From: farrior@b4pphf5.bnr.ca (Robert Farrior)
Subject: Re: Silence
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1993 12:12:56 GMT
u1318@sparc10.cs.uiuc.edu, stokes richard leo writes:
> Could someone please expound on their reasons for the power 'to be
> Silent'? I have heard one reason only so far, and that is that when
> you are silent about your works, you do not waste energy speaking of
> them. It also occurs to me that perhaps others who aren't as
> tolerant of your goals may attempt to thwart them. rich
Not saying I agree totally with the idea I am about to explain, but I
think at times it is applicable. This explanation is mostly mine, so
it is probably flawed. Please try not to fall asleep.
--------
Reasons for Silence
1) Self preservation - the coward's (or the wise one's) way
It has been said to not give pearls unto swine or that which is Holy
unto dogs, less they trample them underfoot and turn around and rend
you. I find this as a wise statement for practicioners of the
esoteric arts. It is not wise to go about and advertise your hobby
to those who are not inclined to be open minded. It is a sure fired
way to get burned. Being labeled as a lunatic, satanist, etc. can be
damaging to your career, social life, relationships, and so on and
so on...
Therefore, it is often best to not discuss these things unless you
do so with fellow travellers. Though, it may often be fun to get into
a debate with a fundamentalist Christian or zealous Muslem (just to
pick two at random). Unless you know the people, and even that cannot
always protect you, it is best to not go into things too deeply.
Some may call this cowardice, or even false faith. Maybe. Maybe the
braver thing would be to stand up and proudly announce your beliefs.
After all, this is no longer the dark ages. But, let's face it,
tolerence is not an inherent human characteristic. The stake may not
be chic anymore, but narrow minded people have modern ways to flame
you.
In the Fama Fraternitatis (or is is Confessio I confuse myself so
easily :)) one of the rules of any Rosicrucian Order is to wear the
garb of whatever society you live in. I take this to mean that we
should not call attention to ourselves by appearing to be radically
different than our peers, not just in the clothing that we wear, but
in our actions and our words.
2) Magic Power of Silence (scoffing is allowed)
(Let me preface this section with a caveat. This is highly subjective.
It is my opinion, based upon my training. How well what is described
works, or doesn't, is up to the individual. I believe all that
follows is psychological, not magical in the sense that seems common
in alt.magick. For me though, the line between psychology and magick
is a fine one, but that is another thread.)
Besides the minor aspect of protecting one's position in society,
silence offers a more subtle benefit. It can act as a battery for
storing energy. (perhaps capacitor is a better analogy) When we
begin a magickal activity, we generate an amount of energy in that
process. By informing others of the details of our work, we
drain off this energy. The more we run our mouths, the more energy
we drain off. Until, eventually, after talking about it too much,
all of the energy is gone, and the act fails miserably.
Here is a rather mundane example that should not get me in trouble.
Say I decide that I want to lose weight. I put myself on a strict
diet and increase my exercise level. I keep it to myself. I begin
to see benefits. My weight starts to drop. But then, I brag to my
wife, "I'm on a diet and just lost 2 pounds!" The next day, I go
to work and tell my coworkers. "I'm on a diet! I bet I can lose
twenty pounds. Gosh I'm awfully great!!" (They puke.) I go out
to lunch and stuff my face. Before I know it, all of my ambition for
losing weight is spent. I wasted all of that energy by talking
about it instead of doing something about it. After a week, I
drop the whole project and record another failure in my memory bank.
Ok, so I over simplified the whole affair. But, regardless of whether
I gave a terrible example, I hope the point is made.
Some people may not have this problem. I don't think I did until
somebody explained this to me. Or at least I never noticed it before
that time. But, then, maybe that is why I have so many failure tick
marks up there in mass storage.
Seriously, every time I have ever really tried to gain something or
succeed in something, I did best, and needed the least amount of
personal effort, when I kept it to myself. Once I shot off my mouth
about it, it was harder for me to overcome. I had to expend more
energy to succeed, because I had to overcome the energy loss. It is
kind of like flying in a head wind. You have to push the throttle
harder to make progress.
3) I can't think of a 3, but wanted to put it here to demonstrate my open
mind.
Negative Side of Silence
Well, I can't think of one. Except maybe people will think you're a
snob. But that's their problem, not yours. But, see Silence versus
Secrets below before you launch your hot little flames. (Gee, have I
become gun shy, or what??? :) :) :) )
Silence versus Secrets
There is a big difference between being silent on something and
keeping secrets, in magick. Being silent, means not "spoiling" your
work by talking about it. Keeping secrets means refusing to divulge
information to others. Sometimes secrecy is necessary, (I know many
will not agree, and I don't want to fight about it. Ok???) though I
believe only rarely. What I see as negative secrecy is hording
information that could be of benefit to others out of a misplaced
sense of self power. To me that is not being silent. For me, silence
relates to personal information only (should I use that absolute???).
What I do is nobody's business but my own. The methods that I use are
probably not my own, and therefore not subject to silence, but may be
subject to secrecy. (Heh heh, nice bit of double talk there, eh??)
If I use magick to lose weight (fun stuff) that is my business.
Nobody would gain anything by knowing it. Talking about it only shows
that I am trying to brag, and spoils the whole thing. But, telling
people the method that I use to do it could be of benefit to others,
so that they could utilize the method in their own way for their own
ends. The first example needs silent, the second doesn't.
-------
Bob hath spoken. You can wake up now.
Fraternally yours in LVX,
Bob Farrior
--------------------------------------------------------------
The opinions expressed are solely my own unless I stole them.
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===
From: jm_bilac@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (Sol Draconis the Highlander)
Date: 23 Oct 1993 03:04:16 GMT
To Will,
To Dare,
To Know,
To Keep Silent.
Whosoever shall keep these and live as they live, shall know the Fifth.
By the Fifth attribute shall the Adepts be known.
Some will know of what i speak, most however wont have a clue.
hehehe,
John.
[John is making a fool out of himself, but he states the ]
[four magickal vows, which I thought should be included here.]
[--Ceci]