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Category Archives: READING MATTER
Books I read & recommend
WHORE MOANS
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“it’s just sex”
she said
flouncing out of bed
through the shower
and out the door.
my heart broke
to see her go.
I was
left in the room
alone.
she called later:
“hi, honey bunny
there’s a bun
in my oven.
it’s yours.”
“it’s not just sex
anymore”, I said.
it’s a life.
growing…
hormones.
LOGIC IN THE LAND OF OZ
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“WHICH IS THE WAY BACK TO KANSAS?”
“I’d give anything to get out of Oz altogether, but which is the way back to Kansas? I can’t go the way I came.”–Dorothy
“The only person who might know would be the great and wonderful Wizard of Oz himself. He lives in the Emerald City and that’s a long journey from here. Did you bring your broomstick with you?“–Glinda, the Good Witch of the North
“No, I’m afraid I didn’t.“–Dorothy
“Well then, you’ll have to walk. It’s always best to start at the beginning and all you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road.”–Glinda in ‘The Wizard of Oz’
One of the primordial questions Dorothy was trying to answer in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ was, “which is the way back to Kansas?”
Trying to figure out the answers to the mysteries of life here on planet Earth is even harder than Dorothy trying to get back to Kansas–none of us have a broomstick to ride, we don’t have a good witch to ask for directions and there is no Yellow Brick Road to follow. So, we’re stuck here having to figure it out for ourselves, logically, using the information we have in our environment.
To begin at the beginning, the Land of Oz is a type of Universe. According to Webster’s Dictionary, a universe is defined as: “an area, province or sphere, as of thought or activity, regarded as a distinct, comprehensive system or world.”
The physical reality we all share on Earth and everything throughout the surrounding space is called the Physical Universe (PU).
On the other side of reality is your own imagination, your personal perceptions, viewpoints, dreams, hopes, desires, and creations, which comprise Your Own Universe (YOU).
The Land of Oz can be considered to be a Universe dreamed up by Dorothy, as conceived in the mind of L Frank Baum, the author of the book. (It has been speculated that the author created the “Land of Oz” after glancing at his file cabinet. The two file drawers were labeled “A-N” and “O-Z”. Dorothy could just as easily have been transported by the author’s pen into the imaginary “Land of AN”.)
In the movie version of the story, Dorothy creates the Land of Oz in a dream, induced by a knock on the head, using remnants of Kansas in the physical universe mixed together with creations from her own universe–which, for Dorothy, existed over the rainbow in the Land of Oz.
Every Universe seems to be made up of its own, peculiar set of Laws. The PHYSICAL UNIVERSE, for example, is built on a set of agreed upon Laws. A few examples of these Laws are:
The Law of Motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
The Food Chain Law: “In order for one life organism to live, another life organism must die.”
The Law of Gravity: “Whatever goes up, must come down.”
The Law of Time: “Time marches on.”
Most of us take the Laws of the Physical Universe for granted because everyone seems to agree with them. However, such laws leave a lot to be desired when compared to the Laws of a Universe we might create for ourselves!
In YOUR OWN UNIVERSE you can create any set of Laws, or have no Laws at all. You can make them, change them or break them. The Laws of YOUR OWN UNIVERSE can be anything or nothing, limited only by your imagination.
In YOUR OWN UNIVERSE, everything you wish comes true, because you are the “wizard” of YOUR OWN UNIVERSE!
In Dorothy’s universe, Scarecrows and trees can talk; witches can be beautiful and fly in magic bubbles; Munchkin girls join the “Lullaby League” and Munchkin boys have a “Lollipop Guild”; horses can change their color; and, Dorothy can dye her eyes to match her gown.
Dorothy’s first awareness of the particular universe she calls the Land of Oz is the realization that she is definitely NOT in Kansas. When she opens the door to her farmhouse, which has just crash-landed in Oz, Dorothy compares her past experience in Kansas with her present experience in Munchkinland. The Technicolor flowers, a good witch in a flying bubble, all the little brightly dressed people, a yellow brick road, etc, are definitely NOT similar to anything she has ever seen in Kansas.
The Land of Oz is an example of what Earth scientists would call an anomaly. For Dorothy, the anomaly is a departure from the usual arrangement of things as compared to her past experiences. In the universe of Oz, everything is so completely different from the universe Dorothy is familiar with in Kansas that she thinks she is lost.
How do you find the way back home when you are lost?
One way is to ask someone for directions. Of course, if you’ve ever been sent on a wild goose chase by a stranger, the experience taught you that it is a good idea to be somewhat selective as to whom you ask for directions. So, how do you know who is a reliable source of directions or information?
