Barbelith Underground > Temple > Crossing the Abyss

Just reading the Rowe article...Here are my thoughts:

The word "abyss" has seen widespread use in the occult community, with many different meanings. In various times and places it has been used to represent everything from the Christian Hell to existential angst.

It seems that there is the archetype of the Abyss, and then there are the interpretations and mythologies wrapped around that archetype. Chapel Perilous, the Dark Night of the Soul, the descent into the Underworld, Crossing the Abyss, death-rebirth, etc... Each of these are perspectives on the singular experience of transformation, and each is colored with it's own flavor of mythology and personal/social baggage. While the root of the experience is very similar in all cases - the stripping away of individuality and the ingrained expectations of existence to allow a closer apprehension of the Absolute - the specific characteristics of each experience will vary by the mythology through which it is accessed. In RAW's terms, the reality tunnel through which you pass towards the Abyss will determine the character of the experience and, often, the outcome as well.

The shaman may be confronted by visions of serpents and rotting flesh but may find allies in songs and the spirits of Hir ancestors. The Thelemite may be confronted by the demon Choronzon and find recourse in the concept of the augoeides. In each case the aspirant has already been indoctrinated into the mythology and thus has a roadmap of what the experience will bring. If you expect to meet Choronzon and you correctly follow the steps outlined by the mythology, then you're probably gonna meet Choronzon. While the manic depressive or the schizophrenic or the man who watches his father die may all pass into the Abyss, they likely lack any roadmaps for how to deal with it's horror. This is the advantage of intiatory systems: They prepare the individual for confrontation with the self and offer a set of metaphors to give the experience some foundation.

From the perspective of my own experience, the whole "Abyss" concept is nonsense...Rather than a separation, our normal lack of awareness of the divine aspect of ourselves is a matter of ignorance.

This is exactly what the Abyss is, and the Fall as well. We are ignorant of our own godliness. We fell from grace and are lost in matter. The Abyss is not some chasm crafted by God to keep us from Heaven. It is a necessary outcome of the ascendancy of the ego and self-awareness. The Fall from Grace is the fall into duality, into self-awareness. The problem is that we've gotten stuck and forgotten our true nature. All of these myths and metaphors and intiatory systems are maps to return to our own self-awareness not as individuals but as part of the collective whole, to cross the Abyss that divides the self from the Absolute. The myths make it so we can accomplish this without destroying ourselves in the process. There's no point in seeing Heaven only to return a shambling wreck.

Illmatic raises an interesting point that the myth of the Abyss seems to be primarily a western notion. This may be due to the fact that the western mind has been infused with a strong sense of individuality, whereas the eastern philosophies, and the language as well, tend to be more collective. The western esoteric systems often build up the strength of the individual as they ascend through the path, so it becomes necessary to use much force to then destroy the individual to allow them acces to the overworld. In contrast, eastern systems tend to stress a steady wearing down of the individual, like a stream smoothing stone. Illumination then arises like a slow dawning (note that the kundalini schools generally break from this prefering a sudden fiery awakening). The western mind apparently needs the Abyss. It was mentioned somewhere but, like God, the Abyss may be something that, if it didn't exist, we would have to create it.

(I should note that the description that follows is from my own experience, coordinated with a very few other people's; your mileage may vary)

Exactly. And while Rowe makes this one concession he seems to remain ignorant. He feels jilted by Crowley because his "awakening" didn't bring him to Choronzon. Well maybe he didn't follow the path correctly, maybe his own doubts sabotaged his experience, or maybe he just wasn't cut out for that specific mythology and was more inclined towards something softer.

The myth you chose determines the experience. And the western path is often a dangerous and challenging one. It gives us a roadmap into the underworld, but the path is usually gaurded by powerful demons. Again, probably just something in our character.