Fragment 55

I was in the middle of the "Fragment" on evolution, Utopia, the Jesuits,etc.; but have decided to get back to it later. I did this because I read a book that inspired me to write this "Fragment'. The book was Salaman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses". One of my principles is to never waste inspiration, so I got right on it. That shall be the second book in this review. The first book is "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G. Wells. I have wanted to write a piece on this book for some time. That is why this book is included. Although it may seem the books are unconnected. An occult perspective shows a deep connection.Both of these books should be read by any serious occultist. I am not going to give a detailed review, because the purpose of this review is to get one to read it themselves. Before starting the review I have a tip for younger occultists. And this is to set time aside to think. I shall use Immanuel Kant as an example. After Kant took his morning walk he would sit in front of a window that had a view of a Church steeple. This was his thinking time. There is a story that the steeple for a time became obscured by trees. And that they got trimmed back so Kant could continue pondering. If one wants to have ideas one must ponder. The ideas in both of these books are worth pondering. To help one start the chain of associations that leads to pondering, I want to review some material by Gurdjieff and Crowley. To begin with we shall review Gurdjieff's parable of the "Black Magician and the sheep." In the parable there is a Black Magician that owns some sheep. The trouble is to keep the sheep from running away. The sheep want to run away because they do not want to be eaten or skinned for their pelts. The Magician does not want to spend the money to hire a shepard. So he hypnotizes the sheep into believing they are merchants, attorneys,etc. Once the sheep are hypnotized he can come and remove the sheep whenever he wants. Without the sheep running away. Now let us turn to Crowley. I am quoting excerpts from his poem "Aceldama". Aceldama was written after Crowley's first spiritual experience. The experience that led Crowley to devote his life to occultism and magic. I would like to write a whole "Fragment" on Aceldama. But I do not feel competent enough to do it now. So to the quotes. "I contemplate myself in that dim sphere whose hollow center I am standing at with burning eyes intent to penetrate the black circumference, and find out God." Again from the beginning of the piece. "God and Satan fought for my soul those three long hours God conquered now I have only one doubt seft-which of the twain was God Howbeit I aspire" From stanza V. "That was my sanity. Brought face to face Suddenly with the infinite I fear my brain snapped; broke; white orange wings appeared" From stanza VI. "I soared in the infinite" I would advise one to read all of Aceldama. It is available for free at the Internet Archive. Try to keep the above in mind as I review the books. I am going to review the books from an occult perspective. I realize there are viable perspectives. "The Island of Dr. Moreau" can be analyzed as an anti-vivisectionist and social commentary. And Rushie's "The Satanic Verses" can and has been analyzed by the immigrant experience. As I have said before any myth or work of art if it is any good must work on a multiplicity of levels.Those works of art that are one dimensional, or based on a gimmick lose interest after the gimmick is recognized. I shall start with the older novel: "The Island of Dr. Moreau". I would also advise the interested reader to watch the 1932 movie with Charles Laughton. Titled "Island of Lost Souls". The other two movies based on the book 1977 and 1996 are best avoided. Only the 1932 movie captures the mood of the novel. It is strange that a Fabian, socialist, Utopian like Wells should write one of the greatest dystopian and anti-Utopian novels of all time.It is as if all of Wells's repressed emotions and fears are expressed in the novel. The story of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" starts with a shipwrecked traveler; like all Utopian novels. Of course he is stranded on the Island of Dr, Moreau. The island is inhabited by Dr. Moreau, his assistant Montgomery and the traveler who has the unlikely name of Prendick. The island is also inhabited by a race of humanoid creatures created by Dr. Moreau. The humanoid creatures were created by Dr. Moreau in his vivisectionist experiments on animals. In the language of Utopians he is trying to create the 'new man". Creating the New Man has been a goal of Utopians for a long time. An example would be the U.S.S.R.'S "Soviet New Man". Moreau has created these creatures from animals both wild and domestic. These New men have built a primitive society, with one of them taking the role of 'Sayer of the Law". (The Sayer of the Law is wonderfully portrayed in the movie by Bela Lugosi) Let me take a quote from the