Hello friends! Mad Doctor Abdullah is away on some secret expedition that involves polar bears, a magic circle and a ridiculous amount of entheogenic herbs and spices. When I inquired about his present whereabouts there was a long pause followed by "Listen idiot, unless you can recite the alphabet backwards in Swahili while fleeing a barrel of buckshot, I don't really have time for your jabbering. Wise up, the dogs are rabid and hungry." I hesitated. "Does that mean you'll meet the editorial deadline?" There was another pause that was immediately followed by the sound of spitting then dial tone. So as you can surmise, I've been preparing articles and PhD work of the academic nature. This mishmash of thoughts and ideas are the initial attempt at putting something on paper that discusses supernatural folklore narratives with a Latourian methodology and utilizing an experiential and phenomenological foundation. The idea is to show how chains of reference provide meaning to a supernatural experience. Keep in mind that these thoughts are largely incoherent, out of sequence and purely an attempt of organize my craziness. In other words, should be a typical blog entry. :)
......the goal of religious ritual is not a re-presentation in order to create a new message. It is not about a sense of renewal or any kind of new message. Although the character of the experience conjures all these things. Instead, the experience of the awe is realized as the great and terrible apotheosis. It is the awe-some that one undergoes as part of the phenomenon. Because of this, the supernatural narrative cannot be wholly relativistic because although society fixes language to the experience, it is the experiential first-person account that serves as both devotee and great interlocutor.
Folkloric narratives of the supernatural highlight the absurd. Within the stories of UFOs, demons, and otherworldly entities, is a variety of non-humans that defy taxonomic or classificatory systems. But should these non-humans be excluded from creation? Are ghosts any less relevant religiously to the idea of salvation or incarnation? Non-humans had a central place in theology, in spirituality, in rituals, and of course in art which they now have almost totally lost. (Bastaire & Bastaire 2004) It is through supernatural narratives that we can include the numinous non-human in creation as a product of experiential return. No longer a paradox of the fantastic or a piece of science-fiction, accounts of the supernatural can be negotiated in a reference chain that begins with the phenomenon itself and is resolved in clarifying the essence or awe of actual experience.
There's a taste of what is going on in my head a good portion of the time. :)
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
An introduction to Rational Liminality
Hello everybody! I'm researching possible avenues for PhD research and developing an Anthropological look at supernatural assault narrative under a canopy of Latourian style fieldwork and philosophy. Give this read and stay tuned to for some very compelling discussion of network theories and liminality.
In 1973, nineteen year old Calvin Parker and forty two year old Charles
Hickson, both of Gauter, Mississippi were fishing in the Pascagoula river
when they heard a buzzing noise behind them. Both turned and were terrified to
see a ten-foot wide, eight-foot- high, glowing egg-shaped object with blue lights
at its front hovering just above the ground about forty feet from the riverbank. As
the men, frozen with fright, watched, a door appeared in the object, and three
strange Beings floated just above the river toward them.
The beings had legs but did not use them. They were about five feet tall, had
bullet-shaped heads without necks, slits for mouths; and where their noses or ears
should be, they had thin, conical objects sticking out, like carrots from a
snowman’s head. They had no eyes, gray, wrinkled skin, round feet, and clawlike
hands. Two of the Beings seized Hickson; when the third grabbed Parker, the
teenager fainted with fright. Hickson claimed that when the Beings placed their
hands under his arms, his body became numb, and that then they floated him into
a brightly lit room in the UFO’s interior, where he was subjected to a medical
examination with an eyelike device which, like Hickson himself, was floating in
midair. At the end of the examination, the Beings simply left Hickson floating,
paralyzed but for his eyes, and went to examine Parker, who, Hickson believed,
was in another room. Twenty minutes after Hickson had first observed the UFO,
he was floated back outside and released. He found Parker weeping and praying
on the ground near him. Moments later, the object rose straight up and shot out of
sight. (Bryan 1995: 115)
This supernatural abduction narrative is called the Pascagoula incident and is one
of the most famous accounts of supposed extraterrestrial interaction with human beings.
Known as a close encounter of the fourth kind, the abduction narrative is ripe with
terrifying accounts of regular people being accosted by otherworldly Beings that subject
their captives to torturous ordeals. According to UFO mythos, a close encounter of the
first kind involves a UFO sighting that is reported at close range. The second type of
encounter is when there is physical evidence of the UFO. Some of this trace evidence
might include burned vegetation, frightened animals, and loss of electricity. An encounter
of the third kind is characterized by ‘contact’ with an extraterrestrial Being. But the
fourth is clearly the most disturbing because it involves an actual abduction. These
stories of supernatural abduction have a clear structure and fit into consistent themes.
Typically, the episode begins with an initial capture, which is followed by a sort of
medical examination and otherworldy journey. In many cases, interaction with the Being
produces a theophany in the abductee. The sequence usually culminates with the return of
the victim, but the aftermath of the ordeal lingers sometimes for years after the event.
