I thnk you’re right the interest in the Da Vinci Code and other books taps into this desire we have for something mystical ( can’t think of a better phrase 
). Maybe that’s the donkey the brings us to the door.
Secret societies abound too I’m sure but do they know something we dont ? I doubt it, any real group deteriorates very quickly, in one or 2 generations, leaving only the symbols, rituals and funny hats
I am curious though as to why Shah endorsed “People of Secret” and wrote “The History of Secret Societies”. What was the purpose ?
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Posted by on 05/23 at 04:36 PM
Well, I don’t have any insider info as to what the purpose of Shah writing/sanctioning those was but I have a few suspicions surrounding the issue and I’ll throw them out as discussion points for what they’re worth.
1) I think that the first Shah books - ie the magic ones, Secret Lore of Magic and Oriental Magic were a kind of dummy run to see if magic could be a ‘vehicle’ for the teaching. The Arkon Daraul book would tie on with this and if it is correct (which it may well not be - just my own wild idea) then obviously Shah decided against the magic formula and went for Sufism instead.
It should be noted that Shah was also the author of Gerald Gardner: Witch under the pseudonym Jack Bracelin and was a key figure around Gardner (his personal secretary of sorts and quasi-manager of the Magic Museum) as the latter created and invented Wicca in the 1950s.
2) It is also possible that they serve to identify people who are unsuitable for further study and ‘divert’ them. In fact many Shah books may do this which poses the interesting question: which are the diversions and which the real? Are any ‘real’?
3) It could all be true and stuff that was needed to be ‘out there’ at the time.
Posted by segovius on 05/23 at 06:26 PM
"But - and here is the great disappointment - it really isn’t like that.”
Well I agree with the last bit...it really isn’t like that!
I think one of the problems for those seeking the truth is that our imagination tends to run away with us. We have ideas and fantasies about schools, secret societies, ancient wisdom, guardians of the truth etc etc and if we’re not careful all this imagining can be a real obstacle. We have expectations; we think we know what we’re looking for because we’ve already pictured it to ourselves, but in fact it’s a fantasy. Then we’re disappointed when we don’t find what we expect...and miss what’s actually there.
Posted by on 05/26 at 01:44 AM
Greetings of peace:
A Sufi tradition states that there is nothing more occult than mankind. We humans have all truth within ourselves. All we need to do to discover it is get out of our own way. The Sufi path consists of shedding our old habits and imagination and realizing the essential provisions for the journey to God.
It begins with love and ends with Love.
Ya Haqq!
Posted by Irving Karchmar on 05/26 at 07:45 PM
Have only been to Barcelona once but was very impressed with the Segradia Familia and the Pedrera. Both in their way suggest that nothing is impossible. Also although couldn’t get round museum understand that Gaudi’s designs were from studying nature. One to my mind reflects the geometry of nature and one produces amazing fluidity and plasticity with a very solid material.
Obviously no modern works of this present era can benefit from the renown of having stood the test of time.
Other than that would very much agree with the last two posts. Sufism isn’t so much about schools but about the yearning of Man for Divine Closeness. Which is a reflection of God’s yearning for us as per Divine saying “Oh David My Desire for them is far greater than their desire for me” One only has to read the life of Bayazid al Bestami as recounted by Attar to get a real sense of this.
Regards
Paul
Posted by on 05/27 at 12:01 AM
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Da Vinci Code
I bet you all thought I’d gone for good eh? Well, bad luck - it was just a server outage on the host’s end.
So I’ve been noticing this Da Vinci Code mania (difficult not to but with the ‘Sleep Alert’ gone to eleven some people might manage it) and it strikes me it has a strong connection (at root level) with Edward Campell’s (see below) theories of ‘the Hidden Guardians’.
But fear not - I am not about to discuss the brawling obscenity that is both book and film slavering mindlessly under the title given above: no, I am just hacked off to the nth degree with having to hear unmitigated nonsense about this irrelevancy at every turn so I thought I would do some posts about the real mystery of Rennes le Chateau.
Only this isn’t it (maybe tomorrow) because it got me thinking of something else - or continuing thinking about the ‘abandoning esotericism’ theme - and yes, I cantie it in!
It strikes me that such things as the DVC and the earlier Holy Blood, Holy Grail have a mass appeal because they touch on a truth: that there may be a group of people who are ‘behind the scenes’ and who have - for want of a better word - wisdom. Of course, in popular myth these ‘secret people’ may be good or bad (or, as Campbell points out in relation to John Fowles’ The Magus, neutral) but the point is that they have access to a different type of knowledge.
This idea is implicit in Gurdjieff too - not only with the Sarmoun Society but in the concept of the Cathedral Builders (and even megalith builders) of Europe. The idea being that the great works of art of the past (again the tie in with Da Vinci) such as the great gothic Cathedrals, the pyramids and other architectural monuments may be the products of a ‘school’. The subtext of course is that a genuine school would be capable of creating ‘objective art’ and works of such mastery that they are renowned through subsequent history.
I have always believed this - and it was one of the key factors (ie most attractive) that drew me to esoteric studies in the first place. And here’s the tie-in: that’s what we all yearn for - the magic, the ‘more-ness’ than everyday life. All us ‘seekers’ look for it (it is of course on one level the ‘Grail quest’ itself) and judging by the response to the original Baignent/Leigh books and now, Brown’s, a lot of other people do too.
But - and here is the great disappointment - it really isn’t like that. You are never going to find that group that is capable (or even tries) to work towards some modern equivalent of the Gothic Cathedrals. Never going to be part of that experimental Pythagorean school. Never going to see a ‘Rennaissance’ of great art works in the traditions of the masters.
That’s all fair enough in a way and there are obviously reason for it that I will never be able to comprehend. But it’s the paltry coin that we are palmed-off with as a substitute that seems to be the slap in the face.
Perhaps. as Campell implies in his book, one can only work when ‘the Solar Wind blows’ - and perhaps we are now in a period of stasis because the wind is still. That may well be true - Shah stopped his groups apparently a long while ago and this may be significant in this regard. What I am wondering about is all the rest of these groups which show all the signs of being ‘far from satisfactory’.
I’ve fulminated enough on this issue now though. Time to move on. Austin Osman Spare anyone?