The Gnostic Bowie
Peter R Koenig is writing a book about David Bowie’s occult interests - it has some fascinating insights into Bowie’s esoteric thought and his researches into the work of Crowley, Gurdjieff and Anger etc.
The book looks to be a must-read when it is finally published but for now Koenig has posted extensive notes at his site which is also a great resource for info on occult matters generally - particularly the OTO and its alleged modern subgroup ‘The Caliphate’.
This is a great article but with far too many themes to post here - if you’re interested in pop, Bowie, Gnosticism or Occult stuff then give it a read.
August 22 2005 in Esoteric Christianity | Read More | Comments [2]
Correfoc (again)
Tonight was the last night of the Gracia Festival and yes, you guessed it, another Correfoc. Here’s a few pictures.
August 22 2005 in Barcelona | Read More | Comments [0]
Tebbit on Islam
It seems that Norman ‘Rottweiller’ Tebbit is once more unleashed and giving us all the benefit of his opinions on Islam. Normally I wouldn’t give him much attention, and all the more so now he is sinking into his dotage but it is worth addressing as his views are a recapitulation of an opinion that has gained common currency and is, imo, a factor that militates towards less understanding rather than more.
August 19 2005 in Sufism/Islam | Read More | Comments [2]
Definitions
On a certain Newsgroup recently someone asked if I could stipulate the difference between Sufism and Islam - if there is one - and if I could explain what Sufism is.
I always decline these sort of questions because a) I usually don’t know much more than the asker and b) I’m not a Sufi and need to keep in mind that I don’t know what I’m talking about. There is always the possibility that someone will take my witterings seriously and that’s not the sort of thing I need going into the book of Judgement which is already pretty full. I’m always pretty careful to create a bad impression but still....you never know....these are strange times.
Anyway, I digress. I was contemplating this for my own satisfaction for a while and accordingly trawled through some Sufi Classics on the matter. I think my favourite comes from Idries Shah’s small pamphlet Observations
I shall share it here as it seems pretty much spot-on:
Religion is often confused with religiosity, just as it is confused with emotionality and obsession. Spirituality is the essence of religion: and there is, again, an essence of spirituality. Sufism is the essence of essences.
There is much food for thought in this short description. Anyone have any other definitions? Agree/disagree?
August 18 2005 in Sufism/Islam | Read More | Comments [10]
More Festa de Gracia
Today is the start of the Festa de Gracia in my barri in Barcelona - which means the end of any work because it is a full-on fireworks, drinking and mayhem party 24/7 for a whole week. Not that I’ll be indulging personally but it matters little - it all happens outside your window. Any window. All windows.
I have also started a Flickr Gallery which has assorted photos and general stuff and features quite a few from today’s utter carnage. Will add more when I recover.
Adieu.
August 16 2005 in Barcelona | Read More | Comments [1]
Correfoc
As I mentioned in a post yesterday, my neighbourhood - Gracia - is in the midst of the week long madness of the annual Fiesta. Last night I was due to go to a flat-warming at a friend’s new apartment and, as you do, I left around 10pm. As I hit the main drag I saw these suspicious characters fiddling about with something in the middle of the road:
August 16 2005 in Barcelona | Read More | Comments [0]
Other Beings…
I’m probably a bit late on this but there are a fascinating couple of posts on the nature of the Jinn in Islamic cosmology (and their relationship to Fortean phenomena) over at Fantastic Planet and the theme has also been taken up by Alchemical Braindamage and Tim Boucher.
August 16 2005 in Sufism/Islam | Read More | Comments [0]
Festa de Gracia
This is a small collection of photos and brief comments from the Festa de Gracia in Barcelona: August 15th - 22nd 2005. The full photo sets may be found at the Anulios Flickr Gallery and I will add to these as the Festa continues.
August 15 2005 in Barcelona | Read More | Comments [0]
A Look
Later this week I want to write a bit about a certain aspect of Christianity (or perhaps, more correctly, an element of Gnosticism) but first I want to share some background in the form of the piece of writing that turned my thoughts in that direction. The piece is called A Look and is from Augy Hayter’s book Godbothering
August 15 2005 in Esoteric Christianity | Read More | Comments [0]
inTerjeCted
I’ve just checked my referrers and discovered a great new site that needs adding to the blogroll: inTerjeCted. This really is awesome and covers a wide range of material brilliantly. Btw, is it me or are really good Gnostic/Esoteric/Sufic blogs just appearing all over the place now or is it just that I’m only now noticing them? It feels a bit like we may be at the start of something here.
There’s a great post today quoting Corbin’s classic work The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism
“In Mandaean gnosis, every being in the physical universe has its counterpart in the heavenly Earth of Mshunia Kushta, inhabitated by the descendent of a mystical Adam and Eve (Adam Kasia, Eva Kasia). Every being has his archetypical Figure (mabda) there, and the latter communicates with its earthly counterpart. After the exitus at death, the earthly person abandons his body and takes on the subtle body of his heavenly alter ego, while the latter, rising to a higher plane, assumes a body of pure light. When the human soul has completed its cycle of purifications and when the realm of Abathur Muzunia bear witness to its perfect purity, it enters the world of light and is reunited with its eternal partner. “I go towards my likeness/ And my likeness goes toward me/He embraces me and holds me close/ As if I had come out of Prison”.
August 13 2005 in General Stuff | Read More | Comments [4]
Tweaking…
Decided to do a few more updates, add a few blogs and restructure the link categories.
