Lightbringers of the North

Discussion on literature other than by the Star of Azazel.
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Smaragd
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Lightbringers of the North

Post by Smaragd »

20th century Finland has quite a history of characters operating on the fields of paranormal and the occult and this book going over some of them is finally translated and being published. There's chapters of those who shamelessly abused their position of being connoisseurs of the unknown, those who lure to madness or milder imbalances of their principles, and those who leave a glorious legacy to the coming generations. I have not read the book, but judging by the cavalcade of people written about, it has more wide and colourful than deep dive in to the subject and thus the book might be more of a fine culturally emphasised diverge from the midst of more heavy reading. But surely such lighter reading can be of great help, if not for the variation on books, then at least by the numerous examples that serve as a warning or as a exemplary way forth.
LotN promotion material regarding Aino Kassinen wrote:Siitoin claimed later: “She told me that I had occult powers and urged me to study more from certain books. Then she initiated me into satanism. So she was my teacher in the occult.” It is extremely unlikely that Kassinen would have initiated Siitoin into satanism, for her worldview was throughoutly benevolent, emphasizing the love of one’s neighbor and helping other people. Siitoin’s claim is better seen as a jab at his former mentor, who froze their relationship when Siitoin stepped over to the dark side.
Do you know if Kassinen had Theosophical background or sources she had studied? Because if so, it's quite likely that Pekka Ervast's visions of Satan could have been there in the background and instead of Siitoin's comment being purely a jab towards his former mentor defaming her in the eyes of the general public, it could have been a serious initiation in to Satanism. I don't mean nominally, rather in spirit. The culture wasn't yet ripe for Satanism to be taken nominally, and thus also the readiness of the individuals taking it must not have been so well prepared. Taking an initiation that accepts Satan in the degree of Ervastian Satanism (the weird sound of this term marks how Ervast was including Satan in the spirit of his teaching, yet remaining from taking it nominally because of unripe situations: it would have been sensational and attracting a wrong kind of attention, where as in our time the nominal thing has become constructive way of action in certain spheres) could have easily failed, asking for so much from the student, and could have given a birth to a crisis that results the intitiant casting the Heriophant's mask of the particular initiation on one's own persona. Instead of managing to process the powers in a esoteric context (overviewed by the discipline and the teacher), one might use the initial spark to become a jester to the exoterical side of the outer culture, detonating bombs, marching in nazi unforms in the clear daylight of a major city etc. Siitoin did all of those things, but it is ofcourse beyond me to say if this was the case regarding the movements in his soul. It just draws out such a notion to consider when positioning oneself towards the initiations one takes. How one is to process the initiations, the powers given, the Hierophant's mask etc.

If some of you have read the book or will read it in the future, perhaps this topic might be used to discuss the examples given. While these examples might be like the bones of the fallen we see in our path, or a encouraging breeze of air, I would suggest the discussion would lead through ideas rather than passing of judgement on the personas. To compare, the legends of the Eighty-Niny Mahasiddhas draw out also quite a bunch of characters and I would not judge them by their personas.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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Benemal
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Re: Lightbringers of the North

Post by Benemal »

It's a fun book to read, and it's meant to be. Not an occult book, related in spirit to rock/metal books. R.I.P. co-writer and SoA friend Perttu Häkkinen.

My opinion on Siitoin is that he was a funny guy.https://youtu.be/KpeIpncLlmg

Ervast was probably the greatest of the century. Since I was a child, I've loved the UFO gurus Juhan Af Grann and Rauni Leena Luukanen. I think they were a part of that book also.
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Smaragd
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Re: Lightbringers of the North

Post by Smaragd »

Benemal wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:40 am Since I was a child, I've loved the UFO gurus Juhan Af Grann and Rauni Leena Luukanen. I think they were a part of that book also.
There remains a sort of nostalgic and childlike innocense in these characters although the eccentric meter goes red really fast and then innocense usually starts to disappear. I guess it's about the sincere belief they hold for alien visitations and their spacecrafts that radiates that kind of qualities. Very valuable thing for an occultist to learn the virtue hidden therewith, but in balance with other things. There was a bit voyeristic documentary called My Father from Sirius that came out some years ago, where this sincerity of belief and the sensitivities regarding it were portrayed quite openly, although in sort of a tragic way also. It hurts to laugh when the tragicomedic moments hit. Certainly some unnecessarily comedic decisions made in that film which is unfortunate for the sensitivity of the subject.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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