Invisible Fire: Traditional Themes in Western Mysticism and Sethian Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold
Crossed Crow Books
Crossed crow books are a U.S. publishing house, due to postage costs to the UK they are prohibitively extortionate and therefore difficult to get hold of in the UK, however a short and often visited trip to Glastonbury and I was pleased to discover Courtyard Books stocked a few of their titles, including this one.
Nicholas de Mattos Frisvold is an author I have delved into before and admired his work, viz, the Exu and Pombu Gira books, relating to Brazilian/Fusion sorcery, both I read and enjoyed.
What is the Sethian Path?
Aha? ’tis surely the practice of veneration towards Set, the olde God of the Egyptian pantheon, he, the storm god, desert God, alike Cain actually who killed his brother and was exiled to wander in the Cursed Earth of sand and scorpions. Actually, no, it concerns Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve. Oh no, please not another offshoot of that damned and awful Middle Eastern calamity.
In my mind I envision Cain as the tiller of the Earth, the harvester of the flora, and Abel- the shepherd and nurturer of animals. One sees his labour rejuvenate and regrow- as long as he sustains, the other nurtures and kills in order to sustain, and likewise was himself, of course killed, and yet unlike the crops did not rejuvenate. John Barleycorn he was not.
Seth on the other hand looked not to the fields of livestock or crops, but to the heavens and wondered- what’s it all about?
Seth and his descendants then ‘begat’ the lineage of devotion to Yahweh and Israel, as opposed to the naughty rebellious descendants of Cain (or Qayin because spelling it that way apparently makes it seem more menacing). This was my view as I began the book.
So is it another offshoot from the Middle East? yes, and no.
Sethians believe that Ol’ Jove is but a malevolent player in the desire to create this false material world, and by it, the illusion and ignorance we endure. To suffer, to experience, to submit . The real God, is in fact beyond all this arrogance of a demiurge, beyond the jealous and petulant brat God who demands adoration, for what? but its own empowerment, fuelled by our love and devotion and faith to it. The real God exists beyond this, and it is by the path of the Sethian way that we negate all this illusion and thus reach a form of yechidah! (The divine and synonymous aspect that exists within us) to the eventual extent of Ein soph- Infinite bliss. All things considered it strikes a familiar chord with other faiths of similar approach.
God is not a deity supreme- the be all and end all-, rather the deity we have come to know as- “God“- is a fake idea manipulating the material world and maintaining it for its own existence and satisfaction, knowing that what it sees is ‘good’- by its own standard of course, despite bringing into being suffering, death and absolute misery. Everything we love we will watch die, or, they whom we love watch us perish, ultimately there is no happy ending, just an end that will bring pain to us or those who love us -eventually, and absolutely. ‘God’ ~ Ol’ Jove~ of course as it resides on Faith and devotion and revels in the hearkened cries of those who eventually plea for respite from this misery that ironically, this redeemer they call to actually created. But, repeat, this is not the true God, The true oneness is beyond this, beyond existence and duality. It is reached by Yechidah, by experience of Ein Soph. And it is not a ‘God‘, for that is to define.
This repetitive approach to underlining the themes is apparent in this book as I’ve just practically parodied, but it’s not a bad idea, it is part of the structure and course. Things are revisited constantly, themes are pushed with this view and that view, though they lead back to the same source. And, I found myself fascinated.
This begs the question, if as Genesis 4:25 declares “And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
Why would IHVH allow the birth of Seth, if Seth sees IHVH as a demiurge. Well, the Bible and Hebraic texts don’t actually say Seth has this opinion, its a gnostic thing, texts that, of course the authorised church and Bible compilers didn’t give access to;- The Apocryphon of John (also known as the Secret Book of John), The Gospel of the Egyptians and other Gnostic texts. In as much then, the basis of the whole book here could be considered an idea, as opposed to a great mystic revelation behind which the truth shines. It, the Sethian way, could be alike the Necrominicon, or Fairy story, or some other notion. But it has its followers, and it has its place. Even as I read the content, the themes and ideas, revelations and many comparisons, I could dismiss it all if I were to be cynical but then where would truth lie. In this sentence hides the truth, where does truth lie! but anywhere- of course.
Well, regardless of the Biblical construct, if we compare, there have been figures who mocked the Gods, who taught wisdom of the true nature of ‘being’, be it the serpent of the tree at Eden, or Hermes who somewhat, even as a messenger was bound by wisdom to tell that – as it is, or by the tricksters- Loki and perhaps Pan- in a roundabout way, and ultimately by Sophia- wisdom untamed, unbound by laws or restriction. Alike Maat- is unchallenged because she reflects only purity and the truth. To which all Gods must bow down and submit.
It is a book I began to read, and found myself having to make notes, having a quick research and cross referencing. Undoubtedly, myself having a good working knowledge of Qabalah and Eastern philosophy- particularly The Upanishads, helps. I wonder how someone not well versed in Qabalah et al will fare? The author does drop terms in that would be alien to anyone who does not have a firm understanding of them beforehand, and there is not an appendix of terms to relate to. My deviation from the book came to looking things up, I tend to veer away from the religion of the middle east despite much/most western schools directly swimming in its waters. There were things I had to discover, and that is a great thing when a book ignites a curiosity.
Back to the Seth problem, why would God allow his birth despite him being somewhat and adversary? There is a school of thought revealed in the book, that, Abel was the son of Adam and Eve, Cain the son of The Serpent /Samael and Eve and Seth the son of Eve and the true God. It’s a wonderful analogy and image if nothing else. Good old Eve, had a go with Man, God and the Devil and yet we dwell on God, The Devil, boring Adam and the descendants thereof. What a girl and story ! This is what strikes me here, not so much the Sethian path, but that of Eve in Gnostic terms, that she came to know (!) God, the Devil and Man, born so we are told to be little more than a subservient plaything and gopher for Adam,yet here, in this context she takes them all.
There are many themes that are raised in Frisvolds book. The path to illumination is not just by devotion and reflection, abstinence and piety, for the rebels themselves, experiencing and deviating, walking the trackless by refusing the restriction of the set path, in this they too come to view the whole as one, sleeping with a thousand lovers, he has but loved one, witnessing a thousand works of art from all styles, he understands art. This comes back to my own self gnosis, “Apprentice to many and master of none”.
Ultimately where are we going when every spell and candle dabble, binding ritual and want of want is satiated~ or maybe it is not, but the desire however, at some point is quenched. We no longer feel the need, no longer the pull towards something external to enliven us. It never does. The grass isn’t greener. Money does not bring happiness. We become content in our being and thus, love the rest of our lives merely as the watcher of the unfolding.
Is this the true nature of being. With nothing to grasp or aim for, where will the arrow fly? In loneliness and separation, what manner of being is this, why would experiencers so choose to be just a watcher? because of course, they are that and its not by choice, but experience is exhausted, negated, all the varying lights have merged as one and blinded. The daughters of men, and the eagerness to be loved for want of knowledge, the power of holding secrets, are but follies in Pandora’s box. None of it matters.
The close of the book, gives Praxis, ceremonies and rituals, short, easy, reflective. What’s the point of theory after all without the practice. Though I moan constantly about parrot fashion recitals and the drone of repetition, they’re quite pleasant, and deliver, even if only at the least in imagery and expectation.
It’s a shame Crossed Crow books do not licence to be printed throughout the world, the shipping costs just don’t do it. I did pick up another book from them – ironically ‘The Tameless path’, how invasive plants can be used in our craft. The overgrown, the trackless, the neglected and overlooked, the stone the builders rejected, how wonderful it is to be on the other side, looked down upon and cast out.
The Western Gate 
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