the mental level (thought and will); and in its own turn, it shapes the physical level.
Therefore, when you consciously (mentally) connect with your physical body and then expand that awareness to include your astral body, you will have opened nature's own pathways of healing. Consciously integrating your astral matrix into your physical body, grounds this bright energy into physical manifestation, bringing your physical body into closer accord with your astral matrix.
At this level of work, your magical will substitutes for nature's un-aided will. If you have not performed the preliminary work of self-discovery and have not crafted an intimate knowledge of your inner self, you may find nature's power to be more than your will can manage. The danger is that nature's power, when mishandled, can easily become the relentless cause of unexpected side-effects. In this Archaeous process, whatever your mental body has expressed -- consciously and unconsciously -- through your astral matrix, will be powerfully impressed upon your physical structure. If you are at peace within yourself, then the Archaeous will be immediately healing and will bring your inner peace outward. But if you are filled with inner turmoil, the Archaeous' healing will be very painful as your inner turmoil progresses outward.
Integrating the Mental:
Having reached the stage at which you comfortably experience your physical body, simultaneously permeated with the bright energy of your astral body, turn your attention inward upon your conscious awareness itself. This is your mental body. You have, in fact, been directing this whole exercise with your mental body.
When you first turned your attention to your feet, it represented a movement of the focus of your conscious awareness. You contracted, shifted, and then expanded this focus, eventually including your entire physical and astral bodies within its purview. These are the actions of one's mental body, and are representative of its fluidity, adaptability and subtleness.
At first, its dimensions are difficult to discern, but this is only because our mental bodies are an utterly integral part of our experience of self and of our mechanisms of perception. In sensing the dimensions of your mental body, you must strive to see the forest from amidst the trees, so to speak.
Hold these thoughts in mind now as you consciously shape and shift the focus of your awareness, working up from your feet till you have reached the point where you are aware of your entire, relaxed physical body. Spend some time in this state, actively meditating with the idea that the parameters of your awareness, are also the parameters of your mental body. Learn to sense those parameters first; and then once they are known, work toward conscious control of them.
Now expand those mental parameters till they include your astral body, keeping in mind the following two points: #1) It is your mental body which is expanding. #2) Your mental body experiences this expansion through the sensoria of your astral and physical bodies.
Consciously permeate every bit of your astral body's energy, and carefully integrate your mental body into your astral form. When you have intimately joined your mental and astral forms, turn to integrating them thus united, into your physical body. Spend some time in this state, meditating on the awareness of your three bodies joined together.
This is the second level of healing in the Archaeous, and completes the first and most important stage of the Archaeous -- conscious integration.
Stage #2) Healing through separating and resting your three bodies --
Vacating the Physical:
Sit comfortably or lay down in a place where you are certain you will not be disturbed. I advise that you also cast a magic circle of protection around your body.
With the full awareness of your three bodies well integrated, restrict your metal body's focus and concentrate on the feel of your bright astral energy. Now attempt to slowly and gently stand up with only your astral and mental bodies, leaving your physical body seated (or lying down).
This may (or may not) take many hours of repeated experiments to accomplish. If you have difficulties at first, then begin by trying to move only your astral-mental arm, and slowly work your way to a whole body movement.
You will find that your astral-mental body feels very, very like your physical body. This is so because it is really your astral body which houses your senses . . . the physical organs of sense, are merely the apparatus through which the astral body perceives the physical world. So, whether a stimulus is generated in the physical or the astral realm, the mental body still perceives it through the sensoria of the astral body.
At the same time, you will find your astral-mental body to have very different abilities than your physical body. At first you may want to fly off in celebration of the sense of freedom which the separation of your astral-mental body generates. For the purposes of this Archaeous however, you must fight this tendency for the moment and not stray more than a foot or two from your physical body. Your focus here, should be upon a gentle, controlled separation and not upon "travel".
When you have succeeded in standing up with your astral-mental body, turn around and examine your physical body. Concentrate intently upon the separation of your sensoria from your physical body. Transfer the control of your physical body's breathing to the rise and fall of your astral-mental body's chest. Concentrate upon the sensations throughout your astral-mental body, and let go of those you may still be receiving from your physical body.
Only in death is the astral-mental completely severed from the physical. While you live, no matter how advanced your magical skills, there will always remain a thread-like connection between your three bodies upon their separation. This thread of connection is a very real thing and is injured in very real ways by "snapping" -- either back into your physical body, or abruptly out of your physical body. To prevent trauma to your astral-mental umbilicus, take great care to: a) make sure you will not be physically disturbed while you work; and b), always separate your bodies gently and slowly.
