Deus Caritas Est

So I was in a conversation yesterday with Xanthias and Brother H over this fascinating article by a Rabbi who feels that the Tetragrammatons (YHVH) secret pronunciation is that it was supposed to be pronounced backwards, which yields something that sounds like the Hebrew words for “He” and “She”.

The conversation spun on with further linguistic extrapolation by Xanthias who suggested that if we insert the fiery “Shin” into the name, how we get YeHaShuA, and read it backwards we get Hu-Shia which would be the Egyptian HU (logos) and SA/Sii (roughly corresponding to Sophia).

As we further contemplated the wonders of Divinity as union of opposites, Brother H observed the following:

“What's equally interesting are the folks who attempt to point out the unity of Good & Evil, Jesus and The Adversary. I..e. Church of the Final Process, dear old Mr. Manson and in recent years I've read about some South American minister with a congregation in the 100's of 1000's claiming to reconcile the two. I guess I shouldn't get started on the Yezidi (sp.?)”

Here, however, is where I must part ways with the concept. You can say that Divinity is a union of Male and Female principals and all that extends to. You can say that it’s a union of Chthonic and Ouranic principals and all that extends to as well. But not everything we call opposites needs to be in union.

Through study and mystical experience I have come to the understanding that Hatred and Evil are extensions of Ignorance. In my experience of divinity, God does not hate and God is not evil because God is not Ignorant. Similarly in Buddhist terms Goodness, Compassion, and Understanding are qualities of Buddhahood or enlightened mind. Evil, Hatred and Ignorance are qualities of unenlightened mind. One does not unite Ignorance with Knowledge to attain Gnosis, so similarly one does not unite Good and Evil, or Love and Hatred. Buddhas and Gods have no Evil in them.

Pope Benedict got it right in his very first encyclical: Deus Caritas Est. God Is Love

I wont argue that the Process, Charles Manson, and Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda all look to blend Good and Evil, but that’s not exactly the company I want keep, theologically or otherwise. The Yezidi of have been much misunderstood because of early and shoddy research, and if you read anything more recent than Idres Shah about them you know that Melek Taus is a fully redeemed angel. No blending of Good and Evil.

Of course if you are talking “The Devil”, especially as Lucifer rather than Satan, there is a really good argument against painting him as Evil. I have come to know Lucifer well, and take this view. You can see Lucifer and Christ as representing paths of Indulgence and Renunciation that perhaps lead to the same Gnosis. Similar to Tantra and Sutra in Buddhism.

Anyway, that’s my view. It’s important in magick, especially high magick, mysticism, and esoteric religion, not to take metaphors to far or to literally, and I thought this was a good example.