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Tag Archives: gnosticism
WHAT IS A LIBRARIAN?
***UPDATE – a slightly more polished and beautifully type-set version is part of the SYSTEMICS II book.
(made available to read online for free once-in-a-while or generally with a donation based password.)
since the most recent developments here have led to informal meetings with the management of my local library (a hi-tech-architecture-media-learning-centre chain) and a crazy illuminating clash with a gestapo-resembling security in the basement of the british library, i felt the open letter to the former deserves to enlighten the general public.
BITS AND PIECES OF TROOF
a more elaborate rationale of POEMS & SNIPPETS
Like all my other work, the POEMS & SNIPPETS are very responsible about maintaining what I’d like to call a ‘thread of righteousness’. The sheer amount of information available today makes it virtually impossible (unless one cultivates an upright teaching of ‘The Law’) to discern straight from crooked, aboveboard from underhanded, righteous from wicked or, simply put, ‘good’ from ‘bad’. The whole conspiracy scene, for instance, has been infiltrated by yet higher conspiracies and those again of even higher ones in order to establish a covering of tracks and a climate of utter confusion, leading to deception within deception, without the hope to see any light amidst an endless loop of digging in dirt. The ‘Powers’ (let’s call them that way for now) have essentially used any possible flaw of human frailty and its tragic pettiness to lead them astray from true history, the truth about the human body and any true human heritage. The goal of this undertaking is essentially something everyone is supposed to enlighten to for themselves and shall thus be labeled – in here at least – ‘unspeakable’.
The ridiculous theory of evolution is a good example of how such large-scale deception can take place. I was indoctrinated myself as a kid in school. Charles Darwin had been timid, apparently, when he was putting it forward (one could almost say he was ‘bullied’ into publication by dark forces around him). It also had, it must be repeated, an embarrassing racist innuendo to start with. He, like most people of his social sphere, honestly believed that black people were an evolutionary link between humans (them) and monkeys. They glossed that over later on, after Hitler and during (hypocritical) bouts of ‘political correctness’. But regardless, there was and is up until today not a single piece of evidence for any intermediate species although the geological column as well as the present world should be flooded with exactly those forms of life, if any reasonable logic is to be put into tangible practice. Later ideas to tackle this problem like Elliott Gould’s ‘hopeful monster’ or anti-pope Richard Dawkins’ snobby adult children fairly tales simply take the piss for those who do know. Which is not to say that those authors haven’t actually lost the plot themselves (due to their flawed an used attachments for fame and glory perhaps) to be ‘earnestly’ wallowing in such complete delusion. Anyway. Charles Darwin, after there still haven’t been unearthed any fossils to prove ‘his’ theory, was in great doubt about it in his later years. But for the higher purpose to be achieved – to separate the human reasoning from the dignified notion of ‘design’ to be led into the black hole of ‘randomness’ and ‘meaninglessness’ – the machinery was already rolling out impeccably at that stage. Information about all of this does exist, but within the established mud-pit is really not easy to be extracted aboveboard and righteously (‘The Evolution Cruncher’, behind its creationist packaging, is maybe as concise as it gets …).
Meanwhile, the cultivation community, (Gnostics, Hermeticists, Qabalists, Freemasons, religious scholars, yogis, etc), essentially everyone higher up in the food chain of ‘knowledge’, is obviously well aware of this. One just has to look into the infamous ‘protocols’ from the British library to realise the disdain of those well-versed in the Human Tradition towards ‘ordinary’ human beings, or the ‘mob’ (also known as the Hypcrites or the Ignorants), who’re deemed to be devoid of any kindness, human reasoning or virtue – and any student of history would agree on them having a point there. Why is this so? Until our present day, all of human history is essentially shrouded in mystery entirely. Why has the teaching of re-incarnation or transmigration mainly been passed on through the Wicca tradition in the West, for example? Why is almost everyone lying and seemingly, on the surface, even rewarded for it? Why are there still people left then, despite this prevailing ignorance, mediocrity and darkness, who’re still upholding and even cherishing truth, virtue and kindness? Why are we born into suffering all along and die not knowing anything for most part. “Like a dog”, as G. I. Gurdjeff has aptly put it.
In this light, segregation from the contaminating dye vat of a ‘mob’ that just mindlessly follows any however ludicrous flights of fancy or wherever they’re sheepishly being led astray by tapping into their petty ‘flaws’, makes a lot of sense as cultivators everywhere and at all times were very aware of. Following the crowd, although giving the fake-impression of safety, doesn’t resolve any of our core problems. To be answering the ultimate question of “why am I here?” is solemn and requires our utmost attention, solitude and dignity. Does it need bravery as well? In a hyped-up stream of vanity, pretending to not die, perhaps. Or while being entangled in ridiculous games or power struggles among each other or between the sexes. Or while being busy with finger-pointing at various ‘authority’ figures to put our blame for any twitching unease. The true tragic, perhaps, of human existence might as well be that by trying to fool someone or something – fate, friends, god(s), society, life, the system, whatever – we’re only fooling ourselves, really, and the only one to blame for this ‘notional habit’ is again, only ourselves. While the loss and the regret might as well be eternal beyond the mere cycle of transmigration (if, let’s say, the Asura realm Buddhism talks about does indeed exist – the nine layers of heaven forming the three-realms of our perceptual confines: Heaven, Earth and Netherworld).
