Tuesday, January 21, 2014

THE VRIL SOCIETIES & VARIATIONS

I was in college when I read the works of EDWARD BULWER- LYTTON in the Hamilton Library Building at UNH around the early fifties. My readings in the library were often completely unconnected to any of my actual studies or subjects but more of what I wanted to read, needed to read for personal reasons, and also to fill in gaps and to round out my interests. Needless to say, I read a lot of fiction by 'classic authors, and many in translation into English. Some works I wanted to read were not available,of course, but I was an ardent searcher among the stacks, and I sometimes bought books being sold off by the library, something most libraries seem far too eager to do these days, as a result of the insane and  inane  obsessions with 'electronic' data and formats, none of which I want to replace actual books regardless of other factors that many laud and extoll in their basic ignorance.


Lord Lytton's THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEI, I had seen on the screen when a youth in my town of Claremont, NH, at the MAGNET THEATER, long since burned down and never replaced. I have also read, if there was one, the 'CLASSIC COMIC' or 'CLASSIC ILLUSTRATED' COMIC (which  replaced the originals) of 'THE LAST DAYS'. I now find I need to re-read the actual book, which I may have glanced at or partially read, along with some other things by Lytton in college. I am particularly interested in his sections on THE WORSHIP OF ISIS as practiced in ANCIENT ROME at the time of the RISE OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY in the so-called 'PAGAN' world. Most people do not know the actual meanings of the word itself. THE WORSHIP OF ISIS as well as other 'Goddesses' or counterparts of 'masculine' gods have interested me over the years. Various cultures have some rather interesting ones that are sometimes in vogue among moderns from time to time, either as objects of actual worship or devotion,etc.

'THE COMING RACE' & 'ZANONI' were the ones I read. The latter,I read first, if I recall, since it purportedly dealt with some 'ROSICRUCIAN' descriptions and subjects, while the former dealt with VRIL and a subterranean race of people. I had heard of such 'peoples' before: one was a JULES VERNE story, another a TARZAN (EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS novel, which I eventually acquired when the TARZAN & other works by BURROUGHS came out in paperbacks, and,of course, H.G.WELLS' story, THE TIME MACHINE.   

Such stories are often labeled and tagged as 'SCIENCE FICTION' of which there are innumerable works and classics, from simple 'rocket ship excursions' to planets and the moon and even galaxies, many of which I managed to read before college and also listen to radio programs with such themes, like DIMENSION X, X-MINUS ONE, 2000 PLUS, etc. as well as BUCK ROGERS and also the comics, the BIG & BETTER LITTLE BOOKS, and all the movies from silent to color for many years, aside from the few pulps and Sunday comics I read. I also got interested, of course,in Atomic Energy, UFO's, SPACE TRAVEL, Meteors, etc. and other astronomical topics, even taking a course in ASTRONOMY in college at which I did not excel.

2 comments:

  1. All-in-all, much science fiction can also be traced back to early areas of both 'magic' and 'science' and the rise of 'UTOPIAN FICTION' which, has a vast amount of literature which can include: NOVUM ORGANUM, THE WIZARD OF OZ, FLATLAND, THE HOLLOW EARTH, and more besides. H.G. WELLS', "THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME" and other more serous volumes also have to be mentioned. I will perhaps discuss these and other aspects of writers in his era and also perhaps some of the science of that time if it bears upon this subject in some way.

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  2. VRIL is a word 'coined' by EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON that has been considered by some as 'controversial' and also an actual type or form of energy, similar,if not akin, to electricity and magnetism, and a 'secret' from ancient times by ancient peoples and others. A number of related terms have been given to bolster the beliefs in VRIL and these speculations are interesting and inconclusive. But one has to examine what the author of this term meant and what he said about such.and know a bit more about things. Some have claimed that Lord Lytton was NOT an occultist and that he denied being part of any such secret societies or occult groups but very few 'adepts','initiates', etc admit any affiliations with or membership in such.For example, very few ROSICRUCIANS SAY, 'I AM A ROSICRUCIAN' or announce their membership, unlike a lot of ordinary social clubs, groups, and memberships eager to advertise. You can be sure that affirming to be a 'rosicrucian' or the like, one is not one. Also, there is a difference between being a 'private' occultist and a 'practicing' occultist and also being a teacher of such or having 'pupils' and 'students' and 'followers' although I feel that Lytton worked with his 'peers' and worked on himself and concentrated on a number of subjects,etc Reading in areas of occultism does not mean mastery of doctrines,rituals, ceremonies, powers, etc as many may think and surmise but we can safely assert and assume, that, despite his verbal denials, LYTTON was 'a 'true' occultist' who inspired and set the tone for others to follow in occult and arcane areas. A few other things need to be mentioned concerning the 'exercises' often being.done which dealt with physical and mental, and emotional movements and practices that can be found in various systems today on a more pronounced basis, an open basis in some cases, and which involve energies of nature and body and life and so on. More on this another time.

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