A Critique of the Cosmic Intelligence Agency (C*I*A)
This article is updates and commentaries to the main article Some Critical Commments on Astrology.
The Cosmic Intelligence Agency (C*I*A) is a society and culture website in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The website calls it agents Agents of Change - Living on the edge of Chaos. C*I*A apparently also stands for Consciousness * Intention * Astrology. The website claims that it is a network of individuals living around the world who share a vision of the world soul, the Anima Mundi. Agents of the C*I*A are committed to raising consciousness to the universal energies, the archetypal patterns in our everyday world that can be observed in the ceaseless cyclic movements of the cosmos. For millennia, the website tells, humans have engaged with the cosmic sphere to seek meaning and inspiration: Our relationship to the cosmos has played a major role in the evolution of consciousness and we continue to honour this connection by utilising the concept of the Anima Mundi (World Soul). Anima Mundi is a Latin term describing the universe alive with soul and intelligence and reminds us that every part of the cosmos relates to the whole. As above so below! The website tells that the C*I*A and it’s connotations with the CIA (as in the American intelligence service founded in 1947) is in itself a paradox: For us we relate our acronym to the words to Consciousness Intention Astrology. What the C*I*A symbolises to us is a global movement, a collective mind, a meme that can work effectively behind the scenes to help and heal and influence culture and collective consciousness, by those who use, heal and are guided by the astrology we know and trust. We do the work of ‘good agents’ in a world where astrology is often maligned, misunderstood and misinterpreted. Our C*I*A and its many dedicated agents wish to promote an intelligent, well-informed and inspirational attitude to astrology by enhancing and circulating this ancient and profound wisdom and share it with others. The cosmic outlook is freely observable and available to describe, interpret and share with all, quite the opposite of the sinister antics of the CIA with their alleged need for secrecy and control in the name of protection and national and global security. We hope that it is readily seen that there is nothing sinister or hidden in our use of the C*I*A acronym, except perhaps a gentle attempt at satire. The C*I*A is about doing an important job, one where everyone can join in and together we can help change the world for the better. The website proudly says: A truly cosmic conspiracy!! C*I*A Headquarters is apparently manned by a few dedicated Agents and Agent 12- Julija Simas (Control) who manages the website and the “evolution” [sic] of this C*I*A. Other Agents contribute with editing, articles, the production of videos and quarterly reports, events and workshops. However, the website says, the C*I*A have many dedicated agents living around the globe who help spread the word and who participate when they can with their own contributions and networking. You can find them here: Agent Profiles. The agents see themselves as “Agents of Change – living on the edge of Chaos”: We understand that to create the changes necessary in this world it is important to understand that reality exists at the blurry edge between order and chaos and it is here that we find the dance of energy that we know as life-spirit or Chi. Conscious choice is forever at the boundary between the past and the future, what was and what will be, order and disorder. Chaos awaits intelligent interaction and at the C*I*A we see astrology as a cosmic link to co-creating the future and a guide to universal wisdom. We continue to use Astrology to help us understand the field of unified physics, reshaping our understanding of ourselves in the Cosmos and its implications and applications in our lives and the world. The C*I*A was born when Agent 12 decided to put the idea of the Cosmic Intelligence Agency into action and instead of keeping everything in her head, finally registered the C*I*A as a website name on the 23/8/2005. See chart, not an elected time. The acronym C*I*A fitted for the kind of work and idea behind the project, which involved dedicated agents working behind the scenes on various projects and research, gathering information and various forms of cosmic investigations, global and personal. The website spells out the meaning of its choice of names: COSMIC – From Cosmos, the universe as an orderly harmonious system, a beautiful order! INTELLIGENCE – the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. AGENCY – providing a service. AGENT – has an active or efficient cause, is an active principle within the agency: a representative. Origin of Agent – : from Latin agent- ‘doing’, from agere So, the Cosmic Intelligence Agency, founded in 2005 aims to awaken a deep sense of participation with the cosmos in which we are embedded: It is through conscious intention that we honour the wisdom of the Cosmos as sacred and make it part of our lives. We adopt the ancient Vedic notion of rta – things done according to an over-arching natural order in space and time – by envisioning the future through unified thought and intention at significant astrological turning points. These include equinoxes, solstices and other occasions witnessed by everybody across the planet, irrespective of religious affiliation, nationality, ethnicity, age, gender or any other group identification. The goal of the Agency is to promote an understanding of humanity’s ever-present cosmic connectedness. Its mission is to join with and encourage like-minded individuals who seek to actively understand and consciously interact with the unfolding universe. It adopts a spirit of creativity, imagination and intelligence