being sorta scientific
I've always wondered why parapsychology is so rich in research work, both lab work and field testing (much flawed, I'll grant), while magick is taken as it comes, and those who subscribe to it do so because in some sense it works for them. Once I was visiting with Sabazius and we were discussing the then-hot topic of the advantages or lack thereof of the Apostolic Succession. Sometime I think he and I and a handful of others were the only people who gave a damn, but between us I believe we did more raw research and field work on this issue than anybody else in OTO, and, possibly, anybody in modern times.
For me, the essence of Scientific Illuminism is to defer to the methodology of science to validate or disprove questions regarding illumination that are potentially non-subjective, at the least. It is worth mentioning that he eventually pretty much discounted the importance of the Succession of the Apostles, while I have remained a proponent of its magical power, as Simon Magus suggested thousands of years ago.
I described a parapsychology test related to psychic healing in which, with a number of controls in place, volunteer subjects were given a mild cut on their hand with a sterile instrument by a doctor at one location, the subject was sent to a second location where a volunteer worker recorded their arrival, and the subject was instructed to place the cut hand through a slot in a wall. None of the aforementioned knew what was inside, but the subject had been told some sort of healing device was being experimented with. In actuality, on the other side of the wall was either nobody and nothing, or a psychic healer. The healer then either attempted to heal without contact, or merely remained present. In follow ups, the test subjects were found to have healed, on average, at the highest speed when the healer was present and actively in healing mode, more slowly when the healer did nothing, and most slowly of all when the room was empty.
I suggested a similar experiment could be done with an empty room, with a consecrated bishop present, and with a consecrated bishop present and attempting to heal. Sabazius and I kicked it back and forth -- perhaps put a person on the other side before being consecrated and then after, etc. If we were doing the experiment today I would probably also want to test with EGC consecrated bishops without Apostolic Succession, versus those with, for example.
My motive was simple: Rather than merely debating a philosophical insight or perception or administrative decision, we would have objective evidence for or against magical illumination and transfer of power. To date nothing has come of this.
My special thanks to my friends for the technical advice, which I've downloaded and will try to learn over the next few days. I'm not good with code, but I'll take their advice to heart.
For me, the essence of Scientific Illuminism is to defer to the methodology of science to validate or disprove questions regarding illumination that are potentially non-subjective, at the least. It is worth mentioning that he eventually pretty much discounted the importance of the Succession of the Apostles, while I have remained a proponent of its magical power, as Simon Magus suggested thousands of years ago.
I described a parapsychology test related to psychic healing in which, with a number of controls in place, volunteer subjects were given a mild cut on their hand with a sterile instrument by a doctor at one location, the subject was sent to a second location where a volunteer worker recorded their arrival, and the subject was instructed to place the cut hand through a slot in a wall. None of the aforementioned knew what was inside, but the subject had been told some sort of healing device was being experimented with. In actuality, on the other side of the wall was either nobody and nothing, or a psychic healer. The healer then either attempted to heal without contact, or merely remained present. In follow ups, the test subjects were found to have healed, on average, at the highest speed when the healer was present and actively in healing mode, more slowly when the healer did nothing, and most slowly of all when the room was empty.
I suggested a similar experiment could be done with an empty room, with a consecrated bishop present, and with a consecrated bishop present and attempting to heal. Sabazius and I kicked it back and forth -- perhaps put a person on the other side before being consecrated and then after, etc. If we were doing the experiment today I would probably also want to test with EGC consecrated bishops without Apostolic Succession, versus those with, for example.
My motive was simple: Rather than merely debating a philosophical insight or perception or administrative decision, we would have objective evidence for or against magical illumination and transfer of power. To date nothing has come of this.
My special thanks to my friends for the technical advice, which I've downloaded and will try to learn over the next few days. I'm not good with code, but I'll take their advice to heart.