tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney) (06/10/85)
New Age Digest #9
Moderator: Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K.ARPA
(uucp: seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim)
Tue Feb 26 02:23:31 EST 1985
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This Time:
Administrivia: USENET
Profile of a List Subscriber
Illuminatus! opinions (nine msgs. from the SF-LOVERS mailing list)
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From: The Moderator
Date: Thu Feb 21 21:27:05 EST 1985
Subject: Administrivia: USENET
This list was originally formed as an alternative to forming a USENET group
to discuss these matters. In retrospect the list was a better idea, since
it can reach a larger group of people, but there is the problem of
interested people not knowing we exist, where they would naturally encounter
the group on USENET. Several of our latest joiners have been people who
were referred by friends or who referred to their pagan or occult interests
in other messages and were interested when I wrote them. (Our membership is
fifty-two, if anyone is curious.) These methods are practically guaranteed
to miss more often than they hit, depriving us of valuable additional
insights. This suggests that perhaps we ought to gateway the group through
to USENET. However, the frequency of submissions is low at present: the
message below has waited nearly a month to see print because I have received
no other submissions for this issue of the Digest. This suggests that we
should stay with the mailing list approach alone for now. (However, it is
possible that one reason for the low volume of contributions is that mailing
lists are harder to contribute to than USENET, and tend to have fewer
replies to messages.) Another alternative is that I should just send each
issue as an article to USENET's net.religion. The list is run by consensus,
not by fiat, so I would appreciate any mail from the various members on this
subject. Unless clearly indicated otherwise, all such messages will be
treated as personal mail to me, and not for the list.
Tim
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From: ihnp4!hpfcla!hplvla!hplsla!hplslb!hplsli!brion@seismo.ARPA
Date: Sun, Jan 27 1985
From: Brion Emde
Subject: general
Name : Brion Noble Emde
Age : 28
Occupation: Software Engineer at Hewlett Packard
I was born a Lutheran and received some schooling in Lutheran schools.
I got out of organized religion as soon as possible and did not think about
religion for a long time.
A few years ago I began to get interested in comparative mythology
and the work done by Joseph Campbell. He is interested in cutting through
all of the cultural fluff that surrounds myths and getting to the main ideas
contained in them. His main thesis is that we live myths all the time
and particularly in our dream states. It turns out that Campbell was a
student of Carl Jung, who had first described these ideas long ago.
Jung and his students wrote a very good book before his death called
"Man and His Symbols". This book describes the work of Jung in a very
accessible form and led me to study symbolism as a route to better under-
standing myself and my place on earth. Through this study I found that the
masonic fraternity had in its keeping many symbols that can be interpereted
to represent a veiled universal religious philosophy quite out of the
mainstream of conventional religion. I decided that I had better check
this out.
The hard part was finding out how to become a mason. Since the
fraternity is secretive and does not solicit members it was necessary to
find a friend who was a mason and would sponsor me. This was eventually
done and since that time I have been engaged in reading some of the
extensive list (over 40,000 volumes have been written) of masonic writings.
All of the books written about masonry are available to the public, but
unfortunately, they probably cannot be fully appreciated without the
background provided by the masonic ritual. The best masonic writers speak
in figures, couching their true meaning in terms of building terminology.
I recently read a classic article where a short outline of the
history of the operative (building) craft was presented. On the surface
it was a inaccurate account of the history of architecture. When
read on another level (which I am only beginning to glimpse!) it appeared
to me to be a history of the religious aspirations of humanity and the search
for the answers to the great questions of the meaning of life and death.
The ability to look beneath the surface of such writings and forms
of speech is essential to the mason who wishes to understand the heritage
that has been handed down and appears to take time and patience to develop.
I intend to continue to reading and thinking about the philosphy
in the masonic writings and ritual, and will try to make contributions to
the news group as I can. I can do this without revealing any secrets
because the real secrets of the masonic fraternity are of a symbolic nature
and anything that is written down can be discussed freely.
Brion Emde
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[Note: the rest of this issue is completely composed of forwarded messages
about the occult fiction of Robert Anton Wilson, from the SF-LOVERS mailing
list. They have been subjected to the usual spelling and format correction
for ease of reading, and most of the redundant information (in the form of
quotes from other messages) has been removed. -- Tim]
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From: lazarus@sunybcs.UUCP (Daniel G. Winkowski)
Subject: Re: misc. topics old and new
Date: Tue, 12-Feb-85 12:49:59 EST
I recall a particular series (trilogy?) of the 'secret society' genre, this
was/is the Illuminatti (sp?) series. I only got through 1 and 1/2 of the
books since I started becoming paranoid! I believe the writers were Anton
Wilson and Robert Sheckly, though my mind is rather foggy on this since once
I put the books down I never wanted to hear about them again. They were real
good, so good I did not dare go anywhere without looking over my shoulders!
