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Sunday, November 29, 2020

RAW on Beethoven

I have found during the pandemic that few things I do are as useful in keeping me in a good mood as listening to a great deal of classical music. Yesterday, after listening to a dose that included some Beethoven, I pulled my copy of The Illuminati Papers off the shelf and re-read one of my favorite short RAW pieces, "Beethoven as Information." I can't reproduce the whole thing without committing a copyright violation, but here is a paragraph:

Perhaps some mystics have achieved higher levels of consciousness than Beethoven (perhaps!), but if so, we cannot know of it. Aleister Crowley once astonished me by writing that the artist is greater than the mystic, an odd remark from a man who was only a mediocre artist himself (although a great mystic.) Listening to Ludwig, I have come to understand what Crowley meant. The mystic, unless he or she is also an artist, cannot communicate the higher states of awareness achieved by the fully turned-on brain; but the great artist can. Listening to Beethoven, one shares, somewhat, in his expanded perceptions; and the more one listens, the more one shares. Finally, one is able to believe his promise: if one listens to that music enough, one will never be unhappy. 

The Illuminati Papers is one of my favorite RAW anthologies. Probably not a coincidence that it apparently includes material cut from the appendices in  Illuminatus!  More on The Illuminati Papers here. 


4 comments:

Eric Wagner said...

I agree with you about the healing power of music in 2020. Beethoven’s music also seems a great tool for working with Prometheus Rising.

Manic The Doodler said...

I find listening to ANY music I enjoy seems helpful to my overall moods or states of mind... I wonder if Hilaritas Press has any plans to reissue the Illuminati Papers? That would be one I'd definitely purchase...

Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson) said...


@Manic: I am curious about the status of "The Illuminati Papers," because as far as I can tell, it is still in print from the original publisher. I don't see it listed as an upcoming publication on the Hilaritas Press website.

Assaf said...

"The mystic, unless he or she is also an artist, cannot communicate the higher states of awareness achieved by the fully turned-on brain"

Not an accurate statement as I see things...
The whole premise of satsang with a guru, and this is true per my experience,
is that in satsang a higher state of being is being transmitted; you are initiated to it.
Not nirvana, but you might find yourself in a higher state of being, some level of samadhi, which may deepen as time goes on, according to your capacity.

So I wouldn't say a mystic "transmits" these states as that implies doership... But in the case of some yogis - in their presence, higher states of awareness are realised.