Though modern occultism has many sources and streams, a surprisingly large number of them can be traced back to Eliphas Lévi’s “The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic,” which played a key role in kickstarting a revival of magic that remains a significant cultural presence today.
One of the things my readers ask me most often, in response to the ongoing decline and impending fall of modern industrial civilization, is what I suggest people ought to do about it all. It’s a valid question, and it deserves a serious answer.
To understand the predicament of industrial civilization, it’s not enough to grasp the outward shape of the crisis of our time: the looting of a finite planet’s stock of resources, the destabilization of the global climate, the breathtaking cluelessness with which politicians, pundits, and ordinary citizens alike insist that the only way we can get out of this mess involves doing even more of the same things that got us into it in the first place, and the rest of it.
The religious sensibility common to theism and atheism holds the promise of salvation from the realities of nature through rebirth in paradise or the triumph of science. But a growing number of people seek not salvation from nature, but a conscious and
delighted participation in it, a homecoming.
In ancient times, there were many mystery schools and some of the most famous initiates won fame by traveling long distances from one center of initiation to another. The work of the
modern mystery schools may be is carried on by mail or the
internet. A determined student rarely has to search long before he or she finds a
source of instruction.
It's possible for a relationship between people that passes through a machine
to avoid being a relationship of compulsion and control, but it takes work. The more that human life
and interactions are defined by machines, the more difficult this tends
to become. It is crucial that we rediscover the possibilities of our own humanity.
The end of the age of cheap abundant energy is likely to be the end of the age in which science functions as a force for economic expansion. Science has gotten pretty close to its natural limits as a method of knowledge.
In the future, our current extravagant
habits will no longer be an option. An unwillingness to take a hard look at the assumptions underlying our notion of a normal lifestyle has driven a certain amount
of wishful thinking, and roughly the same amount of unnecessary dread, among
those who have begun to grapple with the challenges ahead of us.
Since the Fukushima disaster began, proponents of nuclear power
have tried to spin the situation with claims that go back to the Eisenhower administration — that nukes will be clean, safe, and cheap, if we just go with the new technology that's not yet off the drawing board. Computer geeks have a term for this kind of song and dance:
vaporware.
Complex societies cycle back and forth between
building up, or anabolism, and breaking down, or catabolism. It's possible at this point to provide a fairly exact date
for the onset of catabolic collapse in the United States of America.
🌈 Sign up for the Reality Bites newsletter to stay in the loop on mind-bending insights, stories, and events from the psychedelic community. It’s where curious minds gather.
Exploring the
Depths of Reality
Discover the transformative power of breathwork: unlock vitality, healing, and self-discovery.
Welcome to Reality Sandwich. Please verify that you are over 18 years of age below.
Reality Sandwich uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By entering Reality Sandwich, you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
