Fragment 46

In this "Fragment" I want to examine another theory on how magick works, and end with a tribute and plea for another dear, departed friend. To begin, let us examine the theory of Morphic Resonance. I want to state that I am not endorsing the theory; only examining it, like when I examined Evans-Wentz's theory of vitalism. Before examining the theory I want to give some preliminary remarks on the modern genesis of the theory. The theory of Morphic Resonance has a long history under different names, but to begin I am only going to examine the modern theory that begins in the twentieth century. I will have more to say on the history of the theory later. The great modern champion of the theory of Morphic Resonance and its inventor is the rebel scientist and biochemist Rupert Sheldrake. Sheldrake claims that the theory of Morphic Resonance was inspired by reading the works of Thomas Kuhn on paradigm shifts. I mention this because msde a trip to India to study Indian philosophy and religion. Sheldrake claims that he had developed the theory before the trip. As we shall observe later the theory of Morphic Resonance has a long history under different names. The theory of Morphic Resonance has been used by many occultists to explain how magick works. Peter Carroll is probably the best known of modern occultists to use the theory. It is the basis of Chaos Magic Theory (C.M.T.). Biut, the theory goes back much further than Carroll. It can be found in the works of Dion Fortune, H.P. Blavatsky, etc. Let me take a brief diversion here. In my opinion Chaos magic has deep debts to Dion Fortune that are not acknowledged. I know Carroll likes to claim A.O. Spare as a major influence, but I think Dion Fortune was a bigger influence. One that Chaos magic has not acknowledged. Fortune has had a wide and deep influence on modern occultism that is not acknowledged. So Carroll is not alone in ignoring his debts to Fortune. Dion Fortune deserves better, and shall be the subject of a future "Fragment". Back to the theory of Morphic Resonance. So what is the theory of Morphic Resonance? The theory posits that objects and activities have a collective memory: the Morphic field. An object's activities are determined by its past activities. Let us use a simple example to help make the theory pellucid. The example being one drops a marble and it falls down towards Earth. For the theory of Morphic Resonance the reason why this happens is because that is the habit of matter on Earth. It is a habit matter has gotten into. It is not because of an occult force like gravity. In simple terms everything in the cosmos functions the way it does is not because of immutable laws, but out of habit. The Morphic field is where the information is stored and carried, this is what makes the marble fall to Earth. It is because of repetition that has formed a habit pattern that has been built up over a long time. Thus according to the theory the so-called natural laws can be changed. There is no immutable law that objects have to fall towards Earth. The reason why objects function the way they do is because of ages of repetition by predecessors. Natural law is like building up a habit, the more the activity is repeated, the more likely it shall diip action the same way. This is the function of the Morphic field. Let's use rivers as an analogy, to help explain the theory. Why do rivers flow in the direction and course that they do? The answer is that the waters over the decades or centuries have worn a groove into the landscape, thus creating a riverbed that the subsequent waters follow. But rivers do change their course. Rivers change their course when the volume of water (energy) is increased enough to overflow the banks of riverbeds. The overflowing water then cuts new channels. So far so good. The more the action is repeated over time the stronger the habit grows, like a river cutting a groove in the Earth. In other words it is a lot easier to change the course of a river that has not had time to cut a deep groove into the Earth. It would take a lot of energy to change the course of the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon, but even the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon could change course if the volume of the water (energy) was high enough. So when a river overflows a channel can be cut, and the river changes course. This theory works well in the psychology of habits and addictions. When we want to break a habit or an addiction we must increase the energy flow in a different direction, and we must lessen the amount of energy that goes into the habit or addiction. To go back to our river analogy. To consciously change the course of a river, and create a new channel, one must both build dams and dig a new channel. A lot of work must be done. It takes a lot of energy to redirect an activity that has created a deep groove, whether it is psychology or physical. I am sure the perceptive reader has already connected how the theory of Morphic Resonance and magick can be connected. But if there are any lingering doubts I want to give a few quotes that should dispel any confusion, before returning to the subject. We shall start with quotes from Peter Carroll, one of the founders and advocates of Chaos Magic. All quotes are taken from his book "Liber Kaos": "In order to explain C.M.T. (Chaos Magic Theory) it is necessary to introduce a concept which can be dignified with the old name "Ether". It is no more possible to say what matter and energy are. All we can do is to describe its behavior or say what it does. Ether acts as through it were a form of information emitted by matter that is instantaneously available everywhere and has some power to shape the behavior of matter. It appears to be broadly analogous to what have been called morphogenetic fields or non-local effects in physics.`` Let us now jump ahead to Carroll's principles of CMT. "The first principle of CMT is that all matter emits ether and that this carries or consists of information about the matter which emitted it.... The second principle of CMT is that all matter is non-local in space. It is instantaneously everywhere." As an interesting side note modern physicists think they have proved that the cosmos is non-local meaning strict determinism has fallen like the proverbial domino's it was modeled after. Back to Carroll: "The third principle is that ether has a shaping effect on the behavior of matter having an affinity or similarity with the matter that emitted, tending to make the behavior of the new similar... It is the coupling between matter and ether that gives rise to the so-called physical laws and physical constants in the universe. These arise on a purely chaotic and arbitrary basis. but become more reliable and uniform through repetition." Carroll goes on: The fifth principle is that mental events being material structures, are capable of emitting and coupling with the ether. Thus for example under the right conditions a thought or visualization of some phenomenon can create an etheric pattern which couples with that phenomenon to modify its behavior." Let us now turn to Dion Fortune from her book "The Cosmic Doctrine" Before going to the quote I must inform the reader that when Fortune speaks of atoms they are not the atoms of the physicist, instead they are a more primal and metaphysical individual. Now to the quote: "Within the limits of the rays and circles the newly built atoms would cannon and rebound for aeons before any coordination would be induced among them. But as chance would govern the occurrence of the two or more moving parallel to each other, and draw yet more into the orbit of their activity, so that more rebound would give place to the ordered recurrence of influence, and therefore to definite paths." I could also quote from Edgar Cayce and H.P. Blavatsky, but I think the reader has gotten the idea that Morphic Resonance and occultism have been connected for a long time. It should be clear how the theory of Morphic Resonance can explain how magick works. The magickal working is the device that generates enough power to create an altered situation, or a new paradigm. The magickal working could be a ritual, visualization, meditation, etc. It is easy to observe this working on a psychological level. The question remains: does it work on the physical level, can we reverse the law of gravity? I do not have an answer. As I said at the beginning of this "Fragment" I am only examining the theory not endorsing it. Let us now move to the tribute to my dear, departed friend: Cory (Corydon) Crawford. which shall be followed by a plea. Unlike the previous friends I have paid tribute to, Cory was not completely unknown by a larger public. I must qualify this statement. It is Cory's family that had some notoriety. Cory came from a Hollywood acting family. The best known of was his brother Johnny Crawford, one of the stars of the old T.V. show "The Rifleman''. Cory was 15 years younger than his brother Johnny even though Johnny was closest in age to Cory. I met Cory near the end of Grammar school. The teacher seated us next to each other. I found out later that everyone else that had sat next to Cory had asked to be mover, but that was not the case with me. We were both very troubled young people and became instant friends. We very soon became best friends. Cory was very smart for his age. He had a love for Napoleon and the Napoleonic era. Both of us were interested in military affairs. As I said Cory was very troubled and got me into a lot of trouble that he seemed to avoid. Nothing serious, just childish pranks. Cory should be on the list of my remarkable men but I but we were separated in Middle school. His father put him in a Catholic boarding school, and I never saw Cory again. I feel cheated. Over the years I only had a few passing thoughts about Cory. I assumed he had done well in life, after all his family was very successful, but one day I began thinking about Cory and realized he had not done well in life. I remembered what a troubled soul he was, so I began to do some research and found out he had died in 1992. I tried contacting his family, but his family refuses to talk about him. I am sure I know how he died, but the family would not even tell me that. So the plea is if anyone knows anything about the life or death Cory please contact me. I think about and miss my old friend. He is one of the few people I look forward to meeting in another life, where hopefully I shall not be cheated out of his presence. Corydon (Cory) Crawford 1960-1992 may we meet again.