as we attempt to better navigate the path ahead through global intention, celebration, participation and aspiration. The Agency aims to bring together ideas from astrology, philosophy, science, psychology, politics, consciousness studies, mysticism and the arts as a way of sharing and promoting our ideas about our cosmic dimension and advancing information that can help to situate humanity in the apparent flow of time. We are deeply concerned with the zeitgeist (the spirit of the times) and the constantly changing Anima Mundi (the soul of the World): Our mission is to promote astrology, the age-old study of the correlation between the cosmic and the mundane and to create further interest in and understanding of this ancient art. We aim to document the many facets of astrology, to celebrate its rich traditions and to show its numerous applications and adaptations. We aim to demonstrate how viewing reality through the astrological lens adds richness, vitality, depth and profound beauty to existence; how observation of cyclic patterns and synchronous events brings a sense of profound order and justice to our lives and to the natural world that supports us; and how the changing skies continue to act as a mandala in their reflection of universal truths. And: We invite you to join us in our mission as Agents of Change by participating with loving, peaceful intention in the continual evolution and animation of the Anima Mundi, the World Soul, cognisant that each of us plays our own humble but unique role in the ceaselessly unfolding drama of life. Join us in promoting this vision of a world awakened to its cosmic context by sharing your ideas, thoughts, artistic work, stories, experience and intentions for the world. We warmly welcome your contributions and invite you to contact us through this website. My critique: The problem with New Age Astrology Astrology is the teaching of the influence, which the celestial bodies moon, sun, planets and stars are believed to have on the life on Earth, as well as the art of predicting the future trough calculations of the mutual relations between the positions of the celestial bodies (a Horoscope). As an advocate of a communicative view of Man and nature I am not in doubt about, that the parts within the wholeness are influencing each other. There are both ancient Chinese versions of astrology, as well as Tibetan versions, that I can see no reason to doubt the value of, when practiced by a competent master. And the question about competence leads to my critique of astrology. In its psychologized form, astrology is a type of New Age therapy used for self-understanding and personality analysis (astrotherapy); that is: a reductionism. This is in short what C*I*A promotes. The danger of this reductionism is the same as the danger of clairvoyance. The word horoscope comes from the Greek words Hora, which means time, and Skopein, which means investigate, and in this also lies the danger; the danger of losing yourself in time. Rather than helping clients to become stronger and more independent, it can induce in the client an abdiction of responsibility and a state of sickly dependence on the astrologer. The so-called compensatory karma will by these “experts” and clients normal be misunderstood and abused as a kind of legitimation of, that we are as we are or do, as we do. He or she becomes obliged to do this or that, in order to equalize old karma – (or to follow the correct way of his destiny; or in case of clairvoyance: of what the spirits/dead tells him to do, etc., etc.). This is spiritual seen nonsense. Usually the whole thing is about escaping from reality or excuses (see my article What is Karma?). A good philosophical principle is to examine, whether the karmic talk and experiences of the “experts” and clients remove their energy-investments in the actual reality. If focus is displaced backwards or forwards in time, then the collective time has taken over and spiritual seen there therefore happens an escape. Only Man himself can find the progressive karma. The consciousness has the key in its life. It helps nothing, what astrologers may be able to see in the collective time, or fantasize about another person´s karmic experiences. Many of these experiences (for example about past lives) – and which have a certain reality for either the astrologer or the client – are collective fantasies. Nobody, and nothing, can tell you about your karmic structures. All people - clairvoyants, regression therapists, shamans, astrologers etc. etc., (and tools, as for example horoscopes, personality maps, etc., etc.), - who are claiming they can help you karmically (with your destiny), are cognitional and ethical delusional and deceptive. Only your own realization opens. Whether another person even was able to read the whole of the karmic course and tell the seeker about it, it would not help. On the contrary it would harm. Only your own inner experience and realization can open the spiritual dimension. Karma in other ways is nonsense. And by the way, that´s the same with all spiritual. The genuine karmic structures do not lie in the collective time, but in the universal time, which work in synchronism with the Now. If the karma idea is used spiritual seen correct, then the focus, instead of being projected out in something afar (past lives, birth, the past, the future), will be present in something very near, namely only in the most intensive experiences of this actual life, and after that: in this actual Now with its possibility of realizing your innermost. In all briefness you can say, that genuine spiritual counseling tries to guide people, who wish to learn, to avoid the states, which have to do with the collective time, or at least, to shorten the passage through these areas. And if you are lost in them, to lead you back on the right track. Just