ANTINOMIANISM

by Roger Whitaker IV°
copyright © 2000 CE

     antinomian: Metaph. A contradiction between two principles each of which is taken to be true, or between inferences correctly drawn from such principles. A genuine antinomy does not involve any logical fallacy.

     Kant held that: natural antinomies ensue when reason endeavors to apply categories of the understanding, suitable to empirical experience, to the transcendental and absolute. He distinguishes; first, the antinomy of the conceptions of a finite and an infinite in space and time: second, of the divisibility and individuality of matter; third, of freedom and necessity; fourth, of the existence or non- existence of a necessary being, or God.

     Antinomianism can be traced to the 2nd century Gnostics, (the Davidists and Familists are the most well known antinomian Gnostic cults) from which the concept that moral law is not obligatory emerged.

     What is frequently misunderstood about antinomianism is this idea of non-obligatory moral law. Often I see this idea distorted to mean having no morals or ethics. This is absolutely and historically innacurate. What the concept of non-obligatory moral law means is that morality cannot be an obligation to doctrine as emphasized by religion or culture. Rather, morality must issue as a principle from the individuals own soul, heart and conscience as opposed to doctrinally instituted and enforced. Obviously there is an element of self responsibility and personal development involved here.

     Antinomianism as a praxis of spiritual dissent manifests as both a methodology and a practicum to personal spiritual freedom. Antinomianism represents a historical methodology and post-modern evolution of individualized thought that seeks freedom from the confines of cultural, social and genetic/memetic programming. The path of spiritual dissent has most often been documented and categorized as that of the Left Hand Path (LHP). The path of harmonious acceptance of man as he is and the giving over of self responsibility to a higher force has most often been represented by the Right Hand Path (RHP).

The Right-Hand Path vs. Left-Hand Path

     The distinction between the RHP and the LHP is one of the most misunderstood dichotomies I have personally encountered. The pagan community misunderstands it, most contemporary Satanists misunderstand it, certainly mainstream religion hasn't got a clue. So, let me fill you in. The true distinction between the LHP and the RHP is one of intention: The LHP seeks a separation from God or nature for the purpose of self deification and the inherent personal responsibilities that implies. The RHP seeks to merge with God, to join the natural forces, to be with god and to allow the doctines of that god determine the degree and form of self responsibility.

     The RHP vs. LHP is NOT good against evil in the classic socialized, religious, cultural sense. It is about the most important choice a conscious being can make during his/her life. The loss of personal individuality and egocentric consciousness to the gentleness, solicitude and peace of God OR fighting to maintain the individual Will, the sense of Self knowledge and Being that the LHP recognizes as a special "Gift" which enables that choice to be made, and of which carries a tremendous degree of personal responsibility to successfully manifest.

     The LHP seeks to retain individuality of self, the RHP seeks "oneness" with God. The LHP understands oneness as a technology that promotes the dissolution of the individual self into a greater whole. The LHP is a Path of individuation and Willed activity. In other words, it does not come to you, you must go to it. This intrinsically makes the LHP a difficult one to follow. The RHP will come to you, it will embrace you with open arms. On the other hand (literally) the LHP requires a willed alteration of the way you perceive the objective and subjective realities that form a personalized understanding of life and its meaning on all levels of activity.

     The Left Hand Path is a syncretism in the post modern era taking liberally from several areas of philosophical and spiritual inquiry. Existentialism, relativism, antinomianism, hermeticism, all share ideas which are synthesized into the LHP conception. Tracing the roots of these ideas we find hints and glimpses contained in the extant thoughts of certain Gnostic sects, the Graeco/Roman Egyptian philosophies and aspects of the ancient Egyptian philosophical and religious cults. Particularly we see this in the reflections of the ancient Setian Priesthoods of Egypt which have been integrated into other lines of philosophical thought.

     As previously stated, the differentiation between the LHP and the RHP is one of intent. For instance, in the Church of Rome (Catholic) ritual is utilized. All the elements - altar, bell, candles, incense etc., form the components of ritual. However, if you were to read Howard Stanton Levee's (A.K.A. Anton Szandor LaVey) "Satanic Bible" ritual is also utilized using those same elements. The difference lies within the intention of the participants. Therefore, the technology itself does not distinguish one methodology from the other, rather the perceptions and cognitive structures of how these technologies may be utilized are the essential determinants.

