reputation as a mere yarn-spinner, and his moral philosophy is sublimely subjective. The annotations in this edition
will help to illustrate Verne’s expertise in a variety of arts and sciences. Walt Disney must be given credit for
bringing many direct quotes into his celebrated film: [Nemo: ‘I am not what you call a civilized man! I have done
with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciating. I do not therefore obey its laws, and I
desire you never to allude to them before me again.’]” J. Lewis VI°: “Captain Nemo is not, he says, a civilized man.
His deliberate separation from the consistency imposed by society has produced a new man, a superman intent on
creating a new world.”
16D. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin, 1967 (2nd Edition).
[Deutschland: Der Herr der Ringe, Klett-Kotta Verlag, Stuttgart, 1984] (TOS-4) (LVT-4) MA: “LOTR is not on this
list just because it is a stirring adventure tale, but rather because it illustrates a very significant point about good/
evil: that ‘evil’ can be destroyed only by a greater ‘evil’ or by accident. Saruman attempts the former and
Gandalf the latter, and Gandalf succeeds ... to the satisfaction of egalitarian readers [but who would want to hang
around Middle-earth after all the excitement was gone?]. LOTR is thus an argument for Christian morality, which is
immediately evident from The Silmarillion, whose philosophical sections - the ‘Ainulindale’ and ‘Valaquenta’ - are
transparently adapted from Paradise Lost.” J. Lewis VI°: “Issues of ethics and morality are central throughout the
three LOTR volumes. The Initiate embarking on the path to eternity needs more than the simple wish to survive; he
must comprehend and define both ‘good’ and ‘evil’. See also the Morlindalë (#16Q).
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16E. The Marquis de Sade by Donald Thomas. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1976. [Deutschland: Der
Marquis de Sade, Blanvalet Verlag, München, 1978 (WU: 28/18-527)] (TOS-3) MA: “The best biographical
treatment of this controversial and notorious libertine. As Thomas assesses him, he was opposed to the notion of
progressive philosophy, holding the supreme power of the human race to be its self-destructive power; the
extinction of the species is not to be regretted; history is not progress but helpless drifting. Compare this point of
view with that of Satanism, which is similarly cynical but holds out certain hopes for the individual’s transcending of
the mass neurosis. [A more recent biography is Sade by Maurice Lever (NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993, ISBN
0-374-20298) More text, less of a ‘coffeetable’ book. Lever is Director of the National Center for Scientific Research
in Paris.]”
16F. Parapolitics by Raghavan Iyer. NY: Oxford University Press, 1979. (TOS-4) MA: “An admirable,
beautifully orchestrated attempt to apply the political philosophy of Plato to the modern world. Iyer lays the
groundwork with diagrams explaining the hierarchy of mental activity: Noesis (‘pure vision’ - apprehension of the
Good [the Agathon]), Dianoia (logical ‘thinking’), Pistis (‘believing’ - dogmatic acceptance of ideology), and Eikasia
(‘imagining’ - the lowest form of image-simplification and instinctive behavior). These forms of activity may be
applied to society in a variety of political ‘dimensions’, governed by various syntheses of logos (speech), will
(strength), and eros (sympathy). The resultant political forces may be generated towards the attainment of various
goals: self-preservation, power, stability, reason, welfare, perfectability, and ultimately the parapolitics of
transcendence. This book is a pearl of thought; its sole defect is that it was cast before a world of largely egalitarian
readers [it was allowed to go out of print in 1985]. Do not attempt it until you have first mastered #12C, #16A, and
#16G. Iyer was Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. For
information concerning other books by this RHP Magus, contact: Concord Grove Press; 1407 Chapala Street; Santa
Barbara, CA 93101. Phone (805) 966-3941.”
16G. Political Thinking by Glenn Tinder. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1986 (4th Edition). (TOS-1) MA: “This
marvelous little (228 pages) paperback is composed completely of questions to the reader concerning the great
political/philosophical issues of history, together with information on how major political philosophers addressed
those questions. The questions are left open- ended, the expectation being that the reader must think his own
answers to them. This book is thus an active mental exercise, not a textbook for passive memorization or
indoctrination. Tinder is Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts.”
16H. The Social Contract by Robert Ardrey. NY: Atheneum, 1970. (COS-3) AL: “The Law of the Jungle as
applied to human behavior. How the fallacy of ‘all men are created equal’ has created an imbalance - perhaps
necessary - in man’s potential. A beautifully written book guaranteed to hurt many whose only claim to fame is that
they are ‘higher animals’.”
16I. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay, LL.D. NY: Harmony
Books, 1980 [reprint of the 1841 edition]. (TOS-3) MA: “Perhaps the most wonderful book-title since #13C’s. A
crazy, wonderful, informative, educational, and non-fictional tour of the major manias of Western civilization up to
the time of the book’s publication. As Andrew Tobias observes in his foreword: ‘Once upon a time there was an
emperor with no clothes. For the longest time no one noticed. As you will read in this marvelous book, there have
been many naked emperors since. There will doubtless be many more.’”
