Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - A personal reaction to the Chief Rabbi of Israel referring to Black People as "Monkeys"

Correlating Abraham Abulafia and Aleister Crowley at the Intersection of Magic and Mysticism

Thanks for the sublime evocations here, Cornelius, particularly the fine blog you linked to and the  supposed distinction between magic and mysticism, particularly an inwardly contemplative mysticism, since mysticism can also be outwardly contemplative, your post invoking the great names of the Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia and  the Western mystical magician Aleister Crowley: 

" Like Rabbi Abulafia, I am against the practice of magic. I think man's first duty is to find his divine Self, in silent meditation, without trying to grasp anything. Just be, watch inside and feel. No books are needed for that, no rituals, no dogmas" To which I replied, " Yes indeed, magic is strictly forbidden."

( I'm a little cautious about magic, considering the first part of Aleister Crowley's / takes on magic , his definition of magic as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will"

...

My friends final word on magic : "It is not a question of forbidding anything. It is simply unimportant  - a waste of time - compared to the main thing : feeling the presence of the divine within you." 

Divergence and Convergence of Magic and Mysticism in the Western Esoteric Tradition 

An absolute distinction between magic and mysticism, the latter described in those lines as finding the divine Self within one, would not exist if one were to better understand the scope of magic, in the Western tradition, to which Crowley is central, and in Tibetan Buddhism and Tantric Hinduism, to mention  spiritual traditions of related aims and methods.

    Crowley as Mystical Magician

As is evident from his descriptions of his goals and methods in his autobiography, in his poem "The Legend of the Serpent, Hummingbird and the Ibis" in his Book of the Heart Girt With a Serpent, as Israel Regardie interprets this poem in his  The Tree of Life: A Study in Magic, Crowleys'  depiction in his autobiography of his experience with a ritual he helped to make famous, The ritual of the Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, his opening summations on Yoga in his magnum opus Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4,  along with the ideas of such a relative contemporary as Dion Fortune and the Golden Dawn school from which they both drew inspiration, the GD being the foundations of Crowley's magical training,  Crowley was fundamentally what is better known as a mystical magician, the 'change' he referenced in his definition of magic being fundamentally change in consciousnesses, shifts or transformations in perception  enabling the magician gain awareness of and work with entities beyond the scope of conventional knowing, from nature spirits or elementals to angels and demons, contrastive but correlative aspects of existence, culminating in an intimate relationship with the divine aspect of the self, which Crowley, using the Abramelin language, describes as the Holy Guardian Angel.

As Fortune is at pains to point out in such books as The Training and Work of an Initiate, Sane Occultism and Applied Magic, what the mystic strives to achieve through contemplation alone, as described in your quote, is also pursued by the mystical magician, although she does not conjoin the two terms, focusing her analysis on describing magic as centred in the use of tools, whether imaginative, verbal or physical, or all working in tandem, enabling expansion of perception of and of relationships with various forms of being, climaxing in the integration of everyday consciousnesses and the divine consciousness represented by the essence of the self, what she calls the divine spark.

The purely contemplative mystic, on the other hand, centres themself in  what one perspective describes as a relationship between  the 'alone', the human being, and the 'Alone', God. 

   The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram as a Facilitator of Mystical Contemplation

Ironically, within the scope of my exposure to various mystical and magical systems, one of the best methods I have encountered for creating the contemplative frame of mind priceless to contemplative immersion in oneself so as to listen to the inward rhythms your quote evokes is a foundational Golden Dawn ritual, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram particularly as it is lucidly explained in  Regardie's  Tree of Life,  one, which, in harmony with Crowley's celebration of the ritual, may be seen as integrating the totality of the mystical quest within the framework of the Kabbalistic cosmology to which Abulafia is central, a ritual that projects the unity of  the wholeness represented by the essence of being and the disjunctions demonstrated by material reality, the latter exemplified by the moral fragmentation expressed by human society and the coexistence of creativity and destruction in nature, an aspiration for wholeness at the core of strategic achievement  of Isaac Luria  as Kabbalistic theorist.

