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The Fission and the Voice

By Frater Zeus

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Preface

In the preceding essay, Fission for the Nuclear Family, we addressed the subject of a corrected attitude towards Jealousy in the context of Thelema. We have silenced the argument that the Green-Eyed Monster, Jealousy is all that holds some households together with the words: "There is no bond that can unite the divided but love." Yet this subject was covered in the previous essay in strictly theoretical terms, with little thought given for how to implement this new point of view. We have succeeded, we hope, in spite of this feckless first sortie, at least to have drawn for the reader a rough sketch of this free, wide-open landscape beyond the grey borders of Jealousy, and explained how it is a desirable destination, even if we have not necessarily provided any sort of map for the readers by which to see it for themselves. Thus, the unhappy state of the world at large, "bound and loathing" was not instantaneously emancipated from jealousy's iron grip years ago when the first essay was delivered, in spite of all our intentions; an effect (or a lack of one) whose cause was our choice of the comedy as our vehicle: a choice we made with open eyes. The trickster Harlequin can safely think, say, and do the unthinkable, the unspeakable, and the impossible because he is a mere clown, and is, thus, both the most and least dangerous stock characters of the Commedia dell'Arte. Or, to put it another way, it is the prerogative of the Fool to proclaim that the emperor wears no clothes; yet the fool remains a fool and the Emperor remains an Emperor.

So much for theory. In this second essay, it is my intent to speak of what is to be done about jealousy, for the aid and enlightenment of all readers; those who call themselves Thelemites and those who do not, those who practice monogamy and those who do not, as well as all Initiates and non-Initiates. To the aid of this grateful author comes, on audio tape, a Voice from beyond the grave, who passed on to the silence of that greater feast while I was still in high school, but whose words remain, emphatically as they were then: ahead of his time. These magnetic recordings of his Instructor (now as quaintly old fashioned a medium as they could be if they had been wax cylinders to a Victrola) were passed on to his lucky disciples by my Instructor, our beloved Frater Sphinx, known as David Bersson, and contain, as a colophon to many priceless pearls of true wisdom, a dedication bequeathing the tapes to posterity, so I may assure myself I do not purloin the words of the late, great Marcelo Ramos Motta against his Will.

It is my will to outline a body of practices by the light of my own powers and experiences by which one may come to be truly and finally free from jealousy, which is indeed a shadow beneath which most of mankind has wilted for so long they barely remember the sun. Frater Parsival, known as Marcelo Ramos Motta, although dead, attained a much higher Grade than my present Grade, does me one better in his posthumous aphorisms and proves with the demonstrable finality of a mathematical solution, that jealousy does not, and for the Initiate, cannot, exist.

...which, for the sad cuckold, bitterly eating his heart out in the melancholy barroom of Heartbreak Hotel, located (as Elvis informs us) down at the end of Lonely Street, should be Very Good News.

"Jealousy," Parsival assures his jealous disciple in the recorded dialogues, "is a feeling you are being robbed. You can only be robbed of something that is your personal property. If you feel jealousy it is because there is something you love. But to love presupposes two. You can be jealous of your cat, your pants, your jewelry, your bank account... even your faculties. But if you feel jealous of another so-called human being, then you presuppose that that human being is part of yourself. And if it is part of yourself, why are you jealous of it?

"That's an antinomy that you have to solve for yourself; all pairs of opposites have to be cancelled."

The reader should not think that among we who call ourselves Thelemites, nor among organizations operating within the Law of Θελημα, that jealousy is somehow forbidden. All feelings are permissible, and it is not the case with Us that we have merely replaced one code of dogmatic tribal taboos for another. But those who are of Us are on guard lest emotion should usurp volition. Sparing none, especially ourselves, those who are of Us regard those who denounce jealousy, yet obey jealousy's authority with the same condemnation as we would extend to hypocrites, or to all dogs or animals who falsely wear the outward shapes of men and women, as well as the condemnation we apply to all cowards... which brings us to the fundamentals of our counter-jealousy practice.

