In this lesson, we’ll talk about Humanism, using the information that is generally available across the net, and some of the remarks Ryan made.

Humanism has several off-shoots, with a variety of beliefs. Some are based in religion, others in atheism, but agnosticism seems to be most prevalent. The basic ideas involved with Humanism do not require a religious concept of God, or laws laid down by a religion.

So, let’s set out the base of Humanism in bullets.

• Democratic
• Humane Action
• Human Reason
• Ethics
• Justice
• Rejection of Superstition.
• Charity and Philanthropy

So, when we take a look at these aspects, we can see a lot of what Ryan was talking about in his email.

Humane action and ethics play the most important part in this, to my view point. The way we treat other people should be with kindness and understanding. Whether or not there is a God(or gods) should have no effect on how we treat each other. Most Humanists take this a step further and volunteer, work for charity, or donate money to charitable organizations.

I’d like to take a moment, and focus on a couple of things Ryan said.

Do what is right because it’s right and there may be nobody else to do it.

That is a powerful statement. Doing what is right, when you are in the position to do so.

If we want to see good in the world we have to do it ourselves.

Again, there is a lot to this statement. Responsibility. I think that is what it really boils down to; human responsibility. It’s not just a responsibility to ourselves, but to society, and our world.

So, looking back on Humanism, I think it’s easy to see that, at its very core, it is merely the idea of treating people well and doing what we believe is right. Doesn’t sound so different from many other ideologies or religions, does it?

Jack
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101
Lesson #24
The Battle of Responsibility

The Tao of Minus
—-

Mancini was a little startled when Jane asked about the Akashic Library. But he knew that she had that right, even if she did not have that power.

So, they talked at length about the great teachers of the past, about the holy guardian angel, and about the Akashic Library.

He suggested she take the six month sojourn to learn about the Holy Guardian Angel before trying to access the Akashic Library.

“But… hmm.. When Minus returns, we will talk. He may have a short cut for you. You have every right to view it for yourself. Especially since I have an oath to not speak of what I see there. Minus is not allowed to enter. But neither of us really know why. Sometimes, it’s almost like he has no book. Like his lifetime is not recorded, as it is with the rest of us.”

Jane didn’t know how to answer. Mancini appeared puzzled, even in his ghostly astral form.

Mancini continued, “The information I have about Minus is from my personal experience with him, and from reading the life books of others that have interacted with him. There are large blank periods, that I can find no information on. Five years ago, shortly after we had met, he completely disappeared. No one knows why. Or where he was. He refuses to talk about it.”

“From what I’ve learned of alacrity,” Jane interjected, “Is it possible that he got lost in it?”

“It’s possible. But Othin practices alacrity too.. I’d think Othin would have been able to find him…”

“And then he disappeared for three years with me, at that bar..” Jane was trying to string together the facts. This whole mess was terribly confusing to her. She had never known magic like this. All of these things were brand new to her.

“Yes, that’s right. Minus is… well, odd. It’s almost like he has a cloaking ability. Kotoko witnessed it with trying to find this house. This house is totally off the official radar. Only a handful of people know it’s here at all. But it has been here for fifty years at least.

“Although it wasn’t his fault, you two were completely masked inside that bar. In the same way, Minus is completely hidden now, at the world tree. No magic can find him there. If you were to walk up to the exact tree he was on, you would not be able to see him.”

“Does he know this,” asked Jane.

“Sometimes.. Definitely not all of the time. He doesn’t dabble in divination, so he really doesn’t understand the concept at all. All of his magic comes naturally, through self-sacrifice.”

“Like now? Like his trip to the world tree?” Jane’s curiosity was peaked.

“Yes,” the doctor answered. “Just like now. This is not the first time he has performed the self-sacrifice rituals for knowledge, or power. It’s almost like the gods favor him. His family has no history of magical blood. Unlike me and you. There is no reason for Minus to have the power and understanding that he does. I’ve spent a long, long time trying to figure it out.”

“What about Othin? I thought he was Minus’ uncle?” Jane interjected.

