Volume 6

Volume 6, Number 1

Crow...are you "cawing" so I may know the secrets of balance within my soul! Or are you
sending your "caw" just to remind me of universal laws? ⁽¹⁾

“He who is not at peace with himself is at war with the world!” In our view, this aphorism is very much at the heart of this issue’s theme – CHIVALRY: Giving the Best of Ourselves – for indeed, if one is not chivalrous with oneself one cannot be chivalrous with others, simply because if one is not tolerant of one’s own shortcomings then one can never be truly tolerant of those of others! So how tolerant are you? Find out by first going through Walter Griffin’s Tolerance Workshop outline, and then send for a copy of the Tolerance Questionnaire.

In keeping with this sub-theme of tolerance our lead article – CHIVALRY and the Problem of Good and Evil – makes the point that in the final analysis much of what is considered to be “good” or “evil” is a matter of perspective and, in fact, for the most part is purely subjective, depending entirely upon what pleases or displeases us or, more precisely, upon self-image – conscious or otherwise. Along this same line of discussion is the article, entitled CHIVALRY: For the Sake of Our Children in which the point is raised to the effect that until and unless, as parents, we can come to terms with our own childhood traumas, it is highly likely that we will transmit to our progeny the same points of intolerance that infest our own souls. Of particular interest, though, is the suggestion that although psychological frailties or vulnerabilities may be unavoidable, they should be used to seek guidance from the divine aspect within ourselves, rather than as motivators to dominate others.

In his A Masonic Perspective, Dr. Norman Pearson deals with CHIVALRY and The Masonic Struggle as a “Crusade Against Violence”, which is another way of saying: Giving the Best of Ourselves. In referring to the Order or the Knights Templar and their “Crusade Against Violence”, Dr. Pearson says the following: They saw the need for a much simpler, more direct relationship to God via each man’s conscience rather than simply by dogmatic authority. Once they understood “the people of the Book” (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) they realized that these three great religions were, at root, one. And in harmony with this profoundly spiritual sentiment are three other features, namely Esoteric Streams, featuring an article by John Eberly entitled: CHIVALRY on the Sufi Path; for its part, A Templar Perspective, features an article by Stephen Dafoe entitled: The Inevitability of Change – An Opportunity to Learn from History; and finally, A Martinist Perspective, features an article by Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin entitled: God, Man and the Universe. In this article, Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin makes the most compellingly compassionate point to the effect that even what appears to be the most despicable of human behaviors is fundamentally motivated by a Virtue! For its part, A Medieval Primer features an article by David W. Lincoln entitled Fiddling, which deals more explicitly with the subject of Violence.

This issue’s Entering The Sanctuary features an article by Solosito entitled The Balm Of Gilead and, making reference to the Heaven Within, suggests that Chivalry asks that we become conscious pilgrims in our relationship to our emotions by allowing our self-awareness to be filled with Unconditional Love. For its part, the Fool of Shakti – Part III – suggests that the goal of spiritual evolution produces in an unconditional tension with regard to the Absolute while our DIDYANO feature, which comes from Dr. Iyer’s work entitled Transmission and Creativity, suggests that life is no cruel burden imposed upon human beings by some capricious external power.

Finally, in Part 3 of our series on Exorcism we return to the subject of Unconditional Love as a powerful force for good. And to make the point once again that so much in human experience depends upon the prodigious powers of the human mind, our Metaphysiology^® feature – The Skeleton, The Genome and the Marrow of Our Bones – deals with an item of recent scientific excitement by showing that even at the level of our Genes, the mind plays a most important role. Last but not least is MUSTIKUMA featuring a little something entitled: What a Difference an “R” makes!!!

ARIADNE'S WEB™
V6N1Fall 2000

(1) Quote taken from MEDICINE CARDS by Jamie Sams and David Carson

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