book that explains how Dr, Moreau controls his creatures. (New Men); "In spite of their increased intelligence and their animal instincts to reawaken, they had certain Fixed Ideas implanted by Dr. Moreau in their minds, which absolutely bounded their imaginations. They were really hypnotized, had been told certain things were not to be done,and these prohibitions were woven into the texture of their minds beyond any possibility of divergence or dispute." Remember, this was written In 1895, and published in 1896 long before anyone had heard of Gurdjieff. And of course, they do reawaken in the novel, which is the cause of the action of the novel. The thing that reawakens the New Men to their animal nature is the taste of blood. (The Body and Blood of Christ?) When Prendick does finally get back to civilization, he views humans as beasts and has lost his faith in the sanity of the world. I have made this review purposefully brief, much has been left out. Because, the motive behind these reviews is to get people to read and think about the novel. Now we shall move to the next novel: "The Satanic Verses", by Soloman Rushdie. The book was published in 1988. And caused quite a controversy, because a fatwa was issued for Rushkie's death by Ayatollah Khomeni. A fatwa that is still in effect. The novel is full of occult allusions and associations. Gurdjieff is referred to in passing. Rushdie refers to "Gurdjieffian mystics" that gather at a certain restaurant. The restaurant also is the scene of much of the action of the novel. The Satanic verses refer to some verses that several authoritative Islamic scholars said that Muhammid received. To extend worship to three Goddesses that were at the center of pre-Islamic religion of the Arabs. Right away we observe the conflict between Matriarchy vs Patriarchy. The story concerns two Indian actors: Gibreel and Saladin. Both are very much anglicized Indians. Both of them are on a plane that gets blown up by terrorists in the air, and they are the only two survivors. Gibreel is an Indian actor of some fame who specializes in playing Gods and religious figures. The movies are referred to in Indian cinema as "Theologicals". Gibreel is also a paranoid schizophrenic. He has hallucinations that he is the angel Gabriel. Saladin is a voice actor in England. He is called the man of a thousand voices. He stars in a children's show on English T.V. along with doing voices for animated characters. It is said if you want the voice of a pea, you hire Saladin. There are three subplots in the book that are Gibreel's hallucinations, along with the main plot of the book. The main plot of the book concerns what happens to Gibreel and Saladin after the plane crashes. The three subplots are about a prophet in the city of Jahalia ( Mecca) that is named Mahound (Muhammid), who receives messages from the Angel Gabriel, the next subplot concerns an exiled muslim cleric (Khomeini), the third plot is about a prophetess by the name of Ayesha.who leads a pilgrimage to Mecca. There are many allusions already. Ayesha was the main character in the novel "She" by H. Rider Haggard. Rushdie has references to many authors in the book, Both veiled and unveiled. Let us take a closer look at the two main characters and some of their occult associations. Gibreel is more associated with Crowley, and Saldin with Gurdjieff.We shall start with Gibreel. As I said he is a charismatic star of Indian cinema. He specializes in gods and religious figures. It should be easy to connect this with the occult practice of taking on God-forms.Gibreel is also a person that knows his true will; to be an actor that plays Gods, angels, and so on. The trouble with Gibreel is he acts like a movie star. He has a long string of sexual partners, which he loves and leaves. The women always forgive him. With two tragic exceptions. He does not pick up after himself, and is basically irresponsible. The connection with Crowley is also brought out in that the woman he loves is a mountain climber, whose greatest ambition is to achieve a solo climb of Mt. Everest. She has already ascended Everest, but as part of a team. Gibreel also questions whether his hallucinations are sent from God the Devil, or from the unconscious. This also applies to the dream figures in the three subplots. Let us now turn to Saldin. Saldin is a voice actor that makes his home in London. He tries to distance himself from his Indian heritage and culture. Saldin has constructed an identity for himself as an Englishmen (a mask). He likes to wear a bowler hat. His ability to mimic, and to create different voices is a sign of all the different "I's" in him. He is a man at war with himself. He has no stable identity. After the fall from the exploding plane he finds himself being transmuted into a demon. He grows horns and hoofs. It is only when he acknowledges his hate for Gibreel that he reverses the transformation. I shall stop here. As I said, the purpose of the review is to get one to read the texts themselves.