My own interest in UFO narratives stems largely from my fascination with the
esoteric and arcane. From as far back as I can remember, I’ve had a profound interest in
all things occult and/or mysterious. In terms of the UFO abduction, I’ve always found it
fascinating how somebody could experience something largely indefinable and have their
world-view changed forever. I often wonder what it is about anomalous experiences that
have the potential to spark a life-changing shift in a person’s ethos or societal niche. Also,
popular culture has had an influence on why UFO narratives hold my interest. Television
programs such as the X-Files and Roswell were popular when I was in high school and I
think that their story-lines, coupled with the fact that I was at an impressionable age,
instilled a fascination with the UFO in me. To this day, I try to draw correlations
between the occult and UFO narratives. So as something as mysterious to me now as it
was when I was younger, these stories of the unknown spark my imagination and inspire
me to delve deeper into their structural nuances.
Of all the imaginings the human mind can produce, those of the supernatural may
hold the most proclivity for individual expression. As part of our unusual psyche, ideas of
the paranormal or supernatural manifest in a variety of ways. Throughout human history,
ideas of otherwordly or inherently inhuman beings have been used to explain pervasive
or otherwise frightening occurrences. The supernatural abduction, whether by witches,
ghosts, or goblins, is a common staple in all civilizations and is a structural part of a
community’s social organization. According to Jodi Dean, “abduction stories describe
the interventions of non-human folk in human lives. They are stories of border crossings,
of everyday transgressions of the boundaries demarcating the limits of that define reality”
(Dean 1998:163). The idea of abductions by fairies, for example, is a type of assault
narrative. As described in Western European folklore, a changeling was the offspring of a
fairy or some other supernatural entity that was put in place of a normal human child.
People believed that the abductee could only be returned if the changeling was made to
laugh.
Nowadays, UFO abductions are perhaps the most popular supernatural assault
tradition to saturate popular media. Due to the plethora of science fiction movies and
television programs, the appropriateness of the UFO abduction as material for academic
study can easily be questioned. Many academic disciplines dismiss the UFO narrative as
pure science fiction. Nevertheless, Thomas Bullard is correct when he states that “the
question before us is not whether UFOs are folklore. They certainly are, and just as
certainly resemble other folklore in forms and function. The coherency of abduction
reports stands out as the most unequivocal piece of evidence that folklore scholarship
contributes to the UFO mystery” (Bullard 1981: 48). In fact, Bullard himself conducted a
study of 270 abduction cases and concluded that the narratives hold structural similarities
regardless of who the abductee was or who the researcher was (Jacobs 2000). Drawing on
Bullard’s notion that UFO abductions are folklore, in this paper I suggest that UFO
abduction narratives can be interpreted productively by using Arnold van Gennep’s rites
of passage. I will be utilizing what I have come to call ‘rational liminality’ to show that
after the abduction sequence, an ultimate reincorporation into society is achieved by the
abductees’ rational acceptance of his/her liminal experiences that occurred during the
initial event.
Arnold van Gennep was instrumental in recognizing and discussing the rites of
passage that accompany specific life stages. A French anthropologist and folklorist, van
Gennep coined the idea of rites of passage and used this schema to address various
transitory events in a person’s life. He identified three distinct steps that make up a
typical rite of passage. The first involves a separation from society. This separation is
followed by a complex set of events that are liminal in nature. The term liminal refers to
an in-between state. Something on a threshold or ethereal, the liminal is an intermediate
phase of the event. After the separation and liminal experiences, a period of
consummation or reincorporation into society occurs. Van Gennep utilized these three
gradated steps to explain everything from puberty rites to secret society membership.
In order to thoroughly examine the rites of passage apparent in UFO
abduction narratives, I draw on various abduction accounts. Drawing on information
from the interviews conducted by Budd Hopkins and C.D.B. Bryan at the 1992
Abduction Study Conference at M.I.T., I will show how most abduction stories have
similar morphology and thematic structuring. Some of the most compelling testimonies
involve abductees named Carol Dedham and Alice Bartlett. These women have been
friends since childhood and both have reportedly been abducted multiple times. I will
also refer to a group meeting taken at Budd Hopkin’s studio that had abductees
Brenda, Erica, Terry, and Linda Cortile in attendance. Brenda, Erica, and Terry are
multiple experiencers who prefer not to divulge their last names for reasons of anonymity.
These four women have undergone hypnotic regression a number of times and provide
valuable insights into UFO abduction narratives.
The study of UFO narratives has become more commonplace in academic circles
over the years. One discipline that takes narratives of abductions seriously is
psychotherapy. Many therapeutic psychologists interpret the supernatural assault tradition
as a means to express other ailments. According to Newman and Baumeister, “a handful
of mental health professional are arguing that psychotherapists should be educated about
the UFO abduction phenomenon so that they will recognize the symptoms and be able to
help the victims. Abductees, they argue, are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder”
(1996:100). For many abductees that exhibit post traumatic stress, certain ailments such
as disassociation and depression are prevalent in the victims. Sharps, Mathews, and Astin
state that “depressed individuals might be more likely to believe in ghosts, for example,
because ghosts provide evidence for an after-life in which present stress would be
eliminated. We expect that belief in UFO’s would be another avenue of escape for
depressed individuals” (2006:583).
