👺Don’t Fear The Threshold Guardians 🦄
Originally written in September, 2023
Last month, I received the 33rd Degree of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in Washington, DC.
The biggest takeaway I can describe was very simple: Great leadership in a time of disruption requires the will to change the conditions and make bold moves forward.
How are you changing your conditions? How are you changing yourself as the most important condition? How are you leading yourself and moving forward? These are all things I’m asking myself.
For me, it has always taken sacrifice rendered long before any outcome is achieved. Hard won personal upgrades, invisible battles won by thinking ahead and exerting a willingness to face fear - and then in the moments leading up to a major shift, recognizing the appearance of Threshold Guardians - those impossible to predict or prevent events that suddenly appear as if from nowhere, to keep me safe - with “safe” usually meaning “small, harmless, weak, and held back”.
They really mean well. But they are not in charge.
They are an illusion - a test.
They also are a form of inoculation - representing phantasms of the kinds of challenges that would have put the old version of me out of commission and will be normalized as nothing more than minor annoyances to the upgraded version of me.
Threshold Guardians always show up to interfere with progress that threatens the small self - to scare the highest potential into submission - unless you know how to overcome them and convert them into weights that build spiritual muscle.
For me, the current upgrade all centers around one “threshold” event - 33º - with a lead up and a cool down after the initiation.
But you can use this approach for any upgrade - big or small - this is a system of "future state" management.
First let’s define what “initiation” means - it’s just a beginning. An acorn falling off the branch. It’s the first step on a Hero’s Journey Cycle - it’s not the end. And you will experience many of them in your life.
Any kind of capstone event like this creates all kinds of subtle and not so subtle waves that disrupt the previous "current state" - this is what makes it possible for the shift to occur. If this isn’t happening - something is likely off. The acorn that doesn’t fall is actually in a lot of trouble.
Let’s take a look at the literal side of this symbolism - leadership - who exactly is leading and who is being led?
It starts with, and extends to, the Self. Then it branches out into family and community - taking the form of upgrading craft, creativity, capability, confidence, clarity, then certainty and consistency to overcome future challenges and put chaos into order.
I first learned this from my father - then it was reinforced and expanded with the teachings of Masonry - the modern version of an interactive, in-person, multi-thousand year old personal development and mindset training program for building entire civilizations. Extra credit for cool buildings and ancient bling.
The analogy of the stones fitting together to form a cathedral is not lost on me as I take the long view - asking myself what is the net effect of an empowered group of Builders over aeons?
What is it to “Build” something, really? What are we building - is “building” a noun or a verb here, or is it both? Is it literal, or symbolic - or is it both?
And how can we build more Builders?
We’re living inside of the New Atlantis envisioned by Francis Bacon right now - and it’s constantly renewing itself. If you’re a Builder too, ask yourself - what kinds of challenges do Builders have to be prepared to face? In the modern world, we could think of “Builders” in different ways.
🧠 Builders of Self (Philosophy, Mindset, Training)
❤️ Builders of People (Teachers, Guides, Mentors, Coaches, Masters)
📈 Builders of Companies (C-Level +, Founders, Board, Visionaries)
⚙️ Builders of Systems (Process Designers, Integrators)
🏛️ Builders of Builders (Leaders, Grandmasters)
🇺🇸 Builders of Civilizations (Spiritual / Political / Community Leaders)
For each of these - the biggest challenges will first appear as Threshold Guardians - in order to scare away anyone who isn’t ready to take on the weight of leadership.
Immediately before and after the 33rd degree, here’s a short and incomplete list of Threshold Guardians that came up for me:
👀 Entire family got pinkeye. Kids out of school, I couldn’t see straight for weeks. Spent a ton of $ on doctor visits, meds, opportunity cost. Symbolism: The blindfold must come off.
🪰 Kids got lice. We bought all the weird shampoos. Grateful we didn’t have to shave our heads. Symbolism: Psychic vampires must be removed.
