Stranger in a Strange Land's topics - tribe.net

movie

Wed, 16 Jun 2004 18:26:44 GMT

I've been told that Stranger was made into a movie around the 60s-early 70s. Does anyone know about this or even had a copy of it? I'd love to get a copy from someone.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 36 replies

Reconnecting with long-lost Water Brothers...

PABlo — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:43:44 GMT

It's been years since I've checked in here, but I want you all to know that our love of "Stranger", and appreciation of all things RAH, as well as the inspiration to be part of a community... still connect us.

This is why I wish to catch the attention of anyone else who feels the same way, and offer some updated ways to find me, reconnect... and share on a renewed basis. Please come find me at the following addies, let me know that you were/are a member of grokking.tribe.net - Stranger in a Strange Land tribe... and let's continue our friendship based on the concept of being Water Brothers.

Peace and Love,
PABlo

http://pablobley.name

http://www.facebook.com/phoenixbird

http://friendfeed.com/pablobley

http://www.goodreads.com/phoenixbird

http://www.linkedin.com/in/pablobley

http://www.last.fm/user/PABloPoblano

http://www.plurk.com/phoenixbird

http://phoenixbird.soup.io/

http://twitter.com/pablobley

http://tucsoncitizen.com/scifi/

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

Nods to Stranger

Marisa — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:26:20 GMT

I recently read Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" and kept thinking that the character of Wednesday/Odin reminded me very much of dear Jubal Harshaw. Then in chapter twelve, when Shadow and Wednesday acquire the use of Harry Bluejay's car - "Harry Bluejay filled a black garbage bag with shit from the car (said shit including several screw-top bottles of cheap beer, unfinished, a small packet of canabis resin wrapped in silver foil and badly hidden in the car's ashtray, a skunktail, two dozen country and western cassettes and a battered and yellowing copy of 'Stranger in a Strange Land')." I took this as a nod from Neil. Coincidently, the next book I read was Stephen King's "Duma Key" where I found in chapter 5 - Wireman the passage - "Now we're water-brothers, " he said when it was gone. "Is that some Indian ritual?" I asked. "Nope, from 'Stranger in a Strange Land', by Robert Heinlein. Bless his memory." Has anyone else noticed any other such tributes? Of course I'm taking this as a prod that it's time to re-read Stranger again after many years.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 reply

greetings! I am new to this tribe... well sort of...

MV — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:36:00 GMT

I wanted to introduce myself and say how happy I am to find so many here already.

I was raised in an Alien culture... it is true...
but I think we have much to learn from them if we are ready to open our hearts and minds to something greater ...

anyone else ready for the new paradigm ?

come out come out where ever you are...

M

thou Art god

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 reply

Leon Russell

davorra — Sat, 03 May 2008 02:50:41 GMT

I never would have read any Heinlein if it wasn't for Leon Russell. Thank you Leon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjy7RAu8TJ4

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

Curious - Polyamory

neuroptik78 — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 05:55:56 GMT

I read Stranger when I was 12.

A very impressionable age.

Is anyone else polyamorous, and feel that Stranger or other books by Heinlein with a poly theme, planted seeds for this?

I think I would have come to identify as poly regardless of having read it, considering those I associated with in San Francisco (my home most of my life, up until 2 months ago).

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 29 replies

yougrok.com?

Michele — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:37:38 GMT

A lurker here (Yay, first post!), just wondering if anyone knows what has happened to yougrok.com. Everytime I try to go there I just get a blue box talking about some HIV/AIDS thing called Geared for Life.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

Water brothers

adamlink — Sat, 07 May 2005 05:35:48 GMT

I first read Stranger in 1969, then a student at Penn State Univ. Over the next several months, as people all around me were reading it, we soon formed our own nest of sorts...everyone within considered themselves water brothers.

Several years later....nest had dissapated a bit, we had a water brother gathering. I still have a hardcover volume of Stranger that I had all 30 people autograph who came to the gathering.

Time passed. Lost touch with almost all of my water brothers, but still have one who was my water brother in spirit long before I ever read Stranger.

Anyway....how many tribe members have people they feel are really Water Brothers in their lives?

Zane

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 17 replies

THOU ART GOD

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:01:01 GMT

the key, i believe, to living the lifestyle of water brotherhood - the nest - with the polyfidelity and casual nudity and even the money aspect is the recognition of GOD within you. without this component any such arrangement is doomed.

Here is Order of the Mithril Stars (http://mithrilstar.org) approach:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lesson 4-B: The Nature of Deity

Original by Adam Rostoker & Ellis Arseneau
Edited and Revised by AD Cerdiwen Seren-Ddaear & Ellis Arseneau

"Go out into the world and speak to that of God in every person."
~~ George Fox

"The world is ready for a mystic revolution, a discovery of the God in each of us."
~~ George Harrison

"Om purnam adah purnam idam, purnat purnam udacyate,
purnasya purnam adaya purnam eva vashistate."
"The One is always One, Each Part of the One is a Complete Whole,
Each part of
the Divine is also Perfect"
~~Sanskrit chant

"When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying, and suddenly realized that
I was talking to myself."
~~Author Unknown

"Thou art God." ~~ Valentine Michael Smith

Keep that last statement in mind.

Religion is a method those of us on this plain use to relate to the deities. It's like software for cosmic relationships, and there are many different versions (or religions) for relating with different pantheons.

In "Stranger In A Strange Land," Michael makes it a point to acknowledge the divinity within each of us. As a Pagan paradigm, what is this? Is it Monotheism, Polytheism, Pantheism or something else? Or, is this a sort of Paganized Atheism? And anyway, aren't the Gods all "made up" anyway?

The truth is that it's "none of the above," and "all of the above."

In the Kabbalah, the ancient system of Jewish mysticism, it is taught that God is an ocean. Even though we think of there being different oceans, the Atlantic, Pacific, etc., when you view the earth from the South Pole, you realize that there is in fact only one ocean. The Kabbalah also teaches that each of us, though individuals, are droplets in that ocean. When part of the ocean, we act and think collectively, and this is where the big things like evolution and creation get done. But when we are a part from the ocean, we act selfishly in our own interests.

Some of you were fans of the television series, Star Trek Deep Space Nine. You will recall the race that really made the most trouble during the series - The Founders, of which Constable Odo was one. You may also recall Odo being returned to his planet of origin, where all the Founders were merged together in an "ocean" they called "the Great Link." It is this very idea that is at the heart and center of the Kabbalistic notion of God, and how we, as water brothers are also collectively "God," along with everyone else on this planet (and perhaps in the Universe) both alive now and passed on, and all the Gods and Goddesses of ancient times (and some modern ones).

To try to alleviate some of the confusion in all this, we've identified three classes of deity: The Archetypes, The Old Ones, and Us.

The Archetypes comprise all of the famous Gods and Goddesses of old. They are the heroes and heroines of myth and legend, who represent human attributes, desires and ideals. You know many of them from school: Zeus, Isis, Thor, Yahweh, Kwan Yin etc. (Pictured above, from left to right, are: The Triple Goddess - Maiden, Mother & Crone...Pan...Cernunnos)

Newer deities from modern literature have joined them as well: Celeborn, Galadriel, Elrond, Gandalf, and others from the Tolkein books are called upon by different groves from time to time, and I've even heard of folks who invoke Klingon deities.

For the most part, the archetypes are made up out of whole cloth. They are entirely fictional beings; inventions of the human psyche. They can have great power however, depending upon the number and intensity of belief of the people who believe in them. Belief in this case energizes these beings and makes them real and powerful.

A really good example is Asphalta, the parking place Goddess. Someone somewhere just made her up. A lot of people started praying to her, and it works. This made up Goddess will reserve you a parking place. It even works for me, and I know what she is! It can work for any deity. Try it -- make up a deity and start praying to her or him. Tell others about it. Pretty soon you'll have a cult following. This is guaranteed.

Among the old Reformed Druids, the following archetypal Gods are acknowledged: Dalon ap Landu, Bael and the Earth Mother, or as she is better known, "Nature." The Order of the Mithril Star adds one more: Sequoia. The Reformed Druids of Gaia have as their patron the Goddess Cywarch marth Dalon, who is the daughter of Dalon ap Landu and Sequoia. (Mythos of RDG and OMS deities)

The second class of deities, The Old Ones, consists of entities that have actually lived among humans. (Pictured above are, from top row: John Muir...Carl Jung...and from bottom row: John Lennon...Robert R. Heinlein...Gwydion Pendderwyn, first "official Bard" of CAW and forerunner of the Pagan Music movement).

One thing I like about the Celtic pantheon is that for the most part, it is composed of this class. The ancient Celts recognized the principle of "Thou art God/dess", and as heroes and leaders of the Celts passed on to the Summer Lands, they took on the title of God or Goddess. Lugh and Cernunnos are noted among these. Your own relatives; grandfathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, who have passed away, belong to this class. When you pass away, you will become a part of this group. These are the folks who are recognized at Samhain, channeled via Ouija boards or via scrying.

Now we come full circle, because the 3rd and highest class of deity is YOU. Thou art God/dess. You have the responsibility and you have the power. This is why it is solely in your discretion whether you'll cause harm or not. It's your life, your universe, your creation. You can't run from this responsibility. You can live in denial (most of the planet does), but look around: the rape, pillage and plunder of this planets ecosystem is the result of subservience to other deities.

We are the caretakers of the universe. It is we who are ultimately responsible for the way resources are used or abused. But we are basically good. Humankind is basically good. People who learn and accept their inherent divinity will not do harm. They will do good. It is only those who have been taught from day one that they are bad, that they need a big god standing over them with a club, who do harm, because they know no better path.

As Druids we have the responsibility of being "clergy at large" within the greater Pagan community. We acknowledge that Gaia is a living being, and that we, and all other humans living on Her, are not separate entities, but a part of her whole ecology, just as we are also all collectively "God." So we truly are "our brothers keeper." And if my brother is hungry, or sick, or without clothing, I too am impoverished. "Harm to one is harm to all." It's our charge then, as Druids, and as "self-aware deity", to work towards a just, peaceful and prosperous world.

There was once a Pagan music ensemble that wrote a vision, that really expresses the heart of Druidry and our mission as Druids, working for "for the good of all":

We want to live in a world that survives
On the planet of life with light in our lives
By the power of the Moon and the strength of the Sun
We are one on the Earth

We want a world where there is love for everybody
We want a world where there is no more war
We want a world where there is hope for everybody
We want a world that's better than before
Give us a world where ther's food for everybody
Water that's pure, the air is fresh and clean
We want a world that is good for everybody
We want a world where everyone is free

(Written by Gypsy, on the CD, "Enchantress")

As awakening Gods then, we may need some guidelines. I suggest the following, written by Oberon Zell, former Primate and founder of the Church of All Worlds, which we consider to be our sister organization:

No matter how we formulate our philosophy, the true test of our strength lies in our behavior; our ability to embody the principles we hold dear, and apply them in our daily lives to the building of relationships and community, the integrity of our actions, and the strength of character that inspires others to grow and transform the world around them. To these ends we advocate the following principles of behavior:

1. Be Excellent to Each Other! Thou art God/dess. To truly honor the Divinity within each other is to treat each other with respect, kindness, courtesy, and conscious consideration. This involves honest and responsible communication, including the avoidance of gossip and rumor-mongering, and the willingness to reach for understanding rather than judgment. Learn how to communicate in a positive, life-affirming way. We prefer to avoid us/them and either/or thinking, and to instead take an inclusive systems approach that sees the Divinity in all living things. To this end we also deplore coercive behavior that does not respect the free will of others. We prefer to lead, not by guilt or coercion, but by inspiration and example; not only to be excellent to each other, but to strive for excellence in all our endeavors, no matter how seemingly insignificant. Tribal values we hold include Loyalty, Generosity, Fairness and Hospitality.

As Gods, we can no longer cling to outmoded, archaic identity labels. These would include racial labels (like black, white, yellow, red), ethnic labels, (asian, African, Chinese, American etc., ) and even political labels (conservative, liberal, socialist, libertarian etc.). These labels may be useful to explain where we came from, but as Gods, we have transcended all these. We are Gods a separate and unique race, culture and politic.

2. Be Excellent to Yourself! Again: Thou art God/dess. Divinity resides within as well as without, so how you treat yourself is how you treat that Divinity. Self-abuse, whether through irresponsible use of substances, overwork, self-denial, self-deception, or simply running those tapes that undermine self-esteem, are all insults to the Divinity within. Treat yourself kindly, with compassion rather than judgment, and it will be easier to treat others that way. Take care of your body, home and possessions, as a piece of Gaia that has been entrusted to you. Be a conscious guardian to the Temple and the God/dess within.

3. Honor Diversity! In Nature a diverse ecosystem has more stability. There are many styles of living and ways of living, each of which has something to offer to the overall puzzle of life. Be open-minded and receptive to new ideas because this usually manifests in growth of the spirit and the mind. Learn about differences rather than judge them. Be willing to explore others creative abilities to manifest a sense of well-being and confidence in their own Divinity. Sexism, racism, or rude remarks directed towards others sexual preferences, body type or personal habits (insofar as they do not harm others) have no place in this community. All life is sacred.

Once again, we can honor our BACKGROUNDS, but who we once were is not who we are now.

4. Take Personal Responsibility! ("With great power comes great responsibility!") The necessary counterpart to individual freedom is the willingness to be personally responsible for all of our actions, and for our effects upon the planet. Only through the practice of personal responsibility can we become responsible collectively and live a life of freedom and maturity. We are not a religion of gurus, Mommies or Daddies who can tell you what to do. As a religion that respects equality, we must take equal responsibility for making things happen, preventing harm, or cleaning up mistakes. To this end we also advocate one of the principles taught in kindergarten: Clean up your mess!

5. Walk Your Talk! (and, talk your walk!) Talk is cheap. It is fine and well to proclaim to be a feminist or environmentalist, to preach heady Pagan gospel, or to play holier than thou. It is only in practice that words become Truth, and change becomes manifest. But do not be afraid to fail, for in order to grow, our reach must exceed our grasp, and it is through failing that we learn.

Yet another way of saying all this, briefly and succinctly, is:

"'Thou art God/dess.' It's not a message of cheer and hope.
It's a defiance and an unafraid unabashed assumption of personal responsibility."
~~Mike to Jubal, SIASL by Robert A. Heinlein

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

I Will Fear No Evil

Sam — Mon, 11 Oct 2004 20:30:29 GMT

I just finished the book (well, about a week ago) and I have to say that I had a very mixed reaction to it. It seems to have a reputation as an extremely radical book, and in 1970 when it was published, that was probably true. However, I was continually struck not by how radical it was but instead by how *reactionary* it was by today's standards. Now that gay and lesbian relationships, transsexuality, sex-change operations, and polyamory are pretty well known and accepted (at least in my circles), and no longer carry the shock value they once had, it was rather disappointing to see that the radicalism stopped there, and that the rest of the values espoused in the book were so conservative by comparison.

Somehow Heinlein didn't seem to have any problem with characters who practiced free love, poly-amory/fuckery, gang bangs, etc., but then promised to "love, honor, and *obey*" (instead of "cherish") their husband, consciously used sex as a tool to manipulate people (well, I guess that's not necessarily reactionary, just distasteful), and seemed generally content to let men continue to have the lead role in society. With the exception of the main character, I do not recall any women in positions of power anywhere in the book: the judges were men, as well as the doctors, lawyers, police, personal bodyguards, the screener for the lunar colony, and even the artists (Joe Branca was the only one of these I recall, but still). The non-main-character women mostly seemed to be money-grubbing shrews (JSBS's ex-wives) or closet nymphomaniacs under a veneer or "nice" respectability (Tom's wife Olga).

The sex-as-manipulation I found particularly annoying, as it seemed that every time JSBS/JES didn't get her way, she would put on a pouty look and bare her breasts and offer kisses and the men would practically fall over themselves bending to her whim. To be fair, JSBS/JES backed it up with veiled threats, (monetary) bribes, and occasionally sound reasoning, but I found the behavior deceitful and underhanded; much better would have been to show how women can be strong, smart, and independent *without* having to resort to such tactics, and how men are not always just 'thinking with their other head' so to speak. And to be frank, Heinlein would have to show a *lot* more generally radical behavior before convincing me that thirteen-year-olds are ready for sex (Eve, at the end of the book).