an example of how easily you can be fooled by astrology and horoscopes: My professor in philosophy, the late David Favrholdt, once conducted an experiment with a large group of University students. They were told that the experiment was about astrology, and that they each should have made a personal horoscope. The horocope for each student was then made by a professional astrologer, and when they received the horocope they were told to describe how precise it was. They all answered, that they were amazed how accurate the horoscope could tell about aspects of precisely their personal life. What they wasn´t told was that the horoscope for each student was the same, made after some typical astrological stereotypes. The trick is to use generalities which all people can recognize in themselves. This is also the trick used in the technique of cold reading, which most psychics use, whether they are aware of it or not, as for example: “I can see a photoalbum, or something similar. Here there is a photo of someone who you have very special feelings for,” etc., etc. The experiment told about the power of wishful thinking and other thought distortions (there has been conducted many such experiments, also in other areas than astrology, for example with clairvoyance). Especially the thought distortion subjective validation was active here. Subjective validation is active when people will validate a set of statements allegedly about themselves as highly accurate even if these statements not are accurate. This tendency to find personal meaning and significance in statements not based on personal knowledge extends to words, symbols, initials, and objects as well. A truly cosmic conspiracy!! Though saying it is bit of satire, the title C*I*A says something about a very common way of thinking in New Age: there is something “dangerous” (living on the edge of chaos) going on, and this requires some “experts” to solve this problem. If they were not serious about the use of the acronym, they wouldn´t have used it. While the monster of the week might draw the viewers in, it´s the promise of The Conspiracy being revealed that keeps them watching The X-Files. The secretive shadowy Conspiracy supposedly runs through most aspects of our lives and we don´t even know it. A typical trait of New Age is to use all kinds of topics in popular culture, and blend them with their theories. It doesn´t matter if it is fact or fiction. What matters is if it works! Though not FBI agents, but C*I*A agents, I´m quite sure that The Agents of Change would like to compare themselves with Mulder and Scully (see my pop culture file The X-Files). The shadow government (cryptocracy, secret government, or invisible government) is a family of conspiracy theories based on the notion that real and actual political power resides not with publicly elected representatives but with private individuals who are exercising power behind the scenes, beyond the scrutiny of democratic institutions. According to this belief, the official elected government is in reality subservient to the shadow government who are the true executive power. Shadow government theories often propose that the government is secretly controlled by foreign elements (such as aliens or the Vatican and Jesuits), internal minorities (such as the Jews, moneyed interests and central banks, or Freemasons), or globalist elites and supranational organizations, who seek to manipulate policy or conquer the world. Conspiracy-oriented literature postulates the existence of a secret government which is the true power behind the apparent government. And popularizing the idea was the hit US television show, The X-Files. And on the whole, this idea is central in popular culture as such. But The X-Files is just a TV show, right? There are real conspiracies, like Watergate and Iran-Contra, and there are conspiracy theories, like the New World Order being brought about by The Illuminati or the World Jewish Banking Conspiracy, and the 9/11 attacks being a “false flag” operation orchestrated by the US government itself…or maybe the Israelis. There are somewhat more elaborate conspiracy theories too: for instance, the theory that ancient astronauts, in the past, programmed the DNA of our neurons so that these neurons can be made unstable by triggering the aggression centers of the brains of people who live in the areas of the world where evidence of these astronauts is hidden. My concept of The Matrix Conspiracy is permeated with such theories of DNA activation, some programmed by evil aliens, others by good aliens. But also a huge amount of other alternate theories of our DNA, and their hidden “spiritual” programs. This kind of “Spiritual Eugenics” is extremely popular in the culture of today. And popular culture is what The X-Files builds upon. I have even heard Matrix sophists claim that The X-Files made them realize the “truth.” (this is also the case with another pop culture phenomenon, namely the movie The Matrix, which is the movie behind my own concept of The Matrix Conspiracy – see my pop culture file The Matrix). My claim with The Matrix Conspiracy is, contrary to the traditional conspiracy theories, that it is the conspiracy theories themselves that, among others, constitute a kind of shadow government, and that it is the promoters of these ideas who are the Men in Black. And the concept of C*I*A agents fits very well into that hypothesis. Completely unintended C*I*A reveals that the just mentioned description is in fact a part of their worldview. In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are supposed men dressed in black suits who claim to be government agents who harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. It is sometimes implied that they may be aliens themselves (not that far out, if we consider the weirdness of their ideas). The