Re: Atheism and Religion
333
"Tani JantsangŠ" <tjs...@spampost.com> writes:
>Anyway - what's that from (that LONG thing you posted)? I said something
>very similar to that once about atoms, molecules, cells, organs, bodies.
>Hmm, it was my own thought, too.
they are from Liber Aleph, by Crowley. I enjoyed that more
than all others of his works save his "Book of Thoth".
Joseph's been posting them in sprinklings, and i hadn't
checked for any patterns, precisely. :) I wasn't even sure
they were from Aleph, but i confirmed it here:
http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/aleph/tbwf1.html
333
>"Joseph Littleshoes" <jpst...@isp.com> wrote in message
>news:27cf2$4798371c$4396fe79$18...@DIALUPUSA.NET...
>> Tani JantsangŠ wrote:
>>
>>> "marques de sade" <jesuc...@netscape.net> wrote in message
>>> news:47980946....@news.sysmatrix.net...
>>>
>>>>On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:14 +0100, "thomas p."
>>>><gud...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>"marques de sade" <jesuc...@netscape.net> skrev i en meddelelse
>>>>>news:4797c47d....@news.sysmatrix.net...
>>>>>
>>>>>>On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:16:49 GMT, Dubh Ghall <pu...@pooks.hill.fey>
>>>>>>wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:13:07 GMT, jesuc...@netscape.net (marques de
>>>>>>>sade) wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>i was including the scientific based type of faith
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>There is no such thing.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>also as being
>>>>>>>>incapable of reaching ultimate truth...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>What is "ultimate truth", other than a meaningless philosophical
>>>>>>>canard.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>it would be something irrefutable, i imagine...
>>>>>
>>>>>It would also be your strawman, since it is not claimed that science
>>>>>provides ultimate truth.
>>>>
>>>>many people take it on faith that science is providing just
>>>>that... if many people all think science is like religion,
>>>>whether or not science makes the claim is irrelevant for to that
>>>>group of people it will be taking on the role of religion...
>>>
>>>
>>> That is why it is crucial that education get back to the way it was, with
>>> excellent standards - and that would mean that in the 5th grade, kids
>>> learn plane geometry, 8th grade, kids know algebra - and definitely, they
>>> know, a really taught, biology, chemistry, physics - and not some half
>>> assed glommed up lowed standards course called "science." And if some
>>> groups can't keep up - TOO BAD. Bring back the Big Red F. Put those to
>>> work picking McCain's lettuce.
>>>
>>>
>> Ai
>> DE LIBERATATE IUVENUM
>>
>> O thou that art the Child of mine own Bowels, how shall I write to thee
>> concerning Children? For herein is the Gordian Knot in our whole Rope of
>> Wisdom, and it may not be severed by Sword, no, not of a Greater than
>> Alexander the Two-Horned. And it is a Balance like that of the Egg, and
>> the Violence of a Columbus will but crack the tender Shell which we must
>> first of all preserve.
>>
>> Now Sentinel to this Fortress standeth a certain Paradox of general
>> Application, and in this large Order I will declare it, so that its
>> particular Sense may enlighten thee hereafter. And this is the Paradox,
>> that there are Bonds which lead to Slavery, and Bonds which lead to
>> Freedom. All we are bound in many Fetters by Environment, and it is for
>> ourselves in great Part to determine whether they shall enslave us or
>> emancipate us. And I will make clear this Thesis to thee by the Way of
>> Illustration.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 37
>>
>> Ak
>> DE VI PER DISCIPLINAM COLENDA
>>
>> Consider the Bond of a cold Climate, how it maketh Man a Slave; he must
>> have Shelter and Food with fierce Toil. Yet hereby he becometh strong
>> against the Elements, and his moral Force waxeth, so that he is Master of
>> such Men as live in Lands of Sun where bodily Needs are satisfied without
>> Struggle.
>>
>> Consider also him that willeth to exceed in Speed or in Battle, how he
>> denieth himself the Food he craveth, and all Pleasures natural to him,
>> putting himself under the harsh Order of a Trainer. So by this Bondage he
>> hath, at the last, his Will.