I have my own reservations about polyamory which I have already posted to another thread here and will not belabor further other than to say that this book did not change my opinion that polyamory in the Real World in never so neat and free of complications as Heinlein presents here. Perhaps it is possible to have such a society, but if it comes along with a huge crime rate, rampant illiteracy, and such a casual understanding of the word "rape" as he presents in the book, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to live there no matter what the benefits.

To his credit, Heinlein did not shy from describeng homosexual relationships of both sexes, and did put a unique perspective on transgender issues well before such were accepted, or even recognized, in the mainstream. Ultimately, however, it was disappointing that the radical views were not carried out much further than they were. I'll be interested to see what other perspectives are posted here.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 15 replies

laughter

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 14:13:29 GMT

having readand reread this book, i have to say that the most profound message i carry away (among many messages and witticisms buried in the story) is Hainlein's take on laughter.

"I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts... because
it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting... The goodness is in
the laughing. I grok it is a bravery...and a sharing...against pain and
sorrow and defeat."

i have grokked this truth, and i have searched every joke i can remember. all of them fit this pattern - not only does every joke contain some element of cruelty, but the laughter during the telling (from someone who truly "gets" it) will occur when the height of cruelty is revealed.

anyone care to challenge this, or have anything to add?

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 25 replies

Book or Song

davorra — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 02:05:26 GMT

So did you read Stranger In A Strange Land first or hear the Leon Russell song Stranger In A Strange Land first?

I found out about Stranger from Leon Russell.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 reply

Time Enough for Love

Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:49:25 GMT

I've read many Heinlein books, but finally got around to reading "Time Enough for Love" over the past couple of weeks. I just finished it last night and am kicking myself for not reading it sooner. Has anyone else read this incredible book? I felt the polyamorous theme was stronger in this book than in any of his others. I am in awe of the things he was writing about given the era he wrote in. I didn't want it to end the way it did. What did you think of the ending?

If you haven't read this book yet, you might want to stop reading this thread so the end isn't given away!

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 24 replies

moon is a harsh mistress movie

Sat, 18 Sep 2004 04:57:15 GMT

just read this article about a movie version of the moon is a harsh mistress, by one of the harry potter producers.

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18399

could be an interesting movie, haven't read this one...

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 19 replies

Happy New Year!

PABlo — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 19:14:14 GMT

To all of my Water Brothers:

As our tribe continues to grow each year, we can see that Heinlein continues to be an inspiration and motivation for writers and readers alike. We're all here because of a shared love of the Science Fiction genre that contains some of the finest writing and exploration of ideas in the late twentieth century. We also share something that transcends the mere existence of a story. We are bonded by ideas...and profound ones at that. We share awareness of what it means to GROK. And we symbolically share water with each other. Thank you all for being here. And I look forward to continuing the conversation next year!

I leave you with a quote from SiSL...
"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."

Peace and I'm out of here
PABlo

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

Door into Summer

DanielPDX — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 16:27:24 GMT

Hi,

New here. And I couldn't tell you my favorite Heinlein book. Each one was another brick in the foundation of who I became. Trite, but there it is....

I do know I once spent too much time wishing for a "door into summer".

Anyway, I'm happy to have found this tribe.

Daniel

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 2 replies

Glory Road

PABlo — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:23:34 GMT

My wife informed me this morning that Disney is coming out with a movie version of Glory Road. I have yet to verify...anyone else hear about this yet?

; P

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 3 replies

fun puzzle site

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 16:05:35 GMT

http://www.yougrok.com

see if you can grok the subjects.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 2 replies

Mars in August Sky. !!

zonino — Sat, 06 Aug 2005 07:52:36 GMT

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.
The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will orbit in a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 A.M.
By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.
Share this with your children and grandchildren.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

share water and celebrate!!

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 3 replies

Not discorperated yet!

Christopher — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 04:10:10 GMT

Hmm.. I had an eye opening experience today. I was riding through a four way intersection on my bicycle west when a car heading south ran the red light. He braked in the middle of the intersection and I swerved to go around him to the rear. Suddenly he reversed right in front of me and I slammed into him. I imagine what people think about in the last moments of thier lives.. eppiphonies, memories, regrets... all that went through my mind in that half-second (It seemed like an hour,) was "Is this it?"

Somehow I survived with a bump and a bruise on my hand and no other injury. I was not ready to discorperate just yet. I still have much to grok and cherish before MY time is filled. Some people are changed by near death experiences... oddly, I feel the same. Perhaps tommorow the shock will wear off and I'll feel like hurrying up and waiting until time is.

TAG

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 reply

No longer a nymph

Christopher — Sat, 23 Jul 2005 05:29:20 GMT

I am 27 years old. I read SISL first when I was 20, before that it was "I will fear no evil." That started my love affair with R.A.H.

A little background... I have always lived inside my own head, I surrounded myself with those who questioned everything as I did. But I never found understanding myself, only more questions.

I don't know if there is anyone reading this, but tonight I grokked for the first time 'Thou art God.' I suffer from panic attacks and while in meditation to face the fears lurking in my own mind everything I read by Hienlien solidified. I no longer feel fear or pain only compassion and love. I only hope that tommorow I will still be the divine being I discovered in myself tonight.

I finally grok 'Grok.' I seek now to share water and grow closer.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 4 replies

I am only an egg...

zonino — Fri, 20 May 2005 00:20:41 GMT

In my english honors class I was given as assignment to read 4 books from a genre. I chose science fiction, and pretty much randomly came upon Stranger in a Strange Land. Long story short, I absolutely loved the book and have read both the short and long versions, but am not sure where to go from here. I would like to read more Heinlein, but I'm not sure which one to read after SIASL. Perhaps you groksters can help me out?

thou art god,
Yvonne

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 9 replies

new grok

Gi Gi — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 17:52:43 GMT

Hi! I have not read any of the posts but was happy to see a Tribe that would understand the word grok. I use this in rare conversations & happened to recently when I needed to digest a lot of emotional information; of course I received the confused blank stare of an unknower....

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 19 replies

Jubal's age

Spartakeith — Wed, 11 Aug 2004 22:11:32 GMT

Any guesses, anyone? A friend and I are debating.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 14 replies

no way!

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 23:28:22 GMT

I'm a waterbaby.

All this new discovery on tribe is blowing me away.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 3 replies

YOU ALL GROK!

PABlo — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 05:42:11 GMT

Mad Props Out To:
ALL of the members of SISL Tribe
(Water Brothers)
including those that I invited that know who Michael Valentine Smith was, as well as those that hadn't read Stranger (or any other books by Heinlein) but accepted my invitation anyway...
and especially those of you who have joined this tribe over the past year, sharing your knowledge and passions for all of the stories by Robert A. Heinlein...and helping us all to "grow ever closer"

Thanks for being here my friends.

Please introduce yourself and tell us about how and when you were first introduced to Stranger in a Strange Land and/or any OTHER of Heinlein's books, and why reading RAH means enough to you that you've praised and cherished his ideas and added grokking to your vocabulary along with the phrase 'Thou art God'

Peace
and Love,

PABlo
-- on the eve of the 1 yr. anniversary
of becoming a member of Tribe.net

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 4 replies

finished SISL for the first time...

Mon, 08 Nov 2004 08:52:35 GMT

...thanks to a delayed flight. Who can tell me what eggs-on-horseback is?

"Jubal returned to his place, found eggs-on-horseback, orange juice, and other choice items." (412)

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 5 replies

That bulge

RAB — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 22:24:03 GMT

With all the attention being given to that suspicious bulge on Bush's back during his first debate with Kerry...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041009/od_afp/us_vote_debate_bush_041009205523

...it's our patriotic duty to insist that both candidates make all future public appearances in the nude, so that we can be absolutely sure neither one of them is being controlled by the evil Puppet Masters from Titan!

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 12 replies

Haloween Costume

Great Thymes — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 23:23:03 GMT

I just finished SiaSL before Halloween and went as The Reverend Dr. Valentine Michael Smith, A.B. D.D. PhD. Founder and Pastor of the Church of All Worlds.

I found this kick ass spaceman robe thing made out of purple and silver fabric and bubble wrap with matching gloves and this pope looking hat at a yard sale. Under it I had a groovy polyester shirt and white pants. The preacher Michael. PLus I had business cards printed up as above. I won a prize (edible underwear) for "Most Misunderstood Costume". Thought that might please y'all. PLus it pleases me that there are other fans out there. Damn fine book.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 4 replies

heinlein and thelema

Mon, 05 Jul 2004 17:24:42 GMT

i was wondering if anybody covered the thelemic symbolism in the book. turns out heinlein was avidly interested in thelema at the time he wrote the book, and it has been suggested the beliefs in the book are concealed thelemic principles.
anybody else come across this in criticism of the book or in their own (re)reading of it?

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 10 replies

RAH School of Engineering and Astrophysics

Spartakeith — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 00:27:09 GMT

A character in a (Fictional) book I am reading is said to be attending the Robert A Heinlein School of Engineering and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. Anyone know if this school is real?

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 6 replies

ALL of them...

PABlo — Sat, 21 Aug 2004 23:05:33 GMT

This tribe is founded on the love of Robert Heinlein and his novels
[period]

Known as the 'Dean of Space Age Fiction', Heinlein was judged (more than once) as the author of "Best Novel of the Year" by the World Science Fiction convention circa the late 60s and early 70s.

RAH is without close rival the most popular author in the history of science fiction.

That being said... I encourage and support references, reviews and relationships to ALL of RAH's books and anything that even remotely connects us to who Heinlein was (as an author AND human being) and also what he accomplished with his writing.

In other words, telling us about reading or loving some *other* RAH story is GOOD!

I'm mentioning this because I want to clear the way towards the big picture of what RAH was all about.

- RAH wrote many great stories (some juveniles, some not)
including Podkayne of Mars, Between Planets, The Red Planet and others that are related to his speculative vision of the flora/fauna of Mars (in the universes that are portrayed in his stories, as adverse to other hugely popular versions including Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, and others that I'll list in a later post).

More about that later...

however, the intention of this thread is to jump-start some dialog about his whole body of work.

Heinlein created a future of vast scope and stunning insights, which he began to tell us about in "Methuselah's Children" and continued with the masterful novel "Time Enough For Love" (which without a doubt is a major favorite for many of us)...

At this time I'd like to mention that there are members of this tribe who are involved in another tribe relating to this...

TO MEMBERS OF THE LONG FAMILY TRIBE:
Give us a shout, we'd like to hear from you!

If you have red hair, or if you relate to people who have red hair, or if you LOVE people who have red hair, then you'll have some things to comment on...

*and a honorary mention goes out to the character of Lazarus Long and to our fellow-tribe member who has assumed that Nom de Plume, Lazarus...who gives us many interesting, exciting futuristic concepts to advance our exploration of the nature of humans...and who will be around forever if intelligence and pro-survival traits are any indicators...it is a good thing to be a 'virtual' member of the Howard Family.

To continue this thread I propose creating a list of Heinlein's red-headed characters as a way of honoring something that RAH was obviously intentional about...or if you prefer, let us all know who YOU identify with the most, or who you would like to meet...if you could slip into one of the stories and rub elbows with the characters.

Waiting Is.

Peace and Out for now.
PABlo
(who Groks that being red-headed can be an internal thing too! )

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 10 replies

They

Grandma — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 09:12:25 GMT

How many of us have read "They", a short story by RAH?

As far as I know, it was only ever published in an obscure little anthology which didn't even have the authors' names on the cover, just a table of contents and a handful of sci fi shorts. I ran across it entirely by accident...

...and fell in love. It is my most favorite short story ever.

If very many of us have not read it, and would like to, I will post the whole thing. It was only about 2 dozen paperback pages.

Big hugs

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 12 replies

Fallen Caryatid by Rodin

PABlo — Mon, 23 Feb 2004 03:35:12 GMT

(check out this picture of Rodin's famous sculpture)
http://dailypics.blogfodder.net/caryatid.html

Here's the passage about Rodin's
"Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone"
- from Robert A. Heinlein's
Stranger In A Strange Land:

"This poor little caryatid has fallen under the load. She's a good girl - look at her face. Serious, unhappy at her failure, not blaming anyone, not even the gods... and still trying to shoulder her load, after she's crumpled under it.

But she's more than just good art denouncing bad art; she's a symbol for every woman who ever shouldered a load too heavy. But not alone women - this symbol means every man and woman who ever sweated out life in uncomplaining fortitude until they crumpled under their loads. It's courage... and victory.

Victory in defeat, there is none higher. She didn't give up... she's still trying to lift that stone after it has crushed her... she's all the unsung heroes who couldn't make it but never quit."

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 9 replies

Martian Music

PABlo — Sat, 21 Aug 2004 23:57:01 GMT

Try this:

Read the opening passages of Stranger in a Strange Land while listening to Holst's 'Planets'.

What a TREAT!

By happy coincidence, I had a Launchcast "classical" internet-radio station on...and heard the beginning of Gustav Holst's famous music as I was thumbing through my copy of Stranger...

as I realized that I was listening to the first movement, I suddenly realized it gave the perfect ambience to the words written by Heinlein.

Curiously, the composer --Gustav Holst-- chose Mars as his first theme, rather than Mercury...so the suite starts out with an aggressive theme that perfectly ties in with the plot.

Previously familiar with "Mars: Bringer of War", I heard the low, menacing melody for the first time in context with the re-telling of how Michael was found...as the sole survivor of the first Mars expedition, and the son of two crew members, Mary Jane Lyle Smith and Michael Brant (who's love for each other caused the crisis that led to the deaths of the entire crew).

As I listened further...the disquietude of the repetitive 5/4 time signature, played on the strings in a technique called col legno battuto ("tapping with the wood")...generated a feeling of a triumphal march as the second expedition achieved success and traveled back to Earth with Mike aboard.

The mixture of high trumpet fanfares rising above the militaristic exclamations of the lower brass...fits very nicely with the part of the story that tells of the Larkin Decision, where Valentine Michael Smith is declared as sole [human] owner of Mars.

Finally at the end of the Mars movement...the music dissolves into a tumult of blunt, dissonant slabs of sound, played by the brass and percussion...which counterpointed that part of the story where we learn about Mike being kept in "protective custody" by the Federation...then being rescued by Jill Boardman and taken to Jubal Harshaw's place, where he was protected from political opportunism and finally recognized as the "official" representative of the Martian race.

As in the music, so in the story. The ferocious and occasionally violent character of Holst’s music is a worthy sonic match for the barely held-in-check violence that culminates with the description of Michael being stoned to death as a heretic by the mob.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 reply

JOB: A comedy of justice

Magic — Tue, 27 Jul 2004 04:13:31 GMT

How many of us have read JOB? Care to share your comments on it?

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 12 replies

Libertarinism

woodfan — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 03:11:15 GMT

This is my first post here! Thanks PABlo for the invite!

I may not fit the mold of most of you here, but I'm not a big a fan of Heinlein's later books. I think Stranger started a trend that moved away from story telling to one of "moralizing", especially on what I perceive to be libertarian themes. Personally, I'm not much of one to be lectured at, and after a while I find it a bit overbearing.

Now that being said, the Heinlein of the 30s, 40s, and 50s was, and still is, the most remarkable SF writer I have ever read. His shorts of the 40s and his juveniles of the 50s sit proudly on my shelf.

Does anyone agree with my assessment? I know most of you will disagree <grin>.

Bob

P.S. Maybe I just not good at this grokking business.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

A Newcomer's Sensation of the Novel

Vera — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 17:17:14 GMT

First of all I'm gonna WRITE this or poor J. will NEVER receive his book! ;-)

Now I am typing this, knowing full well and being a bit ashamed that this assessment is NOWHERE touching that of Lazarus or PABlo.

