Dear Friend,
Because of the subject matter of both my sculptures and my dinnerware line, people often ask me how they can begin their own exploration into metaphysics. Therefore, I decided to add this page, because in my continuing quest to relate and serve the world around me, I have stumbled across a wealth of knowledge that is available for anyone. I emphasize that I am merely a student of these subjects and that any one of them could easily invoke a lifetime of passionate study. So this is meant to offer up various ideas for you to explore. Consider it a general introduction to an incredible world!
Ah, the realms of metaphysics...and the alchemy it requires of the student to combine often archaic knowledge with our modern day ;lives! Where to begin....
Have you ever read Ken Wilbur? I will begin this diatribe there as the following was originally a post at Integral Naked, a forum for those of us that are deep thinkers and like his work.
I don't know Ken first hand, but the idea of Integral University is very close to making Teilhard de Chardon's "Noosphere" a consious reality! (All the way down to Buckminster Fuller's geodesic ball which was alos inspired by Teilhard de Chardon who was in turn inspired by Plato's sacred geometry!
Check out:
And in the introduction of his book, 'Sex, Ecology & Spirituality", he talks about the book's ideas as being the "tale told by an idiot". An "idiot" or "Fool" as viewed in the tarot card, and going back past Fulcanelli to the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians is what one was called if you were willing to look the part of a fool to mainstream society in order to pursue higher spiritual truths and recognize the connections between seemingly different schools of thought...which does seem to fit the essence of integral thinking as it is today: The willingness to discover connections, and thereby rediscover, reanalyze preconcieved notions in order to create a more applicable and comprehensive proactive mode of being.
And as one can no more live without the spiritual anymore than one can live without the ecological and physical, it would seem that the realms of spiritual exploration would be an integral part of the process. The occult is merely a name given to those things which are considered "taboo" in metaphysics. For example, in some circles the Kabbalah is viewed as a very deeply connected aspect of the Jewish faith, whereas in others, it is veiwed with suspicion because of how it can be misused. And that is perhaps the best answer for your question:
The Occult or Metaphysics in itself is not bad, but the usage of them will be as negative or positive as the practioner allows them to be.
When we deal with the occult, there are so many books it can make your head spin. It has become such a great industry, that it seems like anyone can lay claim to being an expert as so few can prove their knowledge. If you can get past that headache, you have realm after realm of metaphysics to select from, Eastern traditions, Western Traditions, Native American Traditions, New Age philosophers, etc. A good rule of thumb is to rule out anyone that cannot prove their "education". in other words, if they don't name the name of the shaman, instructior, etc, and if they only say, "I was given instruction by a secret group who will not disclose their identity but who made me a _______", don't trust it! You wouldn't trust a doctor who said "I am a great surgeon and am willing to work on your heart, but I was educated via a secret University that I cannot disclose". Your soul is worth even more than your heart, so be just as critical.
That said, its up to you to decide what teachers fit right with you. If you are just starting out, I'd suggest to first try and identify an occult practice that will teach you a process to help you catagorize the masses of information in your mind. In other words, don't read them looking for "the answer", instead use something like the Kabbalah, (a metaphysical chutes and ladders" or Wicca as presented by Scott Cunningham or Phyllis Curott (both which teach you how to process your own metaphysical experiences, but which don't try and tell you what conclusions to draw).
Personally, I have never cared for Aliester Crowley as he made outragous claims about himself and forced his followers to zero in on his darker interpretations. But Starhawk, Phyllis Curott, and Scott Cunningham are all highly regarded Wiccan teachers.
Starhawk wanted to be a Rabbi but wasn't allowed since she was a woman and thusly gravitated towards Wicca in order to be able to help others develop their relationships with the Divine. Today she teaches religious diversity at a Jesuit College in California:
Phyllis Curott is a Harvard graduate and was nominated for the Walter Cronkite Award for her leadership in the areas of spritual diversity and tolerance, and she just recently came back from Barcelona Spain where she represented the Wiccan tradition at the invitation of the Dali Lama and the Pope. They have also asked her to create a worldwide symposium on the Sacred Feminine:
Scott Cunningham is probably the most accomplished metaphysician in the Wiccan tradition and has written numerous books on just about every area you could think of, he was also the only non-native Hawaiin to be invited by the Huna to live and study on their spiritual Island:
If you desire an even more flexible metaphysical practice, you might invesitgate The Way of The Fool. A great introduction to this is Mark Hedsel's "The Zelator" which reads like a great novel but which talks about every aspect of the Western Metaphysical traditions imaginable. His take on Madam Blatavsky is very intriguing.
If you are studious enough to follow Ken Wilbur, then you will really enjoy this book! (Its a kind of intro to esoterica for bookworms and those of us who love discovering the connections between anthropology and modern society!)It also reads like a real life "Da Vinci Code".
All that aside, the more you sudy metaphysics the more you will see how modern day physics is begining to agree with some very old intuitive beliefs...
Example:
Metaphysics --> "Science refers all she cannot grapple with to some undiscovered forces of "Matter", while theology refers all that she cannot explain to the unknowable workings of the "Spirit". Both are right and both are wrong...spirit and matter, as well as we know them, are but the duel expression of the one dieffic principle, due to differences of polarity"
-- T.H. Burgoyne (based on ancient greek and egyptian metaphysical knowledge, published in early 1900's)
Physics --> "...according to string theory, if we had a supermicroscope that could peer into the heart of an electron, we would see that it was not a point particle becasue our instruments were too crude. This tiny string, in trun, vibrates at different frequencies and resonates. If I were to pluck this vibrating string, it would cahnge mode and become another subatomic particle, such as a quark. pluck it again, and it turns into a neutrino. in this way, we can explain the blizzard of subatomic particles as nothing but different musical notes of the string. We can now repalce hundreds of subatomic particles seen in the labratory with a single object, the string."
-- Michio Kaku (based on modern cosmology and physics, published 2005)
Perhaps the lingering metaphysical knowledge discovered by our ancestors is simply the knowledge that worked well for them and it has taken this long for us to rediscover what they knew? Either way, true integral thinking would require connecting between generations of knowledge and not just the knowledge being unearthed today!
There...I've talked your ear off, but I hope it helped somewhat!
Stay Inspired!
Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk
P.S. -- Sorry about my spelling! Here are some other well-established organizations for you to pursue:
