Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Today's news leads off with the deportation of a 95 year old ex-Nazi prison guard. Okay. He was, by all accounts, a despicable man, at least 70 years ago, and I'm not at all sorry to see him go. But, in the whole World, is this really the most important thing going on?
California has been burned to ashes and, if they ever get rain again, which is becoming another issue, the mud slides will be frightful. Around the World, the Ring of Fire seems to be growing more and more active. I am quite sure that no one really wants to look at the potential for more and stronger volcano eruption, earthquakes and tsunamis, but it may be a good idea to start thinking about emergency management strategies/ Iran is testing long range missiles. Russia has launched a satellute that can, potentially be used as a weapons platform/ Missouri, the geart of America's farmland is going through a catastrophic drought. And so on.
I am not about to start ranting about theses issues. I want to point out the power of misdirection. WE humans are easily distracted. This is the essence of stage magic. The President goes on, at great length  , in praise of fallen cops and soldiers. Fine, I feel horrible when folks are senselessly killed, but, when the talk goes on and on, something else is going on. Likewise, when a celebrity death is the lead story. Sane when trials and investigation concerning small time crimes stemming from political maneuvering dominate the news for days and months for years.
I am not saying that we are being lied to. There is truth in all of these headline stories. The whole thing is far more subtle. Our attention is being directed away from the important to the trivial. Why?
One, someone, or some group of someones, is up to no good and hope to get their way before we notice. Or, something is about to happen and it is being kept from us because, if it is revealed, panic will ensue. Or both. There is thought, and some evidence, that certain elite folks want to grab all they can before all hell breaks loose, then flee the scene with all the goodies. Is that true? Maybe. Either that ot we are all considered idiot children who cannot handle the truth.
Stage magic is a close cousin to occult magick, of the Crowlean sort. Both types work by mind manipulation. Stage magic is harmless fin. The other sort is neither. When people are attempting to manipulate your attention and, in essence, control your thought, that is, by definition, black magick.  We must fight such action if we are to keep our lives and our souls
Fight it by always looking for what is being stressed by the media and by politicians and corporations. In fact, those are now the 3 branches of our Government. Always look deeply and always remember what really counts, life, family, friends, God. In other words, keep your eyes ob the prize.

America - The Disturbing Influx of Gnosticism, The Occult and Magick

Occult means hidden, that's all. However, in modern usage it summons up images of dark sorcerers in black robes, chanting ritual spells in arcane language, or, to a few, Wiccans dancing at midnight in the woods, so let's go with those images. Occult teachings supposedly lead to knowledge and power. Cults of various sorts use this promise to lure initiates, as did the old Mystery religions. Of course, there are also solo practitioners of these arts.

How anyone can use the term occult is beyond me? In the old days, established religions persecuted followers of these beliefs, so, yes they were occult, hidden. It was a matter of survival. However, nowadays, you cannot go into any bookstore without seeing row upon row of books purporting to give you access to arcane knowledge and vast power. Just glance through any of the 'New Age' and 'Spiritual' sections. So the idea of hidden is long gone, and thus, perhaps, the word 'occult' should be replaced with 'esoteric' for accuracy's sake.

Magick is the bending of the fabric of the Cosmos to your will. As I stated in an earlier post, if you are hungry, go to the fridge and make a ham sandwich, you have worked magick. All technology is magick; we have just come to accept most of it as ordinary, and, for the most part, that is fine.

It seems that if we manipulate the World of Classical physics, we are okay. Example: if I build a car, and use sound engineering, no problem. If I make a simple electrical device, no problem. However, when we begin to manipulate things we do not understand, it becomes problematic. Example: nuclear energy. We barely have the tiniest understanding of sub atomic processes, just a few mathematical formula that seem to be somewhat accurate as models for some of what happens. But, we rushed madly ahead and ended up building bombs that can destroy the World. Yes, we also get electricity from nuclear reactors, but we still have a bit of a problem with those, primarily, what do we do with those spent fuel rods? We bury them in caves and abandoned mine shafts but, evidence clearly shows that the radioactive materials eventually seep into the groundwater/ (If you live near such a site, you may want to consider taking iodine tablets, just a thought).

Now, despite such a lesson, you have scientists ready to plunge even deeper into  levels of reality we do not grasp. Thank God, the Large Hadron Super Collider seems to break down frequently Lord knows what might happen otherwise. Even worse are those who babble, quite seriously of such things as Anti-gravity and zero-point energy to be obtained from hyper-dimensional physics. If this sounds like mumbo jumbo, it is. They are only a tiny step away from summoning demons. Actually, a few scientists have done that. I do not have time now, but if interested, do a little research on the doings of the Stanford Research Institute and their work on Remote viewing, Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Telekinesis, and the like. If you do not find their work credible, remember, the US Government took them very seriously and we have much evidence that the old Soviet Union did the same sort of work. By the way, by all accounts, they were fairly successful, sort of, but, on a few occasions, the results were disastrous.

Of course, all this is not enough for some and they seek deeper magick. Well, let's see. There are 2 types, black and white magick. Black magick is the seeking of power for personal gain and/or to harm others. Even a practitioner like Crowley dislike the dark magick. He claimed that since it came from dark emotions such as anger and fear, it was unpredictable; that even when it worked it had unintended side effects.

