theos-talk.com

[MASTER INDEX] [DATE INDEX] [THREAD INDEX] [SUBJECT INDEX] [AUTHOR INDEX]

[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]

Re: Theos-World MAGICK OR MAGIC ?

Apr 16, 2004 10:41 AM
by Bart Lidofsky


stevestubbs wrote:
She mentions him in the SD and in several articles, but never has anything interesting to say.

The person who told the truth about St. Germain was Casanova, who met him when he was trying to swindle the Marquise d'Urfe. St. Germain was a crank and anyone who says otherwise will be accused by Eldon Tucker of hubris.
That's more or less what I thought, but I was willing to be convinced otherwise.

There is a story in the New Testament about the temptation of Jesus, by Satan, in the desert. I have the following take on it:

Most people don't want to hear a spiritual message that emphasizes altruism and evolution. They want one that emphasizes self-interest and empowerment. This can be very frustrating to the teacher with a message of altruism and evolution. And the teacher, being a human being, is frustrated. But getting the audience they want has a price; in order to attract people who are not ready for their message, and make them ready, they must compromise their principles. And every time you give into temptation, it becomes a little easier the next time. Blavatsky, I believe, gave into temptation numerous times, but had the Mahatmas to help her from falling over the deep end (which is why, once again as I believe, she started de-emphasizing magic).

We see, today, a number of teachers who started out with what we, as Theosophists, consider to be an admirable message, and allowed their zeal to reach the people corrupt them. People like Sai Baba, Rajneesh, and Andrew Cohen (the last I include because it was my misfortune to witness his transformation first-hand) all succumbed to the temptations of the material, to the detriment of their teachings.

Now, my primary source material on Cagliostro was not from people who were trying to push forward some spiritual message. It was from what for all intents and purposes was an engineering standpoint, and ignored the political and spiritual aspects entirely. However, whatever your opinion is, the fact is that Cagliostro was much clearly more interested in getting in good with kings and those of wealth and power than he was in spreading any kind of spiritual message. And, regardless of his own spiritual advancement, that was his undoing.

Bart




[Back to Top]


Theosophy World: Dedicated to the Theosophical Philosophy and its Practical Application