babylon sherm

4y

I'm in the process of preparing to write something extremely long on the subject but to condense it down to some general ideas:

Theosophy and parapsychology lean heavily on the idea that we live in a sick, broken world. A world where everybody sounds stupid as f***. The reason for that? Culture. A culture of d**** (even though mystics love substances), of flawed Western reason, of "imprinting" and "conditioning" we are raised in, generational curses, a loss of spiritual dimension in our lives. Mr Morale preaches much of the same solutions to these problems as the two fields of study, extremely popular in the 60s, do: meditation, free love, moral relativism, anti-Puritanical thinking, generational culture shifts, a rejection of codified Western religious thinking, self-reflection through a guru/student relationship, etc.

Kendrick became a student of Eckhart Tolle, as we know from the album. He's an extremely popular life coach and pseudo-Zen scholar, but he's also the most mainstream-accessible mystic since the 1960s. Eckhart's writing, from what I've seen of it, is pure theosophy and parapsychology. Theosophy is the bridge between Western science and Eastern philosophy, usually with some sort of theological or straight-up occult bent. His name is derived from the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart, and he began his studies/career after being introduced to the work of Bo Rin Ya (a German mystic who changed his name to be more ethnic, an incredibly common trend with theosophists; Kendrick now goes by Oklama, an ethnic name we don't know the origin of)

Eckhart firmly agrees with Carl Jung that the collective unconscious, societal group-mind and group-memory, and energy fields that distort our shared reality are real. Jung came to believe in the concept of synchronicities, or extreme coincidences. A great example of a synchronicity can be found in the song DUCKWORTH. Jung, during a depressive break, experienced his long-dead ancestors speaking to and through him as well as visiting him. He wrote The Seven Sermons of the Dead about this experience. On Mr. Morale, Kendrick frequently speaks of his ancestors speaking through him, visiting him, watching him, and refers to himself as a psychic medium whom spirits speak through.

Eckhart famously caught a ton of flack in the states for his books stating that god was made in the image of man, and that man can and should become his own god through a journey of self-awakening (self awakening being a concept of extreme self-awareness introduced by famed zen teacher Gurdijeff) This idea has deep roots in theosophy and parapsychology, and is also a core tenant of the occult. Crowley et all were big on invocations and magic acts that symbolically (and they believed literally) gave them godlike powers that could effect the energy fields and collective consciousness we live in. Mr Morale, with it's cover depicting a man in the christian crown of thorns, as well as Kendrick's crown, echos that imagery. The album depicts Kendrick's journey of self-awakening to a T.

A major tenant among theosophists is the Journey to the East, venturing eastward to China, India, etc to study ancient masters and cultures. In a cute coincidence, Kendrick previously used eastern imagery in his graphic design and branding (examples of this include the Doves in the Wind video, and the nickname Kung Fu Kenny)

Damn this s*** is going way too long and unweildy, sorry boss - too scattered to make much sense atm. I can't pull out my notes for the more fun stuff so no annecdotes about Ab Soul's constant Crowley cosplay (not a surprise but its also not postering, he seems legit into that s***)

kiddash3r

4y

Man thank you so much for this.
I'm coincidentally really interested in some of these stuff you mentioned ( i do think the last paragraph about what Crowley believed in is too much for me tho lol), so it's real interesting to gain a bit of perspective from someone I know on ktt atleast.

I got a question for you tho, what do you personally think about theosophy and parapsychology?

I do agree with the sentiment that the average joe can gain so much by adapting some of those stuff like meditation, free love, self reflection, rejection of West relig. thinking etc.

Also I'd be down to see a thread like this with some more in depth thoughts in the future, you explain stuff really nice

Oblivion X

4y

Kendrick having a blast

babylon sherm

4y

Thank you kindly for saying so sir, I'm looking forward to putting all my thoughts on the matter together

If you have interest in the history of these movements I highly recommend Turn Off Your Mind: The Dedalus Book of the 1960s as a starting point. It's like a 500 page wiki article that points you in a lot of good directions for study.