     Whether a candle is white or black doesn't mean squat in and of itself. However, how the symbolism of the colored candle is perceived within consciousness and then manifest as a psychological component within oneself and their environment means everything. Therefore, initiation itself is largely a psychological process.

     Understanding the above statement, everything that initiatory systems have promised can be within the individuals grasp. Higher consciousness, wisdom, the ability to "do" or accomplish what one envisions for themselves all become within reach. It would not be too far of a stretch to infer that certain aspects of psychology rather than being a relatively "new" science are actually very ancient. The intent of these methodologies being transformative - developed to alter the way in which one perceives their internal and external environments for the purpose of accomplishment.

The Functional Prosthesis of Antinomianism

     The function of antinomianism is to dissent from established religious, cultural and social ideas that are often not the result of personal experience. The purpose of this spiritual dissent is to come to conclusions and ideas about the objective and subjective environment - on a personal level - that are your own. The antinomian spirit dissents from faith that is not arrived at through a careful introspection via intellectual and creative means. It does not deny faith, it denies blind faith and obedience to ideas that you are not your own through experience or developed contemplation and philosophical inquiry.

     It is fully possible to have a rational faith in very large ideas (such as the essential nature of human consciousness) without having to simply "accept" it because religion, cultural ideology or socialization have told you that it is so. The alternative to this "blind acceptance of dogma" is to carefully evaluate the known facts from largely unbiased data such as scientific, archaeological and well developed philosophical concepts and then come to your own conclusions. Sometimes to successfully accomplish this task one must learn very new thinhgs such as a new language, or go to school and take some courses in philosophy or to create a unique art. This is part of the responsibility that the antinomian praxis demands of its adherents.

     Through the utilization of the process I have just described you can reach the limits of what is known to you and begin to project - based upon that known - into the unknown. This personal projection will have a very different form than what is possible through the undeveloped constructs that are AND never were your own in the first place. Compare this idea to those of Plato regarding dianoia and noesis, you will find that they are similar. Divine inspiration can only result from the use of the truly divine Gift - the full use of the intellectual faculties - it cannot, and never has occurred as the result of the sublimation of consciousness.

     When you begin to disperse ideas that are not your own, and replacing them with what you do KNOW the entire world as you view it will change. Wisdom comes from ideas that help free you from that which is not your own. Thus opening the floodgate to what can be yours through the divine Gift. Any text which asks you to accept its tenets - on blind faith or dogma - is an abhorrence to the dignity of the soul which seeks its true expression through its own knowledge of self. Any text which asks you to examine its ideas and sources and then determine for yourself the validity of its ideas is to be esteemed. The answers are out there, but it will take an awakening, a desire, and the Will to Seek for the tree to bear its fruit.

     Antinomianism is not only a dissent from spiritual ideas that are not your own, that you have not experienced, but also from cultural and social ideas that are not your own. The entire antinomian spirit is motivated by a praxis that denies the blind acceptance of ideas no matter their source. It is one which urges each individual to make up their own minds on religious, social and cultural paradigms. This understanding must be based upon what the individual has learned through the strength of their own desire to consciously understand the contents of the proxemic environments each must inhabit.

     A genuine antinomy has no logical fallacy. One seeks to understand and conceive the unknown through the known so what was once hidden becomes then revealed. This is an antinomian perception. One seeks the spirit through the vehicle of the flesh for it houses within its finite experience, an infinite (for all purposes) existence. These ideas cannot be understood or approached through Oneness, these ideas are approached through division and then an eventual separation of elements within the singularity and individuality of consciousness (another antinomy). Given the above description of antinomianism it is possible to understand that it is a proportional construct. It is the perfect reconciliation of opposites not into unity, but rather, into a separate syncretism from which Aleister Crowley's formulaic conception of 0=2 becomes fully revealed as the antinomian formula for spiritual dissent.

"There is a splendour in my name hidden and glorious as the sun of midnight is ever the son." AL III-74