My humble NEWCOMER thoughts:

As a lapsed Catholic myself...I wonder if the author may have been. Just the whole Christian story lining up with what I can remember of Catholicism...the Messiah story...(but I think there are many religions that have a similar story...that there ALWAYS has to be a SACRIFICE so we silly humans can be saved) (and it's important that it be a HUMAN who is sacrificed ie. Christ and Mike)

The *body* and *blood* of Christ being consumed as the foundation story in Catholicism ALSO lines up with *Stranger...*)

There is all that.... ;-)

THEN there is just the GOOD feeling that came over me while I read....a feeling of a time forgotten...of a THEOLOGY of Spirit no longer so prominent in our Society it seems...the FEEL of the 1960s...a time I was present for and miss when I let myself think back.

And I know I'll probably get in *trouble* for this observation...but as deep and as intelligent a theory you can come up with...I think(if we had Heinlein here to report) that the author would have to admit that there is a flavor of the blind, dumb, SKIP-HAPPINESS of men (at the time) as they saw the developement of oral contraception and drugs, free sex everywhere and women deciding they have urges TOO. Wahhooooo!

You read about this happening in a ...um...destructive way to poeple like oh...Steve McQueen....or...Bob Crane...but surely to MANY guys who had two feet planted in growing up in the 40s and 50s for pete's sake...(cut(in your mind) to a snap of GEORGE CARLIN in suit and tie as the Hippy Dippy weather Man)...

I noticed that in *Stranger...(even though his MIND was reaching into the future)* the author had feet planted in the only place he COULD have them planted...ie: the times he was LIVING in.

I say this because even though the women were free spirited ,intelligent beings...they still, in a harem or commune -type existence...served totally ...one man(Jubal). (Wahhooo)

I say these things 'cause if you look... sex is very much unhinged from taboos in *Stranger...* AND YET...it doesn't TOTALLY include homosexuality...which is something ...an acceptance...that was too hidden or non-existent, even for Heinlein.

So I guess what I'm saying AFFECTIONATELY, is that you can tell a MAN wrote the book in the early 60s.

Then there is a bit of a *DAy The Earth Stood Still* feel to *Stranger...* for me. I love that movie.

In it the aliens(long ago rendered PEACEFUL) come to the earth we live in and say ... hey *you guys can fuck up your own planet...but you are beggining to reach into SPACE to fuck up other worlds...WATCH IT!* I am paraphrasing. Please forgive me.

Ve.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 reply

Whence Came the Stranger

ryan — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 20:04:25 GMT

Whence Came the Stranger:
Tracking the Metapattern of Stranger in a Strange Land
By Adam Walks Between Worlds, ©1993

Theme: Mars (MIDI-file 60K)

In 1961 Robert Anson Heinlein published a novel about a young Martian named Valentine Michael Smith. The book, Stranger in a Strange Land (Stranger), burst from its modest initial reception in science fiction circles to become one of the most influential works of the 20th century. Its concepts molded the critical thinking of many important social movements and paved the way for that astonishing period of social, religious, and sexual reclamation that is misleadingly dubbed "the 60s."1 Arriving, as it did, at a nadir of American free thought and at a peak of media censorship, Stranger's publication was a minor miracle and its later mainstream success has always been considered a first class fluke. It became the first science novel to penetrate public consciousness since the days of Verne and Wells and initiated an unprecedented era of respectability for science fiction that opened the door for the Star Trek, 2001 and Star Wars. Stranger also marked a radical departure of form, not only for the author, but for American thought and expression in general. Stranger was the quintessence that transformed the nation's repressively conformist, post-war paranoia into the overtly sensual, erudite, cynical optimism that epitomized the years preceding the Reagan administration. Entire volumes could be devoted to the influence of Stranger on fields as diverse (or convergent) as religion, physics, computer science, philosophy, government, anthropology, ecology and the occult. Movies, songs, and books quickly reflected its major themes. Grok, Heinlein's Martian neologism for deep understanding, became a household word. Every form of media, art, and science paid its respects to Heinlein's creation. The Church of All Worlds and the Covenant of The Mithril Star were two of many groups that formed around Stranger's principles and inspiration.2

As a part of its enormous cultural contribution, Stranger afforded a vision of the future that has proved astonishingly accurate. Stranger accurately predicted many of the scientific, social and political changes that mark our times from waterbeds, faxes and teleconferencing to genetic engineering's effect on probate laws to the First Lady's private consultation with an astrologer to the rise of frightening religious fundamentalisms. Indeed, almost every major prediction of Heinlein's has been fulfilled.3 This extraordinary grasp of the future, as well as Heinlein's humor and wisdom, make Stranger as fresh today as it was thirty years ago.

Yet, for all Stranger's phenomenal successes and successful phenomena, the novel itself presents quite a few mysteries: How does a highly respected, conservative, commercial author of primarily juvenile science fiction come to write a heretical parable concerning, among other things, sexual freedom and responsibility, anti-Christianity, anti-patriotism, and applied cultural relativism? And, how does such a parable emerge from 'sleeper' status in science fiction circles to become a major classic best-seller of 20th century literature? How do entire religions coalesce from 'a mere work of fiction' -- the Holy Bible notwithstanding? What was the inspiration for so bold a stroke? What were you thinking, Mr. Heinlein?

The premise of this article is that Heinlein wrote Stranger as an allegorical recapitulation of Thelema. (The word Thelema is Greek for "Great Will" and refers to the body of philosophy and magickal practices codified by the late Aleister Crowley and continued by many.) This article details Heinlein's magickal interests, his relationships with the most famous of Crowley's American disciples, and his many coded references to Thelema in Stranger and other written works. Moreover, we will establish that Heinlein wrote Stranger with the intent of initiating a Thelemic 'whole systems transition' in human thought and expression. This means that Stranger cannot be regarded merely as the work of a master storyteller, the product of a literary genius. Rather, Stranger is much better understood as a consciously wrought, carefully considered and brilliantly successful casting -- a talismanic spell in itself, still dynamic, with its direct purpose being to spark human evolution along Thelemic lines. This is our hypothesis.

Establishment scientist Dr. Carl Sagan says, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof," and this article presents some certifiably extraordinary information -- not from science fiction and fantasy, but from real world history and real people. It's an amazing story and, as the significance of Heinlein's work begins to unfold, we'll find that Stranger has only just begun to inspire, shock and change us.

The game is afoot...

This explanation is difficult to pursue in linear form, bits of information tend to refer to one another, one story tends to bleed into another, and the required background covers a lot of history and detailed esoterica. Still, with a little luck and a bit of verdammte Quantumspringerei, we should meet the following goals. First, we'll examine Thelema and its likeness to Stranger, then we'll review Heinlein's involvement with Thelema, and finally we'll dissect some of the text of Stranger itself, decoding a few of the more obvious clues. We'll finish with a few corollary observations that polish up our new perspective on Heinlein's motives.

One can't discuss Thelema, per se, without first addressing the subject of its founder, Aleister Crowley. Unfortunately, most people associate Crowley and his writings with the Satanic accusations leveled against him by the popular 'National Inquirer' media of his native Victorian England. His 'devil worshipper' reputation is reinforced by his inclusion in the pseudo- Satanic trappings of today's heavy metal music. Also, many of Crowley's most visible fans lean towards the unfortunate habit of freedom of expression -- which tends to makes folks nervous and often winds up being covered today's popular 'National Inquirer' media.4

As recent press lynchings prove, a media rap can be more damning than a federal conviction (compare Oliver North's fortunes to that of William Kennedy Smith's accuser) and the labelling of any subject as 'occult' is sufficient to cause academicians to lose grants and the faithful to risk ex-communication. As a result, most responsible people (read: afraid 'cause they got something to lose) avoid mentioning Crowley or Thelema in public, leaving his ideas in that frightfully rich garbage pail of 20th century Establishment cast-offs. While tagging an individual or body of thought off-limits doesn't bring us closer to the truth, it certainly makes it difficult to assess Crowley's ideas on their own merit without being overwhelmed by noise about their origin. As a result, Crowley's bad boy rep has long been a millstone around Thelema's neck and even the most zealous Thelemites sometimes grumble about continuing the legacy of so vilified a man.5

This article is not a defense of Crowley, but it is important to understand that a philosophical exposition of Thelema intended for the general public -- and Stranger is only one such -- would have to be constructed in such a way that book burners and witch hunters couldn't associate it with Crowley. As it was, Stranger was actually burned by some Christians and Moslems (while being hailed by others) and Heinlein was threatened several times by the Fundies. To hide his Thelemic orientation, Heinlein counted on the intellectual dullness of his potential detractors, knowing that any God- fearing critic of unChristian works would never stoop to reading as hated a man as Crowley and, thus, could never interpret the codes in the text. Heinlein concealed his Thelemic messages in symbols that only a fellow Thelemite would understand. In other words, you'd have to be playing the game in order to play the game.

"The word of the Law is Thelema."6

Thelema begins with the observation that each life is deity and continues in lengthy, detailed commentary on the responsibilities and ramifications of godhood plus tips, hints and recipes for today's active deity. This is embodied in the three basic principles of Thelema. The first, and most famous, is: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."7 While this 'Law of Thelema' is generally insufficiently translated as 'do what you like,' Crowley maintained its true meaning was that: a) Each life has a higher nature and a divine purpose. b) That each life, with differing degrees of efficiency, is currently involved in communication with the higher self for the accomplishment of their divine purpose. c) That any and every life must begin their striving by actively acknowledging and actively worshipping the divinity in themselves, in certain concepts and in every other living thing.8 d) It is understood that the nature of one life's divinity and divine purpose may be inscrutable to another and even to him or herself.9

According to Crowley, the trick to the Law of Thelema is in the words "Thou" and "Wilt." The first word is formal in Old English and refers to the higher self, the deity within; and the second word refers to the divine purpose -- it is a different and more potent concept than 'will'.10

It will become clear, especially as the intelligence herein is presented, that the Law of Thelema is the inspiration for Michael's observation "Thou art God," -- notice the Thou from the Law of Thelema -- "That which groks [is God]."11

This is a difficult concept to express in a sound bite, and although both Crowley and Heinlein did pretty well, they and both complained bitterly that language was inadequate. The brevity and odd construction of these statements contain the 'fullness' of the concept, making them something along the lines of a koan, but like the koan, there is an obvious need for depth understanding. Apprehension doesn't come without effort and deep reflection.

The Law of Thelema has another use. Crowley instructed his followers to greet everyone with "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law," and began all of his communications, written and oral, with these words to remind the speaker and the listener of their shared divinity.12 Similarly, in Stranger the Nest even uses "Thou art God," as the first words shared among water brothers and the real world groups inspired by Stranger share this greeting often. Most modern Thelemites abbreviate the Law of Thelema to its Qabalic equivalent of 93, making this number something of a buzzword and greeting among the in crowd. Sadly, this abbreviation also reduces the impact of this most powerful statement.

Communicating with the divine as the center of all life and action brings us to the second major principle of Thelema: "Love is the law, love under will,"13 which is usually said in response to "Do what thou wilt..." or in closing a speech or letter.14

Typically, this Law of Love is also misunderstood as mere license. Crowley interpreted to mean that any action from the higher self must be, by definition, an act of the deity and, ergo, an act of love. This is not the fearful, insecure sentimentality of modern romance, but the divine and passionate union of one part of creation with all other parts of creation.15 As diverse as the universe itself, divine love can take many forms: according to Odin it can be death in battle, according to Vulcan it's a hard day's work raping the planet, according to Pan it's nymph and tuck, according to Hermes it's theft and seduction, et cetera.

Between the first two Laws, Thelema may sound like justification for the greatest possible excesses, and, well, it is. But, as Heinlein observed, these "[are laws] of nature, not an injunction, nor a permission."16 These principles do not pretend to describe a set of inspired religious lifestyle proscriptions. Rather, they comprise demonstrable, scientifically accurate, functional observations about life and the universe. Thelema begins with the observation that each life has the freedom to create and destroy at will regardless of any later moral, ethical or aesthetic judgement. Another way of rehashing the two first principles are to quote Hassan I Sabbah who said "There is no Truth. All is permissible." Provocative? You could write a book about it.17 This precise issue is addressed towards the end of Stranger when Michael has annihilated various criminals housed in prisons and in public office. Jubal asks him, "Aren't you afraid of playing God, lad?" "Mike grinned with unashamed cheerfulness. 'I am God. Thou art God... and any jerk I remove is God, too... And when a cat stalks a sparrow both of them are God, carrying out God's thoughts." 18 (Italics his.)

A mind-blowing responsibility comes with acknowledging the freedom to act and Heinlein points out that the law of Thelema applies to lynch mobs as well.19 Not that this devalues these observations. Rather, it demonstrates their global application and reemphasizes the understanding that one person's Great Will may be inscrutable to another.

This dovetails nicely into the third principle of Thelema: "Every man and every woman is a star." Here is the essence of the 'all men are created equal' rap and is commonly misunderstood to mean that merely being born qualifies one for the rewards that other people may have accrued including respect, opportunity, love, security, et cetera. Its real meaning is that "Every man and every woman has a course, depending partly on the self, and partly on the environment which is natural and necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from his [or her] own course, either through a lack of self- understanding [sic], or through external opposition, comes into conflict with the order of the Universe and suffers accordingly."20

We find this curious, worshipful tolerance a familiar theme throughout Stranger -- a theme which balances the seeming severity of the two earlier Thelemic principles. Michael spends enormous amounts of (subjective) time and energy grokking before he acts, and thus he is in accord with himself and the universe, not counting mistakes, when he encounters a cusp. Jubal, the books other major character, is also in constant philosophical motion, attempting to grok through the haze of his self-admitted tribal taboos. Stranger's whole plot may be best understood as Jubal's (and the other major characters') eventual enlightenment to this basic Thelemic principle and the defeat of their cultural filters.

Before closing the topic of Thelema, it is important to pass on a few details about how Thelema is shared and practiced. This makes it easier to frame the clues from Stranger. The Thelemic current seems to have roots in the writings of earlier philosophers and magicians and the movements they founded,21 but modern Thelema stems from a brief, enigmatic text channelled by Crowley, called the Book of the Law or Liber AL vel Legis (we'll call it Liber Legis). It is the source from which all of Thelema is drawn.

It interesting to note that Heinlein has Michael reading "such deviant oddities as Crowley's Book of the Law" alongside other more traditional religious texts in the first scene that presents Michael as seriously struggling with his humanity.22 It is a very prominent, even tongue-in-cheek reference and many people, including Hymenaeus Beta, head of the world's largest Thelemic organization, recall Stranger as the first place they had ever heard reference to Crowley.23

Liber Legis is a complex, poetically striking book. It is rife with puns and references from diverse mythological, magickal, alchemical and Qabalic sources. It is a miracle of allegory and some of its codes have been an inspiration to cryptographers since at least before WWII. Its themes are myriad and include the announcement of the New Age,24 an age of the magickal child which follows the primeval maternal age and the current declining patriarchy. The book heralds earth changes and changes in the state of magick, offers advice and commentary on Thelema, and makes several predictions including the coming of a Thelemic magickal child who will succeed Crowley. This would seem a good idea since Crowley himself never figured out all of the kinks in Liber Legis, a situation which is predicted in taunting passages of the book itself,25 nor was Crowley ever at peace with contents of the book. Only years after he received Liber Legis, and only when absolutely inundated by bizarre synchronicity from the text, did he begin to circulate Liber Legis and propagate Thelema.

He did this by printing vast quantities of Liber Legis, and many other remarkable texts, and selling them or (rarely) giving them away. He also founded several magickal organizations and co-opted a pre-existing magickal organization of Masonic heritage, the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) into his Thelemic fold. These organizations grew (and splintered and metastasized) to become large worldwide networks of both secret and public Thelemic societies. This is an epic story in itself.

