Dr. Christina Oakley Harrington gave a crystal clear account of the magical grimoire at Treadwells last night, placing the texts very firmly within the Judaeo-Christian culture of the late medieval and early modern period.  Amongst its many other intriguing threads, Treadwells is becoming the place to get an intelligent person's guide to the cultural history of the esoteric in a way that ought to be covered by the BBC.  A great deal of the value comes in the discussion immediately after the lecture where an unusual mix of academics, those practicing in the esoteric traditions and open-minded interested lay people raise questions in an environment where I have not yet heard a word spoken in anger or condemnation - even pedantry is worn lightly.  

As so often happens, I bought a book - four in fact - to create a small section in my library on Chaos Magic.  Since virtually every other intellectual trend of the last few thousand years has its representation, why not Chaos Magic?  My thanks to George for advising on the order in which they should be read.  The respectability of the study of esoteric religious experience is now well established.  The University of Exeter has a Special Centre under Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke - http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/research/exeseso/index.htm - and, since 2005, there has been a pan-European learned society, based in the Netherlands, devoted to the subject - http://www.esswe.org/ .

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Now to the other side of the religious spectrum, the bit that decisively rejected the happy incoherencies of the magical and the Catholic for purity.  Social networking sites are really quite remarkable.  One old friend from thirty years ago with an interest in reformation history turns up at the beginning of the week and then I reconnect with Dr. Jeremy Ive, a pastor and academic in Kent, through Facebook.  Two links to the Reformation (and I a catholic-origin existentialist with strong neo-pagan leanings) in one week means that someone is working in mysterious ways.

More seriously, although I cannot believe what Jeremy believes, his private blog at http://jgaive.wordpress.com/ is a very clear exposition of what Reformed Theology actually means to those who have this view and is an interesting resource which I very much recommend.  The only time that I ever see my Wiccan friends get angry and even intolerant (and you know how easy-going most neo-pagans are: there has to be a word beyond 'laid-back' for their attitude) is when the Christian Church comes up and not always without cause.  In fact, I hope I have a broader view, distinguishing the community-institutional (which can have the same social effects as any illiberal imposition of one faith on another as the Christian communities of the Middle East are now finding) and the religious-spiritual.  Do not think that neo-pagans in power could not be equally oppressive and cruel ...

The essence of Jeremy's world seems to me to be centred on one 'mysterium tremendum', the sacrificial act of Jesus Christ, and this 'mysterium tremendum' is the leap of faith of which Kierkegaard spoke - meaningless unless taken at full tilt and without questioning.  This is so powerful a human commitment that it reveals and it blinds at the same time.  In a sense, it is magnificent.  Its very shattering and shifting of perception in conversion is probably more comprehensible to the 'magical' personality than it can be to the modern 'psychological' personality (as described by Christina last night).  The difference, of course, is that for the Christian it is a life change for all time whereas for the Pagan changing oneself is generally a constant process of fluidity and change centred on moments of perceptual revolution, some more important than others, that can move a person on in many stages as life progresses 'from maiden to crone'.  There are lots of "Ah, now I see" moments for the seeking mind.

This difference also represents (for me) a contrast, at the extremes, between the universalist (with his or her propensity for the authoritarian solution and order) and the existentialist (with his or her tendency to liminality and change, possibly anarchy).  I prefer freedom but I refuse to deny my respect for those whose leaps of faith re-construct the world in either way, whether permanently (though I find this limiting) or constantly  and progressively (with all its excitements and dangers) - with this proviso, derived from my liberal instincts, that all live by example and not by force or power.

Tags: new religions, religion
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