longer active. But there is no reason why they couldn’t be.
Now the pieces come together in a very intriguing fashion. The model I am proposing is this: The Prince of
Darkness could well have provided the Gift in the form of a master program: a regulatory gene or genes which would
affect other genes. This gene would be spliced into a non-lethal retrovirus that would infect only the sex-cells of the
ancestor primate. The former species would then mate and produce the protohuman progeny, who would then go on
to reproduce themselves.
Set as the master molecular biologist? At some point he would have to make a physical alteration, as the
human psyche would be unable to adequately express itself in an inadequate brain. At some point physical changes
are necessary, and these would have to be done in a simple but complete way. Genetic alteration can accomplish
this, given the dark genius to guide the mechanisms in a very elegant manner so as to effect the transformation with
only a small set of instructions.
William S. Burroughs once said, “Language is a virus from outer space.” I am suggesting that this may indeed
be so. What are the implications?
Our genes are fossils of the past, and molecular biology is providing insights into our evolutionary past. Race-
memory is real; it exists in the genes located in our DNA. Some of the information has long since changed; some is
much the same now as it was millions of years ago.
Most DNA has been thought to be “garbage” containing no real information at all. Developmental biologists,
however, are changing this perception. The expression “hen’s teeth”, for instance, has some basis in fact. Apparently
an early ancestor of the chicken had a set of teeth. While this trait no longer exists in the modern bird, chicken
fetuses have been induced to grow some tooth tissue using some special gene-activating factors. This experiment
has demonstrated that a creature can contain remnants of its evolutionary past in the form of genes that have long
since been deactivated yet are nevertheless hanging around.
If Set left a genetic fingerprint of his handiwork, it would be very difficult to find. Human DNA contains about
6 billion bits of information coding for an estimated 100,000 genes in a 4-character language. That is a lot of
information. Currently there is a major project ongoing to sequence all of the human DNA. We will soon have the
complete set of instructions for construction of an entire human being. This information will mean very little to us at
the moment, but will be progressively more useful in the future. [Ed. Note: As we go to press, I understand that
fundamentalist religious and some ethnic groups are pressuring Congress to suppress this DNA-deciphering effort.
The stated grounds are concern for “genetic mutations out of control”, but it doesn’t take much imagination to see
what’s really behind the effort.]
If the Gift is contained on the DNA, we will have that also. We will be able to play with it and manipulate it.
We will be able to affect our evolution in a very direct way - to program our biological future. We’ll be able to do this
even if we don’t find such a gene; we’re starting to already.
Given this information, there is much to be considered by the Black Magician. Following are some sample
ideas and scenarios:
1. Up to this time I have mentioned only the known intelligence of the human race. What of the possibility of
other creatures receiving the Gift? Dolphins appear to be good candidates for such an occurrence. Could they have
developed their intelligence in a more subjective context, not needing to do the kind of environmental manipulation
required of humans on land?
2. Suppose the Gift is a set of multiple genes, with one of them yet to be activated - waiting for a human hand
to turn it on? [Ed. Note: In effect a genetic version of 2001: A Space Odyssey.]
3. Suppose the Gift consisted of only one gene, and that it was a piece of DNA containing exactly 666 bits of
information? This is not outside the range of a small gene. Suppose the “waiting” gene discussed in #2 above
possesses this characteristic?
4. The revolution in molecular biology is providing tremendous applications in biological warfare. While the
United States and the Soviet Union have agreed not to produce offensive biological weapons, they are currently
engaged in research having to do with “defensive scenarios”. Since a “defensive scenario” requires a weapon against
which to defend, we are currently producing real weapons for these “what if” situations. There are plans to build a
test-chamber in Utah.
5. The cold war may be the least of our worries. Unlike nuclear technology, both the information and the tools
are readily accessible in biotechnology. Remember the stories about college students designing and building their
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own nuclear devices? In the near future we may have the doomsday capability in our hands without the lack of
“plutonium” to prevent someone from implementing it. I’m talking not just about small governments and terrorist
groups, but also about individuals.
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A97: On Natural vs. Non-Natural Religion
- by Stephen E. Flowers V°
We live in an age heavily influenced by the ideals of Romanticism. In this age to say that something is
“natural” is to equate it with something “good, right, and moral” - so saith the Gospel According to the Cereal Box (a
contemporary American icon). For the most part this emphasis on the natural has been a positive development, and
has been used as the chief battering-ram against the edifices of monotheistic totalitarianism. But this can be
considered only a provisional weapon in the fight to return to a more spiritual heritage. It seems that “Mother
Nature” can be fairly easily substituted for “God the Father” - so easily, in fact, that we might suspect that “Mother
Nature” is none other than “God the Father” in drag.