Disassociation and the UFO abduction scenario have even been studied
scientifically in order to find correlations and/or disparities as uncovered through
structured interviewing and questionnaires. The results have overwhelmingly shown that
the abduction sequence does indeed correspond to depressive tendencies. In fact, “belief
in UFO yielded an overall significance (P=.003) regression coefficient against
psychological characteristics, with both depression and hyperactivity yielding significant
associations” . (Sharps, Mathews, and Astin 2006). Psychologists also assert that after
victims speak to a neutral listener, the symptoms of PTSD are alleviated. This is often
why abductees choose to seek out others that have had similar experiences. By
congregating with other victims, the UFO abductee can return to a sense of normalcy.
Studies of religion and religious anthropology also are relevant to UFO abduction
narratives. More often than not, the extraterrestrial being is imbued with the god-like
powers of omniscience and omnipotence by the abductee, making these narratives quasi-
religious. Aliens are thought to exert complete control over their human captives and
subject them to capricious whims or impulses. In regards to aliens being equated with the
divine, Jacques Arnauld notes “the characteristics of extraterrestrials that are usually
associated with heavenly divinities: transcendence, omniscience, perfection, the power of
redemption. Do they not come from heaven? Do they not claimed to have created us? Are
they not constantly watching us, our actions, our thoughts, with what the ancient called
the all-seeing eyes of gods” (Arnauld 2008:444)? Like most qualities that are attributed to
a divine being, the extraterrestrial being carries connotations of immortality and sacred
knowledge.
Additionally, the idea of ‘being chosen’ is a prevalent quasi-religious theme in
UFO abduction narratives. For abductees that experience this form of theophany, the
alien shows a beneficence towards the human race. Robert E. Bartholomew has written
about the spiritual dimensions of UFOs in America, stating that, “functionally and
symbolically, these contemporary accounts of otherworldly contact have more in
common with Biblical revelations than profane airship inventors. For instance, the
experience of having been chosen as an intermediary between otherworldly inhabitants
and humanity to impart a vital message is a classic close encounter percipient report
which typically advocates a particular moral position” (Bartholomew 1991:7). In many
abduction narratives, the victim reports the extraterrestrial relaying cautionary warnings
about the future of humanity. In this sense, the aliens can be equated to angels and
prophets of the past.
Finally, the idea of prophesy and apocalypticism is a prevalent in abduction
scenarios. In many cases, the ‘chosen’ abductees return with visions of the future. It is
these characteristics that spark New Age or quasi-religious movements within UFO
milieus. Anthropologists Susan Harding and Kathleen Stewart explored the phenomenon
of “optimistic apocalypticism” in detail and remarked that, “From their studies of
present-day New Age healing and the ufological prophesy of the Heaven’s Gate
movement, we come to understand both movements in terms of their negotiations of
polarized cultural values in which future events, which are fixed in the known, determine
the shape, the content, and the significance of present events and actions” (Harding and
Stewart 1999:270). These anthropologists of religion have identified a common theme in
UFO abduction narratives. After an initial capture, the victim is sometimes returned with
ideas about the fate of the human race. In fact, many informants report that the aliens
themselves address the need for environmental preservation and global peace.
Folkloristics also has contributed to the study of UFO stories. Studying the
components that make up these experiences elucidates the similarities of the
phenomenon with more traditional folkloric forms, illustrating that these are traditional
experiences. According to Thomas Bullard, “what matters here is not the ultimate nature
of the reports but their status as narratives, their form, content, and relationship to
comparable accounts of supernatural encounter” (Bullard 1989:148). Bullard identified
eight episodes that usually characterize the alien abduction story. These include the
capture, examination, conference, tour, otherworldly journey, theophany, return, and
aftermath, all of which have structural similarities to other supernatural assault traditions.
Bullard published a study the same year as Whitley Strieber released his bestselling book
Communion in 1988 and cited “a bewildering array of alien abductors, with the typical
grey only one species among a panoply that included mummies, trolls, sasquatches, and
robots” (239). Whitley Strieber is an author who purportedly was captured and taken
aboard an alien craft. In Communion, he relays a personal narrative of being examined
and probed by extraterrestrial ‘greys’. These greys are the prototypical and most popular
alien being in popular culture. Strieber suggests that he experienced supernatural assaults
similar to what we find in Hufford’s Old Hag phenomenon. He states that, “In the wee
hours of the night I abruptly woke up. There was somebody quite close to the bed, but the
room seemed so unnaturally dark that I couldn’t see much at all. I caught a glimpse of
someone crouching just beside the bedside table. I could see by the huge, dark eyes who
it was. It was hell on earth to be there, and yet I couldn’t move, couldn’t cry out, couldn’t
get away. I lay as still as death, suffering inner agonies.” (Strieber 1997:190). The release
of the book made Strieber an instant celebrity and millionaire.
