To: From: tyagi nagasiva (tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com) Subject: Keys of the Order (9409.kysordr.tn) Date: 499409xx Quoting: |anonymous |I do not think that the 'keys of the order' are all that hidden ... Right. I do, yet we are referring to different things when we say 'Keys of the Order' (which I would capitalize for a very important reason). To me, the 'Keys' are key *experiences* without which the doctrines and particulars of any living human order become meaningless. Note, I'm not talking about intellectual signification. I understand that there are certain cultural commonalities, knowledge-bits, which, given in bulk inside one mind, allow one to comprehend greater concepts. I'm talking about Mysteries, often referred to as the Initiatic Order (*not* an elitist human group!), and sometimes described as: Birth, Life, Death and Transcendence. I have taken to calling them: Reflection, Orientation, Divination and Benefaction. These cannot be simply 'understood' as a kind of intellectual knowledge. They must be *experienced*, and on many many levels of consciousness, before one is truly 'initiated'. The OTO initiation rites may begin, further or seal these experiences within the personal life of the aspirant, yet they do not really constitute the entirety of them in any absolute sense. I cannot do this justice through words, though I'm trying to point it out here between us. When someone tells me that 'the A.'.A.'. is a human chain initiated by Crowley', in a sense they are completely correct, yet I would call this the EXOTERIC UNDERSTANDING. The AA is also a very important trans-physical phenomenon which extends not only into the physical world but also beyond it. I hope you see what I'm trying to say. The things you are mentioning are likely true. All I'm saying is that this isn't the only way to understand Crowley, and his ambiguity of meaning (as with most mystics) allows one to discover a very rich complexity that many authors do not ever touch. When you say things like: "All of the 'keys' to the order are lying around in Weiser publications" and "...It is the way that the order and Crowley, specifically, are ..." I hope you see where i will not agree with you. I don't agree that experiences can be obtained within books. They may be obtained WITH books, but only as part (perhaps a catalyst) of the experience. tyagi