Self-Improvement and Interesting Knowledge

As you read the material that I have written thus far on inner alchemy, the books, the blog, and the videos, there may develop an almost natural tendency to want to align concepts that you might have been studying from other sources, with what I have written in accordance with the perceptions of inner alchemy. For example, you might have been studying and may know a great deal about other occult systems, such as Hermetics, wicca, eastern occult systems, or perhaps the Golden Dawn system of occult practice, and you might wonder how inner alchemy explains and defines those same concepts that you know about.

In this article I have taken a definition, a term, that is of common parlance in the occult world, and I have used it to dive very deeply into the thoughts, perceptions, and structuring done by inner alchemists. I hope that you will forgive me for the at times complexity of this article, and that you prepare yourself for a deep discussion into human possibility. My reasons for this deep dive have to do with a need to expand the nature of the material that I have presented thus far, especially the material that I have discussed in the inner alchemists course-book trilogy. I feel that it is time to step it up a notch as it were, in order to begin a more advanced level of technique and understanding.

So to recap what I mentioned at the start of the article,

because of previous knowledge in occult science, you might want to know how inner alchemy relates to those things that you already know about. In this article in particular, I want to discuss the concept of the higher self. I have been asked, how does the ‘higher self’ fit into the material that I have discussed and revealed thus far, specifically in the course-book, The Way of the death defier. And to that, I must start off with a key point, or that is a key aspect of the current that I follow. This is a very important technique within my current, a fundamental principal, and that is the intent of creating a proper structuring of the mind, the mind palace as it were, which I have referred to as the technique of expanding the logos in the above mentioned course-books.

Inner alchemists are very much interested in developing the most pristine logos possible, because they know that this is a critical step in breaking down the walls of the three dimensional trap, that this rational human world is to them. To that end, they know that they must first start by structuring this dimension, this objective world, in the most precise and immaculate way possible. This means that they must bind and order not only, all the things that they can perceive with their physical senses, which are the things that any person can perceive with their eyes, ears, nose  etc., they must also order in precise and logical fashion, all those things that they can perceive of other worlds from this world, that is, what they can see through their direct energetic perceptions, their inner senses.

Creating a pristine logos means giving a logical structure, to all those things that become a part of the inner alchemist’s reality, their mind palace.

To do this, they engage themselves in becoming master logicians, meaning that they are able to understand the phenomenology and the syntax of the world that they have been born into, and any world that they can eventually perceive using energetic awareness, inner senses, which may be termed seeing. The expansion of the logos is also highly important to the inner alchemist as they engage in projectionist techniques, which may also be understood as a highly powerful form of astral travel. Another way to say this is that they must understand to perfection the causal structure defined by a certain human worldview first off, the syntax and the phenomenal world that has become prevalent in these times, they must bind the causal structural laws of this three dimensional reality, and then they must do the same to all the other worlds, that is dimensions, that become available to them as the power of their seeing and projecting grows within them. This involves a logical understanding that far surpasses just the use of simple first-order logic, and does as time progresses include what might be termed philosophical logic, meta-logic, chaos logic, quantum mechanical logic, and generally phenomenological understanding at such a deep level, that it moves the logician into the deep complexities of non-classical logic. This structuring and growing power, as the mind palace grows, begins to go beyond this dimensional zone, this world, through a systematic ordering referred to as the creation and continual expansion of the logos.

As a foundational principle of this logical structuring, a key point (at least within the context of this physical dimension) becomes terminology and definitions; this is referred to as binding or bounding. That is, in order to understand the certain objective and subjective dimensional syntax of this physical reality and go beyond it, the boundaries and the complete definitions of all those things that make up that phenomenal structure must be established, the bounding must be established at the onset of the structuring. What this means in the simplest sense, and in particular in accordance with this article and the questions that have been asked about the higher self, is that to understand the inner alchemists’ point of view on this, you must clearly define first off what you mean by this term, higher self. Terms are important, terminology is in a basic sense the words that we use to define our world, any world, any dimension, and words are very important because they are the meta structure of the logos within the context of what we refer to as, the three-dimensional world, the rational world, the supposedly only real world.