David Hufford also asserts that UFO abductions are a modern version of more
traditional assault traditions. He states that, “UFO legends display a continuity of
described features because the narrators are drawing from a common language and
otherwise share a frame of reference which enables them to appropriately set up similar
narrative structures combining similar contents” (1985:119). Like more traditional
folkloric forms, UFO narratives utilize a common language with which they can be
identified. These continuities were apparent in Hufford’s study of sleep paralysis and the
Old Hag phenomenon. His study used a methodology largely based upon verbal
accounts and survey techniques to document the consistencies of supernatural assaults
across different cultural contexts. In many of the narratives, victims describe waking
up from a sound sleep and “feeling as it someone is holding you down. You can do
nothing but cry out. People believe that you will die if you are not awakened”
(Informant Data 1982). Much like the UFO abduction, paralysis is a common feature of
the Old Hag assault. Also, cultural models determine the way the experience is
interpreted. As context changes, the interpretation of these experiences adapt to meet
current cultural settings. Hufford concluded that Old Hag phenomenon occurs
independent of cultural conditioning and regardless of whether or not the victim is aware
of this type of supernatural attack. Hufford states that, “The Old Hag, then, can be as
easily assimilated to UFO beliefs as it can to Vampirism, witchcraft, or anxiety neurosis”
(1982, 234).
As noted earlier, Van Gennep’s formula for rites of passage include rites of
separation, rites of liminal experience, and rites of reincorporation. Rites of separation
largely mark a transition in somebody’s life. In most cases, the separation stage is a
preparatory period that readies the initiate for rites of transition. These separation rites
manifest in a number of ways. For example, most initiatory systems involve separation
from what is comfortable, or the ordinary surroundings. Van Gennep uses the example of
the Hindu Brahman to show the tripartite structure of a rite of passage. He says that,
“within the sacred world which the Brahman inhabits from birth there are three
compartments: a preliminal one lasting until the Upanayana (beginning of a relationship
with a teacher), a liminal one (novitiate), and a post liminal one (priesthood)” (Van
Gennep 1960:105). In this circumstance, the separation prepares the Brahman for
novitiatory status that ultimately leads to the priesthood.
Lisa Gilman has applied Van Gennep’s tripartite model to physical assault. She
considers the actual physical assault a rite of separation because this horrific event
proved to be the catalyst that separated her from society. The details of her assault
“clearly demonstrate how I was separated from all my previous conceptions of self and
my social and physical worlds. Faced with my own weakness and mortality, how could I
return to my social group and continue functioning as before if somehow I did not know
that that accepted me, that they still liked me, recognized my strength, my beauty despite
the fact some man had been able to control me, brutally beat me, almost kill me?” (101-
102). Through the isolation that occurred as part of her trauma, Gilman suffered a clear
separation from society. She remarks how aside from telling a few of her close friends
what had happened, none one else in her social group mentioned the experience. Gilman
attributed this silence to their discomfort with her transformation. By suffering the terror
of an actual assault, Gilman was separated from what she had become accustomed to.
The event removed her from what the world she inhabited and crossed all social
boundaries.
Within UFO abduction narratives, which are supernatural assaults rather than
actual, physical assaults, the rite of separation occurs in a number of ways. The
preliminal rites of separation begin well before the actual abduction, yet, as in Gilman’s
example, some form of trauma separates the victim from his or her environment in many
cases. Newman and Baumeister state that, “one reviewer of UFO abductions noted that
calamities are often preceded by some sort of personal crisis, such as a breakup of a
marriage” (Newman and Baumeister 1996:117). Situations like this are common in both
UFO literature and in Van Gennep’s schema of separation. In cases such as rape or
divorce, the victim experiences a clear separation from normalcy and in many
circumstances, the liminal state and ultimate reincorporation can only be achieved by
confronting the trauma of the attack and working through it by means of a group or some
other therapy. An example of personal crisis preceding a UFO abduction can be found in
the interview of Alice Bartlett conducted by C. D. B Bryan. When asked if she was as
happy child, Alice states:
“No, I felt abandoned as a child. I was convinced my parents didn’t
love me. My father was very authoritarian. We always had more fun
when he was gone, because he’d be abroad for a year or so. But then
it was always ‘wait until your father gets home.”
“So it was primarily physical abuse?” I ask. (Bryan)
Alice starts to say “yes”, then hesitates. She glances at Carol and then
back at me. I go the impression she is deciding how far she should go.
What follows next is a confusing account of a fishing trip Alice took
in Florida with her father when she was twelve and her suspicions
that he raped her on the banks of a canal. (Informant interview: 224)
Alice Bartlett experiences a sexual trauma that forces a separation
from society. Her subsequent abduction by extraterrestrials follows this initial
crisis event.
Along with child abuse, unplanned or inexplicable pregnancies also can be
considered as traumatic events that separate the victim from her social system. In many
cases, a UFO abduction occurs either directly before or after one of these traumatic
experiences. In abduction literature, the phenomenon is called “missing embryo/missing
fetus” syndrome and according to David M. Jacobs, “the problem of unplanned or
inexplicable pregnancy is one of the most frequent physical after-effects of abduction
experiences. Usually the woman feels pregnant and has all the outward signs of being
pregnant. She is puzzled and disturbed because she has either not engaged in sex or has
been very careful with birth control. She has blood tests and the gynecologist positively
verifies the pregnancy. Typically, between the discovery of the pregnancy and the end of
the first trimester, the woman suddenly finds herself not pregnant” (Jacobs 2000:78). For
a woman who experiences either an unplanned pregnancy or miscarriage, the trauma of
the experience separates her from society. Although pregnancy occurs after the abduction
experience, her rite of separation occurs with the pregnancy itself. Whether or not she
attributes the pregnancy to extraterrestrial influence doesn’t deter from the fact that it is a
event that separates her from ordinary surroundings.
