When did you work for the Secret Chiefs?

Facebook has my previous employer as the Secret Chiefs. Currently it has down that I work at the Gnostic Catholic Church. But it asks frequently "When did you work at the Secret Chiefs." It wants to complete my profile info by knowing when I did the job, that wasn't a job.

The question is weird in a couple ways. One, it's Facebook being invasive so it can figure out how to better connect me to stuff. But for two, the question just looks funny when asked, like if it were a conventional job what would your job be? Are you like their liaison, or agent who goes on missions for them? The page who takes memos from one ascended master to another? What would a job working for them look like? Would they have a big top floor group of offices in a skyscraper? Would it be the 11^th floor of a building with an elevator with no button numbered 11?

The real odd part of the question though is the word “when.” Working for the Secret Chiefs is the sort of thing that doesn't have a start and stop, it just is. You might think of it along the lines of the point where you join an organization committed the the Great Work, or to initiation or spiritual development, but that presumes that the Secret Chiefs operate purely through clean cut lines of temporal agency.

They don't.

Cutting away the mythology of ascended masters, or of a secret continental fraternity of masonic occult initiates, we can approach the idea of secret chiefs in a way that is useful and makes more sense. There are two ways I like to look at the idea of the Secret Chiefs.

The first of these is more temporal in nature. Initiates who reach the third order of initiation, or the Order of the SS would be counted amongst the Secret Chiefs. Now this does not refer to a specific order's curriculum or way of doing things, but rather the specific initiatic experience of unifying the ego of the manifest self with the fullness of the unmanifest divine. Any organization led by people in this state of initiation would be a Fully Contacted order in communion with the Secret Chiefs.

That said, this does not mean that everyone who has achieved this level of initiation is in communication with each other. It does not mean that there is a secret group of initiates playing poker in a hidden temple in the Himalayas and deciding the spiritual affairs of mankind.

It means that anyone operating from this perspective is operating in communion with the Harmony which underlies the universe. Their own individual expression of that Harmony will be unique to them, but it will still be an expression of the same source. So their guidance of their students, or of their particular spiritual order or school will still stem from that Invisible College of Masters even if these Masters don't get together and discuss plans and curricula. There is a unity beyond temporal ideas of unity expressed through corporeal agency.

The other half of the coin is the divine fullness, or the pleroma. In traditional Gnosticism the pleroma is an understanding of god which is unified and transcendent but also manifest and individuated. The ultimate God of Gnosticism is like that of Hermeticism or NeoPlatonism, a non-anthropomorphized non-characterized God who is undivided and complete. The pleroma is the movement of this divinity towards manifestation. This is the collective of the divine forces within the whole. The forces within the pleroma are individual divine beings, but the pleroma itself is a singular transcendent nature.

The unity a master has with divinity is a unity with this element of divinity, the full Harmony of the forces of creation united into a singular coalescent whole. Like the metals and planets of alchemy, iron is the manifestation of a particular force within the world, and Mars is the manifestation of the same force within the Heavens, so the planets and the metals form a bridge expressing the communication of the forces embodied in the stars into the elemental sphere of the world. Masters and the forces of the pleroma share a similar relationship.

So then anyone who is in a system being led by one of these Masters works for the Secret Chiefs right? Maybe, maybe not.

Sometimes people join orders, or become students without fully engaging the Work because it just isn't where they are going, or this particular expression might not be the way they're getting there. So working under that Master might not be a situation where an individual is doing the Great Work.

On the flip side, someone called to the Work, is working for the Secret Chiefs as soon as they begin movement towards answering that calling. That same Harmony which represents a component of the concept of the Secret Chiefs and works in tune with Masters might inspire, and draw, and guide people who might eventually become Masters even if they haven't realized they are that at this point in life. So anyone earnestly engaged in the Work, operating under inspiration from Truth, is in the employ of the Secret Chiefs, even if they don't yet realize they're doing the Work. So long as they continue on that path they still work with the Secret Chiefs.

So in the end, there really is no “when.”

King, Gardner, Magician

Sometimes as we begin to develop magically we will find something changes in our lives. A lot of people talk about increases in synchronicity, but frequently, this is just a matter of training ourselves to look for synchronicity. Developing magically involves a process of unfolding through several forms of magical power or agency. Some of these we outgrow, and some of these we develop a more intimate connection to.

As we explore we learn to reach to the heights, connect with the Holy Guardian Angel, and wield the power, wisdom, and authority which come with this connection. As we become closer and closer to it our personal kingship develops into a more and more natural state.

A good king is one with his kingdom. As we develop towards mastery we must also stretch out our hands and apprehend the world around us. We draw its myriad pieces together within our apprehension and hold them to ourselves until they move fluidly with us.

Frequently I look at this as the blending of ceremonial magic and natural magic, or witchcraft. There are other ways this can manifest but this is one way to illustrate the relationship. The point we're looking at however is what happens as you begin to develop these aspects of your magic, along with your other sources of power.

Essentially, you will, rather than uncovering synchronicity, uncover moments of automatic magic, or moments where your magic functions like it's on autopilot.

What's the difference?

When things display synchronicity it's a cool feeling of serendipity and harmony where you note that various seemingly unrelated things seem to bare a similarity. Things you didn't know you needed, or things you will need just randomly show up before you even considered the need. It's a state of feeling blessed and taken cared for by the invisible hand of the universe. It isn't particularly magical though, there's no intention, no will, no agency.

Magic occurring automatically happens when you decide a specific goal or need. You plan a method for achieving it. You maybe even begin your preparations. But before you launch your attack your goal manifests, leaving you holding your wand in your hand asking “well, what do I do with this now?” In instances like these, there is a focused intention, a defined goal, and at the least a determination to accomplish it by magic.

In my experience I tend to find it frustrating as opposed to the nifty ooey gooey feeling synchronicity is associated with. I want to know I made shit happen when I do stuff. Sometimes it's pretty clear cut though. For instance, last week, I was driving to work and determined to feel comfortably on my way to meet my numbers for the quarter I needed to find someone to purchase a particular product for $300K and determined the most likely source for clients to have those funds. I decided I would conjure Sachiel that Thursday and outline what I was looking for in a client. Later that day, a coworker brought me in to a meeting with a client because he ended up with a client from my book coming in who I hadn't spoken with in a few years. He thought I could help the client with something I couldn't, but while talking with the client I uncovered that he had $300K he needed help with. So he agreed to meet with me, this Thursday, to go over the product I had determined I needed to present to someone. He's a perfect fit for it, it's the right thing for him.

So what should I do in this situation? Run with it. This is the result of being a good king, I get to decide what's going to grow in my garden, and when my plantings sprout it's my responsibility to tend to them. Stirring the pot, either by proper magic or by authority and connection dovetailing, requires that I work with what comes to boil. Getting it started and letting it go routinely is a good way to disconnect from apprehending your world and cutting off a piece of that power you've cultivated. Besides, it's what you wanted in the first place.

But again, it's a sprouting. Depending upon the nature of your goal, that initial little push might be enough to get it done. A bigger goal with more parts, or where more factors could impact it might need bolstering. In my case, workings to secure my business partner and I making our presentation right, or for success for myself and the client would be ways to cultivate what has started.

Again, part of the difference between synchronicity and magic. You got your goal started without much work, but as a magician you observe the situation, understand the goal, and do what you need to to make that first movement blossom into your chosen manifestation.