Vs. is a recent publication from Avalonia that goes into depth on the topics of duality and the interaction of opposites. Over all even if I don’t agree with every stance in the book (and there are plenty that I don’t agree with) most of it is still well researched, thought out, and takes multiple different perspectives to talk about the various extremes that we as initiates study on a frequent basis and even interact with when it comes to the different god forms that we interact with.
The book delves into several different belief structures which are varied we go into astronomy to Vedic Hinduism, Modern Wicca, Judaic Ceremonial, and even to Sumerian. I don’t nearly have the wealth of experience required to talk about most of these since I don’t study Wiccan or Pagan practices. But it is very rare to find anyone or any group talking about more than their own paradigm so it is wonderful to find such a good introductory text on multiple perspectives. But lets see what I can talk about.
Emily Carding goes into wonderful detail on the use of the tarot as an individual form of self growth in relation to the sun and the moon. While I haven’t thought of the tarot in this form before, when we relate the idea of Taoism and the idea of internal alchemy to the flow and yin and yang to the individual mind and that each mind itself as a unique “mixture” of these qualities, we can use the tarot in a very interesting method for the process of self growth. Where this is different from me (I am very heavily into qabalistic theory and tarot); it is still a very wonderful concept to work on as we study the moon (yang) and sun (yin) and the aspects of femininity and masculinity.
“Gods if Light and Darkness” by Michael Howard goes forth into the discussion of the relation between Lucifer and Michael. I don’t want to say god here as my own perception of god is how most define the Tao. He goes into a fairly deep description of the different Judaic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and there relation to perceptions of Yahweh, Lucifer, Michael, and continuation of the polarity struggle into Cain and Able. Instead of going into subjective interpretation Howard is just relating the stories and letting us make our own associations.
The book ends on a good notes, a reading from Plato’s essay on the nature of the soul. I enjoyed this in relation to a “Lantern to the Cave” By Guy Gaunt. Our relationship with our unconscious and our conscious is one of the most difficult and important aspects of self growth and polarity. Even if it isn’t the standard “Duality” that people think of when they create pairs. It is still in one way an opposition that we as magicians and initiates deal with for a long time (It may take one life or many depending on your view on reincarnation). As Plato might suggest the desires of our conscious mind are not always the same as the desires of our inherent self, whether we want to call that a soul, psyche, or unconscious. But by bringing them in line with each other we unlock so much potential. These are two wonderful essays as well as an introduction and the only mention of something akin to Chaos Magick that we find in the text.
There are plenty of other examples that I could go into from the book including Voudon, Vedic, and Norse Mythology essays. But for the most part these are outside my area of expertise. But as an anthology this serves as an excellent introduction to polarity and its interactions as theory. There is not very much material in this book that is “practical” (rituals, instructions, etc) but deals mostly in the theoretical. If you are just beginning your contemplation of the mysteries or if your interested in other paths other than your own than I would I would recommend this book as a solid investment.
There are a few examples in the text of extreme subjective interpretation that you are not going to find “standard” but so long as you take into account that these are just individual opinions that are subjective rather than fact they will be fine.
L.V.X
Gibil