There has been a great deal of discussion around race in America the past week or so. Some of it — like presidential candidate Barack Obama’s speech on the subject is uplifting, even where it misses the mark. The nature of this discussion is labyrinthine and fraught with peril because so many people invest so much energy into exactly how they identify as a race to other people, and also because the wounds of Americas frustrated journey from slave owning nation to the notion that we are all equal under the eyes of god and our own “laws”. It is perhaps the perfect irony that we began as a nation by declaring boldly in our Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Much has been said about this famous passage from our most sacred of holy documents; this “declaration” of independence. But in my opinion, not enough weight is given to the power of its words to speak to our inner most desires to be FREE to live our own lives our own way — for better or worse. Instead the Declaration is read submerged in context: This is specifically a document whereby the founders declared their independence from the British Empire. No more and no less. Little attention is paid it seems to the opening passage, which describes the course which must — by definition — lead from irreconcilability towards ultimate separation. It is as inexorable as the movement of the planets.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

These two passages when examined in this way reveal a problem that was born simultaneously with our nation. “Here is the the truth”, they seem to say. “You are all children of god. Human. Equal.” What they could not say was that though they clearly saw the problem — ” Our representative democracy is blessed by the divine spark of God itself, comprised of citizen-kings, each equal under the eyes of the law, god and man” — is flawed to the core of its own value system because it allows men to own other men as slaves. But look to the preamble again for a clue as to how they must have known this would all turn out. Separatism lead to an eventual civil war and the emancipation proclamation. Separatism also lead to the civil rights movement, which has led us all here — some kicking and screaming still — where we find ourselves today.

Who among us can lay claim to a tale of vicious beatings visited on fathers who dared exercise the right to vote? And what of the innumerable lynchings for the crime of miscegenation? Young black men who appeared threatening were often killed because they dared look at a white woman. It is within my own life time, and I am 38 years old — that interracial marriage has been declared “legal”* in the United States. Can any white person honestly say that they remember a time when the very act of ordering food at a fast food counter was considered an act of revolution?

Race is so hard to talk about because race is so hard to talk about. I suspect the reverse is true also.

What is race?

Is it about family blood lines, and generations of offspring, traced through time and place and ending with your birth or the birth of your own children? Is it about “where you come from” and where your ancestors homeland lays on the worlds stage? Is it about national identity and pride in the history and achievements of that particular nation, above all others? Who then shall I swear my allegiances to if I am 20% Scot, 20% German, 25% Irish, 25% French and a mixture of Navajo and Italian with a smattering of Jew thrown in? What if I had a single drop of “black blood?” I wonder… What would I be then?

The truth is I am nothing particularly interesting racially. Though each of those peoples have accomplishments to point at in their histories, they also have, well… Histories. Pride in such a thing for the sake of feeling pride seems empty and contradictory indeed. But what if I were “black”? What if our nations own history served as a daily reminder that my grandparents couldn’t vote and that my parents were beaten, sprayed with fire hoses and occasionally killed outright for daring to assert their own equality in the turbulent and divided 1960’s? What if I told you that in the 1970’s we moved to Chicago or LA and my father — a college graduate — was forced to take work as a laborer in a mill somewhere while white men his junior — with only high school diplomas — surpassed him and were promoted and eventually became my fathers boss, though they lacked intellect, temperament or ambition. What if I told you that this impacted my ability to get a decent education, because my parents couldn’t afford a prep school and the local tax revenue all but collapsed as everyone who wasn’t black — and many who were — fled the neighborhood for greener pastures?

Would you understand my anger? Could you empathize with my resentment?

But the truth is I am not black. I grew up poor but everyone expected great things from me. Older people smiled as I passed them on the street and waved at me. I didn’t have to work against the expectations of white people because I was — and still am — one of them. Intellectually I can listen to the anger, I can read the stories, and perhaps even come to understand — a little — where my black brothers and sisters are coming from, but I can never truly grasp what it means to grow up with an invisible stigma attached to you as a person, and know deep down that everyone who know love or have relations with is attached to it as well.

When we judge one another by race we judge through the lens of our own experience. Those who have made it to the top of our society tend to believe that anyone can, and they are absolutely right of course. Those nearer the bottom are more prone to feel as if the deck is stacked against them in some way, and it totally is.

Race is hard to talk about because it is hard to talk about. And I suspect the reverse is also true. In fact, I believe that the reverse of the reverse is true as well. It is my heartfelt and personal belied that we must each — regardless of our race, or relative lack thereof — must examine our expectations about each other and the world. We must look critically at our beliefs, so that they might evolve with our collective and individual wisdom, as god surely intended. We must always resist the temptation to strike out in anger or retribution for sleights both real and imagined. We must all come to examine — in a true and meaningful way — our own prejudices, so that we are able to one day reconcile those that belong to the people who “aren’t like us” because unless we learn to have discussions about the hard things — as openly as possible — we are doomed to separation from each other and from ourselves. There can be no short changing the muse if we are truly to be “free”.

