Friday, February 28, 2014

Office_of_Strategic_Services

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Strategic_Services

Office of Strategic Services

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Office of Strategic Services
(OSS)
OSSInsignia.gif
OSS shoulder insignia
Agency overview
FormedJune 13, 1942
DissolvedSeptember 20, 1945
Superseding agencyCentral Intelligence Agency
Employees13,000 estimated[1]
Agency executivesMajor General William Joseph Donovan, Co-ordinator of Information
Brigadier General John Magruder, Director for Intelligence
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agencyformed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The OSS was formed in order to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for the branches of the United States Armed Forces.

13 Rue Madeleine, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Julie & Julia, You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger by Roger Wolcott Hall, 

Contents

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Origins and activities[edit]

Prior to the formation of the OSS, American intelligence had been conducted on an ad-hoc basis by the various departments of the executive branch, including the State,Treasury, Navy, and War Departments. It had no overall direction, coordination, or control. The US Army and US Navy had separate code-breaking departments:Signals Intelligence Service and OP-20-G. (A previous code-breaking operation of the State Department, MI-8, run by Herbert Yardley, had been shut down in 1929 bySecretary of State Henry Stimson, deeming it an inappropriate function for the diplomatic arm, because "gentlemen don't read each other's mail".[2]) The FBI was responsible for domestic security and anti-espionage operations.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was concerned about American intelligence deficiencies. On the suggestion of William Stephenson, the senior British intelligence officer in the western hemisphere, Roosevelt requested that William J. Donovan draft a plan for an intelligence service based on the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and Special Operations Executive. Colonel Donovan was employed to evaluate the global military position in order to offer suggestions concerning American intelligence requirements because the U.S. did not have a central intelligence agency. After submitting his work, "Memorandum of Establishment of Service of Strategic Information," Colonel Donovan was appointed as the "Co-ordinator of Information" (COI) on 11 July 1941. Thereafter the organization was developed with the assistance of the British; Donovan had responsibilities but no actual powers and the existing US agencies were sceptical if not hostile. Until some months after Pearl Harbor, the bulk of OSS intelligence came from the UK. The first OSS agents were trained byBritish Security Coordination (BSC) in Canada, until training stations were set up in the US with guidance from BSC instructors, who also provided information on how the SOE was arranged and managed. The British immediately made available their short-wave broadcasting capabilities to Europe, Africa and the Far East and provided equipment for agents until American production was established.[3]
General William J. Donovan reviews Operational Group members in Bethesda, Maryland prior to their departure for China in 1945.
The Office of Strategic Services was established by a Presidential military order issued by President Roosevelt on June 13, 1942, to collect and analyze strategic information required by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to conduct special operations not assigned to other agencies. During the War, the OSS supplied policy makers with facts and estimates, but the OSS never had jurisdiction over all foreign intelligence activities. The FBI was responsible for intelligence work in Latin America, and the Army and Navy guarded their areas of responsibility.
From 1943–1945, the OSS played a major role in training Kuomintang troops in China andBurma, and recruited Kachin, and other indigenous irregular forces for sabotage as well as guides for Allied forces in Burma fighting the Japanese Army. Among other activities, the OSS helped arm, train and supply resistance movements, including Mao Zedong's Red Armyin China and the Viet Minh in French Indochina, in areas occupied by the Axis powers duringWorld War II. OSS officer Archimedes Patti played a central role in OSS operations inFrench Indochina and met frequently with Ho Chi Minh in 1945.[4]
The OSS also recruited and ran one of the war's most important spies, the German diplomat Fritz Kolbe. Other functions of the OSS included the use of propaganda, espionage, subversion, and post-war planning.
The OSS purchased Soviet code and cipher material (or Finnish information on them) from émigré Finnish army officers in late 1944. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, Jr., protested that this violated an agreement President Roosevelt made with the Soviet Union not to interfere with Soviet cipher traffic from the United States. General Donovan might have copied the papers before returning them the following January, but there is no record of Arlington Hall's receiving them, and CIA and NSA archives have no surviving copies. This codebook was in fact used as part of the Venona decryption effort, which helped uncover large-scale Soviet espionage in North America.[5]
A former Japanese POW now a JPELmember in a Eighth Route Army uniform. They were the subject of the U.S' study of psychological warfare against the Empire of Japan.
OSS operatives also came into contact with Japanese resistance groups in China for the purpose of studying there psychological warfare programs against the Empire of Japan. TheDixie Mission, which was composed of 20 people, including two OSS agents, made contact with Sanzo Nosaka, and his Japanese People's Emancipation League, a Japanese Communist resistance group made up of Japanese POWs re-educated by Sanzo. [6] The OSS also showed an interest to Kaji Wataru, and his Hansen Dōmei , which was made of Japanese POWs re-educated by Kaji, and other leaders of the Hansen Dōmei. Kaji would be interviewed by Nisei soldiers Koji Ariyoshi, of the Dixie Mission and Karl Yoneda, of theMIS.[7]
One of the greatest accomplishments of the OSS during World War II was its penetration ofNazi Germany by OSS operatives. The OSS was responsible for training German and Austrian individuals for missions inside Germany. Some of these agents included exiled communists and Socialist party members, labor activists, anti-Nazi prisoners-of-war, and German and Jewish refugees. At the height of its influence during World War II, the OSS employed almost 24,000 people.[8]
OSS 1st Lieutenant George Musulinbehind enemy lines in German-occupied Serbia, as a Chetnik, during his first mission in November 1943. His second mission wasOperation Halyard.
In 1943, the Office of Strategic Services set up operations in Istanbul.[9] Turkey, as a neutral country during the Second World War, was a place where both the Axis and Allied powers had spy networks. The railroads connecting central Asia with Europe as well as Turkey's close proximity to the Balkan states placed it at a crossroads of intelligence gathering. The goal of the OSS Istanbul operation called Project Net-1 was to infiltrate and extenuate subversive action in the old Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires.[9]
Head of operations at OSS Istanbul was a banker from Chicago named Lanning "Packy" Macfarland who maintained the cover story as a banker for the American lend-lease program.[10] Macfarland hired Alfred Schwarz, a Czechoslovakian engineer and businessman who came to be known as "Dogwood" and ended up establishing the Dogwood information chain.[11] Dogwood in turn hired a personal assistant named Walter Arndt and established himself as an employee of the Istanbul Western Electrik Kompani.[11]Through Schwartz and Arndt the OSS was able to infiltrate anti-fascist groups in Austria, Hungary and Germany. Schwartz was able to convince Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Swiss diplomatic couriers to smuggle American intelligence information into these territories and establish contact with elements antagonistic to the Nazis and their collaborators.[12]Couriers and agents memorized information and produced analytical reports; when they were not able to memorize effectively they recorded information on microfilm and hid it in their shoes or hollowed pencils.[13] Through this process information about the Nazi regime made its way to Macfarland and the OSS in Istanbul and eventually to Washington.
While the OSS "Dogwood-chain" produced a lot of information, its reliability was increasingly questioned by British intelligence. Eventually by May 1944 through collaboration between the OSS, British intelligence, Cairo and Washington the entire Dogwood-chain was found to be unreliable and dangerous.[13] Planting phony information into the OSS was intended to misdirect the resources of the Allies. Schwartz's Dogwood-chain, which was the largest American intelligence gathering tool in occupied territory, was shortly thereafter shut down.[14]
In 1942, a young physician named Christian J. Lambertsen invented the first device to be called SCUBA and demonstrated it to OSS – after already being rejected by the U.S. Navy – in a pool at a hotel in Washington D.C.[15][16] The OSS not only bought into the concept, they hired Lambertsen to lead the program and build up the dive element of their maritime unit.[16] His responsibilities included training and developing methods of combining self-contained diving and swimmer delivery including the Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unitfor the OSS "Operational Swimmer Group".[15][17]

