State of Play – Magical Thinking

 

I was putting the finishing touches on part one of this series on Noö Year’s Eve. Clearly, 2020 had been a paradigm-busting year, and as such, any retrospective needed to capture the quickening of High Strangeness that had become the “Modus Operandi” of our time. I began with examining an early-phase instrument of covert political power… assassination. 2020 ominously began with an international assassination, perpetrated by the U S government.

I examined how the year had been dominated by the way in which cultural Psy-Wars had gone from a domestic cold-war… to white-hot cultural rebellion. In this environment, issues such as the very reality of Covid 19, the adopted reality of Q Anon, even the legitimacy of the 2020 election, had been weaponized by Psy-War factions. What was originally a retrospective post, soon became a series as the events of January 6th, 2021 unfolded.

If 2020 began with assassination as political device, 2021 began with a late-phase instrument of political power, unbridled… insurrection. I began part two of this series: coup d'état… as a commentary on the part that our president, whom I referred to as the great Robber Baron (indicative of his pre-2016 business practices)-Trickster King (indicative of the cultic, mystical mantel he acquired after the 2016 election), had played in fanning the flames of conspiracy theory. I had originally planned this post to be a part of the “Cult of Personality” series.

My plans changed at the eleventh hour as I embarked on a re-write, during… and late into the night of January 6th. The post initially examined the great Robber Baron/Trickster King’s (45) unprecedented behavior after he lost the 2020 presidential election. As the events of January 6th unfolded, the post became a commentary, in real time, of a bona fide insurrection, propagated by 45 and his close enablers.

  

With the sacking of the U. S. Capitol building, all of the post-election political machinations began to take on new meaning… began to suggest new connotations as to just what the hell is really going on. On such matters, more astute thinkers than I (Recluse), have suggested that the entire insurrection was an elaborate LARP (to what end?). Given the strange history of Q Anon, it is entirely possible that the orchestrated events of January 6th were indeed conceived and initiated as a LARP, at least in the mind of 45… as he obliviously pulled the trigger.

However, with the first breaking of windows… with the first breach into the Capitol building by 45 loyalists, the alleged LARP... turned real. That is how propaganda works, especially in our post-truth world. Fantasy becomes reality, if evoked enough times. The violent sacking of the Capitol became insurrection, regardless of intent, with the drawing of first blood.

    

As of this posting, the fallout of the events of January 6th has been incredible to witness. Of particular fascination has been the manner in which 45 and his loyal Republican’s corporate overlords have abandoned them (at least temporarily).  As corporations withhold funding, politicians viability withers. Deutsche Bank’s decision to disassociate from 45, creates significant trouble as massive, personally guaranteed loans come due. Such is the manner in which power is exercised, here in Corporate Amerika.

Consequently, seismic changes are afoot within our corporatocracy. The fifth dimensional chess board is dramatically rearranging… the pieces have scattered, or been swept away. The signs and portents indicate chaotic disruption, moving forward. But what occluded undercurrents have been at play, undercutting the foundation of consensual reality, to bring us to this sorry state? What formative forces have we overlooked?

In light of all the high strangeness that you and I, dear intrepid reader, have witnessed over the last decade, it is useful for us to think of all that has occurred, in new and novel ways…

Over the last few years, we have witnessed a radical rise in magical thinking. The upsurge in magical thinking has been succored by a dramatic influx of people who have turned away from technological, linear thought. They have become disillusioned with a world culture that increasingly favors those at the top of the capitalist food-chain, at the expense of, or on the backs of, those who have been less favored… those contemporaneously known as the 99%.

 

The last 50 years of “trickle down” economics, have been exposed as a systematic theft… a fleecing of the 99, by the 1%. Despite Reagan’s empty promise, nothing trickled down. In the last decade, increasing numbers of the disenfranchised have come to realize that the stacked deck of crony capitalism is a no-win proposition. In desperation, they (we) have turned to occultic practices to “level the playing field” …to help tip the odds back in their (our) favor.

 

This rise in magical thinking has best been chronicled by the brilliant Gordon White, of Rune Soup fame. Mr. White, whose name suggests a reflection of his path… has for the last decade, anticipated and reported on the demise of the predator/dominator culture that currently has us in a stranglehold. As a defensive strategy, he has advocated magical protocols that can be incorporated for personal benefit, during these tumultuous times.

Such magical protocols have become a competing means to impact the unfolding of events that are otherwise out of our control.