*In 1967, the Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia struck down the last of the anti-miscegenation laws in the United States

You probably know a little about invisibility. You are aware of the invisible man through movies such as 2000’s “Hollow Man”, the fabled 1933 adaptation of HG Wells’s 1897 novel “The Invisible Man”, the 1958 Television series “The Invisible Man” or the 1978 TV series of the same name and general tale. You are likely familiar with Sue Storm of Fantastic Four fame, and have either read the comic book or seen the movies based on the same. Regardless, you are familiar with the concept – at the very least, and –have at least a layman’s knowledge of the secret art of becoming invisible.

For the magus however, these popular representations of invisibility are merely the starting point in ones magical study of the art. To gain a proper perspective, one must dig a little deeper. Many animals, plants and insects possess the innate ability to camouflage themselves, either as a defense against predators or as a means to more effective predation. The methods used in each case are instructive, but ultimately not very useful to a practicing magician. It has long been the desire of the US ARMY to deploy a technological form of invisibility for its infantry, and these inquiries have led to the creation of a modern day cloak of invisibility in which light deflecting material is utilized in such a way as to effectively camouflage anything behind it. In the very near future suits fashioned of lightweight but very durable nano-materials may be covered in microscopic cameras and lenses that reflect whatever is present on the backside of the apparatus, creating the “predator” effect so common in science fiction and fantasy films.

For a true magus however, simple invisibility has long been a cornerstone of the Fools journey to full enlightenment. What at first seems so foundational to ones understanding of “magic” – in both the theatrical and Crowlean sense – often becomes no more than a cantrip; a tool among tools in any true magicians arsenal.

Before I continue I would like to thank Robert Thomas Bolland for procuring for me a handwritten copy of the notebook created by his mentor: Kailas Akashik , concerning the art and practice of simple invisibility. I have incorporated the theorems contained therein into my own investigation of the subject matter, and I have attempted to credit them both where practical and applicable. Now, without further ado; a list of practical lessons towards mastery of the hidden art of simple invisibility.

Simple Invisibility is the magical ability to remain unseen. Grok that for a moment. Every intentional act is a magical act. If your intention is that you are not seen, then you must – by definition – remain unseen. If your intention is to suddenly disappear in front of witnesses, then you will naturally draw upon various tricks and gimmicks to accomplish that end, but that is “disappearing”, and this article is not about disappearing… It is about remaining unseen.

To practice simple invisibility is to utilize many kinds of magic, for there are many aspects to its practice for a student to consider. Learn these skills, and commit the thought process to memory through conscious repetition of these techniques, and you will master the art for yourself.

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Cameron’s blog yesterday concerning conspiracy theories got me thinking about the internet and its place in the annals of conspiracy and urban legend. For as long as I can remember the internet has been a great clearing house for 2 things primarily: Porn and Flying Saucers. Which of course leads me to wonder why no one has ever created a site dedicated to amateur porn while dressed up as reptiles, gray aliens and “abductees”, but I digress.

The truth of the matter is that conspiracy theories on the net have been almost as popular as sex since the very beginning. Alt.conspiracy has been going strong since 1994 or so, and even AOL back in the pre-boom halcyon daze had a dedicated space for reading about conspiracies, and chatting about them with other users. A/S/L indeed.

But there is more here at play then “just the net”. The popular overnight radio program “Coast to Coast” — originally hosted by Art Bell, and now manned nightly by George Norry, as well as the plethora of Ghost Whispering, Ghost Hunting and other pseudo-science television reveals the dark underbelly of the “North American Sub-Consciousness”.

People like Bigfoot. They like Flying Saucers. They like Ghosts and Vampires and Werewolves. And people still believe all kinds of things about the Assassination of JFK. In fact, new information about the life and untimely death of beloved president Jack Kennedy still surfaces today.

So what does it all mean? Is it true perhaps that though we are on the leading edge of the worlds most scientifically advanced culture, that we are all still a “little bit monkey”? Perhaps our descent from the trees wasn’t as final or complete as we imagined. One need only look to the Economist to see the hidden hand of the masses, feverishly clicking their way towards conspiracy “Nirvana” before realizing that we are still the same primitive superstitious people we have always been, but we have much “cooler sticks and stones” to play with.

Lets take a look at some of the sexiest conspiracy theories per the magic of google, shall we?

1) The US Government was in on the attacks of 911, and these attacks were a false flag used to convince the American People to “go to war” in the middle east. This one is known worldwide as the 911 truth movement, popularized by the documentary film “Loose Change”. This is an umbrella term or catch all for any number of theories, some kookier then others, but all deeply disturbing and distrusting of the United States Government.

