If we can’t control our lower mundane desires, how can we hope to command the Higher Powers?
The Order is fairly silent on the matter of diet. The best that one can generally glean is that we should practice eating a balanced diet, and that we should generally look after our bodies so that we may more ably, and over a longer period, fulfil the purpose of the Great Work. There are some specific references to diet, in the preparation for the Higher Grades, but not much if anything else can be found.
However, It should not come as any great surprise that prescribing a particular diet, for one reason or another, is a universal practice embedded in most if not all occult traditions and religions.
“For what purpose?” should be a natural question. Perhaps pause and ponder this yourself for a moment…
For the student of the G.D. I would suggest that there are benefits to adopting a “magical” or at least a “conscious” diet (a healthy diet guided by moderation in content and portion sizes) in that it will provide an opportunity:
1. for exerting one’s Will (needed in spades for more advanced Work)
2. for shining light onto an otherwise unconscious (and sometime glutinous) act
3. to serve in a devotional sense – we wish to promote our health (and longevity) not just for ourself, but for the benefit of the Order (and the Great Work)
A practice I personally use is to voluntarily give up a food that I really enjoy and sometimes crave – for me I chose bacon (and pork in general). I am not extreme in this discipline, so when in Spain I eat pork with friends, but when back home I choose other options if I choose to eat meat. This is a kind of personal Lent, and intended for me to regularly show my mundane ego and subconscious animal desires that my Higher Consciousness is in charge and is setting the agenda.
Food for (higher) thought?
Kasmillos