These magickal orders are based on nine degrees of initiation which reflect the acquisition of magickal and mundane knowledge and illumination. There is a tenth degree, mostly administrative, which indicates the order's temporal head, and even a mysterious eleventh degree. The Order is organized (mostly) around 'lodges' where members often share living, learning and ritual space. A quick scan of Crowley's bylaws for the OTO seem to call for the creation of an extended family within the lodge and a network of lodges around the globe, united in magickal ties deemed stronger than blood and dedicated to the propagation of Thelema.26 Does all this sound familiar? It is a very close approximation of the Nest and its influence is apparent in those real life groups inspired by Stranger. Coextant with the OTO is a religious body, the Gnostic Catholic Church which is organized roughly along the lines of churches everywhere, but whose final authority rests in the head of the OTO. The GCC is known primarily for their mass which celebrates the Goddess and her union with the God. It is a deeply moving ceremony and is one of the few Thelemic rituals routinely open to the general public. It bears a very strong resemblance to the ritual witnessed by Ben Caxton in Stranger.27

So, to recap, there seems to be an astonishing similarity to the content and forms of the nest and the philosophy and practice of Thelema; yet, for the purposes of this article, such similitude is but a start. So far, we have a neat set of coincidences and a single overt mention of "Crowley's Book of the Law." Yet, for a man of Heinlein scholarship this could be dismissed as a fluke or even as two great minds thinking alike. Let's see then, if we can demonstrate that Heinlein was intimately involved with magick in general and Thelema in particular.

Time Enough for Magick

Heinlein's interests had included magick from early in his career. In 1941 he wrote the novella Magic, Inc.,28 a delightfully wise and funny treatment of modern society's reaction to the 'scientific' discovery of magic. His story demonstrates a genuine scholarly inquiry into the history and practice of magic,29 and addresses many social, economic and political ramifications of a burgeoning high tech, magickal industry.30 In the story, widespread industrial use of magick falls victim to a racketeering operation composed of organized crime and corrupt government officials who plot to establish a monopoly on magick and then bar its use by private citizens. (One can almost whiff the spoor of G. Gordon Liddy!) It is easy to see how the story might have arisen from Heinlein's famous opposition to gun control for the plot can be summarized: "If magick is outlawed by government, only outlaws and government will have magick."31

Heinlein seems to have employed magickal and Thelemic themes in many of his works, particularly the later ones. Most of his plots concerned the liberation of strong minded individuals from external control and their transmogrification into their greater selves. This process of discovering and dedicating one's great destiny is inherent in "Do what thou wilt." It is a process Thelemites call apotheosis and is deemed, for many, the raison d'etre of magick, indeed, of life itself.

Since it is clear that Heinlein was involved in magickal scholarship -- and it's hard to imagine a field in which he wasn't engaged in some degree of scholarship -- Heinlein's exposure to Thelema may have initially come from his vast reading. Crowley was widely (and often grudgingly) considered the greatest magickal genius of his day even by people who hated him. His Qabalic classic 777 32 is a standard reference among all but Orthodox Jewish sources -- some of whom also note Crowley. Dion Fortune, Allan Bennett, James Joyce, Austin Osman Spare, Somerset Maugham, Sibyl Leek and most other early 20th century occult superstars had much to say about Crowley, most of it contradictory, and all of their works are profoundly affected by him. Crowley's influence was not confined to magick alone: he was an avid sportsman, a fecund writer, and a 'personality' whose life affected many artists, poets, writers and scientists of his time. It is hard to imagine a man as widely read as Heinlein missing mention of "the wickedest man in the world."

Yet, until recently it was very difficult to document Heinlein's personal involvement with magick except by examining his writings. He was an intensely private man who felt his livelihood potentially threatened by the repressive moral climate of his times.33 He seldom invited contact with the press or organized fandom and there are very few hints of his personal life available in his biographies. While some anecdotes survive that show Heinlein as some sort of Santa Claus or friendly wizard,34 he would have been a 'maybe' on the closet magician list were it not for his relationship with three of the most famous Thelemic magicians besides Crowley: John Whiteside Parsons, Marjorie Cameron and L. Ron Hubbard who together participated in one of the most famous 20th century magickal operations, the Babalon Working.

Hubbard, best known for his successful mid-life career transition from science fiction author to founding deity of the Church of Scientology, knew Heinlein intimately. Only several mentions of Hubbard are made in Heinlein's biographies and collected letters, but it is clear that they were close. Hubbard and Heinlein lived near each other, served as officers in the Navy, worked for the same magazines, and, from what one reads, seem to have been close personal friends.35 Hubbard also wrote copious science fiction, and even introduced Heinlein to literary agent and long time friend Lurton Blassingame.36 For that matter, Heinlein seems to have been intimate with the other messianic science fiction writers of his era, Theodore Sturgeon, Arthur C. Clarke and Frank Herbert -- whose works bear closer inspection for the magickally minded.

Cameron is an influential poet, artist and actress who contributed greatly to the underground arts movement in California over the last thirty years. An advocate of Goddess worship since the '50s, her life story reads like a Tom Robbins novel. Her list of close friends and co-workers includes many key writers, film makers including Kenneth Anger, Anais Nin, and Louis Culling. An exhibit of her artwork was seized by LA Vice in the early '60s and became the battleground for California's first art vs. obscenity trials. (She won.) She also appeared in some of Hollywood's best and most legendery underground films. An enormously spiritual and accomplished woman who is today very reclusive -- due to the demands of her "sacred grandmothering" -- she was the center of the Babalon Working.

Parsons was the 'poor, little rich boy' co-founder of the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena.37 Considered one of the most brilliant rocket scientists of his day, he is credited with advancing both solid and liquid rocket fuels, enabling much of the post-war jet and rocket technology. Werner Von Braun claimed that it was Parsons, not himself, who was the true father of American rocketry. NASA owes much to this man's brilliance and energy and named a crater on the moon after him. Parsons was also a dedicated Thelemic magician involved with the OTO from late in the '30s, eventually becoming magister templi of the famous Los Angeles-based Agape Lodge. Crowley favored Parsons and greatly encouraged the young scientist.38 Parsons' true life story is every bit as compelling as Faust's. He was a remarkably handsome, noble, creative and passionate man. While inventing the technology that would eventually land us on the moon, he ran the Agape Lodge -- then the world's only functioning OTO lodge -- edited and published the lodge's single newsletter, the Oriflamme, and maintained an active participation in many of the arts and sciences. A recently published collection of his essays Freedom is a Two-edged Sword demonstrates his startling clarity of vision and keen understanding of magick.39 It should be required reading for anyone with an opposable thumb. Parsons died the day before Midsummer in 1952 following an explosion at his home. The official explanation for the tragedy is oddly poetic and ironic -- he dropped a vial of fulminate of mercury. Forty years later, conspiracy theories abound about his death, as they do for that other handsome, noble, world class hero who was dedicated to the space program. How does an upper class, major league rocket scientist genius get involved with something like Crowleyism? World history is full of leading scientific minds who have found the magickal tradition both exciting and useful. Leonardo da Vinci, Dr. John Dee, Franz Kepler, Giordano Bruno, Isaac Newton, and even Copernicus all published works in what would later be dubbed "occult sciences." Liebnitz and Boule, whose algebra is the fundament of all modern computers and communications, derived their theories from their Qabalic work. Most of the early advances in chemistry came from alchemists, much of mathematica stems from the magickal traditions, and metaphysics was considered part of a complete education up until the end of the 19th century. It is only within the last hundred years that the Establishment has forced scientists to kick magick into the closet -- and, from what one hears, magick continues to whisper through the keyhole. In fact, Parsons was introduced to Thelema and the OTO by a fellow scientist (there seem to have been several around) and later became 'sold' on Crowley and Liber Legis because they predicted the work of Einstein, Heidegger and quantum theory. Many leading scientists today are still very deeply moved by Crowley and Thelema.

Cameron 40 and others recall that Heinlein and Parsons were quite close friends. They may have met at the Los Angeles Science Fiction Fan club wich maintained a reading room -- they were certainly seen there together. It was also common for science fiction authors to tour the Pasadena-based Jet Propulsion Laboratories that Parsons co-founded. Heinlein was particularly avid in availing himself of such tours. He used to take years off to study advances in science and often wrote glowing of NASA. So here was Parsons, the wunderkind of the rocket scientist community while Heinlein was its chief PR man and visionary. Space travel was both men's passion and livelihood. They had much in common, including their friendship with L. Ron Hubbard, who must have mentioned one to the other. Heinlein lived within driving distance of Agape Lodge which often performed the Gnostic Mass and, judging from Stranger and other writings, Heinlein was quite familiar with the ritual.41

In 1946 Hubbard and Parsons collaborated on perhaps the most famous modern magickal operation: the Babalon Working. This was an intensive, exhausting operation which allegedly opened a dimensional door for the manifestation of the goddess Babalon in human form. The Babalon Working was initiated to answer the previously mentioned prophecy of Liber Legis, the prophecy of Crowley's magickal heir, of which it said: "The child of thy bowels, he shall behold them.

"Expect him not from the East, not from the West; for from no expected house cometh that child."42 This prophecy continues to grip the imagination of many Thelemites and also forms the basic plotline for Stranger.

At the risk of getting a bit ahead of ourselves, let's take a second to compare the above quote from Liber Legis to the scene in Stranger where Madame Vesant the astrologer struggles with Michael's natal chart. She quickly becomes stumped -- he comes from no expected house.43 And since we're comparing Stranger quotes to Thelemic quotes, let's review Crowley's retelling of the Bacchus/Dionysus myth with an eye to the plotline of Stranger."[O]ne commemorates firstly his birth of a mortal mother who has yielded her treasure house to the Father of All, of the jealousy and rage excited by this incarnation, and of the heavenly protection afforded to the infant. Next should be commemorated the journeying westward [sunward?] upon an ass. Now comes the great scene of the drama: the gentle, exquisite youth with his following (chiefly composed of women) seems to threaten the established order of things, and that Established Order takes steps to put an end to the upstart. We find Dionysus confronting the angry King, not with defiance, but with meekness; yet with a subtle confidence, an underlying laughter. His forehead is wreathed with vine tendrils...[h]e is an effeminate figure... [who] hides horns.44

At this point, of course, we're well into the third part of the proof, the decoding of Stranger. After all, we have proven that the basic concept of Thelema is in all ways consistent with the grokking of Stranger. We have demonstrated that Heinlein had intimate contact, not just with Thelema and magick, but with two of the most famous Thelemic magicians in history. And, if we need more proof, there are many other little clues as well. For example, in the last letter in Grumbles From The Grave, 45 Heinlein uses Crowley's Thelemic motto, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law," and Heinlein's later books use many Crowleyan, Thelemic, Qabalic or magickal references. In fact, decoding Heinlein's work may well serve as a correspondence course in magick allegory. But before we dig further into the text of Stranger, let's examine the history and criteria of allegory so we have a common frame of reference for our foray.

In Search of Stranger

Throughout history, it has always been the coded or allegorical works that have truly inspired whole systems transition in contemporary thought and expression. Coincidentally, these are also the works which have endured the test of time to become classics: the fiction of Lewis Carroll46 and Jonathan Swift, the art of Leonardo da Vinci47, the architecture of Gothics48, the sculpture of Rodin49, the drama of Shakespeare, the poetry of Blake or Swinburne -- even the films of Spielberg and the songs of Don McLean or Paul Simon. These works have four characteristics in common. First, they contain or reference obviously coded, allegorical, or metaphorical meanings which have greater dimension than the work or medium itself. Second, their finished structures represent radical departures from contemporary expressive norms. Third, their finished structures are built with a missing key -- that is, the work evokes questions and provide hints to answers but stubbornly fails to provide the answers themselves, leaving the audience with the challenge to get up and seek the answers on their own or to go back to sleep. This leads to the fourth characteristic, that the act of cognition regarding the work evokes radical evolution in thought and expression. There is a fifth thread (Discordians sigh) which is harder to establish as universally that links these coded and allegorical works to an evolving current of philosophical expression that has always interwoven mainstream culture while rarely taking its own identifiable form. This current has been labelled hermetic, alchemical, Rosicrucian, magickal, occult, Templar, et cetera and while dialectics occur, as well as idiosyncratic or contemporary modes, there is a clear, demonstrable line of intellectual (and ontological) heredity among these forms.

There is a large problem, however, in proving that these characteristics exist. To decode the allegory, or to have sufficient breadth to connect the lines of heredity, requires intense scholarship as well as, and this is a critically important point -- experimentation with the material involved. Also, any reasonably accessible exegesis must focus on the simplest lines of connection lest the whole discussion seem to map the interpreter's process rather than the master's opus -- Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation as applied to literary crit. To avoid this problem, we'll concentrate only on major themes, referenced by a minimum of readily available works, and connected by the broadest of strokes. Perhaps a later work will illuminate the many delightful and detailed nuances.

For it is vital that the allegory itself be presented freshly; its recognition must trigger the 'Aha!' effect or its value is diminished. Indeed, we postulate that allegorical works contain a metaphorical stimulus that takes the form of a stimulating metaphor. This stimulus awakens certain parts of the consciousness as effectively as any initiation -- it is, in fact, the germ of initiation -- and contributes to a demonstrable evolution in the efficacy and quality of creative understanding and expression: it is called enlightenment.50 That Stranger is rich in this stimulus can be proven not only by the investigation that follows in this article but also in consideration of the amazing transitions that were wrought by those people who were 'turned on' to Stranger.

Let's see how Stranger meets the requirements for an allegorical work. First, does it contain or reference coded meanings? Yes. In fact, it is striking how many 'obvious' coded references Heinlein includes. Besides the numerous quotes and references to classical literature, Heinlein actually introduces some puzzles with text that identifies them as such. For example: there is a discussion of the true meaning of the names Abigail Zenobia, Anne and Michael's love child; and Fatima Michele, Maryam and Michael's issue51 which is introduced as a puzzle. Another example is the rapid changing of names: Gillian Boardman becomes Jill, Miriam becomes Maryam, and, most complex and revealing, astrologer Madame Alexandria Vesant becomes Allie Vesant and then Becky Vessey. A wonderful example of these 'obvious' puzzles is the code word 'Berquist' used in a confrontation with Captain Heinrich52 which sets up the SS raid on Jubal's house. There are many other references, such as the Rodin sculptures mentioned above, Ben Caxton's appropriate door code of "Karthago delenda est"53, and the neo-neo-Platonic dialogues between the angelic forms of the deceased Arch Bishops Foster and Digby54.

Does Stranger's finished structure represent a radical departure from contemporary expressive norms? Yes. Remember that any form of expression that didn't lock step with the ultra-right was taboo and, still shivering from the Commie hunts, big publishers wouldn't bite. Yet, Stranger spoke with what passed for brutal frankness in those days on a number of taboo subjects. Also, Stranger was a very long volume for those days and its length was often mentioned negatively in reviews. Finally, Stranger was blatantly Messianic and, at the same time, anti-Christian which offended many of the clergy.55 Perhaps the best way to tell if Stranger violated norms is to scan the reviews it received. It was labelled everything from fascism to pornography, from a Utopian fantasy to a heretical nightmare. No two reviewers could agree on anything including whether or not Stranger was science fiction56 In fact, Heinlein deliberately wrote Stranger to defy categorization and "to attack the biggest, fattest sacred cows around."57 And, by Goddess, was he successful: "[Stranger] appealed to an incongruous medley of libertarians and liberals, anarchists and socialists, earnest reformers, angry rebels, and pleasure-seeking do-your-own-thingers."58 This 'incongruous medley' continue to publish widely read articles to this day which lay passionate claim to Heinlein's inspiration while furiously dismissing those ideas which don't fit neatly into their ideologies. He is the duck-billed platypus of a dozen dirty dogmas, defiantly refusing to conform to any categorist's box. Moreover, there's dozens of boxes that Heinlein's been kicked out of. Many are the articles which refute his claim to being an individualist, a collectivist, a socialist, a capitalist, a libertarian, a communist, a militarist, a pacificist, a sexist, a feminist, et cetera ad nauseam -- all of which is absurd since Heinlein himself claimed none of these labels. The point is that many people from many philosophical and political camps were deeply moved by Heinlein's philosophy and intrigued by his wide and popular appeal, yet embarrassed by their inability to synthesize his ideals or track their lineage.59 And why? They were looking in all the right [read: intellectually approved] areas. And Heinlein couldn't be found there.

