Escaping Forward into 2021 with Hermetic Magick

Escaping Forward into 2021 with Hermetic Magick December 18, 2020

This Yuletide, I’ve been secluded in a witching-book-editing cloister of my own making. Many chunks of the old draft much be trimmed, including this Hermetic magick lesson for dealing with the challenges of hard times. I call it “Forward Escape.” Hermeticists called it the “Law of Compensation.”

The following tidbit came from the chapter on Elemental Fire, and the alignment of one’s personal will and little ego, with Highest Divine Will. This has me thinking a lot about fire… So many dumpster fires raging around us at once, all the time, for so gods-forsaken long, that a witch could get lost among the blazes, and lose perspective of the larger pattern… which turns out to be a national conflagration. And yet, this Yuletide, there are glimmers of hope in the darkness… The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter as the Winter Solstice Star, and the literal dawning of the New Age of Aquarius! Good bye, Age of Pisces! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

 

Woman escaping fire
Creative Commons – Pixabay

The Law of Compensation

In The Kybalion: A Hermetic Philosophy by William Walker Atkinson, the magickal Law of Compensation describes how Hermetic masters would lift their Personal Ego into a higher plane, as a means to escape the natural pendulum swing toward pain, which is described by the Hermetic Principle of Rhythm. Basically, if you can look at your life at a much higher scale of vibration, keeping sight of the greater achievements and benefit that comes with experiencing life’s challenges, then you might avoid much of the drama and trauma that could accompany those lessons. There has been so much drama and trauma in the world of late. Seems a good time to give this technique a try.

I view the Law of Compensation much like being a leaf on the surface of a great ocean. The ocean is your continuous spiritual journey through all your lifetimes. The waves rise and fall at an equal rate. The trick is to remain centered in your awareness of life – fully present in the moment, but aware of the greater scheme of things. If you keep your perspective broad, and gently accept life’s vicissitudes with the faith that rhythm will soon compensate with the rising of a wave once more, then perhaps there won’t be so much pain about it. Hopefully, you will pass more quickly through to the payoff on the other side.

This lesson plays out in the promise of our four seasons on earth. For all the difficulty and scarcity that winter brings, we can rest in the promise that Spring is just around the corner, bringing back all the ease and bounty of Summer. For the bounties of summer, we know that we must accept and prepare for the decline toward death of the autumn. They are held in a balance of in-flowing, and out-flowing, ebb and flow.

As long as we accept that in the long-run, nature will compensate with an equal measure of both pleasure and challenge, we can just focus on the task of learning from the challenges, and enjoying the pleasures as they may be found. A mindfulness technique which uses this law of compensation is “gratitude.” When there are challenges, affirm them, but find anything about it for which to be grateful. We can release worry about what is around the corner, and remain fully present in whatever life is teaching us at that moment.

Forward Escape

The only escape is a forward escape. Like the Hobbits in Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings, the only way to avoid further evils as they encroach closer to all we love and cherish, is to march forward to the fiery Mount Doom and face them directly. I am grateful for the promising vaccines which are just now rolling out. I will keep facing the challenges until my turn to receive one comes up! I keep moving forward, by not becoming lax in my preventative safety measures. I am grateful for the Biden/Harris administration transitioning into the white house, and despite the challenges, I will not lose faith that justice, reason and the sacred ideals of our American democracy will eventually prevail.

As we bid a cranky farewell to 2020, and say “screw you” to the Age of Pisces… As we kick Covid-19 with new vaccines, and evict political despots at the coming inauguration, may we all find the courage and fortitude to keep trudging forward and dreaming of better times. During this Yuletide and the winter season to come, may the promise of hope, peace and Divine love be rekindled for all. Hermetic Magick can help.

Bright Blessings for 2021, and the new age of Aquarius!
~Heron


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