Yes/No/I-Don't-Know: Simultaneous Belief

To: z-list
Subject: Re: The Floyd Zee Project
From: Lauranz the-Terrible
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 20:35:30 EDT

Don asks a really good question:

"Pardon me for being just a little bit skeptical, but I wonder if folks on the list seriously believe that they were personally responsible for directing the path of Floyd?"

I did my part on my own. I didn't partake in any group ritual, but since my friend Mary is in Florida, I spoke to the weather and requested, "Not here. Not on Mary. Over there instead."

I hold three positions simultaneously.

(1) Yup. I moved the hurricane away from Mary and her sister.

(2) Jesus Christ, Lauranz! You really believe that shit? You stupid occultists make me sick with your silly superstitons. C'mon, you CAN'T influence the weather, and neither can anyone else.

(3) I don't know. I can say that Mary and her sister got rain, but they didn't get the hurricane. That's ALL I can say. I really, genuinely, honestly don't know if I had anything to do with it or not.

I prefer to hold position #1, and modify it a bit with position #3. That is to say, I adopt a belief, but I do it consciously and with intention in order to effect a specific purpose. I am not interested in blind, stupid, stubborn belief, and the certainty that I am right. Rather, I prefer to adopt a belief that I find esthetic and useful, and maintain the awareness that I am choosing to enjoy taking this position, and that at the same time I really don't know.

I would prefer to live in a magickal world. The Magickal World of Crazy Hassan's Clearinghouse of Delights pleases me more and expands my mind and consciousness more than the greyface ordinary world. So I choose to work weather and listen to my car talk to me and wave my magick wand and be an ass-kickin' ol' lady, all the while being aware that this is a choice I've made, and that I cannot prove anything with any sort of certainty.

Love,

Lauranz