The Pentagram ritual pursues this unification  through visualizing and enacting through a few simple actions the unity of cosmic structure and the human form represented by the cosmographic and anthropomorphic interpretations of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, the image of the cosmos as a tree, its roots in the Unknowable, Ain Soph, its branches the expressions of that transcendental plenitude in terms of the correlative variations that constitute the structure of the cosmos and its crown in the convergence of these possibilities in the material cosmos, Malkuth, the primary point of awareness represented by the terrestrial existence within which this cosmological scheme is developed.

   The Tree of Life as Cross-Cultural Cosmic Picture

This picture I have drawn inverts the conventional depiction of the crown of the Kabbalistic cosmic tree as being the Unknowable, Ain Soph, and the roots as the material universe, Malkuth, but I wonder if that conventional picture does not obscure the clarity and force of an image  based on the ready accessibility of the logic of nature imagery represented by the fact that the life of a tree is ultimately sustained by its roots though the leaves play a central role in the synthesis of light and water that sustains the tree as it draws nutrients from the earth.

The abstractions in terms of which the Kabbalistic Tree of Life is developed are better appreciated as one end of a spectrum ranging from the earthy and concrete, the origin of the image in ancient observation and veneration of trees across cultures, a motif evident in   African cosmological tree motifs as described in John Mbiti's African Religions and Philosophy, for example  to the tree with its sixteen branches as big as houses, under which the students of Orunmila, the founder of the Yoruba origin Ifa knowledge system saw him sitting under at the conclusion of their journey from earth, aye, to orun, the world of metaphysical origins, the number of the tree's branches constituting the sixteen fundamental  divisions of cosmic possibility  known as odu ifa,   as described in Wande Abimbola's An Exposition of Ifa Literary Corpus, to an image of the cosmic tree in the Hindu Bhagavad Gita to what is perhaps the most  elaborate development  of the more imagistically concrete and narrative visualization of this image,   the Norse Yggdrasil, at the roots of which are Mimer, the well of well of wisdom and the three Norns representing past , present and future who spin the threads of human life, its branches the structures of existence on which the god Odin hung for days in ritual ordeal after sacrificing an eye into the well of Mimer in order to gain supernal wisdom, from this transformative experience developing the runes which are a central code for gaining esoteric knowledge in Norse culture, if I recall correctly the account of the mythic origin of the runes.

Representing related conjunctions of the magical and the mystical, the shamanistic and the contemplative, the signal magical initiatives of Crowley's career, actions his theorisation and execution of which presaged or inspired later developments in Western magic, such as his dogged work on the Abramelin ritual, his account of invoking  the demon Choronzon in the Sahara Desert, both described in his autobiography,  were pursued in aid of his mystical quest, the Abramelin ritual meant to culminate in intimate relationship with the aspect of the self that mediates between the individual and the divine, the Holy Guardian Angel  , the Choronzon invocation described as a means of gaining knowledge of the  chaotic conditions represented by the Abyss, an intermediary  zone of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life in the formulation Crowley worked with,  a zone that constitutes the division between the ultimate spheres of  existence, the primary manifestations of the ultimate creator, and the sequence of creation  consummated or culminating in the  material plane.

