Quareia—The Adept Module II—Magical Construction Lesson 7: The Hall of Planetary Spirits by Josephine McCarthy Quareia Welcome Welcome to this lesson of the Quareia curriculum. The Quareia takes a magical apprentice from the beginning of magic to the level of adeptship and beyond. The course has no superfluous text; there is no dressing, no padding—everything is in its place and everything within the course has a good reason to be there. For more information and all course modules please visit www.quareia.com So remember—in order for this course to work, it is wise to work with the lessons in sequence. If you don’t, it won’t work. Yours, Quareia—The Adept Module II—Magical Construction Lesson 7: The Hall of Planetary Spirits Another, and final, layer that we add to the temple is that of the planetary spirits. This brings the influence of the planetary spirits into a closer relationship with the Inner Temple, which focuses the patterns of fate and the tides of influence that the planets have on the temple’s life and work. This enables the Inner Temple adepts to foresee the tides of fate that gather and express out in the world, and to adjust the temple’s work accordingly. Working in such close connection with the planetary spirits and their influences lets our adepts work with the momentum of the streams of fate rather than pushing against them. It also allows the specific qualities of the individual planetary spirits to be worked with, consulted, and brought into action with the work of the temple and individual adepts through the generations. Construction of the Hall of Planetary Spirits As you discovered in your apprentice work, there is already a construct to give magicians closer contact with the planetary spirits, and that construct is rather old. Magicians either work with these spirits through Quareia—The Adept: Module ii, Lesson 7 ritual, sigils, and talismans, through visionary interaction, or both. As adepts, you should draw on the most suitable approach for your work. Having a layer of the Inner Temple as an octave of this construct would bring our union with these spirits into sharper focus and open the temple to a direct, continuous relationship with them. Adding such a layer would alert the planetary spirits to the Inner Temple’s existence, and demonstrate to them that it is willing to flow with their influences, engage them, and make the most of them. This would lead to a closer relationship between the spirits and the adepts; and individual adepts will learn to live their lives and do their work within the full conscious flow of the influences the planets exert on us. Place your staff by the south altar. Spend some time meditating in your workroom to still yourself, then, when you are ready, light the candle on the central altar, sit down, and go in vision to the Inner Temple via the Inner Library. When you arrive at the temple, circle the flame a few times, being aware of the people of the Gathering Place also circling the central flame. Some may pass into the room and circle with you. You will also become aware of magicians who belong in the Inner Temple circling alongside you. Step away from the group circling and go stand before the temple’s southern altar. The others will keep circling to keep the power going while you work. Look at the temple’s south wall and be aware of the powers of the Light Bearer and Restriction as they build behind you and flow through you. As those powers flow through you, be aware of the path into the future, the path that is both black and white—and also golden—which will become visible through the south wall the temple. Look through the temple wall at the road, and see in the distance the step pyramid of the Inner Library on the path’s horizon. The Companion walks along the path towards you. Other beings walk with him. You notice straightaway from the power around them that they are angelic; yet they have human form. They arrive at the south altar’s threshold and wait. You must invite them into the temple space: they cannot enter without the direct invitation of an adept of that temple. Hold out your left arm to them and ask if they are willing to help forge links between the planetary spirits and the temple. One by one they take your hand and step over the threshold, stepping through the wall, through the altar, and into the temple. They pause for a moment to watch the people circling the inner flame, and they smile and nod in 4 Quareia—The Adept: Module ii, Lesson 7 appreciation at the work of service for every living thing. The Companion puts a chisel in your left hand; they themselves hold a wooden mallet. The gathered angels wait for you both to trigger the work. Run your hands across the south wall, to west of the southern altar. In the corner where the south and west walls meet is the entrance to the Inner Library. Between that passage’s entrance and the south wall’s altar is a length of wall that is plain and untouched. Run your hand across it, tap it, and listen to the stone. You come to part that sounds more shallow, where the stone is not as smooth. Hold your hand to the stone in silence, and ask if it is willing to be opened. You will feel a response in the stone, as if it were waiting to be released. Hold the chisel to that point and look at the Companion. The other angels all place a hand on the Companion’s shoulder. Once they are all connected, the Companion hits the back of the chisel. As he hits the stone he makes a strange noise, as if putting out a call. The other angels join in. It sounds like a group of trumpets being blown. A section of the stone wall falls away to reveal a natural passageway behind it. The angels collect up the stone from the fallen wall and begin to distribute it around the temple, merging it with the walls so that it is not wasted. When they have finished, they enter the new passageway and tell you to come in last. As they go ahead you hear them working on the walls and floor, chipping away, moving the chippings, then fashioning stone steps. The Companion hands you a pot of dark paint and tells you to paint a story on the walls while the angels forge the passageway to the planetary spirits. Look closely at the walls in the passageway. Stories start to emerge from the walls, images that flow from one to the next. Somewhere deep inside you, you recognise these stories. Without thinking about the stories or what you are depicting, start to paint. The Companion guides your hand, and the images start to take form. As you paint, you become aware of others painting around you who seem to appear, then fade away. Many more appear, paint, and vanish. These are magicians in the future, adding to the stories on this place’s walls. You find yourself painting weavers, painting threads being brought together to create something beautiful. You paint the weaver goddess with her spindle and the three fates below her doing their work. You paint spiders, white horses, and the tales of different adepts who have, and will, become part of this temple. You paint planets on the ceiling, and below them you paint figures: the spirits of the planets. You become totally engrossed in your painting, and find that your hand has a life of 5 Quareia—The Adept: Module ii, Lesson 7 its own: the paintings just flow out of you unhindered. After a while of this you feel like you have run out of walls to paint, and stand back to look at your work. Only then do you see all the gathered worker angels standing around watching you, enthralled by the paintings. They look at you in awe, which shocks you, for you had thought of them as all-powerful angelic beings who were willing to work with you. Now you realise that you can do something they cannot: create a painting. The Companion breaks up the moment and tells you to go the stairway the angels have built and paint the steps. The angels have gone ahead of you, up the steps, and are putting together a bronze door. As you work on the steps you look up to watch the angels work. They all put their hands together, and when they withdraw them the bronze door is there. One of the angels passes into the door and does not come out again: he will stay there as a guardian. As you near the top step, the last one to paint, the angels also finish their work. You realise you are beginning to recognise each one as an individual, and you thank each of the workers individually for helping you. As you touch each one, they feel different, unique, and you thank them for constructing the passageway and stairs, as you could not have done it without them. The angels start to go back down the steps, and the Companion tells you to follow them and watch what happens. The angels file into the passageway with all the paintings, looking at them very carefully as if trying to find something. When an angel spots what he was looking for— an image of a person or a creature—he passes into the picture and merges himself with it.