~ Chapel Perilous ~

[Malaclypse 666]

He was getting weary of Grummet. It seemed to have dragged on for several ages. Grummet, or "Aftermath", was the period of stagnation and paralysis which completed the Illuminati cycle of history.

He keyed up the little-used Appendix Gimmel file, to refresh his memory.

"Every society actually passes through the five stages of Verwirrung, or chaos; Zweitracht, or discord; Unordnung, or confusion; Beamtenherrschaft, or bureaucracy; and Grummet, or aftermath. Sometimes, to make comparison with the exoteric Hegel-Marx system more pointed, the esoteric Illuminati system is defined as: Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis, Parenthesis, and Paralysis. "

He tapped the image down to Grummet, chortling as he read the "tether" part:

"The fifth stage, Grummet or aftermath, represents the transition back to chaos. Bureaucracy chokes in its own paperwork; mind is at the end of its tether; in desperation, many begin to deny the logogram and follow the biogram, with varying degrees of success. This correlates with Hermaphrodite; with I Ching hexagram 59, Huan, dispersion, dissolution, foam on the water; with the number 5, union of male and female; with the 6th trump of the Tarot, the Lovers, indicating union; and with the sun or its symbol, . On the Zodiac: Virgo.

"The age of Grummet begins with an upsurge of magicians, hoaxers, Yippies, Kabouters, shamans, clowns, and other Eristic forces. The relevant I Ching hexagram is 59, Huan, , dispersion and dissolution. The gentle wind above the deep water is the Chinese reading of the image, with associations of loss of ego, separation from the group, and "going out" in general. Yin lines dominate all but the top of the hexagram; the forces leading to a new Verwir-rung stage are pushing upward toward release. This is also called Paralysis by the Illuminati, because, objectively, nothing much is happening; subjectively, of course, the preparations for the new cycle are working unconsciously"

A return to Chaos.. An age of Verwirrung would be a most welcome change after this mind-numbing stasis, he mused. He tapped and scrolled again:

"The first stage, Verwirrung or chaos, is the point from which all societies begin and to which they all return. It is, so to speak, the natural condition of humanity-an estimation which the reader can confirm by closely observing his neighbors (or, if he has the necessary objectivity, himself).

"In this chaotic period, the Hodge and the Podge are in dynamic balance. There is no stasis: The balance is always shifting and homeostatic, in the manner of the ideal "self-organizing system" of General Systems Theory or Cybernetics. The Illuminati, and all authoritarian types in general, dislike such ages so much that they try to prevent any records of their existence from reaching the general public."

Mal also believed that a Verwirrung age was the "cusp" at which humanity could evolve, sometimes in spite of itself, into a new and wider sphere of thought and perception.

He felt information was the key. In a Grummet age, there seemed to be little real communication, as the paperwork overloaded the system. The Net had become a combination of yard sales, want ads, and personals, masking the useful information behind the dreaded Fnords.

After more than a year of data starvation, Pineals were becoming dull, tempers were becoming frayed, and eality tunnels were becoming extremely narrow.

The dynamics of a Verwirrung Age would hopefully break the logjam, allowing information to flow, perceptions to widen, and humanity's physical and metaphysical evolution to begin once again.

He had made his decision. During the coming dynamism, Novelty, and paradigm shifts, he would ride the timewave where he belonged, amongst his beloved Flock, the TAZ. He would sit between the Hodge and the Podge, awash in the gentle tides of Verwirrung.

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