This thread of connection also means that you cannot completely separate your astral-mental sensoria from perception of (at least the stronger) physical stimuli. These are simply Nature's ways. Nonetheless, you can isolate your awareness and then, even though some physical sensations may still impose themselves upon your astral-mental sensoria, you can limit the extent to which they draw your attention back into your physical body. By turning and examining your physical body, you increase the reality of your separation. This increases further as you shift your full awareness of sensation from your physical body to your astral-mental.
If you are comfortable standing still in your astral-mental form, then slowly walk around, straying no more than a few feet from your physical body. Concentrate on all the astral-mental sensations of walking, feeling the movement of your astral-mental limbs and the touch of your astral-mental feet upon the floor.
Now turn again to your physical body. Observe that its rhythm is slowing and that every part of it is completely relaxed. This is the resting of your physical body and is the third level of healing in the Archaeous.
Vacating the Astral:
Turn your attention now as completely away from your resting physical body as you can. Concentrate again, upon the feel of your astral-mental form alone. Lay down on the floor, making sure to feel each movement of your astral-mental body.
Slowly, and this will take control since your impulse will be to fly off, arise from your astral body, with your mental body alone. Disconnect your mental body from all astral sensations as thoroughly as you can. Observe your astral body from directly above and watch as it too slows and rests. This is the fourth level of healing in the Archaeous.
Resting the Mental:
Still your mental body and turn its focus inward and away from your astral and physical bodies. Enter into a passive meditation for several minutes and rest your mental body. Note how it slows and clarifies. This resting of your mental body is the fifth level of healing in the Archaeous and completes the second stage -- conscious separation.
As each of your bodies rest, they naturally revert to a more pristine and healthful state, very similar to the physical effects of sleep. The act of letting them rest separately, decreases the input from one level to the next, thus increasing the depth of their rest. Without the active impress of the astral energy, your physical body rests more calmly and completely than even in sleep since it is undisturbed by dreaming. Likewise, your astral body, separated from both physical and mental input, rests as it rarely does in the course of a normal human life. And freed from both astral and physical restraints, your mental body can be led to a very deep state of restful calm.
Allow at least five minutes of rest for your mental body. Adding in your working time, this will equal about ten minutes of rest for your astral body, and at least fifteen minutes for your physical body. If you have worked through the separations in less than ten minutes, then extend your mental body's rest until your physical and astral bodies will have rested at least these approximate amounts of time.
Stage #3) Healing through re-integration of your three bodies --
Re-integration of the Astral-Mental:
Arouse your well rested mental body and turn your attention to your reclining astral body. Gently and willfully re-join your mental and astral forms. Re-integrate them, thoroughly permeating every aspect of your bright astral energy with your conscious awareness. Stand up with your astral-mental body, paying very close attention to the sensorial details of your astral-mental movements.
The re-integration of your well rested astral and mental forms, is the sixth level of healing in the Archaeous.
Re-integration of the Physical:
Turn your attention now to your rested physical body. Gently and willfully re-join your astral-mental form with your physical body. Consciously lead the bright astral-mental energy into each and every cell of your physical structure, re-integrating your three bodies completely. Perform this final re-integration with careful attention to its thoroughness.
While it is important to not return too abruptly to normal waking consciousness and to the animation of your physical body; it is nevertheless of equal importance that you do return to this state, and that you return as completely as possible. Once you have re-inhabited your physical body, gently increase your connection with it, and slowly work your way to its full re-possession. Finalize your grounding back into normal waking consciousness with a gentle physical movement such as running your hands lightly over your entire body -- from the top of your head, down to your toes.
Under no circumstances should you transit directly from the re-joining of your astral-mental with your physical, to standing up and physically moving around. The conscious integration of your three bodies is the most healing aspect of the Archaeous practice, so if your re-integration is only partial, the healing benefits will likewise be only partial (i.e., non-existent, or at best unpredictable).
Having first integrated, then separated, rested, and now finally re-integrated your three bodies, you will have reached the seventh level of healing in the Archaeous. This marks the completion of its third stage -- conscious re-integration.
These seven levels of healing constitute the basic formula of the Self-Healing Archaeous. This equation is based upon the number 3 and is expressed as a three-fold process (integration+separation+re-integration), enacted upon a three-fold being (mental+astral+phys-ical). Another way of putting it would be: (3/1)x3.
