About the Trident Element

Element Director and Sponsor: Priestess Behni Napper

The Trident Element is an Element of the Temple of Set dedicated to the exploration of a Setian practice of Wisdom-Action Yoga. The traditional practices and philosophies and also the modern Western treatments of Kriya-Jnana Yoga will be approached from a purely Setian standpoint toward the goal of a personalized active practice. Members of this Element will be expected to not only examine the traditional and modern treatments but also to apply what has been found.
Although the meaning of the word Kriya( usually taken as Karma related) has been much mis-aligned by modern new age treatments it is a significant and useful term with vast implications for the Black Magician.Kriya most simply means "action". It is derived from the root kri which means "to make or do". Kriya is also seen as the force of causes and effects.
The main objective behind Setian Wisdom-Action Yoga is *Action in Insight or Gnosis*.This is a continual process of Working toward attaining higher levels of Being and directing all actions taken moment to moment from the Highest Self or Center realized. It is about attaining a Freedom from the naturally occurring and random actions of mechanical nature that bombard the Magician both from within and without. It is in finding and realizing the inner Self and conducting all action from that balanced center point within that we attain our Freedom. We remain at our center, united with our-Selves and conduct our actions with the outer world at Will from this Self-Centered view.In this Freedom and understanding great Magical force can be attained.
In the common man all actions have their foundation in a mechanically constructed personality or ego that has been built by chance acts of naturally occurring incidents. Man goes about his day "doing" but in reality he is merely being "done to" by non-stop actions which are randomly generated by any great number of naturally occurring random events. His ego-personality makes interpretations upon these events thus forming the reality that each man believes is true.
The practice of Setian Wisdom-Action Yoga seeks to break this cycle of nature and replaces it with the *Self* Realized and acting. In the first stages the Observer within is found and used to control and even deconstruct parts of the ego-personality that are useless. As the deconstruction action occurs methods of reconstruction of the self and realization of the Self are sought. A Magical personality is formed with the Self/Observer (sometimes also called the Watcher) in control.In the later stages the Watcher may be Realized as Set acting in accordance with the Self.
In order for this to be an effective and correct transformation aspects of (Jnana)Wisdom-Yoga viewed from a Setian standpoint will be employed in combination with the Action Yoga practices. If there is no real understanding of the True Self, the practices of Action-Yoga could destroy a faulty but working ego-personality and send the practitioner into a state of despair or surrender of the the self ( ego-personality) to nothing. Action and Gnosis must go hand in hand or the actions of the small self Sacrificing itself to the Self will be ineffective and possibly harmful.
Setian Wisdom-Yoga is a practice of *Gnosis and Self Realization*.

This Element will study both the traditional and modern texts of Jnana and Kriya Yoga but will do so through a purely Setian lens. Above and beyond this, a study of Setian religious texts and other areas of Setian philosophy shall form the backbone of our Wisdom (Jnana) practice. The word Jnana itself can mean knowledge,wisdom or insight but more accurately can be connected to its Indo-European root of "gno" which is also the basis of the Greek word Gnosis. Setian Kriya-Jnana Yoga as a whole can be said to be *the Yoga of Action in Insight or Gnosis*.
The Trident takes its name from a concept based on 2 poles of duality and one middle pole of transendance.From the Setian standpoint, the left pole of Action is intregrated into an approach which stresses the use of its destructive and evolutionary causing tendancies acting in concert with the right and middle poles. This is not a negative use, but rather one in which true transformation and a growth of Being can come into effect.In some regards this concept bears resemblance to the traditional trishula of Shiva.In this,the three prongs represent the 3 aspects of Shiva as creator, maintainer and destroyer. This trishula is traditionally symbolic of the 3 forces that occur in all creation.They directly relate to the 3 Gunas which are said to be the foundation for all that exists. These 3 forces go by many other names such as positive, negative and transcendent or active, passive and transcendant .However,in the Setian Trident a difference is established. In the Setian Trident the Action aspects of the left pole and use of transcendance are highlighted and explored as well as an acknowledgement of the necessity of using the left force towards all transformations that reside in duality.This is an approach that recognizes and incorportates the non-natural processes required to go beyond duality.There are many secrets to explore in this formula.Ultimately, by using the Trident in the correct manner, as a tool that uses transcendance, the Magician is able to view things as they truly are and return to use this enlightened view, taking action and using the vital and individuating aspects of the left force. The mechanical and natural constructs as well as the illusions the subjective mind/s has placed upon the Magician will be clearly seen. The Magician is not only afforded the Sight needed to deduce what the proper action is, but also is afforded the wisdom and knowledge to put in to effect the most beneficial Magical act appropriate to the moment.