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The decades between 1914 and 1990 begin to look like a long aberration of wars, totalitarianism and austerity, which interrupted the progress of global capitalism and wealth creation...

Or so a writer in the UK Observer newspaper suggested today. He made the comment in an article about the 'New Edwardians’, the super rich who have begun building themselves country mansion houses in the UK. The last time such buildings were erected was between 1880 and 1910. The article go on to suggest that the self-confidence verging on complacency of that era casts a disturbing shadow over its revival in the present, since that world was turned upside down in 1914.

In April 1904, at the height of that 'golden twilight', a prophetic vision descended on Cairo and was received by one Edward Alexander Crowley. In it, 'the long aberration of wars, totalitarianism and austerity' can be traced with the benefit of hindsight. Depending on one's point of view, this long dark night of the twentieth century either was the birth pains of the Aeon of Horus or was the Aeon of Horus.

If the decades between 1914 and 1990 were an aberration, then Horus has had a short reign. If, for example, a war against Iraq destabilises the Middle East and the interrupts the flow of oil thus triggering a global financial panic, then Horus may yet see out his full span. In this second scenario it may be that intimations of an Aeon of Maat are premature.

A complicating factor is the suggestion that aeons can run concurrently, with different individuals and cultural groups living within separate aeons. If an aeon can be compared with a scientific paradigm, then much of the confusion of the present can be explained. Such paradigms are 'incommensurable' which means they describe and define facts and reality in ways which cannot be translated across aeonic/paradigmic boundaries without loss of meaning.
 
If aeons do exist concurrently and are incommensurable, then a Darwinian process may be involved. In this aeon and paradigm are joined by a third quality- species. In this metaphor, differing aeons equate to differing species competing for dominance in an ecological niche [planet earth and/ or human culture and consciousness]. If large country houses are being built in the UK as they were 100 years ago, then this is a sign of a resurgence of the Osirian Aeon. If plans are being made for a war against Iraq, then Horus is attempting to regain dominance. Attempts to establish an international war crimes tribunal would indicate Maat's presence.

In this metaphorical structure, pan-aeonic magic is a process of becoming historically conscious/ aware of history as the creation of these competing aeons. To the extent that one becomes aware of the ‘gravitational’ pull of the differing aeons, it is a liberating process. One is no longer so easily swept along by surges of aeonic enthusiasm, but can stand back and exercise discrimination.

The tricky bit is trying to work out the particular aeonic signatures of the different structures found in everyday life. Even if this can be done and, for example, the proposed attack on Iraq is given its correct aeonic attribution, unresolved issues remain. Is it the case, as in traditional Marxism, that the different phases of development have to be gone through successively? The correct Marxist approach to a feudal society is to encourage the development of capitalist class-consciousness, rather than try and introduce socialism straight away. Are Osirian structures required to pass through the fire of Horus before Maatian structures can emerge?

Or is pan-aeonic magic a form of post-aeonic magic, akin to post-modernism? In which case do we have to accept the loss of ‘overarching magical narratives’? That there is no position ‘outside the circles of time and space’ from which to make sense of the chaos and confusion of the simultaneous co-existence of all aeons.

I don’t know. What I do know is that this is a very difficult text to construct. Usually by juggling parameters I can break on through to the other side and find an Archimedean point from which a text constructs itself.

Not here, not now. Maybe this has been a seeding planting exercise and the full text will emerge in due course.

Alistair