The Maybe Logic Academy

Sue packs her bag and goes to magick school with the ‘Maybe Logic Academy’. She doesn’t know what to expect, but suspects it will be an interesting experience…

This month I am enrolling in the ‘Maybe Logic Academy,’ for some perilous experiments in the world of magick. I’m wondering if I’ll remain unscathed…It’s some time since I’ve donned that particular hat, except in a recent case of restless spirits (now I wonder what that could be?)
The ‘Maybe Logic Academy’ is an online learning centre and community. I came across this site on Robert Anton Wilson’s website, and quickly jumped over to have a look…
The Academy offers courses in the latest mind-bending theories for those who like to question their reality and perhaps broaden their perspectives on life. Students are offered the opportunity to blow their minds by learning from cutting edge authors and theorists.
The site seems promising, the introduction proclaims to ‘create an environment’ where ‘alternative models, philosophies and methodologies can be discussed’. This approach seeks to free us from the ‘absolute truth’ found in mainstream religions and ideology
The courses are tutored by many well-known authors and thinkers including Robert Anton Wilson, Peter J. Carroll, Luke Rhinhart and Patricia Monaghan. They range in price from $80 to $125.
Robert Anton Wilson is an inspiring writer who has provided some influence on my life. I carried a copy of his ‘Prometheus Rising’ (thanks Daev), while in Europe with a travelling theatre company, some years back. Following the experiments in the book led to some thrilling adventures, and gave the whole journey a surreal edge. His advice to… ‘Get roaring drunk and pound the table, telling everybody in a loud voice what dumb ass-holes they are’ had an effect on people around me. However I was too busy running away to be able to judge accurately.
You may be as disappointed as I was, to find that Robert Anton Wilson’s course on magician Aleister Crowley has already started. He will be tutoring another course beginning on May 23rd, called ‘Tale of the Tribe’. This course covers the philosophies and writings of the minds that helped shape the 21st century including James Joyce, Buckminster Fuller and Ezra Pound.
The other courses also seem interesting…
‘Chance and the Laughing Buddha’ is tutored by Luke Rinehart, author of ‘The Diceman’.
If you have read this entertaining book, you will undoubtedly know that this experience could lead you anywhere. There is a paragraph in the book, where the protagonist is alone and depressed in a room. He happens to glance up and sees hundreds of Buddhas pointing and laughing at him. This is a central theme in Mr. Rhineharts work that the Universe should not be taken too seriously. A withering glance from my cat, Mr. Thaddeus ‘Angel Features’ Crowley, usually does it for me. Inspired by Sufism and Zen Buddhism, the course looks at how to ‘free humans from the mess we make of our lives’, and is mooted to begin in autumn 2005.
‘Instinct for Freedom’ is tutored by former monk and war correspondent, Adam Clement. I’m not familiar with Adam’s work, but he has been described as ‘a cross between Michael Moore and Krishnamurti’, (the mind boggles). The course covers his ‘World Dharma’ philosophy, which involves ‘liberation through living’ and ‘an engaged mysticism’. The ‘Instinct for Freedom’ course begins in May 2005.
Author and poet Patricia Monaghan is teaching a course on Goddess cultures from around the world. Her work may be familiar to anyone interested in mythology, particularly from the feminine perspective. She is currently writing an encyclopaedia on Celtic Mythology and folklore. The course she is tutoring begins on June the 6th and is called ‘The Goddess Path’.
The course I will be taking is on the subject of ‘magick.’
The best way to explain magick, is that it’s the art of focusing the will to change the world around you and within you. Magician Aleister Crowley said that magick is: “the science and the art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will”. This is sometimes spelled as ‘magick’ which is an old way of spelling. Crowley revived it to distinguish it from stage conjuring.
The course is ‘Chaos Magic’ with Peter J. Carroll, author of ‘Liber Null and Pyschonaut’, and ‘Liber Kaos’. It begins on the 11th of April.
The course aims to take an ‘experimental approach to the basic techniques and philosophical underpinnings of modern magick’.
This will be my first outing with the Maybe Logic Academy, and I’m hopeful it will be a positive experience. The site looks interesting, as do the tutors and courses, but I will have to experience more in order to give a fair evaluation.
The voices have been telling me to join this course and unleash my power on the world, (no Sue, not now!) Oh, sorry, well actually of course I meant that I would be improving my mind and magical skills for the good of all…
The course is running for eight weeks, and I will be reporting on anything strange that befalls me in this time. Judging from my past experiences, this should not prove too difficult. Strange things happen to me all the time anyway, with no encouragement whatsoever.
As Robert Anton Wilson says; ‘it is an ill wind that blows no minds’
www.maybelogic.org

suzanne

Sue Walsh was partly brought up by cats in her native Wexford, where along with her brother, she scoured the river for junk. At the age of three her mother caught her carrying kittens in her mouth. She lived in the woods for a while, then the lure of the stage was too much, and she ran away with a theatre company. This enabled her to keep her multiple personalities happy, and so she is continuing to act whenever the opportunity arises. When not on stage or the silver screen, Sue can be found scribbling away and conducting séances. She is still scouring the river, hoping to find treasure in amongst the junk, just like Suzanne in the song...