For darker tract of history, A Demon-Haunted Land as well as A Supernatural History of the Third Reich also trace how these movements became quite poison and was my introduction to immense figures in the scene like Madame Blavatsky and Rudolph Steiner

As for my own thoughts on the subject, this stuff only gets big if there's a nugget of truth to it, right? Self-reflection breeds real insight and healing, and I do think some aspects of collective group-mind ring true. There is, I think, a nugget legitimacy to the idea that other cultures, based in completely different suppositions than the west, experience a different world than we do. In a manner of speaking. But when it comes to magic being real, or ESP, telekinesis, all that s*** is pure hokum to me. It's shocking to me how many geniuses of our time earnestly believed in concepts like alchemy or black magic. For a fun shock, google Jack Parsons, one of the forefathers of modern rockets/air weapons

kiddash3r

4y

Well guess I know what my next purchase from bookdepository is
Thank you for the recc sherm.

Also yeah the whole black magic alchemy stuff coming from geniuses is a bit nuts tbh.

Reading about this dude rn how the hell you invent all that s*** and then "Parsons conducted the Babalon Working, a series of rituals intended to invoke the Thelemic goddess Babalon on Earth"

Unreal stuff.
I wonder what draws people in power too to those occult stuff, Hitler was a pretty big dude on that too

babylon sherm

4y

I'm in the process of preparing to write something extremely long on the subject but to condense it down to some general ideas:

Theosophy and parapsychology lean heavily on the idea that we live in a sick, broken world. A world where everybody sounds stupid as f***. The reason for that? Culture. A culture of d**** (even though mystics love substances), of flawed Western reason, of "imprinting" and "conditioning" we are raised in, generational curses, a loss of spiritual dimension in our lives. Mr Morale preaches much of the same solutions to these problems as the two fields of study, extremely popular in the 60s, do: meditation, free love, moral relativism, anti-Puritanical thinking, generational culture shifts, a rejection of codified Western religious thinking, self-reflection through a guru/student relationship, etc.

Kendrick became a student of Eckhart Tolle, as we know from the album. He's an extremely popular life coach and pseudo-Zen scholar, but he's also the most mainstream-accessible mystic since the 1960s. Eckhart's writing, from what I've seen of it, is pure theosophy and parapsychology. Theosophy is the bridge between Western science and Eastern philosophy, usually with some sort of theological or straight-up occult bent. His name is derived from the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart, and he began his studies/career after being introduced to the work of Bo Rin Ya (a German mystic who changed his name to be more ethnic, an incredibly common trend with theosophists; Kendrick now goes by Oklama, an ethnic name we don't know the origin of)

Eckhart firmly agrees with Carl Jung that the collective unconscious, societal group-mind and group-memory, and energy fields that distort our shared reality are real. Jung came to believe in the concept of synchronicities, or extreme coincidences. A great example of a synchronicity can be found in the song DUCKWORTH. Jung, during a depressive break, experienced his long-dead ancestors speaking to and through him as well as visiting him. He wrote The Seven Sermons of the Dead about this experience. On Mr. Morale, Kendrick frequently speaks of his ancestors speaking through him, visiting him, watching him, and refers to himself as a psychic medium whom spirits speak through.

Eckhart famously caught a ton of flack in the states for his books stating that god was made in the image of man, and that man can and should become his own god through a journey of self-awakening (self awakening being a concept of extreme self-awareness introduced by famed zen teacher Gurdijeff) This idea has deep roots in theosophy and parapsychology, and is also a core tenant of the occult. Crowley et all were big on invocations and magic acts that symbolically (and they believed literally) gave them godlike powers that could effect the energy fields and collective consciousness we live in. Mr Morale, with it's cover depicting a man in the christian crown of thorns, as well as Kendrick's crown, echos that imagery. The album depicts Kendrick's journey of self-awakening to a T.