So, to begin to answer this question we must clearly define what you may mean by the higher self, because if we do not do this, then my descriptions of what inner alchemy thinks of the higher self may not fit within the paradigm of your definitions. This is a very important point, and it is the cause of most of the strife that we see when people discuss or debate issues. This is so because their bounding of a certain perceived object or event is different than your bounding, that is the measuring and defining, of one person is different from another. It will be the same term, the same word, but the binding, the defining, is different. Without this metalogical preciseness, well, we are left with the endless jabbering and trolling that we see in this modern cyber culture, where even those that agree at a fundamental level, are separated and made to fight each other because of semantic inconsistencies.

So to begin, if we define the higher self as, a kind of eternal and omnipotent consciousness, that is (within the bounds of many definitions) a kind of God above, the God above that is within us but is also beyond us, and that each and every one of us, according to this particular definition, has an individual higher self, then we can begin in accordance with that definition, and in accordance to that definition only, discuss how such a definition may align itself with the direct energetic perceptions of inner alchemy.

With the above in mind then, inner alchemists do believe that there is a force, an individually perceived ray or light essence, that in some ways could be defined as the higher self, if you feel that this light essence represents a wished for ideal of your best self.

But there is a great deal of nuance and complexity, and unless these details are understood, at least from the inner alchemist’s point of view, then there can be errors made that can make the person aspiring to try to align themselves with their higher self, move in a direction that may not be favorable to them as individuals.

For example, for an inner alchemist the higher self is not an object existing somewhere out there, but it is instead a destination, a road. Another way to say this would be to say that the higher self is not a thing like an apple, or a table is a thing, but it is instead a directly perceived, that is seen through the inner senses, energetic configuration that is in no place and in every place simultaneously. If we use the above mentioned standard definition of the higher self, one could say that the higher self is not a place but a road, you don’t contact it by going to it per se, by reaching its location, instead, you align with it and you follow a path, a way, to try to get to it. But this is indeed a never ending road and in accordance to the seeing of inner alchemy, depending on your definitions (or your map, your perhaps unconscious logos let’s say) you may never reach this destination, the higher self is nowhere and yet in a certain sense it is everywhere within a certain range of probabilities.

For an inner alchemist, this road to that energetic conglomeration leads to freedom and lightness (less gravity), for a different individual it might lead to something completely different, it might lead to a wholly different place. We all have our roads to follow, our own individual higher self to chase, our own individual configuration to aspire to.

To give more clarity to all of this, which basically means looking into the details, the nuance, where the devil always hides as they say, we must begin by defining how it is that inner alchemists perceive. As I have stated in my books on inner alchemy, an inner alchemist is someone who has learned to perceive energy directly, to use something that one may term the inner senses in order to perceive that which is beyond objective reality, that is beyond objects, beyond the binding of three dimensional existence, the physical senses, and the rational stance of the times. An inner alchemists strives to go beyond a mob driven world view, that is bound by the laws of a kind of very simple form of classical mechanics.

By being able to see energy directly, an inner alchemist can directly perceive the tides of energy as they flow across infinity. And through those perceptions, what people might term an eternal conscious and intelligent being (a thing, object, or individual out there somewhere) is actually to an inner alchemist an energetic pooling, meaning that to them through their seeing the higher self is a non thing, it is a conglomeration, a number of different energetic components bound together in a kind of configuration that defies object-hood. To the inner alchemist the higher self is not an object, it is not something that has boundaries, and without boundaries it is not in essence a constant definable thing, but it is instead a large and ever-changing range of possibilities that is at all time, projecting an ever changing song or light. Because objective binding presupposes consistency, the terminology of that consistency can create, to use the nicest terms possible, a mislabeling of the complexities of this structure that some bind by referring to it as the higher self.

That which could be termed the higher self then, is not something that is just one thing, and being that it is not a thing in and of itself, because again it is not bound to three dimensions and therefore it is not an object, this gestalt or energetic and symbolic configuration or pattern of elements that might be defined as the higher self is not one bound thing, but it is instead manyfold non-things.