Is Stranger's finished structure built with a missing key? Yes. The key is the Martian language, and there never was a niftier elixir vital. Stranger's basic idea of enlightenment is that Martian language provides such a clear framework of the universe that the human mind is opened to new vistas. The idea comes from something that Einstein said about (human) language insisting on stable coordinate systems despite physics' demonstrable evidence to the contrary. Moreover, Heinlein was a fan of Korzybski, the father of general semantics, who proved that the ability of language to entrain people reinforces a greatly flawed (linguistically derived) concept of the universe. Kipling summed it up another way with the ape chant, "We're all right because we say we are, and if we say we are it must be true."60 It is interesting to note that Crowley's prescription for enlightenment involved separating sensory data from its linguistic framework61 preparatory to the real work of fathoming the universe thereby revealed. Such notables as Dr. Tim Leary, Dr. John Lilly, Dr. Israel Regardie, Dr. Wilhelm Reich, R. Buckminster Fuller, Robert Anton Wilson, and Peter Carroll -- all of whom credit Crowley as being a strong influence -- describe experiments designed to accomplish the intended goal of 'the Martian 101 cure.' We'll cover these in a later article.

Back to the thesis... Does grokking Stranger cause a level of cognition that results radical evolution in thought and expression? Yes, there are examples throughout this article. Also examine the character of the period immediately following Stranger. The Sexual and Consciousness Revolutions were typified by the major themes of Heinlein (and Crowley). The motto was, "Do your own thing!" The questions were: "Who is in charge of my life, my body, my soul, my world? Who says they're in charge? Who'll be my role model, now that my role model is gone?" There may have never been such a period in history when so many people were trying so hard to wake up.

Reaction to, and inspiration from, Stranger formed the most prominent movements and social structures of the time. Free love movements sprang up faster than the communes to hold them. Altered consciousness and ESP research moved from Defense labs into everybody's back yards. Authority freaks were strained past their limits in an effort to reestablish control over the myriad grok-flocks who realized that freedom had been a holy icon left to whither in the blind trust of patriarches -- and who now wanted it back. There is no theme present in the years before the Reagan era that wasn't promulgated in Stranger. Yes, this was a book that changed consciousness. It still is.

And, yes, Stranger does indeed have a strong link to the allegorical works it succeeded. Indeed, many of these works and the movements that arose from them are mentioned outright in the text of Stranger. Likewise, the keys to unlock many of Stranger's puzzles are found in their perusal.

But let's examine these early magickal movements a little further before we proceed with our analysis in the hopes of unearthing some critical patterns. The magickal tradition we're tracking begins back before the Egyptians, and wends its way through several identifiable groups that litter Western history. Our first stop is the Gnostics which flourished in Gaul and Iberia during the last half of the Roman Empire and later thumbed their noses at the Pope only to have their thumbs removed in the first of many Roman Catholic genocides around the first millennium. The Gnostics were named for their emphasis on Gnosis, or personal illumination. They eschewed the Catholic doctrine which claimed that knowledge of the divine was accessible only through the intervention of priests. The excesses of the Gnostics seeking personal knowledge were legendary -- gluttony was practiced alongside fasting, heavy drugs complimented sensory deprivation, and sexual abstinence was a kink considered equal to major league varsity group whoopee. All of these were considered part and parcel of the personal search for truth and inquirers were advised to choose many paths. (Heck, they sound like a bunch of hippies.)Most Gnostics groups considered men in all ways equal with women -- in fact it wasn't even an issue. They practiced techniques to avoid procreation, not revering the miracle of birth, but rather favoring the sacrament of sex, of 'growing closer.' The few non-Catholic contemporary records describe these people as having been much more literate, healthier, happier, and longer-lived that the Christian- inspired ignorance, fear and squalor that surrounded them in what was correctly dubbed the Dark Ages. Their chief inspiration was a fellow named (surprise!) Valentinus, an interesting character who just missed being one of the primary influences in Christianity.62 His philosophy was based on personal gnosis, the inherent divinity of each man and woman, the abandonment of atonement as unnecessary, and the importance of personal freedom -- all of which clearly evokes Thelema and Stranger. It is unclear just how Valentinus got Valentine's Day, but he did and we suspect an Illuminati conspiracy. The only other historical Valentini63 don't fit at all and the festival's symbols are definitely both pre-Christian pagan and Gnostic. Valentine's Day originated from the Roman Lupercalia, which was a month long fertility festival closely related to modern Mardi Gras. It was an important event -- the month of February is named after the party props -- and was officiated by a special class of educated priests. Lupercalia, which means the festival of wolf- or dog-men, has even earlier roots in the Arcadian Pan beast-man festival held at Mount Lyceum (from which we get the word and myth of lycanthropy). Part of the worship included much whoopie in the doggie style position. The symbol of Valentinus was taken to be the heart with an arrow through it which is better understood as a doggie-style view of the yoni with a lingam through it. After all, these dudes knew what a heart looked like. This also answers why the Catholics were so all fired opposed to the doggie style position. It wasn't that they were opposed to the act -- it was and is a dearly loved tradition in Rome -- they were opposed any infringement on their monopoly and the best way to tell a Gnostic was by their sexual positivism. Remember that the missionary position gets its name from the Catholic church's missionaries, celibate men all, who were compelled to teach various native peoples how to fuck the One Right & True way. There were many different types and cultures of Gnostics, but what happened to them is history at its worst -- they were murdered outright, every man, woman and child that the Christian butchers could find.64 But the movement didn't die out. Many of the Gnostics were wealthy -- part of what made their genocide so attractive -- and they were able to pack up and move away to open again under a different name, just like the Nest planned to do after their Palm Springs temple was bombed.65 As we'll see, this is one of many important common themes that link Stranger to the Gnostics. But where did the Gnostics go? Historians have often noted the lineage between the Gnostics, Alchemists, minstrels, Grail legends and Templars; many books have covered the subject -- Holy Blood, Holy Grail66 being one of the best. It suggests that the Gnostics re-emerged as the ill-fated Knights Templar (among other groups) to reprise the familiar Gnostic and pagan theme of the Pope's hit men whacking the competition. In the early 14th century, Pope Clement and the French King Phillipe raided the Knight's coffers on the pretext of demon worship, they also found, to their surprise, that the Templars had been a hotbed of, you guessed it, Gnostic and pagan revivalism. After the raid, the Templars scattered to prepared safe houses throughout Europe only to spring up again almost immediately as the Teutonic Knights and as the early Masonic orders and rites -- some of which openly used Templar imagery. These groups effectively combined republican and anti-Papist activities with Templar traditions and found much in common with the still practicing pagans of the British Isles. One can't meander too far into any aspect of Western history without being impressed (and often stumped) by the activities of the Gnostics, the Templars, and the Masons. These mysteries continue into the present day. A few hundred years later, a German Masonic group, inspired by the scientific and occult ferment of the 19th century, formed the Ordo Templi Orientis (Order of Oriental Templars). It was an order held in high esteem even by the very exclusive Scottish Rite masons who were automatically conferred comparable degrees of initiation in the OTO.67 In the early 1910s, the leader of the OTO accosted Aleister Crowley saying that he had published the great secret of the Templars in his text, The Book of Lies. He immediately conferred the 9th degree and accordant responsibilities on Crowley, provided some magickal training, eventually made him head of the English Order and finally willed the world-wide Order to him.68 Crowley later changed the Order to incorporate Thelema and Liber Legis and oversaw its pre-WWII worldwide expansion. It was with the Agape Lodge of this OTO that Parsons and Hubbard were associated.69

The reason for describing all of this history is that Stranger reprises so many of these themes. The Nest is organized around Templar lines, Michael's ideals are clearly Gnostic, and Jubal emerges in later analysis to be of deeply Templar significance. But having also demonstrated that Stranger has its place in the body of allegorical works mentioned earlier, let's return to the text of Stranger itself and examine some of the puzzles and themes that have kept academics puzzling for the past three decades.

The Door into Stranger

In the last paragraph of the preface to the new version of Stranger, Virginia Heinlein departs from her brief history of Stranger to mention that the names of the characters have "great importance to the plot. They were carefully selected: Jubal means 'the father of all,' Michael stands for 'Who is like God?' I leave it for the reader to find out what the other names mean."70

That's about as subtle a challenge as a gauntlet in the face and it makes one wonder exactly why it was so important for her to mention it. Could it be that she and Robert had wanted someone to connect the dots and decode Stranger? Why is this so important now?

Let's go ahead and tackle the names anyway and see what we get. We'll start with Valentine Michael Smith. As Bruce Franklin writes in Robert A. Heinlein: America through Science Fiction:71 "He is: Valentine, both a message of erotic love and a martyred saint; Michael, keeper of the gates of heaven, archangel who leads the heavenly hosts against the forces of evil; Smith, the American everyman. He is also a 'superman' from a culture far in advance of human culture in mysterious ways. And he is unfallen man, the New Adam who has never tasted the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. He is likened to Dionysus, and later assumes the name of Apollo. Above all, he is the new messiah, re-enacting the crucifixion, destined to save the elect in a mortally diseased world."72

As we've shown, Valentine most strongly references the early Gnostic; the martyred saints fit into are another story. Michael is the archangel most closely associated with the Holy Grail, another big yoni symbol, and the elemental plane of water for which Michael has great affinity. There were several early cults to the Archangel Michael that worshipped the sword in the cup. Smith might also refer to another famous Thelemite, Wilfried T. Smith, Parsons' first magickal mentor, who headed the Agape Lodge before Parsons was appointed magister templi by Crowley. Crowley disapproved of Smith who ran a fairly sex-drenched lodge and managed to sprinkle his seed widely in the Thelemic community including siring a child by Parsons' first wife. Although it is unclear why this might offend Crowley (of all people!), he nonetheless conspired to remove Smith and wrote a treatise entitled Liber Apotheosis 132: The Hidden God, with which he convinced Smith to retire into intense solo magickal research. This last connection may be tenuous to Stranger, but Smith seems to have been a remarkably charismatic man with more than a hint of religious huckster, much like the Archbishop Digby character whose Fosterite Church so influences Michael.

As we've shown, the character of Valentine Michael Smith follows Crowley's archetypal retelling of the Dionysus/Bacchus myth which later evolved into the Jesus motif. He also fulfills all but one of the prophecies of Liber Legis as the Thelemic messiah who follows, and is heir to, Crowley. (It is interesting to note that Parsons was once widely considered to be Crowley's heir and, as mentioned above, his Babalon Working was designed to invoke yet another heir.) There is another thought here. Ann Lynnworth, a magickal scholar and the author's co-vivant, suggests that Messiahs tend to take their functional forms in books: Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha all appear to the vast majority of their flock on paper. In light of her theory, it is interesting that Stranger's impact on society seems to follow along the lines of other Messianic faiths in their early years.73

The sole Liber Legis prophecy that Michael doesn't answer is that he fails to crack the code in Liber Legis.74 What he does do is to open the New Aeon, the Age of the Magickal Child, by the revealing of the Martian language, which may be isomorphic. It is interesting to note that most of the attempts made to crack the Liber Legis code involve some sort of extra-terrestrial connection.75 Although there is still much more information regarding Valentine Michael Smith, there isn't enough space in this article to cover it. Rather let's move on to examine Ben Caxton, the Winchell reporter. Most of Stranger's Part 4 is devoted to Caxton's description and analysis of his experiences in the Nest and his transformation as a result. Through Caxton, the audience gets a box seat in the consciousness of a man undergoing initiation and apotheosis -- not to mention a peek into the inner sanctum of the Gnostic- Templar Nest. His transformation is the very fulcrum of the novel, but who does Caxton represent? In 1910, Crowley staged the Rites of Eleusis at Caxton Hall in London. According to Crowley, and to many of the regulars who wrote about their experiences first hand, these were initiatory experiences which caused personal evolution in the audience members. A precursor to performance art, the Rites were presented as sacred drama and received mixed, but usually bad reviews. Despite the uneven commentary, the Rites ran successfully until the outbreak of WWI in 1914. It becomes clear that Ben Caxton, the man, represents the archetypical initiate who passes from well-accomplished manhood to something larger (godhood?) through a series of initiations which assist in the realization of higher understandings. The process, often psychically painful, demands rigorous self-examination and the continual testing of the initiate's habitual beliefs. Caxton clearly was the subject of such an initiation. And he clearly crosses through the three Thelemically phases in his transition: a man of the earth, the lover and the hermit. This progression is described in Liber Legis76 and is mirrored in most Thelemic societies. A few more observations: Ben is Hebrew for "son of" or "heir to" and Caxton certainly winds up as an heir to Michael's fortune thereby becoming something like Jubal's grandson. Historically, there is only one Caxton of note, Britain's first commercial printer, who doesn't seem to have been so important, but the author has seen this Caxton's name on several odd monuments including the facade of Harvard's famous Widener Library so there may be more here than meets the eye.77 Moving along, we come to the astrologer, Madame Alexandria Vesant who clearly references the Theosophical Society and Krishnamurti movement co-founder Annie Besant. To grok the Vesant/Besant isomorph, remember that the letters B and V are qabalically equal (from the Hebrew letter Beth -- the letter symbolizing magick -- which is pronounced either B or V depending on the addition of a dot in its center). To emphasize this point Heinlein spoon feeds his audience a dialogue78 in which her name is actually spelled out, which may qualify Stranger as the world's most blatant Book of Secrets. Crowley -- and most Thelemites to follow -- had little patience for the Theosophists79, whom he felt were mostly misguided academics, who possessed some laudable inquisitiveness. Vesant, the Stranger astrologer who secretly advises the head of state through his domineering wife (Oh, Nancy, just say, Gno!) , is portrayed as a well-meaning but mercenary charlatan who accidentally accesses a hidden magickal ability that is later expanded upon when she receives Michael's Martian enlightenment.80 Next we come to the most complex character in the story, Heinlein's alter ego and the real star of the show, ladies and gentlemen -- Jubal Harshaw. Decoding Jubal is the most exciting part of the puzzle (so far anyway). It is hard to equate Jubal to any historical character, although he references many, and the only hint we have early in the game is Virginia Heinlein's note that Jubal means the "father of all."81 The biblical Jubal isn't much help82 although the name does translate roughly from the Hebrew into 'father of all'. 83 On the surface, Stranger's Jubal may be paternal and he certainly seems patriarchal, but "Father of All?" Looking deeper, however, there are a few clues in the text that identify Jubal with one of the most striking aspects of the Gnostic-Templar connection. Several times in the text, a horrified Jubal is told that the only accoutrement of note in the minimalist nest is a large hologram of Jubal's head84 which they revere as the "patron saint of the Church" and of whom Michael says he is the "one who groks all." Many of the nestlings actually worship Jubal, much to his chagrin.85 But wait, wasn't there another secret religion that worshipped a sacred head at its center? Indeed, one of the weirdest details to come from the raid on the Templars was that they worshipped a sacred, sometimes bearded, head which was deemed their savior and the fountain of all wisdom. Variations on the theme of a sacred head predate the Templars by thousands of years86, and the theme recurs often in later Templar imitators. The head was worshipped in various ways and referred to by the names Mahomet and Baphomet. Mahomet seems to derive from the Greek word for '[first] principle' or 'source' and has a history of Gnostic use. Mahomet was also contemporarily used as a word meaning simply idol, and some of the more rabid anti-Moslems of the time tried to link the word to Mohammed, accusing the Templars of collaboration with the hated Saracens.87 Baphomet, however, was by far the head's most common appellation and has been translated in various ways. The Moorish Spanish -- the Moors were Islamic, Arabic-speaking Northern Africans who occupied Spain for several centuries and ranged far enough north to put the Black in the Black Irish -- had a word bufihimat (pronounced abufihamet in the Arabic) which means "father [source] of knowledge [wisdom]".88 Another possible derivation is from the Greek baphe metis, which means "baptism of wisdom" which led some theorists to suggest the Templars were a survival of a John the Baptist cult, since John's beheading could easily have been iconized in the manner of Jesus' crucifixion. The most widely accepted translation is that of a code. Spelled backwards (backwards spelling being common in occult works), Baphomet stands for three abbreviations, tem, oph, ab, which enlarge to "Templi omnium hominum pacis abhas" or "the father of the temple of universal peace among men."89 If this sounds precocious for an abbreviation, remember that even fancier abbreviations were common before the advent of typewriters. And there's more... Baphomet survives as a major inspiration in many occult groups that follow. Different likenesses, some stemming from Templar days (and before?) are used, the most common being a (bearded) head90 or goat's head and an allegorical portrait of an androgynous beast-man that combines aspects of goat, dog, ass and man -- Eliphas Levi's rendering is perhaps the most famous example. After popping up in numerous places in Western history, Aleister Crowley adopts the name Baphomet, and the Templar seal, upon assuming the leadership of the OTO, which, the reader remembers, is allegedly the 20th century survival of the original Templars.91 But there's still one level deeper. Baphomet is clearly an eidolon92 of the Arcadian Pan who was the major deity of the Lupercalia, the inspiration of the Greek educated Valentinus, the goat- or horned god revered by both Gnostics and pagans, and, seemingly, the inspiration of the Templars. But the Pan we're talking about isn't the simple satyr that most sanitized Christianized accounts allow, Pan of Arcadia is none other than Bacchus and Dionysus. He is called Pangenitor, the "father of all" and Panphage "the eater (grokker?) of all," and is perceived as the wild, lusty, natural, chaotic intelligence that exists beyond our linguistically enforced illusion of reality. He is symbolized by the goat man or a bearded head. Pan is a favorite of Thelemites who, like the god, deem it holy to "[u]nite passionately with every other form of consciousness, thus destroying the sense of separateness from the Whole."93 One of Crowley's most moving poems, and dynamic invocations, is the Hymn to Pan. Parsons, writing after the Babalon Working, conceives of Babalon as the female eidolon of Pan. Pan and Baphomet are also the principle deities for the Chaos Magick movement, a modern offshoot of Thelema.94

