Gnostic Esoteric Study & Work Aids: Ray of Art

Introduction

We make certain mistakes along the way in many things and some of the mistakes that we can make is to harbour wrong attitudes and incorrect understanding. One of those wrong attitudes that I had was to do with the ray of art.

I thought that essentially it was something useless and weak. Thinking about it, such an attitude is against the Absolute, because it is after all an expression of the Absolute and it is something that emanates from the Absolute. The Absolute has a reason as to why there is a ray of art, and certainly there are big reasons as to why there is a ray of art. We will see some of these reasons later on in this post.

Just something to take into account, when we think that the ray of art or anything that actually exists in creation is not needed (mosquitoes or flies, even a certain person), we are really believing in some way that we are wiser than the Absolute and that can't be.

The very famous hand of mysteries. Art that speaks to the consciousness.

Ray of Art and its Function

The ray of art encompasses many art forms such as painting, music, poetry, dance, orating, drama, theatre, writing, teaching, sculpture etc.

Two Types of Art

There are actually two types of art: subjective and objective art. Subjective art is difficult to understand at times and the meaning of the art piece tends to remain with the artist who created it. Objective art is very different, it is the art that has been created by the consciousness and speaks to the consciousness of all who come into contact with it.

In summary we can say here, that there can be expressions of art that come from the personality, the ego and the essence. Art is an open medium that can be used by any element within the human being to express or manifest its ideas, desires, concepts, revelations or truths etc. It can be used to express the desires of the ego, the values of the personality and or the wisdom, truths, teachings, inspiration etc. of the essence within us.

The creator of objective art is essentially the consciousness combined with the force and intelligence of the sexual energy.

It is worth while understanding that art is a medium or a conduit though which truths can be conveyed but it is not the divine truth that is being conveyed.

Important Function

The ray of art is actually needed and is actually very important. This is because it reveals to people various cosmic truths. Art is used to convey the teachings of the Absolute, the Being and the consciousness. It can convey though various means cosmic truths and portrayals of the Divine nature, so that the essence can receive a glimpse of what the Divine is like and what the Divine attributes are about (how they function) and what they are like.

We may even say that Master Samael's books are an expression of the ray of art within Master Samael. Remembering that the Being even though it may belong to a particular cosmic ray it also has all the other rays within it. We would be severely disadvantaged if we did not have any of Master's Samael's books or if he did not give talks and lectures.

Art used to reveal a little about the nature of the Divine.

Art finds its use to us on the emotional, psychological and spiritual levels. It may be of little use to us physically becasue it does not heal our physical body or create new devices and machines that make our life easier but it certainly can benefit our psychological and spiritual lives. It can heal us psychologically, inspire, move, generate positive emotion, teach, give hope and nourish the soul. It is an important source of impressions and as you may know the most important food for the human being from the Gnostic perspective are impressions.

Aren't our homes and Gnostic centres filled with art? Don't those impressions somehow benefit us. Imagine what we would feel if those pictures, images, statues were not present. We would feel some sort of a lacking wouldn't we? A certain dryness and hunger?

Art certainly feeds our psychology and essence. That is why it is important to be intelligent with the art that we expose ourselves to. Divine images work inside of ourselves teaching us and helping us.

Principles of Art

In relation to the art of the Essence or the Being there are some principles that are followed, the main one being the principle of the consciousness. The art of the essence or the Being uses consciousness and it is the consciousness expressed in art that speaks to the consciousness of others. This is how art becomes objective, because the language of the consciousness is the same for all, and it is understood by all, because the consciousness is all one.

Royal Art

Master Samael talks about there being a Royal Art, and this art in the internal worlds is art that is alive. He says that it has life and portrays epics of history, cosmic principles, and synthesises certain teachings and knowledge about creation and the Divinity etc. in a living form.

Symbols are Art

The art of the essence or the Being is even expressed in our dreams, our meditations and our internal experiences. The symbols that we see are after all a kind of visual art form. There appears to be some connection between art, the consciousness and seeing. It seems that real art expresses the consciousness graphically.

Temples and Art

The temples and the temple of our Being are an expression of art, and if art were not to exist neither would the temples and our internal temple. Art can even be used to express the beauty that exists in the Divine. It can also be used to inspire and evoke inspiration always for the essence and for the Being.

Art and Science

Art and science are related, as art conceals the science of things and practical art is the way of applying the science. Many disciplines are considered art forms, such as martial arts, Alchemy, craft, persuasion, magic etc.

One becomes an artist when a mastery of the practical application of the science within the discipline is achieved. For example, in martial arts when all the techniques have been mastered one becomes a martial artist. One is then eloquent in applying the techniques and knowledge of the art. Every art has its techniques and knowledge therefore science. At the bottom of art there are underlying principles - science.

Mastery and Art

Mastery and art go hand in hand. When one masters him or herself one becomes then an artist of one's life. It is only then that one can make of their life a work of art. Before then the art work we make is not incompletely in our hands. The egos, our karma and our recurrences interfere and dictate the art work that we paint or sculpt.

An artist is one who has mastery of the science within the field in which the art belongs. If we are an artist of our life we have then mastered the science of ourselves and life. There are degrees and degrees of mastery and degrees and degrees of the perfection of mastery. The ultimate artist within us is our inner Being.

Art Can Speak and it Can Ask

Art can speak to the consciousness and sometimes it can ask a question. Art can be a trigger or it can inspire the essence to investigate so to acquire a certain truth. Sometimes art reveals a truth in a complete way, and at times it is incomplete and invites us to inquire so to find the complete truth. This is because some truths can not be stated they can only be really known or understood by discovering them within oneself. To this end some art pieces can be a question, requiring you to find the answer. This is what lunar humanity does not like, it wants everything to be given to it and now, it likes everything the easy way.

The Alchemists used art extensively to hide and reveal their teachings. Their art was also one that
taught and intrigued motivating the sincere seeker to investigate to discover the real
meaning. This is how new Alchemy students were found.

Sexual Energy and Art

The sexual energy is creative and art is always created, so art is a crystallisation of the sexual energy guided by consciousness or the personality or the ego. The sexual energy and the consciousness is what give art its force. What we create is always an expression of our sexual energy.

Art that is the result of the transmuted sexual energy is of more coherent, organised and inspiring quality. Objective art uses the transmuted sexual energy. The rough and unrefined sexual energy contributes to the sometimes strange forms of subjective art. The stranger the art piece the more diverted the artist's sexual energy will be.

Some artists have a terrible vanity and the worst thing that you can do is say that their piece of work is despicable, useless and meaningless. This is usually because they identify with their art, they are their art work and so making such comments is actually seen as being against their person, which naturally hurts and offends them and produces very aggressive defensive reactions.

Sometimes artists have a tendency to be sexually wayward, this is because such artist's have a lot of sexual energy (this is where their creativity comes from) and they do not channel it correctly or don't know how to channel it. Their vanity and their sexual energy combine in a way that does a disservice to them.

Ludwig Von Beethoven

It is said that Beethoven belongs to the ray of Music and is a guardian of a temple in the Causal World. Master Samuel said that Beethoven was an initiate and was a very tough one. He, Master Samael said, passed a very difficult test known as the spiritual night. This tells us that the Masters of the Ray of Art are not sissies as we could conceive them to be.

I have met a few modern artists (subjective) and certainly they have very robust personalities, as well as strong egos. They do not fit into the category of being pansies in life. If they were to dissolve those strong egos they would be truly strong and robust in their essence, consciousness and Being.