Θελημα, the Law of the Aeon of the Crowned and Conquering Child, provides an example of how to improve our practice of the Art of Love with the Science of War. Lovers who would be free from Jealousy would do well to consider how our brave men and women in uniform free their ranks from Cowardice. But do not assume we intend to drill some program of brain-washing into you until the jealous response in your nervous system is de-programmed, nor hypnotize you into sheepish complacency so some greasy-haired charlatan guru can make off with your girlfriend. We do not want robots any more than any army of free warriors wants mere human bullet-absorbers. The jealousy-victim and the cowardice-victim alike suffer a sort of sleep of the will, from which we will, in the course of this practice, Wake You Up.

Practice

1. The Oath

In order to be free from jealousy, one must first declare, once and for all, that this is one's will. Jealousy has been called the "green-eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds on" (Shakespeare's Othello, Act III, scene 3) and yet this Oath is sworn so seldom, or sworn half-heartedly, that the subject is worth examining.

Jealousy has occupied a most peculiar place in the world of human affairs; it is alternately reviled and relied upon; savored in others even by those who are tortured by it; scorned at and sacrificed unto. In my experience, most dare not free themselves from jealousy (even though they suspect that with effort, they could) out of a fear that others will emulate their example. Among free men and women, this is the vestigial desire to be kept, and the vestigial fear that if one is not kept, one cannot be coveted. And oh! how dearly they want to be coveted and to be kept, even while they clamor of their love of Freedom and their hatred of tyranny.

Worshippers of the Judeo-Christian Jesus, Allah and Jehovah are especially susceptible to this breed of ambivalence, as they find themselves, at best, in a perpetual love-hate relationship with their creed. They will emphatically proclaim their love and devotion to the God of Abraham, but when the misogyny, racism and homophobia with which the Koran, the Old Testament and the New Testament drip are pointed out, one can only they hope they tastefully edit those lines from their devotions, as most of their fellow congregants do. So the God of Jealousy’s cult thrives, even now. As they approach that throne of one who identifies itself as a jealous god, who will have no other gods before him (Exodus XX: 3-5), some doubtless arise and state that this semblance of divine jealousy is perhaps a queer figure of speech used at the foot of Mount Sinai by a prophet attempting to reveal a monotheistic school of thought to a polytheistic tribe. Nevertheless, the effect has been an excuse for jealousy among the flocks of those who revere the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran: If the Almighty Himself is a victim of jealousy, what sinful pride stirs in our frail mortal breast to think that we may free ourselves of this, the one definite godlike quality attributed to this ineffable One that was before time began? Consciously or unconsciously, the Jealousy of Jehovah is emulated by his worshippers, as are his alleged Mercy, his alleged Justice.

Allah's and Jehovah's policy towards other Gods is the same as that of Iran today to its homosexual population. Mahmoud Ahmenejad, current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran simultaneously proclaims that they must be immediately tracked down and stopped, and besides, they do not exist. Having no intention of being caught in the same contradiction, let it be known that I welcome Christians, Jews and Muslims to continue to enjoy (is that the right word?) their devotions, if that is their will, and that we do not dispute the existence of their Jehovah in the minds of his worshippers. One advantage of participation in a school of thought which is both polytheistic and monotheistic, while simultaneously neither, is the benefit of accessibility to the wisdom of all creeds. Those who would like to know how it is that this unique dual state is not a contradiction similar to those of Moses and Ahmenejad are directed to Monotheism and Polytheism for Thelemites, chapter 20 of Contemplations of a Western Master by David Bersson (See Frater Nshyh's website).

Let us, for now, leave the problem of the existence or nonexistence of God to the philosophers, the problem of the existence or non-existence of homosexuals within Iran to the Iranians, and the existence or non-existence of other Gods to Jehovah, and as ordinary men and women, deal with the practical contradiction before us. Our lovers either are or are not our property, and if we take the evidently more-enlightened position that our lovers reciprocate our love (or don't) in a state of free will, then the conclusion that they are not our property must be drawn. Therefore let us solemnly swear not to be ruled any longer by jealousy, being merely "a lust of the blood and permission of the will" (Othello, again: Act I, scene III), in the light of the truth which is the result of the contradiction (or Union of Opposites) that it must be checked and does not exist, unless we Will it.

