Sometimes It Rains In San Francisco

Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick.

This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.

• Terrance McKenna

Integrative values allowing for a constellation of possibilities previously not available due to tunnel realities informed by consensus reality – monoculture. Breaking out of these parameters placed on certain modalities of thought allows for the possibility to shed new light on an entire array of new aspects with regards to understanding – it opens the world of revelatory insights. It opens the mind at first and further along may open the conscious mind to working purposefully with the subconscious mind further allowing for coordinating in its way with the Collective Unconscious – the Universe – which may bring forth manifestation of the Will.

Especially once one can move past Sacredness and the polarities inherent in both belonging to and desiring to be part of groups. Groups inherently drive members to polarities and work against depolarization. The feed the Ego. Also, by providing a prefabricated system of conceptualizing around a certain number of topics, it allows members to take on certain beliefs (which of course can inform behavior) without having to figure things out on their own. I.e., allowing for intellectual laziness. It thusly reinforces less thinking and lesser quality thinking at that. Additionally, groups which focus on negativity against those outside it typify behavior that engenders a culture of discord. Being disinclusive.

Recognizing how seemingly disparate concepts may actually compliment one another opens up a whole new world.

There are those of us on the path. The path that implies an incredibly strong desire for a deeper understanding of reality as it actually is. It seems inherent in this that a large amount of claims by those who mold consensus reality are dubious at best. As information regarding what may actually be the (bizarre) reality as it really is becomes more and more available (and those of us on the path are often adamant in finding it regardless of its apparent availability), the number of possibilities to explore multiplies.

Whether it be pet interests in indy music, parapolitics, pseudo/alternative history or quantum physics, the urge to delve deeper still is always there. The ideas of fringe thinkers take on new importance. The experiments of artists and alchemists alike hold heretofore overlooked import. As the research mounts, context for all of this increases and hence also does the understanding thereof. Articles, experiences, interactions, travels all hold a new, exciting, magical, pregnant meaning. An interests in the Fortean, the philosophical, the psychological, the mysterious – matters of consciousness – is at that point nigh inevitable. Terms like pseudoscience and fantastical hold meanings different to one at this juncture. They understand how certain terminology is employed to deter those who have been successfully reprogrammed on a subconscious level by those with a stake in the herd thinking in such terms, in such ways. Twilight language.

“In a sense, it’s no surprise that synchromysticism has links to conspiracy theory, psychedelics and occult traditions because all three are methods to deprogram oneself from cultural conditioning, a means to connect a diverse range of information and ideas, as well as a way to see the world from a more open perspective. It’s an alchemical technique to create meaning out of the chaos of current events and seemingly vapid commercial detritus that bombards us on a daily basis, and to add new layers of meaning to more enduring and celebrated works of art.”

• http://occulture64.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/synchromysticism/

We subconsciously react to certain words and symbols differently than our conscious mind does. It is all dependent upon our imprints and our personal narrative – how we’ve been programmed to think about and react to certain things. Our unawareness to those things makes us vulnerable to being affected in unseen, unknown ways to our encounters with them in day to day interactions.

Our subconsciouses are our way to communicate with the Universe on a direct level, but they are also what directs our thoughts and behaviors at root. Understanding this revelation is only the first step, After this, we must look at how to identify and modify what the hell exactly it is that our subconscious is doing and how it is programmed and how this programming is affecting us.

Integrative values being the depolarization of the mind and the psyche. The alchemical marriage of the left and right brain; of anima and animus. It is whole brain thinking. It is what neuroplasticity informs us of. It allows for full understanding.

…tears always have deeper roots than smiles.

• E.M. Cioran

Stoicism should be viewed as a tool to be employed to reel in your emotions before they overtake you. Not as a way of life which inevitably takes away your humanity.

Interpretations are exploratory.

Models are explanatory.

Macro-enchantment to get things going and the micro-enchantment for the specific things to go right (the way you want them to) as opportunities arise. Ride the chaos. Learn to surrender when needed, to fail better, to know how and when to collapse and also to be proactive and say yes and know when to say fuck it.

An interesting life requires fortitude and wisdom; the ability to ride the waves of chaos in the ocean that is the direction the Universe moves you. Magic is your rigging, but the Universe provides the winds and you can’t predict the direction the winds will blow from. You can adjust your sail, but your port-of-call is up to the Universe, unless you sail past into the inevitable storm.

It is difficult to tell sometimes where one should be or be headed though. It is imperative to stave off negative energy. Not only to ward it off, but to ensure it isn’t allowed to stay inside oneself. Cleansing rituals and meditation can definitely help, but mindfulness is also necessary to keep an eye on where you are.