--
Daniel G. Winkowski @ SUNY Buffalo Computer Science (716-636-2879)
UUCP: ..![bbncca,decvax,dual,rocksanne,watmath]!sunybcs!lazarus
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From: SORCEROR@LL.ARPA
Subject: ILLUMINATUS Trilogy
Date: Thu, 14-Feb-85 09:51:25 EST
The series you are thinking of is the "ILLUMINATUS" trilogy by Robert Anton
Wilson and Robert Shea. Hear, hear!! These books employ a delightful
non-linear narrative, which can make for difficult reading. (The reader has
to keep track of half a dozen sub-plots and be prepared to switch between
them without warning.) This style serves to link a strong libertarian
viewpoint with a reverence for eros, randomness and surprises. (One doesn't
have to equate libertarianism with the controlling, rationalizing attitudes
of Objectivism and much of our scientific/technological culture.) I believe
the authors conceived this series in reaction to the many "crank-letters"
about conspiracy theories they received while working as editors at Playboy.
Highly recommended; enjoy !!
"All Hail Eris, All Hail Discordia, Blessed Be!!"
Karl Heinemann (SORCEROR at LL)
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From: war@mit-dutch (Chris Warack)
Subject: Illuminati
Date: Thu, 14-Feb-85 14:41:21 EST
Robert Anton Wilson was one of the authors of Illuminati (only one 't').
I don't remember the other. The series is amazingly good, although the
way it jumps around from one viewpoint to another is confusing sometimes.
This is the book that explains the Kennedy assasination, the disappearance
of John Dillinger, pyramid power, the sinking of Atlantis, evolution, ...
THEY have a finger in everybody's pie. The question is "Who are they?"
It even involves Cthulhu.
The Bavarian Illuminati IS mentioned in the dictionary, so some of the story
is factually based. And, their symbol is the pyramid with the eye in it.
Now, where have I seen that before?
-- Chris Warack
war@dutch
"All Hail Discordia!"
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From: Alan Greig <CCD-ARG%dct@ucl-cs.arpa>
Subject: Illuminatus
Date: Fri, 15-Feb-85 15:18:35 EST
The original series did indeed form a trilogy, I'm not 100% certain
but I think they were
The Golden Apple
The Eye in the Pyramid
Leviathan
maybe not in that order. They were written by Robert Anton Wilson and
Bob Shea. Wilson then went on on his own to write another trilogy,
Scrodinger's Cat which was based on the same (or similiar characters
as Illuminatus) but each book was set in a parallel universe (I think!).
I can only remember the title of one of these, The Trick Top Hat. He's since
written several other books in the same vein, the last I saw being Masks of
The Illuminati which manages to star Albert Einstein amongst others !
The only way to describe these books is "WEIRD" and fear of prosecution
keeps me from going too much into the contents of some of the books. If
you'd like to know about Rhoda Chief and ACE then you'll have to read them!
As an interesting point there really was a secret society called the
Illuminati which you should be able to find in any good encyclopaedia, eg
Brittanica. I'd better not reveal too much more though as who kno
A
r
gh
Keep away from me, I didn't mean to reveal everything.
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From: jpa144@cit-vax (Jens Peter Alfke)
Subject: re: Illuminatus!
Date: Sun, 17-Feb-85 04:18:40 EST
Just to complete things:
The three volumes of Illuminatus! (Robert Shea / Robert Anton Wilson) are
The Eye in the Pyramid
The Golden Apple
Leviathan
As far as I know, all are still in print (paperback) from Dell books.
Very very highly recommended. Even if you disagree with what the authors
are trying to say, the series will still give you some ideas . . .
Wilson has also put out a (sortof) sequel to Illuminatus!, called
Schrodinger's Cat; another trilogy consisting of:
The Universe Next Door
The Trick Top Hat
The Homing Pigeons
These books are not closely connected to Illuminatus!, although they have a
few characters in common, but the chaotic style and philosophies are still
there, although these books deal less with the "secret-society" concept.
Each of the three books assumes, and is based on, a different interpretation
of quantum mechanics: the Everett/Wheeler/Graham model, Bell's Theorem, and
Non-Objectivity, respectively. No, really! It actually makes some sense,
and in any case the books are much more entertaining than the "serious"
tomes on how-QM-is-really-god drivel.