Fragment 45

In this "Fragment" I am going to review two books and two movies. As I am writing, the Autumnal equinox is just days away. So I decided it is a good time to look at some occult fiction. I will explain the term "occult fiction" later in the "Fragment". The two books are both by Dennis Wheatley, they are "The Devil Rides Out" and "To the Devil a Daughter". The two movies are "Dr. Strange" released in 2016, and "Dr. Strange, and the Multiverse of Madness" released in 2022, hereafter referred to as "Dr. Strange 1" and "Dr.Strange 2". My two favorite novelists are H. Rider Haggard, and Sax Rohmer. My favorite novel of all time is "She" by H. Rider Haggard. The problem I was having is that I have read through almost all of the books by Rohmer and Haggard, so I was searching for someone else to read, someone similar to Rohmer and Haggard. Even though I had watched the two Hammer movies that were adapted from the above mentioned books, I had not thought to read them, but recently I came across his name in another context; he worked for British Intelligence during WWII. like Ian Fleming. I read most of Fleming's "Bond novels'' as a teenager, so I decided to give Wheatley a try. Wheatley has written 11 "Black Magic" novels of which I have read 4. In other words, I liked his novels. As I was reading Wheatley I began to compare him to the occult fiction of today. This is why I chose the movies. It should be noted I said occult fiction, instead of horror fiction. So what is the difference? I believe "Occult fiction" to be a genre even though it almost always overlaps with other genres. The line I draw is that occult fiction must have some connection with real occultism. and should promote occultism. This is why I am not discussing books by Stephen King, Peter Straub, etc. Occult fiction would include J.K. Rowling, but not King. As an occultist I am, of course, interested in fiction that uses and promotes the occult, and especially the fiction that interests the younger generation in the occult. Fiction is the greatest recruiting tool of occultism. The trouble with the younger generation is that society does not promote sustained and deep reading. I know most people can read, but they are still semi-literate. I have an example that should make this clear. One of my friends is a philosophy professor at the local university. In his Intro. to Philosophy class he makes his students read a book cover to cover. Every semester students come up to him and tell him that this is the first book they have read cover to cover. Focused reading has declined, if they do not read books cover to cover, how are they going to read a series of books on a subject? Since I am using philosophy as an example, it is impossible to become competent if one cannot sustain a reading schedule. How can one become competent in British empiricism if one had not read books by Locke, Berkeley, and Hume? Back to the books. Both the Wheatley books I selected were turned into movies by Hammer studios, so let us start here. The two movies are not equal in quality. "The Devil Rides Out" is a much better movie, in all ways; the acting, the writing, and production values. "To the Devil a Daughter" was the last movie Hammer Studios made, and it shows. Both moves star the great Christopher Lee. In "The Devil Rides Out" he is the hero, in "To the Devil a Daughter' he is the villain. "To the Devil a Daughter" also starred Richad Widmark, which was a mistake. Hammer would have been better off saving Widmark's salary, and instead hired Robert Morley to play the villain, the reason for this choice shall become clear later. The two books have a similar plot. The plot being a group of good guys trying to foil the plans of a powerful Satanist. Even though both books have different heroes they seem to be alter-egos of Wheatley. In the "Devil Rides Out" the hero is the Duc de Richleau, and in "To the Devil a Daughter" the hero is Colonial Verney. Both enjoy luxury living, being gourmets, and connoisseurs of fine wine. Wheatley came from a family of wine merchants and his knowledge shows in the books. His knowledge of food and wine is evident everywhere in the books. The Duc de Richleau is an exiled French nobleman who makes his home in England, and Col. Verney is a high ranking member of British Intelligence. Col. Verney is referred to as "C.B." short for "Conky Bill" his nickname because of his large nose. Around both heroes is a team of good guys, Wheatley was inspired by A. Dumas's "Three Musketeers" stories. Let us now move to the villains. The villains are always the most interesting characters in an occult novel, because the villains drive the action. The villain of "The Devil Rides Out" is a " Mr. Mocata". Mocata is based on Aleister Crowley. I wonder if Wheatley had met Aleister Crowley, since both of them were involved with British Intelligence. The villain of "To the Devil a Daughter is "Canon Copley-Syle" Copley-Syle is based on Montague Summers. This is why I suggested Robert Morley be cast as the villain. In my opinion Copley-Syle is the more effective villain. this might be because so many authors have based villains on Crowley. The other reason I think Mocata is a less interesting villain is because Crowley was just not that sinister. It is true he indulged in some outrageous behavior, but he did not really promote any sinister causes. Montague Summers did promote the works of the Witch-Hunters; he translated many of their works. These were people that were torturing and killing innocent people. The other reason is Montague Summers has not been fictionalized much compared to Crowley. This gives the Copley-Syle a freshness that Mocata does not possess. Let us go to some selections from the books that I found interesting. The first selection seems to show some of Wheatley's metaphysical views. He believed in reincarnation like Rohmer and Haggard, but added a Manichean view of the universe. These views run through all his books and are expanded on in later books. "By all means de Richleau foisted himself out of his chair and began to pace softly up and down from the fine silky Persian prayer rug before the fireplace while expounded again the Esoteric doctrine just as he had to Rex two nights ago. Simon and Richard listened in silence until the Duke spoke of the eternal fight which hidden from human eyes has been waged from immorial between the Powers Of Light, and the Powers of Darkness. Then the latter, his serious interest really aroused for the first time, exclaimed: "Surely, you are not proclaiming the Manichean heresy?" The Manichees believed in Two Principles, Light and Darkness and the three Moments, Past, Present, and Future. They taught that in the Past Light, and Darkness had been separate: then the Darkness invaded the Light and became mingled with it, creating the Present and this world in which evil is mixed with good. They preached the Practice of aesheticism as the means of freeing the Light imprisoned in human clay so that in some distant future Light and Darkness might be completely separated again. The Duke's lean face lit with a quick smile "Exactly my friend!" The Manichees had a credo to that effect. Day by day diminishes. The number of Souls below. As they are distilled and meant above." Wheatley's books are laced with Manichean ideas, he also seems to be familiar with the works of Dion Fortune. Wheatley believed in the existence of evil and its activity in the present world. Let us now move to the villain of "To the Devil a Daughter". Who I think is the better villain. Copley-Syle is based on Montague Summers. Unfortunately, most younger readers and those not well read in early twentieth century occultism will miss the allusions. "C.B. thought John's description of him was good. He was a shortish and plump bothe in face and figure. His cheeks were rosy but tended to say little; the rest of his skin had a such childlike pinkness that it was difficult to visualize ever having a need to shave. His forehead was broad and smooth; his long silver hair swept back from it to fall in curls on the nape of his neck, but gave no impression of untidiness, suggesting rather the elegance of a Georgian parson. His eyes were hazel, but very pale and his expression benign. His features were well cut, the only thing unpleasant about them being an exceptionally thick and out jutting lower lip. He was dressed in a black Jrock-coat ribbed satin vest, clerical collar breeches gaiters and black shoes with silver buckles, all of which added to the impression that he was a divine of a past generation" Later in the book Wheatley describes his beringed fingers. This is, of course, a description (and a good one) of Motague Summers. Needless to say I like the books, but in today's society I do not think they will do much to promote occultism. If one knows a lot about early twentieth century occultism they are fun to read. If not then the reader shall not get all the references. They have everything in them from magic circles to ascended Masters. Another reason they shall not be liked by the younger generation is that Wheatley is very conservative, and anti-communist. He is also not politically correct. Politics