Dissolution into other agencies[edit]

After victory in Europe in May 1945, the OSS was better able to concentrate on operations in Japan. One month after the war was won in the Pacific Theater of Operations, on September 20, 1945, President Truman signed Executive Order 9621, which came into effect as of October 1, 1945. Thus in the following days from September 20, 1945, the functions of the OSS were split between the Department of State and the Department of War. The State Department received the Research and Analysis Branch of OSS which was renamed the Interim [18] Research and Intelligence Service or (IRIS) and headed by U.S. Army Colonel Alfred McCormack. This was later renamed the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
The War Department took over the Secret Intelligence (SI) and Counter-Espionage (X-2) Branches, which were then housed in a new office created for just this purpose—the Strategic Services Unit (SSU). The Secretary of War appointed Brigadier General John Magruder (formerly Donovan's Deputy Director for Intelligence in OSS) as the director to oversee the liquidation of the OSS, and more importantly, the preservation of the clandestine intelligence capability of the OSS.
In January 1946, President Truman created the Central Intelligence Group (CIG) which was the direct precursor to the CIA. The assets of the SSU, which now constituted a streamlined "nucleus" of clandestine intelligence, was transferred to the CIG in mid-1946 and reconstituted as the Office of Special Operations (OSO). Next, the National Security Act of 1947 established the United States's first permanent peacetime intelligence agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, which then took up the functions of the OSS. The direct descendant of the paramilitary component of the OSS is the Special Activities Division of the CIA.[19]

Facilities[edit]

Prince William Forest Park (then known as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area) was the site of an OSS training camp that operated from 1942 to 1945. Area "C", consisting of approximately 6,000 acres (24 km2), was used extensively for communications training, whereas Area "A" was use for training some of the OGs. Catoctin Mountain Park, now the location of Camp David, was the site of OSS training Area "B." Congressional Country Club (Area F) in Bethesda, MD was the primary OSS training facility.
The London branch of the OSS, its first overseas facility, was at 70 Grosvenor Street, W1.
The Facilities of the Catalina Island Marine Institute at Toyon Bay on Santa Catalina Island, Calif., are composed (in part) of a former OSS survival training camp.
The National Park Service commissioned a study of OSS National Park training facilities by Professor John Chambers of Rutgers University.
At Camp X, at Ajax, near Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, an "assassination and elimination" training program was operated by the BritishSpecial Operations Executive such as William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes. Many members of the US Office of Strategic Services also were trained there. It was dubbed "the school of mayhem and murder" by George Hunter White who trained at the facility in the 1950s.[20]

Personnel[edit]

Major league baseball player Moe Berg of the Boston Red Sox was an OSS agent
The names of all OSS personnel and documents of their OSS service, previously a closely guarded secret, were released by the US National Archives on August 14, 2008. Among the 24,000 names were those of Julia Child, Ralph Bunche, Arthur Goldberg, Saul K. Padover,Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Bruce Sundlun, and John Ford.[8][21] The 750,000 pages in the 35,000 personnel files include applications of people who were not recruited or hired, as well as the service records of those who were.[22]
Major League Baseball player Moe Berg was recruited by the OSS in 1943 because of his language skills,[23][24][25][26][27] assigned to the Secret Intelligence branch, and took part in missions in the Caribbean, South America, France, England, Norway, Italy, and the Balkans.[28][29][30][24][27][31][32] Later, Berg was briefed in nuclear physics, and sent toZürich, Switzerland posing as a Swiss physics student,[33] with the mission of attending a lecture at the Technische Hochschule by Germany's top nuclear scientist, Werner Heisenberg.[34][35] His orders were to kill the scientist if he determined that the Germans were far along in their efforts to build an atomic weapon;[25][27][31][36][37] he found that the scientist was not a threat.[36][38][39] Berg was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but declined to accept it as he was forbidden from saying what he had done to receive the award.[40] He is the only former Major League Baseball player whose baseball card is displayed at CIA headquarters.[41]
One of the forefathers of today's commandos was Navy Lieutenant Jack Taylor. He was sequestered by the OSS early in the war and had a long career behind enemy lines.[42]
The OSS wasn't shy on recruiting Japanese. Taro and Mitsu Yashima, both Japanese political refugees who were imprisoned in Japan for protesting its regime, worked for the OSS in psychological warfare against the Japanese Empire. [43] [44]

Branches[edit]

  • Censorship and Documents
  • Field Experimental Unit
  • Foreign Nationalities
  • Maritime Unit
  • Morale Operations Branch
  • Operational Group Command                     

Detachments[edit]

US Army units attached to the OSS

In popular culture[edit]

Films
Television
Literature
  • The 1976 book A Man Called Intrepid: The Secret War by William Stevenson (Canadian writer) describes the operations of the OSS, particularly the role of Sir William Samuel Stephenson, head of British Security Coordination in New York, in its formation. He also authored a 1986 book entitled Intrepid's Last Case.
  • The 1957 book You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger by Roger Wolcott Hall is a witty look at Hall's experiences with the OSS.
  • The 1986 book "Camp X" by David Stafford is the most accurate account of the activities and personnel of Camp X the secret agent training camp for sabotage and guerrilla warfare at Ajax near Oshawa Ontario, Canada, that was administered by the British Special Operations Executive.
  • Author W.E.B. Griffin's Honor Bound and Men At War series revolves around fictional OSS operations.
  • A French pulp fiction series OSS 117, by author Jean Bruce, follows the adventure of Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, alias OSS 117, a French operative working for the OSS. The original series (four or five books a year) lasted from 1949 to 1963, until the death of Jean Bruce, and was continued by his wife and children until 1992. Numerous films were made from it in the 1960s, and in 2006 a nostalgic comedy was made, celebrating the spy movie genre, Cairo, Nest of Spies, with Jean Dujardin playing OSS 117. A sequel followed in 2009 called OSS 117: Lost in Rio (original title in French: OSS 117: Rio Ne Répond Plus).
Comics
Video games
  • In the Wolfenstein series of video games, the main character is a member of a fictional organisation called the OSA (Office of Secret Actions),which is inspired by the OSS.
  • Most games in the Medal of Honor video game franchise feature a fictional OSS agent as the main character.
  • In the 2012 game Sniper Elite v2 the main protagonist is an OSS agent sniper.
  • In Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (1999), the main female character, Sophia Hapgood, is an OSS (later CIA) agent.

