Walkers Between the Worlds

from the Introduction to Part One: The Inward Spiral

The two parts which make up this work constitute a complete maze--a journey inward, to the centre; and a journey outward, to the periphery. Part 1, which deals with Native Tradition, from its origin in the Foretime to its present day manifestations in Neo-Paganism, is the inward spiral. Part 2, which concerns itself with the Hermetic Tradition--so called after its supposed founder Hermes Trismegistus--from its beginnings in classical antiquity to its current renaissance in the work of contemporary magical schools, is the outward spiral.

Together these two paths form the prima materia of the Western Way: the Native Tradition, more intuitive, earth conscious, Goddess-oriented; and the Hermetic Tradition, with its emphasis on the pursuit of knowledge, oneness with the godhead, superconsciousness. Together they balance each other out: the one probing deeper into the first mysteries of human awareness; the other seeking to utilize this inner understanding in a clearer, expositive way. . .

The Hermetic Way is grounded in the perennial philosophy; the Native Tradition in the Otherworld. God or Deity is seen in terms of elemental forces by the Native Traditionalists; while in the Hermetic Schools perception shifts from “God out there” to God within the self. The evolution of consciousness is encompassed by both traditions. Just as the Hermetic cannot exist without the foundations of the Native, neither can the Native progress without the projection of the Hermetic. They are the root and branches of the tree of the Western Way. . .

. . . [T]he path of the Native Tradition . . . leads into the heart of ancestral earth wisdom. The Hermetic Tradition is . . . a path of evolving consciousness which is informed by the inner resources of our ancestral roots. . . As the Native Tradition sees a move from primitive, tribal or collective consciousness towards an appreciation of individual, self-aware consciousness, so the Hermetic Tradition takes individual consciousness on the journey towards cosmic consciousness, wherein that first, collective awareness is augmented in a macrocosmic way. . .

Western Folk-Weave
While most people consider the “real” Western Mystery Tradition to reside in the Hermetic Tradition, others are coming to see it in the context of its foundations. Those who look to the major civilizations of the Middle East and Mediterranean for insight into the Mysteries fail to see the past around them. A tradition, like a prophet, is without honour in its own country. Other grass is greener and more succulent, and so it will ever appear. We have drawn many examples from the British tradition, not only as representative of the Western Way, but also because we have drawn from our own experience, ancestral memory, and traditional heritage. What we have done here can be done just as well for other traditions and cultures. The Native Tradition of the West is approachable by all who have a Western consciousness and cultural identity.

The Western Way has been so neglected, mostly since the onset of organized religion, that the individual quest has tended to be lost sight of. The saviours and prophetic figureheads have all had their purpose, but it has been above all to stimulate that interior search. “Seek you first the Kingdom of Heaven, which lies within you.” To go beyond organized forms of religion we must first pick up the pieces of our development, the cross-currents, the influences and causes, before we can go onwards to the time when mystery traditions will be neither Eastern nor Western.

. . . As a civilized people we have lost any sense of a real inner perspective: The mythologies of revealed religion have been made virtually irrelevant by contemporary restatement. Once reduced to the lowest common factor, they fail to excite or inform the average seeker after spiritual nourishment. The trained shaman, magician, mystic is an anomaly in the modern world. Maps of the inner world are as rare as maps of Treasure Island. We have lost our inner currency on the way to civilization and industrial progress. . . We give our children stones instead of bread when we force them from childhood to adulthood without the salvific story, the ritual response, the inner dimension which transforms the mundane world with its touch. . .

The Western Way holds many of the secrets of our kinship with the earth. It guards the knowledge of who we really are, and can confer the keys of our true heritage.

Exercise 2: Analeptic Memory
The first time you perform this exercise, enter your family tree as in Exercise 1, only, instead of stepping out where the trunk meets the ground, carry on down the tree through its mighty roots and emerge, underground, among the roots of the tree. A clear pathway is before you: Follow it until it opens up into an underground cavern where a large lake is found. On the left-hand side is a wellspring and beside it a whitened, rotted tree-stump. You do not wish to drink of these waters which flow away from the lake into the ground, for these are the waters of forgetfulness. On the right-hand side of the lake is another wellspring which feeds the lake. Behind this wellspring, which is the well of memory, stand the Guardians. As you meditate, these Guardians will formulate themselves in your imagination; they are different for everyone. You have come here in order to retrieve the memory of something you have either lost or which has not been accessible to you in this life . . .

