20-02-2010, 07:38 PM
One possible answer to your question is that it was both.
The second half of the last century has clearly shown a developing trend of individual interest into what we might call spiritual subjects. It was only a hundred or so years earlier that religious thought was almost completely controlled by the established Church. Still earlier than that and any form of overt interest in the subject that did not include the intercession of an agent of the religious franchise of the day (the Vatican) often resulted in a terrible and agonizing death. In other words we have individuals more able and more willing to delve into these vital subjects without either fear of reprisal or being sent to social Coventry.
But at the same time we see elements of the intelligence community undertaking some really very weird projects. I feel sure that some of this, if not a large part, derived from the Nazi interest in the occult. Numerous former OSS men returned from WWII with a personal interest in these occult subjects. Those that I know of were very much on the political right. Indeed, they are to right of Attila the Hun, to use a well-known phrase. We can include in this such individuals as Jack Parsons, founding father of Nasa's JPL in Pasadena. Parsons comes from a line of Parsons who were deeply involved in the occult, notably the Satanic variant of it - the Hell Fire Club. This connects, of course, to Crowley who was Parsons master. And Parsons connects directly to nazis such as Werner von Braun and others brought to the US to oversee the development of advanced nazi technology. Space travel was very much something the Thule-ists wished to achieve. The Nazis also opened up the human mind for purposes of control. The US, and to a lesser extent the UK, simply took over this research and focused it more rigorously.
If I were pushed to draw a conclusion from this, I would say that what we are seeing is an even stronger pulse than before, of the ages old battle between the two great forces that control life and existence.
Of course, neither can win this battle, as the end of one is the end of the other. But the clash of these opposites causes - or can cause - greater human understanding. Supposing that is, that individuals are prepared to embrace the personal journey that is required.
But will they?
The second half of the last century has clearly shown a developing trend of individual interest into what we might call spiritual subjects. It was only a hundred or so years earlier that religious thought was almost completely controlled by the established Church. Still earlier than that and any form of overt interest in the subject that did not include the intercession of an agent of the religious franchise of the day (the Vatican) often resulted in a terrible and agonizing death. In other words we have individuals more able and more willing to delve into these vital subjects without either fear of reprisal or being sent to social Coventry.
But at the same time we see elements of the intelligence community undertaking some really very weird projects. I feel sure that some of this, if not a large part, derived from the Nazi interest in the occult. Numerous former OSS men returned from WWII with a personal interest in these occult subjects. Those that I know of were very much on the political right. Indeed, they are to right of Attila the Hun, to use a well-known phrase. We can include in this such individuals as Jack Parsons, founding father of Nasa's JPL in Pasadena. Parsons comes from a line of Parsons who were deeply involved in the occult, notably the Satanic variant of it - the Hell Fire Club. This connects, of course, to Crowley who was Parsons master. And Parsons connects directly to nazis such as Werner von Braun and others brought to the US to oversee the development of advanced nazi technology. Space travel was very much something the Thule-ists wished to achieve. The Nazis also opened up the human mind for purposes of control. The US, and to a lesser extent the UK, simply took over this research and focused it more rigorously.
If I were pushed to draw a conclusion from this, I would say that what we are seeing is an even stronger pulse than before, of the ages old battle between the two great forces that control life and existence.
Of course, neither can win this battle, as the end of one is the end of the other. But the clash of these opposites causes - or can cause - greater human understanding. Supposing that is, that individuals are prepared to embrace the personal journey that is required.
But will they?
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14