I ended by saying there were reasons to be hopeful. Before saying what those reasons might be, I think some review is in order. Here are some important points to keep in mind going forward.
1. The vastness of space and time. Humanity occupies such a small part of the physical space. The quantity of time humans that have been around is minuscule.
2. Conservation of Novelty. Something that is new manages to stick around.
3. We are in a predicament.
4. Logic and rational thinking are dead ends. They won't provide answers to our predicament.
I find it hopeful to think about the possibilities that come from out side the realm of logic and reason. For example, living things. Biology can be unpredictable. Life is the wild card. Another realm is the appreciation of beauty. Whether it's a particular art form or the incredible beauty and diversity of nature. Then there is the realm of spirituality. Regardless of any particular tradition, there are lots of possibilities.
From here, I will be leaving behind the land of logic. A short advisory; this might start to sound wu-wu. Given our predicament, what have you got to lose?
And so we come to the idea of miracles. I don't mean events brought by a deity. Rather something that can't be explained from our current perspective. Could it be that we are all miracle workers? The Gnostic thinkers of the1st and 2nd century thought so.
We of the modern world have lost touch with a lot of knowledge and past practices that could serve us in this time of predicaments. I'm thinking about an old Gnostic and Hermetic tradition more commonly called Alchemy.
Alchemy is popularly thought of as the practice of turning base metals in to the stuff of commerce. Lead into gold and practiced by those with unbalanced minds. This is the be knighted reputation that alchemy has earned in a culture so given over to the logical and material world.
Alchemy is actually the practice of redeeming spirit from matter. The alchemical idea that spirit can be redeemed from matter begins to get teeth when you connect the idea of spirit up to the idea of novelty. This is not a common way to view novelty, but novelty is the life of the party and the life of the party is to be high spirited. It's possible that when something new occurs it could be the spirit that came from an object. If all objects have a spirit, then why not call them forth?
The emergence in humans, of language, tools, culture and higher ideals like courage, love and self sacrifice. These are not flukes. These are further steps along the way in the process of the great alchemical furnace of being. Heating and casting and dissolving and recasting and purifying alchemical gold.
Dark as the hour may appear, in reality we exist in a dimension of greater opportunity, greater freedom, greater possibility than has ever been. The challenge is to not drop the ball. To know this and to act on it and to sluff off all the leeches, weasels, back handlers and crypto fascists.
This is what we need to focus on. The thread in the dark labyrinth of the prison of the material world. It can lead us back to the light. The universe is an engine for the production of novelty. It always has been. The answers to our predicament will be found in novelty not from the realm of logic and reason. Next month, one more thing to say.
-----David Cutter
1. The vastness of space and time. Humanity occupies such a small part of the physical space. The quantity of time humans that have been around is minuscule.
2. Conservation of Novelty. Something that is new manages to stick around.
3. We are in a predicament.
4. Logic and rational thinking are dead ends. They won't provide answers to our predicament.
I find it hopeful to think about the possibilities that come from out side the realm of logic and reason. For example, living things. Biology can be unpredictable. Life is the wild card. Another realm is the appreciation of beauty. Whether it's a particular art form or the incredible beauty and diversity of nature. Then there is the realm of spirituality. Regardless of any particular tradition, there are lots of possibilities.
From here, I will be leaving behind the land of logic. A short advisory; this might start to sound wu-wu. Given our predicament, what have you got to lose?
And so we come to the idea of miracles. I don't mean events brought by a deity. Rather something that can't be explained from our current perspective. Could it be that we are all miracle workers? The Gnostic thinkers of the1st and 2nd century thought so.
We of the modern world have lost touch with a lot of knowledge and past practices that could serve us in this time of predicaments. I'm thinking about an old Gnostic and Hermetic tradition more commonly called Alchemy.
Alchemy is popularly thought of as the practice of turning base metals in to the stuff of commerce. Lead into gold and practiced by those with unbalanced minds. This is the be knighted reputation that alchemy has earned in a culture so given over to the logical and material world.
Alchemy is actually the practice of redeeming spirit from matter. The alchemical idea that spirit can be redeemed from matter begins to get teeth when you connect the idea of spirit up to the idea of novelty. This is not a common way to view novelty, but novelty is the life of the party and the life of the party is to be high spirited. It's possible that when something new occurs it could be the spirit that came from an object. If all objects have a spirit, then why not call them forth?
The emergence in humans, of language, tools, culture and higher ideals like courage, love and self sacrifice. These are not flukes. These are further steps along the way in the process of the great alchemical furnace of being. Heating and casting and dissolving and recasting and purifying alchemical gold.
Dark as the hour may appear, in reality we exist in a dimension of greater opportunity, greater freedom, greater possibility than has ever been. The challenge is to not drop the ball. To know this and to act on it and to sluff off all the leeches, weasels, back handlers and crypto fascists.
This is what we need to focus on. The thread in the dark labyrinth of the prison of the material world. It can lead us back to the light. The universe is an engine for the production of novelty. It always has been. The answers to our predicament will be found in novelty not from the realm of logic and reason. Next month, one more thing to say.
-----David Cutter
