#and i definitely think crowley is closer to that path in terms of understanding the reality of heaven and hell- good vs evil

[forestofsprites]

to attempt to categorize aziraphale & crowley's actions into the simple dichotomies of 'correct' and 'wrong' or 'good' and 'bad' is to employ the exact same fallacy that the show warns of. throughout season two we see aziraphale struggle with morals and their ambiguity, no matter crowley's assertion (and demonstration) that there is no true 'good', no true 'evil'- that the lines are not only blurred but frankly non-existent- aziraphale can't move past the principles he was raised on. good actions are good (inherent to angels, inherent to heaven), evil actions are evil (inherent to demons, inherent to hell). aziraphale's decision to try to 'fix' heaven is the perfect representation of the reality of the universe. he believes it to be a simply good decision, something angels do and heaven is all about (he'll get heaven back to normal! back to being good!) but the reality of his decision is so much murkier than that. it isn't that aziraphale did something bad or evil, nor is it that he did something correct or good, he did something that, like many things in the universe, embodies both.

#i haven't done meta in a year guys i am so sad and rusty #i just mean that #you can't define the show that seeks to reject the good/evil fallacy by employing that fallacy to denote their actions #i mean absolutely aziraphale thinks he is being good. he made that choice in the faith that it was a good one. something inherent to him #as an angel #but that decision was never so clear cut. there was no right or wrong within it. he was given a choice and he chose it #it's not going to achieve what he thinks it will. it isn't the path to his happiness #and i definitely think crowley is closer to that path in terms of understanding the reality of heaven and hell- good vs evil #but neither are simply right or wrong #neither is a simply good or simply bad option #the whole point is an 'us' #a middle ground #an understanding that choices and actions are not good or bad or wrong or right. they're just choices. they're inherently made with a bit #of both #good omens #good omens s2 #good omens season two #good omens spoilers #rambling #that tag hasn't been used in sooo long #good omens meta #good omens rambling

[younghunger]

What we encounter in The Great Perfection Doctrine is a substantial difference with traditional Western doctrines between the Left-Hand Path and the Sinister Path of Slavic-Russian paganism. The fundamental tenets of the former accentuate individualism and deification of the adherent, that is expressed in well-known motto “Not to revere God, but to become God”. For paganism however, such stand is not part of the Left Path, but rather it is basic reality, the natural ground. The Sinister Path of Russian paganism goes further, holding that deification of the adherent is possibly the last but not final stage of the Path of the Work. The fact is, Divinity in form of images, names and shapes must be sacrificed to the Ultimate, the Unthinkable in terms of language or images; sacrificed to the Sacred, which is absolutely numinous and is present beyond names and forms, something that was pointed at by the Rhineland mystics Meister Eckhart and John Tauler, or by the Neoplatonists. Herein Veleslav inherits the tradition of apophatic definition of the super-being of the Sacred.

– What draw you first to the study of Paganism, and to become a Rodnover priest?

Craving to know the roots of my Kin, my origin in the meaning of Blood [as family genealogy – trans.] and Spiritual Ground – the Source of Wisdom which is more ancient and deeper than the one modern dominating religions can offer.

On the term “volhv”, perhaps it should be talked about separately. Different people in different epochs could put different meanings into this word, and therefore one needs to be sensitive enough not to be deceived by appearance and not to miss the essence behind many superficial interpretations. If we follow our terminology, being a volhv is not a position, but a vocation. A Spiritual Invocation from the Gods, if you will. If the priest in our terminology is a person chosen by people to perform some ritual functions, then the volhv is in a certain sense the chosen one by the Gods, the person with direct Knowledge (Spiritual Knowledge), not a functionary of religion, but a Spiritual Teacher.

Actually, it doesn’t matter who I am. More important is how much of what I write and talk about can become a tool for the internal work of everyone who reads or listens to me.

– Do you consider Rodnovery as a restoration of pre-Christian Slavic religion as such? Can that even be done?

I am totally opposed to all kinds of “restorations” in the sphere of the Spirit. Let the restoration and copying of gray antiquities be dealt with by museum workers and re-enactors (in our country, as in the rest of Europe, the reconstructive movement is now quite developed). For me Paganism is, figuratively speaking, the transmission of the Living Fire but not the preservation of ashes. Of course we rely on the Legacy of our Ancestors, but we do not build it in the absolute. It should be clearly understood that we are very different today from our ancient Ancestors, and this is normal and natural. It’s not normal when we try to imitate the forms that have become obsolete, and we are not able to distinguish them from the content, when we miss the living Spiritual impulse for the sake of compliance with formalities.

