Module three is the first module that starts to look at the powers behind magic, behind the manifest world and our own unique existence. It looks into the complexity of fate and how magicians step out of an unconscious pattern that drives their lives and the lives of everything around them. It guides the first step the magician takes into conscious awareness, communion and interaction with the powers of fate and creation.
When I used to teach ballet, at first I taught in the way that most teachers teach – blindly following technical steps without much understanding or focus. It took me years to understand that such a teaching method is self defeating. An intelligent mind does not really learn from blindly following steps – an intelligent mind learns and grows from knowing why those steps exist, what they lead to, what can go wrong, how to stop it when it does go wrong, and how to self correct it.
me teaching in California 2000
I did this through teaching the ballet student how their body works, the signals the body gives out, what the start of a technical movement looks like, how it develops and what it eventually turns into. I spent countless house showing students videos of technical achievement and failure, so that the teen mind had a horizon to aim for and also a guide to ensure how not to screw up.
Module three is very much about this approach in magical training. Many schools teach rituals, incantations, evocations and basic skills without really saying why, where it is going, what is behind it, how it works, what it looks like when it goes wrong and what powers are involved at the deepest level. Some choose not to teach such detail until the training is almost complete, and some do not teach it at all. I realised from watching this that it produced students who could mimic an action, but did not truly understand it.
The Companion / The Noble One
by Cassandra Beanland
This module begins the process of looking in depth at the powers of creation and fate, how they flow into our world and what direct and indirect affect they have upon us, our magic, and the world around us. It is pointless working magic that touches upon these powers, as most magic does, without fully understanding what it is we are plugging into.
It is a vast subject and this module begins the process of understanding these powers. Over the course, the student will revisit this subject matter, inching deeper and deeper into the mystery as they progress.
It enables the student to work magically in gnosis, to tailor their magic to the appropriate streams of power in a safe and balanced way, and it also begins the process of holding up a mirror to ourselves.
The Grindstone – the angelic teacher
But I also had to ensure that touching on such a powerful subject was done in a way that the student is not overwhelmed nor exposed to any danger – a fun task indeed. It covers what the student needs to know and protects them from what they do not need to know at this stage of training. Most of the powers and contacts dealt with in this module are beings that have worked long in history with magicians, which makes it a reasonably safe road to tread.
The Keeper of the Threshold of life
by Cassandra Beanland
The practical work focuses upon the student themselves, the understanding and connection with their own fate, their own past and their own future: their own creation in action. Our deeper learning always begins at ground zero – the self.
The more powerful beings that are introduced in this section are beings that flow through everything in creation, including magic. The energetic dynamics, polarities and catalysts that flow from the inner worlds over the threshold into the manifest world are laid out so that the magician can understand for themselves what a magical act is leading to, what the development potentially is, how it affects the magician and their magic, and most of all, how it affects the magician as an eternal spirit.
A fair bit of the imagery and understanding of these threshold powers can be spotted in action in ancient texts and paintings, and the student is guided to these expressions so that they can begin to first be aware of them and then spot them in different interpretations, which in turn will give the student a far deeper understanding of cultural, religious and magical tomes left to us by the ancients.
Decima – the measurer
by Stuart Littlejohn
This creates a strong intelligent foundation that the act of magic can rest firmly upon and as the student progresses to evermore complex and advanced magical technique, they will have a full background in what that technique rests upon, why it works, how it works and what it will lead to.
This module works in tandem with module four (death and the underworld)
Guardians of the desert
by Cassandra Beanland
and together they create a solid base for module five, which is magical tools. It is pointless working with a magical tool unless you truly and fully understand what it actually is, how it works, why it works and the influence these tools have upon our magic and our lives. Holding a nicely made blade with a fancy hilt, crystals and sigils littering it, does not a magician make. Holding a blade, knowing its consciousness, its power source, having connection with the beings that flow through magical blades, knowing how to bridge those beings into the blade, and then knowing how and when to wield it safely and affectively, now that is a magician.
I hope that when you reach module three of Quareia training, that you find yourself astonished, immersed, slightly fearful, more thoughtful and full of curiosity. It should trigger moments of sudden inspiring ‘knowing’…. moments of ohhhhhhh……..and it should change you. Magic is about change, and that magic starts with yourself.
Josephine McCarthy 
The approach of reaching back to fundamentals (through filters of the Socio-cultural layers), not only in the teaching approach- but I find in your referencing looking at ‘other cultures/other traditions’ approach to one-thing… to seek to see to that common denominator -How much of the way the Pattern-is understood is the Translation-Handles, and how much is the Pattern-itself?
Just some aspects of what is written (only the first few modules.. and yet more in a few pages than is in other-works, explicit-writings… (most modules being 10-20 or so.. hinting-pointing at other “Doors” thus the teaching-info is more than if it was longer)
In Short- I’m greatly appreciating- best wishes and luck in this ‘Quareia’ and in all else you do/live.
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I did notice a couple items, I wondered if typo, or just a different approach, and I wasn’t sure if a convenient place to mention (not wanting to distract in any way, but if a quick fix? or just wrong reading on my part)- for Ex Mod2 L4, p14 (Full Hexa) goes to each quarter and speak about that qtr, but ‘ Go to the West….. “I call upon the powers of the South…” ?