Problematic race relations can also serve as a means of separation from society.
Betty and Barney Hill were a mixed race couple in the Civil Rights Era. According to
their testimony, the Hills were driving from Quebec to New Hampshire on September 19,
1961. An African-American postal worker, Barney and his Caucasian social worker wife
Betty reported to have witnessed a strange glowing light outside of their car. Confronted
by what appeared to be a uniformed man at a road block, the Hills experienced a period
of missing time, developed amnesia, and suffered nightmares for reasons neither could
accurately explain. Upon returning home, the couple decided to consult a therapist and
underwent hypnotic regression by an army psychiatrist. What was revealed through the
regression were nearly every abduction motif in UFO narratives. Details included a
thorough medical examination as well as a pregnancy test administered by the alien
beings. The idea of race plays an obvious role in the Hills narrative. For example, Barney
recalled stopping at a diner and being waited on by a rude, African-American waitress.
Also, during the stop at the roadblock, they were accosted by what appeared to be a “red-
headed Irishman” and a German Nazi. Curiously, all manners of race were included in
the narrative, yet the Hills had difficulty identifying the perceived aliens’ race. Wrought
by racial anxieties of the 1960s, they experienced a separation from society and then an
abduction. Although the Hills sparked the modern UFO abduction craze, the emphasis on
race in their case is not unique in the literature. Christopher F. Roth states that “put
simply, Ufology is in one sense all about race, and it has more to do with terrestrial racial
schemes in social and cultural constructs than most UFO believers are aware” (Roth
2005:41).What is unclear from this example is whether or not the Hills could ever
achieve complete reintegration into society until mixed-race tolerance became more
mainstream in American culture.
To sum up, rites of separation can occur for a UFO abductee well before the
actual abduction experience. It’s likely that Alice Bartlett could just as easily have
experienced an Old Hag episode or demonic possession instead of UFO abduction. Race
relations can also correspond to a victim’s rite of separation. Being a mixed-race couple
in the 1960’s, the Hills’ separation occurred long before their experience with
extraterrestrials. It has become apparent that both contextual circumstances, and personal
crisis delineate how the rite of separation will manifest and what measures must be taken
in order to ultimately reincorporate into society.
Rites of transition are the second stage in the overall structure of rites of passage.
Van Gennep states that, “for every one of these events there are ceremonies whose
essential purpose is to enable the individual to pass from one defined position to another
which is equally well defined” (Van Gennep 1960:3).
These rites are a means to move from one social status to another. In many cases, some
form of initiation accompanies the change of condition that a neophyte experiences. For
example, van Gennep discusses the puberty rites of the Kurnai tribe of Australia. He
remarks that, “in some tribes the novice is considered dead, and he remains dead for the
duration of his novitiate. It lasts for a fairly long time and consists of a physical and
mental weakening which is undoubtedly intended to make him lose all recollection of his
childhood existence” (Van Gennep 1960:75). After being separated from his mother and
childhood games, the young man is instructed in his duties as a man and his
responsibilities in the community. These rites of transition prepare the person for his
change in status and help to define his position in society. Another common example of
rites of transition involve pregnancy and childbirth. For example, “in the ceremonies of
the Muskwaki (commonly known as Fox) the sex group also plays a part; the pregnant
woman is separated from other women and, after delivery, is reintegrated into their midst
by a special rite. A particular woman who is important in other ceremonies acts as
intermediary” (Van Gennep 1960:44). In this circumstance, the rite of transition is
facilitated by an intermediary agent that helps to achieve the change in status. By
inducing a gradual removal of barriers, the young mother is eventually reintegrated into
social settings thus completing the rite of transition.
The quality of liminality characterizes rites of transition. Commonly understood
as in-betweenness, people in the liminal state experience a vulnerability that can produce
both terror and spiritual elation. Turner states that “the attributes of liminality or of
liminal presence (threshold people) are necessarily ambiguous, since this condition and
these persons elude or slip through the network of classifications that normally locate
status and positions in cultural space” (Turner 1969:95). The nuances of social status are
blurred during this transitory stage, and it is difficult to outline a specific taxonomy of
liminal characteristics. By being “betwixt and between” the social norm, a person in a
liminal state holds a status of non-identity. They are outside of society and therefore
outside of normal categorization. This is important because somebody experiencing
liminality frequently is perceived as dangerous to society and needs to be controlled.
This perceived dangerousness explains the taboos or prohibitions of those undergoing the
rite of transition. However, there is also creative potential for somebody in the liminal
state. At the culmination of the transitory rite, the initiate emerges with a new sense of
Self and status. Holding a new position in society, the person emerges as different from
who they were before the initial separation.
