Step 4: Becoming Adept

The sole purpose of some men is to leave behind a magnificent structure in which future explorers will find themselves at the mercy of incredible genius and magnitude. Their cathedrals, buildings, shrines, and museum-like labyrinths render this magnificent power on to the beholder - if they are receptive. Fine-tuning your appreciation for original thinking emblazoned in a mighty structure is a simple process that makes all the difference.
Communication through symbol is the key. The spatial content of an architect's rendering is there to expand awareness. An important concept of the Alan Moore Graphic Novel "From Hell" is that buildings compose the reflection of everyone's sight, which condition the city to their works in a present sense and also continuously through time. This channeling of inspiration is what is called becoming 'Adept.' Adept derives from the Latin deponent verb Adeptus: "To Obtain." Obtaining new levels of insight from such wondrous domains will benefit the subtle framework of your own mind. That was the goal of the great Artisans and Craftsmen, who banded together in guilds and secret schools of teaching. 

The Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England, is one of most complex and remodeled buildings for its time. Since its design by the early Twelfth Century by Frenchman William of Sens, various Archbishops have mandated reconstruction to suit their interpretations of the heavens. The interior is incredibly massive, with brilliant shafts of light and glorious stained glass windows. One of the additions to the building is a massive underground crypt, a Christian interpretation of Labyrinth. In Eastern Religious schools, the Labyrinth is symbolic of attaining spiritual bearings on the physical world. According to the Secret Teachings of All The Ages by Manly Hall:

"Labyrinths were symbolic of the involvements and illusions of the lower world
 through which wanders the soul  of man in its search for truth. In the labyrinth
 dwells the lower animal man with the head of the bull, who seeks
to destroy the soul entangled in the maze of worldly ignorance"

The shift in conscious evolution is the recurring theme of being "Under the Temple." 

Another wildly brilliant Architect is none other than Frank Lloyd Wright. His Taliesyn structures, and the accompanying student-designed cabins, contain large drawing rooms and galleries of miniature models of energy-efficient coastline structures.

The waterfall-powered house of Frank Lloyd Wright is the perfect integration of land and man. The interdependency brings a new level of organization and thinking. However, a renegade architect, Alex Jordan, is the true revolutionary foundation-sowing craftsman. 

Located in Spring Green, Wisconsin, The House on the Rock is the pinnacle of wonder. Secluded, towering, and charged with artistic soul, Alex Jordan's house is a three-wing maze of amusements. Instruments playing themselves are only a piece of the picture. It must be explored for yourself.

"Alex Jordan believed that sights and sounds were the most effective means of stimulating the senses. He wanted guests to question his creation, to come to their own conclusions and to turn his world of dreams into their own."

Not only will you question his creation, you will be cast adrift in a flurry of amazement.
In the "Secret Teachings," Hall discusses the Ancient Druids of Rome. The process of becoming adept - absorbing genius through your surroundings - is especially true for these secretive peoples - whose tenets of belief called the "Welsh Triads" list 'obtaining' as the first step. The other steps will be discussed in the posts to come:

"The Welsh Triads tell us there are three objects of metempsychosis: to collect into
the soul the properties of all being, to acquire a knowledge
 of all things, and to get power to conquer evil."

There is much to explore. Navigate Greatly!

-SubTemplum

Step 3: Synectic Bridges

Recently, a prophetic little book coincidentally made its way into my hands. Sometimes a book is classic for its age, but this book is a classic for its vault of suppressed ideas. Art Synectics by Nicholas Roukes is a sage-like manual on communicating incredible levels of connection between art and its audience. Synectics derives from the Greek word Synectikos: “brining different things into unified connection."

After sewing this glorious seed, Roukes continues:

"This is a term of creative thinking that combines imagination and analogical thinking in order to transform commonplace, familiar elements into new and unusual structures. Since Art Syntectics involve the process of fusing disparities, it demands tolerance for ambiguity and for the initial chaos that accompanies the process of mixing highly diverse elements”

Does this jog your memory?

Recess and Ocean's 11: Two tales of recurring, epic heists from an assemblage of individual specialties. Collaboration and synectics seem to go hand in hand. The next part is crucial:

"Synectic thinking appeal to the integrated brain: to the intuitive intelligence that stems from our emotional and psychological makeup, and to the logical and more rational brain that allows us to “nail down” feelings and perceptions into hard facts and tangible structures."

