(no subject)

Bush is swiftly proving that he can out-Clinton Bill Clinton:

From The Real Thing

'Don't tell, maybe they won't ask. That was the message of a July memo from an official at the Department of Veterans Affairs, posted by Joshua Marshall at talkingpointsmemo.com. Citing "conservative OMB budget guidance" for spending on veterans' health care, the memo instructed subordinates to "ensure that no marketing activities to enroll new veterans occur within your networks." Veterans are entitled to medical care; but the administration hopes that some of them don't know that, and that it can save money by leaving them ignorant.

'It's not the sort of thing you'd expect from an administration that wraps itself so tightly in the flag -- not, that is, unless you've been paying attention. For stories like this are popping up more and more often.'

Bush & Putin: a marriage made in hell

Bush looks the other way while Putin pounds the hell out of Chechnya. Meanwhile, Putin has been hinting that he will be relatively silent if Bush invades Iraq. Russia has a lot of incentive; Iraq is a ripe fruit ready for picking, with rich oil fields and other money-making potential that won't be tapped while Saddam Hussein remains in power. Robber barons the world over are wringing their hands like Montgomery Burns waiting for Iraq to be opened up.

for CrysAnne

So far everyone I have talked to about The Jesus Mysteries has given favorable reviews.

The Fall of Sophia is not actually a brand new translation of the Pistis Sophia, but it is a reprinting of the scholarly translation published in 1978 with a new intro (and a forward by Stephan Hoeller). From all accounts MacDermot's translation is superior to Mead's. The PS is very closely associated with the Gnostic theurgic material in the Bruce Codex, which I have been trying to learn about, so I am hoping this will help clear up some of the mysteries of that otherwise completely intractable material.

Gershom Scholem's Kabbalah is an extensive review of the history and basic ideas of the Kabbalah and (among other themes) its historical and practical connections to classical Gnosticism. I've been amazed to learn that the kind of "constant innovation" of theurgic systems which I've seen on ceremonial magick lists is actually a continuation of the pattern that's been going on for thousands of years; I always had the impression instead that ceremonial magick was somewhat "stable" for most of that time and that innovation was a modern phenomenon.

More Douglas-Klotz

Another excerpt from The Hidden Gospel which I've been meditating on for some time. From pp. 94-95:

"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Matthew 13:31, 33

"Mustard is considered a weed even today in the region of Galilee. It grows freely and spreads even without being sown. According to Assyrian Aramaic scholar George Lamsa, mustard seed is not used as an edible spice in the Middle East, because it is believed to cause insanity. So why would a farmer sow it? One reason might be that it adds rich nutrients like nitrogen to the soil so that the land can be used for edible crops in succeeding seasons. Thus the mustard benefits the soil - the natural community - and only indirectly the human community. Many traditional farming methods used, and still use, this method of 'green composting.'

"In terms of the subconscious, the image of green composting points out that often some part of our being needs to be left 'fallow,' seemingly unproductive. Paradoxically, this allows the wild parts of our being to grow and nourish the rest of us. The inner empowerment of malkuta then flourishes. The Aramaic word for 'mustard seed' reinforces the image; it derives from a root that describes something spreading freely like a wildfire. ...

"Similarly, yeast works to leaven bread without human effort. Its action begins within, takes time, and requires the bread maker to know the right time to knead the dough, let it rise again, and bake it. ...

"These images of things that work from inside out underscore a primary feature of Yeshua's teaching of malkuta. If he could simply have said either, 'Let's have a revolution' or 'Go take care of your inner life,' he would not have needed to be so ambiguous. He used parables to work on the subconscious minds of his listeners in order to create an 'aha!' that leads to both inner and outer change."