02-20-2012, 11:11 PM
Just a quick thought on the oak tree metaphor...the tree grows up--and is balanced by the roots going down.
But I do think that sometimes it appears that people are going backwards when they return to previous religious paradigms that are no longer in their vital era (i.e., during which time they met the needs of evolving humankind.) Fertility rites served their purpose--at one time. An Initiate can move out in front of the line of humanity to gather up power, or if on the left-hand path, go backwards to gather up the chaotic forces left behind--but this is different from "balance." Dion Fortune, in her Cosmic Doctrine, posits a difference between Negative Evil and Positive Evil. One is balance and the other actively seeks to harm others.
But I do think that sometimes it appears that people are going backwards when they return to previous religious paradigms that are no longer in their vital era (i.e., during which time they met the needs of evolving humankind.) Fertility rites served their purpose--at one time. An Initiate can move out in front of the line of humanity to gather up power, or if on the left-hand path, go backwards to gather up the chaotic forces left behind--but this is different from "balance." Dion Fortune, in her Cosmic Doctrine, posits a difference between Negative Evil and Positive Evil. One is balance and the other actively seeks to harm others.