How Long Does It Take?

By Mark Stavish
for The Wyoming Valley Society for Esoteric Studies<

Copyright 1999 Mark Stavish, M.A.

The familiar question “So, how long does it take before I

see results?” is often heard in an esoteric lodge or group,
after explaining an esoteric technique to a newcomer to
the Work. By asking “How long does it take?” the student
reveals several things that are endemic to modern
esotericism.

Lack of Patience: Quarterly Reports and Annual

Earnings

Many folks approach esotericism as if they were looking

at a business plan: short term thinking, quick returns,
minimal investment, and regular reinforcement through
‘dividends’ (paranormal phenomena) seem to be the
areas of focus. This lack of ‘long term investment’
strategy short changes their teachers, fellow lodge
workers, and most importantly themselves.

The truth is real, inner growth takes time! If it takes a

minimum of eight to twelve years to become a doctoral
candidate in the arts or sciences, how can we expect it to
take any less to become proficient in esoteric practice?
Note that the key word here is proficient, not expert, or
master, but technically capable with dependable results.
Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, a student of the later W.E.
Butler, and co-founder of Servants of Light (SOL), stated
in one interview that it takes nearly ten years to become
skilled in magical techniques. Jean Dubuis, founder of the
French alchemical society, The Philosophers of Nature,
has often stated that it can take up to twenty years of
serious esoteric practices to develop a working dialogue
with one’s “Inner Master”.

In the Rosicrucian Manual published by the Rosicrucian

Order (AMORC), there is a section devoted to the topic of
psychic illumination and the attaining of Cosmic
Consciousness. The article, written by the organizations
founder Harvey Spencer Lewis, makes several points that
are worth restating.

1. The most progress is often made by those least

concerned with it.

2. Psychic development is uneven, and often only

manifests itself in times of great need.

3. The length of time for Mastership is unimportant.

“Looking at it broadly, the five or six years required to

bring the average member to the very threshold of
Mastership, as compared to one’s whole cycle of
incarnations, is like a pencil dot on a line a mile in length.
But how we can magnify that dot and lose site of the
line!”

Yes, in five or six years it is possible to bring a student to

the ‘very threshold of Mastership’. Yes, the threshold, but
not across! In the Golden Dawn, the first three and a half
years were spent practicing only one or two rituals. The
next few years involved learning core techniques which
many schools now take for granted. Thus, five or six
years of intense and specific study was required to learn
the necessary techniques to bring one to the inner point
where they might actually become an Adeptus Minor (i.e.
inner initiation), and not just in theory.

Very few students ever progress inwardly that quickly, but

along the way they have the interior experiences that
drive them onward to that point, where one day, they will
cross the threshold into true mastership. This crossing
may be in this incarnation or in another. The relevance of
time is important only to the ego, and not to the soul. If
your desire is truly soul inspired, then time will be
unimportant to you, and the domain of service will be
important.

If you seek to grow, then serve, and serve anonymously,

from behind the adepts veil. Then you will be in good
company and the crossing will not be far off.

All esoteric exercises are designed to repair our psychic

vehicles from the ‘damage’ they incurred in the taking on
of incarnation. Since they speed up the process of repair,
or reintegration, on the cosmic scale their effects are
nearly instantaneous, it is only to the time-space of Earth
that makes it appear long or short. However, some ideas
are worth keeping in mind when doing exercises.

It has been stated to the author by both Jean Dubuis, and

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki that it can take up to 18
months for an esoteric process to work itself through. In
addition, exercises aimed at the lunar world, of which
most are, can take several months for integration, but, we
find they are most powerful in relationship to lunar cycles.
Thus, we may be doing an exercise everyday for several
months, but find that it is most ‘effective’ for the days of
lunar strength during the month. Although we are not
sensing it, the effects are accumulative, but the power is
expressed most easily during the full moon.

Other exercises aimed at Briah take even longer, as they

can be effected in their initial stages by the effects of the
solar year. Thus, a minimum of an entire year may be
needed for these exercises to be established within our
psyche. Like the ‘lunar’ exercises however, once they are
in place, or their function re-established, we are no
longer dependent on astrological cycles for their
functioning, it is always available to us.

Concentration: or Why System Junkies Fail

Concentration is one of the key fundamentals to success,

visualization and meditation are the other two. But
concentration is not just a mental faculty, it is also an
attitude, an approach to ones inner life. If we spend all
our time looking for the ‘right system’ or combination of
techniques that will give us the experience we are
seeking then more often then not we defeat ourselves.
Pick a system and set of daily practices and stick to
them! Good solid basics give more results than the most
complex of magical endeavors. Accumulating initiations
and techniques from diverse sources takes us away from
what really matters — the initiation into our Heart, and
conversation with our Inner Master. It is better to chant
‘OM’ everyday for the rest of your life and nothing else
than to technically know a half dozen systems of magic
and end up with nothing but psychic indigestion. Keep it
simple and direct, like the flight of an arrow, and then you
will hit your mark.