In accordance with the original definition at the start of the article, each person has an individual higher self. This ordinarily believed dogmatic understanding by the average person, again in accordance with the direct perceptions of inner alchemy only, is false in a way, and yet in some ways it is right in a way as well. This is a most difficult thing to describe, but understanding the nuance of this is highly important for true evolutionary understanding. The dogma based belief that each individual has their own unique higher self, like a piece for you forever and a piece for me, and these pieces are kept here for me and are kept there for you, is wrong, because energetically this is a non-local, a not here nor there essence that is available to all simultaneously. From the perceptive point of inner alchemists, It is not that each individual has a higher self, but that each individual perceives this non object differently and therefore from that unique individual perception, the individual finds its own individual higher self. This is a difficult nuanced point, but it is a very important one, because it opens up the notion of multiple states of being, which is the true and fundamental point of this article.

 

People always see things in a cause and effect structure that must put something before the other, that is there is always some cause that created an effect in a linear, this happened before that, kind of structure. This again is because most people are bound solely to three dimensions and therefore believed that everything exists within three dimensions only, that causality can only be possible because of three dimensions, there are no other worlds, this is the only real world. And it is the case then that they literally cannot see beyond this reality, they cannot see, they can only look with their physical senses. But for an inner alchemist there is more to reality than this, there is more than object-hood and linear time structure.

Using that understanding of non-linear time models and non three dimensional spacial bounding, meaning that for the inner alchemist cause and effect can break the bounds of linear models, which is I know an impossibility from the rational point of view, inner alchemists can see nonetheless that each individual can perceive a different aspect of the confluence of configurations described earlier. I mention this causal expansion of perception, this ability to see cause and effect beyond linear time models, because it is very important in all discussions involving a conceptualize higher self, because in all such discussions of these higher orders such as the higher self, there is often this problem that some people run into where they are trying desperately to figure out if it was the chicken or the egg that came first, if it is the chicken that is higher or if it’s the egg, if it’s the chicken that is morally right or is it the egg, etc.

The problems with individuality and beliefs in the existence of an individual higher self for everyone, can run into such problems as to which came first, the higher consciousness or the individual, and by believing that either the chicken came first, or the egg, such binding can create beliefs that at least in accordance with inner alchemists, are not energetically true. This nuanced deviation in understanding can cause great problems as these dogmatic beliefs evolve, and it is this meta principle, interestingly, that is responsible for not only a lack of understanding of highly complex systems, but it is also the cause of much of the black or white, up or down, higher or lower, polarities and distinctions created by the dogmatically bound human world.

Anyway, to get back to point, you can think of it like this: each individual is in a particular position in space and time, as such we could metaphorically imagine that each one of these individuals that is scattered across a geography of space and time, is looking up at a large cloud.

They are then metaphorically looking up at a kind of large configuration of energetic elements united. Being that each individual is in a particular location, that is each individual is in a particular space-time position, their view of this immense cloud above them is different, because each angle as they look up is different. This means that each individual is looking at a particular facet of this enormous cloud above them, and so to each individual this cloud may seem to be different, and being different and being bound to the individual’s perceptions, a subjective experience, it is believed by each individual that the higher self is individual as well, that is each person has their own particular higher self.

Here is where one problem of the chicken and the egg comes in. From an energetic point of view, this perception of the above cloud being individual or not, is both true and false, that is, there is indeed one all encompassing higher self for everyone that exists beyond the individual, but

there is also an individual higher self for each individual, being that each individual through their personal perceptions does embody an aspect of that cloud of energy. There are therefore two possible states simultaneously,

One where the higher self is an individual thing, and one where the higher self is not an individual thing, but it is instead something far greater than just the one, like a vast energetic cloud somewhere beyond the individual. Both things are true, but to believe that only one is true and not the other, creates a bounding limitation, that in time will cause problems for the evolving individual.

This is a difficult topic, and it is a difficult thing to understand, and it will always be difficult to understand until you can let go of object-hood perception which demands that you only have one state, one real supposedly event.

In other words both the chicken and the egg were created at the same time, or it might be better to say that there exist many probable states simultaneously where either the chicken or the egg were created first, one where neither exists, and one where they are both simultaneously created together.

This is important in understanding the higher self because in accordance with the perceptions of inner alchemy, the higher self is not an object, it is instead sort of like a road. You are not contacting an object out there, instead you are aligning yourself in a certain direction let us say, and as such the higher self is not a thing but it is instead a way.