In her analysis, Lisa Gilman considers the liminal phase of a physical assault as
the period after assault, which was marked by emotional turmoil and uncertainty. She
makes the point that silence can characterize the liminal stage because of the
uncertainties about with whom somebody should tell their story. She states that “During
the liminal phase (especially if one doesn’t see a therapist), a person may become
overwhelmed with the experience as she has no outlet for her emotions or for working
out her problems. Though she may think that by not talking about the trauma, she will
eventually stop thinking about it and the feelings will go away, she may find that the
opposite is true” (109). Gilman understood silence may be detrimental to the
reincorporation process. By not sharing her traumatic experiences with others, she would
ultimately remain in a liminal stage. Narration became an integral part of her healing
process. However, the narrating of the story is also a rite of liminality because the teller
has no idea how the audience will react to the narrative. Not knowing what the result of
telling her story will be, the victim risks personal embarrassment as well as a failure to
reincorporate by sharing her experience.
UFO abductees typically ‘cross a threshold’ into the liminal state. This threshold
is frequently marked by strange lights. Most abduction narratives begin by seeing
anomalous lights in the sky. Oftentimes, the victim watches the lights for an unspecified
duration of time only to ‘awaken’ aboard the craft. The presence of the lights mark the
beginning of liminality; or in-betweenness. C.D.B. Bryan narrates how Carol Dedham:
Put on the car’s warning blinkers, rolled down the side window the rest
of the way, and leaned out to get an unobstructed look across the road at
the lights. Even though it was wintertime and the leaves of the deciduous
trees had fallen, there were enough pines in the grove to prevent an
unimpeded view. Still, the lights were so bright the whole area was lit up.
Carol decided to leave the car to get closer (Bryan 1995:205).
This aspect of anomalous lights is so common in UFO narratives that it appears in
nearly every abduction account. The lights mark a transition between reality and the
supernatural, as well a transition into the liminal state.
Strange weather also may function as a boundary between the
profane and the liminal. Again C.D.B Bryan narrates how abductee Richard J. Boylan
witnessed a kind of strange fog while driving the New Mexico desert. He states that,
“The air was crystal-clear; there was no moisture to make fog out of. There was no body
of water around. The road he had been driving was gradually rising, so he wasn’t in any
sort of pocket where moisture could collect. And there he was at a dead stop in the right-
hand lane of a two-lane blacktop highway crossing a desert enveloped in what, in his
car’s headlights, appeared to be a grayish-white odorless cloud. Boylan got out of his car
to investigate” (1995:246). In both Carol and Boylan’s experiences, they leave the safety
of the car in order to investigate the phenomenon. Much like their initiatory counterparts,
they are separated from their previous environment and enter a state of liminality.
Accounts/motifs of body mutiliation and dismemberment are common UFO
abduction narratives. Many victims endure forced medical examination. For example,
Bryan narrates how Boylan, was “led into the next room and placed him in what felt, he
thought, like an astronaut’s chair in a pulled-back position, so that he was reclining
but not quite flat. His ankles seemed held in place as if by a force field, and then Boylan
felt an intense pressure as though something was being pushed far up into his nose. As
soon as the object had been implanted, Boylan’s ankles were released and he was free to
go” (1995:247). Carol Dedham is another person who claims to have endured a forced
medical exam. During a hypnotic regression with Budd Hopkins, she recounts how the
aliens,
“…want me to go over to those tables…to get on the table,”
Carol says, “I don’t do that anymore…It has things for the feet…I don’t
Want to turn my head.”
“They want you to turn your head?”
“No, they just said they want to turn my head…No, I don’t really want
to do that.”
“Do what?” Budd asks.
“Because he’s going to” – sharp inhale “Put that thing-“ another sharp inhale
“in my ear. Please don’t put that thing in my ear!” Carol cries out in pain.
“They put something in my ear!” She whimpers, near tears. (Carol Dedham
interview 1995)
The significance of a medical examination amongst UFO narratives is important
for several reasons. First, the medical examination parallels more traditional rites of
transition. When describing a ritual of the Congo tribe, Van Gennep writes that “the
novice is separated from his previous environment, in relation to which he is dead, in
order to be reincorporated in his new one. He is taken into the forest, where he is
submitted to seclusion, lustration, flagellation, and intoxication with palm wine resulting
in anesthesia. Then comes the transition rites, including body mutilations and painting of
the body” (Van Gennep 1960:89). In both cases, the body is invaded, mutilated, or
otherwise transformed. Second, like all rites of transition, during medical procedures the
abductee loses complete control..........
Friday, December 9, 2011
Saints or Satanists? The Ritual and Symbol of Ordo Templi Orientis
Hello my lovelies! Here is a rough version of an article/essay that I'll be including in issue 2 of Magus TBD- It's needs to be cleaned up ie citations and biblio. but the essence is there. Feel free to read and giggle wildly.
SAINTS OR SATANISTS? THE RITUAL AND SYMBOL OF ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS.
The distinction between formal religious institutions and alternative religions has
become blurred in modern times. No longer is the spirituality of the Western World
solely dominated by traditional Christian ideology. Nowadays, there is a plethora of
alternative belief practices finding legitimacy in both academic and non-academic
settings. The socio-cultural nuances that permeate these less identifiable religious
institutions are now respected and recognized by secular powers and many enjoy
federally recognized tax exemption as a religious entity. Such is the case with Ordo
Templi Orientis. A religious group that now claims over 1600 members of the flock,
The O.T.O. is a steadily growing religious organization that has its own credo,
ritualization, and symbolic system. Throughout the course of this paper, I will be
discussing the many facets of the O.T.O. in an attempt to glean some insights into this
mysterious society. It is my hope that by delineating some of the ritual and practices of
this group, a better understanding of more obscure religious movements will arise.
