Christian Occultism/Jesuitism

[Bruce Michael]

Dear Friends,

Lecture II: The Mission of Manicheism

"Christian occultism is derived from the Manicheans whose founder, Manes"
Rudolf Steiner

So one can't avoid the subject if one is studying the subject of Christian
Occultism. Unlike the Rosicrucian movement, Manicheanism was a widespread and popular movement.

"Jesuitism (belonging to Augustine) and Freemasonry (Manichaenism)
confront each other in later centuries." R.Steiner speaks in detail about this in 3rd July Dornach 1920 (untranslated.)

Augustine was born about a thousand years before Ignatius of Loyola.
What would we consider as hallmarks of both Augustine's and Ignatius's view? Perhaps it is that the physical is physical and the spirtual, spiritual and never the twain shall meet- except in the Mass. The Jesuits over-emphasise the "Jesus" element at the expense of an understanding the Cosmic Christ.

Augustine held that we are predestined, Mani, that we can be redeemed.

There is a light and dark side to Freemasonry, obviously. The dark side manifests as Luciferianism.

There has been a battle within Freemasonry over the years- Christian and
non Christian elements. The Royal Arch degree was instituted by the
Christian side according to my Freemasonry Compendium.


-Br.Bruce

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by Bruce Michael

So one can't avoid the subject if one is studying the subject of Christian
Occultism.

Well logically Christian occultism is Christian and not Manichean — so one can, unless one assumes a priori that Christianity is dependent upon prior tradition, which in a sense it is — Judaism.

So if Manicheanism plays any part, it must be orthodox according to both Judaic and Christian doctrine, else it is promulgating an error, which is how it appears, from everything I understand, and everything you have stated.

The fault lies in snycretism — it has no foundational metaphysic of its own, but tries to construct a fabric from bits and pieces gather from hither and yon, and thus lacks any kind of 'self-check' mechanism.

The success of syncretisms is their breadth of reference, the more references, the more attractive they become, but the fact remains their roots are very shallow, if at all, they are like lichens on the great Bodies of Wisdom.

Your source says:
"To the Manicheans, however, Evil is an integral part of the cosmos, collaborating in its evolution, finally to be absorbed and transfigured by the Good. The great feature of Manicheism is that it studies the function of Evil and of suffering in the world."

That might be a Manicheist vision of evil, but it is no way part of the Abrahamic Tradition, so your source is simply wrong, unless you can point to anywhere in Jewish, Christian or Moslem Scriptures or orthodox commentaries that state otherwise, and thus support the view presented.

Based on the Abrahamic notion that ontologically, evil is other than the will of God, and as the will of God is the perfection of all things, evil in the Abrahamic context is contra the Divine Will, and contra the good of the individual in question ... hence 'Christian occultism', if one must call it that, posits the ontological unreality of evil ...

What your text posits is that evil 'collaborates' with the good, which would make it ontologically a good, or even that evil is a 'necessary good' for the evolution of humanity.

Mani, like many before and many after, was not quite so clever as he thought he was, and this is why names such as his have vanished into obscurity, whilst names such as Plato, etc., remains, precisely because there is still useful mileage in the study of their ideas.

It's worth remembering that the Stoics (particularly) and the Platonists were as extreme in their oppostion to so-called 'gnosticism' of the 2nd century (a misnomer anyway, which many today are subject to) simply because their inherent dependence on populist mysticism and poor philosophy.

Again and again, I'm trying to point out the simple fact that Christian, and ideed Abrahamic metaphysics (ie Jewish or Moslem esoterisms) are far more developed and profound metaphysical systems that show up the deficiences of the systems that preceeded them.

Read Ibn'Arabi, read Moses Maimonides – but avoid syncretism!

Thomas

+++

Originally Posted by Bruce Michael

Augustine was born about a thousand years before Ignatius of Loyola.
What would we consider as hallmarks of both Augustine's and Ignatius's view? Perhaps it is that the physical is physical and the spirtual, spiritual and never the twain shall meet - except in the Mass. The Jesuits over-emphasise the "Jesus" element at the expense of an understanding the Cosmic Christ.

