Towards a Nietzschean Qabalah.

Philosophy Forums Religion and Spirituality
1

(Disclaimer: This post presupposes basic knowledge of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.)

In his The Way of the Secret Lover, Christopher Hyatt writes:

[size=95]The Abyss is a cosmic looking-glass which reflects the pure, ideal concepts of the First Trinity creating the illusion of a Second Trinity (which in turn extrudes the even more unreal Third Trinity).[/size]
When I read this recently, it could not fail to remind me of Nietzsche’s early metaphysics. The First Trinity is then the Primal Unity, a.k.a. the Primordial One (das Ur-Eine); the Second Trinity, the world of Nature; and the Third Trinity, the realm of Apollinian illusions. That the Second Trinity be the world of Nature is supported by a comparison between how Dion Fortune describes the two opposing Sephiroth within this Trinity, and the way I recently described that world:

[size=95]The analogy of physiology gives us a clear understanding of the significance of these two Sephiroth. Metabolism consists of anabolism, or the ingesting and assimilating of food and its building up into tissue, and katabolism, or the breaking down of tissue in active work and the output of energy. The by-products of katabolism are the fatiguepoisons which have to be eliminated from the blood by rest. The life-process is an everlasting upbuilding and downbreaking, and Geburah and Gedulah (another name for Chesed) represent these two processes in the Macrocosm. [Source: Fortune, The Mystical Qabalah, XVIII.7]

Nature is, like, the cosmic process; it’s time itself; it’s “matter”—as we’d call it—colliding into each other and forming structures and destroying structures. [Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThGrp-DAp_w 00:32-00:47][/size]
And that the Third Trinity be the realm of Apollinian illusions is supported by a comparison between how she describes the Sephira in the middle of this Trinity, and how Nietzsche describes the Apollinian:

[size=95]The pantheistic [sic] faiths, such as the Greek and Egyptian, centre in Yesod[.] [Source: Fortune, op. cit., XX.16][/size]
What she means by “pantheistic” is of course “polytheistic”; and indeed, Heraclitus is reported as saying that there are gods even in the dungheap! As Nietzsche says, however, the whole Olympian world, down from the gods of the dungheap up to Zeus himself, is Apollinian (The Birth of Tragedy, chapter 3). And as for the Egyptians: Nietzsche ties the Egyptian with extreme Apollinianism:

[size=95][L]est the Apollinian tendency freeze all form into Egyptian rigidity, and in attempting to prescribe its orbit to each particular wave inhibit the movement of the lake, the Dionysian flood tide periodically destroys all the little circles in which the Apollinian will would confine Hellenism. [Source: Nietzsche, ibid., chapter 9.][/size]
The Dionysian counterpart to the Apollinian Yesod is Tiphareth, the Sephira in the middle of the Second Trinity. Thus Fortune writes:

[size=95][T]he sacrificed gods and redeemers [are referred] to Tiphareth. [Source: Fortune, op.cit., XX.16][/size]
Dionysus was of course ho Lusios, “the Redeemer”, and Zagreus, the god who was cut to pieces by the Titans. Now Tiphareth is also called “the Christ-center”…

[size=95]The god on the cross is a curse on life, a signpost to seek redemption from life; Dionysus cut to pieces is a promise of life: it will be eternally reborn and return again from destruction. [Source: Nietzsche, The Will to Power, Kaufmann ed., section 1052.]

[T]he Christian doctrine was the counterdoctrine to the Dionysian[.] [Source: ibid., 1051.][/size]
The redemption brought by Dionysus was not a redemption from life, but a redemption in life:

