What is Correllianism?

(As written by the Chancellor of the Tradition Lord Donald Lewis High Correll)

Correllianism is a belief system that generally a combination of Spiritualism and Pagan Universalism. Correllians seek to understand the Universe and humanity’s place in it. The nature of Deity (God), the Soul, and Karma, are very important in Correllian thought. Correllians also study the ways in which people can use the higher powers of the Soul, commonly termed “magic,” to influence their lives for the better, and have a strong focus on moral issues such as the Rede and the concept of Virtue.

Correllians believe in the Hermetic Maxim “as above so below.” This is the idea that everything that exists reflects Deity, which is its origin, and also that everything that exists embodies Deity via the Soul, which itself is a small portion of Deity. Thus Deity is in all things and may be accessed and interacted through all things, and nothing is ever truly separate from Deity.

Correllians believe that the Earth is a living thing, as is the Universe itself. Correllians believe that everything that exists has a spirit and can be said to be alive at either a physical or a spiritual level – and most often both. This applies not only creatures that are recognizably sentiment, like people and animals, but also to things like plants and stones which we also believe are living. Correllians believe everything has a Soul, and that at Soul level everything that exists is equal in its potential, if not necessarily experience.
Correllians believe in reincarnation. We believe that all Souls live many lives – countless lives in fact. During its journey through incarnation the Soul begins with simple forms and it gains more and more experiences as it moves to progressively more complex modes of existence. Souls currently living as human have experienced countless lives as simpler organisms before their first human lives, and will experience successively more complex forms of life after completing their last human incarnations.

We believe that as the Soul experiences its many incarnations its awareness moves through the Seven Planes. The Seven Planes are the Physical Plane, the Emotional Plane, the Mental Plane, the Astral Plane, the Soular Plane, the Monadic Plane, and the Divine Plane. The idea of the Seven Planes is one way of understanding successive levels of incarnation. This same idea can also be expressed through other archetypes, such as the Nine Worlds or the Tree of Life. As humans we are generally at the level of the Mental Plane, but are moving slowly into the level of the Astral Plane.

When we say that we are moving through the Planes, what we really mean is that we are becoming more and more aware of these levels of existence. Aspects of our Soul exist in all of the Seven Planes already, however we are generally not conscious of them. The process of becoming conscious of these different levels of being is what by “moving through the Planes.”

Those parts of our being that we are already conscious of are described as the “lower Self,” and encompass the Physical, Emotional, and Mental aspects of our existence. Those aspects of our being that we are not generally conscious of but must work to access are described as the “Higher Self,” or the “Oversoul.” The Higher Self encompasses the Astral, Soular, Monadic and Divine levels of our being. Magic is the art of accessing and using these higher levels of our being, from which what we perceive as reality is created and from which it can be affected.

The Seven Planes and all that are in them are emanations of Deity whose manifestations become more and more numerous as we move from Divine Plane where all is one to the Physical Plane where forms of life are countless. The process by which the manifestations of Deity multiply through the Seven Planes resembles forms found in nature, such as tree limbs or roots, rivers, etc. Where a single line splits off into many, which in turn split off into many more, which further split into countless myriad forms.

Correllians hold that Fortune or Karma is the mechanism by which the lessons of incarnation are learned. We believe that Karma is formed through attachment to ideas, emotions, or situations. Such attachments are often formed through traumatic experiences, and pull us back to similar experiences through many lives until we learn the lessons these experiences hold. This idea is expressed in the so-called “Law of Three,” which holds that everything we do comes back to us multiple times. This doesn’t mean that everything comes back to us exactly three times, but rather that things come back as many times as needed for us to learn the lessons they hold. When the lessons of the situations are learned the Karma is released and no longer holds us. Moreover we believe that intentionally working to learn these lessons can speed the process of releasing our Karma.

Correllians place great importance on morality and the idea of “Virtue.” We regard the Wiccan Rede as being the strongest moral statement. The Rede is, “do As You Will But Harm None.” This is a common-sense corollary to the sixteenth century Law of Thelema: “Do As You Will.” The law of Thelema is a statement of ultimate faith in humanity, that left to “Do As You Will,” the true nature of humanity is to do the right thing; but obviously this can be abused, and so the corollary “Harm None, “ is a wise and necessary addition.

Correllians understand the phrase “Harm None,” in the Wiccan Rede to refer to the ordinary meaning of “Harm,” as it is commonly understood in conversation, and not to any expanded interpretation. So if a given act would not be considered “Harm,” in everyday conversation, it is not “Harm,” as defined by the Wiccan Rede. Thus the Wiccan Rede prohibits unprovoked or egregious damage, but does notprohibit things like self-defense.

Correllians place a high value on Virtue or “right Action.” Correllians understand all qualities as existing in a continuum stretching from too little to too much, with Virtue being found at either extreme but in the middle. Thus too little of any quality will be bad as will too much—only at the center is the quality a Virtue. Let us consider compassion as an example. Too little compassion is hard heartedness, not a virtue. Only balanced in the center do we find the virtue of compassion. The same is true for courage –too little is timidity, but too much is foolhardiness. Only at the center is courage a Virtue. Because of this viewpoint Correllians Reject the idea of “Good and Evil,” as opposites, holding rather that Good is in the middle path and never at the extreme.

Correllians believe that the world has gone through many Ages, which have been colored by different energies. We believe that we are currently at the opening of the age of Aquarius, during which we expect to see a continued expansion of consciousness and increasing expression of the powers of the higher powers of the Soul in the material world. We believe that ultimately, far in the future, all of the powers of Spirit will be consciously manifest in the physical world.

Correllians believe that the world is in a constant state of spiritual and physical evolution, and that the future will always be better than the past. We believe that the role of the spiritual person is not merely to improve themselves but also to improve their world, and that the role of a spiritual organization is not merely to preserve and pass on knowledge but to expand and increase knowledge. It is never enough for us to leave the world as good as we found it-we must always try to leave it a better place for our having been here.