Well that is just utter nonsense ... laughable ... if anything, the Orthodox denominations criticise Augustine for just the very thing your cemmentary considers lacking. Augustine insists that we shall see God 'face to face'!

The whole of the Confessions is a detailed meditation on just this!

This is flat wrong, and displays a radical ignorance of Augustinian theology.

Originally Posted by Bruce Michael

Augustine held that we are predestined, Mani, that we can be redeemed.

I can't believe this. Luther thought this, and Augustinian theology was used to show he was wrong. Protestant doctrine believes in predestination, not Catholic, not Orthodox.

Sorry Bruce, but you've become enamoured of your sources, and simply don't know what you're talking about.

I don't mean to be so hard, but you are presenting spurious and patently false ideas, wrapped in stuff to give it a gloss of theosophical pedigree, so loosely used and utilised as to look good, but actually is totally ineffectual.

If you wish to reply, please check your sources, and offer references.

Thomas

[Bruce Michael]

Hi Thomas,
>Well logically Christian occultism is Christian and not Manichean — so one >can, unless one assumes a priori that Christianity is dependent upon prior >tradition, which in a sense it is — Judaism.

True Manicheanism is Christian through and through.

>The fault lies in snycretism — it has no foundational metaphysic of its own, >but tries to construct a fabric from bits and pieces gather from >hither and yon, and thus lacks any kind of 'self-check' mechanism.

It is not syncretism, the spiritual connections are real.

>That might be a Manicheist vision of evil, but it is no way part of the Abrahamic >Tradition, so your source is simply wrong, unless you can point to anywhere in >Jewish, Christian or Moslem Scriptures or orthodox commentaries that state >otherwise, and thus support the view presented.

I have already posted on this subject:
On the Nature of Evil

>Mani, like many before and many after, was not quite so clever as he thought he >was, and this is why names such as his have vanished into obscurity, whilst names >such as Plato, etc., remains, >precisely because >there is still useful mileage in the >study of their ideas.

Plato was not a martyr and his followers were not brutally martyred.


>Again and again, I'm trying to point out the simple fact that Christian, and >ideed >Abrahamic metaphysics (ie Jewish or Moslem esoterisms) are far more developed >and profound metaphysical >systems that show up the >deficiences of the systems >that preceeded them.

Not as developed as modern Christian esotericism. Most of that old knowledge was lost, and a lot of what remains is impenetrable.

>I can't believe this. Luther thought this, and Augustinian theology was used to show he was wrong. >Protestant doctrine believes in predestination, not Catholic, not Orthodox.

From the Catholic encyclopedia
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Predestinarianism

Did St. Augustine teach this heresy? We do not wish to gainsay that St. Augustine in the last years of his life fell a victim to an increased rigorism which may find its psychological explanation in the fact that he was called to be the champion of Christian grace against the errors of Pelagianism and Semipelagianism. Still the point at issue is whether he, in order to establish the predestination of the just, gave up his former position and took refuge in the so-called "irresistible grace" (gratia irresistibilis) which in the just and in those who persevere destroys free will. Not only Protestant historians of dogma (as Harnack) but also a few Catholic scholars (Rottmanner, Kolb) even up to the present time have thought that they found in his works evident indications of such a strange view.

Modern revisionists might have tried to alter this, but the fact remains that historically the view is that Augustine preferred the predestinarian view.

Here is the Jesuit oath:
Jesuit Extreme Oath of Induction

Ignatius used as his inspiration The Imitation of Christ and Voraigne's The
Golden Legend- two fine books.

Now, Loyola emphasized the Will aspect.The Spiritual exercises are fine in the early stages- I have a copy myself. It's all about making the gospel verses come alive. There is a problem with the attitude of the Brotherhood itself.

The will is enhanced in a, might I say magical way, through some of the exercises. This was very useful in their missionary work, however it was sometimes misused- Jedi mind tricks. Will is one thing, morality is another.

Eliphas Levi gives at least one example of the misuse of this power- and he was a Catholic.... and a Mason.

It was common for the Jesuits to accuse the Masons of being left hand path and vice versa.

Masonry has its dark side too, and I wouldn't claim it was a pure reflection of Manicheism in any way. It has the phrase "son of the widow". It has a connection to the old mysteries. But what else does it have in common? ( The Mormons also have their Masonic roots- Joseph Smith using the "Son of the Widow" line at the time of his death.)

