Deep Background on Black Magic

The [Ahrimanic/Satanic] Powers who approached man ... are brought to our notice for the first time in the teachings given to his followers and pupils by Zarathustra, the great leader of the ancient Persians.... In the civilization of ancient Persia ... man was less subject to the influence of Lucifer than to the influence of [Ahriman] WHO SINCE THE MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTEAN EPOCH HAD APPROACHED MANKIND, WITH THE RESULT THAT MANY OF THE INITIATES AT THAT TIME HAD LAPSED INTO THE PRACTICE OF A FORM OF BLACK MAGIC; HAVING BEEN LED ASTRAY BY THIS TEMPTER, THEY MISUSED FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE PHYSICAL-MATERIAL WORLD WHAT WAS ACCESSIBLE TO THEM FROM THE SPIRITUAL WORLD [i.e. spiritual forces]. The mighty influence of the forces of black magic which finally led to the destruction of Atlantis had its origin in the temptations of that Being whom Zarathustra taught his people to know as Ahriman.... Here lies the cause of the Atlantean flood and of the devastation wrought by the powers of nature which led to the disappearance of the whole continent of Atlantis.

Nearly every ancient civilization the Indian, the Persian, the Egyptian, the Greco-Latin had its period of decadence; so too the Mysteries, when the Mystery-traditions were no longer preserved in their purity. DURING THESE PERIODS MANY OF THOSE WHO WERE EITHER PUPILS OF THE INITIATES BUT UNABLE TO REMAIN AT THEIR LEVEL OR MEN TO WHOM THE SECRETS OF THE MYSTERIES HAD BEEN UNLAWFULLY BETRAYED, HAD FALLEN INTO PERVERSE AND EVIL PATHS. CENTERS OF BLACK MAGIC AND ITS FORCES ORIGINATED FROM THESE INFLUENCES AND HAVE PERSISTED TO THIS DAY. [1]

In Satanism Unvarnished, LaRouche mentions a black magic cult which included the Emperor Tiberius. It was located on the isle of Capri, which is barely off the southwest coast of Italy. Probably not coincidentally, Capri is located on a minor segment of the Earth Grid, which is typical of satanic cults due to the access such lines provide magicians to the various forces and beings involved in their hobby. Venice, Oxford, Cambridge, and Bulwer-Lytton's Knebworth Estate (famous for its major rock concerts featuring groups such as the Stones, Led Zepellin, and Santana) also just happen to be on or near such segments - the last three near the same one.

Sutton Hoo, an ancient royal burial ground, is located on the latter ley-line. I contend that this reflects mankind's ancient clairvoyance, which would allow him to perceive ley-lines. A ship was also buried there - was the king being equipped to set sail on a spiritual stream into the spirit world?

Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, with its multi-level calculated ambiguity, seems to hint at the existence of such high-level cults. One potential interpretation of the movie's title is that these ancient and powerful cults are hidden in plain sight. The cult depicted in the movie has an unmistakable Venetian flavor, and it evidently used sex-magic for much of its power, two factors which point to the Cult of Isis.

Isis was the co-goddess of Venice, and her symbol was the winged lion. The "official" god was Marduk, for whom they used St. Mark's good name and relics as a blind. By that time, though, I doubt that these pagan gods, which were actually advanced human-like ETs from Planet X (which our astronomers have spotted WAY out there; see www.Sitchin.com), who evidently cooperated to some extent with Jehovah to establish civilization, and thus assist man's descent into the physical plane. Some of these pagan gods were evidently also initiates, such as Thoth/Hermes, the Great Architect of the Universe, famous for his temple designs, who is also considered to be the originator of hermeticism, i.e. magic. I suspect that he would have been a white magician, using his power in coordination with the spiritual hierarchy for good, and that black magicians, who obtained some of their knowledge from the Mysteries which Hermes oversaw (as they became decadent and leaky), just use his good name to give themselves an aura of sanctimony.

Yesterday, we tried to characterize the forces that permeated Greece and Rome in order to obtain an idea of the INFLUENCES THAT HAVE BEEN CARRIED OVER FROM THE FOURTH INTO THE FIFTH POST-ATLANTEAN AGE [i.e. from the Greco-Roman era into the current era, which began in 1413 and continues to about the year 3573], and we gave some indication of where we have to look today for signs of continued activity of the forces of the fourth post-Atlantean age. I want to ask you now to turn your attention once again to our description of the civilizations of Greece and Rome.

