In Darren Aronofsky’s Pi (1998), the young protagonist Max Cohen is a brilliant Math genius at an unspecified downtown New York City university. He discovers a 216-digit string of numbers that hinted at “The true name of God.” Max tries to unite math, computers, drug use and kabballah to uncover the secret of the universe. Like his hero Alastair Crowley, who attempted a similar feat almost a hundred years earlier, his attempt failed miserably and painfully. The film earned Aronofsky the Directing Award at Sundance and high praise from Roger Ebert.
We are born sinners. In fact it’s the child’s job to push boundaries and break the rules. Not everyone is born with a finely tuned moral compass, and so that’s just how we learn. Of course, it’s the parent’s job to discipline with love. The right balance is important: if the parent is too strict or cruel then the child learns that the rules are arbitrary and can be broken if no one is looking. If the parent is too lax, then the child must either learn to police himself (with guilt and shame) or will simply continue to break the rules under the assumption that this is acceptable as long as no one says anything, and unintentionally develops the art of lying, manipulation, and self-deception.
Alastair Crowley chafed at the long and oppressive list of ‘Thou shalt nots’ in the bible, as well as the hypocrisy he saw in the church in which he followed his father who was a traveling preacher. So he dreamed up a new religion whose only law was “Do what thou wilt.” He named it Thelema and spent the rest of his life trying to justify it through a grand unified theory of science, magic, occult and drug use. He founded two churches in which to practice this religion: OTO (Order of Oriental Templars) and A∴A∴ (Argentium Astrum – Silver Star).
The primary purpose of the religion was of course to convince women to sleep with him or engage in various depraved activities and to not complain about it afterwards. Unfortunately he never achieved much success and died poor and alone, and highly reviled. Continue reading AA’s Satanic Roots→
Simon Astaire has his personal imprint on many high profile calamities.
Elliot Rodger and his six victims
Astaire is the family’s close personal adviser and main link to the outside world. “So many people are asking what could have led this young man to take the lives of 6 innocent people and injure 13 others. So yesterday I spoke with close family friend and author Simon Astaire who knew Elliot Rodger since he was a little boy and witnessed his parents’ struggle to raise him first hand.”
Peaches Geldof had a long history of drug abuse and petty crimes. She married (for the second time) at the young age of 22 and was soon raising 2 children. She died of a heroin overdose at age 25, on April 7, 2014.
Tim’s father drank after work then went out carousing with his friends and then came home and beat his wife and kids. Tim was often beaten to a pulp and he thought that was normal. His mother was a weak woman and usually ‘out of commission’. Now Tim can see the dysfunction for what it was — he has since recovered from his own drinking problems. He has risen the ranks of the West Hollywood AA, and now with 20 years sobriety, is the Secretary of the Old Timers’ meeting. He quickly quieted the room which was filled with friends, who beamed with pride and affection for the tall, handsome man in his early 50’s, as he began his tale. Continue reading How I Learned to Let Go and Accept the Abuse→
Abby is in her 50’s and small in stature, but her confidence and insouciance quickly captivated the lively crowd at today’s Old Timer’s meeting in West Hollywood. She first got sober at 22 after years of heavy drinking, during which her cravings were so strong that she had to take drugs just to remain conscious enough to consume enough alcohol to satisfy them. But still it wasn’t enough. Continue reading Abstinence vs Recovery→
In this edition of NIAAA Spectrum, NIH scientist and Addiction Guru Aaron White, PhD explains the widely disparaged and misunderstood blackout phenomenon.
Today’s meeting in West Hollywood was composed of about 10 old men (myself included), one old woman, and one young woman. The Big Book reading was about a middle age fighting man who kept fighting and drinking despite repeated injuries, who even drank on his hospital bed, and who finally one day fell on his knees and begged for help from his ‘disease’. And then the next day he went to AA and for whatever reason that time out of all the other times finally understood how it works. Something about god. And he never drank and fought again. Will wonders never cease. Continue reading Freedom Prayer→