Perhaps it would be a good idea to find out something about the person from whom you are asking directions before you act upon what they tell you. Right? (Or, is it left?)
In our example, should Dorothy be asking for directions back to Kansas from the local natives, the Munchkins?
The main reason one would ask a local resident for directions is that one makes the assumption, otherwise known as an hypothesis (which is the first step in creating any scientific theory), that someone who lives in the area will be a reliable source of information and will give correct directions.
Well, in Dorothy’s case, the Munchkins have lots of familiarity with the Land of Oz, but they have no familiarity with Kansas. Fortunately for Dorothy, they are honest enough to tell her that they don’t have a clue where Kansas is, and they pass the buck to the Wizard of Oz, who they believe knows everything. And, based on their familiarity with the Yellow Brick Road and Munchkinland, they are certain that it leads to where the Great Oz lives.
Most would agree that a certainty is better than an assumption. When one has no familiarity based on personal experience or observation, it is best not to assume that one knows the correct directions. So, one asks for information from someone one believe knows–like a scientist, for example–who is supposed to be familiar with the area or subject in question.
Do the local Munchkins or local scientists of Oz give Dorothy the correct directions to help her get back to Kansas?
When Dorothy crash-landed her house in Munchkin City, the Munchkins cowered under the bushes and flowers in terror of retribution for the death of the Wicked Witch of the East from her mean, nasty, ugly sister, the Wicked Witch of the West.
Their benevolent, all-powerful protector, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, who the Munchkins trust implicitly, is not much help in solving Dorothy’s problem, either. To begin with, Glinda does not have all the information regarding the situation, because she was not even there when Dorothy crashed her house into Munchkin City and inadvertently killed a wicked witch.
Undaunted by her lack of factual information, the first thing Glinda does after coaxing the Munchkins out from their hiding places, is to sing them a song about her assumption, or hypothesis, regarding Dorothy’s crash-landing. She sings: “Come out, come out, wherever you are, and meet the young lady who fell from a star. She fell from the sky, she fell very far, and ‘Kansas’ she says, is the name of the star.”
So, where did Glinda get the idea that Dorothy came from a star? Dorothy never said that she came from a star! But, somehow this all seems very logical to the Munchkins. Even Dorothy doesn’t object to Glinda’s false statement!
In our analogy, Glinda’s assumption that Dorothy fell from a star could be called a scientific theory. The theory proposed by the Good Witch of the North is that Kansas is a star! This theory is based on an assumption derived from an apparent anomaly as measured against her own personal experience and by information received from the Munchkins who are supposed to be a reliable source, but, who did not actually see the house crash because they were all in hiding. In truth, none of them have any familiarity with Kansas or cyclones or farm houses or dogs or little girls, either!
To complicate matters further, Glinda has to put on the appearance that she knows what she’s talking about in front of all her Munchkins followers, even though she is really just making a wild guess. After all, she has a very good job being the protector of the Munchkins, who appear to be utterly defenseless against their enemies, the Wicked Witch sisters. Anyway, Glinda is a good witch, which means she is probably really trying to help, so, they all believe her scientific theory that Dorothy has fallen from a star.
In their cute little minds, the Munchkins have accepted, without question, the logic, which underlies the assumption that is the basis of Glinda’s scientific theory:
SKY equals VERY FAR equals STAR equals KANSAS.
This kind of reasoning process could be called “Everything Logic”; i.e., Everything Equals Everything. This sort of logic might also be the definition of stupidity.
Example: If KANSAS equaled SKY equaled STAR, one could theoretically gaze up into the heavenly firmament to watch Kansas cattle grazing on the twinkling prairies in the stars above.
Unfortunately, much of what we call “science” on planet Earth is based on “Everything Logic”.
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— Excerpted from the book THE OZ FACTORS by Lawrence R. Spencer
PATHLESS LAND
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“Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organize a belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others. This is what everyone throughout the world is attempting to do. Truth is narrowed down and made a plaything for those who are weak, for those who are only momentarily discontented. Truth cannot be brought down, rather the individual must make the effort to ascend to it. You cannot bring the mountain-top to the valley. If you would attain to the mountain-top you must pass through the valley, climb the steeps, unafraid of the dangerous precipices.”
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Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895/1896 – February 17, 1986) was an Indian speaker and writer on philosophical and spiritual subjects. In his early life he was groomed to be the new World Teacher but later rejected this mantle and disbanded the organization behind it. His subject matter included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation, inquiry, human relationships, and bringing about radical change in society. He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasized that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political, or social.