2) Area 51: A perennial favorite. The belief that we (our government, our military) have captured “Flying Saucers” belonging to one or more races of non human and / or extra terrestrial beings, and keep these craft, the alien technology and even the bodies of the alien crew members, somewhere under the desert in Nevada. I really like this one myself, because it is fun to imagine just how extensive such a facility might be, with dozens or even hundreds of chambers, levels and tunnels branching out below the American Southwest. At the very least, such a “base” would make an excellent “Team Fortress” multiplayer map.

3) Elvis faked his own death, along with Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Marilyn Monroe, and are right now living together in a wickedly sinful 4-some, somewhere in Vegas or perhaps — Amsterdam, having wild sex and quaffing “youth drugs” designed to keep them forever young while they rake in combined billions annually in merchandising and other related ventures. Ok, so I totally made up everything after the bolded part, but it doesn’t matter. There will be a discovery channel special on it in 16-18 months, tops.

4) We never went to the Moon. Which, when you think about it, neatly explains the lackluster and non-inspiring performance by NASA since the early 70’s, at least as well as the movie “The Astronaut Farmer” did. This particular theory has the distinction of being patently ridiculous while expertly lampooning the most wasteful and worthless thing ever created in our name: Government Bureaucrats. Bravo!

5) Shakespeare. Clearly, it was the monkeys.

6) The Da Vinci Code: “Tell a person you’re the Metatron and they stare at you blankly; mention something out of a Charlton Heston movie and suddenly everyone’s a theology scholar.” Indeed, or even a Tom Hanks movie for that matter.

7) Love me like a Reptile. Actually, these guys really do rule the world, along with their little gray Goblinoid cronies and human sympathizing henchmen. Look at your boss the next time he is chewing you out over something trivial. See the tongue? Suckers.

8 ) Aids. There is more money in treatment then in cures, and so on. Possibly the most pernicious of all the conspiracy theories listed here, because it implies that illnesses are created so that they can be treated by viral profiteers, which is just nasty business — when you think about it. Sadly, even if it isn’t true, and it isn’t, it is still a blueprint for future atrocities, and possibly an entire new line of soaps, as well.

9) JFK. We touched on this one above, and it is an enduring fountainhead of conspiracy related paranoia. The singular event that probably lead to the overall dissolution of American Faith in government, spiraling from Johnson and Vietnam and on through Nixon and Watergate. It was the opening shot in a series of Assassinations, which claimed the lives of our most noble leaders, including Jacks brother Bobby and the Reverend Martin Luther King.

10) Diana. The United Kingdoms JFK; Diana died young and died violently, assuring her position in the pantheon of those we aren’t quite ready to let go of yet.

So while I can comfortably draw myself upright by the light of day, secure in the gnosis that I am the pinnacle of human evolution, with a mind evolved beyond the need for such dogma, it is at night after everyone else has gone to bed that I hunch back down again ever so slightly and indulge in a bit of “what if?” I know enough to know I cant possibly know enough to be sure, after all.

Besides — we are less then 4 years, 10 months and 1 day away from the “end of the world” according to the Mayan Calendar, and I have a whole list of things I need to do yet before I am ready to immanentize the Eschaton.

I always think that most things can be explained away with the simpler explanations, not the most complex. Its fun to think there are intrigues and conspiracies, but reality dictates otherwise.

This article is a good overview of something that various people differ in opinion on. I think its reality.

Great Seal Secrets Revealed!

By MATTHEW LEE. Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conspiracy theorists take note: The myths surrounding one of America’s oldest and most enduring national symbols are about to be debunked … if you believe the government, that is.

The keepers of the Great Seal of the United States, the familiar emblem on the back of the $1 bill, want you to know what it is not. It is not a sign that Freemasons run the country, it has nothing to do with the occult, and it does not contain clues to a fabulous hidden treasure.

It is rather the nation’s stamp of authority, sovereignty and power, gracing our cash and embossing the most important of documents from its home at the State Department, which has held it since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the first secretary of state.

Not that the Seal’s symbols — the all-seeing eye, the unfinished pyramid, the Latin phrases, the bald eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows and the number 13 — aren’t powerful.

They are, historians say. Yet their meanings have been misidentified, misunderstood and misrepresented almost since the Continental Congress first commissioned the Seal in 1776.

It would be another six years before the original design was approved and another 128 before it evolved into its current form. Along the way, a movement to decipher the Seal’s meaning with ancient Egyptian, mystical and otherwise otherworldly explanations has gained currency.

The Internet age has seen an explosion in such conspiracy theories, many which have now been ingrained in public consciousness through the popular “National Treasure” movie franchise that serves up a combination of Masonic lore and historical myths in blockbuster Hollywood fashion.

Please click the link to continue with a very interesting list that explains all aspects of the Great Seal on US currency after the jump…

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