'THE STRUGGLE OF THE MAGICIANS'

Conflict and strife have long been themes in literature, music,art, and dance, among other things.....this 'dualistic' aspect of all things, whether NATURE, GOD, MAN or LIFE, as well as innumerable other 'words','categories','principles', 'ideas' etc. seem to come from our divided brain, which,in reality seems to be TRIPARTITE.... 'THE STRUGGLE OF THE MAGICIANS' is the title of a 'ballet'/'revue' that the late G.I. GURDJIEFF attempted to produce, stage, and present in various places, according to accounts that I have read and which somewhat conflict as might be expected, when people give opinions over facts, which I may well be accused of doing here..... The Egyptian 'myths','legends', and 'carvings in various temples, tell of the ancient 'gods' OSIRIS & ISIS and of their 'brother' SET(SEth?) who was jealous of OSIRIS who married his sister,something that contemporary people, who are often the result of such relationships(long in the primeval past) do not understand or else mis-understand....and about which there have been innumerable books written and various laws and other things enacted to prevent such relationships.... On an ancient,'primitive', 'mystical' and even 'occult' perspective or level or scale, such 'incest' can be overlooked for the sake of 'academic' discussion(s)...along with other 'verboten' subjects.... In its ancient form of drama and epic, saga and myth, the death of Osiris, who is killed and mutilated by Set represents the 'struggle of the Magicians' and the battle between 'good & evil', 'light & darkness', and Jesus & Satan among other examples that will sometimes easily fit into the provided slots for substitutions.... This is not to say that Gurdjieff who had been in Egypt,Nubia, and Abyssinia, as well as other places, simply based everything on this legend or some similar in nature....and those who listen to the music proposed for this will soon see that this was not the case.....The dance(s) of 'THE STRUGGLE', of course, a Woman, and the struggle is over winning her love or favors or to possess her...whether from love of love or love of power..... Gurdjieff, however, had the same dancers of 'good' and 'evil' dance the two parts which were diametrically opposed to each other, containing things that would reveal certain things to those who did the dances as instructed....precision was important and demanded....mathematical exactitude rather than mere subjective cavorting and romping about as is done in most dance venues in modern times these days.... At this time, I do not wish to discuss this topic beyond what I have stated here........