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Tents, Thelema and Organizations

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.magick.order,alt.thelema,talk.religion.misc,talk.religion.newage
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nigris (333))
Subject: Tents, Thelema and Organizations
Date: 21 Jul 1997 17:05:06 -0700

49970714 aa2 Hail Satan!

E6

I remember recently Soror CLK's mention of a tent, and in Crowley's writings
his use of this analogy as an indication for the necessity of structure in
the creation of any lasting personal or social edifice.

recently I was watching 'Tinsel and Sawdust', a Swedish film by Ingmar Bergman
in which the lives and philosophies of the Theater were contrasted with that
of the Circus.  quite aside from the film itself, part of it included the
raising of the main tent and how this was accomplished.

the way it was accomplished was by first securing into place the main masts
or central pillars of support for the whole (numbering two in the case of
the film).  these were strapped all around in a vertical position with ropes.  
then the massive tent itself was wrapped around the poles and secured to a 
ring which would ride up and down the posts through means of a pulley, all
the circus members hoisting on the rings to lift the tent-top to its 
uppermost level at the apex of the poles.

when I've heard this used as an analogy, the central posts, whether one, 
two, three or more in number (typically one for conventional ideologies, but 
perhaps two in Thelemic religion -- thelema/agape), these poles and their 
rigidity, presumably along with the stability of the fabric of the tent and 
the ropes which secure all of it together, represent (beyond phalli) the 
regularization of certain social structures and standards.  

usually the analogy is used to justify such a standardization or the use of
particular rules and regulations.  however, very infrequently is the actual 
manner of the *construction* of a tent of any size and its raising 
discussed as far as the principles necessary to secure the structure desired.

in particular, and reflecting on the circus tent I mentioned, it seems 
significant that 1) all the circus members (or at least many of them) were 
required to lift the tent into place once the central pillars were secured 
and 2) the construction of the tackle and placement of the posts determined 
how *high* the tent could be raised, whom it would cover, and in what 
proportions.

why I mention this at all is that in the evaluation of 'Thelemic' social
structures utilizing this model it becomes imperative to identify what
elements should be associated with the various modular components, what
is the 'tent', what is/are the 'central pillar(s)', and perhaps most
importantly, what will ensure that 'the ring' holding the structure of the
tent will actually be capable of lifting sufficiently high on that/those
pillar(s) while fastened to the tent such that the structure envisioned
will come to pass.

that there are other tents and means of raising them would not surprise
me, though as regards very *large* examples I have rarely seen or heard
descriptions with any detail, and the circus appears to be appropriate
both for its size, especially when speaking of universal religion, but
also for the events which it tends to house. ;>

E666
_______________________________________________________________________________
nigris (333) -- tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com -- http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/
-- 
(emailed replies may be posted);join the AMT syncretism!!;call: 408/2-666-SLUG!
   see http://www.abyss.com/tokus; "Clement of Rome taught that God rules the 
  world with a right and a left hand, the right being Christ, the left Satan." 

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