>>
>> Now then the one by natural, and the other by voluntary, Restriction have
>> come each to greater Liberty. This is also a general Law of Biology, for
>> all Development is Structuralization; that is, a Limitation and
>> Specialization of an originally indeterminate Protoplasm, which latter may
>> therefore be called free, in the Definition of a Pedant.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 38
>>
>> Al
>> DE ORDINE RERUM
>>
>> In the Body every Cell is subordinated to the general physiological
>> Control, and we who will that Control do not ask whether each individual
>> Unit of that Structure be consciously happy. But we do care that each
>> fulfil its Function, and the Failure of even a few Cells, or their Revolt,
>> may involve the Death of the whole Organism. Yet even here the Complaint
>> of a few, which we call Pain, is a Warning of general Danger. Many Cells
>> fulfil their Destiny by swift Death, and this being their Function, they
>> in no wise resent it. Should Hćmoglobin resist the Attack of Oxygen, the
>> Body would perish, and the Hćmoglobin would not even save itself. How, o
>> my Son, do thou then consider deeply of these Things in thine Ordering of
>> the World under the Law of Thelema. For every Individual in the State must
>> be perfect in his own Function, with Contentment, respecting his own Task
>> as necessary and holy, not envious of another's. For so only mayst thou
>> build up a Free State, whose directing Will shall be singly directed to
>> the Welfare of all.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 39
>>
>> Am
>> DE FUNDAMENTIS CIVITATIS
>>
>> Say not, o my Son, that in this Argument I have set Limits to individual
>> Freedom. For each Man in this State which I purpose is fulfilling his own
>> true Will by his eager Acquiescence in the Order necessary to the Welfare
>> of all, and therefore of himself also. But see thou well to it that thou
>> set high the Standard of Satisfaction, and that to everyone there be a
>> surplus of Leisure and of Energy, so that, his Will of Self-Preservation
>> being fulfilled by the Performance of his Function in the State, he may
>> devote the remainder of his Powers to the Satisfaction of the other Parts
>> of his Will. And because the People are oft times unlearned, not
>> understanding Pleasure, let them be instructed in the Art of Life; to
>> prepare Food palatable and wholesome, each to this own Taste, to make
>> Clothes according to Fancy, with Variety of Individuality and to practise
>> the manifold Crafts of Love. There Things being first secured, thou mayst
>> afterward lead them into the Heavens of Poesy and Tale, of Music,
>> Painting, and Sculpture, and into the Lore of the Mind itself, with its
>> insatiable Joy of all knowledge. Thence let them soar!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 40
>>
>> An
>> DE VOLUNTATE IUVENUM
>>
>> Long, o my Son, hath been this Digression from the plain Path of my Word
>> concerning Children; but it was most needful that thou shouldst understand
>> the Limits of true Liberty. For that is not the Will of any Man which
>> ultimateth in his own Ruin and that of all his Fellows; and that is not
>> Liberty whose Exercise bringeth him to Bondage. Thou mayst therefore
>> assume that it is always an essential Part of the Will of any Child to
>> grow to Manhood or to Womanhood in Health, and his Guardians may therefore
>> prevent him from ignorantly acting in Opposition thereunto, Care being
>> always taken to remove the Cause of the Error, namely, Ignorance, as
>> aforesaid. Thou mayst also assume that it is Part of the Child's Will to
>> train every Function of the Mind; and the Guardians may therefore combat
>> the inertia which hinders its Development. Yet here is much Caution
>> necessary, and it is better to work by exciting and satisfying any natural
>> Curiosity than by forcing Application to set Tasks, however obvious this
>> Necessity may appear.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 41
>>
>> Ax
>> DE MODO DISPUTANDI
>>
>> Now in this Training of the Child there is one most dear Consideration,
>> that I shall impress upon thee as in Conformity with our Holy Experience
>> in the Way of Truth. And it is this, that since that which can be thought
>> is not true, every Statement is in some Sense false. Even on the Sea of
>> pure Reason, we may say that every Statement is in some Sense disputable,
>> there fore in every Case, even the simplest, the Child should be taught
>> not only the Thesis, but also its opposite, leaving the Decision to the
>> Child's own Judgment and good Sense, fortified by Experience. And this
>> Practice will develop its Power of Thought, and its Confidence in itself,
>> and its Interest in all Knowledge. But most of all beware against any
>> Attempt to bias its Mind on any point that lieth without the Square of
>> ascertained and undisputed Fact. Remember also, even when thou art most
>> sure, that so were they sure who gave instruction to the young Copernicus.