“Othin is not a blood relative. He was a friend of Minus’ mother. But she never knew about Othin’s magical side life. You see, to most people, Othin just looks and acts like an old, burned-out hippie. I’ve known him for five years. He has not aged a day, but we can discuss that later.

“It really boils down to the fact that Minus basically gave me my powers. I’m certain that he has had a positive impact on your magic as well. Probably Kotoko, too. Othin often tells me about personal relationships with gods, but I usually chalk it up to metaphysical mumbo-jumbo. Most of the gods are dead, or were never there to begin with. Maybe I should reconsider that. We’ll talk to Minus about it when he returns. Not long left.”

And so, that night, Jane began to practice astral travel to see if she could find this Holy Guardian Angel and the Akashic Library. She was tired of being out of the loop. She was worried about Minus, and she had to do something about it.

—-

Jack
Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #24
The Tao of Minus

Sometimes I feel like I get so very close. I can smell it. I can taste it. I can almost breathe it in. I forget myself in opium laced dreams.

These are the days of Halcion and thebaine. Amphetamine and fentanyl. Dreaming that never ends. We push consciousness to new peaks of understanding.

Fade back.

Hold on.

—

Jack
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101

Lesson #17
False Peace

Prelude to a Hanging
—-

Victor Mancini spent a very long time on the phone with Jane. He told her about synchronicity and about alacrity, about glamors, and conjuring. He told her the good and the bad. Each had a danger, now she knew them all. Well, that’s what she thought anyway.

When he talked about alacrity, he went well out of his way to implicate the dangers. Mancini said that normal people could usually never access it. He had seen Minus use it before. It was beyond his understanding how it did not tear Minus’ soul apart.

He convinced Jane that she should not learn about it yet. She was not ready. He told her that Minus might disappear without warning, even when he could be right in front of her. Mancini told her about some of the pills and powders in that strange drawer in Minus’ desk. Not all of them, but the ones she would need if she became lost, or if Minus left her alone.

The pills labeled ‘VM’ were made by Doctor Mancini. If someone took one, Mancini would feel the psychic waves and appear before them. The red pills they had taken at the bar were Disillusionment. They cleared the brain from almost all worldly attachments and allowed a person to see the truth of their surroundings. Alchemy was the first form of magic Minus had learned, and it was basically all he could still do with purpose and success.

She heard Minus waking, and told Mancini so.

Minus walked into the small office with a glass of wine and saw his old friend Victor Mancini as a ghostly figure, sitting on top of his computer monitor.

“Doc, what have I told you about sitting on the monitor? It’s gonna take me days to get all the ectoplasm out. Damn.”

He then told Mancini and Jane about his talk with Othin, and how he would leave later that day to find the world tree, Yggdrasil. Jane asked him about her friend Kotoko coming to bring fresh food and clothes, and he agreed this would be a good thing.

“Jane, Doc, I’ll be completely out of contact for about nine days. No way of reaching me at all. Jane, please stay here. I don’t like the idea that people are disappearing and it seems to involve the Mist. Don’t go outside unless you absolutely have to. Doc, will you keep an eye on her?”

Mancini and Jane both agreed to what he asked, and Mancini bid his farewell. Leaving Minus and Jane alone together

—-
(NOTE: This has us caught up with The Cost of Magic, pre-server crash. Brand new episodes start tomorrow.)

Jack
I Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #16
Prelude to a Hanging

In Which Minus Dreams A Memory
—-
He runs across the roof tops. This city is dense and the alley ways are small. He jumps, falls short, dangling with a one-handed grip on the bricks. He let’s go.

Rive.

He hits the large, overly stuffed bed hard. Panting and sweating in his full John Constantine regalia. Suit, overcoat, cigarette in mouth, all dripping wet. His mind raced. Had his pursuers seen the rive he had opened? He didn’t know who they were, was uncertain of their abilities. Aside from the fact that they were inhumanly fast.

They shot through alacrity with a focus that matched his own. This was very rare. Understanding alacrity had driven more men mad, than had ever been able to run with it. The problem people have with the magic of speed is that after the first taste, it’s never fast enough again. Always trying for more. You can see perfection in the distance. And anytime you can see true perfection, it’s dangerous.

