GRGR3: Discussion Opener for Section 3

[Andrew Dinn]

Paul Murphy responded to the following questions:

> >2)  Why is TRP including all this spiritualist, voodoo shit?
> 
> >7)  "It's control. All these things arise from one difficulty: control"
> >    (30.26) "the Invisible Hand" (30.30) Is this a major policy in
> >    GR's manifestoor just a throwaway introduced merely to set up a
> >    sneer at psychology or 'uspenskian nonsense'? (30.31). Remember
> >    that `Invisible hand' becomes visible, to Slothrop at least, when
> >    it materialises later on with a ponting middle finger sayign this
> >    way to the `Rocket cartel'.

The two questions are related of course by the quote Paul cited about
`control ' being put back inside and the name `control' for a
medium. But there is another angle to this relation.

I have recently been reading a great book, Peter Washington's `Madame
Blavatsky's Baboon', about the history of spiritualism which traces
most of the 20th century West's ideas on the subject back to their
roots in Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy. It is brilliantly precise,
witty, tolerant but distant (if not healthily skeptical) and broad in
its concerns. Most of all it ignores much of the detail of the
doctrines and concentrates on the politicking and in-fighting amongst
the various disciples and leaders and the ploys they used to wrest
power from each other or exercise their control over the poor saps who
fell for their spiel. It includes the Madame and her friend Colonel
Olcott, Krishnamurti, Rudolf Steiner, Ouspensky, Gurdjieff and many
another fraudulent conjurer. I'd recommend it to anyone in its own
right, but combine it with an interest in Pynchon and I think it is a
must read.


Andrew Dinn
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And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
To the rushing water speak:  I am.