[size=95]The Hindu vision of the divine as articulated in Krsna and Kâlî affirms that samsâra is pervaded by the divine, that samsâra, painful though it may be, is expressive of divine activity. Samsâra may be essentially mâyic in nature, a dazzling, magic show that bewitches, deludes, and ensnares man, but it is also affirmed to be grounded in the warm, redemptive realities of its creators. Samsâra is to be ultimately transcended, no doubt, but it may be transcended by attuning oneself to its inner rhythms, by learning to dance to the tune of Krsna’s flute or with Kâlî in her dance of creation and destruction. The devotee of Krsna or Kâlî does not transcend the world by denying it in yogic withdrawal but by dancing to its inner rhythms and thereby participating in its creative and redeeming source. [David Kinsley, The Sword and the Flute, Conclusion.][/size]
Samsâra is the world of Nature. The phenomenon of the Dionysian, however, does not consist in our identification with the god or tragic hero cut to pieces in Tiphareth, but with the Primal Unity, enjoying the spectacle of that sacrifice, even if the sacrificial victim be ourselves, the imaginary fragment that we usually call “ourselves”. And indeed, Nietzsche describes the said phenomenon as follows:

[size=95]Now that the gospel of universal harmony is sounded, each individual becomes not only reconciled to his fellow but actually at one with him—as though the veil of Maya had been torn apart and there remained only shreds floating before the vision of mystical Oneness [i.e., before “the eye of the world”, as Nietzsche puts it in the [url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/human_superhuman/message/65]fragment of an advanced form of The Birth of Tragedy[/url]]. [Source: Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, chapter 1.][/size]

2

It can be done, and pointed this out on the old Nietzscheforum website in several of my responses- I said it was the only advanced system of psychology that was available to Nietzsche.

I am not in disagreement with this- this doesn’t mean I’m going to be factually accepting of the end results as authentically Nietzschean or real world real in either case- reason I can’t accept it as authentically Nietzschean is because Nietzsche would of admired the ability of a dialectic progression (dialectic progression is built into the symmetry of the tree of life) but also would of scoffed at anyone telling him that was all there was- he would of tried to break the system inspite of the system. Other reason is because the tree of life is a legitimate, through very old, system of psychology- it’s been around in it’s current form for a thousand years, and have many schools in it debating aspects of it’s interconnections based on empirical observation- like the inter connections of Da’at come from guys based in Tif’eret who can’t actually experience it directly save under circumstances of sex or when they are smelling… so it’s largely hypothetical to them, whereas guys like me call bullshit, but guys like me can’t see aspects of the lower nature as intimately as you can. The conception of higher and lower is of course determined by the ends of the system- Keter-Da’at would be the obvious ends of a Nietzschean system as a higher progression would be wanted, but that’s because of the emphasis the ancient world put on that kind of thinking. Roman civilization wasn’t possible without it- but other kinds of civilization could exist without it, and perhaps ‘just fine’. For example, the Huns wouldn’t need it as much, as nomadic steepe societies wouldn’t need the stability and insight it offers, they rouse and fell quickly, and it was whoever was most charismatic and strongest that counted for most. You could structure the ultimate needs for thought through other arrangements of the mind- just biology is going to be fighting against you.

Orthodox religion- be it Christian, Buddhist, Confucian- whatever… is going to be the first to lay claim to the Keter networks, the Supplementary Motor Areas- the largest network of nerves used in consciousness in the brain. Any satanist is automatically a reactionary- and is going to have to use alternative systems. However, there will be overtime massive overlap, and in the end, either the Satanism will devolve into nothing, as the Orthodox religion systemmatically explores the possibilities of life- or is going to collapse shortly after the main religion goes as it’s not going to be a ‘reaction’ anymore, nor will it for long be able to hide out in the outlands of the mind- eventually for the sake of society’s survival it will have to make the hike to it’s own anthethesis- and become the hated Orthodox in all but name, or that society will wither away into near nothingness.

This is the ultimate hypocrisy and humiliation of success on that end. I say this only because a Nietzschean is going to seek what it perceives to be power- and the SMA network it the most important, followed up by the Basal network, and third yours. Just the SMA network is the hardest to get conscious control over. It’s damn difficult unless your born with the potential, and even then most don’t do much in terms of linking various aspects of the mind up, they’ll link a few and then will grow tired.

