On Aug 28, 3:21 pm, Rufus Opus
gmail.com> wrote:> On Aug 24, 10:25 pm, Kisai
gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> The Tao Te Ching is not a handbook on the "Eastern Magical Tradition",
>>>> (whatever the heck that means). It's from a philosophical branch of
>>>> Taoism, which is full of folks trying to do magic, make gold, live
>>>> forever, talk with spirits and many other things that people in the
>>>> "Western Magical Tradition" are trying to do.
>
>>> Are you kidding me? You're saying the Tao is WMT?
>
>> Negative. I'm saying that the Tao Te Ching receives a
>> disproportionate amount of attention from the students of the "WMT".
>
> So what? It's still Eastern Mystery shit. Not Western Mystery Shit.
It's on Crowley's reading list for the A.'.A.'., and he attempted a
translation, so its part of the Western Mystery Shit. His
(mis)conception of Yellow Magicians are also partly based on his
understanding of the Tao Te Ching, so again, WMS.
>
>> I'm also refuting the WMT/EMT diochotomy. It makes no sense at all on
>> where one draws lines.
>
> Sure it does. No one said we didn't get to be arbitrary.
Really? Is African magic WMT or EMT? How about Amerindian magic?
Australian? The Bible is from an Asiatic source, yet it's considered
a founding stone for WMT. Greeks practically live in Asia, have an
Egyptian influence, yet their philosophy is considered a founding
stone too.
People *say* WMT and EMT, but what they *really mean* is the dichotomy
between monotheistic vs. polytheistic peoples (I'm not sure what side
to put henotheistic peoples).
>
>>> And it's Eastern and Western Mystery Traditions, not magical. Magick
>>> is a subset of the mystery schools of the west.
>
>> Muh... I don't believe in 'mystery schools', Rosicrucians, Knights
>> Templar, Sions of Priory, Illuminati, a conspiracy behind Lee Harvey
>> Oswald, nor magic being a result of them.
>
> Well, there really were "Mystery Cults" of Isis and Osiris in
> Hellenistic times. There are mysterious artifacts that point to a rich
> tradition of magickal lore found in the Greek and Roman Magickal
> Papyri and Affixiones. The Dad Sea Scrolls record the history of the
> Sons of Light and Sons of Darkness. There really were mystery
> traditions and mystery schools, and they really left behind useful
> bits of knowledge, like Pythagorus and his theorem.
> Does that mean the Rosey Cross and all the subsequent forgeries
that
> wore their decaying rags were legit Mystery Schools? Beats the hell
> out of me. I think they were made-up, but I just wasn't there when the
> Isis cult was operating, so I don't know if it was based on something
> real or equally made up.
>
> If people then were like we are now, then chances are 99%% of what they
> learned in the Mystery Schools was bullshit.
Oh, I know Mystery Schools exist. I just don't believe in them. I
believe in talented individuals. I believe in clubs, some with
"secret" knowledge or agendas. I believe in rubes and marks.
I don't believe that magic is a result of these "Mystery Schools".
Magic is a result of people trying to take some sort of control over
things that they have no control over. It's basic human nature, which
is why it endures.
