|
The Birth and Education of a Magician
Part III: The Adept
Jill Duerr
Do what thou wilt
shall be the whole of the Law.
The first two articles in this series discussed grades 0=0 through 4=7 in the AA. The system thus far presents a map of how a developing magician and advancing student (the two sides of the equation in the grade-numbering system) can acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for the Great Work.
Adeptus Minor (5=6) is the first of the two great cruxes in the AA path. It is a place where the magician/student has to make a leap, beyond the tasks of accumulating capacities, into the realm of acting on them, and ultimately into the unknown. On the path of the magician's birth this is the fifth Sephira, Geburah, the sphere of Mars, the place of energy in action. On the path of the student's advancement it is the sixth Sephira, Tiphareth, the sphere of the Sun. It is the Heart center of a person's true magickal self, the point of equilibration after the journeys of Hod (intellect) and Netzach (emotion). Thus, Adeptus Minor is a point of going forth both from and towards one's true center, leaving home to come home. The warrior's arrow is shot from the heart.
One accomplishes this work by contacting, in an active way, the larger world beyond oneself. In One Star in Sight," Crowley puts it simply: The Grade of Adeptus Minor is the main theme of the instruction of the AA. It is characterized by Attainment of Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel." | 