See also[edit]

Portal iconGovernment of the United States portal

References[edit]

Notes
  1. Jump up^ Dawidoff, p. 240
  2. Jump up^ Stimson, Henry L. On Active Service in Peace and War (1948).per Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 16th ed.
  3. Jump up^ The Secret History of British Intelligence in the Americas, 1940-1945, p27-28
  4. Jump up^ Interview with Archimedes L. A. Patti, 1981,http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/vietnam-bf3262-interview-with-archimedes-l-a-patti-1981
  5. Jump up^ Andrew, Christopher and Mitrokhin, Vasili, The Mitrokhin Archive, Volume 1: The KGB in Europe and the West, 1999.
  6. Jump up^ http://www.40thbombgroup.org/memories/Memories14.pdf
  7. Jump up^ The Thought War: Japanese Imperial Propaganda By Barak Kushner Page 141 - 143
  8. ^ Jump up to:a b "Chef Julia Child, others part of WWII spy network", CNN, 2008-08-14
  9. ^ Jump up to:a b Hassell and McCrae, p.158
  10. Jump up^ Hassell and MacRae, p.159
  11. ^ Jump up to:a b Hassell and MacRae, p.166
  12. Jump up^ Hassell and MacRae, p.167
  13. ^ Jump up to:a b Rubin, B: Istanbul Intrigues, page 168. Pharos Books, 1992.
  14. Jump up^ Hassell and MacRae, p.184
  15. ^ Jump up to:a b Vann RD (2004). "Lambertsen and O2: beginnings of operational physiology". Undersea Hyperb Med 31 (1): 21–31.PMID 15233157. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
  16. ^ Jump up to:a b Shapiro, T. Rees. "Christian J. Lambertsen, OSS officer who created early scuba device, dies at 93". Washington Post(February 18, 2011)
  17. Jump up^ Butler FK (2004). "Closed-circuit oxygen diving in the U.S. Navy". Undersea Hyperb Med 31 (1): 3–20.PMID 15233156. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
  18. Jump up^ "An End and a Beginning". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  19. Jump up^ Waller, Douglas "CIA's Secret Army", Time (2003)
  20. Jump up^ Albarelli, H.A. A Terrible Mistake:The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments 2009. p.67 ISBN 0-9777953-7-3
  21. Jump up^ Blackledge, Brett J. and Herschaft, Randy , "Documents: Julia Child part of WW II-era spy ring", Associated Press
  22. Jump up^ Office of Strategic Services Personnel Files from World War II – overview page, search links, digital excerpts; ARC Identifier 1593270: Personnel Files, compiled 1942 - 1945, documenting the period 1941 - 1945, from Record Group 226: Records of the Office of Strategic Services, 1919 - 2002;Personnel database – complete list
  23. Jump up^ The rock, the curse, and the hub: a random history of Boston sports. Harvard University Press. 2005. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  24. ^ Jump up to:a b Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency. Infobase Publishing. 2003. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  25. ^ Jump up to:a b Hahn, Gilbert, Jr. The Notebook of an Amateur Politician. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2002. p. 86 ISBN 0-7391-0405-5
  26. Jump up^ Redmont, Robert. The Red Sox Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing, 2002. p. 144. ISBN 1-58261-244-7
  27. ^ Jump up to:a b c Boxerman, Burton Alan and Boxerman, Benita W. Jews and Baseball: Entering the American mainstream, 1871–1948 Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2006. p. 109 ISBN 978-0-7864-2828-1
  28. Jump up^ Baseball's Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service. McFarland. 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  29. Jump up^ Dawidoff, pp.153–55
  30. Jump up^ Blessings of freedom: chapters in American Jewish history. 2002. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  31. ^ Jump up to:a b Elston, Gene A Stitch in Time: A Baseball Chronology. Houston, Texas: Halcyon, 2001. p.12. ISBN 1-931823-33-2
  32. Jump up^ A stitch in time: a baseball chronology. Halcyon Press. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  33. Jump up^ Playing for their nation: baseball and the American military during World War II. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  34. Jump up^ Spying: the secret history of history. Black Dog Publishing. 2004. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  35. Jump up^ Edwin Hubble: mariner of the nebulae. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  36. ^ Jump up to:a b Elias, Robert.The Empire Strikes Out: How Baseball Sold U.S. Foreign Policy and Promoted the American Way AbroadNew York: The New Press, 2009. p. 152 ISBN 978-1-59558-195-2
  37. Jump up^ Chalou, George C. The Secret War: The Office of Strategic Services in World War II. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992. p. 293 ISBN 0-09-133391-6
  38. Jump up^ From nuclear military strategy to a world without war: a history and a proposal. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  39. Jump up^ Teenager on first, geezer at bat, 4-F on deck: major league baseball in 1945. McFarland. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  40. Jump up^ Bloomfield, Gary L. Duty, Honor, Victory: America's Athletes in World War II Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press, 2003. p.65.ISBN 1-59228-067-6
  41. Jump up^ Smith, W. Thomas.Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency New York: Facts on File, 2003. p.23. ISBN 0-8160-4666-2
  42. Jump up^ "SEAL History: First Airborne Frogmen" on the Navy Seal Museum wesbite/
  43. Jump up^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19820829&id=DUogAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5aUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6707,7532964
  44. Jump up^ http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/An-unlikely-heroine-of-World-War-II-2569670.php
  45. Jump up^ For all branch information: Clancey, Patrick. "Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Organization and Functions". HyperWar. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  46. Jump up^ O.S.S> at the Internet Movie Database
Bibliography
  • Albarelli, H.P. A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments (2009) ISBN 0-9777953-7-3
  • Aldrich, Richard J. Intelligence and the War Against Japan: Britain, America and the Politics of Secret Service (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)
  • Alsop, Stewart and Braden, Thomas. Sub Rosa: The OSS and American Espionage (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1946)
  • Bank, Aaron. From OSS to Green Berets: The Birth of Special Forces (Novato, CA: Presidio, 1986)
  • Bartholomew-Feis, Dixee R. The OSS and Ho Chi Minh: Unexpected Allies in the War against Japan (Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, 2006)
  • Bernstein, Barton J. "Birth of the U.S. biological warfare program" Scientific American 256: 116 – 121, 1987.
  • Brown, Anthony Cave. The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan (New York: Times Books, 1982)
  • Casey, William J. The Secret War Against Hitler (Washington: Regnery Gateway, 1988)
  • Chalou, George C. (ed.) The Secrets War: The Office of Strategic Services in World War II (Washington: National Archives and Records Administration, 1991)
  • Dawidoff, Nicholas. The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg ( New York: Vintage Books, 1994)
  • Dulles, Allen. The Secret Surrender (New York: Harper & Row, 1966)
  • Dunlop, Richard. Donovan: America’s Master Spy (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1982)
  • Ford, Corey. Donovan of OSS (Boston: Little, Brown, 1970)
  • Grose, Peter. Gentleman Spy: The Life of Allen Dulles (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994)
  • Hassell, A, and MacRae, S: Alliance of Enemies: The Untold Story of the Secret American and German Collaboration to End World War II, Thomas Dunne Books, 2006
  • Hunt, E. Howard. American Spy, 2007
  • Jakub, Jay. Spies and Saboteurs: Anglo-American Collaboration and Rivalry in Human Intelligence Collection and Special Operations, 1940–45 (New York: St. Martin's, 1999)
  • Jones, Ishmael. The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture (New York: Encounter Books, 2008, rev 2010)
  • Katz, Barry M. Foreign Intelligence: Research and Analysis in the Office of Strategic Services, 1942–1945 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989)
  • Kent, Sherman. Strategic Intelligence for American Foreign Policy (Hamden, CT: Archon, 1965 [1949])
  • Lovell, Stanley P (1964). Of spies & stratagems. Pocket Books. ASIN B0007ESKHE.
  • McIntosh, Elizabeth P. Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998)
  • Melton, H. Keith. OSS Special Weapons and Equipment: Spy Devices of World War II (New York: Sterling Publishing, 1991)
  • Moulin, Pierre. U.S. Samurais in Bruyeres (CPL Editions: Luxembourg, 1993)
  • Persico, Joseph E. Piercing the Reich: The Penetration of Nazi Germany by American Secret Agents During World War II (New York: Viking, 1979)
  • Peterson, Neal H. (ed.) From Hitler’s Doorstep: The Wartime Intelligence Reports of Allen Dulles, 1942–1945 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996)
  • Pinck, Daniel C. Journey to Peking: A Secret Agent in Wartime China (Naval Institute Press, 2003)
  • Pinck, Daniel C., Jones, Geoffrey M.T. and Pinck, Charles T. (eds.) Stalking the History of the Office of Strategic Services: An OSS Bibliography (Boston: OSS/Donovan Press, 2000)
  • Roosevelt, Kermit (ed.) War Report of the OSS, two volumes (New York: Walker, 1976)
  • Rudgers, David F. Creating the Secret State: The Origins of the Central Intelligence Agency, 1943–1947 (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2000)
  • Smith, Bradley F. and Agarossi, Elena. Operation Sunrise: The Secret Surrender (New York: Basic Books, 1979)
  • Smith, Bradley F. The Shadow Warriors: OSS and the Origins of the CIA (New York: Basic, 1983)
  • Smith, Richard Harris. OSS: The Secret History of America’s First Central Intelligence Agency (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972; Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2005)
  • Steury, Donald P. The Intelligence War (New York: Metrobooks, 2000)
  • Troy, Thomas F. Donovan and the CIA: A History of the Establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency (Frederick, MD: University Publications of America, 1981)
  • Troy, Thomas F. Wild Bill & Intrepid (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996)
  • Waller, John H. The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War (New York: Random House, 1996)
  • Warner, Michael. The Office of Strategic Services : America’s First Intelligence Agency (Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2001)
  • Yu, Maochun. OSS in China: Prelude to Cold War (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996)