In this Oath, (similar to a soldier's oath to be brave in the face of his or her enemies) let it be understood that Jealousy is to be tamed, not to be excised nor destroyed, any more than fear is eliminated in the soldier. Without fear, courage is impossible. So, Humanity is defined as formerly animal. And like the rutting stag and the strutting peacock, we are also competing for the best mates. But as human beings, we have a crown of invisible antlers more deadly than the tines of the strongest buck, and a cloak of feathers more dazzling than plumes of the bird-of-paradise.

We will furnish the reader with two war engines with which to keep jealousy in its place; one defensive and one offensive. As the need in this psychic war for immediate battlefield reinforcements is clear, we will describe the combat maneuvers first, and later explain how best to fall back and fortify our garrison.

1. The Vigil of the Cave of Abominations

1. Stop.
2. "Snap out of it."
3. Observe and slow your breathing.
4. Observe and slow your pulse.
5. Consider that the same freedom you enjoy is the birthright of every man and every woman.
6. Rather than darkening your lover's eyes to others, shine brighter yourself. You are a living Woman or Man, endowed, therefore, with a limitless source of radiant Power and spiritual Glory; the Power to receive the Glory of the limitless Universe, as well as the Power to reveal that Glory to this limitless Array of Celestial Others.

2. The Rival Meditation

We have, at this point in the work, intellectually and ethically put jealousy in its place, and declared our Sovereignty over it. Well and good. This much many have done, and have congratulated themselves at their victory... until the next time our Green-Eyed Monster rears again its ugly head, un an unguarded moment, when our the Vigil of our watchman, mentioned above, is no longer at his post. What may be necessary now is for the student to acquaint not only the conscious mind with the proper attitude towards jealousy, but also the gut reactions, even the nervous system. Breaking the habit of this knee-jerk jealous reaction is less mystical or mesmeric than it may sound. The oriental schools have found great success in freeing their students from obsessive fear of death and attachment to the ephemeral husk of the material body by their mediations on the Corpse Hacked in Pieces, the Bloated Waterlogged Corpse of the Drowned Man, the Corpse Gnawed by Wild Beasts, and so on. These exercises have been so successful at dissolving unhealthy psychological attachments and obsessions that they were included in Table I, column XXIII among the Table of Correspondences of Liber 777. Both jealousy and fear are responses of the unconscious mind to the Unknown. It is worthwhile to draw here from Chapter 34 of the Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley:

"The Smoking Dog

"Each act of man is the twist and double of an hare.
"Love and Death are the greyhounds that course him.
"God bred the hounds and taketh His pleasure in the sport.
"This is the Comedy of Pan that man should think he hunteth, while those hounds hunt him.
"This is the Tragedy of Man when facing Love and Death he turns to bay. He is no more hare but boar.
"There are no other comedies or tragedies.
"Cease then to be the mockery of God; in savagery of love and death live thou and die!
"Thus shall his laughter be thrilled through with Ecstasy."

Love and Death are continually all around us. It is only that we have insulated ourselves from them that their sudden intrusion upon us causes distress.

Those who would emancipate themselves from jealousy run amok may :

1. Visualize a rival.
2. Visualize your lover in the many stages of union with this rival, and visualize your lover delighting therein.
3. Consider, although this is only a construction of the mind, how your lover might grow and blossom in the light of this rival.
4. Consider how such a union might enrich your own relations with your lover.

Although the willing evocation of jealousy may be useful in understanding this psychological state, success in this operation should not be measured by the presence or absence of jealousy it evokes in the student. What is sought is to acquaint the student with the realities that polygamy is natural to the homo sapiens, and need not necessarily sunder what Love has joined together.

Likewise, there are some for whom such fantasies are pleasingly abasing, and of a sort of masochism. We assert again that no thought, emotion, or act of love is forbidden, but again we warn that having sworn an Oath to master jealousy, the student should beware that it is not to jealousy itself that they are abasing themselves, until they have fulfilled the terms of their Oath. It is not to me or to Us that this Oath is sworn, but each to himself or herself.

Love is the law, love under will.