Ordo Templi Orientis is a religious group that traces its spiritual origins to the
foundation of the Order of Knights Templar in 1108 and more historically, to the 18th
century Rosicrucian Orders. (http://www.oto-usa.org/) In 1902, Karl Kellner and
Theodore Reuss founded the O.T.O. in Germany and made its primary base of operation
in Luga, Switzerland. According to Bill Heidrick, “It is documented that O.T.O. sprang
from the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light as the creation of Karl Kellner, a member of that
fraternity. The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light continued independently of O.T.O., its
own right, and was still in existence in Oakland, California as late as 1970”
(http://hermetic.com/heidrick/oto_history.html). Between 1902 and 1932, the O.T.O.
appropriated many Masonic and occult societies into its teachings and continued to grow
in social and ritualistic complexity. Utilizing the influence of Rosicrucianism, esoteric
Christianity, and Judaic mysticism, the O.T.O. became an amalgamation of occult
thought.
Perhaps the most significant event that occurred within the O.T.O. timeline was
the 1910 admittance of Aleister Crowley into the Order. A magician infamous for
heretical ravings and sorcery, Crowley completely restructured the O.T.O. by putting an
emphasis on Thelemic philosophy. Thelema is a magico-religious philosophy that holds
the axiom: ‘Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law’. According to Legend,
Crowley was given the Book Of The Law in 1904 by an entity named Aiwass in the
Egyptian desert. Crowley recalls that “his guardian angel Aiwass appeared to him and
dictated the Book Of The Law. The Book Of The Law concerns the dawn of a third aeon
of mankind: the first aeon was that of the goddess Isis, centered around matriarchy and
the worship of the Great Mother; the second aeon was that of Osiris, during which the
patriarchal religions of suffering and death-ie-Judaism and Christianity-rose to power.
Finally, with the revelation of the Book Of The Law, a new aeon of the son, Horus, was
born” (16). This book is an ideological treatise that puts focus on magic and adherence to
one’s own Will. The idea is that by accepting the Law of Thelema, you are accepting
Liber Al as a spiritual foundation but under no obligation to follow any specific religious
study or ritual. According to Urdan, “the Law of Thelema avows and justifies selfishness;
it confirms the inmost conviction of each one of us that he is the centre of the cosmos”
(Urban year: 16). As a way to cultivate the Self, this methodology works well as an
organizational tool and many O.T.O. initiates practice the Thelemic system.
Ordo Templi Orientis is an initiatory society that teaches the mysteries of the
ancient past. Although they don’t teach a system of magic per se, many local lodges do
offer classes and seminars on various aspects of magical tradition. It is thought that the
initiations of the ancient mysteries offer “both practical and theoretical value to the
serious student of magick” (http://www.oto-usa.org/). Moreover, the O.T.O. belief system
does not restrict initiates various belief systems. In fact, you can be Christian, Buddhist,
Muslim, Druid, or Sikh and still be an O.T.O. initiate. Luhrmann states that the OTOs
“relationship to that larger culture (Christianity), is curious, for the rituals are a syncretic
porridge of widely varied motifs” (Luhrmann year: 154). Through the fusion of various
belief systems and ideologies, the O.T.O. showcases a plethora of initiatory paradigms
the initiate can use to develop their True Will. Also, implicit in the O.T.O. ethos is the
idea that a background spiritual knowledge or foundation is beneficial to an initiates
progress within the Order.
O.T.O. ritual is laden with theatrics and dramatical recreations of ancient mystery
ritualization. For example, the Greco-Roman rites of Eleusis have been performed at
various times since 1910. Although these rites are purported to be based on the
Eleusinian mystery rituals, research has shown that the O.T.O. rites of Eleusis differ
greatly from their ancient Grecian counterparts. In fact, the only similarity between
O.T.O.’s Eleusis and the rites of the ancient mystery religion is in name only.
Furthermore, perhaps the most popular and well-known O.T.O. ritual is the
Gnostic Mass. According to Lingam, “members of the O.T.O. value the Gnostic Mass as
one of the most significant Thelemic rituals, and it is regularly practiced by O.T.O.
lodges worldwide” (Lingam year: 29). The Gnostic Mass is a highly elaborate and
stylized ritual that involves liturgy, attention to gestures, and costumes. Typically, a High
Altar is set up with two pillars adorning either side. These pillars are symbolic of the
bronze pillars Boaz and Jachin which stood at the entrance of Solomon’s Temple. On the
Altar rests the ‘Stele of Revealing’, an Egyptian painting that Crowley saw before his
encounter with the entity called Aiwass. Throughout the ritual, a priestess who is
traditionally nude kneels before a priest holding a lance and strokes the phallic symbol
several times. An overtly erotic gesture, the priest and priestess are meant to symbolize
male and female energy in the universe. Reverence is shown to The Book Of The Law
and a Eucharistic meal of wine and cake are consumed at the culmination of the rite. As
the most important O.T.O. ritual, the Gnostic Mass is a cherished performance and one in
which every initiate is encouraged to participate.