External links[edit]

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Thursday, February 27, 2014

"Repentance and good deeds serve as a shield before retribution."




epentance and a World of Love
Chapter 4, Mishna 13(b)
Note to my readers: My Maimonides class (http://www.torah.org/learning/mlife/) recently completed and is about to restart. Sign up now (http://hweb.torah.org/subscribe/) to start from the beginning.

"Rabbi Eliezer ben (son of) Yaakov said: One who fulfills one mitzvah (commandment) acquires himself a single defending angel. One who commits one transgression acquires one accusing angel. Repentance and good deeds serve as a shield before retribution."

In the previous class we discussed the concept of defending and accusing angels and their function within G-d's justice system.

Our mishna continues that repentance and good deeds serve to shield us before G-d's retribution. To appreciate this point, I would like to offer a very brief summary of the power of repentance.

Repentance is one of G-d's great gifts to mankind, allowing us to totally and at times immediately undo the spiritual damage we do ourselves through sin -- as well as removing the barrier we create between ourselves and G-d. The Talmud writes that through repentance one "acquires his world" (i.e., his share in the World to Come) in a moment (Avodah Zarah 17a), and that repentance reaches G-d's heavenly throne (Yoma 86a), completely renewing and reinvigorating a person's relationship with the Almighty.

The above being so, our mishna seems a little less dramatic than we might have hoped. Repentance is depicted as a shield -- one which protects from the ravages of sin but does not wipe it away altogether. It seems that the sin is still present, just that the sinner will not be punished for it.

Now this might be beneficial, but it is far from ideal. When we think about it, punishment is only a small part of the damage we do ourselves when we sin. Of far greater concern is the distance we place between ourselves and G-d. The purpose of our existence -- and the only pleasure our souls, once separated from their bodies, will care for -- is closeness to G-d. We develop such a closeness in this world by obeying G-d's will. This transforms us into more spiritual people -- ones who, so to speak, have more "in common" with G-d -- and who will be able to enjoy a relationship with G-d in the hereafter. To the extent that we follow the paths of corruption and temptation, our souls become diminished. We become less conditioned for spirituality and less capable of partaking of the Divine Presence in the World to Come. 
In addition to the barrier of distance from G-d, evil corrupts our natures and our souls. It destroys our innocence and gives us a marked appetite for evil. What was previously an alluring curiosity becomes a very real craving -- as well as a behavior pattern difficult to overcome. (Studies claim that it takes only a single cigarette to addict a person to nicotine. Spiritual forces are no doubt no less potent.)

All of this being so, G-d does not have to "punish" us for our sins. We punish ourselves by conditioning ourselves for evil rather than good. If anything, G-d's punishment *saves* us from more serious repercussions. As the sensations of pain we feel upon touching a hot stove, punishment alerts us to the destructiveness of our behavior -- as well as cleansing us from the aftereffects of our sins.

If so, once again, why does our mishna describe repentance as only a "shield before retribution?" Is it really nothing more? What of the much more severe consequences of sin?

The answer is perhaps as follows: The Talmud (Yoma 86b) distinguishes between two forms of repentance -- that which is done out of fear of G-d and that which is done out of love. Repentance done out of fear causes one's premeditated sins to be counted as if they were unintentional ones, whereas repentance through love causes one's premeditated sins to be counted as merits. How does this work?

Repentance done out of fear is one in which a person realizes the severity of his act and the strictness of G-d's justice. Had he or she had any idea how terrible and damaging his failure was and how gut wrenching the process of repentance is (and someone who knows what repentance *really* is sees it more as a gut-wrenching spiritual convulsion than a simple putting the past out of mind), he would never have allowed himself to slip so. Thus, his intentional sins are counted as unintentional ones: At the time he sinned his perceptions were much more limited then they are now. What he did in the past was an "accident" -- done out of a lack of the knowledge he has today so painfully acquired.

Now anyone who can do the above and do it well has my highest regard. Not many of us have the fortitude and the intellectual honesty to truly recognize our faults for what they are and shape up as a result. We become so accustomed to our faults that they just don't phase us any more. Yes, we'd *like* to improve but... well, everyone else does it too, etc. To view our faults in a harsh, unbiased light and see them for their true wickedness takes a person of particularly strong mettle.

