13: Terence McKenna, John Dee, Shew-Stones, and Hermeticism

During this episode we listen to a portion of a lecture by Terence McKenna and provide commentary. We discuss the impact of the Judeo-Christian belief that man is fallen. McKenna discusses how this contrasts with esoteric teachings that we are co-creators of reality with the divine.

He also discusses how bizarre of a case John Dee was, though it will be quite familiar for Mormons. John Dee was an educated individual in the late 1500's who claimed an angel appeared to him, giving him a “shew stone” in which messages appeared. A man named Edward Kelley then shows up on the scene and uses the shew-stone to receive messages in reversed Latin, which were transcribed by John Dee. Ultimately the angels command John Dee to share his wife with Edward Kelley. We also discuss the impact psychedelics may have had on esotericism, but highlight McKenna's point that they needn't be involved in explaining all mystical experiences that contributed to esotericism.

The full McKenna lecture is available at https://youtu.be/6pvAhssEmVo?si=WjeI7MTAklD-5Z2S

Links:

Becoming Michelangelo: Apprenticing to the Master and Discovering the Artist through His Drawings - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1956763473

Silence: A Novel - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSNZ7BFK

The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004M8RUF4

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Recap of Sunstone Sessions

02:02 Exploring the Connection Between Mormonism and Freemasonry

08:08 Terence McKenna and the Mystical Origins of Mormonism

12:30 Magic, Hermeticism, and Christianity

13:41 The Christian View of Fallen Man

16:35 False Dichotomy of Good and Evil

20:34 Christ as an Archetype Instead of a Savior

23:31 Freud's Superego, Ego, Id

28:46 The Hermetic View of Humanity as Co-Partners in Creation

32:55 Dangers of Anthropocentrism

37:52 Morals Outside of Religion

46:59 The Historicity of Hermes Trismegistus

52:01 Hermetic Philosophy

56:36 Gods in Embryo

01:01:04 Enoch and Moses's Vision, and Mystical Experiences

01:03:02 Religion versus Spirituality

00:51 LSD and the Mind of the Universe

03:44 The Absence of Sin in Hermeticism

06:37 Similarities with the Book of Abraham and the Second Comforter

10:04 Reevaluating Damnation and Sin within Idealism

13:39 Psychedelics and other Methods for Mystical Experiences

19:39 Reconciling Spiritual Experiences after Mormonism

24:23 Western Europe's Shift towards Religion

36:39 Giordano Bruno

38:46 John Dee

41:10 John Dee's Shew-Stone and Edward Kelly

46:00 Similarities Between John Dee and Joseph Smith

55:44 Integrating Truths and the Evolution of Religion

01:01:27 The Challenge of Reconciling Religion Without Dichotomies

01:03:11 The Battle Between Religion and Spirituality

01:08:51 LSD and the Mind of the Universe

01:11:44 The Absence of Sin in Hermeticism

01:14:37 Similarities with the Book of Abraham and the Second Comforter

01:18:04 Reevaluating Damnation and Sin within Idealism

01:21:39 Psychedelics and other Methods for Mystical Experiences

01:27:39 Reconciling Spiritual Experiences after Mormonism

01:32:23 Western Europe's Shift towards Religion

01:44:39 Giordano Bruno

01:46:46 John Dee

01:49:10 John Dee's Shew-Stone and Edward Kelly

01:54:00 Similarities Between John Dee and Joseph Smith

02:03:44 Integrating Truths and the Evolution of Religion

02:09:27 The Challenge of Reconciling Religion Without Dichotomies

02:11:11 The Battle Between Religion and Spirituality