Recommended to those who liked Illuminatus!; perhaps a tad too weird for
others.
Oh, yes, there's also the game Illuminati, put out by Steve Jackson Games.
Each player controls a supersecret orginazation which is trying to take
control of all the neutral organizations. A fun time, especially if you
like to screw over your friends. Worth buying just to see the names of all
the groups: the Gnomes of Zurich, the Servants of Cthulhu (some of the
Illuminati), the Orbital Mind Control Lasers, Fnord Motor Company, the Fred
Birch Society, Secret Masters of Fandom, the International Communist
Conspiracy, Robot Sea Monsters . . . as well as for the vicarious thrill of
taking over Trekkies, Convenience Stores, Nuclear Power Companies, the
I.R.S., Cycle Gangs, Psychiatrists, California, etc.
(There's also a Play-by-mail version of Illuminati that I've just started
playing.)
Kallisti,
--Peter Alfke
"Justin Case suspected that the FBI was tapping his phone. However,
9,000,000 out of the 20,000,000 primates in New York also suspected
the FBI of tapping their phones. Case just happened to be one of the
8,000,000 who were correct in this suspicion."
--from Schrodinger's Cat
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From: "James J. Lippard" <Lippard@HIS-PHOENIX-MULTICS.ARPA>
Subject: Other Illuminatus Books
Date: Mon, 18-Feb-85 12:28:10 EST
My copy of "Cosmic Trigger: The Final Secret of the Illuminati" is labeled
as "S/F", but it is written as a nonfiction book about Robert Anton Wilson's
observations about "space migration, extraterrestrial visitation, UFO
contact, meditation, witchcraft, shamanic revelation, Immortalists, and
hallucinatory drugs".
"Masks of the Illuminati" is more similar to the Illuminatus! trilogy. It
is about a man named Sir John Babcock who, with the help of an "unknown
physics professor, Albert Einstein" and a "wild and obscure Irishman, James
Joyce" come up against the "ancient, terrible order" of Aleister Crowley.
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From: tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney)
Subject: Re: Other Illuminatus Books
Date: Mon, 18-Feb-85 18:45:39 EST
I strongly recommend Robert Anton Wilson's fiction, such as Illuminatus!,
Masks of the Illuminati, and Schrodinger's Cat. I strongly
counter-recommend his non-fiction except insofar as it pertains to the
interesting (though unproven) neurological models of Dr. Leary. Wilson is
incredibly gullible, believing in (for example) Uri Geller's psychic powers
and intervention in Earth history by aliens from Sirius. He also has an
extremely inflated view of himself: for example, he claims that a few weeks'
depression after his daughter's murder is equivalent to having passed the
supreme ordeal of "crossing the Abyss" in Western Magick. He is a dabbler,
not an expert, when it comes to Magick, and as such his views on the subject
must be viewed with extreme skepticism.
-=-
Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University Computation Center
ARPA: Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K uucp: seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim
CompuServe: 74176,1360 audio: shout "Hey, Tim!"
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From: Gary A Williams <SA.WILLI%CU20B@COLUMBIA.ARPA>
Subject: Re: SF-LOVERS Digest V10 #62
Date: Wed, 20-Feb-85 22:13:41 EST
I have read most of the illuminati stuff except the schroedingers cat series
and the new series which I am desperately trying to find. conspiracy stuff
is my major passion. as a Mason and Rosicrucian I can tell you all that
Wilson knows his stuff. reading the trilogy and cosmic trigger makes you
want to run out and do research to find out what some of his references
allude to.
THE UNSPELLABLE
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From: crm@duke.UUCP (Charlie Martin)
Subject: Re: Other Illuminatus Books
Date: Thu, 21-Feb-85 18:14:28 EST
In article <261@cmu-cs-k.ARPA> tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney) writes:
> ... Wilson is
>incredibly gullible, believing in (for example) Uri Geller's psychic powers
>and intervention in Earth history by aliens from Sirius.
Or else he simply has fooled you with a better "willing suspension
of disbelief" than you expect.
> He also has an
> ... He is a dabbler,
>not an expert, when it comes to Magick, and as such his views on the subject
>must be viewed with extreme skepticism.
which is more or less the view suggested by Crowley on his own
stuff. What the hell, his views make at least as much sense as
Billy Graham's.
Opinions stated here are my own and are unrelated.
Charlie Martin
(...mcnc!duke!crm)
"I am not a number, I'm a free variable!"
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End of New Age Digest
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-=-
Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking
ARPA: Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K uucp: seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim
CompuServe: 74176,1360 audio: shout "Hey, Tim!"