Introduction
Ascending the Tower
At last, you have arrived at the Wizard's Tower.
This tower rises from the eastern wing of an ancient Castle. Yet others have found it standing hidden at the heart of a primeval forest, or upon a mountain no map has ever recorded. There are those who insist it exists nowhere at all, save within the human soul.
It is a place that exists in many realms at once. It exists within this world, yet outside of it.
You arrive road-worn, weary and cold, bearing the dust and rain of distant paths. Your cloak hangs heavy about your shoulders; your boots have known the earth of many lands.
You have come seeking that which cannot be named. Some have called it God. Others Truth, Beauty, Wisdom, or Love. Some have called it the Grail. Others, the Stone. By whatever path or quest has brought you here, you followed whispers, hints and clues. You followed an inner calling and sought for …. and through signs and synchronicities, you have been brought here, now, to the threshold of the Mysteries.
You knock three times upon the old wooden door, and whisper the password you were given: ”In principio erat Verbum.” or (Ad Rosam Per Crucem) or VITRIOL or …
The door opens, and you step into the darkness within. As you enter, the sounds of the city cease…
You first see steps that lead down to the subterranean alchemy lab, where a vessel holds a dark substance undergoing distillation above a soft flame. The chamber is full of apparatus, vessels, plants, stones, metals, … Upon the walls hang strange dreamlike paintings. In one, a person whose body is half male and half female and has two heads stands upon a dragon. In another, a black crows fly upwards from a skeleton and become white. Elsewhere, a green lion devours the sun while a king sleeps within a tomb of stone.
Your instructions were to not linger, but to climb to the tower’s apex. So you then begin to ascend the spiral stair, toward a faint light that shines far above. As you climb, you pass many chambers, each one different from the next.
You pass the dojo, full of martial training weapons and equipment, where a sword and shield bearing a golden lion rest upon the wall.
You glimpse another door standing slightly ajar, and you have a vision of a great hall adorned with banners from forgotten kingdoms. A great Round Table stands at its center with 12 sieges around it. Yet your instructions were not to tarry, so you continue onward.
As you climb you see through a small window outside below a walled garden illuminated by soft moonlight. It is dominated by two large trees located in the center - one white and one dark. You also glimpse olive trees and almond trees in bloom and a variety of roses whose buds have not yet unfolded. (what else would be good to have in the garden?)
You see a Temple, with a golden box flanked by carved angels sitting outside a veiled inner chamber, with frankincense drifting from its altar.
You note the library, its towering wooden shelves laden with tomes of many sizes. Many unfinished manuscripts lie scattered upon worn wooden desks. Some are illuminated with gold leaf, some are in strange languages and adorned with unknown symbols, while others contain only a single line…
You next come upon a richly decorated chamber. Maps cover the walls with annotations marking the Kingdom, the King’s Road, the Wasteland, the Fisher King’s Castle, the Forest of Shadows, the Sea of Storms, and roads leading unto places long forgotten by the world. Upon a great table lies an antique compass and an unfinished map whose final borders have yet to be drawn. Beside it rests a sheathed sword, a compass of brass, and an unbroken wax seal bearing the image of a Crown and the letters SB entwined in a royal sigil.
Beyond another doorway lies a small chamber of white marble. At its center rests a pool of perfectly still water with steps leading down into it, reflecting the moonlight through the circular window as though it were a second sky. Somewhere unseen you hear the gentle sound of flowing water.
You keep rising and behold the Oratory—a small simple chapel holding a single lamp, a plain cross, and one blood-red rose blooming at its center. There is a place for someone to kneel down in front of the simple altar in prayer.
You climb beyond the music chamber, where a lute rests upon a chair, and you can almost hear faint music ethereally echoing in the still air
You come upon a closed ancient oak door, fastened with an ornate lock. For some doors can only be opened by those who possess the key….
You ascend past the observatory, open unto the heavens, where a great telescope stands beside an astrolabe of brass and celestial globes engraved with zodiacal constellations. Charts of stars depicting geometries cover the walls, while silver moonlight illumines an unfinished map of the heavens.
Yet still you climb higher….
Higher still, through a great doorway down a side hall, you glimpse an ancient empty Throne, sitting in shadow in a vast and silent chamber. Seated upon the throne is a single small white candle with a small flame burning above it. And beside it, upon a plain wooden table, rests an hourglass with running sands and a tarnished yet softly luminous crown.
At last you reach the top of the stair, where a small lantern hangs from the ceiling. There, a small, simple wooden door stands partway open, with flickering firelight escaping through the gap. You push it inward and enter the Wizard’s study.
The circular chamber is filled with instruments of wonder: an astrolabe and armillary upon the sill, star charts pinned upon the walls, a globe, a skull, a staff leaning in the corner, a crystal catching the firelight, and a deep red stone pulsing with inner radiance. A black cat perches silently by the window, it’s yellow eyes unblinking.
The room’s oval window opens unto a clear night with stars like diamonds around a delicate crescent moon.
The old Wizard sits at his desk, writing in flowing script across the pages of a great leather-bound book lying open before him. On the desk sits a compass, a mirror, a lamp, and a key. He does not look up, but gestures with his off hand toward the chair beside the fire.