And beyond this, being that the higher self is not an object but a configuration that one could say is so massive that it is beyond any one individual’s personal perception, each road for each individual is different, unique, and highly personal. And the difference between the road of each individual can be such, that what one person does in order to align themselves with their road, their way, can be completely and utterly different from the alignment of someone else. In that sense then, the road is both individual and not, both states are true simultaneously and complement each other, one could even go as far as saying that neither could exist alone.

A second aspect of the chicken and the egg meta principles that becomes highly important , is that in contemplation of the higher self, questions can arise about higher or lower. What I mean by this is that there can be this very polar black or white defining, bounding, separating that will posit that the higher self, being higher, the sky, remember we are for some reason looking up at this cloud, representing above, must represent in accordance with the symbol-logical picture-words used, good and goodness. Which is then made to fit into the human tribal ideal of what good is and what being good should be going forward.

They may say internally to themselves in a subconscious way, the higher self is higher, therefore it is good, and the theology or the perceived correctness of the times defines goodness as this particular thing only, so this higher self can only tell me to do this, and if it is not saying this then it is not the higher self, and if this other individual is not doing this then they are not good and are not in contact with the higher self. I hope you get what I am trying to say here as it relates to many of the societal problems of the age.

But from an inner alchemist’s point of view such a bounding of high and low can curtail awareness, and such a curtailing can be deadly for them, as they try to navigate the infinity that is denied to the average person that is trapped within the grips of dogma and three dimensional object hood.

As such, the term higher, within the defined term higher self, is incorrect for them, because for them there is only energy, not objects. This is the most difficult thing to come to terms with, and it basically comes down to, from the inner alchemists point of view, that is from their energetic perceptions, there is no higher or lower, there is only energy and energy is neither good or bad, it is,

it is now, and this now is all time, all space, and therefore all possibility.

These are hard concepts to try to put into words because words are not designed to be able to describe, that is to bind with definition, the reality of existence beyond three dimensions. As such it becomes very difficult to define things that are outside of it, and the higher self I believe, by most definitions, is outside the bounding walls of object hood. The best way, the only way, to know is to perceive energy directly yourself, as such the inner alchemist strives from the very beginning to make this a possibility in their lives.

The problems in understanding objects and non-objects, multiple states of existence, such as whether Shrodinger’s cat is alive, dead, or both for example, the potential for causality to go beyond linear time frames, and the difficulties in understanding the potential dual states of particle and wave, will always be an impossibility until you begin to come to terms with the possibility that things can exist in multiple states at the same time, that there are quantum states and that each possible state, whether perceivable by the human physical senses or not, matters, is valid, and is real, as real as anything in the physical world. This I believe is the next state and the ever-expanding human logos, which is happening right now, which will usher in an evolutionary step in human consciousness. And I do believe that a lot of this phenomenological evolution, can be greatly augmented by employing some of the techniques of inner alchemy, specifically the ability to perceive energy directly.

6 comments

  1. I’m not too much of a fan of the concept of the Higher Self, not only because everyone understands something different when they talk about it, but also because it can turn all too easily into giving away your power and your responsibility to some nebulous sky-god, the worst thing being that some may get the idea that the Higher Self is a future version of you which is already immortal and all-powerful and get the idea that they don’t have to do any kind of work. Not to mention that PNOBs can pose as your Higher Self and lead you to your ruin.
    If I look at how you describe the Higher Self, being the same cloud that everyone percieves differently and each one of us makes a part of that cloud their own, then it seems to me that if there is any Higher Self out there it’s our own Greater Psyche. The powerful, magical and endless Unconcious which we have to unite with. It’s the only thing that fits and and the only thing that makes enough sense to be worth considering for me at this point. It’s our “Spirit”, the wisdom Sophia. The Bride of our Ghost, which the Christ. (At least that’s how I try to make sense of it.)
    I like how you equate the Higher Self with the Path. It reminds me of the Tao. The Tao is everything, eternal and endless, but it is also understood as the Way. At first we are on the Path, but later we BECOME the Path. And the Path might indeed be endless. Maybe the true Higher Self is the ideal you strive for and which you are slowly becoming when you (re)create yourself, and when you have arrived at your goal you discover there is yet something Higher and the work continues. Maybe forever.
    Therefore in my theory a part of the Chicken is already there, the Greater Psyche but you still have to start with the egg. The egg comes first, you have to hatch and grow it and make the Chicken whole and unite with your Higher Self to make the Totality of Oneself. Therefore the most empowering way to work with the concept of Higher Self (imho) is to look into a mirror and see your Higher Self. No “higher self out there” will complete the Magnum Opus for you. It’s all in our hands here and now, that’s all we will ever have.

