THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
	a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.thelema,talk.religion.misc,talk.religion.newage
From: nagasiva@luckymojo.com (nigris (333))
Subject: Trogs in Thelemic Clothing?
Date: 24 Jul 1999 02:00:38 -0700

49990521 IIIom 

a correspondent wrote:
# Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law!

The word of Sin is Restriction!
 
previously that correspondent had written:
#># When using the standard greeting on an e-mail list with a 
#># high Trog ratio,

what is a 'Trog'? a 'non-member of the Crowley cult'?

#># someone gets offended because the Crowley quotes are unattributed and
#># accuses you of plagiarism.

unusual. typically I find that such an accusation conceals a
Crowley-hatred which seeks to flame in a manner supported by
the rest of the forum. I had a similar experience in 'ARCANA'
elist, wherein an individual who was one of a number of list-
owners sought to 'put me in my place' by dissing Crowley to
the list but in a manner merely acid and without substance. I
responded with a similar acidity and quoted many of the Beast's
texts in order to show his ignorance. it wasn't long before
he had arranged my removal from subscription and permanent bar
from subscription based on my 'rude participation'. neither
was I provided warning nor forum rules indicating that my
response in kind was out of place. communities run by idiots
can be very biased against the controversial. caution is 
warranted or at least the expectation that one will become an
outcaste based on one's outspokenness and/or affiliations.
 
a different correspondent had written:
#> Hmm... I haven't encountered this. Seems like a great opportunity to
#> introduce Crowley to the Trogs. After all, it clearly is not 
#> plagiarism, since Crowley directly instructs us to use these 
#> salutations.

please quote this instruction. I'd not remembered it contained in
Letter 18 (19?) of MWT, for example, but perhaps I'm forgetting 
something? I wouldn't put it past Crowley to have provided the
instruction to use Thelemic Greetings, but a specified type?
 
# Not in my experience, since the person accusing of plagiarism KNOWS 
# where the quotes came from and tends to include a diatribe against 
# Crowley and anyone who would be so unenlightened to have anything 
# to do with his writing.  What it generally turns into is either a 
# "you really don't know what you're talking about." and people have 
# only heard the negative side of things or a "here's my differing 
# opinion" and it turns into a huge debate that tends to get pretty 
# nasty.  If this has turned anyone on to Thelema, it would truly 
# blow my mind.

my response to that kind of behavior might be:

	kindly refer to the book "Magick Without Tears", by
	Aleister Crowley, where, in his description of what
	he called 'Thelemic Greetings', he offers his own
	example: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of
	the Law." and fairly provides ample incentive to do
	likewise. it is a commonality that those in the
	so-called 'Thelemic community' tend to use Thelemic
	Greetings as identifiers rather than the pioneering
	iconoclasm which they offered to their instigator(s),
	and for this reason I have adopted all manner of
	initial greeting (from 'Hail Satan!' to 'Save the
	Planet Kill Yourself!') and response (including
	'E6!', which is an inversion of the paltry attempt
	to represent "Do what thou wilt..." with the number
	'93' and its subsequent use as a cult-identifier).

you are welcome to adapt this to your form letters.

# Then again, maybe I'm so unenlightened and uninitiated that 
# I could never give the proper response to a Trog who likes 
# to bait people who "quote the wickedest man on earth" 
# unattributed."  (If there's anything more wicked than 
# plaigiarism, it MUST be the plagiarism of the most wicked 
# person ever!)

is a 'Trog' someone who is not a Crowleyite? is this the
development of the 'not one of us' verbiage so common in
Judeochristian religions (e.g. 'goy', 'pagan', etc.)?

is it valuable to associate with it an added implication
that the Trog is 'unenlightened and uninitiated' (which
I think actually mean 'unfamiliar with cult knowledge and 
untouched by group programming rituals')? or is this just
one more step down that nonThelemic road to Crowleyitis?

we should develop some sort of criteria by which one may
recognize a 'Trog in Thelemic clothing' (in the same manner
that Satanists recognize 'Sheep in wolves' clothing).

perhaps these would be qualities we could identify:

	*	tendency to utter cult-speak, such as
		'Thelemic Greetings', without import, without
		being aware of their potential to transform
		personal and social spheres, inclusive of
		the nominally 'Thelemic'

	*	presumption that Thelema begins and centers
		on Aleister Crowley or his various projectile 
		personae

	*	accepting "Liber Al vel Legis" as a holy book
		worthy of more than an academic interest

	*	belief that magick (spelled with a 'K' "in
		order to distinguish it from stage magic,
		of course!) is primarily a ceremonial
		pursuit and that real-world application is
		neither demonstrative of success or 
		at all necessary in its apprehension (since
		"the 'inner development' of its 'practice'
		is perceivable by the sensitive")

	*	assimilation to the 'religion of Thelema'
		whose prophet is Crowley and whose rites
		include a variety of peculiar ceremonies
		of value in identifying 'the truly dedicated'

	*	defense of everything related to the cult 
		of Crowleyanity (called 'Thelema') despite
		its obvious limitations, follies, and lack
		of relevance in the context of human history
 
can you think of many others? perhaps we can come up with a
kind of 'Advanced Bonewits Cult Detection Evaluation Frame'
for Thelemites. ;>

will under love, blessed beast!

nagasiva@luckymojo.com 
333
-- 
emailed replies may be posted; cc replies if response desired