THE LAMENT
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The Lament by Hermes Trismegistus, translated from Ficino by Dame Frances Amelia Yates (1899 – 1981)
“There will come a time when it will be seen that in vain have the Egyptians honored the divinity with a pious mind and with assiduous service. All their holy worship will become inefficacious. The Gods, leaving the earth will go back to heaven; they will abandon Egypt; this land, once the home of religion, will be widowed of its gods and left destitute.
Strangers will fill this country, and not only will there no longer be care for religious observances, but, yet a more painful thing, it will be laid down under so-called laws — under pain of punishments — that all must abstain from acts of piety or cult towards the gods. Then this Holy Land, the home of sanctuaries and temples, will be covered with tombs and the dead.
Oh, Egypt! Egypt, there will remain of the religion only fables, and thy children in later times will not believe them; nothing will survive save words engraved on stones to tell of thy pious deeds!
The Scythian, or the Indian, or some other such barbarous neighbor will establish himself in Egypt. For behold the divinity goes back up to heaven; and men, abandoned, all die, and then, without either god or man, Egypt will be nothing but a desert.
Why weep, O Asclepius? Egypt will be carried away to worse things than this; she will be polluted with graver crimes. She, hitherto most holy, who so much loved the gods, only country of Earth where the gods made their home in return for her devotion — she who taught men holiness and piety — will give example of the most atrocious cruelty.
In that hour, weary of life, men will no longer regard the world as (angel) worthy object of their admiration and reverence. This All, which is a good thing, the best that be seen in the past, the present, and the future, will be in danger of perishing, men will esteem it a burden; and thenceforth they will despise and no longer cherish this whole of the universe, incomparable work of God, glorious construction, good creation, made up of an infinite diversity of life forms, instrument of the will of God who, without envy, pours forth his favour on all his work, in which is assembled in one whole, in harmonious diversity, all that can be seen that is worthy of reverence, praise and love.
For darkness will be preferred to light; it will be thought better to die than to live; none will raise his eyes towards heaven; the pious man will be thought mad, the impious, wise; frenzied will be thought brave, the worst criminal a good man.
The soul and all the beliefs attached to it, according to which the soul is immortal by nature, or foresees that it can obtain immortality, as I have taught you — this will be laughed at and thought nonsense. And believe me, it will be considered a capital crime to give oneself to the religion of the mind. A new justice will be created and new laws. Nothing holy, nothing pious, nothing worthy of heaven and of the gods who dwell there, will be any more spoken of nor will find credence in the soul.
The gods will separate themselves from men, deplorable divorce. Only the evil angels will remain who will mingle with men, and constrain them by violence — miserable creatures — to all excesses of criminal audacity, engaging them in wars, brigandage, frauds, and in everything which contrary to the nature of the soul. Then the Earth will lose its equilibrium, the sea will be no longer navigable, the heaven will no longer be full of stars, the stars will stop their courses, and will be silent. The fruits of the Earth will molder, the soil will no longer be fertile, the air itself will grow thick with lugubrious torpor. Such will be the Old Age of the world: irreligion, disorder, confusion of all goods.
When all these things have come to pass, O Asclepius, then the Lord and Father, the god first in power and *demiurge of the One God, having considered these customs and voluntary crimes, endeavoring, by his will, which is the divine will, to bar the way to vices and universal corruption and to correct errors, he will annihilate all malice, either by effacing it in a deluge or by consuming it by fire, or destroying it by pestilential maladies diffused in many places. Then he will bring back the world to its first beauty, so that this world may again be worthy of reverence and admiration, and that God also, creator and restorer of so great a work, may be glorified by the men who shall live then in continual hymns of praise and benedictions. That is what the rebirth of the world will be; a renewal of all good things, a holy and most solemn restoration of Nature Herself.”
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*demiurge— noun: demiurge; plural noun: demiurges
1. a being responsible for the creation of the universe, in particular.
- (in Platonic philosophy) the Maker or Creator of the world.
- (in Gnosticism and other theological systems) a heavenly being, subordinate to the Supreme Being, that is considered to be the controller of the material world and antagonistic to all that is purely spiritual.
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Dame Frances Amelia Yates (28 November 1899 – 29 September 1981) was an English historian who focused on the study of the Renaissance. In an academic capacity, she taught at the Warburg Institute of the University of London for many years, and also wrote a number of seminal books on the subject of esoteric history.
In 1964 she published Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, an examination of the thought of Giordano Bruno which came to be seen as her most significant publication. In this book, she emphasized the role of Hermeticism in Bruno’s thought, and this the role that magic and mysticism played in Renaissance thinking. She wrote extensively on the occult or Neoplatonic philosophies of the Renaissance. Her books Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (1964), The Art of Memory (1966), and The Rosicrucian Enlightenment (1972) are major works. — (Wikipedia.org)