>> Pay Reverence also to the Unknown unto whom thou presumeth to impart the
>> Knowledge; for he may be one greater than thou.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 42
>>
>> Ao
>> DE VOLUNTATE IUVENIS COGNOSCENDA
>>
>> It is important that thou shouldst understand as early as may be what is
>> the true Will of the Child in the Matter of his Career. Be thou well ware
>> of all Ideals and Day-dreams; for the Child is himself, and not thy Toy.
>> Recall the comic Tragedy of Napoleon and the King of Rome; build not an
>> House for a wild Goat, nor plant a Forest for the Domain of a Shark. But
>> be thou vigilant for every Sign, conscious or unconscious of the Will of
>> the Child, giving him then all Opportunity to pursue the Path which he
>> thus indicates. Learn this, that he, being young, will weary quickly of
>> all false Ways, however pleasant they may be to him at the Outset; but of
>> the true Way he will not weary. This being in this Manner discovered, thou
>> mayst prepare it for him perfectly; for no Man can keep open all Roads for
>> ever. And to him making his Choice explain how one may not travel far on
>> any Road without a general Knowledge of Things apparently irrelevant. And
>> with that he will understand, and bend him wisely to his Work.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 43
>>
>> Ap
>> DE AURO RUBEO
>>
>> I would have thee to consider, o my son, that Word of Publius Vergilius
>> Maro, that was the greatest of all the Magicians of his time: in medio
>> tutissimus ibis. Which Thing has also been said by many wise Men in other
>> Lands; and the Holy Qabalah confirmeth the same, placing Tipheret, which
>> is the Man, and the Beauty and Harmony of Things, and Gold in the Kingdom
>> of the Metals, and the Sun among the Planets, in the Midst of the Tree of
>> Life. For the Centre is the Point of Balance of all Vectors. So then if
>> thy wilt live wisely, learn that thou must establish this Relation of
>> Balance with every Thing soever, not omitting one. For there is nothing so
>> alien from thy Nature that it may not be brought into harmonious Relation
>> therewith; and thy Stature of Manhood waxeth great even as thou comest to
>> the Perfection of this Art. And there is nothing so close Kin to thee it
>> may not be hurtful to thee if this Balance is not truly adjusted. Thou
>> hast need of the whole Force of the Universe to work with thy Will; but
>> this Force must be disposed about the Shaft of that Will so that there is
>> no Tendency to Hindrance or to Deflection. And in my Love of thee I will
>> adorn this Thesis with Example following.
>>
>> 44
>>
>> Ao
>>
>> DE SAPIENTIA IN RE SEXUALI
>>
>> Consider Love. Here is a Force destructive and corrupting where by many
>> Men have been lost. Yet without Love Man were not Man. Therefore thine
>> Uncle Richard Wagner made of our Doctrine a musical Fable, wherein we see
>> Amfortas, who yielded himself to Seduction, wounded beyond Healing;
>> Klingsor, who withdraw himself from a like Danger, cast out for ever from
>> the Mountain of Salvation; and Parsifal, who yielded not, able to exercise
>> the true Power of Live, and thereby to perform the Miracle of Redemption.
>> Of this also have I myself written in my Poema called Adonis. It is the
>> same with Food and Drink, with Exercise, with Learning itself, the Problem
>> is ever to bring the Appetite into right Relation with the Will. Thus thou
>> mayst fast or feast; there is no Rule than that of Balance. And this
>> Doctrine is of general Acceptation among the better Sort of Men; therefore
>> on thee will I rather impress more carefully the other Part of my Wisdom,
>> namely, the Necessity of extending constantly thy Nature to new Mates upon
>> every Plane of Being, so that thou mayst become the perfect Microcosm, an
>> Image without Flaw of all that is.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 45
>>
>> Ar
>> DE GRADIBUS AEQUIS SCIENTIAE
>>
>> I say in sooth, my son, that this Extension of thy Nature is not in
>> Violation thereof; for it is the Nature of thy Nature to grow continually.