The Manichean path is more a withdrawal of the will, a renunciation. Sure
some would say this is still will, but Steiner distinguishes between renunciation (forgiveness, gentleness, tolerance etc.) and directed will activity. Prokovieff calls the path one of Christian Thinking. The Rosicrucian path he calls, Christian Willing.

Will is one thing, but then how it is used in the outer world makes the
distinction between good and evil.

Any organisation with a philosophy of "the end justifies the means" is a worry. In occult terms the beginning makes for the end. Any problems have to traced back to the beginnings.

Here is a book on the subject.
The Jesuits : The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic
Church
- the Catholics themselves are worried about the Jesuits.

There have been many books by Jesuits on the Roman Catholic index of banned books over the years.

Dr. Steiner's observations:
An extract from a lecture 2nd November 1918:

"For reasons I have already mentioned, the life and aspirations of men at
the beginning of the fifteenth century are characterized by a spirit of
opposition to the uniformity of the Roman Church which operated through
suggestionism.

This assault of personality again provokes a reaction, the counter-thrust of Jesuitism which comes to the support of the Romanism of the Church. Jesuitism in its original sense (though everything today, if you will forgive the brutal expression, is reduced to idle gossip and Jesuitism is on everyone's lips) is only possible within the Roman Catholic Church. For fundamentally Jesuitism is based on the following: whilst in the true People of the Christ the revelation of the Christ impulse remains in the supersensible world and does not descend into the physical world (Solovieff wishes to spiritualize the material world, not to materialize the spiritual world), the aim of Jesuitism is to drag down the Kingdom of God into the temporal world and to awaken impulses in the souls of men so that the Kingdom of God operates on the physical plane in the same way as the laws of the physical world. Jesuitism, therefore, aspires to establish a temporal sovereignty in the form of a temporal kingdom of the Christ. It wishes to achieve this by training the members of the Jesuit order after the fashion of an army. The individual Jesuit feels himself to be a spiritual soldier.

He feels Christ, not as the spiritual Christ who acts upon the world through
the medium of the Spirit, but he feels Him-and to this end he must direct
his thoughts and feelings - as a temporal sovereign whom he serves as one
serves an earthly King, or as a soldier serves his generalissimo. The
ecclesiastical administration, since it is concerned with spiritual matters,
will, of course, be different from that of a secular military regime; but
the spiritual order must be subject to strict military discipline.

Everything must be so ordained that the true Christian becomes a soldier of the generalissimo Jesus. In essence this is the purpose of those exercises which every Jesuit practises in order to develop in himself that vast power which the Jesuit order has long possessed and which will still be felt in its decadent forms in the chaotic times that lie ahead. The purpose of the meditations prescribed by Ignatius Loyola and which are faithfully observed by Jesuits is to make the Jesuit first and foremost a soldier of the generalissimo Jesus Christ.

In Christ,
Br.Bruce

[Bruce Michael]

On contacting a lodge I was given further information about Christian
Freemasonry.
The Commandery or Knights Templar is apparently intended for Christian
Masons.

There are quotes by other high masons on this site:
Quotations written by high level Masons praising Lucifer, the Taxil Hoax canard refuted, and the Anti-Clerical, Anti-Catholic, Anti-Christian history of Freemasonry

Here are a few samples of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius:

Let us take, for example, the spiritual exercise of the second week. The exercitant must always begin with a preliminary meditation in which he evokes in imagination 'the Kingdom of Christ'. He must visualize this Kingdom with Christ as supreme commander in the vanguard leading his legions, whose mission is to conquer the world. Then follows a preliminary prayer; then the first preamble.

'1. It consists in a clear representation of the place; here I must see with
the eyes of imagination the synagogues, towns and villages which Christ our Lord passed through on His mission.'

All this must be visualized in a complete picture so that the novice sees
the situation and all the separate representations as something which is
visibly present to him.

`2. I ask for the grace which I desire. Here I must ask of our Lord the
grace that I should not be deaf to His call, but should be prompt and
diligent to fulfil His most holy will.'

Then follows the actual exercise. (What I have quoted so far were
preparatory exercises.) The first part again includes several points. The
soul is very carefully prepared.

