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Restoring Sovereign Order

One of my workshops at Pantheacon 2015 was called Restoring Sovereign Order. Since there were no class notes for the event, I promised I would post information on the working for those who wanted to continue with it, as I suggested repeating the ritual for forty days straight while holding a stone, and then placing that stone out into the world with the virtue generated from the forty day working. Below is a short article I wrote when I first shared this working with the ministers of the Temple of Witchcraft.  I had no plans of really sharing it beyond that group, but when meditating on Pantheacon, got a clear distinct message this was the lesson to base a workshop on, so I did. 

I ran into someone earlier in the convention who asked me about the workshop, saying she hadn't planned on attending as it sounded like a ritual to “invoke fascism.” I can understand that, as concept of Sacred Sovereignty in a global context are not popular in modern metaphysics today, and it was a throw back to an older world occultism. I tried to explain the concept in the few moments I had, but I'm not sure if I was successful. Hard to sum up an hour in a few seconds when there is already misunderstanding. Thankfully an impromptu meeting with T. Thorn Coyle as she was waiting for the room for her own panel, turned it into a funny moment as she has a great talent to disarm serious topics with good humor. I had previously attended R.J. Stewarts workshop on the Sacred Kings and Queens with great interest, and he was very supportive of my own presentation, taking the train of thought in a different, but hopefully complimentary direction. 

I began the workshop by introducing myself, and telling the gathered group “I'm overwhelmed.” I'm overwhelmed by the state of the world, and the many things that need to be done and the lack of time and energy one person has to do them. I'm overwhelmed with the question on where to begin. When this teaching came through in my personal practice, it was in response to continued violence in Palestine and overall conflict in the Middle East. Now it just as easily applies to the social justice work of the United States, but it really can apply to any, and in fact, all, the current crises going on simultaneously in the world right now. I think this is why I was called to present it at Pantheacon, as I sometime am overwhelmed by all that goes on at Pantheacon, but realize how important and necessary it is. Pantheacon often has the big lens for the community, bringing together many different strands of thought and action. 

So the article below is not the whole workshop, but was the seed for the workshop, edited to make a bit more sense to the general metaphysical public and not just Temple of Witchcraft members, and includes the instructions for the guided vision working to participate in restoring sovereign order, restoring the primal balanced patterns of spirit, to an overwhelming worlds. And in the end, always followed by “what is my role in this?” And then take action. In the end, we are all called to be the Sacred Sovereign, to shoulder a bit of the world in love, will and wisdom. No one is coming to rescue us. We must each do our part. 

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While meditating upon the state of the world, by attuning my awareness to the fields of consciousness of the Earth, the consciousness of the “masters” of the Timeless Tradition, and beyond to the realms of Solar Consciousness through the Merkaba Meditation, to get guidance about where, if any place, to put my attention and healing energies, I received a strong message on the traditions of the King of the World. 

At first I kind of ignored it, as I'm not sure what I was meant to do with it. It rose within me again while driving my car, of all places, and culminated in meditation that night in a working, with a message to share this with you, and add a little information to put it in context. Anyone who feels so moved, I suggest working with this vision for the next forty days and see what might happen to create a beneficial change, or at least prepare the astral for coming change. 

Occult tradition tells us of the King of the World, sometimes depicted as an immortal, trans-human who has reached a place in the terrestrial spiritual order to mediate the the conditions between the heavens, humanity, and the Earth. Traditions are hinted at in the lore of Sacred Kings and divine rulers. The King is responsible for maintaining divine order upon the Earth, as each king is responsible for maintaining divine order within the Kingdom. 

The Kingdom of the Lord of the World is the entire planet, though mythically he is situation in some enlightened “city” hidden in the East or West, but a place that is really a metaphor for a state of consciousness, for these beings are beyond body and form as we know it. The Kingdom resides in the “center of the world” or upon the spiritual, if not magnetic or rotational, axis of the world, which is said to change in every age. Some say the “northern” axis of this spiritual column has moved from Tibet to Peru recently. This point is said to be the location of the spiritual structures of the masters, the abode of the great lodges of ascended beings, the enlightened city or the hidden grove. It is the sacred center, the omphalos that is marked by the sacred stone, the sovereign stone. 