When you have mastered this triple-triple process, the next step will be to turn to the inclusion of the number 4. This is done by factoring in the four universal Elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth. Harmonizing the Elements in each of your three bodies, opens you to still further levels of healing possible with the Archaeous: viz., (3x4)x3.
Stage #4) Healing through the Elemental balancing of your three bodies --
Mental Equilibrium of the Elements:
Work through the first two stages of the Archaeous, up to the point where you have separated and rested your three bodies. The following will replace the third stage of the Archaeous proper:
Arouse your rested mental body and fill it with equal portions of the four pristine, universal Elements. Follow the sequence of: Earth-Water-Air-Fire, starting with Earth at the "foot" of your mental form, working upwards and ending with Fire at the "top". Balance the Elements in your mental body and rid yourself of any excess you may have accumulated. Bask joyously in this re-vivifying Equilibrium!
The Elements thus balanced in your mental body, is the eighth level of healing in the Archaeous.
Astral-Mental Equilibrium of the Elements:
Turn your attention now to your reclining and fully rested astral body. Gently sink down into it and regain full awareness of it. Consciously permeate it as before, linking your astral and mental bodies intimately together. When you are ready, stand up with your astral-mental body, paying close attention to reconnecting with all of the astral sensations. Stand still and closely integrate your astral and mental bodies.
Consciously vitalize your astral body with the Elemental Equilibrium of your mental body. Bring the balancing influence of your re-vivified mental body firmly into all aspects of your rested astral energy.
Now fill your astral-mental body with equal portions of the four pristine, universal Elements: your astral-mental legs with the Earth; your gut with the Water; your chest with the Air; and your head with the Fire. Balance the Elements in your astral-mental body and rid yourself of any excess you may have accumulated. Bask anew in the re-vivifying Elemental Equilibrium!
This marks the ninth level of healing in the Archaeous.
Physical-Astral-Mental Equilibrium of the Elements:
Look now to your well rested physical body, and gently re-enter it. Extend yourself into its every cell, reconnecting fully with the awareness of your three bodies together. Animate it carefully and thoroughly with the balancing influence of your astral-mental Equilibrium.
Now fill your physical-astral-mental body with equal portions of the four Elements as before. Balance them, and then rid yourself of any excess. Concentrate upon the sensations caused by this re-vivifying Equilibrium of your three bodies united. Integrate every bit of astral-mental energy you can into your physical structure, consciously guiding it into every cell of your physical body. Release whatever excess energy remains.
Visualize your mental body as actively brightening and willfully giving direction to, the astral. Also visualize the physical conforming its structure into agreement with this renewed astral template. This final integration and balancing should be pursued with the utmost care and concentration.
This is the tenth (and a truly profound!) level of healing in the Archaeous. Inculcating the Elemental Equilibrium throughout your three bodies in this direct manner is "advanced" work and should be approached with due reverence. Attainment of the integrated physical-astral-mental Elemental Equilibrium, marks the completion of the fourth stage of the Archaeous -- conscious balancing.
Only now, at this stage, do we turn to astral and mental "travel". Such travel, when entertained without a prerequisite Equilibrium of the Elements, can easily do harm to your health. This is not to say that one must first pass through the specific process of this Archaeous to safely approach astral-mental travel. Equilibrium of the Elements comes to one by any number of routes. I cannot count the number of people I have encountered who possess this Equilibrium unknowingly, having attained it simply through the "school of life"! For many of these people, astral travel is an easy matter with no ill effects. Whatever your perception of the state of your internal Equilibrium is at this moment, be sure to pause before continuing and honestly evaluate the reality of its status. If you find imbalance, then for the sake of your health, please attend to the correction of this imbalance before you engage in astral-mental travel.
Stage #5) Healing through mental and astral travel --
Mental Travel:
Proceed as in #4 up to the point where your mental body has attained an Equilibrium of the Elements. Instead of turning your attention back to your astral body, you will turn your awareness outward. Travel beyond your circle with your balanced mental body, leaving both your astral and physical bodies behind; and, in your own unique way, seek out experiences which will augment your healing and clarify your Equilibrium. Try not to lose track of your focus upon healing during your travel.