Nailing down hard facts into tangible structures: The word pontifex means "builder of bridges" in Latin. Usually a Catholic term, it applies to anyone that chooses to benefit mankind or other people on a daily basis. Alex Grey, the world's foremost transcendental artist, chooses to use the idea of a 'Chapel' to describe the unity he seeks to build: http://www.cosm.org/. Similarly, the Om-derived band Shrinebuilder is also a purveyor of unifying wisdom. This blog's title is also an underground or "under temple" community. To take pontifex to the next level, we must use the term templifex.
Templifexes will become conduits of truth to the observant eye. They will be the card-carrying result of which bridges can be made to. In this way, other pontifexes will kinetically strengthen the templifexes, Lightworkers, truthseekers and activists of every kind.
The skeletal construction of the underground will begin to strengthen to a new level of interconnection. From the framework only true, tightly-woven structures will emerge. Construction is only a matter of connections away.
Tenebrarum Turbae Cecidebit!
-SubTemplum

Step 2: Disillusionment, Reconfiguration, Bearings

If your view of our universe is solid, unchanging and unbreakable, that's because the twisted forces of nature have yet to give you a swift kick off your comfortable plane of thinking. But, if you've ever questioned the nature of reality through an intense dream, enlightening experience, or psychadelic experimentation, then you've come to the right place. The space-metal band Orange Goblin know a thing or two about how mankind is missing the mark:

"And you know I've seen the future

And you know I've seen the past

And the human race is changing

Now we're living life too fast"

Once you begin to question what this reality is, like in Inception, you will begin with feeling disillusioned. Disillusionment is necessary in small increments in order to expand your awareness as a whole. David Lynch spoke of this earlier in the Creativity post. Some people will live their whole lives in the luxury box seats of the theatre, while the groundlings will find endless fascination and synthesis in the real, gritty thick of it. Keeping that in mind, it's not surprising that Orange Goblin has a song called "Your World Will Hate This." However, disillusionment can also be comforting, in that your mobility of thinking is no longer shackled down to a narrow frame of reference and you are free to explore anything and everything. This freedom to explore is the key to being alive, which is why the most "living" that people accomplish is at a young age of wondrous curiosity.
Alex Grey's wonder: 

While disillusioned, it is a key time to reconfigure your planetary bearings. Like plants, which grow around trellises instinctively, the human instinct is to be nurtured through ideas and creativity. Terrence McKenna prophetically says: "The imagination is the goal of history. I see culture as an effort to literally realize our collective dreams."

Establishing Blueprints

Artists with great intuition give powerful lessons of our universe. Their work oftentimes requires decoding. Training ourselves to recognize when an artist, director or author has such a message is one of the most important things we can do at this stage. In the continuum of movies and books there are bloated amounts of information. Our common purpose is to spread the words of unifying concepts like transcendental peace and unification. Now must train ourselves to select such movies, which contain information arranged much like a blueprint, that are revealed through concepts, plots, and metaphors. These movies we select must have the seeds to enlightenment. All that is required is fertile minds. We must ensure that the movies that we immortalize for future generations bear the juiciest of fruits.

What is a blueprint of transcendentalism? Let's look at the roots.

Trans = Latin for "Across"

Transcend = Rise Above, Exceed.

Transcendental= The invisible fabric of the universe's interconnectivity absorbed subconsciously in humans but, when "going across,"  obtaining higher levels of consciousness. In a way, leaving the human experience to understand metaphysical reality.

Guidelines For Blueprints

1. The story or album should begin the same way it ends. Watchmen is the classical graphic novel blueprint for this component, as it begins and ends with the Smiling Doomsday Clock with a blood splatter. The Pink Floyd Album "Dark Side Of The Moon" is the standard for this musical blueprint, as it begins and ends with a beating heart. Beginning the same way a story ends signifies that the incidents of the story were set into motion before it even began. Directors that understand this wish to blow your mind.

2. The character or subject should undergo a journey or internal struggle that questions reality along the way. The book "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" By Joseph Campbell is the blueprint for this requirement. It explains how in nearly every hero's journey, the realm of nonordinary realities delivers a vital lesson the hero needs to fulfil his task. As in reality, this can be done through internal realization or externally through a special chemical compound found in magic herbs or potions, usually given to the hero by a seer. In the Roman Poem the Aenid by Vergil, Aeneas travels to Hell in search of the epic shield. Badass characters can also be a requirement if you want.
3. Nature is illustrated as the source of enlightenment. In Aronofsky's "Pi," a spiral conch shell, and the perfect arrangement of an Ant's body are the catalyst moments to universal understanding and fulfillment.
4. Death is only the beginning. A classical example would be Star Wars: A New Hope when Obi-Wan sacrifices himself, out of understanding of the interstellar nature of death and to be the guiding force required for Luke Skywalker's dangerous mission. Joseph Campbell actually consulted with George Lucas on his initial movies.
5. Nature and Pure Characters have a symbiotic relationship. Once again, Alan Moore's Swampthing.
6. The struggle between good and evil (ying yang) is a neverending process.
7. Material greed is overcome and destroyed.