I’m getting rid of the ‘Godbothering’ section because, well, it’s not such a good phrase is it really? And I’ve decided to spend a bit more time talking about Christianity - not just because it is a topic I love but because I have been accused of being variously a ‘loony fundie’ and an ‘infidel’ who talks too much about Islam. It really does feel good to have detractors - I wonder if it’s a sin?
Anyway, the erstwhile Godbotherers have now been split into their won categories of Christianity, Islam and Inter-Faith - have added a Barcelona section as well. Hopefully I’ll find some decent content to put there soon.
In the meantime, while I research this, I have added the following links in the new Christian section: Historical Jesus is a great blog that looks at the roots of Christianity through the figure of Jesus in a historical context. A similar site (but different!) looking at the same area but focussed on the roots and antecedents of Christianity is Christian Origins.
One other added in this category is The Polished Mirror which is a liberal blog of social justice and Christian contemplation.
Three other sites that are well worth checking out - in fact I urge you to do so - are Eternal Awareness, Other Thoughts and Taming Ego in the Inter-Faith category.
Please check these blogs out and say hello....they’re all great reads.....
August 13 2005 in General Stuff | Read More | Comments [0]
The Magus
It is a strange characteristic of mystical matters that very often the things which are the most obviously ‘esoteric’ are often the furthest from it (many things with the label ‘Sufi’ attached included - from traditional orders to non-traditional newsgroups for example) and conversely, many things which have no apparent connection with Sufis or developmental work are in fact of this nature.
I have known of this contention for a long time since reading it first in the works of Idries Shah but it was still difficult for me to accept. After pondering a while, I concluded that perhaps this was the case in order that one might develop the capacity to ‘see beyond appearances’ and indeed, this is one of the functions of Sufi teaching stories. Later, I spoke about this to a friend of mine Aubrey Wolton who also knew Shah and he told me that Sufis do not use that name any more and that the teaching must be found ‘elsewhere’.
Where this ‘elsewhere’ actually is, it is not my intention to discuss but, by definition, it is not where one would expect to find it and (if one is not to be a literalist) may even be something other than what one expects if and when one does. Perhaps it is even an ‘attitude’ one may develop that enables one to extract the Sufi content from anything and everything in life. Be that as it may, there are numerous things in life which I believe have developmental content minus any form of overt mystical or Sufi projection - the book Life of Pi is one of them and so is another book I thought it might be interesting to look at, John Fowles’s The Magus
As Fowles’s book is much older than Pi and perhaps less read now, I thought it would be good to give a rough outline of the work rather than a review. I am totally useless at this sort of thing so have delegated this task to my good friend Mr X - to whom gratitude of sorts is due for forwarding me the subject matter below - this also has the added benefit of being manifestly nothing to do with me!
August 13 2005 in Reviews | Read More | Comments [0]
The Real Islam
Following on from the post below about literalism I just found a great article (courtesy of Rahul Jindalat Zombie World) that expands the theme that I was wittering on about far better than I ever could. There is also an excellent associated photo-essay.
August 11 2005 in Sufism/Islam | Read More | Comments [0]
Literalism
It is rather fashionable these days to bash Islam - unfortunately this is true in a literal as well as figurative sense, I was reading today that since the London bombings violent crimes against Muslims have increased by nearly 600% - and there are many ‘experts’ that have emerged to do it that have created a new genre and cottage-industry in ill-informed and dangerous comment.
The antidote to the almost blanket saturation of these pundits is not (imo) to engage them in argument as such - they are not after all, very well-versed in their chosen subject - but rather to keep putting the facts out there and encourage open and free discussion in areas where the facts are not yet established. In line with this, I thought I’d address their favourite (only?) line of attack: Islam as barbaric/backward/evil religion.
August 11 2005 in Sufism/Islam | Read More | Comments [3]
Last bit on Pi
The more I think about Life of Pi the more profound and speaking to my own personal situation I find it - maybe that’s what profundity is (or what we think it is) but whatever. It seems to me that the situation of being adrift in a life-boat is the archetypal metaphor for the mystic quest - as opposed to the religious mindset. The religionist never questions that he or she is is on ‘solid ground’ and life proceeds from there in quite an orderly fashion. Much like people who have no religion and who are satisfied with their state.
But the religionist can just as soon one day turn into the castaway - all it takes is the metaphorical iceberg, the small insignificant leak that grows ever wider, the drunken crew.......and then all is in the air - no more certainty. No more comfort. Just survival.
Of course in such a situation, one knows there is land out there somewhere - but one just as surely knows that the chances of ever reaching it are thousands to one against. The only chance is to forget about land and focus on the sea - the only source of nutrition. In fact that very action - the focussing on water rather than land - is the only hope of ever reaching land. Of course, deep down you realise you most likely will never make it but that’s not the point - you have to try.
But this is way the religious mind is not adrift - or perhaps, why the mystic is a not a religionist: because out there, bobbing in your solitary lifeboat - or, if you prefer, sweating and bewildered after your fortieth year in a desert wilderness - you cannot say that there is no such thing as land just because you’ll never see it. Just because everyday you stand up in your confined floating coffin and scan 360 degrees of blue-green nothingness as far as your eyes can focus.
These things make you realise there must be more. The boat swaying and sickening (tiger or not) screams deafening that there are states that are....different. By nature it is merely a means of conveyance. Something to launch from point A, protect during a journey and be abandoned at point Z. It is a means not an end.
Just because you’ll never make it to point Z means nothing at all. It doesn’t make the lifeboat less of a lifeboat. It doesn’t make it ‘home’.
August 09 2005 in Literature | Read More | Comments [6]
