Apollo with the Solar Disc via Albrecht Durer[/caption]Physis is a Greek word which can be translated as "Nature" - it
also means the 'natural unfolding' or evolution which occurs in Nature as
well as the 'character' or nature' of a person. In many ways, it is that
harmony or balance which 'holds the cosmos together' in a natural way.
The ancient Greeks had a concept of living and an approach to the
gods which was pagan - they believed that a proper life (I am writing about
pre-Platonic views here) was a balanced one: that the relationship of the
individual to the gods was important. This relationship of the individual
to the gods was important. This relationship was not based on concepts of
sin nor on a morbid denial of life and its pleasures. Rather, it was based
on respect - the individual respected the gods and believed the respect
(and thus personal fortune) of the gods could be obtained or given if the
individual strove to achieve excellence. It was considered unwise to be
excessive - in anything. The Greek mystery cults went further, and believed
life could be enhanced - and immortality attained - by living in a certain
way and performing certain rites. Central also was a pragmatic view - that
the cosmos possessed a natural order which could be understood if one
thought hard enough or observed it for long enough or if one attained an
insight into it.
These things established a framework for understanding genuine
paganism in general - insofar as 'the West' and its psyche is concerned. It
is better to begin in this way, via the ancient Greeks, since the evidence
and the sources are preserved more completely than other 'Western' pagan
tradition. It is unfortunate that most modern pagans derive their
understanding from myths and legends and practices which are often obscure
or incomplete - what is missing is difficult to understand often being
interpreted romantically. Naturally, this approach via the Greeks assumes
that there are similarities between the different forms paganism assumed
among the peoples of the West at various times - that is, that the
variations are different expressions of the same spirit or 'view of the
world', an expression which pre-dated the morally abstract religion of the
Nazarene and extended from the ancient Albion around the time of the
building of Stonehenge to the Anglo-Saxons, the Celts and the Vikings. I
believe this assumption to be a valid one - for what is important are not
the details of the legends or the attributes of the gods or even the
various religious forms and rites, but rather the instinctive apprehension
of life and the cosmos which gave rise to the religious forms of paganism
in the first place: that which is our collective or 'folk' psyche. Thus, we
may say that while the paganism of the ancient Greeks and that of the
Vikings represent or express this psyche, the abstract religion of
Christianity does not.
There is an esoteric tradition which regards ancient Albion (or
rather the civilization of Albion which flourished between c. 5,000 BP and
3,000 BP) as the original home of the god whom the Greeks called Apollo and
thus the inspiration of the Greeks. This tradition - which names the
civilization the 'Hyperborian' in honour of this fact - recounts Albion as
inventing the wheel among other things, including agriculture, and
possessing a knowledge of and skill in astronomy (evident in Stonehenge and
other monuments of the civilization) as well as esoteric crafts. The Druids
are regarded by this tradition of being among the last remants of the
decayed civilization.
Whatever the truth or otherwise of this tradition, I believe the
ancient Greeks give us the most comprehensive information regarding
paganism - or rather, that paganism which is appropriate to those whose
psyche is "Western". [I use this term "Western" with misgivings since today
it generally and unfortunately implies that materialistic power structure
of European and American states, rather than a definite culture. "European"
is no better, and both 'Indo-European' and 'Aryan' are liable to
misinterpretation. By 'West' is meant that culture exemplified by Albion,
ancient Greece and Rome, the Celts, Vikings and so on.]
This ancient Greek foundation gives us two important contributions
missing from the other traditions - what may be called the 'pragmatic' and
the _conscious_ expression of our relationship with the gods. The former is
exemplified in that essentially rational approach to living which is so
typically Greek, the latter in Greek tragedy and some of the pre-Socratic
philosophers.
What this amounts to is nothing really new - just another way of
viewing what esoteric tradition has established, of sorting out the
valuable from the dross, enabling perspective. Essentially, esoteric
tradition (call it 'the Occult' for convenience) maintains that we have
latent abilities and are capable of evolving still further - of developing
higher levels of consciousness. Part of this is in understanding and
mastery of the Occult arts - e.g. like divination and 'magick' - and part
is in developing an empathy or awareness with and of others and the cosmos.
One aspect is the belief that we can attain Immortality - e.g. by alchemy,
be that alchemy a practical one with the production of an Elixir or an
internal one with the production of Adeptship and beyond.
This way means, if its potential is to be fulfilled, a certain way
or ways of living rather than a 'hobby' or an 'interest' or a 'diversion'.
Part of this is an attitude and part of it is observance or participation,
usually by some form of ritual or rite. That is, there is an approach to
life, which may be intuitive - a 'feeling' about the world, and a desire to
do something, participate, or achieve.
Naturally there is in the Occult a confusion and multitude of ways
and systems and beliefs. But most of these, deriving from unclear sources,
have lost (if they ever possessed) the meaning or essence behind the outer
forms: a meaning or essence which the two contributions from the Greeks,
mentioned above, explicate most clearly.
Hitherto, both the dogmatic and the religious approach to the
Occult (evident in the revival of past forms and ways, for example) have
failed because the forms and means chosen have seldom if ever been
conscious. That is, they exist on the unconscious, symbolic level or on the
directly religious one, presuming in the first instance a lack of
self-awareness and in the second instance a faith in arcane religious forms
and/or deities. In brief, the attitude of mind thus cultivated tends
towards uncritical acceptance and 'superstition' - and a lack of real
understanding regarding the relationship between the individual and the
gods.
The realization of the Occult requires a specific way of living -
one that takes the individual away from the modern world with its
abstractions, its beliefs, its dogma, its noise, frenetic pace and crowds.
This way returns individuals to themselves, to confront and understand what
is within, and then having achieved a self-understanding and thus
liberation, to an understanding of 'Nature'/the gods and thus the cosmos.
The attitude of mind required is an openness - an enquiring
approach which combines a pragmatic view with intuition or insight. Such an
attitude may for convenience be called 'Thinking' or 'contemplation' - it
is a reasoned empathy developed by various methods or Occult techniques,
and may be said to represent the essence of paganism, and essence capable
of being apprehended and developed only by the way of living mentioned
above.
Such an understanding as arises from such an attitude is highly
individual - that is, it cannot be constrained within a dogma or form part
of a religious belief. There is thus the development of an entirely new
type of conscious apprehension - a new way of 'Thinking' or being, and thus
a new way of living. Fundamentally, this new understanding is what "Physis"
means - and to achieve this is the aim of a Physis community or foundation.
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