Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Celescalating the Skyrescape Ladder

Chaos prevails here. Little time to post....

The sun had now progressed to that horizon / Whose great meridian, at its highest point, / Extends its arch above Jersusalem.

Again, Hell is a series of concentric circles, and purgatory is a triangle above that. And now we learn -- to our relief -- that there is a vertical axis that descends from the apex of the triangle down to earth, the hereitblows.

Note that this line could never ascend to the top without having first descended to the bottom. This is indeed a key principle, one that, upon understanding it, immediately clears away a multitude of superstitions of the tenured.

For it is impossible to think or even say anything meaningful in the absence of a Top. Father Involution is prior to Mother Evolution. Furthermore, if Christ descends into Hell, it is only because it is possible to do so -- possible for fullness to become emptiness, as it were.

We must imagine the top as the plenum of all that is good; on its descent, as it ventures further and further from the Principle, it becomes increasingly materialized and then dematerialized to the point of the "void" at the center of Hell (which is only a "false center," an inverted image of the fulsomeness of Heaven).

Says Don Colacho, Hell is a place that can only be identified from paradise, since Nothing cannot perceive Something.

Here one can understand how the worst demons are always "idealists." They always have beautiful theories and ideals, which, when put into practice, result in the propagation of more evil.

The superior man always prefers the real to the ideal, which is another way of saying descent, which is another way of saying Incarnation.

In attempting to create his Heaven on earth, the idealist must first -- without even knowing it -- eliminate the cosmic hierarchy that creates the very possibility of good.

Note that on his own, man cannot ascend, but can always descend. In the words of Don Colacho, Every straight line leads directly to a hell. The ascending ones are always a bit crookward.

Again, man cannot possibly ascend unless there is something real to ascend to. Otherwise, one is simply being forced to ascend to the manmade ideal of the leftist, usually concealed in some attractive veneer such as "universal healthcare."

The left appeals to your ideals in order to eliminate them -- in other words, to paraphrase someone, they dream of systems so perfect that no one needs to be good. The system will produce good the way a machine produces paperclips, thus eliminating man, that troublesome priest and pontificating bridgebuilder!

Our sojourners next encounter an angel, which is none other than a vertical emissary. The earliest description of this is in Genesis 28, in which Jacob has a vision of the vertical structure of the cosmos:

"[A]nd behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it."

Importantly, Jacob understands this to mean that "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it."

In noneother worlds than this, there is no radical disjunction between God and man, the principle and the manifestation, but a hierarchical nexus. God is the cause and the world is the effect, but there is always something of the cause in the effect. Therefore, Jacob exclaims,

"How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!"

Our existence is the gate of Heaven. Which is why, The gate of reality is horizontal (Don Colacho). For the earth is the womb in which the seeds of God grow to maturity.

Hey, that's just what I was thinking! A waalworth of skyerscape of most eyeful hoyth entowerly, erigenating from next to nothing and celescalating the himals and all, hierarchitectitiptitoploftical, with a burning bush abob off its baubletop and with larrons o'toolers clittering up and tombles a'buckets clottering down. --Finnegans Wake



The fire escape goes both ways:

She stands all alone
You can hear her hum softly
From her fire escape in the sky
She fills the bags 'neath her eyes
With the moonbeams
And cries 'cause the world's passed her by

Didn't time sound sweet yesterday?
In a world filled with friends
You lose your way

She's a haunted house
And her windows are broken
And the sad young man's gone away
Her bathrobe's torn
And tears smudge her lipstick
And the neighbors just whisper all day

Didn't time sound sweet yesterday?
In a world filled with friends
You lose your way

15 comments:

will said...

Just a little more riffing on the "power of art" . . .

Back during Vatican 2 in the early 60's when the Church started sensing the winds of change that were starting to sweep the world, a certain change was made concerning monastery activity - the daily singing of the Gregorian chant, which had always been mandatory, was made optional.

Now a monk's life is no stroll through the park. It's very rigorous, farming, etc., plus monks had always been vegetarians, got very little sleep. Monks, however, had always been equal to the task. But when the Gregorian chant was made optional and many monastaries eliminated it from daily activity, something happened - monks all over Europe and elsewhere began to wilt from fatigue. More sleep was added to the regimen, meat had to be introduced to the diet.

Clearly, the Gregorian chant was/is much more than a musical interlude, much more than an aesthetic pleasure. It is a sacred art form, one that spiritually re-vitalizes, awakens and sharpens the higher senses in a way that perhaps the loftiest of classical music cannot do. It is Mystery, period.

