Kara is a second generation chaote hailing from just north of Portland, OR. She’s been published in Konton, Key23, participated in the Infictive Hyperwiki and Occulterati podcast, and now graces us with her presence here on ahrfoundation.org ^[1] as our first guest blogger.

This is Part II of a two part post, click here for Part I ^[2]. ^[2]

Philios can inform and expand True Love for the self and vice versa, Philios pointed inwardly informs and expands True Will, which in turn, informs and expands the Great Work, which necessarily flows back into Love and Will. In this cosmology, Love, True Will and the Great Work are all tied in together, flow into one another, expand and strengthen one another. (The symbol for recycling comes to mind here.)

So what is True Will and how does one discover this deepest of motivations? I believe that the answer lies in the subconscious mind, the background signal of the soul, so to speak. Instinct or what we often call intuition is at the very heart of this knowing. Intuition is that little voice in your gut that tells you whether something feels right or wrong at a basic level. If you use it as you would a pendulum to gage your feelings about situations and people and courses of action, I believe it will never steer you in the wrong direction. I believe that the human instinct is infinitely more advanced and elegant than we would usually care to imagine. It seems like an animal thing and we like to forget that we too are animals with keen senses.

“Its inherent Strength is perfected, if it is turned into Earth.”

This line from the Emerald Tablet, that most treasured code of alchemists, effectively sums up how I feel about the natural progression of intuition. As you use intuition, it grows in strength exponentially. You come to understand it, trust it and rely on it. I believe that when you continue in this direction, the intuition becomes tempered with logic, experience and resolve. If and when this enlightened intuition becomes personified, one attains Knowledge of and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel. The HGA is your deepest need and motivation given voice and utilized as a guiding force and motivator, broadcasting the True Will. This voice can be so powerful that it may seem alien and external, and it has been known by many other names: Higher Self, Spirit Guide, Gwo Bon Anj, even God. And it can be fierce, it can be terrifying. I fully understand why magi of the past have referred to this voice as angelic, as I view angels as similarly great and terrible. Knowledge and Conversation has been associated with a complete opening of the heart chakra. This love flows back into itself, and the voice of the HGA is tempered with love and ferocity as much as with reason.

As you follow the mandates of your True Will more and more, there will be fewer and fewer doubts about the veracity of this voice, and you will probably notice a lot of interesting synchronicities cropping up in your life because so much of who you are will feed into this Work. Your resolve will be strong and you will understand what it is you must do with your existence. The discovery of that purpose is what leads to the Great Work.

The question of life’s purpose comes up repeatedly in the conversations and writings of mystical seekers. No matter how atheistic the mood or attitude of the individual in question, there seems to be an underlying feeling that each life is potentially valuable; that there is some destined purpose in store and that one must strive to discover it at any cost. Some of us even like to speculate that this is a role chosen before birth. I do not know whether there is a beforelife and an afterlife, but I can say with certainty that purpose is not something that hunts you down and hands you a script. Purpose is something that arises from your passions, something that is up to you to define.

“God helps those who help themselves.”

As I struggled with depression in my teens and early twenties, I wished desperately for purpose to reveal itself to me. It was only later when I realized how unreasonable this wish was that I made any progress in defining my life’s work. “God helps those who help themselves” was a line that was continuously going through my head. I’m agnostic, but I believe God is, among other things, a model for our grandest visions of ourselves and a word that describes the intense human emotion of Agape. We don’t just stumble upon purpose; we flesh it out with great intent.

The Great Work, as the natural conclusion to the purpose revealed by the True Will through the voice of the Holy Guardian Angel, is more than a single act or project, but a layered process. To do this work is to heal, to become highly functional, to utilize your greatest potential and to manifest your deepest needs and desires.

The Great Work is you, how you live your life and what you produce, how you shape and create yourself, the legacy you leave when you die. The Great Work is to turn the common, poisonous lead of the base self into the malleable, reflective, highly prized gold of the Adept. An apt symbol for the Adept, gold has long been associated with the most powerful source known to humanity: the Sun.

Everyone wants to be remembered for something. In an existence of uncertain mortality, this slight measure of immortality is a deeply gratifying thought. Death is something best approached with wonder and a sense that one has done right in the world. Knowing that you have enacted meaning for your existence is the difference between a peaceful death and a death that is marred by painful regrets.

Start thinking about what is most satisfying and sacred to you. It may be something like a broad appreciation for music; in which case, your underlying deepest motivation may be a need to inspire or to be understood. Whatever the outward expressions of your deepest passions are, remember that there is an internal emotional motivation to be sought out. Take this basic motivation, consider your favorite mediums and figure out what you can put out into the world to satisfy your purpose. Write a general mission statement that you can refer back to when you need to refocus. Write longer missions statements for each project, and most importantly, manifest what you envision with the strongest resolve. There will follow an ongoing process of refinement leading up to an impressive body of work or to one unifying project that sums up everything you want to communicate to the world.

Your Great Work is waiting. Do not fear, but become the roaring visionary fire you know you must be.

Kara Rae Garland (Soror Ceilede) is a quirky bibliophile who hails from just north mystical of Portland, OR. She currently works for the world famous Powell’s Books and has been studying the occult for sixteen years. As a second gen chaos magician and rampant blogger, she has been published in Konton magazine and The Best of Konton, as well as online at the webzine formerly known as Key23 (now Key64.net), the Infictive Hyperwiki ^[3] and has participated in the highly esteemed podcast Occulterati.

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