Before we go on, two important concepts must be defined and their synonyms explained. Natural indicates
that which is the product of regularly-occurring organic or mechanical processes in the Objective Universe (OU). It
might be worth pointing out that the word natur-al is derived from the past participle of the Latin verb nasci (to be
born). 139 So too are all of the words using this stem, i.e. nat-ion (people sharing ancestors). All of these originally
have to do with organic or physical relationships.
Many systems of thought have had no trouble distinguishing between the natural and the non-natural. The
ancient Greeks knew well the difference between physis (nature) and psyche (spirit). Modern German academic
faculties have no problem drawing the distinction between the Natural Sciences and the Intellectual Sciences (which
we call the “Humanities”).
The Right-Hand Path (RHP) essentially teaches that these two categories are illusions, and that in reality the
two are identical. Its solution is to subordinate the “illusion” of self-awareness, of the psyche, to the “reality” of God,
Nature, or whatever.
The Left-Hand Path (LHP) solution is simpler. It teaches that the two categories we are capable of perceiving
as being distinct are in fact just that. The distinction is the result of the existence of the principle of isolate
consciousness within the universe, and the presence of the Gift of that Intelligence within individual members of the
human
species. The LHP solution is then to cultivate and nurture this intelligence as a separate and unique quality,
that it may Xeper. Xeper leads to individually-determined freedom.
In the history of religion and philosophy, we have seen many examples of how natural and non-natural
systems can harmoniously interact with one another. In Japan, for example, we see how the native or ancestral
religion of Shinto has been supplemented by the introduction of the sometimes non-natural [and certainly non-
native] Buddhism. The typical Japanese is today both Shinto and Buddhist. Each system fulfills a special function in
the religious life, and provides a special set of religious options to the modern Japanese. Shinto puts a person in
touch with the collective, eternal life-force and vitality coursing through the nation, while Buddhism provides a
method of individual enlightenment - which may emerge on either the RHP or the LHP.
The same thing can be seen in the philosophy of Plato. He did not think that all people should be trained in
the fashion of his Philosopher-Kings. The traditions of the belief in the gods and goddesses of the Hellenic
civilization were to be cultivated and continued; but beyond this there was to be a system of philosophical inquiry
and enlightenment of the self based on direct knowledge of the objective Forms ( nœsis). This nœsis, however, is a
non-natural step for humans to take.
Both natural and non-natural religions or philosophical systems can and do coexist in single cultures or
societies. Each supports the other. This achieves the Platonic ideal of a whole and evolving society.
Such coexistence is not possible in a truly Christian world. Christianity reduces the non-natural to a natural or
organic/mechanical model [whether Christians appreciate this or not], and falsely elevates that model to the level of
“super-nature”. 140 There is really nothing “super-natural” about Yahweh; he is, as the Gnostics well knew, merely a
personification of the natural/organic laws.
Natural religious systems are most effective for organizing and maintaining natural structures in society, in
the OU, and within those segments of the Subjective Universe (SU) of the believer which still may be dependent on
organic models. On the other hand, non-natural systems are most effective for the understanding and conscious
development of the Self, which in turn may have an effect on the SU and OU themselves.
These are the most effective uses of the two systems. But as Black Magicians we must always return to the
agent of any usage - to the user - for our ultimate perspective.
139 And, apparently, further back from the ancient Egyptian neter (a Form or First Principle = a “god” or “goddess” of the
Universal existence). - M.A.
140 According to Thomas Aquinas, natural law embraces all universal phenomena, humanity included, save for revealed
instructions of God to the human consciousness ( divine law). Only God himself was, as the source of eternal law, exempt from
these “proclaimed” ordering of things. The self-consciousness of mankind, to the extent that it obeys the divine and natural law
of God in the issuance of human law, is dutiful and acceptable. The presumption of that self-consciousness to the prerogatives of
eternal law itself - as the Black Magician does - is “sinful” - the “crime” of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden, as it were. - M.
Aquino
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The philosophy of the Temple of Set is not a natural religion; it is essentially a non-natural one. It is perhaps
the most sophisticated and self-conscious exponent of this point of view that history has yet seen.
When outsiders hear of some of the “non-natural” rhetoric employed in Setian discourse, they sometimes
think that Setians advocate the wanton destruction of nature. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just because
Setians are capable of going beyond nature does not imply that we find it useless or in any way hateful.
Just because a person is capable of thought does not mean that he or she will cease such natural activities as
feeling, eating, or having sex. The individual, however, may turn these activities into thought-provoking
experiences. In transforming natural functions into spiritual experiences, humans exercise their non-natural
prerogative to go beyond the bounds of organic existence. In going beyond the bounds of nature, the human does
not come merely to understand divinity, but rather to exercise it. That is the aim of non-natural religion.
The Temple of Set II Page 113
