Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 14:19:03 -0500
Reply-To: thelema93-l
Originator: thelema93-l
Sender: thelema93-l
Precedence: bulk
From: "Fra. Doubt-Goat" <twilliam>
To: bantik
Subject: Knowledge or Ignorance (wasRe: Exorcism?)
X-Comment: Discussion of Magick in general
Status: RO

93,

Scott Brush wrote:
>The question of whether
> magical phenomena are merely phantoms of the personal consciousness
> or are objective reality has been treated by Crowley extensively.  My
> interpretation of his ultimate answer is that it simply doesn't matter.

I've always been troubled by this opinion.  To say that it doesn't
matter is to bow to ignorance and deliberately accept the blinders of
stupidity.  (Please bear in mind that I am not making any sort of
personal flame here.  I am responding to an opinion I have seen among
many of my fellow magicians that I would like to address.)

Usually along with the statement that the objective or subjective
doesn't matter is the statement that the _result_ is the only
thing that _does_ matter, and that it is irrelevent how the operation
_really_ works.  This is how blind faith operates.  This is the
course of stagnation and intellectual laziness.

As an example:  I have a belief that dung beetles arise spontaneously
out of dung.  Now these beetles are sacred to the great god Dungboy,
who is the god of agriculture.  My crops are not doing well, and
it is traditional that if you sacrifice a bushel of dung beetles to
Dungboy, then your harvest will be good.  So, since it is believed
that dung beetles arise spontaneously out of dung, I collect a ton of
dung in a big pile in my backyard (phew!), pray to Dungboy, and wait
for the beetles to emerge.  Given the belief stated, this would be a
logical course of action.

However, no beetles arise, my crops fail, and I starve to death.  Had
I but a little knowledge, I would have known how to solve this
problem painlessly.  All I knew was that beetles arise out of dung.
So it would make sense that if I collected a whole bunch of dung in a
pile, I would get a whole bunch of beetles to sacrifice.  What I
didn't know was that the beetles will only emerge from _small_ piles
of dung.  Had I known this, I would have spread out the dung.  Now,
let us assume that I actually did this, and yet, I find still no
beetles.  Well, what I didn't know was that the little balls of dung
must be exposed to large amounts of _sunlight_, and it has been cloudy
all season long.  Let us assume that I realize this.  Now, I
postulate that it is the _heat_ of the sun that causes the beetles to
arise, so I build a greenhouse which traps heat even on cloudy days,
spread out my dung, and lo and behold, I get my bushel of beetles
which I proceed to sacrifice to Dungboy in the traditional manner,
that is, I distributle them in my fields.

However, my crop still fails, and I starve to death.  What happened?
What I didn't know was that the beetles are a predatory species that
prey on another insect that eats the roots of the crop that I grow,
an infestation of which is causing the crop failure.  Normally the
beetles eat the other insects which diminishes the damage to the
crops and so Dungboy gets the credit.  This year though there has
been a population explosion of another type of insect that eats dung
beetles but not the crop-damaging insects, so my dung beetles were
wiped out and my crops ruined.

(The preceeding example does not represent established facts regarding
dung beetles.  It is a story to make a point.  All persons, gods and
beetles are wholly fictional and any resemblence to actual persons, gods
or beetles is purely coincidental.)

The point of the example is that with the identification of _cause_ a
plan of action may be embarked upon due to a refinement of the
available data.  An accurate diagnosis must be made if you wish the
problem to be solved.  An understanding of the cause as well as the
effect.

The same applies to the so-call "soft" sciences (which is where I
would place magick.)  An understanding of the underlying cause allows
us to manipulate the tools and actions needed to bring about the desired
effect.  To say that all I need to know about the LBRP, for instance,
is how to pronounce the hebrew and draw the pentagrams is to deny the
possiblity of understanding the psychological effects of the ritual and using
them in another way in another situation to a possibly greater benefit.

Knowledge is Power.  Understanding and Wisdom are greater still.  The
attributes of the Sphinx make this abundently clear:  To Know, To
Will, To Dare, To Keep Silence.

> Whatever the case, there must be some personal component to any experience
> or else it wouldn't have registered to consciousness in the first place.
> Therefore, any situation can be dealt with, at least in part, by dealing
> with the personal associations and feelings that arise in response.
>
> Furthermore, subjective experiences are as real and meaningful in their
> scope as any set of objective perceptions.  They deserve due consideration
> and action just like any material situation.

I totally agree with these statements.

93

Fra. Doubt-Goat