Chapel Perious - Pt 2

From Part One of this series: For the prepared, this most dangerous navigation, this perilous crossing, can be achieved… at great cost. The price to be paid is one’s presumption of the fixed, static, unchanging and dependable nature of reality. Those who have been reborn, emerging from the chapel, having traversed beyond the valley of the shadow… those tempered souls, no longer are afforded the luxury of an unvarying reality. At this juncture, and in the words of Robert Anton Wilson: 

“Reality is what you can get away with.”

   

Chapel Perilous Part Two: Additionally, we envision Chapel Perilous as a rite of passage… an initiation into the mysteries… an inevitable portal to the higher circuits. Ancient mystery cults prepared their initiates in the ways of their teachings. The Orphic mysteries, circa 600 BCE, were traditionally founded by the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underworld and returned. Although there is no surviving, definitive text of Orphism, it is clear that the descent to the underworld, demonstrates the perils of the Chapel.

Within the ancient Orphic mythology, Zagreus (Greek: Ζαγρεύς) was identified as an archetypical predecessor of the “Dionysus” figure… the son of Zeus and Persephone, who was dismembered by the Titans and reborn. Importantly, in the earliest mention of Zagreus, he is paired with Gaia (Earth) and called the “highest” god. The essential myth is as follows…

Dionysus (in his incarnation as Zagreus) is the son of Zeus and Persephone. Zeus pledges his throne to the child. The Titans are enraged over the proclamation and decide to murder the child. The Titans proceed to murder and consume Zagreus. Athena saves the heart and tells Zeus of the crime, who in turn hurls a thunderbolt on the Titans... ashes to ashes. The resulting soot, from which mankind is born, contains the bodies of the Titans and Dionysus. Thus, the soul of man (the Dionysus part) is therefore divine, while the body (the Titan part) holds the soul in bondage.

This mythology parallels the Gnostic teachings of the divine spark that is the human soul. The dismemberment of Zagreus also aligns with the Ancient Egyptian Osiris mythology. These mythic similarities demonstrate a common lineage of the ancient mystery cults, Egyptian mythology and early Gnostic teachings.

“The Orphics were an ascetic sect; wine, to them, was only a symbol, as, later, in the Christian sacrament. The intoxication that they sought was that of “enthusiasm,” of union with the god. They believed themselves, in this way, to acquire mystic knowledge not obtainable by ordinary means. This mystical element entered into Greek philosophy with Pythagoras, who was a reformer of Orphism as Orpheus was a reformer of the religion of Dionysus. From Pythagoras, Orphic elements entered into the philosophy of Plato, and from Plato into most later philosophy that was in any degree religious.”

- Bertrand Russell

Carl Jung borrowed terms and interpretations from the mystery cults as a source of metaphors for his reframing of psychoanalytic treatment into a spiritualistic ritual of initiation and rebirth. The Eleusinian mysteries, described in book one of this series, particularly the qualities of the Kore (archetypical feminine), figured prominently in his writings. In this manner, the mystery cult teachings proceed from antiquity, through Gnostic tradition, influencing hermetic, alchemical, Rosicrucian, and Masonic secret teachings, to modern psychology.

Within our figurative, eight-fold roadmap that represents human consciousness, Chapel Perilous stands at the crossroads that separate the four monkey mind circuits and the four true human circuits. This is symbolically so, because all who truly seek answers to life’s great mysteries, inevitably reach an excruciating moment of profound existential doubt. This is the true rite of passage that, regardless of system, must be undergone alone.

This is the Buddha… alone under the Bodhi tree. This is Jesus… alone in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. However, this definitive moment does not necessarily come at a prescribed time. Often it will come “as a thief in the night” when one least expects it…

The deep darkness that is Chapel Perilous may appear at any point along the eight-fold path. We place the Chapel at the crossroads of the lower and higher circuits… for convenience and metaphor. Often, activation of the fourth circuit… the opening of the heart chakra… may trigger the Chapel Perilous ordeal, but this is not always the case.

So just how (the curious psychonaut may ask) can one be sure if it is indeed the Chapel, and not some mere, mundane, mental catastrophe? While a definitive answer is occluded, the quandary becomes clear by paying attention to “the signs and portents.” The approach to Chapel Perilous is marked by a distinct increase in synchronicities within the seeker’s life. This sudden, divine invasion of synchronicity may be alarming, but… fear not.

Do not be “surprised or dogmatized” by a synchronous influx… for this experience is just another day in our brave noö world. Synchronicity is a byproduct of correct inquiry… it is to be expected on the path to the higher circuits. In fact, if synchronicities are not popping up everywhere, then you are not asking the right questions… you are not approaching the Chapel!

Experience of the Chapel, as well as spontaneous activation of the higher circuits, may occur at any time. It is the conceptualization of the eight-fold path, as typified by the eight circuits, that places Chapel Perilous at the tipping point… the turning of the tide… of consciousness exploration. But as we all know, the map is not the territory! It is the unknowing, the unannounced spontaneity that makes the dark Chapel so perilous!

Also, once through the doors, it is best not to linger in Chapel Perilous. Just as in Friedrich Nietzsche's abyss, if you stare into the Chapel for long enough, something starts to stare back. Who knows what psychic critters lurk within the Chapel? Pass through… don’t make eye contact… you don’t want to catch someone’s (or something’s) eye. Just keep walking until you reach the other side.

Note: The above is the second excerpt from the Chapel Perilous chapter of Jack Heart's New Book: "Applied Tek-Gnostics - A Field Guide for the Collective Conscious"  ...This title is available now on Amazon, in paper and electronic editions. Find the link below...

Applied Tek-Gnostics