Subject: [AX-Le] Re: Systems, Metabelief, Chaos
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 23:27:40 -0000
From: “Eddie Garou” < E[at]Winternacht[dot]com >
To: autonomatrix
— In autonomatrix@y…, Scott Frost wrote:
<< The “system” is true/real, the specifics are adjustable. Truths exist; afterall nothing is true, everything is permitted. >>
But think about that for a moment. Truths exist and nothing is true.
From a magickal/philosophical standpoint, this is indeed the case. But we’re dealing with the human mind here. The human mind does not deal well with contradiction. This has been demonstrated over and over again. As much as we like to pride ourselves as Chaotes that we are able to deal with contradiction, the mind still needs to find a way to resolve them, even on a subconscious level.
Think about the way Chaotes think. We train ourselves and our minds to drop whatever it was we believed in and embrace “Nothing is True. All is permitted”. Then, working with the mechanics of meta-belief, we have to train ourselves to embrace a different paradigm. However, we already believe that “Nothing is true”. So now the mind, on a subconscious level, needs to make a decision: Is this system true and “Nothing is true” false? Or is the system false and “Nothing is true” true?
I believe that this mental contradiction can act as a very potent barrier in trying to work the mechanics of meta-belief. The term “Nothing is True” can be a very nasty demon lurking around in the mind and nullifying whatever paradigm we might choose to work with.
I’ve actually observed this problem on a number of occasions and have compared this problem with magickal systems in which the participants had no “seed of doubt” or “Nothing is True” contradiction.
Looking at Santaria, I’ve seen their practitioners produce amazing results. The results are consistent, reliable and generally replicable. Those who practice their path have no doubt in what they believe in. Their belief is absolute, complete and without exception.
But I’ve also seen people who operate from the “Nothing is True” perspective try to replicate the effects of Santaria through the identical practices. Their results have been poor at best.
So why is there a difference? If we’re working from a Chaos perspective, then we certainly can’t claim that it’s due to one group being properly initiated into Santaria and the other group not. “Nothing is True”, so initiation shouldn’t matter. The same Gnosis is being generated in both cases. The rituals and symbols are also the same, so it can’t be technique. Therefore, I would only conclude that it is probably due to mental acceptance of the paradigm.
Now I’m certainly not saying that we should abandon the idea behind “Nothing is True. All is Permitted”. I just think that we need to be a little more savvy about how we present this to ourselves to maximize our use of meta-beliefs.
Just my own thoughts on the subject. :-)
E