and the occult are intertwined and probably cannot be separated, but that topic shall have to await future "Fragments". I have to give praise to J.K Rowling, even though I was not a fan of her books. She promoted occultism, and got the younger generation to read books cover to cover. Which seems a magic feat in itself. Let me now move on to the movies. The "Dr. Strange' films are visually impressive. Before going on to my analysis and criticism I want to say the special effects are stunning. The special effects are a double edged sword, not only are they the best thing about the movies, they also show the weakness of the movies. It seems especially with "Dr. Strange 2" they wrote the movies around the special effects. Even "Dr. Strange 1" lacks any compelling writing or acting. This is the defect of the movies. In "Dr. Strange 1" Stephen Strange goes from shallow surgeon to a Magus without much effort or trouble. No big conflicts, he just seems to fall into the hero role effortlessly. Before I go on to criticise the acting I want to give praise to the one standout performance in the movies. It was the performance by Chiwetal Ejiofar as "Mordo". I do not care when they change the gender or race of a character. The problem is that most of the time they do this to be "woke". I would rather they use this flexibility in casting to bring out hidden dimensions of a character, or deepen the character. This is what happened in the character of "Mordo". If they intended it or not. In the comic books "Mordo" is pretty much a cookie cutter villain. By playing him as a man of impeccable integrity Ejiofar became the stand out performance. It is interesting to note, and says something about modern society that the character with impeccable integrity is a villain. In the modern progressive worldview one is saved by faith and faith alone in doctrine, like in Protestantism. Now I shall give my criticism of the acting. When I was young I used to watch all the old classic horror movies. There were not a lot of special effects, but there was a lot of overacting; think of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lionel Atwill, and of course Vincent Price. Horror movies were a vehicle for "ham" acting. I realized watching the "Dr. Strange" movies I would rather have "ham' acting than no acting. There are no long soliloquies, or overblown dialog. Instead it has been replaced by how well an actor can pretend in front of a green screen. Maybe I am just too old or acting has to be judged by other standards today. All the characters seem to be flat, it is hard to identify or care about what happens to them. The villain in any occult fiction should be the most interesting character, since it is the villain that drives the action and the story. In "Dr. Strange 1" the villains are much better than "Dr. Strange 2" Which is not saying much, there is not much development of the villains, why they do what they do. The big villain in "Dr. Strange 1" is a godlike entity by the name of "Dormammu" , he is more like a force of nature than a character. And Dr. Strange defeats him with a cheap trick, which I found disappointing. The villain in "Dr. Strange 2" is even worse. The "Scarlet Witch" who is a hero turned villain. It seems she just needs some therapy. The ending is again a let down, since it is P.C. A character we know almost nothing about except that she checks a lot of the "woke boxes" defeats the villain. It is the triumph of "girl power". Which seems the whole point of the movie. The occult is just window dressing for the special effects, and the story is just an excuse to promote girl power. To sum up, I do not think the "Dr. Strange" movies are going to be a recruiting tool for occultism. I will mention two older movies that I know were good for promoting occultism and also good movies. They are the 1985 movie "Ghoulies" and the 1996 movie "The Craft". Both are based on real occultism, and have strong action and writing. Yes, they are also good movies. The "Ghoulies" is inspiring to anyone who is interested in ceremonial magic. I was working in a bookstore when "The Craft" came out and I remember lots of young women coming in and asking for the occult section. The movie "The Craft" also has scenes in it that most occultists have experienced. I am referring to when the girls make a series of traffic lights, I remember after some intense occult work that I make eighteen traffic lights in a row. In conclusion, see the "Dr. Strange" movies. They have stunning special effects, but not much else.

Fragment 44

I have stated in previous "Fragments" that I think the leadership of the world is insane. That the central planners have lost touch with reality. This is also a good example of what Gurdjieff said about people being sleepwalkers, who are controlled by their dreams. In this case it is the dream of Utopia that Hoggg uses to keep his followers enthralled. So I have to offer evidence that this is happening. Unfortunately , for humanity gathering the evidence is extremely easy. The example I will use is the collapse of the government in Sri Lanka. Our worthless, lying media, which is a tribe of bootlickers for the progressive cause, has reported that the economy in Sri Lanka collapsed, and its people are facing starvation, but they did not report on why this happened. The answer is simple, to get a higher E.S.G. score. E.S.G. score measures how much one has done to cut down on greenhouse gasses. It is used as a credit score in order to secure loans. The central planners claim that chemical fertilizers raise the carbon footprint. The trouble is the use of chemical fertilizers is the reason that has dept the Malthusian model from becoming reality. That population growth would outstrip food supply, thus leading to mass starvation. It seems the progressive left has decided that instead of fighting to end world hunger, that they are going to cause world hunger. It seems the demon Hoggg, and his minions always want to bring on mass starvation. If our society has a shred of sanity left, there would be a discussion about the policy of trying to get rid of chemical fertilizers, and the use of E.S.G. scores. And the organizations that are trying to extort countries into famine would be charged with trying to commit genocide. Instead our lying, worthless, bootlicking media is not even reporting on this policy of trying to get rid of chemical fertilizers. Instead governments around the world are trying to implement the same policy that causes famine. It took me decades to understand why Gurdjieff said the majority of humanity is asleep. They are sleepwalkers that cannot break out of the dream. The central planners and politicians of the world are sleepwalking the world into mass famine. This phenomenon of sleepwalking into a crisis can be observed in the build up to almost every war. It seems, no matter how much suffering they cause they cannot be awakened from the dream. This is the power of Hoggg, and the dream of Utopia. Even though they are commiting crimes against humanity they feel like they are the good people; they are morally superior to the rest of humanity. Hoggg accomplishes this in several ways. To begin with, the cult of Hoggg always provides instant validation to those that are carrying out the agenda, and instant condemnation to those that are not carrying out the agenda. This causes these people to feel good about themselves, no matter how much suffering they are causing. Afterall if everyone says you are doing the right thing, you must be doing the right thing. As I have said before, it seems feeling morally superior is more addictive than cocaine. Another way this is achieved is by projection. Progressives are constantly unconsciously projecting their sins onto others. This also helps to keep them asleep. As an example of this, some months ago I was reading a progressive pundit on Republican voters. He said that he thinks that Republicans dream about killing African-americans. This is, of course, a classic case of projection. The reason for the projection is that a deeper unconscious level (the Beast) does not understand why it should feel guilty for something it did not do, so it sends dreams up to the conscious mind. Then compartmentalized thinking takes over and projects the dreams on to others. It should be easy to observe what a wonderful example of Gurdjieff's teaching the above is. The constant affirmations, and validations are great examples of the mechanical aspect of humans. This is why it is imperative to develop a central "I". If one does not develop a central "I" or a True Self, one becomes a machine that someone else operates. This is a trick of the Egregores. Another trick of the Egregores is keeping this knowledge secret from the public. I know a lot of occult societies want to keep their teachings secret from public view. This is almost laughable, because even if the doctrines were easily available they would go unnoticed by the majority of people; the sleep is too deep, and the dream holds too much power. Most people are enthralled. I used to think that it was a conscious conspiracy to not teach Esotericism in academia, but I found a passage in J. Vallee's book "Messengers of Deception" that explains this phenomenon much better. It is one of the most profound passages I have ever read. It is the true story of a journalist and a military officer meeting in a cafe to discuss why there is a coverup regarding U.F.O. phenomenon. The journalist asks if there is conspiracy to coverup the U.F.O. reports. "That is not the way to put it. the officer said, when the waiter had left the table. There is no particular group deciding and enforcing a cover-up. Everybody simply avoids looking at the problem. Why upset the machine?" A passage that would make Gurdjieff smile. In this "Fragment" I want to impart two practical tips. I shall give the first one here, since it shall serve as a useful bridge into the next topic. My attempt to give a symbolic interpretation of Aleister Crowley's life. My first tip concerns the Tarot cards. I trust that all my readers keep some sort of catalog of correspondences for each card. In simpler words, that one relates events in one's own life to the cards. Here is the tip one should also keep a record of historical events that happen in one's lifetime. As I was writing about some of the remarkable people in my life, I realized that they correspond to Tarot Trump 11, the Hermit. Indeed they have held a lantern that has illuminated steps on my path. The second part is relating historical events to the cards. Sometimes events coalesce into a symbol. It seems the card has been reified, which has the power to tell the Adept much about what is happening and going to happen. I shall relate the first time this happened to me. It was on 9\ 11\ 2001 the date of the attack on the Twin Towers. At this time in my life I had become disillusioned with occultism and philosophy; I was in a state of nihilism. The morning of the attack I was in bed nursing a bad hangover. Then the phone started to ring. Friends and acquaintances were calling me to tell me what happened and seek reassurance. (why they picked me to reassure them, is a mystery to me?) Anyway, they ruined nursing my hangover in bed, so I got up and turned on the television to watch the attack. As I watched the tape of the attack, the first thought that came into my mind was Tarot Trump # 16, The Falling Tower, my hangover was gone. I realized I was a symbol come to life, the Falling Tower was being reified. It is the event that also brought me back to occultism and metaphysics. Tarot Trump had reified before my eyes. I have another reason for bringing up "The Falling Tower", because it has happened again. I am referring to the attack on the Georgia Guidestones. I hope everyone has put this event into their Tarot correspondences. So let us take up symbolic significance in the life of Aleister Crowley. This is a first attempt, so it is rough and unfinished, it should be looked upon as a beginning and not definitive. What I am attempting to do here has been done with other religious figures, but never with modern ones. It always seems to be done with ancient or medieval figures. So my attempt is both old and new. Let us begin with Crowley's birthday, and his family. Crowley was born on October 12 1875 in England. Crowley lived the first part of his life in the nineteenth century. This symbolizes that Crowley was the inheritor of the occult traditions of the nineteenth century, he is very much the successor of Levi, Papus, and Peladan. He grew up in the world of the nineteenth century. This is also the time when the British Empire is at its height. The eighteenth century had been the century of France. It is interesting to note that Eliphas Levi the great French occult philosopher died in 1875. Crowley regarded himself a reincarnation of Levi. This symbolizes the passing of the torch of Great Work from France to England. Now let me move to Crowley's family and the symbolism. Remember Jesus was the son of a carpenter (I know it is hard to forget, so much commentary has been written on the subject), Crowoley was a product of the rising middle class. The middle class is of course, the new class created by the Industrial Revolution. This shows Crowley was very much a man of the new age. He is a transitional figure between the traditions of the nineteenth century and the new century. The twentieth century is the century of great and violent change. Much like Crowley himself. Crowley got married to Rose Kelley in 1903. Marriage symbolizes the taking up of responsibilities; becoming an adult member of society. Marriage is also the beginning of a new life, the mixture of male and female energies into a new life. Remember the sacred androgyne, the mystic male-female state. This is significant because on his honeymoon in 1904 Crowley received the "Book of the Law" . Rose was the Channel, and Crowley the scribe. It took both male and female energies for the revelation. Let us now skip ahead to 1909 the year Crowley and V. Neuberg went out into the Algerian desert, to practice Enochian magic. This is when Crowely crossed the Abyss. This is, of course, one of the most important events in an occultist's life. It is both a beginning and an end. The symbol of being in the desert is very powerful, it recalls St. Anthony, and the desert Fathers that went out into the desert to confront their demons. The desert is the traditional place to confront demons, and a symbol of the Abyss. I do not think it is necessary to go into the desert to confront one's demons, but it seems to help. The idea of the desert is loaded with content and symbolism. I am now going to again skip ahead to Crowley's death. I know I am skipping a lot, but as I said this is my first attempt, I shall have much more to say in future "Fragments". Crowley died on December 1 1947. He died after the two catastrophic wars of the twentieth century. The obvious symbol of this date is that it is the end of the British Empire. India the jewel of the British Empire achieved independence on August 15, 1947. It seems Crowley and the British Empire died the same year. As for Crowley's last words I have nothing on either version. Whether he said "I am perplexed' according to Symmonds, or he said "sometimes I hate myself' according to the woman that was with him at his death. Although I believe that latter to be the true account. Since I started this "Fragment" talking about Gurdjieff, I shall use his last words: "Bravo America". Last words that surprised his followers! It seems the focus of the Great Work would move to America. To conclude I shall give my second tip on practice. I got this tip from Robert S. de Ropp, a long time student of Ouspensky. The tip is to try to move the center of your consciousness from your head to your chest. It is most helpful in meditation when you are trying to seperate yourself from your thoughts. And helps for Rituals involving ancient Gods. Remember the ancients believed the heart was the thinking organ. It is hard, but like everything becomes easier with practice. END

Fragment 43

I am going to continue the discussion of the last "Fragment". I said in the last "Fragment" that I was going to divide the material into two parts, but I have found that I have too much material. The signs of the deterioration of the social fabric of our society are so overwhelming, that it is hard to know what to admit and what to omit. So I am going to take as many "Fragments" as it takes to get my points across. I do not think I made my method clear in the last "Fragment". So let me revisit it here. What I am doing is showing how the dominance of compartmentalized thinking is destroying the social fabric of society. My method is to use the two types of thinking to analyze what is happening in society. I want to show how Compartmentalized thinking has usurped the place of Magickal thinking, and even though Compartmentalized thinking denies the existence of Magickal thinking it is still there at a deeper level having its effects. Effects that we do not realize, or even want to acknowledge exist. So what I am doing is to mythologize compartmentalized thinking to show how it translates into Magickal thinking. Magickal thinking is the deeper strata of thought, it is the unconscious. It is the realm of the gods and demons that haunt our society, that we do not want to acknowledge exists. One of the problems of Compartmentalized thinking is that it is overly optimistic. McGilchrist has pointed this out in his book "The Mater and his Emissary". That some split brain patients who have a paralyzed, numb side will deny that the numb hand belongs to them. They make up all kinds of absurd excuses, like the hand belongs to someone else, that it is not their hand. They actually believe these absurd statements. This should sound familiar if you listen to progressive figures. like inflation is good for your or all the absurd excuses they make for the failure of progressive policies. That it in never the fault of the policies, but someone else's fault. Let me begin with the Gnostic myth of there being two gods, it is less myth than one realizes. Many of the Gnostics asserted that the Creator god was not the true god. That there was an unknown god above him. A god that the Creator god (Demiurge) did not know existed. The two gods