Saturday, October 27, 2012

The Soul of Jupiter

At Gornahoor:



Phillip Sherrad was apparently critical of Guenon, at points. Tomberg emphasizes that there is a "Self Beyond the Self", which Christians call God, as well. However I am not so certain, speaking even as a Christian, that these types of debates are more a matter of method & emphasis, rather than absolute substance. Guenon (it is true) speaks much of Principles rather than Persons, but surely he is meaning something very similar? Why would Christians quibble over a word? Is it because they can see only Either/Or, and if they do not disputato, then they perceive they will be forced into a multi-lateral world of comparative religion?
During the reviews and summaries of Clement's Journal, I tried to show how Saint Peter comes across within the text - he is perfectly willing to debate anyone in good faith he judges to be an honest inquirer, & he even tours the marbles of Phidias in Asia Minor with Clement and others, to see what he can learn from Greek art. All of his religious opinions are the result of a process of careful philosophical reasoning which, if they are somewhat Hebraic, are at least Greek in rule and form. Furthermore, odd Christian practices are found to have a factual and spiritual basis in esoteric postulates and experience. The Jewish element provides the abstract postulates and the initial atmosphere of spirituality, yet the new religion is oriented towards Truth in whatever garb, because it is subordinated to the childlike personality of the bishop.

As Cologero is fond of saying, only those who have experienced these things (especially those who have had both) are fit to sit in judgement on these things.

The Early Church certainly was eager to embrace Greek learning. Lactantius, Clement, Origen, Justin the Martyr, and many others like Chalcidius went so far as to claim Socrates as one of the Church's own, because he loved the truth. "The words are no obstacle," says Lactantius, "because the sentiments agree with the Truth." The old icon painters sometimes placed, in the narthex of their churches, the wise Greeks, because they were a sort of "ante-chamber" to the great mysteries of the Truth (see Bachovo Monastery). Their argument was merely that the Greeks (and others) did not know "the whole Logos", and sometimes turned back from a full apprehension of the Truth, because they were not completely free of the infatuations of their own culture - merely consider (for instance) the Greek fad of demokratia, and one can see how this might have objectively been the case.

In Lao Tzu's Te Ching, there is an elaborate argument for the principle of Unity, the Dyad, & the resultant Triad, an argument that finds an echo in the work of Kukai: whether one calls the ultimate subtleties of Spirit which are irreversible and irrepeatable (and as Tomberg argues, therefore, outside the scope or judgement of Science, which confines itself to the realm of fungible Space and the division & re-combining of solids), the "Principle" or the "Person" is both lawful and according to nature (like a principle) & also contains what is human (although it is super-human).

This reminds me of an amusing story about Thomas Merton's work with Buddhist monks to establish "common ground" - at one point in the meeting, it was discovered that what the Buddhists called contemplation, the Christians translated as meditation, and vice versa. Both sides were "at odds" from the very start, because they were already talking past each other. Might not a good deal of the confusion between traditionalists of various stripes be of this variety?

Dmitri Orlov in his latest post demonstrates how even political discourse (and presumably higher forms like religion or even culture itself) can become a means of obfuscation and misunderstanding. In fact, since things are known by virtue of the one doing the knowing, we should expect many misunderstandings in our stunted environment.

This is a longish, roundabout way of arguing that the science of Traditionalism (and God forbid it become a science like the others, but rather a real knowing) is likely just beginning a long re-ascent to implementation.
Just as Pico de Mirandola did a great service in dividing Magick into Theurgy and Goetia, thus opening the path for Bruno & others to re-ignite alchemy or for Druidry to revive (without the demonic elements against which Christianity had fought so fervently), scholars and students and practitioners today have a great opportunity to "divide anew", not in a way that "murders to dissect", but with the sword of the Spirit that leads to life, reuniting what belongs together.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Future of America


It's interesting that in this novel, people try to "buy" their way, or compete their, way, into a "way out".

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Amerika: Corporation, not a Country

"Now, a question arises with regard to the USA: is it more of a country (like, say, France) or is it more of a corporation (like, say AIG or GM or GS)? Looking at its politics, it is apparent that it is more of a country club than a country. Corporations are clearly the ones in charge, through electoral campaign donations, lobbyists, and the revolving door between corporate and government positions. The periodic electoral monkey-business and fake media frenzy are just there as an ad campaign to keep the brand fresh. It does seem more and more like a corporate entity, with a small and shrinking number of shareholders, whose latest scheme (now that the whole thing is spiraling the drain) is to have the government print lots of money just so that they can pocket huge sums of it...."
Dmitri Orlov

The Death of Neo-Liberalism, Dmitri Orlov

"The failure of weak, neoliberal political régimes around the world will expose the men who have really been pulling the strings. Most countries remain nation-states in name only; their sovereignty has been eroded to the point where they are now mere servants to transnational business and finance. Vestigial nation-states continue to serve one function: controlling their borders. They are, in fact, prisons—keeping some people in, others out. But for transnational business and finance they are now porous entities, allowing them to practice labor arbitrage (finding cheapest labor), and jurisdictional arbitrage (finding least regulation). The US government is now little more than a proxy, with its presidential candidates (1, 2) vetted, appointed and financed by the global investment firm Goldman Sachs. A recent vote in the UN General Assembly accusing Bashar Assad of Syria produced a list of the remaining nation-states. These are the only countries whose governments still possess sufficient independence of will to oppose the US-led drive for régime change in Syria. They are: Syria (naturally), Russia, China, Iran, Belorussia, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia. It remains to be seen how helpful their independence will prove when it comes to them feeding their own people...."
Dmitri Orlov

Saturday, October 6, 2012

More on the Quarterstaff


“Hammar moved to stand beside Galad, still groaning on the ground and trying to push himself up. The warder raised his voice to shout, “Who was the greatest blademaster of all time?’

From the throats of dozens of students came a massed bellow. “Jearom, Gaidin!”

“Yes!” Hammar shouted, turning to make sure all heard. “During his lifetime, Jearom fought over ten thousand times, in battle and single combat. He was defeated once. By a farmer with a quarterstaff! Remember that. Remember what you just saw.”


Robert Jordan, The Dragon Reborn

Saturday Musings : East vs. West

Rosenstock  Huessy speaks of the hilarious and creative geniuses of the West, opposing them to (say) Dostoevsky (or a host of other Russian writers one could name).

No one in an Eastern Orthodox Church would have dared to do, for example, this:

altering a mass for the dead in order to make the Bishop commit a liturgical error, just to laugh at them.
 
Guest post at Gornahoor.

Is Western Culture a "wasteland"? How might the Christian regain their soul, so as to attain to their spirit? 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Aristotle on Modern Day America

"… Over two millennia before them, Aristotle stated that tyrants seek to expand their power by tampering with their populations in three ways: making or keeping them ignorant; dividing them and encouraging conflict between them; and impoverishing them. Some studies claim that the current immigration policy is achieving these three objectives in the United States...."
Source

The Magician-State already lists you as an undesirable at least potentially, here:
Source


What we are seeing is the Perfect Storm...politically, anyway....