There is an odd synchronicity in the way parallel lives veer to touch one another, change direction, and then come close again and again until they connect and hold for whatever it was that fate intended to happen.

• Ann Rule

Chanting as a way of reprogramming the subconscious in similar ways that sigilizing turns an intention of the Will into a symbol thus transferring it from Consciousness to Subconsciousness, so that the Subconscious can then get to work on manifesting the Intention. According to my current model/chosen interpretation, the Conscious self once it wills something (most often using intellect or desire), then has to ‘translate’ this intention into something the Subconscious can be reprogrammed to manifest, which once accomplished, can then ‘communicate’ with the Universe, the Collective Unconscious, thus changing the probability that the Universe will set a course of events to bring about this change – i.e., to manifest this change in our perceived reality (on a conscious level). This is working on the assumption that the Subconscious understands a symbol-language instead of a word-based language. Hence, the possible effectiveness of chanting something to the point where it no longer holds meaning – where the words cease to hold their original meaning, where they become mere vibrations and repetitions of intent on a conceptual level instead of being thought upon as the meanings of their words with each utterance. I believe this also plays a part into why chanting in a language which one does not know helps the Subconscious overcome this – instead it has the meaning – the symbolic meaning – of the chanted words, the sounds, the syllables transferred to it. Possibly in this way, it can ‘understand’ the true intent better than it could by means of a word-based language (implying that that would require a different set of translation). Given, word-based languages in their written form are themselves symbol sets, I’m not quite sure where I stand on this issue. Quite frankly, if it works who cares? But on a level of thinking that I find comfortable, I still find it somewhat necessary to parse and pursue such questions.

Conscious intent > Subconscious reprogramming > Universe changing the winds of chaos in accordance > greater probability of manifestation in the plane we exist on.

This explains why a means of manifestation is important. Why if your intention can only be manifested in the dreamworld or the astral plane, then that is where your intention will most likely manifest. If there is a means of manifestation in the waking world, then you still should be doing everything you consciously can to work toward this goal without relying on the admittedly absurd belief that magic will do everything for you.

It is looking like it is going to be quite an undertaking to understand all the systems I want to in order that I may understand as fully as possible the overall overlapping concepts. Ie, practical magic, alchemy, tarot, astrology, psychology, western philosophy, eastern mystic schools, kabbalah, numerology, meditation and visualization techniques. etc. There are so many overlaps between them all. Underlying, seems to be the 7 Hermetic Principles. The Conscious, Subconscious and Collective Unconscious. As above, so below. So without, so within. Macro/microcosm. The Will and intention of the conscious translating into a symbolic ‘language’ that the Subconscious can work with as it conveys this intention to the machinations of the Collective Unconscious to manifest change via manipulating the probabilities of occurrences in the chaos of the Universe.

Thus we arrive at the sobering conclusion that although this universe contains enough Chaos to allow magic it doesn’t contain enough to permit gross miracles in a hurry.

The magician will need to target events which depend on very small energy or entropy changes and the results won’t often look much like spectacular parapsychology, they will look more like a series of events going somewhat improbably in the desired direction.

• Peter J Carroll

Asymmetrical warfare insofar as the universe stopping with symmetrical warfare in terms of breaking you down with people telling you the same thing over and over even when you know they might be right. When the universe changes tactics to asymmetrical warfare against your defenses which need to be broken down and attacks certain strategic points in your psyche at strategically vulnerable times. All to get you to the point where your defenses are finally broken so that you surrender to what you should be doing. Let yourself be tackled finally so that you can line up at the line of scrimmage again and try a new play. Your defenses have to be broken. You have to say uncle. Then and only then can you really start over for real.

The idea of choosing to surrender allowing for a kind of controlled demolition.

Lust for results is pointless. Realizing that it doesn’t matter either way and just stop looking. Again. Give up the wild goose chases so that you don’t miss the pheasant…or the chicken on sale at the grocery store.

Preference falsification.

The halo and horns effect in regards to how our friends and also how we view certain cultures. Also how our experience with and immersion in certain relationships, situations and cultures affect our confirmation biases from moment to moment.

Present Models Affect Present Outlook

Thirteen years ago I started writing a book which I titled around the same time, "The Means to Self-Idealization". That's awfully pretentious phrasing for an 18 year old, but it got me thinking about a slew of other creatives and both mine and others' criticisms over the years of their aims and directions (specifically the changes thereof). I realized - possibly for the first time explicitly, at least - that everyone takes their direction (and, once again, changes thereof) from their current model of both reality and, hence, what they perceive it to be and the reality tunnels that are predominant in their view of reality.

