MAPS OF ETERNITY
instant sense of otherworldliness and transcendence. T h e mystical visions of St. John of Patmos, recorded in the Book of Revelation are always a timely source for profound and deeply moving initiatic experiences as well.
What to Do If You Don't Have a Map If you are reading this book and are intrigued by the ideas of lucid dreaming, astral projection, and the Body of Light but do not have a cosmology to wed them to, that's fine. All of the practices in this book can be done by anyone virtually anywhere. H a v i n g a working cosmology is helpful in that it allows you to integrate the experiences you will have and understand them better, but it is no reason not to begin practicing on some level. Students of nonhermetic paths, such as the various schools of Wicca and Neopaganism, will see that the following methods are easily adapted to their cosmology without doing any violence or weakening of the techniques themselves. In the end, it will be your experience that matters. So even if you don't have a map to guide you, you can still make progress on the journey if you know where you want to end up, even if you don't know where you are going. T h e inner world is funny that way.
Key Points • T h e Higher Self, or Neshamah, in qabala is the divine and unchanging aspect of our consciousness. It is perfect and is constantly willing to make itself known to the Middle Self, or Ruach. T h e Higher Self is perfect in its expression of consciousness. • The Middle Self, or Ruach, is the ego, or sense of self we create as we go through life and experience the material world. It is our vision of our self in relation to external experiences. It is the work of the Middle Self to allow the Higher Self greater influence and expression in daily affairs, thereby bringing greater harmony to life. T h e Middle Self is the rational and moral aspect of our being and makes all decisions, including suggestions to the Lower Self.
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