In my opinion Paganism is strong in that it is free from rigid dogma, from egalitarianism, and it cannot be based on any one “sacred scripture”. Our Scripture is, figuratively speaking, the Living Book of Mother Nature. Our Teachers are Life and Death and the Abyss of the UNBORN that is hidden behind them. Life is a flow which is always moving and not standing still. Death is the completion and renewal, Initiation and Spiritual Transfiguration. Together Life and Death constitute the Eternal Circle – the cyclical transformation of all that exists. But in the Center of this Wheel of Life and Death immobility reigns – the Silence of the Spirit. All of us are glimpses of the Eternal, clothed in transitory and changeable forms. Therefore do not be afraid of changes, searches and mistakes – life’s search is better than a dead formalism and dogmatic isolation.

There are many Folk traditions on Earth, but the Tradition – the Self-revelation of Spirit in the man’s Heart – is always one. Just different cultures and peoples talking about the Unspeakable on different languages and in every epoch the new forms came into the World, and working with them man founds his own Path from personal to Eternal, from changeable to Unaltered.

– Gurdjieff is obviously a big influence in your work, but could you mention other sources of inspiration?

I am close to different traditions and different Spiritual Teachers who relied on direct experience and were not afraid to take a step beyond the usual and ordinary. Dull moralizers from the dominant religions are not interesting to me, whereas people like G. Gurdjieff or Aleister Crowley are consciously overcoming the stereotypes of philistine thinking, and can be a vivid example of going beyond the borders of the picture of the World imposed on a person by a society in which the total “dictatorship of mediocrity” reigns.

If a person seeks only where everything is then he is doomed to find only what is already the property of the crowd. With madmen and geniuses it’s not necessary to agree in everything, but we can learn from them what the crafty businessmen from the religious business and selling sugary platitudes for housewives don’t know.

Mediocre people tend to confuse the emotional arousal received from attending planned religious events with the Spiritual Path. It is not by chance that many Sufi or Tantric masters who do not pursue popularity among ignoramuses are not understood and even persecuted by the crowd, while a hypocritical television preacher who lives by the repetition of trivial blossoms is considered respectable and extolled in a society where the “gregarious feeling” with success took the place of personal search.

– A core theme in “The Great Perfection Doctrine” is the subject of the Path of Great Perfection, which you describe as “the path which is not the path in itself”; can you talk us about it?

Usually we are talking about the Three Paths, or more precisely the three aspects of one Path. So, there is the Right Path or the Path of Removal from the Source; The Sinister Path or the Path of Return; and the Path of Great Perfection, or the Path without a path. On the Right Hand Path (Десный Путь, десница – the “right hand”, the “giving hand” in the Slavic tradition) a man moves from the Center to the periphery, from Spirit to matter, from himself to others, to the outside world. On the Sinister Way (Шуйный Путь, шуйца – the “left hand”, the “taking hand”) a man rushes into himself, in search of his True Nature – from the periphery of matter to the Spiritual Center. The Path of the Great Perfection, also called the Path without a path, implies a clear vision of the illusion of any conditioned “path”, of any speculative description of “movement” from oneself or toward oneself. In fact, I cannot be further from MYSELF or closer to my SELF, to my True Nature, because I is I-AM originally: “Atman is a Brahman” as it says in the Upanishads. TAT TWAM ASI – THAT (Brahman) is I AM (Atman).

– To my understanding, you started off your spiritual journey deeply rooted in Pagan beliefs, but nowadays it seems you have deviated from that in order to create your own path, drawing influences from Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism. Do you agree? Or do you still consider yourself a true Slavic Pagan?

Generally speaking, Paganism – in its highest manifestation – is a conversion not to the past, but to the under-temporal, to the Eternal. The Legacy of the Ancestors can contribute to the acquisition of our immediate Spiritual experience, but it should not become an obstacle to its acquisition, replacing living experience with stereotypes of tradition. Ashes of old fires should not choke the Living Flame.

~Volhv Veleslav

#Volhv Veleslav #Veleslav #Russian #Pagan #Spiritual #Quotes