Yet even this highly-laudable level is not the ideal. We must not just repent out of fear -- through an awareness of the severity of sin. True repentance stems from love -- from a love of the G-d who commanded me so -- and whom I failed.

When a person deepens his or her relationship with G-d, he feels a closeness, a devotion to the Being who entrusted him with life and invested it with such beauty, purpose and potential. His life, his existence, everything he is and can be is a gift from an all-benevolent G-d, who constantly watches over him and provides him with more opportunities for growth and improvement. At this very moment, our hearts are beating, our nerves are transmitting electrical signals, our blood is distributing oxygen, and so many other processes are going on which we can hardly fathom, yet alone consciously control. We take for granted such a marvelous orchestration of processes and bodily functions to such an extent that we expect to enjoy unending years of problem-free health and productivity. In fact we'd be surprised if our doctor told us our nerves, retinas, inner ears, etc. were randomly misfiring. All of this occurs because G-d created human beings of untold complexity, and He conti nually renews His will that we exist and flourish.

When we begin to realize what G-d does and continues to do for us, we begin to approach repentance through love. When we sin, we are taking the unimaginable talents and blessings G-d has granted us -- and using those very blessings to oppose the very G-d who has handed them to us. At the very moment we sin, G-d -- in an infinite and almost superhuman display of mercy and slowness to anger -- still allows our hearts to beat and our organs to function. The ever-powerful sermon of the Great Awakening -- "sinners in the hands of an angry G-d" (which describes humans as loathsome insects precariously suspended by G-d over the flames of Hell) was in a way not that far from the mark. In spite of all our aches, pains and complaints, it's a world of patience and of almost unremitting Heavenly love. 

What does the sinner -- with such new-found depths of recognition -- feel afterwards? "How could I have betrayed the trust, the gifts G-d has granted me? How could I have repaid infinite kindness with such smallness and selfishness?" Such a person repents out of love. The worse he had been previously, the more he will now be overcome with remorse -- and will bounce back even closer to G-d. And as the Talmud writes, such a person's sins are transformed into merits. He will take every past failure and shortcoming and use them in a remorseful yet determined trek towards G-d and reconciliation. 

On the High Holidays and on Yom Kippur in particular, we return to G-d out of fear. The High Holidays are solemn, almost frightful days. We are reminded of G-d's kingship, His power, and the severity of His judgment. We have failed, G-d is strict, and we pound our chests in uneasy contrition. We would have been far less careless the rest of the year had the Ne'ilah services been more firmly etched in our minds. We rethink, regret and return -- yet our repentance is goaded by fear. And, as our mishna states, we will be shielded from the brunt of the L-rd's wrath. G-d will suspend further chastisement. He will accept our remorse for the time being -- for want of anything better -- until we are prepared for true reconciliation with our Maker. For our repentance is far from over.

But Yom Kippur is followed almost immediately by Sukkos (Tabernacles or Sukkot). Sukkos is an entirely different, equally inspiring experience. During Sukkos, as we dwell in our temporary huts (Sukkah), we celebrate G-d's closeness to us -- and ours to Him -- once signified in the Clouds of Glory of the desert. For one week of the year, we do not turn to brick, mortar and home security systems for protection. We live in humble, temporary structures, not sturdy enough to shelter us from the rain. In this way, we recognize that G-d is the One who truly protects and watches over us. We live under His shadow; it is He who lovingly shelters from the powerful yet temporal rays of the physical world. And we in turn beautify the Sukkah as a token symbol of our returned love. We have repented through fear, and G-d now accepts us once again to dwell directly under His wings and protective embrace.

As we spiritually grow from Yom Kippur to Sukkos, we progress from repentance through fear to the true repentance of love. We have failed, G-d has accepted us, and we are once again ready to become His loyal servants and His proud children.

(Based in part on thoughts heard from R. Ezrachi of the Mir Yeshiva, Jerusalem, 
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Sunday, February 16, 2014

Two Orations of the Emperor Julian

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/toj/

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/toj/toj01.htm

Two Orations of the Emperor Julian

One to the Sovereign Sun and the other to the Mother of the Gods;

translated by Thomas Taylor

[1793]
INTRODUCTION

Hence, in the ensuing orations, he has happily blended the majestic diction of a Roman Emperor with the gravity of sentiment peculiar to a Platonic philosopher, and with that scientific and manly piety which is so conspicuous in the writings of antient theologists. His language is, indeed, highly magnificent, and in every respect becoming the exalted rank which he sustained, and the great importance of the subjects of his discourse: in short, the grandeur of his soul is so visible in his composition, that we may safely credit what he asserted of himself, that he was formerly Alexander the Great. And if we consider the actions

