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From: nagasiva@luckymojo.com (nigris (333))
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.freemasonry,alt.magick,talk.religion.newage,alt.thelema
Subject: The 'Misplaced' Masonic Keys
Date: 23 Jul 1999 23:22:57 -0700
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49990201 IIIom

do what thou wilt

333: 
#> sometimes the 'Keys' are #1 -- that is, the tradition or individuals
#> in question has corrupted or never received the correct rites which
#> the speaker thinks contains the transformative components.
#> 
#> sometimes the 'Keys' are #2 -- having obtained the magick formula,
#> one may be incapable of understanding it or what it means in terms
#> of the cosmos and one's place in it.
 
a correspondent writes:
# Very good.  What happens when the possessors of the actual
# knowledge [#1] and rationale for the principles [#2] begin to 
# "water down" the teachings, in order to appease a real or 
# perceived political inquisition?   

then it can lead to the deteriorization of the tradition, but
this type of description apparently is provided by rival
esoteric cults about one another all the time.  therefore, if
one is going to describe the 'watering-down' having actually
taken place, then in order to take it seriously we should ask
for very precise historical details, including which teachers
were responsible for the dilution, when the dilution took place
and why, and what the results of this could be demonstrated to
have.  this is ESPECIALLY true where the speaker in question
(say, a quasi-masonic occultist) has something to gain by
impugning the 'depth' of a rival or antecedant membership 
organization.
 

# Is Freemasonry perhaps an example of an Order where only
# the exoteric shell of the Mysteries is left to pass on, 
# the inner meaning of the symbolism having been abandoned 
# for socio-polical expediency in an earlier age?  

my understanding (heh, this is great, me defending Freemasonry now)
is that there are more than one "Order", more than one lineage,
often associated with geographical and/or country origins, and
that this question is usually asked without need in order to set
the stage for a dismissal based on very little evidence.

another way of saying this is: why are you asking the question?
have you been given evidence that this is the case, or are you
merely perpetuating rivalrous slander?  do you have actual
evidence of the accusation, or are you merely repeating things
that you have been told or heard?


# Scholars in our age spend a lot of time attempting to
# reconstruct the "Christian Mysteries," for example...teachings 
# that the external shell of the Roman and Orthodox churches long 
# ago abandoned and forgot. 

could you describe some of these mysteries for us which these
churches have abandoned and forgotten?


# Are there any lessons or warnings relevant to contemporary
# magickal organizations we can draw from this tendency?  

I think that we can learn not to be arrogant by virtue of
examining our culture and determining with honest introspection
that most cultures have a diversity of experience and knowledge
and that the variation in its depth does not describe its
overall retention as a body. 

that is, just because some Christians are fundamentalists this
does not mean that ALL of them are this way.  just because
some Crowleyites have forgotten (or never learned) the deeper
concepts behind the symbols inherent to popular rites, this
doesn't mean that there isn't a thriving esoteric discussion
ongoing in the halls of Thelema.  the same could be said of
Freemasonry (and my partner has invited you into one such hall
wherein you will find exceptions to the hypothesis you 
entertained above).

why not presume the best about the masonic and quasi-masonic
cultures until we have hard evidence (say, statements made
from core institutions indicating the lack of depth in 
understanding concerning the esoteric instructions of rites
and monitors)?  what does it gain us to suspect the worst?

love is the law
333
nagasiva@luckymojo.com 
-- 
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