That's what the power of art can do. Shazamm!

Now my puter's going to the repair shop, so see ya in a while . .

Shilly Shally Wiki Woo said...

Chanting is known to be powerful; shamans use it, among others, to enter higher states of consciousness and to channel and control physical energy.

The chant "Ah mohtra day EEEEE-yah!" is a good one. I don't know what it means. I don't think it has a semantic meaning. I heard a child chanting this joyously, and joined in for fun. I immediately sensed the great energy of this chant; the child had happened upon it randomly and in that way that children are wise, sensed the power.

Any chant that comes to you spontaneously is an assured gift of Grace. Use it liberally, both out loud or silently in your thoughts.

Do not reveal your personal chant to others. That diminishes its potency.

The sonic realm is a rich spiritual grazing field upon which we may range and gambol happily.

Van Harvey said...

"Chaos prevails here. Little time to post...."

Always a welcome opener. Ok, on to the next line.

julie said...

Will - that's very interesting, and yet I'm not entirely surprised. There's something about singing through one's labors that makes the burden bearable, even pleasurable.

ora et labora

I hope your computer is fixed quickly!

Van Harvey said...

"Here one can understand how the worst demons are always "idealists." They always have beautiful theories and ideals, which, when put into practice, result in the propagation of more evil."

The 20th century could be exhibit A for making that case. Reminds me of the line in Braveheart when Longshanks says "The trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots"; the idealist solves such troubles by 'removing' the pesky details (people) that interfere with their ideals.
“In attempting to create his Heaven on earth, the idealist must first -- without even knowing it -- eliminate the cosmic hierarchy that creates the very possibility of good.”

Yep.

Van Harvey said...

Will said "That's what the power of art can do. Shazamm!"

Yep. The philosophy that relegates Art to incidental decorations or 'statements', is a mis-sophy for sure.

"Now my puter's going to the repair shop, so see ya in a while . ."

Ooh... best of luck on that... my laptop came back dead.

julie said...

...they dream of systems so perfect that no one needs to be good.

From the Canto, "indeed, for three months now/ he has taken all who asked, without exception."

By implication, for someone to cross over into Purgatory he must choose to work toward the good. Which is to say, he must give up the idea that he can be perfected from without by any horizontal means, any "system," and accept that only with Grace and his own will become act may he strive to improve his lot from within. Or here again, ora et labora.

julie said...

This one just popped up on my playlist. Seems quite apropos for reaching the shores of Purgatory.

julie said...

I like the Scott Walker song. It doesn't have the audio plaid & polka-dot effect he often has, and there are some interesting rhythms. When he's good, he's really good.

julie said...

Also meant to say, nice sphiral.

Gagdad Bob said...

Sphiral. Good one.

It actually came up when I image-googled "spiraling cross."

Judas Miss Tick said...

Where do the following fit on the horizontal/vertical axes?

ESP
UFO's
Aliens
Magik
Premonitions
Ghosts
Seers
Psychics
Astrology
Alchemy
PK
Past Life Regression
Freudian infantile sexuality
Utopianism
Lassaiz-Faire capitalism
Unrestricted submarine warfare
Black Ops.

Any answers would be appreciated.

Miss Tick

julie said...

I noticed the image is titled "Esferica Loxodromica." Esferica must be Spanish for sphere, but I haven't a clue what loxodromica means. Spanish for possessing a loxodrome-like quality, I suppose.

***

Heh - I should have checked the wiki.

Sigmund Fraud said...

I am not an ideologist but I know people who believe:

Hard work is good

A stimulating career is a must

They need a nice home and money

They need children

They need a car

They need a mate

They need family and friends.

When you interview people in depth you soon discover what they really want is peace of mind and have no idea how to get it aside from pursuing and attaining the above items. And it never works.

My psychology practice consists of systematically destroying any hope people have of leading a conventional life. Once they are flattened and humiliated sufficiently, then they start living again.

Some do ironically end up with some or all of the above, the difference being they didn't ask or push, the gifts came to them, and they don't believe they need them and are at peace.

As for myself, I cannot find peace because I have an ideology that I must help people. I cannot throw this off no matter what I try.

sehoy said...

Very interesting about the Gregorian chant. Liked the spiral too. Your post makes me think of the Greek "Ladder of Ascent" Icon.

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