p. 7

of Alexander and Julian, we shall easily be induced to believe, that it was one and the same person who, in different periods, induced the Indians, Bactrians, and inhabitants of Caucasus, to worship the Grecian deities: took down the contemptible ensign of his predecessor, and raised in its stead the majestic Roman eagles; and every where endeavoured to restore a religion which is coeval with the universe, by banishing gigantically-daring, and barbaric belief.
The first of these orations, which celebrates that glorious divinity, the Sun, is not only valuable for the piety and eloquence displayed in its composition, but for its containing much important information from a treatise of Jamblichus on the gods, which is unfortunately lost. The name of Jamblichus must, indeed, be dear to every genuine lover of Platonism, and any work replete with his doctrines may certainly, with justice, lay claim to immortality. However, as the theology of Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Plato, does not appear to have been unfolded in the most consummate perfection, even by Jamblichus himself, this great talk being reserved for the incomparable Proclus, we shall find in such books of Proclus as are fortunately
p. 8
preserved, a more accurate account in some particulars of the essence and powers of the Sun. This account I shall lay before the reader, (after I have premised a few particulars concerning the existence and nature of the gods), that he may see in what the Emperor's discourse is defective, and in what it is agreeable to the truth.
That after the first cause, then, who, from the transcendent excellence of his nature, was justly considered by all the, pious antients as superessential and ineffable, there should be a divine multitude, or, in other words, gods subordinate indeed to the first, but at the same time exquisitely allied to him, is a doctrine so congenial with the unperverted conceptions of the soul, that it can only be rejected during the most degraded generations of mankind: for if there be no such thing as a vacuum either in incorporeal or corporeal natures, and if in every well-ordered progression the similar precedes the dissimilar, and this, so as to cause the whole series to be united in the most perfect degree, it is necessary that the first progeny of the first god should be no other than gods. 1
Indeed, those who are skilled in the most scientific dialectic of Plato, know that a unity or monad is every where the leader of a kindred multitude; and that, in consequence of this, there is one first nature and many natures, one first soul and many souls, one first intellect and many intellects, and one first god and a kindred multitude of gods.
But as this highest god, from the transcendent simplicity of his nature, was profoundly called by the Platonic philosophers the one, hence all the gods, considered according to the characteristics or summits of their natures, will be unities; but they will differ from the first cause in this, that he is alone superessential without any addition, and is perfectly exempt from all habitude or alliance to any other nature, whereas each of the other gods is participated by something inferior to itself, viz. either by being, life, intellect, soul, or body, from which participations all the divine orders are produced, and through which they become subordinate to the highest god.
In addition, therefore, to what I have said concerning the first cause, and the gods, his
p. 10
immediate progeny, in my Introduction to Plato's Parmenides, the following observations, extracted from the 6th book of Proclus, on that most theological dialogue, will, I doubt not, be highly acceptable to the truly liberal reader. "The one, then, is the principle of all things, since to be united is to every thing good, and the greatest of goods; but that which is every way separated from unity is evil, and the greatest of evils; since it becomes the cause of dissimilitude, privation of sympathy, division, and a departure from a subsistence according to nature. The first cause, therefore, as supplying all things with the greatest good, unites all things, and is, on this account, called the one. And hence the gods, from their surpassing similitude to the first god, will be unities proceeding from this one principle, and yet ineffably absorbed in his nature. Thus, for instance, (that we may illustrate this doctrine by an example) we perceive many causes of light, some of which are celestial and others sublunary; for light proceeds to our terrestrial abode from material fire, from the moon, and from the other stars, and this, so as to be different according to the difference of its cause. But if we explore the one monad of all mundane light,
p. 11
from which other lucid natures and sources of light derive their subsistence, we shall find that it is no other, than the apparent orb of the Sun; for this orbicular body proceeds, as it is said, from. an occult and supermundane order, and disseminates in all mundane natures a light commensurate with each."
"Shall we say then that this apparent body is the principle of light? But this is endued with interval, and is divisible, and light proceeds from the different parts which it contains. But we are at present investigating the one principle of light: shall we say, therefore, that the ruling soul of this body generates mundane light? This indeed produces light, but not primarily, for it is itself multitude; and light contains a representation of a simple and uniform subsistence. May not intellect therefore, which is the cause of soul, be the fountain of this light! Intellect, indeed, is more united than soul, but is not that which is properly and primarily the principle of light. It remains, therefore, that the one of this intellect, its summit, and, as it were, flower, must be the first principle of mundane light. For this is properly the sun which reigns over the visible place, and, according
p. 12
to Plato in the Republic, is the offspring of the good; since every unity proceeds from thence, and every deity is the progeny of the unity of unities, and the fountain of the gods. And as the good is the principle of light to intelligibles, in like manner the unity of the solar order is the principle of light to all visible natures, and is analogous to the good, in which it is occultly established, and from which it never departs."
"But this unity having an order prior to the solar intellect, there is also in intellect, so far as intellect, a unity participated from this unity, which is emitted into it like a seed, and through which intellect is united with the unity or deity of the sun. This, too, is the case with the soul of the sun; for this, through the one which she contains, is elevated through the one of intellect as a medium, to the deity of the sun. And we must understand the same with respect to the body of the sun, that there is in this a certain resounding echo, as it were, of the primary solar one: for it is necessary that the solar body should participate of things superior to itself; of soul, according to the life which is disseminated in it; of intellect, according to its form; and of unity, according to its one, since soul
p. 18
participates both of intellect and this one, and participations are different from the things which are participated. You may say, therefore, that the proximate cause of the solar light is this unity of the solar orb."
"In like manner, if we should investigate the root, as it were, of all bodies, from which celestial and sublunary bodies, wholes and parts, blossom into existence, we may not improperly say that this is Nature, which is the principle of motion and rest to all bodies, and which is established in them, whether they are in motion or at rest. But I mean by Nature, the one life of the world, which, being subordinate to intellect and soul, participates through these of generation. And this, indeed, is more a principle than many and partial natures, but is not that which is properly the principle of bodies; for this contains a multitude of powers, and through such as are different, governs different parts of the universe: but we are now investigating the one and common principle of all bodies, and not many and distributed principles. If, therefore, we wish to discover this one principle, we must raise ourselves to that which is most united in Nature to its flower, and that
p. 14
through which it is a deity, by which it is suspended from its proper fountain, connects, unites, and causes the universe to have a sympathetic consent with itself. Thisone, therefore, is the principle of all generation) and is that which reigns over the many powers of Nature, over partial natures, and universally over every thing subject to the dominion of Nature."
Thus far Proclus, from which admirable passage it is easy to infer that principles are every where unities, and that the highest principles are no other than gods or superessential blossoms, involved in unproceeding union with the first god, and absorbed in ineffable light. But the same incomparable man farther observes, "All these unities are in each other, and are profoundly united with each other, and their union is far greater than the communion and sameness which subsist in beings; for in these there is, indeed, a mutual mixture of forms, similitude and friendship, and a participation of each other; but the union of the gods, as being a union of unities, is much more uniform, ineffable, and transcendent: for here all are in all which does not take place in forms or ideas; 1 and their
p. 15
unmingled purity, and the characteristic of each, in a manner far surpassing the diversity in ideas, preserves their natures unconfused, and distinguishes their peculiar powers. Hence some of them are more universal, and others more particular; some of them are characterized according to abiding, others according to progression, and others according to conversion; some again are generative, others reductive, and others demiurgic; and universally there are different characteristics of different gods, viz. the connective, perfective, demiurgic assimilative, and such others as are celebrated posterior to these: so that all are in all, and yet each is, at the same time, separate and distinct."
"Indeed, we obtain this knowledge of their union and characteristics from the natures by which they are participated; for, with respect to the apparent gods, we say, that there is one soul of the sun and another of the earth directing our attention to the apparent bodies of these divinities, which possess much variety in their essence, powers, and dignity among wholes. As, therefore, we apprehend the difference of incorporeal essences from sensible inspection, in like manner from the variety of incorporeal essences we are enabled
p. 16
to know something of the unmingled distinction of the first and superessential unities, and of the characteristics of each; for each unity has a multitude suspended from its nature, which is either intelligible 1 alone, or, at the same time, intelligible and intellectual, or intellectual alone; and this last is either participated or not participated, and this again is either supermundane or mundane: and thus far does the progression of the unities extend." And, shortly after, he adds, "As trees by their extremities are rooted in the earth, and through this are earthly in every part, in the same manner divine natures are rooted by their summits in the one, and each is a unity andone, through its unconfused union with the one itself."
If the reader, therefore, unites these beautiful passages with what I have delivered concerning the gods, in my Introduction to the Parmenides, and has, at the same time, a genius adapted to such speculations, he will find that the observation of Jamblichus is no less admirable than true, "that a knowledge of the Gods is virtue, wisdom, and consummate felicity, and assimilates us to the Gods
p. 17
themselves." He will find that the theology of Plato is the progeny of the most consummate science and wisdom, and that it is as much superior to all other theological systems which oppose it, as reality to fiction, or intellect to irrational opinion.
Having premised thus much, I shall now present the reader with an account of the nature of the Sun, extracted from Proclus on Plato's Theology, from his Commentaries on the Timæus, and from his Scholia on the Cratylus, in which he will find the most arcane and perfect information concerning this mighty divinity which can perhaps at present be obtained. 1
The fontal sun, then, subsists in Jupiter, the perfect artificer of the world, who produced the hypostasis of, the sun from his own essence. Through the solar fountain contained in his essence, the Demiurgus generates solar powers in the principles of the universe, and a triad of solar gods, through which all things are unfolded into light, and are perfected and replenished with intellectual
p. 18
goods; through the first of these solar monads participating unpolluted light and intelligible harmony; but from the other two, efficacious power, vigour, and demiurgic perfection. The sun subsists in the most beautiful proportion to the good: for as the splendour proceeding from the good is the light of intelligible natures; so that proceeding from Apollo is the light of the intellectual world; and that which emanates from the apparent sun is the light of the sensible world. And both the sun and Apollo are analogous to the good; but sensible light and intellectual truth are analogous to superessential light. But though Apollo and the sun subsist in wonderful union with each other, yet they likewise inherit a proper distinction and diversity of nature. Hence, by poets inspired by Phœbus, the different generative causes of the two are celebrated, and the fountains are distinguished from which their hypostasis is derived. At the same time they are described as closely united with each other, and are celebrated with each other's mutual appellations: for the sun vehemently rejoices to be celebrated as Apollo; and Apollo, when he is invoked as the sun, benignantly imparts the splendid light of truth
It is the illustrious
p. 19
property of Apollo to collect multitude into one, to comprehend number in one, and from one to produce many natures; to convolve in himself, through intellectual simplicity, all the variety of secondary natures; and, through one hyparxis, to collect into one multiform essences and powers. This god, through a simplicity exempt from multitude, imparts to secondary natures prophetic truth; for that which is simple is the same with. that which is true: but through his liberated essence he impartsa purifying, unpolluted, and preserving power: and his emission of arrows is the symbol of his destroying every thing inordinate, wandering, and immoderate in the world. But his revolution is the symbol of the harmonic motion of the universe, collecting all things into union and consent. And these four powers of the god may be accommodated to the three solar monads, which he contains. The first monad 1, therefore, of this god is enunciative of truth, and of the intellectual light which subsists occultly in the gods. But the second 2 is destructive of every thing wandering and confused:
p. 20
but the third 1 causes all things to subsist in symmetry and familiarity with each other, through harmonic reasons. And the unpolluted and most pure cause, which he comprehends in himself, obtains the principality, illuminating all things with perfection and power, according to nature, and banishing every thing contrary to these.
Hence, of the solar triad, the first monad unfolds intellectual light, enunciates it to all secondary natures, fills all things with universal truth, and converts them to the intellect of the gods; which employment is ascribed to the prophetic power of Apollo, who produces into light the truth contained ill divine natures, and perfects that which is unknown in the secondary orders of things. But the second and third monads are the causes of efficacious vigour, demiurgic effection in the universe, and perfect energy, according to which these monads adorn every sensible nature, and exterminate every thing indefinite and inordinate in the world.
And one monad is analogous to musical fabrication, and to the harmonic providence of natures which are moved. But the second
p. 21
is analogous to that which is destructive of all confusion, and of that perturbation which is contrary to form, and the orderly disposition of the universe. But the third monad, which supplies all things with an abundant communion of beauty, and extends true beautitude to all things, bounds the solar principles, and guards its triple progression. In a similar manner, likewise, it illuminates progressions with a perfect and intellectual measure of a blessed life, by those purifying and pæonian powers of the king Apollo, which obtain an analogous principality in the sun.--The sun is allotted a supermundane 1 order
p. 22
in the world, an unbegotten supremacy among generated forms, and an intellectual dignity among sensible natures. Hence he
p. 23
has a twofold progression, one in conjunction with the other mundane gods, but the other exempt from them, supernatural and unknown. For the Demiurgus, according to Plato in the Timæus, enkindled in the solar sphere a light unlike the splendour of the other planets, producing it from his own essence, extending to mundane natures, as it were from certain secret recesses, a symbol of intellectual essences, and exhibiting to the universe the arcane nature of the supermundane gods. Hence, when the sun first arose, he astonished the mundane gods, all of whom were desirous of dancing round him, and of being replenished with his light. The sun, too, governs the twofold co-ordinations of the world, which co-ordinations are denominated hands, by those who are skilled in divine concerns, because they are effective, motive, and demiurgic of the universe. But they are considered as twofold; one the right hand, but the other the left.
And lastly, the sun being supermundane, emits the fountains of light; for among supermundane natures there is a solar world and total light; and this light is a monad prior to the empyrean, ætherial, and material
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worlds 1. And thus much for an account of the sun, from Proclus, On the Timæus and Theology of Plato: the following is from his Scholia on the Cratylus.

