Today’s Curmudgio: The Diakka and A Course In Miracles

Today’s Curmudgio: The Diakka and A Course In Miracles

“A blog by any other name is just a blahg.” — Tim Gray

“No lallygaggling.” — K.


I have no idea what Tim is talking about, but he continues to tease me in silly, even embarrassing ways (when made public like this) — something we both did to each other a lot when on Earth together. And still do (but I’ll get you back!)

As for K., (Krishnamurti) this is my blahg and I’ll do what I want. After being strap-handled for the past 3 years as a medium to channel and discern tons of material for The Risen—of which much was cut and set aside by Risen editors—I feel I deserve my own forum for letting off some steam and type what I want for a change.

Ah….I get it now, Tim wants me to also consider using this space to discuss those things that I didn’t want to mention or pursue in our book, for fear of incurring the displeasure of … of…uh, the people who would be displeased, I guess. I was already worried enough about the chapter on reincarnation, and very glad that Tim took it all on himself. Whenever I’ve mentioned to folks that even K. considered reincarnation (“and all the rest”) to be tribal superstition, or that up until very recently, books on mediumship and Spiritualism unequivocally reported that Spirit had nothing to say about the subject simply because it wasn’t real — people’s eyes changed shape, showing varying levels of shock, disbelief, displeasure, anger (and in a couple cases, condescension.) I prefer people keep their eyes a nice, overall eye-shape and not look at me strange. So I tend to not bring it up. But the wonder of a blahg is that I can bring stuff up with the likelihood that few people will ever read it. And those who do can consider themselves led to read it. So there. Gee, this is kinda fun!

What Tim is elbowing me to bring up is some additional information that is kind of within the same contextual realm of superstition — i.e., abandonment, bias, bigotry, contumacy, dedication, devotion, dogma, enthusiasm, extremism, faction, frenzy, hatred, illiberality, immoderation, incorrigibility, infatuation, injustice, intolerance, madness, monomania, obsessiveness, obstinacy, partiality, partisanship, passion, prejudice, rage, single-mindedness, stubbornness, tenacity, transport, unfairness, unreasonableness, unruliness, violence, willfulness, zeal, and zealotry — and will also make people’s eyes change, maybe even bug out of their heads (ewww). Well, maybe that might be funny.

And sure, eyes may change, but will minds? Probably not. Do I care? Probably not.

But I do subsist on a diet heartily fortified by the oatmeal of skepticism, which can be quite healthy, as suggested in The Risen. What set all this off, and which Tim picked up on— naturally — is my recently picking up a copy of The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness by Gary Renard (Fearless Books, 2003). I’m not going to review or critique this particular knick-knack, one of many ACIM-ettes, so put the light sabers away. It’s just the only segue life has brought me to bring up a pet peeve.

Well, not exactly a pet peeve, but more like a curmudgeonly curio — a curmudgio. A Course In Miracles has always fascinated me, notwithstanding that I have a distant-cousin relationship to it via a very close acquaintance who was the life partner of a colleague of Helen Schuchman and Bill Thetford, all those years ago. And anything that comes out of Manhattan (where they lived and worked, and where I live and work) automatically makes me one of the family, so to speak. It’s a NYC thing, fuggedabowdit, bah-dah-boom. And of course, since I'm a psychotherapist, and ACIM claims to be a "spiritual psychological" whatzit, I'm always looking for new material.

I have a very old copy of the Course (all 3-books-in-one) and many of its related channeled writings, as well as a lot of other books about it written by non-channeling, still-embodied people, including the “I-was-there-I’m-not-special-but-not-really-just-kidding” crowd. I also “did” the Course, several times over several years and even joined an evening discussion group for a short while, just to see what it was all about (it was all about the facilitator who wanted to be a stah like Marianne Williamson—he partially reached his goal by memorizing the entire Course via a system of tapes, and he had good cheekbones, but he just couldn’t get the hair right.)

I was primarily puzzled for a long time about the many discrepancies (or “black holes” if you will) in the overall theory or theories of ACIM, underscored by the fact that I found the whole thing creepy. (This is mediumship language for something that’s creepy.) I was, and still am, equally puzzled by an additional irregularity (in my mind) hovering outside the sphere of ACIM — namely, that nobody has ever seemed to take it on from a genuine and passionate stance of goddammit healthy skepticism. But if The Amazing Randi is reading this and thinking about taking up the torch, please don’t. Just make like a leaf and beat it.