Figures mythically fulfilling this role include:

* Brahmatma – Supreme Chief of Agarttha
* Prester John – The Christian King keeping the Holy Grail in a paradise kingdom of peace in the East
* Melchizedek – The King of Salem in the Old Testament, Priest of the God Most High
* King Arthur – King of Camelot and pinnacle of the Sacred Kingship traditions where the King and the Land are One
* Manu – Chief of the First Ray of Theosophy, the template for humanity's evolution and overseer of the development of continents. 

The actual historic pharaoh's of ancient Egypt, from their mythic beginnings with Osiris and Horus, also fulfill the same function, as we now believe ancient Egypt was set up to mirror the starry heavens on the Earth, creating its own sacred mandala. 

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Along with the King of the World, occult tradition often tells of two or three primary functions. The King is often paired with a Prophet, as one guides the overall community, while the other guides the evolution of the individual in a spiritual sense, and guides religious tradition. Sometimes both functions are held in one entity. In esoteric Christianity, Jesus and John the Baptist were said to each take a role, but with John's death, Jesus was forced to take on both role of King and Prophet. Some believe that the Biblical Moses did the same thing. Other times, it is divided in three, as in the Theosophical model, with its Manu of the First Ray of Power, the Planetary Christ, or more neutrally the World Teacher of the Blue Ray of Love, and the Mahacohen, or Lord of Civilization in the Yellow Ray of Active Intelligence. In these cases, the role of the Prophet is divided from the role of the Priest. 

In the Temple of Witchcraft, we look at the three divisions as the offices of the Sovereign, or King of the Red Ray of Will, the Seer or prophet of the Blue Ray of Love, and the Sorcerer or priest of the Yellow Ray of Wisdom. We can envision the center of the world holding these three entities, who mediate these three functions of the world. While traditionally the Sovereign has been seen as male, a polarity partner  with the feminine mysteries of the Earth Goddess and the Star Goddess, we are open to perceiving this role beyond gender as King, Queen, or simply as Sovereign. 

My own work takes the gender out of the divine triad of Sovereign, Seer and Sorcerer, representing the vertical axis of connection. On the horizontal wheel of cycles and seasons, the Orders break down into elemental polarity and gender roles, at least as related to me, with the Sacred Kings holding Fire and Energy in the East, the Order of Priests holding Air and Time in the South, the Order of Priestesses holding Water and Space in the West and the Sacred Queens holding Earth and Matter in the North. Together, they create the perfect pattern of harmony with us. 

The King of the World is said to restore the sacred order, and the order is depicted in some ways much like the sacred mandala patterns that can be found in the Tibetan Kalachakra teachings, and the Tibetan mandala art of the Buddhist Shamballa or Olmolungring in the Bon Tradition. We have similar models of the perfect mandala outlined in the images of Plato's Atlantis. We can also see the sacred center established in the landscape in places such as Ireland, with Tara at the center of for divine provinces. In other Western Traditions we might refers to it as Jerusalem, or New Salem, the first holy land of the prophetic traditions of the Middle East, or even Camelot in the Kingdom of Logres. I find it interesting that the name of the US town of Salem has played such a role in modern Witchcraft, and while the name usually translates from Arabic/Hebrew as peaceful or complete, Jerusalem is anything but. The King is the King of Peace ultimately, and proclaims a “law” that is not a list of thou shall and shall not, but a pattern of connection, a right action or Dharma, a call to Thelemic True Will for all beings. 

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Modern lore has confused the esoteric teachings of the Rex Mundi with the gnostic concepts of the Demiurge, or with human, occult, or even alien concepts of the Illumaniti. This teaching has nothing to do with teachings of dualism or the paranoia of many modern cults. 

For this vision, we seek to work with the Manu, the Sovereign of the World, in whatever form that consciousness takes to us, and evoke the divine order through reestablishing a balanced mandala for the world. It can help if you start by holding a stone or crystal, as the “king stone” or omphalos sacred center of the mandala. 

 

Place the cleansed and cleared stone beneath your feet, or at the base of your spine, or in your hand. 

Face North. If laying down, head in the north, feet in the south. 

Get into an appropriate position for vision working meditation. 

Get into a meditative state. 

Align yourself with the spine of the Earth

Project yourself out and upward, following the flow of energy to the North Pole

Turn and descend into the central pole of Mother Earth. (You can also use the imagery of the World Tree for the Axis of the Earth)

Feel the three axis of the Earth – the rotational, the magnetic, and the spiritual. Intend to align with the spiritual axis of Mother Earth, and there will be revealed for you the kingdom in the center of the world. 