A major tenant among theosophists is the Journey to the East, venturing eastward to China, India, etc to study ancient masters and cultures. In a cute coincidence, Kendrick previously used eastern imagery in his graphic design and branding (examples of this include the Doves in the Wind video, and the nickname Kung Fu Kenny)

Damn this s*** is going way too long and unweildy, sorry boss - too scattered to make much sense atm. I can't pull out my notes for the more fun stuff so no annecdotes about Ab Soul's constant Crowley cosplay (not a surprise but its also not postering, he seems legit into that s***)

cold mountain

4y

nigga i didn't know you were into/knowledgeable about this s*** ive been looking for somebody i can talk esoteric and spiritual s*** for a hot minute on this site

Experiment626

4y

Why y’all think Kendrick replaced the Ye line with Bron on Savior?

felt like it would’ve been just as or even more impactful statement if he kept it

babylon sherm

4y

Only a neophyte in the history of it, so if you know any good resources for more of this stuff I'd be quite eager to check em out You seem like you'd be extremely knowledgable on these topics

CrimsonArk

4y

Do y’all think Kendrick was referencing this gif when he said “But the money wiping the tears away”?

WESLEYS THEORY

4y

Now that I’ve had time to process the album, these are my favorites from most to least

Mother I Sober
United In Grief
Father Time
Worldwide Steppers
Crown
Savior
Count Me Out
Mirror
Savior Interlude
Die Hard
Rich Spirit
N95
Mr. Morale
Auntie Diaries
Silent Hill
We Cry Together
Purple Hearts
Rich Interlude

Bhri555

4y

United in Grief May be his best intro and N95 best lead single

Jim Halpert

4y

I potentially agree with this.

Bhri555

4y

That beat switch man

kiddash3r

4y

Man thank you so much for this.
I'm coincidentally really interested in some of these stuff you mentioned ( i do think the last paragraph about what Crowley believed in is too much for me tho lol), so it's real interesting to gain a bit of perspective from someone I know on ktt atleast.

I got a question for you tho, what do you personally think about theosophy and parapsychology?

I do agree with the sentiment that the average joe can gain so much by adapting some of those stuff like meditation, free love, self reflection, rejection of West relig. thinking etc.

Also I'd be down to see a thread like this with some more in depth thoughts in the future, you explain stuff really nice

Bhri555

4y

First half is addressing the divine masculine energy hence the acknowledgement of his daddy issues aka something that would negatively impact his masculine perspective. And does the same thing with Auntie Diaries and Mother I Sober for the feminine side. He even ends Mother I Sober by calling on Egyptian Deity Auset (who the Virgin Mary is based on) to end the generational curses

cold mountain

4y

damn man. not particularly theosophy and parapsychology per say, but ive been getting pretty deep into metaphysical philosophy pertaining to Hinduism, Hermeticism/gnosticism, different idealist philosophers, perennialism/traditionalism as well. a bit of Tao and buddhism literature here and there too

if you're looking for like a mass basic primer for all of the occult and esoteric schools throughout the ages, the secret teachings of all ages by manly p hall is a fantastic start a little introductory text to Hermetic philosophy is the kybalion

if you're looking for the timeless mystic truths that exist in most of the major religions expounded upon and put into a compact form of sorts huxley's perennial philosophy is obviously fantastic. Rene Guenon has some works that touches on those ideas too

Bhri555

4y

@sentient_sherm_bag thoughts on this

babylon sherm

4y

I was vaguely aware of a few of these texts, particularly Huxley's, but have never parsed them. I read Hall's The Lost Keys of Freemasonry in high school but hadn't heard of the one you just recc'd. Huxley such an integral part of these schools of thought finding a mass audience in the states, so I'll be starting with PP and The Secret Teachings of All Ages - thank you kindly sir, these are getting slotted at the top of the To Read list 🫡

WESLEYS THEORY

4y

Now that I’ve had time to process the album, these are my favorites from most to least

Mother I Sober
United In Grief
Father Time
Worldwide Steppers
Crown
Savior
Count Me Out
Mirror
Savior Interlude
Die Hard
Rich Spirit
N95
Mr. Morale
Auntie Diaries
Silent Hill
We Cry Together
Purple Hearts
Rich Interlude

cold mountain

4y

definitely @ me/message me if you care to discuss any of it, metaphysics + theology is pretty fire