On Evil³
It might seem extreme to ascribe evil to a socially benign behavior such as our great-grandmother’s “make nice”. The extremity of this claim is exasperated by two conditions. First is the assumption of anteriority, in which the third party assumes an external position relative to the primary subject: it’s easy for an outsider to minimize interior realities. Second is the historical conditioning, or rhetorical weaponization, that has turned evil into an exceptional event absolutely determined by culturally specific authorities who situationally fly the banner of evil in order to provoke intolerance, divide the universe, and justify forms of violence, including outright genocide and war, on behalf of the rightful and wrongful accumulation of their own spiritual power.
Acceptance of the spiritual work order — to proceed with the first assignment in the project of the Great Work — requires our person to definitely reclaim the power of evil from these historical and objectifying forces. Reclamation of the authority to determine what is and is not in our power is critical to staying on track with our contract specifications, with the work that is right for us. It is a matter of professional qualification for our person to be clearheaded about the power of evil; lack thereof risks distraction, wrong effort, and potential spiritual bankruptcy. Great-grandmother Gertrude is but one example: there are infinite spirits, people, and organizations that would like to make their problems synonymous with our problems because it helps them get their work done, which is fine when parties operate under a mutual and reciprocal agreement with clear limits and terms, but parasitical in situations where conditions are detrimental to authentic personal work.
Recovery of the power to individually determine evil catalyzes a semiotic, alchemical, transformation that reorganizes the landscape of our person, clarifies the original contractual obligations, and renegotiates the boundaries that are appropriate for execution of the work. Now our person can read the design, comprehend the required disciplines, and begin to establish those critical path spiritual relationships that are necessary for successful completion of the granted orders. Given this understanding, our person also begins to appreciate the impossibility of judging the work of others. Gertrude’s “make nice” may be cast out of the magical circle as evil to me, but not to her, to you, or to this company. Evil has been restored as a common, inoffensive, albeit serious, energy.