After a few minutes, Minus knew that they had not traced his rive. He relaxed a bit, then reached for some dry clothes.

***

Back in Jerusalem, the three men dressed in black, stood surveying the rooftops and alley ways. Wet footprints ended and never started again. They were confused, but not worried. He could hide all he wanted, but he could never out run them.

Even so, the Three-Headed Lion would not be happy with his extensively trained alacrity spotters. He had dug their souls from Hell, and trained them for a reason. He needed them in this war. This was not like the last.

—-

Jack
I Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #13
In Which Minus Dreams A Memory

Awaken Jane
——

An hour or so later, Minus heard Jane stirring across the room. He switched some programs off, and walked over to the bed.

“How are you feeling?” Minus asked as Jane was rubbing her eyes.

“Like I haven’t slept in three years.”

“Well, that sounds about right. I’ve asked some friends who are understanding, to check into what happened to us at the bar.”

“Good.. That was… weird… It’s like I understand it, but at the same time, I don’t. I enjoyed our time there. But I am glad you finally saw through the glamor.”

“You knew it was a glamor?” asked Minus.

“Well, not until you broke it’s hold on me. Looking back it’s easy to see that the brown bags had magical implements in them to help hold the illusion.” Jane was more clear than she had ever been. This was an entirely new feeling to her.

“You understand much more than I realized. Can you affect glamor, or any other kind of magic?” Minus was perplexed and intrigued.

“Not much. Minor glamors to hide the way I look when I need to. The occasional premonition. Some times I’m lucky enough to hit the synchronicity stream, but that’s not often.”

“I missed the glamor. I should have seen through it sooner. But it was very powerful. Could you see the Mist outside when we left?”

“Yeah, there’s no way I could have missed it. It felt so wrong,” Jane looked very sad at this.

“My friends will be doing some research for us today. We’ve been advised to stay here. The mist is everywhere outside, I am told. But only those of us with a metaphysical awareness can see it. The rest of the world doesn’t know.

“There’s a phone and a computer over there in the corner, if there is anyone you need to contact. Let me know if the phone beeps though, I’m expecting a return call at some point. Do you know anyone who might be able to give us some insight into all of this?”

“Maybe. Let me go through some things and see what I can do,” Jane said as she walked towards the desk.

“There is a bottle of reality pills on the desk. Help yourself, but they can make you forgetful. They are the red liquigels. Help yourself to any food or drink we have down here. Please let me know if you find anything, or if a call comes in from a Doctor Mancini. Otherwise, I’m going to have a drink, and spend some time in meditation. I need to break into the Synchronicity Stream or the Alacrity Motion for this. I can’t get to the Akashic Library anymore. Mancini is working on that for us. We have to figure out why we were targeted and removed from time for so long.”

———

Jack
I Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #7
Awaken Jane

What is hard for you to understand?

Jack
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101

Battle #7
People

“It not infrequently happens that something about the earth, about the sky, about other elements of this world, about the motion and rotation or even the magnitude and distances of the stars, about definite eclipses of the sun and moon, about the passage of years and seasons, about the nature of animals, of fruits, of stones, and of other such things, may be known with the greatest certainty by reasoning or by experience, even by one who is not a Christian. It is too disgraceful and ruinous, though, and greatly to be avoided, that he [the non-Christian] should hear a Christian speaking so idiotically on these matters, and as if in accord with Christian writings, that he might say that he could scarcely keep from laughing when he saw how totally in error they are. In view of this and in keeping it in mind constantly while dealing with the book of Genesis, I have, insofar as I was able, explained in detail and set forth for consideration the meanings of obscure passages, taking care not to affirm rashly some one meaning to the prejudice of another and perhaps better explanation.”

– Saint Augustine of Hippo: The Literal Interpretation of Genesis 1:19–20, Chapt. 19 [AD 408]

Saint Augustine’s ideas on the nature of truth and science are essential to modern understanding and have influenced many great teachers and philosophers of all ilks.

-Jack
I Listen.
I do that Travel thing sometimes, too.

Basic Ideology 101

Lesson #2
Saint Augustine and the Reconciliation of Science and Scripture