Angel Millar - The Three Stages of Initiatic Spirituality: Craftsman, Warrior, Magician

For Tony, a modern guardian of the Mysteries

THE THREE STAGES OF INITIATIC SPIRITUALITY

This book is the result of stunningly broad in-depth research both on the theoretical and on the practical levela researcher-practitioner at his very best. While Angel Millar has quite obviously done his homework in terms of sifting through the vast bibliography of anthropology, comparative religious studies, and magic, he also adopts a deeply informed and eminently experiential approachbecause, as the famous quote goes, tradition is not to adore the ashes, but to pass on the fire. This makes the entire treasure trove of academic and phenomenological wisdom come palpably alive on an unprecedented scale, guiding the reader through the respective iterations of the craftsman, the warrior, and the magician archetype in a both comprehensible and reproducible manner. Highly recommended!

FRATER UD, AUTHOR OFSECRETS OF WESTERN SEX MAGIC: MAGICAL ENERGY AND GNOSTIC TRANCE AND HIGH MAGIC: THEORY & PRACTICE

Angel Millar provides the reader with an extremely valuable exploration of initiation and transformation. His astute scholarship ranges across many cultures and ages to identify how human beings have repeatedly found self-renewal and self-transcendence in three fundamental and universal aspects of lifethe craftsman, warrior, and magician archetypes. He weaves together ancient traditional threads with the contemporary language and practices of psycho-spiritual alchemy and depth psychology, thus revealing a tapestry of timeless vision with immediate relevance and applicability. Anyone concerned with a comprehensive context in which to contemplate and facilitate their own initiatic and transformative journey will find this book worthy of repeated consultation.

C. R. DUNNING JR., AUTHOR OFCONTEMPLATIVE MASONRY: BASIC APPLICATIONS OF MINDFULNESS, MEDITATION, AND IMAGERY FOR THE CRAFT

Diving deep into the wisdom of the ancients, Angel Millar offers a refreshing answer to the existential crisis experienced by modern man. The Three Stages of Initiatic Spirituality presents holistic connections with divinity, achievable by the integration of body, mind, and soul through the three timeless archetypes of craftsman, warrior, and magician.

ANGELO NASIOS, AUTHOR OFTAROT: UNLOCKING THE ARCANAAND TAROT TRACKER: A YEAR-LONG JOURNEY

The Three Stages of Initiatic Spirituality is a comprehensive tour of the essentials of initiation and their importance in daily life. Taking the reader through the three traditional and crucial stages and exploring multiple spiritual traditions, Millar provides the reader with the background, purpose, and methods whereby these archetypal stages can be activated in the life of the individual. This is a book with an important message and will be valuable to anyone regardless of their particular path.

MARK STAVISH, AUTHOR OF EGREGORES: THE OCCULT ENTITIES THAT WATCH OVER HUMAN DESTINY

Acknowledgments

G ood conversation, good friendship, and brotherhood are among the highest gifts that anyone can receive, and I am thankful to all those I have met and broken bread with over the last few years. Among those who deserve a special mention are the staff of the Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library, NYC; Dago and Johnny in LA; David in Dallas; Giovanni; and the Ezekiel Bates Lodge and Compact Lodge.

My thanks must also go to Mitch, both for his support and for the example he has set. Thanks to Piers for his insights over the years. And thanks to Chris and to Greg for reading the manuscript and for giving me their feedback.

INTRODUCTION

The Three Stages of Initiation

C raftsman. Warrior. Magician. As if an echo reverberating through the millennia, these three words remind us of something that lies buried deep in the history of mankind and deep within our own psyche. Primitive by the standards of modernity, when we reflect on them, they nevertheless stir in us an awakening to our own potentialmental, physical, and spiritual.

In one form or another, the figures of the craftsman, the warrior, and the magician were known to every ancient culture on earth. In some cases, the functions of each could be performed by a single member of a tribe, with herders having to double as warriors, and with responsibility for performing religious or initiatory rituals falling to older members of the tribe or to the head of the household.

For many cultures, though, they were more than just duties, vocations, or positions in society. Together, the craftsman or farmer, warrior, and magician (sage, priest, or brahmin, etc.) characterized its very soul. Written around three millennia ago in Iran, the sacred Avestan texts (of the worlds first monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism) show us a culture composed of peasants and farmers, warrior nobles, and priests. Around two thousand years before this, claimed comparative philologist and mythologist Georges Dumzil, Indo-European society (from which the Zoroastrian society ultimately emerged) had essentially the same three classes or castes.

However, it is possible that, as David W. Anthony has suggested, the herder/cultivator, warrior, and priest may have constituted three age grades, through which every man would pass, if he lived long enough. As is the case with the Maasai of Africa, the younger men might have worked as herders or artisans, while the elders of the tribe would have taken on the role of priests or spiritual guides. The profession of the warrior, then, would have been taken up by men between these two ages, when they were at their maximum physical strength.

It is possible, too, that the colors black/blue, red, and white were associated with the craftsman, warrior, and priest, respectively. There is evidence that, since the Stone Age, this triad of black, red, and white was used across Africa for ritual purposes, We also find this color triad turning up in European mythology and folklore. In the tale of Iron Hans (or Iron John) recorded by the Brothers Grimm, the hero is given first a red suit of armor and a red horse, then white armor and a white horse, and, lastly, black armor and a black horse. Closer to our own time, these colors have made their appearance in alchemy and Freemasonry.

Ren Gunon has claimed that all initiatic knowledge is passed down through successive phases and through corresponding initiation rituals (or grades), and that these phases and grades can always be reduced to three, which mark the three ages of the initiate. According to Gunon, these grades represent birth, growth, and production.

In this book, we will explore the myths, symbols, rituals, and practices of the craftsman, warrior, and magician, concerning ourselves with their metaphysical aspects as three grades through which each of us might still pass.

In this regard, we should note that anthropologist Mircea Eliade draws together the smith (craftsman), warrior, and shaman (magician), suggesting that these are all masters of fire. The smith masters the fire of his forge, and the warrior the heat of battle, while the shaman is able to produce heat from his own body. (Still today, we find that some Tibetan Buddhists are able to meditate in the snow, and to melt it with their body heat.)

As masters of fire, the craftsman, the warrior, and the shaman are all masters of primordial energy that connects man to Divinity. Mythologically, it is Prometheus who steals the fire from Olympus, bequeathing it to mankind. In the Zoroastrian temple a fire is burned and never allowed to expire, and the Zoroastrian priest wears a veil so that his breath will not pollute it. In Freemasonry, still today, there is a great emphasis on Light, and traditionally three lesser lights or candlesticks were kept lit during Lodge rituals and meetings.