🛞 We had 2 flat tires and thousands $$ in random car repair. Symbolism: Freedom to “Travel” has a cost, and it’s always worth the price.
💰We had about 10 different random expenses come out of nowhere all at once and went WAY over budget. Symbolism: Throat Chakra- Creativity, Affluence, Abundance, Discernment. Creativity builds Affluence, which is “the flow” of resources - this is true Abundance because everything that is used gets replaced as soon as it is used. It takes Discernment to know when this is working - and when it’s not. In this case - it’s scary, but it’s working.
📝On the way to the bus in DC to go from the hotel to the first section of the degree - everybody else had a magic piece of paper that lets you in at the House of the Temple. I didn’t get the magic piece of paper that lets you in - it was supposed to be mailed weeks prior. One phone call later to the right person and the magic piece of paper was waiting for me when I arrived. Symbolism: Start at the top - call the boss when you want to solve a problem.
🔗 I didn’t have cuff links - the standard is black tie, formal attire. Within 10 minutes of realizing I didn’t have cuff links, out of nowhere, a Brother came up to me and gave me some cufflinks because he spontaneously thought I might need them. Symbolism: “Ask and ye shall receive” goes beyond the level of purely physical communication.
👞 My right shoe’s sole fell off. I only had one nice pair of shoes with me. This led to a wild goose chase to find packing tape in the back offices of the headquarters of the Supreme Council, with 5 different people doing the best they could to help me out - and settling on bright purple packing tape. My right foot became Illustrious and Illuminated with… bright purple packing tape. Symbolism: These shoes were given to me when my stepfather passed last December - and they fell apart when I needed them most. You cannot walk in another man’s shoes - it’s time to buy a new pair.
The day after returning from DC:
😷 Entire family got COVID - 💯😂🍾 natural immunity for the win! Symbolism: we are all connected and we all suffer and win together. We overcome life’s challenges and build natural immunity to life’s challenges by facing fear and suffering head on.
🕍 I got strep + COVID. Symbolism: Some things cannot be spoken of (Strep). Rest and integrate what you have received - stop - and let different parts of the self catch up to each other. Purify the body’s Temple with natural means.
Here’s the upgrades that all happened at the same time:
😎 I’m having a lot of fun this season. Even when there’s churn or turnover in business, or some months are better than others, I have a sense of momentum and positive friction that feels good. And this is due to years of sacrifice - hard work - positioning for luck so that when good luck appears, I can leverage it - and when bad luck appears, I can minimize it.
🧞♂️I genuinely love and enjoy being around all the people in my life right now - across all departments.
👶 My first son turned 10! He saved my life when he was born, appearing just as I came out of a downward spiral to lock in my “WHY”, and is the reason I learned how to WIN. Every upgrade I take gives him a better father.
💵 Great influx of new business - it’s really helped me see that what I do is valuable because of how much I personalize the approach within my core frameworks. It’s VERY hybrid. I’m enjoying the focus of working closely with a handful of great clients each month, solving big full spectrum problems that all connect to brand.
🧪 Made major progress on new curriculum / training. This is a fun project designed to give greater access to the tools I’ve developed over the years - in a format that removes me as a bottleneck.
🎹 Just heard a final mix from an artist I’m co-writing with, Bailey D, and it’s 🔥🔥🔥!
Tying it all together - if you’re still reading this, ask yourself what kind of person can YOU become who is capable of leading those around you in making critical decisions, seeing around corners, and “landing the plane” so to speak, every day, every week, every month, every year, with creativity, capability, consistency, clarity, confidence, and courage, in the face of sudden chaos?
For me, it’s the kind of person who is willing to be tested - who can face Threshold Guardians and know what they are - practice for something bigger - and who can sign up for and commit to WINNING without WHINING.
We all have access to this - and much more. Wherever you are on your Path - whatever Path you walk - I look forward to seeing what YOU do with your Divine Dispensation.
