Dust-Devils

The insanity of today grows naturally out of what has been happening since the inner, narrativizing, self-reflecting “I” came to be—around the time of ancient Mesopotamia, if we accept the theory of Julian Jaynes. Before that, he argues, humans were highly intelligent but not self-reflective. The gods spoke audibly to humans every day via thoughts and dreams; these were divine utterances, not “mine” or “yours.” Tribalism and stratification surely existed, but narcissists did not. We cannot return to those days, but we can, at last, wake up.

It is not “I” itself, but our literalization of it, our unshakeable belief in “I,” “me,” and “mine,” that hardens social divisions to the point of cataclysm. Yes, we see physical conflict and killing in the animal world too. For proof, look at tribal societies such as those formed by meerkats or chimpanzees. But without the belief in the inner “I,” even organized killing sprees cannot spawn hell on Earth.

 

If you want to strengthen your enemies, hate them. Send black magic against them. If you want the world to look more and more like what you hate, keep hating it. The fundamental Hermetic law of polarity determines that you manifest what oppose. This is Magick 101. Nor does it matter if you kill a leader that you oppose. As with the hydra, another head will grow. You will have only deepened the division.

 

Conversely, those, like Ghandi or Martin Luther King, Jr., who have successfully changed the course of history did so by transcending their “I” via their sincere religious convictions. For these purposes, the content of the religion matters little so long as it centers, not around an internalized “I,” but around the Highest. And, similarly, killing MLK could cause a movement to falter, but the spiritual current he released still flies free, continually seeking suitable forms.

 

I am a Thelemite. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I see that we are forced now to make real our individual oneness with God—or suffer terribly. Each one of us holds a piece of the cosmos. Each one of us creates divinely—either through ignorance, fear, and hatred or through Knowledge and profound acceptance of what is. Every person and thing we see as if outside of us is just another one of Our faces. If you don’t like what you see in the world or in another person, change yourself. Only then can your calm, deliberate action reshape the Universe.