The importance placed on O.T.O. ritual stems from the idea of becoming that
occurs through being in a liminal state. As a vehicle for personal change, the ritual is
meant to promote a conscious growth in initiates. Tambiah remarks that, “they are
meant by virtue of being enacted, (under the appropriate conditions) to achieve a
change of state, or do something effective” (Tambiah 1973:221). The O.T.O. ritual is a
perfect illustration of Arnold Van Gennep’s ‘rite of passage’. As the veil of perception
is pulled aside and initiates experience the liminal rites, they undergo intense spiritual
change.
O.T.O. ritualization ascribes meaning in its performance through a combination
of experiential and affective ecology. Adherents are moved by the experience. As
Luhrmann states, “ritually enacting a myth is profoundly different from hearing it told;
doing and listening have a distinctive impact on meaning” (Luhrmann year:157). By
participating in O.T.O. ritual, initiates are emotionally invested in the liminal experience.
As “communication without information”, the ritual experience promotes feelings of
group solidarity and personal engagement.
Contrary to what many may think about the O.T.O., there is no evidence of
violence, satanic ritual abuse, or sexual misconduct within the Order. Although Crowley
himself was deemed ‘the wickedest man on earth’ and thoroughly enjoyed his reputation
as ‘demon whisperer’, the O.T.O. has sought to dispel rumor panics of Satanism and/or
Black Magic within its organization. In fact, “O.T.O. makes no claims or representations
to be either Satanic or anti-Christian. We find that these characterizations serve no real
purpose in describing what we are about, or our vision for humanity. Rather than being
anti-Christian, we are in fact pro-thelema: We support the thelemic ideals of freedom of
religious and personal self-expression; emancipation from superstition and social
oppression; and the development of a world view which supports and encourages the
age-old vision of the Universal Brotherhood of mankind” (www.oto-usa.org).
O.T.O. literature doesn’t specify any beliefs toward apocalypse, doomsday, or
end-times. As stated before, each individual is encouraged to hold any belief system that
lead to fruition of the True Will. Subsequently, a Catholic’s idea of Revelation or a
Buddhist’s belief in Samsara are both welcomed within the Order. Mention is made that
as long as these religious beliefs do not hinder the development and expression of the
Will, they will be accepted as part of the initiatory process.
Although O.T.O. refrains from apocalypse and doomsday ideas of end-times, they
most certainly believe that we have entered a kind of Aquarian age. As we traverse
through the aeon of Horus, we are reconciling the dualism that characterized the
matriarchal ‘Great Mother’ and the patriarchal dominance of the aeon of Osiris. It is akin
to being in the age of Christ. A reconciliation of the polarity that occurred in the previous
two ages. And this is a very common occult way of thinking. Each O.T.O. member seeks
to reach the archetypal Horus or perfected Will. It is a becoming similar to P.D
to experience first-hand god consciousness. Whether this is achieved through ritual,
meditation, or a combination of both, remains in the purview of the initiate.
Because the O.T.O. regards this age as that of Horus, it is hoped that the future of
the world will be one of great spiritual enlightenment. Within the literature is an implied
sense of utopianism. Since the goal of every O.T.O. member is to evolve the Will into a
new nirvanic consciousness. The Order hopes that if enough members reach this spiritual
ascension, a new global consciousness will emerge. In a post-Horus age of world culture,
everybody would be free to develop their True Will. It is thought that if everybody
developed the Will in this way, there would be no war or famine on the planet.
The contextual circumstances that led to the formation of the O.T.O. are varied
but there is a kind of paranormal and/or spiritual lineage that made the Order a product
of its time. The spiritualists of the 1850s had a profound affect on the idea of invocation
and evocation to achieve supernatural results. Although cultures have utilized ritual to
compel the supernatural for thousands of years, the spiritualists of the 19th century made
the phenomenon a fad. It became a part of industrialized pop-culture and in doing so,
produced a wealth of various initiatory Orders and congregations. Also, groups like the
Theosophical Society had an impact on the emergence of the O.T.O. and pseudo-O.T.O.
societies. The Theosophical Society was an organization created by Madame Blavatsky
in 1875. Its primary goal was knowledge of God through direct experience of the divine.
Similar to the O.T.O., proponents of Theosophy attempted to know the divine essence
through a study of ancient wisdom teachings and inner contemplation.
Throughout the course of this paper, I’ve learned a great deal about the
ritualization and symbolic systems of the O.T.O. I was previously under the impression
that the Order was simply a product of the Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn or a
trivial project of Aleister Crowley. Research has gleaned that O.T.O. is a complex and
sophisticated system of archetypal correspondences that utilize a hierarchal methodology
of gradated initiatory teachings in order to reveal esoteric teachings. As a social entity,
the O.T.O. also conjures a group solidarity that emphasizes personal commitment to
the Self while encouraging participation in various forms of ritual. It has been a pleasure
delving into the nuances and mysticism of this religious group and I look forward to
continuing my study of obscure spiritual milieus.
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