The PFC List

The PFC list is an email based discussion list on the Western Mystery Tradition as taught by Paul Foster Case, Ann Davies, and the Builders of the Adytum (a Mystery School).  At times conversations occurred on the list which were centered on the list itself as a practice and method for actual mental transmutation and growth.

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29 May 2001:

Joseph inquires:

What, in the opinion of pfc members, qualifies or disqualifies the pfc list as a Mystery School? This calls for your definition of what a MS is and is not--and your opinion of what their methods and goals should and should not be. Joseph the questioneer.

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One small lesson I took from Halevi is [that] mystery schools are dynamic living bodies with a natural cycle of birth (contact), maturity (transmission), decline (dogmatism, personality worship), and death (loss of contact).  M.M.

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Joe Steve Swick III writes:

> At times, this list has been precisely what I've needed, so I keep  showing up, and I generally end up being suddenly delighted by a comment.  This place has encouraged me to greater personal study and meditation. I've actually larned me a thang or three. And whenever my ego starts filling all existing space, I come here and find that someone is always willing to  kindly deflate me. I'm not complaining. This has been extremely beneficial.

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Amen brother Joe.

This List has some unique attributes which allows one an opportunity to transmute old patterns if they so choose to use it as such.

Passive participation (lurking) can be a form of meditation, but more often is just information without grounding in personal experience.

Active participation can be a powerful active meditation which allows the participant to "complete the circuit" from inspiration to formulation to verification. "The power be integrating if it be turned to Earth."

For the active list participant, there are certain psychological & alchemical processes taking place which are conducive to transformation.

Good golly Miss Molly!

RL

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30 May 2001

The vital question one needs to ask is "has my participation in pfc expanded my conscious awareness?" IMO, it has certainly done so for me even when I just lurk in silent consideration of what comes up on the screen. In my 60+ years of being on the path, my participation with pfc has been the most intensive in continuous expansion of consciousness and discrimination that I can remember. It has been rich, rich, rich for me and i consider it an extension of what began with a transcendental experience in 1938 and continued with my affiliation with BOTA. I recognize different phases but no break in training or learning by doing what i want. Joseph

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05 Jun 2001

The pfc group is not a Mystery School in the traditional sense of the term, having no graded lessons, initiations, Pronaos, Chapter and study groups. However, the goals--extending conscious awareness--are the same for both groups. Free and unstructured discussion of any esoteric topic is encouraged in pfc and is not allowed in official BOTA study groups. Both groups have their value regardless of how they are named. They are interdependent in that one could not participate to any significant degree in pfc discussions without a BOTA background. IMO, Pfc participation adds new understanding to principles given in BOTA, especially in the more advanced lessons like the Great Work. Both groups serve the needs of individual students, who are drawn to the group that will serve those needs. I see no conflict in methods or goals--just in the naming. Joseph

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An idea just occurred to me - B.O.T.A. abandoned this list as an "official" on-line study group over five years ago determining it to be a failure - it is, in my opinion, one of the most successful study groups I have ever been a part of. The ability to pick and choose threads of simultaneous discussions adds an entirely new dimension.

In L.V.X., Frater ALP

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Frater ALP, I don't know whether BOTA "abandoned" the pfc list because they considered it a "failure" or because they just couldn't control the topics that naturally came up for discussion in such a non-cloistered group. IMO, it was the latter and a very wise decision, considering such a lists uncontrollable nature. Leaving pfc free to develop freely in the way in which it was inclined is the very thing that has made it so rich in the expansion of awareness of its members. It answers questions that could not be asked in official BOTA classes. I see pfc as a continuation of Inner School preparation of their students--an extension of BOTA's basic training. Considering the results of BOTA's decision, I cannot fault them for their action when it was thrust upon them. Joseph

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The pfc level of understanding and communication is superior to any chapter level i have experienced and certainly not as narrow. The C people have just not had the opportunity to express themselves, verbally or in writing, that pfc members have. There is simply no format for that in BOTA work, due to tradition. The order simply gives us the basic tools which are not questioned. Pfc is the most constructively reinforcing, giving and receiving opportunity i have ever known. I would not want to dilute it for the sake of the false ideal of homogenization. We are equal in our Selfhood but not in our degree of realization. Joseph and liberation!

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I don't think most members view this list as a "place to trade information about mystery schools and rituals." From my perspective it is much more - it is an online study group with all of the benefits of a regular study group plus an added one - many can express their views at one time and not interrupt anyone else.  Also a thread that is of no interest can simply be ignored ( most keyboards have a DEL key ).  Frater 111

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Frater 111, it seems abundantly clear from observation of the responses of the pfc list over years that the real inner purpose of this group, not the avowed purpose to discuss PFC's work, is to reveal our selves to our Self.  Every communication does that if you can see it. That is simply furthering the Great Work.  Joseph