>> Now there is no Part of Knowledge which is foreign to thee; yet Knowledge
>> itself is of no avail unless it be assimilated and co-ordinated into
>> Understanding. Grow therefore, easily and spontaneously, developing all
>> Parts equally, lest thou become a Monster. And if one Thing tempt thee
>> overmuch, correct it by Devotion to its Opposite until Equilibrium be
>> re-established. But seek not to grow by sudden Determination toward Things
>> that be far from thee; only, if such a Thing come into thy Thought,
>> construct a Bridge thereunto, and take firmly the first Step upon the
>> Bridge. I shall explain this. Dost thou speculate upon the Motives of the
>> Stars, and on their Elements, their Size and Weight? Then thou must first
>> gain Knowledge of Doctrine mathematical, of Laws physical and chemical. So
>> then first, that thou mayst understand clearly the Nature of thine whole
>> Work, map out thy Mind, and extend its Powers from the essential outwards,
>> from the near to the far, always with Firmness and great Thoroughness,
>> making every Link in thy Chain equal and perfect.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 46
>>
>> As
>> DE VIRTUTE AUDENDI
>>
>> Yet this I charge thee with my Might: Live Dangerously. Was not this the
>> Word of thine Uncle Friedrich Nietzsche? Thy meanest Foe is the Inertia of
>> the Mind. Men do hate most those things which touch them closely, and they
>> fear Light, and persecute the Torchbearers. Do thou therefore analyse most
>> fully all those Ideas which Men avoid; for the Truth shall dissolve Fear.
>> Rightly indeed Men say that the Unknown is terrible; but wrongly do they
>> fear lest it become the Known. Moreover, do thou all Acts of which the
>> common Sort beware, save where thou hast already full knowledge, that thou
>> mayest learn Use and Control, not falling into Abuse and Slavery. For the
>> Coward and the Foolhardy shall not live out their Days. Every Thing has
>> its right Use; and thou art great as thou hast Use of Things. This is the
>> Mystery of all Art Magick, and thine Hold upon the Universe. Yet if thou
>> must err, being human, err by excess of courage rather than of Caution,
>> for it is the Foundation of the Honour of Man that he dareth greatly. What
>> sayth Quintus Horatius Flaccus in the third Ode of his First Book? Die
>> thou standing!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 47
>>
>> At
>> DE ARTE MENTIS COLENDI
>> (1) MATHEMATICA
>>
>> Now concerning the first Foundation of thy Mind I will say somewhat. Thou
>> shalt study with Diligence in the mathematics, because thereby shall be
>> revealed unto thee the Laws of thine own Reason and the Limitations
>> thereof. This Science manifesteth unto thee thy true Nature in respect of
>> the Machinery whereby it worketh; and showeth in pure Nakedness, without
>> Clothing of Personality or Desire, the Anatomy of thy conscious Self.
>> Furthermore, by this thou mayst understand the Essence between the
>> Relation of all Things, and the Nature of Necessity, and come to the
>> Knowledge of Form. For this Mathematics is as it were the last Veil before
>> the Image of Truth, so that there is no Way better than our Holy Qabalah,
>> which analyseth all Things soever, and reduceth them to pure Number; and
>> thus their Natures being no longer coloured and confused, they may be
>> regulated and formulated in Simplicity by the Operation of Pure Reason, to
>> thy great Comfort in the Work of our Transcendental Art, whereby the Many
>> become One.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 48
>>
>> Au
>> SEQUITUR
>> (2) CLASSICA
>>
>> My son, neglect not in any wise the Study of the Writings of Antiquity,
>> and that in the original Language. For by this thou shalt discover the
>> History of the Structure of thy Mind, that is, its Nature regarded as the
>> last term in a Sequence of Causes and Effects. For thy Mind hath been
>> built up of these Elements, so that in these Books thou mayst bring into
>> the Light thine own subconscious Memories. And thy Memory is as it were
>> the Mortar in the House of thy Mind, without which is no Cohesion or
>> Individuality possible, so that the Lack thereof is called Dementia. And
>> these Books have lived long and become famous because they are the Fruits
>> of ancient Trees whereof thou art directly the Heir, wherefrom (say I)
>> they are more truly german to thine own Nature than Books of Collateral
>> Offshoots, though such were in themselves better and wiser. Yes, o my Son,
>> in these Writings thou mayst study to come to the true Comprehension of
>> thine own Nature, and that of the whole Universe, in the Dimension of