You do know there are many sub-variations of the Tree of Life, don’t you? It’s modern survival is thus the simple tree without duplication, but you can network them vertically and horizontally and in diagonals to achieve sociological patterns of thought, as well as overall behaviorisms. It’s not very good for complex actions rooted deep in the cytoarchitecture of the brain.

So yeah- it’s possible- and my old question-anwser logic clone is modeled off of a assortment of trees of life staggered around a arena of sorts programmed to flip in response to dualistic formulas- it was a simple task to do given the Chinese fascination with building symbolic polarities of strategic principles such as the 100 Unorthodox strategies, and Ramon Llull’s Ars Magnus provided a simple means to juicing the analytical crunch capacity- I didn’t use any concepts more advanced than the 14th century and can now make devices that predict what I will think in situations I haven’t thought yet.

If your serious about this- look into Ramon Llull, the medieval philosopher- you can probably just program a Nietzsche AI that works in conjunction with a re-branded tree of life. Just don’t get freaked out when you encounter old genealogical methods that predate Nietzsche if you start researching this area.

I didn’t make this thread threatening- I honestly think it’s possible. Just note my two limitations, as I think aspects of his thought are absolute anathema to a tree of life, and any attempt by you is doomed to failure given your psychological deposition. You’re in a position to observe the mind better than most, but do not experience it in the immediacy of your thoughts- you have to go through a understanding of what the thinking is, instead of just experiencing the thinking as I do, or as Nietzsche did. There is a difference here- and I doubt it’s going to occur to you save till well down the rode if you every figure out how to perform the breakout. I was psychologically predisposed for it, and had significant help in Iraq and since. In your case, it’s going to be piecemeal at best, and you have enough sources before you letting you know this- I’m merely referencing this.

A heads up- the energetic dancing is Da’at. Smelling is Da’at.

A second heads up- there are modern systems much much more advanced than qabbalah- it makes for poor neuroscience. I might write in it shorthand when taking notes, but wouldn’t perform a brain surgery off of it, or diagnose a problem via it. I go by modern psychological understanding of Neuroscience, and use several different modern systems. It’s good to look into the old stuff, and I commend it- as some of the best philosophers of the past used it- it has some heavy intellectual weight behind it- but try to look past this eventually and learn some modern systems- and I don’t mean Freud of Jung- something with fMRI insight, with a understanding of modern neurochemistry (though the tree of life does get it mostly right neurochemical wise, there are large sections of chemistry it misses).

Thirdly, don’t punish Cezar once you type him, it’s only going to make him more perverted if you do it from your mindset. You got a solid chance of advancing, just don’t fuck with him yet till you get there- our personality types is what people react to, not the facts they present. Mine is therapeutic in his case and in yours, but not in yours to him. You’ll figure this out once you have a basic understanding of typology from the system.

Most people type me for the regions I listed- it’s not me saying it. INTJ with my particular traits stand out for it. and yes, MBTI is easy to adapt to the system, as well as a few other systems. Your starting position isn’t bad- it’s third best- above Cezar in most cases (but not all), and in a few cases you trump me- again we know this from how the brain is structured.

3

Didn’t all this eventually drive Nietzsche mad? So shouldn’t we be careful taking Nietzsche too seriously, else we risk the same fate?

I love Nietzsche, but come on. Crazy people are fun. And that should be the extent of it.

And same kind of thing with the Kabbalah. Those that take it seriously, namely devote Jews, become cultish about it. And those cults are full of grifters.

4

His revelations were the result of what was making him mad, not the other way around.

5

Even if what drove him mad is his ideas—which is highly unlikely—, no “ought” or “should” can follow from this “is” alone; a second premise is missing from your argument, to the extent that madness should be avoided at all costs. And though I agree that madness is ultimately to be resisted with all one’s might, that’s not the same as saying it should be avoided. After all, one cannot truly appreciate sanity without knowing insanity from up close—i.e., without knowing what it feels like to go mad… This Heraclitean truth implies that we philosophers—I say “we” out of courtesy—must risk going mad! Well then! I’ve risked going mad, I know insanity from up close, I know what it feels like to go mad. This experience marks a divide in my life as fundamental as that between my death and my birth… By virtue of this experience, I know what it’s like to be the Primordial One, and thereby know the supreme value of the world:

