Fragment 29

Before continuing with the Search for the Self, I have some more material I want to cover. Material that does not fit in anywhere, yet is still important to understanding the Self and Occultism. This "Fragment" shall have two parts. The first part shall be some thoughts on Astrology. The second part is an ontological theory of mine. A theory I have no commitment to, in simple terms I am uncertain of the truth of this theory. I could be talked out of it easier than I could be talked into it.The reason I am passing this theory on, is because my unconscious mind keeps working on the theory, even though my conscious mind seems to reject the theory. A strange if not unIliphas common phenomenon. Showing that our conscious mind is but a small part of the greater Self. I shall start with the thoughts on Astrology, and its place in Occultism. The older attitude was that no one ignorant of Astrology should practice Magic. Thi@s view can be found in Paracelsus, and most of the ancient and medieval writings on Magic. The best example is sublime grimoire "The Picatrix". This state of affairs did not change until the middle of the nineteenth century, and was the work of one man: Eliphas Levi. Levi was the great reformer of Magic. I have written about Eliphas Levi before (see my essay "Kierkegaard and Levi" @processidealism.blogspot.com), but as with most subjects I write about I have come to deeper insights with further study, and reflection. To give a very brief summation of my previous essay I recognized his accomplishments in reforming Occultism. His reform of connecting the Tarot cards with the letters of the ahebrew alphabet, and the Qabalah, and his doctrine of the Astral Light. Although he was not the first to use these two doctrines, he was the first to develop and analyze these doctrinal changes.I am giving Levi the credit. As the legendary Chess Champion said about naming chess openings. That an opening should not be named after the first player that plays the opening, but the first player that analyzes and develops the opening. As I said previously Levi democratized Occultism. Most people do not have the time, and resources to master the complicated mnemonic systems of the Renaissance, but everyone can afford a deck of cards. Even though I discussed and recognized the above insights, I seemed to have missed the big picture. What Levi did was to switch the focus of Occultism from the macrocosm to the microcosm. Levi pulled off a Copenican revolution in Occultism as Kant did in philosophy. The older Occultism was focused on the cosmos, and the external world. Levi flipped the focus to the subjective self by making the Will of the Magos central to Occultism. This is how he democratized Occultism. Like using the mnemonic systems of the older Magic using Astrology to plan your rituals or consecrate tools takes time and work. While relying on the Will of the operator is a short cut. It is the same with substituting the Tarot cards for the mnemonic systems of the past. The cosmic energies are channeled through the Will of the operator, instead of using the configurations of the cosmos. Thus the energies of Magic become accessible to all. Of course the trouble is people do not do the work. If one wants to explore the older Magic there is no better book than the sublime "Picatrix" to understand Astral Magic. I shall take a slight diversion here to discuss some of the influences on Levi's thought that are often overlooked. Levi, like Kierkegaard, was a reaction against German Idealism. A turning to subjectivity against the deification of the objective by Hegel. The switch from the objective macrocosm to the subjective microcosm. Anyone who reads Levi's books can observe the influence of Hegel, Schelling, and Fichte on Levi;s thought. But, it is Schopenhauer that gave Levi his central nsight to make the Will of the operator the supreme power in Magic. Back to Astrology. I guess the first question most people ask; is can Astrology really predict the future? A question I cannot answer. I am far from a competent Astrologer. A similar question could be asked of the Tarot cards. Astrology like all the occult arts differs in quality depending on the operator. Astrology is a continuum that runs from the daily advice column in the newspaper to the esoteric verse of Nostradamus (1503-1566). What I can say like the Tarot cards Astrology is a wonderful key to unlocking the unconscious. The trick is to identify oneself with the entire cosmos, instead of one's individuality. A trick that seemed easier for the ancients, and medievals. Not that it was easy even back then. The reason that this trick was easier for the ancients was the cosmos was considerably smaller back then. The Copernican revolution was one of the greatest shocks to humanity in history. More far reaching than Darwin's evolution. The Copernican revolution is what made Darwin's discoveries possible. Back