>> Time, even as the Mathematic declareth it in that of Space: That is, of
>> Extension. Moreover, by this Study shall the Child comprehend the
>> Foundation of Manners: the which, as sayeth one of the Sons of Wisdom,
>> maketh Man.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 49
>>
>> Af
>> SEQUITUR
>> (3) SCIENTIFICA
>>
>> Since Time and Space are the Conditions of Mind, these two Studies are
>> fundamental. Yet there remaineth Causality, which is the Root of the
>> Actions and Reactions of Nature. This also shalt thou seek ardently, that
>> thou mayst comprehend the Variety of the Universe, its Harmony and its
>> Beauty, with the Knowledge of that which compelleth it. Yet this is not
>> equal to the former two in Power to reveal thee to thy Self; and its first
>> Use is to instruct thee in the true Method of Advancement in Knowledge,
>> which is fundamentally, the Observation of the Like and the Unlike. Also,
>> it shall arouse in thee the Ecstasy of Wonder; and it shall bring thee to
>> a proper Understanding of Art Magick. For our Magick is but one of the
>> powers that lie within us undeveloped and unanalysed; and it is by the
>> Method of Science that it must be made clear, and available to the Use of
>> Man. Is not this a Gift beyond Price, the Fruit of a Tree not only of
>> knowledge by to Life? For there is that in Man which is God, and there is
>> that also which is Dust; and by our Magick we shall make these twain one
>> Flesh, to the Obtaining of the Empery of the Universe.
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Joseph Littleshoes
> 50080125 xi
>
> "Tani JantsangŠ" <tjs...@spampost.com> writes:
>
>>Anyway - what's that from (that LONG thing you posted)? I said something
>>very similar to that once about atoms, molecules, cells, organs, bodies.
>>Hmm, it was my own thought, too.
>
>
> they are from Liber Aleph, by Crowley. I enjoyed that more
> than all others of his works save his "Book of Thoth".
> Joseph's been posting them in sprinklings, and i hadn't
> checked for any patterns, precisely. :) I wasn't even sure
> they were from Aleph, but i confirmed it here:
>
> http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/aleph/tbwf1.html
>
> 333
The kernel of wisdom buried in the magnificent prose that strikes me
most forcibly is the idea of letting the child express itself and any
fundamental orientation it may have before a superstructure is imposed
on that child.
Then any superstructure may be tailored to that child's own expression
of itself rather than trying to impose a standard on the child.
Reading between the lines it is possible to construe Crowley's meaning
to suggest that, for what ever reason, some people are born more
animalistic and are more problematical in their socialization.
--
JL
Joseph Littleshoes
> 50080125 xi
>
> "Tani JantsangŠ" <tjs...@spampost.com> writes:
>
>>Anyway - what's that from (that LONG thing you posted)? I said something
>>very similar to that once about atoms, molecules, cells, organs, bodies.
>>Hmm, it was my own thought, too.
>
>
> they are from Liber Aleph, by Crowley. I enjoyed that more
> than all others of his works save his "Book of Thoth".
> Joseph's been posting them in sprinklings, and i hadn't
> checked for any patterns, precisely. :) I wasn't even sure
> they were from Aleph, but i confirmed it here:
>
> http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/aleph/tbwf1.html
>
> 333
The kernel of wisdom buried in the magnificent prose that strikes me
most forcibly is the idea of letting the child express itself and any
fundamental orientation it may have before a superstructure is imposed
on that child.
Then any superstructure may be tailored to that child's own expression
of itself rather than trying to impose a standard on the child.
Reading between the lines it is possible to construe Crowley's meaning
to suggest that, for what ever reason, some people are born more
animalistic and are more problematical in their socialization.
--
JL
>
>
..
333
>> they are from Liber Aleph, by Crowley. I enjoyed that more
>> than all others of his works save his "Book of Thoth".
>> Joseph's been posting them in sprinklings, and i hadn't
>> checked for any patterns, precisely. :) I wasn't even sure
>> they were from Aleph, but i confirmed it here:
>> http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/aleph/tbwf1.html
Joseph Littleshoes <jpst...@isp.com>:
>The kernel of wisdom buried in the magnificent prose that strikes me
>most forcibly is the idea of letting the child express itself
and then afterwards disowning or denying the child's authority?