term is also frequently used to describe mysterious men working for unknown organizations, as well as various branches of government allegedly designed to protect secrets or perform other strange activities. The term is generic, used for any unusual, threatening or strangely behaved individual whose appearance on the scene can be linked in some fashion with a UFO sighting. Several alleged encounters with the men in black have been reported by UFO researchers and enthusiasts. The reason why it is a fair idea that The Matrix Conspiracy constitutes a kind of shadow government with its own agents, is the enormous impact it has on popular culture. This is a far larger “spiritual” movement than all religions together. And you can really get yourself into trouble if you are critical. It is for example not possible for me to have an email on the internet. The Matrix Conspiracy is also intimately linked to the concept of philosophy, and therefore I also call these MIBs “Matrix Sophists”, teachers who are the archetypal opposition to the archetypal philosopher Socrates. In connection with the movie The Matrix, I especially refer to the Matrix Sophists as a multitude of Agent Smith clones, and the rebels as the Socratic liberators. The Typical New Age traits of C*I*A When someone is going to question the New Age movement, then it can be hard to send the critique to a certain address. It is often only a minority within the New Age movement, who stands behind a certain practice, and a critique of a certain practice might be irrelevant for another part of the movement. The movement is namely based on all kinds of imported spiritual traditions mixed with Western psychotherapy, coaching and management theory. One central inspiration, though, is the ideology and syncretism of Theosophy. Theosophy has direct fascist elements, especially with its worship of Social Darwinism, theories of racial purity, mixed with a theosophical hypothesis of a spiritual hierarchy. Theosophy is the background for the constant New Age talk of “the evolution of consciousness.” A fatal spiritual misunderstanding of how spiritual growth is happening. Consciousness doesn´t “evolve” and certainly not in some kind “collective evolution.” Consciousness awakes, and this awakening is utterly unique and individual. Furthermore: consciousness is transcendent in relation to matter and mind. This leads one to ponder whether any of the agents of cosmic intelligence actually have experienced any kind of spiritual awakening to cosmic intelligence, besides the good feeling of having read a lot of New Age stuff about it. Most people, who can be characterized as New Agers and/or Self-helpers, often don´t recognize themselves as such. It is very seldom you hear someone actually describe him- or herself as a New Ager. Most often they speak about themselves as spiritual free-thinkers not belonging to any religion, movement or ideology, and certainly not New Age. But to say that is actually a typical trait of New Agers. Besides the commonly use of the term “the evolution of consciousness” there is namely some typical traits of New Age which identifies people and groups as New Age. In the following I will show six common traits, that also show how it distorts true spirituality, and why it must be characterized as an ideology. My main name for this ideology is The Matrix Conspiracy. 1. The Psychologizing of Religion and Philosophy This causes, that the practicians turn their minds towards the content, and not the form, as true spirituality does. It also causes that the main focus is turned towards feelings. In true spirituality the main focus is the thoughts. 2. The Elimination of Critical Thinking The psychologizing therefore also causes that critical thinking is seen as something negative, as a symptom of problems with your feelings. This turn is coming from relativistic and subjectivistic theories on Western universities, which forbid actual value judgment (notice the self-contradiction). And it has nothing to do with spirituality, and causes that the practicians close themselves to both own problems, and problems of the world. In true spirituality critical thinking is quite central, because the practice here is about discovering both own thought distortions, and thought distortions of the world. 3. Incompetent Teachers The many short self-made and private educations within the New Age ideology, cause that there are extremely many teachers without enough experiences and philosophical training. This causes a lot of spiritual misguiding. 4. Pseudoscience New Age is filled with all kind of lose, self-invented and directly wrong interpretations of science. Furthermore there is a manipulative, and non-founded, tendency to call their own practices science. You constantly hear how science and spirituality must be brought together. This also causes a lot of misguiding. 5. Narcissism The same fully individualized core of personality, which today makes us able to step out of the past´s fixed and subconscious attachment, has itself within New Age become the main interest, center for the identity in a degree, that almost all awareness here are directed inwards in a global seen exceptional narcissism. The ideological use of relativism and subjectivism sounds like this: “I have my truth, you have yours!” “You judge” is the same as “You condemn.” In true spirituality the central goal is the elimination of the Ego. One thing is sure. With the view of themselves as Agents of a Cosmic Intelligence there is certainly not any traces of humility in C*I*A (see my article The Ego-inflation in the New Age and Self-help Industry). 