First bright spark in my new year comes in the form of a
little book by R J Stewart entitled The
Arch of Heaven. The subject of the
book and its contents will not be unfamiliar to anyone who has worked with RJS
over the years, who has read his books The Underworld Initiation or Living Magical Arts, where they are quoted, or indeed has attended any of his workshops, or worked
with him in a magical capacity. It concerns that most evocative of openings to
any transcendental work – that begins:
In the Name of the Son
of Light – The Son of Maria – Foster-son of Brighd in Avalon – Keystone of the
Arch of Heaven – Who joins as One the Forks upholding of the Sky.....
And concludes with:
.....Do you see us
here – Oh Son of Light? – Says the Son of Light: “I See!”
There are many of us who can vouch for the evocative power
of these lines to the point that – imitation being the sincerest form of
flattery – a number of us have used them within our own workings on various
occasions. What this little book does is
to give a run down on how these evocative lines came about, and to what use
this opening can be put in the wider field of esoteric working.
As a prayer it provides a simple and effective means for
liberating those who are trapped after physical death, and may be unable or
unwilling to move on. It also offers a method of attuning a location, typically
a room or a house (room by room). It can be recited aloud from the printed
page, although is best learned by heart.
As a meditative
practice, undertaken daily, it provides the means of attuning to deep spiritual
forces and consciousness of liberation, redemption, beauty and harmony. It gently brings us into balance not only in
our consciousness but simultaneously within our bodies.
As a ceremony, it
can enable a group or an individual to consciously attune a dedicated or chosen
space to compassionate spiritual forces.
Many of us had assumed The
Arch of Heaven to be of ancient Celtic provenance, it certainly has that
feel to it, along with the unique ability to be at one with those of a
Christian or a pagan religious persuasion, and it is thus usable in a variety of circumstances
and with mixed groups. However, its
origins are far from what anyone might have expected, as is revealed in the
first part of the book, describing the origin of the verses and their content. Quite an instructive little ghost story in
itself!
The second part of the book describes various ways of working
with it and, to my mind, includes some very perceptive and relevant remarks and
guidelines on the dynamics of inner plane contact and those assumed to be
communicating from there. A lot of this ought to be compulsory reading for a
whole host of those who aspire to or who claim to be working along these lines.
As R J Stewart says in his Introduction – “It has taken more
than thirty-five years to write this book. Rather than being solely a
development of text, it has been a deep current within my life, and in more
recent years within the lives of others trained to work with The Arch of Heaven. As the main text
affirms, you can use the verses beneficially in many ways without the special
training that such deeper levels require. Anyone can open The Arch of Heaven when spiritual aid is truly necessary; please
read on to discover why and how, and what happens when you do so.”
Amen to that! This is
certainly a little gem of a book – indeed a potential classic – that deserves a
place on anybody’s bookshelf of even handbag or back pocket!
ISBN 978-0-9856006-1-7 $14.95 £10.00
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