Universal opposite. As a modern-dress version of the Conflict of Horus and Set [but which is which?], this film
oscillates between the harshly real and the surreal. Screenplay writer & director Michael Mann (the wizard who
brought you Miami Vice) took F. Paul Wilson’s plodding, ‘here-comes-Vlad-the-Impaler-again’ novel and rewrought
it into this expressionistic banquet for the senses. One is left wondering, at the end of the film, which one of the
dæmon-beings’ influence would have proved better for humanity - that of the tranquil Glenn, who remained aloof
and remote from human suffering, or that of his ‘evil’ counterpart, who takes swift and savage vengeance against
humans deemed to deserve it - and aids others deemed to deserve that.”
F14B. Triumph of the Will. 1934. MA: “Leni Riefenstahl’s classic documentary of the Nürnberg Nazi Party
Rally still stuns the senses decades after it was made. You may experience a variety of mixed emotions upon seeing
this film, but you will not be indifferent to it. Look especially for the Synapse Films ‘Special Edition’ DVD
#SFD0015, which is the most complete, best-restored version available.”
F14C. The Twisted Cross. NBC/Warner Home Video #29015, 1983. MA: “There are several documentary films
about the phenomenon of the Third Reich, which generally waltz through a predictable pattern: (1) the problems of
Weimar Germany, (2) a profile of Adolf Hitler, (3) how the Nazi Party took over Germany and started World War II
by itself, (4) the horrors of the concentration camps [which of course no one had but Germany], and (5) how the rest
of the world finally united to destroy Mordor. This film is one of the more lively of the bunch. While it goes through
the standard sequence, it ingeniously mixes actual film footage of the time with black-and-white reenactments of
certain events (such as the abortive Munich Putsch) so adroitly done that you think you are seeing the events
themselves.”
F14D. Hanussen. 1988 (German-Hungarian). DW: “The title character is a World War I Austrian soldier, who,
after being shot in the head, develops the ability to foresee the future. An intriguing story of a real superman having
to deal with the brutality of ‘supermen’ whose power comes from mass assertion. Based on a ‘true’ event. Intriguing
fare for Pylon Movie Night.”
F14E. The Occult History of the Third Reich. Video Treasures, Inc.; 2001 Glenn Parkway; Batavia, OH 45103;
1991. Four cassettes: “The Enigma of the Swastika” #SV9366 (ISBN: 1-55529-657-2), “The SS: Blood and Soil”
#SV9367 (ISBN: 1-55529-658-0), “Himmler the Mystic” #SV9368 (ISBN: 1-55529-659-9), and “Adolf Hitler”
#SV9369 (ISBN: 1-55529-660-2). Approximately US$15/cassette. MA: “The only documentary of its kind I’ve yet
come across - and superbly done, with abundant rare film footage. Unique to this documentary are discussions of
the pre-Nazi/non-German roots of many of the phenomena discussed, much of which receives little if any coverage
today because of embarrassment to the same nations which, since World War II, have elevated condemnation of the
Third Reich into a secular religion.”
F14F. Unsolved Mysteries of World War II. Castle Communications; P.O. Box 1445; St. Laurent, Quebec
H4L-4Z1; Canada; 1992. #UMW-3-4520. MA: “This is a boxed set of six cassettes for about $20, the price possible
because the six hours of film are recorded in EP-mode. Neverthess the quality is quite adequate for viewing.
Volumes: ‘People & Plots’: (1) The Riddle of Rudolph Hess, The Strange Death of Geli Raubal, Drugs and the
Fuehrer. (2) Hitler’s Secret War, Kill Hitler. ‘Battle Mysteries’: (1) Pearl Harbor, The Phantom Invasion. (2)
Decision at Dunkirk, Stalin’s Secret Armies. ‘Occult & Secrets’: (1) Hitler’s Secret Weapons, Enigma of the Swastika,
Himmler’s Castle. (2) The Eagle and the Swastika, The Last Days of Hitler. These are ‘teaser’ mini-documentaries,
not as detailed as #F14E, but often with fascinating facts rarely aired elsewhere - for instance the Allies’ uneven use
of Enigma intelligence vs. the Germans’ strange failure to discern the breaking of their codes, some of the most
detailed period film footage of the Wewelsburg yet, and the odd German decision to declare war on the USA when
American concentration on Japan would have been to German benefit, etc. A ‘food for thought’ item, easily worth its
price.”