The resulting effect of this insight is a necessary viewing anew the judgment I and others have of the work and everyday behavior/thinking of everyone else [poor wording - review later]. Who's to say that Van Halen didn't feel that a new direction was the way to go with the addition of Sammy Hagar after losing David Lee Roth? It also helps in understanding where people may go 'astray' when looking at their change in circumstances in this light. Sometimes people get into some shit and that eventually (sooner or later) leads to in a new reality tunnel from which they view everything else. Whether they are aware of this oftentimes (in my experience with humans) plays a large part into whether or not they attempt to get out of said shit, but the point to be made remains.

In summation, my view now is that we might all benefit from keeping this in mind when critiquing others' apparent changes in behavior/thinking.

As always, comments, suggestions, etc. are quite appreciated and encouraged.

Cheers,
Blessed be in 23

Holons and Politics

I've been giving a lot of thought to the application to my political and philosophical belief system of the concept of holons - the idea described by Koestler as the fact (at least by my lights) that systems are both self-assertive and autonomous as well as integrative parts of yet higher systems.

The self-assertive aspect of my brand of libertarianism - of taking responsibility for ones own actions and destiny - but always having a nagging question of how effective / efficacious the whole political system ties in with the integrative reality of living in 21st Century Western society; the reality of being dependent upon other individuals and groups, organizations, et al.

How does this correlate with the optimization techniques (both internal and external) of the occult and related esoterica? In my case specifically: alchemy, chaos magick and psychology, philosophy, etc...

My bent is typically to view all of this in terms of systems theory, which is why I believe the concept of holons seems to help explain things a little better to me.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated in the comments.

Cheers

Whose Responsibility is it to Adapt?

Humans, having the faculties of reason, have over the course of our existence as a race furthered our knowledge of and, hence, our ability to manipulate nature, the Universe. We employ reason to develop technologies which aid in our survival, primarily (which is our primary purpose - the only inherent inborn purpose we have), and also aid and allow for the development of our own unique, individual, arbitrarily chosen purpose.

Even the most primitive jungle-bound tribes employ technology. These 'savages' reap the rewards of the capacity for reason their forefathers implemented ages ago when they developed the now primitive (in context with the 21st Century's Western civilization's high degree of sophistication) technology of spears, loin-cloths and thatched huts.

Many argue the traditional relevance of their culture and subsequent lifestyle and their 'right' to retain their primitive heritage, though it seems to only serve the status quo and an unwillingness to adapt to changing circumstances - i.e. changing realities.

When humans apply reason to a particular question they have about nature they can learn, i.e. increase their knowledge, new things about the way the Universe works, both micro- and macrocosmically. The more knowledge we have about the Universe, the more we are able to manipulate aspects thereof to serve our own purposes. This is how we develop technology.

As we implement new technologies, our lives too change as we are able to substitute one way of doing something for another via the implementation of said technology or are able to do things we weren't previously able to do at all in the first place.

This changes our situation in the world, it changes, morphs our circumstances and, thus we are in a situation where we have to adapt, or attempt to adapt.

Adaptation explains the do or die, the sink or swim aspects of reality. Adaptation consists of a system responding in the most preferential way for its own system as stimuli from res extensa are perceived within the sensory and conceptual parts of the system.

It is ultimately the responsibility of an individual to respond in the optimal way for oneself to external stimuli (changes in circumstances). Oftentimes, individuals do not have the requisite variety which comes with sufficient knowledge of a situation and the available knowledge surrounding its comprising parts to make a proper decision in terms of the long-term consequences.

Culture is a transient thing and changes as necessary to fit the changing times. As we employ our reason to increase our knowledge and then use this new knowledge (integrated with our previously gained knowledge) to create technology with which to make certain tasks easier or to allow us to perform erstwhile undoable tasks. This increase in our abilities leads to a new situation either subtle or extreme. Now we have altered our situation and must adapt to our new state of affairs.

What happens if we don't? Refusing to adapt to new realities implies an arbitrary refusal to perceive and conceive of reality as it is. This denial leads to the inconsistencies on par with trying to insert a square peg in a round hole. Either one can adapt as necessary to changes in reality and / or one can (within the reality of the situation) attempt through further reason to manipulate the reality to a way in which one wants it.

It must be noted that force / coercion are not viable options in terms of this second option (that of changing the circumstances to fit your preferred mode of being). Bear too in mind that this second alternative still requires varying degrees of adaptation to new circumstances.