This is getting quite large now but just to conclude, coming back to deception, I’d like to use modern science as another example. Any trail of thought is based on axioms or working models. If the axiom at some stage turns out to be not valid anymore then the whole building, however vast, crumbles like a giant deck of cards. It is thus, that science follows ‘avenues’. The avenue that the ancient Greeks followed was different than the avenue that the civilisation who came to build the first pyramids in Egypt. And the Chinese human body science leading to things like acupuncture, say, followed a different trail altogether again.
What cultivation is, essentially, is the ‘highest science’. Why it has been kept ‘secret’ for most part is a question that touches pretty high levels. Like, why has the Divine created this environment in the first place? Certainly not because the Gods were bored. The Gnostics, Qabalists, Alchemists, etc were all studying ancient scriptures to learn. Knowledge was primarily encoded in stories as they provide the amazing ability to be passed on through centuries on one hand, and on the other hand offer the initiates to decode them according to their own level of understanding while concealing their message to those ‘unworthy’ of knowing.
Even more secret teachings involved the human body and the magic arts – elixir, the philosopher’s stone, the third eye, chakras, apertures, etc. What is widely known as ‘meridians’ in Chinese medicine is only the very tip of an iceberg of knowledge that has been passed on secretly over millennia through Daoist cultivation practices, for instance, who talk about ‘small heavenly circuit’ and ‘great heavenly circuit’ or about the Microcosm of the human body being equally vast than the Macrocosm of the universe outside of it. Studying the human body, life and nature directly is consequently a much more advanced science than the geeky probing for smaller particles through the prosthetics of clumsy machinery or the stretching of one’s imagination through mathematical formulas relating to the origin of the cosmos – while all-the-while ignorantly taking oneself out of the picture. “It’s a particle if you look at it and a wave if you don’t” (Quantum physics). Right.
Molecules that are constantly moving (waves), connected with everything else in the cosmos through mysterious intricate rotating mechanisms are rendering a three-dimensional animation for our equally molecular flesh eyes that we have been taught to call, perceive and regards as ‘tangible reality’, that’s the true situation, isn’t it? Meanwhile, the theory of gravity is only yet another theory. Doesn’t sand actually fly off a plate when we spin it?
So much so well. Happy digging with an upright mind and a compassionate heart.
Hope you enjoy the show :)
Reinhard Schleining
London, 5th July 2012
© 2012, all rights reserved
GODDESSES & DEMONESSES
so here are the new drawings that i’ve been promising people for a while – the series of nudes dedicated to gustav klimt’s 150th birthday.
ASTROLOGY
so the ASTROLOGY BOOK finally did happen. that’s always how it goes, isn’t it, the bigger and more ambitious the project, the more adversities pile up attempting to make it falter. but it came through the other day, eventually, and it does look fantastic, i’m well pleased.
i’d like to leave some brief words for the record on this occasion: this project brings to a closure the study of the whole esoteric tradition (aka mysticism) and the human emotional workings (aka psychology) that i’ve been involved with since i was a child. in hindsight, i find it rather strange but back then i just started to read up everything i could get hold of about the world of magic and mystery and the insanely intricate workings of the human psyche – i’d say, ever since about the age of 12. leaving aside gaps during more engaging ‘live involvements’ with people (relationships in other words), this quest for knowledge and understanding has usurped my conscience throughout most of what i’ve been doing. ‘truth’ was simply too fascinating and life thus too serious to possibly miss the whole point.
as i confidently say in my pitch on the back, this book, in the process of unfoldment for more than ten years, finally contains the entire wealth of the western tradition right at your fingertips.
hope you cherish and enjoy :)
london, autumn 2011
CITY OF GOLD
finally new work again. feels great. as i’ve been saying to my friends that ever since finishing the astrology book, i feel like starting my whole life anew. part of this is redefining my stance to art and illustration. somehow the ultimate test and opportunity came along through an inspiring ‘call for entry’ by STERZ, an austrian literature magazine …
we have my ‘old’ style handing over to my ‘new’ style here in this surreal double-spread clash of filmic imagery. colours are not longer needed, at least for the time being. the ink layer and tracing paper (which always reminded me of condoms for some mad reason) are now gone as well, freeing up more time and thus lessening my karmic burden, i guess. what’s left is a more thorough and sensual treatment of lines into the actual matter of paper.
as to the story, i originally had the idea of contrasting an unredeemably depraved babylon with a ‘golden city of jerusalem’ from scriptures. and then there was the association with a woman being like a city, in a way (again we have babylon there and also frank miller/ willl eisner’s ‘spirit’ which also references such gnostic metaphors). it all went from there. hope you like and feel inspired. there’s plenty to look at and to discover for those who are looking and able to see :)
london, autumn 2011