From:    Tim Maroney                            Area: RPSTOVAL
To:      Serpens                                22 Apr 92 09:24:40
Subject: RE: Re: RE: RE: THELEMA WITHOUT CHRISTIANITYUpdReq 

Like I said, I wish I had written it, but I didn't.  The O.T.O. rumor mill
holds that a certain other person who is banned from Thelema Lodge wrote it,
but I have found that mill to be the single most unreliable source of
information I've encountered in my life, so I don't give it much credit.
I especially liked the parody on qabalistic reasoning, and the section in
which the Master Beta explains the various reasons for kicking people out of
the Order.
Timbo


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From:    Tim Maroney                            Area: RPSTOVAL
To:      Frater Ehubi                           23 Apr 92 10:48:16
Subject: RE: Re: RE: RE: THELEMA WITHOUT CHRI   UpdReq 

Yes, technology has an impact, and the car is a good example.  But is the car
the "dominant principle" of the modern world?  I don't have any idea what such 
a claim would mean.  You're shifting emphasis.  That's fine, as long as we're
all clear that you're redrawing the lines of discussion.  Somehow, though,
you're coming across as performing a bit of hand-waving and misdirection, as
if you were changing the rules and pretending that the original rules were
still in place.
So, let's put that behind us and work under the new axioms.  Thelema is a
technology for modifying consciousness, which (if it became a widespread and
generally accepted technology, like the internal combustion engine) might have 
some significant effects on society.  Personally I think this is very
unlikely.  Consciousness modification has always been an interest of the few.  
What will happen to make it an interest of the many?
What will the effect on society be?  Well, my observations of the O.T.O.
indicate that people who spend a lot of time modifying their consciousness
tend to be less productive in an economic sense.  If this holds true, then the 
impact on society would be a negative one, as standards of living would
decline.  What about impacts on political and economic systems?  These are
sufficiently far removed from the scope of the technology that no consensus
about socioeconomic issues is to be found among "modifiers", so I doubt much
change would result in those realms.  We might see more of a drift away from
centrism towards extremist views like fascism and anarchism, with a growth in
social strife and a rise in grand and doomed political experiments drawn with
a visionary rather than a pragmatic eye.
What about you?  You've drawn these new lines of approach, but you haven't
said anything within them so far.


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From:    Serpens                                Area: RPSTOVAL
To:      Tim Maroney                            24 Apr 92 20:27:36
Subject: Re: RE: RE: RE: THELEMA WITHOUT CHRISTIANUpdReq 

Tim -
 Arguably, really "effective" comedy ( we can argue about whether that is a 
valid statement under another heading, if need be) touches pain at the same 
time as it touches laughter.  Certainly (to paraphrase as best I can recall 
it):
 The price of such-and-such a new book is 39.50 which is 93 times .418 
(almost).  And 3950 when referenced in Liber Big D, The Unexpurgated Sepher 
Sephiroth, also means flatus, boredom, the Angel Malarkiel and "Hey, get a 
life Qabala dweeb!"
 Hit me on both buttons at once.
 But then again, once you've played Arlecchino, laughing at yourself until you 
cry is not new territory.
 I'd comment on the secret list of crimes for which one can get kicked out of 
hte Order, but I have misplaced my password to my file of snappy comebacks.
 (Geez, I miss so much living in DC - can't even get pluged into a single, 
most unreliable rumor mill - gotta get cracking on building up the Camp so we 
can start our own rumor mill)
 Paul

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