Good versus Evil
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Good versus Evil
Good versus Evil is an Archetype Constellation in the Old Energy Creation Template. It answers the Big Question, "Why do bad things happen in the world?" The answer it provides is, "bad things happen because of evil," or bad things happen because people make a wrong choice between "light" and "dark." The Good versus Evil constellation is implemented in the Masonic Tarot.
List of Old Energy Archetypal Constellations
Archetype Constellation > Binary Gender, Chosen One, Compliance and Submission, Excuse and Justification, Fool in School, Good versus Evil, Isolated Individuality, Judge and Punish/Reward, Only the Chosen, Secrets
Related Terms
List of Old Energy Archetypes from the Masonic Tarot
The Masonic Tarot consists of the following Old Energy archetypes.
Masonic Tarot archetypes> Chariot, Death (archetype), Duality, Hermit, Hierophant, High Priestess, Judgement, Justice, Star, Strength, Sun (archetype), Temperance, The Devil, The Emperor, The Empress, The Fool, The Hanged Man, The Lovers, The Magician, The Moon, The Tower, The Wheel of Fortune, The World (old energy)
List of Old Energy Archetype Constellations
The Old Energy Creation Template consists of the following Old Energy Archetype Constellations
Binary Gender, Chosen One, Compliance and Submission, Excuse and Justification, Fool in School, Good versus Evil, Isolated Individuality, Judge and Punish/Reward, Only the Chosen, Secrets
Notes
The notion of cosmic good and cosmic evil fighting it out in battle can be traced to the Persian Mystic Zoroaster, who operated circa 1,000 B.C.E. He taught that the forces of Good, headed by the great God Ahura Mazda, fought against the forces of evil, headed by Angra Mainyu. The fight was part of cosmic process of "mixture" that led to "plurality and diversity" of creation. [1]
Examples
In Western exoteric teachings, good and evil are personified as cosmic forces battling it out in a cosmic war. In Western esoteric teachings, initiates are taught that there should be a balance or equilibrium between Good and Evil, see Justice, The Wheel of Fortune.[2] Why? Because this allows them to manipulate and confuse the masses.[3] [4]
Western Gnostic, which is pervasive throughout the Orthodox and alternative Christian Corpus, teaches this world as created by an evil deity as a prison for the soul. "By attaining gnōsis (knowledge) of their divine origin, gnostics were set on their way to escape from the world of the demiurge and his demonic helpers, the archons, who would try to prevent them from rising up through the heavenly spheres after death and finding their way back to their divine home of Light."[5] Note in this tail elements that fit both the Fool in Schoo and Good versus Evil archetypes.
In Western esoteric teachings, the battle is sometimes conceived as between warring aspects of the psyche. The ultimate goal is acceptance and integration of the "dark side" of our psychic selves, hatred, fear, loathing, etc.
Half-way between the east and west, and north and south, in a properly instituted temple are placed two upright pillars.6 One of these is colored white, the other black. These pieces of lodge furniture are emblematical of the two opposites functioning in the diverse operations of nature. Just as the temple represents in miniature the whole of life by which we may ever be confronted, or, rather, the manifold parts of our own inner nature, so these two pillars symbolize some aspect of these phenomena. They represent light and darkness, heat and cold. In man, they stand for love and hate, joy and pain, mind and emotion, life and death, sleeping and waking. Every pair of opposites conceivable to the human mind find their representation in the implication of these two pillars....The technique under consideration consists primarily in the conscious reconciliation of opposing forces. It is this which has been called the development of the Golden Flower.[6]
While explaining the meaning of the tarot archetype Justice, Papus says "Here we find the continuation of the symbolism of the 2nd and 5th arcana. The Seated woman occupies the Centre between the columns, the first idea of the equilibrium between Good and Evil."[7]
A Reddit meme demonstrates the prevalence of the good versus evil meme in Hollywood. Here, good is played by a white male who eventually destroys evil, personified as some vile and powerful character. This meme also highlights Judge and Punish/Reward, and Salvation.
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Footnotes
- ↑ Boyce, Mary. A History of Zoroastrianism: Volume One The Early Period. New York: E. J. Brill, 1996. p. 192.
- ↑ Papus, The Tarot of the Bohemians (Wilshire Book Co, 1978), https://sacred-texts.com/tarot/tob/index.htm.
- ↑ Mike Sosteric, “Star Wars Is a Religion That Primes Us for War and Violence,” The Conversation, 2018, https://theconversation.com/star-wars-is-a-religion-that-primes-us-for-war-and-violence-89443.
- ↑ Mike Sosteric, “A Short Sociology of Archetypes,” Unpublished, https://www.academia.edu/43008763/A_Short_Sociology_of_Archetypes.
- ↑ Hanegraaff, Wouter J. Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013. p. 20.
- ↑ Regardie, Israel. The Middle Pillar: The Balance Between Mind and Magic. St Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn, 2004. p. 8-9
- ↑ Papus, The Tarot of the Bohemians (Wilshire Book Co, 1978), https://sacred-texts.com/tarot/tob/index.htm.