Western magical schools coming after Crowley's seminal labours have either either fragmented the holistic vision he pursued, such as cultivating relationships with the demons meant to be invoked by the magician after reaching the climatic point of the Abramelin invocation in order to seal the ritual, relating with these demons as a means to achieve goals unrelated to the primary purpose of the ritual, the ensuing literature rich in accounts of cautionary tales from such endeavours, or taken such transgressive spiritualities to new heights centered in mystical goals, such as the occult order Dragon Rouge's development of a demon centred mysticism, relating with the demons described as the opposite side, the qlippoth, of the divine structures of the cosmos, the sefirot,  as conceived in the adaptation of Jewish Kabbalah known as  Western or Hermetic Kabbalah, these demons embodying and ruling over the opposites of the divine centres embodied and ruled over by angels, in the name of understanding, equilibrating and transcending the chaotic aspects of the self to which the demons and their metaphysical domains are related, reaching beyond the limitations of conventional cosmology, "the ideal order in religion and myths", as described in the group's website,  to 'the dark side representing the "wild overgrown infinity thatr hides behind the limits of order",  climaxing in a form of the divinisation of the self, as its founder Thomas Karlsson develops its central ideas engagingly in  conceptions  arising from his PhD thesis-correlations of  magical practice  and scholarly culture based on formal education being also highlighted by Crowley's example, his work benefiting significantly from his experimental BA at Cambridge, studying modern literature at a time when that was unconventional in England, along with a grounding in classics, these literary and philosophical cultures shaping his magical work-or relating with Lucifer or Satan, described as the prince of demons,through such contemplative, almost mystical spiritualities as in one approach to  Satanism, to more aggressive, more basically magical forms of Satanism, developments summed up by Neville Drury in Stealing Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Modern Western Magic. 

   Demonic Mysticism as a Form of Mystical Magic

The example of Dragon Rouge represents what may be seen as an extreme form of the convergence of mysticism and magic, trying to take advantage, not only of such predecessors as Crowley in his boundary breaking magical experimentation but of such speculative fiction as the work of Howard Philips Lovecraft, an absolute master  in dramatizing the tension between the allure of the metaphysical unknown and the dread of encountering possibilities beyond the capacity of the mind to cope with, summing up the exhilarating bleakness  of his fantastic magical universe in the opening  of his story "The Call of Chthulhu" :

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

Theosophists have guessed at the awesome grandeur of the cosmic cycle wherein our world and human race form transient incidents. They have hinted at strange survivals in terms which would freeze the blood if not masked by a bland optimism. But it is not from them that there came the single glimpse of forbidden aeons which chills me when I think of it and maddens me when I dream of it. That glimpse, like all dread glimpses of truth, flashed out from an accidental piecing together of separated things—in this case an old newspaper item and the notes of a dead professor. I hope that no one else will accomplish this piecing out; certainly, if I live, I shall never knowingly supply a link in so hideous a chain. I think that the professor, too, intended to keep silent regarding the part he knew, and that he would have destroyed his notes had not sudden death seized him". 

Dragon Rouge valorises knowledge depicted in such terms representing the shattering of the certitudes of conventional mysticism, though not necessarily literally in terms of how Lovecraft works out his vision in his stories.

 

On 23 March 2018 at 15:46, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:

I had always thought that " Kushi" was interchangeable with "Nigger" 

Bearing in mid this phase of the discussion about NIGERIA'S LITERATE ZOMBIES :

"Reduced to its essentials racism is one person or people using their power and privilege to deny or recognise the full humanity of another person or people because of a feeling of inherent  superiority rationalised by religion, culture or even pseudoscience." Zalanga

Good try- but you have to add another component in your definition: the  physical,

"biological"  component. In Apartheid South Africa you could have the same religion and culture but your skin colour  and physical appearance determined whether or not you would be included  in the club. That history is too recent to be  falsified and forgotten. In the US  segregation also followed that line. It still applies to some extent. Ethno- regionalism is discriminatory, and should not be tolerated,  but it is not synonymous with racism. ( Professor Gloria Emeagwali, Professor of History)

# Chief Rabbi of Israel refers to Black people as monkeys

This is a very serious matter and should be taken seriously by

We the people who are darker than blue . I am being very kind here and not at all aggressive ( like HAMAS or Islamic Jihad) ; I could have approached the whole matter very differently. In any case, I have now taken a few steps closer to Baba Kadiri's position about religion, especially organised religion , tempered by what a dear friend ( Jewish) wrote to me recently, about Jörgen I Eriksson's book review of which he said,

" Like Rabbi Abulafia, I am against the practice of magic. I think man's first duty is to find his divine Self, in silent meditation, without trying to grasp anything. Just be, watch inside and feel. No books are needed for that, no rituals, no dogmas" To which I replied, " Yes indeed, magic is strictly forbidden."

