FROM:    Fra.: Apfelmann

SUBJECT: Egregore II

Space seems rather solid and unbudging; even magic can do very
little it seems to overcome its buttresses of solidity and apparent
inertia, occasional exceptions included. (May it be noted that I
include matter in this space paradigm, because solid matter is
usually defined by the very same factors as is space - namely width,
length and height.)

Time, on the other hand, is much more volatile and abstract, so much
so in fact that it is widely considered to be basically an illusion,
even among non-occultist laymen. And indeed in his famous novel
"1984" George Orwell has beautifully, albeit perhaps unwillingly,
illustrated that history is very little more than purely the
_description of history_. (Which is why it has to be rewritten so
often. It seems that mankind is not very happy with an "objective
past" and prefers to dabble in "correcting" it over and again. This
is quite an important point I shall refer to again later on.)
History is, after all, the defining of our past own roots and our
_present_ position within our linear space-time continuum in
relation to past and future. Very often, unfortunately, the
description and interpretation of history seem little more pathetic
endeavour to obtain at least a minimum of objectivity in a basically
chaotic universe. The expression "ordo ab chao" is more or less a
summary of Western thought and Weltanschauung, of the issues
straining and stressing the Western mind since ancient Greece. Chaos
is considered "evil", order on the other hand is "good" - then the
political philosophy, if you care to dignify it by this terms, of
"law and order", appeals to people`s deeply rooted fears of loss of
stability and calculability. ("Anarchy" is another widely
misunderstood case in point.) The ontological fact that everything
is transitory has never been particular well-received in Western
philosophy and theology.

Now before you get the impression that I am only trying to impose a
typical exercise in heavyhanded Teutonic style philosophical
rambling upon your overbusy reading mind, let me hasten to point out
that if past, present and future are, at least in principle, totally
subjective, we as magicians are locally perfectly free to do what we
like with them. For the magician is a) the supreme creator of his
own universe and b) the master of Illusion (ref. the Tarot card "The
Magician/Juggler"). This freedom of historical choice, however, is
seldom realised let alone actively applied by the average magician.
Maybe one of the reasons for this has to do with the somewhat
pathetic fact that most of us tend to live our lives in a more or
less manner, being mild eccentrics at best, distinctly avoiding
becoming too much over the top. There are a number of possible
explanations for this, ranging from "every magician is just another
guy/gal like me" to "prevention of insanity". As we deal all the
time with insanity - i.e. extremely unorthodox states of
consciousness by bourgeois standarts, we magicians prefer some
stability in our everyday lives and makeups, but this is not really
our topic.

Rather than delve into social normality of the average magician I
should like to investigate the many bogus claims to antiquity as put
forward by a multiple of magical and mystical orders from this point
of view. Such orders range from Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and
Theosophy to such venerable institutions as the O.T.O., the Golden
Dawn and many others. Their historical claims are usually quite
stereotyped: the spectrum covered includes Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu,
Solomon, Moses, Dr. Faustus, St. Germain, the Gnostics, the Knight
Templar,the Cathars, the Illuminati, the Holy Grail myth,
prehistoric witchcraft, matriarchy, shamanism etc.

Now it is quite common for shamans, to cite one example, to claim
that in the good old days (usually, of course, dating back to a
non-calibrated, non-defined time immemorial) things used to be much,
much better. One of the more profane reasons for this contention may
be the fact that most of these shamans have already achieved quite a
venerable age in their trade; and don`t we all know the typical
attitude of old crones towards modernity ? It may not sound
particular spiritual or holy but maybe all we are seeing here is the
primitive`s parallel to the "Now when I was in Poona with Royal
Indian Army, young lad..." reported occasionally to be heard in some
of today`s pubs.

                            Egregore III

But there is more to it, I think. By calling up "bogus" ancestors
from Moses via Solomon to Dr. Faustus and St. Germain, the magician
not only reinvents his own history, he also is summoning up the
egregore of these "entities" (along with all their powers and
inhibitions of course) - or, to put into Mr. Sheldrake`s
terminology, their morphic fields. By violating all the
painstakeing endeavours of the meticulous historian, by simply
ignoring a number of tedious and possibly contradictory facts and
questions (such as whether Moses and Solomon have ever _really_ been
sorcerers of some standing in their own time) the magician becomes
God in the fullest sense of the expression: not only does he choose
his relatives in spirit quite arbitrarily, he even claims the right
to do what not even the judaeo-christian god of the old testament is
ever described as doing, namely changing "objective past" at will.

This type of creative historicism appeals, so it seems, very
strongly to the unconscious mind, supplying it with a great deal of
ideological back-up information, thus reducing its
conscious-mind-imposed limits of "objectivity" to at least some
modicum of superficial probability. It is only when the occultist
mixes up the different planes of reference, when he purports to
speak of "objective linear truth", instead of mythic or
symbological, decidedly non-linear truth, that serious problems
arise.This should be avoided at all costs in order not to strain our
psychic set-up by contradictory evidence, which can easily result in
an unwilled-for neutralisation of all magic powers.

But this, of course, is the same problem as with occult scientism.
"Rays" are quite a convincing hypothesis to base telepathic
experiments on, as long as you don`t try to overdefine said rays by
epitheta such as "electromagnetic" or the like. For if you do, you
become the victim of scientists`zealous inquisition boards. Or, as
Oscar Wilde might have put it, it is not truth which liberates man`s
mind but lying. (Which, again, is one of the reasons why Aleister
Crowley entitled his magnum opus "The Book of Lies" in the first
place...)

Let us then resort to _creative historicism_ whenever we find it
useful. Let us not have "historical objectivity" dictated to us by
the powers that be. Let us accept our fuzziness of expression which
is, after all, little more than a honest acknowledgement of the
fact that symbols and images are always more than just a little
ambiguous, as our dreams well prove every night. As in divination,
it does not pay to become overprecise in magic: the more you try to
define a spell, the higher probability of failure. It is quite easy
to charge a working talisman quite generally "for wealth"; it is
quite another to charge it to "obtain the sum of $347.67 on March
13th at 4.06 p.m. in 93, Jermyn Street, 3rd floor" and still expect
success. While the latter may strangely enough succeed occasionally,
this is usually only the freak exception of the rule. However, by
systematically rewriting our past in fuzzy terms, possibly eventing
past lives and biographies for ourselves consciously or arbitrarily,
we are fulfilling the final demand of Granddaddy Lucifer`s "non
serviam". Let nobody impose his or her time and history parameters
on you!

And for practical exercise, allow your clock occasionally to be well
in advance of your contemporaries`; let it sometimes lay behind for
a few hours _and_ minutes (do not just change the hour hand as this
would make it easy to recalculate into demiurge`s "real" space-time
continuum, making you yet again its slave!) Do this to learn about
your former ill-advised humility towards the current time paradigm -
and about the illusory character of time and its measurement in
general. Rewrite your personal and family history daily, invent your
own kin and ancestors. "Problems with Mom and Dad? Pick a new
couple!" Experiment with retroactive spells, try to heal your
friend`s flu before he even contracted it. But do this in a playful
spirit lest your censor should whack you for your constant
violations of the rules of this game by again confusing the frames
of reference. Jump from one parallel universe to the next one, never
permit yourself to stand still and become enmeshed by Maya`s veil
(you are supposed to be the _Master_ of illusion, remember?). And
don`t panic: for nothing is true, everything is permitted.