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Daily Advice 1.12.21
Jan. 12th, 2021 03:38 pmWe'll return to Sun Tzu tomorrow. Today I want to check in with our old friend, 19th century occultist Eliphas Levi.
In Chapter 6 of Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, Levi discusses the nature of the Astral Light. The Astral Light is his term for the total collection of shared images, feelings, and impulses which act upon us as individuals and as a society. Whether or not the Astral Light "really exists" is totally immaterial to what follows.
Levi writes:
Does that remind you of anyone?
If you've been watching the news for the last.... ever, it should.
But now I'm talking about other people.
I've noticed that, when I let my mind think about the news, or about politics, it does the following. First, it conjures up an image of someone on the Other Side. When I was younger and liberal, this was a conservative; now that I'm older and conservative, it's a liberal. Then it sets the image into motion; like an idiotic puppet, it repeats whatever the Other Side's propaganda line of the day is.
Freedom! 9/11! 'Murica! You're with us or with the terrorists! God, guns, and guts! Terrorists, terrorists everywhere!
Racist! Sexist! White privilege! Anything I don't like is Hitler! Russians, Russians everywhere!
I then respond by becoming angrier and angrier. Sometimes-- not always, but often enough-- may God forgive me-- I find a real-life person who reminds me just a little too much of the image in my mind, and I lash out at them. I'm always thinking that telling people how dumb they are will convert them to my cause. Somehow, it keeps never working.
This, of course, is precisely what Levi is talking about. The cartoon caricature of the Other Side is an image, reflected in the Astral Light. There are many, many such reflections, and when our minds are left to their own devices, they are led about by them like a dog on a leash.
The Astral Light-- the ideas and images that we live with-- the memes that compose our culture from moment to moment, if you like-- are always present. So what can we do to free ourself of its domination?
Levi is clear:
Over at her blog, my friend Violet has some very good suggestions in this regard.
In Chapter 6 of Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, Levi discusses the nature of the Astral Light. The Astral Light is his term for the total collection of shared images, feelings, and impulses which act upon us as individuals and as a society. Whether or not the Astral Light "really exists" is totally immaterial to what follows.
Levi writes:
People who renounce the empire of reason and who love losing their will in the pursuit of reflections of the astral light are subject to alternative bouts of furor and sorrow which remind us of all the wonders of demonic possession.
Does that remind you of anyone?
If you've been watching the news for the last.... ever, it should.
But now I'm talking about other people.
I've noticed that, when I let my mind think about the news, or about politics, it does the following. First, it conjures up an image of someone on the Other Side. When I was younger and liberal, this was a conservative; now that I'm older and conservative, it's a liberal. Then it sets the image into motion; like an idiotic puppet, it repeats whatever the Other Side's propaganda line of the day is.
Freedom! 9/11! 'Murica! You're with us or with the terrorists! God, guns, and guts! Terrorists, terrorists everywhere!
Racist! Sexist! White privilege! Anything I don't like is Hitler! Russians, Russians everywhere!
I then respond by becoming angrier and angrier. Sometimes-- not always, but often enough-- may God forgive me-- I find a real-life person who reminds me just a little too much of the image in my mind, and I lash out at them. I'm always thinking that telling people how dumb they are will convert them to my cause. Somehow, it keeps never working.
This, of course, is precisely what Levi is talking about. The cartoon caricature of the Other Side is an image, reflected in the Astral Light. There are many, many such reflections, and when our minds are left to their own devices, they are led about by them like a dog on a leash.
The Astral Light directs the animal instincts and battles against man's intelligence, which it tends to pervert through the lavishness of its reflections and the lies of its images...
The Astral Light-- the ideas and images that we live with-- the memes that compose our culture from moment to moment, if you like-- are always present. So what can we do to free ourself of its domination?
Levi is clear:
To isolate oneself from the Astral Light, it does not suffice to wrap oneself in woolen material; one must also, and most importantly, have achieved an absolute tranquility of the mind and heart; have left the domain of the passions; and have made sure of one's ability to keep an inflexible will while acting sincerely. One must also repeat these acts of will often, because... the will is secured only through acts, just like religions have no power or duration over time except through their ceremonies and their rites.
Meditation, prayer, and spiritual practice are the only methods I know for achieving this. At times like these, when the Astral Light is filled with maddening reflections driving the most ordinary people to violence, spiritual practice is especially important. Pick a God, any God-- just pick God, or the Devil will surely pick you. Over at her blog, my friend Violet has some very good suggestions in this regard.