 In the first place, then, Proclus informs us, that there is a great correspondence between the Coric series, or the order belonging to Proserpine, and the Apolloniacal; for the former is the unity of the middle triad of Rulers, (meaning of the supermundane gods) and emits from herself vivific powers; but the latter converts the solar principles to one union: and the solar principles are allotted a subsistence immediately after the vivific. Hence (says he) according to Orpheus, when Ceres delivered up the government to Proserpine, she thus admonished her:
Αυταρ Απολλωνος θαλερον λεχος εισαναβασα,
Τεξεται αγλαα τεκνα πυριφλεγεθοντα προσωποις.That is,
But next Apollo's florid bed ascend;
For thus the god fam'd offspring shall beget,
Refulgent with the beams of glowing fire.p. 25
But how could this be the case, unless there was a considerable degree of communion between these divinities.
But it is requisite to know thus much concerning Apollo, that, according to the first and most natural conception, his name signifies the cause of union, and that power which collects multitude into one; and this mode of speculation concerning his name harmonizes with all the orders of the god. After this, he observes, in answer to the question why Socrates, in the Cratylus, begins from the medicinal power of the gods, proceeds through his prophetic and arrow-darting powers, and lastly ends in his harmonic power, that all the energies of this divinity subsist in all the orders of beings, but that different energies appear to have more or less dominion in different orders: thus, for instance, the medicinal power of Apollo is most apparent in the sublunary region, for
There slaughter, rage, and countless Ills beside,
Disease, decay, and rottenness reside. 1And as these are moved in an inordinate
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manner, they require to be restored from a condition contrary, into one agreeable to nature, and from incommensuration and manifold division, into symmetry and union.
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Friday, February 14, 2014

Theurgy


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theurgy
Theurgy (from Greek θεουργία) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself.
Proclus, On the theology of Plato, 1.26.63. E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational, University of California Press, 1959).
  • Proclus (c. 480): theurgy is "a power higher than all human wisdom embracing the blessings of divination, the purifying powers of initiation and in a word all the operations of divine possession"[1]
  • Pierre A. Riffard, Dictionnaire de l'ésotérisme, Paris: Payot, 1983, 340.
  • Keith Thomas: "Spiritual magic or theurgy was based on the idea that one could reach God in an ascent up the scale of creation made possible by a rigorous course of prayer, fasting and devotional preparation."[2]
  • Anne Sheppard: "Theurgy, the religious magic practised by the later Neoplatonists, has been commonly regarded as the point at which Neoplatonism degenerates into magic, superstition and irrationalism. A superficial glance at the ancient lives of the Neoplatonists, and in particular at Eunapius' Lives of the Sophists, reveals a group of people interested in animating statues, favoured with visions of gods and demons, and skilled in rain-making"[3]
  • Anne Sheppard, "Proclus attitude to theurgy",Classical Quarterly, 32 (1982), 212-224. Eunopius, The Lives of the sophists (c. 395), chap. III, London: Harvard University Press, 1921).

