Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Pet Peeve: Blaming the Dead Guys

I had one of my attacks today. You know the one where I start foaming at the mouth because someone is dancing on one of my pet peeves. Today, it was a "Let's blame the dead old guy for the current state of things."

There are a lot of people who blame Regardie, Crowley, Mathers, etc. for the state of Golden Dawn today. Blaming a dead person is just as lovely as blaming one of the living people for the sorry state the tradition has gotten itself in.

I am sorry, but there is more than enourgh blame to go around. We are all guilty. Especially if we allow the dead guy to lock us into viewing Golden Dawn and magic in only one manner.

Yes, Regardie (or Crowley or Mathers) had one particular way of looking at the system. But that is their problem, not ours.

It is only our problem if we prove to be incapable of moving past their opinion. And it is definitely not their problem if we get stuck there.

Every writer, teacher, leader and student has some part in the sorry state of our system. Don't lay the whole blame on one person's doorstep; we are at this point because we allowed ourselves to get here.

2 comments:

Frater YShY said...

OK, you have got my curiosity up, what are you referring to?

=)

Nick Farrell said...

There is also the problem which is equally bad which is "making the dead person a god". Since they are dead you can pin all sorts of stuff on them that they did not say or think. The modern GD's problem is its tendency to make Regardie a God and his version of the GD perfect. Ironically his stuff is espoused even by those who claim not to be of the Regardie tradition.