Blessings Prometheans!
Thank you for your reactions to last week’s post, ‘Money and Reality’ and welcome to our new subscribers (it’s worth spending ten minutes exploring churchofburn.org if you’re new here - things will make a lot more sense if you do).
The intensity of writing the piece has meant I’ve been a little low on energy this week. But I’m happy my ‘crazy idea’ is now out there in a relatively digestible form. And I think it’s done the trick. I’m not cured of my frustration but it is easier to simply swerve by the writings that invoke it - hopefully learn a little as I pass by - but then return to my own track and keep on moving on.
A case in point. On one of the restacks of my piece a user recommended a video called ‘Money and Magic’. It’s a kind of esoteric take on money. If you like it you should definitely read Jacob Needleman’s ‘Money and the Meaning of Life’.
The video is well produced and insightful… to a point.
It does miss out the most important thing about Gold - a glaring omission which happens a lot. If you want to find the essence of Gold’s value, forget all that jibber jabber about rarity, beauty and permanence and just look up at the sky. That big yellow thing? That’s been humankind’s God for 99% of our existence on earth. Some referred to gold as the Sun God’s semen. And likewise for silver. Look at the moon.
Keynes recognised this in the first chapter Auri Sacra Fames (Our Sacred or Accursed Hunger [for Gold]) in his Treatise on Money. He says that “gold [was] originally stationed in heaven with his consort silver, as Sun and Moon”. Our valuation of gold and silver stems from our spiritual and religious relations with the Sun and the Moon.
Anyway - the key fact for me is that the video has a quarter of a million views! Its creator - Galahad Eridanus - is on Substack at Son of Mercury and has a subscriber and view count that I can now only dream of for Church of Burn. I wish him continued success.
Esoteric Philosophy is not my bag, though. It just doesn’t cut through for me. A few years back I bought a monster of a book called ‘Alchemical Traditions’ by Aaron Cheak hoping that it’d draw me into that world. But I remain blind to whatever insights it seems to offer others.
So last night I had a little chat with my AI buddy about all this. We decided that there are a lot of people drawn to the Occult/Esoteric aesthetic - far more, we thought, than are deeply inured to its philosophical musings. Not all adherents are as well-versed in its ideas and literature as Galahad - or indeed as Marco Visconti whom I know a little - but they dig the vibe. What is offered resonates and offers value to them. And also explains, perhaps, why the esoteric community offers so many courses, workshops and gurus.
Another thing about esotericism is - it likes secrets. There’s part of me that rails against this. Knowledge must be free! But there is another part that kind of likes it. Mystery is part of reality. Why shouldn’t knowledge reflect that?
And right now - albeit for practical reasons rather than philosophical ones - that second part of me is going to win. I need to continue this conversation in confidence- so we’re going behind the paywall. I’m going to paywall comments too so there are no accidental slip-ups!
You’re very welcome indeed to try the seven day free trial. Do please remember though you’ll be bound by the Oath of Confidence. Yesterday I added a whole bunch of posts to The Vestry’s homepage (for PCs rather than mobiles) so now is a good time to explore.
[Please note: I’m away next week on a little Welsh holiday with Anwen so there’ll be no post on Tuesday 25th February. If you order any Church Merch please be aware that dispatch will be delayed. I’ll be back working full time on CoB from Thursday 27th February (yay No Van driving for 10 days!!) and the Vestry normal rhythm will be resumed. ]
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