6. Ideology C*I*A is a part of the Matrix Conspiracy ideology. An ideology functions with the implied assumption, that the supreme good is lying out in the future, and that the end therefore justifies the means. In New Age this goal is the so-called New Age; the New World Order, or the Age of the Aquarius. In the self-help industry the goal is success, personal power, money, etc. An ideology is always used from an interest in finding ways of getting on in the world, rather than an interest in finding ways of discovering the truth. Spirituality has nothing to do with ideology, but with philosophy, which is based on an interest in finding ways of discovering the truth (see my article The Difference Between Philosophical Education and Ideological Education). C*I*A wants to bring together ideas from astrology, philosophy, science, psychology, politics, consciousness studies, mysticism and the arts as a way of sharing and promoting their ideas about our cosmic dimension and advancing information that can help to situate humanity in the apparent flow of time. C*I*A claims to be deeply concerned with the zeitgeist (the spirit of the times) and the constantly changing Anima Mundi (the soul of the World). What they in fact do is to reduce all the mentioned ideas to some kind of astrology-based psychology and psychotherapy. It is sad to see how they in their articles are completely distorting a lot of great thinkers, wisdom traditions and indigenous cultures in order to fit them into their prejudiced personality typing system (see my article Personality Typing is a Refined System of Prejudice). This ideology therefore justify any means to reach its goal. With the aim of psychologizing philosophy and religion we therefore are witnessing an exploitative form of colonialism and one step in the destruction of Indigenous cultures, and eventually all the original wisdom traditions (you can read about New Age colonialism in the last part of my booklet The Psychedelic Experience versus the Mystical Experience). It is clear that the website presents itself as a large New Age system in style with other large New Age systems which have arisen in the wake of Theosophy, and therefore with fascist elements. The Human Design System is probably the system that reminds mostly about C*I*A, since this system also is focused on astrology (see my article A Critique of the Human Design System). Furthermore, New Age astrology is an aggressive defender of it itself as a social science, which ought to be recognized and taught on universities. Read The Skeptic´s Dictionary entry on Astrology; a critique based on philosophy of science. Try especially to focus on the last part Astrology on the Attack, as well as the comments, and Carroll´s answers. Note how there is referred to diploma mills and fake science journals - see the Matrix Dictionary entries on Diploma Mills and Predator Open Access Publishing Astrology is a New Age pseudoscience, which demands to replace science with alternative sciences which should infiltrate the whole of the education system (read about this in The Matrix Dictionary entry Gaia.com). Herewith there is created a step towards the postmodern intellectualism which today has replaced Marxism on the Universities, and therefore towards George Orwell´s dystopian novel 1984 (see my article Constructivism: the Postmodern Intellectualism Behind New Age and the Self-help Industry). So, yes, we are living on the edge of chaos, and C*I*A is a part of the problem. What we are witnessing in the world of today, is that all the intellectual failures in history, and their terrible consequences, now are being repeated by an enormous popular movement of pseudo-scholars, precisely due to their historical inability and pseudo-scholarship (see the Matrix Dictionary entry Anti-intellectualism and Anti-science). Video about the Edge of Chaos - astrological timelines: Related from C*I*A website:
Become a dedicated Agent of the C*I*A or show your support, donate or circulate Our Mission The Birth of the C*I*A Our Mandala Agent Profiles Cosmic Intelligence-Agency Related critique of astrology: The Skeptic´s Dictionary entry on Astrology (this critique is based on philosophy of science, which is relevant since astrology is an aggressive defender of it itself as a social science, which ought to be recognized and taught on universities. Therefore astrology must be considered as a pseudoscience. Concerning the aggressivity, try to read the last part Astrology on the Attack, as well as the comments, and Carroll´s answers. Note how there is referred to diploma mills and fake science journals - see the Matrix Dictionary entries on Diploma Mills and Predator Open Access Publishing). Related in The Matrix Dictionary: The Matrix Conspiracy Updates The Matrix Conspiracy Fascism Feminism as Fascism Gaia.com Gregg Braden Rupert Sheldrake Robert Lanza Anti-intellectualism and Anti-science Bridge between Science and Spirituality Diploma Mills Predator Open Access Publishing Three Large New Age Systems with Fascist elements: A Critique of Ken Wilber and His Integral Method A Critique of the Human Design System (this is probably the system that reminds mostly about C*I*A, since this system also is focused on astrology) Time Travel and the Fascism of The WingMakers Project Related articles: The Matrix Conspiracy Some Critical Comments to Astrology Personality Typing is a Refined System of Prejudice The Fascism of Theosophy Six Common Traits of New Age That Distort Spirituality The Ego-inflation In the New Age and Self-help Industry The Difference Between Philosophical Education and Ideological Education The Pseudoscience of New Age and Reductionism Constructivism: the Postmodern Intellectualism Behind New Age and the Self-help Industry Humanistic Psychology, Self-help, and the Danger of Reducing Religion to Psychology Self-help and The Mythology of Authenticity Philosophical Counseling as an Alternative to Psychotherapy The New Feminism and the Philosophy of Women´s Magazines |
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