CONTENT THAT I PROMISED

When I say I will do something, I do it.  I'm getting better about that.  Cosmic role models have shown me  the importance of this.  So....

As I promised, this newsletter will be about Ralph Metzner in relation to my own previous experience and the Alchemical Divination that I can discern as it supports the work of Jamy Faust.  Smart woman.   Jamy studied with Ralph Metzner and has assisted him in his Alchemical Divination training.  

Also in this newsletter,the Sigurd Saga also known as the Volsung Saga.

These are both research and refinement of my own previous work that I want to improve on a professional basis.  By 'professional' I mean of helpful and contributing value.  

Ralph Metzner bio....

"Ralph Metzner (May 18, 1936 – March 14, 2019) was a German-born American psychologist, writer and researcher, who participated in psychedelic research at Harvard University in the early 1960s with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (later named Ram Dass). Metzner was a psychotherapist, and Professor Emeritus of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where he was formerly the Academic Dean and Academic Vice-president." from Wikipedia.
 
My own experience with studying and enjoying his literature was informed by my appreciation for the 'meta-programming' era of John Lilly and Timothy Leary - and to a degree the ubiquitous Richard Albert - aka Ram Dass.  I knew only that Metzner was a partner in research with them,  It wasn't until I found that he had done some cool work on runic and Germanic folk history and philosophy that I read, "The Well of Remembrance."  Good work that addresses some heretical areas of possible contact with South American proto-psychedelic history.  Speculation that would have labelled me a Mayan Harmonic Convergence crackpot but Metzner has credentials.

This was an era of wide-eyed youth but I don't care about that anymore.  Book has some good runic material and authentic literature of the Poetic Edda.  Of course this is heavily weighted toward the New Age Goddess aspect which I will discuss in terms of my own subversion below.  

Metzner was well-educated in folk lore and shamanism.  Although I chose a different dynamic for study, he has some good stuff.  Metzner video linked below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXWehSj7TgU
 

My promise of elucidating Metzner's curriculum resulted in surprise reminiscence.  A good man, as shown in videos which can be more readily found than his books.  My budget does not allow for acquiring the now expensive and rare Alchemical Divination books by Metzner or programs by Jamy Faust, but I have my own background.
Divinatory Reading
https://alankw.gumroad.com/l/xqqrk

I would estimate that the most productive times to learn new divination techniques (or any esoteric curriculum) are from the ages of 25 to 55.  Some leniency for special cases and life-purpose but I've established my own loyalty in spirit to Northern Europe of Scandinavia, Germany, Albion, and the Baltic.
 

Metzner and Jamy Faust are worthy for those who wish to move in that direction.  By the Fausts of Family Constellations expertise:
“The Role of Energy and Intuition in Family Constellations”
https://www.faustfamilyconstellations.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/chapter_excerpt_-_messengers_of_healing.pdf

I do have "The Well of Remembrance : Rediscovering the Earth Wisdom Myths of Northern Europe" to read again and it has been instructive of my remembrance.  My own foibles of the era of  1990 leaves me with an informed skepticism of pop-culture feminism as a value toward return of the Goddess.

In the 80s to 2000s, It was still popular and possible to hype that female leadership had dominated a more peaceful and sane age according to the perspective of Marija Gimbutas.  Also, the white male was castigated as the source of all problems through a perspective that Native Americans were entirely peaceful and ecological.  Tribes in America long before the arrival of Europeans battled with each other to the point of genocide and the buffalo jump hunting methods killed and wasted more bison than were necessary for survival.  

This is not even a criticism of the Indian's inter-tribal warfare because the high value of the warrior and warrior culture is a defining characteristic.  In Europe, the peaceful nature of the Matriarchy (if it even existed) is now debatable.  

This critique of the matriarchy aspect of popular anthropology includes my own participation in self promotion based upon my status as a 'feminist.'  In touch with my feminine self and advocating for women's programs made me cringe-worthy in a social context although I thought I was gaining points.  All women really wanted toxic males and held contempt for soft men who supported them.  Woke men today are in the same situation.  In the 1990s there were Gimbutas, Metzner, Robert Bly and a host of others who, if they allowed for men, only did so within the context of sponsorship by feminist agendas. Some Wiccan leaders even advocated the destruction of men.  In "The Spiral Dance" by Starhawk I was almost convinced that Communism is the answer.  When trying to impress attractive women, I can be such a doofus.  Weakness and capitulation has been corrected today by the adamant creativity of toxic males.    
 
Live and learn.  In addition to the pop-Goddess oriented elements we have the tiresome number of pages that were deemed necessary to disavow a great tragedy of a manipulated war.  Not the only tragedy of mankind - - as my Latvian history of Bolshevism will attest to.  Estimated 60 million in other areas of the Iron Curtain and we could all be thinking now about the Holodomor in Ukraine in its early conscription into the Soviet Union.  For some reason, these tragedies don't automatically call for 50 pages of disavowal now when there are so many elite ruler dracos leading in that direction.  Engineered propaganda war has far-reaching consequences.  If you have tried selling products within Germany now you know about LUCID and that a violation of packaging ecology could cost you 200,000 euros.   Germans have been instructed to hate themselves and Metzner does offer some healing ideas to deal with that problem. But the 50 pages of apologetics required of any Germanic lore publications are no longer necessary since we do not subscribe to Woke agenda.   