I hope that isn’t trivial.. but it if was “I call upon the powers of the West”.. would make that different, and it could be South is called upon in S & W
……
a perhaps more trivial ex (but perhaps not- in terms of symbols)…Mod2, L5, p15:
four symbols listed (the Medieval “four elements” of 2 triangle up, 2 down- one of ea with a horizontal line, the other of each “empty”… it shows Fire pt-up with horiz-line, while Air pt-up is “empty”… I’ve always seen that reversed. Fire and Water “empty” while Air and Earth have a line filling their core. Creates a different pairing, and it is only listed there briefly for symbols, but if referenced later, or seen elsewhere).
Regardless, hoping the above doesn’t seem to be pointing at issues (such as the rough-hewn ashlar becomes more evident in its ‘Slight-flaws’ the more it approaches the form of the foundation-block. -mastery of Craft-making
cheers- ‘one still trying to figure out the role of the “exercise book” (just meaning writing in a spiral-notebook/blank book? in a certain format? -not having that term used in my schooling) 🙂
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Some recent modules have revealed some angles that I feel I should have recognized long-ago (that definition of ‘making the complex seem simple, but only as simple as it can be.’)… -wow
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thankyou Gary,
Josephine
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Gah, sorry Gary, it looks like some typos got past us… we will get them fixed, thanks for the heads up. we already have two sets of eyes on them, but we still miss things.
The exercise book (blank book) has a specific action… it is not used too much in the course, but it does have a specific purpose… when you are given things to write/draw in it, it is the first step to learning how to transfer power into a drawn symbol and also how to infuse power into the written word.. but it has to be done by hand.. and most people do not write by hand anymore, so we have to start there… as you progress, you will notice that more and more it is only specific things you have to write/draw in it.
Josephine
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Most appreciated response (I figured it slipped by, and I only wanted to contrib my noticing).
In terms of the Benefits of the BlankBk, that made perfect sense (my notations and thoughts are constantly by-hand (allowing ‘un-linear’ to have later comments written near relevant prior- connect up ,and draw figures).. the comment about representative Sigils, I’ve read those brief references and seen much in it.. -so the why, getting thoughts written, makes sense (even if the Vessel infusing doesn’t quite, yet 🙂 )
– while I thought some references to getting a school-book seemed to have some other structure than each writing after the prior. (ie as if on blank pages, just connected/bound up). As it seems that likely there would be half pages unused? (depending purely upon how many are used).
Not to write to many comments- I hope above might make more sense- all part of the process, eh ? -cheers
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Josephine, I can’t tell you how inspired and excited I am about this course. Fear not…I am remained grounded. It’s just that I rarely experience the ‘feeling’ of excitement. I see others around me excited about holidays or birthdays etc but I rarely feel the same emotions. I have been fielding this ‘excitement’ since I first read about the course. I am getting out of bed an hour earlier to meditate, only ever got out of bed for my children or my animals, otherwise I have no desire to move. And I am finding that I have the energy or desire to do other things like…walk about the block, tidy cupboards etc. I guess its all good. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Michelle
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Hi Michelle,
good! and the drive to ‘spring clean’ your space is a sign that it is working at a deep level – you are putting yourself and your environment into order which is a deep shift within you. You along with everyone else doing the course will find that occasionally you hit a wall… don’t worry when that happens, it comes up when a major shift needs time to come into balance. Just plod on and the wall/blockage feeling will eventually shift and become a none issue. Dancers go through the same thing in training, because it is so long and involved – they get to a stage of feeling they cannot go on, or they are not making progress, or it is becoming too much for them. Some take time out, some quit and some plod on and come out the other side. When you do come out of the other side of a wall, you jump forward massively. And this is true of any deeply involved discipline.
Happy journey!
josephine
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Josephine, I have a couple of general questions. I understand if you don’t have time to answer but I’m curious what your thoughts are. First, do you consider mirrors to be portals, or potential portals? I’m thinking specifically of when we are taking stock of the entries/exits into our living space. I know you mentioned fireplaces, but they of course are literally open to the outside via the chimney.
I was really interested by what you said in Module 1 about researching the plants that would be native to your region, with aromatic/resinous species potentially having clearing properties. I’ve been trying to figure out what my region was like but it has been so heavily “developed” it’s very difficult to find traces of the original flora. Do you think the presence of non-native plants could be potentially disruptive? (Maybe that’s too strong a word but I can’t think of a better one right now.) There are some non-native trees in my area which are unable to flourish due to being adapted to a very different environment, and being around them is very upsetting for me. They are so unhappy seeming, and they are all over this city. They make the whole place feel sort of…delusional and out of touch with reality, if that makes sense. I’m just really curious about what might be going on at a deeper level.
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HI acmoyer,
first answer is wait and see… its in the course.
Second answer – that is something you have to figure out for yourself, part of the training is about coming to your own conclusions and what grows out of that. 🙂
J
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You know, I had a feeling that’s what you would say… 🙂 Alas, I’ve never been the most patient student, and it looks like I’m trying to get ahead of myself again. At least I have no shortage of motivation! I shall wait to see what reveals itself… Thank you!
-Alexandra
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Great! Thank you Josephine for the input above ~ very useful info.
Take Care
Michelle
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