represent the two types of thinking. The Creator god is compartmentalized thinking, and the True god is Magickal thinking. The Creator god usually referred to as Ialdaboath is a usurper god. The interesting thing is the usurper god does not realize he is a usurper because he is ignorant to the True god. Much like compartmentalized thinking denies that Magickal thinking exists. Those that have read my "Fragments" should recognize the Creator god is Aten (the law of non-contradiction). The age of the Gnostics was of course the time that consciousness changed from Magickal thinking or Mythological thinking to Compartmentalized thinking. The two gods represent the shift in paradigms. Aten is the Creator god of our world (thinking). It is interesting to note that in many myths of the Demiurge that he did not create out of nothing but created out of the existing chaos. To translate it means that the Aten created out of the existing thinking to give order to the chaos of the Mythological paradigm. The objective world is created by the law of non-contradiction. In simpler terms it creates the objective world out of subjective thinking, by using the law of non-contradiction. This might give us the clue to another ancient myth, that if one could correctly pronounce the unknown name of god that the world would end. The true name of the Creator god is not some weird pronunciation of Yahweh, but is Aten. The way it brings about the end of the world is that one realizes that the Creator god is a usurper, and the world he created is artifice. That the objective world is created from the subjective world. That the subjective world is not a misunderstanding of the objective world, but the substratum of the objective world. The subjective world is prior to the objective world both historically and logically. The objective world is an abstraction from the subjective world. This was not rediscovered until Kant. There is much more to say about Gnosticism, but it shall have to wait until a future "Fragment". I now want to move to my tribute to Bishop David Smith, the most remarkable man I ever met. We were fellow seekers on the path even though we took different trails to the divine. We were both committed in our search for the miraculous. (to borrow a phrase from Ouspensky) I met David when we were both 11 years old in middle school. We shared a class, I do not remember what the class was, but do remember the day I met David. The class was meeting in the school library. I was wandering around looking at books and what my fellow classmates were reading. I noticed a student with an open encyclopedia in front of him reading about the Orthodox churches, it was David. I struck up a conversation and a lifelong friendship began. I was already interested in religion, history, and occultism, it would be several years until I added philosophy to my interests. We shared ideas, and started a series of discussions that would last for more than 40 years. I know that I shall never have conversations of such depth again. One of the first writers on occultism I discovered was the strange priest Montague Summers. Montague Summers became David's intellectual hero. David became a Bishop of the Old Catholic Church, He also consecrated me as a Bishop in the Old Catholic Church, even though I never did much with my Holy Orders. The office of Bishop of the Old Catholic Church is something David and I share with Aleister Crowley. David was active in the Church and finally settled down to head a congregation in Arkansas, where he became a much beloved figure. I did not find out what a wonderful counselor he was until a few years before his death, when he counseled me on some personal problems. David had many hidden talents (at least to me) that I would not find out about until after his death when I spoke to some members of his congregation. He was an expert on Demonology. I remember watching horror movies with him and whenever a demon was mentioned he could tell when the demon was first referred to and its subsequent history. David had a quick and deep mind, with the best memory of anyone I have ever met. Bishop David Smith died on January 14, 2021 of the covid plague. I miss him every day. Recent events have forcefully brought back memories of our conversations on certain topics. I am of course, referring to the abortion debate and the reawakening of the ancient god, Moloch. Being a Christian clergyman of the old school he was of course opposed to abortion. I want to say I am presenting David's views and not my own, My views on abortion are much more confused than David's. So in tribute I shall examine his views, in light of recent events. David's arguments against abortion were orginal and compelling, he also made some prophecies on what was to come. In the 1980s when the abortion debate was still reltively new, David mande the following arguments and predictions. He told me that me that the generation that grew up with legalized abortion would look around and wonder where are my missing brothers and sisters? And they would realize they were aborted. (both David and I are only children) It would lead to a diminished respect for human life, and respect for their parents. He also told me there would be some that would fight legalized abortion. That it would be the generations born after the legalization of abortion that would lead the fight against abortion. He also alerted me to the reawakening of the ancient god Moloch. Like I have said before we need a new Demonology or a new book on the supernatural entities (Egregores) active today. So let me recount the events that happened before David's death and events after his death that brought back the memories of our conversations. In 2020 Michelle Williams gave a giddy pro-abortion speech at a awards ceremony. David had told me sometime back that Moloch would not be content with "safe, legal, and rare" but would want abortion of demand up to and including infantcide. That abortion would become an empowering experience instead of a tragic one. Part of the worship of Moloch is sacrificing one's children for material advantage or power. That human sacrifice gives one access to powerful, if unpredictable energies. Another incident he alerted me about was when Lena Dunham saying she had not had an abortion, but wished she had. Abortion became an initatory experience for many leftist women. It is no longer regarded as a vice, but a virtue. Now to events after his death. In an appearance on M.S.N.B.C. the comic Laurie Kilmartin told how she wanted to have sex with the Supreme Court leaker, and if it was a Repulican that she would "jofully abort" her words, and everyone laughed. In a recent campaign for political office the California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in one of his adds that abortion is a sacred right. This points to how abortion went from a medical procedure to a spiritual rite (right). (I will get to the Temple of Satan soon) David told me all this would happen decades before it happened. When I watched the pro-abortion protests on television after the Supreme Court decision I was struck by the protestorsthat came covered in blood, and acted out symbolic abortions with dolls, while chanting about "killing babies" and chanting "Satan' (they should have been chanting Moloch). And the Democratic party wonders why they are losing hispanic voters! Many of these dramatic protests happened in front of Churches. More evidence that this is a religious issue for both sides. I found it ironic that these same people were so upset at the Uvalde school shooting, since the main theme of their protests were about diminishing respect for human life. Another example of Compartmentalized thinking. Historians and occultists should study these protests for clues and insight about the ancient worship of Moloch and other cults that practiced human sacrifice. This is a good transition to the Temple of Satan. I usually despise the T.o.S., but I find myself applauding their honesty on the abortion issue. The T.o.S. defends abortion on the grounds of religious freedom. That one should have the right to sacrifice one's unborn children (maybe infanticide also) for material gain or power. They should change the name of their cult to the "Temple of Moloch".This would add force to their arguments, by giving it a lot more historical force. Moloch is a god that goes back to the Bronze age. I shall end with the warning David gave me about human sacrifice. He told me even though human sacrifice gives one access to powerful energies that these energies in the end shall destroy the cult and its legacy. Just look at the Carthaginians, the Aztecs, and the Thuggee cult. Next "Fragment" I shall continue with the discussion of the two types of thinking, and if I have room for a symbolic look at Aleister Crowley's life and a practical tip

Fragment 42