F14G. The Empty Mirror. Universal, Lion’s Gate Films, 2000. MA: “Portrayals of Adolf Hitler in postwar
films have been inflexibly propagandistic: He is never to be shown as anything other than an ugly, screaming,
him, at least for part of this film, as a rational, introspective visionary. The film’s title refers to a speculation: What
would Hitler, looking back on his career, ‘see in the mirror’? Hitler is played by the British actor Norman Rodway,
who not only looks reasonably like AH but represents him responsibly. I am not surprised that this film was an
official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, but I am surprised that it was not suppressed altogether. Hurry up and
see it before it is.”
- 219 -
Category 15: Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence
Kybernetik und Künstliche Intelligenz
as of February 26, 2003
MA: Everyone knows that computers and computer science are continuing to mushroom, but few
really know just how much and with what impact. The reality is astonishing in some ways and
overblown in others. Industrialized civilizations of the planet are now so dependent upon computerized
systems of commerce and communication that they are close to being “at the mercy” of the computer
scientist, whose responsibility it is to “make the things work” - and, incidentally, to set parameters for
human enterprise by taking computer design in one direction or another.
Books for this reading list, many of them computer-prepared themselves, were located, ordered,
and shipped by computers ... after which the reading list was typed on a computer [originally 1976 on a
PolyMorphic #8813 and now on a Macintosh], printed on a computer-controlled laser-printer,
duplicated on a computer-controlled copy machine, and delivered to you with the assistance of
computer-maintained address-list/labels read in turn by computer Zip-code scanners at the post
office ... with updates available on the Temple’s electronic database, Glinda.
Obviously a computer-dominated society is hyperefficient in some ways, hypervulnerable in
others. At the very least the magician must know enough about the field so that he is sensitive to the
ways in which it influences him - and the ways in which he may use it to influence others.
* * *
DW: The digital world offers vast amounts of information, amazing abilities to communicate, and
tremendous amounts of political freedom of assembly. It is likewise an addictive drug, a place that
hastens the decline of civility, and an immense source of powerlessness. The magician must decide. The
best of all possible worlds scenario is a learned Setian who buys the tools that are best for person needs,
can pull anything off the Web with ease, has fun on Internet mailing lists of choice, and keeps a “victory
garden” going in case it all goes south. The reading list does not include books on software, hardware, or
the Internet; these are obsolete when they are printed
.
15A. Future Shock by Alvin Toffler. NY: Random House, 1970. [Deutschland: Der Zukunftsschock, Deutscher
Bücherbund, Stuttgart, 1970] (TOS-3) MA: “Strictly speaking, this is a study of accelerated styles of living rather
than of computers per se. It is included in this section because it illustrates the environment in which computers
have become increasingly indispensable. It is also important to consider the directions in which this environment
may proceed, and the impact of related phenomena. Future Shock has been around for a long time now, but its
propositions are no less valid today than they were when the book was first published.”
15B. God & Golem, Inc.: A Comment on Certain Points where Cybernetics Impinges on Religion by Norbert
Wiener. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1964. [Deutschland: Gott & Golem, Inc. , Econ-Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1965 (WU:
15/2465)] (TOS-3) MA: “Wiener, who coined the term ‘cybernetics’ in 1948, later went on to consider the ultimate
implications of artificial intelligence. A series of his lectures was consolidated into this 100-page volume, which won
the National Book Award. The argument is one of ethics rather than of technology.”
