From: joshua@cpac.washington.edu (Joshua Geller)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: fourth power of the sphinx (was: Re: Keeping Silence (was: testin' this stupid editor))
Date: 11 Jan 93 20:23:58 GMT
Organization: Institute for the Study of Ancient Science
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: bailey.cpac.washington.edu
In-reply-to: drake+@cs.cmu.edu's message of Wed, 6 Jan 1993 10:10:25 GMT


In article <C0FG9E.7Ew.1@cs.cmu.edu> drake+@cs.cmu.edu (Drake) writes:

>   mike.mcaulay@spacebbs.com (Mike Mcaulay) writes:

>   >-> I think one reason that this isn't seen often on alt.magick is
>   >-> something called the '4th power of the Sphinx:' keeping silence.

indeed. one of my favorite versions of this is in sufism, where a sufi
never admits to being a sufi, and where anyone who says that he is a 
sufi is automatically nothing of the kind. this carried over to the
rosicrucian orders (the real (17th century) ones, boys and girls), and
is found in the G.'.D.'. 5 = 6 ritual, wherein there is an injunction
to the initiate against saying that one is a rosicrucian.

>   >-> Another reason could be a mundane one (at least for me):  I don't
>   >-> really CARE if your evocation of the dread Dormammu, or whatever,
>   >-> succeeded or failed.  What I would be curious about are the
>   >-> *generalities*:  *how* was your ritual constructed?  What
>   >-> religo-mystico-philosophical system are you using? etc.

>   >Why care how a ritual was constructed if it fails?

>   Oh, I don't know; maybe because you like playing at magick rather than
>   actually getting your hands dirty and doing something for a change? <g>

huh?

>   >That's fine.  But some of us (I can't be the only one) would like to be
>   >able get practical questions answered by those with more experience.

what is a practical question? it's not 'what kind of incense should I use?'
or 'what Words should I utter to evoke such-and-such a spirit?'. a practical
question is 'what physical and mental disciplines should I learn in
order to be able to do these practices?', 'what parts of my personality
are over or under developed?'. you will notice these questions are almost
never asked. 

silence does not equal secrecy. the best way of illustrating the four
powers of the sphinx (to know, to will, to dare and to keep silence) is
by example.

suppose you want to perform the magickal act of killing an enemy. you
have to know how to do this (know how to kill a human being with or
without a weapon), you have to have the will to do it (perform a pre-
meditated murder), you have to dare to do it (actually kill him) and it
really is best not to talk about it (for obvious reasons). 

and as far as students and teachers and wanting to know goes, there was
once a young man who was trying to find a teacher. he heard of this guy
who was supposed to be a teacher and went and sought him out. the guy
told him that under no circumstances would he be accepted as a student.
some time after this he was talking to someone else and told him this
story, saying:
  "I don't think he was a real teacher."
  "he was", replied his friend. "anyone who would accept you for a 
student isn't a real teacher."

josh
Newsgroups: alt.magick