to trying to identify with the cosmos. To successfully do this trick, one has to take to heart the saying of many mystics, that the space inside your head is identical with the cosmos. As for Astrology's efficacy in Magical rituals, I can commend the practice. As the key to success in Magic is adding content. When one does the work of calculating the proper time to do a ritual it adds importance and content to the working. What I can say with confidence is having some knowledge of Astrology is of great benefit to the Magos. Even if it is just being aware of the phases of the Moon, and knowing the symbolism and meaning of the planets and signs. We have now come to the theory. I first used this theory in my fiction (see the "Monas Stone" @gwenchustories.blogspot.com), and then promptly forgot it. I should say my conscious mind forgot it, but my unconscious mind kept working on the theory. So I have some ontological speculation for the reader. The theory is that Reality is a wave which I shall refer to as the Reality Wave or R,W. Think of the R.W. as an analogy to a F.M wave. A F.M. receiver only picks up the peaks of the wave, that is where the information is that is the broadcast. So the theory is that our reality only exists at the peaks or valleys of the R.W. like the F.M. broadcast only exists at the peaks of the waveform. This means our reality ceases to exist except at the peaks or valleys of the wave form. So our reality phases in and out of existence, and other dimensions of reality may exist at other points on the waveform. Our dimension of reality would alternate with other dimensions of reality. When our dimension phases out another dimension would phase into existence. How long the time it takes for our dimension to phase back in does not matter, since we do not exist during other phases of reality, or at least exist in a different form. It could take a microsecond or a century. Although I have a hunch that in our time perception it is closer to a microsecond than a century. Before turning to what this theory could mean to occultism, let us take a look at some evidence for the theory. According to Einstein solid matter is the result of a low vibratory rate. If vibrations drop below a certain rate the congeal into solid matter. A dimension of a higher vibratory rate would seem immaterial for us, and a dimension of a lower vebratoru rate would be of solid matter to us. like Parmenides's Sphere. Another piece of evidence is when observing electrons they seem to bounce in and out of existence, but in the R.W, theory they would go somewhere.What we view as electrons would be a point of a waveform not discrete particles. This would make the electrons the information part of our dimension of reality like the peaks of the F.M broadcast wave. We are all made of electrons, thus they are the information carriers of our reality. Not much evidence I admit, so let us turn to what this could mean to Occultism. Our brain waves are of a higher frequency than the brain matter, thus being immaterial (at least from our point of view). The psychologist Alfred Adler claimed that the brain is the tool of the mind. (see his book "What Life should Mean to You") Adler's example is that if someone suffers brain damage, they can train other parts of the brain to take over for the damaged parts. Thus the mind changes the brain. Of course it is really a reciprocity instead of one being prior to the other. This could mean the Egregores exist in a higher vibratory dimension of reality, They feed on the vibrations of our emotions and thoughts, thus there would be a reciprocity between our consciousness and the Egregores. As I have said before Egregores are born and they die. They are born when our brain waves reach a certain pitch, and die when the pitch no longer exists. There is also an argument for life after death that accords well with Occult teaching. That when we die, the higher vibrations of our consciousness live on in another dimension on the R.W. Many mystic and Occult traditions have taught existence after death is only possible if someone had done the work to create some sort of vibrational body. Example of this are the Light Body in Occultism,as well as Gurdjieff's teaching about creating an astral body that will survive death. The Greek Orthodox tradition has a similar teaching about reaching deification. That our human substance is replaced by divine substance if we follow the rites and teaching so the Church. Anyone interested in this teaching can consult "The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Tradition" by N. Russell, or if interested in primary sources Maximus the Confessor is a good place to start. I shall probably write more about the R.W. theory, since my unconscious mind is still working on it. Anyway I hope some readers find this theory useful, even if it is just for writing fiction. Failing that I hope at least it was entertaining.