Experiences & Outcomes

The experiences and their outcomes were judged to be either positive, negative or neutral simply based on the language used by the experient to describe them.  Although a third party interpretation and judgement was avoided this does not imply that such approaches are invalid.  In many cases the subsequent outcomes were not recorded.  Additionally, it can be difficult to draw a firm line between what is part of an experience and its outcome.  There may also be an inherent bias in people's willingness to report positive rather than negative experiences.

There were 37 accounts which could be classed as positive experiences from Theosophy.  All of these experiences also had positive outcomes, apart from five where the outcome was unknown.  Positive elements included: empathy with Theosophy and inner knowledge, a sense of guidance or destiny, awe and reverence, the concept of being on a spiritual journey, love and ecstasy; and feelings of unity.  There were only 8 accounts which could be classed as negative experiences from Theosophy.  Negative elements included physical danger, a sense of fear or oppression, and physical pain.  Some accounts did not refer to positive or negative aspects and were therefore classed as neutral. For example, the following experient refers to a testing which took place in a dream and was subsequently verified the following morning by HPB.  In 31% of the Theosophical accounts the outcome was unknown, 65% had positive outcomes, 1% had negative outcomes and 3% had a neutral outcome.

There seems to be a fairly large proportion of positive experiences in Theosophy and Fourth Way and a smaller proportion in the Golden Dawn.  The large number of neutral experiences in Theosophy are due to paranormal type experiences which were simply observed and reported.  Nevertheless, these often led to positive outcomes for the experient, such as confirmation of a non-materialistic world-view.  Research carried out recently by Rosemary Breen suggests similar conclusions.  Online questionnaires were completed by 3,194 respondents about their paranormal experiences.  70% claimed that their experience had altered their attitude to life and death.  Also, most of them considered such experiences to be a positive influence on their lives although some linked their experience with suffering.(1)

(1)  Breen, Rosemary.  The Nature, Incidence and Impact of Parapsychological Phenomena: Preliminary Findings, February 2008, available online as at 9 March 2008 at www/esoteric-experience.org.uk

24% of the Golden Dawn experience were classed as positive experiences.  These included references to love, power, and altered states of consciousness including mystical type experiences and the technique of ‘Rising on the Planes’.  50% of the Golden Dawn experiences were classed as neutral.  This was largely due to the dispassionate, almost clinical way in which they were described.  This makes sense when it is remembered that the modern occult revival was attempting to approach religion in a ‘scientific’ way.  Occult students were required to keep detailed journals of their experiments.  Again, ASCs play a large part in these experiences.  26% of the Golden Dawn accounts were classed as negative experiences.  There seems to be a fear of psychic attack by some of the Order members.  Also, initiation and self-development were not seen to be easy paths to take and often the initiate would have to undergo unpleasant experiences to make further progress.  44% of the Golden Dawn accounts were classed as positive outcomes.  These included healing, integration and insight into one’s self, and affirmation of prior beliefs.  6% of the Golden Dawn accounts were classed as negative outcomes.  These included the ill health resulting from the psychic attack made upon Dion Fortune and Janine Chapman’s abandonment of her occult interests following her disintegration experience. 

The even larger percentage of neutral experiences from the Golden Dawn is due to detailed descriptions of various astral realms.  These experiences may also serve to confirm a non-material worldview but it is also important to remember the doctrine of ‘as above, so below’; the Macrocosm reflects the Microcosm.  Such experiences are therefore not only cosmological insights but potentially personal ones as well.    

Some accounts differentiated between ‘psychic’ and ‘spiritual’ experiences.  Mostly these were seen as unrelated although there were one or two exceptions.  The psychic or paranormal type experiences occurred in all three traditions but assumed the most
importance in the séance-like phenomena of Theosophy.  Anthony Duncan has suggested that in occultism psychic experiences are characterised by solemnity, darkness and fear, whilst spiritual experiences are characterised by love, light and joy.(2)  The latter all occur numerous times in the accounts surveyed but Duncan’s characterisation of psychic experiences was not upheld.

(2) Duncan, AD.  The Fourth Dimension: A Christian Approach to the Occult, Mowbrays, London/Oxford 1975, P55.

There were 28 out of 46 accounts which could be classed as positive experiences from Fourth Way.  All of these experiences also had a positive outcome, apart from 8 where the outcome was unknown and 1 classed as neutral.  Positive elements included: mystical experiences, a sense of Being and the Self, transformative experiences and experiencing the Movements devised by Gurdjieff.  There were a number of experiences classed as neutral, having neither clearly positive nor negative aspects to them.  These included experiences of psychic phenomena, self-observation and self-remembering.  Negative experiences resulted from the sometimes unpleasant discoveries that people made about themselves whilst practicing Self-Observation and from the important role of suffering in Gurdjieff’s system.  Positive outcomes from experiences of the Fourth Way included the results of transmutation, the awakening of true consciousness, and newfound knowledge.