In the way it developed, the civilization of Greece was a source of great disappointment to the luciferic powers.... THEY HAD EXPECTED THE CIVILIZATION OF GREECE, THE FOURTH EPOCH OF POST-ATLANTEAN TIMES, TO BRING INTO BEING FOR THEM ALL THEY HAD STRIVEN FOR DURING ATLANTEAN TIMES. On Atlantis they had developed certain activities, certain influences and forces and they had expected to see the fruits of their labors appear in the fourth post-Atlantean epoch. What was it they were really looking for?

To speak of such a matter lets us look right into the luciferic soul. We come to know this luciferic life that continually strives, hoping that certain results may ensue, but that continually meets with fresh disappointment. A logician would naturally ask, "Why do not these luciferic powers stop trying? Why do they not see that they must be forever and repeatedly disappointed?" Such a conclusion would be human, not luciferic, wisdom. At any rate, the luciferic powers have yet to come to his conclusion. ON THE CONTRARY, IT IS THEIR PRACTICE TO REDOUBLE THEIR EFFORTS WHENEVER THEY EXPERIENCE DISAPPOINTMENT. [9/11 was a disappointment to them, so look out!]

What was it, then, that the luciferic powers expected from this fourth post-Atlantean age? They wanted to obtain mastery of all the soul forces of the Greek people, those soul forces that were, as we have seen, directed to carrying over the ancient imaginations of the Chaldean-Egyptian period, and to incorporate them into the creations of their own fantasy. THE LUCIFERIC POWERS MADE IT THEIR ENDEAVOR TO WORK SO STRONGLY ON THE HUMAN BEINGS OF THE GREEK CIVILIZATION THAT THEIR IMAGINATIONS, REFINED AND DISTILLED TO FANTASY, SHOULD FILL THEIR WHOLE BEING. THE GREEKS WOULD THEN HAVE LOST THEMSELVES IN A SOUL WORLD, IN AN EVERYDAY THINKING, FEELING AND WILLING THAT WOULD HAVE CONSISTED ENTIRELY OF THOSE SUBTLE IMAGINATIONS THAT HAD BECOME COMPLETE FANTASY. [In other words, imaginations without any relation to Earth.]

If the Greeks had developed nothing in their souls but these imaginations refined to fantasy, if these enticing imaginations had come to fill their souls completely, THE LUCIFERIC POWERS WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LIFT THE GREEKS AND A GREAT PART OF HUMANITY OUT OF HUMAN EVOLUTION TO PLACE THEM IN THEIR OWN LUCIFERIC WORLD. This was the intention of the luciferic powers. From the Atlantean epoch on, it had been their hope to achieve in the fourth post-Atlantean age what they had failed to do in Atlantis. Humanity, at the stage it had then reached, would have been incorporated into the cosmos. THEY WANTED NOTHING LESS THAN TO CREATE FOR THEMSELVES A SEPARATE WORLD WERE EARTHLY GRAVITY DID NOT EXIST BUT WERE HUMAN BEINGS WOULD DWELL WITH ABSOLUTE SUPERSENSIBLE LIGHTNESS, ENTIRELY GIVEN UP TO A LIFE OF FANTASY. [A parody of Devachan/Heaven?] IT WAS THE HOPE OF THE LUCIFERIC BEINGS TO CREATE A PLANETARY BODY, WHICH WOULD CONTAIN THOSE MEMBERS OF HUMANITY WHO HAD REACHED THIS HIGHEST DEVELOPMENT OF THE FANTASY LIFE. THEY MADE EVERY ENDEAVOR TO LEAD THE SOULS OF THE GREEKS AWAY FROM THE EARTH. HAD THEY SUCCEEDED, THESE SOULS WOULD GRADUALLY HAVE FORSAKEN THE EARTH. THE BODIES THAT STILL CAME TO BIRTH WOULD HAVE BEEN DEGENERATE. EGOLESS BEINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN BORN, THE EARTH WOULD HAVE FALLEN INTO DECADENCE [Satan's realm of death] AND A SPECIAL LUCIFERIC KINGDOM WOULD HAVE BEGUN [the aforementioned new planet].

Thus did Ahriman meet with his disappointment, as Lucifer had met with his. BUT THEY WILL TAKE UP THEIR TASKS AGAIN IN THE FIFTH POST-ATLANTEAN AGE WITH ALL THE MORE DETERMINATION. Here is the point at which we must gain an understanding of the forces that are operative in our age, insofar as such an understanding is possible today.