[size=95]The world—at every moment the attained salvation of God, as the eternally changing, eternally new vision of the most deeply afflicted, discordant, and contradictory being who can find salvation only in appearance[.] [Source: Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, “Attempt at a Self-Criticism”, section 5.][/size]
Hell is not other people, Heaven is.—

[size=95]Spirit is life which itself cutteth into life: by its own torture doth it increase its own knowledge,—did ye know that before?
And the spirit’s happiness is this: to be anointed and consecrated with tears as a sacrificial victim,—did ye know that before?
And the blindness of the blind one, and his seeking and groping, shall yet testify to the power of the sun into which he hath gazed,—did ye know that before?
And with mountains shall the discerning one learn to build! It is a small thing for the spirit to remove mountains,—did ye know that before?
Ye know only the sparks of the spirit: but ye do not see the anvil which it is, and the cruelty of its hammer!
Verily, ye know not the spirit’s pride! But still less could ye endure the spirit’s humility, should it ever want to speak!
And never yet could ye cast your spirit into a pit of snow: ye are not hot enough for that! Thus are ye unaware, also, of the delight of its coldness.
In all respects, however, ye make too familiar with the spirit; and out of wisdom have ye often made an alms-house and a hospital for bad poets.
Ye are not eagles: thus have ye never experienced the happiness of the alarm of the spirit. And he who is not a bird should not camp above abysses.
Ye seem to me lukewarm ones: but coldly floweth all deep knowledge. Ice-cold are the innermost wells of the spirit: a refreshment to hot hands and handlers. [Source: Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra, “The Famous Wise Ones”; Common translation.][/size]

I did not write “Qabalah” for nothing: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_Qabalah.

6

So you identify with Nietzsche’s madness? If I go any crazier they’ll put me in the loony-bin. Have you been there, if you don’t mind me asking?

My bad. Sorry for my wrong assumption. So you are talking about a syncretized Qabalah?

Are we back to paganism? spiced with Nietzsche? …

Great Nietzsche quotes, by the way. Thanks …

7

In English, it can be spelled most any way, even a book was written on the subject, called Chicken Qabalah. Unfortunately for Sauwelios, he doesn’t realize this dichotomy was made mostly on baseless grounds- the branch he thinks he is ascribing to is largely identical to the rest, and the spelling as a sticking point is near universally ignored by everyone, as it was made by assclowns with little pull, who wanted to be different.

The Golden Dawn isn’t completely pagan, as it incorporates alot of the Gnostic, Christian, Alchemical, and Jewish traditions in it. It’s not really even Hermetic either (massive gap in time where it largely died off, e few times actually), just ascribes more strongly to that time period ideologically- despite little from that time period actually surviving.

The Golden Dawn isn’t incompetent, you’ll get the drift rather quickly of what the structure is (tree of life is simple), however, it’s a bit like the movie ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ in making you do some pretty silly shit. In the end, if you get in on the in crowd, they will hook you up with drugs that will systematically trigger bad trips in each part of the brain that they conceive to be related to the structure of the Tree of Life, and some of those trips will be ‘bad trips’ leaving you creeped the fuck out.

The bad news is, it doesn’t provide you with much cognitive capacity in those areas of the mind, as your too busy being high as a kite at the time to learn how to use them.

The ‘actual’ hermetic tradition was much more ancient that the much more recent Golden Dawn, and wasn’t drug based, it was Music based, and comes from Mt. Helikon, and was the cultural import of the Macedonians to the world- it’s why there ISN’T a Tree of Life in Sri Lanka, despite it being the last bastion of the old Cults of the Alexandrian Empire still around, and it’s mythology has strong parallels to early Jewish and Christian Mythology BEFORE this spread. I’ve been collecting resources on this matter for a much more future book on the effects of Alexander the Great’s Philosophy.