8. Righteousness of any kind.

Some basic blueprints that will help you with your own ideas for blueprints:

• Psychoactive Concepts as they relate to religion and spirit:www.erowid.com
• Paintings In order, of the Human Experience through transcendental vision:www.Alexgrey.com (click on Paintings, then click on the Progress Of The Soul)
• The blueprints for living healthy:www.cleanairandwater.net
• The blueprints for our galaxy:www.youtube.com (search Carl Sagan)
• Black Sabbath's early Ozzy years, with anguishing vocals and heavy bearing-filled rhythms:

"Long ago I wandered through my mind / in the land of fairy tales and stories / innocence and love was all I knew / Was it illusion? / Lost in the wheels of confusion / Hiding in everyday fears"

Though it is an unusual suggestion you don't hear often, disillusionment is an important phase in being alive. After your reconfiguration holds new structures of thinking, a bearing to Earth will be achieved.  The band Om holds the blueprints to reconfiguration, obtaining bearings, and ascension, wrapped in confusing riddles:

"Approach the grid substrate the sunglows beam to freedom."

"Stillness breathes apex supreme - groundates toward the mountain."

"Centripetal core of soul sojourns the field vibrates to absolution. I climb toward the sun to breathe the universal."

Alex Grey's Transfiguration.

-SubTemplum

Step 1: Acquire The Underground

When society degenerates, Anthony Burgess envisions in his A Clockwork Orange gangs of Ruffians fueled on milk, ultra-violence and supremacy taking control of the streets. The ruffians, addicted to pure adrenaline, are the masters of all counter-culture. Equipped with their own slang, uniforms and hideouts, these misfits are the template for running the streets. Original heavy metal band Black Sabbath accurately summarizes dystopia in the apocalypse-charged song Hole In The Sky:

"I've Watched The Dogs Of War Enjoying Their Feast,

I've Seen The Western World Go Down in The East.

The Food Of Love Became The Greed Of Our Time,

And Now We're Living On The Profits Of Crime."

The Counter Culture is nurtured through resistance to mainstream behavior, and that is exactly what is preparing itself to emerge. Lightworkers, as mentioned in the previous post, are aware of the potential for the counter culture to gain control of the harness of society in a way that would mirror the situation in A Clockwork Orange, minus the ultra-violence. One of our era's most profound Lightworkers, Terrence McKenna, anti-materialist philosopher, ethnobotanist and author, has left his entire life's body of work up to the hands of future Lightworkers to move forward with. On culture, McKenna says:

"We have to create culture; don't watch TV, don't read magazines, don't even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow. The nexus of space and time where you are now is the most immediate sector of your universe, and if you're worrying about Michael Jackson or Bill Clinton or somebody else, then you are disempowered, you're giving it all away to icons, icons which are maintained by an electronic media.

...You want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that's being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world." 

As a lecturer, McKenna also focused on aspects of Western Culture that are flagrantly counterproductive to our necessary transition into greater awareness. Among his targets is ego, one of the major hindrances of creativity:

"Ego is a structure that is erected by a neurotic individual who is a member of a neurotic culture against the facts of the matter. And culture, which we put on like an overcoat, is the collectivized consensus about what sort of neurotic behaviors are acceptable." 

As a Milwaukee youth, my exposure to counter culture was delightfully nurtured at a young age.
Among them are:

• Brew City Bruisers, Milwaukee's All-Woman Roller Derby Team: http://www.brewcitybruisers.com/
• Dead Man's Carnival, A Sideshow Entertainment Guild: http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2008/07/dead-mans-carnival/
• Longest Running Rocky Horror Picture Show Production in the World: http://cinematreasures.org/theater/443/
• The Milwaukee Underground Metal Scene, especially 'Thrash 'N Roll:' www.myspace.com/rocknrollbrothas
• Art house Galleries like the Borg Ward: http://theborgward.org/

If you live in an area of one-track minded streams of personality, then you will be delighted to visit Milwaukee to stumble upon diverse sub units of frolicking peace-lovers that would otherwise be overlooked in our world of mass media dehumanization. Transcendentalism is all about the connection. Ants are one of the most cooperative species, and anyone who has seen the progress of an ant farm knows what figurative "direction" our species must go next: colonization from the underground to above.

While mass mainstream culture can identify with a "hive mind" mentality, it is the incorrect one. Counter-culture youth who stay true to their individualities are the catalyst to human colonization of many levels incorporated into one: socially, spiritually, and subconsciously. According to www.in5d.com, catalysts to the human consciousness revolution must materialize from sub-cultures:

"It is up to those who want this shift to connect with others of like mind and begin actively creating networks of real cooperation. The old will crumble. The new period will dawn with its growing pains, the severity of which depends on our ability to accept what is happening and go with the flow. This, he says, requires evolving to unconditional love, with an open and simple heart, forgiveness, and cooperation with less ego competition."
All that is required of us is brotherhood, love, and an unbreakable sense of community. Even existentialists are beginning to sense that cooperation with like-minded groups holds more power than one individual. Follow your nearest inspirational guide, whichever way their message of spreading unity takes. Phish concerts are a great place to witness this invisible trait in action. Ever heard of the movie The Warriors? Like a fractal pattern, even the tiniest of patterns is enough to replicate itself to infinite sizes:

Spread the word about this blog. We are the beginning of the fractal pattern, and when others of like groups are assembled, a powerful cultural shift will take hold as McKenna aptly prescribes. Stay tuned for more!

In Veritas!

SubTemplum