`Point 1 . I conjure up a picture of a terrestrial King chosen by God our
Lord Himself to whom all Christians and all princes render homage and
obedience.'

The exercitant must hold this before him in his imagination with the same
intensity as a sensory representation.

`Point 2. I observe how the King addresses all his subjects and says to
them: "It is my will to conquer all the territories of the infidels.
Therefore whosoever would go forth with me must be content with the same food as myself, the same drink and clothing, etcetera. He must also toil with me by day and keep watch with me by night so that he may share in the victory with me, even as he shared in the toil." '

This strengthens the will, in that sensible images penetrate directly into
this will, illuminate it and spiritualize it.

`Point 3. I consider how his faithful subjects must answer a King so kind
and so generous, and consequently how the man who would refuse the appeal of such a King would be deserving of censure by the whole world and would be regarded as an ignoble Knight.'

The exercitant must clearly recognize that if he is not a true soldier, a
warrior of this generalissimo, then the whole world will look upon him as
unworthy.

Comments by Steiner in blue.

-Br.Bruce

[Bruce Michael]

Peace,
We can see how there dangers in the "one-sided exaggeration of the Jesus-Principle". There is also the issue of "Commander Christ" and his robotic followers.
You'll note Dr. Steiner didn't wish to name the spirit which inspired Ignatius of Loyola. The Jesuit stream really begins with Augustine- the famous opponent of the Manicheans and incarnation of Judas Iscariot (RS).

The materialization of the spiritual begins with Judas. The spirit of the Material Age was incarnated in Judas.

"Judas was the first to be influenced by money (the culture of the material). Through His death, Christ became the Redeemer of the Material Age. The whole Material Age was incarnated in Judas. The Material Age has cast a gloom over the spiritual, it has dimmed and darkened it."

Steiner, Foundations of Esotericism Lect 8.

Here are some further comments:

The radical, fundamental difference between what we justifiably call the Christian way of the Spirit and the Jesuit way of the Spirit, which gives a one-sided exaggeration to the Jesus-Principle, is that the intention of the Jesuit way is to work directly, at all times, upon the Will. The difference is clearly shown in the method by which the pupil of Jesuitism is educated. Jesuitism is not to be taken lightly, or merely exoterically, but also esoterically, for it is rooted in esotericism. It is not, however, rooted in the spiritual life that is poured out through the symbol of Pentecost, but it seeks to root itself directly in the Jesus-element of the Son, which means in the Will; and thereby it exaggerates the Jesus-element of the Will.

Lecture of 5th October 1911, published in 'From Jesus to Christ'-Rudolf
Steiner

-Br.Bruce

[Bruce Michael]

Shalom,
I find it is always better to speak of general principles. There is nothing
much wrong with the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, (Loyola comes back as Swedenborg) if one sits at home and does them. But if they are connected with an occult order it is a different matter. The more I read about the Jesuits the more I am disappointed.

Much is to do with the agenda of the egregore. As far as the "materialisattion of the spiritual", well that has to be overcome now, it has had its day. It has gained such a momentum that it is still the dominant force in the world.

Nature is full of variety. So too, Christianity has sprouted many forms which are valid. The mystic tires and becomes an occultist and vice versa.

Occultism is a two edged sword. It is so, that there are healthy and unhealthy practices. It is all cause and effect- you do 'a' you get 'b'.

In Christ,
Br. Bruce

[Bruce Michael]

Peace Friends,
The soul always garners something from experience, however the conduct of a "Christian Soldier" is quite different from that of the ordinary military man. For one thing we do not surrender our will to a superior in matters of conscience. We are allowed to question and keep on questioning.

As to Loyola, he is karmically tied to his creation- unfortunately for him. If, of course, he was betrayed by those who followed, then the culprits are liable. This why the great Masters don't start organisations. Of course the various individuals are implicated too, whether for good or ill.

Basically, I'm sympathetic for what I sense Loyola tried to do. I believe too, that his intentions were honourable and high minded. If anything the order suffered from the sin of impatience. Compare them with the gentle nature of the Franciscans.

The "will" Dr.Steiner was talking about seemed to be connected to the order as a whole. If the individual left the order, what then? Would their will be spent?

