I have delved into the website of
divine science and I read all there is to have in public access. My main conclusion is: I think this group cannot be considered as a 4Th Way activity.
It appears to be a mystery school fully entrenched in Gnosticism that aims at training Gnostics to become mystics in the classical sense of that word. They claim a lineage that started some 3700 years ago but don't specify or substantiate that claim, nevertheless it might be related to Babylon which is mentioned. Their main core materials stem from ancient Egypt and Greece, including the cosmology and worldview of that period (ca. 500 BCE - 500 CE). This might indicate Alexandria as a main influence and/or a further point of origin, but such is not specified.
From: http://cassiopedia.org/glossary/Gnosticism :
The 4Th Way in general is not regarded as a Gnostic movement, although it agrees with Gnostic ideas in certain areas. For example the world being a prison which man may escape through hard work and spiritual development is one point of agreement. However the 4Th Way does not regard the material world as intrinsically repugnant or a mistake. IT rather is simply the task set before man. Even contrary forces such as the General Law are seen as needful and justified, even required for man's possible evolution.
The existence of a control system run by non-human forces, the Moon, Matrix, 4Th density STS or control system, however one will call it, is another area of agreement between Gnosticism and the 4Th Way.
The 4Th Way is not dualistic in the Gnostic sense. It is clear that different spiritual forces are at work in the universe. Instead of being seen as inherently twisted or evil, the universe, including its material levels is seen as an evolving living system. Being such, it has a food chain, predators and so forth but this is not a sadistic mistake.
Of the three traditional Ways explicated by Gurdjieff, Gnosticism would come closest to the Way of the Yogi, although there may be some aspects of the Way of the Monk. The Way of the Fakir has nothing to do with Gnosticism, since the Gnostics see the body as sort of a necessary temporary evil and place no great stress on its exercise. Still, the emphasis on knowledge acquired by contemplation lends Gnosticism an intellectual flavor.
The key difference of Gnosticism and the 4Th Way is the former's rejection of the world. While the 4Th Way sees this very world as the necessary source of shocks and challenges, the Gnostics would rather withdraw from it.
The two main writers of the publicly accessable material go by the (pen?)names of Ramose Daskalodos and Veos respectively but I didn't identify any input of the latter. A few articles are not signed though, so those could have been written by him/her. The website is copyrighted from 2010 onward but the school activities seem to have predated the webpresence, although it is nowhere stated for how long or where. The webpresence exists mainly as a store front for recruitment purposes but the site itself sustains a fully developed community with internetclasses for up to 30 students at a time, a forum, studypages, weblogs, testimonials and the like -- none of which are accessable without enrollment. They have shown intent to becoming able in the near future to found and build a real school and a temple, including a retreat resort with guesthouses, somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains and they claim that fees and donations are solicited for that specific goal.
The core of activities is named Theurgy and can be considered to be mainly a set of practices in stead of a doctrine, although there is frequent mention of an unspecified corpus of sacred texts which embed the practices into a coherent worldview. Very few works are specified, but quite a few authors are named such as Homer, Pythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Iamblichus, Porphyry, Julian the Chaldean and Julian the Theurgist.
This is how they describe what it's all about:
Theurgy is viewed by its followers as the Science of Divinity or the Magic of Light, as many orders romanticize it. So many are its names, though, as are so many are who fraudulently assign those titles to their own systems and whimsical ideologies, that we must look further to see if what we are studying is actually Theurgy. The primary four characteristics shall be here provided, [...]:
1.) Theurgy is always beneficent in nature. Be it the spiritual evolution of the individual, the exaltation of the soul or Godhead, the transmutation of the gross into the fine, or the protection of the quality of life throughout the human race, the work and aim of Theurgy is firstly beneficial to the magician, through whom others may come to be benefited. The nature of the proposed “selfishness” of the mystics as issued from the mouths of critics of the art shall be dealt with slightly later.
2.) Theurgy shares characteristics with Egyptian theological sciences and practices. Organizationally this includes a priesthood and a class system of sorts, seen throughout most hermetic orders. Ideologically this includes the belief in multiple layers of existence and therein several bodies composing the human persona, faith in an afterlife, and a devout study of how the natural world and the actions of the supposed gods interact.
3.) Theurgy contains components of the ancient teachings of the Pythagorean, Eleusinian, Orphic, and Platonic Mystery Schools, particularly the evolution of the universe and all components therein expressed via number, the geometrical fixation of stars and the proper composition of key symbolic figures. Further than these we draw upon the philosophies of such scholars as Iamblichus, who resolved the Egyptian teachings with the Greek teachings.
4.) Theurgy is at once a polytheism and monotheism, believing in the existence of every supposed entity said to exist, giving each its due of respect and reverence, and yet believing also in a monad.
Source: _https://thedivinescience.org/origin-and-nature-of-theurgy
From their account of daily practices it can be inferred that they are also worshippers of the sun, in its fourfold appearance: sunrise (east), zenith (south), sunset (west) and nadir (black sun, north). From what I've gathered I think they consider their rituals and magical practices --which are never specified-- as being some sort of neutral toolkit available to the initiated and consequently they seem to believe that the difference between white magic and black magic is fully due to the intent and purpose of the magician who is using these technicalities. They themselves appear to lean strongly towards what is commonly known as white magic, love and light, light workers or soldiers of light.
I found this quote to summarize their stand:
We believe, as did the ancients, that many magical powers will develop on their own as the student advances naturally on the path towards God. They will make themselves known as the student becomes mature enough to handle them responsibly. In our tradition, these powers are not vehemently denied or demonized once they appear. Instead, the initiate recognizes them but remains inwardly indifferent to their presence. They are put away into his internal arsenal of tools at the disposal of God, should the initiate ever be given a task which requires their use.
It could be said that in this tradition the mystic develops power, nor powers. The aspirant will gradually develop power over the elemental and planetary forces which influence him, in order to master and subsequently rise above them. As a side effect certain powers may develop of their own accord, but this is seen as ultimately inconsequential to the goal of self realization. There are, however, certain “abilities” that are purposely developed to serve as aides in the student’s progress. In our system these are, principally:
- The three main cognitive psychic faculties: clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience. These are required in order for the student to be absolutely certain that he is operating objectively, and not merely deluded by imagination. It also allows for the clearer communication of ideas between the teachers and the students, since the interaction will take place on an astral and mental level, not just a material one.
- Astral projection. A safe and complete method for astral projection is taught towards the end of the outer level training, since some of the higher training takes place in spiritual worlds and astral temples. The experience of astral travel also completely eliminates all fear and uncertainty about death and the afterlife, which we believe is necessary for the psychology of the student.
- Lucid dreaming. This comes hand-in-hand with astral training, since many students use lucid dreaming as a platform for mental and astral travel. However, it also gives our students the important ability to do their spiritual practices while they sleep, in order to produce faster progress.
Source: _https://thedivinescience.org/what-is-this-school’s-teaching-in-regards-to-the-development-of-magical-powers
The only author they would recommend to the layman is Franz Bardon, especially his book “Initiation into Hermetics.”
More info about that here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Bardon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiation_Into_Hermetics
http://www.amazon.com/Initiation-into-Hermetics-Franz-Bardon/dp/1885928068/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337290917&sr=8-1-fkmr0
Finalizing this rather concise summary, I would say this school certainly looks genuine in its own right and will be a source of at least solid B influences, with the possibility of C influences not discarded beforehand. But it's not a 4Th Way school.