The fourth post-Atlantean age extends both backwards and forwards from its central point in 333 A.D. It ended about 1413 A.D. and it began about 747 B.C. These are of course, approximate dates. I have just told you that the disappointment of Lucifer and Ahriman in the forms the Greek and Roman civilizations had assumed, has led them to make still stronger efforts in our fifth post-Atlantean age. THEIR EFFORTS ARE ALREADY AT WORK IN THE HUMAN FORCES THAT HAVE BEEN ACTIVE FROM THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY [i.e. the Venetian black magicians, such as Sarpi and Contarini].

They have continued their efforts, however, and our fifth post-Atlantean age has yet to learn how strong these attacks are. They are now [i.e. 1916] only beginning but they will become stronger and stronger. This age must learn, too, that the necessity to understand these attacks will become ever greater.

Applying these methods, the nature of which I have described here and elsewhere, we find that, while representation, or ideation, has a basis in the body in the shape of neural activity or function, it also has a basis in the spiritual. In the other direction - the direction away from the body - the soul stands in relation to a noetically real, which is the basis for the ideation that is characteristic of ordinary consciousness. But this noetic reality can only be experienced through imaginal cognition. And it is so experienced in so far as its content discloses itself to contemplation in the form of coherently linked (gegliederte) imaginations. Just as, in the direction of the body, representation rests on the activity of the nerves; so from the other direction does it issue from a noetic reality, which discloses itself in the form of imaginations. It is this noetic, or spiritual, component of the organism which I have termed in my writings the etheric or life-body. [3]

Stewart C. Easton provides an excellent description of the evolution of consciousness intended for us at this time by the progressive spirits. [4] He in turn recommends the chapter entitled The Adventure of Reason in Man or Matter by Ernst Lehrs. Easton, as Steiner, uses Goethe as a model for this type of consciousness: a meditative consciousness in which we observe an object and allow its conceptual element (the idea behind it, which comes from higher-level spiritual beings) to reveal the object's true nature to us, without imposing our beliefs upon it. In this process, we develop the ability to perceive the etheric realm with our etheric body. The other challenge of this age is to use this new type of perception and thinking to provide solutions to society's problems.

We know that this is the age of the development of the consciousness soul and that, to accomplish this, a number of forces soul and bodily forces must be active. FIRST, A CLEAR PERCEPTION OF THE SENSE WORLD IS NECESSARY. THIS DID NOT EXIST IN EARLIER TIMES BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW, A VISIONARY, IMAGINATIVE ELEMENT CONTINUOUSLY PLAYED INTO THE HUMAN SOUL [a dream-like state in which objects were represented by symbols, although there was a correlation between the symbols and the objects].

THE OTHER TASK IS TO UNFOLD FREE IMAGINATIONS [i.e. perceiving and thinking with the etheric body] side by side with the clear view of [physical] reality in a way, a kind of repetition of the Egypto-Chaldean age. To date, humanity has not progressed too far in this task. Free imaginations as sought through spiritual science means imaginations not as they were in the third post-Atlantean age, but unfettered and undistilled into fantasy [apparently referring to the aforementioned dreamlike state, in which an encounter with an object triggered a vision of a symbol which had been assigned to that object by the higher beings]. It means imaginations in which man moves as freely as he does only in his intellect [referring to the new way of thinking, using ideas derived from the etheric world and thinking with the etheric body]. That, then, is the other task of the fifth post-Atlantean age. The unfoldment of these two faculties will lead to a right development of the consciousness soul in our present epoch.

The entire aim in the work of the luciferic and ahrimanic powers in the fifth post-Atlantean age, concerning both the perception of the primal [etheric] phenomenon and the development of free imaginations [thinking with the etheric body], is to hinder these forces from arising in man. THE LUCIFERIC AND AHRIMANIC POWERS ARE WORKING IN THIS FIFTH POST-ATLANTEAN AGE TO DISTURB THESE FORCES IN THE HUMAN SOUL, TO EMPLOY THEM TO A WRONG END, THUS BRINGING MEN'S SOULS OUT OF THE EARTH SPHERE TO ESTABLISH A NEW SPHERE OF THEIR OWN. Many things must work together to disturb the right, quiet and slow unfolding of these forces. Note well that I say the quiet and slow unfolding because the entire period of 2,160 years, starting in 1413 A.D., should be used for the gradual unfoldment of the forces I have named, that is, free imaginations and the gradual development of working with primal phenomena. At intervals by fits and starts, as it were the luciferic and ahrimanic powers throw the whole weight of their opposition against this right evolution. When we bear in mind that everything is prepared for by the world beyond the earth long before it happens, we shall then not be surprised to find preparations being made to bring the strongest possible forces of opposition against the normal evolution of humanity.