Foreword by Gareth Knight

Notes on the Excercises in this Book

Part One: The Native Tradition

Introduction to Part One: The Inward Spiral
Threading the Maze
Western Folk-Weave
The Ritual Stance

1. THE OLD RELIGION
Rite and Foretime
Walkers between the Worlds
Mysteries and Initiation
Exercise 1: Finding Your Clan Totem
Exercise 2: Analeptic Memory
Exercise 3: The Festivals as Bidden Doorways

2. THE MAGIC EARTH
Sacred Space
The Paths of the Dragon
The Wisdom of the Earth
Magic Earth Exercise Notes
Exercise 4: The Shimmering Way
Exercise 5: The Terrestrial Zodiac

3. MEETING THE GODS
Native myths and God-Forms
The Faces of the Gods
Modern Mythographers and Storytellers
Exercise 6: Meeting the Gods

4. VOYAGES TO THE OTHER WORLD
The Ancestral Paradise
The Shining Ones
Passports to Inner Realms
Paradise Lost and Regained
Exercise 7: Contacting the Guardian
Exercise 8: The Two Trees Meditation

5. THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH
Native Wisdom
The Secret People
The Mother Country
Redeeming the Time
Exercise 9: Self-Clarification
Exercise 10: The Retreat

Part Two: The Hermetic Tradition

Introduction to Part Two: The Outward Spiral

6. SCHOOLS OF MYSTERY
Flashes of Fire
The Hermetic Reality
The Language of Desire
Guardians of Tradition
Exercise 1: The Maze of the Gods
Exercise 2: Building the Body of Light

7. THE DIVINE KNOWING
The Gifts of Wisdom
The Fruits of Gnosis
Asian Is Not a Safe Lion
The Shattered Vessels
Exercise 3: The Temple of Inner Wisdom

8. THE MAGUS AND HIS MAGIC
The Return of the Shaman
Expanding the Universe
The Divine Chariot
Exercise 4: The Hermetic Way
Exercise 5: The Four-Square Citadel

9. THROUGH THE INNER DOOR
Celestial Memories
Hidden Masters: Secret Sibyls
Guides and Guardians
The Hermetic Landscape
Exercise 6: The Caduceus of Hermes
Exercise 7: Otherworld Gateways and Symbols

10. ALCHEMY THE FIRE-TRIED STONE
The Hunting of the Green Lion
The Wandering Viaticum
The Chymical Wedding
Exercise 8: The Shepherd of Stars
Exercise 9: Revitalizing Your Roots

Afterword: Tomorrow's Tradition

Bibliography

Index

Caitlín and John Matthews have worked within the Western Esoteric Tradition for over twenty-five years, exploring in their many books--including Taliesin: The Last Celtic Shaman, The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom, and King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land--its shamanic roots, the spiritual lore of the Celts, the myths of the Arthurian legend, and the many practical approaches of contemporary spirituality. They are cofounders of the Foundation for Inspirational and Oracular Studies, established to encourage oral wisdom and the sacred arts, and teach and lecture around the world. They live in Oxford, England.

"This book is a wonderful resource for deepening one's understanding of the personal path being followed. . . . an excellent resource as well as a personal workbook."
Rev. Dr. S. D'Montford, New Dawn, Mar-Apr 2006

HERMETIC STUDIES / CELTIC

Beneath the orthodox religions of the West runs a current that has preserved both the native lore of our ancestors and the magical knowledge of the Hermetic tradition. The Western esoteric tradition has preserved our vital connection with the Otherworld, keeping alive the ancient earth wisdom of the shamans as well as the gnosis of the classical Mysteries that informed ancient civilizations; this legacy of perennial wisdom enabled the flowering of high magic in the Middle Ages and Renaissance and its lively influence is still part of the West's spiritual inheritance. In Walkers Between the Worlds, Caitlín and John Matthews reveal the development of these complementary traditions in Western culture.

As the orthodox structures of the West appear increasingly hollow and irrelevant, the way of the shaman and the magus remains vital, offering many practical methods for reawakening awareness and reconnecting with the sacred continuum of the universe. In addition to its rich appraisal of the Western esoteric tradition and its guidance to both new and continuing practitioners of the native and Hermetic traditions, Walkers Between the Worlds contains twenty-one practical exercises drawn from the teaching methods of both traditions to help the reader explore these Mysteries.

CAITLIN and JOHN MATTHEWS have worked within the Western Esoteric Tradition for over twenty-five years, exploring in their many books--including Taliesin: The Last Celtic Shaman, The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom, and King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land--its shamanic roots, the spiritual lore of the Celts, the myths of the Arthurian legend, and the many practical approaches of contemporary spirituality. They are cofounders of the Foundation for Inspirational and Oracular Studies, established to encourage oral wisdom and the sacred arts, and teach and lecture around the world. They live in Oxford, England.