Just a short year ago, Googling with the words “course,” “miracles,” “skeptic” “hoax/fraud” brought up bupkas. Now there seems to be more, including a level-headed entry in the Skeptic’s Dictionary, with a brief mention of Jungian James Hillman's pithy classification of ACIM as “fascist.” (This Jungian affiliation will later be seen by the particularly attentive to be an interesting juxtaposed synchronicity regarding ACIM.) Alas, Hillman's controversial criticisms of ACIM were removed. There are also positive and negative critical reviews at Wikipedia. There, I learned the delicious term “blissninny” as a particular label for a ACIM devotee—great stuff! And Ali Sina claims “brainwashing!” in a multi-referenced article of study and criticism at FaithFreedom.org — but his logic is funky and projects obvious rancor that would make all the blissninnies burst into tears, god love ‘em.

Everyone seems intent on publishing ACIM in every known language—maybe even in Klingon, Elmer Fudd, and Pig Latin, for all I know—in short, it’s been one big band wagon, and a very profitable one at that, too. I confess to a hankering to see a good old-fashioned journalistic, trilby hat-wearin’, astral butt-thumpin’ like Martin Gardner gave The Urantia Book — see Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery. (Prometheus Books, 1995). And Martin does tackle it to a certain extent, among other spiritual orgs, in Weird Water & Fuzzy Logic: More Notes of a Fringe Watcher (Prometheus 1996). But no butt-thumpin’.

It’s because Disappearance purports to be recorded conversations of purported genuine re-embodying people that makes it unique amongst all the other curmudgios I carry in my astral Blackberry, and it’s stimulated me enough to succumb to Tim’s elbows. Tim and I know from re-embodying, but that’s not the issue here. The issue is what really is, or even what really might be—and according to my Risen sources. I’m not saying that I’m taking on ACIM. I’m just sayin’.

After all that, now I can get to the Diakka part. It’s not much, really. But now you also know that curmudgios may appear to have no rhyme or reason and contain a lot of gaggling lollies, but all roads lead to somewhere, eventually. Objects in mirror appear closer than they really are, and bridge freezes before road surface.

The word Diakka was first introduced by the American seer, medium, channel, and one of the founders of modern Spiritualism, Andrew Jackson Davis (1826-1910) as a result of his direct contact with a friend of Spirit— James Victor Wilson—who re-embodied rather often in the presence of Davis so they could have instructional and informational chats together. Maybe even some tea.

I have an original copy of Davis’ book, The Diakka and Their Earthly Victims Being and Explanation of Much That is False and Repulsive in Spiritualism (Boston Colby & Rich, 1873). They really knew how to title books in those days. A reprint of this formally rare work is now available, along with many of Jackson’s works, at Kessler Publishing.

James Wilson shared a good deal of information about the Diakka, describing them as “morally deficient” and “affectionally unclean.” Exactly what “affectionally unclean” means escapes me, unless it meant their affect was repulsive, or that they were dirty but lovable, like Pigpen.

Wilson continued in his description:

(The Diakka) take insane delight in playing parts, in juggling tricks, in personating opposite characters to whom prayers and profane utterances are of equi-value; surcharged with a passion for lyrical narrations; one whose every attitude is instinct with the schemes of specious reasoning, sophistry, pride, pleasure, wit, subtle convivialities; a boundless disbeliever, one who thinks that all private life will end in the all-consuming self-love of God.”– page 13

Continuing on the same page, he says further of them, that they are

“never resting, never satisfied with life, often amusing themselves with jugglery and tricky witticisms, invariably victimizing others; secretly tormenting mediums, causing them to exaggerate in speech, and to falsify in acts; unlocking and unbolting the street doors of your bosom and memory; pointing your feet into wrong paths, and far more.”

Andrew Davis later shared:

“A Diakka (from the Summerland) is one who takes insane delight in playing parts, in juggling tricks, in personating opposite characters; to whom prayer and profane utterances are of equi-value; surcharged with a passion for lyrical narrations; . . . morally deficient, he is without the active feelings of justice, philanthropy, or tender affection.

He knows nothing of what men call the sentiment of gratitude; the ends of hate and love are the same to him; his motto is often fearful and terrible to others - SELF is the whole of private living, and exalted annihilation the end of all private life. Only yesterday, one said to a lady medium, signing himself Swedenborg, this: ‘Whatsoever is, has been, will be, or may be, that I AM.; and private life is but the aggregative phantasms of thinking throb- lets, rushing in their rising onward to the central heart of eternal death.’”

Throb-lets! Woo-hoo! And a lot of "juggling" going on, too.

The Theosophists, under Madame Blatvatsky’s guidance, referred to the Diakka as shells, spooks, elementaries, and evil phantoms of the astral light. Other occult and mysticism dictionaries continue to generalize and equate the Diakka with your basic devil-demon-bothersome imp-evil-horny and immoral, unethical creature. Strong stuff there. But this is how the theosophical (and Far Eastern) mind culturally perceived and projected their contacts with the Diakka—who were almost always in control of the screen of perception and just got off and being perceived as horny imps. Obviously some ego-residue hanging on, I’d say.

