Maya Deren existed as the greatest manifestation of the Voudoun family of Erzulie. Her presence is legendary. Here is a recent post detailing her importance as well as a perspective on Alexander Hislop and our most recent tyrant.
Before I get into my opinions on the subjects that you brought up, I want to recommend that you rent a DVD from Blockbuster about Maya Deren. Any initiate will really enjoy her biography DVD and her films. She was a Russian emigre who met Seabrook when she was a college student and went on to make the seminal Voodoo documentary in Haiti called "The Divine Horsemen". Actually, Her book of the same name came out first. Just google her name and you'll see what a profound artist/initiate Maya was---definitely my biggest hero of all time.
Anyway, my take on current politics/illuminati/Ron Howard movies and all that stuff (including the untalented and kinda dumb Dan Brown) is that we've been fooled again. I voted for Obama but I'm a sucker. I'm afraid that Barack (a word signifying prayer) is a modern version of Ronald Regan (I voted for him too). Obama is a hired gun/ mouthpiece for the bankers. I'm certain that history will confirm this. But, of course its not his fault. Like so many financial services people have told me, "hey, I got a family to support." This idea allows many individuals to act without conscience. That's why every conquering despot encourages men to sire families. This process creates more potential hostages to threaten the man to work harder for smaller wages. Bill Gates would be the most recent example of this. The (networked) PC is, in fact, a slave machine which hearkens back to the darkest days of the founding of the colony of New York by the "Dutch Masters" in the 16th century. At that time they relied on slaves to do the work. About half were Scottish and Irish (Known as indentured servants) and half were Africans. For the first 50 years both groups could purchase freedom. This took a lifetime but if they could purchase their freedom and then have children, the kids would be (supposedly) freemen. This only happened in a handful of cases. As time went by, the Africans were smart enough to see through this bullshit and so this right to purchase freedom was taken away from them.
You may wonder why the Scottish and Irish were targeted. The simple answer is that their economy was based on bartering. Many made "moonshine and bartered it for cattle, building materials, etc. Of course, that process makes it difficult for the ruling government to tax. When you have a money based economy, taxation becomes a simple deal. That's the curse that originated with the Roman Empire and it's clever use of taxation, torture and utilizing the family as hostages.
Just picture today---if a man was worth $10,000 and was paid $7.50 an hour and had to support his family and save to buy his freedom, it would take about a lifetime. In fact, thats the same plan that the banks (aka credit card companies) have planned for the American citizenry in 2009. Guess who is supporting the banks---Obama. I think that Pete Townsend got fooled again!
Now, Alexander Hislop is well worth studying, particularly The Two Babylons. But you've got to read a lot of the other philology/anthropology/colonial adventurism of the 19th century of his era. Drower, Forlong, Cumont, Massey and Sir Richard Burton (translator of the Arabian Nights as well as St. Yves-D'Avedre (and many more) were part of a movement of pseudo-history/science which sold books like the Beatles sold albums a century later. This stuff is great reading if you can dig the 19th century style of writing. It's filled with imagination (because of a desire to sell books) and unveils the true mentality of the reading public of the imperial colonial powers (primarily France and England with the German city states thrown in). The best approach to this material is to read it like a comic book. Its a wonderful, imaginary world which caters to, and reveals, our inner feelings and instincts. Hislp is aware of a Luciferian/Gnostic current which existed within the Roman Catholic Church (and later spread to the Eastern Orthodox Church) which probably began with Isaac of Luria and and Joachim of Fiora (the originators of the pre-adamite doctrine).
I hope you investigate these ideas. Learning can only come from suffering until one becomes an Arhat. An Arhat is one who thoroughly understands the Buddhist notion of the 5 Skandas. Re that, I refer you to my email on Emma Hardinge Britten (friend of PB Randolph and prominent sex magican):
Emma is such an important figure in the dawning awareness of the "world village" that British Colonialism unveiled---way more interesting than Sir Richard Burton or General Forlong. One of my favorites reads is Olcott's "Old Diary Leaves" but I wonder if anyone who participated in that famous New York meeting understood the intellectual gifts that Emma (with her British accent and habits) was bringing to the table.
Two Worlds might be the ultimate description of EHB's experience of this mortal coil. Conflict can make great art and I suspect that we will find a great deal of that quality as we come to know Emma better. Like HP Blavatsky, she is really a messenger, or harbringer, of things to come. Maybe that's psychism or maybe thats just intellect. I think that both HPB and EHB were challenged with the Pre-Adamite Doctinre (Elohim, Lilith, etc.). My reading of the various Pre-Adamite theories suggest that it is really 19th century code for bi-sexuality (which I am very much in favor of). Both Art Magic and Ghostland are written from a very masculine perspective---I believe that Emma is using her acting skills to write in this manner. She certainly does it very well.
The real historical importance of this stuff (in my opinion) is that East meets West. HPB and Emma and many other folks promote the western Abrahamic idea of the soul. Everybody's got one and that leads to an idea of the importance of individuality, America and capitalism. The only problem is that when HPB gets to India and finds that she's been scamed by Indo-Aryan nationalists, she gets the real scoop on Theravadin Buddhism (ala The Dhammapada). That southern Buddhist doctrine says that there is no such thing as a soul or a godhead, just the five skandas (usually translated as aggregates). In other words, the idea of individuality is an illusion much like the idea of a wooden table being a solid object. Its really a bunch of molecules moving so quickly that it only appears to be solid. In a like manner, Gautama Buddha suggested that there is no "I"---its just the illusion created by 5 separate systems (skandhas) in our human physiology. Try telling that to the Theosophical Society spiritualists who are sending you money!
This is the spiritual crisis of the 19th century so admirably summed up by Philologist Nietszche, "I could not believe that the old man did not know, God is Dead." (Thus Spake Zarathustra) In a world that received information through novels and periodicals, this must have been a tough sell. I think that Emma found a more attractive way to break the news than HPB.
Well, enough of my love affair with EHB. I don't know if you're familiar with the (Roman Catholic) doctrine of "celestification" but I think that our Priestess has achieved an immortality which Julius Caesar and Napolean can only envy.
This should give you something to chew on. Please check out Maya Deren. She might be the most important artist of the 20th century.
Bob
PS Abraham (or Abram, depending on your point of view) represents the first conjurer, or illusionist. The grand illusion is that there's one omnipotent guy (god) who can kick anybody's ass that you have to worship or he'll fuck with you. Its the same dynamic as telling the bully in the schoolyard "I've got a friend around the corner who will come fuck you up." Its an old con that started to lose popularity when Nietszche came along.
