SUBLIMATED GAMBLING
Back in 2013 I commissioned the modification of William Blake's Ancient of Days, a watercolor etching shown above. I also directed a typographical rendering of Stephen Hawking's witty rebuttal of Einstein. (Both by Xuan Zhang) That was the time I first started doing something about designing LUCKISM®. They both show that the deepest levels of human understanding must involve recognition of chance. Most people recognize that chance or luck is a constant factor in life as a matter of common sense. Science finds it in the fundamental structure of the universe. So it's no surprise that the reality of luck is embodied in the widespread practice of gambling around the world. What isn't generally realized is that this provides a solid foundation for the development and validation of a religion which is inherently more beneficial for humans than reliance on problematic divine rulers and their "spokespersons."
I take the methods used for casino gambling, reduce their superficial monetary motivation and arrive at a purified or sublimated form in which the objective is the experience of the reality and power of chance. It's tangible, it's emotional and it's as deep as it gets. Isn't that what is wanted from a genuine religious experience?
It's ironic that some religious organizations already use gambling, in the form of Bingo, for fund-raising purposes. They do so with no sense of its spiritual potential and with mixed feelings, not because it's sinful, but because it might cause people to gamble more than they can afford. That potential problem will be avoided in the Sublimated Gambling conducted in LUCKISM®. The amount which can be gambled will be small sums and they are actually donated in return for playing tokens. The tokens can resemble the chips used in casinos or be just printed paper.
The rough token prototype illustrated below introduces a question mark into the classic Yin-Yang symbol, thus linking LUCKISM® to an older belief system in which an unknowable force, the Dao, exists beneath the realities of the world. This new symbol builds on the previous imagery and expresses chance as a basic component of LUCKISM® in a simple and elegant way. Variations of this might even serve as a logo.
The variety of games of chance is immense and can be used at all scales from individual coin-tossing and solitaire through intermediate size groups using craps, roulette or blackjack to large congregations using Bingo and lotteries. The "gamblers" may leave with less money but they will be immeasurably richer in authentic spiritual experience. Obviously, such "liturgy" as is devised, will make the point of the gambling exercise clear to the congregation.
I point out that, if my motives were venal, I could easily turn LUCKISM® into the biggest money-making operation in the history of religion. If gambling has in it the sacramental core of a genuine religion, (as I have shown it has for LUCKISM®) then there is no reason why it has to be stripped of financial benefit for the participants, no reason why the stakes should be limited or why winnings should be renounced by believers. Then it would simply be a religion running a religious "casino" as part of its conduct and, by relying on the authentic spiritual nature of its aleatory practices, it could overcome the objections of governmental bodies. This would resemble cases in which religious use of sacramental drugs comes into conflict with laws regulating or banning those drugs. Eventually, a well-financed, politically savvy and intelligently litigious LUCKISM® would prevail.
Incidentally, this is one of the reasons I have registered a trademark for LUCKISM®. That is one of the few ways I can have some control over what is presented to the public under that name and make sure that financial gain for the believers or administrators does not warp its larger purposes. There will undoubtedly be unscrupulous people who try to subvert or imitate LUCKISM® for purely financial gain. This has happened to many major religions. Without genuine religious intentions and indicia I am hoping imitators of LUCKISM® will fail. In all probability, their financial arrangements will not pass close scrutiny. In LUCKISM® the money will flow to the furtherance of the religious purposes. Whatever organization may be formed to administer it can never be allowed to have its institutional maintenance expenses outweigh the costs of actually disseminating its beneficial principles and practices in the world.
As previously mentioned, Sublimated Gambling is a measured part of a gathering which is preceded by discussion of chance events in the world and followed by group aleatory consultations on matters of public importance. In a future ramble I will go into detail about the practice of aleatory consultation, using the I-Ching.
Still further ahead is the enormous and probably never-ending task of elaborating how the principles of LUCKISM® produce ethical guidelines and a more enlightened code of conduct for Homo sapiens.
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In the meantime, Luck you!
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