To recap: we have a clear indication that Jubal is Baphomet and that Baphomet is translated in several interesting ways using several languages but always with the same meaning which is "source [or] father of all (wisdom)", an attribute which Michael often ascribes to Jubal.95 But there is still one more level of meaning, and all the sweeter for its blatancy. Towards the end of Stranger, when Vesant, who calls Jubal "an old goat," asks for Jubal's birth information for a horoscope, he replies: "I was born on three successive days..."96 This is a very odd sentence, particularly as a snappy comeback, since it involves the obsolete British term 'successive;' and Heinlein usually writes pure American. What was he up to? Compare this odd sentence from Stranger to the very first sentence in the introduction to Liber Legis which reads, "This book was dictated... on three successive days..."97 That's one hell of a connection. It means that Jubal equals Baphomet and that the 'source of all wisdom' equals 'the source of Thelema.' Or in other words, Jubal is the recapitulation -- or even the source -- of Thelema! As we pointed out however, Liber Legis is the source of Thelema. It is a channelled text, and its author, mentioned in the second sentence of the introduction, is an entity named Aiwass. Does he connect to all of this? In commentaries to Liber Legis collected in The Law Is For All,98 Crowley considered Aiwass to be Baphomet. Thus Heinlein was saying that Jubal Harshaw alias Aiwass alias Baphomet alias Panphage Pangenitor, is the embodiment of Thelema, indeed the source of Thelema and the "father of all." This statement, made over the course of Stranger connects modern Thelema with its vast cultural legacy, its miraculous future and its 'hereditary' connection to another realm of reality. Holy Cosmic Trigger, Batman!

Corollary Observations

We're awfully close to understanding Heinlein's motives now. We've proven the link of Thelema and Stranger, and the link between Heinlein and Thelema. The text of Stranger meets the criteria for allegory and is loaded with puzzles which clearly reference magickal and Thelemic themes. But there are two remaining areas for discussion that are particularly important for this article's proof. One is Heinlein's first hand familiarity with Thelemic societies and the other is the link between Stranger and the Babalon Working. Historically, Heinlein was never a member of the OTO, although he certainly may have seen the Gnostic Mass as it was open to the public. Yet his description of the people and events in the nest are oddly reminiscent of life in secret Thelemic communities.99 One of the first things one notices about practicing Thelemites is their radiant good health and physical charisma. In fact, there are many stories told about people becoming involved with Thelema because they had met several Thelemites and were amazed at how healthy, calm, productive and, well, 'lucky' these Thelemites were. Heinlein certainly makes note of the apparent increases in mental and physical health among members of the nest..

The second aspect of nest life that Heinlein mentions is the calm, synchronized, unhurried, efficient movement one finds among some Thelemites.100 When this author first experienced the strange sense of unconscious choreography in a Thelemic lodge, the description from Stranger leapt to mind. It is a fascinating phenomenon and one not encountered elsewhere. It is a particularly odd observation to make about a 'cult' since, in this author's experience, most members of alternative religions are enormously, even willfully disorganized. (It is said that managing pagans is like herding cats.) Finally, the social life in secret Thelemic communities often centers around food, work and deep play with no wasted time, exactly as portrayed in the nest. Heinlein paints an exceptionally accurate picture of an eminently healthy, vibrant people and their pleasant comings and goings, shared mealtimes, and oddly synchronized spontaneity. This precisely Thelemic picture seems improbable for him to have deduced without having been involved with a magickal community. The question is: Which one? None of the Thelemic communities or scholars this author has approached remember Heinlein as more than a terrific writer. Indeed, most are surprised by the Thelemic connection. Here is another area for research.

This recalls Heinlein's link with Parsons. As a part of the Babalon Working, Parsons 'received' a short 'book' entitled Liber 49 or The Book of Babalon. Parsons claims it was the fourth chapter to Liber Legis, a claim which made him less than popular with Crowley and the OTO. Regardless of this claim, it is a powerful text that deals mostly with the coming of the Thelemic heir. There are two parts in particular that stand out after reading Stranger. The first is part of the channeled instructions to Parsons for the ritual -- it advises him to clear his mind in preparation: "Consult no book but thine own mind. Thou art god. Behave at this altar as one god before another." 101 It is interesting to note that these words were mouthed, not by Parsons, but by his Scribe, L. Ron Hubbard, who was close friends with Heinlein at about the same time the latter was working on his first shot at Stranger. The other Babalon Working quote which stands out, and there are many quotes which are not so overt, comes from Liber 49 which Parsons channeled alone out in the desert -- e.g., sans Hubbard: "37 For I am BABALON, and she my daughter, unique, and there shall be no other women like her. 38. In My Name shall she have all power, and all men and excellent things, and kings and captains and the secret ones at her command. 39. The first servants are chosen in secret, by my force in her - a captain, a lawyer, an agitator, a rebel - I shall provide." (Italics added)

Of course, throughout Stranger, Michael's first friends, later referred to as the "First Called," line up in exactly that order. Captain Von Tromp of the Challenger, is the first character one meets in Stranger. Jubal Harshaw is an invaluable attorney to Michael as well as part time MD, and full time Baphomet. Ben Caxton is a Winchell reporter and professional fly in the ointment who mobilizes Stranger by using Michael as a lever with the current administration. Gillian Boardman is a nurse who literally tosses her career away to steal Michael out from under the noses of Federation Security. Liber 49 predicts that the magickal child will have powers and guidance from beyond to assist through the early years. This seems to track with Stranger in the way that Michael shows an uncanny knack for attracting good people and having events roll his way and is even observed by Jubal Harshaw and others throughout the book.

All of this brings us back to one big question: Why? In Heinlein's letters he claimed that besides making money and entertaining his readers, he wanted them to think, to ask questions.102 But that doesn't add up. Heinlein was a great writer; he could have asked all of these questions without all the codes. The answer must lie elsewhere.

So let's review: Heinlein is involved in a secret Thelemic society composed of artists, writers, scientists, and other advanced and odd minded folk. Their magick works, their lives are transformed and it is time to transmit their message to a vast number of people who desperately need to evolve. There is no interest in repeating the 'burning times' of their spiritual forebears, who rose up, were murdered, and rose again like some ontological Phoenix. And, to make matter worse, the gods had somehow selected Crowley as the channel for their newest batch of goodies only to see Crowley (and his followers) spectacularly martyred in one of the most vicious press assassinations of our century. There was only one thing to do. We had done it many times before: Go into hiding and open up under a new name. And that is exactly what Heinlein did. He designed Stranger to be a magickal seed containing the spiritual and intellectual DNA of Thelema, which he placed into the fertile loam of his times, sowing a crop which includes the neo-pagan, ecosophical, sexual and consciousness movements -- not to mention much of the current trend in Thelema. For any who cared to track his ideas, Heinlein encoded many additional lessons. And he included enough clues so that, some day, as a healthy, vibrant race of magickal women and men prepared to take to the stars, they'd come to know that the man who continued the sacred lineage of Valentinus, the Gnostics and the Templars, and who nursed it through the 20th century, the "man who sold the stars" was none other than, the 'father of us all', Robert Anson Heinlein.

Finis

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Most of "the 60s" as a popular movement didn't even start until around ' 65 and didn't really end until well after Nixon got re-elected in '72. The most active period occurred between 1968-74 and in fact, most of "the '60s" are still happening. Referring to "the 60s" quarantines a radical, ongoing, whole systems transition and reduces it to a mere historical fad.
2 There are at least three secret Stranger-inspired, nest-type organizations that survive to this day, mostly centered in communities near major universities.

3 Heinlein's unfulfilled predictions are even more unsettling. It is revealing to track the historical paths that resulted in his missed predictions. For example, why does our era lacks robotics, greater energy efficiency, or wide-spread use of an improved technology for reading. Why do we have a (relatively) failed space program and a (relatively) failed parapsycholgy program? Why is there an increase of world hunger juxtaposed with historically unprecedented gluttony. Heinlein predicted enough direct hits that we might ask: What do his misses fail to account for? What mistakes have we made?

4 Just recently in Massachusetts, a group of Thelemites who were pulled over for speeding, were hassled for being Satanists by the State Police. They were arrested, had their ritual gear confiscated, and interrogated on their religious practices. Much of the behind doors bargaining that took place over an illegal weapons charge -- an athame and a finely crafted art sword -- centered on the arresting officer's desire to keep the sword as a trophy. Since all charges were dropped a lawsuit is impossible, but the Thelemites lost days of time and thousands of dollars. The burning times rage unabated...

5 Near his death, Crowley published a collection of his letters in Magick Without Tears (republished in 1989 with Ordo Templi Orientis OTO and Falcon Press) which is widely regarded as his most accessible work. Currently OTO's longest continuously operating lodge, Thelema Lodge in Berkeley, offers a class entitled, "Magick Without Aleister" on non- Crowleyan magickal traditions in the hopes of getting something done besides living down the C-word.

6 The Book of the Law (also titled Liber Al vel Legis and referred to as Liber Legis) I 39.

8 We feel that this sentence, "To actively acknowledge and actively worship the divinity in oneself, in certain concepts and in every other living thing," is functional definition of grok.

9 The Old and New Commentaries to Liber AL by Aleister Crowley, edited by William E. Heidrick, available in ASCII from OTO, see commentary on I-40.

10 Ibid, see also The Law Is For All, by Aleister Crowley, edited by Dr. Israel Regardie, Falcon Press, Phoenix, AZ, 1986, p. 97-98.

11 The Original Uncut Stranger in a Strange Land, Ace Books, 1961, 1991, p. 184. By the way, Otter Zell makes a very important point in his Litha 1991 Green Egg Editorial that the originally published, shorter version of Stranger is the better of the two. This author wholeheartedly agrees. Among other things, Stranger would not have been nearly so important had it not included Heinlein's critical definition of love. The additional apocrypha of the uncut Stranger are interesting and fun, but that doesn't make it a better book nor is it nearly worth the loss of the old Stranger.

12 There are many references to this in Thelemic literature. In an essay entitled "Liber DCCCXXXVII -- The Law of Liberty," Crowley writes that he always begins his speech or letters -- even his greetings to his butcher -- with the Law of Thelema to remind people that "[w]e are all free, all independent, all shining gloriously, each one a radiant world."

13 Liber Legis, I 57.

14 There are many forms of greeting exchange in fraternal groups where they serve the role of passwords, slogans, etc. A wide variety of magickal groups, military cadres, and secret societies use them for security purposes. In Thelemic groups there are many versions of the exchanges mentioned above. Some Thelemic groups greet each other with the words, "Thelema" and "Agape", the Greek words for Great Will and Great Love. And in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," Wyld Stallyns create an utopian future based on their inspired Fool-ishness in which the greeting amongst all people is "Be excellent," and "Party on" which capture the same form, spirit and meaning.

15 This is another facet of grokking, see footnote 8. Also refer to the rest of the passage in Liber Legis I-57 and Crowley's notes in Commentaries and Law is for All.

16 Grumbles, p. 285.

17 Hassan was best known for the radical consciousness cult he founded back in the eleventh century at about the same time the Gnostics were getting their second wind. Known primarily for their great stash and dynamic foreign policy, later commentators called them the Assassins.

18 Stranger, p. 509.

19 Grumbles, p. 248.

20 The seventh Theorem of Magick, from Magick in Theory and Practice, Master Therion (Aleister Crowley), Castle Books, Seacaucus, NJ, 1991, p. xiv.

21 For example, the word Thelema may have first been used in its present form by the 16th century satirist Rabelais whose fictional Abbey of Theleme probably inspired Crowley's later Abbey of Thelema at Cefalu, Sicily. Other influences included Eliphas Levi, Dr. John Dee, and McGregor Mathers. Some Thelemites believe that Thelema is a form of esoteric Buddhism.

22 Stranger, p. 380.

23 From a conversation with Hymenaeus Beta.

24 So far as this author has found, this is the earliest mention of the term New Age in its current context.

25 These occur throughout Liber Legis, one example is found in Book II, verse 76. "What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou ever know. But cometh one to follow thee: he shall expound it."

26 Consult Liber CI by Aleister Crowley "An Open Letter to Those Who May Wish to Join the Order, Enumerating the Duties and Privileges." It precisely describes, both in scope and in detail, the ties that one finds in Stranger among water brothers and is only one of many similar texts. Later OTO heads greatly reduced this ideal since the OTO is a public legal entity and many of the duties are impossible under US and other law.

27 Stranger, p. 423. The complete Gnostic Mass is known as Liber XV and is usually found as an appendix to "Magick in Theory and Practice."

28 Magick, Inc., Ace Publishing, New York, 1941. Pagan fans will be pleased to read that heroine who saves the day is a hag who rails at length that witches are may things by nature (by Nature!), but evil isn't one of them.

29 Heinlein's thaumaturgy in Magic, Inc. is strongly based on the elemental workings described in Transcendental Magick, perhaps the most widely respected occult work of the 19th century. It was written by the influential clergyman and magician Eliphas Levi with whom Crowley was greatly impressed. Later synchronicity and meditation convinced Crowley that Levi, who died shortly before the his birth, was his previous incarnation.

30 This is reminiscent of the conversations in Stranger (p. 486-7, 511 for example) concerning the economic vectors caused by a reliable Martian magick. Also note a recent HBO movie, Cast A Deadly Spell, which seems to have drawn some inspiration from Heinlein's story.

31 Grumbles, p. 62-4. Heinlein mentions Murder, Inc. in a 1949 letter defending his opposition to gun control -- its connection to the plot of Magic, Inc. is obvious. Note that in our present culture, magick isn't outlawed per se, but it is repressed and its study is ridiculed. Also note that magick is pursued successfully both by government and organized crime.

32 777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley, edited by Israel Regardie, Samuel Weiser, Inc., York Beach, ME, 1973.

33 Grumbles, p. 285 and throughout the text.

34 In the June, 1988 edition of Locus, author Spider Robinson describes two occasions in which Heinlein played the friendly wizard. The first instance came years after the two had met, just once, at a science fiction event. It seems Heinlein sent Robinson a check out of the blue for the exact amount of Robinson's back rent plus $100 which arrived at the last possible moment. Robinson says that nobody -- not even his agent -- knew he was that broke. The second story involved the Robinson family stranded far from home on their daughter's birthday. Heinlein called -- how did he know where they were or get the number? -- and cheered the little girl, saying she could have a second birthday with her friends when she got home. There are many other stories like these.