16J. Collective Search for Identity by Orrin E. Klapp. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969. (COS-3) AL: “A
useful key to the understanding and utilization of Lesser Magic.” DW: “This is a key book to understanding LaVey’s
thinking. It is the root of our distinction between rites and ceremonies (which Klapp got from The Folklore of
Capitalism by T.W. Arnold Yale [1937] - which if available I would make a TOS-5). When great books about LaVey
are written, they will have Klapp as background.”
16K. Heroes, Villains, and Fools by Orrin E. Klapp. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962.
(COS-3) AL: “Same comments as applied to [#16J].”
16L. World Civilizations by Edward McNall Burns, Philip Lee Ralph, Robert E. Lerner, and Standish
Meacham. NY: W.W. Norton, 1982 [6th Edition]. (TOS-2) MA: “I am often concerned to see how little knowledge
many aspiring Initiates have of exoteric human history. Unless you have a reasonably solid grounding in this
subject, anything you derive from this reading list [and most other sensory-inputs] is going to be distorted in your
mind. #16L is the best single-volume, collegiate-level survey I’ve yet found: up-to-date, readable, balanced, and
comprehensive. Lavishly accented with color plates, maps, and many photographs & illustrations. It is a pleasure to
read, as though one were drinking at a fountain of human adventure. 1,384 pages. See also #16M.”
16M. Western Civilizations by Edward McNall Burns, Robert E. Lerner, and Standish Meacham. NY: W.W.
Norton, 1984 [10th Edition]. (TOS-2) MA: “This is an alternative/companion volume to #16L, minus the non-
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Western sections [which permits greater emphasis & detail regarding the Western ones]. 1,068 pages. A wonderful
literary and intellectual experience.”
16N. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. NY: Warner Books #38-505, 1986. (TOS-3) MA: “A
Setian comic (?) book.” Superman: “They’ll kill us if they can, Bruce. Every year they grow smaller; every year they
hate us more. We must not remind them that giants walk the Earth. You were the one they used against us, Bruce:
the one who played it rough. When the noise started from the parents’ groups, and the subcommittee called us in for
questioning, you were the one who laughed - that scary laugh of yours ... ‘Sure, we’re criminals,’ you said, ‘We’ve
always been criminals. We have to be criminals.’” Batman: “The world only makes sense when you force it to.”
16O. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Oxford/NY: Oxford University Press, 1989 (new edition). (TOS-3)
Patty Hardy IV°: “Altruistic and selfish behavior in a wide range of living forms, entertainingly and convincingly
explained in terms of genetic strategy and game theory. This book merits Setian attention as a more modern
treatment of the ideas discussed in #16H.”
16P. The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Policies of History by Howard Bloom. NY: Atlantic
Monthly Press, 1995 (ISBN 0-87113-532-9). (TOS-4) MA: “This historical/sociological book is an argument for
Bloom’s thesis: that ‘evil is a by-product of nature’s strategies for creation, and is woven into our most basic
biological fabric’ (the ‘Lucifer Principle’). He further postulates that the LP applies even more to at the group level
(what he calls the ‘superorganism’), and that this is what actually matters in the course of history. In talking of ‘evil’
Bloom means no theological concept, but rather the social impulsive, emotional, destructive, and aggressive features
of [principally but not just] human social groups. He case-studies several historical episodes to show that ‘progress
results from this pain’ rather than from more tranquil times. Somewhat Hegelian, somewhat oversimplistic - but not
without its point. Bloom’s credentials are somewhat elusive: ‘member of the NY Academy of Science, the American
Psychological Society, and the American Political Science Society’.”
16Q. Morlindalë by the One Ring. San Francisco: Barony of Rachane, 2003. (TS-3) Introduction by Baron
Rachane. MA:”The Morlindalë is a parody embracing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings. Parodies
are usually assumed to be humorous, but the Morlindalë is anything but that: a dark, tormented tragedy
reminiscent of the ancient Greek classics. In Tolkien’s original masterworks we see remarkably little of Melkor and
Sauron, despite their ominous shadow over events. Here in these nine scrolls we finally meet them face-to-face, feel
their emotions, hear their voices. Do they become heroes and those of the original stories villains? By no means.
Tolkien’s history is unchanged, and his champions retain their character and virtue. But perhaps judgments about
good and evil, life and death, love and hate are herein less simple and summary. The Morlindalë is not a parody of
sympathy, but rather one of empathy: a recognition of and respect for the mystery and dignity of all life despite its
many different manifestations.
http://www.amazon.com/Michael-A.-Aquino/e/B01GEWRIMU
* * *
F16A. Batman. 1989. Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger. Directed by Tim Burton. MA: “This
began as an attempt to bring #16N to the screen, and succeeded at least in capturing the noir atmosphere of its
Metropolis-like architecture and urban decay. Michael Keaton’s Batman is convincing, but not nearly as savagely
psychotic as in #16N. This film came close to being a horrific masterpiece, but at some point it was decided to cast
Jack Nicholson as the Joker and play that role for comic relief, presumably to make the film acceptable to youthful
audiences. The historic Joker was a malevolent fiend in whose risus sardonicus death-grin there was nothing the
least amusing.”