When your travel has reached its natural conclusion, return to the circle containing your astral and physical bodies. Focus your awareness firmly back into your circle and examine your astral body. Proceed as in #4 with the process of balancing and re-integrating your astral-mental body and then your physical-astral-mental body. Pay close attention to incorporating what you have gleaned from your mental travels, into your astral and then physical bodies.
Often times, specific physical acts are required to fully ground the healing lessons of your mental travel into your physical body. Always follow through with the accomplishment of these tasks, or as noted in the re-integration of #3, your final results may be only partial.
Mental travel is common to our everyday experience, though perhaps as I have outlined it in this Archaeous it is not recognizable as such. Essentially, mental travel is any projection of your thoughts towards a focus other than your astral-physical sensoria. Intense thinking is a form of mental travel, as are daydreaming, meditation, etc. The focus of our conscious awareness (what we generally experience of our mental body) is a very subtle vehicle, capable of whatever our imagination contrives for it to do.
The mental travel of the Archaeous differs from common mental travel such as a daydream, because it is here made a conscious act of self-will and given the specific focus of healing. Furthermore, the Archaeous always ends with the thorough re-integration of your mental body and the lessons of your travel, into your physical-astral-mental unit. In common mental travel however, we rarely take thought of re-integrating our attention thoroughly back into our physical awareness . . . consequently we spend a certain part of our time engaged in only partial contact with our physical realities.
When the lessons gleaned from your mental travel have been consciously integrated into your united physical-astral-mental body, you will have attained the eleventh level of healing in the Archaeous.
Astral-Mental Travel:
The difference between mental travel and astral-mental travel is comparable to the difference between a daydream and a genuine dream. The greatest difference is that in astral-mental travel, like in dreaming, we have a full sensorial experience; whilst in a daydream or mental travel, we rarely have any sensory impressions other than sight and a mental form of "hearing".
By consciously uniting your mental and astral bodies, you access a fuller sensorial experience for your travels. This integrates your otherwise strictly mental lessons, at the astral and mental levels simultaneously; consequently, the subsequent physical integration is more complete and more readily achieved.
Along with expanding your mental experience into a sensorial one, the inclusion of your astral form will also tend to limit your travel possibilities. In other words, you will find that there are places you can reach with your naked mental body, but which you will find impossible to reach with your denser astral-mental body.
Consider these factors well, and plan your astral-mental travel before you begin.
Proceed as in #4 up to the point where your astral-mental body has attained an Equilibrium of the Elements. Now venture outward with your fully integrated astral-mental body and seek your healing experience.
Under no circumstances should you separate from your astral form during your astral-mental travel . . . it is unwise to leave your astral form un-attended in any place other than within the confines of your protective circle. If your healing takes you beyond the limits of your astral form, then plan ahead and divide your journey into mental and astral components. Accomplish your mental travel first; return to your circle and re-integrate your astral-mental body; and then, accomplish your astral tasks.
When your astral-mental travel is complete, return to your circle, orient yourself, and then follow the usual process of thoroughly balancing and re-integrating your physical-astral-mental body. This is the twelfth level of healing in the Archaeous and marks the completion of its fifth stage -- conscious travel.
Stage #6) Healing through integrated self-expression --
When you have mastered the foregoing, turn your will toward the prolonging of your integrated physical-astral-mental awareness.
Upon completing your final re-integration, focus upon the triplicity of your physical-astral-mental body. As you arise and begin physical movement, do so with the full awareness that your three bodies are working in unison. Sense the intimate details of your physical, astral and mental bodies simultaneously, and extend this awareness for as long as you are able. Work to make each moment and the actions which fill it, a fully conscious and intentional physical, astral and mental experience.
At first, the maintenance of this intensely focused awareness will be possible only for a few brief moments. With perseverance, you can willfully teach yourself how to expand those moments into seconds, then minutes, and eventually into hours.
Self-expression of your integrated physical-astral-mental being, is the thirteenth, and ultimate, level of healing in the Archaeous and concludes its sixth stage -- conscious being.
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Completed March 23, 1997, at 8:45pm, PST. At this very moment, rising in the East, the ruddy disk of the partially eclipsed full Moon, with its small, crowning crescent of brilliant white, lies counterpoint in the sky to Comet Hale-Bopp, whose star-like core and twin tails fill the North-western horizon. Mars stands directly above the Moon, having already cast his redness into her pool of unveiled earth-shadow.
Awestruck by this magnificent celestial display, I am moved to offer this Archaeous as a humble gift of thanks to so generous a Universe!