Your assumption that the Hermetic tradition is more Pagan is incorrect, the Hermetic Tradition is counter-pagan, and in the cult of the Muses was THE DIRECT THREAT to the Indo-European Parthenon of that time period, and parallels of this myth in very close order pop up in Sri Lanka as well.

Your not aware of how far down the depths of this tradition goes, so don’t get too excited thinking you found a anti-christian alternative. If you read old Christian texts like The Book of Enoch it pretty much paralells the understanding- we developed a few dozen alternative systems early on.

Secondly- Nietzsche went mad because he was known to hang out in whore houses, and died from Syphilis. This happens when you fuck whores- His older sister didn’t have it, and his mother didn’t die from it… so he got it somewhere. He also used Opium. The Tree of Life isn’t going to drive you mad, it’s a very primitive map of the cognition patterns of the mind, and doesn’t go into much detail. It’s largely accurate, but has quite a lineage of Empirical Data and some pretty impressive philosophers backing it from several eras of history.

If you think of the electricity in a house, amps, voltages, wiring, neural and hot lines, switches, etc… kabalah gets about as minutes as labeling where the branch lines in the house ‘roughly go to’ by naming rooms in the house. It doesn’t say anything about the switches, the outlets, if some branches serve two rooms, if it does just the outlets and not the lights, etc. It’s a very primitive system, and isn’t worth very much in and of itself in terms of figuring out the minutia of the cytoarchitecture of one area to the next.

Studying the Tree of Life is about as dangerous and contemplating Frege’s conception of Senses within Semantic thought- it’s much the same attempt, just oriented from a different perspective. There is techniques within Caballah, such as Numerology, which has aspects in relationship to Interger Number Theory, and Semantics in general- but that shit really can drive you insane as you can accidentally trip Obsessive Compulsive Thought in doing so- much like in the movie PI. Or you can accidentally cause a electric spike that fucks horrifically with your brain stem causing your sensing of your neurological network malfunction, which can be most painful. However, that can occur even without anything resembling a psychological text, if by whatever means you figure out how to trip that.

Honestly- the Tree of Life in and of itself is rather Lame.

I’m gonna laugh my ass off if they give Sauwelios DMT and he starts tripping bad.

Best of Luck Sauwelios, I’ll be waiting to clobber your ass on the other side once you start constructing a new Nietzschean theory from this- I’ve been collecting resources longer that you’ve been aware of it, and a considerable chunk of the ‘Contra-Nietzsche Project’ has been doing just this, but on a more realistic and modern model of the brain, so I can systemmatically track down the philosophers who eclipse him, and how he takes his ideas from- and providing more sources than any professor in shorter and more concise audio-visual formats than any philosophy professor can hope for from students to know- my goal is to do a massive streamroll of the philosophy to the point any freshman philosophy student can drool and learn just about anything about Nietzsche, and also realize why his ideas are either accurate or inaccurate to the point they wouldn’t look to him as a rolemodel anymore, preferring to go to more advanced thinkers, whatever the persuasion may be. Just try to develop your own- the Golden Dawn already did a full typology of Nietzsche years back, before either of us were born. Do it right and figure it out yourself without peeking, you should develop your philosophical skills for a change and not become a cracked out window licker. I’m well ahead of you on this one, both Philological and Philosophically, and in mapping it out on the mind.

8

Nope, I haven’t been there. Also, I don’t identify with Nietzsche’s madness, as I think it was most probably caused by a brain tumor, which as far as I know I don’t have. Still, I do to an extent identify with the onset of his madness, as announced by his so-called “letters of insanity”, in which he identifies with Dionysus.

Yes, including in the sense that I syncretise my Nietzschean Qabalah from, among other things, Hermetic Qabalah. In fact, I apply this Crowley quote to Crowley himself as well:

[size=95]The Qabalah, that is, the Jewish Tradition concerning the initiated interpretation of their Scriptures, is mostly either unintelligible or nonsense. [Source: Crowley, Little Essays toward Truth, “Man”.][/size]

I think the new age will be at the same time a Nietzschean and a pagan age: a new pre-Homeric age.