This reader was hastily assembled for a two-hour presentation called "Spiral Dynamics & The Temple of Set", delivered on 27 January 1998 to the Infernus Pylon Conclave (The Year of Cthulhu Rising), and video-taped by Priestess Jennifer Rush-Hunter. This included a brief outline of Beck & Cowan's work (influenced by a 23 November 1997 introductory seminar), a discussion of individual and institutional initiatory crises, and some thoughts on the limitations of the Aeon model proposed by Florence Farr and Aleister Crowley. Since the Infernus Pylon was metamorphosing into the Yidniminkani and Nan Madol Pylons, I mentioned some organizational development work. Finally, I suggested that the Temple of Set might evolve into something like the Naqsh’bandiyya Order in a Western religious context.

This Memetics Reader could be considered as a basic overview of memetics and some applications within advertising, religious studies, psychohistory and contemporary subcultures. It serves as a precursor to my pages on Expanded Spiral Dynamics Bibliography and Disinfo Glossary: Specialist Terms.

Materials reproduced for self-education purposes only.
Copyright remains in the hands of respective copyright holders.

PART I: Memetics.

1.1 Memes: The New Replicators (Chapter & Endnotes)
Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene (2nd Edition), Oxford University Press, 1989.

A revised text by zoologist Richard Dawkins of his original conceptualisation of the concept of memes and proposals for a new science of memetics.

1.2 Richard Dawkins: A Survival Machine (Interview)
Brockman, John ed., The Third Culture, Simon & Schuster, 1995, pp. 74-95.

An important interview with zoologist Richard Dawkins regarding memes and their relationship to reductionist models of Darwinian Natural Selection, prefaced with reaction comments and personal insights from other scientific colleagues, researchers, and scholars.

1.3 The Cranes of Culture (Chapter)
Dennett, Daniel C. Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life, The Penguin Press Ltd, 1995, pp. 335-369.

A professor at the University of Tufts, Dennett has published many important works and theories regarding consciousness and the evolution of culture. This chapter critically considers zoologist Richard Dawkins' proposal for memes, a new science of memetics, and the scientific community's reaction, as well as their long-term philosophical impact on the Meanings of Life.

1.4 The Emerging Third Culture (Introduction)
Brockman, John, ed. The Third Culture, Simon & Schuster, 1995, pp. 17-31.

Alluding to the title of C.P. Snow's famous Two Cultures Rede lecture at Cambridge University (1959) in which Snow expressed fears that the Humanities and Sciences would grow increasingly divergent, Brockman outlines scientists' recent attempts to inform the wider public about advances in quantum physics, cosmology, nano-technology, chaos theory, biology, and evolution, amongst other disciplines. The new Third Culture is the optimal proxemic environment that memetics has grown in and a prevailing Current.

1.5 A Missing Link: Memetics and the Social Sciences (Chapter)
Lynch, Aaron. Thought Contagion: How Belief Spreads Through Society, Basic Books, 1996.

Lynch was a Fermilab physicist who independently formulated the concept of memes in 1978. He outlines the similarities and differences between memetics and the major social sciences.

PART II: Spiral Dynamics & The Psychology of a Setian's Possible Initiation.

2.1 Maslow and the Magi (Article)
de Rastrick, Bradford (pseudonym). The Scroll of Set, Vol XXII, No 5, September/October XXXI AES (1996), Temple of Set Inc, p. 5.

A nice summary of the models of psychologist Abraham Maslow, who influenced Clare W. Graves' Levels of Psychological Existence framework.

2.2 The Great Pyramid of Kohlberg: The Morality of the Setian Mind (Article)
Ward, Charles Dexter (pseudonym). The Scroll of Set, Vol XXIII, No 5, September/October XXXII AES (1997), Temple of Set Inc, p. 6.

Clare W. Graves (a real life Hari Seldon) was often asked whether he preferred the models of Maslow or Kohlberg. Unable to give a typical Aristotleian Yes/No answer, he began a Quest that led to his Levels of Psychological Existence framework. This is a nice basic summary of Kohlberg's ideas and framework.

2.3 Spiral Wizardry: Managing Spiral Dynamics (Introduction)
Beck, Dr. Don and Cowan, Christopher C. Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change, Blackwell Publishers Inc, 1996, pp. 1-13.

Beck and Cowan spliced Clare W. Graves' Levels of Psychological Existence framework with Richard Dawkins' proposal for a new science of memetics to form a powerful conceptual tool. This introduction gives a brief and insightful overview of their work.

2.4 Resources For Spiral Wizards (Bibliography)
Beck, Dr. Don and Cowan, Christopher C. Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change, Blackwell Publishers Inc, 1996, pp. 323-335.

An extremely detailed and useful bibliography for those wishing to apply the Spiral Dynamics conceptual models to real-world crises and situations.

2.5 The Advertising Virus (Article)
Burns, Alex in Houghton, Mike, ed. Marketing, November 1997, Niche Media, pp. 18-24.

Partly an interview with Dr. Don Edward Beck, Christopher C. Cowan, Aaron Lynch, and Richard Brodie, this is one of the first in-depth mainstream articles (outside of the scientific community) to consider memes and their impact upon marketing and advertising.

2.6 Spiral Dynamics and The Temple of Set (Draft Working Notes)
Burns, Alex. Unpublished - Work In Progress.

A draft attempt to meme-splice Spiral Dynamics with the Temple of Set's philosophy, institutional history, methodology and cultural evolution.

2.7 On The Need For A Common Language (Article)
Burns, Alex. Unpublished.

A brief introduction to the Work of Clare W. Graves and the Beck/Cowan Spiral Dynamics framework written in the context of the death of the Infernus Pylon in early 1998.

2.8 On The Need For Discernment (Article)
Burns, Alex. Vox Tauri, Vol XIV, No. 1., Apr. XXXIII AES (1998), Temple of Set Inc, pp. 4-7.

An article written in response to the November/December XXXII AES (1997) issue of the Bull of Ombos Pylon's newsletter Vox Tauri, discussing memetics, postmodern magical schools, and the skills required of postmodern Black Magicians (Spiral Wizards).

2.9 Mutations (Chapter)
Leary, Timothy with Sirius, R.U. Design For Dying, HarperEdge, 1997, pp. 83-95.

The Timothy Leary/Robert Anton Wilson's 8 Circuit Model of Human Consciousness was an early complementary model of conscious evolution to aspects of memetics. Published posthumously, this chapter features Leary's final conceptualisation of the model in the wake of the Cyberpunk movement and Extropian philosophical school, and brief closing thoughts on the cultural warfare of memes and resulting mutations during the Twentieth Century.

2.10 The Psychogenic Theory of History (Chapter)
deMause, Lloyd. Foundations of Psychohistory, Psychohistory Press, 1981.