Too often though, those who would prefer to keep circumstances at a status quo level disregard reason (and its implications of individual freedom and the respect subsequent thereof) in their attempts at reversion to preview circumstances.

It must be here said that the faculty of reason is what allows us to best deal with reality as it is, hence failure to apply reason to our situation as it is in reality leads inevitably to an inability to properly deal with situations in which we find ourselves. Our survival depends upon our application of reason.

We, of course, tend to employ greater and lesser degrees of reason in our quotidian lives, but the difficulty stems from prevalent mis-reasoned fundamental philosophical basics. What I am referring to here is the lifelong programming / conditioning process we go through.

As we enter this world tabula rasa in terms of concepts (discounting possibly inborn instinctual / response mechanisms) we are quickly bombarded with all manner of new sensations and subsequent perceptions upon which we, via our faculty of categorical perception, develop and integrate concepts to allow for an understanding, nascent though it may be.

With the development of linguistic capabilities our ability to grasp increasingly more sophisticated concepts grows and we are thus able to both receive concepts as well as clarify to others what our remaining questions are. Those questions being the knowledge gaps existing in our understanding of that which we perceive and the subsequent abstractions thereof.

The problem thus arises that we are at first depend upon others for our information (or rather, meta-information). The cause of the problem is not the dependence itself necessarily, but rather the reality that those upon whom we are dependent tend to have their own irrational understandings which they pass on to us.

Without necessarily malicious intent, our elders pass on faulty concepts and poor critical thinking habits which we habitualize and become to employ in a conditioned sense. This is why all mystical traditions first require deprogramming of the individual in order to rediscover the ability to perceive and conceptualize aspects of reality which are not 'visible' post normal Western lifelong conditioning. It should be noted more explicitly here that the majority of this conditioning occurs, more or less consciously (on the part of the 'elders'), early in life and become more rigid as one ages.

When culture is adhered to merely by virtue of tradition without regard to emerging realities then the fact that an irrational refusal to allow culture to modify or be modified will logically become obsolete as it does not conform to reality and thus hinders individuals involved in said culture from adapting to the new reality leading to a lack of proper / correct responses. This lack of correct response will inextricably lead, sooner or later, to difficulty in overall survival.

According to humans being rational, reasoning creatures, culture is an implement to be employed, updated and discarded as necessary to best allow for adaptation to changing circumstances. Toleration of emotionality dictating what we modify, or how or if we modify our culture, will inevitably disallow us from properly responding to changing realities because it is reason which enables us to know how to appropriately modify - via adaptation; correct responses - our culture.

Subcultures arise due to the fact that all societies with their cultures are comprised of individuals and individuals each have their own unique complexes of reason - i.e. differing degrees of the ability to correctly apply reason as well as deciding upon different things to apply reason to. With this being the case, it follows that certain individuals will develop differing concepts as to how or it a present culture should change.

This may be due to a better or worse grasp and application of reason or to the willingness to employ reason over emotionality or not.

As humans increase their knowledge of the Universe, i.e. the 'world we live in', it is inevitable that we will apply this knowledge to developing new ways of doing things and new implements to help us do them. These new implements we classify as technology. Knowledge and subsequent technology leads to changing realities and hence to the necessity for modified culture. When new technology is denied on the grounds of culture then we come to the aforementioned cundundrum, that is an irrational response system to the objective reality we find ourselves in.

If our new knowledge and subsequent technology abides by reason, and is acquired by way of reason, then a refusal to accept it is irrational.

Culture, like religions, which are 'designed' to disallow its adherents from updating it is response to changing realities are inherently 'built' to cause the overall downfall of its adherents. Abiding by a dogmatic, faith-based approach to reality will inevitably lead to this downfall because it refuses to accept changing realities and does not apply reason to understanding objective reality.

Faith insinuates the negation of reason for the purpose of understanding reality regardless of whether some of its claims turn out to be correct or not. Failure to apply reason to understanding reality is a set up for failing to respond to reality itself properly. 'Properly' in terms of the context of survival of any individual.

Primitive and developed cultures alike lose or decrease their ability to survive in a competitive world made of individuals (all out to survive, at least long enough to reproduce) when they arbitrarily decide not to do what it takes to adapt and respond accordingly to new realities. It is not the fault of those who do adapt and apply reason to acquiring new and more accurate knowledge of objective reality and implementing said knowledge as technology that other individuals / groups of individuals do not.

Those who do not adapt are not the responsibility of those who do.