Crowley did this to his "Magical Child" Frater Achad merely,
if stories be believed, because the latter had deigned to
turn the Tree of Life on its head (admirable, i say!).
>and any fundamental orientation it may have before a
>superstructure is imposed on that child.
that's a style of "loose" parenting. one might say that
the "Tough Love" movement runs counter to this theme.
>Then any superstructure may be tailored to that child's
>own expression of itself rather than trying to impose
>a standard on the child.
oh sure, the elder generation is going to refashion
their whole universe around their children? doubtful.
>Reading between the lines it is possible to construe
>Crowley's meaning to suggest that, for what ever
>reason, some people are born more animalistic and
>are more problematical in their socialization.
that temperament varies is certainly true, and one
child seems to fare better from slight discipline
or from harsh standards than another of different
character. the level of harshness brought to bear
upon me in my family served to destroy the integrity
of the whole, dividing it as surely as death. some
children have no tolerance for violence, even as it
may be brought to the service of "a greater good"
(to bring in a theme from the Harry Potter series
which i just finished).
"Joseph Littleshoes" <jpst...@isp.com> quotes Crowley's
"Liber Agape":
>>>>Ai
>>>>DE LIBERATATE IUVENUM
>>>>
>>>>O thou that art the Child of mine own Bowels, how shall I write to thee
>>>>concerning Children? For herein is the Gordian Knot in our whole Rope of
>>>>Wisdom, and it may not be severed by Sword, no, not of a Greater than
>>>>Alexander the Two-Horned. And it is a Balance like that of the Egg, and
>>>>the Violence of a Columbus will but crack the tender Shell which we must
>>>>first of all preserve.
>>>>
>>>>Now Sentinel to this Fortress standeth a certain Paradox of general
>>>>Application, and in this large Order I will declare it, so that its
>>>>particular Sense may enlighten thee hereafter. And this is the Paradox,
>>>>that there are Bonds which lead to Slavery, and Bonds which lead to
>>>>Freedom.
note here that the Bonds mentioned only pertain to the condition of
the child, possibly the parents, but nothing about their relation.
>>>> All we are bound in many Fetters by Environment, and it is for
>>>>ourselves in great Part to determine whether they shall enslave us or
>>>>emancipate us. And I will make clear this Thesis to thee by the Way of
>>>>Illustration.
this sets the stage of a "liberation" of the child through the
artifice of repudiation. we might wonder whether the parent,
and in this case the father, sought to repudiate the (magical)
son on account of his fear of being eclipsed by him. why
otherwise bother to make such a fuss? fear of being
disappointed? upstaged? the biographers can speculate.
>>>>37
>>>>
>>>>Ak
>>>>DE VI PER DISCIPLINAM COLENDA
>>>>
>>>>Consider the Bond of a cold Climate, how it maketh Man a Slave; he must
>>>>have Shelter and Food with fierce Toil. Yet hereby he becometh strong
>>>>against the Elements, and his moral Force waxeth, so that he is Master of
>>>>such Men as live in Lands of Sun where bodily Needs are satisfied without
>>>>Struggle.
no children here, just struggling men.
>>>>Consider also him that willeth to exceed in Speed or in Battle, how he
>>>>denieth himself the Food he craveth, and all Pleasures natural to him,
>>>>putting himself under the harsh Order of a Trainer. So by this Bondage he
>>>>hath, at the last, his Will.
here's the training integral to the indoctrination so mentioned.
>>>>Now then the one by natural, and the other by voluntary, Restriction have
>>>>come each to greater Liberty.
again, the focus here is *freedom*, not security. your focus is good
in selecting this text, and yet we are not given any illustration of
the sensitive child, the one who needs not the rough discipline of
the harsh parent, by whose severe training such a Will emerges.
>>>> This is also a general Law of Biology,
>>>>for all Development is Structuralization; that is, a Limitation and
>>>>Specialization of an originally indeterminate Protoplasm, which latter
>>>>may therefore be called free, in the Definition of a Pedant.
like Crowley's failure to appreciate the ovum, so his appreciation
of the "laws" of biology seem imprecise and ineffective. here he
lays emphasis on structuralization, when in fact a host of other
factors also contribute to development, most importantly DNA and
its integral facets of potentia. Crowley's Homunculus was his
blindspot, and link with an old-age, misogynist, gnostic delusion.