On the one hand, men will have to direct their gaze quite selflessly [referring to the meditative attitude] to the outer world to work in it and to gain knowledge of it. On the other, by powerful application of their personalities, they will have to bring it all into inner movement in order to find the imaginations for outer activity and outer knowledge [i.e. process the new knowledge using the new thinking to solve problems in the physical world]. Gradually, the consciousness soul and its culture will achieve this transformation.

We have already seen how the luciferic and ahrimanic powers poured what they had developed in Atlantean times into Greece and Rome. NOW, IN AN ALTERED FORM, THEY HAVE TRIED TO REPEAT THESE EFFORTS before the arrival of the fifth post-Atlantean age. You will not be surprised when I say that for this fifth post-Atlantean age, too, a powerful impetus had to be present BEARING ALONG WITH IT THE AFTER WORKINGS, IN A LUCIFERIC AND AHRIMANIC SENSE, FROM ATLANTIS. We know that the Atlantean influences spread out from a region that was called Atlantis even by Plato. Let us make a diagram and imagine Atlantis here, then over here on the right would be Europe and Asia, and here on the left would be America. The old Atlantean forces, including the old luciferic and ahrimanic forces, spread out from Atlantis. Some part of these Atlantean forces, however, was held back, and it came to work in our fifth post-Atlantean age as luciferic and ahrimanic forces. That is, some part of the good forces, which were good and right in Atlantean times, have been carried over to our time to become luciferic and ahrimanic forces [by virtue of belonging to the past]. Only the center was transferred to another region.

Its intent was to lucifericize and ahrimanicize it. IT WAS ACTUALLY THE DESCENDANTS OF THE OLD ATLANTEAN TEACHERS WHO WERE NOW WORKING FROM A PLACE IN ASIA. A PRIEST THERE HAD BEEN EDUCATED TO BEHOLD TO HAVE A BELATED VISION, AS IT WERE, OF WHAT THE ATLANTEANS CALLED THE "GREAT SPIRIT," AND TO RECEIVE HIS COMMANDS. These the priest communicated to a young man of remarkable energy and strength who, by virtue of this authority, received the name "The Great Ruler of the Earth" from his community. This was Genghis Khan. THE GREAT SPIRIT, THROUGH HIS FOLLOWER AND THROUGH THAT PRIEST, GAVE TO GENGHIS KHAN THE COMMAND TO SUMMON ALL THE POWERS OF ASIA TO SPREAD THE INFLUENCE THAT WOULD LEAD THE FIFTH POST-ATLANTEAN AGE BACK INTO A LUCIFERIC FORM. These forces and they were far more powerful than the forces established in Greek culture were all employed to this end. FREE IMAGINATIONS WERE TO BE CHANGED INTO OLD, VISIONARY IMAGINATIONS. EVERY EFFORT WAS TO BE MADE TO LULL THE SOUL OF MAN TO SLEEP IN A DIM AND DREAMY EXPERIENCE OF IMAGINATIONS INSTEAD OF A FREE EXPERIENCE FILLED THROUGH AND THROUGH WITH CLEAR UNDERSTANDING.

With the help of the special forces that had been preserved from Atlantis, IT WAS THE INTENDED PURPOSE TO CARRY AN INFLUENCE INTO THE WEST THAT WOULD MAKE ITS CULTURE VISIONARY. THEN IT WOULD HAVE BECOME POSSIBLE TO SEPARATE THE SOULS OF MEN FROM THE EARTH AND TO FORM A NEW CONTINENT, A NEW PLANETARY BODY WITH THEM. ALL THE UNREST AND DISTURBANCE THAT CAME INTO THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN MAN THROUGH THE MONGOLIAN INVASIONS [which were facilitated by Venetian Intelligence], EVERYTHING CONNECTED WITH THEM THAT HAS GONE ON WORKING INTO THE FIFTH POST-ATLANTEAN EPOCH ALL THIS UNREST, WHICH WAS PREPARED LONG AGO, IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE GREAT ATTEMPT THAT IS BEING MADE FROM ASIA TO BRING ABOUT A VISIONARY EUROPEAN CULTURE. It would cut it off from the conditions of its further evolution and lead it altogether away from the earth, just as the East has experienced again and again this feeling of being filled with vision and of wanting to be estranged from the earth.

