Pléroma and Adepthood

Written by: Cristian Rogelio Velasco Gutiérrez

 

Pléroma. 

(Greek πλήρωμα. Fullness. The Set Union ∪ of the Universe U and all its possible combinations of Elements ∈. U∪∈. Existence. The Unknowable.) 

An Adept is he who has learned to navigate the Pléroma by paying heed to his own Heart. The Adept also has come to understand that the Pléroma opens before him infinite possibilities. There is not a single Truth or Ideal everyone should strive towards. By knowing his Heart, the Adept knows what is right. Fire burns in his heart and keeps him restless. Adepts are done with following blindly and have taken steps to forge their own Path, and by remaining faithful to themselves, they have uncovered the secrets of Magic. 

Their own Magic.

In a sense, Magic is the Science of the Heart. 

The Adept recognizes he is part of the Pléroma and remains open to Experience it, Understand it, Feed from it, Respect it, Nourish it, and find Ecstasy in it. 

The Adept takes the study of the Pléroma very seriously. He would be a fool to disregard the damage the Pléroma can do to him if he consciously deludes himself. The Pléroma can never be fully understood, but it can be approximated by seeking to understand it through different lenses. 

For example: Understanding the Pléroma through the lens of physics lets us see the patterns that pervade the world of matter and energy. Yet, understanding it through the lens of the Heart leads to a better sensuous experience. 

When understood through the lens of Will, the Pléroma reveals itself as constantly transformed by the elements of the Pléroma capable of action. The Adept then recognizes himself as capable of transforming his experience of the Pléroma and sets to develop Skills, Discipline, Influence, Vision, and ultimately Understanding. 

To develop skills, he studies, practices, and masters. 

To develop Discipline he demands himself bravery when he needs to engage and Self Control when he doesn’t. He pays the price and endures the pain. Steadily, he becomes a better master to himself. 

For Influence, he develops relationships with other conscious beings based on respect, accountability, collaboration, and mutual interest. 

To develop Vision he needs to seek his Center inside the Pléroma. This search pushes him into a better understanding of his own situation and capabilities. He navigates the Pléroma as captain of his own ship, finding his own path, losing himself into the Ecstasy of being in the here and the now, in his current manifestation. 

To develop Understanding (whether of his Center or of the Pléroma) he needs to remain grounded in truth. This part can be the hardest of them all because Understanding truth sometimes demands the sacrifice of fragments of our Ego, and no amount of magic can save the Adept from the pain of letting a part of themselves die. 

All in all, being an Adept means many different things through many different lenses, and at the center of these lenses lies the Self, Unique in its expression, and Isolate at its core, because our Center is not shared by any other element of the Pléroma other than us. 

Only after the magician becomes aware of this natural separation between his Self and the Pléroma can his feelings of solitude be understood completely. Our internal worlds will never have the same significance to others than they have for ours. I, for one, hold this Solitude sacred and find it as a source of Mystery as great as the Universe. 

When we look at the Pleroma through the lens of our Solitude, a path forks before us: will we strive to rejoin the Pleroma, dissolving our egos back into it and being finally free of our innate Solitude? Or will we strive to increase our feelings of separateness, vying for independence, and attempting to keep separate what once was united, using our restlessness as a source for power? This is what I understand as the main difference between LHP and RHP, and I believe it’s even more important than the differences in symbols and Patron Gods. 

Some people talk about the existence of a Third or Middle Path. An easy way to account for this third path is to remove the issue of joining/separating completely. Another is to understand that both LHP and RHP require similar sacrifices: The LHP also demands the death of the Ego, in favor of a better, more complete, more powerful structure of the Self. This dissolution of the Ego may be similar to the one that the RHP practitioners seek as to become ever closer to Unity. 

One recurring theme while writing this text is that of Lenses. The complexity of the Pléroma accounts for everything that manifests and for everything that doesn’t, it accounts for conventional reality and fantasy. All Paradoxes find Harmony inside the Pléroma, and all viewpoints may find logical validity as long as we acknowledge that we are working with different frameworks. 

This game of association is the privilege of the Adepts, for the seekers of truth. Playing this game allows the Adept to transcend Duality, for Duality requires a singular pole of opposites, and the Adept may find inside the Pléroma as many opposites as partitions he may create inside the Pléroma. 

We should not, however, confuse our models of the Pléroma with the Pléroma itself. All of our Lenses, no matter how sturdy they seem, should remain open to be modified or discarded altogether. We should test our models of the Pléroma to confirm whether the Pléroma adjusts to them, and we should keep evolving beyond our preconceptions. 

LHP or RHP, the Adept’s Heart feels a desire to transform the world around him. His tools are his questions, actions, and ideas. The Wisdom the Adept finds on his Path will provide him with means to improve himself and the world around him. For too long, Adepts have been afraid and ashamed of striving towards positions of power and acquiring the means to promote change, but given the state of the world, I believe this is the time to be brave and fight for the survival of this beautiful pocket of consciousness in this Isolate corner of the Universe.