15C. Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte. NY: Knopf, 1995. (TOS-1) DW: “This book, by the Founding
Director of the Media Lab at MIT, tells you where the digital world from TV to computers is going, what’s hype,
what’s going to be possible, and what social forces are working against the media revolution. The predictions he
makes about the type of new interfaces with the digital world may be taken as accurate. ‘By the year 2020 the largest
employer in the developed world will be “self”.’ Much of this book appeared as a series of essays in Wired magazine.
Easy to read, and a great source of learned excitement.”
15D. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. NY: Doubleday, 1950. [Deutschland: Ich, der Robot, Verlag Weiss, Berlin-
Schoeneberg, 1958 (WU: 8c/1801)] (TOS-3) 4E: “A classic of science not-so-fiction, exploring the implications of
artificial intelligence. Famed for the ‘three laws of robotics’, the concept of robopsychology, and the positronic brain.
The reality of this book is closer than you think/compute...”
15E. As Man Becomes Machine: The Next Step in Evolution by David Rorvik. NY: Pocket Books
#0-671-82230-6, 1978. (TOS-3) MA: “An anthology [in layman’s terms] of the research towards the evolution of the
cyborg - first the gradual replacement of various organic components of the human body with inorganic machinery,
then the transference of consciousness from the organic brain to an inorganic computer. Various hypotheses from
this book are illustrated in the character of Lorin Xanpol the Pantechnikon in #21I.”
15F. Machines Who Think: A Personal Inquiry into the History and Prospects of Artificial Intelligence by
Pamela McCorduck. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman, 1979. [Deutschland: WU: 30/5440] (TOS-3) MA: “This is the
book on artificial intelligence. Over the years I have examined and rejected many books on this subject as being
- 220 -
either too elementary or too technical. McCorduck is a reporter, not a computer scientist, but she’s got a first-rate
[organic] brain of her own and a writing style that turns this potentially confusing subject into an exciting
adventure. From the book: ‘I like to think of artificial intelligence as the scientific apotheosis of a venerable cultural
tradition, the proper successor to golden girls and brazen heads, disreputable but visionary geniuses and crackpots,
and fantastical laboratories during stormy November nights. Its heritage is singularly rich and varied, with legacies
from myth and literature; philosophy and art; mathematics, science, and engineering; warfare, commerce, and even
quackery. I’ve spoken of roads or routes, but in fact it is all more like a web, the woven connectedness of all human
enterprise.’”
15G. Computers and the Imagination by Clifford A. Pickover. NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1991. (TOS-3) DW:
“Pickover’s books are generally recommended because his greatest desire is to make you excited-in-love-crazy with
math. This book is about using existing and evolving computer technologies as ways to expand the mind and give
new arenas to creativity.”
15H. Life on the Screen by Sherry Turkle. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1995. (TOS-3) DW: “Dr. Turkle, Professor of
Sociology of Science at MIT and a licensed clinical psychologist, looks at the question of ‘self’ in the digital world,
where one can change gender, play in fantasies, have AI companions, and spend hours alone typing in front of
glowing screens. This is a book about how computers are changing the hearts and minds of people; the magician is
alerted to dangers and opportunities.”
* * *
P15A. Wired (ISSN: 1059-1028), Wired Ventures Ltd; 520 3rd St. - 4th Floor; San Francisco, CA 94107. Tel:
(415) 211-6200. Email: info@wired.com. WWW: http://www.hotwired.com. Monthly. Alex Burns II°: “Sirius and
Bruce Sterling, this glossy magazine personifies both the best and worst of its field. Get past the 12 pages of
advertisments just to find the contents and the sometimes excessive technophillia/info-Utopianism, and you’ll
discover that Wired has some of the most intelligent and up-to-date commentary on futurism, technology,
computers, the Internet, and social trends available in a single volume.”