I usually try to avoid talking about current events, but since recent events have confirmed my observations from the last "Fragment", I feel compelled to comment. Also, the demon I first identified as Vindahl has made a spectacular appearance in Uvalde Texas. I feel a need to comment since no other demonologist has mentioned the incident. In this "Fragment" I want to discuss the causes and energies that have destroyed society, I also want to pay tribute to the most remarkable man I ever knew, and he was also the best friend I ever had. I am also going to have to divide the material into two "Fragments", because it is too much for a single "Fragment". With that said, let us turn to Vindahl. As those who have read my previous "Fragments" know I have discussed Vindahl before, Vindahl is the demon of the school shooter. He is very much a modern demon. There is no finding him in any ancient Grimoires. He is a new demon born of modern energies. As I have said before, it is time for a new demonology. It is not Bronze age or Medieval demons that are plaguing us, but a new group that is created by the energies we emanate. Vindahl was born in a Bell Tower at the University of Austin in 1966. Since then he has made many appearances, but some stand out; these are the ones we learn more about Vindahl or show his growth. The Uvalde shooting is one of these as was Columbine. Even though Vindahl is a modern demon, the ritual for invoking him is a primitive form of magick, but just because it is primitive does not mean that it is ineffective. The twist is that the ritual has a high tech. medium. One does not consult mouldering books for the invocation, instead one consults a computer or game council. To understand we must turn to look at some very early hunting magick. This type of magick is still used by some tribes in Africa. The ritual consists of drawing a picture of an animal that one wants to kill on a hunt. The drawing is made at a certain time usually before the Sun rises. After the drawing is completed the hunting party waits for the Sun to rise. When the first rays of the Sun fall onto the picture an arrow is added to the kill spot on the game animal. Then the party goes out to hunt. The amount of effort to invoke Vindahl is considerably less than the hunting ritual, but follows the same form. One must acquire a platform to play first person shooter games. Playing the game is the ritual. I know a lot of readers are thinking lots of people play first person shooter games to no effect. I have a multipart answer. To begin with Vindahl is a very exclusive demon, he only feeds off the energy of young men. Second one must have the proper intention to complete a successful ritual. Look at all the people who do rituals they find in old books with no result. They lack belief and intent. The third answer is that the rituals do have an effect even though one is not conscious of them. They affect the unconscious. Around World War 2 there were studies made of how many soldiers actually shoot to kill. The reason for the studies was to increase those that shoot to kill. It was found only about 15% of soldiers shoot to kill. This fact was not unknown to seventeenth and eighteenth century Generals. I am sure if you could ask a seventeenth century General about this they would tell you more than enough shoot to kill. Remember back in those centuries the command was "Ready, Level, Fire" not "aim". Another example is if one has read anything about the mercenary actions in Africa in the mid to late twentieth century. They will remember that the European and American mercenaries were always complaining that native troops aimed high, usually missing everyone. This was usually blamed on native troops' inexperience with firearms, but the real reason is that humans have a natural aversion to killing one another. This worry about the percentage of troops' that shoot to kill is mute now. The percentage is usually around 100% with modern armies. Almost all soldiers shoot to kill now. Yes, video games have dehumanized the targets, I have singled out "first person shooter'' games, the reason being is that the other video games do not have the same effect. As an example if anyone tried to copy the moves of a fighting game they would be brought back to reality very quickly. We know now that the Uvalde shooter was addicted to "first person shooter games". Again the correspondence between primitive hunting magic should be clear. The difference is the medium, not the magick. Also before leaving this topic I want to state I am not opposed to legislation to slow down the devotees of Vindahl whether it be hardening targets, gun control, etc. Even though it is just treating the symptoms and not the cause. Treating symptoms, instead of causes, is a valid medical treatment, and the only treatment available when the patient is terminal, like our society. To conclude this "Fragment" I want to give a prologue to the material in the next "Fragment". I must warn everyone the next "Fragment" will be a rambling one, because it is also a tribute to the most remarkable man I ever met, and the best friend I ever had: Bishop David Smith of the Old Catholic Church. The reason it will be rambling is because it involves conversations I had with David over a 48 year span. Anyways back to the topic of the conclusion of this "Fragment". I want to cover one of the ways our society is failing in one of its basic functions; meeting the needs of its members. The subject is the response to the covid plague by International organizations. The response to the covid plague by the International organizations is one of the best arguments ever made against central planning. International organizations by definition are central planners. This also shows the weakness of compartmentalized thinking. All central planners are quantitative thinkers or they would not be central planners. Again we have the two different ways of thinking; rational or compartmentalized thinking and qualitative thinking which involves pattern recognition, this is the thinking that I call magickal thinking. The first mistake of the central planners was that the economy is like a machine one can flip a switch and turn off and on. Central planners being compartmentalized thinkers are all quantitative thinkers who do not understand the qualitative elements of a process. They are basically number crunchers. I shall give an example from my past. Long time ago I worked for a large theatre chain. I remember that every several years that some of the upper management would come to visit. It was not hard to notice that they were amazed at how the company made money by the questions they asked. They also did what compartmentalized thinkers do when a company loses revenue, they fired the marketing department. Then they realized they needed some marketing so they tried to push marketing on to theatre staff, with the expected result. When the accounts take over a company bankruptcy is soon to follow. Back to the International organizations and their failure. The central planners did not realize the qualitative elements that kept the supply chain and society functioning. They cannot quantify the relationships and the hidden expertise that make things work. The public school system is a good example. The central planners thought they could just shut down schools like turning off a light bulb, and then turn it on again when they judged it ready to resume. They did not consider how interrupting the lives, and habits of children would set them and damage their education and socialization into society. The same with the food chain. If any of the central planners had read history, they would have known that famine usually follows plague. The food chain cannot be turned on and off, like a light bulb. When people are prevented from making money they often leave the field, instead of waiting around for the central planners to turn the system back on. I shall use another example from my recent past ( about two weeks ago). I went to the pharmacy to have a script filled for a commonly used pain killer. The people at the pharmacy told me they did not have it in stock, and they did not know when or if they would get it back in stock. I have talked to other people that have had the same experience with other medications. This is another mistake central planners make. Without central planning, each geographical region tries to make themselves autonomous. In simple terms, every region tries to make themselves independent, and not have long supply chains. Of course, this is anathema to central planners. Central planners always favor one huge manufacturing plant to supply a country, or several countries. The baby formula shortage is an example. Instead of regional factories making baby formula, all the contracts go to one source. Of course there does not even have to be a breakdown of manufacturing for there to be major shortages, overstretched supply chains are a weakness. When there is no local manufacturing, everything has to be shipped in. Which increases the likelihood of a breakdown, because there are more parts that can break down. And as usual the central planners have no back up plan. This is characteristic of compartmentalized thinking. Compartmentalized thinking is always overly optimistic. It is so optimistic that it tries to deny the other type of thinking. Next "Fragment" my tribute to Bishop David Smith, and a deeper look at the damage compartmentalized thinking and the loss of the spiritual has caused to us.