However, the Diakka—who are not Risen (yet)—are nothing other than earthly folks who transitioned to a particular and unbelievably immense geography— “it would require not less than 1,803,026 diameters of the earth to span its longitudinal extent”—which could be included under the umbrella term of “The Summerlands”—and are having a fantastic time in a stunningly beautiful environment. In fact, this geography is considered a great larking kind of place for Risen and other astral entities, and the risks are few, if non-existent, for the Risen beings who picnic there—and they do—simply because the vibratory level is held at a distinct (and constant) lower rate. The Risen are not affected in any great way by this particular rate of vibration. The Diakka cannot go “up” to the Risen geographies, but they can certainly go “down” to those of the various earthly astral spheres. Jackson does have a name for this area of the Diakka, which means “dragon” and based on a particular astrally-shaped “view” of it. However, I will just refer to it as their geography, since I’ve never seen this particular dragon-shaped view.

Recall that one’s rate of vibration determines where one ends up via transition (formerly known as “death”.) This is a principle particular to the current manifested universe known as resonance—where like attracts like—and like also manifests like.

The resonance of the kind of person who transitions from Earth to the Diakka geography, then, is characteristically ambitious, self-absorbed, arrogant, cynical, critical, hedonistic. (Also, refer back also to James Wilson’s descriptions above.) Think of William Blake’s painting, (left) Satan in his Original Glory: ‘Thou wast Perfect till Iniquity was Found in Thee’—which shows Lucifer as he once was, a perfect part of God’s creation, before his fall from grace.

Above all, this person is identified by two outstanding features typified by what I can only call “an aspect of inverted vibration”. Hmmm -maybe this is James Wilson’s "affectionally unclean". Sorry, Pigpen!

These two characteristics are:

1) Intense, shining, brilliant genius, and
2) A crystallized—that is, immobilized or frozen—unshakeable belief that this brilliance, and the very life that carries it, is not immortal.

Even though their very life now evidences the fact that they have survived “death” on the Earthly plane, and are now on a new plane from where they can even travel in spirit-mind to their former terrestrial home, they are completely and dramatically convinced that their particular genius is of the rarest of kind that is destined to end, as there is no eventual, eternal home that could ever contain it. As to be expected, there is a particular spiritual psychology at the bottom of all this. I know that some readers will be able to intuit it without words to a greater or lesser extent. This belief hinges on the deepest of fears of complete personality annihilation as a punishment from the Creator Source for daring "to be me.” Instead, somehow, they have managed to avoid/evade the spiritual-psychological arrival at the self-awareness level of “I Am.” Rather than risk the feared obliteration, the total loss of the god-status, the choice is made to invert the present self-vibration, which sets up a mirroring kind of illusion that makes the image appear to be unending. Think of the optical illusion when a mirror is set up to reflect in another mirror, and you get the cool appearance of an image going on forever, infinooty (as Tim says.) A Diakka wants to see their brilliance reflected forever in the same way. Yes, it's warped, but yes, it seems to work. The illusory brilliance seems to be magnified, thus "greater" and yet it's not. Instead, an interesting kind of amplifed resonance is set up that remains local, seemingly separating it from the holistic.

Keep in mind that a Diakka is brilliant enough to already know all this, and that all this is already to be found interwoven throught ACIM, and in a way that serves and justifies the illusion as well as ACIM's agenda.

So in the meantime, the Diakka continuously manifest a worldly environment of the most incredible beauty, great wealth, illustrious art and inconceivable cultural complexity—I know, for Tim has taken me there a few times, and it was a blast. They often continue work or projects they had begun on the Earth, or begin new ones, but characteristically in a manner that denies any ethical or moral standards, for they see themselves at the height of their self-evolution, as gods, movers-and-shakers, controllers of their own and others' destinies, yet not immortal.

Many Diakka are responsible for a lot of mistaken, faked identity and overall misinformation at all levels of mediumship and séances. It's a hobby for them. They are also responsible for a lot of earthly books, movies, movements, cults and various psychedelic happenings during the 60’s (Timothy O’Leary is Diakka, no shit). And Hey! Another strange co-inkydink for those in the ACIM know: In the movie, The Ruling Class, the character, Jack Gurney (played by Peter O'Toole), who thinks he is Jesus, claims that the voice of "Timothy O'Leary" told him he was God.

I’m thinking of publishing a Who’s Who List of Diakka just for the heck of it. Maybe even a Who Will Be Who List. It’s sufficient to say that a Diakka can be somebody to be reckoned with! Let the record stand to show that many Diakka do wake up and move onto the Risen state of being. Many also wake up but choose to remain at that particular cosmic party. It’s all good.

I’m wondering if any reader might guess where this is all headed, but I’ll go ahead and spit it out.

A Course In Miracles is an impressive architecture of virtuosity of the Diakka. And not just any ol’ Diakka — but in all probability a team organized and administrated by Sigmund Freud.

To be continued—mmmmmmaybe.