P15B. 21*C: Scanning The Future (ISSN: 1035-6754), Gordon and Breach Science Publishers SA; PO Box 95;
Prahran, Victoria; Australia. Tel: +61 (0) 3 9827-5499. Fax: +61 (0) 3 9827-5281. Email: ed21c@peg.apc.org.
WWW: http://www.21c.com.au. Quarterly. Alex Burns II°: “Described to me recently as ‘ Wired with a social
conscience’, this magazine features leading cyberculture theorists like McKenzie Wark, Mark Dery, R.U. Sirius, and
Kathy Acker, while avoiding the excesses of Wired. Features a balanced but critical survey of cyberculture,
information technology, and sociological impact.”
- 221 -
Category 16: Good and Evil
Gut und Böse
as of February 26, 2003
Much of human history can be explained, if not excused by the conflict between those of low
intelligence (who consider good/evil objective) and those of high intelligence (who consider good/evil
subjective). Certainly it begs the question to use those very terms to distinguish one extreme from the
other! The Church of Satan sought freedom by attempting to reverse the good/evil norms of society;
the Temple of Set seeks freedom by attempting to escape those norms - and preexisting ones - and to
encourage its Initiates to construct enlightened, individualistic definitions. This is as much an art as a
science, and the quest must be undertaken and pursued with logic, caution, common sense ... and
apprehension of the Agathon.
16A. Political Ideas and Ideologies: A History of Political Thought by Mulford Q. Sibley. NY: Harper & Row,
1970. [Deutschland: WU: 22a/11] (TOS-1) (LVT-1) MA: “Until you’ve read and digested this material, you really
oughtn’t to talk about ‘political philosophy’ any more than someone who hasn’t read an anatomical textbook should
try to hold forth on anatomy. I teach university courses surveying the history of political theory, and this is far and
away the most lucid, objective, and comprehensive survey text I’ve yet found. It has two conspicuous omissions -
Nietzsche and ancient Egypt - and it is oriented towards the political rather than the more abstract or conceptual
; branches of philosophy. So you won’t find Kant, Schopenhauer, Sartre, etc. here. The author [wonderful name!] was
a very distinguished and a very controversial Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. If you
wonder why something like this is TOS-1, trust me. After you’ve absorbed the knowledge it contains, you’ll wonder
on what basis you held political opinions before reading it.” J. Lewis VI°: “Go read a textbook? In this case, yes.
Sibley’s book lacks dryness of text and contains doors opening onto the essence of politics. It is valuable for far more
than explanations of sandbox politics.”
16B. Nietzsche by Karl Jaspers. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1965. [Deutschland: Nietzsche und das
Christentum, Piper-Verlag, München, 1985 (WU: 37c/1845)] (TOS-4) MA: “Trying to get a grip on Nietzsche
through either his own writings or those of others is a bit like trying to get an octopus into a straitjacket. He thought
at a level which the German language did not anticipate, and so there is bitter controversy concerning the proper
translation of many of his terms and texts into English [to say nothing of their proper meaning in German]. After
going through a number of editions, translations, texts, analyses, and criticisms, I have come to rest on #16B as the
most useful for the Setian who wants to ‘get at’ Nietzsche as quickly and accurately as possible. Jaspers, Professor of
Philosophy at the University of Basel, Switzerland, is one of the acknowledged giants of the academic community. In
this book he sought to make the reader ‘think Nietzsche’s thoughts with him’, and in my opinion he succeeded.
There are sections on both Nietzsche’s life and his philosophy, which must be considered together for the latter to be
meaningful. 500 pages.” DW: “This book is in three parts. Read all of it, but the second is the part to reread. Great
material providing interesting springboards for Setian discussion.”
16C. The Annotated Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Walter James Miller. NY:
Thomas Y. Crowell, 1976. (TOS-4) (LVT-4) MA: “English-language editions of this story prior to this edition have
been appallingly distorted and shortened by incompetent editors and translators. Verne was a genius far beyond his