>>>>38
>>>>
>>>>Al
>>>>DE ORDINE RERUM
>>>>
>>>>In the Body every Cell is subordinated to the general physiological
>>>>Control, and we who will that Control do not ask whether each individual
>>>>Unit of that Structure be consciously happy. But we do care that each
>>>>fulfil its Function, and the Failure of even a few Cells, or their Revolt,
>>>>may involve the Death of the whole Organism. Yet even here the Complaint
>>>>of a few, which we call Pain, is a Warning of general Danger. Many Cells
>>>>fulfil their Destiny by swift Death, and this being their Function, they
>>>>in no wise resent it. Should Hemoglobin resist the Attack of Oxygen, the
>>>>Body would perish, and the Hemoglobin would not even save itself. How, o
>>>>my Son, do thou then consider deeply of these Things in thine Ordering of
>>>>the World under the Law of Thelema.
here is the supreme arrogance: conceiving that "the World" would need
such an ordering, that it is not in fact already so ordered, that it
needs some kind of human input to "perfect". this is a post-religious
bias which Crowley never relinquished. his training left him a cynic,
seeing the world as in need of management, reordering, and revision.
>>>> For every Individual in the State must
>>>>be perfect in his own Function, with Contentment, respecting his own Task
>>>>as necessary and holy, not envious of another's. For so only mayst thou
>>>>build up a Free State, whose directing Will shall be singly directed to
>>>>the Welfare of all.
"the greater good" always justifies the efforts to achieve it.
>>>>39
>>>>
>>>>Am
>>>>DE FUNDAMENTIS CIVITATIS
>>>>
>>>>Say not, o my Son, that in this Argument I have set Limits to individual
>>>>Freedom.
does Crowley ever write about security, about the virtue of community,
of the convention borne aloft by countless generations? or is his a
soliloquy of becoming liberated, wrenching free of That from which
he could never emerge unconstrained?
>>>> For each Man in this State which I purpose is fulfilling his own
>>>>true Will by his eager Acquiescence in the Order necessary to the Welfare
>>>>of all, and therefore of himself also.
as a jumble of contending forces does this Crowley portray the cosmos.
how they shall resolve is always ambiguous in his writ, from Liber OZ
with its "kill them" solution to volitional intervention to this text
and its conglomerate of vying irreconcilables.
>>>> But see thou well to it that thou
>>>>set high the Standard of Satisfaction, and that to everyone there be a
>>>>surplus of Leisure and of Energy, so that, his Will of Self-Preservation
>>>>being fulfilled by the Performance of his Function in the State, he may
>>>>devote the remainder of his Powers to the Satisfaction of the other Parts
>>>>of his Will.
exemplary of one subsumed to the remedial quality of nationalism.
>>>> And because the People are oft times unlearned, not
>>>>understanding Pleasure, let them be instructed in the Art of Life;
and, ultimately, fascism, which Crowley supported and admired.
>>>>to prepare Food palatable and wholesome, each to this own Taste, to make
>>>>Clothes according to Fancy, with Variety of Individuality and to practise
>>>>the manifold Crafts of Love. There Things being first secured, thou mayst
>>>>afterward lead them into the Heavens of Poesy and Tale, of Music,
>>>>Painting, and Sculpture, and into the Lore of the Mind itself, with its
>>>>insatiable Joy of all knowledge. Thence let them soar!
a top-down direction. we the parental shall indoctrinate you in the
3 and 90 rules of the art before you may shine your "Will" for us.
>>>>40
>>>>
>>>>An
>>>>DE VOLUNTATE IUVENUM
>>>>
>>>>Long, o my Son, hath been this Digression from the plain Path of my Word
>>>>concerning Children; but it was most needful that thou shouldst understand
>>>>the Limits of true Liberty. For that is not the Will of any Man which
>>>>ultimateth in his own Ruin and that of all his Fellows; and that is not
>>>>Liberty whose Exercise bringeth him to Bondage. Thou mayst therefore
>>>>assume that it is always an essential Part of the Will of any Child to
>>>>grow to Manhood or to Womanhood in Health, and his Guardians may therefore
>>>>prevent him from ignorantly acting in Opposition thereunto, Care being
>>>>always taken to remove the Cause of the Error, namely, Ignorance, as
>>>>aforesaid. Thou mayst also assume that it is Part of the Child's Will to
>>>>train every Function of the Mind; and the Guardians may therefore combat
>>>>the inertia which hinders its Development. Yet here is much Caution
>>>>necessary, and it is better to work by exciting and satisfying any natural
>>>>Curiosity than by forcing Application to set Tasks, however obvious this
>>>>Necessity may appear.