That this would even be necessary shows how deranging the entire event/policy structure of the post-war world has become.  Political engineering for war or cultural domination after war means there are no victors - - only the loss of authentic soul.     

-----------------------

The Saga of the Volsungs : The Norse Epic Of Sigurd The Dragon Slayer.

Introduction and Translation by Jesse L. Byock.

The image serves as one source directory to the primary sources of :

 "SIGURD : REBIRTH AND THE RITES OF TRANSFORMATION" By Stephen E. Flowers.
This is the Master thesis of Stephen E. Flowers.  It is not available at the moment as it goes in and out of print with the fortunes of publishing Germanic books.  Watch this site for the likely return of availability.

https://www.seekthemysteries.com/

I'm reminded that  Academic work and operant runology are published under different premises and different approaches.  It remains true, however, that the best operant and practical instructive books are based upon solid scholarly research.  I'm not saying that this book offers a plan for action as much as authentic research background. Then again - - I am saying that this book offers rede on how young people can overcome Modernist limitations and live their authentic purpose.   
 

I will state for the record that reading this book is instructive on the nature of humanity at many levels.  My undistinguished university career was punctuated with occasional moments of real learning.  These moments were when the subject and material were actually related to real life.  Dr. Flowers' book is impeccably researched and has academic credentials.  It is also one that brings me those moments of real learning.
 

An academic masterpiece like this is not necessarily intended to act as a practical guide.  I believe, however, that this is an instructive guide to young people ; especially young men.  My reasoning is that if I had integrated the lore of the soul found there I would have been more successful than I am now at age 68.  I would have had a better idea of how to take advantage of my destiny.  
 

Before entering some reviews from Lodestar and Amazon about the soul lore aspects  will address directly some rede for young people.  Look at the accomplishments and character of your ancestors.  Ancient ancestors, recent ancestors, and honorable relatives still alive.  A precedent has been set and you can strengthen your soul by participating in that precedent.  We function best as clans and united kindred.  The power of your kindred strengthens you and then you strengthen your kindred.  
 

In our historic sources we can find the presence of a noble birth with a destiny and how a young person should take action.  Apprenticeship with a relative or mentor who has knowledge and ability is the way.  Indeed, the very story of the Volsung Saga and The Nibelungenlied is about the initiation of a youth to an important fated purpose.  The means of initiation within a culture structured toward mystic heroism is the scenic background for the tale.  There are technical Germanic soul concepts that inform us with cultural literary credence.  In my opinion there are also principles that have worked for us in other times and could be working today among those youth who are paying attention.   
 

The Sigurd thesis could be a study of potential within the family not fully realized and as advice to younger men to be conscious of their place and opportunities.  It could also reaffirm and renew an older man's influence at a later stage of life.  Magic of your own could be enacted.   
Two Primary Sources to study are the Volsungasaga and the Niblelungenlied.  There are also relevant lays in the Codex Regius.   
Here is a description of the book from the Lodestar site where it may be purchased:
"This book in essence the MA thesis of Stephen E. Flowers, written in 1979. The text contains extensive discussions of the history of the scholarship about the idea of rebirth in ancient Norse sources, the doctrine of the soul, and the record of “reincarnation” in Norse as well as other Indo-European sources. The theories are applied to the data of the saga of Sigurdr, where we can see the ideas in action—the rites that must be undergone in order to effect this mysterious process known as “rebirth.” The contents of this book are essential to understanding the ancient concepts of the soul, rebirth and of personal transformation, or initiation."
 

And from the Amazon site:  
"The doctrine of reincarnation and the structure of the ancient Norse soul, or psyche, have been enduring topics of scientific inquiry for well over a century. In this work, based on his 1979 Master's Thesis at the University of Texas at Austin, the author reviews past scholarship, outlines the structure of the Norse soul, and with comparative Indo-European and even American Indian evidence, coupled with copious internal Germanic evidence demonstrates how certain soul-components were believed to be passed from generation to generation in the ancient North. The focus is on the saga of Sigurd Fafnisbani, the greatest hero of Germanic legend, and how his mythic life demonstrates the development of the soul of the ultimate hero through certain rites of transformation. These conclusions have ramifications for understanding the development of any great human soul and can act as a paradigm for that development."

My inclusion of the important "Rebirth and Initiation" thesis of Stephen E. Flowers corresponds to my recent interest in The Hero's Journey in a comprehensive musical and artistic project of a friend.  We have seen mythic power enhanced by the power of music in the works of Wagner and Carl Orloff in movies like "Excalibur."  We have seen the creation of a mythic Zeitgeist of sound and art in epochs of dynamic culture like those formed during the 1960s that defined the dangerous and transformative adventures of youth in their engagement of heroic quests.  There were no guarantees and the promise fell short - - but renewal to quest again is our way.