Thread: Creation, Destruction, Transformation, Preservation, Evolution

I'm giving a presentation on Sunday and these are the notes I'll be delivering, let me know what you think

Spoiler for Presentation:

Primarily we have singularity, the atman or brahman, that which is neither something nor nothing

Infinite potential sought manifestation and the source fractured into pieces.

In the beginning there was the word, and the word was God

Arbitrary habits evolved from the earliest reactions and processes and they became our physical laws

According to the standard Abrahamic perspective, we are powerless creations living in God's grace

According to the Hermetic perspective, we are co-creators with God. So how do we create?

Magical terminology shares roots with language, to cast a spell means merely to spell, to curse is to curse, a Grimoire shares the etymological root with Grammar

There is a reason they are known as the Magical Arts. An artist is simply one who commits action with the realization that the pen is mightier than the sword. The efficacy of our actions upon the world is often beyond our awareness. We cannot see the ripple effect of our thoughts and words and the influence we truly wield.

In the same way that the potential of the void manifests habits of physical law, evolutionary habits also emerged from the ecosystem of living things and increased in complexity. Destruction or more accurately described, Transformation exists as the polar opposite of Preservation, just as the first fraction of Brahman is Shiva and Vishnu

This is different from masculine and feminine aspects of the Gods. The masculine aspects draw power from their feminine opposites. The feminine aspect of Vishnu is Saraswati which can represent knowledge, music, art and science. That which survives the judgment of Shiva has a strong enough foundation to weather through its criticism, meaning it is harmonious like music or statistically favorable like science. In this way, what Shiva fails to transform becomes sacred, and Vishnu draws power from this sanctimony. Shiva's female aspect, Shakti, is synonymous with power and without Shakti all beings would be inert. Going back to physics, information cannot technically be destroyed. In fact when your computer gives off heat, this is because it is discarding excess bits of information. A fire burns anything not capable of withstanding it, and this heat empowers the fire. That which cannot be preserved feeds Shakti, which in turn feeds Shiva. That which can be preserved feeds Saraswati which in turn feeds Vishnu.

Speaking in terms of evolution, all adaptation is born from random mutation. Action puts color to the canvas of potential. If the mutation is not viable, it does not survive through time and instead reinforces the core foundation. If the action is viable, it gains power and the transformation spreads throughout the system.

Every new piece of information must be tested by the receiver, if the mind is locked too deeply into preservation, it become immovable and thus cannot evolve. If it is too open to transformation is becomes susceptible to unsustainable ideas and practices. Action has the same need for balance. Too much caution and the world misses out on the positive transformation it is capable of creating. Too much imprudence leaves the artist susceptible to exhausting energy excessively, losing positive aspects of the present circumstances and spreading destructive ideas and practices.

In biblical terminology, people are the battleground between the Creator God and the Challenger God. In Zoroastrian terminology, people are the battleground between the Creator God and Destroyer God. In Nietzsche's Apollonian and Dionysian terminology, people are the battleground between God and Beast. Inspiration rains down like seeds and sprout into ideas, growing into practice until they can bloom into action capable of casting out more seeds. The body finds its history in the soil, but the mind finds its history in the abstract and metaphysical realm of the Imagination. Art then becomes the bridge between Heaven and Earth. Imagination battles with Pragmatism as Experimentation battles with Statistics. There is no certainty, we are all Gamblers placing bets. But much of the time, failure draws more reward than inaction. The failure of Shiva reinforces the power of Saraswati, and the success of Shiva cleans the excess aspects from the realm of Vishnu.