SOMETHING WAS NEEDED TO COUNTERBALANCE THIS TENDENCY. An opposite trend had to be created as a counterforce that moves in the direction of the normal evolution of mankind. The influence of Genghis Khan's priest was intended to bring about a kind of buoyancy and lightness in the human race that would draw man away from the earth. Over against this, a corresponding heaviness had to come to man from the weight of the earth; THIS WAS PROVIDED THROUGH THE DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN WORLD. America, with all that it holds, was discovered and thereby earth heaviness, the desire to remain on earth, was given to man. The discovery of America and everything connected with it, and the way man carried his life into the many new places of the earth, all this, when seen in wider connections, shows itself as a counterbalancing force to the activity of Genghis Khan. AMERICA HAD TO BE DISCOVERED SO THAT MAN MIGHT BE BROUGHT TO GROW CLOSER TO THE EARTH, TO GROW MORE AND MORE MATERIALISTIC. Man needed weight and heaviness to counterbalance the spiritualization that was the aim of the descendants of the "Great Spirit."

Please do not go about saying that I have presented the discovery of America as an ahrimanic deed. In reality, I have said the very opposite. I have said that AMERICA HAD TO BE DISCOVERED AND THAT THE ENTIRE EVENT WAS NECESSARY TO THE PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. AHRIMANIC FORCES ENTERED [the American continent], HOWEVER, AND SET THEMSELVES IN VIOLENT OPPOSITION TO WHAT WAS HAPPENING QUITE RIGHTLY IN THE NORMAL COURSE OF PROGRESS. Things are not so simple that we can say, "There is Lucifer, and there is Ahriman; they act and behave in such and such a way, and divide the world between them." Things are by no means so simple as that.

We find, therefore, MANY FORCES WORKING TOGETHER when we set out to listen to them in their field of action behind the physical plane. These forces take possession of other forces. THEY TRY TO SEIZE THE FORCES IN MAN THAT HAVE CONTINUED ON FROM THE FOURTH POST-ATLANTEAN EPOCH IN ORDER TO DISTORT THEM AND MAKE THEM SERVE THEIR ENDS.

East of Europe, however, in all the culture of the East, we find an untold number of people who suffer greatly under the disturbing influence of Lucifer. His influence is, as we know, TO DRAW MAN AGAIN AND AGAIN AWAY FROM THE EARTH, TO DRAW HIM RIGHT OUT OF HIS PHYSICAL BODY SO THAT THE SHALL PERPETUALLY FALL INTO A STATE WHERE HE BECOMES NO MORE THAN A VISION OF HIMSELF AND IS COMPLETELY SOUL. That is the tendency that has been grafted onto Eastern Europe.

The feeling of being drawn in the other direction was given to the West. The world of imagination was pulled down into the heavy physical body so that what should rightly be free imagination working merely in the soul becomes instead something that rams the soul down into the organism, thereby causing the organism also to live on imaginations.

You can hardly find a more telling description of what I mean than in the words of Alfred de Musset in which he attempts to give us a picture of the condition of his soul. De Musset is one who FEELS THE PRESENCE OF THE IMAGINATIVE LIFE IN HIMSELF, BUT THE ALSO FEELS THE ONSLAUGHT UPON THIS LIFE OF IMAGINATION THAT SEEKS TO THRUST IT RIGHT DOWN INTO THE BODILY NATURE. This life of imagination, which DOES NOT BELONG IN THE BODILY NATURE BUT SHOULD DEVELOP FREELY, HOVERING IN AND EXISTING PURELY AS A THING OF THE SOUL, IS THERE TAKEN HOLD OF BY EARTHLY GRAVITY AND BY WHAT BELONGS TO THE BODY. In his book, Elle et Lui, which he was led to write from his relation with Georges Sand, you will find a fine description of his soul life. I would like to quote here a passage that will serve to show how he feels himself to be placed within AN IMAGINATIVE LIFE THAT IS THE SCENE OF CONFLICT AND DISPUTE. He says:

Creation disturbs and bewilders me; it sets me trembling. Execution [meaning, I presume, the act of putting his plans into action], always too slow for my desire, starts my heart beating wildly. Weeping, and restraining myself with difficulty from crying out, I give birth to an idea. In the moment of its birth it intoxicates me, but next morning it fills me with loathing. If I try to modify and change it, it only gets worse and escapes me altogether. It would be better for me to forget it and wait for another. But now this other comes upon me in such bewilderment and in such boundless dimensions that my poor being cannot grasp it. It oppress me, tortures me, until it can be realized. Then come the other sufferings, the birth throes, really physical pains that I am quite unable to define. Such is my life when I let myself be ruled by this giant artist who is in me.