35 Grumbles, p. 35.

36 Grumbles, p. 43. Grumbles is mostly letters between Heinlein and Blassingame.

37 There are several articles on Parsons, but the best so far, and the source cited for this article is "Jack Parsons: Sorcerous Scientist" by Douglas Chapman, in Strange Magazine #6, PO Box 2246, Rockville, MD 20847. The magazine is highly recommended.

38 Parsons was the first member of OTO to achieve the 8th degree by dint of time and labor, most upper degrees having been historically awarded for administrative or political expediency. There is only one other OTO member to have accomplished this and his is also a compelling story.

39 Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword and Other Essays by John Whiteside Parsons, edited by Cameron and Hymenaeus Beta, Ordo Templi Orientis, New York in association with Falcon Press, Las Vegas, 1989.

40 From an interview with Marjorie Cameron. Heinlein was a the first person Jack Parsons ever introduced her to. She didn't care for Heinlein too much, with his ascot and pipe he was "too slick, too Hollywood. But Jack and he were quite good friends."

41 Check out Heinlein's 1952 short story, "The Year of the Jackpot" (anthologized in The Menace from Earth, Signet, 1959) in which protagonist Potipher Breen is a mathematician who tracks odd cycles and develops a theory of periodicity which links UFOs and flying saucers to mass human behavior and which functions at the meta level of personal will. At one point, Breen discovers a church which has reinstituted ritual nudity, "Probably [for] the first time in a thousand years, aside from some screwball cults in Los Angeles. The reverend gentleman claimed that the ceremony was identical with the 'dance of the high priestess' in the temple of Karnak."

42 Liber Legis, I 55-56.

43 Stranger, 103-4.

44 Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 13.

45 Grumbles, p. 285. This was the letter to Otter mentioned in footnote 8.

46 The "Alice" series remains a classic of multiplex meaning treasured by logicians and mathematicians (for whom it is a delight), quantum physicists (for whom it was an inspiration), and qabalists (for whom it was a textbook). By the by, math, physics, and qabala are strikingly convergent in the days of Thelema -- have a dinner party and invite some practitioners!

47 da Vinci's artwork represented a radical change in implied perspective and, indeed, the raison d'etre of art itself. He caused as much outrage among established classical artists as delight in the crop of Renaissance artists he inspired. His overt sensualism, coded anti-religion, and dabbles in the "forbidden" field of natural philosophy (the precursor to experimental science) nearly got him burned alive.

48 Many authors, beginning with Fulcanelli, have detailed the strange designs of the Gothic cathedrals and their implied heretical, particularly Gnostic, meanings.

49 Rodin and his allegorical sculpture plays a great part in Stranger, particularly the uncut version. On pages 395-399 of Stranger, Jubal gives Ben a first class lesson on Rodin and allegorical sculpture. Not mentioned is that Rodin and Crowley were strong mutual admirers. In fact, Rodin was so taken by young Crowley and his poetry that he extended an invitation for a collaboration of poetry and sculpture which lasted for several projects. See The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, p. 338-345

50 Somebody ought to look for the neurotransmitters involved in "Aha!"

51 Stranger, p. 460-1. This is one whale of a grand puzzle, but will have to wait for later publication.

52 Stranger, p. 172. Let's save the readers some trouble: Despite the set-up, our's and Heinlein's, the Berquist code doesn't exist. It is just meaningful-sounding nonsense (amphigory) designed to incite Captain Heinrich (get it, Hein lein, Hein rich?) to send the posse. Then again, maybe we missed something...

53 Stranger, p. 85. The short version of this very complex story is that Cato, a famous Roman statesman, closed a series of passionate speeches to the Senate of Rome with the words, "Carthage is to-be-destroyed." Cato thus precipitated the Third Punic War which ended in Rome's utter destruction of the vastly under-matched Carthage. The quote's common contemporary meaning translates roughly as Kruchev's "We will bury you." or Eastwood's "Make my day!"

54 Stranger, p. 368-370 and throughout the text.

55 Years ago, in a conversation with a famous Catholic Archbishop, he confided that Stranger was the "beginning of the end' of Catholicism. It was after Stranger became popular that traditional churches really suffered diminishing attendance and folks started suggesting that "God is dead".

56 Heinlein claimed it wasn't science fiction. He refers to it as a "Cabellesque satire on religion and sex, [and] not science fiction by any stretch of the imagination." (Grumbles, p. 262) (Italics his.)

57 Grumbles, p. 262-3.

58 Robert A. Heinlein: America Through Science Fiction by H. Bruce Franklin, Oxford University Press, New York, 1968, p. 127.

59 One popular rumor spawned by the public's inability to reconcile a man who could write Stranger at about the same time as Starship Troopers, was that Heinlein's works were really written by his wife. While Virginia Heinlein seems an impressive woman in many ways, and it is clear that her input was frequent and invaluable, she wasn't Bacon to Heinlein's Shakespeare. The point of the rumor is that people were at a loss to c omprehend Heinlein's vector.

60 Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling -- another story of a human boy reared by aliens.

61 Part I of Book 4 by Aleister Crowley, Samuel Weiser, York Beach, ME, 1980, is a simple, detailed description of this process. It is also uncommonly devoid of the dense, eclectically pun-laden text for which Crowley is famous, making this a good read for the beginner.

62 Valentinus was fairly influential in Rome around the first century A.D. and seemed poised for superstardom. The famous Ptolemy, who codified the stupidest system of astronomy known to man, counted himself among Valentinus' many fans. At the peak of his career, Valentinus was offered an archbishopric in Rome in exchange for his testimony that Roman law and order took precedence over personal enlightenment. It isn't recorded what he said, all we know is that he left town and started a commune in the sticks, freeing up the position for a more viable (or at least buy-able) Christian.

63 The two Catholic saints named Valentine were early Christian martyrs known for their grisly deaths and not their sermons.

64 In 1209, thirty-thousand knights and soldiers under the orders of Pope Innocent III stormed the Cathar region of Languedoc and began a massacre in which "neither age nor sex nor status [were] spared." In the city of Bezier, some fifteen thousand men, women, and children took refuge in the church only to be butchered when the commander said, "Kill them all. God will recognize his own." Some eight centuries later this callous blood- lust would become the de facto motto of the American forces in Viet Nam.

65 Stranger, p. 491-2.

66 Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Biagent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, Dell Publishing, New York, 1983. This is an delightfully controversial, spell-binding journey through some of the weirdest historical mysteries from the Middle Ages to modern times.

67 "History of the "OTO" by William E. Heidrick, OTO, Fairfax, 1986.

68 See the Foreword to The Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley, Samuel Weiser, York Beach, ME, 1980. The exact details of this story are the subject of debate, e.g., the text seems to have been Equinox I:VII published in 1912, and not The Book of Lies.

69 Hubbard was never a member of the OTO. He paid no dues, received no initiations and may not have qualified for membership.

70 Preface to Stranger.

71 Robert A. Heinlein: America through Science Fiction, Oxford University Press, NY, 1960.

72 Ibid, p. 128.

73 From a conversation with Ann Lynnworth.

74 Liber Legis, II 76. Ann Lynnworth points out that we cannot know if Michael broke the code unless Heinlein had Michael breaking a code, which he doesn't, or unless we had already broken the code and found the answer elsewhere in Stranger. We haven't and the subject remains indeterminate, but doubtful.

75 Recently a Washington state Thelemic scholar, Anthra-Andromeda, published a solution to the code and claimed it heralded an extra-terrestrial Child. And Francis King, one of the most famous British Thelemites claimed Parsons' Babalon working was directly responsible for the flying saucer phenomenon that occurred shortly thereafter. For that matter, a 1907 sketch of an Enochian entity contacted by Crowley looks very similar to the beasties that Whitley Streiber writes about in Communion. Actually there are many compelling links between Crowley, the Enochian work, and UFOs.

76 Liber Legis, I 40.

77 A final note is that Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a very popular 19th century author and politician, who wrote extensively about adventure and occult themes and whose ideas inspired many modern fictional and occult authors, wrote a popular novel entitled The Caxtons which may have a connection.

78 Stranger, p. 128.

79 Book 4, p14. Crowley describes Anna Kingsford, another founding Theosophist as being "handicapped by a brain that was a mass of putrid pulp." Nobody ever said he was a nice man.

80 Stranger, 481-2. This is one of the niftiest short explanations of astrology you'll ever read.

81 Preface, Stranger.

82 The biblical Jubal gets little mention. He is the son of Lamech and Adah and credited as being the inventor of instrumental music.

83 It is interesting to note that Heinlein himself is often referred to not only as the Father of Science Fiction, but also as a personal father figure for many people. In a collection of Heinlein memoria gathered shortly after his death and published as The Man Who Sold America: Heinlein in Dementia edited by D.S. Black, Atlantis Press, San Francisco, 1988, many of the contributors begin be saying Heinlein was the father they never had. It seems Heinlein never had any children of his own, although the dedication of Grumbles is "For Heinlein's Children".

84 Stranger, p. 416. After the nest is bombed, Caxton tells Jubal that Michael salvaged only the important things through apportation including a special Martian typewriter, some clothes, some cash, and the hologram of Jubal's head.

85 Stranger, p. 477-8.

86 For example, several linguistic clues in Stranger point back to biblical mentions of Carmel whose ancient name was Rosh Kadesh, or Sacred Head.

87 Encyclopedia of Paranormal and Supernatural, p. 159-60.

88 Holy Blood, Holy Grail, p. 83.

89 Transcendental Magic, Eliphas Levi, p. 258.

90 Alchemists, for example, refer to a phase called caput mortuum or 'dead head' -- Hey, Jerry Garcia! -- which precedes the precipitation of the philosophers stone. And, Zardoz is a Qabalically inspired allegorical film of the mid-70s (starring Sean Connery) which features a large flying head that holds a remarkable number of meanings.

91 "History of the OTO"

92 Eidolon is a technical magickal term which means an attribute that references a deity but does not encompass that deity's essence. For example, the Magus Card, Loki, fiber optic impulses, and the Trickster, are eidolons of a god called Mercury. Each of these attributes evoke hermetic energy; none of them capture his essence. A second meaning is a mask or alias that a god may choose.

93 From a widely circulated essay entitled "Duty" by Crowley. The theme of passionate union with all aspects of creation and its connection with Pan is common and appears in much the same language in a number of Thelemic works. It stems from a Liber Legis passage in which the goddess Nuit, who is all of creation, describes herself in quantum terms and adds: "...I am divided for love's sake for the chance of union. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all." (Liber Legis I 29-30)

94 For more on Chaos Magick, read Liber Null & Psychonaut, by Peter J. Carroll, Samuel Weiser, 1987, 1991. Check out the Baphomet essay, p. 156-61

95 This is an amazing example of literary punning. Jubal is the 'father of all' in four languages and a code to boot! Nice foot work. Also note that punning and multi-level, hidden humor are usually indicators in this kind of research that you're on the right track.

96 Stranger, p. 499.

97 Liber Legis, Introduction 1.

98 The Law Is For All, Falcon Press, Phoenix, AZ, 1986, p. 79. 99 The modern OTO is not the only Thelemic society, although it is the largest single group and the source of much wonderful scholarship. It is however a public organization. There are many other secret Thelemic groups scattered all over the world, some of which have been in continuous operation for more than fifty years. Most of these observations apply to the secret societies.

100 Stranger, p. 475-6.

101 The Collected Works of Jack Parsons, OTO, NY from the "First Ritual of the Book of Babalon".

102 Grumbles, p. 285.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 reply

Finished Reading "STRANGER..."

Vera — Tue, 22 Jun 2004 13:51:23 GMT

PABlo invited me to this tribe...then ,very graciously, sent me a copy of the book to read and enjoy.

It would be my pleasure to kick it back into play now.

I guess it'll be on a first come/first served basis. The first one to send me their full name and address in a private message...I shall be happy to send.
;-)
Ve.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 16 replies

Messianism and the mass mind

Lazarus_Long — Fri, 26 Mar 2004 14:34:28 GMT

There is a central theme to the “Stranger” that is not only prevalent in this work by Heinlein but runs a thread from classic existentialist novels of Dostoevsky’s “Notes from the Underground” and Camus’ “The Stranger” on though much of the contemporaneous work by Heinlein’s compatriots, Asimov and Clarke.

The subject they share is a treatment of the positive and negative aspects of not merely the internal mind of a messiah complex but the general social treatment of the character, from Dostoevsky’s vilification to Clarke’s adoration in “A Childhood’s End” and Asimov’s rationalization in the “Foundation” series and also Heinlein’s presentation in “Stranger in a Strange Land.”

In my opinion this work can also be understood as Heinlein’s treatment of the relationship of self/social analysis, self loathing/love, existentialism, enlightenment, overcoming individual origins and establishing responsible goals for evolution.

While I am unsure of the original citation (I suspect it is Greek or Roman) Kissinger is often quoted as saying: “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac”. That this is true is without question, how it expresses itself is another matter altogether and herein is where the topic overlaps the sordid and sublime relationship of the group and its messiah.

The themes of Power and Polyamory cannot then be divorced. As it as this aspect of the power of love reflects upon the physics of politics. We can observe numerous modern examples of the negative images that abound where the charismatic character of messianic individuals have also been stereotyped as a popular misinterpretation of polyamory.

For example not long after I read the novel for the first time the world experienced the Manson Trials, to be followed almost a decade later by Jim Jones. It was not that long ago when we saw David Koresh and the central aspect that all of these very negative examples present us with are pragmatic versions of the risk/reward relationship for perversions of polyamory when it is not made simplistic and superficial by the hedonist imperative.

Clearly Heinlein was looking at this quality for both an internalized psychosocial (bottom up) analysis and an external (top/down) one as well. Polymory and more interestingly collectivism in this sense is more the “effect” rather than a thematic “cause” of the work. It is a consequence of power, but also the character of Valentine (Eros) is subject to gross manipulation by (Universal) powerful, larger forces. Throughout the novel I remember vignettes where the character is pulled out of normal Space/Time to converse and “mediate” between Martians and Human Gods.

Heinlein often addresses the issue of religion and society and this is probably his most profound example of his thematic treatment. He begins years before in works like “The Green Hills of Earth” but in Stranger he addresses “Saviors and Sacrifice”. Valentine is not simply saved by the Martians, he is ‘made’ by the Martians and sent back to Earth to remake it. He is an emissary from one planetary spirit to another. Once here Valentine is recognized by prevalent popular religious icons, Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, and older world pantheon, as the fusion of their perspectives making possible a metamorphic period of transcendent social, psychological, and physical evolution.

The manner apparently required by society though is still the test of bloody self sacrifice. Valentine rejects the necessity of it but comes to accept the inevitability of his metamorphic crucifixion and this too is an interesting sub-theme Heinlein is examining.

Valentine doesn’t want to be consumed. He wants to be *grokked* but apparently most humans prefer consumption to comprehension. This parallels both genetic and memetic evolution in the sense that in most cases of the assimilation a successful mutation a small group acquires advantages and then preserves and cultivates them but are also generally rejected by the majority as too different, too threatening as an extreme change.

The implication of polyamory then in the context of messianic behavior in this novel is a direct treatment of the monarchic model of mutational genetics but is more than a metaphor for a Sun King; it is a model for how a powerful advantageous mutation might manifest and propagate itself as charismatic behavior. This conflict between organic and inorganic metamorphosis and mutation is actually a central competitive theme between Heinlein and his friend Isaac Asimov. Asimov invariably treats the messiah complex as deviant and dangerous requiring a Super Intelligent mechanistic robotic rational mind to mitigate and contain human tendency for excess. Asimov’s messiah is covert, and keeping his identity a secret from humanity for millennium, as opposed to Heinlein’s that naively arrives and fulfills his destiny through a creative/destructive resurrection model.

Valentine Michael Smith in this context is the hero contrasting Asimov’s ‘antihero’ in the form of the Mule (Christ/Caesar) in the “Foundation and Empire” which in turn is opposed by Asimov as Daneel Olivlaw, the Seed AI (and Secret Savior) responsibly uplifting humanity from its own recursive self destructiveness boom/bust cycles but who doesn’t allow the “Robots” to replace them as in the dystopic model of the Terminator.