External links[edit]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/theurgy



the·ur·gy  (thē′ûr-jē)
n. pl. the·ur·gies
1. Divine or supernatural intervention in human affairs.
2. The performance of miracles with supernatural assistance.
3. Magic performed with the aid of beneficent spirits, as formerly practiced by the Neo-Platonists.
[Late Latin theūrgia, from Greek theourgiā, sacramental rite, mystery : theo-, theo- + -ourgiā, -urgy.]
the·ur′gic, the·ur′gi·cal adj.
the·ur′gi·cal·ly adv.
the′ur·gist n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
theurgy (ˈθiːˌɜːdʒɪ)
n, pl -gies
1. (Theology)
a. the intervention of a divine or supernatural agency in the affairs of man
b. the working of miracles by such intervention
2. (Theology) beneficent magic as taught and performed by Egyptian Neoplatonists and others
[C16: from Late Latin theūrgia, from Late Greek theourgia the practice of magic, from theo-theo- + -urgia, fromergon work]
theˈurgic theˈurgical adj theˈurgically adv ˈtheurgist n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003


Neoplatonism[edit]

Theurgy means 'divine-working'. The first recorded use of the term is found in the mid-second century neo-Platonist work, the Chaldean Oracles (Fragment 153 des Places (Paris, 1971): 'For the theourgoí do not fall under the fate-governed herd').[5] The source of Westerntheurgy can be found in the philosophy of late Neoplatonists, especially Iamblichus. In late Neoplatonism, the spiritual Universe is regarded as a series of emanations from the One. From the One emanated the Divine Mind (Nous) and in turn from the Divine Mind emanated the World Soul (Psyche). Neoplatonists insisted that the One is absolutely transcendent and in the emanations nothing of the higher was lost or transmitted to the lower, which remained unchanged by the lower emanations.
Although the Neoplatonists are considered polytheists, they embraced a form of monism.
For Plotinus, and Iamblichus' teachers Anatolius and Porphyry, the emanations are as follows:
  • To En (τό ἕν), The One: Deity without quality, sometimes called The Good.
  • Nous (Νοῦς), Mind: The Universal consciousness, from which proceeds
  • Psychè (Ψυχή), Soul: Including both individual and world soul, leading finally to
  • Physis (Φύσις), Nature.
Plotinus urged contemplations for those who wished to perform theurgy, the goal of which was to reunite with The Divine (called henosis). Therefore, his school resembles a school of meditation or contemplation. Iamblichus of Calcis (Syria), a student of Porphyry(who was himself a student of Plotinus) taught a more ritualized method of theurgy that involved invocation and religious, as well as magical, ritual.[6] Iamblichus believed theurgy was an imitation of the gods, and in his major work, On the Egyptian Mysteries, he described theurgic observance as "ritualized cosmogony" that endowed embodied souls with the divine responsibility of creating and preserving the cosmos.
Iamblichus' analysis was that the transcendent cannot be grasped with mental contemplation because the transcendent is supra-rational. Theurgy is a series of rituals and operations aimed at recovering the transcendent essence by retracing the divine 'signatures' through the layers of being.[7] Education is important for comprehending the scheme of things as presented by Aristotle, Plato and Pythagoras but also by the Chaldaean Oracles.[8] The theurgist works 'like with like': at the material level, with physical symbols; at the higher level, with mental and purely spiritual practices. Starting with correspondences of the divine in matter, the theurgist eventually reaches the level where the soul's inner divinity unites with The Divine.[9]

Emperor Julian[edit]

The Emperor Julian the Apostate (332-363), embraced Neoplatonic philosophy and worked to replace Christianity with a version of Neoplatonic paganism. Because of his death and the hold mainstream Christianity had over the empire at the time, this was ultimately unsuccessful, but he did produce several works of philosophy and theology, including a popular hymn to the sun. In his theology,Helios, the sun, was the ideal example of the perfection of the gods and light, a symbol of divine emanation. He also held the mother goddess Cybele in high esteem.
Julian favored ritual theurgy, with an emphasis on sacrifice and prayer. He was heavily influenced by the ideas of Iamblichus.

Esoteric Christian theurgy[edit]

Esoteric Christianity accepts theurgy as a tradition that could greatly benefit a person. The main feat of Esoteric Christianity is to learn the mysteries of God (see Raziel) and to rise to higher consciousness. Theurgy, in the esoteric tradition, using this knowledge to heighten one's own spiritual nature.[10] In Esoteric Christianity, theurgy usually is the practice of trying to gain the knowledge and conversation of one's Higher Self, or Inner God, to teach one spiritual truths and wisdom from God that one couldn't learn from man (seeAlchemy, Kabbalah, and Theosophy).[citation needed] Some branches of Esoteric Christianity hold that if an Esoteric Christian,Rosicrucian, or Theosophist practices it, he or she could potentially rise to the degree of Magus, or Adept. In a traditional and magical sense, Theurgy is seen as the opposite of Goetia, even though many argue that they overlap each other.[11] Some organizations, such as The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn claim to teach a type of theurgy that would help one ascend spiritually as well as understand the true nature of the self and its relation to the Divine and the Universe. The Golden Dawn has a somewhat significant historical following and influence;[12] while it is held that many theurgists are usually solitary practitioners and seek the divine light alone through ritual and inner spiritual and psychological equilibration.[13]

Jewish theurgy[edit]

Following a pattern very similar to the Neoplatonists[citation needed], the Medieval Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah developed the concept that the Universe is regarded as a series of emanations from the Godhead, namely, the 10 sephirot. It is said that God created the world using the sephirot, pouring Divinity into creation through these "vessels," which also have personality traits. The highest sephirah, Kether, holds the most divine light and is the least accessible to humanity. The lowest sephirah, Malkuth, is still higher thanmatter itself, so the parallel with Neoplatonism is not complete, but Malkuth is considered that aspect of God that can be perceived in the material world. It is also known as the Shekhinah.
For the Kabbalist, God is a single oneness, not separate "gods". The teaching avoids polytheism by insisting that the sephirot are not to be prayed to, but rather, to be meditated on and experienced as manifestations of how God acts in the world. They are envisioned as arranged in three columns, in a pattern called the Tree of Life. By meditating on the sephirot and praying for their unification, Kabbalists seek the theurgic goal of healing a shattered world.
For Kabbalists, the sephirot are as follows: Kether (Crown); Chokmah (Wisdom); Binah (Understanding); Chesed (Loving kindness);Geburah (Strength); Tiphareth (Beauty); Netzach (Endurance); Hod (Glory); Yesod (Foundation); and Malkuth (Kingdom or Sovereignty).

See also[edit]


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