Fragment 41

In this "Fragment" I want to examine Sigmund Frued's structure of the Self. I know many readers probably wonder why I talk so much about philosophy and metaphysics, and spend so little time on magickal practice. The reason is simple; Occultism consists of both theory and practice. The theory is studying metaphysics, philosophy, and religion'; with an emphasis on metaphysics. The practice is, of course, doing magick rituals. They are two parts of the same discipline, just like humans have both mental and physical aspects. They are, of course, aspects of the same thing. I shall bring in history for an example. Remember the Neoplatonists. Neoplatonism consists of both theory and practice: theology and theurgy. Theology is God talk, and Theurgy is God work.Even in Plotinus we find some theurgic exercises. Once we get to Iamblichus the theurgy is made explicit. (Anyone interested in Occultism should have the major writings of Iamblichus.) That the student needs the theurgy to understand the metaphysics, and vice versa. I am going to use an illustration attributed to G.I. Gurdjieff. I believe the illustration can be found in one of K. Speeth's books. I have not read her books in forty years, so I could be wrong. The illustration is an analogy that uses mountain climbing. Gurdjieff says that on the way up Mount Enlightenment, you shall meet two kinds of people: the fanatic and the tourist. These two types of people show what happens when either theory or practice become unbalanced. First let us examine the fanatic. One usually encounters the fanatic in a religious setting. (Today that includes the Political Religions) There are both dangerous and benign fanatics. An example of the dangerous is the Jihadi. As I have said before, do not be fooled by the political sounding names of their organizations, they are death cults. So let me turn to the benign fanatic. Most of those old ladies one encounters in Catholic and Orthodox churches, the ones that always seem to be there all the time paying homage to the Virgin Mary and saying a lot of rosaries are fanatics. Some of these ladies have built up tremendous discipline which can translate into magickal power. This power usually is in healing and prophecy. Of course they do not advertise their power, they are totally devoted. I would also recommend that one stay away from fanatics, because they have a tendency to draw people into their madness. Another example one can observe the power fanatics can generate is the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. A group of illiterate, barely illiterate, barefoot tribesmen threw the most powerful military power in all of history out of their country. The problem with the fanatic is he-she has hit a dead end. Their self development has stopped, they never reach the higher states of consciousness. So let us now turn to the tourists. The tourist is usually found in Occultism. These are the people that know all the right books to read, even though they have not read them. They know all kinds of esoteric trivia. (maybe Jeopardy should include an Occultism category. Tourists would excel at that) The trouble is they do no work. So they stay masters of esoteric trivia. They are typically collectors of occult memorabilia. This is the tourist at his-her best. At worst they are merely L.A.R.P.ing. Before examining Freud, I have some advice on practice. I am reading Jean Gebser's book "The Ever-Present Origin". A dense and difficult book. One should always try to read books that are challenging, this is a way of developing the Magickal Mind. If one reads only introductory books one can become a tourist. Remember both Crowley, and Gurdjieff taught that struggle is the only way to develop the Self. Even though I have only read the first third of the book I can highly recommend the book. It should be on every Occultist's shelf, after he-she has read it. The book shall be reviewed in future "Fragments", it shall take more than one the book is full of ideas. Gebser is the first writer to challenge me for a long time. I guess after reading Hegel and Bohme it is hard to find challenging books? This led me to a practice I have not used in many years to help me understand books. After reading a difficult passage I consult the Tarot Cards for greater understanding. I use between 4 to 6 cards. One must work out the spread for themselves, this is a highly individual practice. I have found this practice very useful. Now to Freud. In the twentieth century Freud gave us the last functional structure or paradigm of the Self. A structure on how the psychic energies are organized. The scheme is Ego, Id and Superego. In many ways Freud updated the old Christian paradigm. To begin let us observe how Freud's paradigm of the Self compares to the Christian paradigm. For the Christian paradigm the conflict is between the Beast (human's animal nature) and the Christ consciousness. In Freud's paradigm all his structures are in conflict. We shall start with the conscience, in Freud the Superego is the conscience. For Christianity the conscience is the inner Christ. Christ becomes the homunculus that rules human action. Of course in Freud the conscience has no connection to the divine as it does in Christianity. Instead of conscience being a divine gift, for Freud it is the morals of the society that the agent lives in internalized. Secularizing Christian ideas was very popular in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Also instead of standing apart or above the Superego is part of the Ego that broke away and turned on the Ego. The Ego is then in conflict with the Id. The Id is of course, the Beast, the animal nature of humans; the desires, wants, and hates of the animal body. So in Freud all the structures of the Self are in conflict; the Ego, Superego and Id. Freud has introduced the Ego as the mediator between the Superego and the Id. Some of the Neoplatonists introduced mediator levels in their structures also. So Freud is very close to the Christian paradigm, except in Freud's paradigm there is no end to conflict, there is no being born again, no transformation of the Self. The best the Ego can do is know and realize the conflict. Freud was very sensitive to the psychic energies in humans. And represented the conflicts of modern humans. This is what makes Freud's paradigm valuable is studying the psyche of moderns. Humans have lost touch with the divine and are in a constant state of inner conflict. But we have moved on from Freud and the paradigm fell apart. The Superego does not have a stable society to internalize, conscience is a drift. Freud tried to demythologize the Christian and Neoplatonic paradigms for modern man. He was right about the conflicts that have torn all our psychic structures apart. This is why we live in the last days of the old Christian paradigm. Something new must replace it. That is what we should be working on.

