“The earthly existence is magic and the earthly life is misjudgment. The terrestrial man identifies himself, out of necessity and precondition, with the material body, with nature, with the nervous system, with the unconscious memory. The initiated one has to clear up all these misjudgments.”

HAMVAS BÉLA – Scientia sacra

Aesthetic Experience

Art, defined in very simple terms, is that specifically human activity which can produce an aesthetic experience. When contemplating a truly inspired artwork, this state, very similar to the erotic bliss, floods our soul, our whole being in a mysterious, ineffable way.

The Tantric Art of Initiatic Cinematics assumes the task to initiate its audience by the means of the “moving pictures” into the mysteries of the Divine Eros. It’s a genial combination of the ancient practice of Spiritual Initiation with the youngest form of artistic expression – the art of moving images.

Art has always played an important role in Tantric methodology as one of the main tools for achieving spiritual development, easily accessible to both the creator artist and the one who contemplates a divinely inspired artwork.

According to spiritual traditions, from all human activities art stays closest to spirituality. Closer than science, closer than philosophy and paradoxically enough, closer than religion. The exploration of the hidden essence of things, the connection with the Divine through the creative process, the desire to make the invisible reality perceptible for ourselves as well as for others are all common features of true art and authentic spirituality.

After the Initiation we feel as if we were in another dimension, beyond the borders of our usual life; at the same time, we feel as if we were tasting something deep in our hearts.

The feelings we live during the aesthetic experience are both real and unreal. They are not real in the sense that they are not born out of actual experiences of our own life, nevertheless they are real, as we undoubtedly and intensely experience them.

When we sit comfortably in front of the movie screen, in fact, there is no direct reason to experience fear, sorrow, fascinating admiration or overwhelming love. And yet the most diverse feelings awaken in us while watching a movie; because at the moment of experiencing we gain access to another reality, a kind of “parallel dimension”, which is actually the astral plane.

In this new reality, the laws and limitations of the physical world are transcended, allowing the mind to gain experiences that exceed the possibilities of our everyday existence. As with initiation. That is why art becomes a form of real initiation when properly understood and applied.

Initiation, like the cathartic aesthetic experience, basically results in a shift of the state of consciousness or of the level of consciousness.

The seven steps of Initiation

Authentic initiation, just like true art, touches the deepest core of our being in a harmonious way and triggers a fundamental transformation in us. This is achieved mainly by the harmonizing power of Beauty.

According to the Science of Initiation seven different stages of this process can be distinguished: (source: Béla Hamvas – Scientia Sacra)

“In the first stage, the disciple is abstracted and elevated. This is the expansion of consciousness. Exiting the material self.

The second stage is the unity, the premonition of the pure spiritual perspective, which is expressed in a supramental way of thinking.

The third stage is when the disciple leaves the circle of planets and arrives to the Polar Star. Images that are meaningless for the senses and the rational mind. They are the actual governors of human fate. Because it is the inner world that has the true power over man. Here the images of the collective memory live. Here the emotions and incentives that lead man to his fate are formed.

The fourth stage is taken over by the Sun. The Sun is the celestial light. This is the circle of the myth. The validity of the world of myth covers not only mankind but all times and all levels of existence. Myth goes beyond humanity. Myth is infinitely lighter, wiser and more aware than reason or inner sense.

On the fifth stage, the initiated meets the Virgins of Fate. This is the realm of ideas. Man thinks that the only reality is the experience of the senses. He finds myth and idea abstract. However, the idea is the recognition of principles and laws in the cosmic imagery of the myth.

On the sixth stage, the human soul encounters the guardian of the Polar Star. This is called the occult circle or the hall of Pure Spirit. Here all that is intellect fails.

The seventh is the stage of ecstasy. Complete transfer of the consciousness into the Divine Realm. God will appear and receive the returning souls. This is salvation. This is the Absolute.”

The initiatic film always aims at leading its audience through the specifically encrypted symbolic messages to the invisible worlds of God. Beauty, sensuality, bliss are all natural and specific features of the Divine Realms.

The artwork that has accomplished this goal will make the audience more complete, happier, and more balanced.

In case of a tantric initiatic film the ancient theatrical elements, the costumes of oriental inspiration, the symbols, and the stories with deep transcendental messages, together with representations of the Divine Eros come to life on the movie screen.