Western Mystery Tradition and other Occult Topics

Hi Oberon,

thanks for posting on such an interesting issue.

Could you do me the favour and give me the title plus bookpages which you have quoted. This would make it easier to read them in their context before I will answer you.

Thanks, in light

Runael

Hi Oberon,

some thoughts on the subject...

W.E. Butler wrote also that there are different types or forms of evil, and some of them are paradoxly not evil at all.This seems a little bit tricky, because first he states that there are different forms of evil and then he states, there are some, which aren`t evil.
What do you think about this contradiction?

<<1. "...the innate resistance of form to force." When free-moving force encounters some sort of form, it will be restricted. In this restriction one can control and direct this force.>>

This is an qabbalistic view on two great formative (or creative) aspects in our universe, force and form. There are mentioned in correlation to the TREE OF LIFE. (We will consider attentively on this later in the course).
Butler writes that <<it is not evil, but partly a function of the evolving universe>>

Take for example the elements fire and water as described in the "Overview of this course". Without the formgiving and confining power of the element of water, the enormous power of the element of fire will be useless, because it has no direction and purpose. Take for example a river. If there would be no riverside, the whole water of the river would not flow but trickle of in the earth. But if there is a riverside, may be al small, the power can be used to spin a water wheel. But if the riverside is to restrictive the power could get out of the form and will probably destroy something...this consequence could be considered as evil?!

<<2. "...the inertia of formlessness and chaos - the "Abortion of Space," the Cosmic Quicksands."

This one boggles my mind the most. What is meant by all this? If we reduce this to human proportions, does this include a wandering, indecisive mind that holds nothing and has no direction? What is this cosmic chaos?>>

I`m Sorry, Oberon, I have no clarifying idea on this topic. It seems to me as if it is a kind of opposite thing on the first form or may be just another type of the first form? Now we have a kind of powerless energy and moreover inertia of form. From this there will emerge nothing...  May be somebody can give us an idea about this second item.

<<3. "..."unbalanced force". Here a perfectly good and useful force or energy is displaced in space or time..."

Does anyone have an exemple for this. What springs to my mind are the experiments of 'would be' magicians with the powers of nature without knowing what they are doing; the result can be disastrous (psychologically).>>

I think a simple example for this is the energy of a teenager which on the one hand is not easy to direct but on the other hand, if directed could be of tremendous usefulness. For example in sports.
I think this third topic is connected to what we call in qabbalah the NEFESH or in magical work the power self. It is our subconsiousness mind. Think of it in form of horses. They have to carry the carriage. They will only do if directed in the right kind. Your conscious mind in this image is the carriage driver. He will make use of the forces, of the power of the horses to direct the carriage to a goal.
There are examples in chapter for this topic, the fire which is useful if placed right - it will warm us - but placed in the middle of a room, it will burn the house down. This is an energy which is powerful and can cause both harm and goods.

<<Butler calls these three forms of evil positive evil. Why is that? It sounds like a paradox...>>

I think he calls it positive because like in the fire example we have an energy which can cause much harm if not used in the right way but can cause so much good thinks if handled in the right way.

<<Another form is "positive positive evil": organised evil. Why is it called positive positive and not simply negative?>>

I am not shure why this is called the positive positive evil.  And I don`t agree completly with the argument that there is the evil as an opposite of the good. It is a part of creation and is often a consequence of bad action. Action that causes severe, ugly or harm. And it is our free will to do good deeds and be virtuous. If we do, will there be evil?
In the qabbalah the bad or evil man do is called and considered as "the evil urge" (Yetzer Ha-Ra) Our subconscious and conscious mind can be influenced by it (see: Ancient Traditions of Qabbalistic Magic, Salomo Baal-Shem, p 35). THus the idea of harmonising and purification in magic is such a neccesary thing.

LVX
RUnael

PS:Oberon, I hope you will understand my statement for I am not practised using english language to state ideas. When I "quote" from Butlers book, please keep in mind that I have a german edition and had to translate it back so that it might be not the same sentence as in the book itself.

can I just ask .... is evil wrong ?

Hi Oberon,

That was quite an interesting perspective on classifying the meaning of evil, although to my understanding, it was quite abstract, and not sure if it would help me if I came face to face with pure evil in a dark alley.:) Perhaps a definition of evil itself would be in order. Once I heard it called "separation from God, Good or Light." Or perhaps the " opposition to Love and Light, meaning wanting to do harm to others, or to situations that deter a person from achieving their own personal goals. I have encountered what I believed was pure evil, and it terrorized me into not practicing my rituals, while I set off to discover just what this force was, and why I seemed to be its target. I'm not sure if its appropriate to discuss fully here, what I found, for it led me on a search to fully understand our human history, which I learned is not easy, because our past has been shrouded in mystery, and depends on what historians and archaeologists are allowed to bestow as our accepted history. I believe that the being referred to as Satan and another named Lucifer are actually real beings who have ruled Earth behind the scenes for millennia, even though I never took them seriously until I seemed to be attacked by a being resembling these guys, and began to seriously research our history, and just who these so-called gods worshipped in Sumer, Egypt, and Rome were. I won't go into more detail here, but I do believe the "Fall" talked about in the Garden of Eden, is where mankind was first influenced by these beings we call the Anunnaki gods. We are indeed still enslaved by these beings through the Babylonian money system, our political systems, and the so-called Royal families..The past three years, there has been a war going on behind the scenes to free our planet from their control. It is coming to a conclusion, and soon the general public will be told, and it will lead to a cleansing and Ascension of Earth and her inhabitants.