F16B. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Walt Disney, 1954. Disney Video #15VS. James Mason, Kirk Douglas,
Paul Lukas, Peter Lorre. MA: “A thoroughly excellent translation of #16C to a motion picture, less the extensive
scientific/oceanographic instruction which Verne packed into his novel. [On the other hand, there are many
lingering camera shots of underwater attractions, so Disney’s interest in naturalism is upheld.] Disney also changed
Verne’s rather unimaginative, spindle-shaped Nautilus into a magnificent metal ‘monster’ whose moonlight charges
at hapless warships are one of the screen’s most dramatic sequences. Atomic energy was still a thing of awe when
this film was made, as can be seen from the drama accorded the Nautilus’ atomic reactor, the design of Nemo’s
Vulcania laboratories, and the final atomic explosion.”
F16C. Apocalypse Now [Redux]. 1979. Francis Ford Coppola. Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall.
MA: “Loosely adapted from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, this film is a sort of Caligula of the Vietnam War:
Much of what it shows is in fact historically accurate, but in a single collage it appears so stark, obscene, and insane
that the viewer tends to dismiss it as merely a baroque satire. Brando portrays an American Special Forces colonel
whose obsession with the war leads to his alienation from the ethical rituals expected by the U.S command
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structure; Sheen is the captain sent to assassinate him. We are left to wonder why the destruction of human life
sanctioned by governments is ‘good’, while that lacking such sanction, even if apparently justified by circumstances,
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Category 17: The Gift of Set
Das Geschenk von Set
as of February 26, 2003
Sometime between the Lower-Paleolithic Period (about 800,000 years ago) and the Middle-
Paleolithic (about 100,000 years ago), the proto-human brain underwent a mutation directly contrary
to the objective-universal laws of natural evolution. Between Pithecanthropus Erectus and Cro-Magnon
the cranial cavity almost doubled in size - from about 900 cc to about 1,700 cc. Darwinian evolutionists
are completely unable to explain this development and therefore deal with it in texts by simply glossing
over it. The Temple of Set does not.
17A. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke. NY: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1953. [Deutschland: WU:
34/16-683] (TOS-3) (LVT-1) MA: “A most fascinating - and delightfully diabolical - speculation on the Gift of Set
that, in a more abstract version, was later brought to the screen as 2001: A Space Odyssey [see #F17A.] The
eventual sequel to that film, 2010, broke no new ground; what more was there to say?” J. Lewis VI°: “Is there
another book by man which describes the Gift of Set in better ‘fiction’?”
17B. The Eternal Man by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier. NY: Avon Books #380-16725-150, 1972.
[Deutschland: Die Entdeckung des ewigen Menschen - Die Umwertung der Menschheitsgeschichte durch d.
phantastische Vernunft, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag (Nr. 7009), München, 1975] (TOS-1) MA: “There are a great many
sensationalistic paperbacks on the market dealing with ‘startling discoveries concerning human history and
prehistory’. The Setian may browse among them at will, picking and choosing substantive data for further
investigation. This book, by the dynamic duo who brought you #4B and #22B, is, however, a unique item.”
17C. Lifetide by Lyall Watson. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1979. (TOS-3) MA: “Dr. Watson, an anthropologist who
is only very slightly ‘tainted’ by his interest in phenomena that polite academia carefully avoids, is the author of
#22D and #22Q as well. Here he discusses scientific evidence for the extra-terrestrial origins of life on Earth and
attempts to describe the development of the phenomenon of self-consciousness through purely-natural means. It is
a valiant attempt. He stumbles, however, on certain features (such as the working vertebrate eye) that cannot be
explained by evolution, and finally he is forced to admit that there is something beyond the natural order at work. In
an effort to avoid taking the plunge into theology, he coins the term ‘lifetide’, a sort of neo-version of the ‘vitalism’
used as an escape-valve for inconvenient facts by hard-core Darwinists. An excellent book for seeing just how far
science can go in beating its head against the door of non-natural tampering with the human intellectual equation.”
17D. The Ordeal of Change by Eric Hoffer. NY: Perennial Library #P-110. [Deutschland: Die Angst vor dem
Neuen, Rowohlt-Verlag, Hamburg, 1968 (WU: ZC-751-288)] (TOS-1) MA: “This book is listed specifically because of
its included essay ‘The Unnaturalness of Human Nature’, which is brilliantly conceived.”
17E. The Neck of the Giraffe: Darwin, Evolution, and the New Biology by Francis Hitching. NY: New
American Library (Mentor) #0-451-62232, 1982. (TOS-3) MA: “The recent attack on accepted Darwinian theories of
evolution and natural selection by religious fundamentalists has prompted a few brave natural scientists and
biologists to question some of the ‘sacred cows’ in the field of evolution. Evolution as a principle stands up to the
most exacting tests, but some of the Darwinian sub-assumptions are found not to. There are ‘gaps’ in the fossil
record between major species - for example, between early invertebrate sea creatures and ancient fishes. And
between fish and amphibians. And between the reptile & the mammal jaw. How could the hyper-intricate human
eye have evolved through ‘intermediate stages’? Hitching then launches into a careful discussion of mutation, genes,