THE OBLIGATION OF US WHO ARE ELDERS - Written by Jess Jones

 

THE OBLIGATION OF US WHO ARE ELDERS

&
HOW WE HAVE FAILED OUR RESPONSIBILITY 

We have all had the discussion, spoken ad nauseum on the topic with one another, and waxed poetic in our lamentation regarding the state of the magical condition of those who we can call the next generation.  The acolytes of the Occult who now are at that point where the function and application of their magick as well as the depth of their knowledge should be such that they are jostling their way forward, challenging the structures, questioning our knowledge and grasp on magick as they seek to move beyond where we stand are instead devolved into rambling, contentious, close minded, and dissolute cliques ever involved in bickering and infighting.  Certainly, there are exceptions to this generalization.  There are individuals of exceptional promise, those who are sparks to set the fire ablaze.  But they are the exception that proves the rule.  They arrive at their level IN SPITE of conditions.

In our myriad discussions as to the reasons why we have arrived at such a state I contend that there has been one consideration, one singular possibility that we have been loathe to ascribe as the reason for this outcome.  It is on us, the Elders that responsibility must certainly reside.

Let us speak frankly, without dissimilation or excuse.  We are not children, or in our initiatory phase of awareness where we require truths to be couched in softened forms or fed to us in a delicate ego sensitive term.  By now and at this point we should enjoy hearing the truth and find comfort in the reality of things spoken plain and without constraint. 

Each of us (we know who we are.  Is there really the need to name names?) have journeyed through situations and have attained our craft and understanding through processes that often have allowed for little margin of error.  Each step along the way, every situation that we worked through and the things we undertook have been carried with us.  We have carried the friendships, the partners and fellowship of the Occult, the experiences, and the lessons learned.  

Our magick and awareness forged by the necessity of the times and the purpose of our intent we arrive at that place where our capabilities no longer sputtered and flickered with every sudden gust of wind, our inner purpose a sure proof against the doubts that once confounded us.  As we connected, formed and then unformed in groups and involvement with one another we were like some Occult square dance where we would spin and connect only to move to another place where we would then move along again to different connections.  

In this odd way we came to know one another.  We may not recall the name or the specifics when we reconnect, but we recognize the energy, the undeniable awareness of one another that while it may be hidden from the eyes of most and cast in the guise of mundane trappings, rests there beneath the image.  By whatever name we are called, or by whatever specific title we might apply to ourselves (or deny) and despite all arguments to the contrary, we are the Elders of our community.  

It serves no purpose to deny the fact.  It is of no help to speak of our faults and the reasons why we are not worthy or qualified to justify our denial.  For good or ill, like those before us, we stand fallible and contradictory to what we thought it would mean to be here. 

In our early phases of understanding and awareness we held ideals about life.  We venerated the image of how we thought things should be.  In our mind we held the pristine concepts of what magick, and knowledge meant, and we knew (we just knew) the things that had to be changed and how to bring this change about.  We judged the fault of those who were our Elders as well as determined the value and meaning of Occult truths and mysteries and then set ourselves forward to discover ourselves in the process of life.  

Along the way life broke many of those potentials.  Some were broken by the challenge of a life unkind, people untrue, and challenges that were simply too much.  Others turned away from the magick for different paths, found other purpose and direction in life.   Some, because of the cost that carrying such magick can impose upon the person became ill formed and fell into a way of being reprehensible to our Occult mind and we hesitate to consider the state of their existence.  There is no blame or judgment in such choices. 

And there came that time where we looked up and saw one another across the landscapes of this world and were surprised to discover that others had made it also. 

So, we have built our lives.  We stand, not accidentally, but by our own purpose, as we now must confront what comes next.  Do we simply apply our tools and abilities to benefit ourselves?  Is there an obligation to assist in ensuring that our knowledge is shared?  (Let us set aside the self-indulgent and mindless discussion of ego, denial of responsibility, or statement of determined reality that it is the natural manner of learning.  We really need to set aside this adolescent phase of perception.)  On whose shoulders rests this burden?

Listen.  No one can fault us if we choose to set aside accountability for what comes next.  Each person’s lives are their own as are their choices.  But we must each decide what it means to have come this far and what the path ahead is to be.  

I want to share with you a thing that I am becoming more certain of and with each person I speak become sure:  the crisis that will confront our Occult community is still to come.  

I hear from our visionaries and from those of us gifted with sight that this pandemic (while a terrible thing to contend with) is not the issue that will define our generation of Occult practitioners.  In other words, there is work yet to do.  

For myself, I look about and I know that there is more I could do to help for the future.  I find a sense of growing concern and feeling that time is moving far too quickly.  So, what is it I am saying?  

To the work, my friends. 

It is time to come from our slumber and to the work.