Making the Naked Journey

A Crowley referred to the process as "stepping into the abyss". In order to do so, one had to pass the Watcher at the Edge... (Some differing opinions exist as to the next step so I will interject mine). The Watcher grabs the initiate by the scruff of the neck and tears off the entire hide in one, clean motion, and then pushes the skinned individual into the abyss.

The initiate squirms about there in the void for an undetermined amount of time until he/she is able to hear the voice of God. The initiate then returns, claims and wears the skinned hide and becomes a voice for the cosmos...a Magus.

This is a lot like Joseph Campbell’s Heroes Journey.
The hero leaves home and sets off in search o the grail, golden fleece, dragon scales etc. The hero encounters paradigm smashing giants, monsters, horrors and is transformed and strengthened by them. The hero claims the prize and is welcomed home by the tribe. The heroes prize is used to enhance and edify the tribe.

It’s an archetypal representation of what we are all here to do. We are here to find our own truth by tearing away our preconceived ideas, facing our monsters real and imagined and finding our own voice and means of transmitting the voice of God through us into material reality. Existential crisis is part of the process. An important, amazing part that cannot be circumvented. Can we choose to stay home and not journey out? Yes, most do just that. I think the journey, though damn difficult and tiresome, is worth the effort. I allows us to define our own existence in the face of something massive. It makes us stronger, if we survive it 