Monday, February 11, 2013

Of the Pope and Pegs

This morning I heard that the Catholic Pope was planning to resign. For someone that is not in the least bit concerned with Catholic/Christiandom, I sure have occupied a lot of my thought this morning to his stepping down. I have to ask myself questions. Why do I care? What about this is bothering me? Why does it offend me?

I think my issue with it all comes down to magick. His resigning as Pope doesn't make sense magickally. Let me first off say that I reject Catholicism as a faith for me. It just isn't something on the menu. My hunger is satisfied at the table of our Lady and our Lord, and a small host of other Gods and Goddesses, their God isn't even in the building.

Let there be no argument that a whole lot of magick goes on in Catholicism. System upon system of magick that has existed for a very long time; and at the top of that magickal hierarchy is the Pope. Additionally, no Pope has ever resigned. It is a station for life. So essentially there is a complex Magickal Order with a long precedence which makes it part of their practice to have one individual always at the center of the egregore and that once put there, the Order has no manner of un-immersing the person. They cannot undo the magickal initiation that has taken place.

It all boils down to the simple fact that the Pope cannot be unmade, and I think that their egregore will only become further wonky by try to have two centers via raising yet another Pope. Yes, I am ignoring all the arguments made that there are already more than one Pope. I'll think about all that later.

So why do I care if the Catholic Church damages their Order and egregore by going against their own teachings? I don't. That which offends me has nothing to do with them at all, but for some strange reason the Pope resigning is the catalyst that bubbled my issue to the surface of the me-cauldron I have been stewing over here. Quite frankly it bothers me because I am insistently thinking about it.

Insistent thinking? What's that? So almost everyone has heard the old "trying to fit a square peg in a round hole" proverb. It is kinda like that, only accompanied by the refusal to allow the square peg be square and instead insist that it is and should be round. There is a part of me, and in all of us for that matter, that is insisting that the status quo (square peg) not only goes in the round hole but in fact fits. Why the Pope would be the catalyst that would have me have to reset my thinking is weird but I'll accept it?

It is something I have been working on recently. I insistently think a lot-A LOT. Recognizing it is step one. The fact that I have done so this morning in regards to the Pope is a minor example, exceedingly minor. Catching it though is a step forward. I have been catching it a lot more; the little things at first but more so as I have been practicing, the big things have started jumping out. Seeing these makes it easier to step back and actually see the square peg for what it is.

Remember when I said my center issue is magick? Well, learning to see things for what they are is a part of magick.

Boidh Se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is very strange because one is Pope for life and no one has resigned since the 14th century they said. Maybe he is ill and wants to leave before his condition becomes worse? I do not care for Catholicism either, especially his ultra conservative views, but what the pope says and does affects millions of religious people around the world. I consider the late John Paul II a saint, not because of his theology but because of his obvious compassion.

Alice Jones Webb said...

Just a note of correction - there have been several papal resignations; the most recent, however, was about 600 years ago. Info is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_resignation

Otherwise, I am also quite surprised by the Vatican's announcement this morning. I can't help but wonder what the reason for this move is. They say it's a health-related move. I have my doubts.

Alice Jones Webb said...

Hmmm.... It says Alice left the last comment. I am not Alice. ;)

KW

Spanish Moss said...

Right you are KW. I’m not Catholic and didn’t feel like doing the homework beyond my own internal work this morning. Good information though. Thanks.

Anna Munda at Enchanted Body said...

Everyone's egregore is shifting. The Dalai Lama came out last week and basically said science trumps all; if Buddhist beliefs were found to be erroneous by mainstream science, then Buddhism would have to change.

It's the 2012 shift, which took place despite the naysaying of conservative Pagan and WMTs who dismiss any wisdom deemed New Age.

He is 85 years old; he may, like many of advanced age, be having cognitive problems. Interesting that the announcement was made on 2/11.

Anonymous said...

The succession of the Catholic popes is quite complex, and as an earlier comment says they have resigned before, and even been murdered in office. And at one point there was a Pope in Rome and in France. There is even the Sedevacantism group http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedevacantist
who believe the last few popes are heretical since they are too modern and changed too much and thus not the true vicar of St Peter. I truly have never seen a more complex political lineage except maybe in the modern OTO regarding who is the real Caliph and successor of Crowley, lol.