Ancient Wisdom Beats Psychoanalysis

I recently came across this article discussing a recent study on managing anger. The study examined the concept of "venting" to see if it reduced anger effectively. This concept is very much a part of our popular culture, and it goes back to the psychoanalytic model of the mind proposed by Sigmund Freud over a hundred years ago. Freud was not a good scientist, but he was a pretty amazing popularizer.

It is something of a cliche that psychology (and magick, for that matter) tends to latch onto the latest new technology as a metaphor for how the mind works. The recent fascination with computer-like models bears this out today. Before computers it was telephone switchboards, before that it was electricity, and back in Freud's day, psychoanalysis latched onto a model based on something akin to hydraulic pressure. Freud saw emotions as a kind of energy that could be bottled up ("repression") or transformed into socially viable outlets ("sublimation") rather than expressed directly in socially unacceptable ways.

The idea of venting anger comes right out of this schema. Anger is seen as a building up of pressure, like water boiling in a closed pot. "Blowing off steam" in theory reduces this pressure. But in reality, the scientific basis for this has not been supported by studies. Conditioning theory, for example, suggests the opposite, that acting out in anger feels good in the moment but reinforces acting out. This can lead to more suboptimal behavior, not less. But again, studies that directly support this conditioning model are likewise sparse.

So that is what these researchers sought to test, in order to determine how to actually reduce anger. What they found was interesting because it lines up perfectly with recommendations from ancient spiritual practices and does not exactly fit either of the modern models. The most effective methods for curbing anger were found to involve reducing physical arousal - by means of, for example, meditation. That's advice they could have gotten from the Buddhist sangha up the street, and from many other sources including Hinduism and even contemplative Christianity.

InfoWars to Remain Fake News

The long saga of Alex Jones and InfoWars appears to be coming to an end. After declaring bankruptcy in response to the billion dollar judgment leveled against him by the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, InfoWars and its assets were put up for auction. In a delightful turn of events, the winning bidder was veteran fake news purveyor The Onion. You, from back when fake news was fake news, not just whatever news coverage folks like Jones don't happen to like.

The Onion’s monumental media scoop was made in partnership with the families of Sandy Hook victims, whom Jones owes at least $85 million after he lost a $1.5 billion case for claiming that the massacre, which claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six adults, was a hoax.

Ben Collins, The Onion’s CEO, playfully shared the news on social media, asking if anyone needed “millions of dollars worth of supplements.” As the news broke, The Onion—in true form—published an article by Bryce P. Tetraeder, the so-called CEO of Global Tetrahedron (The Onion’s “parent company”), in which the faux executive praised the conspiracy network as an “invaluable tool for brainwashing and controlling the masses.”

“With a shrewd mix of delusional paranoia and dubious anti-aging nutrition hacks, they strive to make life both scarier and longer for everyone, a commendable goal,” the satirical piece read.

Congratulations to The Onion for successfully taking over the dubious operations of InfoWars and kicking Jones to the curb. Bad fake news is all Jones knows and he will undoubtedly set up some other platform from which to broadcast his nonsense, but it's also true that judgments cannot be discharged in bankruptcy and whatever new platform he sets up is going to be more marginal than the one he spent decades building up. And maybe, just maybe, he'll think twice next time about setting his rabid followers loose to harrass a bunch of grieving parents.

Via Solis Scorpio Elixir Rite - Year Eight

Today's Magick Monday post is a full script for the Scorpio Elixir Rite that we will be performing tomorrow, Tuesday November 19th, at the Ritual Workshop. We will be starting around 8 PM.

0. The Temple

The ritual space is set up with an altar table in the center. The bell chime, banishing dagger, and invoking wand are placed on the altar. In the center of the altar is placed a cup of wine for creating the elixir, within the Table of Art corresponding to Scorpio. The sign Scorpio is attributed to the power of “Necromancy." Note that this refers to work with the spirits of the dead, including ancestors, rather than magick involving dead things such as body parts and so forth. The Via Solis Elixir Rites were written by Michele Montserrat in 2010 for the Comselh Ananael magical working group.

I. Opening

All stand surrounding the altar. Officiant inhales fully, placing the banishing dagger at his or her lips. The air is then expelled as the dagger is swept backwards.

Officiant: Bahlasti! Ompehda!

Officiant then performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. All rotate accordingly.

Officiant: We take refuge in Nuit, the blue-lidded daughter of sunset, the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky, as we issue the call to the awakened nature of all beings, for every man and every woman is a star.

All: MAKAShANaH

Officiant: We take refuge in Hadit, the secret flame that burns in every heart of man and in the core of every star, as we issue the call to our own awakened natures, arousing the coiled serpent about to spring.

All: ABRAHADABRA

Officiant: We take refuge in Heru-Ra-Ha, who wields the wand of double power, the wand of the force of Coph Nia, but whose left hand is empty for he has crushed an universe and naught remains, as we unite our awakened natures with those of all beings everywhere and everywhen, dissolving all obstacles and healing all suffering.

All: AUMGN

Officiant: For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

All: All is pure and present are and has always been so, for existence is pure joy; all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and done; but there is that which remains. To this realization we commit ourselves – pure and total presence. So mote it be.