In fact while their styles and conclusions differ dramatically I often see Asimov and Heinlein in particular as writing counterpoised themes treating similar subjects with this contrasting emphasis on organic versus inorganic intelligence as the sublime underlying debate. The larger text of both these authors (as well as others like Philip K.Dick) then becomes a pragmatic treatment of defining best case scenarios for outcomes and risk scenarios to be avoided while keeping humanity from destroying itself.

In this sense “Stranger” represents a watershed work for Heinlein in more than one way. He is not only dramatically shifting his personal perspectives on many subjects in respect to earlier work; he is describing a crucial watershed in the experience of the evolution of humanity that allows for a next phase of advancement. He is also suggesting a method for accomplishing it.

The relationship of Heinlein and Asimov in this context can be seen as analogous to the relationship of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, H.G. Wells and Jules Vern. Science Fiction today has replaced religion and mythology as the pragmatic textual memetic analysis for optimizing the risk/reward aspects of ‘prophecy’ for boom/bust cycles that potentially spiral out of control catastrophically. Even prophecy becomes a tool of recursive self improvement by this paradoxical character of being self fulfilling.

Heinlein applies a classic device in this respect by using these dialogs outside Space/Time as a way of making prophecy rational and not simplistically deterministic. But actually while he tries to remain hopeful I remember feeling he had failed to overcome this paradox and in fact demonstrate that linear social progression was ensured by greater than human intelligence.

The next time I try and write a thematic review of this work I promise to try and reread it before doing so. But these are ideas that I have been stimulated to think about while I was addressing the theme of polyamory and the ideas of the book in total for how Heinlein was using the practice of polyamory respective of mutational genetics, and messianic memetics.

I also thought it would be fun to put my neck in the noose and see in permanent print how my opinions might change after rereading the work after over 35 years.

Please everyone chime in and tell me how I got it all wrong and why, or perhaps a few quotes one way or another to support/attack this perspective and larger subject.

Here is a reference to the thread on Polyamory:
http://www.tribe.net/tribe/servlet/template/pub%2Ctribes%2CViewThread.vm?threadid=de9d0105-3f28-4bac-acc4-0ee38c21c1b5&_message_resource=info.post.created&tribeid=a9a47f39-95ae-4c29-9346-a323df3a5f98

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 2 replies

Sharing water

Spartakeith — Mon, 08 Mar 2004 06:21:03 GMT

While I take my fave book for what it is, there are certain bits of Stranger In A Strange land that have jumped off the page for me and invaded into my lifestyle. One of these things is watersharing. I take it very seriously, and won't split a glass with just anyone. Some people have been offended by this, but most just give me the old squinky eye that says "What the hell is wrong with you?" They can't seem to understand that it is not about germs (even after I tell them it is not about germs. Several times.) and that I don't mean it as some sort of affront to their character. It's especially bad from folks who haven't read the book.

Am I the only one out there like this? (Please say no!)

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 12 replies

First Edition vs. Uncut Edition

PABlo — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 06:50:48 GMT

"ONCE UPON a time there was a Martian named Valentine Michael Smith"
(First Line of First Edition of 1961) henceforth simply (FE)

____________________________________________________________

" ONCE UPON A TIME when the world was young there was a Martian named Smith. Valentine Michael Smith was as real as taxes but he was a race of one.
(First Lines "Uncut Edition" of 1991) henceforth simply (UC)

____________________________________________________________

So have you read *both* versions?

I was interested in giving my friend the 'low-down' about Heinlein and his writing, so I suggested he go shopping at the used book store...

So now I have to tell you about the end result. It wasn't that I was expecting anything REALLY different. When I got to read the Uncut version for the first time, all additional 70,000 words of it...

I realized I'd have to re-read and now also COMPARE the 2 versions of - Stranger In A Strange Land (1961; 1991)

Why do you think the publisher chose to excise certain parts out? Is the Uncut version better by far, or just more of something that remains undefinable...

I'm interested to hear what you think!

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 5 replies

Religious Views?

XcentricOrbit — Tue, 10 Feb 2004 21:23:44 GMT

New member here. Thanks due to PABlo for the creation of this tribe.

Just out of curiosity, what sort of religious views do all of us lover's of Heinlein's work hold? I grew up as a Christian (confirmed Lutheran, in fact), but slowly grew into sort of pagan/agnostic views in my early/mid teens. I first read Stranger in a Strange Land when I was about 14 or so (my copy was a hand me down of sorts; it belonged to an uncle of mine before he died. My mother gave it to me with a few other of his Heinlein books, most notably The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, another of my favorites).

I know there are religious groups based directly or indirectly (Church of All Worlds, for instance) on the book, but are there any views that the individual readers tend to share? No need to fit a label to yourself, just tell me your thoughts.

By the way, has anyone else here read any of Richard Bach's books? Illusions, in particular?

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 22 replies

Quotes from Stranger

PABlo — Sun, 15 Feb 2004 17:07:07 GMT

Goodness without wisdom always accomplished evil.

Valentine Michael Smith

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 17 replies

A family affair

Lazarus_Long — Sat, 21 Feb 2004 05:34:49 GMT

Well, after finding this enclave of Howards and Smiths hanging out here I thought it best to present myself, recognize my filial responsible, and join.

In the words of the Michael Valentine Smith, eat me.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 6 replies

coincidence?

heidealist — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 01:30:53 GMT

My mom & dad married because my mom was preggers. The baby boy was stillborn, born on Valentine's day. My parents named him Michael Smith before they buried him. Almost 13 years later, I was born.

So, grok this...

I am alive due to Valentine Michael Smith....

Anybody else have any strange coincidi like this?

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

ok im new to this

Wed, 03 Mar 2004 17:22:06 GMT

i still havent read this book........whats it about exactly?

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 10 replies

So Far I Am ...

Vera — Sun, 07 Mar 2004 01:00:04 GMT

...vera much liking this story. ;->

I'm at the beginning still(escape) and I love the imagination, remembering that this was written in 1961. And Valentine makes me smile.

It is good. It's sort of like *Mr. Smith Goes To Washington*.

Why do you think this man's writing has become a sort of religion for huge numbers of folks. I'm just curious. The message will be a good one...I can already tell, but there are thousands of well-written books with good messages for humanity...

Why do you think this has touched people to form groups?

If this opens a discussion, please allow me to make clear the fact that I am simply curious...because I am vera much a proponent of good message ...and I ALWAYS hope, ansd often wait...for humanity to LISTEN... and take heed...waiting...still waiting...
a fellow human, flaws and all,
Ve.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 3 replies

Learning to Grok

PABlo — Fri, 20 Feb 2004 04:25:27 GMT

"At this point the being sprung from human genes shaped by Martian thought, and who could never be either one, completed one stage of his growth, burst out and ceased to be a nestling. The solitary loneliness of predestined free will was then his and with it the Martian serenity to embrace it, cherish it, savour its bitterness, and accept its consequences." (UC)

When I read the Uncut version (within the past year), I started to think about certain things...all over again.

In the story, Mike attempts to acquire knowledge about the earth, its history, and its cultures. However, despite accumulating a vast amount of information, he still is unable to "grok" the earth and it's inhabitants...at least at first.

Similarly, science is in the business of acquiring knowledge about nature, its rules, and its principles.

Unfortunately, like the man from mars, science still is unable to "grok" some fundamental issues regarding the nature of the universe.

Take for instance quantum mechanics...the laws of physics at the sub-atomic level of particles. Although physics can describe the rules that quantum particles obey, it is extremely reticent on the actual meaning of those same rules.

Or, look at the sequencing of the human genome. In a macro sense, it repesents a mere catalog of information with little understanding of its biological implications.

Finally, take one of the biggest mysteries...human consciousness. Although a wealth of knowledge about information processing in the brain exists, there is very little confirmed evidence about how the brain gives rise to conscious experience.

Despite the incredible scientific achievements in the past century, knowledge is still confused with comprehension. Although the practical results of scientific endeavors may not require such a deep understanding, it is at least important for furthering an intellectual appreciation of our place in the universe.

"I grok people. I am people...so now I can say it in people talk. I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much...because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting."
Valentine Michael Smith

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 13 replies

Why?

PABlo — Fri, 20 Feb 2004 03:57:30 GMT

Why do I like Heinlein?
He makes me laugh, that's probably it in a nutshell, he says a whole lot of pretty profound things, but all in all I end up laughing and that's why I keep re-reading his books.

When Robert Heinlein died...it was not a good time for me, it all seemed to be coming to an end. My 'favorite' author gone...But Life goes on, and I've found more new authors to read, now I have new(er) 'favorites'.

But I'm still heavily affected by Heinlein's beautiful prose after all of these years...and by the responsiveness that I've seen to the creation of this tribe...there are quite a few others who are on the same page.

In short, Heinlein GROKS. I Grok. We Grok. ALOT.

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

Any news on a planned SiaSL film?

dragonmountrider — Sun, 15 Feb 2004 10:50:56 GMT

I read in an online article that "Have Space Suit, Will Travel" has been optioned for the big screen...how long would it be before "Stranger in a Strange Land" would finally make it to the multiplexes?

My possible cast suggestions:

Valentine Michael Smith - LEONARDO DiCAPRIO/JOSH HARTNETT
Jubal Harshaw - JACK NICHOLSON
Gillian Boardman - CAMERON DIAZ/CHARLIZE THERON
Ben Caxton - ED NORTON
Anne - REBECCA ROMJIN-STAMOS/GISELE BUNDCHEN

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 reply

Heinlein comments...

PABlo — Tue, 17 Feb 2004 03:51:27 GMT

on Stranger in a Strange Land

"I was simply writing a novel..."

the following link is from a digitized clip of Heinlein's interview on "Robert Heinlein Day" April 17, 1980
(from the radio station in Butler, Missouri...his hometown)

http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/media/sRAH-sisl.wav

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

On the surface of Mars...

PABlo — Tue, 17 Feb 2004 03:19:14 GMT

In 1994 a major crater on Mars was officially named:
Heinlein Crater

size: 83 km in diameter

Location: southern hemisphere

There are other craters in the immediate region named after (Thomas) Huxley, (H.G.) Wells, (J.B.S.) Haldane and (Edgar Rice) Burroughs...
(also visible in the southern hemisphere mosaic which was assembled from Viking images)

All of these names are permanent and official, and are sanctioned by the International Astronomical Union.
http://www.iau.org/

However, it remains to be seen whether or not these names are sanctioned by the Martians...

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

Other Heinlein Books

Euphoria — Tue, 10 Feb 2004 09:34:45 GMT

Boys, if you haven't already, your really ought to read Friday!

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 9 replies

A Martian named Valentine...

PABlo — Sun, 15 Feb 2004 07:02:51 GMT

This is how it begins:

Once upon a time there was a Martian named Valentine Michael Smith.

Basic Premise:
Eight Earth scientists journey to Mars, and after landing...are never heard from again. Some years later a rescue ship arrives, and finds the single survivor, a child born on Mars, whose parentage is not clearly established, and who was raised by the Martians. The "Man from Mars", Valentine Michael Smith, is brought back to Earth and introduced to his own people.

The Martians, who are as much more evolved than humanity in their ways...as a human is from an invertebrate, have their own agenda in permitting this: they intend to use their cuckoo child (by linking to him telepathically) to find out about the strange world of the humans. Because Martians live a long time, they are contemplating, in their leisurely way...whether to destroy Earth as a cancerous disease or to re-educate it into Martian (Cosmic) ways.

Although Heinlein never states it, it is apparent that Mike is the unwitting agent for the transmission to Earth...of all of the ancient Martian wisdom.

The premise, as stated above, is just the stage for Heinlein to set up the story...there is also an intention to shock the reader into new ways of thinking.

Heinlein attempted to use Stranger in a Strange Land as a way of commenting on the philosophies and spiritualism of Western society. Even more fascinating than the entertainment of the story itself, is the ambitious offer of a viable solution *to* the problems of the Earth's cultures.

I think that Dostoyevsky could have written something like this if he had attempted to write a sci-fi novel.

Stranger in a Strange Land...defies almost everything that is conventional and actually succeeds at all levels. It's an incredible mix of melodrama, superb characterizations, radically subversive concepts and genuinely esoteric pleas for social reforms. Using psychology and socialogy, philosophy and religion, satire, intelligence and wishful thinking...Heinlein manages to concoct a fantastic but plausible need to "re-evaluate all values" and offers a recipe to save an otherwise unsavable species. Even Nietzsche would have approved.

Stranger captured the progressive ideals and creative aspects of the sixties cultural "revolution" and by so doing, gave many of us our first real glimpse into some of the most treasured tenets of the rebellion...expand your mind, allow yourself personal responsibility for your own life, and create love wherever you go.

At the social level, this would appear to be a license for anarchy of the purest kind. Yet, as we began to understand what Heinlein was attempting to visualize --with Mike's vision of a sensual Utopia-- an underlying and overiding set of rules begins to take shape. This code of conduct, doesn't give a damn about the laws imposed by our society, but is rather based on doing everything that agrees with an inner sense of all that is "rightness"...a grokking, if you will.

By teaching us about the Martian language, Mike introduces us to alternate modes of behavior, gives us new options, and awakens us to the possibility of tapping our ultimate potential.
In the process of learning about this potential, Stranger in a Strange Land also demands the corresponding ultimate responsibility. We become empowered at the same time that we lose normal inhibitions against becoming "super-human".

The greatest achievement of this story is the discovery (by Mike and through him, the "Old Ones" of Mars) that the irreplaceable value of humans is in the joy of love...including the nature of sensual pleasure that is NOT merely procreation, but instead, rejoices in the fact of human separation...that
separateness that allows for growing closer.

As Mike describes it,

"Male-femaleness is the greatest gift we have—romantic physical love may be unique to this planet. If it is, the universe is a poorer place than it could be... and I grok dimly that we-who-are-God will save this precious invention and spread it. The joining of bodies with merging of souls in shared ecstasy, giving, receiving, delighting in each other—well, there’s nothing on Mars to touch it, and it’s the source, I grok in fullness, of all that makes this planet so rich and wonderful...That’s what sexual union should be...When I first learned what this ecstasy was, my first thought was that I wanted to share it at once with all my water brothers—directly with those female, indirectly by inviting more sharing with those male. The notion of trying to keep this never-failing fountain to myself would have horrified me, had I thought of it. But I was incapable of thinking of it. And in perfect corollary I had no slightest wish to attempt this miracle with anyone I did not already cherish and trust...I am physically unable to even attempt love with a female who has not shared water with me. And this runs through all the Nest. Psychic impotence—unless spirit blends as flesh blends."

Valentine Michael Smith brings to his Nest the concept and option of BELONGING. We belong to the Universe. Mike teaches us to grok: God and all that this entails.

What could be more strange, in the land of separation and estrangement of each soul...one from every other, than the concept of surrendering yourself to the All?

Truth is the strangest...
and the hardest thing of all to grok, is the Truth...that
Thou art God.

Hope Everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Aquafraternally Yours --
PABlo

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

Such a loving man --

spikeyguy — Thu, 12 Feb 2004 20:26:38 GMT

...and so unfathomably alive and brilliant. Maybe curmudgeony, and certainly iconoclastic and eccentric ("Starship Troopers" *did* come out the year after "Stranger")

...But for years now, "Time" and "Stranger" have given me this test (for fiction or for meeting good people) -- "Is this (new) book, (or) is this flesh-blood community peopled with the kind of noble souls I, (or a Heinlein character...and I should be so lucky!) would make love to? Raise kids with? Fight for? Would cook with and (hmm!), "eat"?

That life can be so long *and* so short, simultaneously -- but so deep, so connected...(if we strive for that); that we can be "alone/together", even semi-grokking each other on this lonly planet of ours --

That infectious, ribald nobility, zest for life, love, intelligence and adventure --

-- He's my fav!

Drinking deep,

SpikeyGuy

PS -- I still love "Maureen" et al in "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" -- though it's post-stroke, the love and the man are clearly there!)

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 0 replies

Perspective

Sam — Tue, 10 Feb 2004 03:15:59 GMT

Age does not bring wisdom...but it does give perspective...and the saddest sight of all is to see, far behind you, temptations you've resisted.
-from The Book

~Sam

posted in Stranger in a Strange Land - 3 replies