this and a good bit of the balance is sound principle.
bobo
Joseph Littleshoes
h/tbwf1.html
>
>
> Joseph Littleshoes <jpst...@isp.com>:
>
>>>>> And because the People are oft times unlearned, not
>>>>>understanding Pleasure, let them be instructed in the Art of Life;
>
>
> and, ultimately, fascism, which Crowley supported and admired.
Dieu et Mon Droit :)
--
JL
.
alectrum
> bobo wrote:
> >> they are from Liber Aleph, by Crowley. I enjoyed that more
> >> than all others of his works save his "Book of Thoth".
> >> Joseph's been posting them in sprinklings, and i hadn't
> >> checked for any patterns, precisely. :) I wasn't even sure
> >> they were from Aleph, but i confirmed it here:
> >>http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/aleph/tbwf1.html
>
>
> >The kernel of wisdom buried in the magnificent prose that strikes me
> >most forcibly is the idea of letting the child express itself
>
> and then afterwards disowning or denying the child's authority?
> Crowley did this to his "Magical Child" Frater Achad merely,
> if stories be believed, because the latter had deigned to
> turn the Tree of Life on its head (admirable, i say!).
Some people have parents in name only. Their parents are so far from
benevolent given that they are struggling to emerge from the chaos
within and without themselves that they are seem more like stereotypes
to a child who can still see the merits of other humans and wish they
were their parents - and I speak of both maternal and paternal parents
here.
I think Crowleys parents were .... shall we just say - not the best
material? And the man - however brillient and inspired struggled
throughout his life to understand and adopt the sort of parentage
attitiude to others that he would have wished for himself. He was not
a particularly old man when he adopted Frater Achad, and I think he
did what he sensed his parents had did to him - and that is to abandon
them in the hope that it would make them stronger. Perhaps that was
the best and only thing that his parents could give him - and he
arrived at his indominateable and sometimes scarey behaviour towards
his friends and fraters because he had to survive on his own - this
strange unworldy poetic figure of a man...
However - The above does not mean that there is nothing of worth in
Crowleys Picture of the child expressing itself - only that his
interpretation was skwed and somewhat more unkind that is necessary.
We do have to remember that Victorian England promoted and praised
this attitude amongst presbiterian parents and whilst Crowley battled
against his inner demons he was also ruled by them too. An awareness
of ones inclinations can not always lead to their transformation
without outside help, and I do not think Crowley .... could ever
submit himself to the will of another even if it was an entirely
benevolent will that only sought to teach him what any parent would
teach them - and it's ironic that it's probably only by accepting this
that he could progress in the great work to the level he aspired to.
Without it he paid the price of egomania, and was not fit for anything
more than to be reborn.
> >and any fundamental orientation it may have before a
> >superstructure is imposed on that child.
>
> that's a style of "loose" parenting. one might say that
> the "Tough Love" movement runs counter to this theme.
>
> >Then any superstructure may be tailored to that child's
> >own expression of itself rather than trying to impose
> >a standard on the child.
>
> oh sure, the elder generation is going to refashion
> their whole universe around their children? doubtful.
>
> >Reading between the lines it is possible to construe
> >Crowley's meaning to suggest that, for what ever
> >reason, some people are born more animalistic and
> >are more problematical in their socialization.
>
> that temperament varies is certainly true, and one
> child seems to fare better from slight discipline
> or from harsh standards than another of different
> character. the level of harshness brought to bear
> upon me in my family served to destroy the integrity
> of the whole, dividing it as surely as death. some
> children have no tolerance for violence, even as it
> may be brought to the service of "a greater good"
> (to bring in a theme from the Harry Potter series
> which i just finished).
>
> "Joseph Littleshoes" <jpsti...@isp.com> quotes Crowley's
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