Christian Hermetics: Grace, Humility, and the First Joyful Mystery - Virgil

When man humbles himself, God cannot restrain His mercy; He must come down and pour His grace into the humble man, and He gives Himself most of all, and all at once, to the least of all.

–Meister Eckhart

It’s no secret that people can work through IIH (Initiation Into Hermetics by Franz Bardon) at drastically different paces. While some people move through the beginning steps of IIH in a timely manner and go on to master the elements in the intermediate and advanced steps, other people spend years stuck on the beginning steps of IIH and still feel like they haven’t made any progress. What is the reason for this? Obviously, factors like how much time and effort you spend on your training matter a great deal, but there is one factor people often overlook when trying to determine why it is that many people remain stuck on Step 1 for the same amount of time it takes other people to work through the whole book. To understand the importance of this factor, you must remember that IIH is, in Bardon’s own words, “a path to, and union with, God.” With this in mind, let’s consider the following metaphor.

Imagine that there is a person on a boat who sets off from a mainland dock and is trying to reach a faraway island. This boat is one of those small skiffs that you can row but that also has a sail that can catch the wind if there is one. In this particular situation, however, there is no wind, so the person has to rely on his own rowing alone. Needless to say, there is a limit to how quickly he can travel. Sometimes, the tide may flow against him, so even though he is trying to row toward the island, he is regressing instead of making progress. Even if he rows as quickly as he can, he will never make it to the island because it is too far away.

Now imagine that a second person with the same physical aptitudes as the first starts off at the same dock with the same type of boat. He is also trying to reach the island. However, this time, there is a wind. The wind is strong, and his boat moves swiftly toward the island, even when the tide is flowing against it. This person will reach the island.

As you can see, we have two people. Both are trying to row a boat toward the same island. Both are equally strong, and both start at the same dock. However, one successfully reaches the island and the other fails to do so. Why? It is because the force of the wind was helping one person and not the other.

Some Bardonists are helped by a similar force in their endeavor to work their way through the ten steps of IIH and reach God. Early Christians called this force charis (χαρις), which is often translated “grace” or “favor.” I will use the former term in this article, although this is simply a matter of personal preference. There are some facts that are true for Bardonists because they are true for anyone trying to follow a path to, and union with, God. One of these facts is that they won’t succeed without the help of God’s grace.

Grace can produce many effects. These effects can be divided into two broad categories – visible and invisible. The visible effects of grace are easy to observe. Consider a Bardonist who is never able to get a good meditation session in because his roommates are always interrupting him. Imagine that, through God’s grace, this Bardonist receives a raise at work that allows him to afford his own apartment so he doesn’t have to deal with roommates anymore. This is an example of a visible effect produced by grace. For another example of a visible effect produced by grace, consider a Bardonist who rarely has time to practice because his commute to work is so long. Imagine that, through God’s grace, this Bardonist’s boss allows him to work from home every day so he doesn’t have to spend two hours driving to and from work. As you can see, the visible effects of grace can be very useful.

However, although the visible effects of grace can be useful, the invisible effects of grace are far more important. When an individual is receptive to God’s grace, then grace will enter into him and transform him. It will produces changes at every layer of his being, from the densest layer of his physical body to the most subtle layer of his mental body. These changes won’t just help the Bardonist make progress along the magical path. Some would say that these changes are progress itself.

The presence or absence of God’s grace in a Bardonist’s training is the key factor determining whether or not they will make progress. Given that this is the case, the million-dollar question is how one can obtain God’s grace if one is not currently benefitting from it. Holy Scripture gives us the answer.

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God. And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)

This event is referred to as the Annunciation. Those who are familiar with the Rosary will recognize it as the first Joyful Mystery. In this passage, Gabriel appears to Mary and states that she is “full of grace,” and that she has “found grace with God.” He then explains that Mary will give birth to the Son of God. Mary, in reply, says “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” Contained within this response is the secret to obtaining grace. Upon learning that she would be giving birth to the Son of God, Mary responded by expressing humility. These days, we often address Mary with titles like Queen of Heaven, Queen of Peace, Queen of Angels, etc. However, when Mary found out she would be giving birth to the Son of God, which is the highest honor that can be granted to anyone, she didn’t say “Well, I guess I’m super important now. Everyone better start bowing to me.” Instead, she called herself a handmaid. Humility is what makes us eligible to receive God’s grace. People have access to the benefits of God’s grace to the same extent that they have developed humility. Someone who has a very high level of humility (like Mary) benefits greatly from God’s grace. Someone who is arrogant and egotistical does not benefit at all from God’s grace. So, regarding the Bardonists who have been stuck on the beginning steps for a long time because they do not have God’s grace helping them, it’s not because God has arbitrarily decided to withhold his grace from them. It’s because they lack humility. In the epilogue of IIH, Bardon says that those with egotistical desires will never successfully work through IIH. Why is that the case? It’s because the kinds of people who have egotistical desires are the same kinds of people who lack humility. A humble person who practices half an hour a day but has God’s grace helping him will advance much more quickly than an egotistical person who practices four hours a day. In fact, the egotistical person can only reach a certain point before he can no longer advance at all. Magic is not a sport like basketball or baseball. With sports, the more you practice, the more mastery you gain. Basketball and baseball aren’t paths to God, so you don’t need God’s grace to master them. Magic, however, is a path to God. As Meister Eckhart once said, in order for a person to achieve union with God, “God’s grace and man’s will must cooperate.” Yes, we do need to row. But the wind must be there also.

In Western esotericism, the process of spiritual evolution is summarized in the Major Arcana. In Christianity, the process of spiritual evolution is summarized in the life of Jesus, and in particular in his birth, death, and resurrection, which compose the mysteries of the Rosary. So, while those who deal with Western esotericism have the twenty-two cards as their map of the journey to perfection, we Christians have the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary as our map. The Annunciation is the very first mystery. This means that at the very beginning of the journey, we must have humility. Mary didn’t develop humility at the exact moment Gabriel came to her. Gabriel came to her because she already had humility. Humility is a prerequisite for the journey to perfection. Any Bardonist who lacks humility hasn’t really begun his journey, even if he has spent years trying to work through IIH. Different types of people have different approaches to working through IIH. The approach of Christian Bardonists is to start by developing humility, because when we have humility, we benefit from the grace of God, the Father Almighty. There is no greater advantage a Bardonist could have than this.

Mary has many virtues, but the foremost of these virtues is humility. When we pray the Rosary, we make her the object of our love and contemplation each time we say the Hail Mary, and in this way we become more attuned to her. One result of this attunement is that we acquire the same virtues she has, including humility. Thus, praying the Rosary is a great way to develop humility, and to open the doors to God’s grace. Any Bardonist who develops a high enough level of humility, whether through praying the Rosary or practicing some other spiritual exercise, will also become “full of grace.” There is no barrier that can stand between such a Bardonist and adepthood.