Fragmet 40

I always seem to be discussing the collapse of the existing mental paradigm. So in this "Fragment" and future "Fragments" I want to give some ideas for the coming paradigm. This "Fragment" shall be an introduction to some of my ideas for the coming paradigm. And to conclude this "Fragment" I shall add a note on St.Irenaeus, who recently became a Doctor of the Church. The current monotheistic paradigm is collapsing. In the West it is the Christian paradigm that is collapsing and the attempts to patch it up are failing. The attempts to patch it up includes Marxism and Progressivism, which are attempts to keep the altruistic ethics. and provide a secular metaphysics (theology). At this time we have myriad new cults and new religions that are competing to provide the new paradigm of civilization. I am going to draw the line for the beginning of these new religions and cults in the year 1830. This was the year that the Mormon Church was founded, and the year that Auguste Comte tried to establish his new humanistic religion, which provided the prototype of the Progressive movements. The reason I decided to include Mormonism is because it seems to be a transitional religion from mainline Protestantism and U.F.O. cult. It is an odd combination of past influences and future influences. Before we begin to examine any of the material we need to do some epistemological work. In simpler terms, we need a method to judge the material. The method I have chosen is based on Aleister Crowley's method. LIke Descates who gave philosophy a new method for philosophy (reverse engineering), Crowley gave Occultism a new method which I have coined the term "Magickal Pragmatism" as a name for the new method. I know Crowley called his method "empiricism" but I think the term "empiricism" has too many associations with materialism, and certain philosophies. So to understand Crowley's new method let us go to Crowley's words from the beginning of "Book 4": "Being more or less bankrupt, the best thing we can do is to attack the problem afresh without preconceived ideas. Let us find a way of subjecting every statement to the test of experiment. Is there any truth at all in the claims of various religions? Let us examine the question." Again to Crowley's words "Book 4": "To sum up, we assert a secret source of energy which explains the phenomenon of Genius. We do not believe in any supernatural explanations, but insist that his source may be reached by the following out definite rules, the degree of success depending upon the capacity of the seeker, and not upon the favour of any Divine Being. We assert that the critical phenomenon which determines success is an occurence in the brain characterizes essentially by the uniting of subject and object. We discuss phenomenon, analyse its nature determine accurately the physical, mental, and moral conditions which are favourable to it, to ascertain its cause, and thus produce it in ourselves so we may adequately study its effects" Let me say a few words to explain my revisions to Crowley's theory. When Crowley says "Genius" I say "Gnosis". I think Crowley avoided the term "Pragmatism" because he did not want to be associated with the philosophy of Willam James. Crowley is much closer to the founder of Pragmatism C.S. Peirce than to James, of Dewey. The systems, or spiritual exercises must provide the results that are promised. In simple terms the systems have to work. This is the fundamental question of the new religions and cults: can they bring us to the secret and sacred source of energy that produces Gnosis. To do so, one must try out magical systems or spiritual exercises to find out the result, so we can compare it to other magical systems or religious practices. This is what I call "Magickal Pragmatism". I shall now turn to some of the things that have to be done to bring in the new paradigm. We have to investigate the new religions and cults to understand what they have to offer, again Crowley is important, since he was a big influence on many of the new religions: examples would be Thelema and Scientology. And of course, we must understand the current paradigm and why it is failing. One of the most important issues that has to be taken is to what a new paradigm of the self would look like. This is a crucial and central issue. Central because it affects almost everything we believe about the world and ourselves. In my philosophical writings (@processidealism.blogspot.com) I have stated that the central issue of metaphysics is the place of consciousness in the cosmos. It determines whether one is a materialistic atheist or a theist, and everything in between. To understand what I am talking about let us revisit the old doctrine of the microcosm and the macrocosm. I am going to offer a new interpretation of the ancient doctrine. The way humans understand the cosmos is to project their categories onto the cosmos. In this Kant was right, but he was wrong in asserting that the categories are innate and immutable. The beliefs and sense of self of an agent determine his-her view of the cosmos and his-her place in the cosmos. What kind of a self we posit affects our view of everything. I will save my ideas on how to rebuild the self for future "Fragments". I shall only remark that the falling apart of the current paradigm is causing increasing insanity. We live in the Age of Insanity. This will of course involve the two types of thinking and how to achieve a new balance of the two. Before moving to Irenaeus I want to point out that everything I say are only preliminary statements, and must be taken up by other minds if they have any value. This is the 'Great Work'. St Irenaeus was made a Doctor of the Church on January 21, 2022. He was given the title "Doctor Unitas" (Doctor of Unity). It may puzzle some readers why I would want to discuss a second century Christian theologian. The reason is because Irenaeus lived in an age with a lot of similarities to our age. Irenaeus was flourishing around 170A.D. a time of competing religions and cults (world views) He was in fact a member of one such cult, that of what would become Orthodox Christianity. Irenaeus helped his side win in the competition of late antiquity. Irenaeus by arguing against the Gnostics was helping to define Christian Doctrine, this is why he was finally made a Doctor of the Church. I recently finished reading Irenaeus's book "Against the Heresies", and was very impressed by what made it into Orthodox Christianity and what did not. One of the reasons that Irenaeus is so interesting is that he was so early in the history of Christianity. Even more amazing is that Irenaeus was born into a Christian family. So he was very familiar with what was going on in the early Jesus movement. Irenaeus was a student of Polycarp ( 69 A.D.-155 A.D.) who was a student of the apostle John. I want to draw attention to two of his ideas that did not make it into approved Christianity. The first is his doctrine of the Atonement. Irenaeus claims that the way Jesus saved humanity is by sanctifying every stage of human life. To do this Irenaeus asserts that Jesus's crucifixion did not happen until Jesus was in his fifties. He even hints that Jesus was not crucified until the reign of Trajan (reign 98-117 A.D). He quotes authorities and scripture to back up his assertion that Jesus lived until his fifties. So he could sanctify maturity and old age. Of course, it was not until Anselm that the doctrine of the Atonement achieved its final and accepted form. (Even Mormons believe in the Satisfaction Theory). It seems guilt did not play the big role in Christianity that it would have later. In fact in Irenaeus's writings guilt is rarely mentioned. It was not until St. Augustine that guilt got supercharged in Christian doctrine. Of course, guilt is still popular in our so-called secular age. That is because guilt is such a powerful way to control people. I may have to revisit my investigation of guilt that I have done in previous "Fragments". I believe in the new paradigm guilt should not be given a metaphysical status as it has in the current paradigm. We observe even in the present day how metaphysically powerful guilt has become. There are so many groups competing for victim status. It seems everyone today wants to claim victim status of some great historical or present wrong. Even so-called secular thinkers are talking about new original sins. This all goes back to Jesus sanctifying guilt in the West. Victimhood gives a group or an individual privileged status. It makes the victimized group morally superior thus deserving of special privileges. The other idea I want to discuss is his ideas on Mary, Mother of God, and Eve. Christian literature is full of references and even big books on how Jesus was the new Adam. That it was Jesus that redeemed Adam's sin. Yet the literature is largely silent on how Mary redeemed Eve's sin,as Irenaeus taught. When I read this I wondered, why did not think of this? It is so obvious. Back in the late twentieth century there was a lot of interest in "The Sacred Feminine", but the interest centered around Mary Magdalene instead of Mother Mary. But it is Mary, Mother of God that is the femine aspect of deity. She is the feminine counterpart of Jesus. This Oedipal relationship deeply influenced the psyche of Western humanity. This Oedipal complex goes a lot further back than the Classical Greeks. The formulation of the Great Mother Goddess and the young male god is common in ancient mythology. (Aphrodite and Adonis) It may be that the Great Mother Goddess got broken into three parts: Mary, Mother of God, Mary Magdalene, and Mary of Bethany; the Mother, the lover and the sister-daughter. The myth of the Great Mother Goddess and a younger male god consort that gets killed and resurrected is a common motif in ancient religion. It seems Mary deserves to take her place with the other great Mother Goddess, like Ishtar. It seems in Christianity that the old consort of Yahweh, Asherah is reborn.