Approach the Center of the Kingdom. Seek the Sovereign to help restore the Sacred Order and Balance to the World. How does the sovereign manifest for you? The Sovereign can only act upon the intentions of those in the world. None of the three of the three functionaries will “save” us. They only reflect our own intentions and mediate higher forces for us to respond to in our own lives. We have to engage and work with them. So ask for help in restoring balance to the Earth in areas of war, strife, illness, and pollution. Ask to invoke the Most Perfect Peace Profound.* Recite the Craft Blessing, “Let all things be as they were since the beginning of time!”** 

Feel yourself become one with the Sovereign, merged or overshadowed in some way. Look out upon the furthest reaches of the globe. See the state of the world, both its beauty and trauma, but do not dwell on any one place, for it is too vast. Rather than “fix” anyone one place with stop gap measures, you must work to restore order and harmony to the whole. While things are ever changing, the patterns underlie them are eternal. Now, together, we restore an eternal pattern. 

From the throne, with the omphalos stone beneath you, center yourself. 

Within you is the pattern of light and dark, male and female, each containing the other. 

Complimenting our Will is the patterns of Love and Wisdom within the Seer and Sorcerer. 

Next we establish the four elemental powers. Use whatever orientation is most comfortable for your, or allow your intuition to guide you to the appropriate pattern for this working. As long as you call upon each of the four element before you are done with the four quarters, you will fulfill the intention of restoration. Feel the Kings hold Fire and Energy. The Priests hold Air and Time. The Priestesses hold Water and Space. The Queen hold Earth and Matter. 

 

To the North, you feel and establish a base for one of the four elements and the guardians you know. 

To the East, you feel and establish a base for another of the four elements and the guardians you know. 

To the South, you feel and establish a base for another of the four elements and the guardians you know.

To the West, you feel and establish a base for the last of the four elements and the guardians you know.

You might find the four taking the form of a pyramid or ziggurats structure, with four sides.

The four elements are girded by a circle, and around the circle you place the seven holy bodies and their deities: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn 

Around the seven holy bodies, you place another ring, and gather the twelve signs of the sky: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces

From the division of twelve, you might find your own pattern expand outward with the 24 Runes of the Elder Futhark, the 36 Decans of the Zodiac or an infinite number of patterns, of “petals” to the “rose.” 

Feel balance restored in the world through a re-patterning of creation. Feel a reconnection occurring. 

Ask yourself and the Sacred Sovereign, “What is my role in this?” You might get concrete directions. You might not. Listen truly and clearly for the next step in your life to restore pattern and harmony to your corner of the world. The work might ask confrontation or public action, or subtle action. You can never know. 

 

Step away from the Sovereign, gently ending our connection. Give thanks. 

Leave the Sacred Center Kingdom the way you came.

Align once again to the axis of Mother Earth. 

Return from the North, following the path back you traveled, returning awareness to body. 

Count up and clear from your meditative state.

Ground. Journal. Reflect. 

 

Repeat this, ideally for 40 days, but  as many or few times as you feel guided. Only cleanse the stone the first time, and then let the pattern build. Then release the stone out in the world to do this work of harmony and re-patterning. If possible, try to send the stone to where you feel it will do the most good. 

Follow up with fulfilling whatever your work in the world is at this time. 

* Blessing I first learned about through the work of the ceremonial magician W. G. Gray

** Considered a Craft saying that shows up in the prose and liturgy of several occult groups and traditions. 

For more information on the esoteric role of these teachings from an occultist view, you can start with the book The Lord of the World by Rene Guenon. I would also suggest reading The Mighty Dead and the Three Rays of Witchcraft for further illumination on the Order of Kings and the King's Path. 

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Christopher Penczak is the co-founder of the Temple of Witchcraft, a system, tradition and religious nonprofit organization focused on magickal education and building community. He is an award winning author of over twenty books, including The Inner Temple of Witchcraft, The Three Rays of Witchcraft and Ascension Magick and a co-owner of Copper Cauldron Publishing, a company dedicated to producing inspirational products of magick and art for the evolution of consciousness for individuals and the world. Based in New England, he travels internationally to teach magick and healing.

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