I am reading your series on this with great interest- until this controversy came up, I wasn't aware that the problem existed. I assumed we all knew to leave the obvious dark occult alone. This brings me to my perhaps simplistic question: what are some examples of other types of practices that others are warning against? After thirty active years in Trad-dom, I've been out of the community for seven, so I seem to have missed some trends.
Your humorous breakdown of the "camps" is very apt, as well as funny.
It's a less simple question than it might first appear, because the critics didn't really name anything that was in Morello's book. There are some really troubling ideas behind perennialism, and the idea of prisca theologia, and then of course there is the search for "hidden" knowledge. But there are two kinds of hidden knowledge: the kind of knowledge that requires initiation, and the kind that requires manipulation. It will be interesting to see how that distinction becomes clearer. Christianity *hides* nothing, but some of it requires deeper and deeper conversion to actually understand. For instance, marriage; the knowledge of what marriage is actually like, and the knowledge of another person, cannot be told, it must be experienced. Similarly, the statement "God is Love" is often used in a blithe and even a heretical manner; but to experience what that actually means... you can never be the same again, and it just keeps unpacking and deepening your whole life.
I am positive that this is the kind of gnosis that Morello (and Angelico Press) are talking about. There is no hint of any other kind; not a single instance of any of these authors advocating for taking the demonic shortcut of the Faustian bargain, which any Catholic should (I said should, not will) be able to spot.
I believe the fear--the true fear, not simple misunderstanding--must be that this kind of spiritual and intellectual and bodily work is SEDUCTIVE, and that the fences that the Church in her wisdom has placed around them to guard the faithful are being quietly undermined. This is a real concern, but we gain by discussing it openly, and not creating the fascination of the forbidden. And if we try to cut "magic" out, as I've noted, we risk cutting out the heart of religion. Because Christianity, as understood by nearly every Christian up until modernity, was initiatory and NOT propositional. Anyone can agree to something. But to die for something takes *understanding.* When we cut superstition with an axe, we will smash Faith along the way.
I am reading your series on this with great interest- until this controversy came up, I wasn't aware that the problem existed. I assumed we all knew to leave the obvious dark occult alone. This brings me to my perhaps simplistic question: what are some examples of other types of practices that others are warning against? After thirty active years in Trad-dom, I've been out of the community for seven, so I seem to have missed some trends.
Your humorous breakdown of the "camps" is very apt, as well as funny.
So glad to have found your Substack!
Thank you for your kindness, and question.
It's a less simple question than it might first appear, because the critics didn't really name anything that was in Morello's book. There are some really troubling ideas behind perennialism, and the idea of prisca theologia, and then of course there is the search for "hidden" knowledge. But there are two kinds of hidden knowledge: the kind of knowledge that requires initiation, and the kind that requires manipulation. It will be interesting to see how that distinction becomes clearer. Christianity *hides* nothing, but some of it requires deeper and deeper conversion to actually understand. For instance, marriage; the knowledge of what marriage is actually like, and the knowledge of another person, cannot be told, it must be experienced. Similarly, the statement "God is Love" is often used in a blithe and even a heretical manner; but to experience what that actually means... you can never be the same again, and it just keeps unpacking and deepening your whole life.
I am positive that this is the kind of gnosis that Morello (and Angelico Press) are talking about. There is no hint of any other kind; not a single instance of any of these authors advocating for taking the demonic shortcut of the Faustian bargain, which any Catholic should (I said should, not will) be able to spot.
I believe the fear--the true fear, not simple misunderstanding--must be that this kind of spiritual and intellectual and bodily work is SEDUCTIVE, and that the fences that the Church in her wisdom has placed around them to guard the faithful are being quietly undermined. This is a real concern, but we gain by discussing it openly, and not creating the fascination of the forbidden. And if we try to cut "magic" out, as I've noted, we risk cutting out the heart of religion. Because Christianity, as understood by nearly every Christian up until modernity, was initiatory and NOT propositional. Anyone can agree to something. But to die for something takes *understanding.* When we cut superstition with an axe, we will smash Faith along the way.
Thank you. I will be buying Morello's book to see exactly what he is saying.
Here's a link to purchase it: osjustipress.com/products/mysticism-magic-monasteries