Golden Dawn Bozos and Cognitive Dissonance

It has been a while since I posted anything opinionated. The reason for that is that I am getting less opinionated. I am more focused on healing others than anything else right now. Tonight, I'm going to speak a little bit on the process of mind one must have to do theurgic work.

I am a product of the Golden Dawn tradition. There are some well noted and not so noticed bozos, jerks, nincompoops, and, dare I say it, doo-doo heads that are part of that tradition as well. These tend to hide the good people but let's ignore the good ones for this post. The point I am trying to make here is that they are part of the same tradition I was a part of. Because of that, I have to consider, what is about my tradition that produces these people?

The opposite direction is taken by every Christian I have ever met. When they see doo-doo heads as part of their tradition, they say those people are not 'real Christians'. Why not? They read the same book and, more or less, follow the same general perspective, follow the same gods (all four of them, Yawheh, Holy Spirit, Jesus and Satan), have the same general rules, forgiveness and the idea that we are all tainted by original sin etc. The same god that answers the prayers of 'real Christians' answers the prayers of the 'not real Christians'.  I have news for you. Every Christian is a real Christian whether any one person agrees with them or not. Their faith is just as strong as everyone else's. The question 'real Christians' should ask themselves is what about Christianity creates these people? Are they right and I am wrong? If not, how do I avoid the traps of our shared tradition that they failed to negotiate?

Most are not willing to examine these difficult questions and fall back into making 'real' and 'not Real' judgments. Those that are not of the the theurgic mindset fall into this sort of trap all the time. This thinking is an emotional salve to resolve cognitive dissonance without doing the internal work necessary. It produces an us and them scenario. No true spirituality separates. Spirituality unifies.

This contrast is easy to make. It is harder when we do it with our microcosmic issues. The trick isn't to produce an ill-thought out emotional response that cripples thinking. The trick is to produce intuitive insight that expands thinking.

I am not capable of doing this every time. I do try but I am human and I do fail. My point is that theurgists must do this sort of thing more often than they fail to do it.