From the series “On the Work of the Grades” – reflections on the path of the Candidate through the Grades
The Zelator lays the groundwork — to make firm that foundation upon which all later progress must depend.
The Element of Earth is assigned to this Grade. Earth is form, body, and substance: the vessel of manifestation, the field of labour, and the beginning of steady discipline.
Attention to health, rhythm, and moderation is therefore part of the Zelator’s work. Appetite, labour, recreation, and rest must be held in proportion. To live in this ordered way is itself a theurgic act: for it is through the body that the Divine meets life, and through its steadiness the higher faculties find balance and expression. Thus the Work is given a sound and durable instrument, and time enough in life to perfect it.
So when living is held in ordered proportion, the body ceases to resist the Spirit and instead becomes its enduring chariot. The Zelator learns that the first movement toward illumination is neither escape from nor indulgence in the material, but in the ordering of it.
In time, the student discovers that outer order supports inner order. When the outer temple is set in its proper place, the inner temple manifests. This includes the immediate sphere of life: the home as outer temple, which—when kept in order—supports the stability of the inner work.
This is part of the reason behind the Order’s use of regular personal ritual and the practice of the “Daily Rhythms” for each Grade, issued since the early days of the Stella Matutina—they are templates suggesting nodes or patterns of activity that students are encouraged to adopt.
In this way discipline is multiplied: not confined to one effort, but extended into the ordinary hours until the whole day is shaped as an instrument of the Work.
Without firmness of body, the breath of Air has no rhythm;
without rhythm, the waters of emotion overflow;
without containment, the Fire of aspiration consumes rather than illumines.
And Earth is the basis of them all.
So the work of the Zelator is simple, but lifelong in its application: to live moderately; to tend the health of the body; to balance the appetites; to bring order to the home; and to develop and multiply discipline.
Kasmillos
