About halfway through my reading of the teachings of the founder of Aikido I realized that the words of wisdom noted down as being quite proto-Crowleyan. Where this sense is then encapsulated is in the statement that, “The way of a warrior is based on the humanity, love, and sincerity; The heart of merital valor is the bravery, wisdom, love and friendship. Emphasis on the physical aspects of warrior is feudal, for the power of the body is always limited,” which then is echoed in the Thelemic dictum of, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under Will.”
Then said exploring the idea of brute strength alone as flimsy and farcical as body ages and metabolism change is capabilities; With the added notion that, ‘there’s always a bigger fish.’
From there becomes able to be interpreted via a Satanic framework. Noting the 11th rule of the Earth, which advises: “When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him,” and giving him outline on how to do so without solar systemically ruining one’s own life simultaneously— “Warriorship is none other than the vitality that sustained all life.”
In essence: tooth and claw is not all which exists…
With that, it has been said that 'an eye for an eye makes the world blind', but this is very much false- inherently false. You have two eyes, if you are stupid enough to lose both, then clearly you're the idiot who fucked around and found out... twice, quite obviously not learning from the first time that actions have consequences.
As Newton said: "every action has an equal and opposite reaction." It's simple cause and effect- punishment fits the crime.
Self-preservation is the highest law and if you cannot preserve your eyes- a vital organ of your body- what use are you to yourself as an individual? Demonstrating this is the founder of the philosophical system of Objectivism based on rational self-interest, Ayn Rand put it well when she said, "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his absolute."
Now, how reasonable are you if you have by your own actions lost both your eyes? How noble are you in productive achievement if you have faced such an example of lex talionis? How heroic and happy are you, having been responsible for the loss of a vital sense? Clearly the reasonable answer to all these is very little.
As Lucius Cornelius Sulla put it: "No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wrong me, whom I have not repaid in full."
Lex Talionis can go either way, in your favor or your detriment. It depends on who you surround yourself with and how you interact with them and others in the world. Do unto others as they do unto you. Of course, this doesn't mean you should go out and be a pretentiously solipsistic prick, going around administering judgement on anyone who should slightly wrong you. Some people are simply psychic vampires who aren't worth any of your time. However you also shouldn't let anyone walk over you.