He completes the passage, and sets down his pen. From your chair you can read the last part: ”...and the prince, at the middle of his life’s path, at last found the tower. And so the true journey begins.”
The Wizard rises, uncorks a worn glass bottle, and pours two goblets of blood-red wine. He hands you one, then takes the seat beside you before the fire.
You drink, and the warmth stirs the spirit.
The Wizard does not speak, but only gazes into the fire, as if seeing something in the flames…. Together you gaze silently into the flames. The stillness of the night deepens and the world outside falls away.
At last the Wizard turns, and his eyes meet yours. They are a deep blue, and within them burns an ancient light — and you see in them untold depth, you see there sorrow and joy, light and darkness, and all of life and the Great Mystery reflected.
Finally the Wizard says: "Welcome traveler. I was wondering when you would find your way here..”
He lifts the cup, and takes a slow draught.
"Now — let us begin." OR ”Shall we begin?”
Intro
"So, you've found your way here, but where is that? What tale have you entered? What I share is...."
- The Great Story - an imaginal, mythic exploration and journey into the great story of life itself
- The Way of the Wizard - sharing the way, the truth, the life.
- The Royal Art as the title of the entire thing - A total synthesis of the Western Esoteric/Mystery Tradition - in the narrative and symbols and language of royalty.
- The sharing of a TRADITION. The restoring and re-membering of the Western Tradition. the flame of the lineage and tradition - prisca theologica
- Magnum Opus - how this is all about doing and consumating the Great Work
- I am the Wizard, but I am also the Apprentice. We walk the path together
- The Quest, the journey, the path....
- The Tale of the Exiled Prince - the mythic high fantasy narrative that is the meta-story
- unfolding of a mystery school curriculum, a total education and initiation into a total way of life and Order of being.
- the Christ teachings and way as at the heart and center
- the goal as awakening liberation empowerment, transformation, salvation and atonement . Remembrance of ones Divine Sunship, Christ hood, royal identity. Restoration of the king and the kingdom.
- Discipleship, Knighthood, being the wizard’s apprentice,…
- Remembering and restoring what it means to become fully human
- The Eternal Story of the Soul - divinity, fall, exile, journey, lessons, quest, initiation, awakening, atonement, Royalty restored, Translation
- The Epic story, poem, romance - A living multidimensional story, and story within a story
- I am the protagonist, the hero, the writer, the listener, the Wizard, the Apprentice, the Disciple, the actor and the audience, .... all at once together. I share the path as I walk it, the story as I experience it and write it, the listen to the song as I sing it....
- This is my perspective of the infinite diamond of creation. You must choose what you percieve, you believe, you feel, you think, and you do. What hold truth and value for you. This is my story and my journey, but you are also on your path, and if you wish we can communicate through time and space, yet you have your own calling and destiny to live....
- purpose: to provide a mythos, a story, a path, a religion, a Tradition, a way - for the modern materialist world and disenchanted Man. For those seeking truth and beauty and love, and God.....
- the sharing of a coherent theology, philosophy, cosmology, anthropology, soteriology, sacred order, political vision, and complete doctrine of the Kingdom.
- The main paths and narratives of the Royal Art - hermetic magus's path, chivalric knight, Christic disciple, bardic poet,
- Major themes and paths: building the temple, royalty, alchemical, astrotheurgic, initiatory mysteries, myth & drama, Christic/Sophianic, Chivalric Knight, Tradition/Lineage,
- I am Seth Balthazar, and this world and this way, and this story is my creation. Yet I myself am created by The Creator.
- The Wizard is the ancient wise powerfully creative, knowledgeable guide to the Hero. He knows the situation, the task, the nature of the quest, what is needed to vanquish the Dark Lord, what must be done to heal the king and make whole the land. He is that heavenly messenger who enters this world to aid and guide the hero, to preserve the ancient magical wisdom and power and ensure it is passed on.....
- He teaches and shows his apprentice his total Way. Yet he teaches through story, through the events and experiences of life, through myths and riddles and tasks, clues.....
- invocation of muse and HS: Sing with me oh Muse, and through me tell the story. And may my heart, thoughts, and words be guided by the Holy Spirit. May my expression bring light to others, not darkness, inspiration not fear, truth not illusions..... (any other ideas for what needs to be covered)
"Perhaps this did not make much sense to you, but that will all be made clear as we explore this together. That is enough for today, the has burned low and it is time for you to go back into the world. But you may come again soon, and we will properly start the story at the beginning, and set forth on an endless journey. Fare well, until we meet again."
There are many names for what we do here. Some have called it philosophy. Others religion. Others poetry or magic or mystery. I have simply come to call it the Royal Art.
There are many roads before us.
We shall speak of Kings and beggars. Of dragons and saints. Of love and sorrow. Of philosophy and poetry. Of God and the soul and the long road home.
We shall build temples and seek the Grail. We shall descend into dark forests and ascend holy mountains. We shall ask impossible questions and discover that the greatest mysteries are often hidden in the simplest things.
But not tonight.
Tonight I wished only to welcome you.
You have found the Tower at last.
That is enough for one evening.
Until we meet again, fare well my friend.
II.
You’ve come again to the Wizard’s Tower….