( I'm a little cautious about magic, considering the first part of Aleister Crowley's / takes on magic , his definition of magic as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will" for which reason I have never said the 12th Blessing of the Amidah with total intentionality of the heart because I don't know which of my near and dear including my own dear self, could fit in to that category. The 12^th Blessing goes, " As for the slanderers, let there be no hope, and may all wickedness perish in an instant, and may all Your enemies be cut down speedily, the wanton sinners, may you speedily uproot, smash , cut down and humble, speedily in our days, Blessed are You HASHEM, Who breaks enemies and humbles wanton sinners." ( As to will, I remember listening to Guru Maharaji in Copenhagen in 1973 , in semi-deep meditation , but his voice was droning on and at a certain point my irritation increased and eventually a bolt lightning flashed from my forehead and temporarily stopped him in his tracks ( I think that he just took some of that my energy ( smile)

My friends final word on magic : "It is not a question of forbidding anything. It is simply unimportant  - a waste of time - compared to the main thing : feeling the presence of the divine within you." Well, well well, some people ( I suppose all the rabbis included) have been stationed there for quite a while , even while doing a lot of wrongs

The Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel who ought to know better, referring to Black People as "monkeys" is an insult and a matter of great concern to any Black People who would otherwise take him seriously, not just the Black politicians, from South Africa, through Nigeria to Libya from the United States to China. Does this not just give more grist to the mill of those who talk about an "apartheid Israel"? Do such disgusting and wholly unhelpful words not increase racism and antisemitism in the world ? For just a moment, imagine the kinds of fireworks you would hear from all quarters, if (God forbid) His Holiness the Pope ( Francis) or the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Supreme Leader of Iran (God double forbid) or the Mufti of Mecca or the King of Saudi Arabia were to say such a terrible thing?

Well, here is the very last sermon of the prophet of Islam : in which he said,

"All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor does a black have any superiority over a white except by piety and good action."

Yes, I know all about Kiddush Hashem, but the chief rabbi's remarks leads even the heathen to ask, " Is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a racist?" Many people are aghast at the rabbi's remarks, are still reeling in shock and wondering, is that what his GOD , the creator of Adam and Eve told him, that Black people are "monkeys", or is this a man- made judgement to be found in his holy books, the Torah and Talmud? Is the chief rabbi a monkey or a human being? Am I a monkey?

During the much demented and regretted and regrettable Shoah/ Holocaust, people (the suffering servant of Isaiah 53) were identified and then dragged to the gas ovens to be crucified, en masse. The emphasis is PEOPLE , not animals...

Was it not King Solomon (who built the temple) that said in his Song of Songs, "I am black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem ?

השְׁחוֹרָ֤ה אֲנִי֙ וְֽנָאוָ֔ה בְּנ֖וֹת יְרֽוּשָׁלָ֑יִם כְּאָֽהֳלֵ֣

קֵדָ֔ר כִּֽירִיע֖וֹת שְׁלֹמֹֽה:

"I am black but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem! Like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon."

אַל־תִּרְאֻ֨נִי֙ שֶֽׁאֲנִ֣י שְׁחַרְחֹ֔רֶת שֶׁשְּׁזָפַ֖תְנִי 

הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ בְּנֵ֧י אִמִּ֣י נִֽחֲרוּ־בִ֗י שָׂמֻ֨נִי֙ נֹֽטֵרָ֣ה 

אֶת־הַכְּרָמִ֔ים כַּרְמִ֥י שֶׁלִּ֖י לֹ֥א נָטָֽרְתִּי:

"Do not look upon me [disdainfully] because I am swarthy, for the sun has gazed upon me; my mother's sons were incensed against me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards; my own vineyard I did not keep."

https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16445

Victor Jara : El Arado ( in Spanish ) Nice lyrics about being black

Cornelis Vreeswijk : Plogen  ( in Swedish), ditto

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.