Fragment 52

I was going to do some book reviews in this "Fragment", but I decided to explain some of my philosophy of literacy. Two incidents changed my mind about doing book reviews. The first is that Sadguru said something very important about books, and One of the most prominent West coast occultists has been carrying out a polemic against beginner books. A position I endorse. So let us begin with an analogy that should prove illustrative. There are two men around twenty years old, we shall call one Theon and the other Dan. Theon is an olympic gymnast and Dan is a circus fat man. Both are at the peak of their ability in their chosen vocations. I am going to posit that this is the state that exists between literate and the illiterate person. Theon can do amazing things with his body, he can execute difficult gymnastic moves with simplicity, and grace. Dan on the other hand is lucky to walk around all day. Even his basic physical movements are impaired because of his bulk. To understand this analogy all we have to do is substitute mind for body. A literate person can understand and deal with highly abstract thought, an illiterate person can not understand and deal with highly abstract ideas. Like athletes, a literate person can improve their reading through practice, but the basic skills have to already exist to do this. Dan does not have even the basic skills associated with gymnastics; he has trouble moving his fat body around. What I am calling for is that the literate person must challenge themselves like the gymnast does. I remember back when I was eighteen years old, I read the "Ethics" of Spinoza. It was the first hard book I read. I felt like I was walking in deep mud. It was slow going, and I had to keep backing up to understand the book, but I persevered. And I did not persevere in a gloomy mood. Instead I was exhilarated by challenging myself and observing my improvement. This is of course, the same feeling an olympic gymnast has mastering difficult tricks. On the other hand the circus fat man is challenged by everyday movements, like sleeping, walking, etc. If beginner books make one feel like they have mastered a subject, it is a lie. A good beginner book should challenge the reader to go on to the more difficult material. The trouble with beginner books is they dumb down a subject, and leave out essential nuances that are necessary to master the material. I shall give two examples that I found in academia. The first is Spinoza. Many beginner books state that Spinoza is a materialist. This makes teaching his thought a lot easier, and is easily connected with the Enlightenments' project of overthrowing the grip of religion in society. Once one progresses in the study of Spinoza the materialist position is undermined. So the position that Spinoza is a materialist causes little trouble. Everyone who has read Spinoza knows that the materialist position is a simplification of his metaphysics. The second example is that of Giordano Bruno. The myth created by beginner books states he was burned at the stake because of his astronomical theories. He thus becomes a martyr to science. This is all false. I have heard this position echoed by grad students. Bruno was burned at the stake because of religious heresy, he was not an astronomer. The Church did not care about his astronomical theories, it was Bruno trying to start a new hermetic religion that got him burned. Bruno was a martyr to occultism not science. This lie persists because Bruno's original writings are not read in academia.The view of Bruno as a scientist would be destroyed if people read his writings. This shows the trouble with beginner books.Since we are talking about the Enlightenment let us remember the seventeenth century philosophers wanted to bring clarity to thought. They wanted idas to be clear and distinct. This can only be achieved by reading, and challenging reading. Every occultist should get a copy of William of Ockham's bood "Summa Logicae" This book is very concise and has razor sharp distinctions. So it becomes a perfect book to test one's reading ability. Think of it as a very advanced manual for mastering mental gymnastics. Start reading and take note how many times one must back up to master the arguments. Clear and distinct ideas are a must to be successful in occultism. Countless magical operations have failed due to lack of clarity. To riff on Crowley, when you master Ockham you will have forged your mind into a formidable weapon. I have discussed the undervaluation of books, now I shall turn to the overvaluation of books. To understand the overvaluation of books we must embark on a digression. In the Bronze Age reading was regarded as magical. Which of course, it is. Literacy is one of the most powerful conscious altering methods there is. J.Jaynes says that reading was a psychedelic experience throughout most of the ancient world. I think this is still true today. When one sees someone reading they have no idea what dreams and emotions that the reader is having. This would very much seem like magic in the ancient world; a reader is transported to a different place and time while they are reading. To gain new knowledge from looking at symbols, This was and still is magic. Reading to an illiterate society is magical. In some parts of Africa western education is seen as magic. So it is not hard to observe the overvaluation of books in an illiterate society. How many times during an argument has someone responded that they read it in a book. The argument for authority. I used to have a High School History teacher that would exclaim "What book did you read it in, Mein Kampf or Das Kapital? The very medium of reading is given authority. How many cultures have sacred books that one must respect? Think of the protests that go on when a Quran is burned and disrespected. One can even get the death penalty in some Islamic countries for questioning the Quran, not to mention just vandalizing the Quran can get one killed. This brings me to Sadguru who explained we must move from religion to responsibility. Spirituality is in practice not blind obedience. Again let us use an example to understand. We shall take Judaism and Islam as our examples. Anyone who has read the Old Testament knows it is full of harsh punishments. So what happened to these harsh punishments in modern Judaism? They redacted them out when they wrote the Talmud. Judaism had clarity and took the responsibility to change the book. Muslims have made redacting the Quran almost impossible. They are scared of the book. They have not reached the age of responsibility. They live in fear of an ancient Egregore (El) who is the exemplar for Canaanite KIngs. Like Horus was for Egyptian Pharaohs. If you doubt my claims about the absurd embarrassing nature of Islam go to "Sunnah.com" and put in words such as Jew,, Infidel and if you really want to experience the horror show that is Islam put in the words "semen and menstruation". The information age is killing Islam. I want to go back to Sadguru and what he said and how it relates to occultism. Many occultists talk about the coming Aeon of Horus or the age of the child. What does this mean? To answer that question we must ask another question: What are the duties of a child? the duties of a child are to grow up to be an autonomous, responsible adult. This is why the coming age is seen as one of turmoil. People do not want to grow up and stop acting childish. But like Horus we must grow up and claim our birthright through the adversity. P.S. i will get to the book reviews soon.