White magick, as the Wiccans and others will tell you, is done for the benefit of others. You would think that would make it just fine, a nice thing to do. Well, no. You see, every action has a multitude of consequences, many of them unintended. When you muck about with energies and powers you do not understand, your good intentions do not necessarily control the outcome, and not a one of the many schools of magick can explain what goes on in their rituals. Most, claim that they summon any of a variety of spirit beings and compel or entice them into doing the sorcerer's bidding. The more modern schools speak of contacting hyper-dimensional beings and having them work for the sorcerer. Still others, such as Crowley, said that the images of spirit beings and the rituals to invoke them simply opened up powers innate, but untapped, within humans. In short, and in plain English, none of these folks had a clue what they were doing.

Sometimes, these workings produce results, to small degrees usually, but, occasionally on larger scales. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, usually, like all things, a mixture. It does seem that the greater the power sought, the more likely it is to produce bad results. How does it work out for the sorcerer? Generally, not too well. Any society ruled by wizards, from the ancient shamen to the Priests of Egypt, to the lamas of Tibet, have all fallen. Throughout Europe and the Americas, such practitioners were dealt with harshly and their spiritual powers certainly did not help them. Crowley died a penniless heroin addict. My advice, stay away from any promise of magickal power. When in doubt, remember Jesus' prayer which specified, 'Thy will be done.' Run it by your Creator and see if you get approval. For example, He (or She, I only use He out of convention) does not seem to mind such things as planes and microscopes and electric lights, but summoning the Dark Powers is unacceptable.

Or,  for those less religiously inclined, remember how, in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo kept trying to give the Ring to other, more powerful folks, such as Gandalf, Tom Bombadil, and various Elves. All refused knowing that however good their intents, the power would corrupt them.

America- - The Dangerous Influx of Gnosticism, Terms

I do not mention other blogs on my site because I do not often  have time to spend reading them. Also, I find that many of them turn into forums for people to dart off on tangents, pick  on others, fawn all over the writer, and generally spout nonsense. I welcome comments, but only if pertanent to the subject and only if reasonable and constructive.

Having said that, I do on occassion read a little here and there; especially those dealing with the stranger things out society is going through, and I have grown apalled and a bit alarmed by the prevalence of sites dealing with 'gnosticism.' In itself, gnosticism is perfectly valid topic and quite fascinating, but folks who do not really understand it should stay away from it. Gnosticism has become a catch phrase for all sorts of weirdness. So, in the next few posts, I would like to try and explain a few things.

First, let me go through a few terms you see bandied about.

Occult: Occult simply means hidden. The CIA's actions are occult. Military secrets are occult. Hiddden business plans are occult. The term is used on many sites to refer to the aspects of religious beliefs hidden from all but the elite of the religion's leaders or to the inner most workings of a Magick society, ie the OTO or the Golden Dawn. The reason for hiding the material is said to be that a certain degree of initiation or preparation is needded befor ethe initiate can accept the full truth. Realistically, material is hidden from the neophyte becuase any sane person would reject it and run the other way when presented it. The group first wants to work on breaking down his/ her personality before fully letting them in on what is really going on.

Mystery Religion: In the past, as far back as we have records of civilizations, religions were very hierarchical. The priests kept secrets, 'mysteries,' that they revealed in a series of initiations to individuals. The higher up you went, the deeper the mysteries. Often the initiations involved some sort of ritual imitaing death and rebirth. Often, from what we can gather, they degenerated into a very slick method of controlling the thoughts and actions of individuals. There are groups today that mimic the Mystery Religions. Many, like the much maligned Freemasons, are social organizations, at least on the lower levels, that do a lot of good. We do not know what happens on the upper levels because, well, it is a mystery not revealed to most. Some groups, like the Skull and Bones, with the political and economic power of its members, are a bit more problematic. Others, such as Scientology are very problematic which leads to our next term-

Cults: Cults are basically close knit groups of like minded people. That is all. There is not necessarily anything wrong with that. A celebrity fan club is really a cult. Small religious sects may be thought of as cults and many are quite beneficent. There are, however, dark cults. Scientology is such an example. Going back to the 60s and 70s  you can see many such examples, the Process Church, the Children, the 22 Disciples, the 4 Pi, Hari Krishna, the Children of God, then in later years, Heaven's Gate, The Order of the Solar Temple, The Raelians, Jonestown, The Branch Davidians, The City of Elohim and others. These things pop in and out of existence frequently. A current, nasty example, is the 5 Angle movement.

Magick: Magick, not David Copperfield, is bending the fabric of space-time to your will. It is that simple. Technology is magic. Making a ham sandwich when hungry is magick. Growing crops is magick. The problem comes when you try and use your will to force others to do as you want or to force the Cosmos to follow your will. Then you have 'black magic.' Stay away from that.

Extraterrestraisl/Aliens: Beings not of this Earth, or at least not from the same 4 dimensions we live in. Are thay physical beings or spirits? From other planets or other dimensions? Friendly or hostile? Yes, no, maybe, all, some. Who knows? It is also, to make things a whole lot stranger, manifestations of our own mind and/or manifestations of thoughts put in our minds by certain unsavory humans. Confused? You should be. I am, but I will try to sort all that out, as much as it can be.

In my next post, I will explain a bit more about Gnosticism. Do not worry. It will be light on history because, contrary to what you may read elsewhere, we know very little of its history. There will also be very little philosophy or theology because what we do know of Gnostci thinking is a muddled mess. But, I will let you know why I think the fascination with these ancient loonies is important and upsetting.