The infamous magician, Aleister Crowley used the word magick (with a “k”) to differentiate the occult form of magick, from performance magic. He defined it as: “the Science and Art of causing change to occur in conformity with Will.” Tradition tells us that there co-exists the white and black variations of magical practice. These variants are activated through the willful intent of those who seek to utilize a specific magical path.

  

The 21st century’s proliferation of magical thinking also saw a dichotomy of practice. At odds with the beneficial forms of personal magick (which utilizes astrology, tarot, affirmations, symbolic, or Sigil magick, etc.), other strange forms of ceremonial magick began to manifest. Forms that appear to be more malevolent. Around 2015, a strange, pixelated, egregore-like phenomenon emerged from imageboards such as 8chan. This vaporous power became known as Meme Magic.

Cult of Kek flags at the siege of the U S Capitol building, 2021

As meme magic became more popular on-line, it attracted more followers. One particularly virulent strain of meme magic began to focus on the 2016 elections. Adepts began to apply their cyberspace voodoo to elect then-candidate Donald J Trump. The closely associated Cult of Kek applied their meme magic to influence the 2016 Presidential elections, which (many people say) magically tipped the scales in favor of Trump, who became the 45th President of the United States. More on such tomfoolery can be found on a post I did on the Cult of Kek, back in 2017.

The origins of the Cult of Kek/Trumpian meme magic alliance can be traced back to gaming culture… specifically in Alternative Reality Games (ARG). As the astute reader of this blog knows, ARGs have been a topic of conversation concerning the more recent and more influential Q Anon movement. Like Kek, the Q entity sought to expand influence through cultic, memetic, magical means. The Q entity, arguably represents an evolution of the Kek egregore.

 

An egregore is best defined as an occultic presence… a distinct, non-physical entity that arises from the psychic energies of a collective group of people. Analogous to an egregore, Kek and Q wield power through cult-like manipulation of its/their followers. They draw their strength by leeching psychic energy from their faithful. They maintain power through the zealous apparatus of the cult. True believers double-down in their fanatical devotion, once the cult begins to unravel.

Magical thinking, pursued by the individual, and more nefariously by cultic hierarchies, is only becoming more prevalent in today’s post-truth world. The massive disruption of world economies have exasperated the growth of magical thinking. Fear of AI job displacement, climate change, the demise of fiat money and rise of crypto-currency… all add to cultural anxieties and confusion. Widespread, targeted disinformation campaigns further erode public trust.

Little wonder that people are abandoning the old, predator/dominator culture that has led us to where we are today. Little wonder people are turning away from consensual reality, in favor of a separate reality. The question becomes… as it always does… a question of discernment. As the fabric of the Old Patrilineal Order continues to disintegrate, will we replace it with cultic craziness? Will we exchange the Old Order for the likes of Kek and Q Anon? …Old-school conformity for cultic fanaticism?

Or do we pursue our own personal autonomy through creative, harmonious, indigenous, yes, perhaps even psychedelic paths? Do we develop our own magical strategies, similar to the ones advocated by Gordon White? Protocols of personal power? The tactics of personal autonomy (such as those that are humbly presented in my Tek-Gnostics series of books, as well) act as a counter balance to cultic cabals.

 

So this is the occultic State of Play that has been incubating in world cultures over the last decade. Cults such as Kek and Q Anon, prey upon people’s worst instincts. They utilize the black path of magick. The Individuated, Gnostic path of compassionate self-awareness, follows the white path of magick. I know this is a simplistic, dualistic statement, but we were born into a dualistic universe. Welcome to the planet of the apes.

The integrity of the pursuit of personal autonomy is validated by the age-old conception of “Free Will.” We, as sentient entities, possess the authority to make decisions and pursue a course of action that is in our own best interest. Like everything else in a dualistic, manifest universe, free will comes with the two-edged sword of “credit and blame.” To accept free will is to accept responsibility for our actions.

In these crazy times of diverging realities and networked, open sourced, political insurgencies… we are not really left with any viable choice in the matter. We must pursue our own enlightened self-interest. In so doing, we choose to utilize tools of autonomy. In so doing, we balance our own best interest with the best interests of our brothers and sisters.

We measure the balance of our interest and those of our friends and neighbors by applying that other age-old concept, known as the “Golden Rule.” Such is the means by which we pursue our own best interest, while co-creating a viable, responsible community. This isn’t rocket science… it’s just being kind to one another. In closing, we can all draw inspiration and guidance from those two great bodhisattvas, Bill and Ted, when they said: Be excellent to one another... Amen.

"Do what thou wilt" shall be the whole of the law, dude...

  

State of Play

 Part 1   /   Part 2