Conspiracy, Coincidance and Code

By 'Cosmic' Ray Welt


Why does the opening sentence of James Joyce’s Ulysses have 22 words? Not 21 or 23, but exactly 22?

Why does the Cabalistic Tree of Life have 22 ‘paths’?

Why does the Tarot have 22 Trumps?

Why does Aleister Crowley’s Magick in Theory and Practice have 22 chapters?

Why does the last book of the Christian Bible [‘Revelations’] have 22 chapters?

Why does Revelations appeal strongly to so many serial killers?

Why does the 22-word opening sentence of Ulysses contain ‘state’ in

its first word and ‘cross’ in its last?

These questions appeared in the assignment of the first week of Maybe Logic Academy's Conspiracy, Coincidance & Code. Immediately, attention was grabbed. Our guide through this course was none other than Robert Anton Wilson, who, while not an Expert of conspiracy theory (what kind of Expert doesn’t believe his own theories?), is certainly knowledgeable in this field. At least compared to most of us taking the course.

This exploration of the significance of the number 22 (a bit of a surprise, since most of us have been conditioned to look for 23’s) lit up the forum with an amazing amount of intelligent discussion, research, and guesswork, mixed with a healthy does of fun and excitement. In a nutshell, that’s how the entirety of the course has been so far (at the time of deadline for this article, the course still has another two weeks to go): a melting pot of intelligence, focused on topics given to us by good ol’ Uncle Bob.

What other topics have been discussed? If you’ve got a copy of RAW's Everything Is Under Control, just flip through it.  Every week we’re given a number of entries to investigate.  I won’t give a complete list, as the topics we’ve looked at are many and diverse. Most entries in a given week are somewhat related to each other. Some are not. Some are, but only if you dig deep enough. In Cosmic Trigger III, another book we’ve looked at quite a bit, RAW writes, “A Final Answer seems impossible, to post-modern artists as to current philosophers and most scientists.” Ergo, the postmodern artist now offers us, not the Problem Solved, but the Problem as Puzzle, for each of us to work at solving, as long as it continues to amuse (or annoy) us. I picked up on this passage as a key to the course.  Every week we are given a Problem as Puzzle, and we are free to pursue it as long as we are entertained by it. Has an Absolute Answer been found? No, and I doubt one ever will, at least not in the scope of this class. The journey is what counts here, rather than the destination.

As for the journey itself, that deserves a closer look. It all starts with the week’s assignment. Oftentimes, posting in the forum begins immediately after you see what you’re supposed to look into.  Other times, people manage to wait until they’ve actually looked into the topics.  Entries from Everything Is Under Control, readings from Cosmic Trigger III or James DeMeo’s Saharasia, articles posted to the course site, or even links to other websites give us a broad range of material to soak in.  One of the prime aspects of these readings is that you generally end up with more questions than you started.  The next step sends you to your bookshelf or the Internet or the local library, simply to try to answer some of the new questions you’ve devised.  It’s important to note that RAW rarely actually asks questions in the assignments.  He simply directs you to some bit of information or another, and the rest is up to you.  

Eventually, it’s time to go back to the site and visit the forums.  You’re either proud of the connections and answers you’ve found in your research, or you’re being forced to admit that you’re stumped.  So, you post your findings (or lack of them) and read what your classmates have written.  To me, this is the greatest part of the whole process. Without fail, at least one other person has presented you with that one little bit of information that makes everything click into place, or what they’ve written opens up entirely new possibilities you haven’t thought of yet.  The second happenstance is probably the more likely. Either way, you’re probably out to begin your research (and this whole process) anew.

So what exactly does this course teach? Really, the only one who can answer that is you.  Anyone from the course (including Bob himself, according to some of his comments) has learned something, but I doubt any two people have learned the same things. When I look back over the assignments, I see an attempt to change the way we perceive the world. This is not a new concept from Wilson, but the format is. And the format benefits the idea immensely.  How can you remain locked in a single reality tunnel when every day you’re delving into the belief systems of others? With the Internet, you can pretty much guarantee that every viewpoint is represented on some website or another. And any B.S. you fail to pick up on is bound to be posted in the forum for your reading enjoyment. Sometimes these other viewpoints remain in the crackpot category. Others make a frightening amount of sense.

When it comes right down to it, what you get from this course matches the rest of the Maybe Logic Academy pretty well. You get uncertainty. Not only that, but you get to explore the uncertainty with the most diverse, most kindly, most intelligent group of people I’ve stumbled upon, especially in the online world. 

At this point, it looks like the courses are a one-time deal, not to be repeated. Some may be archived and presented to students without the guidance of RAW or the camaraderie of fellow explorers. But, these things, which I value so highly here, are always present in the Academy Forum, as well as the other courses.  We’re all out there (in here?), and we welcome fresh minds with new ideas.