Deconstructivity

[Occult Forum Archive]

Original post: Lotic Trance

Well, I've been hanging around here often enough to notice a large variety of beliefs in this forum by now, and I've started to become curious as to how many others here tend to feel the same way as I do, so for shits and giggles (and since I've got some hours before I have to go back to work), I'm gonna outline my theory of LHP philosophy, which I term "Deconstructive".

I'm not a Satanist per se, as I have a hard time swallowing all of any one of the paths (or getting the wallet size to join the ToS, ouch), but I have found a core of beliefs and ideals amongst them which I find inspiring, be they LaVeyan, Setian, Luciferan, whatever.

I am also a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan. And Tool. So there might be inordinately large amounts of reference to either, or both. Be forewarned.

First, to delineate my view on the core difference between LHP and RHP, that being in regards to one's position and attitude towards the Subjective and Objective Universes (SU and OUs, respectively). I view the OU to be the concrete, 'real' reality which exists whether we percieve it or not. Just because I can't see into the next room in my house doesn't mean that the pool table isn't still there. That's the OU. The SU represents the Universe as tainted by perception, and is closely tied to one's paradigm, physical cognition, and attitudes. The OU is the map, the SU is your spot on it. To me, the RHP focuses on negating the illusions of the SU in order to 'harmonize' with the OU, in one way or another, whether this is the bodhi svaha of Buddhism or the union with Brahma in Hinduism, or any number of other typically RHP faiths. In contrast, the LHP focuses on application of the SU in order to understand it, and cement and empower one's position within the OU -- Xeper, in essence.

My take on the whole situation is this: The OU doesn't give two shits whether you're 'aware' of it despite your SU or not. It's there one way or another. To top it off, it's a closed system -- nothing exists outside the OU, as the OU is reality (and I use the word 'Universe' conveniently; here, it applies to the Multiverse of quantum theory, as well as aethyric theory of Chaos magick and any number of other permutations of reality, although many of the alternate, 'occult' layers of reality are more tainted by the SU than real life is). By that logic, if you exist within a closed system, and are a part of it, and are a product of it, and are defined by it, then there is no way that you can be out of harmony with it. By nature, you are harmonious to the OU, whether you realize it or not. That's a matter of the SU. But by the time you eliminate the SU, you're still the same thing in the OU as you were before. So, the logic of RHP 'union' with the OU is really moot, and is in actuality the way things have always been.

So, if harmonization is pointless, where does that leave us?

I see it as this: The SU exists for a reason. Without it, we could not percieve the OU -- hence, 'subjective'. We are defined by the SU and we define it. So, the SU is not a thing which needs to be abandoned; without it, we would be blind, deaf, and dumb. Vegetables, I say. Therefore, how do we correctly apply the SU in our practice? By weeding through it. The SU does tend to carry around a lot of extraneity, and this same extraneity pollutes the psyche for which the SU exists and occludes the psyche's true nature (by psyche, I mean the core nature of each self; the soul; the divine seed; the seat of unlimited potential for the individual, and the basis for that individual's nature).

This is where Deconstructivity comes into play.

If the SU is our only connection to the OU, and the SU is polluted and inhibiting, then we must find a way to 'clean up' the SU. Pluck through your mind interminably in the hopes of finding the way to the psyche itself. Mind you, not all of the influences of the SU need to be removed; language is necessary, as are motor skills, and some degree of morality; learning is to be desired; a great many things are integral to the SU and should be kept. However, a great many things should not, such as religious conditioning, uncompromizing and unrealistic behavioural limitations, and prejudices of all sorts. These undesirable conditions must be removed, as they cloud the SU and your only path to the psyche. This is similar to a great many occult beliefs, from the 'Crossing the Abyss' stage of ceremonial magick to Choronzon to the 'dark self' spoken of in shamanic development to the Qlippoth. By facing, conquering, and banishing our undesirable conditions, we can move to evolution, and the psyche is the root of that evolution.

Fight Club: "Once you've lost everything, only then are you free to do anything."
Tool, from "Forty-Six & 2": "I've been crawling on my belly/Clearing outside and turning in/I've been wallowing in my own chaotic/Insecure delusions/I want a beast to cross me over/I want a word to guide me in..." etc.

So, where does connection and empowerment of the psyche take us? To evolution. To the glorification of the individual as the last true step of human development, as we've moved from entirely communal consciousness to the potential of entirely individual consciousness, in a completely empowered form. To the point where we literally have attained such a degree of development that the OU is ours. Godhood, perhaps. We can become a race of gods.

Anyway, this has been my hodgepodge of beliefs, essentially atheistic and philosophical, regarding the development of humanity. I tend to view magick and occultism through a Chaotic filter, seeing the aethyr as a connection between SUs that can alter the OU. I tend to view all deities and divinities as metaphorical, and references to facets of the psyche -- not unlike some Jungian theory.

So, hope this planted some seeds of interest in a few of your minds. I'd be glad to see where this philosophy fits in with the rest of the crowd here.

[Occult Forum Archive]

Original post: BloodStar Nebula

I think the SU is the OU because it's in the OU and stems from the OU...

In other words, they cancel each other out and I'm just left with U...

[Occult Forum Archive]

Original post: Avatarian

I notice some similarities â?? and some differences â?? with what you have revealed compared to my perspective, Lotic Trance.

I will offer a brief (and hopefully coherent) basic outline for part of my perspective for you to consider.

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Part of my perspective rests upon the existence of a base line Energy Field. Various events occurring in The Energy Field stimulate sense organs of my body. Those sense organs abstract that stimulation as electro-chemical signals (sights, sounds, textures, scents, and flavours) according to the process that I reference as perceiving. I reference those electro-chemical signals from perceiving as percepts. The brain of my body weaves those percepts together and thus forms a perceptual panorama that I reference as my perceptual tapestry.

The Energy Field can be likened to a territory. In relation to that territory, the perceptual tapestry that my body forms can be likened to a sensual map for that territory. My sensual map for that territory is not the same as the territory to which my sensual map refers.

One reason that my perceptual tapestry and The Energy Field are not the same is because sense organs of my body form percepts from perceiving The Energy Field according to their range of sensitivity. Far more events occur within The Energy Field than those to which sense organs of my body are sensitive.

Something crucial to note here is that, for me, percepts and concepts are not the same.

Percepts result from abstracting stimulation that my body receives from The Energy Field. Concepts result from abstracting my perceptual tapestry. I weave concepts together to form patterns that reference various relationships involving percepts. In a simplistic way: the conceptual tapestry that I weave from concepts is my paradigm.

Although I have toyed with the comparison to create certain analogies in the past, I do not consider my mind to be an entity like how my body is an entity. Instead: I consider my mind to be the process that I use for correlating percepts with my perceptual tapestry, for correlating concepts to comprehend (and to compose) patterns for relationships involving percepts, and for directing bodily behaviour in The Energy Field. Just as my perceptual tapestry is a map for the Energy Field, my conceptual tapestry is a map for the perceptual tapestry. Although, a more accurate term than â??mapâ?Â

[Occult Forum Archive]

Original post: Lotic Trance

Bloodstar: That's just the thing, is that everything relates to the OU in that way. However, it takes an SU to be able to percieve the OU.

Avatarian: Interesting. I like some of the concepts put forth.