Will in terms of discipline is highly regarded in anthroposophy. There is a will exericise in the Sixfold Path. I'm sure many anthroposophists take a lot of pride in their willed achievements. In this case the will is directed at their inner constituents. It takes a great deal of will to do the various exercises, study well etc. In anthropsophical institutions you generally find a lot of workaholics.

Where the use of will is verboten however, is when it is directed at other beings-hypnotism, suggestionism. Rudolf Steiner once declared that animal training was Black Magic, for instance. So the moral issue is that one shouldn't direct the perfected will at others, interfereing with their free will.

It doesn't always work that way however. I have heard stories about the late Dr. Karl Koenig to the effect that his will was overwhelming when in his
presence. Karl often used to say that nobody worked harder than he. So the occultist of heightened will has to be very careful about how he uses it.

Eliphas Levi mentions that the breath (manifested will) of some Jesuits was enough to seduce women. (see Trancendental Magic)



-Br.Bruce

[Bruce Michael]

Receive the Godhead right into your willing,
And it comes down from its cosmic throne.
-Schiller

Dear Companions,
We have been discussing the will and its training. I found a few interesting passages in Friedrich Rittelmeyer's "Meditation". He makes the point that before will must come feeling: "To Thee Divine being, Ground of the world- I turn my willing! May the power of this willing spring from feeling
that unites itself with Christ, Who liveth in Thy Life..."
-Act of Consecration of Man

He continues:

"THE training of the will still languishes for the most part among humanity....

"And yet the increasing number of cases of sickness of the will-weakness of will, want of resolve, feeble vacillation-indicate that something must be done.

"One can work upon the will by asceticism, by breathing exercises, and also by taking certain medicines. These can be a support to the organic
foundations of the life of our will. But it is in accordance with the spirit
of our time that the will should be built up out of the spiritual centre of
the human being, out of the ego. Only so is it fully healthy and enduringly
strong. It is certainly a help towards this if one freely gives up certain
enjoyments. One will indeed notice how this concentrates and confirms one's will. But it must be a free renunciation, which has something of royalty in it, which can act at any moment, but will not; out of the nature of the spirit. Violence and rules from without easily bring about a damming-up of the will which is not quite healthy and which threatens a relapse.

"It was otherwise in earlier ages when the human ego was still only little
developed. To-day the only safe renunciation is that which the ego renews
at every moment out of its free insight- Such a renunciation is enormously
refreshing for the life of the will.

He compares this with the Jesuit exercises:

"We must also reject such training of the will as is offered us in the jesuitical and similar exercises.

"It is not denied that they school and strengthen the will in a high degree.
They break self-will. But they also break a man's own will. This is quite
understandable because of the age in which they arose, and because of the object they were intended to serve. But they have no regard for the growing ego and its individual possibilities and tasks. They have no consideration for the ripening freedom in humanity. They do not see the royalty of a will which works out of an ego. So they develop, indeed the power of the will formally to a high degree, but at the price of having no free ego there to use this will. They put the man into a uniform.
In this uniform he may feel his self to be strong, and believe himself to be
something more than he really is. But nothing is more apt to lead humanity
away from its goal than a spiritual uniform, at least in our age. In the
exercises of the Jesuits, occult experiences of humanity are at work still
with a thousand year-old power, but they work upon an age that requires
something different. They maintain the Middle Ages among us , even when
through their pact with Modernism they fascinate many people. Besides much else which might be said about them- e.g., that they proclaim
us the earthly king instead of Christ as Lord of the higher ego, that they
overwhelm men with a whole system of dogma from the past, that they plant much egoism and materialism- this crippling of the free ego, of which alone the will may break forth, is decisive for us. If to-day we bring to men new exercises for the much greater care must be taken for the individual of each several ego. Otherwise there arises a powerrful aggregate of will which can be guided by some power or other, but not the fulness of the Godhead which reveals itself in personalities whose egos are free."

In Freedom,
Br.Bruce

[flowperson]

Hi...I thought that this would be the appropriate thread to post a link to an article which details the reconciliation of the 700 year feud between the Knights Templar and the Vatican.

flow....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071012/...5oSEbAWs0 NUE