  2. By the way…have you ever considered the possibility of the Greater Psyche, to be precise “your” Greater Psyche or the part that you perceive and try to take away from the oversoul, falling in love with you and coming towards you in order to help you to attain the Totality of Self? I mentioned above the Ghost being the Bridegroom and the Greater Psyche the Bride but how far can we take this? Can we turn this into something like an actual love-relationship between two entities who seem seperate but in reality are one? Maybe this is where the concept of the Higher Self which guides you and loves you comes from.
    Would it be possible to make your Unconscious “want” to leave her Dad (Oversoul) and become yours after it realizes how serious and compelling you are? I have read the Way of the Death Defier only once so far (I’ll get to re-reading soon) and I remember the passage about your Unconscious leading you to your true place, which seems like the ultimate destination until you attain the great goal. This already implies that the unconscious would indeed be guiding you on purpose to attain unification, which means it may actually somehow “want” to be fully yours. If you go on youtube and look up the music video called Tír na nÓg by Celtic Woman, you just might get the impression that this is your unconcious luring you in with the symbol of a relationship and love through the medium of music, and music is, I believe, the language of gods. And love of course is a very powerful connecting energy. Regarding the video; Tir na nog is the state of immortality and freedom and the ancient fog is the veil of ignorance of the humans. “The mark of my elven kiss” is basically after you have passed the fourth room, and you are already changed. That’s how I see it at least haha. Or maybe it’s only me who get’s those inspirations?
    I would love to hear your take on this. Sorry for posting this here, I don’t know if this can go here or rather in the way of the death defier q&a.

    1. I think that your ideas are very interesting, and being that each path is an individual path, the way that you are following your own inspiration and in that way discovering your own truth is excellent.
      Depending on interpretation, the unconscious does indeed love you. ‘AllThatIs’ does indeed love you, if by love you mean that they see the greatest in you and want you to become the most you can be, the best that you can be in accordance to who you want to be. The ‘Mandate of Heaven’ as I have termed it can in some ways, again depending on how you define it yourself, be defined as the mandate of love let us say.
      In that sense then, it is a kind of pure love, agape as I refer to it in the book mentioned. It is a complete and utter desire for you to be who we want to be, for you to be more, and a freedom of giving, that is, a kind of giant burst or impulse of unmeasurable magnitude that gives and inspires, and opens up roads at every corner, so that you may have every opportunity possible to expand further, and in that expansion discover the totality of what you are.

      1. Thanks John. I guess I’m just trying to figure out to what an extent it’s possible for someone to have a seemingly external higher self and if the unconcious could become that. Recently I started to consider the possibility of having a companion servitor take on the role of your higher self. Especially the advisor servitor which seems very fitting for that role. What you have written about it is very interesting, for example that it’s a part of you that you externalize and more importantly that it’s a window to your inner psyche. I wonder if you make such a servitor powerful and complex enough it could indeed be something like a higher self, at least a self created being that takes the role of a higher self. The fact that servitors are time travelers only helps such a servitor to be able to guide you since your childhood for example, even if you have created it much later.
        Maybe some people consciously or unconsciously create such powerful “higher self” servitors and work with them. Maybe they have a hard time facing chapel perilious alone, or even the dreaded abyss, and having a external higher self kind off replaces the concept of “God” for them and makes things easier and less lonely. But I still recongnize the possible trappings and dangers that all of this can bring, and I think that eventually we all have to be our own higher self, might as well be it right now.

        1. Very well said Catcraft, and I am glad that you say that you recognize the potential dangers of trying to rely too much on such a servitor. Such beings can indeed become amazing companions, but one must never forget that they are ultimately servitors, without that sobriety, such creations can become folly.

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